After two fires with fatalities and one with a firefighter injury, the Uniformed Firefighters Association and City Councilman Leroy Comrie expressed outrage over the FDNY's response to Queens fires. They say the new pilot dispatch program is endangering lives. UFA head Steve Cassidy says the fire response time in Queens is 5 minutes, which is the slowest in the city. Plus, the new policy gives too few details - mainly the address, not details like......

Retired football great Jim Brown is the president of a new snack food and beverage company and City Councilman Leroy Comrie is not happy about it. Brown's company is called OG Nation, which Comrie says stands for "original gangster." The company currently markets "King Pin" lager and a line of mixed drinks under the brand "Party Dogg." According to Newsday, Arizona-based OG Nation is also developing a line of potato chips, pretzels, pork rinds, and......

The best rapper in the Mets organization might be Lastings Milledge, but he shouldn't be expecting a call-up because of his music anytime soon. Milledge a 22 year-old outfield prospect for the Mets who was briefly in the bigs last season. While with the Mets last year, some criticized him for his showiness at times, being late, and not running hard on the basepaths. In 166 at bats, Milledge had a .241 average. Though......

The melt-down in the sub-prime mortgage market has gotten a lot of ink this month-- but until you look at this map, it's hard to understand the true impact of these kinds of loans on the city. These subprime companies target low-income families with teaser-rates and special promotions, and often get them sign to up for mortgages without even checking to see if they have enough income to make the payments. The Daily News......

With three police detectives indicted and lawyers getting ready for a trial in the Sean Bell shooting, here are some related stories: Detective Marc Cooper, who was indicted on two counts of reckless endangerment, may ask for a separate trial. Cooper fired four shots, many fewer than the 31 and 11 from Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora, respectively. His lawyer tells the Daily News, "Severing the case is something we will consider." A lawyer......

Today, Mayor Bloomberg met with the Bronx fire victims' families and later held a press conference about the tragedy, which is the deadliest fire (aside from September 11) since 1990 . The Mayor has been under fire for leaving the city yesterday - after a Thursday press conference about the fire - for a scheduled appearance in Miami, where he made jokes about "Mayors Gone Wild" in South Beach. In Miami, Mayor Bloomberg explained he......

After many months of discussion, the City Council passed a bill to regulate the pedicab industry. Pedicab advocates, who agree that the industry should be regulated, are upset about the City Council's battery of regulations, such as a cap of 325 pedicabs and being banned from Midtown during the holidays. Additionally, $2 million insurance plans will be required, which is similar to what taxi cabs have, and pedicabs with electric motors would be banned.......

Yesterday, the City Council passed a "symbolic ban" on the n-word. City Councilman Leroy Comrie introduced the resolution earlier this month, and he said, "I'm hoping this is the beginning of a move forward to a place where the use of the N-word is simply unacceptable. So many people have been quietly seething about this for a long time. It's time to bring it into the open." Newsday explains that the ban "does not carry......

City Councilman Leroy Comrie wants the city to ban the n-word. Comrie said he hoped that a dialogue would be sparked by his resolution and that society can move "toward a place where the n-word is simply unacceptable to be used in any context." And hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow, who joined Comrie at the press conference, said, "We need to stop looking at ourselves like we are niggas or niggers, so that we can......

Well, you can't blame City Councilman Leroy Comrie for lack of optimism. Comrie, who represents the 27th District, had considered introducing a bill that would have banned cellphones in restaurants. Seriously. However, the NY Sun now reports that bill will probably not be presented at all, after Comrie heard complaints from the restaurant industry. "I was surprised at the feedback from the restaurant owners, that they didn't like it," Mr. Comrie, a Democrat of Queens,......