••• “A day after a United States military helicopter crashed during a troop transport mission in western Iraq, the grim news traveled nearly 6,000 miles west, back to New York: Two city firefighters were among the service members killed. [… One was] Christopher Tripp Zanetis, 37, who was on leave from the department, where he had been a marshal in the Bureau of Fire Investigation. [… He] grew up in central Indiana and graduated from New York University. He was a sophomore there on Sept. 11, 2001, and, ‘I think that’s what made him become a New York City fireman,’ said his mother, Sarah Zanetis, 63, who said he had lived three blocks from the World Trade Center.” —New York Times

••• “Two people received minor injuries from a fire Friday night at 56 Pine Street, authorities said. The FDNY could not confirm the ages of the victims but two young children were seen being treated by medica and taken away from the building on stretchers.” I think “medica” is supposed to be “medics” but I like the way it sounds. —Tribeca Trib

••• A roundup of residential development in Hudson Square. —Commercial Observer

••• A New York Times column on the reasons to ban tourism helicopters in the city rightly skewers the economic data used to justify the helicopter rides. But it doesn’t mention the degree to which the helicopters drive residents crazy and ruin the experience on Governors Island. Moreover, the ending is bizarre: “That they cost hundreds of dollars for just a few minutes of thrill-seeking, forcing tourists literally to look down on the rest of us, make them an almost-parodic symbol for the age of inequality. And perhaps that too is just another reason to ban them.” Along with, what, luxury condominiums? Fancy hotel suites? Designer fashion? Diamond jewelry? Do I need to continue?