Admit It, They’re Fun To Drive!

The new 150-miles-per-hour Dodge Charger is about “boosting morale” and building “diversity”. Hmm:

The new police Charger is faster than the cars currently in use by the department. While some have questioned why an urban police department might need a car that reaches 150 miles per hour, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the main reason for buying the cars is to make the department’s fleet less monolithic.

“What we like about it is the diversity,” said Mr. Kelly in announcing the department’s plans last week outside 1 Police Plaza, a lineup of Chargers nearby. “Chrysler is now back in the market, and this is the model they are offering.”

. . .

The new cars may also provide a morale booster for officers, just as stylish new uniforms or more bullet-resistant vests or anything to give officers an edge can instill pride. “Cops always like something new” said Mr. Kelly. “So, I think that this will be a bit of a novelty.”

Backstory: The Vroom-Vroom Era Begins On All Cylinders, Dukes Of Harlem Go From Zero To Sixty Like A Bullitt.

The Vroom-Vroom Era Begins On All Cylinders

The dream of the Dodge Chargers has become a reality in its full symbolic glory:

Forget about Boss Hogg: The NYPD is taking a page from “The Dukes of Hazzard” in picking the speedy police car of the future.

The Police Department is testing new Dodge Chargers, with 5.7-liter engines, that can hit up to 150 mph. The Duke Boys’ General Lee also was a Dodge Charger — albeit the 1969 edition of the muscle car.

“Technically, these cars are symbolic of where we are today” in crime fighting, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said yesterday.

. . .

Dodge is charging the city $28,511 per car.

Civilians Probably Don’t Understand The Pleasure Of Shooting Heavy Artillery At The Neighborhood Firing Range

Further proof that there is a fine line between “gun collection” and “weapons cache”:

Prosecutors said Gregory Brozski, 56, kept more than 50 guns in his home and garage at 65-32 223rd Place, the second-floor co-op where he has lived with his mother since he was 16. He was arrested July 25, along with a West Islip man also charged with illegally possessing heavy artillery, after an investigation by Suffolk County police led them to Bayside, the Suffolk district attorney said.

Investigators said they found more than 50 weapons in Brozski’s home, including four AK-47 assault rifles, four UZI submachine guns, eight AR 15 semi-automatic rifles and a grenade launcher. He was charged with one count of criminal possession of a weapon. Brozski pleaded not guilty in district court in Central Islip and was released on his own recognizance, a spokeswoman for the DA’s office said.

The person who answered the phone at his apartment said Brozski was not available for comment. But neighbors said he was a quiet man who liked to collect guns but would only use them on trips to a firing range in Pennsylvania.

One neighbor, who declined to give her name, said she knew about the weapons but was never afraid he would use them.

“He looks mean but he’s not,” the neighbor said. “He’s a pussycat.”

She said Brozski had lived in the co-op with his mother for some 40 years and he took care of the elderly woman, who was recently hospitalized. He is a Vietnam War veteran who rarely talked about his time in the service. The neighbor said Brozski may have taken some weapons home from the war.

“The man’s a collector,” she said. “He would never use any of those weapons on anybody.”

Meow.

Mayor Koch Calls For 40-Hour-Long Boy George Concert

The Downtown Express totally buried the lede:

George O’Dowd, better known as singer Boy George, was recently sentenced to five days of community service in District 3 for falsely reporting a burglary in his Little Italy loft.

Since few residents of Chinatown and the Lower East Side deny that their neighborhoods could use some community service, Downtown Express decided to ask a few New Yorkers to suggest ways Mr. George can help the community.

Cathy Glasson said he should have to clean the area outside Chinatown fish and food stores.

Hizzoner former Mayor Ed Koch, also a Downtown Express movie critic, said: “Well, community service can take different forms. To me, the city and its residents would gain more putting him in a situation where he can teach that skill rather than simply do indiscriminate manual work.”

To what skill of Boy George does the mayor refer? Makeup.

“He seems to know a lot about makeup,” Koch said. “He said he wants to teach it. Ask him. He proposed that he would teach makeup.”

Just in case the makeup option falls through, the mayor suggested plan B: A Boy George concert in Washington Square Park “for whatever hours [of community service] he has.”

People in the park could not be reached for comment on whether they are eager to hear Boy George hits “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” and “Time (Clock Of The Heart).”

The singer actually will be picking up trash starting August 14.

You Little Shits, I Hope You Stole A 40 GB Click Wheel

Two young punks (creeping Postism, sorry) beat up a mother running with her baby in Prospect Park and robbed her iPod from her:

Two boys robbed a Park Slope woman jogging with her child in Prospect Park yesterday, police said.

Laurie Maher-Samra, 35, was jogging in the park with her 7-month-old son in a stroller when the youths, who appeared to be 12 years old, attacked her near Nellie’s Lawn at 1 p.m.

She was running along East Drive in the park, listening to music when the boys attacked.

They ran up to her from behind, hit her in the head, snatched her iPod and fled, police said.

“I just didn’t think it would happen at 12:30 in the afternoon,” said a shaken Maher-Samra. “I was just surprised that they would attack a mom with a baby.”

She and her son were not injured.

“There were people around. It was weird,” she said. “It was a bold move. As a mom of a 7-month old, I should be able to walk with him in the park.”

The 78th Precinct, which encompasses the park, has seen a 30 percent drop in robberies over the past year, but iPod thefts have been on the rise across the city.

This is what I’m talking about.