More Kennedy Woes
This time, it’s Governor Andy’s ex, Kerry Kennedy, in the negative news spotlight. She is arrested early in the morning after hitting a tractor-trailer while driving south on 684 and leaving the scene, despite having a flat tire. Found a bit down the road slumped over the steering wheel, she is charged with driving while impaired by drugs, a charge she denies.
Uprooted
So much for resting in peace. In leaked divorce papers, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., calls his late wife Mary abusive and asks that she be stopped from physically attacking him, stealing from him, and stalking him on trips. Kennedy also states that she often drank to the point of passing out, threatened suicide in front of their children, and ran over the family dog. As if bad-mouthing the dead isn’t bad enough, Kennedy has her coffin disinterred and reburied in an empty area of the St. Francis Xavier Cemetery on Cape Cod, 700 feet from her original grave amid generations of Kennedys.
Swept Away
Tyler Madoff, a 15-year-old White Plains resident, is washed out to sea while exploring the coastline in Hawaii with an adventure travel group; his body is never recovered. The Madoff family files suit against Hawaii Pack and Paddle, claiming negligence; the company’s permit is revoked. Some 500 mourners attend his memorial service.
Locked Out in Yonkers
Submitted for your approval: Hundreds of people who park along a stretch of Yonkers Avenue find their car remotes rendered inoperable by some strange alien force, a Twilight Zone of sorts where cars won’t lock, unlock, or start. Proprietors of a local hardware store make out like bandits, selling dozens of remote batteries before the mystery is solved: A wireless light controller within a restaurant on the street is the culprit.
Hot Hot Hot
Hot enough for you? According to News 12 meteorologist Joe Rao, summer 2012 has been one of the hottest on record and the four miserable heat waves—defined as three or more days of 90-degree temperatures—we’ve suffered through are the most for any summer in the past 15 years.
Strike…and Yer Out!
After negotiations on an expired contract break down, 8,500 Con Ed workers are locked out and replaced with 5,000 managers, contractors, and former employees. An agreement is reached 25 days later (after Andy Cuomo steps in), just in time to deal with the aftermath of severe weather.
Soul Food Icon
Sylvia Woods, who put Harlem on the map for its good eats years before Red Rooster’s Chef Marcus Samuelsson was even born, dies at 86. The Mount Vernon resident opened Sylvia’s on Lenox Avenue near 127th Street back in 1962—and suddenly, Southern comfort food like fried chicken, grilled catfish, black-eyed peas, and collard greens became fashionable. Mourners at her funeral include former New York Governor David Paterson, former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and Mount Vernon Mayor Ernie Davis.