NYC Homicides Up; New Atlantic Yards School; TSA Fails Big Time and More Briefs

 - Oh oh: “We’re struggling with homicides and shootings,” said NYPD's Chief of Department on Monday. “As we expect when warm weather comes, we see an increase in certain crimes.” [Daily News]

- Video: An out-of-control vehicle barreled onto a sidewalk in Brooklyn Monday afternoon, knocking down a small boy and hurting an adult. [NBC]

- Wednesday: Hearing about the new school planned for the Atlantic Yards area. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Nightmare landlord: A Brooklyn landlord was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison on Monday for killing one of his tenants and attacking another. [Daily News]

- Tonight: Save the View town hall in Brooklyn Heights to discuss the Brooklyn Bridge Park Pierhouse lawsuit. [McBrooklyn]

- A tunnel boring machine has completed the excavation of a new, $250 million water tunnel connecting Brooklyn to Staten Island. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- The long-simmering animosity between Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio flared after the mayor hired a former Cuomo aide as his press secretary, a move the governor viewed as a betrayal. [Daily News]

- Major fail: TSA lets fake bombs, weapons through at America's busiest airports 95% of the time.  [ABCnews]


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Brooklyn Hasidic Hate Crime; Did Ratner Lie to Investors? And More Brooklyn Briefs

 - Watchdog says Forest City Ratner misled foreign investors about Atlantic Yards investment. [TRD]

- Police are investigating after a fashion design student was allegedly assaulted by a gang of up to 20 Hasidic men in Brooklyn, leaving him with a broken eye socket and a torn retina. [NBC NY]

- Is Whole Food's Gowanus store really that green? [PMFA]

- The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative updated its plan with a storm-surge-blocking seawall. [Brooklyn Paper]

- NYPD kills the Police Blotter. [Brokelyn]

- Three weeks left to register for property tax break. [Sheepshead Bites]

- City doesn’t need to return child to birth mother’s care, Brooklyn judge rules. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Gov. Cuomo "has no interest whatsoever in running for president.” [Politico]

- Hospitals start spinning like crazy as DOH starts listing prices. [Crain's]

- Pathetic TSA seizes tiny toy gun from stuffed monkey. Hahahahahahah! Sigh. [Gizmodo]

- Tiny baby squirrel saved, now rides on back of giant dog. Awwwww!. [Viral Nova]

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Fireworks Over NYC on Monday, Oct. 7, 2013 Are For the Rich

 The fireworks display in New York City tonight, Monday, 10/7/13 (over the Hudson River off Pier 84 in Manhattan) is being sponsored by Flexjet, a company that sells ownership shares in jets to the rich so they can avoid being groped by the TSA like the rest of us.

Motto: "At Flexjet, our focus is to create a premium private travel experience tailored exclusively for you."

In celebration of Learjet’s 50th anniversary, Flexjet –- "the first fractional jet ownership company to offer shares on the all-new Learjet 85 aircraft" –- is on a six-city U.S. tour offering guests the opportunity to "experience firsthand the aircraft poised to redefine the private aviation industry." The tour hit NYC today.

Attendees are invited to take a private tour of the Learjet 85 model; Aston Martin will offer test drives of its newest models, including the Vanquish, Vantage, DB9 and Rapide S, while Napa Valley-based Ackerman Family Vineyards and Bespoke Collection pour their finest wines.

What the hell are you doing here? Rush right out there and take a test drive!

http://www.flexjet.com/news-and-events/press-releases/291/


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TSA Agent Finds Pepper Spray, Shoots It, Sends TSA Squad to Hospital

Curly Howard, Stooge

More antics from those madcap TSA screeners at JFK:

TSA agent Chris Yves Dabel, from Brooklyn, found a pepper-spray container at Kennedy Airport and -- just for fun -- fired the eyeball-melting liquid at five fellow TSA screeners, the NY Post reports.

He told Port Authority cops that he “found the canister on the floor and thought it was a laser pointer.”

All six TSA agents ended up at Jamaica Hospital, and security checks were halted at Kennedy for at least 15 minutes, but likely it was much longer.

Thanks goodness he didn't find a detonator.

More at the Post.

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TSA Removes Some X-Ray Scanners from NYC Airports

Photo: TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been quietly removing some X-ray body scanners from major airports over the last few weeks and replacing them with machines that radiation experts believe are safer, ProPublica reports. Kennedy International and Laguardia Airport are among those where machines are being replaced.

The TSA says it made the decision not because of safety concerns but to speed up checkpoints at busier airports. The X-ray scanners are being moved to smaller airports.

X-ray scanners emit a small dose of ionizing radiation, which at higher levels has been linked to cancer. Experts worry about the calibration of these machines and the many medical unknowns connected to their use.

In addition, the machines produce images of passengers' naked bodies. Each image must be reviewed by a TSA officer.

If passengers refuse to be X-rayed, they must submit to an invasive physical pat down -- called groping by many -- by a TSA officer of uncertain qualifications. (Luggage theft has drastically increased as the number of TSA agents examining suitcases has increased.)

The replacement machines, known as millimeter-wave scanners, rely on low-energy radio waves similar to those used in cell phones, according to ProPublica.

The X-ray scanner looks like two blue refrigerator-sized boxes. The millimeter-wave scanner looks like a round glass booth. More here.

- Full Body Scanners Rolling Out at LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark Airports
- Opt Out of Airport Scanners, TSA Groping
- TSA Airport Scanner Tests Show More Radiation than Expected

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