Tag Archives: New York City

Man wielding meat cleaver slices New York City patrolman’s head

Police investigate the scene where a man was shot by police in Manhattan, New York, U.S., September 15, 2016

(Reuters) – An assailant wielding a meat cleaver struck a New York City police officer in the head on Thursday in midtown Manhattan, and two other officers chasing the suspect were also hurt during the incident, police said.

The attack occurred after two on-duty officers were responding to reports of a crime in progress just before 5 p.m. local time near Madison Square Garden, NYPD spokeswoman Sophia Mason said.

Three officers were taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Mason said the man drew the cleaver from his waist band after two of the officers confronted him, and then the suspect ran. A stun gun had no apparent affect on him, Mason said.

A third officer, who was off duty and in the area at the time, helped chase the suspect, who ran down the street with the large butcher’s knife in his hand, Mason said.

At one point, the suspect jumped on top of a police car and, as officers attempted to subdue him, the off-duty officer was struck in the head by the cleaver, causing a gash, Mason said. It was not immediately clear how or when the other two officers were injured.

After the officer was struck, police opened fire on the suspect, striking him multiple times, Mason said. The man was in police custody and being treated at an area hospital, she added. The extent of his injuries was not immediately available.

“They shot him up,” the New York Daily News quoted a witness as saying. “He was hit five or six times. He was laid up on the sidewalk. It looked like he was dead.”

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Dan Grebler, David Gregorio and Bill Rigby)

Families remember 9/11 victims 15 years after attacks

Honor guard observing silence for 9/11

By Melissa Fares

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Americans remembered the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on Sunday at a ceremony marking 15 years, with the recital of their names, tolling church bells and a tribute in lights at the site where New York City’s massive twin towers collapsed.

As classical music drifted across the 9/11 Memorial plaza in lower Manhattan, family members and first responders slowly read the names and delivered personal memories of the almost 3,000 victims killed in the worst attack on U.S. soil since the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Relatives in the crowd embraced and some held photos of loved ones and signs that read: “Never to be forgotten,” “We miss you,” and “Gone too soon.”

Tom Acquarviva’s 29-year-old son Paul was one of 658 employees of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald who perished after the first plane struck the north tower just below where they worked on the 101st to 105th floors.

“Not a day goes by that we don’t remember him,” Acquarviva told Reuters.

Angela Checo honored her brother, Pedro Francisco, 35, who was a vice president at investment and wealth manager Fiduciary Trust on the 96th floor of the south tower.

“He was coming down but forgot someone and went back upstairs to save them,” Checo said. “That’s why he never made it down.”

The ceremony paused for six moments of silence: four to mark the exact times four hijacked planes were crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon near Washington D.C., and a Pennsylvania field. The last two record when the North and South towers of the Trade Center crumpled.

It was held by two reflecting pools with waterfalls that now stand in the towers’ former footprints, and watched over by an honor guard of police and firefighters.

More than 340 firefighters and 60 police were killed on the that sunny Tuesday morning in 2001. Many of the first responders died while running up stairs in the hope of reaching victims trapped on the towers’ higher floors.

“PIECE OF THEIR HEART”

At the Pentagon, a trumpet played as U.S. President Barack Obama took part in a wreath-laying ceremony.

“Fifteen years may seem like a long time. But for the families who lost a piece of their heart that day, I imagine it can seem like just yesterday,” Obama said.

No public officials spoke at the New York ceremony, in keeping with a tradition that began in 2012. But many dignitaries attended, including Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Trump said in a statement that it was a day of sadness and remembrance, but also of resolve.

“Our solemn duty on behalf of all those who perished … is to work together as one nation to keep all of our people safe from an enemy that seeks nothing less than to destroy our way of life,” Trump said.

Clinton said in a statement that the horror of Sept. 11, 2001 would never be forgotten, and paid tribute to the victims and first responders.

She fell ill after about 90 minutes at the service, becoming “overheated,” aides said, and was taken to her daughter Chelsea’s apartment in Manhattan. She emerged later and told reporters she was “feeling great.”

TRIBUTE IN LIGHT

Houses of worship throughout the city had tolled their bells at 8:46 a.m. EDT (1246 GMT), the time American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the North Tower.

A second pause came at 9:03 a.m. (1303 GMT), when United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower. American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. (1337 GMT), then the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. (1359 GMT).

At 10:03 a.m. (1403 GMT) United Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and the final moment of silence was observed at 10:28 a.m. (1428 GMT) when the North Tower fell.

As evening falls across New York City on Sunday, scores of 7,000-watt xenon light bulbs will project two giant beams of blue light into the night sky to represent the fallen twin towers, fading away at dawn.

The “Tribute in Light” was first set up in 2002, six months after the attacks, and has become part of the annual memorial service. The beams reach four miles (6.4 km) into the sky and can be seen as far as 60 miles (96.6 km) away on a clear night, organizers say.

In the twin towers’ place now rises the 104-story 1 World Trade Center. Also known as the Freedom Tower, it is the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere, at 1,776 feet (541 meters). Fifteen years after the attack, the U.S. government marked its return to the site on Friday, moving its New York City offices there.

Nineteen hijackers died in the attack, later claimed by Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, which led directly to the U.S. war in Afghanistan and indirectly to the invasion of Iraq.

In Kabul, the top American commander in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, paid tribute to members of the NATO-led coalition and Afghan security forces who had been killed since the Taliban regime fell.

But in an address which touched on his own experience as an officer in Afghanistan, stretching back a decade, he also underlined how far from peace the country remains.

“As we know, sadly, the number of terrorist groups has only grown since 9/11,” he said. “Of the 98 groups now designated globally, 20 are in this region, the Afpak region.”

(Reporting by Melissa Fares; Additional reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Washington and James Mackenzie in Kabul; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Mary Milliken and Jeffrey Benkoe)

Sorrow, selfies compete at New York’s 9/11 memorial 15 years on

9/11 Memorial

By Gina Cherelus

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The memorial in New York City at the site where the Twin Towers fell in the Sept. 11 attacks 15 years ago straddles two worlds: one of the living and one of the dead.

A marker for where more than 2,600 people were killed, it attracts tourists from around the world. Some are drawn there to pause and reflect, others to satisfy a morbid fascination with the site of the worst attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941.

Clutching cell phones, cameras and selfie sticks, visitors generally take their time around the National September ll Memorial Museum. They are expected to turn out in droves on Sunday for the 9/11 anniversary.

More than 23 million people have seen the memorial and 4 million have been to the museum since they were opened five years ago, leaving some local people thinking the significance of the site as a place for mourning is fading.

Rosanne Hughes’ husband died on Sept. 11, 2001, while he was on a work visit at the Windows on the World restaurant high in the World Trade Center’s North Tower.

Now a board member of the New Jersey 9/11 Memorial Foundation, she said it was hard for victims’ relatives to sometimes see insensitive or even rude behavior at the plaza in Lower Manhattan.

“It’s very disrespectful for people to go there and take selfies and smile for the cameras and in the background is where the towers collapsed,” Hughes said.

“I saw people with their kids running around, you know laughing, having fun. I guess people just don’t understand that it’s just not that type of museum.”

Early on that bright Tuesday morning in 2001, two hijacked planes were slammed into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center. A third plane was flown into the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and a fourth crashed in a Pennsylvania field.

MELANCHOLIC MUSEUM

The memorial and museum, which cost more than $700 million to build, feature twin pools with waterfalls, each covering nearly an acre. The pools stand in the footprints of the towers.

Flanking the pools are platforms dotted with Swamp white oak trees and ivy beds. The names of every person who died in the 9/11 attacks are inscribed on bronze panels that rim the pools.

Coins glistened from the inner ledges of the pools, sharing space with paper napkins, bottle caps and even a plastic coffee cup one recent Sunday.

A security guard, who declined to give his name, said that during patrols he had to ask children to not sit on the names of the dead and stopped adults from stubbing out cigarettes on them.

The mood inside the museum, beneath “Ground Zero,” is more solemn, its 110,000 square feet bearing witness to the attacks. People’s identification cards, blood-stained shoes, photographs of fathers, wives, brothers and co-workers, intimate stories of loss and recovery tell the story.

Outside once again, Hughes said it was upsetting to see hotdog vendors and souvenir stands near the memorial.

“We still have anger over what happened too, and we’ve moved forward from that. But this is something that just doesn’t go away,” she said.

“It may be a photo-op for them but for us it is still very painful to watch.”

Kenneth T. Jackson, a New York City historian and professor at Columbia University, said the attacks made the World Trade Center the most famous place in the world, and he believes visitors instantly realize its significance.

“It now joins the long list of New York City tourist attractions and, for better or worse, it is one,” he said. “Even if there was no memorial, even if they left some broken stuff there, people would visit.”

(Reporting by Gina Cherelus; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Toni Reinhold)

Three arrested at New York-New Jersey tunnel with weapons cache

Holland Tunnel

By Joseph Ax

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Three people were arrested on Tuesday morning with an arsenal of weapons, including a military-style assault rifle, after police stopped them near the Holland Tunnel, a major crossing that connects New Jersey and New York City.

Police pulled over a vehicle for a cracked windshield at a toll plaza on the New Jersey side around 7:40 a.m. ET (1140 GMT) and found several guns inside, according to a spokesman for the Port Authority Police Department, which patrols the tunnel.

Police recovered five pistols, an AR-15 assault rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun, as well as a small amount of marijuana and a marijuana pipe, according to the Port Authority. Some of the guns were loaded.

John Cramsey, 50, Dean Smith, 53, and Kimberly Arendt, 29, all from Pennsylvania, were charged with weapons possession and drug paraphernalia charges.

“At this time, the investigation is continuing, but the agency does not believe the incident is terrorism-related,” said the Port Authority spokesman, Joseph Pentangelo.

Local news outlets, citing law enforcement sources, reported that Cramsey told police he was driving to New York City to rescue a young girl from a drug den.

Police also recovered several knives, extra ammunition, body armor and a camouflage helmet from the vehicle, local media reported.

U.S. law enforcement, including New York City’s massive counter-terrorism apparatus, has been on high alert since a gunman killed 49 people at an Orlando gay nightclub on June 12 in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

New York has some of the nation’s strictest gun laws, including a ban on military-style assault weapons that on Monday survived a U.S. Supreme Court challenge.

Those weapons have sometimes been used in mass shootings, including in Orlando and in the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, school massacre that killed 20 children and six adults.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Dan Grebler)

Number of roadway deaths nationwide on increase while NYC safest year on record

A car is seen driving along Queens Boulevard in the borough of Queens in New York, U.S.,

By Daniel Trotta

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The “Boulevard of Death” is getting a makeover, part of a New York City initiative that made 2015 the safest year on record for traffic accidents even as the number of roadway deaths nationwide shows a steep increase.

Engineers are redesigning a stretch of Queens Boulevard, which earned its notorious nickname due to the 185 people killed on the road over 25 years. Cars, bicycles and pedestrians are being routed into more clearly marked lanes with wider buffer zones between them, more stop signs and smarter parking rules.

Adopting a Swedish program known as Vision Zero, New York City officials are trying to eliminate traffic deaths through more than 100 initiatives that include curbing speed limits, boosting enforcement with speed cameras and high profile ticketing campaigns, as well as driver outreach and education.

Although 18 U.S. cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Washington already have put in place some form of Vision Zero, states and the federal government have lagged in their coordination and implementation of the latest safety measures, which is frustrating to international experts.

“It surprises many people who are involved in road safety that the richest, most successful nation on earth allows many of its citizens to die because they don’t take advantage of basic engineering,” said Michael Woodford, chairman of the Safer Roads Foundation, which aims to reduce road casualties globally.

Woodford, who was ousted as head of Japanese optical equipment maker Olympus after blowing the whistle on a major fraud case, said he has spent millions of dollars of his own money on the initiative.

He contrasted the immense U.S. sensitivity over airline safety with the relative inattention to the roadside carnage.

“It’s got to become a political issue,” Woodford said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio made New York the first U.S. city to adopt Vision Zero when he launched it shortly after taking office on Jan. 1, 2014.

By 2015, annual traffic fatalities in New York City had fallen to a record low of 231, a 22 percent drop from 2013 and the lowest since record-keeping began in 1910, the mayor’s office said. Pedestrian deaths, which are high in New York City given how may people walk as part of their public transport commute, fell 27 percent over the same two years to a historic low of 134.

Because so many cities are new to Vision Zero, they lack the before-and-after data that New York has, said Leah Shahum, director of the national Vision Zero Network.

Although some drivers inevitably complain about slower traffic and more tickets, there was a “transformative shift in prioritizing safe mobility” under way across the country, Shahum said.

“No one is against zero traffic deaths. That said, the reality is that behaviors can be hard to change. There will likely be more pushback,” Shahum said.

‘BELTS, BOOZE AND SPEED’

Vision Zero starts from the premise that all accidents are preventable. Traffic engineers and driver safety experts know how to reduce casualties, which are largely related to poor road design, speeding, alcohol and the lack of seat belts.

Still, tens of thousands of people die on U.S. roads every year. The toll fell from 44,599 in 1990 to 32,675 in 2014, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In the agency’s latest report, covering the first nine months of 2015, traffic deaths nationwide rose 9.3 percent versus the same period of 2014.

Experts warn against reading too much into any short-term fluctuation in those national statistics, saying traffic deaths are affected by gas prices, employment and other factors independent of safety standards. But they stress that the main causes can all be addressed through public policy.

“We’ve seen a huge amount of success in the past few decades, but when you look at belts, booze and speed those are some persistent problems,” said Jake Nelson, director of traffic safety advocacy and research with the American Automobile Association (AAA).

In the New York City borough of Queens, officials focused on a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) stretch of Queens Boulevard where 47 people were killed or seriously injured between 2010 and 2014.

Such campaigns are more difficult in rural areas, where narrow highways typically lack a median, are poorly lit at night, and attitudes are more lax about using seat belts or driving while intoxicated, Nelson said.

Road engineering for safety has reduced fatalities in New York City by 34 percent, the city said, twice the rate of improvement at other locations, but it also requires money. The first phase of the Queens Boulevard redesign cost $1.4 million and the price tag for citywide safety related changes planned this year is $115 million.

“Our interstate infrastructure is crumbling. We can’t afford to even fill potholes and repair bridges, which is why Vision Zero is so important because we have scarce resources and we need to invest wisely,” Nelson said.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Diane Craft)

ISIS Threatens New York City in Latest Video; World Report Says Boko Haram Deadlier Than ISIS

The latest propaganda video that ISIS has posted online warns of an impending attack on New York City.

According to CNN, the video mentions Time Square and shows an explosive device being built and a bomber putting on a jacket over a suicide belt. CBS News adds that the video featured clips of French President Francois Hollande speaking after the attacks on Paris while the terrorists make remarks in the video.

Additional members of the NYPD’s newest anti-terrorism squad have been deployed throughout the Big Apple as a precaution.

“While some of the video footage is not new, the video reaffirms the message that New York City remains a top terrorist target,” a statement of the NYPD read. “While there is no current or specific threat to the city at this time, we will remain at a heightened state of vigilance and will continue to work with the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the entire intelligence community to keep the city of New York safe.”

However, Mayor Bill de Blasio urged citizens to continue going about their normal business and not to give into fear.

“The people of New York City will not be intimidated,” he said late Wednesday, according to CNN. “We understand it is the goal of terrorists to intimidate and disrupt our democratic society. We will not submit to their wishes.”

Police officials stated that this video was nothing new as ISIS released a similar video back in April. They realize that New York City continues to be a target for terrorist organizations. However, they assured news agencies that they are taking note of the video.

Along with the latest video, Reuters reports that ISIS also released a photo on Wednesday, showing in their official magazine how they brought down the Russian airliner over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula last month, killing all 224 people on board. The photo shows a Schweppes soft drink along with a detonator and other bomb components.

In other ISIS related news, a world report by the Institute for Economics and Peace stated that Boko Haram is a deadlier terrorist organization than ISIS, according to multiple news agencies including NPR and the Huffington Post. Out of the 32,000 people killed by terrorism in 2014, Boko Haram was responsible for 6,644 of those deaths, more than any other terrorist group. The Islamic State killed around 6,000 people in 2014. Together, the two organizations are responsible for 51% of all claimed terrorist attacks in 2014, and the majority of deaths came from the few nations of Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Syria. Nigeria experienced a 300% increase in terrorist attacks in 2014. In the past, Boko Haram has claimed to be a branch of ISIS.

Pope’s Visit Brings Security Concerns, Including Police Impersonators

Law enforcement personnel are worried that the Pope’s visit to the United States could attract terrorist attacks and even go as far as impersonating police officers, EMTs, and firefighters to launch such attacks.

“The impersonators’ main goals are to further their attack plan and do harm to unsuspecting citizens as well as members of the emergency services community,” said the bulletin, titled “First Responder Impersonators: The New Terrorist Threat.”

The Pennsylvania State Police’s Criminal Intelligence Center distributed a memo to law enforcement throughout the northeast that imposters could use false identification to enter secure areas or to get away undetected from a crime scene. Pennsylvania State Police stated that the memo was not specifically meant for the Pope’s visit and officials confirmed that there were no credible threats known against Pope Francis at this time. The New York State Police Department and the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington also confirmed there were no known threats tied to Pope Francis’ visit.

FBI and Homeland Security reports based the premises for the memo, which made statements that suspects in the U.S. and abroad were in possession of police uniforms. In the past, authorities have arrested potential terrorists who were in possession of U.S. military uniforms, fake IDs, and police uniforms.

“A wide variety of products such as clothing, weapons and tactical gear can be purchased on the Internet by any consumer, regardless of a confirmed affiliation to emergency services, government or law enforcement agency,” the statement read. The document also advised that police be on high alert for theft of uniforms, credentials, and emergency vehicles.

Police officials are also warning citizens to be aware of their surroundings during the Pope’s visit, especially when in large crowded areas. The memo states that event locations and public transit are high risk areas because of the large groups of people and the amount of attention the city will have during the papal visit.

According to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, the U.S. has stopped at least one threat against Pope Francis last week.

During the Pope’s visit, security preparations include screening checkpoints, airspace restrictions, and a ban on selfie sticks and backpacks at the events. Along the motorcade routes there will be multiple airport-style screenings and extensive street closures in every city he visits. There will also be a significant increase in the amount of first responders deployed in the cities.

New York Governor’s Aide Shot; Fighting for His Life

Gunfire rang out before the start of Monday’s West Indian Parade in New York City, leaving a member of Governor Cuomo’s staff critically wounded and fighting for his life.

Carey Gabay, 43, is a deputy counsel for Empire State Development.  He was in the Crown Heights area during early morning preparations for the parade when he was caught in crossfire between two rival gangs.

Officials at Kings County Hospital say he was shot in the head and that his condition is “grave.”

“I’m the governor of the state of New York, and there’s not a thing I can do,” Cuomo told reporters after he visited Gabay’s family at the hospital. “There’s not a thing I can say, and there’s nothing I can do. And sometimes it just hurts.”

Cuomo also released a statement before his visit.

“Carey is an outstanding public servant who joined our administration in 2011. He is a Harvard-educated lawyer who works for the state because he wants to give back to others and make a difference. He is just 43 years old and is a kind-hearted man.”

The parade has been the target of violence the last three years.  Last year, a man opened fire during the parade killing one and wounding several others.  The prior year, a 1-year-old boy in his stroller was killed by a bullet someone intended for his father.

Drugmaker Shuts Down Factory After Discovering Legionnaires’ Disease

A factory for drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was suddenly shut down Tuesday after the discovery of the deadly bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ Disease.

The plant in Zebulon, North Carolina manufactures inhaled medications and employs around 850 people.  The bacteria was discovered in one of the plant’s cooling towers leading to the factory’s immediate closure.

“We are trying to gather information on what the situation is,” GSK spokeswoman Jenni Brewer Ligday said in statement to the Associated Press. GSK is also working to gather “more details on whether product has been impacted and, if they have, what is our procedure in place to handle that.”

“The cooling tower is a standalone structure, which does not come into contact with product manufactured at the facility,” added GSK spokesman Marti Jordan.

GSK officials said that the plant remains shut down but the campus of the company remains open and there is no threat to the general public.

The plant focuses on production of drugs for asthma patients such as Advair.

GSK said the plant is tested every three months for potentially hazardous bacteria like Legionnaires’.

The news of the closure comes on the heels of New York City dealing with the worst outbreak of Legionnaires’ in the city’s history, leaving 12 people dead and over 110 sickened.

New York City Resident Admits Being ISIS Sympathizer

A 21-year-old New York City man is jailed after attempting to stab an FBI agent during a terrorist investigation raid.

Fareed Mumuni is accused of being a supporter of ISIS.  The FBI raided his home in Staten Island Wednesday and during the raid he tried multiple times to stab an FBI agent.

“As the officers attempted to restrain (him), Mumuni repeatedly attempted to plunge the knife into the torso of an FBI special agent and reached out with his hand in the vicinity of a rifle used by another member of law enforcement,” read the criminal complaint.

The agent with the Joint Terrorism Task Force wasn’t injured as the knife was never able to penetrate his body armor.

Mumuni is believed to have been working with two other men to place pressure cooker bombs similar to those used in the Boston Marathon attacks around New York City.

Mumuni has confessed to discussing how to build a pressure cooker bomb with one of the other suspected terrorists and that he planned to join ISIS in the Middle East.  He is being held without bail.

His relatives insist that Mumuni is innocent.

“It’s not true he pulled a knife on cops,” uncle Mohammed Alfonga said. “You think he’d be alive if he did that? They would have shot him in the living room.”

“He may have been caught with the wrong crowd,” Alfonga added. “The other guys said he’s involved, they have to arrest him. But they took everything, his computers. They didn’t find anything.”

There have been arrests of suspected ISIS sympathizers in 19 states in the last two years.