[HK-Online] HK Remembers Walker; Service Tonight 5/26

[kitchen]

Hell's Kitchen Online                                5/26/00
http://hellskitchen.net "All the News the Times Won't Print"
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IN THIS ISSUE ...

1. Randolph Walker Memorial Service Tonight
2. Neighbors Remember Walker; March on Apple Tours
3. Getting the Rant Out
4. Judge Gives Apple Tours Time to Review New Charges (Times)
5. Kick Tour-Bus Co. To the Curb - City (News)
6. Collision Adds to Apple Tours' Woes (Post)

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SERVICE FOR APPLE TOURS VICTIM RANDOLPH WALKER

A memorial service will be held tonight, Friday May 26 at 6:00 p.m. for 
Randolph Walker at Holy Cross Church, 329 West 42nd Street.

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NEIGHBORS REMEMBER WALKER; MARCH ON NEW YORK APPLE TOURS

Approximately 150-200 Clinton/Hell's Kitchen neighbors gathered together 
last night at Manhattan Plaza to remember actor Randolph Walker and to 
march on New York Apple Tours demanding the renegade bus company be shut down.

Residents started at 43rd Street and Ninth Avenue, just outside Manhattan 
Plaza where Mr. Walker resided, and marched to the intersection of 45th 
Street and Ninth Avenue where Mr. Walker was struck by a New York Apple 
Tours bus last Monday.

Filling the intersection in a circle and after a moment of silence, the 
marchers heard from Clinton resident Diana Walker, cousin of Mr. Walker. 
Father Peter Colapietro of Holy Cross Church (where tonight's service will 
be held and where Mr. Walker worshipped) said a few soothing words. The 
crowd then broke into spontaneous applause for Mr. Walker.

Continuing up to 47th Street and over to Eighth Avenue, marchers turned the 
corner of 47th and Eighth (where New York Apple Tours has its headquarters) 
meeting a wall of NYAT representatives in yellow shirts.

Residents were very vocal and angry, however even with the taunting by NYAT 
representatives, marchers maintained their decorum and after a few minutes 
moved beyond the Apple Tours headquarters.

At the corner of 48th and Eighth Avenue, marchers heard from State Senator 
Tom Duane, City Councilmember Christine Quinn, and representatives from the 
Clinton Special District Coalition, many Block Associations and the Lower 
East Side environmental group "We Can't Breath."

This was a march by and from the Clinton community, remembering Mr. Walker, 
expressing outrage at a corporation with little sense of respect for city 
residents and to call for the City and our local police to stop passing the 
buck and enforce traffic laws.

Actions such as this serve a purpose in allowing the community to vent its 
anger and to raise consciousness of an issue. But the real work is just 
beginning. This neighborhood faces many problems related to traffic 
congestion. It's time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.

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MORE HK RESIDENT REACTION

 From Karen:

Years of documented complaints, fines, admissions of wrong doing, 1800 
violations and now blood on their hands...I would like to know who Big 
Apple owns - obviously it must they must have someone of great power in 
their back pocket to be able to get away with  - murder.

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 From Barbara:

I have complained since moving to W.55th (8-9 Aves) about not ONLY Apple 
Tour buses, but all sorts of tourist buses (some VERY large) and also big 
trailer-trucks using W.55th as a cross-city route, instead of W.57th.

Can't at least a sign be put up, restricting access to heavy, commercial & 
multi-passenger vehicles?

W.55 (8-9) is constantly full of parked cars on both sides at all hours 
(mainly police officers' personal cars, never ticketed of course). 
Residential competition is NOT the reason one can't find a space on W.55th! 
I'm sure the police don't enforce traffic laws on our streets because they 
in part are the offenders!

There is some kind of engineering flaw in the street construction, because 
the street actually vibrates, even to the point of window vibrations in 
apt., when a heavy vehicle passes. Could a disaster happen?

For the time being, what this causes is ...

- a CONSTANT traffic jam 24-7.

- Jams mean incessant honking (all hours day & nite).

- Heavy vehicles = vibration = car alarms being set off all hours of day & 
nite and running for 10-15 minutes! (cops aren't there of course to tun off 
their own alarms)

- Sometimes one can't breathe on the street due to truck exhaust (which 
again MUST be a violation).

For all the city's talk of 'quality of life' improvements, they seem 
particularly unwilling to do anything about this problem, which I am sure 
is not unique to W.55th but all the streets in the area. W.55th is uniquely 
residential however, so the violations stand out.

Its SOOOOO good to get this rant out! How horrifying that it has to be at 
the cost of the life of one of our neighbours!

On Apple in particular, (also Gray Lines): Is there not also a need for 
them to stop blocking public sidewalks with their vendors, lines and 
crowds? Other businesses are expected to provide lobbies or entryways or at 
least sidewalk ropes to keep from utilizing sidewalks as private property 
for their business operations. Shouldn't Apple be compelled to provide 
waiting rooms for their clients?

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JUDGE GIVES APPLE TOURS TIME TO REVIEW NEW CHARGES
New York Times, May 26, 2000
By C. J. Chivers

Armed with what it called new evidence of illegal activity, the city's 
Consumer Protection Agency argued yesterday for the immediate revocation of 
the licenses of New York Apple Tours, the bus company accused of repeatedly 
violating city, state and federal laws.

But the administrative law judge Judith Gould declined to rule on the 
matter. Instead, she stopped the hearing until this morning, saying the 
company had not been given an adequate chance to review the allegations and 
was faced with documents and evidence so new that some of it had not been 
seen until the hearing was under way.

"I don't see that the licensee has had an opportunity to put on a defense 
here," Judge Gould said.

The hearing, at times dramatic, opened with testimony from Renee Stanley, 
47, who said she saw one of the company's double-decker buses strike and 
kill a 71-year-old pedestrian on Monday, the accident that led to the 
city's emergency motion to close the company.

There was also testimony from Robert Grotell, an aide to Mayor Rudolph W. 
Giuliani, who said that a review of passenger stops posted on the Apple 
Tours Web site revealed that the company claims to make 15 stops that are 
not authorized by the state.

The hearing ended with testimony from Thomas Fullington, an assistant 
director of the State Department of Motor Vehicles, who described scores of 
possible violations of state bus-driver standards that his office found 
when it began a preliminary investigation of the company's driver files on 
Wednesday. Mr. Fullington said the files did not include current driving 
records and medical examination results for many drivers.

Mr. Fullington also said that a comparison of the state's roster of the 
company's drivers with a roster obtained by a city subpoena found a large 
gap: Apple Tours told the state it had 24 drivers, he said, and told the 
city it had 80.

"When I saw it, I was really shocked," Mr. Fullington said.

As part of a safety monitoring program, motor carriers like Apple Tours are 
required to provide the state with files on all of their active drivers. 
Susan Kassapian, assistant general counsel for the Department of Consumer 
Affairs, said that the new findings, buttressed by 12 Police Department 
summonses issued this week to Apple Tours drivers operating buses 
unlawfully, were grounds to halt the company's operations immediately.

"The number of discrepancies should indicate to this tribunal, Your Honor, 
that there is something wrong," Ms. Kassapian said.

The hearing yesterday began 45 minutes after an Apple Tour bus with 
tourists on board rear-ended a United States Postal Service truck at Fifth 
Avenue and 28th Street. No one was injured, but the police gave seven 
summonses to the driver for such violations as a defective rear taillight, 
no working horn, insufficient air pressure for the brakes and other 
problems, officials said.

The hearing was characterized by an unmistakable air of disarray. On a few 
occasions, journalists covering the hearing wandered behind the judge's 
bench as she presided over the case. Now and then, reporters bumped lawyers 
with microphones, even while they were questioning witnesses.

And Judge Gould seemed frequently surprised by the city's presentation, 
which was based primarily on documents and a list of witnesses that had 
been provided to the company as late as Wednesday, and in some cases had 
not been shared with the company at all.

Moreover, some of the testimony was not clear. It was not apparent, for 
instance, if Mr. Fullington's remarks about the company's driver files 
illustrated poor record-keeping or if they showed that the company had 
failed to meet state driver-training standards.

Bruce Paulsen, the lead lawyer for the tour company, objected repeatedly to 
the details that were the foundation of the city's case, saying their 
last-minute introduction was a violation of due process. Mr. Paulsen said 
that a temporary closure would "put this company out of business."

Given the chance, he said, the company "will debunk much of what has gone 
on here today."

Hayim Grant, president of the company, also said that the city's case was 
overstated, and that his company was trying to accommodate the demands of 
the authorities.

"We are working with every agency to cooperate with their investigation," 
Mr. Grant said. "We have a professional bus operation and we operate a very 
important service to visitors of New York."

The hearing was attended by a dozen employees of the tour company, who said 
they would lose their livelihoods if Judge Gould ruled in favor of the 
city's motion. Luz Herrera, an office clerk who has worked for Apple Tours 
for eight years, pointed angrily at Ms. Kassapian after the evening recess. 
"She will feed us, pay our rent?" she said. "No. So we will be here. We 
will keep coming."

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KICK TOUR-BUS CO. TO THE CURB - CITY
Daily News, May 26, 2000
By Robert Ingrassia

City lawyers pressed to rid Manhattan of New York Apple Tours buses 
yesterday, portraying the company during a license hearing as a rogue 
business that endangers the public.

An administrative judge considering the city's request to suspend Apple 
Tours' license put off a decision, saying she wanted to give the company a 
chance to defend itself. The hearing resumes this morning.

The beleaguered company, reeling since one of its red double-decker buses 
struck and killed a pedestrian Monday, drew more negative attention 
yesterday when a tour bus rear-ended a U.S. postal truck.

No one was hurt in the 1:15p.m. accident at the corner of E. 28th St. and 
Fifth Ave. But police said they found a host of equipment problems with the 
bus, further arming critics, who allege the large vehicles are decrepit and 
unsafe.

"Shut that business down before anyone else loses their life!" bellowed 
state Sen. Thomas Duane (D-Manhattan) at a small rally yesterday outside 
city offices downtown.

During a three-hour hearing, a lawyer for the city's Department of Consumer 
Affairs said Apple Tours routinely has flouted rules governing bus 
registration and licensing of drivers.

"In order to protect public safety, we should have an immediate suspension 
of this company's license," said department attorney Susan Kassapian.

City officials said:

- Police have cited 11 Apple Tours drivers since Monday's fatality for not 
having proper licenses.

- Company buses got in 131 accidents from 1996 through 1999, leading to 23 
injuries.

- A state review of 61 of the company's drivers found many were not 
properly certified, having failed to submit forms regarding driver-safety 
courses, health and driving tests.

- The company has 80 drivers, but only 24 are listed on a roster required 
to be on file with the state.

Apple Tours lawyer Bruce Paulsen repeatedly protested to Administrative Law 
Judge Judith Gould that the company did not have enough time to prepare for 
the hearing.

Company President Hayim Grant attended the proceeding, but said nothing.

Later, he defended Apple Tours as safe. "We're a professional bus operator 
and we provide a very important service to New York," he said.

The city began proceedings in October to revoke Apple Tours' license, 
citing the company's September guilty plea to federal charges of lying 
about the ages of its buses to avoid pollution laws. The feds hit the 
company with an $800,000 fine.

After the death Monday of actor Randolph Walker, 71, on W. 45th St. near 
Ninth Ave., the city sought an emergency order to suspend the license 
pending the outcome of the revocation case.

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COLLISION ADDS TO APPLE TOURS' WOES
New York Post, May 26, 2000
By Tom Topousis and Murray Weiss

A New York Apple Tours double-decker bus slammed into a mail truck in 
Manhattan yesterday - just an hour before the city asked a judge to yank 
the company's license.

The collision, at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 28th Street, was the 
company's second accident this week. On Monday, a New York Apple bus, 
operated by an improperly licensed driver, struck and killed an actor.

"This company should be forever banned from ever being a sightseeing 
company in New York City," Department of Consumer Affairs attorney Susan 
Kassapian told administrative law Judge Judith Gould.

The city filed for an emergency suspension of the company's license after 
the actor, Randolph Walker, 71, was struck down at the corner of Ninth 
Avenue and 45th Street.

"Granting this motion would put this company out of business," said New 
York Apple Tours lawyer Bruce Paulsen, who asked for more time.

Gould agreed to continue the hearing today.

In yesterday's collision, a New York Apple bus loaded with passengers 
rear-ended a U.S. Postal Service truck. There were no injures, but cops 
issued seven non-moving violations to the company.

Kassapian said police checkpoints put up since Monday have turned up a 
dozen improperly licensed New York Apple drivers.

Tom Fullington of the state Department of Motor Vehicles testified that 
many of New York Apple's drivers don't have proper licenses.

Fullington said a DMV review of a list of drivers turned over by the 
company Wednesday found only 24 out of 58 currently were in complete 
compliance.

Paulsen disputed the list, saying some of the drivers hadn't worked for New 
York Apple in years.

New York Apple Tours owner Hayim Grant said the company would cooperate 
with any investigation.