This Week's Stories
GG's quick takes on recent NYC news


Week of 06 August 2001:

Hot Enough?
The temperature hit a record-breaking 103 degrees yesterday, in the fourth day of a heat wave. Con Ed hit a new peak in energy demand, and there were scattered power outages throughout the city, affecting about 2,000 residents of the Bronx, for example, and 7,000 residents of Flushing. Water pressure was dangerously low in Washington Heights, the South Bronx, and parts of Brooklyn because of the use of fire hydrants to cool down. Ambulance calls had risen 20 percent over normal, many of them from the elderly affected by the heat -- Bellevue, for example, treated about 60 people for heat stroke -- but there were no reports of heat-related deaths in the city. The Mayor's Office Of Emergency Management has set up 400 cooling centers, mostly in public buildings. The governor sent home state workers early to conserve energy in state office buildings, but the mayor did not do the same for city workers, saying it was not necessary. The Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Center all shut off their lights at night as part of a city-wide effort to conserve energy. Weather forecasters predict temperatures in the 90's today, and in the 80's over the weekend.

Road Death Aftermath
Four days after four people in the same family were killed when they were struck by a minivan allegedly driven by an intoxicated police officer, Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik disciplined 17 officers at a Brooklyn precinct. The minivan's driver, Joseph Gray, reportedly spent 12 hours before the accident drinking with fellow cops to celebrate a supervisor's upcoming wedding.

The commander, the executive officer, a lieutenant and two sergeants at the 72nd Precinct will be transferred. Two other sergeants and 10 officers will be suspended or placed on modified duty for drinking on department property or visiting a topless bar that was off limits, the commissioner said.

Kerik's action followed revelations that Gray started drinking in the precinct's parking lot with colleagues after their shift Saturday morning. Investigators say they then went to the bar. Several hours later, Gray's minivan killed a 4-year-old boy, his pregnant mother and her sister. Efforts to save the mother's baby failed.

According to the Times, Kerik was described as livid after he found out that as many as 10 officers had drunk beer for several hours in the station house parking lot.

Matching Funds
Almost three-quarters of the City Council candidates who registered to participate in the campaign finance program did not receive any public matching funds this week, according to the Times. Some were denied the funds because their ballot status is tied up in court. But many simply were unable to raise the minimum required $5,000 from city residents, 50 of them from their own district.

Meanwhile, Alan Hevesi backed down from the aggressive tone that his political consultant Hank Morris had taken in response to the Campaign Finance Board's decision not to provide matching funds to his campaign (the only one of the four major Democratic candidates for mayor to be so denied). Morris threatened to sue. Hevesi said yesterday that he wanted to settle the dispute "amicably," and dispatched aides to cooperate with the board, according to the Times.

No Dough
The Campaign Finance Board voted unanimously yesterday to deny mayoral candidate Alan Hevesi any matching funds (a decision that could cost him as much as $3.2 million) because his political consultant, Hank Morris, has been working for Hevesi for free. The decision could be reversed, according to the Times The board is also auditing Hevesi's spending, and likely will decide that the city comptroller spent much more than he has claimed, a Campaign Finance Board Board official said. Such a ruling would give him less to spend in next month's primary and could lead to significant fines, according to Newsday.

Costly And Deadly
Officials estimate that nearly 10,000 inmates or 14 percent of the state prison population in New York are infected with the liver infection, hepatitis C. The concern also extends beyond the prison walls as guards fear being infected through contact with blood and prisoners may spread the disease through intravenous drug use when they are released. Hepatitis C, which causes liver disease in 20 percent of those infected, can kill more than five percent of those who contract it. Treatment is expensive, has a low success rate, and can present serious side effects. New York is currently treating 95 prisoners at a cost of about $6 million a year and at least five state inmates are suing prison systems for being denied treatment, the New York Times reports.

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