Scaremongering just hit a whole new level underground, with Subivor -- the subway survival kit. The website (after a short video montage of all the ways the subway will ultimately become your tomb) warns straphangers:Dear Subway Commuters, Did you know that there are hundreds of subway related fires that occur each year? Did you know that there are 27,817 structural fires that occur each year, that's an average of 2,318 per month?And there's always......

"Sleight of hand," "litany of needless fights," "ugly racial polarization" - just some of the phrases in this week's New York magazine's cover story about Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor turned presidential candidate. Chris Smith's article serves as both refresher to New Yorkers about Giuliani's reign as mayor with some fun tidbits (did you realize that then-Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik commissioned 30 miniature busts of himself?) as well as a cautionary tale to non-New Yorkers.......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Lincoln Center Tree Lighting 2007 (Monday, 5:30 p.m, WABC 7) Good Morning America’s Sam Champion and WABC’s Sade Baderinwa host the first televised tree lighting of the season. There will be some performances by Lincoln Center’s resident companies and some guest’s from channel 7’s owner Disney on hand for entertainment for the 8th annual Lincoln Center Holiday Tree lighting. America at a Crossroads (Monday, 9:00 p.m &......

Last night at City College, it was Gotham Girls Roller Derby fever. The two-time defending champions the Queens of Pain faced off against the Bronx Gridlock to decide who would reign supreme for the 2007 season and take home a pretty sweet trophy. Raymond Haddad was on the scene for the championship match and took some amazing pictures. He reports, "The Queens of Pain made a ferocious comeback [apparently 31 unanswered points', led by......

First, some fire fighters' unions spoke out against presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. Now a police officers' union is totally anti-Rudy. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch issued a statement blaming the former mayor for not giving cops raises ("zeroes for heroes" contract) and essentially creating the recruiting/retainment problems the NYPD has. And then there's what the PBA thinks about Giuliani's 9/11 record: Giuliani has wrapped himself firmly in the cloak of 9/11 for his......

Mark Messier will forever be remembered for delivering the Stanley Cup to the Rangers in 1994, his famous guarantee before Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals that year and a tendency to cry in public. The captain had his number retired by both Edmonton and New York and is the only player ever to captain two teams to a Stanley Cup victory and he was second all-time in points scored in NHL history. Scott......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a missing patient at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, a car vs. overpass on Kings Highway in Brooklyn, and a truck explosion on 64th Rd. and 108th St. in Queens. A sharp-sighted deckhand on a Staten Island Ferry spotted a pistol sticking out of the pocket of a dim-witted passenger snoozing on a Sunday morning ferry. The passenger, who was arrested, had a long record of criminal weapons possessions.......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: The Simpsons (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., WNYW 5) This is the annual Treehouse of Horror episode airing after Halloween thanks to Tim McCarver and bad baseball coverage. Family Guy (Sunday, 8:30 p.m., WNYW 5) The good news is that it is the 100th episode, the bad news is that it is a clip show. Thankfully the clip show is followed by a new episode entitled “Stewie Kills Lois”......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a death investigation on Dekalb Ave. in Brooklyn, an unstable building on Cherry St. and Robinson Ave. in Queens, and a homicide on East 29th St. and 5th Ave. in Manhattan. Rudy Giuliani and John McCain have different views over torture. Texting and talking on the phone are about to be banned in the Garden State. It's possible that news of a sniper on the Saw Mill River Parkway......

Remember the summer night that Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" rang throughout the homes of Sopranos fans? Followed by a good week or two of debate on how David Chase chose to whack the series, everyone on the inside was pretty silent. Now Chase is speaking out about his decision. The AP reports:He strongly suggests that, no, Tony Soprano didn't get whacked moments later as he munched onion rings with his family at Holsten's. And mostly......

A Mighty Heart (directed by Michael Winterbottom) Being a journalist doesn't sound like a very dangerous profession, but for Daniel Pearl, his investigations while reporting on the situation in Karachi for the Wall Street Journal lead to his untimely end. Michael Winterbottom's most recent film starring Angelina Jolie offers a brief snapshot of Pearl, as played by Dan Futterman, and his stoic widow Mariane who used her own investigating skills to try to track down......

Yesterday, people critical of developer Bruce Ratner's massive, billion dollar Atlantic Yards project held the Third Annual Walk Don't Destroy Walkathon. And leading opponent Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn held a press conference asking a new question that goes beyond eminent domain and the size and scale of the plan. Now the question is whether the Atlantic Yards will be safe from a terror risk. Earlier this week, Newark Police Director - and former NYPD......

Jonathan Lethem Selects BAM Cinématek Starting next Monday and running through the middle of November, Brooklyn author and Friends of BAM chairperson Jonathan Lethem will be programming the cinématek with some of his favorite movies. Fans of his writing know that Lethem loves pop culture but this series doesn't really have more of an over arching theme than that it features some of the author's most beloved films and plain ol' good movies. There are......

Lust, Caution (directed by Ang Lee) For fans of Hong Kong cinema, it's a bit of a surprise that a wonderfully expressive and nuanced actor like Tony Leung hadn't worked before with the Oscar-winning, Taiwanese turned New Yorker director Ang Lee. But the two artists have been united now in Lee's new thriller set in World War II Shanghai, Lust, Caution which comes out this weekend. An erotically charged film with such explicit scenes that......

Gov. Spitzer announced yesterday that illegal immigrants will be able to get valid New York State drivers licenses if they provide a valid and verifiable foreign passport. Spitzer hopes that the change, which reverses a four-year-old Pataki-era decision, will legitimize the 500,000-1 million undocumented immigrants who are driving in New York. In a repudiation of the federal government's stance, the governor said "We will not become part of what is propagated on the federal level......

Death Proof (directed by Quentin Tarantino) A Quentin Tarantino movie is 20 percent celluloid and 80 percent bravado, and the PR whirlwind surrounding the release of his recent double feature Grindhouse with Robert Rodriquez was a prime example. However even though the directors talked up the movie geek factor and the ultra violence factor, the project bombed at the box office. There's probably lots of reasons barely anyone went to see it, but choosing to......

In the wake of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's resignation last month, President Bush will nominate former U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mukasey for the position. Mukasey, who was born in the Bronx and educated at Columbia and Yale Law School, was "appointed to the federal bench" by Ronald Reagan and has presided over terrorism trials, such as the trial of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. He is also a friend of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (he......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Fox Fall Preview 2007 (Sunday, 7:00 p.m., WNYW 5) A pre-season look at the Fox fall line up. Saturday Night Live in the '80s: Lost and Found (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., WNBC 4) A look at SNL in the 80s with clips and interviews. The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon 2007 (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., WWOR 9) The long running telethon marks twenty years on WWOR who picked up the......

Okay, we give up. The whole Governor Spitzer-Senate Republican animosity thing has become totally and utterly insane. Someone left a crazy message for Spitzer's father, the wealthy (and 83-year-old) real estate developer Bernard Spitzer. And call has been traced to the apartment of a GOP adviser to State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno! This is a message for Bernard Spitzer. You will be subpoenaed to testify in front of the Senate committee on investigation on......

The city is still taking seriously an unsubstantiated threat of a dirty bomb issued over the Internet that was publicized last night. The New York Times is reporting that Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne stated the threat was noticed by the NYPD after it appeared on Debka.com, a website that reports many threats, some of which are substantiated. The particular threat that caused the alarm last night was one that named New York, Los Angeles, and......

Totally weird: Authorities have found a "make-shift" submarine with three men in it near the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. WABC 7 reports that the men may have been trying to "set sail off Brooklyn." Right now, police do not believe there was anything terror-related, as a search did not reveal any suspicious materials. There were oxygen tanks, though. No charges have been filed yet. It seems like one issue is that the sub may have......

Our wok has been yearning for seasonal vegetables, those colorful, tasty treats soon to go out of season and disappear until next spring. So when some pattypan squash and garlic scapes conveniently appeared in our kitchen, we knew just what to do with them. We love the layered timing of stir-frying, the fast terror of it. We like to tell people that if they're not afraid when stir-frying, they probably have the heat down too......

The city is moving forward with its "Ring of Steel"-style security camera initiative to fight terror attacks, and it looks like another ring may implemented. Newsday reports officials from Homeland Security as well as the state and local level have been discussing a plan to put radiation sensors "in a 50-mile radius around the city". Sensors would be placed on bridges, tunnels and roads to detect dirty bomb ingredients, like uranium and plutonium. The idea......

Two teen-aged males were arrested on Long Island yesterday after a notebook was found that described their desire to plan a Columbine-like attack on their high school. It's hard to determine whether to take this incident seriously, as the younger half of the hapless pair left a notebook containing their terror blueprints in a McDonalds parking lot, where it was found by someone who turned it over to police. 17-year-old Michael McDonough was the older......

An argument between two women out on the town last night devolved into gunplay in the Meatpacking District. WCBS reports that the shooter and her friend/victim were at the Pizza Bar on 9th Ave., and left shortly before 4 am. The women, who are described as being passengers in a three vehicle caravan, were arguing when the older woman (27 years old) shot her younger friend (23 years old) in the lower torso before fleeing......

Yesterday, Governor Spitzer, Senator Charles Schumer, and Senator Hillary Clinton had a meeting with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael "[I have a] gut feeling...we are entering a period this summer of increased risk" Chertoff but were unable to convince him to raise New York's anti-terror funding. Secretary Chertoff repeated said the he was not there to talk about money, but Spitzer says, "he knew we were going to raise" the issue. Yeah - if......

There was a suspicious package in Times Square this afternoon. The NYPD shut down Times Square briefly as they investigated the object at 42nd and 7th Avenue. And the package turned out to be a red backpack forgotten by its Brooklyn owner. D'oh! The city has heightened its security after the London and Glasgow incidents, and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff affirms that decision. He told the Chicago Tribune's editorial board, "I believe......

LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank. Phillyist was busy doing the Fourth of July up right, exercising their......

With Britain at its top terror alert level after a flaming SUV crashed into Scotland's Glasgow Airport yesterday, New York City has stepped up security at area airports. Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman (the PA oversees JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airpots) said, there were "increased security measures" in place. Notably, many more police officers from the NYPD and Port Authority PD, as well as National Guard, were stationed in and near the airports. It......

After reviewing a number of bids, the National Park Service ended Circle Line's contract to provide ferry service between lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The new ferry service provider will be Hornblower Yachts of California, which offers service between San Francisco and Alcatraz. Hornblower: Taking you to Liberty and lock-up. The 10-year contract, worth $350 million, must be approved by Congress and one requirement is that Hornblower buy Circle......