By Daniel Katzive
Visitors to Central Park and nearby residents were startled to see dense smoke billowing over the north part of the park Tuesday afternoon. According to the FDNY, firefighters responded to a number of brush fires in the park near West 110th Street at around 1:20pm. The fires were extinguished with no injuries reported.
A police department spokesman, Sergeant Anwar Ishmael, told West Side Rag that investigators were still trying to determine whether the fires may have been deliberately set. He did indicate that a witness had reported a man setting fires at around 107th Street and Central Park West at around this time.
Conditions on the ground were still damp after last night’s heavy rains, but strong winds may have been conducive to spreading fire.
Alvin Bragg will give the arsonist a pat on the back and a free Metrocard to get home.
Again, the bail laws are state laws, written and passed in Albany by state legislators eg Linda Rosenthal, Danny O’Donnell, Robert Jackson, etc.
If you want change, it happens there.
You are right – if you want to effectuate change, start with the hacks in Albany. Having said that though, a prosecutor has some level of discretion when it comes to leveling charges against someone (or taking a plea bargain at a lower charge). So, it is possible that an criminal charge that requires bail could be lowered by the prosecutors office to a charge that does not require bail.
Delete comment section
Love the writing and stories on WSR but the Comments are why I keep coming back.
Please don;t remove the comments option
Never! It is a dependable source of daily entertainment.
Re: “Delete comment section”
Seriously?? WHY?? Last I heard we are living in a democracy, where everyone is allowed to express (his/her) opinion.
That means an ordinary citizen like m’self (okay…not so ordinary) can vent/praise/etc. and others can agree/disagree.
The best thing about WSR is that it permits this civil discourse to take place.
If WSR actually allowed such discourse to take place, that might be one thing.
But too often it prevents dialogue by blocking some comments without explanation while waving through other comments that contribute little to discussion, or are laden with outright falsehoods.
Far from removing the comment section, I’d support expanding it by removing the filtering system that reflects the selective biases of the moderators.
Brandon is spot on about the filtering being done. I’m still trying to figure out why a few posts of mine were censored in the past: better to post all than have censorship of some. Cranks can be right on target too! “Community guidelines” in the UWS is probably any oxymoron anyway.
I think that was,,gasp, sarcasm
Arson isn’t a bail eligible offense. you are correct
Give it a rest, Mindy…
OH thank goodness! I thought there might be an entry of the WSR without an adolescent response, but you’ve saved the day!
WSR decided this comment was worth posting?
Give it up, Brandon. If people don’t speak up about the incompetence and corruption in this city, we all might as well move to Ukraine.
Am I shocked that a Brandon is calling for censuring a reasonably true comment?
Is nothing sacred? Setting fire to the North Woods?? The arson itself is sad/bad enough, but the adolescent comments about what should happen to the culprit may be more depressing . . .
As of 12pm, there’s, quite literally, ZERO comments about what should happen to the arsonist. But yours is the second use of “adolescent” today. Interesting…
Given it’s value to the lives and sanity of all NYers anyone committing arson in Central Park needs to spend the rest of their days walking for an hour a week in a small yard.
Last Friday there also was a brush fire near the Boat Basin, along the highway. I called 911 and FDNY arrived within minutes. Someone lit fire to a pile of clothes and papers. Hope they’ll find the arsonist…