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Tavern Dives Across The Street

When a W. 14th St. bar was faced with relocation, its owner had to appeal anew to neighbors that had not looked kindly on him in the past.

McKenna’s Pub was displaced from 245 W. 14th St. — which is slated for demolition — but its owner, Brian McKenna, didn’t have to look far for a new location. The bar is set to occupy a new space in 250 W. 14th St. across the street. And his neighbors, who in the past have complained about the bar’s noise and disorder, can’t be pleased.

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Last Chance For Victory

Three lawmakers have sued the state to demand that it keep the emergency room at Victory Memorial Hospital open, even if the rest of the medical center is forced to close down.

State Sen. Marty Golden (R–Bay Ridge), Rep. Vito Fossella (R–Bay Ridge) and Councilman Vincent Gentile (D–Bay Ridge) put aside partisan bickering on Tuesday to file a lawsuit against the Department of Health that seeks to reverse a state decision to close the financially strapped hospital.

“We have no other choice but to pursue legal action to force the state to do the right thing for our community,” said Fossella.

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Allies Split Over Rail Yard Plan

Long-time allies in the effort to clean up pollution in Hunts Point have fallen out over the fate of the 28-acre corner of the Oak Point rail yard where the city wants to build a jail.

Congressman Jose Serrano has denounced Sustainable South Bronx’s longstanding plan to create an industrial park devoted to remanufacturing discarded construction material there.

In an open letter to the Hunts Point community, Serrano contends the proposal would merely add another dumping ground to a neighborhood already overburdened with waste.

“We’ve had enough,” said the Democrat, who represents New York’s 16th Congressional District in the South Bronx. “I can’t support the idea we’ll be putting a lot of fanfare behind a project where some people will be sorting other people’s garbage.”
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Got Money? Milk, Food Prices Soar

Barbara Darby stopped her shopping cart and stared at the price for a gallon of milk.

$4.79

“Milk is almost $5?” Ms. Darby, a senior citizen from Riverdale, asked incredulously.

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New Owner Vows To Raise The Bar

A controversial Williamsburg bar that has run up thousands of dollars in fines is about to be sold to a new owner who is vowing to clean up the joint’s act.

Geoffrey Weber plans to turn Triple Crown into a quieter bar called the Brooklyn Café, according to the soon-to-be-former owners and community board officials.

“He promised us he will run a bar that you’ll want to take your parents to,” said Mieszho Kalita, the chair of Community Board 1’s public safety committee.

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Searching for Section 8

In January 2007, the city reopened the waiting list for Section 8 rental subsidy vouchers for the first time in 13 years, giving many low-income New Yorkers new hopes of finding a place of their own. But, some prospective tenants are finding that having a Section 8 voucher is no guarantee of getting an apartment.

Older & Online

Over the next twenty years, the city predicts that one in every five New Yorkers will be 60 or older. This will be the first time in the city’s history that older New Yorkers will outnumber school age children. As New Yorkers are aging their lifestyles are changing. Online social networking and blogging are creating new internet neighborhoods.
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A Big Loss For Victory

Victory Memorial Hospital appears to be on its deathbed: The 107-year-old Bay Ridge institution announced sweeping layoffs last week and could be shuttered by Feb. 1.

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New Bus Ferries Staten Islanders

Angela Huggins works in Staten Island, but lives in Jersey City, N.J. For her, commuting to work was a hassle.

The 47-year-old used to take the Journal Square-World Trade Center PATH train into Manhattan, then the 1 train to the Staten Island ferry terminal, followed by the ferry to Staten Island, where she would finally take a bus to her job.
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A Broken American Dream

Enrique and three friends from Mexico needed two days to cross the arid mountain passes from the spartan border city of Tecate into California late in 1995 in search of work, with the guidance of a coyote and some canned food.

Enrique had high hopes he could save enough to return home shortly after and make life a little easier for his wife and eight kids in the rough-and-tumble Mexico City neighborhood of Chalco.

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