Clown Dies During Thanksgiving Day Parade
Robert Blasetti, 67, of Yonkers was following the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade route when he collapsed from a heart attack at Sixth Avenue and West 39th Street. Blasetti was dressed as a clown and was making balloon animals along with his wife, Irene. According to a witness, people in the crowds tried to pump Blasetti’s chest. He was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital. An NYPD employee, 58-year-old Charles Sutton, also suffered a heart attack and died during the parade.

East Village Vegan Ice Cream Store Says Goodbye
Vegan-friendly ice cream store Stogo scooped its last flavor on Sunday. Stogo shut down its East Village shop, located on East 10th Street between Second and Third Avenue, after a year of high rent. The store shared the news with costumers via Twitter. Anticipation of the decrease in winter sales forced owners to consider closing. Hurricane Sandy sped up the decision, a source told DNAinfo. “We were going to try to fundraise to move, but then Sandy happened and I didn’t want to ask people to help move our shop when people were homeless and had lost everything,” the source said. Stogo partners, who have been working together for four years, have not decided if the shop will open elsewhere at a later time or sell its product through outside vendors.

NYC Hospitals Launch Virtual Doctor Visits
Those sick with the flu have a small reason to rejoice. Earlier this month, Continuum Health Partners and its member hospitals launched a new program that would make primary and urgent care more accessible. The initiative, designed with the help of Teladoc, the country’s largest telehealth provider, will offer physician assistance by phone or video. No more dragging yourself out of bed hacking and spewing to get that antibiotic! The telemedicine initiative is focused on New York City, but will later extend to neighboring regions. Patients can subscribe for a $30 annual membership and a $38 consultation fee for each use. Continuum intends the program to primarily be utilized when a member is unable to visit their doctor, not as a permanent substitution for office visits.

Touch Screens Replace NYC Phone Booths
City24/7 has a mission to make New York City more tech-savvy, starting in Union Square. The company premiered its first touch-screen kiosk at 12th Street and Broadway last Tuesday. Located in a phone booth, the kiosks are meant to replace the defunct stands. The kiosks feature screens provided by electronics manufacturer LG and 16 apps, including subway information, local events and maps of the neighborhood. The screens are free for users, although the company hopes that local businesses will pay to advertise on the kiosks. City24/7 worked with Victor Calise, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People With Disabilities, to ensure that the kiosks were accessible to the blind and wheelchair users. Anticipating future power outages, the screens have a 48-hour backup battery.
Compiled By Tatiana Baez

By Bette Dewing

I’m with those who feel official help with this epic hurricane has not been epic enough. It sure would help if the unaffected were exposed to Nova’s Pulitzer-worthy documentary “Inside the Superstorm,” which I so providentially caught when taking a TV break from writing this column. Regrettably, the paper of record’s short review, which I later checked, in essence concluded that we’d seen all this before. Ah, but what we desperately need is reminding of this heartbreaking, mind-numbing devastation and the need for epic long-term help from every last one of us who was not affected.

This and two other related documentaries help us remember what the president said on his visit to local disaster areas: “We are bound together and must look out for each other. … We’re going to have to put the turf battles aside.” (New York Times, Nov. 16.)

And put those political partisan battles aside, too; Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, with their considerable smarts and resources, should be on the front lines of this Herculean rescue, clean-up and restoration effort. So should other losing candidates. Then everyone wins.

The Times has provided much valuable storm coverage, but its Nov. 17 front-page story “Helping hands also expose a New York divide: Storm volunteers in poor areas stir resentment” should have run at a much later date.

But do remember the Times Nov. 16 story reporting how the president gave a big hug to Debbie Ingenito of Staten Island and said he understood about her husband not being there because he had to protect the house and the block. Ah, comforting hugs like the president and the first lady frequently give should be widely prescribed, and role-modeled in entertainment mediums instead of affections that get high-profilers in very big trouble.

Although faith groups are among the most dedicated helpers, let sermons and also Sabbath school lessons continue to be about meeting the needs of this epic disaster. Isn’t that what “Love one another” is all about?

Here’s to the hugely popular Thanksgiving Day Parade also getting this urgent message across—like a Charlie Brown balloon saying, “Helping is what Thanksgiving is all about this year.” And say this over the Thanksgiving dinner plates too, and include the Nova documentary in any TV viewing that day. As for Black Friday shopping, shouldn’t all holiday buying and entertaining, in part, help storm-ravaged business places and people?

Maybe this sounds dumb, but I often ask how people made out in the storm. The Cherokee Post Office clerk said, “I lost my car—but my home is okay.” She seemed glad I asked and wished me a “very happy Thanksgiving.” A 79th Street bus driver replied, “Luckily, I live far enough inland, but other family members were hit really hard.” But another 79th Street driver said brusquely, “Like everyone else!” Maybe an idea for all us unscathed ones to adopt?

And here’s to musicians getting people in hard-hit places to sing together! More so than just talking, singing gives health and hope and brings people together.

And, of course, we keep giving in orthodox ways: Bless the army of volunteers and all who labor in this arduous and even dangerous rescue and recovery work.

Meanwhile, Sen. Liz Krueger’s roundtable for boomers and seniors on longevity challenges took place on Nov. 15, and the New York Council on Cooperatives and Condominiums conference included a workshop on helping seniors “age in place.” Keep an eye out for our upcoming coverage of these.

dewingbetter@aol.com

3 Indicted in Stolen-Monet Scheme
This week, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance announced the indictments of three individuals on charges of conspiracy and criminal tax fraud for “illegally conspiring to possess and sell valuable works of art acquired by former first lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos during her husband’s presidency, keeping the proceeds for themselves, and hiding those proceeds from New York state tax authorities and others.”

One of the paintings in question was a Claude Monet water-lily scene that the trio sold for $32 million in 2010.

The indictment centers on 74-year-old defendant Vilma Bautista, who worked for the former first lady of the Philippines and is accused of secretly keeping several valuable paintings that once adorned the walls of the Philippine consulate in Manhattan.

Bautista is alleged to have kept four paintings that disappeared when the Marcoses fell from power in 1986. She hid them until 2009, when she had her two nephews and now fellow-defendants, Chaiyot Jansen Navalaksana and Pongsak Navalaksana, help her attempt to sell them on the black market.

They were able to sell the water lily painting to a London gallery for $32 million, using forged paperwork, and failed to include the sale on their tax returns, which brings the tax fraud charges.

“The integrity of the international art market must be protected,” Vance said in a statement. “These defendants are charged with trafficking in stolen art and committing significant tax fraud, denying the state millions of dollars in revenue. This indictment sheds light on what happened to major works of art missing for more than 25 years.”

The investigation is ongoing.

New Ferry Service from Staten Island to Downtown
Gothamist.com reports that the Department of Transportation will begin operating an additional ferry service between Staten Island and Lower Manhattan by the end of November. The temporary service, expected to run for about two months, will run six trips a day from the new landing at Great Kills in Staten Island to Pier 11 at Wall Street, and then continue to 35th Street, between 6 and 9 a.m. It will make six return trips between 12 and 6:15 p.m. daily, and one-way fares will be $2, according to Gothamist. The additional service is intended to ease the still-difficult commutes of Staten Island residents in Great Kills, Midland Beach and Tottenville in the wake of major transit disruptions after Hurricane Sandy.
By Megan Bungeroth & Rebecca Temerario