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A rare orchid the size of a Volkswagen Beetle is blooming for the second time ever at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a blessed event that has spurred envy among the handful of orchid growers who will even try to grow a plant this big. Considered the queen of orchidaceous plants, and one of the world's largest orchids, this particular Grammatophyllum speciosum is 12 feet in diameter and weighs about 200 pounds. It last bloomed in 2003 and has four huge flower spikes, at least one of which should remain in bloom for the next week or two, said David Horak, curator of the garden's orchid collection. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

More than a dozen people were injured, one of them critically, in an apartment fire in Brooklyn early Tuesday in which firefighters rescued six people, and two small children were dropped to safety from a second-floor apartment, according to fire officials and witnesses. The fire, at the corner of Newkirk and Ocean Avenues in Flatbush, broke out around 2 a.m. and sent eight members of one family to the hospital. Six people remained hospitalized last night. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Something about the man in the banana costume appealed to Ricardo Miranda Zuniga. Maybe it was the sign he wore that read, ''A banana from my country can travel easier than me.'' Maybe it was the fruit-wearer's free-spiritedness as he paraded in his peel through public places. Or maybe it was the Latino roots they shared. So when Mr. Zuniga, 37, a graphic artist from Brooklyn who also works with new media, was looking through the portfolios of immigrant artists who were seeking mentors, he picked Hatuey Ramos-Fermin, 30, a conceptual artist from the Bronx who has made videos of himself playing Benito Banana, a character he created to reflect on migration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reports on an attempted rape that was thwarted by a police officer. Assault which occurred in broad daylight in Prospect Park, Brooklyn; Hospitalization of victim for a broken jaw and head injuries; Officer who chased and tackled the suspect; Park which is usually safe during the day; Comments from local people.

Presents news briefs in New York and New Jersey, as of May 9, 2003 including the suspension of a police detective in Brooklyn, after a prisoner escaped.