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September 16, 2009
Court Street Cinema Fire, Again
Brownstoner
Forest City's Court Street Cinema was the scene of a fire for the second time in six weeks.
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The UA Cinema on Court Street in Brooklyn Heights had a small fire incident on Saturday that left none injured. According to the Brooklyn Heights Blog, a popcorn machine was the cause of the fire, but the sprinkler system kept it from getting out of control. The incident did fill the theater with smoke and force everyone in the theater to evacuate. Almost the exact same sequence of events occurred last month—a small fire caused by a faulty popcorn machine. Perhaps it's time for UA Cinema to invest in some new popcorn machines?
NoLandGrab: OK, Bruce Ratner can't pop popcorn in his theater without starting a fire, and we're counting on him to keep crowds of 18,000 people safe in a building that the NYPD would surely classify as a High Tier security risk? The city's decision to cut back on its promise of heightened security measures at Goldman Sachs' new lower-Manhattan HQ is sure to add fuel to the, ahem, fire.
NY Post, City to 'unsafe' Sachs: Pay for protection
Goldman Sachs, the wealthiest bank on Wall Street, is locked in a bitter battle with city and state officials over the number of cops available to patrol its gleaming new world headquarters at Ground Zero.
The bank is close to completing its $2.4 billion, 43-story skyscraper on Vesey Street in Battery Park City and says it will be ready to move in by the end of this year.
But the big move could be delayed as the city and state scale back an expensive security agreement with the bank. The squabble is dealing yet another blow to the redevelopment of Ground Zero -- and possibly putting taxpayers on the hook for $320 million if the Goldman-government accord collapses.
...One key incentive was the promise to provide Goldman with a much higher level of security than usually given to a Wall Street firm. Under the terms of the contract, the city pledged manpower, and the state was in charge of security infrastructure such as blockades, surveillance equipment and guard stations.
But now the city has told Goldman it will scale back the number of cops -- pointing to budget woes and arguing that the higher levels are not yet necessary, given the long delays in opening office buildings at the World Trade Center site.
Sources also said the state is so far behind in its infrastructure plans that the NYPD would be unable to use the number of cops outlined in the deal, even if it had them to spare.
NLG: Don't worry, we're sure the security experts at Forest City will protect us if the city and state won't. Butter on your popcorn?
Posted by eric at September 16, 2009 8:00 PM