This article titled “New York on high alert over 9/11 anniversary terror threat” was written by Ed Pilkington in New York, for guardian.co.uk on Friday 9th September 2011 03.20 UTC

New York is to be put into a state of heightened alert over the 9/11 anniversary weekend, with extra bomb sweeps, dog patrols, surveillance of tunnels and bridges and even vehicle check points, following what is being described as “credible but unconfirmed” information that a terrorist attack is being planned on the city or on Washington.

Only sketchy details have been given of the nature of the threat and Michael Bloomberg, New York’s mayor, emphasised in a late-night press conference held at city hall that the intelligence of the threat was uncorroborated. But with the world’s eyes on New York ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, nobody is taking any chances.

“We know the terrorists regard the anniversary as an opportunity to strike again. We do live in a world where we must take these threats seriously,” Bloomberg said.

Warnings of a plot to launch a vehicle bomb attack on New York or Washington, believed to be in the form of a single piece of intelligence, were first received on Wednesday night. President Obama and key intelligence personnel were briefed from Thursday morning.

ABC news said intelligence agencies received information that three people had entered the US with the intention of launching a “vehicle-borne” attack on the anniversary of September 11.

In a report on its website, ABC said officials believed the suspected attackers began their journey in Afghanistan, and may have passed through Iran.

Janice Fedarcyk, assistant director of the FBI in New York, said that intelligence obtained during the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden at Abbottabad in Pakistan in May had shown that al-Qaida had an interest in important dates and anniversaries such as 9/11. She said she expected more intelligence to come in over the next few days but stressed that “sometimes this reporting is credible and warrants intense focus, other times it lacks credibility and is highly unlikely to relate to real plots that are under way.”

Despite the lack of certainty on the nature or the seriousness of the latest threat, New Yorkers are likely to notice a dramatic beefing up of security at least until Monday. Ray Kelly, the city’s police chief, said he has ordered increased bag checks on the subway, a 30% increase in police patrols and rapid response teams, added deployment of officers specialising in detecting nuclear radiation and extra sweeps at religious and government buildings.

There will also be exercises involving several security agencies at Grand Central, Penn station and Times Square on Friday.

The city is well used to the inconveniences and stresses that frequent scares of this sort have brought over the past 10 years. Bloomberg said that the NYPD was also well prepared, having helped to thwart at least 12 possible terror attacks since 9/11.

He urged people to be vigilant but defiant. “The best thing we can do to fight terror is to refuse to be intimidated by it. For the past 10 years we have not allowed terrorists to intimidate us, we have lived our lives without fear and we will continue to do so.”

The homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, told reporters last Thursday there was “a lot of chatter” around the anniversary of the attacks but there was no information about a specific threat.

Security measures around the US, including in New York and Washington, have been enhanced in the weeks leading to the anniversary on Sunday.

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This article titled “Maid’s lawyer tells New York district attorney to quit Strauss-Kahn case” was written by Ed Pilkington in New York, for The Guardian on Thursday 7th July 2011 00.31 UTC

Relations between the maid in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case and the New York district attorney’s office appear to have irreparably broken down after her lawyers accused the office of leaking damaging information about her.

Kenneth Thompson, representing the unidentified alleged victim of a sexual assault by the former IMF head, is calling for Cyrus Vance to quit the case. In a letter addressed to the chief prosecutor, Thompson wrote: “District Attorney Vance, we ask in earnest that your office voluntarily recuse itself from the Strauss-Kahn case and that you appoint a special prosecutor.”

The extraordinary request is an indication of the dire state of the prosecution case. Vance has stated there were “major holes” in the maid’s account of events at the Sofitel hotel in Manhattan where the alleged attack took place. Strauss-Kahn’s legal team met lawyers from the office on Wednesday to discuss how to resolve the case.

Hours before Vance made his declaration to the Manhattan court last week, a story ran in the New York Times detailing problems with the maid’s testimony. Thompson accused Daniel Alonso, a senior member of Vance’s team, of having planted the leak with the newspaper. In his letter, obtained by Reuters, Thompson said quotes given in the Times article were almost identical to language used by Alonso to Thompson at around the same time.

In the article, it was revealed that the maid had telephoned her boyfriend, who is held in an prison in Arizona on drugs charges. The Times said that in the conversation, recorded by police, she said words to the effect of “Don’t worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I am doing.”

Thompson said “virtually the same words” had been used by Alonso to him just hours earlier.

Thompson went on in his letter to complain that the office had failed to categorically deny a story in the New York Post alleging that the maid has been a prostitute. “Such apparent leaks by members of your office is, without question, an abrogation of the duties and responsibilities of the prosecutor.”

Vance is caught in a case that could define the success or failure of his term as chief prosecutor in the city. On the one hand he is obliged to share serious doubts about the alleged victim with the courts and with the defence; on the other hand he cannot be seen to be discriminating against a poor apparently defenceless woman in favour of a very rich and powerful man.

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This article titled “Times Square becomes smoke free as New York extends ban outdoors” was written by Ed Pilkington in New York, for The Guardian on Thursday 3rd February 2011 18.41 UTC

Anyone visiting New York’s 1,700 parks and 14 miles of beaches this summer will be able to do so free from the smell of cigarette smoke after the city council made its biggest anti-smoking push since it banned the habit from restaurants and bars in 2002.

The measure will see smokers fined (£31) if they light up in municipal parks and pedestrian areas of Manhattan such as Times Square.

It was passed by 36 votes to 12 after a lively debate in which critics accused legislators of turning the city into a totalitarian state.

The move follows similar health-conscious measures in New York to remove trans fats from restaurants, force food chains to display calorie counts on their menus and efforts to persuade food producers to reduce salt content.

The mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is expected to sign the law this month, and it will come into effect 90 days later.

“New Yorkers who go to our parks and beaches for some fresh air and fun will be able to breathe even cleaner air and sit on a beach not littered with cigarette butts,” Bloomberg said.

He has made improving the health of city dwellers one of the main ambitions of his nine years as mayor.

The 2002 smoke free air act, which removed smoking from most workplaces including restaurants and bars, was one of the first acts of his mayoralty.

That, combined with higher cigarette taxes and an aggressive anti-smoking advertising campaign, has dramatically reduced smoking among New Yorkers. Between 2002 and 2009 the smoking rate fell by almost a third, and over Bloomberg’s time in office there are about 350,000 fewer smokers.

With attention of health bodies increasingly focusing on the effects of passive smoking, the issue of smoking in outside areas has risen to the fore.

Cities such as Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles have already banned smoking in parks, though New York’s new regulations are among the toughest. A survey in 2009 showed that more than half of non-smoking adult New Yorkers – about 2.5 million – had levels of toxins in their blood from cigarette smoke high enough to leave residues.

But the anti-smoking measures are not universally approved. In the chamber of the city council on Wednesday there was heated debate about the new ban, with some members arguing that the health drive had gone too far.

“I truly believe government is being too restrictive in this particular matter. It’s a totalitarian society that’s going to have this type of restrictions,” Robert Jackson, a Democratic council member from Harlem, told Reuters.

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The New York Post is reporting today that some union workers in New York’s sanitation department have come forward and told the truth about the slow blizzard cleanup. Thug union bosses told sanitation workers not to plow roads at first, and then do them as slowly as possible to rack up overtime and cost the city. This was a deliberate attempt to get back at the mayor for cutting city employees and their pay.

Selfish Sanitation Department bosses from the snow-slammed outer boroughs ordered their drivers to snarl the blizzard cleanup to protest budget cuts — a disastrous move that turned streets into a minefield for emergency-services vehicles, The Post has learned.Miles of roads stretching from as north as Whitestone, Queens, to the south shore of Staten Island still remained treacherously unplowed last night because of the shameless job action, several sources and a city lawmaker said, which was over a raft of demotions, attrition and budget cuts.

Several workers confessed to a Congressman about the plot:

“They sent a message to the rest of the city that these particular labor issues are more important,” said City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), who was visited yesterday by a group of guilt-ridden sanitation workers who confessed the shameless plot.

Unions are out of control. Mayor Bloomberg should respond by shutting down the sanitation department entirely and giving the contracts to private companies. They would do a far better job anyway and for a fraction of the cost.
Unfortunately, Bloomberg is not only a brilliant businessman he’s also a liberal. Therefore, he doesn’t have the balls to privatize sanitation.

If Bloomberg was really serious about “cost cutting” he would privatize government services instead of letting big labor screw him like Eliot Spitzer banging a prostitute.

Source: Associated Press

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the city did not do as good a job as it should have removing snow. The mayor said most roads are now clear and the cleanup continues.

I’m not going to tell you what happens in this clip. It’s only a little over a minute long and you’ll be absolutely stunned by what transpires. You’ll find yourself thinking about it hours later and wondering if you really saw what you think you saw.

Meet New York Assemblyman Bob Reilly…

(hat tip Hot Air)

This is what makes America beautiful. Last night’s debate for governor of NY was more than slightly farcical, but an interesting cast of characters participated.

The man who stole the show was Jimmy McMillan who represents “The Rent Is Too Damn High Party.” All I can say is that if you’ve ever been to New York you know without a doubt the rent is too damn high.

He looks like a movie villain. Those gloves were a nice touch.

Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal was among a group of reporters who had the “privilege” of asking Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad some questions while enjoying a breakfast buffet. He writes an interesting account of how the meeting went and what it was like in the room. What was his final conclusion?

…but my own impression of Ahmadinejad was that he was easily the smartest guy in the room. He mocked us in a way we scarcely had the wit to recognize. We belittle him at our peril.

Let’s hope our political leaders recognize that as well.

Rush Limbaugh made headlines again recently when he declared that he was leaving New York forever, because of the ever increasing tax rates in the state. New York now has the highest taxes in America.

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is planning to reach out to Limbaugh and encourage him to take his act to Texas.

“He’s not unlike other people who want to go to a place that’s got low taxes and fair regulations and a balanced legal system and a skilled work force,” Perry told the Dallas Morning News. “Excellence in Broadcasting hires a lot of people. So if he wants to go somewhere where he works hard and keeps more of what he makes, Texas is the place to do that.”

As a Texas resident myself, I applaud Perry for reaching out to Limbaugh. Unlike liberal states like New York, Texas doesn’t punish businesses with and individuals with unnecessary extreme taxation.

-Chris Jones