Warehouse fire now being blamed on two homeless men. This from the NY Times.
Two homeless men who were burning the insulation off some copper wiring so they could sell it sparked a massive fire that destroyed a historic Brooklyn warehouse complex last month, the authorities said.
One of the men, Leszek Kuczera, 59, was arrested earlier today and charged with arson, burglary, reckless endangerment and petit larceny, the police said. The second man, whose identity was withheld, was still being sought.
The police said that Mr. Kuczera confessed last night to starting the fire, and was scheduled to be arraigned later today in Brooklyn Criminal Court.
Officials said the 10-alarm fire at the Greenpoint Terminal Market on May 2 was the city’s biggest — excluding the World Trade Center disaster — since a fire at Brooklyn’s St. George Hotel in 1995. The huge plume of roiling black smoke, visible for miles, reminded many New Yorkers of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It took nearly 36 hours to extinguish the warehouse fire, and the smoldering ruins of the unoccupied buildings smoked for days.
Starting Monday, drivers are facing tighter restrictions on cars in Central and Prospect parks during the morning and evening rushes.
The new restrictions are part of a pilot program, but historically the trend in both parks has been to steadily reduce the access cars have to the park drives.
The changes in Central Park affect weekday traffic above 72nd Street. The East Drive will be closed above 72nd during the morning rush from 7 to 10 a.m. In the afternoon, between 3 and 7 p.m., the West Drive will close.
"It’s great because working with the Department of Transportation, we’ve added a whole two-mile stretch which will be traffic-free," said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "We’ve really added a great deal of recreational amenities for park-users."
"We worked very closely with the Parks Department. We took counts before we did this and we’re pretty hopeful that this pilot will work and we’ll be able to institute this full-time," said DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall.
In Prospect Park, the only closure will be on the West Drive between 7 and 9 a.m. only.
Both parks are already closed entirely to cars on the weekends and overnight.
The city is taking the next step in the development of Coney Island.
The Department of Housing and Preservation announced Tuesday it will start taking bids for a building design for city-owned land near Surf Street. The project will include a community center and apartments, 20 percent of which will be set aside as affordable housing.
