~TERRORIST’S TRIAL DERAILED BRIEFLY BY ELEVATOR TALK: Jury deliberations had to start from scratch on Thursday in the trial of a Houston native and al-Qaeda member accused of bombing a U.S. military base when four jurors spoke with the defendant’s father in a court elevator. With three back-up jurors filling the dismissed jurors’ shoes, the second day of deliberations was restarted around midday with an 11-jury panel. Deliberations were temporarily stalled Wednesday as well when Muhanad Mahmoud Al Farekh’s father requested to speak with his son, to which Judge Brian Cogandeclined for security purposes. “I hope there is an opportunity for them to meet in the future,” Cogan said. Al Farekh’s father also stood up during closing statements of the trial and yelled out to the judge to speak with his son. The nine-count indictment includes charges that Al Farekh, 31, conspired to murder U.S. citizens and help send material support to a terrorist organization, namely al-Qaeda. (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
 
~WEINER WANTS A PRETTY PRISON: Disgraced ex-CongressmemberAnthony Weiner wants to serve his 21-month prison term somewhere close to his 5-year-old son, but that doesn’t mean he wants to be bunked in Brooklyn with mobsters, terrorists and Martin Shkreli. When Weiner was sentenced for sexting a 15-year-old girl, his lawyer requested a medium-security penitentiary in Minersville, Pennsylvania. But Manhattan federal JudgeDenise Cote said she wouldn’t suggest “particular facilities,” and would only recommend prisons as close to New York City as possible. While Weiner is currently free on $150,000 bond, he could end up in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park on Nov. 6, a prison notorious for its rough conditions.(via New York Post)
 
~TOURISTS PARADE PAST PRICEY PIERHOUSE CONDOS ON SQUIBB PARK BRIDGE: Gute Nacht and buenos dias, Pierhouse condo dwellers. Night and day, visitors from all walks of life are admiring your stylish furniture and the glamorous bathtubs perched beside your windows — thanks to Brooklyn Heights’ bouncy bridge. That’s what folks used to call the wooden foot path that descends from Squibb Park on Columbia Heights. The footbridge, which was repaired so it doesn’t bounce as much now, zigzags through the gap between Pierhouse’s north and south condo buildings and across the north building’s shoreline-facing side. The pedestrians on Squibb Park Bridge, as it’s called, wind up walking thisclose to the development’s windows. (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
 
~MTA FUNDING WAR CONTINUES: The summer may be over, but the hell and the finger-pointing involved in the subway war hasn’t finished yet. The question of who exactly will pay for MTA’s $800 million proposed action plan came up at a recent board meeting, and a clear answer wasn’t reached. MTA Chairman Joe Lhota stood firm in his original position that New York City must pay for half the plan along with the State. “I will not spend one penny more than we have in our existing budget,” Lhota said. “We’ll be able to see what can be done and what can’t be done, if we’re unsuccessful in getting the full amount of money.” Unsurprisingly, Mayor Bill de Blasio stood firm in his position that the city will not pay any more than the MTA capital plan it already pays. Lhota did however, agree that MTA needs a new source of revenue. (via Gothamist)
 
~HISTORIC CHURCH HONORED IN BAY RIDGE: Elected officials and members of the community attended a street naming ceremony in Bay Ridge. “Our Lady of Angels Way” will now be posted on the corner of 73rd Street and 4th Avenue. The co-naming celebrates one of the oldest churches in the neighborhood, Our Lady of Angels parish (OLA), which is celebrating its 125th anniversary in the borough. Councilmember Vincent Gentile thanked everyone for attending the ceremony and called OLA “a place of worship that has given so much to our community here in Bay Ridge.” He described OLA as a historic and vibrant Roman Catholic parish, and went on to explain how he had worked for years to make the street naming a reality. (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

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 ROYAL WATCH: Are Prince William and Kate Middleton becoming worse parents with each child? Here’s some parenting advice for the Royal Family. (The Sydney Morning Herald)