The Mark Of Champions

Massive blocks of limestone and granite bearing the carved inscription “Yankee Stadium” were set atop a very special building in the Bronx last week. It’s fitting that this type of material was used. Legends are by cliché written in stone, aren’t they? Once again, both the name of baseball’s greatest team and the nation’s first stadium crown New York’s future premiere sports destination, scheduled to open in 2009. Unlike other sports facilities throughout the world, the naming rights to this world famous location in the Bronx were not for sale to a corporate advertiser. It wouldn’t be fitting. By changing the name alone, it would no longer have been a place where true legends should battle or for future championship moments to occur.

Con Ed Steamed Over Idea To Cool It

In the wake of last July’s deadly steam pipe explosion in midtown, some here are openly questioning whether steam is still vital for power generation. Currently, steam accounts for only 5% of Con Ed’s business. So, if steam service has been reduced to this level, why not completely? For several reasons, chief among them being public safety and maintenance costs, it seems logical to replace this century-old system with electric or other technologies. Yet, Con Ed spokesman Bob McGee declared, “Doing without the steam system in New York’s energy mix would be like commuters doing without the subway.” That poor analogy alone is enough to warrant independent study! Maybe the time has come to shut down the 105 miles of potential steam pipe bombs under the streets of Manhattan … and the hot air that escapes those who seek to justify it’s necessity.

Ready The “Canyon of Heroes” For A Parade!

Sorry. Wishful thinking. No need to make plans to clear Broadway in lower Manhattan just yet. I got a bit carried away because my Knicks have a three-game winning streak. Will miracles never cease? Probably. Probably soon.

Home Values Go Down --- Taxes Go Up

Honestly, I don’t know enough about economics, real estate or taxes to give much weight to my thoughts on this story. I leave it to the viewer and experts to make sense of New York City’s homeowner market. With that said, I read as much of the city’s Finance Department report as I dared for fear of internal bleeding. This report details figures and formulas, assessments and explanations as to why many homeowners will be paying more on less. All may be kosher with everything they stated. I don’t know for sure. But perhaps because of it’s presentation, I was reminded of a quote which reads, “Statistics don’t lie, but people who use them occasionally do.” Take this blog for what it’s worth … or assessed for.

Waterfalls To Cascade In The East River

This coming summer, four manmade waterfalls ranging in height between 90 to 120 feet will teem into the waters under and near the Brooklyn Bridge. Designed by Olafur Eliasson, they’ll be built upon scaffolding and pumping 35,000 gallons of water a minute. This isn’t the first time that privately funded art in New York City will be used to inspire those who see it and enrich others who benefit from the extra tourist traffic. For example, the popular Central Park “Gates” exhibition created by the artist Christo in 2005 generated $254 million. If 7,500 gates with orange windblown banners can bring in that much cash, 4 magnificent waterfalls should have the money pouring in.

Bronx Students Take Unauthorized Field Trip From Principal

A walkout by nearly 200 of the city’s brightest pupils at the Bronx High School of Science occurred because principal Valerie Reidy, is "excessively" strict and harmfully “micromanaging” the school. This, according to students who attend there. They say top teachers are fleeing and being replaced by "sub-standard" ones. Punishment for “cutting classes” is also being more strictly enforced by Reidy with more severe consequences meted out than before. Principal Reidy believes the students are misinformed about the facts but didn’t clarify those facts for reporters.

Students should be fully aware of their responsibilities to the school, their families and to themselves. Cutting class and walkouts should have consequences. As for the latter though, it should be recognized that these children protested because they want to ensure themselves of the best education possible, being taught by the best educators. Indisputable facts are what’s needed here to understand and resolve this class crisis.Their approach may be inappropriate but their message should be heard and thoroughly investigated. After all, providing New York City kids with the best education should be everyone’s goal. There are administrators and high officials aplenty in the Board of Education. It might be best for one of them to check things out NOW and take whatever corrective action may be required. Students rebelling to learn and graduate should have allies in each of us. Let us remind ourselves of that while teaching them that lesson.

Brooklyn By The Bomb-Bay

Dredging plans in Gravesend Bay to develop a Brooklyn waterfront waste-transfer station just took an unexpected trip down to Davey Jones' Locker. Assemblyman William Colton (D-Brooklyn) learned that back in 1954, a barge unloading live ammunition from the aircraft carrier Bennington capsized in the bay. Sunk to the bottom went 219 tons of munitions. The barge turned up the next day but over 15,000 shells failed to turn up with it. The Navy said that by 1955, it had recovered all 15,003 shells. Let’s hope they recovered each and every one of them. Let’s hope too that should dredging proceed, all precautions will be taken … just in case the Navy's shell count was wrong … intentionally or not.