House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in NJ may be moved due to flooding

AP

The Bachman-Wilson house, designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright, in Millstone, NJ

MILLSTONE, NJ — Some say it's a work of art — one of the many gems of the Garden State.

Designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1950s, the house, which sits along the Millstone River in Somerset County, features the legendary architect's floor-to-ceiling windows that let in all the nature surrounding it.

But for the owners of the Bachman-Wilson house in Millstone Borough, there's been a little too much Mother Nature coming in.

Any significant rain event causes the Millstone River to rise, flooding the historic home.

Hurricane Irene in 2012 was the final straw for the owners, Sharon and Lawrence Tarantino, who have decided to sell the home, but with one stipulation — the new owners must move the house, piece by piece.

The couple is looking to move the house to another part of New Jersey. If that's not possible, they're considering Upstate New York, the Midwest or even Italy.

If the house is moved out of New Jersey, it would leave the state with just three original Frank Lloyd Wright buildings.

"The (current) site is not sustainable," Sharon Tarantino told The Star-Ledger of Newark. "We've been here for 25 years, and for 20 years we've dealt with flooding. It came to a point after Hurricane Irene and we determined the only way to save the house is to relocate it and build it on another site."

Tarantino said she and her husband love their Wright house with its large windows, gleaming wood floors and remodeled kitchen. As a designer and an architect respectively, the couple has done extensive renovations to maintain Wright's original vision for the structure. And after several floods and several renovations, the Tarantinos say they not only want to maintain that vision, but they want to keep it safe.

"This is sort of an organic happening in a way, that the house is transforming through nature," Tarantino said. "I think (Wright) would welcome it — I think he would be really thrilled that we're making the effort to do this to save a house, that isn't grand in scale but grand in its spirit and design and it's jewel that should be saved."

Not everyone is sold on the idea of the house moving out of New Jersey.

"It's a part of New Jersey's heritage and it would be a great loss to our state," said Stephanie Cherry-Farmer, senior director of programs at Preservation New Jersey, an advocacy group that placed the Bachman-Wilson home on their list of endangered historic sites in 2011. "Hopefully, they will be able to find a solution that allows the house to exist but keeps it part of New Jersey's heritage."

The Tarantinos are trying to do just that.

So far they've looked at two sites in New Jersey — one in Princeton and another in northern New Jersey, without being specific. Sharon Tarantino said the couple's top requirement is that the site have some kind of Wright connection, and they're also looking for a place that's similar to where the house stands now.

"It might be a site in New Jersey, but it might not be appropriate it for the house," she said. "So what if it's New Jersey."

The Tarantinos, who own Tarantino Architecture, are asking for $950,000 for house and its contents — which includes all Frank Lloyd Wright furniture — and $550,000 to deconstruct and move the house. And they plan to work closely with the new owner to reconstruct the house.

Over a dozen Frank Lloyd Wright houses are for sale across the nation, according to a Wright building conservancy group. And a few have relocated from their original location, but one expert says those moves are rarer.

"You do lose a lot when you move a Frank Lloyd Wright house from an original site to another one," said Victor Sidy, dean of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture in Arizona. "He designed each one of his house in relation to the building site the views the sun angle, the neighbors; each house was a solved problem, and the problem was living within the constraints of the site."

This problem, though, has gotten out of hand, the owners say.

"We feel like it's something that has to be done because of the environment," Sharon Tarantino said. "We have to save the house. We cannot go through another flood."

Read More..

NTSB says pilot error caused fatal 2011 East River helicopter crash

Pilot error caused an October 2011 East River helicopter crash that killed three overseas visitors, the National Transportation Safety Board said today.

Probers found that the Bell Ranger chopper was as much as 261 pounds too heavy when it lifted off from the East 34th Street Heliport, and say pilot Paul Dudley underestimated his passengers’ weights.

Dudley’s miscalculations led to a phenomenon called “loss of tail rotor effectiveness,” which caused the chopper to spin out of control and crash.

Dudley, the manager of Linden Airport in New Jersey, disputes the NTSB findings.

“We strongly disagree with the conclusions in the report, which are based on conjecture and estimates and that lead to questionable conclusions,” he said.

“You don’t go 30 years of flying without an accident by being careless.”

In 2006, Dudley made an emergency landing of a Cessna 172 in Calvert Vaux Park in Brooklyn.

The chopper crash victims were Helen Tamaki, 43 and her partner Sonia Marra, 40, both of Sydney, Australia, and Marra’s mother, Harriet Nicholson, 60, a British national who lived in Portugal.

Nicholson’s husband Paul and Dudley both survived without serious injury.

Read More..

Cardinal Timothy Dolan longshot as oddsmakers peg favorites to replace Pope Benedict XVI

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan is a longshot at the holy book to become Catholicism’s new world leader and first American pope.

Offshore oddsmakers have pegged Peter Turkson and Angelo Scola as slight favorites in a wide-open race to replace Pope Benedict XVI, who retired today in the first papal resignation in nearly 600 years.

Ghanaian Cardinal Turkson is nearly a 5-to-2 choice, according to various offshore bookies. Turkson’s papal hopes are pinned on conventional wisdom that cardinals want to pick a new leader from outside Europe, in a nod to the church’s new world growth.

G.N.Miller/New York Post

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.

But several Italian cardinals, playing with home-field advantage, could just as easily emerge on top when a new man is picked, according to oddsmakers.

Archbishop of Milan Scola is a little more than a 5-to-2 selection, while Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone [5-to-1 consensus] and Archbishop of Genoa Angelo Bagnasco [9-to-1] are also in the mix.

Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet appears to be the third pick in most virtual sportsbooks, hovering at about 4-to-1.

Cardinal Dolan, the popular, jovial leader of Big Apple Catholics, is a longshot with odds anywhere between 10-to-1 and 25-to-1.

No American has ever been pope.

Even though Turkson has emerged as the gambling favorite, oddsmakers are struggling to peg the next most likely challengers.

For example, Bagnasco is a 5-to-1 pick at British book William Hill but a 12-to-1 longshot at BetUs.com.

Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze is a hot 4-to-1 selection at BetUs.com but a 25-to-1 dog at Bovada.lv.

“Anytime you are dealing with non-sports related odds, it’s always difficult as we are setting these odds based on what so-called experts are saying about each candidate,” said Bovada.lv sportsbook manager Kevin Bradley.

“We will monitor how each candidate is bet and that is why you will see some movement in these odds.”

Read More..

Bernanke defends Fed's low-interest-rate policies

WASHINGTON — Facing criticism from Republican lawmakers, Chairman Ben Bernanke stood behind the Federal Reserve's low-interest-rate policies Wednesday and sought to reassure members of Congress that the central bank has a handle on the risks.

In his second day of testimony on Capitol Hill, Bernanke told members of the House Financial Services Committee that the bond purchases are needed to boost a still-weak economy and that they have helped create jobs for average Americans.

The bond purchases are intended to lower long-term interest rates. That encourages more borrowing and spending, which generates growth.

AP

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on Capitol Hill today.

Still, Republicans said the bond purchases could generate higher inflation.

"We have gone too far in monetary policy and the monetary easing and it is in this member's opinion time to pull back," said Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif.

Bernanke said the Fed is weighing the costs and the benefits.

"We plan to have a continual discussion and review of both the costs and the benefits and try to make sure that we are taking the right steps given those costs and benefits," Bernanke told the House panel.

Bernanke's remarks during his semiannual monetary report to Congress largely repeated comments made a day earlier to a Senate panel.

The Fed chairman made clear that the Fed's low-interest-rate policies are giving crucial support to an economy still burdened by high unemployment. He also acknowledged the risks of keeping rates low indefinitely. But he expressed confidence that such risks pose little threat now and gave no signal that the Fed might shift away from those policies.

The aggressive program to buy $85 billion a month in Treasurys and mortgage bonds had kept borrowing costs low, he said. And that, in turn, has helped strengthen sectors such as housing and autos, he said.

Bernanke rejected a suggestion by Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., that the Fed's policies were mainly helping the federal government with its borrowing needs and big banks and foreign governments.

"This is very much focused at the average American citizen," Bernanke said. "Our estimates are that we've helped create many private-sector jobs. ... People are able to buy houses at very low mortgage rates, refinancing at low mortgage rates. People are able to get car loans at low rates."

The low borrowing rates have boosted demand, Bernanke said, and that has helped to lift home prices, making home owners feel more financially secure.

"In a lot of dimensions, we have, I think, benefited Main Street and that's certainly our objective," Bernanke said.

Read More..

Carrie Fisher hospitalized after strange cruise performance: report

Carrie Fisher was hospitalized briefly after a strange, off-key performance she delivered aboard a Caribbean cruise, according to published reports today.

Fisher was treated for her bipolar condition, according to celebrity Web site TMZ.com, citing the actress' publicist.

"There was a medical incident related to Carrie Fisher’s bipolar disorder,” the rep said. “She went to the hospital briefly to adjust her medication and is feeling much better now."

The iconic “Star Wars” actress has openly discussed her battles with addiction and bipolar disorder.

Video surfaced last week of Fisher on a cruise ship, belting out a rambling, off-key standard. Her dog is on stage, where the pooch relieved himself.

Read More..

Census to replace "Negro" with "black" or "African-American"

WASHINGTON — After more than a century, the Census Bureau is dropping its use of the word "Negro" to describe black Americans in surveys.

Instead of the term that came into use during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation, census forms will use the more modern labels "black" or "African-American".

The change will take effect next year when the Census Bureau distributes its annual American Community Survey to more than 3.5 million U.S. households, Nicholas Jones, chief of the bureau's racial statistics branch, said in an interview.

He pointed to months of public feedback and census research that concluded few black Americans still identify with being Negro and many view the term as "offensive and outdated."

AP

In this April 14, 1964 black-and-white file photo, a man holds a Confederate flag at right, as demonstrators, including one carrying a sign saying: "More than 300,000 Negroes are Denied Vote in Ala", demonstrate in front of an Indianapolis hotel where then-Alabama Governor George Wallace was staying.

"This is a reflection of changing times, changing vocabularies and changing understandings of what race means in this country," said Matthew Snipp, a sociology professor at Stanford University, who writes frequently on race and ethnicity. "For younger African-Americans, the term 'Negro' harkens back to the era when African-Americans were second-class citizens in this country."

First used in the census in 1900, "Negro" became the most common way of referring to black Americans through most of the early 20th century, during a time of racial inequality and segregation. "Negro" itself had taken the place of "colored." Starting with the 1960s civil rights movement, black activists began to reject the "Negro" label and came to identify themselves as black or African-American.

Still, the term has lingered, having been used by Martin Luther King Jr. in his speeches. It also remains in the names of some black empowerment groups that were established before the 1960s, such as the United Negro College Fund, now often referred to as UNCF.

For the 2010 census, the government briefly considered dropping the word "Negro" but ultimately decided against it, determining that a small segment, mostly older blacks living in the South, still identified with the term. But once census forms were mailed and some black groups protested, Robert Groves, the Census Bureau's director at the time, apologized and predicted the term would be dropped in future censuses.

When asked to mark their race, Americans are currently given a choice of five government-defined categories in census surveys, including one checkbox selection which is described as "black, African Am., or Negro." Beginning with the surveys next year, that selection will simply say "black" or "African American."

In the 2000 census, about 50,000 people specifically wrote in the word Negro when asked how they wished to be identified. By 2010, unpublished census data provided to the AP show that number had declined to roughly 36,000.

Read More..

Man commits suicide by leaping in front of Manhattan subway train

A suicidal man died after jumping in front of a subway train in Manhattan this morning, police said.

The unidentified victim was near the edge of the platform at Eighth Avenue and West 23rd Street in Chelsea around 9:30 a.m. as the E train neared the station, sources said. He stepped back about 10 feet before taking a running leap just before the train arrived, sources added.

The MTA suspended C trains and rerouted E trains below 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue for about two hours after the incident.

kconley@nypost.com

Read More..

Off-duty transit worker busted for drunk driving

An off-duty transit worker was busted for drunk driving in Brooklyn early today, authorities said

Cops spotted MTA employee Rosario Luis, 49, sleeping in a black 2010 Acura in Bedford Stuyvesant shortly before 1:30 a.m. today.

Half of his car was on the sidewalk at the corner of Nostrand Avenue and Vernon Avenue, police sources said.

The vehicle was still running, and sources said there was a strong alcohol odor on Luis.

He was taken into police custody, and a Breathalyzer test found his blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent, sources said.

Read More..

Most charges dismissed against ex-Blackwater execs

RALEIGH, NC — The federal prosecution of five former employees of the private security firm Blackwater has crumbled after the defendants said they were acting at the behest of the CIA in giving an assault rifle, a shotgun and three pistols to King Abdullah II of Jordan.

Federal prosecutors indicted former Blackwater president Gary Jackson and four others on a long list of felony firearms violations in 2010. Charges against three of the defendants were dropped Thursday.

Jackson and former Blackwater vice president William Matthews pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges related to record keeping violations, resulting in $5,000 fines and no jail time.

The government's case unraveled after defense lawyers produced two retired CIA officials who said they knew about the weapons presented to Abdullah during a 2005 visit to Blackwater's compound.

Read More..

Former NY governor David Paterson to teach at Harlem medical school

Former New York governor David Paterson has a new post: teaching medical students about health care policy.

Touro College says Paterson is joining the faculty at its College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dean Dr. Robert Goldberg said Thursday that Paterson's insight on the health care system and public policy will help students "be prepared to advocate for their patients."

Plans also call for Paterson to help the institution with community relations, advocacy and pursuing grants.

Paterson spoke at the school's opening in 2007. It's in Harlem, where he lives.

WireImage

David Paterson

A longtime state senator, the Democrat was elected lieutenant governor in 2006. He became governor after Eliot Spitzer's resignation in 2008 and left office when the term ended in 2010.

Paterson later hosted a radio show for a time on WOR-AM.

Read More..

Postal Service to launch 'Rain Heat & Snow' clothing line

On the heels of announcing the end of Saturday mail delivery, the US Postal Service said Tuesday it plans to launch a new line of clothing and accessories next year.

The cash-strapped agency has signed a license agreement with Wahconah Group, a Cleveland-based fashion apparel company, to support its new "Rain Heat & Snow" brand, Postal Service corporate licensing manager Steven Mills said in a news release.

“This agreement will put the Postal Service on the cutting edge of functional fashion,” Mills said. “The main focus will be to produce Rain Heat & Snow apparel and accessories using technology to create ‘smart apparel’ — also known as wearable electronics.”

The Postal Service plans to establish a showroom in New York City's garment district to showcase its new products, which will be available initially only for men, the news release states.

The goal of the new product line, according to Mills, is to eventually sell Rain Heat & Snow products "in premier department and specialty stores."

To read more, go to Fox News

Read More..

Hackers hit Apple, Jeep in latest cyber attack

Hackers took a bite out of Apple security and virtually drove through Jeep’s social media vehicle today, in the latest cyber attacks on major American companies.

Intruders took over Jeep’s Twitter and posted the profane message: “You'll never catch @50cent ridin in a Dirty Ass @Jeep !!!! “

Meanwhile, Apple today made a rare admission of a cyber-security breach but insisted no important data was stolen. Apple blamed the same hackers who once attacked Facebook.

Reps for the Cupertino, Calif.-based company said they’re working with law enforcement to find hackers they believe are from China.

“Apple has identified malware which infected a limited number of Mac systems through a vulnerability in the Java plug-in for browsers,” the company said.

“The malware was employed in an attack against Apple and other companies, and was spread through a website for software developers. We identified a small number of systems within Apple that were infected and isolated them from our network.”

The iPhone and iPad maker plans to release software later today to help customers fend off malicious cyber attacks.

Facebook admitted on Friday that some of its employees' computers had been hacked by China-based cyber thieves. The social media giant also said no crucial or private data was stolen.

Hackers had a laugh at Burger King’s expense yesterday when they seized the fast-food chain’s Twitter page for about 90 minutes. BK’s Twitter was taken down for about eight hours.

Read More..

Blade runner nearly shot friend days before attack on stunner girlfriend

Gun-loving “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius nearly shot a friend two weeks before allegedly blowing away his gorgeous gal pal, according to published reports today.

Pistorius, in jail since the Valentine Day’s slaying of stunner Reeva Steenkamp, accidentally shot one round at the foot of boxer Kevin Lerena, while they dined with friends at a swanky Johannesburg restaurant, the fighter told Beeld newspaper.

REEVA STEENKAMP'S MOTHER GRIEVES, 'WHY MY LITTLE GIRL?'

NIKE: NO PLANS FOR OSCAR PISTORIUS IN FUTURE ADS

ROID RAGE EYED IN GRUESOME ATTACK

Lerena said Pistorius mishandled the weapon and it fired one round that nearly hit his foot.

“I got a huge fright, because the bullet hit the ground just centimeters from my foot. I must emphasize that the gun belonged to one of Pistorius’ friends,” Lerena told the newspaper.

“Oscar just wanted to look at the gun, and it sort of snagged on his pants, releasing the safety catch. A shot went off. I wouldn’t call him negligent, it was just an accident. He apologized to me for days afterwards.”

Steenkamp’s funeral is set for tomorrow, as a court weighs Pistorius’ bail application.

She was shot four times early Thursday morning inside the Olympian’s home near Pretoria.

The beautiful FHM mag pinup Steenkamp was a law school grad and outspoken advocate for victims of domestic violence.

Pistorius became an international hero this summer and after running in the London Olympics on two prosthetic legs.

Read More..

Obama golfing with Tiger Woods in Florida

WASHINGTON – President Obama was working on his golf game today, playing with none other than the sport's most famous player, Tiger Woods.

The two played at the Floridian Golf and Yacht Club in Palm City, Fla., where Obama was spending a President's Day weekend vacation, according to Golf World writer Tim Rosaforte.

"The President is arriving at The Floridian range. Awaiting is Tiger Woods and club owner Jim Crane. Historic day in golf. Their first round," Rosaforte said on Twitter. Crane is also the owner of the Houston Astros.

Obama spent time on the links over the weekend with Woods’ coach Butch Harmon but the game with Woods was unexpected.

The White House

Obama and Tiger Woods at the White House in 2009.

The two met each other when the president invited Woods to the White House in 2009. But today is the first time they played together. Obama has become an avid golfer since becoming president, racking up 100 rounds played during his time at the White House.

Woods is the most successful golfer of all time, having been named the PGA Player of the Year a record ten times. In 2009 and 2010 his career suffered after revelations about extramarital affairs.

Obama flew aboard Air Force One to Florida to play golf, after delivering a speech in Chicago on Firday. The first lady and the two Obama daughters are skiing in Colorado.

On Saturday, Obama played golf with Chicago friend Eric Whitaker, White House trip director Marvin Nicholson, outgoing US trade representative Ron Kirk and Houston businessman Tony Chase.

Read More..

Woman wounded by stray bullet in the Bronx

A woman was wounded by a stray bullet in the Bronx, authorities said.

An unknown gunman shot the victim, 51, in the right side of her stomach about 9:40 p.m. in front of the Soundview Houses on Seward Avenue near Noble Avenue, cops said.

Investigators do not believe she was the intended target.

EMS rushed her to Jacobi Hospital, where she is expected to survive, authorities said.

No arrests have been made.

Read More..

Chapman out of Herbalife

Robert Chapman, one of the first and most vociferous Herbalife bulls, has exited his entire stake in the embattled weight-loss and nutritional supplements company, he said today.

The Los Angeles hedgie told The Post he has either sold or hedged out of his entire position.

The investor said he still believes in Herbalife but thinks the shares — which have bounced between $46 and $26 over the last two months — could come under some pressure in the near term.

The $4.4 billion company has operated for most of its 33 years far out of the media spotlight but has been in the headlines since Dec. 19, when activist investor Bill Ackman made a $1 billion short bet against it, calling the company a “pyramid scheme.”

The company strongly refuted that charge.

Ackman foe Carl Icahn yesterday publicly revealed that he has taken a 13 percent stake in Herbalife — saying he didn’t believe in Ackman’s claims. “This is a boxing match, and you always want to bet on the guy who just got punched,” Chapman told The Post, referring to the Icahn-Ackman smackdown.

Chapman said the timing of the majority of Icahn’s Herbalife purchases — after the much-publicized TV debate with Ackman — tells him there is a “grudge component” to Icahn’s investment.

Herbalife shares jumped 17 percent early today, to $44.94, on news of the Icahn buy.

“The stock has overreacted to [the Icahn] news,” Chapman said.

Herbalife shares has sold off a bit after the robust opening and were up 7.4 percent in early-afternoon trading.

Chapman said that while he does not agree with activist Ackman that the company is a fraud, he said, “I expect that [the claim] will attract the attention of regulators some day, and I do not want to be long the day before a significant regulator has commenced an investigation of the company. That being said, I am extremely confident that the results of any such investigation will be benign and will vindicate Herbalife’s business model.”

Chapman recently visited Herbalife “quick response centers” and nutrition clubs in the Philippines on a due diligence tour of the company’s Asian operations and said “the results were extremely bullish.”

Chapman first commented on his latest Herbalife moves on Bloomberg TV this afternoon.

Read More..

Grand jury refuses to indict NYPD cop who gunned down National Guardsman during traffic stop

Seth Gottfried

The traffic stop in October that left National Guardsman Noel Polanco dead.

A Queens grand jury today declined to indict a NYPD cop who gunned down an unarmed National Guardsman last year, The Post has learned.

The jury returned a no true bill in the case against ESU cop Hassan Hamdy, who shot Noel Polanco in October during a traffic stop on the Grand Central Parkway, a law-enforcement source said.

Hamdy, with the Emergency Services Unit, pulled over Polanco on Oct. 4, and claimed the 22-year-old Guardsman reached to the floor of the car despite his warnings to keep his hands on the wheel, sources previously said. The elite detective feared for his life, the sources said.

Ellis Kaplan

Hassan Hamdy

Facebook

Noel Polanco

But Polanco's companion in the car said that Polanco kept his hands on the wheel the whole time.

Read More..

Alleged Baldwin 'stalker' mulling plea deal in harassment case

Steven Hirsch

Genevieve Sabourin at Manhattan Criminal Court today.

He's having a baby, and maybe losing a stalker.

A plea deal is on the table for the shapely French Canadian blonde accused of sending creepy emails and texts to Alec Baldwin after a one-night-stand dinner date in 2010.

Genevieve Sabourin breezed in and out of Manhattan Criminal Court today for a tete-a-tete between her lawyers and prosecutors, and left hopeful that the misdemeanor stalking and harassment case would be resolved before a judge when the case is reconvened tomorrow morning.

"I'm totally innocent, since day one, and I've said it loud and clear," the perky model and actress told reporters as she left court. "So there's no reason for me being here after nearly a year."

Asked if the deal involved any jail time, her lawyer, Rick Pasecreta, said, "If that's the case something's very wrong with the system."

Sabourin had been arrested in April, 2012, after sending Baldwin a series of emails and text messages in which she told him she loved him, wanted to have his baby, and needed cash. Sabourin allegedly freaked out Baldwin's soon-to-be wife, Hilaria, by turning up at Baldwin's Manhattan apartment; Sabourin was arrested at Lincoln Center, having turned up in the audience of an event in which Baldwin was appearing.

Sabourin was arrested a second time, last November, for allegedly violating an order of protection by continuing to Tweet about Hilaria, Baldwin, and "my INJUSTICE," and having notifications of the Tweets forwarded to Hilaria's Twitter name and account.

Asked if she had anything to say about Hilaria's pregnancy, Sabourin started to answer, but was hushed by her lawyer. "Don't comment about them because they might arrest you again," he warned.

"We want to resolve this," the lawyer explained. "She's wanted to resolve this from the very beginning. She doesn't think she should have been a part of this from the very beginning. And for the last two months we're doing everything we can to try to resolve this."

Read More..

Brooklyn teen shot by cops was firing blanks at friend

The teenage gunman shot by police in Brooklyn yesterday was firing blanks, police said.

Gino Mercado, 16, and his cohort James Capeles, 22, were both arrested on charges of criminal possession of a weapon and attempted assault on a police officer after they were nabbed yesterday for shooting a gun loaded with blank cartridges, police said.

“Mercado is the one with a fully operational Ruger 22 caliber revolver, that we subsequently learned was using...blanks,” Browne said.

The two were on the roof of a building on Atlantic Avenue in Brownsville where Mercado was firing the gun around 9:35 p.m., police said.

Responding officers heard the shots when they were canvassing the area and went onto the roof of a nearby building, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.

A 32-year-old sergeant and a 26-year-old officer, quickly spotted the men one building away and repeatedly asked the teen to drop the weapon, police said

Instead, Mercado turned toward the cops with the gun still in his hand and the cops opened fire.

"The sergeant sees Mercado turning with a gun in his hand towards the officers, Mercado tells police that he's turning to throw the gun down the hatch, that he's about to throw it away," Browne said.

The sergeant fired one shot and the officer fired twice -- all three bullets struck the victim -- once in his right shoulder, once in the left forearm and once in his right ankle, police said.

The gun and several shell casings were recovered in the backyard of the building, police said.

Capeles was taken into custody at the scene and Mercado was treated and released from Brookdale Hospital, police said.

Read More..

Medal of Honor bestowed upon Army Afghanistan hero

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has bestowed the Medal of Honor upon an Army veteran for his courageous leadership during a daylong firefight in Afghanistan.

Obama presented the medal to former Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha on Monday in a White House ceremony attended by the military's top leaders and former Medal of Honor recipients.

Obama recounted in detail the dramatic 2009 battle at an outpost in the mountains near the Pakistan border where U.S. troops were far outnumbered. Romesha was peppered with shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade but fought through his wounds.

AP

President Obama bestows the Medal of Honor on retired Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha for conspicuous gallantry, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, in the East Room of the White House in Washington.

Guests at the ceremony wept as Obama read the names of eight Americans who died in the firefight. Obama says U.S. troops fight courageously for freedom, for their country and for their families, but also to keep their fellow troops safe.

Read More..