Post Series win, Girardi comes to the rescue of crash victim

Thursday November 5, 2009 6:57 PM By Heather Haddon

Win a World Series -- check. Rescue a woman in a car crash -- check.

About 2 ½ hours after leading the Yankees to a World Series championship, Manager Joe Girardi came to the aid of a 27-year-old mother who lost control of her vehicle on a Westchester highway -- a shocker to both the victim and police.
 
“I had no idea who he was until later when someone told me, ‘that was Joe Girardi,” said a grateful Marie Henry, who heading to her Connecticut home when she lost control of her vehicle and hit a wall on the Cross County Parkway.

Girardi, 45, told WFAN-AM radio that he was “really concerned” because the woman’s SUV was seriously damaged and she was having a tough time getting out.

He said his wife called 911 and then he ran across three lanes of highway traffic to reach Henry, who was not seriously hurt.

“He was jumping up and down, waving his arms to get our attention,” said police spokesman Kieran O’Leary. “He observed the crash … and stopped to see if she was OK.”

Officer Kathleen Cristiano said seeing Girardi at the accident scene “was totally surreal.”

"We can't forget to be human beings where we help others out," Girardi told WFAN. "I think that's the most important thing we can do in life."

(With AP)

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Bus, subway info may soon be on 311

Thursday November 5, 2009 6:12 PM By Jason Fink

 
Straphangers with questions or complaints may soon have a quicker way to reach the MTA: Dialing 311.

The city's information line is already flooded with calls about subways and buses, so rather than transferring them to the MTA, as they do now, operators should start providing answers, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday.

“We think it would significantly cut down on confusion and improve customer service,” Bloomberg said during an appearance at the 311 call center in Manhattan, where he was joined by MTA Chairman Jay Walder.

Though few details have been worked out - including a timetable for when the changeover might happen - both Bloomberg and Walder expressed optimism that 311 will begin handling some of the load of the MTA's four call centers.

The city line receives 370,000 MTA-related calls a year, out of a total of about 14 million.
Though the transit agency would continue to operate caller lines for specific issues like arranging transportation for the disabled and handling EZ Pass accounts, officials said the most frequently asked questions about subway and bus service can be handed over to 311.

“The technology is already laid out,” said Walder.

No estimates were given for how much it might cost the city or save the MTA, which now has 40 phone lines at four call centers with varying functions and hours of operation.

Walder, who's been on the job a month, said he is still finding numbers and phone lines he didn't know about.

“People of the city and state want to be assured the MTA is providing good value for the taxpayer money,” he said. “This is a direction we're going to explore and I think we can work it out.”

Advocates: City bus rides as long as a trip to Philly

Thursday November 5, 2009 5:36 PM By Heather Haddon

Why go to Inwood when you could visit the Liberty Bell in the time it takes to ride the M4 uptown?

It takes at least an hour and a half to ride the full length of the M4 and 24 other city buses, enough time for a jaunt to Philadelphia, according to a survey released Thursday by the Straphangers Campaign.

“That’s darn slow. Riders must burn through a lot of books,” said Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign, which gave the M4 the Trekkie Award.

In its annual awards for sluggish service, the Pokey Award went to the M42, which clocked in at 3.7 miles per hour. That’s about walking speed, and slower than the pace of a motorized tricycle, Russianoff said.

In other findings:

- The M42, M27, M23, M66 and M50 had the slowest speeds of those surveyed

- The B44, Bx41, M15 and B41 lines were plagued with most unreliable service

- The B8, Bx36, M4, Q32 and S74 took the longest to ride the entire route

NYC Transit said it hopes to soon increase bus speeds by implementing a quicker payment system and provide dedicated bus lanes, which are top priorities for new MTA chief Jay Walder. Making those changes on one crosstown Bronx bus line resulted in 20 percent faster travel times, transit said.

“An overwhelming majority of customers have indicated that they are satisfied or very satisfied with the service,” transit said in a statement.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

Henican: There's what the voters did (and then what everyone else thinks it means)

Thursday November 5, 2009 12:28 AM By Ellis Henican

Let me tell you a story – or a few of them. But I have to ask a question first.

What just happened here?

Did voters across America reject the young presidency of Barack Obama? Or were a few local races decided on local issues and little else?

Oh, the struggle for a post-election narrative!

Here’s another one: Did Mike Bloomberg’s 51,000-vote squeaker prove the power of money in  politics – or its impotency? Bill Thompson did a whole lot better than anybody thought.

Every time an election is held, two results matter. There’s the obvious one, the one voters determine at their polling places, who won and who lost.

But the other result often matters just as much, sometimes even more, even in off-year elections like Tuesday’s. It’s the why of the election, the momentum going forward, the various lessons learned. All sides are inclined to claim victory in this race.

So it’s been this week.

In Chris Christy’s 5-point New Jersey win and in Bob McDonnell’s 18-point Virginia stomp fest, Republicans had high-profile successes to boast about. The Jersey victory was especially sweet, coming after several Obama visits and dispatching an unloved Democratic incumbent, Jon Corzine.

"The Republican renaissance has begun,” party chairman Michael Steele proclaimed yesterday.

But just as those words were tumbling from Steele’s lips, Democrats were tossing their own confetti in Upstate New York. Not only had Democrats won a congressional seat, District 23, that Republicans held for more than a century. A deep philosophical fissure had been revealed in Republican ranks – the hostility between the party’s moderate and adamant wings.

"We won,” said a jubilant Nancy Pelosi, citing that New York victory and a second in California. "From our standpoint, we picked up votes."

And so it will go all week and into next as competing assertions fold ever so slowly into accepted wisdom.

The Bloomberg millions: They seemed excessive, though even with it he won just barely.
The anti-gay vote in Maine: The Suozzi cliffhanger in Nassau County. The Spano drubbing in Westchester.

Find me an election.

I’ll tell you a story.

Or 10.

Yanks win 27th World Series

Thursday November 5, 2009 12:16 AM By AP

Paint the town in pinstripes! Nearly a decade after their dynasty ended on a blooper in the desert, the New York Yankees are baseball's best again.

Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs, Andy Pettitte won on short rest and New York beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 on Wednesday night, finally seizing that elusive 27th title. It was the team's first since winning three straight from 1998-2000.

Matsui powered a quick rout of old foe Pedro Martinez — and when Mariano Rivera got the final out it was ecstasy in the Bronx for George Steinbrenner's go-for-broke bunch.

What a way for Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and crew to christen their $1.5 billion ballpark: One season, one championship.

And to think it capped a season that started in turmoil — a steroids scandal involving A-Rod, followed by hip surgery that kept him out until May.

About 100 miles south, disappointment.

For Chase Utley and the Phillies, it was a frustrating end to another scintillating season. Philadelphia fell two wins short of becoming the first NL team to repeat as World Series champions since the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds.

Ryan Howard's sixth-inning homer came too late to wipe away his World Series slump, and Phillies pitchers rarely managed to slow Matsui and the Yankees' machine.

In a fitting coincidence, this championship came eight years to the day after the Yankees lost Game 7 of the 2001 World Series in Arizona on Luis Gonzalez's broken-bat single off Rivera.

New York spent billions trying to get back. At long last, it did.

Hey Babe and Yogi, Mr. October and Joltin' Joe — you've got company. Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and a new generation of Yankees have procured their place in pinstriped lore.

And for the four amigos, it was ring No. 5.

Jorge Posada, Jeter, Pettitte and Rivera came up together through the minors and were cornerstones for those four titles in five years starting in 1996.

A big App-etite: Apple now counts 100,000 applications in its store

Wednesday November 4, 2009 9:06 PM By Garett Sloane

It seems the whole world’s gone app happy.

Wednesday, Apple announced its Apps Store now features more than 100,000 applications. They range from services that name whatever tune is playing on the radio to less life-transforming fare, such as a digital beer mug that empties when you tilt back your phone.

“The milestone is great. But what does it really mean?” asked Chris Cunningham, the CEO of appssavvy, a direct sales team in the social media space representing apps developers.

“The true metric is how many of these are active, are being used.”

One thing is certain: Apps, which hardly registered just a year and a half ago, are now a vital part of the smart phone business. And makers from BlackBerry to Google’s Android are getting in on the action.

The true marvel, Cunningham said, is the social media revolution of which apps are a part.
“The phenomenon is probably one of the most exciting things we’ve seen since the Web started,” he said. “Where else can you go and find something that’s relevant just for you?”

The store even offers an app just for lovers of chicken wings. Kluckr Communications launched it last week for people who want to eat wings and interact with others who eat them.

With so many apps out there, some have certainly been relegated to irrelevance. AppsFire, which tracks apps activity, said on its Web site yesterday that more than half of the users download an app if it’s in the top five, but an app in the lower 99,000 hardly gets noticed.
That was the concern of Josh Welber, chief technology officer at Large Animal Games.

“One hundred thousand apps is awesome. It’s also a big challenge, it’s a very competitive space,” he said, especially in his field.

Games are the most downloaded apps. Large Animal has developed two games for the Apple Apps Store, but apps aren’t the company’s main draw.

The app craze has transformed the business, however, and now all games are developed with the potential for an app in mind, he said.

The apps also have been the latest get-rich-quick lure. They’re seen as so accessible, anyone can do it. Of course, developers have to go through Apple to get them approved.

Apple is notorious for its control of what is available through its store, as opposed to Google, whose Android Market is open to anyone.

Lara Serebrier Paul, 33, of Harlem, didn’t want to go back to real estate after having her first child. She hired a developer to create iKidNY, an app that points to kids-oriented activities.
She said she doesn’t know how much she’s made off the app, but she hasn’t looked for a new job yet.

“It’s ridiculous, people are like, ‘You’re working in technology,’ now,” she said.

City eyeing massive ticker-tape parade if Yanks win

Wednesday November 4, 2009 6:59 PM By Heather Haddon

The Canyon of Heroes might soon see a seriously tall mountain of paper.

During his victory speech Tuesday night, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city could throw the largest victory parade Broadway “has ever seen,” a reference to a prospective Yankees World Series win.

“The Yankees worked hard to get where they are. They deserve it,” said Bronx Bombers fan Cassandra Martinez, 28, of Washington Heights.

But staging the largest ticker-tape party in city history would take more than 5,440 tons of paper, the amount dumped on Broadway during the U.S. victory over Japan during World War II, according to published reports.

“People are sleeping in the streets and he wants to throw a baseball parade?” Julio Rios, 42, of the Bronx, said of Bloomberg’s plans. “If he really wanted to look like he cares about the city, he should be handing out cash on the streets.”

A mayoral spokesman declined to comment yesterday afternoon, saying it was premature to speculate on the results of the Yankees-Phillies series.

The city spent $331,000 on its last ticker tape parade, the 2008 Super Bowl win by the Giants, according to reports. A Red Hook business typically donates recycled material for the confetti.

In addition to good cheer, city officials say the parades stoke business. The 1996 Yankees World Series victory celebration generated $31 million in tax revenue and spending on food and other concessions, according to mayoral officials. More than 3 million people attended. It was unclear how much resulted from the ticker-tape parades in 2000 for the Yankees and 2008 for the Giants.

Still, many New Yorkers were skeptical about holding a baseball bash amid tough economic times.

“That’s a lot of money to be spending when he can’t even get his trains running on time,” said Jose Muriel, 30, of the Bronx.

Jason Fink and Phoebe Kingsak contributed to this story.

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

NYC Transit chief resigns as MTA shakes up leadership

Wednesday November 4, 2009 6:45 PM By Heather Haddon

NYC Transit President Howard Roberts abruptly resigned Wednesday morning, a sign that more leadership change could come with a new MTA chief in charge.

The agency did not say why Roberts bowed out after two years on the job. A replacement will be made “in short order,” said MTA head Jay Walder, who is a month into his job.

As a condition of passing a financial bailout for the MTA earlier this year, state officials pressed for a makeover of the agency’s management ranks to increase transparency and accountability. Last week, NYC Transit’s chief engineer quit to work in the private sector. Other agency leaders are vulnerable, transit sources said.

Agency watchdogs praised Roberts for curtailing subway flooding and beefing up train announcements. But some MTA board members grew disgruntled that he had not further improved train delays or enforced a requirement that union workers pay into their health plans.

The loss of Roberts could hurt subway management, as he had just reorganized personnel across the lines, transit advocates said. “I hope whoever takes over doesn’t do a new makeover,” said Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign.

hhaddon@am-ny.com

Finding the best of the NYC bagel bunch

Wednesday November 4, 2009 6:35 PM By Courtney Crowder

H and H is a haven for bagel purists. (RJ Mickelson/amNY)

Like the Eastern Europeans who brought them here, bagels have a New York immigrant story.

Bagels recipes traveled across the Atlantic, settled down in the Lower East Side where they flourished, and then spread out across the country.

But the hand-rolled delicacies made in New York City and available for about a dollar each are arguably still the best.

Here are six bagels spots that fully deserve the cult following they’ve attracted.

Terrace Bagels
224 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, 718-768-3943
This is the place to pick up a bagel on your way to nearby Prospect Park. The bagels are hand-rolled every morning and served fresh out of the oven. The menu offers lots of cream cheese and sandwich varieties, as well as fresh salads and snacks. Their thick bagels taste a little salty, with a chewy inside and a slightly crunchy, light brown crust. Terrace lacks a dining area, so be prepared to eat on the move.

Absolute Bagels
2788 Broadway, btwn 107th and 108th sts., 212-932-2052
It may have a small seating area and humble decor, but the warmth of Absolute Bagels’ large oven welcomes customers. The display case offers cream cheese options, such as bacon cheddar, salmon and green olive, all lined up gelato-shop style. Absolute boasts many varieties of tofutti cream cheeses for non-dairy eaters. The bagels are fresh, with a crunchy crust and gooey center that will please both hard- and soft-bagel lovers.

H&H Bagels
2239 Broadway at 80th St., 212-595-8284
639 W. 46th St. at 12th Ave., 212-765-7200
This Manhattan mainstay has been attracting devoted followers to their original Upper West Side location since the early 1970s. The owners are bagel purists — they don’t cut, toast or schmear your bagel. They do offer cream cheese for purchase that you can spread yourself. These large bagels have a very crispy crust and a distinctly sweet taste. They are a little more expensive than average — $1.40 for a single, plain bagel. H&H also offers overnight delivery and ships worldwide.

Tal Bagels
2446 Broadway, btwn 90th & 91st St., 212-712-0171
Tal is not just a bagel spot, but also a full-service deli. They serve a range of bagels including sourdough, a favorite of San Francisco transplants. In addition to cream cheese, Tal has a good variety of fillings, including a tasty curried chicken salad. The bagel is big and fluffy, perfect for soft-bagel lovers, with a center so doughy it almost melts in your mouth.

Murray’s Bagels
500 Sixth Ave., btwn. 12th & 13th sts., 212-462-2830
242 Eighth Ave., btwn. 22nd & 23rd sts., 646-638-1336
The exposed brick and servers’ baker uniforms make this feel like an old-time New York bagel shop. With a crispier bagel, Murray’s delivers a distinct bite before you get to the center. Murray’s many flavors are unique in their malty and yeasty flavor. The shop also offers a full assortment of freshly made espresso beverages. Be advised: Murray’s doesn’t toast bagels in order to save time because of large lines.

Kossar’s Bialys
367 Grand St. at Essex St., 212-473-4810
Kossar’s is the oldest bialy bakery in the U.S. Unlike bagels, bialys aren’t boiled before baking and have a small impression in the middle instead of a hole. Kossar’s bialy, with its onion and garlic flavor, has a texture that’s closer to the classic style of New York bagel — very crunchy and a little harder to chew. And rest assured, the bagels at Kossar’s are delicious, too. There’s no seating, so grab your bialy or bagel and go!