And When You’re Pitching This Script, Make It Clear That Brooklyn Itself Is A Character

In the literary free-for-all that the “mafia cop” trial has become, Brooklyn itself becomes a character:

It could be argued that one of the most intriguing characters in the trial of Louis J. Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa is not a person, but a place. As absorbing as the witnesses, the lawyers and the two defendants is the borough of Brooklyn, which has arisen in the trial as something like an empire of the ill-fated and often illicitly employed.

Countless times, Brooklyn — or specifically southern Brooklyn — has been painted as a universe of two-bit deals and three-time losers, of gangster bars and catering halls and auto-body shops. It has come to seem in testimony like a world where people are forever swapping envelopes of cash and owing money to their loan sharks and their mothers — a world of which a witness could say, without a whiff of irony, “I was having some bad times and I committed bank robbery,” or “a few times back in the 80’s people paid me to make their cars disappear.”

. . .

Countless times, Brooklyn — or specifically southern Brooklyn — has been painted as a universe of two-bit deals and three-time losers, of gangster bars and catering halls and auto-body shops. It has come to seem in testimony like a world where people are forever swapping envelopes of cash and owing money to their loan sharks and their mothers — a world of which a witness could say, without a whiff of irony, “I was having some bad times and I committed bank robbery,” or “a few times back in the 80’s people paid me to make their cars disappear.”

Backstory: Alan Feuer’s other article about the literary flavor in a murder trial; Feuer is obviously making notes for a wonderful script and/or novel.

Maybe 2021 Is A More Realistic Date

The fact that the order of victims’ names on the Sept. 11 memorial is a contentious issue shows just how contentious everything about the World Trade Center site is:

One of the most potentially divisive issues at ground zero — how victims’ names are arranged on the memorial walls — was settled two years ago, when the governor and mayor said they would be listed in random order, with insignias of service next to the names of uniformed emergency workers. Period.

But nothing about the World Trade Center site ever seems completely settled.

Firefighters and police officers never liked the random concept, union officials said, believing that their mission of running into the buildings while others fled entitled them to special recognition. A group of victims’ relatives proposed that names be listed by association (employees of Cantor Fitzgerald or Aon, for example) in the space corresponding to the tower where they died. The architect who won the design competition, Michael Arad, originally spoke of creating “meaningful adjacencies” that would, for instance, permit siblings to be listed side by side.

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation long maintained that this discussion was over. Yesterday, however, Stefan Pryor, the corporation president, and Thomas H. Rogér, a board member of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, told a City Council committee that renewed discussions about the arrangement of names were in fact still going on.

“L.M.D.C.’s ears remain open,” Mr. Pryor said. “We are always open to further solutions, suggestions. And we’ve had meetings on this topic quite recently.”

He said that random arrangement remained the plan and said that any alternative would have to conform to the overall memorial design.

Pressed by Councilman Alan J. Gerson of Lower Manhattan to articulate the corporation’s position on the names, Mr. Pryor said, “The current position of the L.M.D.C. is to support Michael Arad’s position.” Mr. Arad, who did not testify yesterday, said in 2004, “The haphazard brutality of the attacks is reflected in the arrangement of names and no attempt is made to impose order upon this suffering.”

At yesterday’s hearing, Mr. Rogér, whose 24-year-old daughter, Jean, was a flight attendant aboard the American Airlines jetliner that crashed into the north tower, said, “The random suggestion contained within the current design may have some artistic elegance about it, but it certainly is flawed in many respects.”

If You’re Going To Lie About Your Job Experience, Do It For A Restaurant Position

Moral of this story — don’t lie on your job application:

Two dozen ex-convicts who applied for jobs at Kennedy and La Guardia airports were arrested yesterday for lying about their criminal backgrounds on security clearance forms that would have granted them access to sensitive areas, authorities said.

The job-seekers had convictions that ranged from robbery to weapons possession, but allegedly denied it on the applications.

. . .

The 24 would-be employees include men and women from throughout the five boroughs and Long Island. Their ages range from 20 to 65.

The defendants are each charged with offering a false instrument for filing. If convicted, each faces up to four years in jail.

And The Best Reason To Do The Right Thing? Lunch At Cipriani!

Moral to the story — return someone’s laptop, get a lunch at Cipriani:

Last year, a Montreal gem dealer caught Hossam Abdalla’s cab and left behind a case loaded with nearly $1 million in titanium, gold and diamond rings when he rushed out for a meeting at the Javits Center. Abdalla, 30, discovered the stash, and promptly returned it to its owner.

Yesterday, Abdalla was named “Driver of the Year” by the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission. He and dozens of other cab drivers were feted for their exemplary service on the streets of New York.

The event showcased drivers who have recovered everything from Blackberrys to backpacks and sacrificed time and money to do good deeds for their fares.

. . .

TLC Commissioner Matthew Daus called the Egyptian immigrant “a diamond in the rough.”

“This really changed me as a person,” Abdalla said of his good deed and all the attention that followed. “Honesty is a value that I have inside. If you’re in a situation to do something right, do not hesitate — do it!”

Another honoree, Virendra Shukla, wasted no time doing the right thing when Loraine Collins and her family left a video camera in the back of his cab 18 months ago. Shukla didn’t know that the camera contained a precious keepsake video diary. He also didn’t know about the $5,000 reward.

. . .

Other recipients included Serigne Tall, a Humanitarian Award winner, for helping an elderly Alzheimer’s patient who had wandered away from a hospital; Charles Juene, a Humanitarian Award winner, for helping a blind passenger; and Abouley Mbow, a Customer Care Award winner, for returning a laptop and 200- year-old artwork valued at $12,000.

. . .

Over a lunch buffet provided by Cipriani, Daus told the honored drivers to dispense with worries about traffic or fares.

“Relax and enjoy the moment,” Daus said. “You’re not on the meter.”

Queens College Library Often Put To Good Use

Despite what you may have been led to believe, the Queens College library is actually heavily used:

“I heard that a girl was giving head in the library, under one of the cubicles on the second floor,” said Johnathen Khan when questioned about promiscuity on campus. Many other students had similar information, but felt uncomfortable giving their name to the press. Other students were completely unaware of such behavior.

. . .

Tejwatie Sohan recalls an instance of inappropriate behavior in what appeared to be a cozy nook on the fifth floor of Rosenthal Library. She was witness to a male student being straddled by a female student on the floor. “Fully clothed, they behaved as if they wished they weren’t.”

When Diana Post, a Library Information and Science master’s student, was asked about the issue, she admitted that it was common knowledge that one of the dangers of her future occupation was finding “shenanigans in the stacks.”