Once Every 3,400 Years

Not to freak you out or anything, but:

A new analysis of 383 quakes in a 15,000-square-mile area around New York City estimates that a magnitude-5 earthquake in or around the city occurs on average once a century, and a magnitude-6 or larger quake occurs once every 670 years. An even larger magnitude-7 is estimated at once every 3,400 years.

Right Guard Will Not Help You Here

Boy, someone is sure sensitive about that whole Tibet thing:

Days without potable water, hours of interrogation, sleep deprivation, and the theft of more than $20,000 in cash and equipment are among the hardships two New Yorkers say they endured as prisoners of the Chinese government during the Beijing Olympics.

“They threatened our lives, threatened the lives of people we know, of our family members, and they told us that they could get us, even outside of China,” a 32-year-old artist from Williamsburg, James Powderly, said yesterday.

He and Thomas Grant, a 39-year-old videographer from the East Village, arrived in New York yesterday morning, having been deported from Beijing on Sunday — the day of the closing ceremonies for the 2008 Games.

. . .

Mr. Grant said he had been in Beijing to give independent journalists and artists technical assistance in getting their work past Chinese authorities. One such artist was Mr. Powderly, who said he was at the games to highlight human rights abuses through public art installations.

The two said they and four other Americans were apprehended outside a restaurant August 19, held for questioning, and then taken to a detention facility on the outskirts of Beijing.

“We were interrogated for periods of six to 10 hours a day in holding pens,” Mr. Grant recalled. “Two days into the detention, we were shown a piece of paper written in Chinese, which none of us could read, and told that we had a sentence of 10 days given to us for a violation of Chinese law. Vague as it was, that was all we were told.”

As You Assumed, Life In A Fishbowl Is Stressful

The fish in the $750,000 tanks at the St. George Ferry Terminal are barely surviving in the stressful environment:

They’re the bright spot in the St. George Ferry Terminal, luring tourists and commuters alike to stop and admire their colorful beauty.

But brightness around the clock is exactly what’s killing off the fish in the two saltwater tanks in the terminal waiting room, as disturbed sleeping cycles stress the fish and make them more susceptible to disease.

“It’s like they’re driving with their brights on all day long,” said Wayde King, president of Acrylic Tank Manufacturing Inc., the Las Vegas-based company that installed the tanks.

Whether they were eaten by other fish or scooped out dead — or alive, removed from the tank and relocated after exhibiting aggression toward other fish — the population has dwindled to about 60 or 70 fish per tank, down from about 200 in each during the unveiling in February. The $750,000 tanks were funded through Borough President James Molinaro’s capital budget.

Curious kids and adults who bang on the tank walls also have disturbed the fish, who are unable to rest while being on display 24 hours a day in the busy transportation hub.

Furthermore, the constant light has caused a formidable algae bloom, leaving a brown film on the glass and the colorful coral inside.

. . .

Meanwhile, nearly a dozen members of SIcoLab’s Federation For Ferry Fish Freedom, a group of artists and musicians, banded together to fight for the rights of the fish with a “Fish-In” yesterday morning in the waiting room.

. . .

New railings are being considered to keep guests at a distance. And curtains are being designed to give the animals a restorative night cycle. “It darkens them up and lets them know it’s bedtime,” King said, adding the fish will be healthier if allowed a few hours of quiet.

And to tackle the algae, quarter-sized Turbo Snails will be introduced into the tank. “They’re like constant little scrubbers,” cleaning all the nooks and crannies of the tank and the coral reef inside, said Bob Kurtz, acting curator at the Staten Island Zoo, which will take over the maintenance of the tanks as planned in January.

Location Scout: St. George Ferry Terminal.

Mmm . . . Garbage Juice!

It’s that time of year again:

There’s no escaping the grime and nose-holding stench levels that city sidewalks generate in the summertime.

. . .

The city last month found that 95 percent of Brighton Beach sidewalks were clean, yet residents there say the stench of litter and rotten fruit from overflowing trash cans on Brighton Beach Avenue reaches gagging levels in the summer.

“The private garbage companies, you’ll see them squeeze the garbage and the juice comes out,” said [someone who emailed to have his or her name removed because he or she claims not to have actually said this to AM New York]. “I stepped in it once and my car smelled for weeks.”

A Challenger, The Contender, A Fight To The Finish . . .

and one “glorious flute”:

The challengers aiming to unseat the Assembly speaker in next month’s Democratic primary are going up against the good name Sheldon Silver’s earned in Chinatown — literally.

When Chinese-language newspapers write about Mr. Silver, they use Chinese characters that approximate the sound of his name as “siu-hwa.” In Chinese, siu-hwa can be interpreted as “glorious flute.”

For the first time in 22 years, Mr. Silver is running opposed in a primary for his district, which encompasses much of Lower Manhattan. Although leaders of large community organizations in Chinatown are pronouncing his victory a foregone conclusion, the neighborhood is becoming a political battlefield in the race.

Mr. Silver’s two opponents, Luke Henry and Paul Newell, are courting residents dissatisfied with his economic policies. Meanwhile, the speaker is reaching out to community members in unprecedented ways.