OUR CITY, YOUR PAPER
No one covers the city like the Daily News. For more than a century, New York’s Hometown Newspaper has been your eyes and ears — and your voice.
Do you have a story you think we should tell? Call us at (212) 210-NEWS or email us at nydntips@nydailynews.com. This is your paper, and we are committed to covering the issues that matter to you. Here are some of our top stories from the last week:
Thank you, Pete: The voice of the city has gone silent. Brooklyn-born newspaper columnist and bestselling author Pete Hamill died Wednesday. Hamill (inset) was 85. Throughout his storied career, Hamill was editor of The News, wrote for The New Yorker and New York magazine, and outlived three of the five city newspapers he worked for. “One of the best days in my life is when I got my first press pass,” Hamill once said. “To be a newspaperman is one of the best educations in the world.” Hamill is survived by his wife, daughters Deirdre and Adriene, and a grandson.
Gutsy grandpa :A spry Queens octogenarian fought off a mugger by using a steaming hot cup of coffee last Sunday. Oliver Neligan was on Queens Blvd. headed to St. Sebastian Catholic Church in Woodside when he was tackled by a thief as he stepped out of a deli with a cup of joe in hand. “I threw the coffee … as good as I could to hit him with it,” Neligan, 84, told The News. “But then … I kind of tripped and went down anyhow, but I pulled him down on top of me.” Neligan scared off his attacker, who is still at large. Lights out: More than half a million New Yorkers were left in the dark after Tropical Storm Isaias tore through the city. Gov. Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Wednesday. “The reckless disregard by utility companies to adequately plan for Tropical Storm Isaias left tens of thousands of customers in the dark, literally and figuratively,” Cuomo said. Con Edison claims power will be returned to most of its customers by Sunday.
Boozed and busted: Three men were arrested when a packed 1920-themed boat party was broken up by city sheriffs in Manhattan. Boat owners and party hosts Ronny Vargas and Alex Sauzo were busted along with Capt. Joseph Spadaro when the Liberty Belle, a four-story riverboat, returned to Pier 36 in lower Manhattan at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday. The trio is charged with defying coronavirus social-distancing mandates and for running a crowded booze cruise without an active liquor license, authorities said.