tommyguy

Thanks for posting that. Growing up in White Plains back then I saw that rig many times, often doing plow duty.

Thanks Chief. Back in 1988 I used to commute from the Bronx to White Plains, walking across the South Street bridge over Metro-North to get to South MacQuesten Parkway and the Mt. Vernon West train station. When I stopped for coffee that morning on White Plains Road an officer from NYPD's 47th Precinct was talking about a crash between two New Haven trains. He said it was a very severe high-speed collision. I was stunned. He mentioned there were few injuries or fatalities because the trains were empty. I always wondered if FDNY or NYPD had responded. Now, after all these years, I finally know. Thanks again.

I think the later crash referred to involved two empty Metro-North trains which collided near the Bronx-Mt. Vernon border on April 6, 1988. The first train had stopped due to a problem with the catenary grounding. He was ordered to stop and inspect his train. The engineer of a second train, following the first on the same track, was ordered to inspect the catenary. A witness, who stopped to look at the first train -- he lived nearby and said he'd never seen a train stop there before -- said the second train suddenly came into view and slammed almost full speed into the first train. The only fatality was the engineer of the second train. I passed the area several hours after the collision, which happened about 8 00 AM, and could not believe my eyes. I always wondered about the response to that collision because of the area. Yonkers, Mt. Vernon and New York City are all in very close proximity to one another there. Did Yonkers and FDNY respond too?

I agree in the wake of what happened in West, Texas this is a poor time to be doing this. And let's face it, this is probably all tied to keeping expenditures down. But Texas does have a state fire code. http://www.tdi.texas.gov/commish/code.html#firecode

I don't remember the exact figures I heard discussed but it was a tax loss to the Village of Sleepy Hollow in the neighborhood of $1 million per year. About half the village budget. That's when I lived there and I have to say, everybody criticizes local governments but they took a huge hit and somehow worked their way out of it. I remember attending village meetings where Mayor Philip Zegarelli said that the village would survive and he did seem to me like a pretty capable guy. And a pretty good politician! One big problem with the site is they had a battery and paint shop there for decades. If you want build you have to get EPA approval. They go in there and they find all kinds stuff. The clean-up costs really mounted up. Much higher than the original estimates. I don't remember the NASCAR plan -- maybe I do vaguely -- but in the 1990s Donald Trump made a proposal, a shopping mall and hotel. GM turned The Don down and he was very miffed. (I don't think too many people in Sleepy Hollow cried over that!) Then all the problems GM had with their near-bankruptcy slowed things down, too. I heard for a while there, nobody could get a decision about anything from GM. I'm not sure they even still have a developer lined up. Roseland of New Jersey finally pulled out I think. I always felt that the problem with the site was, it was a beautiful piece of residential property because it was somewhat isolated, but that meant it was kind of risky for retail. I don't see it working as a Ridge Hill-style development. It's too far from major roads. Yet all the plans have been for mixed use.

I lived in Sleepy Hollow for several years and attended some of the meetings about the redevelopment at Village Hall. There have been many problems. Early on Sleepy Hollow mayor Philip Zegarelli said that New York State was taking a long time to approve the process. That he wasn't worried about getting it approved just that the process was very time-consuming. At first GM wanted to develop the site themselves. Then after several false starts, they decided to instead sell the site to a developer. Then there was site remediation. The work was done but NY EPA would not approve it. It had to be revisited. Then the Tarrytown lawsuit. I think one result of that was the project was scaled down a bit. By then it was 2008 and the project was no longer financially feasible. A commercial property owner I know in the area said that another problem was, while GM and NYS procrastinated, private developers bought nearby property (one being the site of the old Cooney Bros. asphalt plant) and erected condos. That pretty much changed the atmosphere for the bigger project. I'm not sure where it stands now but I'm sure that eventually it will get done.

Yes very nicely done. Quick thinking. Does YFD ever have a quiet day?

I can easily understand their feeling this way. As a Viet-Nam vet I look at this as a virtual combat situation these men and women are in. I also would like to really praise everybody involved in law enforcement with the way they quickly ran these suspects down. It's terrible an officer had to lose his life in the process, but much praise for their dedication and skill. This might sound corny but this entire incident has made me prouder than ever to say I'm an American. Great job guys, now get the other ********!!!! edited for typo

I saw some grisly photos of the injured at the Marathon. Apparently when the devices went off there were a lot of really bad injuries. Reminded me of those horrible photos you see in the Middle East. I'll say a prayer tonight for all concerned. Including the first-responders, this must've been a pretty tough job to work. I'm hoping it's true that at least one of the devices failed to detonate and was recovered. That should give investigators a lot to work with. I'm certain they'll track these perps down.

Very nice photos. I see YFD was there, too.

I had something I was going to...write...but... I don't know what it was. Haha I really missed this site the past week and a half, I remember that. Very glad you're back up and running.

My heart dropped too. What a shame! Oh boy I don't even know what to write except that, although I didn't Rich very well I knew he was definitely one of the good guys. Condolences to his family and his many friends. RIP Rich!

I heard a really heartbreaking report this morning. About the parents, the ones who could not find their kids or who heeded officials pleas' and went to a local firehouse rather than to the school. They were gathered in a large room and one-by-one police officers reunited them with their kids. Only after a while there were no more reunions. The parents left were then taken to a smaller, more private room. Officers then verified, by various means, that the children confirmed dead were the children of these parents. And then they were faced with the very difficult task of having to tell the Moms and Dads the horrible news. When my wife and I heard this earlier today I admit we both cried. We'll say a prayer for them that's for sure. They did assign a state trooper to each set of parents to give whatever assistance you could give someone in that situation. Absolute horror. .

Amen brother, amen. I'm not an emergency responder but I served my time on the streets of New York and I know what you say is the truth. I feel bad for the PO, hope he doesn't feel like he was made to look like a fool because he wasn't. If there's one thing he ISN'T it's a fool. He made a very decent, very human gesture. Now he's going to be a little wiser, a little harder....that's the way of the world. Don't forget, unintentionally this police officer helped himself too. It truly is more blessed to give than receive (though I know that basically sounds like a crock). I would say to him, don't let it get to you. You did do the right thing. Absolutely. Hang on to your humanity, don't let anyone take that. This guy he helped, he definitely has some deep problems. Let's face it, would any normal person WANT to live that way? Plus, apparently he's a veteran. As a fellow veteran I feel very sad to see someone who served his country wind up like Jeffrey Hillman.

I think you can actually see the frame break.

All I can say is God Bless Police Officers like Ivan Marcano. Guns+punks=terror on the streets. Great job Detective Marcano. God Bless you for risking your life when you could've responded much differently. You really are a hero. I only hope the Bronx prosecutors will put the two perps away for a long time. Good to know Officer Marcano is recovering and out of the hospital. That hospital bed didn't look very comfortable. .

Can you believe that? And he was supposed to be a real gentleman, what a lousy way to wind it up. As a former cab-driver, dispatcher and manager, I say outstanding job by Peekskill PD, God bless them. .

There's another thread about this incident. There's a lot of hot button issues too. But if you read the Times' article carefully it seems to me there's some deeper issues at work here. For instance the salaries the new County force will be paid. Officials are giving a lot of publicity to the fact the County force will be able to "afford" to provide more officers. But it doesn't look like they'll save any money. It looks like what they're really doing is getting the county financially involved. Getting the county to shoulder some of the burden Camden can no longer handle. The new force will be about 400 officers. Camden used to have the same size force, but they laid off officers because of money problems only to discover -- if you cut through all the rhetoric -- the present force is too small to be effective. I think the underlying issue here is the fact the City of Camden is broke. So this really seems to be a way to shift some of the financial burden from the city to the county, something that usually triggers a lot of political protest from taxpayers outside the city area. I think what this really is about is scapegoating the Camden police to camouflage the shift in financial responsibility from Camden taxpayers to county taxpayers. If the state is turning their back on Camden it would seem the only avenue open to them is the county. It's a very disturbing picture because there's probably a lot of other Camdens out there. We give millions and millions of dollars to equip and train police departments in places like Haiti and Iraq but no one wants to step up and say a city like Camden needs help. I'm sure there are many hard-working, law-abiding, tax-paying residents of Camden. I think they deserve a lot better. And so does the Camden PD.

What can you say? http://www.dnainfo.c...en-at-bronx-zoo

More details emerging- http://www.lohud.com...dyssey=nav|head

What a shame these two 3rd Pct officers were seriously injured. I hope they recover quickly and my thoughts go out to their families. I know guys on the job and they always say going home safely after the tour is completed is the number one priority. Sadly these two officers didn't get to do that. http://www.lohud.com...dyssey=nav|head Anyone who is "on the street" on South Broadway at 2 AM, I wouldn't give anything they say too much credibility. .

In an excellent audio interview, Deputy Chief John Flynn explained to a Lohud reporter how members of two engine companies were briefly trapped by flames Sunday afternoon. The two companies were battling fire that had extended to an adjoining structure when there was an additional extension. They were assisted by the FAST company and used ground ladders to get out. It was a terrific interview but after twenty minutes of trying to find it again on the Lohud site I give up. :angry: I did find an amateur video that shows the fire just before and after the arrival of Yonkers fire companies. http://www.lohud.com...|tvideo|article I give our hometown guys a big thumbs-up on another job well-done! .

That's very interesting, thanks for posting. One question I have is, to turn it around, does Metro-North provide on-site training to departments in Westchester, Putnam and Fairfield? The railroad can be a very hazardous place to be. I recall an incident this past summer where a FF was injured in Connecticut because of some confusion as to whether power to the railroad's overhead lines had been shut down. I used to see FDNY drilling at Grand Central on Sunday mornings. .

That oughta do it!

This incident reminded me of a guy I used to work with occasionally, a water service tech. He belonged to one of these groups. He was in his 30s married with two kids. He was a pretty solid guy but he liked to ride motorcycles and ride them fast. He lived and rode with a group in northern New Jersey. I recall him telling me one of the rides they used to take was on Sunday mornings, down the New Jersey Turnpike. They'd get on the pike around Teaneck Road and ride down to Cherry Hill New Jersey, just east of Philadelphia. They used to make it in an incredibly short time, way less than an hour. He told they used to average 85 mph and do 100 mph over long stretches. In a group of probably thirty or forty bikes. All of the guys were working guys, married with kids, probably all 30-40 years old. I told him in a nice way that I thought he was nuts. That they were endangering every other motorist on the highway, to say nothing of the danger they exposed themselves to. He used to laugh. He knew I was right but he loved to ride the bike fast. It was like he was addicted to it. In all other ways he was a reasonable guy, he was a good guy to work with too. But he just didn't get it. Most of all I used to wonder what would happen if the NJSP went after them. I would presume the troopers were going to be pretty unhappy, and well they should be. I was also pretty sure his group would probably be confrontational. He had this idea in his head that forcing his group to obey the speed limits was like taking some of their freedom away. He just didn't see how nonsensical that was.