GUNNER (ALTON RHODE MYSTERIES Book 5) Read Online Free
Author: Lawrence de Maria
would be followed by “startling initiatives” on education, transportation and crime. Yorke didn’t mention that those were three areas over which the city’s five borough presidents had little control ever since the new City Charter stripped them of much of their real power. Undeterred, he noted that while Staten Island students had some of the highest test scores in the city “we can do better.” He expressed disbelief, which seemed genuine, of the latest toll hike on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to $13.
Then he brought up the Panetta murder.
“As a Vietnam veteran myself and the proud recipient of the Silver Star,” Yorke intoned, “I mourn the loss of a man who won our nation’s highest honor in the war we both fought. If elected as your Borough President, I will do everything in my power to ensure that the perpetrator of this evil deed is brought to justice and punished.”
“Well, that must be a comfort, Mike,” I said.
“God help us.”
I ate more peanuts. Finally, Yorke got to a topic where a borough president did have some clout: real estate development.
“Under my administration,” Yorke said, “St. George will no longer be known as just a place where the ferry stops. It will be a destination for not only New Yorkers, but for the people who visit our great city.”
He then went on to outline the “Renaissance Harbor, the vast redevelopment of the entire North Shore waterfront that represents the biggest private investment — almost $2 billion — since the construction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge almost a half century ago.”
Yorke noted that the plan had the backing of the Mayor and City Council, which, he stated, promised to repair crumbling infrastructure and provide transportation improvements to mitigate its effects on the North Shore.
“The centerpieces of the project, developed by Atlantic partners, a consortium of American and European companies,” he said, “are a 350,000-square-foot mall containing 120 designer outlet stores, a 145,000-square-foot hotel with 320 rooms and a 700-foot-high Ferris wheel designed to carry 1,600 riders at one time in 40 massive capsules. The so-called St. George Wheel will be almost twice the size as the famous London Eye. There will be a high-speed monorail linking the ferry terminal and adjacent bus depot to Brooklyn over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, constructed by Deutsch Eisenbahn, a German company that is the leader in the field.”
Yorke spread his arms.
“In two years, this lovely ball park will be surrounded by some of the most magnificent edifices on the face of the earth. Finally, Staten Island will be getting the recognition and wealth that it has long deserved.”
There was long, and apparently sincere, applause. I nudged Sullivan in the ribs.
“What do you think, Mike?”
“Who knows? Maybe it’s not all smoke and mirrors this time. It will all come down to whether they can get the unions on board.”
“Why wouldn’t they go along? It will mean plenty of jobs.”
“Atlantic Partners and the Germans want to keep union participation to less than 25 percent. The unions want 100 percent. That’s quite a gap.”
Finally, the speeches were over. Yorke walked into the stands and began working the crowd. He soon spotted Sullivan and came over to us, followed on his heels by a short, stocky man holding a clipboard.
“Mike, thanks for coming,” Yorke said. “I hope I wasn’t out of line by mentioning the Panetta murder. I know your office is doing everything possible.”
“No problem, Nat. I’d like you to meet some friends of mine.”
I got the impression Yorke wasn’t crazy about the “Nat.”
Sullivan introduced the three of us. Close up, I could see that Yorke sported a tan deeper than could have been accounted for by the local weather, which had only warmed up recently. It set his silver mane off nicely and was undoubtedly the result of time spent in warmer climes. Yorke, who didn’t introduce the man who
Then he brought up the Panetta murder.
“As a Vietnam veteran myself and the proud recipient of the Silver Star,” Yorke intoned, “I mourn the loss of a man who won our nation’s highest honor in the war we both fought. If elected as your Borough President, I will do everything in my power to ensure that the perpetrator of this evil deed is brought to justice and punished.”
“Well, that must be a comfort, Mike,” I said.
“God help us.”
I ate more peanuts. Finally, Yorke got to a topic where a borough president did have some clout: real estate development.
“Under my administration,” Yorke said, “St. George will no longer be known as just a place where the ferry stops. It will be a destination for not only New Yorkers, but for the people who visit our great city.”
He then went on to outline the “Renaissance Harbor, the vast redevelopment of the entire North Shore waterfront that represents the biggest private investment — almost $2 billion — since the construction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge almost a half century ago.”
Yorke noted that the plan had the backing of the Mayor and City Council, which, he stated, promised to repair crumbling infrastructure and provide transportation improvements to mitigate its effects on the North Shore.
“The centerpieces of the project, developed by Atlantic partners, a consortium of American and European companies,” he said, “are a 350,000-square-foot mall containing 120 designer outlet stores, a 145,000-square-foot hotel with 320 rooms and a 700-foot-high Ferris wheel designed to carry 1,600 riders at one time in 40 massive capsules. The so-called St. George Wheel will be almost twice the size as the famous London Eye. There will be a high-speed monorail linking the ferry terminal and adjacent bus depot to Brooklyn over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, constructed by Deutsch Eisenbahn, a German company that is the leader in the field.”
Yorke spread his arms.
“In two years, this lovely ball park will be surrounded by some of the most magnificent edifices on the face of the earth. Finally, Staten Island will be getting the recognition and wealth that it has long deserved.”
There was long, and apparently sincere, applause. I nudged Sullivan in the ribs.
“What do you think, Mike?”
“Who knows? Maybe it’s not all smoke and mirrors this time. It will all come down to whether they can get the unions on board.”
“Why wouldn’t they go along? It will mean plenty of jobs.”
“Atlantic Partners and the Germans want to keep union participation to less than 25 percent. The unions want 100 percent. That’s quite a gap.”
Finally, the speeches were over. Yorke walked into the stands and began working the crowd. He soon spotted Sullivan and came over to us, followed on his heels by a short, stocky man holding a clipboard.
“Mike, thanks for coming,” Yorke said. “I hope I wasn’t out of line by mentioning the Panetta murder. I know your office is doing everything possible.”
“No problem, Nat. I’d like you to meet some friends of mine.”
I got the impression Yorke wasn’t crazy about the “Nat.”
Sullivan introduced the three of us. Close up, I could see that Yorke sported a tan deeper than could have been accounted for by the local weather, which had only warmed up recently. It set his silver mane off nicely and was undoubtedly the result of time spent in warmer climes. Yorke, who didn’t introduce the man who
Readers choose
Mary Mcgarry Morris
Jill Monroe
Gillian White
The Spy Wore Blue
Cora Carmack
Lowell Cauffiel
Rosalind Laker
Gabrielle Holly
Barbara Doherty