It was a hairy situation in Harlem for a hawk that was trapped between two buildings.
The bird got stuck near East 102nd Street and Park Avenue at around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Rescue workers managed to free the hawk from between the walls of the two buildings. The hawk appeared to be in good health, and was taken to Central Park and released.
In Ringwood, N.J., an enclave of Jersey Central Power and Light customers is still in the dark, while their surrounding Orange and Rockland-powered neighbors have had their power on for days.
It's the fourth night in the dark for JCP&L customer Michael Ardito, who has been running his generator day and night since Saturday, costing him an estimated $70 a day.
Ardito said his neighbors powered by Orange and Rockland seemed to get relief right away. He said he saw trucks from Indiana in the area, bringing in out-of-state crews for repairs.
A spokesperson for JCP&L said the company hopes to get power back to 95 percent of its households by Thursday and that crews were doing their best.
"Someone should tell JCP&L their best isn't good enough," Ardito said.
But some Orange and Rockland customers weren't faring much better. The Polster family in nearby Oakland has been spending most of their day in a nearby pizzeria, doing homework and waiting for the power at their home to come back on.
Ardito said he wanted to have his power supplied and serviced by Orange and Rockland like his neighbors. But JCP&L said they own the land Ardito lives on and it has no plans of selling it.
For the fourth night in a row, the Westchester County village of Croton-on-Hudson is in the dark after a freak October snowstorm knocked down power poles and left masses of tangled wires on the ground.
"It was an absolute war zone," Stefan Lonce said of the storm razing the poles. "I can't describe it. You're panicked."
Lonce lives on Brook Street, where residents have been walking with flashlights to see ahead of them. With wires blocking the way in almost every direction, Lonce can barely get in or out of his dark home. He comes home in the morning and at night to feed his pets, but has been forced to stay elsewhere.
Nearby, John Hlinka has chosen to stay in his home. With at least gas and hot water still being supplied to the home, he just has to watch closely where he goes, he said.
Con Edison crews were still making repairs in the area Tuesday night, and their progress was apparent. Residents were told to expect their power back on by Wednesday.
"I'm hoping they're right because there's something about abandoning your home that's scary," said Lonce.
Sorry tea partiers, the drumming, park-occupying Wall Street protesters get more love from New York voters.
A NY1-Marist Poll released Tuesday show 44 percent of voters support the Occupy Wall Street movement while only 21 percent support the tea party. But about half of the 1,030 adults surveyed Oct. 25 through 27 think the tea party movement will have greater influence in the 2012 presidential election.
The support for the two movement splits across party lines, with more than seven in 10 Democrats saying they share the Wall Street protesters' views. Fifty-five percent of Republicans say their views are more aligned with the tea party.
The survey also found that three in four voters said that the Occupy Wall Street movement's main message was about "too much corporate greed."
A 47-year-old Manhattan mother is fighting for her life at Harlem Hospital, two days after she was struck by a shopping cart that was thrown from four stories above her at East River Plaza Mall in East Harlem.
The 12-year-old boys accused of throwing the shopping cart were arrested Tuesday and charged with juvenile assault.
According to police, the boys were playing around on the fourth-floor walkway of the mall when they decided to push shopping carts against the railing. One of the carts fell four stories down on top of Marion Salmon Hedges, who had been at the mall to shop for Halloween candy with her teenage son.
Hedges remains in critical condition.
"That's somebody's mother, someone's daughter," said shopper Monique Johnson. "Whoever did it should be prosecuted to the fullest extent."
Hedges, a married real estate agent who lives on the Upper West Side with her two teenage children, is known for her charity work: She is a board member of the Samuel M. Isaacs community center and has a special interest in the youth programs.
Director Wanda Wooton told USA LOCAL NEWS the situation was "unbelievable," "especially because it happened to Marion who is so giving and wonderful."
"It's horrendous," said Angelica Gonzalez, a shopper whose friend saw the aftermath of the incident. "It's horrible what these kids do."
The pranksters were charged in family court with assault as juveniles. Both live in East Harlem and neither of their families had a statement for USA LOCAL NEWS.
A 19-year-old Newark man is wanted by police for allegedly stabbing his mother's boyfriend to death Monday night.
Police say Lawrence Williams got into an argument with 38-year-old David Collier at his mother's home on Treacy Avenue Monday night, then stabbed Collier. He then fled the home.
Collier was taken to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 10:45 p.m., the Essex County prosecutor's office said.
Williams remains at large and is presumed to be armed and dangerous, said the prosecutor's office. He is wanted on charges of murder and weapons offenses.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.
A group of nurses claims in a lawsuit a major New Jersey hospital has forced them to assist in performing abortions despite their religious objections.
The lawsuit was filed this week in federal court in Newark against the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
It claims the hospital changed its policy in September to require its employees to assist in abortions or be subject to termination. It says the requirement violates state and federal laws.
The nurses are seeking an injunction to force the hospital to change its policy and an order prohibiting it from retaliating against them.
The hospital says in a statement none of its nurses is required to participate in procedures he or she objects to on religious or moral grounds.
Several dozen people were rushed out of a building in the Tottenville section of Staten Island as firefighters attended to a major gas leak there.
The gas leak was reported from a mixed-use commercial building at about 4:30 p.m. on the 200-block of Richmond Valley Road. The center houses a gym, a physical therapy office and a roller skating center.
The leak was quickly contained, and the gas has been shut off as firefighters continue to ventilate the building and fix the leak.
There was no fire, and there has been no reported injuries.
It was unclear when the building would re-open.
Alicia Keys headed back to high school Tuesday to donate music instruments to students, delighting them with an impromptu singalong of her popular song "No One."
The Grammy-winning singer visited the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan to donate the instruments.
Keys says her alma mater is underfunded and oversubscribed, "and I hope to make this better for them."
She also launched an online contest where people can share how they would use $1,000 "to make the world a better place." It is part of the global campaign, "World of Betters."
The contest begins Tuesday and ends Dec. 15.
"World of Betters" also features rapper K'Naan, who will host an event in Johannesburg, and Indian singer Sunidhi Chauhan, who will host an event in Mumbai, India.
Some New Jersey school districts are still reeling from the Halloween-weekend snowstorm that cut off power to well over 2 million residents, and they now face an uncertain schedule heading into winter.
In West Orange, students will have to miss a third day of school Wednesday, already going over the maximum number of two allowable snow days. As a result, their weeklong spring vacation will be shortened by at least one day, said spokeswoman Jeannine Genauer.
And if more snowstorms force school districts to close once winter comes roaring through, more questions of how to squeeze in the state-required 180 days of instruction will arise.
Superintendents and parents are already on edge over last winter's near-record snowfalls.
Ezra Ferguson, 44, a mother of four students in Ridgewood, said Tuesday she would be working if she wasn't taking care of her homebound children.
"I would probably be working on my computer, I'm a photographer," said Ferguson as she prepared to drive off with all four in her minivan.
Ridgewood students get two weeklong breaks after the new year, in February and in April, according to Superintendent Dr. Dan Fishbein.
Normally, Ridgewood makes up excessive snow days during the April break. If the number of snows days taken exceed the number of days in the April break, it will take away from February's mid-winter time off.
But if the extra snow days don't come until March, for example, and the April break can't accommodate the total number of required make-up days, then Fishbein admits the school year would have to be lengthened.
But Fishbein said he wouldn't worry about the snow days until the winter.
For students like Zoe Ferguson, a junior at Ridgewood High School, getting back to school can't come too early.
As she texted away on her smart phone while it recharged in her mother's car, Zoe said, "I'd rather have power than no school."
New York soon will require insurers to cover screening, diagnosis and treatment for autism spectrum disorders, which will increase premiums for all individuals and businesses.
Supporters say the new law will include routine toddler screenings, behavioral health treatments, speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy. That should bolster early and effective treatment and save families as much as $50,000 a year in out-of-pocket cost for 30,000 autistic New York children.
The state Health Plan Association estimates the bill, signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, will cost an average family "hundreds of dollars" and employers tens of thousands of dollars.
"For some New York families and employers, it could be the added costs that finally price them out of coverage altogether," said Paul Macielak, speaking for the association of health insurers.
The group wants to negotiate changes to reduce coverage and costs before the law takes effect in one year. The measure was vetoed last year by former Gov. David Paterson as too expensive, but Cuomo said the current bill puts an important $45,000 annual cap on the coverage insurance companies would have to fund.
Supporters agree the bill will increase insurance premiums for all New Yorkers, but they estimate that cost at just $1 per year.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said the law debated for seven years is "important and highly compassionate" legislation.
The law "showed how important government is ... how powerful government can be," he said.
Medicaid is the main reimbursement source. Some services are provided in public schools and some insurers provide limited coverage. But many parents struggle to pay for other treatment.
The law takes effect Nov. 1, 2012 for insurance policies issued or renewed after that.
Autism spectrum disorders impair thinking, feeling, speaking and the ability to relate to others. They range in severity.
An estimated one of every 110 children in the United States is affected, mostly boys.
New York's large and expensive public payrolls are starting to decline, pared down by more baby boomers hitting retirement age, special retirement incentives offered last year and renewed pressure to cut spending that are all starting to cut costs for taxpayers.
The New York State Common Retirement Fund for state and local governments reported processing a record 30,772 retirement applications in 2010, compared with about 20,000 annually for the past two decades. Fund officials attributed 12,000 to the retirement incentives.
Wildlife biologist Al Hicks retired last year after 34 years at the Department of Environmental Conservation, where he was studying widespread deaths of hibernating bats in New York. At 57, he believed there would still be opportunities to get work and make up the $15,000 difference between the pension and salary of $65,192. He used the incentive to get three years of retirement credit.
"It was pretty darn clear there wasn't going to be raises or anything for the next three or four years. I decided I wasn't going to work more than three or four years anyway," Hicks said.
"You see all across the country job losses in the public sector," said Eric Sumberg, spokesman for New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, trustee of the pension fund. The 2010 retirement incentive provided an extra month's credit toward a pension benefit for each year of work up to three years. It was available to those already eligible to retire or workers who were 55 with at least 25 years of service.
Although many factors make the savings estimate fuzzy, the effective savings compared to a recent peak employment period in 2009 is about $1.25 billion. The Division of Budget, however, noted that variables including the type and cost of jobs vacated and if the worker is getting retirement benefits are hard to determine. It also depends on jobs staying empty. But the figure is substantial in the $132 billion budget.
"I think it's important to keep in context," said E.J. McMahon of the fiscally conservative Manhattan Institute. "Government employment is down, but it only began to decline when the recession was two-thirds of the way over; in fact it was increasing early in the recession."
New York's Labor Department reported 9,300 fewer government jobs statewide in September from the same month last year, including 2,300 fewer in the postal service, based on its survey of 18,000 employers that counts paychecks.
New York is not alone. As tax revenues dive, state and local governments have shed over a half million jobs since the recession began in December 2007. And, after adding jobs early in the downturn, the federal government is now cutting them as well. States cut 49,000 jobs over the past year and localities 210,000, according to an analysis of Labor Department statistics. There are 30,000 fewer federal workers now than a year ago.
The New York state pension system had 672,723 active members last year, about two-thirds of them employees of counties, cities, towns, villages, public authorities and school districts outside New York City. It had 385,031 retired workers with ranks of retirees growing faster than active members. So far in 2011 it has received another 13,000 retirement applications.
The New York State Teachers Retirement System is separate from the state retirement system and covers upstate public school teachers. The teachers retirement fund reported some 8,400 retirements in its 2010-2011 fiscal year, compared with 5,500 the year before. Its active enrollment declined from 285,700 to about 280,500 as of June 30, with another 4,500 applications filed so far. New York City's teachers and public workers have separate pension plans.
Retirement incentives accounted for about 1,300 of the upstate teachers leaving but the broader trend had been foreseen, said spokesman John Cardillo.
"The boomers are retiring," he said.
The post-World War II baby boom, from 1946 to 1964, spawned a generation that includes some 76 million U.S. residents who now range in age from 47 to 65. Many long-tenured state workers and teachers become eligible to retire at 55 with pensions, though some are clinging to jobs in a weak economy.
The state government's full-time work force, which totaled 195,792 in March 2010 for the executive departments, state and city universities, comptroller's and attorney general's offices, has declined by about 10,000 to 185,590 currently, state Budget Division spokesman Morris Peters said. In November 1990, the historic high was 230,593, he said.
"People talk about the ever-expanding government, not so much here," he said.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget called for cutting operations spending at state agencies by 10 percent in 2011-2012. Peters said that remains in effect and the agencies have done it.
Hicks, the retired biologist, is still trying to help solve the white-nose syndrome that's killing bats. He started a consulting business, volunteers for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and almost daily talks to his former DEC colleagues who now have the work with one fewer biologist.
"In terms of the future of the bat, it's a huge issue. That's why I'm still in it," Hicks said. "You can't spend a career working on it and walk out because your last day of employment is up."
MF Global, the securities firm led by former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, broke rules requiring it to keep clients' money and company funds in separate accounts, the head of the Chicago Mercantile exchange said Tuesday.
CME Group Inc. CEO Craig Donohue says MF Global Holdings Ltd. was "not in compliance" with requirements set by his company and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, its key regulator.
"While we are unable to determine the precise scope of the firm's violation at this time, we are investigating the circumstances of the firm's failure," Donohue said in a conference call about his company's quarterly financial results.
MF Global filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, after a big bet on European debt threatened to topple it. Regulators said they have discovered shortfalls in some of the firm's customer accounts.
Companies regulated by the CFTC must account for clients' money and investments separately from money and investments belonging to the company.
Corzine, a former New Jersey governor and chief of Goldman Sachs, prompted MF Global to make more trades for the company's own profits, a practice known as proprietary trading. He pushed for the $6.3 billion bet on debt issued by Italy, Spain and other European nations with troubled economies that ultimately doomed the company.
The CFTC said in September that MF Global was overvaluing some of its European debt investments. It required the company to raise more cash, according to court papers filed on Monday.
MF Global reported its biggest ever quarterly loss last week, mainly because of losses on proprietary trading. Credit rating agencies downgraded the company's bonds to junk status, and business partners demanded that it put up more cash to guarantee its trades. The result was a severe cash crunch that forced MF Global into bankruptcy court.
Debt from many European nations has lost value in recent months because bond investors fear one or more countries might default. Fears about MF Global's possible losses spooked investors on Monday.
A lighter in a man's pocket deflected a bullet when he was fired at as three men tried to rob him.
Nassau County police on Long Island say the 22-year-old man only had a leg bruise after the encounter with thieves in Hempstead on Monday night.
Police said the man was approached by the three robbers, and when he ran, one suspect fired at him.
He was treated at a hospital for the leg bruise.
Police ask anyone with information about the incident to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS.
It was a clash of the mayors.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Mayor Ed Koch disagreed with each other at a panel discussion Tuesday when asked about their response to the Occupy Wall Street protests.
Bloomberg says the banks are being wrongly blamed for the mortgage crisis when Congress was at fault.
Koch notes that major banks have been fined millions of dollars. He says that's because they "abused their relationship with their clientele.''
Koch says he wants an executive of a major corporation punished criminally.
He says: "There's something wrong with a kid who steals a bike going to jail, and someone who steals millions paying a fine.''
Bloomberg also revealed a softer side. He says the criticism he receives hurts, but he doesn't show it.
A horse that collapsed and died as it trotted toward Central Park last month suffered from a stomach ulcer and fractured tooth and was not fit to work as a carriage horse, a report said Tuesday.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said a preliminary necropsy report indicates that Charlie, estimated to be 15 years old, was not in good health.
Pamela Corey, director of equine services for the ASPCA's Humane Law Enforcement department, said Charlie was "not healthy for a career in an urban carriage horse business."
"We are very concerned that Charlie was forced to work in spite of painful maladies," she said. The conditions from which Charlie was suffering can be difficult to diagnose, she added, because his breed is "stoic" by nature and does not show signs of pain until they are severe.
Charlie had reportedly just left the 52nd Street Stables to begin the day's work when he collapsed.
He was licensed in August and had only been working for a few weeks.
The ASPCA said New York City has few requirements for the health of its carriage horses. The animals must be examined twice a year, but "there is no directive concerning the thoroughness of these exams," the ASPCA said.
A spokesman for Teamsters Local 533, the union that represents horse carriage drivers, said the animal was not overworked.
Charlie's death has renewed calls from animal advocates to ban the practice of horse-carriage rides in Central Park. Mayor Bloomberg said last week that he was not in favor of such a ban, and that carriage horses are lucky to be working because most "probably wouldn't be alive if they didn't have a job."
Hundreds of thousands of people still without power after a freak October storm face the prospect of days without electricity or heat, and officials in some areas canceled Halloween because of fallen trees, downed lines and other hazards.
Dozens of schools closed for a second day Tuesday. See the latest closings here.
Although most train service is expected to be restored, riders are cautioned to expect delays while the system gets back on track (see below for details).
The storm dumped nearly 2 feet of snow in some places, but the main concern has been how the weight of the precipitation downed so many trees, pulling down power lines and creating major cleanup problems.
Around the state, about 160,000 customers were without power Tuesday, most in the hard-hit Hudson Valley region of the state. Consolidated Edison reported about 34,000 customers without power, mostly in Westchester County, with the majority expected to be restored by late Wednesday.
Metro-North resumed mostly normal service Tuesday with several changes. Bus service will be in effect on the Wassaic, Waterbury and Danbury branches. Regular train/bus service is in effect on the Port Jervis line with the exception of the 9:20 a.m. train from Harriman to Port Jervis and the 11:10 a.m. train from Port Jervis, which aren't running. Check here for more details.
Shelters are open in Bedford at the Bedford Community Center, in Yorktown at Copper Beach Middle School and in Croton at the Municipal Building at 1 Van Wyck Street. Find out more at westchestergov.com
NEW JERSEY
Chester, in Morris County, postponed trick-or-treating until Friday and utilities are warning parents to be cautious of downed wires when taking children out trick-or-treating.
About 600,000 utility customers across New Jersey lost power over the weekend, including Gov. Chris Christie.
By Tuesday, about 360,000 were still in the dark. Jersey Central Power and Electric reported more than 210,000 customers without power, mostly in northern New Jersey.
Public Service Electric and Gas Company said it had another 150,000 without power. The utility expects to have restored service to 95 percent of its customers by midnight Wednesday.
"I know if you are without power today, Thursday seems like a long time from now," the governor said. "I understand that all this information, if you are someone who doesn't have power, is just talk until the lights go back on and the heat goes back on in your house. I get that. I lived it over the last 36 hours."
NJ Transit service restored service on the Morris & Essex and Boonton lines, but cautioned riders to expect 30 to 45 minute delays in both directions. Service remains suspended between Hackettstown and Dover.
CONNECTICUT
Officials in Fairfield, Avon, Bristol, Hartford, Coventry and Danbury have suggested postponing Halloween until later in the week or canceled it all together.
Gov. Dannel Malloy tweeted Monday that the state has had two weather-related fatalities, both from vehicle accidents.
By Tuesday morning, about 700,000 customers, primarily Connecticut Light & Power users, remained in the dark across the state, shattering the record for a single event that was set when the remnants of Hurricane Irene hit in August.
Connecticut Light & Power cautions customers to plan for prolonged outages that may last a week.
A flight out of Newark International Airport made an emergency landing in Poland after its landing gear failed to open, according to PLTVP.
The Boeing 767 Polish Airlines jet discovered the technical glitch ahead of its scheduled landing at Warsaw International Airport Tuesday morning.
The plane circled over the airport burning fuel while officials prepared for the emergency landing.
It landed on its bottom without landing gear.
The status of the passengers wasn't immediately clear. It wasn't immediately known how many people were on board.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
The idea of giving parking permits to New York City residents is being revived.
A hearing is set for Wednesday on a state bill that would give the City Council and city Department of Transportation the authority to give out permits by neighborhood, according to the New York Post.
Parking permits for residents in neighborhoods where spots are scarce have been discussed for years, but the concept has never gotten off the ground. It was part of Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan that failed years ago.
Under the proposal, 80 percent of spots in a permitted neighborhood would be for drivers who hold a permit.
The permits would come with a cost, which has not been determined.
The idea has gained new attention amid the construction of a new arena in Prospect Heights. The Barclays Center has 18,000 seats but just 1,100 parking spots, and it has neighbors worried.
“Permit parking is long overdue in downtown Brooklyn, western Queens, upper Manhattan and other communities where residents must circle for hours trying to find parking near their homes,” state Sen. Daniel Squadron told the Post.
The council will decide whether it wants to endorse the plan with a home-rule message. The state Assembly supports it; the state Senate is undecided, according to the Post.
Jimmy Brown has learned to deal with a good bit of inconvenience.
Since a diving accident left him paralyzed from the waist down several years ago, the 32-year-old from Staten Island’s Huguenot neighborhood has spent the better part of each day in a wheelchair.
Before he boards an airplane, he deprives himself of water. Since airliner bathrooms aren’t generally wheelchair accessible, Brown fears having to relieve himself mid-flight.
On Saturday, Brown was aboard JetBlue Flight 405 when the plane was diverted from Newark to Hartford’s Bradley International Airport because a freak October snowstorm pummeling New Jersey.
After the jet landed, Brown and more than 100 other passengers sat trapped in the cabin for at least eight and a half hours before they were allowed to deplane.
“I flipped out on the plane and used some vulgarity. I made some comments saying how I need to get off the plane. 'This is way too long. I can’t sit here anymore. I have bad circulation,'” Brown told USA LOCAL NEWS.
Brown’s flight was one of 23 jetliners forced to land in Connecticut because the storm forced traffic away from New York City airports.
As the smaller airport struggled to find resources and accommodate the unexpected planes, Brown says he was left to languish in a stuffy cabin while his wife watched him suffer.
“She saw what her husband went through. 'He can’t get the circulation he needs. He needs other people to get up and then he gets humiliated on a plane. He’s got to pee in his own seat,'" Brown said of his wife. "I mean, this stuff is terrible.”
JetBlue issued the following statement in response to a request for comment by USA LOCAL NEWS:
“Due to a confluence of events, including infrastructure issues in New York/JFK and Newark, JetBlue diverted 17 flights on Saturday. Six of those flights diverted to Hartford. We worked with the airport to secure services, including remote deplaning and lav[atory] servicing.
Obviously, we would have preferred deplaning much sooner than we did, but our flights were six of the 23 reported diversions into Hartford, including international flights. The airport experienced intermittent power outages, which made refueling and jet bridge deplaning difficult.
We have communicated directly with our customers impacted by this confluence of events to apologize as well as provide a full round-trip refund, as it remains JetBlue’s responsibly to not simply provide safe and secure travel, but a comfortable experience as well."
Two days after the tarmac trouble, Brown said he had yet to receive a personal apology from Jet Blue.
"I got a $30 voucher from McDonald’s. That’s about it," Brown said. "So if that’s the thanks they were looking to give they can keep it.”
