Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: serious trauma on 51st St. in Brooklyn, a missing person on 90th St. and Amsterdam Ave. in Manhattan, and a large fight at 1087 Broadway in Brooklyn. A Brooklyn high school student was stabbed to death yesterday after school. The fatal injury occurred as he was attempting to rob another kid on a playground. Don Imus will be returning to the air with a "sidekick," who is black. The......

After City Council member Simcha Felder announced he would propose legislation to ban feeding pigeons, bird lovers joined forces and, yesterday, held a rally at City Hall. Armed with posters like "Save Our Right to Feed Wildlife," "Have U Known Anybody Killed by a Pigeon?", "Pigeons are Beautiful Birds," and "Felder's Pigeon Bill is Poop!", the pro-pigeon protesters spoke out for their feathered friends. One demonstrator told City Room, "We are voices for the......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a fatal fire on Pennsylvania Ave. in Brooklyn, a train derailment on 41st St. and 1st Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting on East Gunhill Rd. in the Bronx. Anthony Marshall's––Brooke Astor's estranged son––lawyer pleaded not guilty to forgery in the sordid case of her will. BestWeekEver.tv's Michelle Collins manages to compliment Tony Bennett, fling a t-shirt at Nick Lachey, stump Josh Groban on the definition of "Cougars", covet......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a foot pursuit on West 50th St. and Broadway in Manhattan, a missing person on West 110th St. in Manhattan, and a stabbing on Grove St. and Seneca Ave. in Queens. The 57-year-old man shot to death by a federal agent during a grenade sting this week was a career criminal. Authorities believe the proposed sale of what turned out to be an inert grenade was probably just an......

City Councilman Simcha Felder's proposed legislation to fine people $1,000 for feeding pigeons has struck a nerve. Felder and other elected officials claim that pigeons' poop is harmful to New Yorkers and, therefore, various ways to limit pigeons' eating and procreating should be explored. But some pigeon lovers are unhappy with the level of vitriol directed at the city's unofficial bird. Hence the video from Animaniacs, "Goodfeathers" (it's 10 minutes, so settle in to......

Citing the unsightly damage that pigeon poop does to the city, City Council Member Simcha Felder announced a bill proposal to fine people $1000 for feeding pigeons. Some of Felder's key remarks and findings: "Stop feeding pigeons!" "If people like pigeons... feed [them] in your house and let them crap all over the place in your living room." A pigeon creates about 25 pounds of poop annually. "[The pigeons] may go elsewhere. Let them......

The Red Sox has permeated nearly every facet of Bostonist's lives. When they're not live-blogging the games, waxing poetic about the games, thanking Curt Schilling for his splendid work, or telling Dane Cook to watch his hair, they're watching certain presidential candidates hop on the Red Sox bandwagon (sorry, Gothamist). The Sox are so branded on the local brain that people are using the Series to spice up their sex lives. Speaking of spice, Bostonist......

As Park Slopers discuss the elementary school pigeon killers lurking about Prospect Park, the animals decide to strike back! The NY Post reports that "a masked marauder" was on a rampage yesterday in the Park as he took a bite out of a woman who was on an outing with her family at The Lake.The animal had been lurking unusually close to people when it struck, sinking its teeth into the woman's thigh. Her husband......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A special delivery (as in a birth) on Hillside Avenue in Manhattan, a jumper down on Flatbush in Brooklyn, and a pursuit with injured officers at 106th St & Rockaway Blvd. in Queens. A Gambino crime family associate's son was working the elevator the day of the Deutsche Bank fire and helped save a woman right before the firefighters arrived. What will someone pay for signatures from people like......

It’s not to say that Rioja wines have ever gone away, but they never seem to be top of mind. We’re willing to take partial responsibility for this (no more than 34%). Perhaps we may have pigeon-holed the region to uncomplicated, cherry-vanilla red wines. It wasn’t done maliciously, but all the wines we’ve had only perpetuated this perception. We didn’t think badly of them, but they didn’t keep us wanting more. That’s the dangerous thing......

We are sad to hear that Pier I Cafe at Riverside Park South (around 70th Street, underneath the West Side Highway) was closed by the Department of Health. A reader visited the cafe on Sunday, only to find "a note saying they're probably closed for the season because the city said the bathrooms they had weren't good enough." The cafe had an open kitchen and bar, and the bathrooms were built in a temporary......

Despite having been defeated in a City Council vote, where his chief of staff heckled Council Speaker Christine Quinn and threatened a black councilman with assassination, Councilman Charles Barron renamed a street in Brooklyn "Sonny Abubadika Carson Avenue" anyway, declaring that the renaming "is official whether they [presumably the city] take that sign down or not." Sonny Carson's name was struck from a list of people who would get honorary street signs earlier this spring.......

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't officially start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... Over at Sampaist, spring has more than sprung: it's sweltering! But, as everyone knows, museums are an ideal......

Those of you who are jealous of the real time information boards popping up along the L line, don't worry: The MTA will be rolling out the system to the numbered lines later this year. Which actually means 2008, but progress is progress, even if it's MTA style progress. And as the real time boards are finessed on the L platforms, it seems that the MTA is also bringing back the plans for the......

We don't know about you, but it's friggin cold out there. Well, not for some of you. It seems as though places that are supposed to be cold are warm and places that are supposed to be warm are cold. Or maybe that's just us. Either way, we're freezing. Austinist said goodbye to their co-editor (sell-out) and played rumor monger ">on the SXSW lineup. And when dozens of dead birds littered downtown Austin, it's......

Breaking: Tishman-Speyer, the real estate concern that controls Rockefeller Center, the Chrysler Building, the Lipstick Building, and much more around the city and world, was the winning bidder in the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village sweepstakes. The NY Times' Charles Bagli writes: Mr. Speyer and his partner, the Blackrock investment bank, outmaneuvered nearly a dozen bidders, including a group aligned with the tenants at the complexes who hoped to preserve what is fast becoming a......

- There's a sad story about the upstate horse farm where NYPD police mounted horses go when they are retire. The city is suing the farm's operator because many of the horses are "grossly underweight, had difficulty chewing and were kept in stalls without straw bedding," according to Newsday. It's a complicated matter, because when the farm was sold, part of the agreement was for the new owner to continue caring for the horses......

- We're ambivalent of most of the never-ending supply of 9/11 memorials out there (i.e., the one in Jersey which includes the names of 40 people who didn't actually die in the attack!), however we adore the Tribute in Light. Sadly, its funding/fate after 2008 is up in the air, as it were. Not good. - "In 2005, more people from Muslim countries became legal permanent United State residents - nearly 96,000 - than......

As news of what could be the biggest real estate deal in history spread, residents of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village - and the rest of New York City - wondered what this could mean for the real estate market. Though selling the 110 building complex and changing over ownership of all the units would probably take years, questions about what Mayor Bloomberg will do about the city's housing policy arose, as well......

August 23 & 24: Grouse Dinner at Orsay Grouse? Yes, grouse. It's grouse season, which is quite brief, running from August 12 through the end of the month. To celebrate, Orsay will present Scottish grouse dinners as the first in a series of special dinners focusing on game and specialty products from Scotland (menus dedicated to partridge, pheasant and wood pigeon are in the works). The five-course grouse dinners include wine pairings with each savory......

Over the past few years Gothamist has noticed a considerable decline in the pigeon population in our fair city. Where once street corners were littered with flying rats and their poo, now seeing large groups of pigeons just isn't as common as it once was. We'd sort of assumed this decline (which we have no numbers to back up, just perceptions) was due to some kind of secret city poisioning program, along with some......

Whatever notion you have aabout Riesling wines, put it aside for a moment. It’s hard to do because this is a wine that is often pigeon-holed, and is either loved or hated for it. It’s easy to conjure up memories of a German, sweet, fruity wine with concentrated flavors of peaches, apricots and minerality or a rich dessert wine – but that’s only part of the story. Riesling is one of the most difficult wines......

- High school students slash each other on the Upper West Side, and local residents and business owners confirm that the kids are scary - The Brian Lehrer Show on the need for more public accountability from city agencies like the MTA - The tourist kids who threw paint cans at the police in Midtown were reprimanded by Virginia high school (one was expelled)... - ...and the Bronx high school kids finally got to......

City to 9/11 Workers: FU (oh, and keep cleaning) And the hits just keep on coming. In addition to concerns about the current safety of the air downtown and the increasing number of complaints of respiratory problems and even cancer as a result of 9/11, reports now show that worker-safety rules were "routinely violated" at Ground Zero. The city's Department of Design and Construction reports the lion's share of safety lapses at the site. It......

-- Three people shot outside Farragut Houses in Vinegar Hill-- we were biking by around 5 and there were tons of police and reporters milling around. -- Union Square Ventures invaded by killer pigeon-- COMMENCE PANIC! -- Jesus Toni, enough about 24 already! -- Woman turns tricks out of apartment and teaches four year old to insult dad in Chinese: "You are stupid because your wife is sleeping with other men." -- And tonight......

A couple of years from now, after the American real estate market has utterly collapsed, we may well look back at this day as a kind of high-water mark, the spot where the insanity peaked and then rolled back. Curbed broke the story yesterday-- a crackhouse in South Williamsburg that has been flipped twice in the last six months, and is now being sold for about a million dollars. First, read the description from......

Holy Acme Company! Reporters on the respective parks, animals-on-the-loose, and Canis latrans beats hit the trifecta yesterday, with news that there was a coyote wandering around Central Park, not too unlike a tourist in awe of the 800+ acre urban oasis. Visitors to the park reported seeing a wolf-like animal yesterday afternoon, and even Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe saw the coyote (and then hit speed dial to the press office to round up some reporters).......

Today's City Section has a good FYI on New York City birds: The common pigeon, also known as the rock dove, was bred by the European aristocracy for hunting and eating. Kim Todd, in "Tinkering With Eden" (Norton, 2001), traces pigeons' American arrival to 1605, on a French supply ship, the Jonas, bound for New France. Samuel de Champlain kept pigeons in his newly founded Quebec. More pigeons arrived with English settlers in Virginia.........

But not together (no need to start any wild rumors here). We heard yesterday that Mr. Bruni's review would be hitting today's Dining section. But what would he think? Would he lean towards Steve Cuozzo's take? Adam Platt's? Both of them seemed to think that although some of the food was predictably good, if not overpriced, the decor and sheer vastness of the place combined with some misses on the menu threw the whole......

It's drip drip drip in the city these days, and the mountains of snow are melting, thanks to Mother Nature's sunny disposition - and the Department of Sanitation's cool snow melters. These orange monsters melt up snow and then inject a more liquidy mixture directly into the sewers - we know this from yesterday's NY Times article. Next up: The DoS figures out how to suck all the slush from street corners! Weather-related ails......