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Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is now claiming he asked Assemblyman Vito Lopez to step down following accusations against him of sexual harassment in the workplace. These claims follow evidence in recent weeks Silver agreed to pay $100,000 to settle workplace harassment claims made against Lopez. Silver also stripped Lopez of his Assembly chairmanship, reports Gothamist. 

As criticism was leveled against Silver, he responded he had originally asked Lopez to resign, but the 71-year-old Lopez was not happy to hear it. Silver told the New York Times he no longer believed Lopez would be able to fulfill his duties, but seemed to avoid the subject of the allegations altogether.

“He won’t be a committee chair anymore,” Silver told the Times, “and his ability will be impaired significantly as a legislator.” Silver, reportedly, was not able to convince Lopez to step down.

Lopez also formerly paid $32,000 to the two staffers making accusations against him, reports Gothamist. Other female staffers have also come forward, many anonymously, to report inappropriate advances made by Lopez against them.

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The Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) has approved a taxi fare hike of 17 percent, which goes into effect today. The fare hike is the TLC’s first such increase in eight years, according to Gothamist.

(by Alissa Fleck)

The current fare rate is 40 cents for every fifth of a mile or minute stuck in traffic, but the hike will increase that rate to 50 cents. Gothamist reports the TLC anticipates fares will rise from $10 for the average fare to $12. Airport transit fees will also increase.

There is a small, temporary loophole in the new regulation, as cabbies are not required to make the changes until September 30. While it’s hard to believe there will be many holdouts, for a few weeks it will be possible to snag the occasional taxi for the old, reduced price, reports Gothamist. 

This change follows a July hearing, in which disgruntled cabbies reported walking away with meager earnings—$130, or less, for a 12 hour shift—and pointed to rises in gas prices and other services. According to the news blog, cab drivers reportedly make 24 percent less than they did in 2006. Many cab drivers believe the fare hike should be even higher.

Gothamist outlines the new fare prices and regulations. 

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Numerous commuters were met with unfortunate circumstances last night on their way into Manhattan. An exposed “finger joint” on the George Washington Bridge gave 20 drivers flat tires on the way into New York from New Jersey, reports Gothamist. Delays were reportedly so severe, miles of cars were lined up waiting to get into Manhattan.

One victim of the exposed finger joint told WCBS 2 tow trucks would not come onto the bridge, and the affected cars were forced to drive away on their rims. The problem, which occurred last night around 10 p.m., was fixed by this morning, reports Gothamist.

—Alissa Fleck

Via Wiki Commons

The New York Times is reporting Con Ed may have overcharged numerous electricity consumers this summer because of limited access to meters during the lockout. Many customers were charged more than ever despite, in some cases, being out of town for much of the summer.

(by Alissa Fleck)

At first, reports the Times, Con Ed blamed July’s supposedly unusually warm weather conditions. After the Times called their bluff, explaining July was in fact not as hot as July of 2011, Con Ed changed their tune, blaming “union troubles,” according to Gothamist.

Con Ed decided charges based on meters in Staten Island, Westchester County and the Bronx which the company could read remotely during the lockout. A spokesman for Con Ed said meter readings in those locations were “10 to 15 percent higher than what [they] anticipated [them] to be during July.” Because of this, the company decided to add approximately 10 percent to electricity consumption estimates for customers whose meters were not read in July, reports the Times.

Reportedly, Con Ed will adjust consumers’ bills to the appropriate amount if they can prove they were overcharged. The bigger issue seems to be Con Ed taking its customers for a bunch of rubes.

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A Columbia student fell to her death from her dorm last night in what was originally reported as an accident but is now being treated as a possible suicide. Martha Corey-Ochoa, who was 18-years-old, fell from her 14th floor dorm around 11 p.m., reports Gothamist. The freshman’s dorm was on 114th Street in Manhattan. Columbia’s dean, Kevin Shollenberger, emailed students to offer his condolences, according to Gothamist.

A witness told the New York Post people filled W. 114th Street shortly after the incident, and CPR was performed, but Corey-Ochoa later died at the hospital.  The Daily News reported police were treating the death as a suicide, because of “a history of psychiatric problems.” At this time, reports of suicide are unconfirmed.

In an article published last fall on Patch.com, Corey-Ochoa was depicted as academically hard-working. Gothamist reports Columbia’s school year has not yet begun, but freshman orientation started yesterday.

—Alissa Fleck

Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

There are some Maserati-loving thieves on the loose in the City, and they’ve gotten totally bold.

(by Alissa Fleck)

This week alone, two Maseratis have been filched from their respective owners, Gothamist reports. One case involved a recent Florida transplant to the City, who was driving his ritzy ride around Times Square at 5 a.m., when two thieves pulled just about the oldest trick in the book.

The man briefly exited his vehicle, keys still in the ignition, when the men approached asking if they could pose for a photo inside, reports the news blog. After he gave his consent, the men got inside and went nuts, fleeing in the swanky station wagon.

Then, last night in Jamaica, Queens, an off-duty corrections officer left a deli only to find himself in a holdup over…you guessed it—his Maserati. The officer handed over the keys to his $130,000 vehicle, and the thieves made off into the night.

The officer alerted cops to the situation, which resulted in a high-speed chase, ultimately ending in the thieves crashing the Maserati. They ditched the ride in an alley, according to Gothamist, and fled on foot, said witnesses. Gothamist reports, and we agree, it’s something straight out of Director Nicolas Refn’s blockbuster hit, Drive, minus Ryan Gosling.

Brooklyn State Supreme Courthouse. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

by Adel Manoukian

Levi Aron, the man who confessed to kidnapping, killing, and dismembering 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky last year pleaded guilty yesterday to second-degree murder and kidnapping charges. Aron will serve 25 years on the murder charge and 15 more years for kidnapping when he is officially sentenced on the 29th of August, according to the NY Post.

The diagnosed schizophrenic wanted to avoid a lengthy trial so he admitted to the crime Thursday afternoon in a ceremonial courtroom at the State Supreme Courthouse in Brooklyn. The judge asked him a series of questions pertaining to the violent crime.

The 36-year-old Brooklyn orthodox man said that he kidnapped Kletzky off the street on July 11 of last year as the boy was coming home from a religious summer day camp. Then Aron drove to a relative’s wedding upstate, leaving the boy in the car. Before his death, Kletzky was held in Aron’s Kensington apartment attic for a night. The next day, Aron fed the boy a sandwich, gave him muscle relaxants and pain killers, and then smothered him with a towel. Police later found some of the boy’s parts in Aron’s freezer and in a dumpster in Sunset Park, about two miles from Aron’s apartment.

State Assemblyman Dov Hikind told reporters he expects Aron to get a life imprisonment sentence on the the 29th, according to Gothamist reports.

The victim’s parents did not attend the hearing. Initially, deals after Aron’s arrest were not made and no plea bargain was set to be issued but they soon were at the request of Kletzky’s parents who could not endure the gruesome details of the lengthy trial.

Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

By Alissa Fleck

Ever since OWS encampments were ejected from Zuccotti Park last fall, Brookfield Properties security company, in conjunction with the NYPD, has drawn up a set of rules aimed at stamping out any fledgling Occupy activity. These rules are “akin to being subjected to a TSA screening” for park patrons, reports Gothamist.

Brookfield released the “Rules of Engagement” document for security guards and police officers, which has been circulating the internet, highlighting the complex and delicate situation. It even describes various rules as being “in flux.”

One excerpt from the document reminds enforcers of the “zero tolerance” policy: “NYPD supervisors that prove to be resistant to enforcing the rules of the park should be reminded that Chief Esposito has agreed to this set of rules and wanted them to be enforced with zero tolerance.”

Gothamist reminds readers Esposito gained infamy as a past aggressor to OWS protestors, including shoving several onto a sidewalk at a demonstration. The document also outlines items which are prohibited, including drums, yoga mats and temporary kitchens.

These regulations reportedly exceed those formerly upheld by a Manhattan Supreme Court Justice.

If OWS-ers are prohibited from Brookfield properties, they do have other privately owned public spaces they can occupy nearby. For a full list of the Lower Manhattan locations most vulnerable to an OWS takeover click here.

Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

The NYPD is patrolling New York City Sikh temples as a precaution in the aftermath of a shooting in a Milwaukee Sikh temple that left seven people dead. Gothamist reports there is “no known threat” against any temples in the City, but officers are being cautious nonetheless. The blog also reports the Milwaukee shooter, 40-year-old former Army soldier Wade Michael Page according to the Huffington Post, is likely dead and the incident an isolated hate crime.

Some commenters on Gothamist‘s site said they were dubious whether a police presence would be reassuring to temple-goers. The increased police activity post-shooting is reminiscent of the recent NYPD monitoring of midnight Dark Knight Rises screenings in the wake of the Aurora, CO shooting.

—Alissa Fleck