2 VIEWS OF A POLICE RESCUE

Cops close off the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge so a suicidal man who climbed the tower could be rescued.

Most people find the happy ending worth the inconvenience. Most people.

When 1010 WINS sent me to the Brooklyn Bridge to cover the rescue of a man who had climbed up on the Manhattan tower, 200 feet above the bridge surface, to end his life, I thought I had what everyone would see as a feelgood story on my hands. The cops climbed up there, negotiated with the distraught man for a long time, then lowered him on a harness to safety and a waiting ambulance who took him to the hospital for observation.

The cops involved in the rescue were made available for interviews. Extraordinary guys, by the way.

The bridge was closed for about and hour-and-a-half for the rescue. People stood and watched. And applauded and cheered the heroics and happy ending. This clearly reflected the majority view.

But New York City being New York City, someone had to mouth off. That someone, a guy who approached reporters to urge us to report how the lives of so many people were disrupted by the temporary closing of the bridge. He, for example, was stuck in line waiting all that time to enter the bridge in a cab. With the meter running.

Excuse me?

My colleagues all either stared with with incredulous looks or just ignored him (this is New York City after all). But I asked him, "what would you have them do? Let him jump?"

By the way, right there, near the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge, is a subway station. Where the guy could have caught a train to Brooklyn.

Or he could have walked the bridge as the pedestrian crossing was still open.

PAY TO FIX A HOUSE. THEN PAY TO TEAR IT DOWN

This is what I was told when I was at Oakland Beach on Staten Island. One of the neighborhoods hard-hit by Hurricane Sandy. One of the neighborhoods where Gov. Cuomo is offering federal money to buy the people out - to tear down the homes.

I spoke with a woman who said she first got federal assistance from FEMA. That money was to fix her house up. She took the grant and is in the process for making repairs.

Now Cuomo is offering federal money through the state to buy the house and tear it down. So, according to her at least, the government pays twice. Once to fix the houses. Then to buy them and demolish them!

WHAT A BUSY DAY WORKING FOR 1010 WINS

Saturday was just one of those days.

It started out with an assignment in Jamaica, Queens. I was sent there to interview some Muslim leaders to get their reaction to Pope Francis reaching out to the Islamic community. They were very cool guys who too the time to talk to me a bit about the more global issue of religious hatred. Which they blame on some non-Muslims and some Muslims alike.

I'm pretty sure we opened up what will be some continuing lines of communications.

Before the shift was through, I made another contact with a religious guy - but more on that a bit later.

From Queens I went to Washington Heights in Manhattan where two people - a man and a woman - were abducted.

Then I rushed to East Flatbush, Brooklyn, where a car jumped a curb and went up onto a sidewalk crowded with Easter shoppers, struck some pedestrians and slammed into some scaffolding which partially collapsed. More than a dozen people were hurt, some of them critically, including a three-year-old boy.

That's where I met a minister preaching the Gospel on the street corner. Rev. Terry Lee ran over to pray for the injured and those traumatized after witnessing the crash. He's looking to do a religious Internet radio show, something he told me about after I mentioned to him that I used to co-host a black Gospel radio show in Detroit with the Rev. Ray Shoulders (yep, Reverend Ray brought me into his weekly show even though I'm neither black nor Christian). That's when I told the rev. about Paltalk. And gave him my card.

I hope Easter proves to be a little less hectic and offers me fewer tragedies to cover!

THIS IS ONE HUGE ERECTOR SET

Photo by Gary Baumgarten

Before you can erect a skyscraper you have to erect a construction tower. And that's what these construction workers were doing on 42nd Street near Times Square.

Do you think they played with Erector Sets when they were young?

ARE THESE LEGAL IN NEW YORK CITY?

Someone was kind enough to bring these to share at work at Fox News Radio. But it got me to thinking. Are they even legal in New York City?

After all, they have a high sugar content.

Well, Mayor Bloomberg?

THREE ALARM FIRE BAYONNE, NJ

 

A three-alarm fire that started above an Italian restaurant and spread to a liquor store kept Bayonne, NJ firefighters busy.