Extra Swiss, Please

Live by the staged photo op, pie by the staged photo op:

The mayor, on a pilgrimage on Friday to Goodfellas, a venerable Staten Island pizzeria, smiled, nodded at his slice and then proceeded to do the unthinkable: eat it with a knife and fork.

A Tale Of Two Smokes

On the one hand:

“People who choose to smoke don’t have a license to poison the air others breathe,” the mayor said at a press conference outlining the proposed rules. “Even out in the open air, second-hand smoke can be dangerous.”

On the other:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg downplayed any concerns that smoke from the fire was dangerous.

“Nobody’s living that close; the wind disperses the smoke,” said Bloomberg. “It’s a regular fire, and there’s smoke and it goes up into the air and there’s no safety hazard here.”

Another Reason Why It’s Not A Good Idea To Live With Your Mother Into Your 50s

Then again, you do always want to raise your children to be independently minded productive members of society:

[A man], 54, sued his mom [. . .] now 86, for leg injuries he suffered four years ago when he fell on a staircase leading to an apartment he rented from her.

[The man], who fractured his femur and was laid up for seven months, has settled his $5 million lawsuit with his mother’s insurance carrier for $400,000, said his lawyer [. . .].

While some folks are reluctant to sue a relative or friend over an accident for fear of straining or even severing their relationship, [the lawyer] says there’s no reason to flinch from litigation, particularly if the party alleged to be at fault has insurance.

Looming Civil War Over Trees Threatens To Take Root

In Staten Island, battle lines are drawn and officials are worried about what could happen:

Seeking a compromise between the city and his constituents, Councilman Oddo feels there ought to be some exceptions to the no-refusal policy.

“I believe in trees. I love trees. But let’s not spill blood over trees,” Oddo said. “Don’t cause needless angst” in achieving the million-trees goal, he added.

Earlier: Plant First, Ask Questions About Pruning Later; You Say You Don’t Want It But Then You Slip It On In; “If You Times That By A Million That’s A Billion Dollars”.

And Now You Really Have Seen Everything

Otter found, or more accurately, got hit by a car on Staten Island:

But how a 25-pound North American River Otter made his way into Bloomfield waterways before being hit by a car on South Avenue sometime Saturday is as much of a mystery as whether there are more otters playing and swimming in borough streams and estuaries. The semi-aquatic animal probably thrived here centuries ago, but the population virtually disappeared with urbanization, pollution and over trapping by early settlers: Until now, there had never been an otter sighting recorded in New York City, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.