Monday, May 13, 2013
Toll booth worker treated after loud crash, officials say.
An EZ-Pass booth at the George Washington Bridge Upper Level in Fort Lee was destroyed when steel beams flew off of a tractor-trailer and hit the toll plaza late Monday morning, authorities said. Five New York City-bound lanes were closed just before noon as officials worked at the scene, the Port Authority said. It was not immediately clear when the roadway would be cleared. Heavy traffic delays were reported in the area following the incident, including on Route 4. Although nobody was in the booth when the beams hit, a toll collector was treated for possible ear injuries from the loud impact, officials said. Only the cash-register was left from the severely damaged booth, the agency said.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
No identification yet of the female found downstream from George Washington Bridge, report says.
The body of an as-yet unidentified female was recovered from the Hudson River, the Newark Star-Ledger reported Wednesday. The body was discovered among some rocks near 158th Street at about 1:30 p.m., according to a Port Authority spokesman. No determination of the age of the female or how long the body may have been in the water has been made, according to the report. The area was part of the river searched last month, after Hillsborough student Paige Aiello went missing on April 9 and her purse was found on the George Washington Bridge. She had apparently taken a family car to New Brunswick, and then gone into New York's Penn Station by train. Her family has offered a reward for any information regarding her whereabouts, and on several …
Officers responded to the bridge after reports from a friend that the 23-year-old man was planning to jump.
Port Authority police officers successfully talked a man down from the railing of the George Washington Bridge Tuesday afternoon, the second time in as many weeks that a potential suicide victim has been rescued on the bridge’s pedestrian walkway. According to police, the 23-year-old male had stopped near the side of the bridge to take pictures of the river below with his cell phone camera when he told a friend via text message that he was planning to jump. The friend called police around 3:38 Tuesday afternoon, and two officers found the man on the south walkway shortly afterward. Officers James Cronin and Christopher Terranova were able to persuade the man to step away from the railing, department spokesman Steve Coleman said, and …
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Officer grabbed a 40-year-old Queens man as he leaped from the GWB late Tuesday, authorities said.
A Port Authority Police officer pulled a man attempting suicide to safety in a "dramatic" George Washington Bridge rescue late Tuesday night, an official said. According to agency spokesman Steve Coleman, a 40-year-old Queens man, whose name has not been released, entered the bridge’s northern walkway at approximately 10 p.m., failing to yield to a security guard who instructed him not to enter. PAPD officer Jesse Turano responded to a call from the guard, and located the man walking westbound along the bridge’s walkway. After his emergency lights went ignored by the pedestrian, Turano exited his vehicle and proceeded to pursue the man on foot. Turano caught up to the man as he was grabbing for the outer rail of the bridge and attempting …
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
George Washington Bridge and JFK Airport Control Tower to be
lit blue during the month of April to support autism awareness.
The lights on the George Washington Bridge will be lit blue as the Port Authority joins Autism Speaks in their "Light it Up Blue" campaign. “The Port Authority is proud to show its strong support for a disorder that touches the lives of dozens of our own employees and millions of Americans,” said Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye. The United Nations has designated April 2 as Autism Awareness Day to support the efforts of those affected by autism as well as those working to find a cure and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is supporting those efforts for the fourth straight year. “I’m pleased that the Port Authority is taking part in this global effort to shine a light on organizations supporting the effort to find a …
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Security guard blamed marijuana odor on a skunk, report says
A security contractor guarding the George Washington Bridge's New Jersey side was arrested Wednesday after being caught smoking marijuana on duty, sources told the New York Post. The guard, Sami Omar, 26, of North Bergen, was busted by a Port Authority police officer who smelled weed when he stopped at a GWB security booth, the report said. Omar reportedly first blamed the pot odor on a passing skunk. Police discovered a half-smoked blunt in Omar's boot and a bag of weed, the newspaper reported, citing sources. Omar, an employee of FJC Security for four years, has been assigned to the bridge for three years, according to the report. He also guarded PATH trains. FJC, a private firm hired to help secure the bridge and regional airports, …
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Growing up in Fort Lee, where did you and your friends use to take your Red Flexible Flyers?
Fort Lee is a town, unlike any other Bergen County town, bifurcated by a bridge. Not just any bridge--the George Washington Bridge. Growing up in Fort Lee, your geography was defined by whether you lived north of the bridge or south of the bridge. It also defined where you played, strayed and misbehaved. For a small town, there were enclaves of even smaller communities--Coytesville, The Hollow, Lower Main Street...and many more. And each had their own place to go sledding. Growing up in Coytesville, east of Lemoine, the place to sled was Interstate Park, behind Fort Lee High School, known by my generation as Sunny Park. Back then, (did I really just say back then?) Sunny Park had an ice skating rink that was guarded (trust me, guard is the…
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Budding designer from Paramus left "suicide diary;" claimed she was bullied, according to newspaper report.
- POLICE & FIRE
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Thursday, February 7
The tragic tale of a 22-year-old aspiring fashion designer who took her own life by jumping from the George Washington Bridge on Wednesday —allegedly a victim of bullying, according to the NY Post — has attracted widespread attention on social networking sites. Riders on a jitney bus saw Ashley A. Riggitano, originally from Paramus, plunge from the New Jersey-bound lanes at around 4:40 p.m., the report said. She reportedly left a Louis Vuitton bag containing pages of notes in a "suicide diary," which included a list of five women banned from her funeral, on the bridge walkway. A Facebook page, “R.I.P. Ashley Riggitano” surfaced on Friday quickly getting tens of hundreds of ‘likes’ just hours after it was created. Condolences quickly poured…
Monday, January 14, 2013
Last year also brought most suicide attempts, report says.
A record 18 people committed suicide last year in jumps from the George Washington Bridge, the New York Post reported Monday. The number of attempted suicides also reached its highest level ever, the article said. Law enforcement sources told the Post 43 attempted suicides were reported in 2012. Last year's suicides surpassed the 2010 record of 13 deaths, the newspaper reported. Port Authority officials reportedly beefed up patrols on the bridge following a series of suicides in May.
Monday, December 3, 2012
The latest three incidents occurred Saturday, Sunday and Monday, as the latest round of toll hikes went into effect, bringing the agency’s 2012 total to 105—already more than 20 more than all of last year.
Port Authority police have charged more truck drivers with toll evasion at the George Washington Bridge so far this year than they did all of last year, as the agency continues what officials with the agency have described as a "crackdown," according to authorities. The number of drivers charged reached 104 on Sunday morning, the same day the Port Authority’s latest round of toll hikes went into effect, and climbed yet again Monday, authorities said. “Cracking down on toll evasion has been a top priority for the agency this year, and the number of arrests we have made this year are clear evidence that our efforts have been a success,” said Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman. The agency made 83 arrests in connection with alleged toll …
Art Elmers
11:39 am on Tuesday, May 14, 2013
With what they make with all the overtime. I think just about anyone would want to be a toll collector. more ›