Sunday, November 26, 2006

Dynamite Gothamite


One of the blogs I read every day is Gothamist; it's a great way to keep on top of what happens in the most interesting city in the world, with well-written (and frequent) posts on everything from food to news to culture.

Although there are times when I wish it were a bit more professional, usually the content from its hive of contributors is good enough that it doesn't need gussying up. A large chunk of its local news posts summarize and rewrite what media outlets report, always with appropriate credit and often in more direct language than the news sources can use.

Thus, they can concentrate on bringing out the telling (or titillating) detail; they also possess an unusually good sense for what makes a story interesting, important or unique. Such as in this post: Mother Throws 4 Children to Safety During Brooklyn House Fire

Mother of five Nabila Nazli was able to throw four of her children to safety during a vicious apartment fire. Nazli did not jump, as she stayed with a five year old daughter who had been scared to jump stayed on the second floor, and the two were overcome with smoke. Nazli and her daughter are in serious condition at Jacobi Medical Center, whereas the four other children, ages one month to 10 years old, are in stable condition at at Coney Island Hospital.

The fire started early Thursday morning in the Gravesend section. Neighbors tried to break in the house to save Nazli and the five children, but it was too difficult. They convinced Nazli to drop the children out a window and onto a blanket. By the time the firefighters got to the house, about half an hour after it started, they found Nazli and her daughter unconscious. Firefighter Bob Treiland told the NY Times, "She did a great job in saving her children... I guess I know where she is coming from [adding that he has two small children]. She would rather die than leave her child up there, and it is just something about a parent’s instincts.”

Nazli's husband, Mohammed Nasser, a limousine driver, told the Sun in spite of the fire that gutted their home of two months, "Nothing is lost because my family survived."
You even get a sense of how great the story is just reading the headlines of all the local papers; as always, the Times gets it best.

-Brave mom drops kids from blaze
-Son, 10, in awe of her bravery saving family from flames; New York Daily News
-Fire survivors hail 'Mighty Mom'; Newsday
-Mother Saves Four Children From a Blaze; New York Sun
-Home Afire, Mother Saves 4 and Stays With 5th; New York Times (behind pay wall)

Photo of Nabilia Nazi's daughter Shamile Naseer in her hospital bed at Coney Island Hospital by Charles Eckert for Newsday.

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