Just when you thought it couldn't get any more ridiculous

From WNYC:

The Mayor began the outreach to landlords last month by sending a robocall. Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli said it was now up to these mostly young community organizers and social workers manning the phone bank to ensure success.

“They're the ones who really have to bring it home and make it happen,” she said. “We’re hopeful we can get a number of apartments out of this, probably in the hundreds. And that would be terrific.”

DHS has also hired 154 new caseworkers and inspectors at a cost of $10.5 million. They also spent more than $300,000 to renovate the space. The room across the hall is filled with projectors and video conferencing equipment.

Hmmm, so if this is the plan, and homelessness is going to be reduced, why are we still signing contracts for more permanent shelters?

Helen the multitasker

It's Friday and someone seems to be a little confused about the use of a headset. Go ahead and caption this photo.

City app for finding parking spaces & paying meters

From CBS New York:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled a pilot program Tuesday that will allow drivers to add parking time remotely by using a smartphone app, the internet or by telephone.

Motorists will also receive a text message or email alerting them their time is about to expire. They will then be able to purchase additional time and extend their parking periods.

Drivers will also be able to spend less time hunting for a parking space with the city’s new real-time curbside parking availability map that can be viewed on the Internet, smartphones and tablet devices.

Upgrading the payphone

From AM-NY:

The mayor says there's still a place for pay phones in the 21st Century.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the city's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications launched the Reinvent Payphones Design Challenge Wednesday, seeking urban designers, policy experts and engineers to update the phones' look and functionality.

Although the number of public payphones had decreased by 24,000 over the last 20 years thanks to cell phones, the mayor said they are critical during emergencies such as Superstorm Sandy.

(Except when the flood destroys the lines and the service is out for a month.)

Seeking suspect in bomb threats

From the Queens Gazette:

On Tuesday, September 14, at approximately 5:45 p.m. a suspect called 911 and informed the dispatcher that there was a bomb inside of a bathroom on the mezzanine level of the Union Turnpike Subway Station at Queens Boulevard and Union Turnpike. A search of the area was conducted by police officers of the 110th Precinct with no suspicious devices being found.

At 6 p.m. another call was received by 911 from that there was a bomb inside of an “E” train at the Roosevelt Avenue Subway Station at Broadway and Roosevelt Avenue. Again, a search of the area was conducted, this time by the 112th precinct, with no discovery of any explosive devices.

The suspect is described as being a white male between the ages of 18 and 20 years old with height of 5 feet, 3 inches to 5 feet, 5 inches tall. He was last seen wearing a gray and white jacket with dark jeans.

Mr. Telephone Man, there's something STILL wrong with my line...

From the NY Post:

About 1,000 more Queens households than usual still had no landline phone service 10 days after storms tore through the borough, officials said yesterday.

Verizon estimated that 2,000 Queens customers had no working landlines. That's about double its normal number of outages.

The officials attributed the delay to downed trees and phone lines still hampering restoration.

Verizon normally has 1,000 landlines down in Queens? Sheesh...

Photo from the NY Times