Developing: Multiple Casualties From Shooting Outside Empire State Building

Shortly after 9:00 AM local time, multiple reports came in indicating that there was a shooting in the vicinity of the Empire State Building. It appears that there are at least six injuries, and at least one person killed besides the shooter. The NYPD and FDNY are on the scene, which has been secured.

The reports indicate that the shooter may have been recently fired from a business that operates in the building.

Police apparently shot the gunman, but not before the gunman killed at least one person. Several others have been taken to area hospitals. The area around the Empire State Building has been closed to traffic as the investigation continues.

At least four of those injured were shot. There were about 10 injured.

The victims were apparently targeted by the gunman. In one instance, a witness claims to have seen the gunman walk up to one of the victims and shot them point blank in the head.

UPDATE:
More details emerging, including several potential motives:

The investigation into the matter was in its earliest stages, and the official said he was unsure of the details and circumstances that led to the shooting.

Two law enforcement officials said investigators have concluded that the shooting had no connection to terrorism and that it appeared to stem from a domestic dispute of some kind. A third said it may have been sparked by a robbery or dispute in the street.

One woman said that she had just come out of a dentist’s office near the Empire State Building when the shooting happened.

“Suddenly I heard two shots or three shots, boom boom boom, and I saw two guys, they go to the floor,” said the woman, who would only give her first name, Monica. “I was really afraid.”

Andrew Pellenberg, 23, and a friend, both from New Jersey, were thinking about visiting the Empire State Building. “We heard 10 to 15 gunshots, and it was all in a 30-second span,” Mr. Pellenberg said.

Several of the victims were treated at the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. The wounded were taken to Bellevue Hospital and St. Luke’s Roosevelt, with the more seriously injured going to Bellevue, the official said.

Port Authority Announces Major Renovations For George Washington Bridge Approaches

The Port Authority had previously announced its intention to replace all of the George Washington Bridge's stringers (the vertical suspenders that attach the roadway decks to the suspension cables) as part of its 5-year capital plan. Today, it has announced several projects that also affect the bridge and the hundreds of thousands of people who use the bridge on a daily basis.

For starters, the $1 billion stringer replacement project is getting $20 million for planning. However, that's the warmup for a host of other projects affecting the span and its approaches.

The agency’s Board of Commissioners has taken action to facilitate the intensive bridge rehabilitation program. The Board’s actions included a project to rehabilitate the 178th and 179th Street and bus ramps, planning work for the rehabilitation of the Center Avenue and Lemoine Avenue bridges, and planning for rehabilitation work on the bridge’s lower level. The investments approved today cost an estimated $230 million; ultimately, the three projects are estimated to cost between $460 and $480 million.

In addition to these projects, the Board authorized a $20 million planning project in December 2011 to replace the George Washington Bridge’s steel suspender ropes. That project is anticipated to cost between $1 and $1.2 billion and is projected to generate nearly 4,000 jobs and more than one billion in economic activity.

“The George Washington Bridge is the busiest crossing in the world and represents the most critical connector of commerce in the Northeast region,” said Port Authority Chairman David Samson. “Maintaining this iconic structure goes to the heart of the Port Authority’s mission, both as an engine of economic growth and as a provider of the region’s most important infrastructure.”

“These projects are core to the mission of the Port Authority of building and maintaining transportation infrastructure that will ensure the efficient, safe movement of people and goods in the New York New Jersey region,” said Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye. “These are important assets to the Port Authority, and as stewards of the public’s infrastructure we must maintain and preserve them for future generations.”

Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni said, “Every day, more than 300,000 people use this bridge to get to work, to shop or to visit friends on both sides of the Hudson. In 2010 alone, the bridge handled some 102 million vehicles on its two levels, toll plazas and toll lanes. It is critical therefore that we invest in this program to ensure this vital asset for the region continues to serve the region for years to come.”

Recent engineering studies have indicated that the 178th and 179th Street ramps, two associated bus ramps and the bus connector ramp structure that links these elevated areas must be rehabilitated. The street ramps were built in 1931 and last underwent a comprehensive rehaliltation more than 20 years ago. The bus ramps and associated connector ramp were built in 1958 and last had work on them in the late 1980s. The work on these ramps is projected to cost $218.8 million and is estimated to create 1,013 jobs, $72 million in wages, and $334 in economic activity.

The 178th and 179th Street ramps and the associated bus ramps are located on the Manhattan side of the bridge, while the Center Avenue and Lemoine Avenue overpasses are on the New Jersey side.


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The bridge will also undergo lead abatement and repainting on the lower level and other structural and functional repairs.

Yet, the Port Authority is not going to tackle the issue of lengthy delays caused by backups due to insufficient numbers of cash lanes that thwart users of EZ Pass from getting through in a more timely and efficient manner (to say nothing of the pollution due to the idling of hundreds of thousands of cars and trucks on a daily basis).

One consideration might be to make the Lower Level accessible only to vehicles with EZ Pass, rather than trying to back up traffic unnecessarily. It's a low-cost alternative to other efforts, and the benefits outweigh the potential costs. Traffic would flow more smoothly, though cash-customers might complain about being stuck in the same traffic flow as the trucks. Of course, the response to those customers should be to get EZ-Pass to avoid having those kinds of delays. Reducing the congestion would increase economic activity throughout the region.

MTA Decides To Fast Track East Side Access Project

One has to wonder why the Department finally came around to fast tracking the long-delayed East Side Access project considering that such a move would have helped save costs over the life of the project and would have provided much-needed facilities access for commuters.

The East Side Access project allows LIRR trains to access Grand Central Terminal through newly constructed tunnels bored beneath the East River from Sunnyside Yards. Previously, LIRR trains would have to go to either Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn or Penn Station on the West Side of Manhattan. For those commuting to Midtown on the East Side, it would result in a far longer commute that was less reliable.

By building the East Side Access, LIRR and MTA officials could improve reliability, expand commuter options, and upgrade facilities at Grand Central Terminal.

The scope of the project is daunting in its complexity:

Upon completion of the project, which is expected to happen by 2016, the new terminal will have eight new station tunnels — each with a diameter of 22 feet — will expand the total number of tracks from 67 to 75, and will add another four platforms taking the total number in the Terminal to 48.

A new mezzanine will provide stores, restaurants, bars, food halls, public amenities and other facilities.

The tunnel length will stretch approximately 7,200 feet — from 37th St. up to 63rd St. The area of the mezzanine will take up to 60,000 square feet, an MTA spokesman said.

The lower platform levels will take up to nearly 48,000 square feet, while the upper platform sections will measure out to 46,000 square feet and the concourse itself will take up 350,000 square feet.

The project is considered perhaps the most ambitious and challenging one undertaken by the MTA in recent years, and comes as other major transportation projects across the city have been mired with budget constraints, including Moynihan Station, which is one day destined to become a gleaming rail hub.

Not for nothing, the project has been behind schedule for the past couple of years and wasn't expected to be completed before 2016. Now, it appears that the project is on schedule for completion in 2013.

Yet, when the project was originally conceived, it was expected to be in revenue service in 2012 (that would be this year). The Federal Transit Administration believed that the project would not be completed before the fourth quarter of 2018 as the MTA noted a 2016 completion date just a few months ago. And it doesn't begin to go into the spiraling costs of construction. East Side Access is now expected to cost $7.4 billion when completed, though the FTA thinks it will be over $8 billion. The project was originally sold to the public on a cost basis of $3 billion when initially proposed to more than $7 billion.

Part of the issue is that the costs are purposefully minimized so as to get the project started, and additional funding will come later. It also is the result of unanticipated issues that arise during construction and other related issues. However, it is also the result of the MTA inability to manage projects of this size and scope and keep them on budget and on schedule. Mind you that the Sunnyside Yards are the focus of several high profile projects to upgrade rail access in and out of New York City (upgrading and separating the interlocking to permit high speed rail for Amtrak to Boston, additional capacity for subways and commuter rail, and the East Side Access project).

It is curious that the MTA now finds that they can proceed with the fast tracking of East Side Access at this time.

Bomb Squad Investigating Suspicious Car Fire In Times Square

A suspicious car fire has closed streets in and around Times Square as the NYPD and the bomb squad investigate.

Police said Saturday the bomb squad was investigating the contents of the car on 45th Street.

They say the block was closed between Seventh and Eighth avenues as a precaution.

A webcam at 46th Street and Broadway showed the streets had been cleared of pedestrians. A line of police cars blocked one street.

Police say a call of a car fire came in about 6:30 p.m.

Broadway is closed between 44th and 46th Street, as can be seen with the police cars on the photo above. The vehicle, apparently an SUV, was seen smoking in the area and fire and police responded. Something must have gotten the attention of the police, since they called in the bomb squad. A car fire by itself wouldn't be cause for concern, but this kind of response suggests that there was something more here. The investigators found flammable materials and combustibles at Times Square.

ABC News in NYC is reporting that the SUV appeared to contain propane canisters and gasoline canisters in the trunk. With its location, had those canisters gone off, it could have resulted in significant casualties.

The driver of the vehicle is nowhere to be found and the license plates don't match the vehicle, increasing the likelihood that this may have been a terror incident.

Times Square is one of the busiest locales in Manhattan, and there are continuing crowds in the area gawking at the situation.

As they say, developing.

UPDATE:
Bear in mind too that Thomson-Reuters HQ is down the block from the incident and the NYT HQ is a few blocks away. It's the heart of Midtown.

Here's NYT's latest:

Police officials said a witness reported a running Nissan Pathfinder with Connecticut plates, with smoke coming out of the back. A bomb squad robot popped the back latch of the Pathfinder, and officers found what they initially believed was a bomb. The vehicle was found to contain explosives, gasoline, propane and burned wires, a Fire Department officer told Reuters.

The officer, who did not give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the news media, said that a man was seen fleeing the S.U.V. and that the police evacuated the area in case there were other threats nearby.

The officer said that the police were treating the vehicle as a “failed device.” The police were searching for a suspect.

A federal official said that it was not considered a terrorist threat and that the New York Police Department had told the Department of Homeland Security to stand down.

That last bit is... odd.

Who exactly has a car that contains gasoline, propane, and explosives and yet isn't considered a terrorist threat?

34th Street Corridor To Get Transit Makeover

This is the kind of move that can not only be done on the cheap, but can provide a major improvement to moving people across Manhattan at 34th Street - if you're not in a car, that is.

The plan was proposed in 2008 by the department, but the drive to put it into effect has recently accelerated. The city completed a study of the proposal in February, and is now preparing the environmental and design reviews.

The final design for the plaza and traffic changes is expected in fall 2011, with the street ready for use by the end of 2012. The redesign is expected to cost a minimum of $30 million, and officials said they would continue to tweak the plan based on public reaction and in-house studies.

“It’s going to improve the mobility along the corridor,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, the city’s transportation commissioner. “We expect the bus travel times to improve by up to 35 percent, which is something that up to 33,000 passengers that currently travel crosstown will appreciate.”

Ms. Sadik-Khan said a city study showed that only one in 10 people travel along 34th Street by car, including taxis; the rest walk or use mass transit. Faster buses would benefit “the majority of the people who are actually using the street,” she said.

With the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, tourist attractions like Macy’s, and major transit hubs (including a ferry terminal and helipad), 34th Street has some of the highest transportation demands in the city — and it does not benefit from crosstown subway lines as 42nd Street does.

Officials have long viewed the street as a prime candidate for an experimental bus lane that would be separated from regular car traffic. Bus lanes would bisect the pedestrian plaza and carry tourist buses and some private lines as well as those operated by New York City Transit. Buses would run in both directions along the entire length of 34th.

Transit buses using the lane would also benefit from other new initiatives: passengers will be able to pay for bus tickets at sidewalk kiosks before boarding, and electronic devices on buses could signal traffic lights to remain green as the buses approach intersections.

It might mean that drivers will seek out driving crosstown on the narrow side streets above and below 34th street, but bus rapid transit is coming to 34th Street in the form of dedicated traffic lanes and a new traffic pattern.

This will help out those who want to get across town much faster by foot or using mass transit, and it's a model transplanted from other cities around the world where there are dedicated bus lanes that allow mass transit to move much more effectively since car traffic is diverted away. Bus rapid transit is a far cheaper alternative to building subways, though the capacity is far lower. A subway project would run into the billions of dollars, whereas a bus rapid transit setup such as this would run about $30 million and doesn't require the kind of upkeep that a subway system would require.

Now, if you're a driver trying to get across Manhattan, that's a different story and you'll find yourself in a whole lot more traffic. Yet, some observers have noted, this isn't exactly a bad thing since it might convince those people to give up on their cars and take mass transit instead.

Suspicious Vehicle Shuts Times Square: UPDATE: Reopened After Vehicle Search Turned Up No Explosives

WCBS880.com and 1010wins are reporting that the NYPD has shut down a stretch of Times Square to investigate a vehicle abandoned at the corner of 42nd and Broadway:

The bomb squad is using a robot-based camera to approach the vehicle. Police say the area around 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Broadway has been blocked off as a precaution.

The van is a 1992 Dodge, and has tinted windows. A placard from a nonexistent law enforcement agency is on the dashboard. It has no license plates.

A test of the New Year's Eve ball drop that was scheduled for noon was delayed as the police continue their investigation. Pedestrians have been routed away from the scene and a nearby building was partially evacuated.

UPDATE:
The building that was partially evacuated was the Nasdaq market site, which happens to be across the street from the Times Square police substation and diagonally across from the Armed Forces Recruiting Station.

UPDATE:
Gothamist reports that the vehicle was opened up by the NYPD with no explosives discovered within.

UPDATE:
No explosives were found inside the vehicle, which lacked license plates and sported a bogus police placard in the windshield.

Playing Up the Hate

A candidate for District Attorney in Manhattan has decided that the best way to separate himself from the rest of the candidates is to pursue a gun control agenda, with an outrageous campaign.

The type of guys he hopes to keep guns from? Dick Cheney.

This is just insanity, but Richard Aborn, who hopes to replace retiring Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, thinks that this is a legitimate target and will score points with the liberals in Manhattan.

Under the headline "One candidate for district attorney has spent 30 years taking guns out of the hands of criminals," there's a large color photo of Cheney with his hands on a rifle.

"If someone happens to believe that Dick Cheney is some kind of war criminal and they like the fact that Richard Aborn is exposing Cheney for the barriers he placed in the way of keeping New Yorkers safe, then that's a happy coincidence," said Alex Navarro-McKay, an Aborn spokesman.

Cheney is a "visceral symbol of everything that progressive Democrats, Richard Aborn's base, oppose," Navarro-McKay explained.

The mailer also features a photograph of Aborn shaking hands with former President Bill Clinton and quotes the ex-president praising him, even though Clinton hasn't endorsed him.

When Democrats like to talk about how they're not playing up the hate, just remember that they're the ones who demonized and threatened President Bush and Vice President Cheney for eight straight years.

Can you just feel the love with the claims that Cheney was a war criminal?

The same kind of hatred and derangement from the right against President Obama is also corrosive to politics. One can hate the policies and practices without hating the person. All too often, the two get conflated.