Local questions in New York

LaGuardia Airport terminals for arrivals and departures are shown below. In case of terminal changes, contacting the airline to confirm before travel is advisable. AirlineTerminal Air Canada B American Airlines B American Shuttle B Delta C / D Delta Shuttle C Frontier Airlines C JetBlue Airways A Spirit Airlines B Southwest Airlines C United Airlines B WestJet C

Ari Halberstam was a yeshiva student killed, aged 16, when Lebanese-born terrorist Rashid Baz shot at the van he was traveling in on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, on the morning of March 1st, 1994. Halberstam was one of 15 Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish students in the van that had just joined the bridge from the FDR Drive on-ramp, when Baz opened fire on the vehicle from his car, and continued shooting as it travelled in the direction of Brooklyn. Halberstam was shot in the head and taken to St Vincent’s Hospital where he died five days later. Ari’s mother, Devorah Halberstam, was instrumental in establishing Brooklyn’s Jewish Children’s Museum, which opened in 2004 and is officially dedicated in his memory. In 1995, New York City Council, formally named the Brooklyn Bridge on-ramp from southbound FDR Drive and Pearl Street in Manhattan the Ari Halberstam Memorial Ramp.

Just before 6 pm on June 28th, 1981, two diagonal steel cable stays on the Brooklyn Bridge snapped due to corrosion. One crashed down into the wooden-slatted pedestrian walkway, while the other whipped back and struck Akira Aimi as he was crossing the bridge on foot. 32-year-old Aimi, a Japanese professional photographer living in New York, was critically injured, suffering a fractured skull and broken arm. He was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital where he died 8 days later. The diagonal stays are not a critical load-bearing component of the bridge, but serve as bracing intended to minimize swaying due to the wind. However, the cable failure drew accusations of inadequate bridge maintenance which allowed the corrosion, caused by elements such as salty air and acid from pigeon droppings, to progress unchecked.

The Holland Tunnel emerges in Lower Manhattan parallel to Canal Street in the Tribeca neighborhood. The road loops around Saint John’s Park, with right-lane exits in the following order: Exit 1: West Street (or West Side Highway 9A) via Laight Street Exit 2: Uptown via Hudson Street Exit 3: Brooklyn via Manhattan Bridge or Williamsburg Bridge Exit 4: Downtown via Varick Street Exit 5: Canal Street (East) The Holland Tunnel carries Interstate 78 under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York and is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Greeley Square Park is a small, triangular, tree-lined, paved park in midtown Manhattan at 6th Avenue and West 34th Street, near the 33rd Street subway and PATH station. There are many things to see and do within a short walking distance: See Alexander Doyle’s bronze statue of Horace Greeley, founder and editor of the New York Tribune newspaper. Bring your coffee or grab something to eat from one of the nearby street vendors and take a seat in the triangular park. Go shopping in the Manhattan Mall See the now disused copper-clad Gimbels Bridge skybridge across West 32nd Street that once connected its Saks-34th Street department store on either side of the street Go shopping at Macy’s Herald Square See the Million Dollar Corner at Broadway and West 34th Street, a small corner plot purchased in an attempt to block Macy’s from becoming the largest store in the world. See the historic Hotel McAlpin building at Broadway and West 34th Street, now private apartments, it was the largest hotel in the world when it opened in 1912. Visit Tannen’s Magic hidden away on the sixth floor at 45 West 34th Street, billed as America’s oldest magic shop, and a must-see for anyone interested in magic and illusions. Visit the famous Empire State Building a block away on West 34th Street. Visit the Church of St Francis of Assisi on West 31st Street where FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge was a Catholic priest until his death in the World Trade Center attack on 9/11.

Alexander Hamilton’s 1802 home, The Grange, was relocated in June 2008 to the northern end of Saint Nicholas Park in Harlem’s Hamilton Heights neighborhood. The Founding Father’s yellow and white Federal-style house previously stood a block north, next to Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church on Convent Avenue at 141st Street. Despite becoming a National Memorial in 1962, it was hemmed in by neighboring buildings, and had fallen into a state of disrepair. The relocation project included a $14.5 million restoration of the building, which is managed by the National Parks Service as the Hamilton Grange National Memorial. It was the second move for the Grange, having originally been built on a hilltop at the center of Hamilton’s 32-acre country estate, just two blocks north where West 43rd Street stands today. To accommodate expansion of Manhattan’s street grid layout, the house was donated to St Luke’s in 1889 and first relocated to the site adjacent to the present-day church. The Grange was Hamilton’s home for just two years before he was shot and killed in 1804 in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr.

Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9 in midtown Manhattan lost 15 members on 9/11, the biggest loss of any firehouse in New York City. When two planes struck the World Trade Center twin towers on the morning of September 11th, 2001, all 15 members of the night shift turned out but none made it back to the firehouse. The firehouse at 8th Avenue and West 48th Street has memorials on the walls to remember their fallen firefighters, who were: Al Feinberg Dave Wooley Jose Guadalupe Ed Geraghty Chris Santora Joe Angelini John Tipping Carl Asaro Len Ragaglia Dan O’Callaghan Mike Haub Mike Brennan Mike Lynch Paul Gill Sam Oitice

New York’s Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge was named after Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, but a mistake meant that the bridge’s official name was spelled with only one ‘z’ instead of two. The mis-spelled name remained in use from the bridge’s opening in 1964 until 2018, when a public campaign resulted in a bill being passed unanimously by the New York State Senate to correct the spelling by adding the second ‘z’ to the bridge’s official name. Following the signing of the bill into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo, a program was implemented to gradually replace incorrectly spelled signs as part of normal maintenance cycles.

The New York 1 cable TV news channel broadcasts from studios on the sixth floor of the Chelsea Market Building at 9th Avenue and West 15th Street in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. NY1 has been at this location since January 2002, and programs produced here include: Mornings on 1 In Focus with Cheryl Wills Inside City Hall NY1 Live at Ten The channel is available to Spectrum and Altice cable subscribers throughout the five boroughs of New York City.

The statue of Hans Christian Andersen is located near Manhattan’s Conservatory Water pond on the east side of Central Park, just north of the entrance at East 772nd Street and 5th Avenue. The oversize bronze sculpture depicts the seated Danish author reading from a book, which is open at his tale The Ugly Duckling. At his feet is a bronze “duckling” depicting the cygnet in his story. Along with the nearby Alice in Wonderland sculpture, it is a popular spot for photographs, and in summer months, a Saturday morning storytelling hour for kids is held at the statue. Dedicated on September 18th, 1956, the sculpture is the work of Georg J. Lober, who was also responsible for the statue of musical entertainer George M Cohan in the Duffy Square area of Times Square.

WQXR-FM is a classical music radio station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, broadcasting to New York City and North Jersey at 105.9 MHz FM, and streaming online. The station is owned by the nonprofit New York Public Radio and broadcasts from their studios in Hudson Square, Manhattan via a transmitter atop the Empire State Building. WQXR also reaches central and northern Westchester County on WQXW at 90.3 MHz FM, and has repeater transmitters broadcasting to Poughkeepsie at 103.7 MHz FM and Asbury Park at 96.7 MHz FM.

For Tandon School of Engineering students, New York University’s ID card, the NYUCard, may be picked up on weekdays at the Tandon NYUCard Center on the ground floor of 2 MetroTech Center in Brooklyn. NYUCard applicants must bring government issued ID with a current photo, and an N number or NetID. New students may upload a photo via photoid.nyu.edu and await notification of card availability. NYUCards are available to all NYU students, faculty, administration, staff and retirees. After business hours, day passes may be obtained from NYU Public Safety at 561 LaGuardia Place. In Manhattan, the NYUCard Center is located in the ground floor lobby of 7 Washington Place (at the corner of Mercer Street). NYUCard inquiries may be e-mailed to nyucard@nyu.edu

New York University’s ID card, the NYUCard, may be picked up on weekdays at the Washington Square NYUCard Center located in the ground floor lobby of 7 Washington Place (at the corner of Mercer Street). NYUCard applicants must bring government issued identification with a current photo, and an N number or NetID. New students may upload a photo via photoid.nyu.edu. NYUCards are available to all NYU students, faculty, administration, staff and retirees. After business hours, day passes may be obtained from NYU Public Safety at 561 LaGuardia Place. In Brooklyn, the NYUCard Center is located on the ground floor of 2 MetroTech Center at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering campus. NYUCard inquiries may be e-mailed to nyucard@nyu.edu

There are two bronze statues in Duffy Square, the northern triangle of Times Square in Manhattan, New York City, one of Chaplain Francis P Duffy and the other of musical theater star George M Cohan. The statue of Father Duffy, a military chaplain and priest after whom the square is named, was sculpted by Charles Keck and dedicated on May 2nd, 1937, and stands in front of the TKTS red stairs. The statue of composer, playwright, actor, and theatrical producer George M Cohan by sculptor Georg J Lober stands a little further south and was formally unveiled on September 11, 1959.

New York City’s Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed suspension bridge that uses suspension cables and also diagonal cables from both towers to provide additional stiffening. Completed in 1883 to a design by John A. Roebling, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first bridge to use suspension cables made from steel wire. The bridge crosses the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Manhattan’s Empire State Building is 1,454 feet (or 443 meters ) high to the tip of its rooftop antenna. The 102-story skyscraper has an architectural height of 1,250 feet (or 381 meters). From its completion in 1931, it was the tallest building in the world, until 1970 when it was overtaken by the World Trade Center towers.

If you are moving to a new home in Manhattan, New York City, aim to set up utility accounts at least two weeks before your move-in date. Electricity in Manhattan is supplied by ConEdison and you can move or set up a new service online at coned.com or by phone on 1-800-752-6633. New customers require an ID number from a driver’s license, social security card, passport or similar to avoid paying a deposit. Gas in Manhattan is also supplied by ConEdison so you can set up an account at the same time as electricity if needed. If you are renting, it is likely that gas is included in your rent so a supply account might not be required. Check with your landlord. Water services in Manhattan are provided by NYC Department of Environmental Protection. If you are renting, water charges are likely included in your rent so a supply account might not be required. Check with your landlord. Phone, Internet & TV packages are offered by various providers in Manhattan by cable, fiber and satellite, depending on what’s available at your building. A service technician appointment will likely be required for install. DISH – 1-888-656-2461 DirecTV – 1-800-288-2020 Charter Spectrum – 1-855-243-8892 RCN – 1-800-746-4726 Verizon – 1-800-837-4966

Times Square in Manhattan was so named in 1904 in anticipation of completing the newly-constructed headquarters of The New York Times newspaper at the convergence of Broadway and 7th Avenue at 43rd Street, an area previously called Longacre Square. With its distinctive narrow wedge-shaped tower, the New York Times Building was a prominent architectural landmark and provided access to the new Times Square subway station through its arcade level. Starting on December 31st, 1904, the Times celebrated New Year’s Eve annually with rooftop fireworks, and for 1908, an illuminated ball was lowered down the building’s flagpole at midnight. The annual ball drop continues to this day and is a focal point of New York City’s New Year’s Eve celebrations. The New York Times quickly outgrew the space and relocated to bigger offices on West 43rd Street in 1913, but the Times Square name endured.

MTA operates the following subway trains across the Manhattan Bridge: B Sixth Avenue Express on weekdays only, at all times except late nights. D Sixth Avenue Express at all times. N Broadway Express at all times except late nights. Q Second Avenue/Broadway Express/Brighton Local at all times. For B and D trains, the stops on either side of the Manhattan Bridge are Grand Street in Manhattan, and DeKalb Avenue on the Brooklyn side. For N and Q trains crossing the bridge, the first Manhattan stop is Canal Street. On the Brooklyn side, Q trains stop at DeKalb Avenue, while most N trains bypass DeKalb Avenue and stop at Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center.

On the evening of October 30th, 2002, Jason Mizell, better known as Jam Master Jay of the hip hop group Run-DMC, was shot and killed, aged 37, at his recording studio in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. Ronald Washington was identified by prosecutors in April 2007 as an accomplice in the murder, although it was alleged that he was accompanied by another individual who shot and killed Mizell. In 2018, almost sixteen years after the incident, Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr. were indicted for Mizell’s murder, which the indictment alleges was linked to a disagreement over a cocaine deal. Mizell was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, following a funeral service at the Greater Allen Cathedral in Queens.