One Stop, One Bidder

Remember, $2 billion would buy many, many buses — maybe enough to make commuting more attractive even*:

The $2 billion plan to extend the no. 7 subway line has received only one bid for what is likely the project’s biggest contract, a factor that could weaken the state’s ability to leverage a low-cost final agreement.

The group that submitted the bid for the tunneling was a venture including one of the most active builders in the city, Skanska USA, which has received hundreds of millions in city and state contracts in recent years. Skanska’s projects in the region include the PATH hub at ground zero, construction of the Croton Water Filtration Plant, a contract worth more than $1 billion, and work on the Delaware Aqueduct water tunnel.

“It’s not ideal to only have one,” the executive director of the New York City Transit Riders Council, William Henderson, said. “This is a good chunk of the money for the project, and my understanding is, more importantly, it’s the part where you don’t have a good a hold on what the price is going to be.”

. . .

The no. 7 line extension, which will run 1.5 miles between Times Square and the southern end of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, lacks any guarantee of funding beyond the $2 billion committed by the city. Given that rising construction costs could contribute to cost overruns, transit advocates have expressed concerns about the project, which the city has pegged as a key driver in its effort to spur development on the West Side.

*Like John Liu says (in the headline at least), mass transit is better than congestion pricing.

You’ve Got To Moo Your Way To Freedom

And here you thought you no longer needed those lasso skills now that you moved to the city:

A frightened white-and-brown bovine led a small army of cops and firefighters on a merry chase until they finally corralled it in a Briarwood yard about 11 p.m.

Just where “Queenie” came from was unclear, but neighborhood residents said there are a number of halal butchers in the area who keep animals for slaughter according to Islamic law.

Police said 911 calls began coming in shortly before 10 p.m. from people who spotted the animal hoofing it on Union Turnpike and later at a number of other locations.

Dimitri Mitropoulous, 45, almost came hood to head with the critter.

He was driving past Queens Hospital Center, near the parking lot, when “the darn thing just came out of nowhere. There must have been a little bit of grass in the lot and he was feeding.”

Mitropoulous called 911 and got an operator who thought he was a prankster. “She asked me what color the cow was and I said, ‘Are you joking? It’s a cow in New York City.'”

When it was finally determined there really was a four-legged fugitive — from somewhere — on the loose, cops began tracking Mitropoulous with a Global Positioning System device as he followed the cow.

“We must have gone about 2 miles,” Mitropoulous said, “and it was running at a good pace for a while. I had to do 20 [mph] to keep up with it. I was driving right alongside. If I had a rope I would have grabbed him.”

The chase ended when the cow turned into a yard next to a three-story building at 85-22 144th St., where it was trapped by more than a dozen radio cars and Fire Department vehicles.

Scores of rubberneckers mounted light poles, and climbed on trucks and garden walls to watch as the pursuers closed in with lassos.

But the cow was not cowed. Queenie bucked, kicked and mooed loudly as she was wrestled toward a waiting NYPD horse trailer.

The tug-of-war clearly tickled a number of onlookers, who began chanting “Attica, Attica” — a reference to the violent suppression of a riot at the upstate prison — while others laughed.

(Too soon to tell whether the if-you-can-pull-it-off-you-earned-it rule is in effect.)

The “Trapped In The Closet” Defense

Here’ a twist worthy of R. Kelly:

One of the defendants accused of killing a gay man in Brooklyn last year because of his sexual orientation offered a startling courtroom revelation yesterday: He, too, is gay.

So said the lawyer for Anthony Fortunato, 21, one of four men accused of chasing a gay man to his death on the Belt Parkway during a robbery on Oct. 8, 2006.

All along, homosexuality has defined the case. Prosecutors have used it as a sword, seeking heavier sentences for a hate crime.

As the trial began in Brooklyn Supreme Court yesterday, Mr. Fortunato’s lawyer, Gerald J. Di Chiara, sought to use sexual orientation as a shield. Without much explanation of how he planned to introduce this fact or turn it to his advantage, Mr. Di Chiara offered it to the jury in his opening argument. Not only was Mr. Fortunato gay, Mr. Di Chiara said, but so was the main prosecution witness, Gary Timmins, 17, who has pleaded guilty to attempted robbery in exchange for his testimony.

In fact, Mr. Di Chiara continued, Mr. Fortunato had planned to tell his friends of his sexual orientation on the night in question. Luring a gay man out to a secluded lot in Sheepshead Bay was part of that plan, Mr. Di Chiara said.

The melodramatic turn temporarily obscured the darker nature of the case. Last Oct. 8, prosecutors said, a 29-year-old designer named Michael J. Sandy was lured from his home in Williamsburg to his death.

. . .

Mr. Fortunato, [Fortunato’s lawyer] said, might have planned to smoke marijuana with Mr. Sandy as a means of testing his friends’ sentiments about homosexuality. Or, he said, perhaps Mr. Fortunato had wanted to swindle a gay man, to see how his friends reacted to a gay person. Or, he said, perhaps Mr. Fortunato had simply wanted to rob somebody.

Beyond that, Mr. Di Chiara kept the defense strategy to himself. Asked how all this would help his case, he said, “You got to read the whole book.”

How About A “Broken Toilet” Theory Of Park Maintenance? Think Of It Like “Broken Windows,” Except With Stall Doors!

You have to admit, you’d think renovating those nasty-ass bathrooms would be a “phase one” sort of priority*:

Though Washington Square Park users are eager for improved public restrooms, the Parks Department renovation plan poo-poos popular sentiment.

The most dramatic elements of the renovation plan will occur in the first phase of the $16 million project, which includes installation of an almost 4-foot-high fence around the park’s perimeter; the reduction of the inner fountain circle; the leveling of the sunken plaza; and the fountain’s relocation and alignment with the arch.

The second phase will tackle the eastern half of the park, while a third phase is reserved for the restoration of utility buildings, including the bathrooms.

Parks originally said the redesign would take up to two years, during which the western and eastern halves of Washington Square Park would close alternately.

The timing of the bathroom renovation, however, remains uncertain. Though Parks plans to completely reconstruct the bathroom house, it has not yet determined whether this project will take place in phase two or three, according to Cristina DeLuca, a Parks spokesperson.

. . .

Data collected over the past two years indicates that Washington Square Park visitors agree with Greenberg. Of the 306 parkgoers polled by the Open Washington Square Park Coalition in fall 2005, 85 percent wanted the restrooms upgraded “as soon as possible.”

A study conducted by the Project for Public Spaces in 2005 found that restroom renovation topped respondents’ wish lists.

The P.P.S. report concluded that in the bathroom’s current condition, parkgoers’ safety was at stake.

“Negative activity dominates here [in the restrooms], especially at night. And despite their proximity to park administration buildings and the dog run, the restrooms are probably the least safe part of the park,” the report stated.

The public restrooms are located on the park’s south side, in a small, red-brick building.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, a powerful stench emanated from the men’s facility, inspiring hesitation at the threshold. Later, a homeless man, his cart of belongings parked outside the stalls, washed his upper body at one of the sinks.

George Martin, a musician who was visiting the park Sunday afternoon, admitted that the Parks Department could “keep the bathrooms a little cleaner.”

“A little?” added his friend Steve Scott.

Martin then acknowledged that in the more than the 30 years that he’s visited the park, the men’s bathroom has remained in a consistently sorry state.

“You just gotta hold your breath and go in and out,” he said.

Especially because it seemed like it was kind of like a priority or something.

“Cultural Contribution” Is Rather Subjective, Isn’t It?

More pining for the bad old days:

It opened in 1916 as a vaudeville theater called the Ideal and closed a few weeks ago as the Playpen, a seedy porno emporium on the ragged rim of Times Square. It now faces the wrecking ball despite a last-minute attempt to rescue it.

With few theaters dating from the early 20th century still in existence, one of Gotham’s oldest “shouldn’t be sacrificed for the sake of progress,” said Michael Perlman, a self-appointed preservationist who wants to keep the building’s Beaux Art facade — with its curved central arch, pilasters, statues and other ornate features — by incorporating it into a new building, or moving it to another location.

This is a “culturally and architecturally significant structure, and we hope to preserve this gem for future generations,” he said.

. . .

. . . [T]here appears little or no chance of [saving] the Playpen, which was doomed when partners headed by Tishman Realty Corp. acquired the property on 8th Avenue at 44th Street in July, reportedly for a new high-rise building. The group said Thursday it was “currently exploring development options.”

Unlike other historic theaters in the area that have been saved and renovated, the Playpen was never given official landmark status that would prevent its being destroyed.

“We gave it the old college try,” said Anna Levin, who chairs the local community board’s land use committee. “This was looked at three times but we were completely rebuffed by the City Planning Commission.”

The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission also studied the issue and decided the building “did not meet three necessary criteria — architectural features, history and cultural contributions to the city,” said the agency’s spokeswoman, Lisi DeBourbon.

Earlier: Landmarks Body Considers Topless Bar — remember, three and it’s a trend!