It's Bike Month NYC 2008, which means the five boroughs are doing their best to make cycling appealing, safe and fun. There are all sorts of events, including "commuter pit stops" where cyclists can get water and "literature (and mega safety schwag!)" – according to StreetFilms' Clarence Eckerson Jr., who filmed this video of some such pit stop in Queens.......

Police are still looking for men who abandoned a BMW in Queens after a fatal crash that left a 5-year-old dead. The accident occurred in the section Jamaica, at 109th Avenue and 164th Place. The accident was truly horrific. The boy, Jordan McLean, had been in a Ford Escape with his grandmother and aunt, who was driving. The Daily News reports his aunt "swerved" to avoid the BMW, which was apparently drag-racing, but the BMW......

A 5-year-old boy was ejected from a Ford Escape when a BMW crashed into it around 1a.m. this morning. According to police, the accident occurred at 109th Avenue and 164th Place. The little boy, Jordan McLean, was "reportedly tossed into a brick wall and sustained serious head injuries"; he was pronounced dead at the hospital. His mother and another relative were also injured. The BMW's occupants abandoned the car and fled. The police are......

Though the show takes place here, Ugly Betty isn't actually filmed in New York; the first two seasons were filmed in Los Angeles. However, with Gov. Paterson's new tax credit program, the show may uproot and make a move east. Variety reports that the city may be cast in its own role as early as next season. But just as New York was unhappy about losing movie money to Connecticut, LA doesn't want to bid......

At the Ethnic Market highlights international specialty foods and ingredients you're very unlikely to find at your local Gristedes. Ask anyone who’s ever browsed the aisles of an Indian grocery store about Indian junk food and the first thing that comes to mind will most likely be packages of spiced peanuts, chickpeas and other crunchy goodies. But it turns out there’s a snack that’s more reminiscent of American-style junk food: Kurkure. Kurkure takes its name......

Barbara Sheehan, the woman who fatally shot her NYPD sergeant husband in February, has given an interview to the Daily News, explaining her actions. Retired cop Raymond Sheehan had been shaving in their Howard Beach home when his wife allegedly shot him in the back with 11 rounds, using one of his guns. Her lawyer said Raymond Sheehan was the real "aggressor," and friends and family members said that she had been repeatedly abused (one......

Gourmet Boutique, a food company based in Jamaica, Queens, has voluntarily recalled 286,320 pounds of various beef, pork, turkey and chicken products, after discovering they may have been contaminated with Listeria, a bacteria that can cause listerosis, a disease the CDC says primarily affects "persons of advanced age, pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune systems." The products suspected of contaminated include a variety of fresh and frozen items, such as the "Gourmet Boutique......

While there's video evidence Brooklyn's Kensington post office could be the worst post office in the city, Far Rockaway's post office could give it a run for the money. Representative Gregory Meeks complained to the Daily News, "There is so much incompetence and lack of supervision [there]. I'm hearing from a lot of seniors who don't get their Social Security checks on time. A lot of people aren't getting their bills." Many have been unhappy......

Whether you spell it Issan or E-san (as the folks at Poodam’s Thai Cuisine do), the cuisine from this Northeast region of Thailand by Cambodia and Laos is some of New York City’s most delicious and spiciest. The restaurant’s name translates to black crab. While that particular delicacy doesn’t appear on the separate Issan menu, there is yam poo dong, or pickled crab. When you order it the waitress will likely ask if you’ve......

Photograph of a young boy participating in Sunday's protest march by Stephen Chernin/AP Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers visited the site where Sean Bell was fatally shot by police officers. He was accompanied by people including Bell's friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, who were also fired at, and the Reverend Al Sharpton. Conyers said he spoke to U.S. Attorney Michael Mukasey and that he would work on strategy with the......

The City Council is set to pass a law requiring that homeowners keep 20% to 50% of the property in front of their homes covered with greenery. The law is in response to a trend by homeowners to cut down trees or pave over their lawns in order to create parking spaces. Even famous realtor Barbara Corcoran chimed in on the matter last year in a real estate column that she writes for the Daily......

Photograph of protesters in Jamaica, Queens by Jason DeCrow/AP Last night, hundreds of people marched from the Queens courthouse to the Kalua Lounge, the strip club where Sean Bell was killed on his wedding day, yelling, "Fifty shots equal murder," to protest yesterday's not guilty verdict for three police officers charged in the shooting. Bell's mother, Valerie, fainted when Judge Arthur Cooperman delivered the verdict, amid tears from Bell's fiance Nicole Paultre Bell and......

Charges against Kiana Paez have been upgraded to second degree murder in the death of her 11-week-old son, Pablo Paez. Three weeks after he was brought Elmhurst Hospital, doctors declared that the infant had suffered permanent brain death, and the child was removed from life support. The recovering-addict mother brought her son to Elmhurst Hospital earlier this month, saying that her son had just stopped breathing. After an examination of Pablo by doctors and questioning......

Above, from left, Detectives Marc Cooper, Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora Update: Queens DA Dick Brown just held a press conference with his prosecution team to discuss Judge Cooperman's not guilty verdict in the Sean Bell shooting trial. While many fault the prosecution's case against the three cops as the reason for its outcome, Brown defended the work of everyone involved in the case, stressing the amount of time and effort put into preparing......

Tomorrow morning at 9 a.m., Judge Arthur Cooperman is expected to announce a verdict for the three police officers on trial for the shooting of Sean Bell. Mayor Bloomberg said he's not worried about the reaction, telling reporters yesterday, “I think people in this city have come a long way from the time when people rushed into the streets and tried to tear apart society.” Bloomberg also made a point of speaking with the Reverend......

Photograph of Reverend Sharpton, with William Bell, Valerie Bell, Nicole Paultre Bell, John Liu, and Trent Benefeld on City Hall steps (above) and photograph of Mayor Bloomberg with Sharpton and Paultre Bell by Jin Lee/AP The Reverend Al Sharpton held a press conference on the steps of City Hall today to discuss the Sean Bell shooting trial verdict, which will be announced on Friday. Sharpton said an acquittal would not be justice. The News......

Artwork by Rene Smith as seen on Gossip Girl. Last night as Gossip Girl returned to the airwaves, it brought some real LIC artists with it. In the fictional Bedford Avenue Gallery, as Blair plots to ruin Jenny Humphrey, she pauses in front of some pieces -- one of which belongs to LIC artist Rene Smith, who told us about how her art landed on Rufus Humphrey's walls.I heard that Gossip Girl rented art......

First devastating weather patterns and destroyed coral reefs, then lousy harvests and global food shortages, now this: soaring beer prices. In an increasingly warmer world, precious, life-sustaining beer is becoming a luxury item. The past year has seen a drought in Australia, flooding in Germany, hailstorms in the Pacific Northwest, and lower crop yields throughout Europe – all resulting in a dramatic spike in the cost of grains and hops. Climate scientist Dr Jim Salinger......

The term "diner" usually evokes thoughts of breakfast at midnight and dense menus of Dickensian length. But at the Jackson Diner in the heart of Jackson Heights in Queens, crowds assemble for some of the city's best North Indian food. In the heart of the borough's "little India," a large and casual banquet room with deep purple paper placemats is the go-to spot for a reasonably-priced unlimited lunch buffet and Indian food hankerings of......

A man who apparently fired at police after a traffic stop in Queens was charged with criminal possession of a weapon. Darnell Routier, a passenger in a livery cab with another person stopped by the NYPD's anti-gang unit at Foch Boulevard and 169th Street in Jamaica on Saturday night, had fled the car and initiated fire. Police returned fire, hitting him in the leg and arm. Routier is in stable condition at Mary Immaculate Hospital,......

After a 26-year-old woman died when her car crashed into a fire truck responding to a call yesterday morning, her mother, a pastor at a Queens church, said, "God has called my angel home. He has called my best friend." Angela Johnson had been at the intersection at 111th Avenue and 155th Street in Jamaica Queens when a fire truck from Engine 275 was headed to respond to a hose fire on 109th Avenue. The......

Image from WABC 7 YIKES! A fire truck responding to a call collided with a car at 111th Avenue and 155th Street in South Jamaica. The male driver is in serious condition--some reports say he is in traumatic cardiac arrest--while two firefighters have minor injuries. WABC 7 says it's "unclear if the fire truck ran a red light." UPDATE: WNBC News is now reporting that the driver was not a male, but 27-year-old female......

The Queens DA's office has charged a man with possessing and promoting child pornography after a tip from Illinois police that he had a how-to video on molesting children. Dominick Guerra, who lives in Ozone Park and works as a wedding/party DJ, was arraigned yesterday and could face up to six years in jail. According to the Queens DA's office, the Wheaton, IL police found two videos on the file-sharing site Limewire. One video depicted......

Far Rockaway, Queens--REPRESENT! Resident Joy Devor won the Simply Manishchewitz Cook-Off last night with her recipe for "Fantastic Flounder Rolls" beating out close to 3,000 other entrants in this nationwide competition. Somehow Ms. Devor managed to score some elusive Tam Tams, which might have been the key to setting her recipe above the rest. (The recipe also used Manischewitz Extra Virgin Olive Oil.) Her next cooking challenge, according to NY1, is "preparing food for her......

Photograph of Nicole Paultre-Bell heading to the Queens County Courthouse today by Craig Ruttle/AP Lawyers made closing arguments in the Sean Bell shooting trial today to Judge Arthur Cooperman, who is presiding over the bench trial. Defense lawyers argued that the police officers on trial were acting in self-defense. One lawyer, Paul Martin, blamed Bell's friend Joseph Guzman, for intimating he was going to get a gun to even a score. Martin said, "He......

Photograph of a closed bodega in Astoria, on day 5 of the 2006 blackout, by Dan Dickinson on Flickr Typical: Con Ed has decided to offer victims of the 2006 blackout a measly $100 each. To businesses, such as restaurants and markets, that lost thousands of dollars of merchandise, it's an insult. Mezzo Mezzo restaurant owner Charlie Kourakos told the Daily News, "We lost, I can say, around $50,000. It's ridiculous for them to......

Two Mets fans were arrested Wednesday at the team's home opener when they kicked a Shea Stadium seat to pieces and tried to smuggle it out of the facility. While it's not unheard of for fans to claim souvenirs during a stadium's last stand, what the pair failed to consider was that they were at the season home opener, not the final game. A Shea security guard saw Darrell Wassil, 30, and Christopher Yatsko, 22,......

Initial reports of Sik-gaek, a Korean restaurant in Flushing's Murray Hill, implied that it’s a buffet-style barbecue spot. After walking from the 7 train to the corner of 149 Pl. and Roosevelt Ave., an entirely different kind of restaurant was encountered. Sik-gaek isn’t a barbecue joint, it’s the Korean equivalent of an izakaya. A quick Chowhound search reveals that this type of drinking establishment, known as po jang ma cha, can be found in basements......

Last year Mayor Bloomberg announced a $3 billion plan to seize 61 acres of the Willets Point district next to the forthcoming Citi Field in Queens through eminent domain, raze it, and construct 5,500 units of housing, a hotel, convention center and over 2 million square feet of office space, restaurants and retail shops. But business owners in the target zone have been fighting it, saying their ‘hood, dubbed the Iron Triangle for its chop......

Some gamblers don't need their legs broken by loan sharks if they're paranoid enough. The FDNY discovered four men lying in an alley at 35-12 Farrington St. in Flushing, Queens while responding to a call about a smoke condition at the building. According to WNBC, the building houses a not-that-secret illegal gambling operation. Police surmise that when the poorly poker-faced bettors heard the FDNY trucks' sirens responding to the smoke condition call, they figured the......