Thursday, May 2, 2013
Officer grabbed a 40-year-old Queens man as he leaped from the GWB late Tuesday, authorities said.
A Port Authority police officer pulled a man attempting suicide to safety late Tuesday in a dramatic George Washington Bridge rescue, an official said. A security guard called police when the 40-year-old Queens man ignored his warning not to venture onto the span's northern walkway, Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said. Officer Jesse Turano found the man walking westbound on the walkway and chased him on foot. Turano caught up to the man just as he was grabbing for the outer rail of the bridge and starting to leap into the air. The officer made a desprate grab for the man, wrapping his arms around the man's waist and pulling him to safety, Coleman said. The man, whose name was not released, was transported to Bergen Regional Medical…
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Security guard blamed marijuana odor on a skunk, report says
A security contractor guarding the George Washington Bridge's New Jersey side was arrested Wednesday after being caught smoking marijuana on duty, sources told the New York Post. The guard, Sami Omar, 26, of North Bergen, was busted by a Port Authority police officer who smelled weed when he stopped at a GWB security booth, the report said. Omar reportedly first blamed the pot odor on a passing skunk. Police discovered a half-smoked blunt in Omar's boot and a bag of weed, the newspaper reported, citing sources. Omar, an employee of FJC Security for four years, has been assigned to the bridge for three years, according to the report. He also guarded PATH trains. FJC, a private firm hired to help secure the bridge and regional airports, …
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Budding designer from Paramus left "suicide diary;" claimed she was bullied, according to newspaper report.
- POLICE & FIRE
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Thursday, February 7
The tragic tale of a 22-year-old aspiring fashion designer who took her own life by jumping from the George Washington Bridge on Wednesday —allegedly a victim of bullying, according to the NY Post — has attracted widespread attention on social networking sites. Riders on a jitney bus saw Ashley A. Riggitano, originally from Paramus, plunge from the New Jersey-bound lanes at around 4:40 p.m., the report said. She reportedly left a Louis Vuitton bag containing pages of notes in a "suicide diary," which included a list of five women banned from her funeral, on the bridge walkway. A Facebook page, “R.I.P. Ashley Riggitano” surfaced on Friday quickly getting tens of hundreds of ‘likes’ just hours after it was created. Condolences quickly poured…
Budding designer from Paramus left "suicide diary," according to newspaper report.
- PUBLIC SAFETY
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Thursday, February 7
A 22-year-old aspiring fashion designer originally from Paramus jumped off the George Washington Bridge Wednesday and left behind a list of five girls she did not want at her funeral, the New York Post reported. Riders on a jitney bus saw Ashley A. Riggitano plunge from the New Jersey-bound lanes at around 4:40 p.m., the report said. She reportedly left a Louis Vuitton bag containing pages of notes in a "suicide diary" on the bridge walkway. Riggitano was apparently bullied by friends in the fashion industry, according to the Post report. The girls banned from her funeral were reportedly from work and college. “All my other ‘friends’ are in it for gossip,” she wrote in the letter, the Post reported. “Never there.” Riggitano had …
Monday, January 14, 2013
Last year also brought most suicide attempts, report says.
A record 18 people committed suicide last year in jumps from the George Washington Bridge, the New York Post reported Monday. The number of attempted suicides also reached its highest level ever, the article said. Law enforcement sources told the Post 43 attempted suicides were reported in 2012. Last year's suicides surpassed the 2010 record of 13 deaths, the newspaper reported. Port Authority officials reportedly beefed up patrols on the bridge following a series of suicides in May.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Speed restriction in place because of high winds.
- NEWS
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Monday, October 29, 2012
The George Washington Bridge will close at 7 p.m. Monday, officials have announced. High winds brought on by Hurricane Sandy led the Port Authority to issue a 35 mph speed restriction for the bridge, the agency said. Bergen County is under a high wind warning, with gusts possibly reaching 80 mph. The Holland Tunnel was already ordered closed. The Lincoln Tunnel remained open Monday afternoon. Hurricane Sandy is expected to hit New Jersey Monday evening and continuing slamming the region overnight. "The agency reminds travelers to check http://www.panynj.gov/ for updated information about PATH, the airports, the tunnels and bridges, and all other Port Authority facilities," the Port Authority said in a news release.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
This week marked the 11th anniversary of 9/11 and we're sharing one survivor's incredible story of how he escaped Tower One when so many of his coworkers did not.
Editor's Note: Originally printed last year, this story was part of Patch's 10 year retrospect of 9/11. The person to whom this story belongs happens to be a very close friend. The fear of knowing that someone you've shared much of your life with was in those towers and might never get out is a feeling that is indescribable. Many held vigil at the firehouse waiting for Mike to come back home that day. Thankfully, he did. Here is his story. On Sept. 11, 2001, volunteer firefighter and Chief of the Fort Lee Fire Department, Mike Degidio, went to work on the 64th floor of Tower One where he was a Supervisor of Technology Projects in the Tunnels, Bridges and Terminals Department for the Port Authority. “On cloudy days, as I drove from the …
Thursday, September 6, 2012
The 2012 Hudson River Blimp Parade from Bayonne to the GWB and back featured 40 percent of the country’s blimps: Horizon BCBSNJ, MetLife, DirecTV and Hood.
Four blimps traveled up-and-down—or, more accurately, just above—the Hudson River Thursday from Bayonne to the George Washington Bridge and back. The post-Labor Day blimp parade included the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield Blimp of New Jersey, the MetLife Blimp, the DirecTV Blimp and the Hood Blimp. Together, the four represented 40 percent of America’s blimps, organizers said. Weather delayed the “Parade of Blimps” slightly; the four blimps made it to the GWB, where they hovered briefly and turned around, at just after 10 a.m. Thursday morning.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich said that while traffic wasn’t as bad many had predicted Monday, there’s still tomorrow to worry about, not to mention the coming months, and that he’s prepared to shut down local roads if necessary.
Editor's note: Having heard from so many concerned residents who commute into the city, I am sharing this message from Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich regarding GWB traffic during construction. Traffic at the George Washington Bridge was not nearly the nightmare many had feared it would be—at least not on Monday morning, the first weekday morning since the New York State Department of Transportation started its three-month-long repair project at the Alexander Hamilton Bridge and resulting lane closures on the Cross Bronx Expressway. But Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich said that while things were “business as usual” Monday and Fort Lee officials were in a “wait and see” mode, he also warned residents not to have a “false sense of security.” “It …
State, Port Authority warn of "significant" eastbound delays because of Cross Bronx bridge repairs, urge drivers to use mass transit, and to expect bus delays into the city through Labor Day.
This summer could be remembered as a traffic hell by New Milford residents and millions of people who travel east over the George Washington Bridge thanks to the closure of a lane on the oft-congested Cross Bronx Expressway from July 14 through Labor Day. Commuters traveling along Route 4 from New Milford towards New York City via the GWB are advised to allow for additional time to travel. The lane closure will take place on the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, which spans the Harlem River and connects Manhattan to the Bronx. The bridge is already a chokepoint, as traffic from both levels of the GWB merge onto one roadway. Several other significant roadways feed into and out of the span, including the Harlem River Drive and Major Deegan …
Revolution
1:35 pm on Friday, March 22, 2013
doesnt this company do background checks before they hire people. a guard was caught sleeping a suprvisor was using an alias name to work since he was in the country illegally now this incident more ›