Beefed Up Security Visiting Museums in New York

I recently went to the Statue of Liberty for the first time since I was 10 years old. I brought my 10 year old daughter and my 11 year old son. It was just before the July 4th 2009 re-opening of the crown, so we will have to go back to get up there sometime in the future. The security was particularly tight getting into the statue compared to the security I encountered at other NYC attractions this summer. Ever since 9-11 there have been huge increases in security around Manhattan, that I can well understand. But why the Statue of Liberty with the extra extra beefed up security?

New York State Senate – What a mess.

If you’ve been reading the news lately, all the unsavory things you’ve ever heard about the New York State Senate seem to make sense now. The Republican’s controlled the majority in the Senate for many years until the last election and then the Democrats outnumbered Republicans 32 to 30. Two of the elected Democrats then joined the Republican caucus and since that moment nothing has gotten done except that dozens of media vans have joined in the circus of activity.

Here is a picture of the last time the NY State Senate was peaceful and not filled with a bunch of elected men and women acting like children.

Gambling Action in NYC? Just the Transportation… Not the Crime.

I don’t think there will ever be a day when Casino’s will be able to operate gambling operations in Manhattan. But the industry generates a lot of money in NYC, in the transportation sector. Hundreds of buses leave New York headed to Atlantic City every week and on nearly every hour of the day and night. And flights to Las Vegas depart from JFK, Laguardia, and Newark airports frequently. Not to mention the high roller flights that leave from Teterboro and Stewart Airports near Manhattan.We even have a New Jersey Transit train that goes directly to AC.

So what happens to New Yorkers when they leave the NY – NJ area and fly out to Vegas? We know that Las Vegas has the highest marriage rate,the highest divorce rate, and the highest suicide rate in the US (check Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas,_Nevada). But the crime rate according to the 2003 FBI Report of Offenses Known to Law Enforcement is surprisingly high too. Now here’s an interesting one… the highest Injury Rate for Hotel Workers? A study looked at 87 unionized hotels in Las Vegas covering 40,000 workers and found the hotel rooms were getting more hazardous since 2002. Hotel injuries by housekeepers were up from 26 percent between 1999 and 2001. Potter Law Offices handles a lot of cases of Las Vegas personal injury involving hotels and casinos. Business is Up for injury attorneys in Las Vegas.

Well I don’t propose you leave New York to go to AC or Las Vegas to get married, get divorced, or to get injured, but if you do… it’s a nice place to visit.

New Yorker’s Lost a Friend

Lights dimmed on New York City’s Broadway Theaters for Natasha Richardson last Thursday night March 19th as she had passed away the day before at Lennox Hill Hospital in midtown. London’s West End Theater district dimmed their lights on Friday. Natasha is the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and wife to actor Liam Neeson, and mom to two teenage boys.

Natasha fell down during a skiing lesson in Quebec Canada at the Mont Tremblant resort area. Although she felt OK at first, her injury caused an epidural hematoma that eventually put enough pressure on her brain to kill her. Patients with this type of injury are known to be “talking and dying” because they may or may not have a headache, but their condition is getting closer to fatal every minute. It is not necessarily obvious with this type of injury that it’s indeed a serious bodily injury that can quickly lead to death. As her condition got worse, medics drove Natasha to a trauma center in Montreal but by the time she got there it was too late. As there was no chance for a recovery, she was then transferred to a hospital in Manhattan to be closer to loved ones.

That area around Montreal Canada does not have air medivac the way we do in the New York area. Anywhere in Northern New Jersey or areas surrounding the city, you can count on rapid helicopter transport to a trauma center if you have symptoms after a head injury. Would Natasha be alive today if there were indeed air medivac emergency services in Quebec? A poor choice by a top surgeon left me partially blind in one eye for the rest of my life. Alth0gh I’m truly grateful to have any sight at all,  my family eye Doctor told me afterward that:  “you could second guess that surgeon’s decision every day for the rest of your life and still never know the right answer”.

Natasha was an accomplished stage actress with numerous awards for her role in films and plays. Most of all she was well regarded by all as a wonderful person – a caring mother – a tireless worker for many charities. She will be missed by all.

Lifelong New Yorker Andrew Cuomo Goes After the Bad Guys

Go get ‘em Andrew !! While the nation and the world sit hopeless watching the creeps who ravished our economy hold us hostage, there is a hero rising up on the field. It’s native New Yorker and sometime favorite son Andrew Cuomo. As the New York State Attorney General, and a good lawyer, he is going after the AIG execs that are all getting HUGE bonuses at the same time that Americans are giving them the biggest bailout of them all.

Mr. Cuomo found 73 employees that are each geting at least a million bucks in bonuses based on a guarantee no matter what their performance level is.  And we are being told that these employees are absolutely vital to preventing more collapse because they are “unwinding” complex financial deals and the company NEEDS them. So how 11 of these employees left the firm and still got the million dollar bonus is just another log on the fire.

So why did the American taxpayers NOT know about this information before March 2009? It looks like the feds knew about it and the interesting thing will be when we find out that the new Boss (President Obama) found out about it. AIG was not about to let this information hit the street in any way shape or form claiming it was hiding the recipients identities for their own physical protection. Well they let it fly the day after  the Hero of this story got a subpeona handed to AIG to allow an investigation. So these millionaires are being physically threatened by whom? The guy from Iowa who has not worked in 6 months and whose family told him to move out? Hardly.

My opinion… I remember a statement from Barack Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope” where he said the national debt in 2006 of 9 Trillion dollars made every American man – woman, and child liable for $30,000 each.  Now that same system let wealthy Wall Street white collar criminals run wild creating impossibly dangerous financial schemes to take millions and millions in personal profits. After the financial meltdown and all this bailout money I hate to think about how much money every man – woman, and child now owes. I say let’s let it rip and let all these companies fail. We can pick up the pieces later. And lets make new laws that will give the government the power to get back some of the money these creeps took in profits.

I remember when the Air Traffic Controllers tried to hold the American people hostage and the President at the time Ronald Reagan fired them all on the spot. We all know how angry President Obama is about these excessive bonuses, will someone please give him a reasonable plan of action so he can do something about it? Andrew, thank you for doing the right thing.

Madoff Gets the Big House

Yesterday, famous New Yorker Bernard Madoff was awarded new living arrangements. He’s been shackled and transported to the Big House after pleading Guilty to a single count of securities fraud. The bad taste from this whole story will linger for decades. This is one of those cases where most New Yorkers kind of count their blessings… the ones that were not ripped off that is. Hopefully this will lead to better controls and stiffer penalties.

Bernard Madoff will be spending the rest of his days with like minded individuals sharing communal experiences like eating and… other things.

Bernie Baby Wants to Keep 50 Mil

You have to feel sad for the people in the United States really, sending numerous innocent people to federal prison for decades for crimes they did not commit and then apologizing when they “discover” and acknowledge the DNA evidence that proves their innocence.  And on the exact other side of the coin here is a bald faced liar and thief Bernard Madoff who destroyed the lives of countless people… and is now as a result living it up in luxury and literally laughing in the face of everyone who cares to look.

This is one of many instances where we have to admit the legal system in the United States is in need of an overhaul.

All New Yorkers can hope for at this point is that some level of justice will be served… eventually. Better yet, let’s fix problems in the justice system that allow perps like this to commit devastating financial crimes against human beings and walk smiling all the way to their luxury mansion in the sky.

If Bernie gets to keep this level of luxury there is something terribly wrong with the United States system of justice. It’s just a shame that this crumb bun is associated with New York City. I would rather see him associated with Rikers Island.

New York Lawyers Have to Eat

After spending the morning in the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse at 100 Centre Street, I frequently walk to Chinatown for lunch.  There are hundreds of eating opportunities in the neighborhood.  So I’m going to feature a few places to eat for New York Lawyers who have been beating me up about my so called “lamo blog”.  Hey, $!!@%@$^#& you too. 

So the first place I want to write about is the Century Cafe and Bakery at 123 Bowery.  Yeah Yeah it’s a 6 block walk form the courthouse… but mostly it’s a stroll on Canal and Bowery so you make good time.  Hey, it’s a bit of exercise too which we always need more of.   But there are a hundred outrageously good things to eat here and my favorite dish is the BAKED PORK  BUNS.

This is just the best pork bun in New York an I could eat 2 of them at one time becasue I’m a big guy. I actually can’t eat more than 2 of these beauties because they are very very filling.  The bread is baked minutes ago fresh every time, and the candied pork filling is out of this world.  In terms of being a Manhattan Bakery,  I’d put this place in the top 5 in NYC – really and truly.   Check out the cakes window and be amazed. According to the manager, their website centurycafe.com is bringing in a lot of new business so look at those incredible and HUGE cake pictures – unless you are on a diet in which case DON’T GO..  The food looks TOO GOOD TO RESIST.

Former NYC Police Officer Awarded 3 Mil

Liam Blainey was a New York City cop when he was seriously hurt in the performance of his duty.  Mr. Baliney was on foot in pursuit of a suspected perpetrator in a car jacking incident. During his chase, Mr. Baliney tried to jump over a fence that was in place to prevent people from falling 40 feet to the railroad tracks below, and the fence gave way. Baliney sustained serious injuries and was subsequently released from the Police Department on permanent medical disability.

The city contented that the fence was only a temporary and meant to keep trash off the tracks and it was not intended for a 200 pound man to be attempting to support himself while jumping over it.

After 90 minutes of deliberation, the jury awarded Mr. Baliney over 3 million dollars for pain and suffering, and past and future earnings lost. The city said they would appeal the decision on the grounds that the awards were excessive.

Ref: Mid Hudson News

http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2009/February09/09/Pruzan_ct_win-09Feb09.html

Ref: Lawyers USA Online

http://www.lawyersusaonline.com/index.cfm/archive/view/id/432902

New Yorker Dog Law

A book about the “pooper scooper” laws in New York? You betcha.

There has been a number of articles recently in the New York Times “City Room” web regarding the story. The basic story is that years ago, there were lots of dogs in New York City and the owners were not required to clean up after them. I cannot tell you how many times I “stepped in it” in Manhattan as a kid. The dogs used the area between the sidewalk and the street frequently for their deposits. So along came Mayor Koch and he started enforcing the laws that were already on the books. As a result, the city got a lot cleaner and hundreds of thousands of dogs were put to sleep by shelters becasue the owners did not want to take care of them any more. There is always a mixed bag when you try to make progress, faster, but not as strong… cleaner, but lots of dead dogs. Well, dogs are still “man’s best friend” and New York is a nicer place becasue of the enforcement now.