Family Jewels Safe Following Bling Fling

One man’s bling is another man’s “heirloom bling”:

It was bling that had sent them into the sewers.

Andres Rodriguez was serving corn on the cob at an east Williamsburg farmers’ market Saturday when he lost an amethyst gemstone that had been in his family for 40 years.

But after shedding a few tears, Rodriguez got help from city Environmental Protection Department workers, who yesterday retrieved the family heirloom from gallons of gobs of gook.

“He was heartbroken,” said his wife Christian Rodriguez.

“He said, ‘I have very bad news and my heart is broken.’ He was crying. I thought someone died.”

The 40-year-old heirloom, a gift from his father, Andres, dropped into a Cook St. sewer grate. “My heart went right inside with it,” said Rodriguez, 66.

This important ring had to be retrieved, which is when DEP stepped in:

The ring, as well as a diamond ring that didn’t go the way of the sewer, are expected to be willed to one of Andres Rodriguez’s seven sons, all also named Andres.

Two of Andres Rodriguez’s grandsons are also named Andres.

DEP workers yesterday lifted the grate and lifted two loads of grime, wrappers, cups and trash bags with a catch basin.

Once the trash was unloaded, workers raked through the muck and found the ring — in less than 15 minutes.

And you may or may not realize that this happens fairly frequently:

DEP district supervisor Jamie Berkeley, one of three workers who sifted through sludge to find the bling, said New Yorkers call 311 daily in search of lost items.

Although car keys are the item most often lost, Berkeley said he has personally rescued pets, jewelry, wallets and weapons.

To Boldly Go Where The Boldest Have Gone Before And Will Continue To Go To

The Boldest supporters have successfully lobbied to rename Hazen Street — otherwise known as the last glimpse of freedom for many of us — “Avenue of the Boldest,” evening it up with the other of the city’s superlatives:

It’s a road most of us hope we never have to travel. For New York City Correction Officers, however, it’s part of their commute everyday to and from Rikers Island.

The bridge they have to cross — from Astoria to the city’s main jail — is the northern terminus of a thoroughfare which used to be called just Hazen Street. As of last Thursday, it has a new, second name: Avenue of the Boldest.

New York’s Boldest is what Corrections Officers are informally known as: a tag-line which mirrors the more famous nicknames Finest and Bravest for police officers and firefighters.

“Even the sanitation guys, they have the Strongest,” commented Corona Councilman Hiram Monserrate during the unveiling ceremony at the northwest corner of 19th Avenue and the Avenue of the Boldest. Monserrate, who himself used to be one of New York’s Finest before becoming a politician, was referring to a stretch of Worth Street in Manhattan which has been co-dubbed “Avenue of the Strongest” since 1996.

The fireman and the police officers have each had their own avenues since before even then. “A lot of people know that my colleague,” continued Monserrate, speaking of Astoria’s Peter Vallone, chairman of the council’s Public Safety Committee, who was standing next to him, “doesn’t like to do street renamings, but I managed to convince to do this one.”

“As many of you know,” said Vallone, “I was a prosecutor, so I know some of the vicious people that are put in here that we know [sic] longer have to worry about again, because of these guys.”

What exactly happens in there that we “no longer have to worry about” inmates?

See also: barrypopik.com’s “Finest, Bravest, Strongest, Boldest” explainer.

Location Scout: Rikers Island.

Ground Breaks On The House That Construction Jobs Built

The House That Ruth Built is a sacred cathedral that inspires great reverence . . . which is why it must be demolished to make way for a more functional version of itself:

Declaring the start of a new era for the Yankees and for the Bronx, officials broke ground yesterday on a $1.2 billion project to build a 51,000-seat replacement stadium. The ceremony took place as throngs of police officers cordoned off protesters who oppose the project because it will eliminate most of two parks and require $400 million in public subsidies.

Gov. George E. Pataki and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg dismissed those complaints. The governor said the project would create more parkland than it would destroy and noted that the team would be responsible for any cost overruns. The mayor said the stadium would help revitalize the long-neglected South Bronx and create 6,500 construction jobs over the next four years, as well as 1,000 permanent jobs.

The ceremony, which drew the likes of the former Yankees catcher and manager Yogi Berra and the actor Billy Crystal, occurred on the 58th anniversary of the death of Babe Ruth.

The groundbreaking seemed to put to rest decades of speculation that the Yankees might return to Manhattan, where they played until 1923, or abandon New York altogether for New Jersey.

. . .

Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, recalled discovering Yankee Stadium as a teenager with his mother. “To many fans, the ballpark is a cathedral, because it’s a place that inspires great reverence, and it is a place for comfort. If ballparks are indeed cathedrals, then Yankee Stadium is one of the most revered.”

The five-level, open-air stadium will replicate the entry facade, roof frieze, auxiliary scoreboards and right-field bullpen of the current stadium, which opened in 1923 and was substantially modified in a 1974-75 renovation. The stadium is to be completed in 2009, and the Yankees will pay the $800 million construction costs using tax-exempt bonds.

The groundbreaking occurred on a running track at Macombs Dam Park, which will be largely eliminated, along with John Mullaly Park. Across River Avenue, where the No. 4 subway line runs overhead, demonstrators from Save Our Parks, a community group, chanted and shouted. Metal police barricades kept the demonstration separate from the ceremony.

Previously on . . .

That Was Fast*

Seriously, that was really fast:

The Yankees plan to break ground today on their new $1.2 billion open-air stadium in the Bronx, less than 24 hours after a state judge rejected an attempt by a community group to block construction.

The new 51,000-seat stadium, with echoes of the distinctive copper frieze and limestone walls of the original ballpark, will go up in Macombs Dam and John Mullaly Parks, across 161st Street from the team’s historic home. Various elected officials are expected to join George Steinbrenner, the team’s principal owner, at a ceremony today signifying the start of construction.

“The courts have now ruled that the review process was thorough and complete,” said Randy Levine, president of the Yankees. “We’re excited to be breaking ground for what we think will be the best stadium in the country.”

Opponents of the project will also be on hand. “We’ll be out there demonstrating,” said Joyce Hogi, a member of Save Our Parks, who lives nearby. “We need to let people know how their rights have been trampled on. There’s nowhere else they can get the kind of economic bonanza they have in the Bronx. But the Yankees have not always been good neighbors.”

Save Our Parks, a community group, and a number of environmental organizations objected to plans to eliminate most of the popular Macombs Dam and Mullaly Parks and replace them with smaller parks scattered across the neighborhood. Some of the new parks, as well as ball fields, a running track and basketball courts, would be built on the roofs of new garages for stadium parking.

Save Our Parks had unsuccessfully sought an injunction barring construction, saying that the city’s environmental review failed to gauge the true impact of the new stadium on the neighborhood parks, open spaces and schoolchildren. The group also objected to plans to remove 377 mature shade trees from one of the poorest communities in the city.

“We’re not opposed to the Yankees having a new stadium,” Ms. Hogi said. “We always felt they could have done better by the community by reaching out and getting input into how they were proceeding with their plan.”

But Justice Herman Kahn [sic] of State Supreme Court refused to issue an injunction, saying the city would replace 22.42 acres of lost parkland with new parks totaling 24.56 acres.

Some contend, however, that the city isn’t actually getting all that much extra parkland in return:

“The judge just accepted their word on everything,” complained Geoffrey Croft, president of NYC Park Advocates. “But these guys haven’t been telling the truth.”

In his opinion, [Manhattan State Supreme Court Judge Herman] Cahn also repeats the city’s contention that the community will get 2.14 acres more than it is losing in the stadium swap. But Croft claims that calculation includes existing parkland and paved walkways. He points to the state’s application to convert the parkland, which claims the new waterfront park will be 6.42 acres. “But 1.37 of those acres are underwater,” Croft said.

*How fast? Wasn’t this announced just last June? What is taking the Mets so long?

Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time

Note for historians — today marks the day the “podcast” concept jumped the shark:

For thousands of subway riders, it has become an essential commuting tool. Plug in the iPod, and tune out the world. Instead of that overbearing panhandler or a crackling service announcement, the possibilities for these riders range from Debussy to Death Cab for Cutie.

And now comes TransitTrax, the New York City Transit podcast.

It is perhaps an unlikely concept: messages offered by the subway system to riders who are frequently trying to avoid listening to the subway system.

But since the podcast began on June 12, more than 1,600 people have programmed their iPods or other MP3 digital music players to tune in, downloading the messages in advance. They listened 2,576 times last week to TransitTrax audio features, transit officials said.

Yesterday, those tuning in might have selected a feature on what to do if “that sickly feeling” sets in as they are about to board a train (the advice: don’t get on).

. . .

TransitTrax’s 16 daily options include features covering customer safety, transit projects, security, recent events and service changes. Its most popular feature has been “Summer Heat and the Subway,” originated during the recent heat wave, in which a senior subway engineer discussed things like the heat that air-conditioned cars throw off into subway stations.

For now, transit advocates appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach to the podcast, for which Mr. Fleuranges said little has been spent. He said the system was started with less than $2,000 of new equipment, and relies entirely on personnel of the transit system for technical support and content on the air.

“You can’t fault their good intentions,” said Neysa Pranger, a coordinator for the Straphangers Campaign. “Whether many people use it will just have to play itself out.”

Speaking of which — whatever happened to Ms. Subways?