Latest news with #KevinCDowns
New York Post
17-06-2025
- New York Post
Mysterious hooded figure scales 250-foot-high Roosevelt Island Tram tower in nail-biting clip
A hooded, masked daredevil scaled the towering Roosevelt Island Tramway Monday evening and had to be brought down by cops in climbing gear, according to police and shocking footage. The 20-year-old suspect was seen nonchalantly walking back and forth along the gangway of the tramway's 250-feet-tall support tower on the Manhattan side, wild video obtained by The Post shows. The clip shows the urban climber stopping occasionally to lean against a railing and look at his phone. 4 A young man climbed the support beams of the Roosevelt Island Tramway in New York City on June 15, 2025. Obtained by the NY Post At one point, he descends and climbs a series of short ladders on the tower and makes his way out onto an I-beam barely wide enough to accommodate his feet, the nail-biting video shows. Shocked New Yorkers called 911 to report a figure climbing up the tower just before 7 p.m., police said. Cops responded to the tramway and used climbing gear to make their way up to the suspect as an NYPD helicopter hovered overhead. As officers made their way to the top, the suspect made a defiant gesture, spreading his arms out at them, according to the footage. Meanwhile, ESU officers and FDNY firefighters staged below the tower along Andrew Haswell Green Park craned their necks up to watch the mysterious figure's antics. 4 The 20-year-old suspect was seen nonchalantly walking back and forth along the gangway of the tramway's 250-feet-tall support tower on the Manhattan side. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post 4 Cops responded to the tramway and used climbing gear to make their way up to the suspect as an NYPD helicopter hovered overhead. Obtained by the NY Post The brave cops who reached the tower's peak secured the 20-year-old in safety gear and brought him down to ground level without injury, police said. The thrill-seeking suspect was taken by paramedics to Weill-Cornell Medical Center, according to the FDNY. He was not identified by police and charges were pending Monday night. 4 People ride the tramway from Roosevelt Island as a rally in support of priority boarding for Roosevelt Island residents and workers takes place at Tramway Plaza in New York City on June 8, 2025. Leonardo Munoz Police said there is no indication that the climber was associated with a protest or a cause, but the incident remains under investigation. In 2004, an Astoria man was removed from the tower by the NYPD after he climbed to the top of the Tramway. Gerard Corrar, 55, was arrested and charged with trespass. A decade ago, the hidden camera reality show Impractical Jokers pulled a prank where a character named Captain Fat Belly went to the top of the tower as part of a stunt. The NYPD did not confirm whether the television show had approval to climb the tower, but a reality television producer said it was highly unlikely they would do something that risky without getting it cleared by the city first. Additional reporting by Kevin C. Downs
New York Post
09-06-2025
- Health
- New York Post
Birth of a new era as NYC plants rat contraceptives in Harlem
Rats, not tonight, honey. The city just opened its latest front on its war against its most hated rodents — lacing rat bait around the city with birth control. The program kick-started on city property in Harlem last week — and is expected to cost nearly $600,000 annually for the anti-procreation pellets and a staff of five full-timers, including a city research scientist and pest-control aide, according to City Council documents. 4 The city is pulling out all the stops to contraception to try to curb its rat population. Christopher Sadowski The move comes a week after UFO-like 'Empire Bins'' were put in the same Manhattan neighborhood to try to end curbside feasts for the relentless rodents. 'We're incredibly excited and optimistic about all the containerization work we're seeing in the city because that's reducing food competition — and really reducing a rat's ability to reproduce by cutting off its food source,' city rat czar Kathleen Corradi told The Post in an exclusive interview Monday. 'What the science tells us is removal of a food source, removal of those conditions that allow them to thrive, is how we get to achieve sustained production — and we're seeing really great results in that regard,' she said. 4 Big Apple officials from Mayor Eric Adams on down have declared war on the rodents. Kevin C Downs for The New York Post The rodent 'contraceptive stations' rely on bait designed to specifically woo rats. The contraceptive pellets slow egg production in female rats and sperm mobility in males. The effort is part of 'Flaco's Law,' which the council passed after rat poison was linked to the death of the Central Park Zoo's beloved escapee Flaco the owl. The contraceptives are in tamper-resistant contraptions and pose an extremely low risk to humans, pets or 'non-target' wildlife, a city rep said. The city Health Department will conduct monthly inspections to track signs of rats in the area, according to the legislation. 4 Hundreds of 'Empire Bins' designed to get residential waste off of city streets were installed in Harlem this year. Kevin C Downs for The New York Post Once the pilot wraps in 12 months, workers will report to the mayor and council on whether the approach has been effective at curbing rats. Citywide rat sightings reported to 311 are down each of the past six months when compared to the same time period last year, coinciding with the city's new requirements for closed-lid trash containers. But not all areas around the city have seen a decrease in rat sightings. The community-board district where the contraception pilot program is in West Harlem has seen a 7.8% jump in rat sightings compared to this time last year, according to a Post analysis of 311 data. Corradi argues that the city's efforts are only as good as property owners' compliance from waste containerization to outdoor dining regulations. 4 A rat-chewed New York City Department of Sanitation trash bin shows how pesky the critters are. Gabriella Bass '[Human] behavior change is hard,' she said. 'We are doing integrated pest management on city-owned properties, but then the 98% remaining of the tax lots that are privately owned properties, that's up to the property owners to choose what mechanisms they're doing when it comes to [rat population] control.' Corradi added that when one area has success combatting the rodents, she doesn't expect hungry rats to simply migrate to other parts of the city in search of food because the rodent species is 'by nature, hyperlocal. 'Typically, these animals don't travel 100 to 300 feet from where they're living to their food source,' she said.
New York Post
08-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Long Island town holds ‘Save the Chiefs' rally in defiance of state ban on mascot
It's the most important pep rally on Long Island. The town of Massapequa is pulling out all the stops to preserve its Chiefs team nickname — with the backing of President Trump and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon — including holding a festival Saturday at the high school's parking lot to fundraise for a homegrown legal battle against the state and its 2023 ban on Native American team names and logos. 'The kids identify with the Chiefs — we all do as a community,' proud Massapequa mom Tara Tarasi, who started a foundation to finance the years-long court fight and sells 'Save the Chiefs' shirts, told The Post. 'This whole town, street names, everywhere you go, is related to something Native American,' added Tarasi, whose four boys are proud to have worn the logo. 4 Kerry Wachter, president of the school board, poses outside Massapequa High School holding a T-shirt featuring the school's Native American mascot and an American flag on the front, and the phrase 'Long Live the Massapequa Chiefs' on the back, along with a quote attributed to former President Donald Trump from a visit to Long Island. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post 4 Lori Triail, Connie Versichelli, Julia Catoggio, Eileen Trainor, and Delores Hurst came out to show support for Massapequa High School, where they graduated in the early 1960s, amid efforts to preserve the school's Native American mascot. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post The demonstration — drivers passed by honking loudly in support — comes on the heels of McMahon's recent visit to Massapequa High School, where she warned the state to drop the ban or face the wrath of the Justice Department. 'That's how serious we are about it,' she said in the school gym. 'You've got the Huguenots, we've got the Highlanders, we've got the Scotsman. Why is that not considered in any way racist?' After McMahon's commentary and Massapequa's amended lawsuit, which called the state's actions discriminatory for applying solely to Native Americans, New York threatened Thursday to broaden its ban to all different ethnic team names the department finds offensive, such as the nearby Seaford Vikings, prospectively. 'That's their workaround … we've demonstrated that this regulation was not a good idea,' Massapequa School Board President Kerry Wachter told The Post at the rally. 4 Tim Ryan, Stacey Roy, Linda Rowse, Janice Talento, Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joe Saladino, School Board President Kerry Wachter, and School Board Vice President Jeanine Caramore pose for a photo outside Massapequa High School during the rally. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post In Massapequa, a forced rebranding would run the district about $1 million, Wachter claimed. 'Now you're wanting to put another unfunded mandate on top of all these districts who are just barely making it, just to not give Massapequa the win?' Once a Chief, always a Chief The issue hit home for Dolores Hurst, class of 1961, who came out with her fellow alumnae in their golden years to root on the Chiefs Saturday afternoon. 'Hopefully, we'll be Chiefs now and forever,' Hurst, whose husband and father were fire chiefs in the volunteer Massapequa Fire Department, said. 'It has meant so much to this town for decades since the 1950s.' Now 81, Hurst called it an 'astonishing' double standard for the state to try to remove the term from schools, considering it's present in so many other official capacities. President Trump's intervention — his now locally famous 'LONG LIVE THE MASSAPEQUA CHIEFS!' quote was also sold on shirts Saturday — became 'more than we could have expected, but it's what we needed,' Hurst said. Andy Kuzma, 73, dressed up as Uncle Sam out of love for the town — and disdain for the state's bureaucrats for attempting to get rid of the team name. 4 The Massapequa Chiefs logo is seen in the school gym during a press conference and visit with U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon at Massapequa High School in Massapequa, N.Y. on Friday, May 30, 2025. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post 'This is all BS,' Kuzma, of nearby Levittown, said. 'Massapequa shouldn't have to spend a penny … I've never seen somebody in town be derogatory with it.' Rather than erasing local roots, Tarasi is also using her foundation to try introducing additional Native American programming in the school system — allowing students to further learn about the town's origins. 'They want to understand and actually feel connected,' she said. 'Just getting rid of one piece of it in the school district is not going to get rid of the whole meaning behind the town.' And, for Wachter, she only cares that the tradition remains — even if it costs her job. 'We want to preserve this identity, we want to preserve the Chiefs,' she said. 'If we have to sacrifice our seats to do it, we will do it.'
New York Post
23-04-2025
- Health
- New York Post
Bird flu forced 30M chickens to be culled across nine states so far this year
Bird flu outbreaks have forced tens of millions of chickens to be culled across nine states over the past year as more hotspots continue to emerge. So far, the Department of Agriculture has confirmed a staggering 41 outbreaks this year that struck down entire egg-laying flocks in Arizona, California, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington. 4 This year, 30 million chickens have been culled across nine states as a result of bird flu outbreaks. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post Ohio, where a majority of this year's spread was isolated, tacked on another flareup this week — its first since early March, according to the April Egg Markets Overview from USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. The seemingly endless culling sparked a national egg shortage that inflated prices over the first few months of 2025, with prices across some states peaking around a whopping $8 in February. While costs have since fallen, the average wholesale price of eggs still sits at $3.13, according to the USDA. 4 The outbreak caused a nationwide egg shortage and soaring prices. REUTERS In total, 30.6 million chickens have been affected since January, according to the USDA. Of these, 19.6 million were in caged systems while the other 11 million roamed free. As impacted states begin to feel the pressure, leaders began to call on the Trump administration to ramp up its response — including the Republican governor of Ohio. 'One of the things that is clear is that the federal government is really going to have to accelerate the research that is being done in regard to bird flu,' Gov. Mike DeWine said last month. Last month, the USDA proposed a $1 billion master plan to tackle bird flu that should be set into motion this summer. In it, $400 million is set aside to support impacted farmers in cleaning and repopulating their farms, which can take up to six months. 4 Ohio reported its first outbreak since early March this week. AFP via Getty Images At least, that was the plan before the Department of Health and Human Services layoffs, spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., resulted in the dismissal of people tasked with responding to bird flu. The notoriously anti-vaccine Kennedy scion asserted that farmers should avoid immunizing their flocks to avoid turning them 'into mutation factories.' Since April 2024, 70 human cases of bird flu have been reported, according to an update from the CDC in March. No cases so far have been caused by human-to-human transmission. 4 More than 168 billion poultry birds have been affected by bird flu since 2022. AP 'The current risk of bird flu for the general public is low. However, people with close and prolonged, unprotected contact with infected birds and other animals are at greater risk of infection,' the Ohio Department of Health said. Since the beginning of 2022, around 168 billion poultry birds have been affected by avian influenza, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
