Word is that many a ship are getting wrecked on the Hudson by the George Washington Bridge. Could Manhattan be drawing ships to shore with its sirens? Is this a marketing ploy for Lost? The Gay Recluse reports:"Those arriving in Washington Heights for the first time are often surprised to hear splintering, cracking sounds in the distance. The shoreline is rocky and treacherous for those unfamiliar with its jagged contours, and what you hear is......

WWOR/channel 9 got a wake-up call that it's supposed to be a New Jersey TV station when the FCC held a hearing about the station's license renewal. Critics say the station's license shouldn't be renewed because it has failed to discuss NJ news and issues. The station, owned by News Corporation whose local media holdings include WNYW/Channel 5 and the NY Post, was moved to NJ in 1986 due to FCC law that each state......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck at White Plains Rd. and 219th St. in the Bronx, an animal incident on Rochelle Pl. on Staten Island, and a hate crime at Columbia University in Manhattan. A tour of Jam Master Jay's studio, where the rap impressario was gunned down five years ago. A brief update on the unforgettable case where a man beat the bejeezus out of a grunting and yelping spin class......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a white powder incident at 25 Beaver St. in Manhattan, report of a large crowd gathered at the center of the south side of the George Washington Bridge's upper level, and an explosion in the basement of a building at 77th St. and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan. Dedicated bike paths and fences separating them from traffic can only do so much when a cab driver really wants to take......

Of all the forbidden sites that were opened for public viewing last weekend in the 5th annual Open House New York program, the High Line was one of the crown trophies. It offered rare views of the city, sexy industrial details, and the mysterious allure of a wild grassy flying carpet that won't open until at least a year hence. Built during the same era (early 1930s) as the Empire State Building, the George......

Jeffrey's Hook Lighthouse, better known to many as the Little Red Lighthouse, is located right under the George Washington Bridge, in Fort Washington Park. And the Parks Department is having the 15th Annual Little Red Lighthouse Festival today between 12PM and 5PM, with hayrides, face painting, the antics of a stiltwalker, live music, and tours of Manhattan's only lighthouse. The lighthouse was erected in 1880 and stood in Sandy Hook, NJ until 1917. In 1921,......

After a few days of delays, Vincent and Cheryl Pierce were finally able to pick up the Moondance Diner, the Soho standby, and move it back to LaBarge, Wyoming. The diner closed earlier this year after the landlords decided to transform the corner of Sixth Avenue and Grand Street into luxury condos. Developer Extell donated the diner to the American Diner Museum, which then sold the structure to the Pierces for $7,500. The diner's......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a homicide on Melrose Ave. in the Bronx, a lightning strike at 82nd Ave. and 249th St. in Queens, and a hate crime on the walkway of the Williamsburg Bridge. 25-year-old former model and current vice president of the Trump Organization Ivanka Trump was appointed to the board of directors of Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. A recent New York Times column noted that investors in Trump's casinos would have......

Yesterday, a suicidal man on he George Washington Bridge caused traffic delays up to two hours. Newsday reported that the man was "armed with a box-cutter razor climbed a bridge cable, slashed his arms and wrists repeatedly and threatened to jump," but police officers were able to talk him down. We wrote about New York bridge jumpers last month. Interesting, Newsday was also the one to tell the NY State Department of Transportation about the......

Two bridges spanning the Hudson River just north of the city will be getting suicide prevention phones instead of physical barriers following three fatal leaps in close succession earlier this year. The phones to be installed on the Tappan Zee and Bear Mountain Bridges will be connected to a 24-hour suicide prevention hotline. Plans for installing physical barriers were turned down as being too expensive to install and maintain. The plan to install the phones......

Remember how the Port Authority wanted to put Geico ads on various toll booths at the George Washington Bridge? Maybe it's a good thing that plan was scotched, because now the Port Authority is considering elmination of tollbooths at all Hudson River crossings. From the NY Sun:The plan, which is expected to reduce traffic bottlenecks on the highways leading into the city, would complement Mayor Bloomberg's proposal to charge drivers a fee to use the......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Amboy Rd. on Staten Island, a shooting on Lexington Ave. in Brooklyn, and a water rescue in the area of the George Washington Bridge, near Manhattan's 176th St. The Italian boyfriend of actress Anne Hathaway is being sued by a business partner for misusing $1.3 million of a joint venture fund, spending it on things like private jet trips with his girlfriend and subsidizing a......

The Willis Avenue Bridge cost the city $1.6 million when it was constructed in 1901. More than a hundred years later, its planned replacement should cost an additional $635.4 million to build. The low-profile bridge crosses the Harlem River and connects the Bronx to Manhattan's First Avenue. The Transportation Department estimated the cost of its replacement at $417 million and was surprised when it received bids of $612 million and $637 million. At 3,212 feet,......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A power outage in Beach Channel, Queens, a jumper on the George Washington Bridge, and a pedestrian struck near Tottenville High School on Staten Island It's damn cold, but you should be warm(ish) at home; building owners are required to provide heat and hot water during "heat season" The doctor who claimed he had been attacked by a group of thugs died and the medical examiner isn't sure how......

There's an interesting NY Times New York region op-ed that's supportive of marketing ventures most anywhere, like Geico's unsuccessful George Washington Bridge toll plaza marketing deal. Titled "The Bridge to Prosperity," the op-ed written by Paco Underhill discusses how corporate sponsorships have long existed in philanthropy, such as the Metropolitan Opera selling naming rights to seats, and even civic institutions are working with corporations (think about the city's own Snapple deal) to make more money.......

Score: Gecko, 0, and People Tired of Ads, 1. Last week, it was announced that the Port Authority and Geico had worked out a $3.2 million deal for the insurance company to place signage and marketing goods at the George Washington Bridge toll plaza as well as at other Port Authority facilities and on other Port Authority collateral. Think costumed geckos at the bus station or Geico logos on Port Authority mailers. But now......

Drivers who take the George Washington Bridge, you'll soon have a little green gecko in your sights every day! The Port Authority has agreed to allow Geico advertise on the George Washington Bridge for $3.2 million over two years. While that doesn't mean affixing geckos to the bridge itself, it does mean Geico billboards on the toll plaza, Geico signs on tollbooths, and having Geico's name appear on various Port Authority collateral and the......

Terrifying: the entire lawn at Cadman Plaza has been astroturfed! [Via Brownstoner.] Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery in Staten Island, a suicidal member of service on the George Washington Bridge, and a perp search down by the Manhattan Bridge. Foreign tourists are bum-rushing New York because of the weak dollar: "For example, the Microsoft Zune player - a rival to Apple's iPod - sells for $442 in London but can be......

+ Today on the Gothamist newsmap: at 2:24pm, there was an MCI (major casualty incident) caused by a STAMPEDE at a Queens school. + Happy 75th Birthday, George Washington Bridge! + Seems like the New York Times could use a refresher course in the use of Lexis-Nexis. Of course, sounds like Senator Leiberman needs a refresher course on the dangers of a land-war in Asia! + Williamsburg is officially dead. Turn out the lights......

Whoa, via labs about a half-hour ago: "crane just dropped a giant block into traffic 15 floors down smashing thru a cab! i got pics on the scene." (Pix are from Selectroclash.) The wires are saying that the police are calling a level one mobilization because the crane is still unstable. Six people have been injured, and three buildings are being evacuated. More info as it develops. Update: pix can be found at londontube......

Around 1:30AM this morning, a 1-800-Mattress truck crashed into a tractor-trailer on the inbound upper level of the George Washington Bridge. WABC 7 reported that the "rig portion of the mattress truck was crushed by the force of the crash," and the two people in the rig were killed. The accident caused hours of delays; the bridge is open now, but trucks can only use the upper level to cross into the city. 1-800-Mattress (leave......

Four miles from the George Washington Bridge, a horrific accident involving a flatbed truck carrying bricks killed four people and injured four others on the New Jersey Turnpike - and a little 4 year old girls from Queens was the only survivor from her family's car. According to the NY Times, a flatbed truck hit cars during a traffic standstill, and then swayed from the shoulder and back across the highway lanes, pushing the car......

"I'm thinking of grilling this weekend somewhere in the city. can you give me some locations where i can grill?" With the weather looking to be just about perfect this long holiday weekend, there is no better time to bust out the apron, grill, and tongs and barbeque some meat and/or veggies here in the city. If you are not one of the lucky ones that has a backyard, it might be tempting to just......

MeFi yesterday pointed us towards one of those great 9/11 stories that was already slipping from our minds: In 1931, as the George Washington Bridge and the Empire State Building were being completed, the FDNY christened its fastest, bestest water-pumping fireboat, the John J. Harvey. Able to pump nearly 20,000 gallons per minute, the JJH was the definition of the modern fireboat ("Her output is equal to about 26 [or five alarm's worth] of......

Real estate disputes are, almost by definition, never pretty and no matter what somebody is going to come out of them looking bad. In the case of the landmarked Starrett-Lehigh Building on 26th street and 11th Avenue the bad looking people would be the buildings owners, 601 West Associates, and one famous tenant whose name starts with "M" and ends with "artha Stewart". To wit: yesterday Ask Gothamist got this self-answering question in our......

Sorry you didn't get a chance to see David Blaine at Lincoln Center? Wish you could have seen the human spectacle and had all of your important questions answered? How did he hold his breath so long? How did his skin not fall off? How did he, er, handle his business without sullying the crystal clear water he bobbed about in? Well, too bad. But another sight to behold is Steve Vaught who's been on......

- A man was arrested in connection to the Staten Island brush fires - MP3 of NYC FM radio on the night John Lennon died - Join the Great River Sweep to clean up the Hudson! - Female firefighters will finally get their own bathrooms - The Villager raises interesting questions about the post-murder fate of the Falls - As the Gawker empire will go on display in a storefront office, the countdown begins......

Here's a great set of pictures of bridges and tunnels from around the city. Prepare to be amazed at some great nightshots-- we spotted the Brooklyn Bridge, the Verrazano-Narrows, and the George Washington Bridge, among others. [Via Cityrag!]......

The Port Authority is adding bomb shields to the George Washington Bridge. And we say "All right!" because when the bombs hit, we'll be fleeing to NJ and expect the tunnels to be flooded. The Daily News says that these are "first such bulwarks to appear on a New York-area bridge" - they will be shields around parts of the bridge's cables. The NYC Department of Transportation and MTA have made plans to reinforce other......

Here's an extra huge panoramic shot from King Kong-- all 2048x1157 pixels of it! The angle seems to be north-west, because there's something resembling the George Washington Bridge in the far, far background. If you live on the Upper West Side, try to find your apartment building!-- yup, that was a huge mistake. You can see the tops of the two towers at 23rd and 14th streets, and Tompkins Square Park, and smokestacks in......