This past Sunday the New York Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences had its local Emmy awards presentation and there were some surprises among the winners in the local news categories along with the amount stations took home compared to last year. WNYW (Fox 5) picked up the most with nine (up three from last year), including best morning newscast and Arnold Diaz’s “Shame, Shame, Shame” segments picked up two.Perhaps the......

WNBC’s newscast rebranding (back to "News 4 New York") was not the only change this week for the station. Vickie Burn, from NBC's DC affiliate WRC, is the new Vice President of News & Content aka news director, replacing Dan Forman. (The rebranding was just coincidental, according to the station.) Rumor has it that WNYW will get a new news director as well: Dianne Doctor, former news director at WNBC and WCBS. She is......

Don’t adjust your television sets, because since Monday WNBC has been using "News 4 New York" in on-air mentions and on-screen graphics, switching gears from "Newschannel 4" (and "Newschannel 4 HD"). If you are from the Tri-State Area, you may remember the station used "News 4 New York" from 1980 until 1995. The old CGI opening included a bolt of lightning and a giant 4 heading towards the viewer (out of the Statue of Liberty's......

WNBC’s Sue Simmons is known as a big Mets fan, so it's no surprise she was tapped to host a look back at Shea Stadium in its final year. So expect Sue being Sue along with some amazing Mets moments, concerts and some Jets (and we aren’t just talking about those coming into LaGuardia). The Amazin' Shea (Saturday, 7:30 p.m., WNBC 4) also will feature some interviews with some of the Mets greats. It is......

WNET is launching a new weekly local arts series called SundayArts this Sunday (12 noon). The debut episode’s main focus is the New York City Opera from its current production of Madama Butterfly to its incoming director. There will also be some arts news and highlights of current shows and events as part of the show which is structured around a rebroadcast of the Great Performances presentation of Madama Butterfly. This isn’t the first time......

Television coverage of Governor Spitzer's scandal has been relentless. From extra newscasts from most of the stations and WNET/ Thirteen's special Monday night report (the only one that seemed to gauge statewide reaction) to leading all the local newscasts, but the networks, local stations throughout the country and even the BBC World News. When the BBC leads with an American governor’s prostitution scandal on its international news channel, it shows how big the story......

Infamous prostitute of the hour Ashley Alexandra Dupre, whose other life as high class hooker "Kristen," forced Governor Eliot Spitzer to resign, is cashing in on her . . . uh, notoriety. From revenue from downloaded music tracks to book, magazine, clothing, and film deals, Dupre could stand to make millions of dollars in coming months. Silicon Alley Insider listed some potential deals that could pay off for the pro from New Jersey. $200,000+ from......

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......

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......

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......

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......

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......

And the winner is. . .Despite having ancient looking graphics that can be seen from across the street, a set that looks like it is from a station in Iowa, and a love of sprinkling kicker stories throughout the newscast, WABC’s Eyewitness News and the station overall is yet again at the top of the ratings among the big three for February. Most notably, WNBC has lost almost half of its viewership in the early......

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......

Two female Key Food employees at the Avenue A and East 4th Street store were attacked by a knife-wielding man. The police originally said one of the woman died, but it turns out that one is "clinging to life" while the other is in critical condition. The Sun reports the women were in the "elevated manager's booth" when the attack took place at 3:15PM. According to WNBC, the attacker may have been a delivery......

If only all crimes were this easy to solve. Last Friday, a woman robbed a North Fork Bank at 71st Street and New Utrecht Avenue in Dyker Heights. Now the police say she returned to the scene of the crime and returned the money yesterday. WNBC reports that apparently 48-year-old Catherine Kaczazanowski, who initially robbed the branch by passing a note to the teller, had a change of heart. Kaczazanowski gave most of the money......

Images from WNBC Earlier this morning, around 1:30AM, police were chasing a stolen car in Brooklyn, at 93rd Street and 4th Avenue, but the 1997 Nissan slipped away, heading onto the Belt Parkway. The cops later found it on the Parkway at 65th Street, after it had crashed into a car carrying four people, killing one. The stolen car had "rammed into the back" of the other car. The three other passengers, including a......

Part of the NBC 2.0 philosophy has been to put cheap programming on air as a measure to cut corners and save money. Even before the writers' strike this has meant a string of programs that are “unscripted,” such as cheesy game shows and of course the requisite fakeality nonsense. So taking quarterlife, a Web 2.0 based online show/online community from the creators of thirtysomething, My So-Called Life, and Once and Again, and sticking it......

Last week there was a shooting outside of a Starbucks on 56th Street, yesterday morning a man was robbed and killed on East 39th Street, and now the NYPD is reporting that three people were stabbed near 45th and 5th at lunchtime today. There are currently some conflicting reports; WNBC says that it all went down on a sidewalk and that two people suffered stab wounds to the hand while a third was cut in......

This past week things got stirred up at celebrity hotspot Socialista with a bit of a a Hepatitis A scare. Amongst the hundreds urged to get vaccinated were celebrities who attended actor Ashton Kutcher’s 30th birthday party at the bar; those on the Hepatitis A-list included Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow. When health officials checked out the joint, they found no traces of soap, meaning the infected bartender was handling garnishes and glasses to the patrons......

There's trouble brewin' at everyones favorite chain coffee shop. WCBS is reporting that there has been a shooting at a midtown Starbucks. The BNN confirms with a location: 120 W 56th Street, and reports a possible robbery as well. The NYPD are currently still looking for the suspect. UPDATE: The shooting took place outside of the Starbucks and WNBC is reporting that the NYPD, based on preliminary information, believes the incident was part of a......

It is snowing and that means it is time for the local morning newscasts to fall into the normal winter storm clichés get trotted out. Reporters standing out in the cold and snow? Check. Live shots from some highway depot (bonus points if in New Jersey, natch)? Check. Pictures of the aftermath of people who can’t drive in the snow? Check. School closings? Check. Some sort of graphic branding for the coverage? Check. The......

It used to be one only had to worry about "the morning after" if they took another bar patron home with them, but the NYC Health Department is asking at least 800 imbibers of a West Village bar to get a hepatitis A vaccination! The precautionary measure is being taken because a bartender at Socialista has the disease. Now everyone who was at the bar on February 7th or 8th after 8pm or February 11th......

Earlier this morning, a tractor trailer overturned on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The tractor trailer's cargo - an assortment of live chickens - spilled onto the highway and broke open, leaving crews to chase a lot of fowl for hours during clean-up (a worker estimated there were 500!). It's unclear whether all the chickens were retrieved, so if you live near Flushing Avenue and see a feathered friend more suited to a coop than a......

Photograph of KITT braving the streets of NYC by neps on Flickr Thankfully NBC’s new version of the classically cheesy 1980s show Knight Rider (Sunday 9:00 p.m., WNBC 4) is not a remake, but a continuation of the old in this two hour movie/back door pilot. Of course, this means there are some changes, such as the presence of David Hasslehoff being reduced to a cameo, the two leads are ex-soap stars (the way the......

The WNBC.com headline says it all: "Man Critical After Being Suspended From Ceiling At S&M; Club." And before he was taken to St. Vincent's, he was found "bound and suspended from a ceiling while wearing women's high heels and a neck choker." The Post now says he may have suffered brain damage due to the lack of oxygen! The incident occurred at East 33rd domination club Nutcracker Suite/ Hmm, could it have been in the......

This morning, federal agents have arrested over 50 members of the Gambino, Genovese and Bonanno crime families in New York City, New Jersey, and Long Island. Authorities are calling this the "biggest mafia bust in more than 20 years." The Post reports the 80-count indictment includes charges of murder, labor racketeering, "racketeering conspiracy, extortion, , theft of union benefits, mail fraud, false statements, loan sharking, embezzlement of union funds, money laundering and illegal gambling." One......

Earlier this morning, a fire started on the ground floor of an apartment building on East 72nd Street and Third Avenue, causing all 34 floor to be evacuated. Two firefighters were seriously hurt, while four others and thirteen civilians suffered minor injuries. The fire was seen in a newsstand and stationery store, according to WNBC. Rusty Pacheco of Grace's Marketplace, located next door, said, "The moment we heard the alarm next door and we saw......

Left in the midst of Super Tuesday and the Giants ticker tape parade local news coverage is an intriguing story about a 14-year-old Long Island boy's suspension. Last November, Ethan Mirenberg was suspended after, per Newsday, "a former teacher accused him of putting her in a chokehold and grinding his knuckles into her scalp." In other words, a noogie from hell. Which is probably why the WNBC graphics department went the "Nightmare Noogie" route.......

As of 11:45 p.m., Hillary Clinton and John McCain are projected to win their New York primaries. The Democratic primary distributes NY delegates proportionally, so the final total will be important in determining how many will go to Clinton and how many to Barack Obama. McCain also did well in the Northeast, winning the whole tri-state area, while Mike Huckabee has been strong in the South. Mitt Romney has won Massachusetts, plus some in the......