All Aboard The Pooped Deck!

If you overindulge on tall boys, be warned that the Staten Island Ferry may now be legislating good behavior:

To make at least one leg of a long journey a little more serene for commuters, State Sen. Diane Savino has been pushing for the creation of a “Quiet Deck” aboard the Staten Island Ferry, where riders can be free from loud cell phone conversations, chatter, and, of course, the ferryboat preachers who have long rankled a captive audience.

After reviewing legal issues surrounding free speech and how it applies on public transportation, the city’s Department of Transportation, which runs the ferries, has agreed to adopt the Quiet Deck, with signage posted on the Bridge Deck of the three newest Molinari-class ferryboats.

Based on similar quiet areas aboard Long Island Railroad and Amtrak trains, Sen. Savino suggested the idea for a “place for people who just want to sit and decompress” before or after a long day at work.

Location Scout: Staten Island Ferry.

Eight Years Later, Scoreboard

Time was, the government of Afghanistan harbored terrorists that cost us thousands and thousands of lives and trillions and trillions of dollars. Now they’re propping up our flagging real estate market. America, fuck yeah:

The Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations has a lovely new apartment. According to two deeds filed Friday, the group spent $4,235,000 on a 2,840-square-foot apartment at Trump World Tower, plus a $5.4 million commercial space at 633 Third Avenue.

H.E. Zahir Tanin, whose title is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United Nations, is listed in the deeds. “We did purchase a residence for the ambassador,” his assistant said. She said the office space is “going to be used both for the Consulate and the Permanent Mission to the United Nations. We are two separate things, but they’re both part of the government of Afghanistan, and it was the government of Afghanistan that’s making these purchases.”

And You Wonder Why They Hate Our Freedom

Case in point:

While in Times Square launch a public service drive called “I Participate,” the mayor told MTV that he’s betting on Lady Gaga to take home the most trophies at the upcoming Video Music Awards.

I hate my body.

Because It’s Always Important To Understand Why 19 Frustrated Virgins Would Fly Planes Into Buildings

Do you give a fuck what drove these assholes to kill thousands of people? I’m not sure I really care:

The museum being built at the site of ground zero will display photos of the 19 men who hijacked the four airliners on Sept. 11, 2001, and may also include printed quotations from the so-called martyr videos they made before the attacks, in an effort to “create an accurate historical record,” the museum’s president said Friday.

The images of each hijacker will be roughly 4 inches wide and 6 inches tall, and mounted on a wall of the underground museum’s primary exhibition. The museum is exploring the idea of displaying some quotations next to the pictures, but no final decision has been made, and no text has been selected, said Joseph C. Daniels, president and chief executive of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center.

“We will not, and we do not, want to hide the truth of what happened, and identifying those who did it is core to that,” Mr. Daniels said. He added: “It answers the question of who did this. Let’s show the world the 19 individuals who boarded planes and murdered so many. To not do that would be a major disservice to the public.”

We really do live in the greatest country in the world.

New York As Giant Soundstage For Bloomberg’s Alternate Reality

And we all become extras in campaign ads, and our homes turned into locations for shoots:

Hizzoner wanted a blue-collar house in Queens for his newest TV ad — and paid an eye-popping Manhattan rent to use it Thursday for just seven hours.

Bloomberg’s campaign shelled out $3,000 to a Forest Hills homeowner to shoot scenes in the garage, living room and bathroom of his 2-1/2-story, single-family residence on a tree-lined block.

. . .

[The homeowner] wouldn’t say how much he was paid. But location scout Robert Chemtob, who was hired by Epand Media to find a working-class home for the mayor’s ad, estimated the fee at $3,000.

. . .

[The homeowner] insisted he didn’t know the content of the ad.

Chemtob would only say it included a scene with a man singing in the shower. He said the spot is expected to hit airwaves in a few weeks.