Three Posed As Officers During Queens Robbery, Police Say
The New York City Police Department is on the hunt for three men who they say posed as members of the force and robbed a Queens check cashing store at gunpoint. Investigators say the suspects entered a Pay-O-Matic on South Conduit Avenue near 247th Street in Rosedale just after 8 a.m. Tuesday. Police say the men identified themselves as detectives and flashed a gun before stealing an unknown amount of cash. All three suspects wore navy blue jackets with an NYPD logo on the front and badges around their necks. Read More: NY1
One-legged millionaire gets 60 days for ‘assault-by-Rolex’
The one-legged Manhattan millionaire convicted of clocking a gorgeous, self-described “naked masseuse” in the head with his solid gold Rolex has been sent to jail for 60 days. Thomas Hartmann — a construction worker-turned-real estate magnate thanks to a big Long Island police brutality settlement — teared up at the defense table as he was sentenced in the oddball misdemeanor fracas. Read More: New York Post
Apple plans to make Mac look like iPhone, CEO says
Apple Inc. chief executive Tim Cook wants to make its Mac more like an iPhone. In an interview, Cook unveiled a new version of the company’s Macintosh operating system that incorporates several features from the software that powers Apple’s hit mobile devices. They include Apple’s messaging service, notifications app, gaming center, sharing features and integration with the company’s online service iCloud — all pioneered for the iPad and iPhone, which use the software known as iOS. Read More: New York Post
Cuomo, teachers union to announce deal on statewide evaluation system
Gov. Cuomo and state teachers union leaders are expected to announce a deal at 12:15 p.m. today to create a new statewide system for evaluating teachers, while the city and the United Federation of Teachers are also expected to announce a separate deal. Cuomo has until the end of today to amend his state budget proposal to impose a statewide system and has used the deadline to prod the State Education Department and New York State United Teachers union to settle a lawsuit over the issue and agree to a new system. Read More: New York Post
Grand jury indicts UWS teacher aide on sex abuse charges A grand jury has indicted Upper West Side teacher’s aide Gregory Atkins on charges he sexually abused an 8-year-old boy at the high performing PS 87, Manhattan prosecutors announced this afternoon. Atkins, 56, an employee at the school since 2008, declined to appear in open court, where news reporters and photographers waited for a look at him. He remains held in lieu of $250,000 bail posted at his arraignment on Feb. 11. Prosecutors say his victim told authorities that Atkins took him out of class on four occasions, bringing him to the boys’ bathroom and telling him to undress so that he could “check for bruises.” Read More: New York Post
Cornel West to lead ‘beautiful’ court trial protest of stop-and-frisk polices
Civil rights activist Cornel West is one of some 30 protesters who will go to trial before the same Manhattan judge next month for allegedly obstructing car and foot traffic during a Harlem protest against the NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk policies. West and his fellow protesters were busted on disorderly conduct charges in October for allegedly failing to disperse during a protest on 125th St. The professor and author said he views the upcoming trial as a “beautiful” extension of the protest itself. Read More: New York Post
Steel column falls from WTC construction site crane, crushes vehicle
A 35-foot steel column fell off a crane this morning at the World Trade Center, crushing a vehicle on the site and leading to a partial shutdown of construction, officials said. The incident occurred just before 10 a.m. One minor injury was reported – a construction worker slipped and fell while running near the fallen steel. The accident occurred at the site of the construction of Tower 4, owned by developer Larry Silverstein. Construction of that building and at the 9/11 memorial and museum was shut down for a police investigation. Read More: New York Post
Triplet killed, siblings injured in NJ school bus crash
The triplet daughter of a New Jersey state trooper was killed and her sibling critically injured when a school bus and dump truck collided Thursday, WTFX-TV reported. The accident in Chesterfield, NJ, left as many as 20 injured. A sibling of the child killed was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. The third triplet reportedly suffered minor injuries. The trooper has been identified as Anthony Tesla, and he lives very close to the accident scene, according to WTXF-TV. The Tesla family is at the bedside of the second triplet praying for the child’s recovery. Read More: New York Post
Staten Island nursing student killed in hit-and-run, family says
A Wagner College nursing student was biking home from the school’s library when he was killed Sunday night by a hit-and-run driver, his family said today. Ronald “RJ” Tillman had just finished studying for a test and was headed back to his apartment when he got slammed by an SUV near the Staten Island campus and his home. “We just can’t believe somebody would do that,” said his aunt, Joan Snihur. “His mother is just heartbroken that he was there by himself, that nobody even stopped.” Read More: New York Post
