News
Headlines for February 1995

February 1995

February 28, 1995

There is another feud raging between the mayor's office and the city council. The dispute is over who has the legal right to set up a board to monitor police corruption. The courts will make a decision as to which side is correct.

February 27, 1995

New York City firefighters are claiming that a lot of their fire houses are downright unsafe. A lot of the fire houses still have facilities for horses. A lot of the floors are rotting out and the buildings are coming apart. The fire commissioner has pledged to spend about $20 million for emergency repairs.

February 26, 1995

University administrators are complaining that proposed cuts in state funding for higher education will deprive thousands of students of the aid they need to finish college. In the next academic year, funding will fall nearly 10% and tuition will rise nearly $1000 at all State Universities.

February 25, 1995

Jose James Benitezhas been sentenced to 18 years in prison for killing the anti-drug journalist, Manuel de Dios Unanue. Unanue was the former editor in chief of El Diario-La Prensa, a Spanish-language daily newspaper. The execution order was apparently given by the Cali drug cartel.

Today is the Village Vanguard's 60th anniversary! The Vanguard is a world famous jazz club located in Greenwich Village.

February 24, 1995

Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, the man accused of masterminding the World Trade Center bombing claims that he is a political prisoner. Yousef has had to change lawyers because the first lawyer he was given, Avraham Moskowitz, was Jewish and very active in Israeli affairs. Hearings have begun in this case and they will likely go on for a long time.

February 23, 1995

Senator Alfonse D'Amato has made it publically known that he intends to marry TV gossip columnist Claudia Cohen. Both D'Amato and Cohen have been married before.

The Joffrey Ballet has agreed to merge with The Ballet Chicago and will be moving to Chicago.

February 22, 1995

Another person was arrested on weapons possession in connection with the urban terrorist conspiracy trial. The suspect was charged with possession of assault rifles that he was supposed to transport to a paramilitary training camp in Pennsylvania.

The MTA has threatened that due to the Mayor's budget cuts there will be serious service cut backs. Services that were mentioned are the number of token booths available, several bus routes would be cut, and subway cars would be cleaned less frequently. The mayor claims that the MTA is making these threats so they don't have to look for ways to save money. He says if the MTA is looking to save money that maybe they should review some of the high salaries they pay their upper level executives.

February 21, 1995

The sale of the World Trade Center, JFK International Airport and the George Washington Bridge may be expedited through the use of British expertise in privitization.

An emaciated, hungry coyote named Wiley has been the center of controversy in The Bronx. The animal has been roaming the grounds of Woodlawn Cemetery for at least 4 months. One family has been feeding Wiley household food to help nourish it, while neighbors have voiced complaints in fear of having the wild animal near their homes and children.

February 20, 1995

Four members of a family with a history of domestic disputes were shot to death late last night. The husband of one of the victims has surrendered to police. Philip Guerriero was charged with four counts of murder, including those of his 44 year old wife and stepson. Friends of the family said "They fought like everyone else, but nothing out of the ordinary." Police are not sure of a motive at this time.

February 19, 1995

An audit of Brooklyn school district 17, which was taken over this past December by the Board of Education, shows $170,000 of lost computer and other office equipment, along with millions of dollars earmarked for education "which were never spent but are missing," according to Schools Chancellor Ramon Cortinez.

February 18, 1995

City Council Speaker Vallone has expressed concern that the project to rebuild the Tri-Borough Bridge was not done right. He claims that the paint is chipping and contains high levels of lead. He warns that a similar fate is in store for the rest of the City's bridges.

An off duty cop is in the hospital with a gun-shot wound to the head. He was shot in the Glendale section of Queens.

Lawyer William Kunsler is planning to help with the appeal on Colin Ferguson's conviction.

February 17, 1995

IBM has elected to stay in the New York area and build its headquarters in Westchester.

February 16, 1995

Police Commisioner Bratton and Mayor Giuliani made a public showing together at a promotion ceremony for NYC detectives. They put to rest the rumours that Bratton was about to be fired for upstaging Giuliani.

Colin Ferguson, the accused LIRR murder suspect, has wrapped up his defense in court.

The annual race to the top of the Empire State Buiding was held today. The winner made it up over 1500 steps in just under 11 minutes.

February 15, 1995

Mayor Giuliani has fired many political appointees, causing some publicists to liken him to Stalin during his hurrendous housecleanings. "Not since he launched drug sweeps as U.S. attorney has Rudolph Giuliani put so many people out of work with such abruptness," said New York Newsday of the firings.

February 14, 1995

Happy Valentines Day from everyone at Mediabridge Infosystems!

Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, who law enforcement agents call the mastermind behind the World Trade Center bombing, was arrested yesterday in Pakistan. He has also been connected with a plot to kill Pope John Paul II and bomb American planes over the Pacific.

February 13, 1995

The mayor is about to release his new budget. He calls it the reality budget because it calls for major cuts in virtually all of the City's departments.

February 12, 1995

There are rumors that Police Commissioner William Bratton will be fired as soon as tomorrow. This follows the resignation of Bratton's chief publicity officer.

February 11, 1995

Police shot a man in Queens last night after he pointed what looked like a real gun at them when they were answering a domestic violence call. The man was apparently drunk. The suspect died and the officers were treated for shock.

February 10, 1995

City Park officials are on the look out for a coyote that is supposed to be roaming Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Apparently, its mate was the victim of a road-side collision with a truck. This is the first reported sighting of a coyote in the city in modern times. It is believed that the coyotes have wondered down from Westchester County.

February 9, 1995

Ramzi Yousef, the man convicted of masterminding the World Trade Center bombing, has agreed to cooperate with authorities. He has blamed the bombing on Iraq. He said all of the funding and resources were supplied by Iraq.

February 8, 1995

Ari Gottesman testified against the Muslim fundamentalists who are accused of planning several bombing attacks on specific sites in the New York area. He testified that one of the defendants, El Sayyid Nosair, was the man that was respoinsible for the assasination of the Rabbi Meir Kahane.

Colin Ferguson, the man accused of killing six and injuring 19 on the Long Island Railroad in 1993, announced that he plans to take the witness stand next week and cross-examine himself. He continues to insist that he didn't shoot anyone and that it was a white man that took his gun, while he was asleep, and proceded to shoot everyone.

February 7, 1995

Jennifer Larmore a mezzo-soprano with the Metropolitan opera made her New York debut today in a production of The Barber of Seville. She was very well received.

Mario Cuomo, former Governor of New York State, has joined the New York law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher. He is said to start work on February 13th.

February 6, 1995

The case of Saatchi & Saatchi advertising firm against its former chief executive will be delayed to facilitate progress in a similar court action in London. The former CEO William Muirhead is accused of breach of contract when he left the company with secret documents to take part in the formation of a competing firm.

The recent brutal winter storm and high winds caused the Bronx Zoo Harry De Jur Aviary to collapse, releasing 33 rare birds into the wild. Only one of the birds has been recovered so far.

February 5, 1995

New York officials this week proposed a trial program of banning smoking and cigarettes inside state prisons. Officials say they are doing it for much the same reason restaurants and offices are -- to protect the rights of nonsmokers.

February 4, 1995

The worst storm of the year has hit New York City. Check out our Special Report.

February 3, 1995

Willie Beamon, defensive back for the New York Giants football team, has pleaded innocent to charges of trying to run over a police officer in Clifton, New Jersey. The 24 year old Beamon was arrested on aggravated assault on a police officer among other charges.

February 2, 1995

Mayor Giuliani announced that he is undertaking an effort to reclaim the fish market industry from Mafia control. By renegotiating leases he hopes to revive an industry that has been whittled from $3 billion to $1 billion because of merchants being intimidated out of business. The East River fish market, on the lower east side of Manhattan employs about 800 workers and handles 125 million pounds of fresh seafood every day.

February 1, 1995

Mayor Giuliani and Disney President Michael Eisner announced plans for the largest film screening in history. The screening of Disney's new animated film "Pocahontas" will take place in the Central Park lawns and will feature four large screens serving over 100,000 viewers.

The City Police Department is going to review police procedures when responding to reported shootings. Recent incidents have drawn too many officers to the scene, endangering the safety of bystanders.

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