From Columbia Radio News, I’m Laura Gamba.
Traffic and transit are still recovering after a crane collapsed in Lower Manhattan, killing one and injuring three. Shandukani Mulaudzi reports.
MULAUDZI_NEWSSPOT_NC2: Streets are still closed between Hudson and Church Street and car traffic is being diverted around the accident scene at this time. Bus riders can expect detours and delays.
Mayor Bill De Blasio said investigations will run for as long as necessary.
DE BLASIO: “I think folks who live and work in the immediate area should assume a disruption that will go through the weekend.” (0:04)
Train services on the 1, 2 and three trains are not stopping at Chambers and Franklin Street at this time. Shandukani Mulaudzi, Columbia Radio News.
The New York City Council voted to give itself a 32 percent raise this afternoon. The salary hike represents just under 150 thousand dollars extra a year for each councilperson, and exceeds the recommendation of a salary panel by 10,000 dollars. The raise comes with other reforms, including limits on outside income. Two New York Police Department officers were shot and wounded while they were patrolling the stairway of a public housing project in the South Bronx. Officer Patrick Espeut, who was struck in the cheek, is expected to leave the hospital this afternoon. Officer Diara Cruz was hit in the abdomen and is still in the hospital.
The shooting took place just as Mayor di Blasio gave the State of the City speech.
DE BLASIO: It’s another example of what our officers face every day keeping us safe. Not only on the streets of New York City but in the stairways, in the hallways of our public housing developments. (0:10)
The gunman, identified as Malik Chavis, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Mourners are expected to gather at a Mormon church in Utah this evening, for the funeral of Robert LaVoy, spokesman of the armed militia that occupied a building in an Oregon wildlife reserve. Police shot and killed La Voy on January 26th during a traffic stop. According to authorities, LaVoy reached for a gun before he was killed. Brazil will be sending samples of the Zika virus to U.S health authorities. This decision comes after the South American country was criticized for not sharing important data and biological material with international medical organizations. It is hoped that the samples will speed along work on a vaccine for this disease. The number and date the samples will arrive has not been made explicit. Laura Gamba, Columbia Radio News.
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