Peaceful play can be hazardous - at least at the chess tables of Inwood Hill Park in New York.
Several weeks ago, seven men were levied with $50 tickets for playing chess in a park area restricted to adults accompanied by kids. Nearby was a playground - empty of children at the time.
A police spokesman offered an explanation:
"It's the broken-windows theory: Small things can turn into bigger things."
Aggressive action to protect children from predation is commendable, but residents in the neighborhood remain divided over the logic of the raid. Couldn't kinder, gentler means have been used? The modus operandi of the New York police - they swooped down on their targets wearing bulletproof vests - has provoked at least a few comments.
Perhaps the police had been advised that chess players wield a few weapons of their own.
In 1972, during the Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky matches, the public learned of the use of the dreaded "poison pawns."
The officers might have also heard of the fire-breathing dragon variation of the Sicilian opening, not to mention the sometimes lethal hippopotamus defense or the rarely used orangutan.
Shelby Lyman is a Basic Chess Features columnist.
By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — A sophisticated marijuana lab was discovered by firefighters investigating a fast-moving blaze that tore through a six-story apartment building Thursday morning.
Homegrown plants amounting to an "aggregate weight of several pounds of marijuana" were recovered in an apartment at 510 West 218th St., according to 34th Precinct Capt. Jose Navarro. The fire broke out Thursday morning, and killed two pets and left dozens of families homeless.
"During the fire rescue operations, an apartment used to grow marijuana plants was discovered," Navarro said in an e-mail. He added that the apartment as unfurnished "with the exception of a sophisticated array of ventilation, automatic room temperature control and power source equipment."
The discovery triggered an investigation by the 34th Precinct and the NYPD Narcotics Division, Navarro said.
Fire officials said the marijuana lab did not conribute to the start of the fire, and that the fire was caused by an accidental electrical malfunction in the building.
Neighbors said they were not surprised to hear about the lab.
"This is a quiet section of Inwood," resident Marianna Suerte said. "It makes it the perfect place to grow drugs and not get too many questions."
A 25-year resident of the neighborhood who did not want to be identified said she was also not surprised to hear about the discovery. Although the neighborhood has drastically changed from its drug and gang heyday during the 80s and early 90s, she said there are still pockets of concern.
"There are a lot of shenanigans going on in this building," she said. "You see some pretty unsavory people coming in and out."
A resident of the building, who also asked that his name be withheld out of safety concerns, agreed.
"Am I surprised there was a marijuana lab here?" he asked. "Of course not. There's weed everywhere in Inwood."
Net Zero Energy Buildings: Moving from Demonstration Projects to the Mainstream
Tuesday, January 25, 2011 | 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
The New York Academy of SciencesPresented by the Green Buildings Discussion Group
Since the completion of the Lewis Center at Oberlin College in 1999, which at 13,000 sf was at that time the largest net zero energy building (nZEB) in the country, the green building community has been conceptualizing and developing strategies to scale up nZEBs and make them more commonplace within the industry. Yet, for years energy neutral buildings have remained rarities and typically have been low-intensity use buildings under 15,000sf.
The recent completion of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Research Support Facility (RSF)—a 220,000 sf office and lab building with a data center in Golden, CO—has led to new optimism. The NREL-RSF is a testament to a new level of performance, and to an approach to design and construction that rewards cooperation and respects the expertise of all team members. Dr. Paul Torcellini of NREL will describe the design process, which included an analysis and rethinking of occupant behavior and office interiors and led to an innovative building design with unique features that allow the building to operate as an nZEB. Building on this insight into the inspiring work of the NREL-RSF team, Bert Gregory of Mithun will discuss his firms' involvement in net zero energy buildings and neighborhoods such as the Lloyd Crossing and Project Green planning efforts. He will present inspiring projects that are achieving new levels of sustainability in a challenging marketplace and will provide expert insights into metrics, best practices, trends, and prospects in the realm of low/net zero energy buildings.
Panel Agenda
Organizers
Chris Garvin, Terrapin Bright Green
Catherine Pfeiffenberger, SkanskaModerator
Chris Garvin, Terrapin Bright Green
Speakers
Bert Gregory, Mithun
Paul Torcellini, National Renewable Energy LaboratoryNetworking reception to follow.
Net Zero Energy Buildings: Moving from Demonstration Projects to the Mainstream
Tuesday, January 25, 2011 | 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
The New York Academy of SciencesPresented by the Green Buildings Discussion Group
Since the completion of the Lewis Center at Oberlin College in 1999, which at 13,000 sf was at that time the largest net zero energy building (nZEB) in the country, the green building community has been conceptualizing and developing strategies to scale up nZEBs and make them more commonplace within the industry. Yet, for years energy neutral buildings have remained rarities and typically have been low-intensity use buildings under 15,000sf.
The recent completion of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Research Support Facility (RSF)—a 220,000 sf office and lab building with a data center in Golden, CO—has led to new optimism. The NREL-RSF is a testament to a new level of performance, and to an approach to design and construction that rewards cooperation and respects the expertise of all team members. Dr. Paul Torcellini of NREL will describe the design process, which included an analysis and rethinking of occupant behavior and office interiors and led to an innovative building design with unique features that allow the building to operate as an nZEB. Building on this insight into the inspiring work of the NREL-RSF team, Bert Gregory of Mithun will discuss his firms' involvement in net zero energy buildings and neighborhoods such as the Lloyd Crossing and Project Green planning efforts. He will present inspiring projects that are achieving new levels of sustainability in a challenging marketplace and will provide expert insights into metrics, best practices, trends, and prospects in the realm of low/net zero energy buildings.
Panel Agenda
Organizers
Chris Garvin, Terrapin Bright Green
Catherine Pfeiffenberger, SkanskaModerator
Chris Garvin, Terrapin Bright Green
Speakers
Bert Gregory, Mithun
Paul Torcellini, National Renewable Energy LaboratoryNetworking reception to follow.
By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — A dog named Murphy and a cat named Kelly were killed in a fast moving fire that tore through two stories of an Inwood apartment building Thursday morning and sent four people to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
The Red Cross said 46 residents of a 6-story building at 510 West 218th St. — 31 adults and 15 children — were forced out of their homes and into the early morning cold after the blaze broke out in a second-floor apartment at roughly 7:38 a.m.
At least four other pets were also evacuated from the building. Residents clutched their shivering dogs in American Red Cross blankets trying to keep warm while watching firefighters battle the blaze. Later they were taken to Columbia University’s Baker Field to receive services and information about when they might be able to return home.
City Councilman Robert Jackson spoke to the residents in the early afternoon telling the crowd they would be allowed to return to their homes temporarily once the building received clearance from the FDNY and Department of Buildings.
';"Get your valuables and your medication, now that you are safe, that is what is important," he said.
Inwood native John Galvin, best known in the community for his paranormal investigations, lived with his wife, Kristen, in the second floor apartment where the fire started.
He said he received a call from his wife who said flames rapidly scaled the walls of their apartment as she tried to escape and rescue their miniature dachshund named Murphy.
A neighbor tried to help when Murphy leapt from Kristen Galvin's arms and ran into the burning apartment.
Kristen Galvin was one of five people taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation where she was evaluated and then released, according to her husband.
The dog died in the blaze according to fire officials, Galvin said.
A man who lives on the third floor of the building said his cat, Kelly, also died in the fire, but officials said they could not yet confirm the animal's death.
Martin Vasquez, 28, who lives in the building next door, was on his way to work when he spotted a woman on the fire escape.
"I saw a lady come from the fire escape. She was screaming," Vasquez said. "So I started knocking on all of the doors and then went [home] to make sure my wife and three kids were OK."
Two firefighters and three residents were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, including two firefighters, according to FDNY Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Saccente.
None of the injuries were thought to be serious.
The fire quickly spread from Galvin's second floor apartment to the hallway and then to an apartment on the third floor, Saccente said.
"The flames just shot up the side of the building," neighbor Shane O'Neil said. "It was so fast."
Flames could be seen rising up from the courtyard between 510 West 218th St. and its neighbor building 108 Park Terrace East.
Rebecca Kuehl who has lived in the Park Terrace East building for two years said she watched the flames from her apartment window.
"I could hear people screaming from their fire escapes and then we heard the sirens," she said. "It was scary."
Links
Granny's $100 ticket - for throwing out newspaper
By JESSICA SIMEONE, AMBER SUTHERLAND and JEANE MacINTOSH
Posted: 1:24 AM, December 8, 2010
EXCLUSIVE
What a bunch of garbage!
An elderly Manhattan woman living on Social Security was slapped with a $100 ticket -- just for throwing away a newspaper in a city trash can.
Delia Gluckin, 80, tossed the paper in a bin right outside her Inwood apartment building Sunday morning, only to be ambushed by an overzealous Department of Sanitation agent wielding a citation book.
"I was walking to take the subway downtown and dropped it in a trash can, and this lady in a blue uniform ran up to me," Gluckin told The Post.
"I thought she was going to ask for directions. She said, 'You just dropped garbage in there,' " according to Gluckin.
Matthew McDermottLITTER OF THE LAW: Delia Gluckin, 80, got a $100 trash ticket when she threw a newspaper away."I said, 'I didn't, it was just a newspaper,' and I offered to take it out," said Gluckin, who had tossed her Sunday Post out.
Sanit cop Kathy Castro wrote Gluckin the summons for putting "improper refuse" in a city litter basket.
"She acted as if I had a committed a crime," said the outraged octogenarian.
"I said, 'Look, lady, I'm a senior citizen . . . I'll just take it back.' I even said to her, 'Am I your first customer of the day? I really felt intimidated . . . I have a feeling she just wanted to make her quota."
The green mesh can, at the corner of Beak Street and Seaman Avenue, is marked with signs that read "litter only" and "no household trash."
In a statement, Sanitation admitted, "Being fined for tossing a newspaper into a basket is odd.
"Too many apartment dwellers use the corner litter basket as their personal household dumping site."
Gluckin said she'll fight the fine.
"I was never in trouble with anybody," she said. "I'm on a fixed income; I would have to sacrifice to pay the fine. And if I don't pay in 10 days, they up it to $300."
As per Manhattan Times (http://www.manhattantimesnews.com/2010/required-viewing-the-maccabeats-make-c...:
Just in time for Chanukah, Yeshiva University’s a cappella group the Maccabeats have scored an international YouTube hit with their video “Candlelight,” sung to the tune of Taio Cruz's "Dynamite." Part of the video was filmed in Ft. Tryon Park. Check it out now and you could be the viewer who tips it over 1,000,000 hits.
Okay, folks, a little puzzle for you. Why did this comment lead to an "inappropriate language" warning from NPR's filters when I tried to submit it?
If it is the authors (and not just you) who claim that they have established that current configurations of human sexual behavior are, in any sense, in opposition to "human nature" because they are cultural accretions then they are talking out of their...um...hats. Culture is part of human nature. Culture is the means by which Homo Sapiens has been able to adapt to and reshape such a multitude of environments. It is equally possible to describe the human brain as accretions of earlier and later developments...and some of those later accretions developed (in part) to process human culture. Should we accept only those parts that most nearly resemble our earliest evolutionary antecedents' as being "truer", somehow? I have no doubt that the book you review is a valuable one and I am considering adding it to my reading list. I will, however, be careful about the conclusions I draw from their evidence.
The answer after the jump:
