While people sleep safely in there homes, a silent killer lurks in the shadows, waiting for an unsuspecting tree to fall prey to its moving mechanical steel-alloy claws. That killer is the town itself. The Journal News has more (link).
25 people, including a 68-year-old man, were arrested in early-morning raids on an apartment complex and senior-citizen facility located in Nyack. Police used wiretaps and video surveillance to collect the information on the group, apparently known as the “Building 3 Crew”, who were ultimately found in possession of large amounts of drugs, money, and guns. Granted, this occurred in Nyack, but we in the neighboring second safest city are certainly glad that a geographic boundary on a map sets us apart from these thugs. We especially look forward to see how justice is served in these 25 cases, since apparently a number of them have prior arrests.
Update 11-Apr-2008: the number of indictments associated with this drug bust has risen to 27. The bust also garnered the praise of the DEA, who released more details about the bust in their press release. According to the press release, the operation resulted in the seizure of an impressive cache of drugs and guns: 4 kilograms of heroin, 10 decks of heroin, 3 ½ kilograms of cocaine, scales and drug packaging material, a .25 Caliber Beretta handgun, $31,000 of US Currency, 5 handguns, handcuffs, bullet proof vests and ammunition. Sounds like a pretty serious operation. Again, it’s a good thing we have the mall as a buffer between Nyack and the second safest city.
Even the second safest city is not immune to the fallout of the ongoing credit crunch. Rockland Journal News reported that home prices in Rockland dropped an average of 5% in the first three months of 2008. In addition, the number of home sales dropped over 30%, to 216 home sales compared to 329 during the same period in 2007. The article conspicuously fails to mention the outrageously high property taxes assessed on homes in the area.
Peter Janoff, general manager at the Palisades Center Mall, may soon be out of work according to the Rockland Journal News. According to the paper, “Postings on Monster.com yesterday showed ‘immediate openings’ for both a general manager and the newly created position of assistant manager.” Naturally, mall management refused to answer questions on the subject. We imagine that Mr. Janoff’s resume highlights his experience in helping run the mall into the ground. Given the recent surge of negative publicity surrounding the mall, his departure is somewhat unsurprising. We don’t imagine it’s an easy job, so future applicants, consider yourselves warned.
Former Rockland Journal News editorial page editor Arthur Gunther published a stinging review of the Palisades Center Mall in today’s paper. This is truly a must-read.
There was just one problem with the article, regarding the quote beginning, “The scenes are there to be photographed …” You can’t photograph anything at the mall.
According to Pyramid management, to take photos anywhere at the mall you need to set up an appointment, have a $1 million insurance policy, and have the approval of mall management. There are no exceptions for amateur photographers. This also applies if you are taking photos on your phone. Even if you just bought a new camera at the mall, you couldn’t use it until you got home. When asked how this rule could be enforced, they couldn’t answer, likely because Pyramid will only enforce the rule if it suits their needs.
If you’re spending money like a good consumer there likely won’t be a problem. But taking a picture of the rusted stairwells, where doors are smashed in, where walls are covered in graffiti, where the smell is reminiscent of a Port Authority urinal, where discarded drug bags litter the floor — taking a picture of those stairwells could get you kicked out of the mall. Then again it might show people that Clarkstown isn’t the la-la-land “safest city” fantasy world we always hear it is.
Anyone else remember how the mall was supposed to lower our property taxes with all the revenue it brought in? Whatever happened to that?