News
Headlines for March 1995

March 1995

March 31, 1995

Manhattan

UPDATE at 12:15pm The West Side Highway has been closed, between 125th and the George Washington Bridge due to a police investigation near the bridge entrance. Traffic is at a standstill -- use alternative routes.

Police officials believe that the "mob" may be involved in the arson attack at the Fulton Street Fish Market. Giuliani has emphasized that this will only double his resolve to break the stranglehold the mob has on the long-standing fish market.

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March 30, 1995

Manhattan

The fire at the Fulton Street Fish market was limited to a small portion of the buildings, with 80% of the areas unharmed. Officials have determined that the fire was indeed a case of arson, and is working with a task force to help track down those responsible.

Brooklyn

A Federal judge in Brooklyn has ruled against President Clinton's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy concerning gays and the military. Six members of the military filed a case against the government concerning the controversial policy ushered in in the beginning of the Clinton administration.

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March 29, 1995

Manhattan

UPDATE at 1:15pm A four-alarm fire has been reported near the Fulton Fish Market near Beekman and South Street. The FDR drive near the Brooklyn Bridge and Battery Park underpass has been closed. The Brooklyn Bridge is expected to be closed shortly as a result.

UPDATE at 5:15pm The southbound direction of the FDR Drive has been reopened for general traffic. The blaze was brought under control in roughly two hours. The fish market will be operable tomorrow.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani hosted California Governor, and prospective Presidential candidate, Pete Wilson for breakfast today in New York City. Giuliani repeatedly told reporters he has not contemplated who he will endorse as Presidential candidate.

Bronx

The teacher at IS 80 who sought a court injunction against a student has found refuge. The student will be transferred to another school immediately.

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March 28, 1995

Brooklyn

A Brooklyn man has been charged with destruction of nature violations after he allegedly chopped down over 30 trees to improve his view of the Verrazano Narrows waterfront. The trees were property of the city parks commission.

Bronx

New York Newsday reports that a teacher has sought a court injunction against her own 12-year old student. The teacher at IS 80 in the Bronx has been harassed and attacked by the student on multiple occasions, but the courts have refused to grant the injunction.

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March 27, 1995

Bronx

A two-building fire in Yonkers lit up the morning sky today. No casualties were reported, but putting out the fire was complicated by the lack of a sufficiently close fire hydrant.

Manhattan

Seventeen year-old Gina Petrocelli was one among many New York area high school students to place in the prestigious Westinghouse science awards. Her study of nurses' perception of cigarette smoking was rewarded with $15,000 towards a college scholarship.

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March 26, 1995

Manhattan

In a statement released through his lawyer, accused World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Ahmed Yousef has described himself as an explosives expert, and claims that the United States deserves attack because of aid to Israel. The 27 year-old Yousef is considered the mastermind of the bombing and escaped from New York City on the night of the bombing. He was arrested in Pakistan and extradited to the U.S.

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March 25, 1995

Manhattan

A decomposed body found off the New York State Thruway has led authorities to hypothesize a connection to serial killer Reginald McFadden. The body was so badly decomposed that it could not be determined whether it was a man or woman.

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March 24, 1995

Queens and Long Island

A mace-like substance has caused the evacuation of Junior High School 210 in Woodhaven, Queens. Most students and faculty with symptoms of tearing and exposure have been treated on the spot, while roughly 30 others have been rushed to nearby hospitals. A hazardous materials team has been dispatched to the scene to handle the situation. The cause of the chemical exposure is still yet undetermined.

The Long Island Rail Road gunman, Colin Ferguson, starts his 200 year sentence today at the Great Meadow maximum security prison in Comstock, NY. Warden officials have still not determined whether he will be placed among the general prison population or stay in solitary confinement.

Manhattan

An inspection of City housing records has revealed a number of inspection citations against the apartment building structure which collapsed at 140th St. in Harlem on March 21. Among the complaints include no heat and hot water, and cracks in the floors.

Newt Gingrich's Association for a Better New York speaking engagement at the Midtown Manhattan New York Hilton hotel has drawn protestors, opposed to the Republican party sponsored Contract for America.

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March 23, 1995

Manhattan

Students and faculty from various State University campuses are holding a mass rally in front of City Hall, protesting the state budget cuts for public college education. Their march will bring them across the Brooklyn Bridge, in an attempt to bring public attention to New York Governor George Pataki's state-wide budget cuts.

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March 22, 1995

Queens and Long Island

The Long Island Rail Road gunman, Colin Ferguson, was sentenced today to multiple consecutive life terms, totalling 200 years. As Ferguson was reading his final statement, testimony witnesses and victims' family members stood up and walked out of the court room. As the judge handed down the sentence, the audience in the court was celebratory, providing a round of applause as Ferguson was escorted out of the room. Ferguson is expected to serve again as his own attorney in the appeals process.

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March 21, 1995

Manhattan

A building at 142 west 140th Street in Harlem has partially collapsed. The entire East wall from the 1st to the 6th floor. Two people are known to be dead and at least five are injured. They are currently searching for people that may be trapped.

Queens and Long Island

There was a chemical scare at Kennedy Airport today. It was rumored that there was a foreign substance on an Olympic Airways that landed yesterday afternoon at Kennedy airport and nobody was allowed off that plane for 8 hours until the FBI inspected the plane thoroughly. It turned out to be a hoax.

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March 20, 1995

Queens and Long Island

Colin Ferguson, the man convicted of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) shooting, is going to be sentenced today. He is expected to continue serving as his own lawyer and will be making a statement before the sentencing.

Manhattan

At least twenty people have been treated for smoke inhalation at Penn Station after a 11:39am LIRR train from Babylon, Long Island passed through a smoke filled region of a tunnel.

Following the nerve gas attack in Japan, the New York City police force and terrorist task force have been put on alert for similar threats.

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March 19, 1995

Manhattan

Mayor Giuliani's weekly radio address has called for the creation of a task force and the assistance of the police department in stemming corruption at the Javits Convention Center. Among the issues to be addressed include outdated union guidelines and background checks on potential contractors.

Democratic Representative Charles Rangel, along with other Democrats, have vowed to fight Gov. Pataki city budget cuts.

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March 18, 1995

Manhattan

Manhattan College was knocked out of the NCAA Collegiate Basketball Tournament by Arizona State University.

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March 17, 1995

Manhattan

St. Patrick's Day! Today marks the 234th Annual march of the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade, a tradition started in 1762. Officials expect over 150,000 marchers and 1 million spectators.

Manhattan College pulled an upset victory in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament over a nationally ranked Oklahoma team. After a close first half, the Jaspers pulled away and won by a final score of 77-67. They will face their next opponent, Arizona State, on Saturday.

March 16, 1995

The Big Green Stripe is being painted down Fifth Avenue in preparation for tomorrow's St. Patrick's Day festivities.

March 15, 1995

Environmentalist groups have won in the fight of the laughing gulls at Kennedy Airport. For years, the gulls have caused problems for airplanes, often being sucked into the planes' large turbine engines. Instead of using the traditional hunting shoot to get rid of the gulls, the city has implemented a speaker system to scare away the birds.

A New York Post story this morning reports that the Metropolitan Transit Authority spent over $330,000 on defective metro passes. Bad printing ink caused the passes to become useless, requiring them to be destroyed.

March 14, 1995

The City Government, Department for Veteran Affairs and the Department of Defense are all working on a proposal which will feature World War II veterans marching in Times Square on November 11, the same way they celebrated the end of World War II fifty years ago. If successful, the march will be one of the largest in New York City history.

A wild car chase started in the Bronx and ended up in Teaneck New Jersey. There were 4 men in the car, two of them were arrested immediately after the car crashed in southern Teaneck, one was arrested later after a short man hunt, and one is still at large. The car was chased down route 80 in New Jersey after it crossed over the George Washington Bridge going in excess of 100 miles per hour.

March 13, 1995

Manhattan College, with a record of 25-4, received a surprise invitation to the NCAA men's basketball tourament. They are seeded 13th in the Southeast region, and will face Oklahoma in their opening game.

A New York police officer fought off a carjacker in Astoria-Queens early this morning. The burglar managed to fire one shot from his gun, which struck the officer in his ring finger.

March 12, 1995

A New York Times article reports that New York's OTB (Off Track Betting) sports simulcasting makes betting so easy that children have been able to bet illegally.

March 11, 1995

Fire-fighter Ray Scheibel, age 49, was buried today in Beth Page New York today.

Gerry Adams, president of the Sinn Fein political party, arrived in New York today. He will be meeting with President Clinton, Governor Pataki, and will march in the St. Patricks Day parade.

March 10, 1995

Two police officers were injured after pulling a driver over at 70th and Lexington Avenue on the Upper East Side. When the driver stopped, he pulled out a gun and started shooting. Fragments of the bullet struck one officer in the face. The driver is now in custody.

The Big East college basketball conference quarter-finals start today in Madison Square Garden.

March 9, 1995

Burglars broke into Gucci's at 54th Street at about 3 am this morning, making off with roughly $40,000 worth of watches and jewelry.

Of the five borough district attorneys, four have voiced their unwillingness to pursue the death penlaty sentence recently signed into law. Mayor Giuliani, a death penalty supporter, has warned that district attorneys who are uncomfortable with the new law should either warm up to the idea or remove themselves from office.

March 8, 1995

Fire-fighter Ray Scheibel passed away last night, after an error made by paramedics caused him to lapse into a coma.

Deputy Mayor Dyson has called the Javits Convention Center an "embarrasment" and has publicy criticized the Cuomo administration for not pursuing "mob" related corruption at the convention facility. Giuliani has considered putting the Center under city control as a cleanup effort.

March 7, 1995

New York State became the 38th state in the U.S. to reinstate the death penalty. NY state governor George Pataki signed the bill into law this week. City prosecutors from the Bronx and Manhattan have made it publicly known that they will choose not to pursue the death penalty in their cases. Instead, the prosecutors will recommend sentences of life imprisonment for their worst offenders.

March 6, 1995

Fire-fighter Ray Scheibel is in critical condition today after being treated for respiratory problems. Controversy arises from the care he received, as a paramedic team placed a breathing tube down his esophagus rather than his wind-pipe. As a result the fire-fighter was deprived of oxygen for 15 minutes, causing him to lapse into a coma. State health department officials are investigating.

March 5, 1995

A man was convicted Friday of throwing a bowling ball off an overpass and through a windshield, killing an 8-month-old girl. Calvin Settle, 19, was found guilty of manslaughter and could get up to 10 years in prison at his sentencing April 7. Settle contends the ball fell out of his hands, but two younger boys who were with Settle at the time of the accident say they saw him heave the ball off onto the roadway deliberately.

March 4, 1995

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's wife, Donna Hanover, has joined Fox's "Good Day New York" morning news program as a contributing correspondent starting March 20. This is a return to the screen for Ms. Hanover, who worked as a TV anchor before her husband was elected mayor in 1993.

March 3, 1995

New York City health officials have said that 4 children have come down with salmonella poisoning. They were all poisoned by eating "Bomba" snacks sold in the city.

March 2, 1995

Police Officer DelDebbio has been indicted in the case of last-year's shooting of fellow transit officer Desmond Robinson. Robinson was working undercover when responding to the scene of a crime when he drew his gun. Also responding to the scene, DelDebbio drew his gun and shot officer Robinson four times in the back. The controversy in the shooting comes from the possible racial bias because Robinson is black. Mayor Giuliani is asking for understanding in the community concerning this case.

March 1, 1995

A fire in the 54 story New York Palace hotel has forced an evacuation and caused a traffic jam in the midtown area. The fire started in the basement and spread quickly upward through an electrical conduit. As of now the fire seems to be extinguished.

Today marked the launch of the City Council Technology Task Force, dedicated to encouraging the use of high technology in the city government. The 1pm hearing was attended by members of the City Council, Office of Management and Budget, and the Department of Information Technolgy and Telecommunications.

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