New York

New York City authorities will not disclose the cause of death for Zachery Tims, the founding pastor of New Destiny Christian Center (NDCC), until a court decision is made regarding a challenge from Tims' mother against the NYC medical examiner's longstanding policy of making such information available to the public.

At the request of the Hon. Cynthia S. Kern, Ave Maria Brennan, Senior Counsel with the City's Administrative Law Department, agreed that the medical examiner's office would refrain from disclosing the cause and manner of Tims' death until a decision had been reached.

In a hearing held in Kern's chambers Wednesday morning in the New York State Supreme Court in lower Manhattan, attorney Ricardo E. Oquendo, Esq. and Brennan made their arguments concerning the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner's decades-old practice of publicly disclosing the cause of death of individuals. more >>

As the holiday season begins, New York-based Coalition for the Homeless, the nation's oldest advocacy group, and other charity-in-action institutions are in great need as the number of homeless grows in the nation's most populous city, including more and more families with children.

Every second Monday, Carl Mercurio, 51, a healthcare analyst from Manhattan who is also a volunteer for the coalition, drives a van to the Bronx with three to four other volunteers and hands out bags of food to the homeless and hungry. He has been doing that for the past three years.

The bags usually contain the same items – soup, a bagel, an orange, and a carton of milk. The people are mostly the same too, Mercurio told The Christian Post. They know where the van will stop and at what time. They form lines in the cold November weather and wait for the food rations. more >>

The opening of the 9/11 memorial museum, scheduled for September 2012, will most likely be delayed over development disputes between the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The museum board, associated with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, was reportedly accused by PANYNJ, which is under the jurisdiction of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, as WSJ pointed out, of owing the transportation agency $156 million.

The foundation reportedly denies owing the money, and claims that it is owed more than $100 million by the Port Authority on account of delays. more >>

West 121st Street in New York City is where the late stand-up comedian George Carlin grew up. Known for his sarcasm and satire, he might find a recent petition to name his childhood street after him particularly humorous, especially since the pastor of Corpus Christi Catholic Church, affiliated with the primary school he once attended, has raised objections to the “George Carlin Way.”

The Rev. Raymond Rafferty, pastor of Corpus Christi, doesn’t see Carlin as someone who has contributed to their community in a beneficial way and has spoken out against the petition. The Columbia Spectator reports Rafferty saying, “Mr. Carlin made his early reputation by mocking religion and the clergy of this parish, and his vulgarity does not make him a role model for anyone, especially the children attending our school.”

Carlin criticized organized religion of all kinds. Though raised a Roman Catholic, he became an atheist and repeatedly mocked religion, especially in his “Religion” and “There is No God” routines. more >>

The legal challenge filed by the mother of Zachery Tims to prevent the City of New York and its medical examiner's office from publicly revealing the Florida pastor's cause of death goes before a New York State justice this week.

Madeline Yvonne Tims, 61, will be hundreds of miles away from her Maryland home and in a Manhattan courtroom the day before Thanksgiving trying to convince a judge why her son's cause of death should not be disclosed to the public.

Zachery Tims, 42, was found dead in a room at the W Hotel in Times Square on Aug. 12. He was the founder and pastor of the New Destiny Christian Center (NDCC) in Apopka, Fla. more >>

NYPD officers turned out in force in Lower Manhattan Friday to confront disgruntled protesters, who had been booted from Zuccotti Park in previous days, after word spread of protesters' promise to "shut down" Wall Street. Here are some photos from the scene as well as comments from protesters.

Clark Luster, a retiree, came to New York from North Carolina this week specifically to fight for the so-called 99 percent representing the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. The banner he held called for healthcare for all, jobs with dignity, quality public education, and a healthy environment.

"We all need to be here. I have no affiliation with anybody, except that I feel I need to be here," he said.  more >>