}
Fans of “The Room,” who endure long lines outside the Village East Cinema, call the film the “Citizen Kane” of awful movies — and greet the low-budget flick with “Rocky Horror Picture Show”-like enthusiasm at monthly midnight showings.
The line had formed early outside Cropsey Scrap Iron & Metal in Coney Island — moving vans and minivans, box trucks, pickup trucks and rented U-Hauls.
They waited in a queue that stretched around the block, 33 vehicles in all. Each vehicle was packed with discarded metal items: refrigerators, stoves, radiators, barbecues, a pile of aluminum joists, a dismantled child’s swing set.
Benny Mineo had never seen so many competitors in his 25 years of collecting scrap metal for a living.
FDNY Chief Brad Walls surveyed the facade of the Whitestone Shopping Center as his firefighters from Battalion 47 approached the flamed-filled Lollipops Diner.
Before the firefighters could turn their hoses on the blaze, the restaurant’s front window melted and the fire jumped to the awning. The overhang burst into flames and rained melted plastic onto the sidewalk like a fire-laden waterfall.
Concerned for his firefighters’ safety, Walls pulled back the battalion.
Depending on who’s asking, when they’re asking and what they’re asking, New York City’s job losses have fallen particularly hard on different demographic groups in the city.
