You're watching New York One, New York's only non-stop local news channel.
It's eight o'clock, straight ahead on New York Tonight.
The mayor's plan to end social promotion is making the move to seventh grade.
Now that class will have to pass certain reading and math exams before moving up.
An emotional day for one of the city's bravest, hurt in a fatal fire, as he returns to say
thanks to his heroes.
And chances are you spent at least some of the day searching for a place to keep cool.
We'll tell you how long the heat and humidity will be hanging around.
From New York One News, this is New York Tonight.
I'm Louis Dodley, welcome on this Monday, July 18th to another edition of New York
Tonight.
It was in your face when you stepped out the door this morning and it's still hanging over
the city tonight.
The heat and humidity just won't go away.
Our Tanya Valle is one of the people sweating it out.
She joins us now from Union Square.
Tanya?
And Louis, it hasn't cooled down much out here even though the peak time of the humidity
hopefully has passed.
So you can imagine how hot it must be underground.
For strap hangers we heard from today, there was no relief from the heat.
It's weltering hot.
It's got to be over 120 degrees easy.
Strap hangers didn't have it easy in Monday's heat and humidity.
It was in the 80s outside but it felt a lot hotter underground.
Today's pretty awful.
Today's time to get out of New York.
So for those who can, do it.
Try and leave early in the morning so you're not rushed and you're not sweating when you
get into the subway.
Try and bring a fan just to cool yourself off and then like I said, wear loose clothing.
That's some of the tips the Red Cross offers for steamy days.
Other advice includes eating small, frequent meals, wearing sunscreen, avoiding strenuous
activity during the sun's peak hours of 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and using air conditioners
or fans.
Karen Hanna had been holding out to buy an air conditioner all summer but on Monday she
couldn't take it anymore and bought a fan.
Think it'll help today?
I hope so.
ACs and other coolers were flying out of P.C. Richards on 14th Street but others tried to
stay cool naturally like seeking out a shady tree in Union Square Park.
For Louis Martinez, beating the heat wasn't important.
Feeding New York City's wildlife was.
He's not coming out to feed his girls.
And Louis, of course, the bad news is that this humidity is said to not be going anywhere
anytime soon.
That is the story here at Union Square.
Tanya Valle, back to you.
Thank you, Tanya.
The big question is when will we get some relief?
Let's go to the man who can help us with the answer, our meteorologist John David who joins
us now with a look at the forecast.
Well, the saying goes it's not the heat but the humidity and that was certainly the case
today.
It's July and this is the hottest time of year so you expect the heat but the humidity
definitely well above normal for this time of year or any time of year in this part of
the country.
There's a really tropical air in town and it made it feel a lot hotter than it seemed
on the thermometer and it's going to be that way tomorrow.
Humidity probably ease up a little bit on Wednesday but temperatures will be even warmer
so overall not a lot of relief expected over the next couple days.
Let's go check it out for you and factor in the temperature and the humidity and show
you exactly just how steamy it was today.
Didn't take much to work up a sweat in Central Park today.
The high temperature, 89 degrees, Lawardia got to 92 and not much relief at Kennedy,
86.
Now when you factor in the heat index, that's the dew point, the humidity plus the temperature,
this is what it felt like to your body.
It's kind of the reverse of the wind show that we talk about in the winter and you can
see that the heat index was good for about 10 degrees today so even though in Central
Park the thermometer said 89 which is bad enough, it felt pretty close to 100.
Same story all around the city and really same story tomorrow because we're going to
have the same weather factors.
Temperatures are going to peak in the low 90s tomorrow, that humidity continues so again
to your body it's going to feel like it's 100 degrees.
The way your body cools itself is by sweating and having that sweat evaporate.
When the humidity is high, the sweat cannot evaporate and your body's cooling mechanism
is definitely compromised so certainly take it slow tomorrow especially during the late
afternoon hours.
When are we going to see any relief?
Well take a look at this, it does not look like we're going to get any relief soon.
Temperatures tomorrow, 92.
Wednesday again the humidity breaks a little bit, 95 degrees though expected so it's still
going to feel very hot.
Thursday and Friday slightly better but no real relief coming our way until the weekend.
Temperatures drop down to the low 80s and the humidity is going to take a break as well.
So Louis, a very hot day today but again the key was the humidity, very steamy and that's
not letting up, still very steamy out there tonight.
Tomorrow again be sure to take it slow and follow those common sense heat tips and again
some relief in store for the weekend but that's a long way off so try and stay cool.
The Office of Emergency Management has these steps to help you beat the heat.
They say you should avoid the sun but if you have to be in it, wear sunscreen and a hat.
Dress in loose, lightweight, light colored clothing, drink lots of water and avoid strenuous
activity between 11 and 4 p.m.
And if you're planning to open your neighborhood fire hydrant to cool off, the OAM wants to
remind you that you need to get a free safety cap from your local firehouse.
They also ask that you report an illegally opened hydrant by calling the city's information
hotline at 311.
The plan to put an end to social promotion is expanding once again, this time to middle
school.
New York One Education reporter Jennifer Rainville has details on the city's latest plans.
Year after year, the academic performance of middle school students has lagged.
Maintaining that status quo is simply not an option.
So beginning in September, seventh graders will have to meet new standards to move on.
It's an expansion of the Bloomberg administration's policy to end social promotion which started
with grades 3 and 5.
The mayor says that's resulted in better prepared and higher scoring students in grades 4 and
5, and with eighth grade scores disappointing year after year, the mayor says it's time
to change things in middle school.
By the seventh grade, the effects of having been socially promoted in the lower grades
may mean that some students may now lag even farther behind.
Recognizing that, the administration will spend more money for extra help for struggling
students hoping to prepare them for eighth grade, but keeping them back if not.
The teachers union, often a critic of the administration, praised the plan, calling
it quote, a good way to build on past successes and help better prepare our middle school
children for high school.
But others, like mayoral candidate Gifford Miller, were on the attack.
Test preparation and bureaucratic reshuffling are not a positive plan.
A positive plan is lowering class sizes and getting a teacher is a competitive contract
that puts best teachers in every classroom.
The administration acknowledges there is more work to be done and plans to announce a major
overhaul of middle school education in the next school year, but it says this is a good
start.
In Manhattan, Jennifer Rainville, New York 1.
United Federation of Teachers is supporting the change.
They issued a statement saying quote, it's a good way to build on past successes and
help better prepare our middle school children for high school.
The spokesperson adds that while the mayor praised the selfless dedication of our teachers,
the best way to demonstrate that thanks is to conclude by the time school starts a fair
contract that recognizes the need for quality teachers and provides salaries that will attract
and retain them.
The NYPD adds Amtrak to its patrols in an effort to increase security on rail lines
into and out of the city.
As New York 1's Roger Clark reports, the heightened presence began first thing Monday morning.
While there is no specific intelligence targeting New York City, the NYPD is reminding the public
to remain vigilant and to immediately report anything suspicious to law enforcement.
This NYPD officer was one of those who spoke to passengers on the 705 Amtrak Acela train
to Washington D.C.
It was a welcome sight for this passenger.
When I take this train all the time, it's terribly exposed to the kind of thing that
happened in London.
Really, you think so?
Absolutely.
The new mass transit initiative is a response to the London terror attacks.
It includes police doing spot checks on Amtrak trains departing Penn Station, patrolling
platforms and other terminal areas.
This is an added presence to Amtrak's own police and National Guard troops.
Passengers we talk with say it makes them.
I feel a lot safer traveling.
I'm from Seattle, so any extra security makes us feel better.
It gives me a little bit of extra sense of security because when I see police officers,
I get the feeling that people who think that they're going to do something bad won't.
In addition to their presence here in the Amtrak terminal, the NYPD are also handing
out these cards.
They have a toll-free terrorism hotline number for passengers to use if they feel they see
anything suspicious.
Now, with all the extra security, some riders did have this question.
It's good, but how much does it cost?
The NYPD says it's spent $2 million a week on mass transit overtime since the London
attacks.
The department says the extra presence is coming out of its own budget but is reimbursable
by the federal government.
On a related note, the MTA says it's working to improve security not on trains but in the
tunnels they ride through.
The agency is planning to install surveillance systems to detect intruders in underwater
rail tunnels that run into the city.
Out of concern, an explosion could breach tunnel walls and cause massive flooding.
No word when the work would start and when it might be completed.
At Penn Station, Roger Clark, New York 1.
A third teen has been indicted in connection with the 2004 stabbing death of a Queen's
Chinese food delivery man.
18-year-old William Capehart of Corona was arrested Monday on murder and robbery charges
and the death of 18-year-old Hwang Chun.
Prosecutors say Capehart and two other teens attacked and stabbed Chun as he delivered
food to a housing development.
Prosecutors say they dumped his body in a pond in Brookville Park.
17-year-old Naquan Miller is still awaiting trial on murder charges.
17-year-old Charles Bryant was convicted of robbery and murder in March and is serving
more than 50 years in prison.
One of the city's bravest who was badly injured while fighting a deadly blaze last winter
says thanks to the people he calls his heroes.
New York 1's Paul Messina has that story.
When firefighter Eugene Stolowski jumped from a window to escape a fire in the Bronx back
in January, he was rushed to New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Monday, Stolowski and his family came back to say an emotional thank you.
I really have to thank everybody here for their support and the doctors and what they've
done for me and the fire department and my family.
My company of course, Ladder 27 in June 46 has been wonderful.
You know, everybody in my family, my stepfather, my brother, everybody.
It's been a long road for Stolowski to make it back here.
He and five other firefighters were trapped in a burning apartment on East 178th Street
in Mount Hope and forced to jump.
Lieutenant Curtis Mayron and firefighter John Ballew were killed in the fall.
The other four were seriously injured.
Stolowski suffered a broken neck.
His neck was injured to the degree, to the point where his head was literally partially
disconnected from the neck.
He was given a 30 percent chance of walking again, but as he fought his way through painful
surgeries and countless hours of physical rehabilitation, Stolowski says he never lost
hope.
I've had no doubt since day one, even when I couldn't move anything, that I would have
the determination to walk again.
His doctors also had high praise for their determined patient.
I would like to train him as a neurosurgeon now with this spirit.
That's what we need.
So I think...
That could be my new career.
Right.
But Stolowski says his love for his old career remains unshakable.
I would go back today and fight fires again.
After all that happened to me, I would fight fires again in a second.
I love that job, and I know I can't do it again, but my family's there and I have to
be there for them.
A family that has been growing.
Stolowski's wife, Bridget, gave birth to twins while he was in the hospital.
Meanwhile, he continues to undergo rehabilitation at the Kessler Institute in West Orange, New
Jersey.
Paul Messina, New York One.
Coming up on New York Tonight, it will still be the place to get things from point A to
point B, but how to transform this familiar midtown building from a post office to a train
station.
The developers are now on board to convert the Farley Post Office into the new Moynihan
Station.
Also ahead around 820 is your home ready for an emergency.
I'll tell you how many New Yorkers say they're prepared for the unexpected.
Around 830, Brooklyn Week continues with a look at what's being done to improve some
subway stations in the borough.
And around 850, if you have out of town guests or are rediscovering the city yourself this
summer, we'll show you a new high tech way to see all the sights.
Stick to it.
And now, here's a look at what's happening in your neighborhood.
It's Brooklyn Week here on New York One and we're talking to the borough's voters to see
what's on their minds this election year.
Brooklyn reporter Janine Ramirez kicks things off with a look at the uphill battle against
overdevelopment in South Brooklyn.
Bungalows are part of the history and many see the charm of Brighton Beach.
But the one floor homes are quickly disappearing as developers buy them up, knock them down
and make way for high rise condos.
You have the historic bungalow area and these people are just being rowed right over.
It's like the Brighton Beach Gold Rush I call it.
Because you go over there like Pac-Man.
They're ripping up, ripping up.
Pat Singer is the director of the Brighton Neighborhood Association, an organization
she founded back in the 1970s when the now thriving area was neglected.
Over 28 years of working I've tried to preserve this area and fight for this area.
But I can't fight big money and that's where we're at now.
We're seeing the soul and the spirit of this community being torn up.
Developers are offering top dollar for modest one and two family homes and replacing them
with multi-unit dwellings.
And Brighton is not alone.
Over in Bay Ridge, condo construction not only compromises its character but affects
its population with some tens of thousands of people added over the last 10 years.
There's no new police officers, no new firemen, no new sanitation people, no new sewerage
and so it just continues to impact on our infrastructure here in the city.
But after rallies, petitions and letter writing campaigns, Bay Ridge was able to do something
about it.
In March the city adopted a zoning change for the area that protects it from out of
scale developments.
It was one of the city's first and largest rezoning efforts.
Before the changes here in Bay Ridge there were 32 blocks zoned for one and two family
homes.
Now there are more than 100.
And now nearby Bensonhurst also got a reprieve.
The small portion at least we've now rezoned so that this won't happen again.
Still it's happening across southwest Brooklyn from Sheepshead Bay to Marine Park.
We want to have something according to the neighborhood.
We don't want something like that, it's a monsogon building.
The city says zoning changes take time and that it's currently looking at a handful of
neighborhoods.
Singer hopes the city will get to hers before it's too late.
For my children this is where their roots begin is here in Brighton Beach.
And they wanted to be here for generations to come that they could come back and say
this is grandma's Brighton Beach.
In Brooklyn, Janine Ramirez, New York Times.
Brooklyn Week continues Tuesday when Janine takes us to some orthodox Jewish neighborhoods
where residents are fighting the opposite battle.
They want more development, especially the right to build bigger houses.
Well what ranks higher for some local school children?
A chance to meet the mayor or a pizza party?
The winners of the Readers Are Leaders program got both Monday afternoon.
The program, run by Congressman Vito Fisela, challenges fourth graders in his district
to read 10 books in four weeks.
As a reward the winning class from each school gets a pizza party and the best individual
gets a $50 savings bar.
It's my first time meeting the mayor person and I actually got to take a picture with
him.
I see it on TV and I always wanted to meet him.
Since Fisela kicked off the program in February, nearly 4,000 fourth graders read nearly 39,000
books.
New York Tonight continues after the break with the latest in the mayor's race, today's
hot topic, getting more homeland security dollars from Washington.
And a new place to turn for people who are experiencing health effects from the aftermath
of 9-11.
We'll tell you about another medical program that's expanding its reach.
more than half of all New Yorkers are prepared to deal with an emergency like
a natural disaster or terror attack, according to a new Marist poll.
More than half of those surveys say they have an emergency plan worked out and 55% say they
have a bag of supplies already packed.
The release of the results coincide with the second anniversary of the city's Office of
Emergency Management's Ready New York program, suggests keeping a go bag that includes copies
of important documents, some cash, snack foods, bottled water, a flashlight, and portable
radio as well as extra medicine and a first aid kit.
On the other hand, 32% of those polls say they're not prepared at all.
Of that number, 28% say they wouldn't know what to do in the case of an emergency, while
23% say they don't feel at risk.
Another 21% say they just don't have time to put a plan together.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%.
For information on the Ready New York program, call 311 or visit the city's website at nyc.gov
backslash ready new york.
Some downtown residents who've suffered medical problems in the wake of the 9-11 attacks now
have somewhere else to turn for help.
Advocates say those who live outside the immediate trade center area have experienced serious
health problems, including asthma and other respiratory ailments.
Now a coalition of nonprofit groups in Bellevue Hospital is expanding a program to provide
them with better care.
Almost 200 people have seen doctors at Bellevue already, and funding has been secured for
more free care at the hospital.
The EPA said the air was alright, but it wasn't, you know.
And that's why a lot of people, they were not oriented like by the government or by
anyone.
Even after four years, many people have gone untreated or have gotten a little bit of treatment,
but have really not gotten their symptoms addressed.
So people continue to cough, people continue to have asthma attacks.
Residents can call the Lower East Side Workers Center to learn more about the health initiative.
The number is 212-358-0295.
Insurance is not necessary to enroll in the program.
On the campaign trail, Fernando Freire claims the mayor is not pushing Washington hard enough
for the benefit of the city.
The Democrat enlisted some friends to support his argument.
But as political reporter Rita Nisson tells us, the mayor's campaign was quick to react.
Mayoral candidate Fernando Freire brought his allies in Congress to City Hall to attack
Mayor Bloomberg.
This mayor refuses to fight.
One problem with billionaire mayors is they're not used to asking for anything, let alone
fighting for funds.
These Democrats are upset because they say New York hasn't gotten enough federal homeland
security money.
Case in point, last week the Senate voted against distributing dollars based on risk.
Freire claims the mayor was silent.
Want to get legislation passed that is favorable to New York City, it would be a nice idea
to speak about it before it's acted upon.
But the mayor did speak out before the vote.
At a press conference in Queens, he said,
The Collins bill is almost pure pork.
The Feinstein bill is much better for this city because 90 percent of the monies would
be distributed based on risk.
Another charge by Freire supporters is that Bloomberg doesn't reach out to members of
Congress.
The mayor's campaign was quick to respond by handing reporters this flyer with a list
of quotes from New York's two senators, including these comments.
We're always happy to have them and it helps our case.
The fact that the mayor has been there every time we've asked him for help, regardless
of party, really has allowed us to be more effective.
If Mayor Bloomberg meets with Senator Schumer, that's good for Senator Schumer.
Mayor Bloomberg does not meet and has not met and I think we might have seen him in
the hallways once during the time he's been in office.
Freire badly needs a bounce in the polls.
He's behind the mayor and he's desperately trying to avoid a Democratic primary runoff.
So this likely isn't the last time we're going to see Freire make heated charges.
At City Hall, Rita Nisan, New York 1.
Just as our national security protects our liberty, our liberty protects our national
security.
And as our report stated, and I quote, we must find ways of reconciling security with
liberty since the success of one helps protect the other.
The panel also made mention of the treatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo
Bay, saying they should be treated humanely.
The next meeting is scheduled for early August to discuss foreign policy since the 9-11 attacks.
President Bush faced the press mid-word as top advisor leaked confidential information
to a Time magazine reporter.
That reporter, Matt Cooper, says Karl Rove was a person that tipped him off to the identity
of a CIA operative.
Monday the president repeated his position that if anyone in his administration committed
a crime in this case, that person will be fired.
But he refused to make any additional comments.
I think it's best that people wait until the investigation is complete before you jump
to conclusions.
And I will do so as well.
I don't know all the facts.
I don't want to know all the facts.
But the best place for the facts to be done is by somebody who's spending time investigating
it.
I would like this to end as quickly as possible so we know the facts.
Cooper says Rove never mentioned Valerie Plame by name, but quotes Rove as saying, I've already
said too much.
As we head into our next half hour, more news from your neighborhood.
Right now it's a place to buy stamps or mail a package, but in the future you'll be able
to take a trip or eat or even shop.
We'll tell you more about the developers chosen to convert the Farley Post office into a new
Moynihan station.
And some Brooklynites say their local subway stops are in major need of repair.
They say when it comes to maintenance, they seem to be at the end of the line.
And
now back to New York tonight.
More news ahead, but we start with the weather.
A muggy Monday outside.
What's ahead for the rest of the week?
Here again is our meteorologist John David with the forecast.
Well certainly a tropical feeling in the air tonight.
Now this muggy weather was with us over the weekend, but over the weekend you can pretty
much hide from this type of temperature and humidity combination.
But once that work week hits, you really have to face it and go outside and do your errands
or go to work.
And not very pretty, especially down in the subways.
Very muggy down there.
Humidity extra hot down there and really no relief.
Doesn't cool off much.
So the situation does not look like it's going to improve anytime soon.
Long term, we're going to have to wait until the weekend.
So let's go through the numbers, show you what's going on for tonight.
No real storms out there, but lots of heat and humidity.
Look for a low temperature of only about 75 degrees.
So not much relief.
Your air conditioner is going to be putting in some overtime tonight.
For tomorrow, here we go again.
88 by noontime, the afternoon high 92 degrees.
Lots of humidity.
So with the combination of a 92 degree high temperature and lots of humidity, talking
about it feeling like 100 degrees or more.
Also there's the small chance we're going to pop up thunderstorm.
But again, that chance of a storm is fairly small.
For tomorrow night, again, not much better, warm, partly cloudy, 76 as low as we go.
Winds will be of the northwest at around 8 miles per hour.
And on the five day forecast, look at Wednesday, 95 degrees.
The good news is the humidity lets up a little bit.
Still, it's going to be pretty hot at 95.
I wouldn't really call that relief.
And then Thursday and Friday, a little bit better.
But really it's going to take until the weekend for this heat and humidity to break.
So I guess we're going to have to get used to it and take it slow, drink extra water.
If you do have to do any kind of workout, you're one of those exercise people.
Make sure you do it in the morning or do it inside.
But take it easy this week.
Some real heat and humidity out there to contend with.
After years of planning, construction on the new Moynihan train station will soon be getting
underway.
And now we know who will be getting the long awaited project started.
Our Sandra Endo has details.
A big hug marking progress toward Moynihan station.
State Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's daughter, Maura, was on hand as Governor Pataki, Mayor
Bloomberg and other officials announced the developer for the project, the related companies
and Bernardo Realty Trust.
We hold this responsibility dearly.
The developers are responsible for turning the Farley Post office into the new Penn Station,
which will also house retail shops, restaurants and a hotel, serving thousands of New Jersey
Transit and Long Island railroad riders.
It will be a great transit hub.
It will be a great gateway for the greatest city in the world right here.
The $818 million project was years in the making.
The city is putting in $158 million for infrastructure costs.
The state and federal government will pick up the rest of the tab.
This project is ready to go, it's funded and we'll move quickly on it.
The project was conceived by the late Senator and after some setbacks, it appears to be
back on track.
Damn it, we deserve a proper train station instead of coming in and out through that
hole under a basketball court.
Construction on the facade of the building is set to start this year and the entire project
is expected to be completed by 2011.
Sandra Endo, New York 1.
A report says teenage victims of domestic violence aren't getting enough help from
the city.
Public advocate Betsy Gottbaum has released a report saying the Department of Education's
policies don't do enough to protect students who are victims of domestic abuse.
Gottbaum's office found one in five girls under the age of 18 is in an abusive relationship
and those girls are unlikely to tell an adult about the abuse.
She'd like the Department of Education to train teachers to look for signs of abuse
and if necessary to separate the students involved.
If they aren't going to transfer the batterer out of the school or the abuser out of the
school, then at least change his schedule, don't have them in the lunch room at the same
time, don't have them in the locker room, change their classes.
Right now if a young woman is abused and it happens outside of school, the next day she
can be in school and there he is next to her.
The Department of Education tells New York 1 it handles dating violence and relationship
abuse in several ways and enforces its disciplinary code which includes sections on relationships
and abuse.
The DOE also contacts the police if any criminal behaviors found.
In 2004, trained over 500 prevention and intervention specialists.
Training in this area is also offered to interested guidance counselors.
Subway stations in many parts of the city have gotten big makeovers in recent years
but residents of some parts of Brooklyn say progress has passed them by.
Now they want the TA to make their stations a priority.
New York 1 Transit reporter Bobby Cusa has details.
Crumbling platform edges, leaky ceilings creating slippery floors, defects patched over with
plywood creating a tripping hazard and lots and lots of peeling paint.
Here in some of Brooklyn's poorest communities subway riders say their stations have been
forgotten especially when compared to stations in Manhattan or even more affluent parts of
Brooklyn.
Chamber Street, even down at South Ferry, those stations are nice and clean painted.
You go to Manhattan it looks so much better.
Look at Atlantic Station that's fixed up so nicely.
Elevators, escalators, you know something has to be done here.
One state assemblyman is trying to get something done.
Nick Perry has launched a new campaign to get the MTA to fix up some of the stations
in his district which he says are being neglected.
An idea supported by a recent city council report which found a disproportionate number
of dirty stations in poor communities.
Near the bottom was Newkirk Avenue on the 2 and 5, one of the stations cited by Perry
which ranked 32nd out of 33 Brooklyn stations surveyed in terms of cleanliness.
I want to put them on notice that we're not going to stand for the neglect any longer.
We need to have least equal treatment.
But New York City Transit says station rehabs are done strictly based on need not demographics.
Perry for his part says he thinks the neglect may not be deliberate but rather a result
of the fact his constituents don't make enough noise politically.
Most of the time because of socioeconomic condition they don't have time to lobby government
for services.
You know we just ride it because we need it.
We don't have time.
We're working people.
We have to get back and forth.
So it needs to be fixed up.
Any major fixes aren't happening soon.
The MTA has plans to rehab 44 stations around the city over the next five years under its
capital program but none in this part of Brooklyn.
Transit officials though say they perform ongoing maintenance as needed and as for charges
of unequal treatment.
They point out station rehabs are currently being done on the number two line north of
180th street in the Bronx, an area with much the same demographics as this one.
In Brooklyn, Bobby Cusa, New York 1.
The Brooklyn hospital has changed the way it performs surgery to meet the special needs
of one religious group.
New York 1 health reporter Kafei Drexel has more but first a warning.
Some of the video you're about to see is graphic.
In most cases this would be routine thyroid surgery but what makes this one slightly different
is that the surgical team has agreed to operate without use of a blood transfusion even in
the case of extreme blood loss.
There is always the possibility that something could be done that may cause a patient to
bleed a little bit more than anticipated.
That patient made it known to his surgeon prior to going into the operating room that
if that was the case that he wanted them to do whatever else was possible other than giving
him any type of donor blood.
It's a practice called bloodless medicine that's been around for years but doctors at
Wyckoff Heights Medical Center have introduced what they describe as a more concentrated
bloodless program to appeal to Brooklyn's large population of Jehovah's Witnesses who
don't believe in taking transfusions for religious reasons.
They say it's their fastest growing program now with at least eight out of every ten patients
they see a day a Jehovah's Witness.
Patients like Guadalupe Palacios say it's been a relief after being in and out of hospitals
that seemed resistant to treatment based on her religious beliefs.
I feel much better even though my condition is still but I feel much better in their hands
because I know what they're doing and they agree to respect me as a patient.
For patients refusing transfusions and therefore wanting to avoid any excessive loss of their
own blood there are certain procedures in place.
Doctors include micro sampling where hemoglobin levels are checked with a single finger prick
rather than taking two to three tubes of blood.
Before surgery doctors make sure patients' blood counts are as high as possible to minimize
risks in case of a major blood loss and in some cases a cell saver is used that will
clean a patient's blood and restore it for use during surgery.
Doctors involved in the bloodless program say they believe it's safer medicine.
They say that they're also starting to see more patients request treatment options without
blood for non-religious reasons as well.
It is our philosophy that irrespective regardless of whether patients belong to the faith or
don't we believe that one should take one should make an effort to make sure that patients
don't get blood transfusion unnecessarily.
Doctors still caution that in some life and death cases blood transfusions are the best
course of action.
But at Wyckoff and in most hospitals because of legal reasons the patient opts for bloodless
medicine they say they will respect their wishes no matter what.
Because this is a teaching hospital they plan on expanding their educational program not
just teaching the doctors here how to administer bloodless services but also to doctors from
all over the world.
In Brooklyn, Kafeet Drexel, New York 1.
So to come on New York tonight consumer news what's the safest car if you're in a crash?
I thought it was great at tops of the roads for handling a collision.
If you're about to have a baby on board some financial planning tips then our Money Matters
report.
Hispanics are a growing voice in New York City politics.
Learn about the issues and decisions that affect this community.
Hear the city's political heavyweights discuss what's important to Hispanics today.
New York 1 noticias presents Pura Política Voces de la Ciudad New York City's only weekly
political talk show in Spanish.
Pura Política Voces de la Ciudad every Friday night at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. exclusively on
New York 1 noticias.
Channel 801 on Time Warner Digital Cable not available on satellite.
Even though stocks finished lower on Wall Street the trading day ended on a high note
for one New Yorker.
Roberto Mills rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.
Mills a building superintendent was one of many New Yorkers who helped rescuers during
last week's building collapse on the Upper West Side.
The building was being demolished at the time.
Mills helped rescuers dig through the rubble which had fallen on top of several pedestrians
including seven-month-old Abigail Lorensky and her nanny.
And now here's a closer look at how things finished up on Wall Street.
Good evening I'm Monica Pergamont with the Fortune Business Report.
After a three-week run-up profit-taking and disappointing earnings from Citigroup made
for a bearish session to start the week.
Take a look here at how things settled.
The Dow today dropped 65 points.
The Nasdaq gave up almost 12.
It closed at 2144.
Topping business headlines Citigroup the country's biggest bank said that profits fell short
of Wall Street's forecast in the second quarter.
The company blames that drop partly on new bankruptcy legislation which caused a short-term
spike in filings as people rushed to file bankruptcy under the old law.
A different story from the tech sector here.
IBM managed to beat the street in its latest quarter.
After the closing bell the world's biggest computer services company said that second-quarter
profit jumped 6 percent thanks to selling its personal computer business back in May.
In merger news here Maytag has received a surprise takeover bid from rival Whirlpool
for about $17 a share.
That new offer trumps two earlier bids from private investment groups.
And remember you can always get the latest on business news at fortune.com.
That's our summary of today's business headlines.
I'm Monica Pergament.
Good night.
When you're expecting a baby you can also expect all sorts of expenses to arrive.
Paul Messina has some tips on planning for an addition to the family in this Money Matters
report.
There's lots of joy when a baby's on the way but you mustn't forget there are also lots
of bills on the way.
While you'll know what certain costs ahead of time it's important to plan financially
for your new arrival.
Something not enough parents are doing right now.
71 percent of moms had not even looked at what their health care benefits were to know
what they had and what they didn't have.
And another 44 percent had not sat down to even think about a budget.
Sandy Jones is co-author with her daughter Marcy of Great Expectations.
No, not that Great Expectations.
This one is subtitled Your All-In-One Resource for Pregnancy and Childbirth.
Look at what your income and outlay are and start thinking ahead about that $9,000 to
$11,000 that you're going to be spending in that first year after baby is born.
Suddenly making a budget doesn't sound so bad.
Aetna and the Financial Planning Association have created a website to help expect new
parents out and it's called PlanForYourHealth.com.
And you can go there and there are a whole series of tools and checklists.
It's not just for first time parents.
More children mean more of a financial burden.
So the time to get your finances together is before the baby is born.
Marcy and I in Great Expectations talk about the fact that there's going to be this fog
right after pregnancy when you're not going to be able to think clearly.
And all of these paperwork and bills and so on are only going to add to your stress.
And you don't want to do that.
But you might want to save some money.
Consider cutting back on some of those huge expenditures by getting a midline stroller
or a midline crib and look for used clothing and hand-me-downs and cut corners that way.
The book is Great Expectations, Your All-In-One Resource for Pregnancy and Childbirth.
It's available wherever books are sold.
The website is www.PlanForYourHealth.com.
That's the place to go to kind of start thinking about what your baby is going to cost, who's
going to do the medical care for your baby after he or she is born, and how are you going
to interpret all these terms in your benefits package.
Because everyone wants what's best for their child and being financially prepared is one
of the best things you can do.
Paul Messina, New York One.
Two large luxury cars earn top honors in crash tests.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety named the 2005 Audi A6 a double best pick
for earning good ratings in both front and side impacts.
Only three other cars have earned that distinction.
The 2006 Infiniti M35 got the top score in side impact protection, was named the best
pick for frontal crash performance.
Vehicles get a rating of poor, marginal, acceptable or good based on how they perform in a crash
with a stationary object at 40 miles per hour.
Good means a driver would walk away with relatively minor injuries.
Still ahead on this edition of New York Tonight, after serving up coffee and cheesecake for
more than 40 years, she's become a well known face at a well known Brooklyn diner.
Now this waitress is hanging up her apron for good.
Nice story coming up, but first here's another check of the forecast.
When you travel, do you hate tour buses and big groups that love the in-depth information
the guides can offer?
Our Techbeat reporter, Adam Balkin, has more on a new high tech solution that gives you
the best of both worlds.
Guidebooks are thorough, carriage rides quaint, but technology is now trying to bring out
a big city's past more vividly for visitors.
Rack on Tours, our new multimedia tours of, right now, just Manhattan, tours you download
to your digital hand held or high end smartphone.
You have the same kind of experience that you would have sitting on your couch watching
a documentary, but it's interactive and you're actually taking it right there standing in
the place that you're learning about.
So it kind of combines the immediacy of actually being there with the resources that you have
in a complete multimedia system.
We show you old images, maps, lithographs, portraits, you get to listen to expert testimony
from expert authorities on the subject, and you get to walk around at your own speed by
yourself.
There are no groups, there's no buses, you can do it when you want, you can stop for
lunch.
You can also download audio only to your MP3 player, but the real draw here, comparing
what's there now to what used to be.
Well, for example, behind me where Bergdorf Goodman is, originally that was the Vanderbilt
Mansion that was owned by Cornelius Vanderbilt.
And so we can have you standing here while you're looking at Bergdorf Goodman, which
is now a modern, you know, eight story department store, and you can see what this block looked
like in 1900.
Now, even if you're not a very high tech person, you don't have one of these powerful
devices to even run a multimedia tour, you're not completely out of luck because these kind
of high tech do-it-yourself tours really started with the most basic tech gadget that pretty
much most of us have, the very basic cell phone.
Talking Street, almost two years old, helped start the trend.
It lets you call a number and get guided audio tours from celebrities like Sigourney Weaver
and Jerry Stiller.
Our goal is to use something really simple.
On one level, this is high tech.
It's a cell phone, and although it's now just audio, before too long, we will have still
images and video and all that stuff.
But we want to be moving as fast as regular folks have the technology, that for now, it's
not meant to be a techie experience, it's meant to be a totally accessible, entertaining
experience.
Right now, Rakintours has just six tours at $15 a piece, all in Manhattan, with plans
to expand in the near future.
Talking Street has tours in Manhattan, Boston, and Washington, six bucks each, with more
to come.
For a list of some wireless tour guides, check out the technology section of our website.
Adam Balkin, New York One.
As we celebrate Brooklyn Week, New York One takes you to one of the borough's most famous
attractions, the country's first amusement park.
In the first of a two-part special, our Stephanie Simon shows us how a new coat of paint is
keeping Coney Island in touch with its past.
Since the first amusement park opened in 1897, Coney Island's allure hasn't faded a bit,
but its signs certainly had.
Over the years, those distinctly outrageous, old-time, hand-painted carnival signs were
being replaced by cheaper, computer-generated vinyl signs.
It was a trend artist Steve Powers didn't like.
So with the help of the public art organization Creative Time, Powers convinced some artists
to paint new signs for the businesses here for free.
Coney's always been this really marvelous, kind of grimy seaside paradise, so we're
not trying to improve anything, we're just trying to add to it, trying to make it a little
more distracting and a little more outrageous.
The project's called the Dreamland Artist Club.
It started last summer with 20 artists painting signs in downtown Coney Island.
This year, 15 more artists joined the club.
And this year, it really is a club with its own clubhouse, this new sign shop on Surf
Avenue.
Artists can come here to ply their trade.
This is Powers' work, a superhero, with some substance abuse problems.
Him setting up his day and almost getting ready to save the day, but he's got to go
see somebody first.
He's set up a map here for a walking tour of all this new art.
Follow it just outside to see this new sign by artist Gary Pantor.
So I just walked around with my sketchbook and just drew like little things from Coney
Island, people walking around and stuff, and made them into weird little cartoon characters
because I wanted to be happy.
Artist Ronnie Catrone has shown his work around the world, but always dreamed of doing something
in his hometown.
I stand as a food concession, so I instantly thought of like an orgy of food with clowns
and monkeys seducing mermaids and the general public trying to sell them hot dogs, hamburgers,
french fries.
Art is so much a part of Coney Island these days that you can even take a piece of original
artwork home with you.
That is if you're a winner.
One in to win.
Yep, just one in and you can win an original painting.
Or if you're a good shot, an artist designed t-shirt.
It's all part of the Dreamland Artist Club.
For more information on the Artist Club or Clubhouse, go online to creativetime.org.
Stephanie Simon, New York 1.
She's been a fixture at one Brooklyn landmark, but now after more than 40 years she's calling
it quits.
Mary Blevins is retiring after 43 years as a waitress at Junior's Restaurant.
Blevins was 25 years old when she started at Junior's after hopping a bus to New York
from Virginia to start a new life.
She's been behind the counter serving coffee and Junior's famous cheesecake ever since.
Now 68, Blevins says she's had an interesting run.
I can't believe 43 years ago tomorrow I walked through them doors and asked for a job.
It's 43 years later.
But it was fun.
I had a good time.
I enjoyed the people I worked with all these years.
I enjoyed my customers and I enjoyed the buses although we had a few arguments.
I worked with my grandfather and my father and it's sad.
There's going to be no one to yell at me tomorrow.
It's closing of the book, meaning the era when waitresses really exemplified a family.
When you went to a restaurant she knew what you wanted before you even knew.
The owners of Junior's also thanked Blevins for her loyalty by giving her a gift, a Concord
Silver watch with diamonds.
That's this edition of New York Tonight.
New York Close Up is next.
Tonight's guest is Daniel Doctoroff, the city's Deputy Mayor for Economic Development.
I'm Louis Dodley.
Stay with us.
We'll be right back.