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Over 60% of the curtain wall system, representing nearly 7900 panels, have been installed to date on the World Trade Center. Picture by @WTCProgress
Traffic is backed up on the Brooklyn Bridge as firefighters respond to a vehicle fire there.
The fire has been extinguished, but cleanup of the resulting fuel on the roads is expected to take some time.
Inbound lanes are shut down, while one outbound lane remains open. Manhattan-bound vehicles are being rerouted to the Manhattan Bridge. Williamsburg Bridge also remains a better option for traffic headed toward lower Manhattan.
The driver was not injured in the fire, officials said.
NBC New York Reported.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell today to respond to the countless critics of his controversial big soda ban.
Comparing sugary soft drinks to asbestos, he argued that the government has a responsibility to regulate how New Yorkers quench their thirst.
He believes that banning the bubbles will combat obesity, diabetes, and other health problems plaguing the people of the Big Apple.
If Hizzoner has his way, any soft drink over 16 ounces (1 pint) will be outlawed across the city by March 2013 and restaurants that don’t fall in line will be slapped with a $200 fine.
‘The idea is you tend to eat all of the food in the container. If it’s bigger, you eat more,’ he said. ‘If somebody put a smaller glass or plate or bowl in front of you, you would eat less.’
Mayor Bloomberg, who was the driving force behind the city’s calorie counting and anti-smoking campaigns, hopes to implement the ban soon.
It will affect everything from 7-Eleven Big Gulps to Starbucks Ventis.
‘You can still buy large bottles in stores, but in a restaurant, 16 ounces is the maximum that they would be able to serve in one cup,’ he explained. ‘If you want to order two cups of the same time, that’s fine. It’s your choice.’
The proposed limit, 16 oz, is the equivalent to one pint, but it will not apply to diet sodas, fruit juices, dairy-based drinks or alcoholic beverages.
It also would not affect beverages sold in grocery or convenience stores.
‘We’re not taking away anybody’s right to do things, we’re forcing you to understand that you have to make the conscious decision to go from one cup to another,’ he said to Mrs Mitchell.
Comparing oversize soda drinks in restaurants to asbestos exposure or smoke inhalation, he explains the government’s responsibility to ‘warn’ its citizens.
‘If there is asbestos in a room, we don’t allow people to go in there,’ he argues. ‘We would stop people from going in until the asbestos is cleaned up.’
Calling the rationing measure an ‘obligation,’ he claims its the same as protecting waiters from restaurant-goers smoke.
‘In New York City you can smoke. You can’t smoke where other people would have to be there and couldn’t — because they needed the job — leave,’ he said. ‘You can smoke in volunteer place but you can’t smoke in a place where there are employees.’
Besides his verbal arguments about civil liberties, Mayor Bloomberg also looked to statistics to push his unpopular proposal.
According to the New York City Health Department, more than half of adult New Yorkers are overweight (34 per cent) or obese (22 per cent).
Obesity also kills thousands of New Yorkers every year and costs $4billion in health care costs.
The single largest driver of these alarming obesity numbers is sugary drinks, according to Mayor Bloomberg, which have grown in size.
For example, the size of individual McDonald’s drinks have increased 457 per cent since 1955.
Mayor Bloomberg, who was the driving force behind the city’s calorie counting and anti-smoking campaigns, hopes to implement the ban soon.
His close attention to health issues has earned him the nickname ‘Nanny Bloomberg’ and it’s left a bad taste in some residents’ mouths.
‘If people want to drink 24 ounces, it’s their decision,’ said Zara Atal, 20, a college student from the Upper East Side to the New York Times.
Read more of this story on The Daily Mail UK
Teen pop sensation Justin Bieber could face six months in jail if charged and convicted in the alleged assault of a photographer.
The Los Angeles County Sherriff’s department has turned the criminal battery investigation over to prosecutors, website TMZ reported.
The paparazzo was allegedly following Bieber while he and girlfriend Selena Gomez were at The Commons mall on Sunday.
As Bieber attempted to leave the mall, he and the photographer allegedly got into a scuffle. The photographer called 911 but by the time police arrived, Bieber and Gomez had left.
The photographer was treated and released from a local hospital. He later filed a police report naming Bieber in the altercation.
Police have yet to interview Bieber, who is currently in Norway.
After sticking to a strict diet to lose baby weight following the January birth of Blue Ivy, who can blame Beyonce for wanting to indulge?
“Y’all have no idea how hard I worked!” the new mom told fans during her concert at Revel Beach’s Ovation Hall in Atlantic City on Saturday night, via the Associated Press. “I had to lose 60 pounds. They had me on that treadmill. I ate lettuce!”
The “Run the World (Girls)” singer, 30, said she’s more than ready to ditch the produce for dessert.
“Now tonight I’m gonna get chocolate wasted!” she exclaimed.
Beyonce’s treadmill admission had to please a certain VIP in the audience – Michelle Obama (who has partnered with the singer in the past to inspire kids to exercise with her “Let’s Move!” campaign).
The First Lady enjoyed the concert with daughters Sasha and Malia, who happily danced in their seats to the music of Queen B, according to Us Weekly.
“They sat up in a private balcony with Gayle King. Michelle was jamming out to ‘Crazy in Love,’” a concertgoer told the mag. “When Beyonce told the crowd to get up and jump, [Malia and Sasha] stood and started dancing and jumping. They were shouting when Beyonce asked, ‘Do girls run the world?’
Read more of this story on MSNBC Entertainment.
How much should you pay for a great hamburger?
“The best ones fall between $10 and $20,” says burger enthusiast Keith Flanagan, who is also an account executive at a New York City public relations firm. “Anything less should make a foodie question the quality, and anything more should make a foodie question the restaurant’s hubris.”
Once the ultimate cheap comfort food, the burger is increasingly becoming a gourmet indulgence — often prepared with grass-fed, Kobe-style beef, topped with shaved truffles, or rendered quirky through toppings such as fried duck eggs. So where to go to sample the best burgers? Providence, R.I., according to Travel + Leisure readers, who voted in the annual America’s Favorite Cities survey to rank cities on features that delight travelers, among them, irresistible foods like pizza and burgers.
To be fair, the survey’s list of 35 major metropolitan areas didn’t include some smaller towns that were key in the burger’s evolution, such as New Haven, Conn., home of the legendary Louis’ Lunch, or Wichita, Kan., where White Castle sold the first burger that resembles what Americans eat today.
Other cities in the top 20, however, have their own claim on hamburger history. The Los Angeles area launched the first McDonald’s and the In-N-Out Burger, both in the 1940s. Minneapolis-St. Paul, meanwhile, is famous for the Juicy Lucy, a burger with the cheese cooked inside the patty.
While some cities keep it simple (Dick’s Drive-In in Seattle serves an old-school $1.50 burger), others like Philadelphia’s Hickory Lane American Bistro aim higher. “It’s not just a sandwich anymore, it’s become an entrée,” says owner and executive chef Matt Zagorski, whose burger ($14) blends filet mignon, short ribs and brisket.
Keep on reading on MSNBC.com
The third “Men in Black” alien action comedy bumped the mighty “Avengers” from the top of movie box office charts through Sunday and was likely to dominate theaters over the rest of the U.S. Memorial Day weekend.
“MIB 3″, starring Will Smith, racked up $55 million in the United States and Canada from Friday through Sunday, according to studio estimates. The movie also topped box offices in 104 countries around the world, and is expected to haul in a global $202 million over the four-day holiday weekend, distributor Sony Pictures said.
It is the first “Men in Black” film to reach theaters in 10 years, and the best performing film since the franchise began in 1997.
In “MIB 3″, Smith returns to his role as Agent J, half of a secret-agent duo that keeps order among aliens disguised as humans and living on Earth. Tommy Lee Jones plays his partner, Agent K.
The new installment finds J traveling back to the 1960s to save a younger version of K, portrayed by Josh Brolin.
“MIB 3″ knocked superhero team “The Avengers” to second place after three weeks at No. 1.
The global, billion-dollar blockbuster collected $37 million in North American theaters from Friday through Sunday. It also became the fastest film to cross the $500 million domestic threshold, getting there in 23 days and shattering the 32 day record set by the 2009 film “Avatar”, which went on to become the world’s highest-grossing movie of all time.
In third place, board game-inspired action movie “Battleship” brought in $10.7 million during its second weekend in theaters.
Read more on MSNBC.
On Sunday, Justin Bieber’s squeaky-clean reputation took a hit as the singer allegedly launched into a physical altercation with a paparazzo.
NBC News correspondent Kristen Dahlgren delivered the details on TODAY Monday morning;
Bieber and girlfriend Selena Gomez were said to be leaving a shopping center when the trouble began. Witnesses claim they saw the teen idol rush from a van for a face-to-face confrontation with a photographer who’d been seen taking photos of the young couple.
Deputies were called to the scene, but witnesses revealed that Bieber and Gomez left before they arrived.
According to a press release from the Malibu Sheriff’s Office, the photographer reported that the singer “physically battered” him during the confrontation.
The man was treated and then released from an area hospital.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident and plans to speak to the signer.
