Actually, I Don’t Know Which Is More Disturbing

Not to worry — that possible post-9/11 bias attack actually was just garden-variety mafia intimidation:

What started out as an arson investigation into a deli fire that some believed was anti-Muslim backlash in the months after the attacks of September 11, 2001, has led investigators to the conclusion that a Gambino associate ordered the hit to keep a competitor under control.

Edward “The Irishman” Fisher, 54, was charged with ordering the 2001 firebombing of My Deli & Grocery in the Fox Hills section of Staten Island. Investigators yesterday said the owner of the deli, Hamim Syed, 48, was planning to open another deli that would compete with Fisher’s bagel shop.

When threats didn’t deter Mr. Syed, a Pakistani immigrant, Fisher turned to two underlings to carry out the arson attack, the commanding officer of the NYPD’s Arson and Explosion Squad, Lieutenant Dennis Briordy, said.

“It took this whole deli out,” he said, adding: “He wanted it to go away.”

At 4:50 a.m., the men appeared at the door of the deli at 200 Rhine Ave. with a lit commercial fireworks launcher. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives classifies the launcher as an “extremely powerful destructive device,” a spokesman, Special Agent Joseph Green, said.

Anthony Maniscalco, 36, held the door, while Salvatore Palmieri, 54, tossed the explosive inside, Lieutenant Briordy said. Within minutes, the store was completely engulfed in flames. Four employees managed to escape without injury.

In other news, authorities made some additional collars:

In addition to Fisher’s arrest, the joint investigation by the New York Police Department, the FBI, and the ATF yesterday resulted in seven other arrests on a wider range of charges, including racketeering, loan sharking, extortion, and murder.

Also arrested was a Genovese family soldier, John “Little John” Giglio, 48, who was charged with nine racketeering acts, and crime family associates Vincent “Vinny Bastille” Garcia, 34, Richard Dacunto, 44, John “Hammer” Laforte, 38, Anthony “The Retard” Stocco, 24, and Raymond Spitale, 62.

Palmieri was also charged with the 1990 murder of Ronald Peteroy outside of a bar on Forest Avenue. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

All the men, except Mr. Stocco, were remanded without bail in the District Court of the Eastern District of New York because of a flight risk.

Of course — he’s “The Retard” . . .

A Million-Plus Dollar Conifer Empire, Its Sordid Tale Finally Told

If you think the Christmas tree business is all about the sweet smell of pine and hot French-Canadians, think again:

There are a series of secretive cash drops, about three cell phone numbers and a land line that connect the street force to cash managers and suppliers, specific phone calls that need to be made after the border crossing, and a boss known by some as the “Myth.” Welcome to the Christmas tree business in New York City.

Kevin Hammer, the man behind the majority of sidewalk tree stands in the city, runs a cash-only conifer enterprise that some former and current employees say grosses more than a million dollars during the month-long holiday season.

Although Mr. Hammer’s mostly French-Canadian workforce has been specifically instructed not to speak publicly about his business practices, several of Mr. Hammer’s experienced tree-sellers, asking to remain anonymous in fear of not getting paid, spoke with The New York Sun to explain how the city’s largest Christmas tree business operates.

“Everything is very organized and incredibly secretive,” one tree seller who works for Mr. Hammer said.

. . .

Every day, a “collector” arrives at the stand in a SUV with Florida license plates. He pulls up at an unannounced time after the tree-seller has called a number with a 212 area code saying how much cash was collected for the day.

When the collector arrives, the tree seller approaches the car with an envelope full of cash from the day’s sales up his or her jacket sleeve, according to the source. The “drop” includes a daily cash report worksheet printed in both English and French and is passed to the “collector” through the passenger side window. Conversation is usually brief.

. . .

One of Mr. Hammer’s former employees who currently works for another tree business in the city said the average tree-stand grosses about $30,000 a season, of which Mr. Hammer promises employees 50% of the profit after expenses.

“There is no way of knowing the expenses,” the source said. “You don’t know the cost of each tree.”

Tree-sellers receive cash payments from Mr. Hammer’s staff on the night of December 24, after excess trees have been collected and stands have been dismantled. The amount varies each year, and tree-sellers on the same team sometimes get paid different wages.

. . .

Tree prices at Mr. Hammers stands vary dramatically, and are dependent on the location of the stand. Buyers in affluent neighborhoods generally pay more for trees.

“We’re told to get the highest price possible, but to always sell the trees even if we get bargained down,” the source currently working for Mr. Hammer said.

Mr. Hammer did not return phone messages from the Sun.

Thanks For Doing Nothing At All To Make Us Feel Any Less Vulnerable This Christmas

After early reports of a terror plot to blow up the PATH tunnels leading into Lower Manhattan seemed to downplay the extent of destruction that could be inflicted, officials now admit that the tunnels are actually pretty vulnerable:

An analysis done for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says that the PATH train tunnels under the Hudson River are more vulnerable to a bomb attack than previously thought, and that a relatively small amount of high explosives could cause significant flooding of the rail system within hours.

The analysis, based on work by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, revises some critical aspects of an assessment of the system’s vulnerability that was presented to the agency last spring. It makes clear that the tunnels — four tubes of varying design and sturdiness that stretch across the Hudson riverbed — are structurally more fragile than first thought.

A draft summary of the most recent analysis was given to The New York Times by a government official who was troubled by what the official felt was a lack of action in response to the analysis, which the official said the Port Authority got about three weeks ago. The official said the latest analysis indicates that it would take only six minutes for one of the PATH tubes to flood if a significant but not necessarily very large bomb were detonated.

. . .

The analysis appears to be the most detailed and sophisticated government review of the train tubes’ vulnerability. Initial findings were shared last May with some members of the agency, but were not made public, and further tests were ordered. More tests are being done in an effort to come up with the best way to strengthen the tunnels.

The Hudson River tubes of the PATH system, which suffered serious damage in the 2001 terror attack, are more vulnerable than most other tunnels that pass under the city’s waterways because they lie in the soft riverbed, unlike other tunnels that are bored through the underlying bedrock. Silt over years has built up atop the tubes, which were laid roughly 90 years ago, but they are not in bedrock.

Several city subway tunnels beneath the East River are in many ways similar to the four PATH tunnels — essentially cast-iron tubes that run along the riverbed. An official at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said that agency is working on an analysis of its tubes.

The PATH analysis, which is characterized as preliminary and continuing, examines the three different types of PATH tubes under the Hudson. Roughly three-quarters of the tubes’ total length is made of unlined cast iron, with the balance made from concrete-lined cast iron or brick. Many of the details of the analysis — including the size of the bombs under discussion, their placement and the exact nature of the vulnerability — are being withheld by The Times.

The worst case included in the analysis suggests that a bomb that could be easily carried aboard a train could punch a 50-square-foot hole in one side of a tube, possibly breaching both sides of the tunnel. Under that situation, 1.2 million gallons of water a minute could pour into the tunnel, flooding parts of the system in a matter of hours.

The Tallboy Rebellion

Don’t just stand there, create an acronym:

A proposed booze ban on Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road has a group of commuters banding together to insist that the next stop not be prohibition.

. . .

Board member Mitchell Pally said the MTA, a state entity, shouldn’t encourage alcohol use. Some riders drive home after riding the train, he said, raising a safety concern. And alcohol use can lead to boorish behavior, Pally said.

But a spokesman for the recently formed Commuters Allied for Responsible Enjoyment, or CARE, said taking away a cold beer on the ride home after a hard day at the office would be an injustice.

“I’ve been burdened by people talking loudly and too long on their cell phones, by people eating pungent foods . . . awful odors from the bathrooms and overcrowding, but I’ve never had a problem where someone was acting in a drunken manner,” CARE spokesman Richard Shea said.

Kevin Pearce, a Metro-North rider and founding member of CARE, said the concept of Pally’s prohibition is patronizing and insulting.

“I’m not a child,” Pearce, an editor at a cable television network, said. “I’m not the frat-house rush chairman. I’m an ordinary taxpaying commuter who is a calm, peaceful person, just like 99.9% of people on the train.”

Another founding member and Metro-North rider said a booze ban would be an affront to American freedom – and he’s from London, where they still stop traffic for royalty.

“It’s preposterous,” said David Karat, a finance executive. “All we’re trying to do is have a quiet respectable drink on the train on our way home to our families.”

The first shot in the battle will be a letter-writing campaign to pressure MTA board members and elected officials to reject any ban. CARE will soon have a Web site up and running (www.alliedcommuters.com).

The Doffed Broker’s Fee Of Low Expectations (Is That All There Is?)

The broker reveals the big secret to never having to pay a broker’s fee — keep expectations ridiculously low:

How then, without a license or an abundance of contacts, was I able to find each of my six apartments without ever paying a fee? I like to think I was guided by raw real estate instincts, but truthfully it has a lot more to do with being flexible. I have never paid a broker, but I’ve also never had my heart set on a perfect little gem of a space in hopes it would complete my lifestyle. Again renting comes back to dating: keep your standards low if you’re looking for a deal.

And who among us hasn’t gone for a cheap date every now and then?