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March 10, 2008
Some people are reacting to Hookergate with shock and dismay. Others are handling it with Photoshop. Here are a few of our favorite submissions-- send us yours. More after the jump....
Continue Reading "We Can Haz Spitzer Photoshop?"
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Photograph of Room 871 from DC Examiner The complaint filings the U.S. Attorney's Office made in the Emperors Club VIP prostitution ring show details about Client 9, which allegedly is Governor Eliot Spitzer. Here are some of the highlights:Client 9 paid $4,300 for the services of "Kristen," described as "An American, petite, very pretty brunette, 5-feet-5 inches and 105 pounds.”Client 9 was "paying for everything -- train tickets, cab fare from the hotel and...
Continue Reading ""Client 9" Could Be "Difficult," Paid $4,300 for Prostitute"
Juicy Campus, the multi-college message board, has been generating controversy at Columbia University because of the site’s discussions, which feature edifying topics ranging from “Fattect [sic] Girl that Looks Good at Columbia ” to “Males at Columbia – Dickless Wonders.” Michelle Diamond, president of the Columbia student council, has been exploring the feasibility of blocking the site from the University web servers. Alternatively, Diamond may initiate a campus-wide "pledge" against Juicy Campus, in which students...
Continue Reading "The Dark Underbelly of Columbia University, Revealed"
With rumors buzzing that Governor Spitzer will resign in light of his involvement with a prostitution ring, the residents of New York could very well join the residents of Connecticut and New Jersey in the "My Governor Resigned Due to Scandal Club." On July 1, 2004, Connecticut Governor John Rowland resigned after it was discovered that contractors who did business with the state also did work on his weekend cottage free of charge. Rowland...
Continue Reading "Possible Tri-State Resignation Trifecta "
Photograph of Governor Spitzer, with his wife Silda Wall Spitzer, during his apology to his family and the citizens of New York by Mary Altaffer/AP Governor Spitzer made a statement this afternoon referring to his apparent link to a prostitution ring." He had canceled his events and made this brief and cryptic statement:Over the past nine years, eight as attorney general and one as governor, I have tried to uphold a vision of progressive...
Continue Reading "Governor Spitzer Involved with Prostitution Ring;Spitzer Has Not Resigned"
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March 10, 2008
Open water can be a good way to test one's mettle, but is equally as good for running from one's problems. Reid Stowe is about a third of the way through his epic thousand day journey on the open seas without making landfall. Stowe is continuing on his epic voyage, while back at home the courts await his return so he can pay up on unpaid child support. New York's Dept. of State issued a...
Continue Reading "The Lure of the Sea, And Its Distance From Courts"
Photograph of Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican by Pier Paolo Cito/AP The Vatican has just issued a list of seven new "social" sins. As Bloomberg News reports, Bishop Gianfranco Girotti explained, "You offend God not only by stealing, taking the Lord's name in vain or coveting your neighbor's wife, but also by wrecking the environment, carrying out morally debatable experiments that manipulate DNA or harm embryos." Here they are:1. "Bioethical" violations such as...
Continue Reading "Sinners, All of Us: Vatican Adds 7 More Sins"
The police have taken fingerprints from the bike believed to have been trashed by the Times Square bomber. They are also looking for traces of DNA left on the bike and checking cellphone transmissions in the area during Thursday early morning, which is when a bomb exploded outside the army recruiting center. First, the police are " trying to eliminate nonsuspect fingerprints" because a number of people handled the bike when it was discovered and...
Continue Reading "Bike Fingerprints May Be Times Square Bombing Clue"
Image: The Bay Ridge Rover. Last week a group of concerned Bay Ridge parents and local officials held a rally and picket line outside a neighborhood Verizon Wireless retailer. The group was demanding the company remove the cell phone receivers installed on a rooftop near P.S. 185; they say the receivers emit dangerously high radiofrequency (RF) emissions and should not be placed near schools. They are also calling for legislation limiting where the receivers can...
Continue Reading "Cell Phone Receivers Too Close to Bay Ridge School?"
A sunny College Walk photo by Ciaophotos Of the four seasons, it is winter that departs most grudgingly. And that was an intense wind late Saturday night! Western New York and Ohio beared the brunt of the weekend storm, with Columbus receiving a record 20 inches. Across the Atlantic our weekend storm is now striking the UK, which was reeling from a weekend storm of their own. Conditions should be fairly calm for the...
Continue Reading "A Calm Start to the Week"
NJ Governor Jon Corzine and Pennsylvania Ed Rendell have offered a plan to re-stage the Florida and Michigan Democratic primaries. The two men, both Clinton supporters, say they will raise half of the $30 million it would take for new primaries. Funny, where's Governor Spitzer, who said he'd support Clinton but has called Obama "spectacular"? Corzine told the Star-Ledger, "We ought to have a revote. I think the money would be available if it brought...
Continue Reading "Clinton-Supporting Corzine Wants Florida, Michigan Revote"
City Council member and probable 2009 mayoral candidate, Tony Avella, is the latest politician to ask for America's withdrawl from the Beijing Olympics if China will not grant Tibet independence. Under China's rule for over 50 years, Tibet has made no headway, even with the support of human rights groups, activists...and Richard Gere. When we interviewed Robert Thurman, co-founder of the Tibet House, earlier this year he touched on the Olympics, saying:The thinking is that...
Continue Reading "Tony Avella Rallies for Tibet, Boycotts Olympics"
The rowdy drunken yahoos stumbling out of nightclubs on the Lower East Side and East Village have some residents nostalgic for the old days of pre-gentrified lawlessness. 47-year-old Frances Ayers, who lives at Rivington and Ludlow streets, tells the Post, "At least with the drug dealers there wasn't any noise." Since July 2007, when the city’s stricter noise code went into effect, complaints recorded by local community boards have boomed. Between July 1st, 2007 and...
Continue Reading "Volume of Noise Complaints Goes Way Up"
New Yorkers have been proud of its drinking water (heck, the city even started advertising its benefits last year), but will the discovery of "barely measurable pharmaceuticals" in tap water change all that? The AP conducted a survey of drinking water all around the country and found traces of drugs everywhere, including Los Angeles, Kentucky and NJ. In New York City, medicines likes "drugs for aches, infections, seizures and high blood pressure; hormones for menopause;...
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The trial of three police detectives for the fatal shooting of Sean Bell has been a magnet for scrutiny. And lately, there are reports Bell's parents and fiancee disagree about how the case is going. On Saturday, a lawyer for Bell's parents, Neville Mitchell, said, "We're somewhat concerned about the prosecution. We don't want to denigrate the prosecution, but we want a little more passion. The family's looking for justice." Which a source translated to...
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March 10, 2008
Donald Trump's Soho skyscraper was hit with another stop-work order after a "hoisting device broke free and shattered glass on three floors due to high winds Saturday night." The Daily News reports a cable "was swinging from the 26th floor when it hit the north side of the tower at 246 Spring St. around 10 p.m." Windows were shattered; contractor Bovis "refused" to say whether glass fell onto the street (Bovis did say their personnel...
Continue Reading "Another Stop-Work Order at the Trump Soho"
Yesterday's windy weather has at least one casualty: According to WNBC, power lines in NJ. Jersey Central Power & Light's commercial power lines "fell across the tracks in Montville," prompting the Montclair-Boonton line to be closed for a while. The line is open again, but this means one-hour delays for the Northeast Corridor, NJ Coast and Raritan Valley lines. NJ Transit and Lakeland buses are honoring rail tickets. Interestingly, WCBS 2 says the problems are...
Continue Reading "Downed Power Lines Means NJ Transit Delays"
Rangers 1, Bruins 0 (SO): One strike in a shootout ended this pitchers' goalies' duel. The striker was Nigel Dawes, who followed up 65 minutes of scoreless hockey with the lone shootout goal in the second round. Henrik Lundqvist got the better end of Boston netminder Alex Auld, and that got the Rangers two points. They combined to stop 64 shots, so this wasn't some snoozer. How hot are the Rangers? They have 21 points...
Continue Reading "Last Night's Action: Knocking on Dawes"March 9, 2008
Following two incidents in recent years that highlighted the occasionally raucous atmospheres of City firehouses, the FDNY is cracking down on what it considers improper names for certain houses, like the Happy Hookers in Red Hook, Southern Comfort on Staten Island, Animal House in the Bronx, and The Nut House in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The names and logos of these firehouses came under scrutiny following an incident on New Year's Eve 2003, when an argument over Elvis...
Continue Reading "Firehouse Emblems, Nicknames Scrutinized"
Photograph from the Survivors' Stairway This morning, the "Survivors' Staircase," which people escaping the World Trade Center used on September 11 and is the last remaining part of the WTC, was moved this morning. The staircase will be in storage just 200 feet from its location at Vesey and Church until it can be moved to the for a few months until it can be placed into the National September 11 Memorial & Museum....
Continue Reading "9/11 Survivors' Staircase Moves Into Storage (For Now)"
A woman's accusation of being drugged and sexually assaulted at a Brooklyn nightclub has led local state senator Eric Adams to call for immediate screening for date rape drugs at hospitals when a woman is brought in an incoherent state. The alleged victim, who appeared at a press conference with Adams dressed to shield her identity, said that she was invited by the owner of the Khrome Bar & Lounge on Atlantic and Washington Aves....
Continue Reading "Sex Assault Accusation and Call for Drug Screening"
Word on Heath Ledger's will has hit the newswire, and according to documents filed in Manhattan Surrogate's Court, he had less than $145,000 in New York assets when he died on January 22nd. The figure includes about $100,000 in bank accounts, a $25,000 Toyota Prius and $20,000 in furniture and fixtures. Those numbers, however, do not reflect the size of Ledger's estate. There may be some property holdings in Australia and money tucked in trusts....
Continue Reading "Ledger Drafted Will in 2003, Left Estate to Family"
Barack Obama won the Wyoming caucuses yesterday. Obama beat Hillary Clinton with 61%, to her 38%, Obama is projected to get 7 delegates and Clinton may receive 4. According to the NY Times, Obama's campaign was in Wyoming two weeks earlier than Clinton's. There were five Obama offices and two Clinton offices, and Obama ran TV and radio ads, while Clinton just ran radio. The spin from the campaigns: Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe said,...
Continue Reading "Obama Wins Wyoming; Bubba Talks "Dream Ticket""
A pit bull named Tyrus is described by the New York Post as being "The Bitch of West 72nd St." and a 'Hell Hound.' Neighbors of the dog's owner at the former Olcott Hotel on the Upper West Side say that Tyrus is a menace who runs wild, poops in the hall and mauls other pets. Residents of The Olcott's 7th floor said that instead of walking Tyrus, his owners simply let the dog run...
Continue Reading "'Lunatic' Pit Bull Terrorizes Neighbors on UWS"
Photograph of Grand Army Plaza during the rain by Miguel Ariel Contreras Drake-McLaughlin After the past two days of flood watches and warnings amid pouring rain, things are a bit brighter today. But there is a high wind warning. As WABC 7's AccuWeather says, it'll be "42 degrees but because of biting wind feel-like temperatures will be in 20s-30s." Which is a lot cooler than yesterday's high of 57 degrees. There were a number...
Continue Reading "Rain, Rain Goes Away - But Winds are Here"Advertisement: Gothamist Continues Below!
March 9, 2008
Police and firefighters are investigating the cause of death of a man who died late yesterday evening in the Bronx. The two standout theories are that he died because he was on fire or because he may have been shot. The still-unidentified man stumbled in the first floor hallway of the Eastchester Houses on Adee Ave. in the Bronx around 11:30 p.m. Saturday night; he was on fire and collapsed. Responding firefighters declared him dead...
Continue Reading "Mystery Homicide in the Bronx"
The relative merits of automobiles versus mass transit are frequently debated by New Yorkers, but rarely do the two modes of transport become physically opposed to each other, as they did yesterday in Brooklyn. Service on the N line was suspended for a few hours early yesterday morning, after a car jumped the curb at 63rd St. near the New Utrecht Ave. subway station, traversed the sidewalk, crashed through a chain link fence, and fell...
Continue Reading "Car vs. Subway in Brooklyn"
Portland 120 Knicks 114 (OT): The Knicks went into this game shorthanded, no Zach Randolph, no Eddy Curry, no Jamal Crawford. But, even without three starters they almost pulled out the win thanks to Nate Robinson’s 45-point game. Robinson played an amazing 52 minutes in the game and the Knicks used only eight players, even with the extra period. Mavericks 111 Nets 91: Jason Kidd got his first crack at his old team and he...
Continue Reading "Last Night's Action: Nate Was Great, But...."March 8, 2008
Tonight is the night we all set our clocks ahead an hour in observance of the strange springtime ritual known as Daylight Saving Time. Until last year Daylight time began on the first Sunday in April. Thanks to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, DST now begins on the second Sunday in March and lasts until the first weekend in November. The dates were changed "to save energy". Saving energy, in fact, was the reason...
Continue Reading "Time to Start Saving Daylight"
Remember that whole Hep-A scare at West Village bar Socialista? Reports came in this week that the whole thing may have been a joke -- but who's laughing? Probably not the owners of Socialista. Word is that Ashton Kutcher has a new show coming out called Pop Fiction, which has thus far been kept under wraps. Not straying far from his Punk'd roots, the series (which will air on the E! network) is a prank...
Continue Reading "Did Kutcher Punk the Media?"
A NY Times survey shows City Council members, if they were to vote today, oppose the congestion pricing plan 2-1. Which means it's not just Albany legislators that Mayor Bloomberg has to politick to get his congestion pricing plan passed. Congestion pricing has been a centerpiece of Bloomberg's PlaNYC initiative, a program to ensure the city's sustainability in the year 2030. A lot of transit-related planning hinges upon the millions expected from congestion pricing;...
Continue Reading "City Council Balks at Congestion Pricing"
Two years after the FBI raided his offices, a former State Assemblyman and labor leader pleaded guilty to racketeering. Brian McLaughlin was charged with over 40 crimes, using his power as a seven-term Assemblyman, division head of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and head of the NYC Central Labor Council to bribe and steal. In court yesterday, he admitted, "I took funds illegally, basically from three areas: employees in the electrical industry, campaign funds,...
Continue Reading "Former Assemblyman Pleads Guilty to Racketeering"Stephen Colbert continued his new feature on The Colbert Report program called "Nailed 'Em," in which the television host hopes to overcome the niceties of the legal system with skillful editing and generous amounts of innuendo. This week's subject was Brooklyn's own graffiti "punk," 6-year-old Natalie Shea. You may remember that Shea's chalk drawings - on her own front stoop - prompted a neighbor to complain to the Sanitation Department, which threatened the family with...
Continue Reading "Video of the Day: Colbert Confronts Chalkitti Menace"
Plans to renovate and repair the City Council half of City Hall, which is divided between the Council and the Mayor's offices, are proving to be so complicated and expensive that the project has already been handed from one city agency to another and the cost estimates are ballooning. The Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services, which oversees City buildings, deferred to the Dept. of Design and Construction when it realized how complex the renovation of...
Continue Reading "City Hall Overhaul Is Going to Cost Plenty"
The police think the 10-speed bicycle, left near the trash on Thursday morning, belongs to the person who bombed the army recruiting center in Times Square. The bike, left on East 38th Street, was found by some workers who heard about the bombing and contacted the police, who learned of the bike at 7 a.m. (the bombing occurred around 3:45 a.m.). Surveillance footage shows the suspected bomber on a bicycle near the recruiting center...
Continue Reading "NYPD: Trashed Bike May Be Times Square Bomber's"Advertisement: Gothamist Continues Below!
March 8, 2008
A heretofore secret witness--previously described as a jailhouse snitch--testified in the murder trial of Cesar Rodriguez, charged with killing his 7-year-old stepdaughter Nixzmary Brown in 2006. The witness claimed the girl's mother confessed to killing her daughter. Nixzaliz Santiago, Nixzmary's mother who will face her own murder trial later, allegedly told the witness that Nixzmary was a bad child and she and Rodriguez beat the young girl in the bathtub. She testified that Santiago "kept...
Continue Reading "Nixzmary Brown Murder Case Sinks Even Lower"
In a desperate bid for freedom and to avoid a date with a butcher's knife, a goat made a break for it in the Bronx. The 25 pound pygmy goat was spotted yesterday afternoon on 141st St. near St. Ann Ave. in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx and police quickly captured it. A worker with Animal Care & Control believes that the animal probably escaped from a neighborhood slaughterhouse. Police have named the...
Continue Reading "Cops Capture Getaway Goat in the Bronx"
Police broke up an Upper East Side heroin distribution center this week, located in the rarefied real estate of 75th St. between 2nd and 3rd Aves. Neighbors seemed shocked after police broke down the door of apartment 2B at 242 East 75th, a street unfamiliar with narcotics unit raids. One said, "I was leaving my apartment [and there was a] battering ram and there were cops, so I asked some questions and I found...
Continue Reading "UES High: Heroin Mill on 75th Street"
Police have rounded up 38 people accused of running a credit card fraud ring out of Queens for almost a decade. Officials say hackers in China and Ukraine have been breaking into the databases of major U.S. department stores, and then sending the credit card information of thousands of shoppers to the ringleader, Kwok Chow, 36, a Flushing resident known as “Tony.” The scam hit approximately 3,000 consumers and may have cost as much as...
Continue Reading "Cops Break Up Major Identity Theft Ring in Queens"
Devils 2, Lightning 1 (OT): With rivals Montreal and Pittsburgh idle, New Jersey saw its win vault it back into first place in the Eastern Conference. Credit goes out to Patrik Elias, who scored the game-winner in overtime and assisted on the earlier strike. The Devils' sitting atop the playoff race isn't a schedule fluke, either. They have a game in hand on the Penguins and the same number as the Canadiens. Pistons 101, Knicks...
Continue Reading "Last Night's Action: Asserting Superiority"March 7, 2008
A proposal by City Council Member Hiram Monserrate would give hybrid car drivers free parking at meters for a year after their initial purchase. If the legislation passes, drivers with receipts for hybrid cars could apply for the permits, which the Queens councilman says would cost the city little in lost revenue, because the taxes from new car sales would make up for the quarters lost at parking meters. But Council Member John Liu, chairman...
Continue Reading "Free Parking for NYC's Hybrid Car Drivers?"
The man accused of killing his niece's ex-husband at a Queens playground last fall sat down for jailhouse interview and emphasized he's innocent. Mikahil Mallayev, a resident of Georgia but is now being held at Rikers, spoke to WCBS 2's Scott Weinberger. Mallayev was nabbed when police matched fingerprints on a silencer left at the scene to fingerprints already in the system. They turned out to be Mallayev's from a 1994 farebeating arrest. However, Mallayev...
Continue Reading "Accused Killer Speaks: "I Didn't Do This""
It's a monster mess! Samantha Power, a Pulitzer prize-winning adviser to Barack Obama's campaign, has stepped down after telling a reporter for The Scotsman that Hillary Clinton is a monster. Power said, "Last Monday, I made inexcusable remarks that are at marked variance from my oft-stated admiration for Senator Clinton and from the spirit, tenor, and purpose of the Obama campaign. And I extend my deepest apologies to Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, and the remarkable...
Continue Reading "Call Clinton a "Monster," Resign From Obama Campaign"
There's a thin line between being a fan and being obsessed, and Anthony Erskine may have crossed that line on when he went onto the court to meet his idol, LeBron James. During the waning moments of the Cavaliers’ Wednesday win over the Knicks, Erskine evaded security and actually got to shake LeBron’s hand and tell him how much he admired him. For his part, James seemed happy with the incident telling reporters:"It was a...
Continue Reading "LeBron's #1 Fan Takes to the Court For Meeting"
A police detective detailed photographing the aftermath of the Sean Bell shooting as prosecutors entered 80 photographs into evidence. The Post called the photos "horrific" and "grisly," as many showed blood on the car's seats and police-fired bullets riddled in the side of the car. They caused Bell's mother Valerie Bell to look away while Bell's fiancee Nicole Paultrie Bell "showed no emotion, but occasionally shook her head." One of now-retired detective Dave Rivera's photographs...
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March 7, 2008
A man and three women were arrested by the feds for overseeing an intercontinental prostitution ring catering to the upper crust of New York, Miami, LA, and Europe. The women pictured on the Emperor's Club V.I.P. web site, now taken down, had their faces blurred but featured body shots alongside a one to seven diamond ranking system. Chintzy customers willing to go low-end could get a three-diamond lady for $1,000 an hour; seven-diamond pros cost...
Continue Reading "International Escort Ring Busted by Feds"
With his strip club in dire straits amidst allegations of on-site prostitution, Scores West owner Elliot Osher is defending his business with tortured analogies to the Clinton era. Ranting to the Daily News, Osher called the State Liquor Authority's decision to revoke his liquor license "politically motivated and ridiculous,” and went on to point out that President Bill Clinton received oral sex in the Oval Office "and they didn't close the White House." Scores West:...
Continue Reading "Troubled Scores West Owner Waxes Clintonian "
Tomorrow would be a good day to sleep in. All day. It may be sunny outside this morning but that sun is about to be replaced with clouds and heavy rain as a massive storm move up the Ohio Valley. The storm dumped nine inches of snow on North Texas yesterday and is expected to drop a foot or more of snow over the eastern Great Lakes by tomorrow. Here on the east coast the...
Continue Reading "Heavy Soaking Tonight, Tomorrow"
Photographs of the damaged recruiting center (above) and Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly (below) by Mary Altaffer/AP The FBI said letters sent to many Congressional members with a photograph of a man standing in front of the Times Square recruiting center and an anti-war manifesto were not linked to yesterday's bombing outside the center. A law enforcement source did call the letters an "incredibly unbelievable coincidence," as they arrived in many offices yesterday,...
Continue Reading "DC Letters Not Linked to Times Square Bombing; Similarities With Earlier Consulate Bombings"
The Sun reports Mayor Bloomberg doesn't think Muslim holy days should become school holidays. His reason? "The truth of the matter is we need more children in school. More, not less." The topic comes up because City Councilman Robert Jackson, who is Muslim, has introduced a resolution requiring public schools take holidays on Eid Ul-Fitr and Eid Ul-Adha. Ten percent of the NYC school population is Muslim. Jackson argues that parents should have to decide...
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Photograph of 102 East 124th Street via WABC The Department of Buildings commissioner admitted her agency knew a Harlem building was in danger of collapse but somehow it got lost in the shuffle and collapsed on its own. On Tuesday, bricks fell off 102 East 124th Street, a vacant building, and a few hours later, the roof and top floor collapsed. Its neighboring building was compromised and authorities moved to demolish it, asking the...
Continue Reading "What Follow-Through? Buildings Department Knew Building Had Problems Month Before Collapse"
The maternal grandmother of a 7-year-old abused girl who died in 2006 testified yesterday the child feared her stepfather. Her stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, is on trial for Nixzmary Brown's murder; Brown's mother Nixzaliz Santiago will face a separate trial. The defense called Maria Gonzalez to support their claims a depressed Santiago struck the fatal blow. But Gonzalez, who only appeared because she was subpoenaed, said Brown and her siblings were scared of Rodriguez, "They had...
Continue Reading "Nixzmary Brown's Grandmother Testifies"
Rangers 4, Islanders 1: Two days after having their dramatic rally ruined in a shootout, the Rangers crushed the Islanders, 4-1, and continued their surge at the season's most critical times. They drew Wade Dubielewicz in goal -- Rick DiPietro had missed too much time following the death of his grandmother -- but most goalies would have had trouble Thursday. The Rangers led this one 89 seconds into the game on a Brendan Shanahan goal....
Continue Reading "Last Night's Action: Red-Hot Rangers Get Revenge"March 6, 2008
Some Capitol Hill offices received letters claiming responsibility for this morning's bombing in Times Square. WNBC reports that the letters, which arrived today, included a photo of the Army recruiting center "before it was bombed and...the words 'We did it.'" According to the AP, Senator Dianne Feinstein's office sent this email to other lawmakers:"A few offices on the House side have received a letter today addressed to 'Members of Congress' with a picture of a...
Continue Reading "BREAKING: Letter to Congress Claims Responsibility for Times Square Bombing"
Hillary Clinton may have won more votes in Tuesday’s crucial primaries, but the victories barely made a dent in Barack Obama’s lead, narrowing the gap by only a few delegates. Unless scandal or some other meltdown severely damages Obama, Clinton’s chances of beating him on pledged delegates are extremely difficult. The strategy for Clinton now is, first and foremost, to stop a growing number of superdelegates from committing to Obama at the convention. Clinton's arguing,...
Continue Reading "Clinton Tuesday Victories Added Up to Few Delegates"Advertisement: Gothamist Continues Below!
March 6, 2008
Images from surveillance footage via WNBC The NYPD released surveillance footage of this morning's explosion near the Army recruiting center in Times Square. The footage shows a bicyclist approaching the building and an explosion taking place after he leaves. The bicyclist is of interest because a witness told the police he/she saw a bicyclist acting suspiciously. Earlier today, Police Commissioner Kelly said, "The individual (on the bicycle) was wearing a hood and dark colored...
Continue Reading "Footage Shows Bicyclist Before Times Square Explosion"
After a long absence, Stephon Marbury finally showed up at Madison Square Garden last night, but the circumstances of his absence remain a mystery. “I ain’t got no comment to that,” was Marbury’s response when asked if Isiah had told him to stay away from the team. Marbury did add that he was happy to be “able” to be on the bench and support his teammates. Was that a reference to the ban or simply...
Continue Reading "No Longer M.I.A.: Marbury Makes An Appearance"
State Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell 4th, Democrat and son of the trailblazing Harlem politician Adam Clayton Powell Jr., was arrested for drunk driving on the upper West Side at 2:30 a.m. this morning. According to the Daily News, an unidentified woman passed out in the back of the car was so intoxicated she had to be taken to a local hospital. Powell failed a breath test at the scene by a small margin and, while...
Continue Reading "Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell 4th Arrested for DUI"
Long Island Lolita Amy Fisher has been happy to talk about her sex tape, her DJ-ing career, and her current life to pretty much any and all press. But throw in a question from the daughter of Joey and Mary Jo Buttafuoco, you don't get Amy. Fisher was a guest on Howard Stern's Sirius radio show when Jessica Buttafuoco called in. AMNY's Pet Rock blog reveals "Fisher said she did not want to talk to...
Continue Reading "How to Shut Amy Fisher Up"
A 29-year-old woman scheduled to testify in a kidnapping case today was possibly thrown from a Harlem building yesterday morning. Joy Blackman, who was a witness to a kidnapping and was also a witness against her accused rapist in a separate case, was found dead in an alleyway at 145 West 145th Street. The building's roof alarm had been triggered between 1:15 a.m. and 2:15 a.m., Newsday reports no one seemed to check the roof....
Continue Reading "Witness's Death Prompts Police Investigation"
Yesterday Forbes magazine, in their annual ranking of the rich, declared New York City is no longer the billionaire capital of the world. Where have all the dollar signs gone? To Moscow, of course, who beat us out by 3 billionaires (they have 74 to our 71). Most of the big buck city dwellers are familiar names: Mayor Michael Bloomberg ($11.5 billion), publishing powerhouses Samuel Newhouse Jr. and Rupert Murdoch ($8.5 billion and $8.3 billion),...
Continue Reading "The Riches Move From Manhattan to Moscow"
If you're one of those people that think the FBI has better things to do than investigate Roger Clemens, you have an ally in Washington DC. Congressman Anthony Weiner voiced his opinion on the investigation into Clemens. Weiner sent a letter to the Attorney General questioning the benefit of continuing the investigation into Clemens’ testimony to Congress, saying "Whether or not Roger Clemens may have committed perjury should not compete with real national security threats...
Continue Reading "Weiner Calls For Stop to Clemens Inquiry"
You'll only be getting babes, not booze, when you go to Scores West: The State Liquor Authority has taken away the strip club's liquor license after police found prostitution at the Chelsea joint (the Upper East Side location is not affected). An SLA administrative judge wrote that prostitution was "open and notorious such that the licensee knew or should have known of its occurrence." Back in 2007, a manager told police they could receive sexual...
Continue Reading "No More Booze for Scores West"
Turns out the number parking placards sloshing around New York is over 142,000, twice the number guesstimated by Mayor Bloomberg’s office when he announced a 20% cutback on the placards, which allow police, teachers and civil servants to park for free at meters and many off-limits areas. The new total does not take into consideration the number of counterfeit and expired placards, and the city is still not done counting, so this preliminary total is...
Continue Reading "City Struggles to Reduce Glut of Parking Placards"
Photograph of John McCain and President George Bush at the White House by Ron Edmonds/AP Yesterday, Senator John McCain was welcomed and endorsed by President Bush. Bush referenced McCain's doubters and past history, "John showed incredible courage and strength of character and perseverance in order to get to this moment. And that's exactly what we need in a President: somebody that can handle the tough decisions; somebody who won't flinch in the face of...
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March 6, 2008
If you're being arraigned for allegedly threatening the brother of the man your sister is accused of killing, should you really be yelling at the judge? That's what Natella Natanova did yesterday and she was removed from court. Natanova's sister Mazoltuv Borukhova (pictured, top) is accused of killing her ex-husband, Daniel Malakov (pictured, bottom). She and her husband were fighting over custody of their daughter (a court had awarded him temporary custody), and authorities say...
Continue Reading "Intense Arraignment for Sister of Murder Suspect"
Photograph of damaged door by dhfdz on Flickr Around 3:45 a.m., a device exploded outside the military recruiting center in Times Square. No one was injured, but a glass entryway was shattered. The streets around Times Square were shut down (now traffic can pass through) and subway service passed through the Times Square station without stopping (it's back to normal now), as authorities investigated the scene. WNBC reports police were searching for a "suspect...
Continue Reading "Times Square Explosion; No Injuries, "Improvised Device""
Yesterday, some neighborhoods were dealing with the aftermath of rains and 60 mph winds that swept through their neighborhoods. And luckily the casualties were mostly cars and trees, as WCBS 2 shows, though there were some power outages (downed power lines). The huge tree that fell in Corona (lower photos) actually hit three cars: The NY Times found that it landed on the Farez family's 1996 GMC Safari - purchased just four months ago...
Continue Reading "A Tree Falls in Queens"
Cleveland 119 Knicks 105: If you were looking for a game where the Knicks should have beaten a quality opponent, this was it. New York battled Cleveland almost evenly over three quarters and although they ended up out-shooting the Cavs, they did not walk away with the win. That was because the best player on the floor took over the game. LeBron ended up with 50 points and 10 rebounds, scoring almost at will when...
Continue Reading "Last Night's Action: The King Rules New York"March 5, 2008
Brooklyn College is joining the ranks of other New York academic establishments by adding a dorm next spring (something they've already started, and stopped, work on). The school has a little over 15,000 grads and undergrads, with about 99% hailing from New York and 77% from Brooklyn. The school hopes that by adding a dorm, some out-of-staters will flock to Midwood. The Daily News reports the eight-story Farragut Road building will house about 214 students...
Continue Reading "Brooklyn College Gets Residential"
The NYC-DC bus fare wars have a new player: Greyhound division BoltBus will be launching service on March 27 and has started to sell tickets for as low as $1 (plus a 50 cent booking fee). DCist explains BoltBus "operates on the EasyJet principle, where tickets start out dirt cheap and get more expensive as the bus gets fuller. I just purchased a ticket for $7, and if I had been willing to leave on...
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The Friends of Moynihan Station shared a rendering of what Moynihan Station will look like, according to NY State. According to FMS, the Empire State Development Corporation has been "reluctant" to share them, but FMS thinks "looks great," though there's a lot that needs to be explained. The Observer broke down what's in the rendering:In the bottom of the picture is the Farley Post Office with a new Madison Square Garden in the rear....
Continue Reading "Moynihan Station Area Might Look Like This"
The Staten Island Advance has been following the turmoil brewing between a Wiccan family and their neighbors. The South Shore home at the center of the controversy is a duplex, half belonging to the Wiccan devotees, Ivy Colmer Vanderborgh, her husband and mother (the husband isn't Wiccan). Not hiding their practices, their property is decorated with a "witchy weather vane and cauldron out front," along with a massive stained-glass pentacle. Before the front yard cauldron...
Continue Reading "Wiccan Witch Hunt on Staten Island"
Police are looking for a man suspected of assaulting two women in separate early Sunday morning incidents and released a surveillance video of him. One of the victims said after getting thrown to the ground she got away and called 911 - only for the attacker to try again as she walked on Bleecker Street. She told the Daily News, "I started walking and calling 911 on my cell ... and he attacked me again...I...
Continue Reading "Video Released of West Village Sex Attacker "
Would-be Empire State Building jumper, Jeb Corliss (pictured), isn't in the clear yet. Last year's decision from Supreme Court Justice Michael Ambrecht to dismiss the charges against him was overturned yesterday when The Supreme Court Appellate Division decided to bring the case back to life. A four-judge panel unanimously voted, and the Manhattan District Attorney's office can now pursue its charge of reckless endangerment against Corliss for his 2006 attempted jump. The judges did reduce...
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March 5, 2008
Costumed performers and tour guides are fighting for unionization at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, where they work to recreate the squalid living conditions of turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants, the very group that was integral to 20th century unionization efforts. Dozens of the tenement employees protested last night outside a fundraiser for the museum at Chelsea Piers. Most of the guides work part time for an average $17 per hour, with no regular pay increases,...
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Although the city was mostly spared, wind and rain caused quite a mess across the metro area last night. About twenty thousand homes lost power, including 900 in Queens and 300 in the Bronx. The rain is not over! There is one more line of storms headed our way. The rain is currently over central New Jersey and will pass through the city this morning. Skies should rapidly clear in the early afternoon. Until then,...
Continue Reading "One More Line of Showers"
Photograph of Clinton, holding the hands of Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and celebrating in Ohio, by Mark Duncan/AP Fresh off her big night of wins in Ohio and Texas, Hillary Clinton spoke on CBS's Early Show and mentioned the words "dream ticket" in relation to the heated Democratic presidential race. Harry Smith told Clinton, "We talked to a lot of people in Ohio who said there really isn't that...
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Another twist in the murder case of Queens dentist Daniel Malakov: The sister of his ex-wife - who remains in jail for plotting to kill Malakov - was arrested for threatening Malakov's brother. Natella Natanova was arrested yesterday after apparently approaching Gavriel Malakov in Queens and saying, "You do know if you talk, you will be the next to go," on Monday morning. The brother is a potential prosecution witness and Queens DA Richard Brown...
Continue Reading "Sister of Accused Murderer Arrested Over Threat"
One month's free rent! Pets allowed! These are some of the new strategies from Tishman Speyer for its market-rate rentals at Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village complex. Which is a far cry from its past as a complex where building workers would be rewarded with $150 gift certificates if they narced on pet-owning tenants. The Post reports Tishman Speyer, which bought the development for $5.4 billion in 2006, is facing 5-10% vacancy rates, while the average...
Continue Reading "Stuyvesant Town, Desperate for Renters?"
There are some residual delays on Metro-North this morning after yesterday's East Harlem building collapse that led to the suspension of all service in and out of Grand Central. The trains' speed restrictions were lifted at 6:30 a.m. and there may be 5-10 delays. A crowd formed in Grand Central as commuters waited out the suspension or devised alternate routes to get home as the New Haven, Hudson and Harlem lines were all down. But...
Continue Reading "Metro-North Service "Normal" After Building Collapse"
Undercover detective Hispolito Sanchez testified for a second day, with prosecutors playing the 911 call he made on November 25, 2006, the night police fatally fired at Sean Bell 50 times. Sanchez's colleagues detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard face manslaughter charges while detective Marc Cooper faces reckless endangerment charges in the bench trial at the Queens courthouse. Sanchez, who did not fire any of the 50 shots at Sean Bell or his friends, heard but...
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Photograph of Islanders celebrating a second period goal from Ruslan Fedotenko by Frank Franklin II/AP Islanders 4 Rangers 3 (Shootout): This was not a game for fans of goaltenders. Henrik Lundqvist was terrible, Wade Dubielewicz was too but better when it counted and the Islanders prevailed in a sloppy game. Blake Comeau got things started when he scored by throwing the puck off of Michal Rozsival to put the Islanders in front. The Rangers...
Continue Reading "Last Night's Action: A Big Win For The Islanders"March 4, 2008
Photograph, left, of Hillary Clinton at Herrera's Mexican Cafe in Dallas, TX by Carolyn Kaster/AP; photograph, right, of Barack Obama at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo 2008 by Rick Bowmer/AP Ohio and Texas are "too close to call" for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, which means it will be a long night - and very possibly another few weeks of primary madness. Obama did win Vermont (so far, 59% to Clinton's 39%) and...
Continue Reading "Clinton Wins Ohio, Texas; Obama Still Has More Delegates"
Senator John McCain at a campaign stop in San Antonio, TX by Eric Gay/AP CNN, NBC, and the AP are projecting Senator John McCain will clinch the Republican presidential campaign, after winning the primaries in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island and clinching the 1,191 delegates needed. A source tells NBC that President Bush has invited McCain to the White House tomorrow and will endorse him. McCain will be having a victory party in...
Continue Reading "Victorious in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont, McCain Projected to Win Republican Nomination"Advertisement: Gothamist Continues Below!
March 4, 2008
Congratulations, America! You're having less sex than almost anyone else! According to the Durex Sexual Wellbeing Global Survey, Americans get it on less often than most, with only 53% having regular, weekly action (and with only 44% actually reporting being satisfied with their sex lives). In fact, the average American gets it on only slightly more often than the Japanese who were at the bottom of the list. Greeks preferred to be on top with...
Continue Reading "Not Tonight (or Any Time Soon), Honey"
After his $500,000 donation to NY State Republicans was revealed, Mayor Bloomberg explained why he did it to reporters while attending a Mayors Against Illegal Guns conference, "I've said repeatedly, I will help those who help us. They have stood up for the city a number of times — when we needed to have a voice in Albany and we didn't have that voice from the Assembly or from the governor, whether it was the...
Continue Reading "Mayor Bloomberg Vs. State Democrats"
Above images from WNBC 4, below right image from WCBS 2; bottom left image from Peter Haskell/WCBS 880 A building collapse at 124th Street and Park Avenue has prompted the MTA to shut down all train service in and out of Grand Central Terminal. Metro-North's Dan Brucker told WCBS 880, "We don't know how long the closure will last. We have been told by the police not to have any trains run through the...
Continue Reading "Harlem Building Collapse
Two white Staten Island cops were indicted today for an incident last Halloween in which they allegedly handcuffed a black egg-throwing teen and drove him to a dark, secluded marshland he was stranded (the handcuffs were taken off). Initially, the cops were also accused of stripping him down to his shorts and kicking him. The officers, Thomas Elliassen and Richard Danese, who are pleading not guilty, said they just wanted to "scare him" and later...
Continue Reading "SI Cops Indicted in Halloween Teen Abduction"
The serial flusher responsible for two Koran toilet dunkings at Pace University has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 300 hours of community service. Stanislav Shmulevich, a Russian immigrant, was a business major at the time of the incidents, in which a copy of the Koran was twice discovered in the toilet – the first time "covered in feces" – in October and November 2006. Shmulevich remained at large until last summer, when police connected...
Continue Reading "Former Pace Student Admits to Dumping Korans in Toilet"
You may have heard that New York City will have two new ballparks to attend in 2009. Of course that means that Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium will close their doors forever after the 2008 season. And if you want to be there for the last scheduled game at either venue, you better have a lot of money. Tickets for the finale at Yankees Stadium are being scalped online for as much as $17,000 with...
Continue Reading "A Pretty Penny for Final Shea, Yankee Stadium Games"
Yesterday we noted Council Member Peter Vallone Jr.'s latest mission: putting an end to stunts. Of course, one of the best examples of this daredevil activity is brought to us by Jeb Corliss; after attempting to jump off the Empire State Building in 2006 Bloomberg wasn't too happy with this thrill-seeker. Or the judge that dropped the charges against him. But now the city is revisiting the case and trying to appeal the decision. Possibly...
Continue Reading "Jeb Corliss Responds to Vallone's "No Jump" Bill"
The father who wanted to give up his 6-month-old baby out of desperation has told the police he wants to surrender. Carlos Rodas, 27, was overwhelmed when his 14-year-old girlfriend and the mother of the baby left him to care for their daughter, so he, his sister, and her boyfriend, a livery cab driver, worked out a plan for the driver to leave the baby at a Queens fire house. The story of the...
Continue Reading "Abandoned Baby's Father Wants to Surrender"
Today's big Texas primary, the Post has delivered a cover with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as old West gunslingers. And since Obama's hand in on his gun, it makes sense the headline for the story is, "Barack Goes For Hill Kill." (Obama believes in gun control, though he backed a law allowing retired cops to carry concealed weapons). At any rate, in spite of Obama leading and her campaign desperate for wins in Texas...
Continue Reading "Another Tuesday Showdown for Clinton and Obama"
Photograph of Staten Island ferry fishes through fish eye by urbanblitz on Flickr A reported fish fatality in the Staten Island Ferry's newly installed $750,000 fish tanks has spurred a lively discussion about what could be happening to the scaly creatures on SILive's forums. One poster wrote the fish death (perhaps the second) was "possibly a princess parrot fish...By 7:30AM it hadn't become a meal yet, but some of his buddies were starting to...
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March 4, 2008
The Bronx DA's office says an 83-year-old engineer lied about using steel in a building that caught fire and collapsed and left two firefighters dead in 2006. Jose Vargas, who pleaded not guilty, was arraigned in court yesterday. The three-alarm fire broke out at a 99-cent store on Walton Avenue on August 27, 2006; the building's roof and first floor collapsed, killing Lieutenant Howard Carpluk Jr. and firefighter Michael Reilly. Vargas, who signed inspection papers...
Continue Reading "Engineer Pleads Not Guilty in Fatal Bronx Fire Case"
The police released a sketch of a man suspected of attacking two women early Sunday in the West Village. In both incidents, the women were exiting cabs when he attacked. Around 2:15 a.m., a 30-year-old woman got out of her cab at 240 Bleecker Street, near Our Lady of Pompeii school. According to the Post, the "hooded thug lunged from behind, threw her to the ground and smashed her head on the ground." Though the...
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The Knicks clinched a losing record for the season with their 100-88 defeat Monday, but what happened off the court was much more interesting. Stephon Marbury, the pariah point guard who was reportedly banned from MSG, was supposed to show up tonight. At the morning shootaround Isiah told reporters, “We expect him here tonight,” when discussing Marbury. And, true to form, Marbury made his coach look bad again by not showing up at all. While...
Continue Reading "Last Night's Action: Another Fun Night In Knickland"March 3, 2008
An influential group of rabbis have put the kibosh on a concert planned for next Sunday at MSG’s WaMu theater. Billed as The Big Event, the show was to be headlined by popular Hasidic pop singer Lipa Schmeltzer and raise money for an Israeli charity that finances weddings for orphans. But after an edict was issued against the event, Schmeltzer dropped out, saying, “I have to get out of the fire.” Two Brooklyn community leaders,...
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Left cover by Gretel sent to subscribers, right runner-up cover by Wieden + Kennedy. New York’s Best of New York lifestyle catalog is out, and among the rightful winners, like Best Old School Lobby: The Chrysler Building and Best Dive Bar: Mars Bar, there are some curious ‘bests’ to ponder. In the New York Classics section, for instance, the sterile, six-month old Music Hall of Williamsburg is hailed for its “unequaled” sound and sightlines. This...
Continue Reading "Best of New York, According to New York Mag"
Some good news in the ongoing saga to save 1520 Sedgwick, better known as the Birthplace of Hip Hop. Today Senator Schumer, who has been lobbying on behalf of the tenants to preserve the building's affordability, announced that "the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development rejected the proposed sale to developer Mark Karasick because current rents could not be sustained if the sale had gone through." The move doesn't insure that the building’s owner...
Continue Reading "Birthplace of Hip Hop Nearly Saved"
Just because Mayor Bloomberg has denied running for governor in 2010 doesn't mean it has to be true! The Sun's Davidson Goldin thinks that for Bloomberg, "Running for governor is likely, and becoming more so." Why? Well, though the mayor and Governor Spitzer have tried to be cooperative, Albany is involved in many plans the Mayor has a stake in, such as congestion pricing, OTB, and the Javits Center, not to mention Moynihan Station and...
Continue Reading "Sun Columnist Makes Case for "Governor Bloomberg""
Team Obama can breathe a sigh of relief, they officially got the Russell Simmons endorsement. From a letter sent out this weekend, Simmons declared:Today I am announcing my personal endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States. During the last nine months, I have closely observed the presidential campaigns, analyzed the issues and platforms of the major candidates, and have had substantive discussions with Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. From the sidelines...
Continue Reading "Russell Simmons Hearts Barack Obama, Officially"
Image of firefighters trying to put out overturned fuel tanker fire in Queens from WNBC A two-alarm fire was ignited on the Van Wyck Expressway when a tanker crashed near North Conduit Avenue - and JFK Airport - around noon. The driver could not escape and died in the blaze. The was extinguished by 1:30PM, but WCBS 2 reported, "A sea of foam covered the ramp and surrounding ground area, even catching fire at...
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Photograph of MTA CEO and Executive Director Lee Sander during the inaugural State of the MTA Address, courtesy of the MTA This morning, the first-ever State of the MTA Address was given, with MTA CEO and Executive Director Elliot Sander Sander emphasizing the MTA was born 40 years ago out of crisis and needed federal, state, and municipal cooperation to get things done (in other words, nothing changes!). Sander said he's committed to creating...
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March 3, 2008
A sonic device designed to drive off troublesome youths has been installed in one Queens building known for vandalism and drug use. It's called The Mosquito, and is produced by a British company, where more than 3,500 units of the equipment are in use. As humans age, they naturally lose some of their hearing, beginning at the higher end of the audible spectrum detectable to man. The concept is actually turning an idea used by...
Continue Reading "Endless High-Pitched Screeching Drives Off Youths"
Controversy is swirling around a course offered at Hunter College that an untenured professor says he was pressured to “teach.” The course was paid for last year by the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition [IACC], an industry group combating the proliferation of cheap counterfeit clothes, jewelry, accessories, etc. Hunter students were enlisted as free labor to develop a guerrilla marketing campaign for the IACC as an attempt to change attitudes about knock-off goods; the result was a...
Continue Reading "At Hunter, Pro-Business Group Buys Course for 10K"
For all the noise of this Yankees offseason, as far as the team on the field goes, all it amounted to was the status quo. Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera are all back -- and richer. Young pitchers Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and center fielder Melky Cabrera didn't go to the Twins for Johan Santana. The 2008 Yankees will be a slightly older albeit considerably more expensive version of the 2007 team. And...
Continue Reading "Who's Running the Yankees? It's Hank and Hal"
Queens Council Member Peter Vallone Jr. has introduced a bill that would have Evel Knievel rolling in his grave. If it becomes law, stunt men are going to have a tough time working on their craft in New York, as it would outlaw climbing and jumping off any structure taller than 25 feet; daredevils could get fined and spend up to a year in jail. Alain Robert is not going to be happy about this...
Continue Reading "Vallone Says "No" to Stunts"
Today's weather is a winner! Sunny and warm with a high in the mid-50s. Enjoy it if you can as tomorrow and Wednesday will feature varying degrees of wetness. The culprit is a nasty cold front that currently slices the country in two from Chicago to San Antonio. In classic springtime severe weather fashion, a low pressure system is spinning up over the front in Texas this morning. The low will surf along the front...
Continue Reading "Our First Spring Storm?"
Release the hounds. The latest innovation in bedbug eradication is being brought to you by Advanced K9 Detectives, a company using man’s best friend to sniff out the bloodsucking pests plaguing New York City. Since 2004, complaints about bedbugs to the Department of Housing have soared to 6,889 (up from 537 a year) and 2,008 building owners issued summonses (compared to 82 in ’04). Carl Massicott, the owner of the six-dog team, says he’s been...
Continue Reading "Bedbug Sniffing Dogs on the Prowl for Pests"
As details continue to emerge about the plot to fake a baby's abandonment in Queens, the fate of the baby has remained questionable. Now the Administration for Children's Services say the 14-year-old mother, who may not have known about the plot, may get the 6-month-old baby back. An ACS spokeswoman said, "The child has the right to be raised by the parent." The Post reports the mother, Yelemer Cosme Perez, is in ACS custody while...
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Five different car crashes in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens have left five people dead yesterday. At Atlantic Avenue and Buffalo Street, a Honda Accord carrying four people hit a subway station pillar (pictured; via the Post) after midnight. Two of the passengers, a 25-year-old Naquana Kilpatrick and 17-year-old Gilberto Howard, died while the 19-year-old driver and another passenger were injured. Another car crash in Brooklyn claimed two lives: A car hit an unoccupied box truck...
Continue Reading "Five Killed in Five Separate Car Accidents"
Thank you, NY Times, for updating us on the activities of George Elmer Pataki. Although Pataki has been out of politics, he still spent $1.4 million from his political action committee on "Broadway theater tickets, gatherings at the Yale Club and payments to political loyalists and advisers." Now, Pataki's PAC was formed in Virginia, which has, according to the NY Times, "no limits on contributions" and a "light regulatory touch in terms of spending." A...
Continue Reading "Pataki: Good at Spending PAC $ Even When Not Running"March 2, 2008
The MTA's various fare hikes for the NYC subways and buses, as well as its railroads, went into effect this weekend. Today, subway and bus base fares still cost $2, but higher-value pay-per-ride Metrocards have less of a bonus discount while weekly and monthly unlimited ride Metrocards are more expensive. You can read more about the fare hikes here, but two important notes: (1)Unlimited ride Metrocards purchased before March 2 are still valid as...
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March 2, 2008
License ID scanners aren't just keeping underage drinkers out of New York bars, they're now assisting police in arresting patrons who become involved in criminal activity both inside and outside of city clubs. The New York Post reports that the electronic scanners which help filter out fake IDs also supply cops with detailed records of every patron who entered a bar or club on any given evening. Most recently, the NYPD used the turned-over records...
Continue Reading "Big Brother at Bars Help Cops Arrest Patrons"
News that the tale of an adorable abandoned baby was only half-true has resulted in a number of arrests and many questions. And it's possible the baby's 14-year-old mother may not have known about the scheme. Livery car driver Klever Sailema, who dropped off the baby at a Queens firehouse claiming she was abandoned in his cab, was charged with criminal facilitation and filing a false police report. He told the Post in an exclusive...
Continue Reading ""Abandoned" Baby Plot Unravels, Unclear Whether 14-Year-Old Mother Knew of Plan"
Photograph of Joe Torre and Willie Randolph greeting each other before a game in Port St. Lucie, FL, by Nati Harnik/AP Okay, Mets manager Willie Randolph hasn't been in pinstripes for a while, but this photograph of him saying hi to new Dodgers manager Joe Torre just seems like something from the bizarro world - not that there's anything wrong with that! Randolph, who was a Yankees coach under Torre, said, "It was a...
Continue Reading "Torre and Randolph, Both Outta Pinstripes"
Photographs of the USS New York (above) and christening (below) by Bill Haber/AP Yesterday, a christening ceremony was held in a Louisiana for the latest naval ship bearing the name USS New York. While there have been five other ships with the same name, this "amphibious transport dock ship" was named to honor the state after September 11. In 2002, Governor Pataki asked then Secretary of the Navy (now Deputy Secretary of Defense) Gordon...
Continue Reading "USS New York, Made With WTC Steel, Christened"
Brooklyn Heights residents may have thought their neighborhood had earned a respite from anti-Semitic graffiti after the arrest and confession of Ivaylo Ivanov, who committed and then confessed to a string of vandalism incidents last year that left Brooklyn Heights peppered with swastikas in spray paint. But last week another wall was defaced with a symbol of hate. The incident involved a a brick apartment building at 22 Remsen St. The swastika was first spotted...
Continue Reading "Another Swastika Shocks Brooklyn Heights Residents"
The police are continuing to look for James Gonzalez, who is suspected of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend at a grocery store as well as stabbing her co-worker. The attack occurred Friday afternoon at the East Village Key Foods location. Gonzalez, 42, who had done some part-time work at the Key Foods where he met 24-year-old Tina Negron and dated her on-and-off for a year up until a few months ago, fled the store on foot....
Continue Reading "Police Still Looking for Key Foods Stabbing Suspect"
Soanya Ahmad, the 24-year-old woman who embarked last spring on a sailing journey that would last 1,000 days without making landfall, is back in New York City. She could only last just over 300 days before the elements and regular seasickness drove her to shore in Australia. Her 56-year-old boyfriend Reid Stowe is continuing his quest alone. Before undertaking the epic and potentially record-setting attempt, Ahmad had actually never sailed on the ocean before. It...
Continue Reading "NYer Abandons Ship, Boyfriend on 1000 Day Journey"March 1, 2008
Magic 118, Knicks 92: If the Knicks can't get motivated for games when they haven't played the night before, what makes anyone think they would appear energized for the second half of a back-to-back? One night after losing at Atlanta, New York put forth a token effort and even led by five in the second quarter, but it then fell back to Earth and got crushed. Orlando's Dwight Howard dominated the Knicks -- who were...
Continue Reading "Last Night's Action: No Rest for the Weary"
Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey, who has spent many months (if not years) hinting about his boss's presidential ambitions, is still stirring the pot of rumors. Last night on NY1's Inside City Hall, Sheekey, "promoted the idea of an Obama-Bloomberg presidential ticket." Sheekey revealed that after Bloomberg's official announcement/NY Times op-ed about not running for president, Barack Obama had a chat with the billionaire mayor:"Certainly you could joke that Obama's call was a fundraising call yesterday....
Continue Reading "Bloomberg Aide Floats Obama-Bloomberg Bid"
The Atlantic is asking if today's McMansions are tomorrow's tenements in an article titled The Next Slum. It seems suburban developments nationwide are seeing the same problems the city streets are: druggies, homeless, grafitti, gang activity, broken windows, stray bullets, and even in Pleasantville copper wire is a commodity. Suburban decay is on the rise, making them a far cry from what they were presented as at the New York World’s Fair of 1939 and...
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March 1, 2008
Photos from the Met's exhibition of Lee Friedlander's Work Art is often accused of being contrived, especially in comparison to nature. But some of New York's most well-loved natural landscapes are themselves largely artificial, so it's interesting to see an artist like a photographer double-back on a landscaper's craft. Photographer Lee Friedlander did exactly that with with a lens pointed at the work of Frederick Law Olmsted, the co-designer of Manhattan's Central Park and...
Continue Reading "Photographs of Olmsted's Parks at the Met Museum"
After the city was moved by the story of a baby abandoned in the backseat of a livery cab and how the driver dropped off the baby at a fire house, prompting the police and media to look for the baby's relatives, it turns out the livery cab driver was involved in the abandonment scheme. Driver Klever Sailema was arrested today, as were another man and woman. Oh, no. According to the police, "Sailema was...
Continue Reading "Driver, Others Arrested in Abandoned Baby Case"
For the Giants, the opening of free agency saw them lose three players. Kawika Mitchell went to the Bills, Reggie Torbor to the Dolphins and Gibril Wilson to the Raiders. The loss of Wilson will hurt the most, but remember he was once a fifth-round pick. GM Jerry Reese proved last year that he is very good drafting players and won’t overpay in the free agent market, so don’t panic the Super Bowl champs will...
Continue Reading "Early Moves in Free Agency Affect Giants/Jets"If there is no such thing as bad publicity, then we suppose yesterday's Cash Tomato promotion was a resounding success - if a melee as people tried to grab money works for you. The event, which involved giving away $29 to individuals in honor of Leap Year - wait, make that $29 attached to tomatoes, resulted in a Union Square riot with one person hospitalized and police and paramedics on the scene. From the...
Continue Reading "Completely Foreseeable Riot as Cash Thrown at Public in Union Square"
The Mayor and City Council are facing off over housing regulations that could lower barriers to low-income tenants receiving federal housing vouchers to subsidize their rents. The City Council is attempting to pass a law which would make it harder for landlords to refuse Section 8 tenants, but Mayor Bloomberg just vetoed the Council-passed law. The vouchers fall under the law known as Section 8, which many landlords prefer not to get involved with, citing...
Continue Reading "Bloomberg, City Council in Rent Voucher Showdown"
Images from WNBC and WABC The police are looking for a man suspected of stabbing two Key Food employees, one of whom died at a hospital two hours after the afternoon attack. Other employees at the East Village store say James Gonzalez, a part-time maintenance worker, stabbed ex-girlfriend Tina Negron with a 10-inch knife, because he was upset over their breakup. Negron had been in the elevated manager's booth when Gonzalez apparently attacked. Bookkeeper...
Continue Reading "Stabbed Key Food Worker Dies, Ex-Boyfriend is Suspect"
Cops have recently arrested a suspect in the January knife-point rape of a 34-year-old woman in an East Harlem building's elevator. The alleged perpetrator is 21-year-old Kevin Rios, who police believe followed the victim from the subway to the building on 105th St. between 1st and 2nd Aves. Ironically, the woman held the elevator for Rios, who then put a knife to her throat and sexually assaulted her. WABC News describes a different scenario, with...
Continue Reading "Babysitter Raped in Uptown Elevator, Suspect Arrested"
A New York State Assemblyman ticked off about congestion pricing for suburban drivers is retaliating by proposing a $4-per-ride surcharge for taxi riders, rather than the congestion fee of $8 for motorists entering Manhattan below 60th St. That taxis are another form of mass transit that allow New Yorkers to get around without owning a car escapes Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, whose district includes parts of Westchester County. Brodsky and other representatives of suburban communities feel...
Continue Reading "Congestion Pricing Opponent Proposes Un-Fare Taxi Hike "
Atlanta 99 Knicks 93: They simply couldn’t bring this one home. Ahead 91-90 with less than three minutes in the game, the Knicks went cold on both ends of the floor and lost. Jamal Crawford made two turnovers, missed two shots and totally blew a defensive assignment as the Hawks went up 94-91 with 34 second left. The Knicks got the ball back and went inside to Randolph who already had 29 points, but he...
Continue Reading "Last Night's Action: Close Is Not Good Enough"