The NY Sun reports Madison Square Garden officials will just renovate the existing arena instead of being a part of the city and state's ambitious Moynihan Station plans. An MSG spokesperson said, "Madison Square Garden has decided to move forward with our renovation previously announced in 2004. After exploring several alternatives, it has become clear that the only viable option is a renovation. Details will be available in the coming days. Madison Square Garden......

After outcry over the Justice Department's denial of benefits for the families of two auxiliary cops killed last year, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey will reportedly review the decision. Senator Chuck Schumer, who co-wrote legislation to give benefits to families of first-responders who die in the line of duty, said Mukasey "seemed sympathetic. He said he would review it personally. He's a legal eagle, and the fact that the law is on our side should......

Photograph of a Manhattan polling place by Daniella Zalcman on Flickr After the NY Times story revealed how NYC votes for Barack Obama appear to have been undercounted for the unofficial (yet official enough to be sent to the AP and other news outlets) results on primary night, State Senator Bill Perkins of Harlem spoke out. Perkins, who supports Obama, told the Post: "Every election has problems, but in this case, all the problems......

Photograph by forklift on Flickr An estimated three million people assembled along Broadway during yesterday's ticker tape parade to celebrate the Giants' 17-14 Super Bowl XLII win over the New England Patriots. After the many floats with Giants players (and cars with some dignitaries, like Governor Spitzer, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver) rolled up the Canyon of Heroes, Mayor Bloomberg presented the team with keys to the city. When David Tyree,......

Pictured are the items on the line Sunday between Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Schmitt. On the top (from left to right) Carnegie Deli cheesecake, Peter Luger Steakhouse, Brooklyn Lager, Peter Luger Steaksauce; On the bottom United States Specialty Cheese spreads, Smithfield Beef, Beerntsen’s Candies, Cheese Shades Ah, there's nothing like the having a local team in a championship game. That's when the mayor breaks out the big guns and bets items of food against......

Come next year, when you're flying in and out of JFK, your flight may be slightly less delayed than it's been in the past. U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced a plan today to reduce the number of hourly flights at JFK International Airport to 82 or 83 flights, depending on the time of day. That would be down from 95 this past summer and what would have been 104 an hour next summer. Secretary......

Who knew thousands, if not millions, of New Yorkers would agree with presidential hopeful Fred Thompson on something? In this case, the former Senator and former Law & Order District Attorney was talking about Rudy Giuliani's reliance on touting his New York City credentials during a campaign stop in New Hampshire today. Thompson told a crowd at a gun store, Giuliani "relates everything to New York City. Well, New York City is not emblematic of......

While they certainly spent time criticizing each other, the Republican presidential hopefuls devoted much time to criticize the Democratic frontrunner Senator Hillary Clinton. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said, "she hasn't run a corner store. She hasn't run a state. She hasn't run a city. She has never run anything. And the idea that she could learn to be President, you know, as an internship just doesn't make any sense." And Senator John McCain......

After receiving a dispensation from city officials last month to remain open until the end of their traditional season, the Red Hook Ball Field vendors are serving up their South and Central American and Mexican fare today and tomorrow for the last time this year. Whether they will return next spring is an open question. This summer the Parks Dept. proposed opening bidding for vending concessions at the fields, which would push most of the......

Now that cell phone service in the city's subway platforms seems like it will really will happen, the Post reveals that the service will also help authorities track down 911 callers underground. Since the subway system's amplifiers installed underground will be covering a much smaller area than, say, abovegruond amplifiers, callers can be located to the exact platform and end of platform! Interesting fact: Back in 1991, NY State added a surcharge on cellphone bills......

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......

Last week, the Senate passed the Transportation Appropriations Bill that includes some big bucks for NYC mass transit projects. There's $125 million for the Second Avenue Subway, plus another $200 million for the East Side Access Project (LIRR connection to Grand Central). Senator Chuck Schumer said, "The Second Ave. subway line will provide desperately needed relief to the severely stressed Lexington line," while Senator Hillary Clinton said, "Now that the ground has been broken......

As Grub Street and others reported yesterday, a letter written last Thursday by Senator Chuck Schumer to Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Friedman may have prevented the forcible closure of the Red Hook Ball Field food vendors this past weekend. While this seems to be a small victory for the food purveyors, doubt remains whether the operating season for the newly food safety-certified vendors will end just after Labor Day, or at the end......

New York's senior Senator Chuck Schumer is known for his ubiquity on the talk show circuit, fighting for New York's share of federal dollars and the occasional tour de Brooklyn. He is also credited with helping the Democrats win back the Senate last year. So it's all very interesting that he told NY1's Inside City Hall that he'd be open to serving in a cabinet position, if a Democrat wins the presidency in 2008. But......

A report tracking the rates of property foreclosures in New York state showed the the city was not impervious to the wave of distressed homeowners that is sweeping the rest of the country. Staten Island was the only borough that displayed a decrease in the rate of its foreclosures (6%). Leading the boroughs with foreclosure increases was Queens (126%), followed by the Bronx (56%), Brooklyn (51%), and Manhattan (12%). We published this map of city......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an escaped prsioner at East Fordham Rd. and Webster Ave. in the Bronx, a gas leak on Main St. in Queens, and a pedestrian struck on East 55th St. and 2nd Ave. in Manhattan. FEMA toured parts of Staten Island to determine if any homeowners were entitled to federal aid following last week's tornado and torrential rainstorms. Mayor Bloomberg shared some tips on how to be more environmentally friendly......

You may have many opinions of Senator Charles Schumer. A man who gives weekly press conferences by way of making the rounds on Sunday morning news shows, someone who will "put a bullet betweens the president's eyes," the senior Senator of New York, orchestrator of the Senate's shift back to the Democrats, husband of a recent Department of Transportation commissioner, imaginer of middle class couple the Baileys, cereal hog. But defender of hedge funds' and......

A while back we reported on possible changes at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, more widely known as "the birthplace of hip hop." Tenants of the apartment complex, as well as its supporters, have been fighting to get the building landmarked. Just as important, they want to keep the apartments rent stabilized. At 9:30 this morning DJ Kool Herc, who is credited with inventing the genre in the building's rec room, rallied the troops......

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......

NYC is #1 when it comes to air travel misery according to an FAA report of travel stats between January and April of this year. 38% of all flights at area airports––Newark, JFK, and Laguardia––were either delayed or cancelled during the period. If one's flight was lucky enough to simply be delayed, the average delay at Newark was 95 minutes, at Laguardia one was only put off schedule by an hour. These are the averages!......

Sen. Chuck Schumer appeared in Red Hook yesterday to support the plight of the vendors that serve the people who come to watch and play sports at the Red Hook ballfields. The vendors have been cooking up ethnic food that appeals to their mostly Hispanic clientele for several years under a series of temporary permits from the city. The Parks Dept. wants to put an official vending permit up for bidding, and the current vendors......

As we mentioned earlier this week, the vendors who set up shop at the Red Hook ballfields may be at risk for losing their permit. According to the New York Times, the vendors have operated for years under a series of temporary use permits, but now they will have to place a formal bid with the city in order to remain in the space. But the vendors are not guaranteed to win this bid, so......

Senator Hillary Clinton brought out a big gun in her fund-raising arsenal last night: President Bill Clinton, who introduced her last night, noting that they had met 36 years ago at Yale Law School. He said, "You will never find anybody who will do a better job of it than she will." It was their first major fund-raiser together, and tomorrow they'll be in DC for another event. About on million dollars was raised,......

Maybe it was the umpteenth “F Bush” tag that seen in the subway station. Or maybe it was President Bush’s interview on Sixty Minutes last night. But recent news about the war, troop deployments and civil rights has infused us with feeling like we're in the 21st Century version of the Wonder Years. This is not the Sixties, but it seems like today’s commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr. has gotten some of us......

Subway special on the Gothamist Newsmap: a person struck by an A train in Brooklyn, a stabbing on the J train in Queens, and a "train job" (?) at Newkirk Avenue. Rosie's Trump beef now extends to Barbara Walters, who appears to have been stabbing her in the back in private conversations with Donald Trump: "Are you looking me in the face and denying you didn't tell him you didn't say this? You're a......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a commercial hi-rise fire on Park Avenue South, a baby abducted from hospital in the Bronx, and something about "odor of gas" in Midtown! Interesting: cities with more bikers on the street actually have a lower rate of per capita biking injuries and fatalities-- apparently drivers learn to be more careful. The Archdiocese of New York: "We're looking for the lord. We're finding him. We're embracing him, and we've......

Yesterday, hundreds protested the police shooting death of Sean Bell with signs like "2 Drink Minimum, 50 Shot Maximum" A bicyclist whose foot was amputated when a city bus hit him was awarded a $11 million settlement (the bicyclist did run a red light, but the bus driver didn't realize someone was hit and so the rear tires also hit the cyclist); the MTA will appeal The city files another lawsuit against retailers who......

Since many of New York State's elections were runaways, the real election action was seeing how the House and Senate would turn - with the Democrats taking control of the house, which makes Nancy Pelosi possibly the first female Speaker of the House. The control of the Senate is still in question - votes are being counted and re-counted in the Virginia and Montana races (Democratic challenger John Tester has a narrow lead over......

Monitoring the city's job postings can pay off! Luckily, Streetsblog has been doing just that and pieces together how the city is serious about developing "comprehensive transportation and land use strategy for New York City."The first signal came at the beginning of Mayor Bloomberg's second term when DOT Commissioner Iris Weinhall was knocked one rung down the Administration's org chart. She is now reporting directly to Doctoroff. Next, DOT's creative, competent Lower Manhattan Borough Commissioner,......

Surprise, surprise. When Siena College Research surveyed state voters about its two Senators, it turned out that New Yorkers like Chuck Schumer twice as much as Hillary Clinton. The measure was "which Senator is more effective," which 44% finding Schumer "more effective to Clinton's 22%. In fact, Schumer was rated higher than Clinton is all categories - men, women, whites, Latinos, city folk, suburbanistes - except African-American voters, who preferred Clinton (45% to Schumer's 21%).......