Bogus tour operator charged out-of-towners $200 each way for a trip that is free

The round trip to Staten Island has been free ever since 1997 but a bogus tour operator charged two unsuspecting out-of-towners $200 each-way for a ride in the Staten Island Ferry. It seems there has been an increase in Manhattan tourism scams but this one took the cake. It was described as brazenly outrageous since it involved one of New York City’s most popular attractions.
This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 31 May 2015.

The ferry leaves from lower Manhattan and takes in the Statue of Liberty as it crosses New York Harbor to Staten Island. And, cops arrested Gregory Reddick after the alert cops spotted him charging a couple of tourists $400 for round-trip tickets on the ferry.
The officer challenged the 54-year-old man for his ID and Parks permit and the man led the six officers on a chase that ended near the ferry terminal in The Battery and the man was subdued by using pepper spray. (Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Mumbai to get a 190-feet tall Shivaji memorial at a cost of Rs 2000 crores

It is now official – a statue to honor Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Mumbai has been given the official nod. The proposed memorial in the Arabian Sea would be similar to the Statue of Liberty in New York.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue has been identified as a "permissible activity" and sources in the Mantralaya have indicated that, since it is a project that is environmentally sensitive, it will cost approximately Rs 2,000 crore to ensure that it does not cause any environmental damage.
Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar has given the seal of approval and said that the revised proposal of the Maharashtra government has been cleared by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) and the road to construct the statue in the Arabian Sea is now free of any hurdles.
The proposal that had been put up by the state PWD included a 190-feet statue that was to be erected on a rocky outcrop 1.5km from Raj Bhavan and the total area would be 15.96 hectares.
As per the propose plan there would be three levels of pedestal with museums, art galleries and recreation centers and, on the mainland, there would be two jetties to ferry passengers and commodities. One of these would be the existing one at the Gateway of India and a second jetty was proposed to be built at Nariman Point to ferry tourists and visitors. The Vivekananda Rock Memorial attracts 8000 to 10000 tourists daily and it is expected that the landmark in Mumbai would see at least 3000 footfalls every day.
In order to pay attention to the environment, there would be a sewage treatment plant and desalination plant along with wind mills, solar shelters, solar light poles, tidal turbines etc.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel – the Iron Man of India who India forgot

Long before Narendra Modi came to power, he had visions of a statue dedicated to Vallabhbhai Patel, the Iron Man of India on the lines of the Statue of Liberty in the United States and, on coming to power in Delhi, he has set the ball in motion by announcing that 31st October be henceforth be celebrated as National Unity Day dnaindia.com.
Many may not know why he earned the sobriquet of the Iron Man - he was a man of principles as well as a fierce nationalist. His philosophy always was ‘nation first’. His success in integrating around 565 princely states after independence earned for him the sobriquet of ‘Iron Man’. His policy ensured that the princely states had no other option but to merge with India.
This day was, till last year, identified as the day Indira Gandhi was shot dead.
There is no dispute that both the names of Vallabhbhai Patel and Indira Gandhi bring up memories and the Nation owes a lot to them but, dedicating a statue to the Sardar would be a fitting tribute to one of the founding fathers of our country who had direct roles to play in our freedom.
It is strange that no political party has, so far, harbored any idea to honor the Iron Man who had been entrusted by Mahatma Gandhi to organize the historical Dandi march which he successfully did.
Full credit should now go to Narendra Modi to revive our glorious past.
Building such a monument would take decades and would need crores of rupees and, the necessary funds could come from the uncovering of black money stashed away in foreign banks by the rich and famous.