« Tuesday Blogwrap Foreclosures in Brooklyn Up Slightly But Still Low »

June 3, 2009

Wednesday Links

Hundreds Mourn Slain Officer in Brooklyn [NY Times]
Promised Help Is Elusive for Some Homeowners [NY Times]
Pending U.S. Home Sales Jumped in April [NY Times]
FBI: New York Safest of All Big Cities [NY Post]
Brooklyn Man Loses Leg to Livery Cab [NY Daily News]
City Hotels Slashing Prices [NY Daily News]
Bicycle Accident In Boerum Hill [Brooklyn Eagle]
Bed Stuy Girl Booted from Harvard over Shooting [AP]
Photo by mersault999

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/9977

Comments

love that photo!

Posted by: wasder at June 3, 2009 8:38 AM

I feel physically ill after finishing the story about the Harvard shooting, and the girl from Bed Stuy, who is not being allowed to graduate. Sometimes I think What's racist rants might very well make sense in a "just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you" kind of way.

Posted by: Nokilissa at June 3, 2009 8:48 AM

Me too Waz. I have a self portrait of sorts, that I take on every vacation, which is my perspective of one of my feet (I'm interested in a particular toe, actually, that was damaged when I was 4) and the particular background of the moment. (Foot in sand at edge of ocean, foot dipping into a stream, foot ready to start a hike up a hill... etc.)
This photo reminds me of that perspective.

Posted by: Nokilissa at June 3, 2009 8:52 AM

It doesn't make any logical sense so far.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at June 3, 2009 8:52 AM

I don't get the harvard/Bed Stuy story. If she was not in the dorm at the time of the shooting and did not let the killer inside (he used another student's key card) then why is she being expelled. Harvard needs to explain exactly the reasons and was she only one expelled, because surely the student that gave the killer access should be out as well.

Posted by: 7andfive at June 3, 2009 9:07 AM

Nor does taking pictures of your feet. :)

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at June 3, 2009 9:07 AM

ok..It is Wednesday. And I was hoping by now Brownstoner would have linked to or mentioned 2 articles from sunday NYTimes.
1) people buying 'almost new' instead of brand new condos hoping to save a few bucks.
2) famous (accomplished) people who grew up in NYC housing projects. With all the project bashing that takes place on this site, I thought this would have been a bit of balance.

Posted by: Petebklyn at June 3, 2009 9:13 AM

Pete...can you link the condo article? I don't understand why the "almost new" would sell at a discount to "new." In fact, I would be suspect of any new development that doesn't have a history behind it to prove that many things aren't going to go wrong in the first 3-5 years.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at June 3, 2009 9:17 AM

impression-wise from just reading the article, that expelled Harvard student does not appear to be fighting back hard enough if she is indeed 100% innocent of the whole matter. The media coverage, cutoff this close to graduation (& completing a long journey to this very happy moment), slapped with a very heinous accusation,.... was expecting to read she is roaring to defend herself.

Posted by: more4less at June 3, 2009 9:21 AM

the almost new condo article
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/realestate/31cov.html?_r=1&ref=realestate
They claim (and probably accurate) that easier to get financing on almost new because bldgs are established whereas new construction arent sold out enuf to qualify for mortgages. What they didn't mention is extra closing costs on brandnew.
Yet even in this article couple paid more for condo than orig owner. (in financial district I think)....as I keep asking - I want to see resales on these almost new bldgs where people are selling for less than the orig purchase.

Posted by: Petebklyn at June 3, 2009 9:38 AM

Please stand away from the edge of the platform as trains enter and leave the station.

Posted by: g man at June 3, 2009 9:40 AM

g man...oftentimes those people have a death wish. Just don't jump in front of a train that affects my commute.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at June 3, 2009 9:47 AM

The Harvard thing is disgusting, especially considering how socially acceptable marijuana use is these days. I expect someone made a bad pr decision and the expulsion will be dropped.

Posted by: Heather at June 3, 2009 9:52 AM

I just read the article about the man who "looses" his leg to a livery cab while placing his son in a car seat in the back.

Several reactions: First, Oh shit! One of my biggest fears when getting the kids buckled in while asshole drivers race by at 60. Second, I so hope they are able to reattach his leg. Third, where the hell are the editors at the Daily News?

Posted by: Nokilissa at June 3, 2009 10:05 AM

Nokilissa....I remember decades ago when I took my driving test that it's actually against the law to exit/enter vehicles from the street side. Yes, it sounds ridiculous and it may never have been a law here in NYC but what about all those nitwits that open their door onto the street without looking.

I saw this on TV last night and its particularly sad because apparently the livery driver lives in the same neighborhood and they know each other.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at June 3, 2009 10:13 AM

Here is another article on the Harvard story:

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=528283

Posted by: oe at June 3, 2009 10:14 AM

""Harvard is doing this to me because I'm black, I'm poor and I'm from Brooklyn," "

Harvard is where the elites children go for education and I believe there is much more to this story and I wonder if she was white and came from a privilege background would this happen to her?

"Sometimes I think What's racist rants might very well make sense in a "just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you" kind of way."

"There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know. "

Donald Rumsfeld

The What

Someday this war is gonna end....

Posted by: Return of The What at June 3, 2009 10:19 AM

I LOVE that Rumsfeld quote, despite the man.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at June 3, 2009 10:21 AM

best photo ever!

Posted by: Argyle Road at June 3, 2009 10:44 AM

I read somewhere that Rummy was a big fan of R.D. Lang.

Posted by: g man at June 3, 2009 10:50 AM

So honestly, Dave, are people expected to climb over the center console to their Driver's seat through the passenger door? And how are we to put kids into carseats if there are more than one in back? Should we stretch over the first, while the second kid presumably waits to get placed, perhaps to run out into the street while we fumble with the first? We really have no choice but to venture to street side, nervously at times, while quickly getting them buckled in. I'm always nervous until I can shut the back door and hop in to the car. This story certainly heightens that worry.

Posted by: Nokilissa at June 3, 2009 10:55 AM

What sucks about the Harvard story is the university just started to recruit minorites in the past 4 years or so and I'm sure that will stop..immediately. As to the student not fighting enough---I'm sure she doesn't want to go against a university with so much wealth and power. It's my understanding that she'll get her degree but just can't walk.

And yes, she's not walking b/c she's blk. It's really just that simple.

Posted by: grip100692 at June 3, 2009 10:56 AM

The article infers that Harvard has absolutely no evidence that this girl had anything to do with the shooting. Assuming that the only thing she did "wrong" was know someone who knew someone else, then she shouldn't even be involved in the case. Something stinks here, and I hope she gets some loud, obnoxious powerhouse lawyers to get her rights restored. Why isn't this case national news?

Another thing that bugs me is the inference that just because she came from Bed Stuy, and considers herself poor, doesn't automatically mean that she grew up surrounded by drugs and crime. The raised up from the dregs to the ivy towers story is good pr, but the girl went to Packer and has been around the elite for at least 8 years now. That would not be possible had she not had moral support and encouragement from family, and her own personal will to succeed, in addition to some serious smarts and intellect. You can get and do all of that in Bed Stuy without being surrounded by crime.

I hope this story has a happy ending, and she graduates, because no one should be convicted by the actions of twice removed aquaintances, and Harvard should be holding people like her up as role models, not scapegoats.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at June 3, 2009 11:03 AM

MM,

that's why I was expecting her to fight back more than the article was implying / conveying. This is NOT a small slight by the university. This is effectively branding her guilty and not seeing where / how the university is holding anything back against her on this bad treatment. Hope she is fighting back big time behind the scene away from media spotlight.

Posted by: more4less at June 3, 2009 11:12 AM

I hope so, too, M4L. Personally, I dislike the media hyped, Al Sharpton, or some other high profile activist at your side, noise-fest, as I think it doesn't help one's credibility or incourage the real facts to come out. I'd rather have stealth ninja lawyers and investigators who get results, the kind who will hunt the truth down, no matter where it takes them.

I'm still not seeing why she can't walk at graduation. Because she knew somebody who was dating somebody who may have shot someone? Absurd. If that's the criteria for walking at graduation, half the student body should be headed home, because the amount of people who know people who have illegally consumed drugs, encourage and participated in underaged drinking, cheated on exams, bought answers, plagerized, and done God knows what else, would leave about 100 students walking down to Harvard Yard.

The police shooting is horrible. I wonder if the public perception will ever change. White guy running with a gun: undercover cop. Black/Latino guy doing same: criminal. Until that changes, this will happen over and over.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at June 3, 2009 11:26 AM

Welcome to Fucking America folks...

The What

Someday this war is gonna end...

Posted by: Return of The What at June 3, 2009 11:32 AM

Also love the picture...

Posted by: spnder at June 3, 2009 11:49 AM

Who knows what really happened in the Harvard situation, but aren't you guys all media savvy enough to know how ongoing investigations work, or how Harvard wants to protect itself from being liable to a lawsuit? For legal reasons the university cannot say anything beyond the irrefutable facts of this man was shot, police said this man did it.

This girl, on the other hand, can say whatever she wants and isn't liable for anything.

Do we really believe that the university thought hey, someone was shot in a dorm, let's find the closest black girl and suspend her?

Posted by: havelc at June 3, 2009 12:06 PM

Harvard can investigate till the cows come home. That should have nothing to do with letting the girl walk at graduation, and/or graduating. Whatever happened to the presumption of innocence? And even by your description of the event, this girl didn't shoot anyone, and according to the AP story, wasn't there when he was shot, didn't supply the gun, or let the guy onto campus. She seems to only be guilty of knowing someone who may or may not have been involved.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at June 3, 2009 12:25 PM

This article says she was connected to the shooter and the "shootee" (not a word but you know what I mean).
http://newsone.blackplanet.com/nation/black-students-subject-of-rumors-profiling-in-recent-harvard-murder/

Posted by: aysataba at June 3, 2009 12:34 PM

A lot of chatter on very little information - but hey - it's the internet.

Posted by: Putnamdenizen at June 3, 2009 2:16 PM

Why is the shooter's girlfriend, Brittany Smith, also a black woman who clearly knew the shooter, being allowed to graduate and not Campbell?

Posted by: Architerrorist at June 3, 2009 3:03 PM

@havelc: absolutely to the 3rd questions. i think closed door meetings were held and Harvard strategically shut down anyone associated with the unfortuante incident. I honestly don't blame the university. It not only has a reputation to uphold but billions of $'s to protect. It reacted like any corporation trying to mediate risk. In saying all of that, do i think the same thing would have happened if the person's involved were white? nope.

Posted by: grip100692 at June 3, 2009 3:16 PM

Why is the shooter's girlfriend, Brittany Smith, also a black woman who clearly knew the shooter, being allowed to graduate and not Campbell? Why the different treatment for the two women? Both are black, female Harvard undergraduates. The woman with the closer ties to the shooter is collecting her diploma along with her classmates in just a few days.

Posted by: Architerrorist at June 3, 2009 4:13 PM

Although not clearly written - I read the article and interpret that she can not attend 'graduation' - not that she won't graduate. Very big difference. I have read several stories of this ban from ceremonies used as punishment by schools.
From someone who didn't even bother attending his own graduation - I can't get too worked up over it.

Posted by: Petebklyn at June 3, 2009 4:18 PM

« Tuesday Blogwrap Foreclosures in Brooklyn Up Slightly But Still Low »

June 3, 2009

Wednesday Links

Trackback Pings

Comments

Post a comment

Latest Restaurant Additions