“Armed carjackings, assaults, robbery, shootings and serious sexual offences, including rape, are common in Papua” says the Foreign Office travel advice to travelers!

The papua tourism office has a hard work convincing more people like me to come to PNG!

Once a year takes place in Mount Hagen the biggest tribal meeting, called a singsing.

The “Men bilong pait” (the Warriors) ,the” pipels” (the women), and the “pikinini” (the children) are all here. Hundreds of papus are preparing themselves for the Singsing. It’s in open air, but you feel like being backstage in the latest fashion show in Milano or Paris as men paint their faces in red,yellow,white,black, women take grass to make skirts or kilts and cover their bodies with clay, mud, or even pigs fat!

Old wise men are building the giant headdresses made of eagle, parrot and bird of paradise feathers. Each feather is packed in newspaper, to protect them from insects. It will take hours…

Some warriors wear also marsupial jaws as necklaces! “If you do not have jaws, you can put dogs teeth, it works too” they tell me!

Bones, shells, pigs tusks, or twigs are put in the noses. I meet a Highlands warrior who has gave up the traditional shell that he used to put in his nose, and now uses an electrical meter!

Papu like to put a modern touch in their jewels or decorations, as we like to put some tribal stuff in our so called designed houses!

 

Now it’s time for parade. All the tribes are marching. It’s a mix of sounds and sights, not a love parade, rather a war parade!

The Mount Hagen festival was launched by the Australian colonial governor in 1964, to promote peace in the country.So…The warriors simulate fights! But the stone axes, the arrows, the shields, the spears, the bludgeons are real! There won’t be any violence during the festival, but everyday, tribal fights still take place, with guns instead of axes, and people die…

You can hear war songs, drums, and the tribes start to march in circle, in column, or in line .

The tribes keep on dancing until sundown, and have to listen to an endless speech from a local political while the few tourists go back to their hotels, stoned by the loudspeakers noise!

4947

 

© Eric Lafforgue

www.ericlafforgue.com

Just after 9 am, 2 masked male armed with AR-15 style weapons enter a bank in Victoria City. Bystanders immediately call 911.

 

Constables from the Victoria City Police Department respond to the call. As the bank robbers leave the bank, they encountered the constables responding to the 911 call. The robbers immediately retreat back into the bank and barricade themselves with hostages.

 

Constables call for backup and the Tactical Response Unit quickly arrived on scene and established an inner perimeter. They are soon took over by the Special Tactics Unit.

 

The incident commander also arrive on scene and established a temporary command post and begin plans to resolve the situation peacefully.

 

To be continued...

Click here for full size view. Polaroid 600 SE, 127mm. Fuji FP-3000B instant film.

 

Crime scene investigation of a robbery at 3:30 am.

The Postcard

 

A postally unused postcard that was published prior to 1995 by City Merchandise of 68, 34th. Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. The card has a divided back.

 

The photography was by Alan Schein.

 

On the back of the card is printed:

 

'Manhattan and Brooklyn

Bridges. New York.'

 

NYC - The World Trade Center 1973 - 2001

 

The original World Trade Center was a large complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City. It opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks.

 

At the time of their completion, the Twin Towers—the original 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower), at 1,368 feet (417 m); and 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower), at 1,362 feet (415.1 m)—were the tallest buildings in the world.

 

Other buildings in the complex included the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC), 4 WTC, 5 WTC, 6 WTC, and 7 WTC. The complex contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m2) of office space. That's a lot of space - 308 acres.

 

The core complex was built between 1966 and 1975, at a cost of $400 million (equivalent to $2.27 billion in 2018).

 

During its existence, the World Trade Center experienced several major incidents, including a fire on the 13th. February 1975, a bombing on the 26th. February 1993, and a bank robbery on the 14th. January 1998.

 

In 1998, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey decided to privatize it by leasing the buildings to a private company to manage. It awarded the lease to Silverstein Properties in July 2001.

 

The 9/11 Attacks

 

On the morning of the 11th. September 2001, Al-Qaeda-affiliated hijackers flew two Boeing 767 jets into the Twin Towers within minutes of each other; two hours later, both towers collapsed. The attacks killed 2,606 people in the towers and their vicinity, as well as all 157 on board the two aircraft.

 

Falling debris from the towers, combined with fires that the debris initiated in several surrounding buildings, led to the partial or complete collapse of all the buildings in the complex, and caused catastrophic damage to ten other large structures in the surrounding area.

 

Subsequent Developments

 

The clean-up and recovery process at the World Trade Center site took eight months, during which the remains of the other buildings were demolished.

 

A new World Trade Center complex is being built (2020) with six new skyscrapers and several other buildings, many of which are complete. A memorial and museum to those killed in the attacks, a new rapid transit hub, and an elevated park have been opened.

 

One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at 1,776 feet (541 m) and the lead building for the new complex, was completed in May 2013, and opened in November 2014.

 

During its existence prior to 2001, the World Trade Center was an icon of New York City. It had a major role in popular culture, and according to one estimate was depicted in 472 films. Following the World Trade Center's destruction, mentions of the complex were altered or deleted, and several dozen "memorial films" were created.

 

For details of the earlier 1993 bomb attack on the WTC, please search for the tag 79CMP42

 

Economic Effects of the September 11 Attacks

 

The September 11 attacks in 2001 were followed by initial shocks causing global stock markets to drop sharply. The attacks themselves resulted in approximately $40 billion in insurance losses, making it one of the largest insured events ever.

 

-- Financial markets

 

On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the opening of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was delayed after the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center's North Tower, and trading for the day was canceled after the second plane crashed into the South Tower.

 

The NASDAQ also canceled trading. The New York Stock Exchange Building was then evacuated as well as nearly all banks and financial institutions on Wall Street and in many cities across the country.

 

The London Stock Exchange and other stock exchanges around the world were also closed down and evacuated in fear of follow-up terrorist attacks.

 

The New York Stock Exchange remained closed until the following Monday. This was only the third time in history that the NYSE experienced prolonged closure, the first time being during the early months of the Great War, and the second in March 1933 during the Great Depression.

 

Trading on the United States bond market also ceased; the leading government bond trader, Cantor Fitzgerald, was based in the World Trade Center. The New York Mercantile Exchange was also closed for a week after the attacks.

 

The Federal Reserve issued a statement, saying:

 

"We are open and operating. The

discount window is available to

meet liquidity needs."

 

The Federal Reserve added $100 billion in liquidity per day during the three days following the attack in order to help avert a financial crisis.

 

Gold prices spiked upwards, from $215.50 to $287 an ounce in London trading. Oil prices also spiked upwards. Gas prices in the United States also briefly shot up, though the spike in prices lasted only about one week.

 

Currency trading continued, with the United States dollar falling sharply against the Euro, British pound, and Japanese yen.

 

The next day, European stock markets fell sharply, including declines of 4.6% in Spain, 8.5% in Germany, and 5.7% on the London Stock Exchange.

 

Stocks in the Latin American markets also plunged, with a 9.2% drop in Brazil, 5.2% drop in Argentina, and 5.6% decline in Mexico, before trading was halted.

 

-- Effect on Economic Sectors

 

In international and domestic markets, stocks of companies in some sectors were hit particularly hard. Travel and entertainment stocks fell, while communications, pharmaceutical and military/defense stocks rose. Online travel agencies particularly suffered, as they cater to leisure travel.

 

-- Insurance Consequences of the Attacks

 

Insurance losses due to 9/11 were more than one and a half times greater than what was previously the largest disaster (Hurricane Andrew) in terms of losses.

 

The losses included business interruption ($11.0 billion), property ($9.6 billion), liability ($7.5 billion), workers compensation ($1.8 billion), and others ($2.5 billion).

 

The firms with the largest losses included Berkshire Hathaway, Lloyd's, Swiss Re, and Munich Re, all of which are reinsurers, with more than $2 billion in losses for each.

 

Shares of major reinsurers, including Swiss Re and Baloise Insurance Group dropped by more than 10%, while shares of Swiss Life dropped 7.8%.

 

Although the insurance industry held reserves that covered the 9/11 attacks, insurance companies were reluctant to continue providing coverage for future terrorist attacks. Only a few insurers continue to offer such coverage.

 

-- Consequences for Airlines and Aviation

 

Flights were grounded in various places across the United States and Canada that did not necessarily have operational support in place, such as dedicated ground crews.

 

A large number of transatlantic flights landed in Gander, Newfoundland and in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with the logistics handled by Transport Canada in Operation Yellow Ribbon.

 

In order to help with the immediate needs of victims' families, United Airlines and American Airlines both provided initial payments of $25,000. The airlines were also required to refund ticket purchases for anyone unable to fly.

 

The 9/11 attacks compounded financial troubles that the airline industry was already experiencing before the attacks. Share prices of airlines and airplane manufacturers plummeted after the attacks.

 

Midway Airlines, already on the brink of bankruptcy, shut down operations almost immediately afterward. Swissair, unable to make payments to creditors on its large debt was grounded on the 2nd. October 2001 and later liquidated.

 

Other airlines were threatened with bankruptcy, and tens of thousands of layoffs were announced in the week following the attacks. To help the industry, the federal government provided an aid package, including $10 billion in loan guarantees, along with $5 billion for short-term assistance.

 

The reduction in air travel demand caused by the attack is also seen as a contributory reason for the retirement of the only supersonic aircraft in service at the time, Concorde.

 

-- Effects of the Attacks on Tourism

 

Tourism in New York City plummeted, causing massive losses in a sector that employed 280,000 people and generated $25 billion per year.

 

In the week following the attack, hotel occupancy fell below 40%, and 3,000 employees were laid off.

 

Tourism, hotel occupancy, and air travel also fell drastically across the nation. The reluctance to fly may have been due to increased fear of a repeat attack. Suzanne Thompson, Professor of Psychology at Pomona College, conducted interviews with 501 people who were not direct victims of 9/11.

 

From this, she concluded that:

 

"Most participants felt more distress

(65%) and a stronger fear of flying

(55%) immediately after the event

than they did before the attacks."

 

-- Effects on Security

 

Since the 9/11 attacks, substantial resources have been put in place in the US towards improving security, in the areas of homeland security, national defense, and in the private sector.

 

-- Effects on New York City

 

In New York City, approximately 430,000 jobs were lost, and there were $2.8 billion in lost wages over the three months following the 9/11 attacks. The economic effects were mainly focused on the city's export economy sectors.

 

The GDP for New York City was estimated to have declined by $30.3 billion over the final three months of 2001 and all of 2002.

 

The Federal government provided $11.2 billion in immediate assistance to the Government of New York City in September 2001, and $10.5 billion in early 2002 for economic development and infrastructure needs.

 

The 9/11 attacks also had great impact on small businesses in Lower Manhattan, located near the World Trade Center. Approximately 18,000 small businesses were destroyed or displaced after the attacks.

 

The Small Business Administration provided loans as assistance, while Community Development Block Grants and Economic Injury Disaster Loans were used by the Federal Government to provide assistance to small business affected by the 9/11 attacks.

 

-- Other Effects of the Attacks

 

The September 11 attacks also led directly to the U.S. war in Afghanistan, as well as additional homeland security spending.

 

The attacks were also cited as a rationale for the Iraq war.

 

The cost of the two wars so far has surpassed $6 trillion.

 

More on 9/11 below.

 

Brooklyn Bridge

 

The Brooklyn Bridge (behind Manhattan Bridge in the photograph) is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge. Opened on the 24th. May 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River.

 

It was also the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its opening, with a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m).

 

The bridge was designed by John A. Roebling. The project's chief engineer, his son Washington Roebling, contributed further design work, assisted by the latter's wife, Emily Warren Roebling.

 

Construction started in 1870, with the Tammany Hall-controlled New York Bridge Company overseeing construction, although numerous controversies and the novelty of the design prolonged the project over thirteen years.

 

Since opening, the Brooklyn Bridge has undergone several reconfigurations, having carried horse-drawn vehicles and elevated railway lines until 1950.

 

To alleviate increasing traffic flows, additional bridges and tunnels were built across the East River.

 

The Brooklyn Bridge is the southernmost of the four toll-free vehicular bridges connecting Manhattan Island and Long Island, with the Manhattan Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge, and the Queensboro Bridge to the north. Only passenger vehicles and pedestrian and bicycle traffic are permitted.

 

A major tourist attraction since its opening, the Brooklyn Bridge has become an icon of New York City. Over the years, the bridge has been used as the location for various stunts and performances, as well as several crimes and attacks.

 

Following gradual deterioration, the Brooklyn Bridge has been renovated several times, including in the 1950's, 1980's, and 2010's.

 

Description of Brooklyn Bridge

 

The Brooklyn Bridge, an early example of a steel-wire suspension bridge, uses a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge design, with both vertical and diagonal suspender cables.

 

Its stone towers are neo-Gothic, with characteristic pointed arches. The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT), which maintains the bridge, says that its original paint scheme was "Brooklyn Bridge Tan" and "Silver", although a writer for The New York Post states that it was originally entirely "Rawlins Red".

 

The Deck of the Brooklyn Bridge

 

To provide sufficient clearance for shipping in the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge incorporates long approach viaducts on either end to raise it from low ground on both shores.

 

Including approaches, the Brooklyn Bridge is a total of 6,016 feet (1,834 m) long. The main span between the two suspension towers is 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m) long, and 85 feet (26 m) wide.

 

The bridge elongates and contracts between the extremes of temperature from 14 to 16 inches. Navigational clearance is 127 ft (38.7 m) above mean high water. A 1909 Engineering Magazine article said that, at the center of the span, the height could fluctuate by more than 9 feet (2.7 m) due to temperature and traffic loads.

 

At the time of construction, engineers had not yet discovered the aerodynamics of bridge construction, and bridge designs were not tested in wind tunnels.

 

It was coincidental that the open truss structure supporting the deck is, by its nature, subject to fewer aerodynamic problems. This is because John Roebling designed the Brooklyn Bridge's truss system to be six to eight times stronger than he thought it needed to be.

 

However, due to a supplier's fraudulent substitution of inferior-quality cable in the initial construction, the bridge was reappraised at the time as being only four times as strong as necessary.

 

The Brooklyn Bridge can hold a total load of 18,700 short tons, a design consideration from when it originally carried heavier elevated trains.

 

An elevated pedestrian-only promenade runs in between the two roadways and 18 feet (5.5 m) above them. The path is 10 to 17 feet (3.0 to 5.2 m) wide. The iron railings were produced by Janes & Kirtland, a Bronx iron foundry that also made the United States Capitol dome and the Bow Bridge in Central Park.

 

The Cables of Brooklyn Bridge

 

The Brooklyn Bridge contains four main cables, which descend from the tops of the suspension towers and support the deck. Each main cable measures 15.75 inches (40.0 cm) in diameter, and contains 5,282 parallel, galvanized steel wires wrapped closely together. These wires are bundled in 19 individual strands, with 278 wires to a strand.

 

This was the first use of bundling in a suspension bridge, and took several months for workers to tie together. Since the 2000's, the main cables have also supported a series of 24-watt LED lighting fixtures, referred to as "necklace lights" due to their shape.

 

1,520 galvanized steel wire suspender cables hang downward from the main cables.

 

Brooklyn Bridge Anchorages

 

Each side of the bridge contains an anchorage for the main cables. The anchorages are limestone structures located slightly inland, measuring 129 by 119 feet (39 by 36 m) at the base and 117 by 104 feet (36 by 32 m) at the top.

 

Each anchorage weighs 60,000 short tons. The Manhattan anchorage rests on a foundation of bedrock, while the Brooklyn anchorage rests on clay.

 

The anchorages contain numerous passageways and compartments. Starting in 1876, in order to fund the bridge's maintenance, the New York City government made the large vaults under the bridge's Manhattan anchorage available for rent, and they were in constant use during the early 20th. century.

 

The vaults were used to store wine, as they maintained a consistent 60 °F (16 °C) temperature due to a lack of air circulation. The Manhattan vault was called the "Blue Grotto" because of a shrine to the Virgin Mary next to an opening at the entrance.

 

The vaults were closed for public use in the late 1910's and 1920's during the Great War and Prohibition, but were reopened thereafter.

 

When New York magazine visited one of the cellars in 1978, it discovered a fading inscription on a wall reading:

 

"Who loveth not wine, women and song,

he remaineth a fool his whole life long."

 

Leaks found within the vault's spaces necessitated repairs during the late 1980's and early 1990's. By the late 1990's, the chambers were being used to store maintenance equipment.

 

The Towers of the Brooklyn Bridge

 

The bridge's two suspension towers are 278 feet (85 m) tall, with a footprint of 140 by 59 feet (43 by 18 m) at the high water line.

 

They are built of limestone, granite, and Rosendale cement. The limestone was quarried at the Clark Quarry in Essex County, New York. The granite blocks were quarried and shaped on Vinalhaven Island, Maine, under a contract with the Bodwell Granite Company, and delivered from Maine to New York by schooner.

 

The Manhattan tower contains 46,945 cubic yards (35,892 m3) of masonry, while the Brooklyn tower has 38,214 cubic yards (29,217 m3) of masonry.

 

Each tower contains a pair of Gothic Revival pointed arches, through which the roadways run. The arch openings are 117 feet (36 m) tall and 33.75 feet (10.29 m) wide.

 

The Brooklyn Bridge Caissons

 

The towers rest on underwater caissons made of southern yellow pine. Both caissons contain interior spaces that were used by construction workers. The Manhattan side's caisson is slightly larger, measuring 172 by 102 feet (52 by 31 m) and located 78.5 feet (23.9 m) below high water, while the Brooklyn side's caisson measures 168 by 102 feet (51 by 31 m) and is located 44.5 feet (13.6 m) below high water.

 

The caissons were designed to hold at least the weight of the towers which would exert a pressure of 5 short tons per square foot when fully built, but the caissons were over-engineered for safety.

 

During an accident on the Brooklyn side, when air pressure was lost and the partially-built towers dropped full-force down, the caisson sustained an estimated pressure of 23 short tons per square foot with only minor damage. Most of the timber used in the bridge's construction, including in the caissons, came from mills at Gascoigne Bluff on St. Simons Island, Georgia.

 

The Brooklyn side's caisson, which was built first, originally had a height of 9.5 feet (2.9 m) and a ceiling composed of five layers of timber, each layer 1 foot (0.30 m) tall. Ten more layers of timber were later added atop the ceiling, and the entire caisson was wrapped in tin and wood for further protection against flooding.

 

The thickness of the caisson's sides was 8 feet (2.4 m) at both the bottom and the top. The caisson had six chambers: two each for dredging, supply shafts, and airlocks.

 

The caisson on the Manhattan side was slightly different because it had to be installed at a greater depth. To protect against the increased air pressure at that depth, the Manhattan caisson had 22 layers of timber on its roof, seven more than its Brooklyn counterpart had. The Manhattan caisson also had fifty 4-inch (10 cm)-diameter pipes for sand removal, a fireproof iron-boilerplate interior, and different airlocks and communication systems.

 

History of the Brooklyn Bridge

 

Proposals for a bridge between the then-separate cities of Brooklyn and New York had been suggested as early as 1800. At the time, the only travel between the two cities was by a number of ferry lines.

 

Engineers presented various designs, such as chain or link bridges, though these were never built because of the difficulties of constructing a high enough fixed-span bridge across the extremely busy East River.

 

There were also proposals for tunnels under the East River, but these were considered prohibitively expensive. The current Brooklyn Bridge was conceived by German immigrant John Augustus Roebling in 1852.

 

He had previously designed and constructed shorter suspension bridges, such as Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, and the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky.

 

In February 1867, the New York State Senate passed a bill that allowed the construction of a suspension bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan.

 

Two months later, the New York and Brooklyn Bridge Company was incorporated. There were twenty trustees in total: eight each appointed by the mayors of New York and Brooklyn, as well as the mayors of each city and the auditor and comptroller of Brooklyn.

 

The company was tasked with constructing what was then known as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge. Alternatively, the span was just referred to as the "Brooklyn Bridge", a name originating in a 25th. January 1867 letter to the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

 

The act of incorporation, which became law on the 16th. April 1867, authorized the cities of New York (now Manhattan) and Brooklyn to subscribe to $5 million in capital stock, which would fund the bridge's construction.

 

Roebling was subsequently named as the main engineer of the work, and by September 1867, he had presented a master plan of a bridge that would be longer and taller than any suspension bridge previously built.

 

It would incorporate roadways and elevated rail tracks, whose tolls and fares would provide the means to pay for the bridge's construction. It would also include a raised promenade that served as a leisurely pathway.

 

The proposal received much acclaim in both cities, and residents predicted that the New York and Brooklyn Bridge's opening would have as much of an impact as the Suez Canal, the first transatlantic telegraph cable, or the first transcontinental railroad.

 

By early 1869, however, some individuals started to criticize the project, saying either that the bridge was too expensive, or that the construction process was too difficult.

 

To allay concerns about the design of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, Roebling set up a "Bridge Party" in March 1869, where he invited engineers and members of U.S. Congress to see his other spans. Following the bridge party in April, Roebling and several engineers conducted final surveys.

 

During these surveys, it was determined that the main span would have to be raised from 130 to 135 feet (40 to 41 m), requiring several changes to the overall design.

 

In June 1869, while conducting these surveys, Roebling sustained a crush injury to his foot when a ferry pinned it against a piling. After amputation of his crushed toes, he developed a tetanus infection that left him incapacitated and resulted in his death the following month.

 

Washington Roebling, John Roebling's 32-year-old son, was then hired to fill his father's role. When the younger Roebling was hired, Tammany Hall leader William M. Tweed also became involved in the bridge's construction because, as a major landowner in New York City, he had an interest in the project's completion.

 

The New York and Brooklyn Bridge Company - later known simply as the New York Bridge Company - was actually overseen by Tammany Hall, and it approved Roebling's plans and designated him as chief engineer of the project.

 

Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge

 

The Caissons

 

Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge began on the 2nd. January 2, 1870. The first work entailed the construction of two caissons, upon which the suspension towers would be built.

 

A caisson is a large watertight chamber, open at the bottom, from which the water is kept out by air pressure and in which construction work may be carried out under water.

 

The Brooklyn side's caisson was built at the Webb & Bell shipyard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and was launched into the river on the 19th. March 1870. Compressed air was pumped into the caisson, and workers entered the space to dig the sediment until it sank to the bedrock. As one sixteen-year-old from Ireland, Frank Harris, described the fearful experience:

 

"The six of us were working naked to the waist

in the small iron chamber with the temperature

of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

In five minutes the sweat was pouring from us,

and all the while we were standing in icy water

that was only kept from rising by the terrific

pressure. No wonder the headaches were

blinding."

 

Once the caisson had reached the desired depth, it was to be filled in with vertical brick piers and concrete. However, due to the unexpectedly high concentration of large boulders on the riverbed, the Brooklyn caisson took several months to sink to the desired depth.

 

Furthermore, in December 1870, its timber roof caught fire, delaying construction further. The "Great Blowout", as the fire was called, delayed construction for several months, since the holes in the caisson had to be repaired.

 

On the 6th. March 1871, the repairs were finished, and the caisson had reached its final depth of 44.5 feet (13.6 m); it was filled with concrete five days later. Overall, about 264 individuals were estimated to have worked in the caisson every day, but because of high worker turnover, the final total was thought to be about 2,500 men.

 

In spite of this, only a few workers were paralyzed. At its final depth, the caisson's air pressure was 21 pounds per square inch. Normal air pressure is 14.7 psi.

 

The Manhattan side's caisson was the next structure to be built. To ensure that it would not catch fire like its counterpart had, the Manhattan caisson was lined with fireproof plate iron.

 

It was launched from Webb & Bell's shipyard on the 11th. May 1871, and maneuvered into place that September.

 

Due to the extreme underwater air pressure inside the much deeper Manhattan caisson, many workers became sick with "the bends" - decompression sickness - during this work, despite the incorporation of airlocks (which were believed to help with decompression sickness at the time).

 

This condition was unknown at the time, and was first called "caisson disease" by the project physician, Andrew Smith. Between the 25th. January and the 31st. May 1872, Smith treated 110 cases of decompression sickness, while three workers died from the condition.

 

When iron probes underneath the Manhattan caisson found the bedrock to be even deeper than expected, Washington Roebling halted construction due to the increased risk of decompression sickness.

 

After the Manhattan caisson reached a depth of 78.5 feet (23.9 m) with an air pressure of 35 pounds per square inch, Washington deemed the sandy subsoil overlying the bedrock 30 feet (9.1 m) beneath to be sufficiently firm, and subsequently infilled the caisson with concrete in July 1872.

 

Washington Roebling himself suffered a paralyzing injury as a result of caisson disease shortly after ground was broken for the Brooklyn tower foundation.

 

His debilitating condition left him unable to supervise the construction in person, so he designed the caissons and other equipment from his apartment, directing the completion of the bridge through a telescope in his bedroom.

 

His wife, Emily Warren Roebling, not only provided written communications between her husband and the engineers on site, but also understood mathematics, calculations of catenary curves, strengths of materials, bridge specifications, and the intricacies of cable construction.

 

She spent the next 11 years helping supervise the bridge's construction, taking over much of the chief engineer's duties, including day-to-day supervision and project management.

 

The Towers of the Brooklyn Bridge

 

After the caissons were completed, piers were constructed on top of each of them upon which masonry towers would be built. The towers' construction was a complex process that took four years.

 

Since the masonry blocks were heavy, the builders transported them to the base of the towers using a pulley system with a continuous 1.5-inch (3.8 cm)-diameter steel wire rope, operated by steam engines at ground level.

 

The blocks were then carried up on a timber track alongside each tower and maneuvered into the proper position using a derrick atop the towers. The blocks sometimes vibrated the ropes because of their weight, but only once did a block fall.

 

Construction of the suspension towers started in mid-1872, and by the time work was halted for the winter in late 1872, parts of each tower had already been built. By mid-1873, there was substantial progress on the towers' construction.

 

The arches of the Brooklyn tower were completed by August 1874. The tower was substantially finished by December 1874, with the erection of saddle plates for the main cables at the top of the tower.

 

The last stone on the Brooklyn tower was raised in June 1875, and the Manhattan tower was completed in July 1876.

 

The work was dangerous: by 1876, three workers had died having fallen from the towers, while nine other workers were killed in other accidents.

 

By 1875, while the towers were being constructed, the project had depleted its original $5 million budget. Two bridge commissioners, one each from Brooklyn and Manhattan, petitioned New York state lawmakers to allot another $8 million for construction. Legislators authorized the money on condition that the cities would buy the stock of Brooklyn Bridge's private stockholders.

 

Work proceeded concurrently on the anchorages on each side. The Brooklyn anchorage broke ground in January 1873 and was substantially completed by August 1875.

 

The Manhattan anchorage was built in less time. Having started in May 1875, it was mostly completed by July 1876. The anchorages could not be fully completed until the main cables were spun, at which point another 6 feet (1.8 m) would be added to the height of each 80-foot (24 m) anchorage.

 

The Brooklyn Bridge Cables

 

The first temporary wire was stretched between the towers on the 15th. August 1876, using chrome steel provided by the Chrome Steel Company of Brooklyn. The wire was then stretched back across the river, and the two ends were spliced to form a traveler, a lengthy loop of wire connecting the towers, which was driven by a 30 horsepower (22 kW) steam hoisting engine at ground level.

 

The wire was one of two that were used to create a temporary footbridge for workers while cable spinning was ongoing. The next step was to send an engineer across the completed traveler wire in a boatswain's chair slung from the wire, to ensure it was safe enough.

 

The bridge's master mechanic, E. F. Farrington, was volunteered for this task, and an estimated crowd of 10,000 people on both shores watched him cross.

 

A second traveler wire was then stretched across the span. The temporary footbridge, located some 60 feet (18 m) above the elevation of the future deck, was completed in February 1877.

 

By December 1876, a steel contract for the permanent cables still had not been awarded. There was disagreement over whether the bridge's cables should use the as-yet-untested Bessemer steel, or the well-proven crucible steel.

 

Until a permanent contract was awarded, the builders ordered 30 short tons of wire in the interim, 10 tons each from three companies, including Washington Roebling's own steel mill in Brooklyn.

 

In the end, it was decided to use number 8 Birmingham gauge (approximately 4 mm or 0.165 inches in diameter) crucible steel, and a request for bids was distributed, to which eight companies responded.

 

In January 1877, a contract for crucible steel was awarded to J. Lloyd Haigh, who was associated with bridge trustee Abram Hewitt, whom Roebling distrusted.

 

The spinning of the wires required the manufacture of large coils of it which were galvanized but not oiled when they left the factory. The coils were delivered to a yard near the Brooklyn anchorage. There they were dipped in linseed oil, hoisted to the top of the anchorage, dried out and spliced into a single wire, and finally coated with red zinc for further galvanizing.

 

There were thirty-two drums at the anchorage yard, eight for each of the four main cables. Each drum had a capacity of 60,000 feet (18,000 m) of wire. The first experimental wire for the main cables was stretched between the towers on the 29th. May 29 1877, and spinning began two weeks later.

 

All four main cables had been strung by that July. During that time, the temporary footbridge was unofficially opened to members of the public, who could receive a visitor's pass; by August 1877 several thousand visitors from around the world had used the footbridge. The visitor passes ceased that September after a visitor had an epileptic seizure and nearly fell off.

 

As the wires were being spun, work also commenced on the demolition of buildings on either side of the river for the Brooklyn Bridge's approaches; this work was mostly complete by September 1877. The following month, initial contracts were awarded for the suspender wires, which would hang down from the main cables and support the deck. By May 1878, the main cables were more than two-thirds complete.

 

However, the following month, one of the wires slipped, killing two people and injuring three others. In 1877, Hewitt wrote a letter urging against the use of Bessemer steel in the bridge's construction. Bids had been submitted for both crucible steel and Bessemer steel; John A. Roebling's Sons submitted the lowest bid for Bessemer steel, but at Hewitt's direction, the contract was awarded to Haigh.

 

A subsequent investigation discovered that Haigh had substituted inferior quality wire in the cables. Of eighty rings of wire that were tested, only five met standards, and it was estimated that Haigh had earned $300,000 from the deception.

 

At this point, it was too late to replace the cables that had already been constructed. Roebling determined that the poorer wire would leave the bridge only four times as strong as necessary, rather than six to eight times as strong. The inferior-quality wire was allowed to remain, and 150 extra wires were added to each cable.

 

To avoid public controversy, Haigh was not fired, but instead was required to personally pay for higher-quality wire. The contract for the remaining wire was awarded to the John A. Roebling's Sons, and by the 5th. October 1878, the last of the main cables' wires went over the river.

 

After the suspender wires had been placed, workers began erecting steel crossbeams to support the roadway as part of the bridge's overall superstructure. Construction on the bridge's superstructure started in March 1879, but, as with the cables, the trustees initially disagreed on whether the steel superstructure should be made of Bessemer or crucible steel.

 

That July, the trustees decided to award a contract for 500 short tons of Bessemer steel to the Edgemoor Iron Works, based in Philadelphia. The trustees later ordered another 500 short tons of Bessemer steel. However, by February 1880 the steel deliveries had not started.

 

That October, the bridge trustees questioned Edgemoor's president about the delay in steel deliveries. Despite Edgemoor's assurances that the contract would be fulfilled, the deliveries still had not been completed by November 1881.

 

Brooklyn mayor Seth Low, who became part of the board of trustees in 1882, became the chairman of a committee tasked to investigate Edgemoor's failure to fulfill the contract. When questioned, Edgemoor's president stated that the delays were the fault of another contractor, the Cambria Iron Company, who were manufacturing the eyebars for the bridge trusses.

 

Further complicating the situation, Washington Roebling had failed to appear at the trustees' meeting in June 1882, since he had gone to Newport, Rhode Island. After the news media discovered this, most of the newspapers called for Roebling to be fired as chief engineer, except for the Daily State Gazette of Trenton, New Jersey, and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

 

Some of the longstanding trustees were willing to vouch for Roebling, since construction progress on the Brooklyn Bridge was still ongoing. However, Roebling's behavior was considered suspect among the younger trustees who had joined the board more recently.

 

Construction progress on the bridge itself was submitted in formal monthly reports to the mayors of New York and Brooklyn. For example, the August 1882 report noted that the month's progress included 114 intermediate cords erected within a week, as well as 72 diagonal stays, 60 posts, and numerous floor beams, bridging trusses, and stay bars.

 

By early 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was considered mostly completed and was projected to open that June. Contracts for bridge lighting were awarded by February 1883, and a toll scheme was approved that March.

 

Opposition to the Bridge

 

There was substantial opposition to the bridge's construction from shipbuilders and merchants located to the north, who argued that the bridge would not provide sufficient clearance underneath for ships.

 

In May 1876, these groups, led by Abraham Miller, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court against the cities of New York and Brooklyn.

 

In 1879, an Assembly Sub-Committee on Commerce and Navigation began an investigation into the Brooklyn Bridge. A seaman who had been hired to determine the height of the span, testified to the committee about the difficulties that ship masters would experience in bringing their ships under the bridge when it was completed.

 

Another witness, Edward Wellman Serrell, a civil engineer, said that the calculations of the bridge's assumed strength were incorrect.

 

However the Supreme Court decided in 1883 that the Brooklyn Bridge was a lawful structure.

 

The Opening of the Brooklyn Bridge

 

The Brooklyn Bridge was opened for use on the 24th. May 1883. Thousands of people attended the opening ceremony, and many ships were present in the East River for the occasion. Officially, Emily Warren Roebling was the first to cross the bridge.

 

The bridge opening was also attended by U.S. president Chester A. Arthur and New York mayor Franklin Edson, who crossed the bridge and shook hands with Brooklyn mayor Seth Low at the Brooklyn end. Abram Hewitt gave the principal address:

 

"It is not the work of any one man or of any one

age. It is the result of the study, of the experience,

and of the knowledge of many men in many ages.

It is not merely a creation; it is a growth. It stands

before us today as the sum and epitome of human

knowledge; as the very heir of the ages; as the

latest glory of centuries of patient observation,

profound study and accumulated skill, gained,

step by step, in the never-ending struggle of man

to subdue the forces of nature to his control and use."

 

Although Washington Roebling was unable to attend the ceremony (and rarely visited the site again), he held a celebratory banquet at his house on the day of the bridge opening.

 

Further festivity included a performance by a band, gunfire from ships, and a fireworks display. On that first day, a total of 1,800 vehicles and 150,300 people crossed the span.

 

Less than a week after the Brooklyn Bridge opened, ferry crews reported a sharp drop in patronage, while the bridge's toll operators were processing over a hundred people a minute. However, cross-river ferries continued to operate until 1942.

 

The bridge had cost US$15.5 million in 1883 dollars (about US$436,232,000 in 2021) to build, of which Brooklyn paid two-thirds. The bonds to fund the construction were not paid off until 1956.

 

An estimated 27 men died during the bridge's construction. Until the construction of the nearby Williamsburg Bridge in 1903, the Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world, 20% longer than any built previously.

 

At the time of opening, the Brooklyn Bridge was not complete; the proposed public transit across the bridge was still being tested, while the Brooklyn approach was being completed.

 

On the 30th. May 1883, six days after the opening, a woman falling down a stairway at the Brooklyn approach caused a stampede which resulted in at least twelve people being crushed and killed.

 

In subsequent lawsuits, the Brooklyn Bridge Company was acquitted of negligence. However, the company did install emergency phone boxes and additional railings, and the trustees approved a fireproofing plan for the bridge.

 

Public transit service began with the opening of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge Railway, a cable car service, on the 25th. September 1883.

 

On the 17th. May 1884, one of P. T. Barnum's most famous attractions, Jumbo the elephant, led a parade of 21 elephants over the Brooklyn Bridge. This helped to lessen doubts about the bridge's stability while also promoting Barnum's circus.

 

Brooklyn Bridge in the Late 19th. & Early 20th. Centuries

 

Movement across the Brooklyn Bridge increased in the years after it opened; a million people paid to cross in the first six months. The bridge carried 8.5 million people in 1884, its first full year of operation; this number doubled to 17 million in 1885, and again to 34 million in 1889.

 

Many of these people were cable car passengers. Additionally, about 4.5 million pedestrians a year were crossing the bridge for free by 1892.

 

The first proposal to make changes to the bridge was sent in only two and a half years after it opened; Linda Gilbert suggested glass steam-powered elevators and an observatory be added to the bridge and a fee charged for use, which would in part fund the bridge's upkeep and in part fund her prison reform charity.

 

This proposal was considered, but not acted upon. Numerous other proposals were made during the first fifty years of the bridge's life.

 

Trolley tracks were added in the center lanes of both roadways in 1898, allowing trolleys to use the bridge as well.

 

Concerns about the Brooklyn Bridge's safety were raised during the turn of the century. In 1898, traffic backups due to a dead horse caused one of the truss cords to buckle.

 

There were more significant worries after twelve suspender cables snapped in 1901, although a thorough investigation found no other defects.

 

After the 1901 incident, five inspectors were hired to examine the bridge each day, a service that cost $250,000 a year.

 

The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, which operated routes across the Brooklyn Bridge, issued a notice in 1905 saying that the bridge had reached its transit capacity.

 

Although a second deck for the Brooklyn Bridge was proposed, it was thought to be infeasible because doing so would overload the bridge's structural capacity.

 

Though tolls had been instituted for carriages and cable-car customers since the bridge's opening, pedestrians were spared from the tolls originally. However, by the first decade of the 20th. century, pedestrians were also paying tolls.

 

However tolls on all four bridges across the East River - the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as the Manhattan, Williamsburg, and Queensboro bridges to the north - were abolished in July 1911 as part of a populist policy initiative headed by New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor.

 

Ostensibly in an attempt to reduce traffic on nearby city streets, Grover Whalen, the commissioner of Plant and Structures, banned motor vehicles from the Brooklyn Bridge in 1922. The real reason for the ban was an incident the same year where two cables slipped due to high traffic loads.

 

Both Whalen and Roebling called for the renovation of the Brooklyn Bridge and the construction of a parallel bridge, although the parallel bridge was never built.

 

Brooklyn Bridge in Mid- to late 20th. Century

 

Upgrades to the Bridge

 

The first major upgrade to the Brooklyn Bridge commenced in 1948, when a contract for redesigning the roadways was awarded to David B. Steinman. The renovation was expected to double the capacity of the bridge's roadways to nearly 6,000 cars per hour, at a projected cost of $7 million.

 

The renovation included the demolition of both the elevated and the trolley tracks on the roadways and the widening of each roadway from two to three lanes, as well as the construction of a new steel-and-concrete floor.

 

In addition, new ramps were added to Adams Street, Cadman Plaza, and the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) on the Brooklyn side, and to Park Row on the Manhattan side. The trolley tracks closed in March 1950 to allow for the widening work to occur.

 

During the construction project, one roadway at a time was closed, allowing reduced traffic flows to cross the bridge in one direction only. The widened south roadway was completed in May 1951, followed by the north roadway in October 1953. In addition, defensive barriers were added to the bridge as a safeguard against sabotage.

 

The restoration was finished in May 1954 with the completion of the reconstructed elevated promenade.

 

While the rebuilding of the span was ongoing, a fallout shelter was constructed beneath the Manhattan approach in anticipation of the Cold War. The abandoned space in one of the masonry arches was stocked with emergency survival supplies for a potential nuclear attack by the Soviet Union; these supplies were still in place half a century later.

 

A repainting of the bridge was announced in advance of its 90th. anniversary.

 

Deterioration and Late-20th. Century Repair

 

The Brooklyn Bridge gradually deteriorated due to age and neglect. While it had 200 full-time dedicated maintenance workers before World War II, that number had dropped to five by the late 20th. century, and the city as a whole only had 160 bridge maintenance workers.

 

In 1974, heavy vehicles such as vans and buses were banned from the bridge to prevent further erosion of the concrete roadway. A report in The New York Times four years later noted that the cables were visibly fraying, and that the pedestrian promenade had holes in it.

 

The city began planning to replace all the Brooklyn Bridge's cables at a cost of $115 million, as part of a larger project to renovate all four toll-free East River spans.

 

By 1980, the Brooklyn Bridge was in such dire condition that it faced imminent closure. In some places, half of the strands in the cables were broken.

 

In June 1981, two of the diagonal stay cables snapped, seriously injuring a pedestrian who later died. Subsequently, the anchorages were found to have developed rust, and an emergency cable repair was necessitated less than a month later after another cable developed slack.

 

Following the incident, the city accelerated the timetable of its proposed cable replacement, and it commenced a $153 million rehabilitation of the Brooklyn Bridge in advance of the 100th anniversary.

 

As part of the project, the bridge's original suspender cables installed by J. Lloyd Haigh were replaced by Bethlehem Steel in 1986, marking the cables' first replacement since construction. In a smaller project, the bridge was floodlit at night, starting in 1982 to highlight its architectural features.

 

Additional problems persisted, and in 1993, high levels of lead were discovered near the bridge's towers. Further emergency repairs were undertaken in mid-1999 after small concrete shards began falling from the bridge into the East River. The concrete deck had been installed during the 1950's renovations, and had a lifespan of about 60 years.

 

Brooklyn Bridge in the 21st. Century

 

The Park Row exit from the bridge's westbound lanes was closed as a safety measure after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the nearby World Trade Center. That section of Park Row was closed since it ran right underneath 1 Police Plaza, the headquarters of the New York City Police Department.

 

In early 2003, to save money on electricity, the bridge's "necklace lights" were turned off at night. They were turned back on later that year after several private entities made donations to fund the lights.

 

After the 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, public attention focused on the condition of bridges across the U.S. The New York Times reported that the Brooklyn Bridge approach ramps had received a "poor" rating during an inspection in 2007.

 

However, a NYCDOT spokesman said that the poor rating did not indicate a dangerous state but rather implied it required renovation. In 2010, the NYCDOT began renovating the approaches and deck, as well as repainting the suspension span.

 

Work included widening two approach ramps from one to two lanes by re-striping a new prefabricated ramp; seismic retrofitting; replacement of rusted railings and safety barriers; and road deck resurfacing. The work necessitated detours for four years.

 

At the time, the project was scheduled to be completed in 2014, but completion was later delayed to 2015, then again to 2017. The project's cost also increased from $508 million in 2010 to $811 million in 2016.

 

In August 2016, after the renovation had been completed, the NYCDOT announced that it would conduct a seven-month, $370,000 study to verify if the bridge could support a heavier upper deck that consisted of an expanded bicycle and pedestrian path.

 

As of 2016, about 10,000 pedestrians and 3,500 cyclists used the pathway on an average weekday. Work on the pedestrian entrance on the Brooklyn side was underway by 2017.

 

The NYCDOT also indicated in 2016 that it planned to reinforce the Brooklyn Bridge's foundations to prevent it from sinking, as well as repair the masonry arches on the approach ramps, which had been damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

 

In July 2018, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a further renovation of the Brooklyn Bridge's suspension towers and approach ramps. That December, the federal government gave the city $25 million in funding, which would contribute to a $337 million rehabilitation of the bridge approaches and the suspension towers. Work started in late 2019 and was scheduled to be completed in 2023.

 

Usage of the Brooklyn Bridge

 

Horse-drawn carriages have been allowed to use the Brooklyn Bridge's roadways since its opening. Originally, each of the two roadways carried two lanes of a different direction of traffic. The lanes were relatively narrow at only 8 feet (2.4 m) wide. In 1922, motor vehicles were banned from the bridge, while horse-drawn carriages were restricted from the Manhattan Bridge. Thereafter, the only vehicles allowed on the Brooklyn Bridge were horse-drawn.

 

By 1950, the main roadway carried six lanes of automobile traffic, three in each direction. It was then reduced to five lanes with the addition of a two-way bike lane on the Manhattan-bound side in 2021.

 

Because of the roadway's height (11 ft (3.4 m)) and weight (6,000 lb (2,700 kg)) restrictions, commercial vehicles and buses are prohibited from using the Brooklyn Bridge.

 

The weight restrictions prohibit heavy passenger vehicles such as pickup trucks and SUVs from using the bridge, though this is not often enforced in practice.

 

Formerly, rail traffic operated on the Brooklyn Bridge as well. Cable cars and elevated railroads used the bridge until 1944, while trolleys ran until 1950.

 

A cable car service began operating on the 25th. September 1883; it ran on the inner lanes of the bridge, between terminals at the Manhattan and Brooklyn ends.

 

Since Washington Roebling believed that steam locomotives would put excessive loads upon the structure of the Brooklyn Bridge, the cable car line was designed as a steam/cable-hauled hybrid.

 

They were powered from a generating station under the Brooklyn approach. The cable cars could not only regulate their speed on the 3.75% upward and downward approaches, but also maintain a constant interval between each other. There were 24 cable cars in total.

 

Initially, the service ran with single-car trains, but patronage soon grew so much that by October 1883, two-car trains were in use. The line carried three million people in the first six months, nine million in 1884, and nearly 20 million in 1885.

 

Patronage continued to increase, and in 1888, the tracks were lengthened and even more cars were constructed to allow for four-car cable car trains. Electric wires for the trolleys were added by 1895, allowing for the potential future decommissioning of the steam/cable system.

 

The terminals were rebuilt once more in July 1895, and, following the implementation of new electric cars in late 1896, the steam engines were dismantled and sold.

 

The Brooklyn Bridge Walkway

 

The Brooklyn Bridge has an elevated promenade open to pedestrians in the center of the bridge, located 18 feet (5.5 m) above the automobile lanes.

 

The path is generally 10 to 17 feet (3.0 to 5.2 m) wide, though this is constrained by obstacles such as protruding cables, benches, and stairways, which create "pinch points" at certain locations. The path narrows to 10 feet (3.0 m) at the locations where the main cables descend to the level of the promenade.

 

Further exacerbating the situation, these "pinch points" are some of the most popular places to take pictures. As a result, in 2016, the NYCDOT announced that it planned to double the promenade's width.

 

On the 14th. September 2021, the DOT closed off the inner-most car lane on the Manhattan-bound side with protective barriers and fencing to create a new bike path. Cyclists are now prohibited from the upper pedestrian lane.

 

Emergency Use of Brooklyn Bridge

 

While the bridge has always permitted the passage of pedestrians, the promenade facilitates movement when other means of crossing the East River have become unavailable.

 

During transit strikes by the Transport Workers Union in 1980 and 2005, people commuting to work used the bridge; they were joined by Mayors Ed Koch and Michael Bloomberg, who crossed as a gesture to the affected public.

 

Pedestrians also walked across the bridge as an alternative to suspended subway services following the 1965, 1977, and 2003 blackouts, and after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

 

During the 2003 blackouts, many crossing the bridge reported a swaying motion. The higher-than-usual pedestrian load caused this swaying, which was amplified by the tendency of pedestrians to synchronize their footfalls with a sway.

 

Several engineers expressed concern about how this would affect the bridge, although others noted that the bridge did withstand the event and that the redundancies in its design - the inclusion of the three support systems (suspension system, diagonal stay system, and stiffening truss) - make it probably the best secured bridge against such movements going out of control.

 

In designing the bridge, John Roebling had stated that the bridge would sag but not fall, even if one of these structural systems were to fail altogether.

 

Stunts Associated With Brooklyn Bridge

 

There have been several notable jumpers from the Brooklyn Bridge:

 

-- The first person was Robert Emmet Odlum, brother of women's rights activist Charlotte Odlum Smith, on the 19th. May 1885. He struck the water at an angle, and died shortly afterwards from internal injuries.

 

-- Steve Brodie supposedly dropped from underneath the bridge in July 1886 and was briefly arrested for it, although there is some doubt about whether he actually jumped.

 

-- Larry Donovan made a slightly higher jump from the railing a month afterward.

 

Other notable events have taken place on or near the bridge:

 

-- In 1919, Giorgio Pessi piloted what was then one of the world's largest airplanes, the Caproni Ca.5, under the bridge.

 

-- At 9:00 a.m. on the 19th. May 1977, artist Jack Bashkow climbed one of the towers for 'Bridging', which was termed a "media sculpture" by the performance group Art Corporation of America Inc.

 

Seven artists climbed the largest bridges connected to Manhattan in order to:

 

"Replace violence and fear

in mass media for one day".

 

When each of the artists had reached the tops of the bridges, they ignited bright-yellow flares at the same moment, resulting in rush hour traffic disruption, media attention, and the arrest of the climbers, though the charges were later dropped.

 

Called "The first social-sculpture to use mass-media as art” by conceptual artist Joseph Beuys, the event was on the cover of the New York Post, it received international attention, and received ABC Eyewitness News' 1977 Best News of the Year award.

 

John Halpern documented the incident in the film 'Bridging' (1977)

 

-- Halpern attempted another "Bridging" "social sculpture" in 1979, when he planted a radio receiver, gunpowder and fireworks in a bucket atop one of the Brooklyn Bridge towers.

 

The piece was later discovered by police, leading to his arrest for possessing a bomb.

 

-- In 1993, bridge jumper Thierry Devaux illegally performed eight acrobatic bungee jumps above the East River close to the Brooklyn tower.

 

-- On the 1st. October 2011, more than 700 protesters with the Occupy Wall Street movement were arrested while attempting to march across the bridge on the roadway.

 

Protesters disputed the police account of the event, and claimed that the arrests were the result of being trapped on the bridge by the NYPD. The majority of the arrests were subsequently dismissed.

 

-- On the 22nd. July 2014, the two American flags on the flagpoles atop each tower were found to have been replaced by bleached-white American flags.

 

Initially, cannabis activism was suspected as a motive, but on the 12th. August 2014, two Berlin artists claimed responsibility for hoisting the two white flags, having switched the original flags with their replicas.

 

The artists said that the flags were meant to celebrate the beauty of public space and the anniversary of the death of German-born John Roebling, and they denied that it was an anti-American statement.

 

Brooklyn Bridge as a Suicide Spot

 

The first person to jump from the bridge with the intention of suicide was Francis McCarey in 1892.

 

A lesser-known early jumper was James Duffy of County Cavan, Ireland, who on the 15th. April 1895 asked several men to watch him jump from the bridge. Duffy jumped and was not seen again.

 

Additionally, the cartoonist Otto Eppers jumped and survived in 1910, and was then tried and acquitted for attempted suicide.

 

The Brooklyn Bridge has since developed a reputation as a suicide bridge due to the number of jumpers who do so intending to kill themselves, though exact statistics are difficult to find.

 

Crimes and Terrorism Associated With Brooklyn Bridge

 

-- In 1979, police disarmed a stick of dynamite placed under the Brooklyn approach, and an artist in Manhattan was later arrested for the act.

 

-- On the 1st. March 1994, Lebanese-born Rashid Baz opened fire on a van carrying members of the Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish Movement, striking 16-year-old student Ari Halberstam and three others traveling on the bridge.

 

Halberstam died five days later from his wounds, and Baz was later convicted of murder. He was apparently acting out of revenge for the Hebron massacre of Palestinian Muslims a few days prior to the incident.

 

After initially classifying the killing as one committed out of road rage, the Justice Department reclassified the case in 2000 as a terrorist attack.

 

The entrance ramp to the bridge on the Manhattan side was subsequently dedicated as the Ari Halberstam Memorial Ramp.

 

-- In 2003, truck driver Lyman Faris was sentenced to 20 years in prison for providing material support to Al-Qaeda, after an earlier plot to destroy the bridge by cutting through its support wires with blowtorches was thwarted.

 

Brooklyn Bridge Anniversary Celebrations

 

-- The 50th.-anniversary celebrations on the 24th. May 1933 included a ceremony featuring an airplane show, ships, and fireworks, as well as a banquet.

 

-- During the centennial celebrations on the 24th. May 1983, President Ronald Reagan led a cavalcade of cars across the bridge.

 

A flotilla of ships visited the harbor, officials held parades, and Grucci Fireworks held a fireworks display that evening.

 

For the centennial, the Brooklyn Museum exhibited a selection of the original drawings made for the bridge.

 

Culture

 

The Brooklyn Bridge has had an impact on idiomatic American English. For example, references to "Selling the Brooklyn Bridge" abound in American culture, sometimes as examples of rural gullibility, but more often in connection with an idea that strains credulity.

 

George C. Parker and William McCloundy were two early 20th.-century con men who may have perpetrated this scam successfully on unwitting tourists, although the author of 'The Brooklyn Bridge: A Cultural History' wrote:

 

"No evidence exists that the bridge

has ever been sold to a 'gullible

outlander'".

 

However, anyone taken in by fraudsters is hardly likely to publicize the fact.

 

A popular tradition on Brooklyn Bridge is for couples to inscribe a date and their initials onto a padlock, attach it to the bridge, and throw the key into the water as a sign of their love.

 

The practice of attaching 'love locks' to the bridge is officially illegal in New York City, and in theory the NYPD can give violators a $100 fine.

 

NYCDOT workers periodically remove the love locks from the bridge at a cost of $100,000 per year.

 

Brooklyn Bridge in the Media

 

The bridge is often featured in wide shots of the New York City skyline in television and film, and has been depicted in numerous works of art.

 

Fictional works have used the Brooklyn Bridge as a setting; for instance, the dedication of a portion of the bridge, and the bridge itself, were key components in the 2001 film Kate & Leopold.

 

Furthermore, the Brooklyn Bridge has also served as an icon of America, with mentions in numerous songs, books, and poems.

 

Among the most notable of these works is that of American Modernist poet Hart Crane, who used the Brooklyn Bridge as a central metaphor and organizing structure for his second book of poetry, 'The Bridge' (1930).

 

The Brooklyn Bridge has also been lauded for its architecture. One of the first positive reviews was "The Bridge as a Monument", a Harper's Weekly piece written by architecture critic Montgomery Schuyler and published a week after the bridge's opening.

 

In the piece, Schuyler wrote:

 

"It so happens that the work which is likely to be

our most durable monument, and to convey some

knowledge of us to the most remote posterity, is a

work of bare utility; not a shrine, not a fortress, not

a palace, but a bridge."

 

Architecture critic Lewis Mumford cited the piece as the impetus for serious architectural criticism in the U.S. He wrote that in the 1920's the bridge was a source of joy and inspiration in his childhood, and that it was a profound influence in his adolescence.

 

Later critics regarded the Brooklyn Bridge as a work of art, as opposed to an engineering feat or a means of transport.

 

Not all critics appreciated the bridge, however. Henry James, writing in the early 20th. century, cited the bridge as an ominous symbol of the city's transformation into a "steel-souled machine room".

 

The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge is detailed in numerous media sources, including David McCullough's 1972 book 'The Great Bridge', and Ken Burns's 1981 documentary 'Brooklyn Bridge'.

 

It is also described in 'Seven Wonders of the Industrial World', a BBC docudrama series with an accompanying book, as well as in 'Chief Engineer: Washington Roebling, The Man Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge', a biography published in 2017.

See the Hereios of We’re Here! star in Western movies today!

 

The first western, and the film responsible for establishing that moving pictures could be a commercially successful medium, was The Great Train Robbery in 1903.

 

The original movie still of Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, which I savaged for today’s theme, can be seen here:

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGreat_train_robbery_Bar...

By Edwin S. Porter (The Kobal Collection) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

  

The following interesting info is from this website: www.filmsite.org/grea.html

The film was originally advertised as "a faithful duplication of the genuine 'Hold Ups' made famous by various outlaw bands in the far West." The plot was inspired by a true event that occurred on August 29, 1900, when four members of George Leroy Parker's (Butch Cassidy) 'Hole in the Wall' gang halted the No. 3 train on the Union Pacific Railroad tracks toward Table Rock, Wyoming. The bandits forced the conductor to uncouple the passenger cars from the rest of the train and then blew up the safe in the mail car to escape with about $5,000 in cash.

 

The film used a number of innovative techniques, many of them for the first time, including parallel editing, minor camera movement, location shooting and less stage-bound camera placement. Jump-cuts or cross-cuts were a new, sophisticated editing technique, showing two separate lines of action or events happening continuously at identical times but in different places.

   

Just after 9 am, 2 masked male armed with AR-15 style weapons enter a bank in Victoria City. Bystanders immediately call 911. Constables from the Victoria City Police Department respond to the call.

 

Will the police able to catch the robbers?

 

To be continued...

 

It's been while since I have done a police theme scene. Hope you enjoy.

Washington State Patrol and Marysville Police Department assisting with a armed robbery call at a bank. The subject's vehicle was later located by a WSP trooper (pictured) where the K-9 was trying to track down the subject, but were unable to locate the subject. The subject is still in large. There was another bank robbery last week within the same area, but it is unknown if both are related.

© laura kicey

Sheringham 1940's Event.

This isnt just your regular neighborhood liquor store, this a location where three murders and a robbery took place in June of 1966 and American boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was wrongfully accused and convicted of murder. He served 27 years of three life sentences before being released as a free man.

 

This place is located in my hometown of Paterson, NJ on the corner of Lafayette St. and was once called Lafayette Bar & Grill. I recently drove by knowing the story of that fateful night to find out that the old sign had been taken down and the bar was changed into a liquor store. The story is deep, there was a book written by Carter which was named "The sixteenth Round," a song written by Bob Dylan called "Hurricane" and a feature film by Norman Jewison in 1999 that starred Denzel Washington who played Carter.

 

Bio:

 

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (born May 6, 1937) is a former American middleweight boxer, who competed from 1961 through 1966. Carter, along with John Artis, was convicted twice for the murder of three people which occurred at a bar in June 1966 in his hometown Paterson, New Jersey. He was later released after serving twenty years of three life sentences when a federal judge overturned his conviction.

 

Boxing career:

 

Total fights 40

Wins 27

Wins by KO 19

Losses 12

Draws 1

No contests 0

Carter is a member of the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame.

 

Carter now lives in Toronto, Ontario, and was executive director of the Association in Defense of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC) from 1993 until 2005. Carter publicly resigned from AIDWYC when the prosecutor of Canadian Guy Paul Morin, a wrongfully convicted man, was promoted to a judgeship and AIDWYC declined to support Carter's protest of the appointment. In 1996 Carter, then 60, was arrested when Toronto police mistakenly identified him as a suspect in his forties believed to have sold drugs to an undercover officer. He was released after the police realized their error. Carter now works as a motivational speaker. On October 14, 2005, he received two honorary Doctorates of Law, one from York University (Toronto, Canada) and one from Griffith University (Brisbane, Australia), in recognition of his work with AIDWYC and the Innocence Project.

 

This is just another small part of the great history of Paterson, NJ.......

Captured this ant stealing the larvae from the eggs.

The ant is only about 3/8 inch long.

Have a great weekend!

Sony a9 (ILCE-9)/Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter

A clever way of preventing crime: ban theft and robbery! But the big-bereted (or is it big-nosed) villain does not look too afraid.

To Entice a Thief

 

A Prologue:

 

“I’m so glad you gave up your life of crime!”

She said to me as we danced, a wicked little smile creeping up upon her face.

  

It was a signal to me that she was ready to leave the reception...and that she was feeling amorous.

 

“Brilliant”. I thought as I let my eyes drift down to soak in the enticement of her sparkling necklace, before crafting an answer in character.

 

“Yes, and I owe it all to you and your lovely friends for being here this evening to help me rehabilitate.”

 

£££££££££££££££££££££££££

 

The Enticing Tale Unfolds:

 

We were attending a black-tie reception that evening to celebrate the re-opening of a local theatre that had undergone a 2-year refurbishing, the first in almost 75 years of its 300-year existence.

 

I was in a full black tux with a green cummerbund.

 

My wife Ginny was wearing a slick thin satin sheath gown, short scalloped sleeved shoulders with a cowled neckline. It was dyed a vivid shade of emerald green which set off nicely, both her let down long ginger hair and mesmerizing green eyes.

 

My wife’s jewellery was also quite mesmerizing.

 

Long dangling rhinestone earrings that flowed and shimmered from her ears and dangled playfully in and out of her hair whenever she flung her head back.

Her nearly 45-millimeter wide necklace was also set with rhinestones, hanging down just below her gowns’ cowled neckline, where it sparkled alluringly as it moved against the luxurious green satin. She was also wearing her favorite rhinestone bracelet around her right wrist. The bracelet was a right cracker. The outer strands are made up of 1 carat round stones with a full 3-carat pear-shaped collection of “ice” set in the surrounding middle strand. She also, in addition to her wedding rings, was wearing an emerald diamond cocktail ring on her right index finger.

 

The posh reception had been a lot of fun, I really enjoy drinking and hanging with Ginny’s mates. A collection of artists of varying talents, including her fellow local actors and actresses.

 

We had been sharing a table with two other couples. Ginny’s fellow actor friend Tad and his wife Mareid, along with our married friends Heather and Merrick.

 

Tad and Merrick were in stiff tuxes like mine. Tad was wearing a black cummerbund, while Merrick wore a shiny dark blue vest with his.

 

Reserved Mareid was wearing a black velvet v necked dress.

Her jewels consisted of a diamond journey necklace with matching earrings. Alsong with her wedding rings she wore a small diamond pinkie ring.

 

Jovial Heather had poured her petite figure into a repurposed bridesmaid A-line taffeta gown of shiny sapphire blue with short white satin gloves on her hands.

She wore a dazzling necklace of blue sapphire stones surrounded by rhinestone diamonds. A large center stone dangled just above her snugly held cleavage with a series of smaller stones going up either side of the silver chain. Earrings and a bracelet had been added that matched her necklace. Along with her wedding rings, she sports a brace of matching blue sapphire cocktail rings.

 

As the evening, and the drinking wore on, our conversation became more lively, running through a myriad of topics before touching on the upcoming theatre production Tad, Mareid and Ginny were preparing for. A mystery play entitled “Shear the Black Sheep” by David Dodge.

 

It was Heather, while thoughtfully fingering her necklace, who chirped in about Dodge’s novel “To Catch a Thief.”

 

As we all looked at her, I studied her pretty attire, thinking that she would have fit right in with the story.

 

“Hell, we all would .” I thought eyeing Ginny and the rest of our table mates.

 

Ginny caught me eyeballing her and smirked as she dipped her head down to adjust her bracelet, her earrings doing their thing.

 

Heather reached over and gently laid her fingers over Ginny’s handsome bracelet, gently fingering it as she spoke further.

 

“That is such a pretty bracelet Ginny...”

 

Heather lifted her eyes up from it and looked around the table at us.”

 

“I remember hearing that David Dodge wrote his story after a jewel thief had broken into the French villa next store. As the dinner guests were gathered for a cocktail party on the terrace in front, the thief broke into the back and looted the master and guest bedrooms of valuables. “

 

“How awful!” Mareid spoke with a shudder.

 

Heather comfortingly placed her hand on Mareid’s bare arm. Her eyes wide as she ran wild with the thought.

“It was, darling, but at least he didn’t get any of the jewels the ladies like us were wearing at the party.”

 

“Unless they had chosen not to wear any...” I thought but kept it to myself as Heather went on talking to Mareid...

 

“And just think! The thief may have been there previously as a guest, how else did he know what jewels were there for the taking if he had not seen the ladies wearing theirs out ?”

 

“Was he ever caught I wonder ?” Questioned Merrick with a wink at me.

 

“I don’t believe so, got away clean away with all them lovely jewels he nicked,” Heather admitted, as both she and Mareid squirmed a bit in their seats.

 

Ginny meanwhile was not squirming but was giving me a meaningful look over after catching me in the act of doing the same to her.

 

I was, I’ll admit, also squirming a bit at Heather's remarks, so I decided to pipe in with...

 

“So Heather dear, ever wonder, if he had been there previously, as a guest, what would have been going through his mind as he mingled? Better yet, say he was here in our midsts tonight, if we were to pretend the jewels you ladies are wearing were real?”

 

“Mine are!” Said unimaginative Mareid with a bit of worry in her voice.

 

Tad chuckled. “ So they are darling, but any jewel thief worth his salt would also be salivating over the pretty baubles that Heather and Ginny are so winningly sporting this evening.”

 

Merrick chimed in...

“Spoken like a true thief laddie. And he would also be wanting a dance so he could have a closer look over of their sparklers.”

 

He stood up and offered a hand to his wife.

 

“Shall we, my dear?”

 

Heather gleefully rose and the pair went off to the dance floor. Closely followed by the rest of our table.

 

£££££££££££££££££££££££££

 

Once this new series of long dances were over we all cheerfully headed back to our tables.

 

Without sitting, Tad and Mareid informed us they were calling it an early evening, having promised to have the babysitter (their young niece Veriety) home early.

 

We said our goodbyes and after they left, Merrick and I seated our ladies, then headed in the opposite direction to the bar for another round of drinks.

 

Returning to our table we saw that the girls were embroiled in a deep conversation, which they ended up on our approach, looking up at us like the cats who had gotten the canaries.

 

We served the pretty ladies their drinks, and after taking a rather unladylike slurp of her’s, Heather looked at Merrick and me with questioning eyes before asking, with a rather horsey dry throated tone of voice...

 

“Now then, what were you lads thinking as we danced?”

 

“A...bout?” Asked Merrick teasing, for he believes we both knew, but wanted her to come out with it.

 

“ Our jewels, sillies. Were you coveting them, thinking of ways to steal them from us? Inquiring minds want to know?”

 

With an astounding expression, I asked.

 

“Heather Luv, are you calling your husband snd I jewel thieves?!”

 

Both Heather and Ginny chortled as Heather said cheerfully...

 

“Well, reformed thieves then, you’ve given up a life of crime, but, you know, you can take the boy out of the city, but not the city out of the boy. So let’s have it, each of you have to say something, that’s my challenge...”

“And no coping out of it either you two. I know you have imaginations. Especially you, she finished, drilling her blue eyes into mine...”

 

Merrick gave me a nudge. “I think your first mate.”

 

£££££££££££££££££££££££££

 

I took a long sip of my bourbon, whilst gathering my thoughts. I freely eyed Ginny, then Heather up and down for effect. Their pretty dresses would have been noticed first, followed by the thief eyeing their expensive appearing jewels. This is going to be easy I thought, before starting in, pausing in-between thoughts for further effect.

 

“I was a jewel thief who was taken under wing by a wealthy socialite who felt it was her duty to reform me. As part of this task, she has brought me here surrounded by ladies in fancy jewels, to teach me how to overcome my desires.”

 

“I would have selected out a promising lady, Ginny here, and asked for a dance.”

 

“I would then have started out dancing at a modest distance to get the full picture. Then I would have asked if she knew who the tart in the blue taffeta dress and sapphires was?”

 

“Hey, that’s not very nice!” Heather scolded me, as we all laughed.

 

I continued, reaching over and fingering my wife’s bracelet.

 

“Then as Ginny looked over at you Heather. I would have had a window opened to closely study her earrings and necklace, then as she looked back over to me I would lift her right-hand and have her swirl around in a circle as I gave the same attention to her bracket and ring. Then I would again talk about the pretty lady in blue, I had I kindly called a tart, finding out where she(and her jewels ) were spending the evening. “

 

“Hah”! Said Heather triumphantly. “So you are not reformed, and I am not surprised you would prefer your wife’s jewels over my own. They are very pretty “

 

I shook my head no.... as I reached over and stroked my fingers along Heather’s necklace.

 

“Of course I am not reformed, and I would be very interested in the jewels you both are wearing.”

 

“So I would then maneuver Ginny close to Merrick, and tapping him on the shoulder as to change partners.”

 

“Then I would repeat my performance on You. Looking over this necklace your flaunting, calling out to be nicked, and as I study it, asking where your friend the redhead was staying. “

 

I finished up with...

 

“As we finished the dance and had gone back to the table I would make an excuse to leave. Then as you two ladies were enjoying your evening here, I would be breaking into your bedrooms, stealing your jewels.”

 

“Devious ...I like it, “ Heather said with a delicious shudder before turning he attention to Merrick and challenging...

 

“Your turn my love...”

 

Yes, I would love to hear it also...” My Ginny said with encouragement.

 

Merrick, a bit red-faced, began. And I was pleasantly pleased that he had obviously been giving it some thought.

 

“Well, I um, would wait until you were alone during the evening and come up to offer dance, or to put my name on your dance card. Then as we danced I would say how pretty your dress was and how lovely your jewels were. Then as you told me about your dress and jewellery I would listen and watch. I would think how dazzling you looked wearing them, and that it would be a shame I had to steal them. I would keep an eye on you the rest of the evening, follow you home, and as you slept take them from you.”

 

Heather sighed deeply, then asked.

“Would you watch me make sure I was sleeping before starting?”

 

Merrick nodded, “That and to make sure you were not still wearing any of them.”

 

“Nice Merrick!” I thought to myself as his wife pretty much was now swooning.

 

I was watching Heather as Merrick was spinning his tale. I could tell she was more than thrilled at what he was saying, becoming even more turned on about her view of the jewel thief subject she had broached.

 

But I knew that poor clueless Merrick was missing that point over his wife’s yearning desire for him to at least try acting out upon the theme. He had told his story and that to him appeared to be the end of his Wife’s challenge.

 

Pity, for it was all ever so obvious that Heather was into this. Albeit alcohol may have also been a driving factor.

 

£££££££££££££££££££££££££

 

It was all finally winding down, when, as we again were dancing, Ginny, had come up with her thief remark that I mention at the beginning of this tale.

 

As the dance ended I looked my wife lovingly in her eyes with a look in mine that told her I was up to something.

 

“Let’s do it properly,” I said, nodding towards the table where we had been sitting, watching as Heather was being reseated by Merrick after they had left the dance floor ahead of us.

 

You girls go to the loo while I have a chat with Merrick.

 

“Game on...” Ginny said with joyful conviction.

 

And so it was that some twenty minutes later, and another round of drinks, found us back on the dance floor.

 

But this time around I was with Heather and Merrick was dancing with Ginny.

 

£££££££££££££££££££££££££

 

As we danced I talked to Heather in a low, conspiracy-laden tone of voice.

“You know Heather, you sometimes need to tease someone into wanting to steal your jewels, spell it out what you think he would do. Like Ginny and I are going to do before leaving. “

 

“Oooh, what’s going to happen ?” She asked with deep interest:

 

“You’ll see soon enough, Ginny is going to play the character of another lady here this evening. The one your husband is dancing with. That will be our game. You need to focus on yours. Speaking of which..”

 

“Yes?” Asked Heather with deep curiosity.

 

I tapped her on the nose... then lifted her necklace going into my character...

 

“Remember, coming from a reformed thief, your jewels are far safer in your room than to trust some mischievous bugger of a weasel-faced hotel desk clerk to lock them up for you in a hotel safes vault.”

 

Ohh my, Heather really liked me saying that, for she had no clue to its meaning, but believed heart and soul that Merrick would!

 

Then she went into her character...

 

“I am so glad you are looking out for me and my jewels. Here I have been foolishly listening to hotel clerks and letting them put my pretties in the hotel safe.”

 

Placing a hand on either side of her face I lifting her silky hair up to properly view her dangling earrings, before answering Heather in the voice of my character...

 

“Best not to take chances. Make sure you keep all your jewelry with you in your suite this evening.”

 

Heather giggled...

“ Oh, I had not thought of that. What a brilliant suggestion. You are truly my knight in shining armor!”

 

With that, she gave me a peck on the chin...

 

I chuckled before breaking character to give pretty Heather some further instructions...

 

“Now listen, we are going to switch partners soon, this is what you need to do with Merrick.

 

As I maneuvered my pretty partner over towards her husband and my wife, I explained the role she would play for the remaining 30 minutes till midnight, at which time the reception was officially over. If she played it right, further adventures awaited her at home afterwards!

 

I had finished my advice by the time we reached them.

 

I had one hand holding around Heather’s silken-covered waist, the other was holding her hand. I let go of her hand and tapped Merrick on the shoulder.

 

“Change partners?” I questioned as he looked me in the eye.

 

Merrick looked at Ginny,

 

“Do you mind?”

 

He said to her, and with the manner had said that I knew that Ginny had been successful in bringing Merrick up to speed on playing his wife’s game.

 

“I would love to.”

 

Ginny said and still dancing to the music, we, in turn, switched our partners.

 

£££££££££££££££££££££££££

 

I took Ginny up in my arms, she felt like heaven as my fingers slipped around the satin waistline of her green gown.

 

“I’m so glad you gave up your life of crime!”

She said to me with that wicked little smile of hers lighting up her face.

 

I smiled back...

 

“Yes, and I owe it all to the efforts of my benefactor and her lovely friends., like you. So glad you all have faith in me.”

 

Meanwhile, I was working my fingers carefully up the backside of her scintillating gown.

 

Ginny sighed happily...

 

“ I will admit I had some reservations over my friend bringing a thief here. What if you had found all these jewels we are wearing too much of a temptation?

 

My fingers had finally made it up to her ‘diamond’ necklaces’ clasp as I answered soothingly...

 

“That's why she told all of her friends to wear their best jewelry tonight. To test me. I am so glad you listened to her. I feel no strong desires to steal jewels any more.”

 

Ginny smiled at me...

 

“I’m glad, for I do so love wearing my diamonds out. And no worries, I totally trust you around them...”

 

With that Ginny lay her head down lovingly upon my shoulder as I looked around. No one was paying us any heed. Except Heather, who was was snuggled into Merrick, with an eye open upon us.

 

Ginny and I danced in that position for some time before I made my move and began to work open the ‘diamond’ necklace’s jeweled clasp.

 

On cue, Ginny said into my shoulder.

 

“I can tell you are having a lovely time this evening.”

 

I looked into Ginnys face, her swinging earrings giving off a frenzied sparkle.

 

“Oh, I am Lass, that I most certainly am having a lovely time. I am thoroughly enjoying dancing with pretty ladies like yourself. And may add that your earrings are something special.”

 

Ginny raised her head smiling at me...which now made my job a lot easier.

 

“Thank you, that means a lot to me. But they are heavy, and I'm afraid that I have a bad habit of taking them off, then leaving them behind at the table...”

 

I was smiling, listening intently to her, while my fingers finally managing to unclasp her necklace, letting the ends hang freely down before I made a lying comment...

 

“No worries luv if I were to see you do that, I would point it out to you.”

 

She sighed, then happily snuggled back into my chest.

 

“ I knew you were reformed, and saying what you just did proves it.”

 

My hand at her waist gripped in harder as she snuggled in closer. With her hot figure pressing into mine, my free hand was busy working her shimmery ‘diamonds’ free from around her satin gown’s cowled neckline.

 

“You truly have no idea how much I am appreciating this trust you are giving me tonight.” I murmured while I worked on reliving her of the ‘diamonds’ she was so obtainabley wearing.

 

And then it smoothly came away easy peasy, and I found myself in full possession of her diamonds. I quickly whisked it over her satin-clad shoulder and secreted it away inside my pocket.

 

Ginny pulled away, smiling up into my face, her eyes searching into mine as she fully played her role of the rich social worker’s wealthy friend, who agreed that thieves just needed to be shown trust to be let back into society.

 

And what better way to show your trust in a thief, than by taking the him to a dress-up with your jewel-laden friends of course?

 

I smiled back at her.

 

Then looking over at Heather, elegant in her blue gown and quite shimmering collection of sapphires, her eyes wide open over seeing what my ‘thief’ had been up to...

 

I asked...

 

And your friend Heather? Is she still staying at the Seville Hotel this evening?

 

“Oh yes, but without her husband, the poor thing is going to be all alone this evening.”

 

“Poor thing,” I said full-heartedly agreeing, with wicked intent.

  

£££££££££££££££££££££££££

 

As we gathered back at our table Heather (and Merrick) kept quiet about Ginny's missing necklace. But I could tell Heather was bursting over it, for it was both exciting to her and killing her at the same time to keep mum over.

 

But she stayed in her character.

 

As did we all.

 

We stayed at our table finishing up our drinks and making small talk, as we waiting for the stroke of Midnight before leaving.

 

At one point I saw Ginny lean over to Heather, and pointing over at Merrick who was standing next to me as we chatted with one of our mates from the dart league, mouth in a whisper ...

 

“ Be careful Lass, I don’t trust that one. “

 

Heather smiled, eating it up, whispered back..,

 

“No worries, I know what I’m doing...”

 

Ginny, after running her fingers along the length of her earrings, began to straighten her bracelet, continued...

 

“I’m sure you do Luv, I have every bit of faith in your abilities.”

 

Heather chortled back, unable to keep a straight face as she eyed the now necklace bare cowled neckline of Ginny’s shiny green gown, whilst playing with the sapphires still dangling down the front of hers. She said to Ginny...

 

“And I am so glad you have been so successful in having your thief give up his errant jewelry stealing ways, my darling ...”

 

Both girls began giggling uncontrollably. As Merrick and I turned to watch.

 

Soon after, the remaining quests were nicely shown the door to leave.

 

As we stood by our autos, Ginny and Heather hugged as Merrick and I firmly shook hands with each other, and I added a slap on the back.

 

Then Ginny hugged and kissed Merrick goodbye as Heather did the same for me.

 

As she perkily enveloped me in a hug, Heather whispered a thank you, then scolded that she was a little shocked finding my thief had not also nicked her fancy necklace as we danced...

 

“Wish I had, Raincheck then?” I whispered playfully back.

 

That made her smile winningly at me.

  

“Rain check it is.” she agreed, before reaching up to reward me with a quick kiss goodbye.

 

We then went out separate ways.

 

Heather off to teasingly entertain her ‘reformed’ jewel thief, later to lose her jewels as she “fell asleep” wearing them in her ‘hotel’ room...

 

Ginny was off to take a stroll in the woods behind our cottage, where no one but her ‘reformed’ thief knew the mischief that would befall her there.

 

And as I started the engine, seeing Heather’s necklace dangling down with a shimmer as she was being helped inside her car by Merrick, I knew there was another chapter to tonight's story waiting in the wings...

 

One where a lady resplendent in a blue gown and sparkling sapphires, would be destined to have a fateful dance with a jewel coveting thief.

 

And as we talked about it much later, Ginny said she would be game to playing a dress up part in that chapter also!

 

Fini.

 

And a thank you to David Dodge for telling someone the story behind the scenes of his.

 

lestuff.wordpress.com/tag/david-dodge-to-catch-a-thief/

 

Robbery Squad, Q Car (QA) on display at open day event in Harrow

Recently I have been inspired by a lot of other builder's futuristic/apocalyptic Mocs. Ended up being one of my favorite Mocs I've done.

Williams Arizona reenactment gang at their finest

it was so tricky to catch these events as they happened so fast! (so not great shots)

 

basically a puffin would fly in from fishing out at sea with his catch for his baby in his burrow

 

and the black headed gulls would mob him to try and steal his fish!

 

on the whole they did seem to fail as the puffins were really fast diving into their burrows and it did make you wonder whether it would just be easier for the gulls to go out fishing themselves!

 

but every now and then they did manage to steal a meal – like the ones in the last shots below

 

hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

(PLEASE NO AWARDS OR PICTURES OR FLASHY BADGES)

 

TWITTER

© Copyright Eric Johnson 2021 Unauthorized use Prohibited

 

The great train robbery" Well today 08/23/2021 & 8/24/2021 the Atlantic Coast Line Locomotive No. 1504 was placed on flatbed semi's to leave the area its only really known as home Jacksonville Florida. Just one more piece of railroad history this town could really not care about. Sure its going to be restored for U.S. Sugar Corp.'s historic Sugar Express tourist train attraction. And one more piece of Railroad history in Jax/Fl will be lost forever. So I say Goodbye to the Atlantic Coast Line Locomotive No. 1504.

                    

Note: more pictures on MOCpages.

 

Hi! This is my entry for a MOCpages contest,

'The Ultimate LEGO(R) Contest!' by I me. The round 1 category which I've chosen is: battle, a battle for anything.

 

About the MOC: This is a part of a modern city (in 2030) and some sly criminals are attempting to break into a small bank to steal a bunch of money. They're prepared cause they are equiped with rifles, knives, guns and a grapple canon. The boss of this operation has arrived on his ATV and thinks that everything is going well... but the army knows how to stop them. They've sent a few highly trained soldiers, together with my sigfig which looks like me when I'm 32 years old on the right of this picture (in 2030), to finish this crime...

 

I had to wait like 2 or 3 weeks to receive my ordered bricks because I didn't have enough of those 2 X 2 tiles in medium stone grey.

 

Thanks for watching and take a look at the other pictures to see what's inside the buildings!

getting the details

A travesty of Justice

 

We are looking for the name (Melody?) and hopefully a photo of a somewhat obscure actress of the early silent film era. She apparently was the victim of a jewel robbery that occurred in her suite in New York City. Her story may have been used to inspire the cover from the Snappy Detective Stories July 1934 issue. We have not been able to find a copy and were wondering if any of the stories matched the cover illustration, and if any actual names were given.

  

She may have been the Lover (Wife?) of a wealthy, influential New York City Business man. One weekend, while he was out of town, she left his South Hampton mansion and went out partying to New York City for the weekend. During that time, she reported to police that she had been robbed in her penthouse suite by a masked burglar to the tune of 75,000 worth of jewelry... In what may have been a rather cruel twist of injustice, an elevator valet with a Juvenile criminal background was arrested for the crime, tried without any real evidence, convicted and put in prison. Years later He died under mysterious circumstances while still incarcerated in a New York Prison. The Ladies jewelry was never reported recovered.

  

The above info was, told to us by an old vaudeville magician who had performed with a young lady whose stage name of Melody was all he could remember. She eventually became a silent era ‘B’ actress under a name he could not recall. He thought she may have had a minor role as an actress appearing in the 1911 silent film version of the Poseidon Adventure.

  

Rumor had it that her apartment was never “burglarized” and that she made up the story to prevent the insanely jealous influential Businessman she was involved with from finding out the truth.

  

But then we came across another story gathered from article that appears to have been derived from some surviving pages (with no cover) out of an old pulp detective magazine of the prohibition era, Real Detective Tales. The ladies name was given as Melinda Victoria Scott se Hamot, but it may not have been her real name. If anyone knows what issue and year the below story derived from that article may have been published we would greatly appreciate it.

  

According to this article, Melinda was a silent film actress who had married a well to do gentleman and was known for the lavish jewelry she would show off. This lady had had been wearing some of her expensive jewelry while out on the town in N.Y.C. On this particular evening (sometime during the 1920’s) Melinda was being chaperoned for the evening by a male with a rather dubious background. This man was said to be a well-known City “raker”, a handsomely roguish man with a well-known reputation for escorting wealthy married ladies, as well as a reputation with the police as having connections with the underworld orchestrating burglaries. His given name was not mentioned. After attending a show and a couple of nightclubs, he insisted that Ms. Hamot go with him to a local underground gambling joint for a few (then illegal) drinks.

  

Late that evening (or early morning), a group of masked hoodlums held up the speakeasys’ patrons. It was believed that they were mainly after the money being gambled. But not only did they take all the money, but they also made the richly attired ladies present hand over all their jewels. Including those being worn by, we believe, our mystery women who supposedly was being robbed in her apartment at the same time.

  

Two weeks later the Actress’s male escort, throat slit, was found floating in the Hudson River.

  

Since some of the male patrons in attendance were in the governments’ employ, Tammany Hall took over the investigation and apparently hushed up the whole incident. The full story never made it to the local newspapers, although supposedly the New Yorker Magazine had some questions (could not find any reference) No crime was reported, no one was arrested, nor any of the property ever “reportedly” recovered. This was the gist of the article that we were able to read in the surviving pages of the old magazine.

  

We have been searching in the New York Times, but have failed to turn up any related story to the speakeasy hold up. Although we did find a few similar stories about women being bound and robbed of their jewels, but no exact matches to the penthouse robbery so far.

  

We strongly believe, based on the vaudevillian’s description of the lady and her mannerisms, that the Penthouse robbery victim, and the speakeasy robbery victim was one and the same Lady. We also think that there never was a penthouse robbery, and the jewels that the elevator valet was accused of stealing were actually relinquished to one of the thugs that held up the gambling joint. The main clue we don’t have is a name for the Lady. This would at least give us a starting point to investigate our theory.

If anyone out could shed some lights on this little mystery, especially the pulp detective magazines listed above, we would greatly appreciate it.

  

As a sidelight, the gambling joint’s robbery was closely reflected in the casino robbery scene from the movie” Uptown Saturday Night” Coincidence or not?

 

As the hostage negotiator failed to make contact with the bank robbers, the incident commander decided to deploy the Special Tactics Unit to resolve the incident.

 

The Special Tactics Unit move into position and deploy tear gas into the bank. As the team made entry, the two bank robbers surrender and the team arrested them peacefully. All hostages are rescued and unharmed.

Just after 9 am, 2 masked male armed with AR-15 style weapons enter a bank in Victoria City. Bystanders immediately call 911. Constables from the Victoria City Police Department respond to the call. As the bank robbers leave the bank, they encountered the constables responding to the 911 call. The robbers immediately retreat back into the bank and barricade themselves with hostages. Constables call for backup and the Tactical Response Unit quickly arrived on scene.

 

To be continued...

One night, the falcon princess is startled awake. What is happening? "No movement!" hisses a voice. Through her eyelashes, the princess sees two green shadows. One is in the broken window, the other is prowling through her room. With the broken peg of the window, the treasure chest is broken open. In a large green chest, she sees all her gold disappearing ...

Will she? Or is it wiser to stay put anyway?

 

An entry for Lowlugs MMMM 2024

The trip isn't over until EVERYONE gets paid!

 

I was in the train car telling Niccy she should be out on the platform when she said the tour guide had said to keep your eyes open around milepost 20, so I headed back out to the platform. I'd just got back outside when the "Bad Guys" came bursting out of the brush and tearing up the train tracks. I wasn't prepared at all so I fired of a couple of quick shots and this was the best of the bunch.

 

The train comes to a stop and the "Bad Guys" come onboard to rob everyone of their hard earned cash.

 

When they got out to the platform they explained that this was a robbery and everyone was expected to be handing over some loot. When they got to me they said "Your money or your life..." I fired back at them with "I'm married. I don't have any money or a life", as I put a donation in their hat. They all started laughing and said they understood completely.

 

I'm not sure what's up with the 1/250 since I'd been shooting at 1/500 because the train was moving. Maybe I had the camera set in P Mode for some reason?

 

Something I forgot to add was that for your "contribution" to their cause these guys would pose for a picture with you. One of the guys looked at my camera and said "I dunno if I could operate that or not". I told him "I'll gladly pay you not to operate it"!

 

everything looks fine

7-11-2015

Jimmy's Gas Mart

3300 US 70 Bus Hwy W

JCSO, EMS12, Medic 1, EMSCP1

 

Armed Robbery / Stabbing

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

              Robbery [Halloween] (34 pictures)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

... all right, everybody be cool, this is a robbery!

  

Well, I was trying some lighting setup with my small blue background and checking how big the space is I can use with it. Quite small honestly. Only classic portrait pictures are possible. Still good for some details and since its halloween time, I did a small dark robbery scene and tried to get some reflections with that knife.

  

-   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -

you really should see the bigger image on flickr!

... and see the whole set at my free website! :-) 

Bookmark the URL to my website: llb1983.bplaced.net

-   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -

 

All rights reserved!

Do not use or repost my pictures without my written permission! 

 

====================================================

                 Comments appreciated!

====================================================

2nd District Officers display gun used in a robbery earlier in the night-Offender arrested and positive ID by the complainant. The holiday seasons see a spike in crime especially robberies.

Jun 18.15 - Vancouver Police Emergency Response Team arrested a male attempting to rob a gold store on Main Street.

 

Subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/user/youidiot222

 

Follow me on Twitter; twitter.com/stucktweet

 

All photos reserved by www.bcfiretrucks.com No reproduction allowed of any photos unless written permission. For licencing information contact ryan@bcfiretrucks.com

Police are appealing for witnesses after a masked gunman attempted to rob an elderly gentleman at gunpoint on the night of 24th December.

 

The victim, described as wearing a red suit with a white beard has not been seen since..........

- And to think that we started as a book group -