THE "PORK" IN NEW YORK, Thoughts of an older American on Constitutional Government in the USA Options

[Livyjr]

"Raises rise to top of agenda - State senators back measure that would increase pay for judges, and for themselves"

By JAMES M. ODATO, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, April 27, 2007

ALBANY -- Spitzer also put on the table Thursday an election reform plan that included a constitutional amendment to create an 11-member commission that would draw congressional and legislative lines in New York.

Now, redistricting is done by the Legislature, a move many critics say allows lawmakers to protect their jobs and keeps the majority parties in each chamber in power.

FROM THE ALBANY, NEW YORK CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

With all due respect, the “redistricting” on NYS is spelled out, like everything else pertaining to OUR government here in NYS, by WE, THE PEOPLE, grateful for our freedom, in ART. III of our state Constitution, and with respect to Senate districts, it states in § 4 of ART.III as follows:

At the regular session in the year nineteen hundred thirty-two, and at the first regular session after the year nineteen hundred forty and after each tenth year therefrom the SENATE DISTRICTS shall be readjusted or altered, but if, in any decade, counting from and including that which begins with the year nineteen hundred thirty-one, such a readjustment or alteration is not made at the time above prescribed, it shall be made at a subsequent session occurring not later than the sixth year of such decade, meaning not later than nineteen hundred thirty-six, nineteen hundred forty-six, nineteen hundred fifty-six, and so on; provided, however, that if such districts shall have been readjusted or altered by law in either of the years nineteen hundred thirty or nineteen hundred thirty-one, they shall remain unaltered until the first regular session after the year nineteen hundred forty.

Such districts shall be so readjusted or altered that each senate district shall contain as nearly as may be an equal number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, and BE IN AS COMPACT FORM as practicable, and shall remain unaltered until the first year of the next decade as above defined, and SHALL AT ALL TIMES CONSIST OF CONTIGUOUS TERRITORY, AND NO COUNTY SHALL BE DIVIDED in the formation of a senate district except to make two or more senate districts wholly in such county.

No town, except a town having more than a full ratio of apportionment, and no block in a city inclosed by streets or public ways, shall be divided in the formation of senate districts; nor shall any district contain a greater excess in population over an adjoining district in the same county, than the population of a town or block therein adjoining such district.

Counties, towns or blocks which, from their location, may be included in either of two districts, shall be so placed as to make said districts most nearly equal in number of inhabitants, excluding aliens.

end quotes

As to Assembly districts, which are intentionally different from Senate districts, BECAUSE WE, THE PEOPLE WANTED IT THAT WAY, § 5 of ART. III provides:

The members of the assembly shall be chosen by single districts and shall be apportioned by the legislature at each regular session at which the senate districts are readjusted or altered, and by the same law, among the several counties of the state, as nearly as may be according to the number of their respective inhabitants, excluding aliens.

EVERY COUNTY heretofore established and separately organized, except the county of Hamilton, SHALL ALWAYS BE ENTITLED to one member of assembly, and no county shall hereafter be erected unless its population shall entitle it to a member.

The county of Hamilton shall elect with the county of Fulton, until the population of the county of Hamilton shall, according to the ratio, entitle it to a member.

But the legislature may abolish the said county of Hamilton and annex the territory thereof to some other county or counties.

The quotient obtained by dividing the whole number of inhabitants of the state, excluding aliens, by the number of members of assembly, SHALL BE THE RATIO FOR APPORTIONMENT, which SHALL BE MADE as follows:

One member of assembly shall be apportioned to every county, including Fulton and Hamilton as one county, containing less than the ratio and one-half over.

Two members shall be apportioned to every other county.

The remaining members of assembly shall be apportioned to the counties having more than two ratios according to the number of inhabitants, excluding aliens.

Members apportioned on remainders shall be apportioned to the counties having the highest remainders in the order thereof respectively.

No county shall have more members of assembly than a county having a greater number of inhabitants, excluding aliens.

The assembly districts, including the present ones, as existing immediately before the enactment of a law making an apportionment of members of assembly among the counties, shall continue to be the assembly districts of the state until the expiration of the terms of members then in office, except for the purpose of an election of members of assembly for full terms beginning at such expirations.

In any county entitled to more than one member, the board of supervisors, and in any city embracing an entire county and having no board of supervisors, the common council, or if there be none, the body exercising the powers of a common council, shall assemble at such times as the legislature making an apportionment shall prescribe, and divide such counties into assembly districts as nearly equal in number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, as may be, of convenient and contiguous territory in as compact form as practicable, each of which shall be wholly within a senate district formed under the same apportionment, equal to the number of members of assembly to which such county shall be entitled, and shall cause to be filed in the office of the secretary of state and of the clerk of such county, a description of such districts, specifying the number of each district and of the inhabitants thereof, excluding aliens, according to the census or enumeration used as the population basis for the formation of such districts; and such apportionment and districts shall remain unaltered until after the next reapportionment of members of assembly, except that the board of supervisors of any county containing a town having more than a ratio of apportionment and one-half over may alter the assembly districts in a senate district containing such town at any time on or before March first, nineteen hundred forty-six.

In counties having more than one senate district, the same number of assembly districts shall be put in each senate district, unless the assembly districts cannot be evenly divided among the senate districts of any county, in which case one more assembly district shall be put in the senate district in such county having the largest, or one less assembly district shall be put in the senate district in such county having the smallest number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, as the case may require.

No town, except a town having more than a ratio of apportionment and one-half over, and no block in a city inclosed by streets or public ways, shall be divided in the formation of assembly districts, nor shall any districts contain a greater excess in population over an adjoining district in the same senate district, than the population of a town or block therein adjoining such assembly district.

Towns or blocks which, from their location may be included in either of two districts, shall be so placed as to make said districts most nearly equal in number of inhabitants, excluding aliens.

Nothing in this section shall prevent the division, at any time, of counties and towns and the erection of new towns by the legislature.

end quotes

Now, while that is all more than a few sentences long, which will surely have people in here screaming at the top of their lungs, there is really nothing incomprehensible or hard to understand in any of that language, nothing that requires more than a minimal HS education, and “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer certainly has provided us with no clues at all as to what, if anything, in that language is lacking in substance!

SO!

Right now, lacking any evidence which demonstrates that there are any deficiencies in our present Constitution with respect to re-districting, there is absolutely no need at all for this “commission” scheme that this “STEAMROLLER” is now putting forth above here!

Which takes us right to the heart of this matter involving “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer’s concurrent plan to extend his TYRANNY here in NYS by having him, and only him, be in charge of who our judges shall be, and that is the final sentence of sect. 5 of ART. III, which states:

An apportionment by the legislature, or other body, shall be subject to review by the supreme court, at the suit of any citizen, under such reasonable regulations as the legislature may prescribe; and any court before which a cause may be pending involving an apportionment, shall give precedence thereto over all other causes and proceedings, and if said court be not in session it shall convene promptly for the disposition of the same.

That language was put into OUR state Constitution by us, the people of this state, and that language was intended to protect us from people like “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer, “IRON DUKE” Joe Bruno, and Sheldon Silver!

However, try to get to court as a common citizen, pursuant to this section of ART. III of our Constitution, and see what happens to you!

There is where OUR real problems lie with respect to redistricting in NYS, which is OUR present inability to get to court, before a judge who really is independent, and not just some political hack!

And giving the TYRANT “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer control of both our judges and our legislative and senate districts is not going to do us a lick of good, while at the same time, it will do our constitutional democracy here in NYS a great deal of harm …

And so …

Comment by John Galt — April 26, 2007 @ 5:04 pm

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=4514#comments

[Livyjr]

"Suspected killer found in burned home, probe continues"

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press

Last updated: 4:32 p.m., Thursday, April 26, 2007

MARGARETVILLE, N.Y. -- Margaretville Mayor Bill Stanton said police told him that Trim fired at the troopers as they stood on the front porch, using a high-powered rifle he found inside the farmhouse.

WNBC.COM

"Friendly Fire May Have Killed N.Y. State Trooper, Officials Say"

POSTED: 4:07 pm EDT April 27, 2007

UPDATED: 5:21 pm EDT April 27, 2007

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Friendly fire apparently killed a New York state trooper as he searched a farmhouse for a suspect in the shooting of a colleague, officials said Friday.

Trooper David C. Brinkerhoff, a member of the force's elite mobile response team, was shot in a gunfight Wednesday as he and other troopers went into a Catskill-area farmhouse where the armed suspect had holed up.

Although the suspect, Travis Trim, shot Brinkerhoff, "the fatal wound was made by a .223 (caliber) tactical round that was believed to have been fired by an MRT member," said acting State Police Superintendent Preston Felton.

Shot along with Brinkerhoff was Trooper Richard Mattson, who was wounded in the left arm and survived.

Felton said Friday an autopsy showed that Trim, 23, also was killed in the gunfight, shot once in the face and twice in the chest.

"It's our belief he was killed almost instantaneously," he said.

The Margaretville farmhouse was destroyed hours later in a fire that erupted as troopers, unaware that Trim was dead, closed in on the suspect.

His badly burned body was later found inside with a rifle.

Felton said Friday that investigators believe a police tear gas round started the fire.

Felton said Trim fired the round that hit Mattson, and shot Brinkerhoff in the chest with a small-caliber round that the trooper's body armor stopped.

Brinkerhoff, who was wearing a Kevlar helmet, was then shot in the back of the head, Felton said.

"In a firefight such as this, and our members are highly trained, what it appears happened here is that Trooper Brinkerhoff was struck in the chest and was knocked back," Felton said.

"Other members came to his aid and started to return fire at the shooter."

"At some point Trooper Brinkerhoff ended up getting hit by a round."

Other members of the MRT pulled Brinkerhoff and Mattson out of the house as other officers rushed to surround the vacant seasonal residence where Trim had taken refuge.

"This was a very volatile situation," Felton said.

The new details about the deadly encounter were based on "an autopsy and preliminary forensic review," Felton said, adding that the full analysis of the information is not yet complete.

Trim had been on the run since Tuesday, when he shot a trooper after he was stopped driving a stolen vehicle.

That trooper's body armor prevented him from being seriously hurt, police said.

Brinkerhoff is the third trooper to be shot and killed in the line of duty since March 2006 -- a tragic stretch of time for the state police in which two other on-duty troopers died in vehicle accidents and another was killed while on foot patrol in Iraq.

http://www.wnbc.com/news/13213015/detail.h..._03240304272007

[Livyjr]

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG

"Does This Change Things? (Updated)"

The Senate Republicans have been beating the drum for reinstatement of the death penalty in New York, especially for cop killers, in the wake of the shooting death of a State Police trooper in upstate New York earlier this week.

Now Channel 4 is reporting that friendly fire from a fellow trooper - not the bullet of a cop-killing criminal - caused the death of the trooper, David C. Brinkerhoff.

UPDATE: Gov. Eliot Spitzer just put out the following statement:

"The situation in Margaretville on Wednesday was among the most difficult imaginable for law enforcement."

"Senior field commanders and a highly-trained MRT team responded and their bravery should be apparent to all."

"However, a tragedy occurred and State Police are now investigating the exact circumstances of Trooper Brinkerhoff’s death."

"We are committed to a thorough investigation and to full disclosure of the findings as soon as possible."

"In the meantime, nothing should detract from Trooper Brinkerhoff’s honor and dedication to duty, or that of his fellow MRT team members."

"When asked to confront a heavily-armed man intent on causing harm to others, they acted decisively to protect the rest of the community."

"We owe this fallen trooper and his colleagues a full appraisal of the facts as well as our continuing respect and gratitude."

Posted by Elizabeth Benjamin on April 27, 2007 4:40 PM | Permalink

Comments

This is indeed interesting news, if true!

Up here, in the country, many people have relatives and loved ones who are police officers, and as might be expected around Albany, some of these police officers were brought in as reinforcements, and so were on the scene as the drama unfolded down there in the Catskills!

And the story that had initially emerged was that the troopers had gone through and cleared the building, room by room, floor by floor, and that when they came to the final room, the two troopers who were shot allegedly pushed in on the door, and allegedly the shooter pushed back and then fired through the door, killing the one officer and wounding the other.

The other troopers then allegedly fired through the door and walls, and then allegedly vacated the premises, without stopping to consider that they had superior numbers and firepower, and had in all likelihood wounded or killed the shooter!

Don't look to see if you might have hit something, just didi-mau the scene, like rank amateurs ....

Needless to say, this really did not make a lot of sense to other police officers trained in SWAT tactics!

A cob job, to say the least!

Out here in the country, there are many combat veterans, one in particular who fought house to house in Germany against the entrenched SS, and there are many combat veterans who are also police officers, so that when someone like a NYS trooper gets shot, while in a group going after one lone man, well, let's just say that eye-brows get raised, and looks get exchanged, and heads get scratched, and you hear people clearing their throats, and the unspoken question is, "SO?"

"Ah, how do you think that happened then?"

And combat veterans know that when someone dies like that, that somehow, stupidity is usually around the place at the same time, whether the dead person's, or just as likely, the stupidity of someone else, especially in the Army in Viet Nam!

But that is another story, for another day ....

Then, in a story entitled "Suspected killer found in burned home, probe continues" by MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press, last updated: 4:32 p.m., Thursday, April 26, 2007, it was stated that:

"Margaretville Mayor Bill Stanton said police told him that Trim fired at the troopers as they stood on the front porch, using a high-powered rifle he found inside the farmhouse."

Now, that further raised some eye-brows, first, because it is a different story, and secondly, what in the hell were these troopers doing, standing there on the porch?

Now, to people, they looked even more inept than before, getting caught out in the open like they say they were, as if they were tourists, or something, come to buy a quilt, or a rag rug!

And now we are hearing what is a third version, and you can be sure that yours news item will be making its way around the community up here, for further comment and dissection ....

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | April 27, 2007 5:23 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...s.html#comments

[Livyjr]

"Region sees spike in home foreclosures - Filings jump 93% for first 3 months of year; rising mortgages, taxes cited"

By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, April 28, 2007

Home foreclosure filings in the Capital Region surged in the year's first three months even as the area's overall rate remained among the nation's lowest, according to newly released statistics.

The five-county region's first-quarter foreclosure filings climbed 93 percent when compared with the same period last year, according to RealtyTrac, a California company that monitors foreclosure filings.

Foreclosures in Albany County jumped 109 percent, while filings in Rensselaer County spiked a staggering 218 percent.

Rensselaer County, in fact, had more foreclosures filings in 2007's first three months (54) than it had all of last year (51).

Bankruptcy attorneys and credit counselors interviewed Friday said they have noticed a spike in homeowners needing assistance.

"We're getting more and more calls from people in a panic," said Bobbi Carter, director of the homeownership center at Troy-based TRIP Inc., a nonprofit that works to keep defaulting mortgage holders in their homes.

TRIP had 33 mortgage-default clients for all of 2006, Carter said, and has already had that many for the first three months of this year.

Attorneys and counselors blamed much of the foreclosure rise on adjustable-rate mortgages that offer low payments at first, then rise sharply and sometimes take homeowners by surprise.

Subprime loans, common among people with shaky credit or low incomes, typically carry even higher interest rates, making the likelihood of default even greater when the rates adjust upward.

They've been a source of significant concern nationally, with some lawmakers calling for a crackdown on the companies that offer the mortgages.

But those working with local homeowners facing foreclosure say they are seeing a large number of middle- or higher-income families in trouble.

Guy Criscione, an Albany bankruptcy attorney who said he's seen an "unbelievable" number of foreclosure clients in recent months, said many are couples with combined incomes of over $100,000 who still can't make mortgage payments.

RealtyTrac noticed the same trend nationally:

"It's not just the low-end homes that are going into foreclosure," James Saccacio, the company's CEO, said in a statement.

"We're seeing a rising percentage of foreclosures with an estimated market value of more than $750,000."

Sandra Demars, an attorney with The Law Office of Richard Croak in Albany, said some of the office's foreclosure clients are unable to cover rising tax payments, while others, facing spiking housing costs, borrowed at levels they can't afford.

The RealtyTrac information, Demars said, "is reflective of what we're seeing and what we were afraid was going to happen."

The Capital Region increase came as the overall number of foreclosure filings in the first three months in New York state saw a 3 percent drop.

And despite the recent rise, foreclosure rates in the Capital Region remain relatively low.

RealtyTrac says the region's rate is the 95th lowest among the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas.

In the Capital Region, one out of every 2,245 households is facing foreclosure.

By contrast, Detroit has a rate of one foreclosure filing for every 51 households.

Still, observers found the sharp increase in the Capital Region troubling -- and worried it might be a warning of worse numbers to come.

"We are so not at the apex of this problem," said Kirsten Keefe, a lawyer with the nonprofit Empire Justice Center in Albany.

Counselors are urging homeowners who are having trouble with mortgage payments to seek help.

And sooner rather than later.

"People call too late," Carter said.

"By the time they get to us, there's really nothing we can do."

RealtyTrac said the number of foreclosures nationwide in the first three months of the year rose 35 percent compared to a year ago.

The spiking statistics are leading some lawmakers and nonprofit groups to call for a foreclosure moratorium or measures to financially help struggling homeowners.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., last month said the state needs to create a task force of private and nonprofit groups to help New Yorkers restructure loans and avoid foreclosure.

Some, meanwhile, are urging greater flexibility from mortgage companies.

"We'd like to see lenders open up payment options earlier in the process," said Susan Cotner, director of the nonprofit Affordable Housing Partnership in Albany.

Churchill can be reached at 454-5442 or by e-mail at cchurchill@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

Howdy, lenal!

And thanks for expressing those thoughts in so few words, which makes the point real clear!

Maybe that is because as we get older, we have more time to think and see through the hype ....

I listen to what is going on with "the economy" where I am, where the government is the prop that puts profits into business ....

And I can't help but think that we are living in a time of absolute madness akin to the "Great Leap Forward" in Maoist China, where Chairman Mao's downright stupid economic policies caused the starvation and death of untold numbers of people ....

Or perhaps the 3 and 5 year plans of the former Soviet Union ....

The government now has a responsibility to assure that certain profit levels are reached by this business or that ....

And it is the "state" which is now determining what businesses shall be "the business" of the future ....

Incredible!

"State courted solar jobs as DayStar asks cash - Even as Albany sought Massachusetts-based Evergreen, local company seeks funds for a plant"

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, April 27, 2007

HALFMOON -- DayStar Technologies Inc. isn't the only solar manufacturer that New York has been trying to help expand.

State economic development officials confirmed this week they tried to entice Evergreen Solar Inc. of Marlboro, Mass., to build a large-scale manufacturing facility in New York.

The state didn't win the prize.

The $150 million factory will be built in suburban Boston, where Evergreen is based, with $44 million in grants and loans arranged by Massachusetts officials.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said at a news conference on April 17 that New York was one of a number of states competing with the commonwealth for the factory, which will employ as many as 375 workers.

Officials from Empire State Economic Development Corp., New York's economic development arm, confirmed that the state was in the running.

The news comes as DayStar, which state officials lured to the Capital Region in 2004 with $11 million in incentives, is seeking $30 million to build its own large-scale manufacturing facility in Saratoga County.

DayStar, which receives assistance from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, has said in the past that it would be interested in state assistance to get its factory up and running.

The company, which had $20 million in losses last year and only minimal product revenue, recently secured $5 million from private investors as it looks for additional capital.

"DayStar is engaged in seeking additional funding and in doing so we are exploring all sources," spokeswoman Erica Dart said.

Chris Lawson, a spokesman for Evergreen, said he didn't know anything about Gov. Patrick's remarks.

But Evergreen CEO Richard Feldt did elaborate on the competition among states for the factory during an earnings conference call with analysts on the day the deal was announced.

The company reported $6 million in losses for the first quarter, down from $8 million the previous year.

Feldt said Massachusetts was a natural choice because Evergreen's operations are there.

"We actually started looking at states outside of Massachusetts believing that Massachusetts was not really prepared to offer the type of financial incentives that a number other U.S. states already have set up," Feldt said.

"Massachusetts came up with a very competitive financial package that was comparable with some that we looked at in other states."

New York officials would not say how much they offered Evergreen.

The Evergreen deal was "very exciting" for Christine Donovan, executive director of the New York Solar Energy Industries Association.

"Wouldn't it be marvelous if that happens in New York the next three to five years?" she said.

Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at lrulison@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG

"Does This Change Things? (Updated)"

The Senate Republicans have been beating the drum for reinstatement of the death penalty in New York, especially for cop killers, in the wake of the shooting death of a State Police trooper in upstate New York earlier this week.

Now Channel 4 is reporting that friendly fire from a fellow trooper - not the bullet of a cop-killing criminal - caused the death of the trooper, David C. Brinkerhoff.

Comments

This is indeed interesting news, if true!

Up here, in the country, many people have relatives and loved ones who are police officers, and as might be expected around Albany, some of these police officers were brought in as reinforcements, and so were on the scene as the drama unfolded down there in the Catskills!

And the story that had initially emerged was that the troopers had gone through and cleared the building, room by room, floor by floor, and that when they came to the final room, the two troopers who were shot allegedly pushed in on the door, and allegedly the shooter pushed back and then fired through the door, killing the one officer and wounding the other.

The other troopers then allegedly fired through the door and walls, and then allegedly vacated the premises, without stopping to consider that they had superior numbers and firepower, and had in all likelihood wounded or killed the shooter!

Don't look to see if you might have hit something, just didi-mau the scene, like rank amateurs ....

Needless to say, this really did not make a lot of sense to other police officers trained in SWAT tactics!

A cob job, to say the least!

Out here in the country, there are many combat veterans, one in particular who fought house to house in Germany against the entrenched SS, and there are many combat veterans who are also police officers, so that when someone like a NYS trooper gets shot, while in a group going after one lone man, well, let's just say that eye-brows get raised, and looks get exchanged, and heads get scratched, and you hear people clearing their throats, and the unspoken question is, "SO?"

"Ah, how do you think that happened then?"

And combat veterans know that when someone dies like that, that somehow, stupidity is usually around the place at the same time, whether the dead person's, or just as likely, the stupidity of someone else, especially in the Army in Viet Nam!

But that is another story, for another day ....

Then, in a story entitled "Suspected killer found in burned home, probe continues" by MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press, last updated: 4:32 p.m., Thursday, April 26, 2007, it was stated that:

"Margaretville Mayor Bill Stanton said police told him that Trim fired at the troopers as they stood on the front porch, using a high-powered rifle he found inside the farmhouse."

Now, that further raised some eye-brows, first, because it is a different story, and secondly, what in the hell were these troopers doing, standing there on the porch?

Now, to people, they looked even more inept than before, getting caught out in the open like they say they were, as if they were tourists, or something, come to buy a quilt, or a rag rug!

And now we are hearing what is a third version, and you can be sure that yours news item will be making its way around the community up here, for further comment and dissection ....

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | April 27, 2007 5:23 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...s.html#comments

"Death penalty clamor is red herring for State Police mistakes"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Sunday, April 29, 2007

After last week's tragic shooting death of a state trooper, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno asked the right question:

"What is more important than protecting the lives of law enforcement officers?"

Then he proceeded to hammer home the wrong answer.

In a shameless bit of opportunism, he thundered about the need for a death penalty bill as a response.

As Bruno well knows, but is conveniently ignoring, passing a death penalty bill would have no effect on protecting the lives of cops, or anyone else.

Every study ever done on the subject has shown that the death penalty as a deterrent doesn't work.

There's simply no connection, except maybe emotionally, playing to our darker side for revenge.

I would add that what New York already has, life sentence with no parole, should satisfy a cooler rendering of that urge quite nicely, without taking us a step back into the Old Testament.

But let's take another look at Bruno's excellent question, in light of the shocking revelation Friday that Trooper David Brinkerhoff was actually killed by a fellow trooper, by friendly fire.

This cockamamie focus on the death penalty because of the events down in Margaretville, Delaware County, has taken our communal eye off the ball.

Protecting our officers is indeed paramount.

There's no arguing that.

In light of what we know now, did our state troopers in harm's way get the protection they deserved from their own police agency?

Who gave the command to storm a house where the subject of the manhunt was known to be hiding?

Could better State Police procedures have saved David Brinkerhoff's life?

These are the questions the senator and others should be thundering about at the moment.

Bruno should be holding hearings on the State Police, not advocating for the death penalty.

This is the second time within a year that State Police procedures deserve to be questioned and examined in a very critical and public way.

The "Bucky" Phillips debacle in western New York last summer also cost a trooper his life, and wounded another.

What did the State Police learn from that in terms of protecting their own?

Arguably, not enough.

Maj. Kevin G. Molinari, commander of Troop C in Sydney, told the Times Union Thursday that the operation that took the lives of Brinkerhoff and Travis Trim, the subject of the manhunt, "was well-planned, well-thought-out and well-executed."

I'll bet that's a smug statement Molinari wishes he had never uttered.

A State Police K-9 unit had determined there was a high probability Trim was hiding inside a house owned by a New Jersey cop, who used it as a hunting base.

Trim was inside, they were outside.

There was no surprise involved from either side.

Everybody present knew that Trim already had fired point blank at another trooper.

Trim was probably well hidden, in a good defensive position watching it all, and well armed.

One phone call to the owner of the house would have confirmed that the hunters who used it seasonally stored firearms and ammunition there.

Many in Margaretville seemed to know that as well, so it shouldn't have been a mystery to the troopers.

Acting State Police Superintendent Preston Felton acknowledged in a press conference Friday that the slumped body of Travis Trim was found with a classic Catskills hunting rifle in his arms, probably a Winchester or Marlin .30-30.

Trim was probably killed instantly during a fire fight with seven members of the assault team that included Brinkerhoff and Richard Mattson, who was wounded.

What remained completely unanswered, however, after Felton's otherwise revealing press conference, was whether the house needed to be assaulted at all.

Given the circumstances, the inclination, resources and positioning of the shooter, any police storming the house had a high probability of drawing fire.

Was that necessary, considering that the house was surrounded, dozens if not hundreds of law enforcement were on the scene, and there was no deadline or hostages involved?

During the press conference, Felton emphasized how well trained the men were who stormed the house, and how they "followed established procedures."

What he didn't answer is whether those procedures were worth a damn and will be critically reviewed.

Make no mistake, this is another black mark on the State Police, and they are adding up.

Fred LeBrun can be reached at 454-5453 or by e-mail at flebrun@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

NY TIMES EMPIRE ZONE

April 27, 2007, 4:36 pm

"Trooper’s Death Was ‘Friendly Fire’"

By Danny Hakim

Preston L. Felton, the acting New York State Police Superintendent, said during a news conference this afternoon that Trooper David C. Brinkerhoff was apparently killed by friendly fire during a gunfight on Wednesday between state troopers and a suspect holed up in an unoccupied farmhouse.

“We do not know whether this was the result of a ricochet or direct line of fire incident."

"We are reconstructing the situation and will report after the analysis of what actually happened,” he said.

While the round that killed Trooper Brinkerhoff came from a fellow trooper’s weapon, a small caliber round fired by the suspect, Travis D. Trim, was stopped by Trooper Brinkerhoff’s “protective gear,” Mr. Felton said.

“In a firefight such as this, and our members are highly trained, what it appears happened here, Trooper Brinkerhoff was struck in the chest and was knocked back,” Mr. Felton said.

“Other members came to his aid, located the shooter and started to return fire at the shooter,” he added.

“At some point, Trooper Brinkerhoff ended up getting hit with a round somewhere across the line of fire.”

Mr. Felton also said that the fire in the farmhouse in the Catskills appears to have been started when a tear gas canister fired by troopers landed on a bed.

Comments so far...

April 28th, 2007 6:55 am

And the bottom line is that the trooper was killed by one of his own!

Shot in the back of his head by one of his own in what sounds like one great big cluster-**** by a bunch of keystone cops with real guns, just out there blazing away, at whatever, and obviously in the course of doing that, killing one of their own, by shooting him in the back of his head, which means that his killer was behind him, with that slain trooper in his field of fire!

Talk about “fire discipline”, alright!

It was totally lacking here, folks!

And out in the countryside, where people have loved ones and relatives who are police officers, that speaks of incompetence!

It speaks of bad management!

It speaks of ineptness!

It speaks of a lack of direction!

It speaks of untrustworthiness!

It is time to dismantle the incompetent management structure of the NYSP, and to rebuild that organization from the ground up!

But in a state where political loyalty trumps competence in the workplace, which has given us the HACK-O-CRACY that we have in NYS government, across the board, that won’t happen, so that out here in the countryside, where people do have loved ones and relatives as police officers, people are wondering who next will die as a result of incompetent leadership and management here in NYS, starting from the office of governor ….

And working on down from there …

And so …

— Posted by Livyjr

http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...-fire/#comments

[Livyjr]

NY TIMES EMPIRE ZONE

April 28th, 2007 5:28 pm

It is not reported on down here in NYC, but on the day that the trooper died, and the state police did whatever they did, a call went out for reinforcements, and those reinforcements were not all troopers!

And as a result of those reinforcements being called out, hasty phone calls were made to parents and loved ones: “got called out, have to go to Catskill, might be gone three hours, might be gone three days, don’t know!”

And that was that!

And then, the waiting began, and for those so inclined, the praying!

And for some of us, the wondering ….

And suppers were eaten in silence, no words being spoken, lest the devil’s attention be drawn to your own loved one ….

And then, about 8:00 P.M. or so, the quick call: “We’re on our way back, I’m safe, just wanted to let you know!, talk later!”

And you can tell right from the sound of the voice that things had gone real bad down there ….

And then, later, the “decompression”, the “down-load” ….

“So, what really did happen down there?”

“Were you there for the fire?”

And the story emerges ….

And a trooper is dead because of “tactical blunders”!

And there a lot of people up this way who are real upset right now, to be truthful, that any of this happened at all, and especially the call-out of these other police to go down to Catskill, and the emotional distress that that wrought in our community, for nothing, since the perp was already dead!

But the state police apparently did not know that, which is both incredible and impossible to believe!

Do these guys shoot with their eyes closed, or what?

Up here, people are saying, “My God, that sounds like an Iraqi Army operation”, which has provoked a real fierce debate up here as to whether the Iraqi Army might actually have done a better job of it!

And people up here who were emotionally impacted by this call for reinforcements are disappointed that at that Felton news conference, no one asked him to repeat himself when he said the troopers had fired 70 shots!

“At exactly what?”

And if we were to have our own news conference with this Mr. Felton, what we would ask him is this:

“Mr. Felton, if you had a gun, or in the case of a rifle, a weapon in your hands, and you fired it once, or twice, or five or ten or fifty times, would you have any idea at all where any of those rounds had gone?”

And we would give him plenty of time to answer us, certainly more than 60 seconds, anyway ….

And we would be very interested in what his answer might be ….

Very interested indeed ….

Since one or more of his troopers shot a lone man in the face and twice in the chest, and yet no one down there, including the senior command staff, had any idea at all that they had just killed the heavily armed man that all these other police had been called out for!

Emotional distress, and for nothing!

Incredible!

And so …

— Posted by Livyjr

http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...-fire/#comments

[Livyjr]

Do these guys shoot with their eyes closed, or what?

Up here, people are saying, “My God, that sounds like an Iraqi Army operation”, which has provoked a real fierce debate up here as to whether the Iraqi Army might actually have done a better job of it!

And people up here who were emotionally impacted by this call for reinforcements are disappointed that at that Felton news conference, no one asked him to repeat himself when he said the troopers had fired 70 shots!

“At exactly what?”

NY DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG

Well, after reading that news item from WNBC, the word out here in the countryside is that the "STEAMROLLER" is on a "spew", and all he is doing is making himself look stupid, by talking to us as if it were we, instead, who were the stupid ones!

In his spew above, the "STEAMROLLER" says:

"When asked to confront a heavily-armed man intent on causing harm to others, they acted decisively to protect the rest of the community."

However, in the WNBC.COM article "Friendly Fire May Have Killed N.Y. State Trooper, Officials Say" POSTED: 4:07 pm EDT April 27, 2007, UPDATED: 5:21 pm EDT April 27, 2007, the head of the State Police himself refutes that very statement:

"Felton said Trim fired the round that hit Mattson, and shot Brinkerhoff in the chest with a small-caliber round that the trooper's body armor stopped."

A small-caliber round!

Not a heavily-armed man as the "STEAMROLLER" is telling us!

And in the light of all the crap that has come out in connection with the cover-up of the Pat Tillman shooting by his fellow Army Rangers, people are understandably a bit touchy about the appearance of lies and another cover-up coming from the mouth of "STEAMROLLER" Spitzer in connection with the shooting of this state trooper in the back of the head by another state trooper ....

And so ....

So suffice to say, Eliot Spitzer has a lot of questions that people out here in the country are going to expect to hear some detailed answers to, especially those who have relatives and loved ones who are police officers, whose lives are further endangered, IF their chain of command is incompetent ....

Which is Eliot Spitzer's responsibility ...

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | April 27, 2007 6:22 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...s.html#comments

[Livyjr]

"Death penalty clamor is red herring for State Police mistakes"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Sunday, April 29, 2007

But let's take another look at Bruno's excellent question, in light of the shocking revelation Friday that Trooper David Brinkerhoff was actually killed by a fellow trooper, by friendly fire.

This cockamamie focus on the death penalty because of the events down in Margaretville, Delaware County, has taken our communal eye off the ball.

In light of what we know now, did our state troopers in harm's way get the protection they deserved from their own police agency?

Who gave the command to storm a house where the subject of the manhunt was known to be hiding?

Could better State Police procedures have saved David Brinkerhoff's life?

These are the questions the senator and others should be thundering about at the moment.

Bruno should be holding hearings on the State Police, not advocating for the death penalty.

Maj. Kevin G. Molinari, commander of Troop C in Sydney, told the Times Union Thursday that the operation that took the lives of Brinkerhoff and Travis Trim, the subject of the manhunt, "was well-planned, well-thought-out and well-executed."

I'll bet that's a smug statement Molinari wishes he had never uttered.

During the press conference, Felton emphasized how well trained the men were who stormed the house, and how they "followed established procedures."

What he didn't answer is whether those procedures were worth a damn and will be critically reviewed.

Make no mistake, this is another black mark on the State Police, and they are adding up.

Fred LeBrun can be reached at 454-5453 or by e-mail at flebrun@timesunion.com.

NY DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG

And Smith, and anon, while you are sitting there so smug, indulging in your fantasy about actually being a "MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE AND BEYOND", as if the universe would heed your beck-and-call and come crawling on its belly to you, to lick your hand, or boots, like some kind of cowardly dog, consider that in this latest fiasco, where the state police got THEIR man, they are said to have fired SEVENTY ROUNDS, or better!

70 rounds!

Seventy rounds just to kill another trooper!

So, Smith, and anon, according to the tally, 3 of the 70 hit the "perp", and 1 killed the trooper, which is a total of four, if the math overwhelms you!

Where, pray tell, did the other 64 rounds go to?

Can you picture that scene, either of you?

This cluster of NYS troopers blazing away in all directions, expending 70 rounds, killing trees, and cows and grass and maybe fence posts, and perhaps a telecommunications satellite or two, according to the wags up here, along with one of their own?

No, I didn't think so!

But we countryfolks who are combat veterans sure can!

And when it takes more than one round to hit and kill a perp who is right in front of you, well, hey, you boys or girls are the real experts here, so you tell us "up-country folks" about that this scene really should mean to us, who have survived combat in places that you can't even begin to imagine, so that we can be "P.C." as these times we are now in, thanks to people like you, demand of us, to be "GOOD" Americans ....

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | April 28, 2007 8:50 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...s.html#comments

[Livyjr]

"Bruno blasts Spitzer appeal - Senate majority leader criticizes offers of access to governor for big contributors"

By MARC HUMBERT, Associated Press

First published: Saturday, April 28, 2007

ALBANY -- The state Senate's veteran Republican leader is blasting Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer's fundraising as "hypocritical" and "just plain wrong."

"You talk about the Lincoln bedroom?" Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said Friday, recalling the fundraising scandals of the Clinton administration.

"That was mild compared to this invitation."

Bruno was referring to an appeal from Spitzer for major donors to become big-time "bundlers" by pledging to raise various amounts of up to $1 million before the next governor's race in 2010.

The memo promised meetings with Spitzer for those raising a minimum of $25,000.

For those raising $500,000, there was to be a barbecue with Spitzer and his wife at their retreat in Columbia County.

"I would like to have a public debate with the governor on this issue, on how he justifies creating access for $1 million, a little less access for a half million dollars, a little bit less for a quarter million dollars, a little bit less for 100,000, a little less for 50 (thousand)," Bruno said.

"I don't know what you get for 25 (thousand)."

"And, for the poor peons who can only come up with 10 (thousand), what do they do?"

"Get to wave," Bruno added.

The Bruno criticism came just days after Spitzer took him and his Senate GOP colleagues to task for refusing to go along with the governor's plans to overhaul the state's campaign finance laws by, among other things, dramatically reducing how much can be given to candidates.

Currently, individual contributors can give up to $55,900 to candidates for governor in New York, the highest limit in the nation.

Spitzer's plan would reduce that to $15,000.

Spitzer and Bruno have been sniping at each other since Monday, when the governor said he would visit Senate districts represented by Republicans to criticize them on the finance issue.

On Thursday, the New York Post first reported on the Spitzer appeal to big donors.

"His comments are off the mark and misleading," Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson said Friday when asked about Bruno's comments.

"The fundraising events are not at the governor's mansion, the state Capitol or state offices; they do not provide access to state resources."

"The governor believes campaign finance reform is important to cleaning up Albany and urges Mr. Bruno to sign on to that effort," she added.

"We must first clean up the culture of Albany if we are to accomplish a broader agenda."

[Livyjr]

"Bruno blasts Spitzer appeal - Senate majority leader criticizes offers of access to governor for big contributors"

By MARC HUMBERT, Associated Press

First published: Saturday, April 28, 2007

ALBANY -- The state Senate's veteran Republican leader is blasting Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer's fundraising as "hypocritical" and "just plain wrong."

"You talk about the Lincoln bedroom?" Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said Friday, recalling the fundraising scandals of the Clinton administration.

"That was mild compared to this invitation."

Bruno was referring to an appeal from Spitzer for major donors to become big-time "bundlers" by pledging to raise various amounts of up to $1 million before the next governor's race in 2010.

The memo promised meetings with Spitzer for those raising a minimum of $25,000.

For those raising $500,000, there was to be a barbecue with Spitzer and his wife at their retreat in Columbia County.

"I would like to have a public debate with the governor on this issue, on how he justifies creating access for $1 million, a little less access for a half million dollars, a little bit less for a quarter million dollars, a little bit less for 100,000, a little less for 50 (thousand)," Bruno said.

"I don't know what you get for 25 (thousand)."

"And, for the poor peons who can only come up with 10 (thousand), what do they do?"

"Get to wave," Bruno added.

"His comments are off the mark and misleading," Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson said Friday when asked about Bruno's comments.

"The fundraising events are not at the governor's mansion, the state Capitol or state offices; they do not provide access to state resources."

"The governor believes campaign finance reform is important to cleaning up Albany and urges Mr. Bruno to sign on to that effort," she added.

"We must first clean up the culture of Albany if we are to accomplish a broader agenda."

Seen on a T-shirt out in the countryside:

“I gave ‘STEAMROLLER’ Spitzer $10 GRAND for a chance to visit him on his farm, and all I got in return was some hog **** on my new pair of shoes!”

Comment by John Galt — April 26, 2007 @ 5:47 pm

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=4511#comments

[Livyjr]

"Bids fall short for office campus - Lack of interest prompts Harriman officials to revamp request for proposals"

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Sunday, April 29, 2007

ALBANY -- State officials have withdrawn their request for proposals to develop the Harriman State Office Campus into a university research and technology park due to a lack of interest.

Michael Phillips, the new president of the Harriman Research and Technology Development Corp., said the group only received three bids for the initial phase of the project, which calls for the redevelopment of 35 to 45 acres at the 330-acre campus.

The proposal called for office and research space, academic buildings, shops and housing, and hotel and conference facilities.

"It's a global marketplace, and we want to take advantage of that," Phillips said Friday.

He said a new request for proposals would be issued "sometime in the near future," although he wouldn't say what types of changes would be made to the proposal or what steps would be taken to ensure a better response.

"We're working on that now," he said.

The Harriman project was created in 2002 under then-Gov. George Pataki.

Phillips' organization is a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corp., the state's economic development arm.

Phillips is new to the role, having been appointed to the post last month.

A former General Electric Co. executive and native of Schenectady, Phillips succeeded F. Michael Tucker, who left the position to become CEO of the Center for Economic Growth, an Albany-based economic development group.

The original RFP was issued last May, and proposals were due in August.

Of the three proposals -- all of which were put together by teams of companies -- two were from local companies, the Columbia Development Cos. and the Howard Group LLC.

The third proposal was made by a suburban Philadelphia company called Preferred Real Estate Investments Inc.

Howard Carr, president of the Howard Group, said it is difficult to say whether he will bid again on the project if a new RFP is issued because the real estate market can change quickly.

"We were certainly disappointed," he said.

"We assembled a world-class team."

"We really wanted to get moving."

"I think we were very good."

John Egan, chairman of Harriman Research and Technology Development Corp., said he was disappointed in the lack of "more creative responses" to the RFP, but he doesn't expect wholesale changes to the Harriman project going forward.

"But we do require some refinement," he said.

"It's a general wire-brushing."

Egan would like to see a new RFP issued within 90 days.

"We want to make sure that we have a widespread body of competition," he said.

Although some developers may have been scared off from submitting proposals because a change in administration was imminent at the time, Spitzer has embraced the project and allocated it $7.5 million in the 2007-08 budget.

"The administration is very excited," Egan said.

Larry Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at lrulison@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"District attorney candidate picked - Rensselaer County GOP nominates Gregory Cholakis to run"

By BOB GARDINIER, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, April 28, 2007

TROY -- The county GOP on Friday night picked First Assistant Public Defender Gregory Cholakis as its choice to succeed Republican Patricia DeAngelis, who will not seek re-election.

The move comes one day after Republican City Council member Henry Bauer stood on the corner of Bond and River streets to announce his candidacy for the $119,600 a year post.

But he was not among the picks being considered by the GOP.

Instead, the party's executive committee met to choose between Deputy District Attorney Dan Hanlon, a successful no-nonsense county prosecutor, or Cholakis.

The vote for Cholakis was unanimous, according to GOP County Chairman Jack Casey.

"We're very gratified for his interest in this position."

"He's a great person with great skills in the legal field."

"We look forward to an energized campaign and victory in November," said Casey.

Cholakis, 41, works as a public defender in the county courthouse named for his late father, federal judge Con. G. Cholakis.

The Troy resident has been with the office for 14 years and has been practicing law for 15 years.

His sister, Kiki Cholakis, is a Family Court judge.

Hanlon, 36, has been with the district attorney's office for 10 years in various roles.

He lives in Averill Park.

The GOP committee also endorsed incumbent Jack Mahar for county sheriff.

Mahar was unopposed, Casey said.

Bauer, a former city judge and current City Council president, had hoped for a nod from the county GOP executive committee, but it never came.

Bauer, who was removed from the bench by the Court of Appeals in 2004, will now face off in a primary against Cholakis.

Democrats interested include attorney Timothy Nugent and county conflict defender Richard J. McNally Jr.

DeAngelis, who has had a number of reversals of cases she prosecuted and was chastised by the higher courts for prosecutorial errors and misconduct, announced in March she would not run for re-election.

[Livyjr]

"Suspected killer found in burned home, probe continues"

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press

Last updated: 4:32 p.m., Thursday, April 26, 2007

MARGARETVILLE, N.Y. -- Margaretville Mayor Bill Stanton said police told him that Trim fired at the troopers as they stood on the front porch, using a high-powered rifle he found inside the farmhouse.

NY TIMES EMPIRE ZONE

April 26th, 2007 12:55 pm

While all of the political immensities and pomposities down there in Albany get up on their high horses and pedestals and stumps and bully pulpits to shout back and forth at each other about another slain State Troopers here in NYS, out here in the countryside, where people actually do live, and have relatives and yes, even loved ones, who are police, there is a much different dialogue going on, which centers around the essential question of “How in the Hell were two more Troopers shot, after that last fiasco?”

“What exactly can be going on here?” is the question on our minds, anyway!

Was one NYS Trooper shot in the face and killed, and another shot in the upper arm and wounded because of ineptness and just plain amateurishness on the part of the NYS Troopers?

My God, in this day and age of “political correctness”, can we countryfolks even think this way?

Or must we just moan, and wring our hands, and rend our garments, and such-like, while crying out, like the politicians down in Albany, Spitzer, Bruno, Tedisco, about “cruel fate”, and the need to restore the “death penalty”, as if that would make any difference at all to someone who just has it in their head to kill them a State Trooper before they themselves die?

In this day and age of “poltical correctness”, can we ask ourselves, when it comes to “special weapons and tactics”, is it true that the NYS Troopers have the special weapons alright, but the tactics of a bunch of bumbling amateurs, which alleged rinky-dink tactics puts the lives of people’s loved one and relatives at risk?

Did the NYS Troopers, while on the hunt for a suspect who had just shot another Trooper respond to a burgler alarm at this country farmhouse with just a partial emergency response team?

Upon arriving at the farmhouse, in response to a burgler alarm, did the NYS Troopers notice any signs of forced entry, that would lead them to believe that someone, anyone might actually still be in the structure?

Did the NYS Troopers believe that a man who had just shot one trooper would be intimidated by a bunch of them, so that he would not be waiting to shoot them through the door of the room that he was in, when they announced their presence by pushing in the door he was hiding behind, and walking in upright, so that all he had to do was to fire through the door at head height, which guaranteed him the kill that he got?

Did the other NYS Troopers then fire a number of rounds through the door and walls into the room, and then actually vacate the premises, thus losing any tactical advantage that they might have had from superior firepower?

Yes, in the minds of the countryfolks, these are the operative questions on our minds right now, as people ponder whose relatives and loved ones might be the next to fall, because of the possibility of sheer stupidity and tactical blunders on the part of the management of what is seen as nothing more than a political police force up here in the country, where people hope that their relatives and loved ones are not next.

And so ….

— Posted by Livyjr

http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...-life/#comments

NY TIMES EMPIRE ZONE

April 27, 2007, 4:36 pm

"Trooper’s Death Was ‘Friendly Fire’"

By Danny Hakim

Preston L. Felton, the acting New York State Police Superintendent, said during a news conference this afternoon that Trooper David C. Brinkerhoff was apparently killed by friendly fire during a gunfight on Wednesday between state troopers and a suspect holed up in an unoccupied farmhouse.

“We do not know whether this was the result of a ricochet or direct line of fire incident."

"We are reconstructing the situation and will report after the analysis of what actually happened,” he said.

“In a firefight such as this, and our members are highly trained, what it appears happened here, Trooper Brinkerhoff was struck in the chest and was knocked back,” Mr. Felton said.

“Other members came to his aid, located the shooter and started to return fire at the shooter,” he added.

“At some point, Trooper Brinkerhoff ended up getting hit with a round somewhere across the line of fire.”

http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...-fire/#comments

"Questions rise from ashes - Gunfire leaves grief, and chilling mystery"

By CAROL DeMARE and JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writers

First published: Friday, April 27, 2007

MARGARETVILLE-- When he broke into an empty vacation getaway to hole up, Travis Trim set off a burglar alarm.

That triggered a series of events Wednesday morning that left one trooper dead, another seriously injured and Trim's remains lying among the charred ruins of the Delaware County farmhouse.

One day later, investigators still could not fathom what led the 23-year-old Trim -- whose history included a handful of petty offenses -- to run amok on a two-day shooting spree.

"We really don't know -- it's inexplicable at this point," Major Kevin G. Molinari, commander of Troop C in Sidney, said Thursday.

"He shot three troopers in 18 hours ... if he'll murder a police officer, what chance does the public have?"

The fugitive's downfall began when a trooper and police dog, responding to the alarm he tripped, spotted items at the vacation home "that indicated the suspect was there, like a backpack," said Trooper Nelson Torres, the Troop C spokesman.

In a barn on the property, a red flannel shirt was found similar to one Trim was wearing when he shot Trooper Matthew J. Gombosi on Tuesday during a traffic stop, Molinari said.

Gombosi wore body armor and was slightly injured.

When the trooper and dog left, a four-member team of the elite State Police Mobile Response Unit went in, including troopers David C. Brinkerhoff and Richard Mattson.

While searching the hideout, the team "encountered fire and they returned fire, and two members of the team were hit," Torres said.

While searching the home room-by-room, Brinkerhoff, 29, was shot in the face in a second-floor hallway.

The eight-year veteran, assigned to the Coxsackie substation, died shortly thereafter at Margaretville Memorial Hospital.

Mattson, 39, of the Stormville substation in Dutchess County, was shot in the upper left arm, a wound that required six hours of surgery at Albany Medical Center Hospital.

He remains in serious but stable condition.

As troopers carried out Brinkerhoff and Mattson, they were "simultaneously firing and exiting the premises," Torres said.

It is unclear if Trim slept overnight in the barn.

Already armed with a handgun, Trim found other guns, including rifles, once he went inside.

Neighbors said hunters often stayed at the home, owned by a New Jersey police officer's family.

Police on Thursday identified the charred body found in the wreckage as that of Trim, who was from St. Lawrence County.

An Albany Med autopsy will determine the cause of death.

Marvin Trim, the gunman's father, told the Associated Press he could not explain what became of his son, who attended the State University at Canton last fall.

"I don't know what happened at college," Trim said.

"He got into trouble and I guess his friends told him he was going to go to jail for a long time."

"It wasn't true."

"He died for nothing."

"He let stupidity and ignorance get the best of him."

Trim's father would not reveal if the family had any funeral plans.

Asked how he wanted people to remember his son, Trim replied: "I wish they wouldn't have to remember him at all."

As of Thursday afternoon, it was still unclear what sparked the blaze at the house at about 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Police searching the fire ruins hadn't recovered the handgun used to shoot Gombosi.

Before the blaze, troopers lobbed canisters of teargas into the building.

State Police investigators from around eastern New York were busy running down leads authorities hoped would reveal why Trim traveled south in a stolen vehicle and what prompted him to shoot Gombosi.

"It's the murder of a police officer," Molinari said.

"It's certainly the highest priority investigation we can handle."

Describing the work investigators were doing at the scene, "As you can only imagine, that scene is going to be a slow, methodical process," the major said.

Molinari wouldn't allow a comparison to be drawn between Trim and fugitive Ralph "Bucky" Phillips, who was on the run last year.

Phillips killed one trooper and injured two others.

"Frankly, I don't see any relationship between the two events," Molinari said.

"The only thing I can tell you is that our operation yesterday was well planned, well thought out and well executed."

On Thursday, folks in and around Margaretville said the area was trying to build a reputation as a vacation and retreat spot and market itself to wealthy downstaters.

Ric King, a 23-year-old Atlanta man who grew up in the area of the shootings, said,"You're not going to get anybody who is going to be sympathetic to him."

Keith Gavette, 22, of Arkville, said: "The only good thing is that it wasn't a local that did it."

Gavette's father is an assistant fire chief and helped fight the fire.

His mother is a nurse at the Margaretville hospital.

Meanwhile, at the four-trooper satellite in Coxsackie on Plank Road -- which is attached to the Catskill barracks and where Brinkerhoff served -- two troopers were putting up a memorial wreath.

"We wanted something at the door to remind us of his sacrifice, because, you never know," Trooper Jason Borgen said.

DeMare can be reached at 454-5431 or by e-mail at cdemare@timesunion.com.

Massive response

Delaware County Sheriff Thomas Mills sent numerous deputies to assist state troopers in the hunt for Travis Trim.

On Tuesday, he had 15 or 16 deputies involved, and on Wednesday about seven or eight assisted.

Other police agencies on hand:

FBI from Kingston

Albany SWAT team

New York City Department of Environmental Protection Police, who patrol the watershed for the city

State Environmental Conservation officers

State forest rangers

Delhi Police Department

Walton Police Department

Roxbury Constable

On Tuesday, the first day of the manhunt, sheriff's departments in Delaware, Schoharie, Otsego, Greene, Ulster and Sullivan counties set up roadblocks.

A number of fire companies also responded to the fire at the house on Cemetery Road.

They include: Margaretville Fire Department Arkville Fire Department Halcottsville Fire Department Arena Fire Department Fleishmanns Fire Department

While these companies were at the scene, Roxbury, Grand Gorge and Andes fire departments covered their stations.

[Livyjr]

"Questions rise from ashes - Gunfire leaves grief, and chilling mystery"

By CAROL DeMARE and JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writers

First published: Friday, April 27, 2007

MARGARETVILLE-- Molinari wouldn't allow a comparison to be drawn between Trim and fugitive Ralph "Bucky" Phillips, who was on the run last year.

Phillips killed one trooper and injured two others.

"Frankly, I don't see any relationship between the two events," Molinari said.

"The only thing I can tell you is that our operation yesterday was well planned, well thought out and well executed."

NY TIMES EMPIRE ZONE

April 29th, 2007 11:15 am

Tactically speaking, I am disturbed by Livyjr’s assertion that many law enforcement departments were called onto the scene, and that too many cooks may well have spoiled the soup.

— Posted by BB

April 29th, 2007 1:57 pm

BB, you totally misunderstand me here - what I am saying is that by the time the other police units were called out, tactically speaking, the soup was long since spoiled!

Whether the state police panicked, or what is unknown, but they had retreated back from the farm house, where the shooter was already dead, and they had formed some type of defensive perimeter, which means that to get back in the house, in the event that the shooter was still alive, something the state police did not know allegedly, at the time these reinforcements arrived, someone was going to have to traverse the killing ground, all over again, because of tactical blunders by the NYSP!

Which put the lives of those extra police in danger, because the NYSP had no idea what was going on down there!

It was a cluster-****, plain and simple, and we countryfolks up here who were the recipients of those phone calls from these police reinforcements are finding everthing that has been said so far by this Felton dude and the “STEAMROLLER” to be totally inadequate, incredible, and just plain unbelievable!

It’s not a case of too many cooks in charge!

All of these police units were subordinated to the command of the NYSP, and they were the only cooks, and they had already ruined the soup, all by themselves, before these other police units got there, to what was a scene in disarray!

Having been an infantryman in Viet Nam, I can tell you that there is no glory in someone getting killed because of incompetent leadership, and it is from that thought that my comments in here are made, quite frankly, I don’t wish to be attending the funeral of one of my loved ones or relatives in police work who was killed for no good reason, simply because of incompetence and ineptness in the political management of the NYSP!

Whether or not the state police ever even had tactical control of anything remains at issue, but one thing that is certain, from what we have heard, is that after the shooting, the state police somehow retreated, whether in orderly fashion or disarray is unknown, and they thus relinquished all control of the tactical situation that they might have had!

THEN the reinforcements were called in!

Plain and simple, it was a cob job, which put the lives of our loved ones who were called out as reinforcements in potential danger, which caused a lot of people up here a fair amount of emotional distress, not knowing what to expect!

And in the meantime, the shooter was already dead!

And I’ll tell you that out here in the country, where people growing up had one shell to put food on the table with, or starve, people are downright embarassed and ashamed of the NYS Police!

And there is one huge vote of absolutely no confidence at all in either “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer or this Felton dude to confront this matter head-on, as it needs to be, starting with the initial question of whether the state police should be disarmed and confined to barracks until some outside experts in firearms determine they are competent and qualified to carry them in public, let alone use them with apparent wild abandon in a tactical situation as they did, spraying almost seventy rounds God alone knows where, outside of three in the shooter and one in the head of a fellow trooper ….

And so ….

— Posted by Livyjr

http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...-fire/#comments

[Livyjr]

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG

"Does This Change Things? (Updated)"

The Senate Republicans have been beating the drum for reinstatement of the death penalty in New York, especially for cop killers, in the wake of the shooting death of a State Police trooper in upstate New York earlier this week.

Now Channel 4 is reporting that friendly fire from a fellow trooper - not the bullet of a cop-killing criminal - caused the death of the trooper, David C. Brinkerhoff.

Comments

This is indeed interesting news, if true!

Up here, in the country, many people have relatives and loved ones who are police officers, and as might be expected around Albany, some of these police officers were brought in as reinforcements, and so were on the scene as the drama unfolded down there in the Catskills!

And the story that had initially emerged was that the troopers had gone through and cleared the building, room by room, floor by floor, and that when they came to the final room, the two troopers who were shot allegedly pushed in on the door, and allegedly the shooter pushed back and then fired through the door, killing the one officer and wounding the other.

The other troopers then allegedly fired through the door and walls, and then allegedly vacated the premises, without stopping to consider that they had superior numbers and firepower, and had in all likelihood wounded or killed the shooter!

Don't look to see if you might have hit something, just didi-mau the scene, like rank amateurs ....

Needless to say, this really did not make a lot of sense to other police officers trained in SWAT tactics!

A cob job, to say the least!

Out here in the country, there are many combat veterans, one in particular who fought house to house in Germany against the entrenched SS, and there are many combat veterans who are also police officers, so that when someone like a NYS trooper gets shot, while in a group going after one lone man, well, let's just say that eye-brows get raised, and looks get exchanged, and heads get scratched, and you hear people clearing their throats, and the unspoken question is, "SO?"

"Ah, how do you think that happened then?"

And combat veterans know that when someone dies like that, that somehow, stupidity is usually around the place at the same time, whether the dead person's, or just as likely, the stupidity of someone else, especially in the Army in Viet Nam!

But that is another story, for another day ....

Then, in a story entitled "Suspected killer found in burned home, probe continues" by MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press, last updated: 4:32 p.m., Thursday, April 26, 2007, it was stated that:

"Margaretville Mayor Bill Stanton said police told him that Trim fired at the troopers as they stood on the front porch, using a high-powered rifle he found inside the farmhouse."

Now, that further raised some eye-brows, first, because it is a different story, and secondly, what in the hell were these troopers doing, standing there on the porch?

Now, to people, they looked even more inept than before, getting caught out in the open like they say they were, as if they were tourists, or something, come to buy a quilt, or a rag rug!

And now we are hearing what is a third version, and you can be sure that yours news item will be making its way around the community up here, for further comment and dissection ....

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | April 27, 2007 5:23 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...s.html#comments

"Suspected killer found in burned home, probe continues"

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press

Last updated: 4:32 p.m., Thursday, April 26, 2007

MARGARETVILLE, N.Y. -- Margaretville Mayor Bill Stanton said police told him that Trim fired at the troopers as they stood on the front porch, using a high-powered rifle he found inside the farmhouse.

NY TIMES EMPIRE ZONE

Whether or not the state police ever even had tactical control of anything remains at issue, but one thing that is certain, from what we have heard, is that after the shooting, the state police somehow retreated, whether in orderly fashion or disarray is unknown, and they thus relinquished all control of the tactical situation that they might have had!

THEN the reinforcements were called in!

Plain and simple, it was a cob job, which put the lives of our loved ones who were called out as reinforcements in potential danger, which caused a lot of people up here a fair amount of emotional distress, not knowing what to expect!

And in the meantime, the shooter was already dead!

http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...-fire/#comments

"Killed in the crossfire - State Police fired nearly 70 times in shootout with fugitive, and one of those rounds hit trooper"

By BRENDAN J. LYONS and CAROL DeMARE, Staff writers, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, April 28, 2007

ALBANY -- State Police announced Friday that the trooper who died in a shootout with a fugitive this week was killed by another trooper's bullet.

The fatal shot came during an "extremely intense firefight" after the suspect opened fire as four troopers entered an upstairs room in a country house, acting State Police Superintendent Preston L. Felton said.

The troopers fired nearly 70 shots, he said.

Trooper David C. Brinkerhoff, 29, was caught in a crossfire between the fugitive Travis Trim and members of his own Mobile Response Team.

He was hit in the back of the head.

"As you can imagine, this new information is a source of great consternation and sadness within the MRT team and throughout the entire New York State Police family," Felton told a late-afternoon news conference.

Brinkerhoff and Trooper Richard Mattson had entered the room where Trim, armed with a handgun and a rifle, was hiding.

Trim fired first, Felton said, striking Brinkerhoff in the chest.

The trooper fell back on one knee as his body armor stopped the round.

All four troopers opened fire, killing Trim, Felton said.

"At some point, Trooper Brinkerhoff ended up getting hit with a round somewhere across the line of fire, a .223 tactical round."

"This round is believed to have been fired by an MRT team member."

The SWAT rifle's high velocity bullet was recovered during an autopsy.

Felton said it has yet to be determined whether a direct hit or a ricochet killed Brinkerhoff.

"He was wounded in the back of the head, and he was wearing his ballistic Kevlar helmet," Felton said.

Police officials will try to determine which trooper fired the fatal shot through ballistics tests and a reconstruction of the scene, he said.

The house went up in flames sometime after police lobbed tear gas canisters into it.

In these types of shootouts, the officers home in on their target.

"Our members, recognizing that they are being assaulted ... start to return fire," Felton said.

"They get what is known as tunnel vision."

"You don't see stuff on the side."

"That's just an unfortunate thing of being in highly tense situations."

Mattson, 39, was wounded in the gunfight, hit in the upper left arm by a slug believed to be from a .30-30 rifle fired by Trim.

Mattson underwent six hours of surgery at Albany Medical Center Hospital and remained in serious, but stable, condition.

"He's going to make it," Felton said.

The round that hit Mattson, who lives in Dutchess County and is assigned to the Stormville barracks, "tumbled around in his arm and caused extensive damage," State Police spokesman Lt. Glenn Miner said.

The Mobile Response unit, which numbers about 40, is specially trained in crisis situations such as barricaded suspects, narcotics raids and serving warrants where high-risk criminals and weapons are believed to be present, the State Police Web site says.

Brinkerhoff, who was assigned to the Coxsackie barracks in the town where he lived, was pronounced dead at Margaretville Memorial Hospital.

Officials said paramedics were unable to stabilize him for a helicopter flight to Albany Med.

He leaves behind a wife and 7-month-old daughter.

Three other troopers, also members of the unit, were downstairs at the vacation house in Arkville, Delaware County, but did not fire a shot.

"While it's clear that something went wrong, nothing can detract from the bravery and dedication of the men who entered that house," Felton said.

"They are a highly trained and dedicated group who understood the dangers of what they were doing, and they accepted the risks."

When Trim's body was found, he was still clutching the rifle, which was cocked and ready to fire, the superintendent said.

The 23-year-old from St. Lawrence County was shot once in the face and twice in the chest and died almost instantly, State Police believe.

They are awaiting final autopsy results to confirm at what point he died and who fired the shots that struck him.

The manhunt was sparked when Trim shot Trooper Matthew J. Gombosi during a traffic stop on Tuesday in Margaretville, Delaware County.

Gombosi, whose body armor protected him, was slightly injured.

Trim, who had been driving a stolen van, took refuge in the farmhouse after the first shooting, and it's believed he rested that first night in one of the barns on the property.

He tripped an alarm in the home and a trooper and police dog who investigated found Trim's backpack and a red flannel shirt he was wearing when Gombosi was shot.

That trooper called for backup, and within minutes, seven members of the Mobile Response unit started sweeping the house.

Hours after the gunfight, tear gas lobbed into the house set a fire that damaged half the structure before firefighters brought it under control.

Trim's body was found in the farmhouse later that night and removed from the scene early Thursday morning.

State Police leaders and members of the troopers' PBA said the circumstances do not diminish the heroic actions of the troopers who entered the house.

"They were facing a desperate, barricaded gunman who had shown through his actions the previous day and that morning that he had no respect for law enforcement, and was obviously determined not to give up without a fight," PBA President Daniel De Federicis said.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer responded to the news Friday, saying, "A tragedy occurred, and State Police are now investigating the exact circumstances of Trooper Brinkerhoff's death."

"We are committed to a thorough investigation and to full disclosure of the findings as soon as possible."

"... We owe this fallen trooper and his colleagues a full appraisal of the facts as well as our continuing respect and gratitude."

DeMare can be reached at 454-5431 or by e-mail at cdemare@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Killed in the crossfire - State Police fired nearly 70 times in shootout with fugitive, and one of those rounds hit trooper"

By BRENDAN J. LYONS and CAROL DeMARE, Staff writers, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, April 28, 2007

ALBANY -- State Police announced Friday that the trooper who died in a shootout with a fugitive this week was killed by another trooper's bullet.

The fatal shot came during an "extremely intense firefight" after the suspect opened fire as four troopers entered an upstairs room in a country house, acting State Police Superintendent Preston L. Felton said.

The troopers fired nearly 70 shots, he said.

Trooper David C. Brinkerhoff, 29, was caught in a crossfire between the fugitive Travis Trim and members of his own Mobile Response Team.

He was hit in the back of the head.

Brinkerhoff and Trooper Richard Mattson had entered the room where Trim, armed with a handgun and a rifle, was hiding.

Trim fired first, Felton said, striking Brinkerhoff in the chest.

The trooper fell back on one knee as his body armor stopped the round.

All four troopers opened fire, killing Trim, Felton said.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG

Then, in a story entitled "Suspected killer found in burned home, probe continues" by MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press, last updated: 4:32 p.m., Thursday, April 26, 2007, it was stated that:

"Margaretville Mayor Bill Stanton said police told him that Trim fired at the troopers as they stood on the front porch, using a high-powered rifle he found inside the farmhouse."

Now, that further raised some eye-brows, first, because it is a different story, and secondly, what in the hell were these troopers doing, standing there on the porch?

Now, to people, they looked even more inept than before, getting caught out in the open like they say they were, as if they were tourists, or something, come to buy a quilt, or a rag rug!

And now we are hearing what is a third version, and you can be sure that yours news item will be making its way around the community up here, for further comment and dissection ....

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | April 27, 2007 5:23 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...s.html#comments

"From first shot to fiery end"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, April 27, 2007

Travis Trim, 23, of St. Lawrence County is believed to have shot three state troopers over 18 hours this week in Margaretville, Delaware County.

He died sometime Wednesday while holed up in a farmhouse where he was hiding.

TUESDAY

2:45 p.m.: State Trooper Matthew J. Gombosi stops Trim, driving a stolen Dodge Caravan.

Trim pulls out a gun and shoots Gombosi in the chest. Gombosi's body armor prevents serious injury.

5:30 p.m.: Police find the Caravan abandoned on Cemetery Road.

Overnight: Police block roads and search cars around Margaretville.

WEDNESDAY

Sometime before 8:45 a.m.: A burglar alarm alerts police to an intruder at 1245 Cemetery Road.

A State Police K9 unit investigates the property and finds items belonging to Trim.

8:45 a.m. Four troopers enter the house; two are shot.

Trooper David C. Brinkerhoff dies of a head wound.

Trooper Richard Mattson is flown to Albany Medical Center Hospital.

He is in serious condition with a wound to the arm.

11 a.m.-noon. Police outside exchange gunfire with Trim.

Noon to 5 p.m. More police, including sharpshooters, emergency vehicles and an armored SUV converge on the farmhouse.

State police send in a robot with an electronic eye to search.

5:15 p.m.: SWAT teams move into position.

5:50 p.m.: Police lob tear gas into the house.

No movement is seen inside.

6 p.m.: White smoke, followed by black smoke and flames, rise from the building.

6:05 p.m. Water from the firetrucks begin putting out the fire.

8 p.m.: Police locate a charred body gripping a rifle on the second floor.

THURSDAY

1 a.m. The as-yet-unidentified body is removed from the house.

12:30 p.m. State police positively identify the remains as Travis Trim.

-- Danielle Furfaro

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story...sdate=4/27/2007

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK POST

"'ACCE$$IBLE' ELIOT FLOORS REFORMERS"

By KENNETH LOVETT Post Correspondent

April 27, 2007 -- ALBANY - Government-reform leaders who stood with Gov. Spitzer in support of his campaign-finance overhaul proposals were stunned yesterday to learn he's offering access to those who can raise bundles of cash for his 2010 campaign.

The Post reported yesterday that Spitzer is asking prospective donors to join his re-election finance committee to raise up to $1 million each by Election Day 2010.

Those who raise big bucks are granted varying degrees of access to Spitzer - depending on how much they commit to raise - ranging from quarterly finance-committee meetings with Spitzer to lunches, private barbecues and holiday parties with the governor and his wife.

"Promising access for dollars never looks good," said Rachel Leon, of Common Cause/New York, which stood with Spitzer earlier this week when he ripped Senate Republicans for blocking a campaign-finance reform deal.

Leon said she credits Spitzer for voluntarily adhering to self-imposed stricter donation limits while pushing the Legislature to act on campaign-finance reform.

But she said asking individuals to raise $1 million from friends and colleagues for the campaign - a practice known as bundling - is troubling.

At the very least, Spitzer should agree to publicly reveal who is helping raise the money, otherwise "how are we going to know who those 'special people' are?" she said.

Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson defended the practice.

"If you want to convince friends to raise money, how is that any different than getting people to go door to door or attend a rally?"

"That's how you fund-raise."

"You get people involved," Anderson said.

"The governor has imposed [donation] limits," she added.

"To somehow suggest that fund-raising or bundling is off-limits is off the mark."

Russell Haven, of the New York Public Interest Research Group, said that while "the governor deserves credit for voluntarily setting lower limits for himself, the escalating access based on how much his supporters raise sends the wrong message."

Barbara Bartoletti, who heads the state chapter of the League of Women Voters, said encouraging bundling by providing special access "is almost like an end run around" the voluntary donation limits the governor agreed to adhere to.

"It's bundling and does allow people access that the ordinary citizens would not have," Bartoletti said.

"I don't see how you cannot expect people are going to criticize it."

"Average citizens do not give $10,000 to any candidate certainly with an eye toward raising $1 million," she added.

"You'd need 100 friends to give $10,000 just so you can get to a barbecue."

"We know who the ones are that will be able to do that - lobbyists and special interests."

kenneth.lovett@nypost.com

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04272007/news/...rrespondent.htm

[Livyjr]

"Marble falls off Albany building; three hurt - Washington Avenue closed after a 'sizable piece' fell from Twin Towers"

By DANIELLE FURFARO, Staff writer

Last updated: 6:08 p.m., Monday, April 30, 2007

ALBANY -- A large piece of marble fell off a prominent downtown building and injured three people this afternoon, sending one to the hospital and closing down a section of Washington Avenue during heavy wind gusts.

None of the three people were seriously injured after a "sizable piece of the facade became dislodged" from the southwestern corner of 99 Washington Ave. about 1:30 p.m., said Albany Fire Capt. Raymond Kalendek.

One person was struck in the arm and taken to St. Peter's Hospital, while the two others declined medical aid, police said.

The building, also known as 1 Commerce Plaza or the Twin Towers, holds numerous offices.

Kalendek said the situation could have been much worse.

"Anytime something like this happens, public safety is a consideration," he said.

"Safety is our number one priority."

Officials gave no cause for the falling stone, but noted 35 to 45 mph heavy winds were believed to be a factor.

Since the gusting winds were not expected to abate until at least after midnight, the city was keeping the section of Washington Avenue closed indefinitely.

"Until the wind subsides, we are going to keep personnel on the scene and not let anyone get close to the building," Kalendek said.

The building has been under construction.

Scaffolding was attached to the top of the structure Monday afternoon.

"They have been working on this building on and off for years," said Mario Tedesco, a Department of Health employee who went to the building for a meeting Monday afternoon.

"It concerns me because there are always people walking by and cars driving by."

Police say Washington Avenue will be shut down indefinitely.

Both eastbound and westbound lanes are closed to traffic from South Swan Street to Lark Street.

Only local traffic is being allowed from Lark Street to Dove Street in both lanes.

In addition, westbound traffic on Washington is being diverted over South Swan Street and up Elk Street.

Eastbound traffic is being diverted over Lark Street to State Street.

As emergency crews directed traffic off of Washington Avenue Monday afternoon, scores of downtown workers stood in the wind, watching the action.

Smashed pieces of marble littered the sidewalk.

"I was out here when it happened."

"I heard it fall," said Janet Young, who works for the state Education Building across from the Twin Towers.

"They should get someone to inspect this building."