From London to Los Angeles and right here in New York City, public safety officials are stepping up security following today's explosions at the Boston Marathon.

Police officers have been sent to congested areas, as well as transportation hubs while officers are being extra vigilant around large crowds and will increase security at sporting events. From the Barkley Center in Brooklyn, Dodger Stadium in LA and in Tennessee, where the Nashville Predators are hosting the Vancouver Canucks tonight, sports fans will experience a visible presence around all these stadiums and arenas.

Three people are reported dead and at least 133 injured at The Boston Marathon, which has now been shut down after two bomb explosions near the finish line, on this Patriot's Day.

Witnesses reportedly heard two loud explosions near the finish line inside the Fairmount Copley Plaza Hotel that sounded like two claps of thunder at storefront windows nearby were blown out.

Hundreds of people have now been evacuated as a result of the two severe explosions. The marathon has now been suspended.

Apr 15, 1947
Jackie Robinson breaks color barrier. Jackie Robinson, age 28, becomes the first African-American player in Major League Baseball when he steps onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to compete for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson broke the color barrier in a sport that had been segregated for more than 50 years. Exactly 50 years later, on April 15, 1997, Robinson's groundbreaking career was honored and his uniform number, 42, was retired from Major League Baseball by Commissioner Bud Selig in a ceremony attended by over 50,000 fans at New York City's Shea Stadium. Robinson's was the first-ever number retired by all teams in the league.

Apr 16, 1943
Hallucinogenic effects of LSD discovered. It was in Basel, Switzerland, Albert Hoffman, a Swiss chemist working at the Sandoz pharmaceutical research laboratory, accidentally consumes LSD-25, a synthetic drug he had created in 1938 as part of his research into the medicinal value of lysergic acid compounds. After taking the drug, formally known as lysergic acid diethylamide, Dr. Hoffman was disturbed by unusual sensations and hallucinations. In his notes, he related the experience:

US Senator Marco Rubio is a Cuban American Republican from the state of Florida. Rubio did something, which has never been done before. He appeared on all seven Sunday TV programs during his most public pitch yet for the emerging immigration reform bill and arguing that it would control the border.

Turbo Tax went offline as 2013 Tax Day US procrastinators had a scare last night when Turbo Tax apparently crashes hours before the 1040 individual taxpayer filing deadline.

Just before 11 p.m. EDT, the online tax filing giant started to get complaints that its system was not working. Officials Tweeted, "We're having problems with TurboTax online. We're in process bringing back the experience u expect. Updates 2 follow."

If you happen to find one of the most current paper copies of The Island Current, dated March 2013, you will learn that way back in January, NYC Comptroller John Liu visited City Island to address a meeting of the Civic Association. If you are among the tens of thousands who reads City Island Images, you can take time to review his profile and you will learn that Mr. Liu is among several candidates running for mayor of NYC.

Former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión is a resident of City Island and is also on that list of mayoral candidates running for mayor. However, to our knowledge he has not been invited to the same CICA community forum. City Island Images reached out to City Island Civic Association toppers last week for a clarification: Here is their official response: "We will be sending out invitations to all declared candidates (Democrats, Republicans and Carrion) in the race inviting them to address our group. The invitations should be sent out by weeks end.
Also just to clarify, when Mr. Liu came to address the Civic in January, it was in his capacity as NYC Comptroller. As you may know, he did not announce for another two months."

Meanwhile, City Islander Susan Bellinson recently hosted Mr. Carrion for a meet our neighbor and NYC mayoral candidate breakfast forum at island her home. City Island Images covered this event, but The Current apparently overlooked it.

Then, The City Island Chamber of Commerce sponsored a lunch meeting on Tuesday 4/16/13 at Portofino's Restaurant, located on 555 City Island Avenue. As previously mentioned on City Island Images, Chamber toppers invited City Islander Adolfo Carrión to speak at this organization's function. Following this report, The Current sent a representative to the Chamber luncheon. Congratulations to The Current!
http://www.theislandcurrent.com/

Carrión the 52 year old City Island resident wants to be NYC mayor so badly that he quit being a Democrat and switched his party registration to unaffiliated. By the way, this Bloomberg-style maneuver secured him a spot on the city’s Independence Party ballot line and guaranteed him a place in the city's general election.

However, there's good news and bad news. It turns out that Mr. Carrión's took his time paying for a remodeling job done for his nearly one million dollar home, which earned him a $10,000 fine from the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board, which he immediately paid.

The good news is that he is an experienced politician, who has served on the NYC council and served as Bronx Borough President. He also happens to be a bilingual Latino with worthwhile ideas. Among these are allowing NYC parents online access to student academic as well as disciplinary records. Carrión also has a high profile fan and supporter. Former President Ronald Reagan’s son, Michael, a big time conservative is a media amigo!