Deputy Mayor Robert Steel insists he lives in the city - but his wife, his Porsche, his Mercedes-Benz, his Lexus and his four yappy dogs all live in Connecticut.
"Where would you rather live if you were a dog?" Steel asked when the Daily News confronted him in the driveway of his extravagant Greenwich mansion. "I'd rather live here."
City law requires all top city officials to live in the city.
Although most major unions have negotiated the right for members to live in the suburbs, Mayor Bloomberg issued an executive order insisting that top officials - except those granted a waiver - reside in the city.
Just 32 employees have been granted that waiver. Steel never requested one.
That means he had 90 days to move to New York after becoming deputy mayor for economic development in August 2010.
The city official charged with fixing the problem-plagued $2 billion upgrade of our 911 emergency response system has been doing much of his work from home - in sunny Florida.
Glen (Skip) Funk, the man Mayor Bloomberg appointed in August 2010 to a $200,000-a-year post as director of the Office of Citywide Emergency Communications, still lists an address in St. Augustine, Fla., as his legal residence.
Property records show Funk and his wife are receiving a $50,000 "homesteading" tax exemption Florida grants to residents who claim a property as their primary home.
In addition, Florida voter records show Funk and his wife both cast ballots in that state's election last November - more than two months after he started his new job for New York City.
Hedge fund titan Paul Tudor Jones III spreads a little Christmas cheer around Greenwich, Conn., each year. Well maybe more than just a little.
Off-duty police officers direct traffic around the sprawling light display, allowing drivers to line up eight at a time in front of Jones’ 13,000-square-foot home on a waterfront cul-de-sac. A soundtrack synchronized to the thousands of flashing lights plays over the radio on FM90.5. The full cycle lasts nearly five minutes.
There is no official count of the spectators, but on the night The Journal attended scores of cars lined up along the streets of the quiet neighborhood for a chance to take in a light show put on by one of the richest people in the world. (WSJ was the only media organization allowed to film this year’s over-the-top show). This year’s theme: angels.
The two firefighters were killed in what was supposed to be a routine house fire. Fellow firefighters have speculated that they may have run out of oxygen while checking for fire remnants on the third floor.
Smoke inhalation has been ruled the cause of death for the 49-year-old Baik. The state medical examiner's office also determined he had coronary artery disease that contributed to his death. A preliminary autopsy on the 40-year-old Velasquez was inconclusive, so more tests will be conducted.
The third-floor apartment where they lost their lives was not a certified living space and had likely not been inspected by fire officials in many years, because no permits were ever issued to convert the structure to a three-family house.
Records at both the city's Building Department and Tax Assessor's Office show the three-story structure at 39-41 Elmwood Ave. was built as a two-family house in 1909.
A Connecticut man was being sought Monday in the failed plot to blow up a bomb-laden SUV in Times Square, sources said.
This "person of interest" bought the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder that was abandoned with the engine running - and with primitive, but potentially deadly payload in the rear - just two weeks ago, law enforcement and police sources told The Daily News.
Investigators aren't certain whether he is the same man who drove the rolling bomb to the Crossroads of the World, but he has not been seen by his girlfriend - and has not shown up at his home or job - since the frightening incident on Saturday night.
Detectives from the NYPD and FBI identified the SUV owner after tracking down the registration of the previous owner, who told investigators he'd sold the vehicle.
The mystery man met the seller through craigslist.com and paid $1,800 cash for the Pathfinder, the Daily News has learned.
The revelation came as:
- The News learned from sources that forensic evidence found in the Pathfinder points to the possibility that whoever prepared the car bomb has links to foreign terrorists.
- The White House uttered the T-word for the first time in connection with the failed plot that sent a scare through the city. "I would say that was intended to terrorize, and I would say that whomever did that would be categorized as a terrorist," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
- Vehicular traffic in and out of Manhattan slowed to a crawl as officers checked suspicious looking trucks entering the East River tunnels - and gave New Yorkers a jarring flashback to the tense days after the 9/11 attacks.
- Police were still trying to identify a man who was caught on tape moments after the SUV - packed with enough fuel, fertilizer and explosives to ignite a massive fireball - was abandoned in Times Square.
Police arrested three New York women for “skimming” ATM machines at local banks, stealing bank card numbers and robbing from individual accounts, including at banks in Greenwich and Darien.
Sabrina Matche, 22, and Nadia Paisci, 48, of Middle Village, N.Y., and Laura Stiuca, 31, of Maspeth, N.Y., were arrested by Greenwich police April 22 as part of an operation for the Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force. The task force, which is under the direction of the United States Secret Service, consists of several municipal police departments, including Greenwich, the state police and U.S. postal inspectors. The arrests were made in Darien after a long-term investigation. Police believe these three have used this scam at least 12 times.
According to a police press release, the women engaged in skimming at area banks, including a People’s United branch in Greenwich, placing an electronic device near a bank’s ATM machine that captures credit card information and PIN numbers from customers using the machines. The information, which has been “skimmed” off the cards, is then used to access bank accounts and make unauthorized purchases.
The women were all arrested on a slew of charges including larceny, identity theft, forgery and fraud.
The investigation is ongoing and police had no further comment about the arrests. Ms. Matche, Ms. Paisci and Ms. Stiuca are all being held in lieu of $250,000 bonds and are due to appear in court April 29. Additionally the police report states that Ms. Paisci is considered a fugitive by the New York State Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) and that Ms. Stiuca is in the middle of deportation hearings. Ms. Matche is a legal U.S. citizen who was born in Romania.
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