Archive » July – December 2000

Archive

July – December 2000

December 26, 2000
For mayor, it’s a wonderful life
'Twas the night before Christmas at Gracie Mansion and not a creature was stirring. Not Donna. Not Andrew. Not Caroline. Only Mayor Rudolph Giuliani remained awake. He sat alone before the fire, trying to forget the painful events of the past year. The fire licked. The clock ticked. The mayor's eyes fluttered.

December 18, 2000
Tensions at the very top
Four months after Bernard Kerik was sworn in as police commissioner and Joe Dunne as his first deputy, there appear to be strains between them.

December 11, 2000
DA, police, probe cop’s car accident
The Police Department and the Queens district attorney are investigating the circumstances surrounding a minor car accident involving a top police union official, law enforcement officials have told Newsday.

December 4, 2000
For Safir, ruling is a sad coda
It has been nearly four months since Howard Safir resigned as police commissioner, but as last week's decision by U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein reveals, Safir remains very much with us.

November 27, 2000
Taking list, checking twice
"It's a great day for the NYPD," Commissioner Bernard Kerik declared Wednesday as he promoted 41 detectives to first and second grade.

November 20, 2000
One official’s sense of security
Let's begin with how Mayor Rudolph Giuliani got Council Speaker Peter Vallone to retract his criticism of the 13-officer security detail the Police Department provides Howard Safir.

November 13, 2000
IAB leaves one stone unturned
Your Humble Servant finally caught up with the owner of the Brooklyn body shop in which Chief Judy McGinn landed her police vehicle after striking a garbage truck and five parked cars.

November 6, 2000
Chief’s car crash: Still a brick wall
Here are more details about the car accident involving Chief Judy McGinn, who plowed through the brick facade of a Brooklyn body shop in July after striking a sanitation truck and five parked cars.

October 30, 2000
3 cops on the outs are back on track
Bernie Kerik is commissioner of the New York City Police Department but the department's dynamic duo-First Deputy Joe Dunne and Chief of Department Joe Esposito-appear to be behind some backstage maneuvers to rehabilitate three cops with controversial pre-Kerik backgrounds.

October 23, 2000
Two versions of farewell
Farewell dinners for two top cops offer different perspectives on a job they both love.

October 16, 2000
Safir tees off for cop museum
As you read this column, former police commissioner Howard Safir, some fat cat friends and police officers are scheduled to tee off at the Deepdale Golf Club just over the Queens border in Nassau County. The event: the New York City Police Museum's second annual golf outing.

October 9, 2000
Playing on both sides of the aisle
Chief of Patrol William Morange was officially sworn in Friday, and who rushed up to stand next to him for a photo on the dais at One Police Plaza but the Rev. Lawrence Lucas? The Rev. Larry Lucas?

October 2, 2000
Analyzing Rudy’s Bratton behavior
Don't expect to hear anything about Bill Bratton and his mayoral bid until November. Big Bad Rudy Giuliani appears to have spooked him into laying low.

September 25, 2000
Hynes takes hint, backs off on cop
Here's yet another example of why Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes should consider another line of work.

September 11, 2000
Kerik’s move sends a cloudy message
In making three high-level appointments last week, Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik supposedly sent a message. But what that message said is not entirely clear.

August 28, 2000
Top banana invokes law of the jungle
Marking his territory in the police jungle, the city's 800-pound gorilla, otherwise known as Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, appeared at One Police Plaza Friday for the swearing in of Joe Esposito as chief of department.

August 21, 2000
Like Mounties, Rudy always gets his man
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's selection of his former bodyguard and driver Bernard Kerik as police commissioner and the Machiavellian manner in which he announced his selection shows us, once again, the mayor trusts virtually no one.

August 14, 2000
Safir’s imprint on Police Department crime
No one in New York City will suffer the loss of Police Commissioner Howard Safir more deeply than Your Humble Servant.

August 7, 2000
Sordid tale puts Safir on hot seat
Everyone at One Police Plaza jokes about the burgeoning sexual-harassment and retaliation scandal-Staten Island style. But most everyone now agrees the joke is on the Police Department.

July 31, 2000
Will an insider succeed Safir?
If history is any guide, the city's next police commissioner - assuming Howard Safir departs shortly, as many believe - will be an insider.

July 24, 2000
Slain officer gets ‘hero’ label late
John Kelly, the Staten Island police officer killed last week in a car chase, may be a hero to the Police Department now. But when he was alive, the department sure didn't treat him like one.

July 17, 2000
Mayoral Hopefuls eye top Philly cop
The eyes of New York are on Philadelphia-in particular on its police commissioner, John Timoney. How Timoney handles the crisis caused by the videotaping of his cops' beating a robbery suspect may determine whether he returns to New York as police commissioner under the city's next mayor.

July 10, 2000
Safir and Kelleher may be on way out
The end appears nigh for First Deputy Police Commissioner Patrick Kelleher and Commissioner Howard Safir.

July 3, 2000
$1M settlement on Safir’s watch
If you thought things couldn't get any worse in the New York City Police Department than the collapse of its command structure during the post-National Puerto Rican Day Parade wilding incidents, consider its $1 million settlement last week with former deputy commissioner Sandra Marsh.