Man tries to hijack NYC subway train.

Where's Walter Matthau when you need him? Item!

A man wielding a screwdriver and screaming someone wanted to kill him tried to hijack a subway train by forcing his way into a motorman's cab, cops, a witness and the motorman said Monday.

The terrifying 10-minute ordeal on a crowded northbound No. 5 train happened Friday and prompted panicked passengers to rush to the conductor's defense.

"I had some passengers helping me, so thank God for them," said motorman Darryl George, 36. "There are still good people in New York City."

Suspect Richard Arrocho, 42, is accused of entering George's front-car cab by climbing through its open side window from a wall alongside the tracks near the 149th St. station in the Bronx.

"I had opened my window to see what the situation was," George said. "He said someone with a gun was trying to kill him."

As George turned his back to radio a supervisor, Arrocho clambered inside.

"I was shocked," George said. "I couldn't believe it - he was inside my cab.

"He said, 'Move the train or I'm going to f-----g kill you,'" George added. "He wouldn't let me open the door. He pulled a screwdriver and tried to stab me.
"I started to move the train slowly," George added. "He pulled my hand off and pushed the control to make the train go faster. I told him, 'If we keep moving at this speed, we're going to hit something.' It didn't make any difference to him. "

"It was crazy," said witness Ronald Baker, 60, of the Bronx, who shot dramatic video of the 3:40 p.m. incident. "People were screaming, passengers were pounding on the [motorman's] door, trying to get the guy to put down his screwdriver."

Baker's video shows George wrestling with Arrocho and briefly getting the suspect in a headlock as the train rumbled down the tracks. The train stopped once it reached the Jackson Ave. station. George managed to open the door and run out, leaving Arrocho in the cab alone.

The video shows two passengers initially helping George try to keep the suspect locked in the cab. Apparently believing he might commandeer the controls, George and a passenger pushed open the door and attempted to get Arrocho to calm down.

"Someone's trying to kill me!" Arrocho yelled.

Court records show Arrocho claimed someone was trying to kill him in retaliation for a previous robbery. When cops arrived at the Jackson Ave. station, Arrocho surrendered without incident.

"He may have seen 'Taking of Pelham 123' one too many times," said a law enforcement source, referring to the 2009 remake staring John Travolta as the hijacker of a No. 6 train in the Bronx.

The source said Arrocho has a history of mental illness and spent time in a psych ward. He was charged with felony attempted assault, menacing, harassment and criminal possession of a weapon - a pointy Phillips-head screwdriver. He was being held on $2,500 bail.

He has been arrested at least 40 times since 1985 on charges ranging from robbery to petty larceny, records show.

"I could have lost my life over this," George said. "You don't expect something like this to happen when you go to work."

Lamest bank robbery attempt ever?

From NY Post:

Who planned this bank heist? Woody Allen?

Like a scene from Allen's classic film "Take the Money and Run," a nebbishy knucklehead in a black yarmulke allegedly tried to rob a Bank of America in Queens only to give up after the teller refused to comply with his demand note.

"OK, I will go to Citibank . . . I will rob them instead!" Harold Luken, 45, allegedly declared in the Forest Hills branch shortly before being grabbed by cops, police sources said.

The shtick-up began at about 1:50 p.m. Thursday when Luken walked into the bank at 107-26 71st Ave., carrying an acoustic guitar. He apparently didn't want to cause too much of a fuss.

"I am gonna rob the bank," he allegedly yelled. "I have a gun, but I'm gonna wait on line."

True to his word, Luken patiently waited for his turn at the teller window. Once there, he allegedly said, "I'm gonna rob the bank."

He added, "First, I'm gonna pass you a note . . .", police sources said.

The note didn't read, "I have a gub," as in the famous robbery scene from the Allen flick, but it had just as little impact.

When teller Sean Knudsen balked at giving him money, Luken asked for the balance in his own account, police sources said.

Knudsen didn't even give him that.

Luken slunk out of the bank, only to be arrested by 112th Precinct cops.

NYC ordered to change every street sign.

From the NY Daily News:

The city will change the lettering on every single street sign - at an estimated cost of about $27.5 million - because the feds don't like the font.

Street names will change from all capital letters to a combination of upper and lower case on roads across the country thanks to the pricey federal regulation, officials said Wednesday.

By 2018, MADISON AVE. will become Madison Ave. and will be printed in a font called Clearview, the city Department of Transportation says.

The Federal Highway Administration says the switch will improve safety because drivers identify the words more quickly when they're displayed that way - and can sooner return their eyes to the road.

Still, several city residents were OUTRAGED.

"That's ridiculous," said James Sullivan, 34, a bike messenger from Queens. "They might as well just burn the damn money."

Construction worker Joseph Cain, 49, of Manhattan, reacted with sarcasm, saying, "I see my tax dollars are hard at work."

The city has about 250,000 signs, and it costs about $110 to replace one, the DOT says. Officials said the new signs will have improved reflectivity and clarity for nighttime drivers.

The changes are among many in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices that regularly changes to improve road safety, highway administration spokesman Doug Hecox said. The mixed upper- and lowercase rule was adopted in 2003, but municipalities were given until 2018 to comply completely, Hecox said.

"If it's such a pressing safety issue, why won't it be done until 2018? I may not even be driving by then," said Paul Kelly, 66, a retired Manhattan resident.

Dead man in car slapped with parking ticket.

From NY Daily News:

A Queens man was slapped with a parking ticket as he lay dead in the driver's seat of his car, cops and family said Wednesday.

Nicholas Rappold, 21, of Flushing, was slumped across the front seat of his Jeep Cherokee on 165th St. near 35thAve. Tuesday morning when a traffic agent wrote him up for being illegally parked during street sweeping, cops and family said.

"It's really messed up," the young man's cousin Patrick Hill told the Daily News. "While he was dead in his car, a New York City traffic agent gave him a ticket."

An hour after the ticket was issued, a friend whose house Rappold had left in the middle of the night spotted his buddy's vehicle still parked outside, sources said.

The curious pal went to see why the SUV was still there and found Rappold's cold body, sources said.

Investigators interviewed the traffic agent but found no wrongdoing. "He had heavily tinted windows," a police source said in defense of the postmortem ticket. "It was hard to see inside."

But family argued that the officer could have seen Rappold, who had recently been in rehab for pill abuse.

"She could have at least knocked on the window to see if he was all right," Hill said.

The cause of death is still to be determined by the medical examiner, but investigators believe Rappold died hours before the ticketing from an overdose.

Police voided the parking summons after they released the vehicle to the family.

Coozer-Bits.

Karaoke Kills: Jury deadlocked on NJ's "Karaoke Killer."

Duh: Woody Allen defends Roman Polanski.

Local: The Village Voice is releasing hundreds of hours of secret tapes of the NYPD behaving badly.

PSA: Army recalls 44,000 helmets.

Awesome: Butterfinger searching for 4th member of their Butterfinger Defense League (featuring Erik Estrada, Lou Ferrigno, and Charisma Carpenter).

Duh: Woman dies trying to reverse park.

Man plunges to death from Empire State Building observation deck.

Luckily, this jerk didn't hit any pedestrians. The area around the ESB has heavy foot traffic, especially during rush hour. From NY Post:

A man jumped to his death from the 86th floor observation deck of the Empire State Building tonight, police sources said.

The jumper, who was in his 20s, landed on the sidewalk by a bank branch on W. 34th Street near Fifth Avenue at about 6:30 p.m.

Police believe he was able to get over the barriers because there weren’t too many people on the deck due to rainy weather.

Jason Beck, 28, of Brooklyn was walking with a friend on the street when the tragedy occurred.

"My friend heard this really loud weird sound," he said. "He turned around and saw someone splattered on the ground."

Ninjas swoop into high-end Manhattan boutique, swiping expensive dresses.

From the NY Post:

A gang of Ninja-style crooks staged a daring Fifth Avenue smash-and-grab in Midtown early yesterday, swiping $100,000 worth of pricey goodies from the boutique of high-end Italian designer Emilio Pucci, police sources said.

The crooks were dressed head to toe in basic black -- not at all like Emilio Pucci's styles, which are a riot of color. Cops believe there were at least three thieves at work.

Around 3:48 a.m., the crew smashed a glass door of the store -- which is down the street from Trump Tower -- and ran inside, authorities said.

Security video shows that within two minutes, they snatched dresses, T-shirts, handbags, belts, sunglasses, shoes and scarves, said a store spokesperson. The thieves stuffed the goods into a large plastic bag and fled.

The break-in triggered an alarm system -- but the thieves were gone by the time police arrived, said the sources.

Coyotes roaming around Columbia University.

From NY Post:

Columbia University's public safety department is warning students about coyotes on the campus, MyFox NY reported Monday.

There were reports of coyotes on the Morningside Campus in Manhattan's Morningside Heights section.

Three coyotes were seen in front of Lewisohn Hall on Sunday morning.

After someone called 9-1-1, the NYPD responded and an officer spotted one of the animals, confirming it was a coyote.

There was another sighting later in the morning.

Campus security was asking people not to get near the animals if they were seen again.

Cop leaves patrol car running, thief steals it.

From the NY Post:

A brazen car thief stole an NYPD highway patrol vehicle with a loaded shotgun inside this morning — and drove it all the way to La Guardia Airport — after a cop left it idling and unmanned while he got breakfast at a Bronx diner, authorities said.

The heist occurred at the corner of Cruger and Lydig avenues in Morris Park shortly before 8 a.m. when an officer grabbed a bite to eat at Lydig Coffee House, said sources.

The car thief sped away in the hot wheels, a marked Chevy Tahoe, and headed over the Whitestone Bridge, said sources.

Witnesses said the red-faced officer was only in the diner for two minutes when he ran out in a panic.

"All of a sudden I see a cop come out of the restaurant running. He was going crazy," said Sammy Obaid, an employee at a deli across from the greasy spoon. "He was on the phone, making calls. He was freaked out."

Man makes off with discarded bank heist booty.

From the NY Post:

A bank robber running from police dropped a bag full of cash in the heart of Chinatown yesterday -- but the money is still missing because an opportunist made off with the booty.

Police said the robber, who was not identified, walked into the TD Bank branch on Canal Street and Bowery at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge at about 1:30 p.m. He claimed to be armed and verbally demanded cash from a teller.

But just steps from the bank, a uniformed cop spotted the crook and chased him. As the robber ran, a dye packet inside the cash bag went off.

"I was right outside the bank. A man came running out," said witness Bun Lam. "There was a cop two steps behind him . . . Right in front of a beauty-supply store, the ink exploded."

The robber dropped the bag and continued to run, witnesses said, and another unidentified man picked up the red-stained cash and took off.

Cops caught up with the bank robber, but the booty-grabber was still in the wind.

Charges were pending.

Coozer-Bits.

Local: Terrorism, swine flu, girlfriend-beating politicians put my home in the national spotlight! Yeah, Queens Pride! Up yours, Brooklyn!!

Science: The Year in Space.

Film: Half of the movies coming out in 2010 are from 2008.

Duh: Dumbest quotes of the 2000's. (Somehow, not all are from Bush!)

Trends: Anti-energy drinks. (Isn't that called "beer"?)

RUW: Robot helps grandma shop. Our elderly are doooooomed!!

Awesome: Italy gets $95 billion from illegal money held in Swiss banks!

Science: Scientists discover how wild mushroom cancer drug works.

Hospital sign has secret meaning.

From Queens Crap:

It shined briefly as a strange beacon of commiseration: the hospital sign that declared in large neon lights something that looks a lot like, “I’m hurt.”

Now the Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, where the sign marks the entrance to the emergency room, has decided to cut power to the sign until it is repaired, probably next week, a hospital spokesman said.

“It’s too much attention that wasn’t intended and is not needed,” said Dario Centorcelli, the spokesman. “It will be fixed.’

The strange message was the result of the neon bulbs in two letters in the hospital name burning out — the “E” and “S” — prompting passers-by to find hidden meaning in the surviving text “lmhur t.”

Super Mario Bros. beat up cab driver.

This is why I ride Yoshi instead of taxis. From the NY Daily News:

The cabbie beat up by thugs dressed as Super Mario Brothers spoke out about his ordeal Sunday and demanded tougher laws against assaults on taxi drivers.

"I was really scared....At the time, I really think I'm going to die," said Ndiaye Serigne, 48, of Harlem, who was robbed and pummeled by four men dressed as Mario, Luigi and other characters at a gas station.

"We want more protection."

Serigne said he picked up the group in Gramercy around 3:30 a.m. on Halloween night. Trouble started soon after he crossed the Verrazano Bridge.

"Now it's a free ride," one passenger said as he reached over and turned off Serigne's meter. Then he reached into the cabbie's pocket and grabbed $210.

Club goer beats self up, blames bouncer.

From NY Post:

A Queens man claimed a bouncer bloodied him when he got tossed from a strip club -- but a surveillance camera there told a different tale.

Khuram Murtaza, 34, called cops after he was tossed out of the Rouge Gentleman's Club, on 58th Street near 55th Avenue, shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday.

When cops arrived at the Maspeth club, his face was bloody and bruised and he claimed the bouncer had beaten him, sources said.

The bouncer, however, claimed he didn't hit the man and provided proof from the club's surveillance video, the sources said.

Cops viewed the video and it clearly showed Murtaza smashing his face against a car, cutting his own nose, according to court papers.

Murtaza was charged with falsely reporting an incident, said a spokeswoman for Queens DA Richard Brown.

Queens park hosts naval battle with togas and tomatoes.

Even by NYC standards, this is pretty bizarre.

Queens gladiators emerged spattered but victorious last Thursday as cultural institutions from across the city converged in Flushing Meadows Corona Park for a fiery battle royale as surreal as anything since perhaps the spectacle of the 1964 World’s Fair.

Teams from the Queens Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Bronx Museum of the Arts and Manhattan’s El Museo del Barrio joined a mystery team representing Staten Island for “Those About to Die Salute You,” an artistic face-off between the boroughs.

The frenzied, hour-long fight in a World’s Fair-leftover reflecting pool involved tomato projectiles, foam bats and more pyrotechnics than were probably allowed.

[...] Tableaux from the evening were not what one would see at a typical art show: a nude man in his 60s changing out of a tomato-soaked toga between two parked cars; a heavy metal band playing in the museum. Hundreds of people showed up in togas, some with the proper, two-layer Roman look, some with golden laurels, some in bedsheets with garden ivy in their hair.

More here.

NYC sues Exxon $300m for polluting Queens.

Kill one person and you're a murderer. Kill tens of thousands of people and you're a successful corporation.

The city has taken one of the world’s largest oil companies to court and is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for contaminating the drinking water under southeast Queens.

Opening arguments began last week in Manhattan federal court for the city’s lawsuit against ExxonMobil, accusing the oil giant of negligence and nuisance for using the chemical methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, in its fuel products during the 1980s and ’90s. The chemical served as an unleaded gasoline additive to boost the octane number and, if found in water supplies, has been found to cause cancer and other diseases when it comes in contact with human skin, according to the lawsuit.

Large traces of the additive were found in the groundwater that was located under Jamaica and prevented the city from using it to provide water to New Yorkers, according to the suit.

“From at least the early 1980s, defendants and other gasoline refiners collectively knew ... about the dangers and risks that the products posed to groundwater and soil, but did not at any time warn the public, local gasoline stations or any government entity,” the city said in the suit.

The city is seeking more than $300 million in damages from ExxonMobil in the jury trial. Peter John Sacripanti, the attorney representing the oil company, could not be reached for comment.

More here.

Girl selling lemonade ticketed $50.

Is it just me, or does the Post seem to have something against the NYC Parks Dept? Item!

Three sourpuss Parks Department agents put the squeeze on a 10-year-old girl in Riverside Park yesterday, slapping the tyke with a $50 ticket for hawking lemonade without a permit.

Clementine Lee, who lives just blocks from the Upper West Side park, had dreamed of opening a lemonade stand since last year and took advantage of yesterday's beautiful weather to set up shop.

"It was such a hot day I figured people would want a cold drink," the aspiring juvenile juice mogul told The Post.

It has a happy ending...

[...] But yesterday, after The Post contacted the department, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe announced that the ticket would be nixed.

"The agent used extremely poor judgment" and didn't properly enforce the rule, Benepe said.

The bumbling Parks enforcement patrol officer will be re-trained on rules and regulations and will be reassigned, he added.

"We're going to make lemonade out of lemons . . . I look forward to buying lemonade from her if I pass by," said the commissioner.

Mister Softee vendor beats up Haagen Dazs vendor.

Midtown Lunch has got the scoop!

Just because so much has been written about street vendors verbally threatening other street vendors doesn’t mean that people should get the impression that it never gets physical. In fact earlier today two ice cream vendors got into a fist fight over the corner of 6th Ave and 50th Street. The cops were already on scene when I walked up, and an ambulance showed up shortly thereafter (although it looked like only one vendor was hurt, and it was just a black eye.) I’m not sure exactly what happened because both the Police sergeant and the vendors pretty much refused to talk to me- but it looked like the vendors were given the opportunity to press charges and both get arrested, or make up with each other and just receive tickets. It looked to me like they both chose citations (natch), and the ice cream truck left pretty soon thereafter.

As contentious as you normally hear the relationship is between cops and vendors, this interaction looked pretty civil. I guess the cops mind less when the vendors are beating up each other.

Gun sales skyrocket 50% on Long Island.

As if Wrong Island wasn't scary already. From Newsday:

Local politicians and activists expressed concern Tuesday about reports that handgun sales and permit applications have increased in recent months.

Officials and gun sellers offer a variety of reasons, but police and state figures show that so far this year, pistol applications on Long Island are up 50 percent over last year.

One reason cited is the fear that a Democratic president and Congress could legislatively snatch away access to guns, local gun shop owners said. Another is that a poor economy is driving some fearful people to arm themselves for protection.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) called the latter reason mainly a product of hysteria, fomented by pro-gun groups.

"It's kind of scary," she said. "And I think we're seeing more and more of that because of the Internet. It's unfortunate that people out there believe that stuff."

NY senators want to get paid for doing nothing.

Not only should they not get paid, they should be fined for every day they refuse to work. We elected them to work for us, can we now fire them all?

Senators, can you spare a dime?

Thirty-one days into their stalemate, do-nothing warring state senators are having their salaries withheld Wednesday - for the first time since the infamous June 8 Republican-led coup.

State Controller Thomas DiNapoli last week ordered the biweekly paychecks of all 62 senators held until the Senate wraps up its fight.

Wednesday is the first payday since the order. Payroll for 62 senators amounts to some $190,000 - or $3,049 per senator, every two weeks.

"The controller didn't want to interject his office in what's an internal dispute, but he just felt he couldn't continue to process payroll as if everything was normal," DiNapoli spokesman Dennis Tompkins said.

DiNapoli is moving ahead even though a court has yet to rule on his question about whether he has the authority.

The controller's office also continues to withhold payments for expense vouchers submitted by the Senate. A spokesman said 557 vouchers have been withheld, totaling $1.5 million.

Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. - one of the coup's two turncoat Democrats - said he expects DiNapoli's action "to be litigated."

"The continued punitive actions are ... illegal," Espada said.