Patrick Venetek, the cop whose service weapon wound up shooting through the ceiling of his downstairs neighbors' apartment and striking an 18-month-old's arm, gave further details on how the incident occurred. Perhaps to the relief of Porcellini's six brothers and sisters, Venetek has been stripped of his badge and gun at this time and is on modified duty. Apparently, Ventek was going to start cleaning his 9 mm semi-automatic pistol in the dwindling natural light......

A family had been living in its Mill Basin, Brooklyn apartment for less than a week, when their 18-month-old toddler was struck by a bullet that passed through its ceiling from an upstairs apartment Thursday afternoon. Their upstairs neighbor is 24-year-old police officer, an Army veteran assigned to Manhattan's 1st Precinct, named Patrick Venetek. Venetek rushed downstairs to explain what had happened. Per WCBS News, he claims he had been cleaning his gun when it......

John and Annette Ferranti certainly did not feel they were in good hands with the Allstate Insurance Company, after Allstate refused to pay their homeowners damage claim they insist was caused by an Air France Concorde jet. The insurance company, which had wanted to appeal appeal a jury award of $1.15 million to the Mill Basin couple, finally agreed to pay the Ferrantis $995,000. On July 21, 2002, the Ferrantis say that the Air......

Two hit and run drivers were arrested late this week; one through the actions of a horrified but brave bystander and the other through a successful effort by the Brooklyn Accident Investigation squad. Cops arrived at Sergey Satyr's Mill Basin home Thursday to arrest the 20-year-old for the hit-and-run death of 71-year-old Grace Smith of Sheepshead Bay. The Brooklyn Accident Investigation squad used debris from Satyr's Nissan and a partial license plate number to track......

With yesterday’s innocuous New York Times review of Katz’s Deli and the news last week that the 2nd Avenue Deli will be "recreated" in Murray Hill, it seems that forces of pastrami have won some kind of cosmic victory over the over the forces of real estate; forces that threaten to destroy old-fashioned New York dining institutions. The outer boroughs are home to a scattering of delicatessens where the pastrami sandwiches rival, and at times......

These pictures may look like serious tail-gaters, people waiting for the latest gaming console or indie rock fans desperate for Sujan Stevens tickets, but, alas, no - these are actually taken from the parking lot of PS 236 in Mill Basin. Why? Parents are very eager to sign up their children for coveted pre-kindergarten places. Inside Schools describes PS 236 thusly:PS 236 is a well-run, well-equipped school in a neighborhood with lots of stay-at-home......

A 64 year old Brooklyn grandmother was walking on East 55th Street in Old Mill Basin with her two young nephews when the sidewalk collapsed. The woman, Faye Drod, fell in a 4-5 foot deep hole and was trapped by slabs of concrete on top of her. Yikes! Her 3 and 5 year old nephews were able to avoid the hole by grabbing onto a fence - they are going to have some crazy nightmares!......

The Post reports on two motorcycle deaths yesterday. Ivette Hernandez was killed after being thrown off her boyfriend Louis Perez's motorcycle on the Gowanus Expressway. According to the Post, a car had swerved towards them, and when Hernandez fell, another motorcycle in their group hit her. Perez, who was supposed to propose to her that day, was charged with DUI and "blamed the accident on a motorist trying to merge into traffic." And Lamar Leonard......

In June, 17 year old Paul Zaccaria went missing during a jet skiing accident in Mill Basin. And yesterday, his body was finally found, just a few days after another teen, 16 year old Aristotle Plagianakos, was arrested and charged with recklesness, leaving the scene of an accident and speeding in connection with Zaccaria's death. The Daily News reports that there were discrepancies between Plagianakos' story and eyewitness accounts, and the NY Times says that......

- Man fatally stabbed at the Mill Basin Home Depot this morning - Curtis Sliwa took the stand during the Junior Gotti trial today: "I figured I had seconds, maybe minutes to live." - Other mob news: John Gotti secret family gets their 15 minutes - Former deputy mayor Marc Shaw, who was replaced (to his surprise, perhaps) by Patricia Harris will now work for real estate concern Extell; we expect Extell to milk Shaw......

Police are investigating whether or not the black victim of Sunday's possible bias attack knew his attackers. Newsday reports that a police official says one of the attackers told a black man who was driving by and stopped to intervene, "Sir, this has nothing to do with you." The police are essentially puzzled by this "polite" remark, coupled with the fact that Alex Moore was attacked in a mostly black section of Mill Basin. The......

Yesterday, there were two separate hate crimes in Brooklyn and Manhattan. A black man was beaten and robbed by a group of white men in the Mill Basin section of Brooklyn, while a man was attacked by men yelling anti-gay slurs as he and another man were on their way to a Chelsea Bar. Alex Moore was beaten by the a group, which had a baseball bat and an iron pipe. The Brooklyn incident was......