Since Leona Helmsley died last year at the age of 87, details of the Queen of Mean's will and wishes have caused chatter amongst those who knew and knew of her. Most notably, her dog, a Maltese named Trouble, was left a hefty $12 million...surely more than he can spend in his lifetime! The move led to death threats against the pup, who now has a security team that costs around $100K per year. She......

Police broke up an alleged dogfighting operation in the Tremont section of the Bronx last night, arresting seven men on charges of gambling and animal cruelty. 17 dogs were also removed from the building on 179th St. and they all showed signs of abuse. The bust comes approximately eight months after an investigation by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) alleged that NYC was practically the dogfighting capital of the world. That report......

Yay for dog days! Over the weekend, Times's Up! held its first annual Doggie Pedal Parade, highlighting bicycles adapted to transport pets and the benefits of adopting homeless animals. Bicyclists learned how to pimp their bikes for their pups pets and then humans and canines alike celebrated with a Pupnic at Washington Square Park's dog run.......

Starting today, teams of six NYPD officers will be patrolling the subway system in 12 hour shifts to thwart would-be terrorists. You’ll be able to easily identify the squads – called “Torch Teams” – by their rifles, MP5 submachine guns, handguns, body armor and bomb-sniffing dogs. The program is being paid for with $151 million from taxpayers nationwide, allocated through D.C. The Torch Teams will function like the similarly equipped NYPD “Hercules Teams” (pictured) above......

The most eco-friendly way to eat on Earth Day – and any day – is by growing your own food, eating it raw and composting the scraps. But for those of us who aren’t urban farmers, there are some good green options happening on or around April 22nd. il Buco (pictured), the Mediterranean restaurant on Bond Street, will be offering a $30 prix fixe lunch menu Tuesday through Saturday, and donating 100% of the proceeds......

In violation of a ruling by New York State's Human Rights Division, the principal of W. Tresper Clarke High School stood in the schoolhouse doorway and refused entrance to 15-year-old John Cave yesterday, as long as he had his service dog with him. Cave is a deaf teenager with cochlear implants, and this week, the state's Human Rights Division Commissioner Kumiki Gibson declared the school violated two provisions of the Human Rights law (PDF) and......

A pit bull named Tyrus is described by the New York Post as being "The Bitch of West 72nd St." and a 'Hell Hound.' Neighbors of the dog's owner at the former Olcott Hotel on the Upper West Side say that Tyrus is a menace who runs wild, poops in the hall and mauls other pets. Residents of The Olcott's 7th floor said that instead of walking Tyrus, his owners simply let the dog run......

Release the hounds. The latest innovation in bedbug eradication is being brought to you by Advanced K9 Detectives, a company using man’s best friend to sniff out the bloodsucking pests plaguing New York City. Since 2004, complaints about bedbugs to the Department of Housing have soared to 6,889 (up from 537 a year) and 2,008 building owners issued summonses (compared to 82 in ’04). Carl Massicott, the owner of the six-dog team, says he’s been......

Some dogs traveling to the U.S. from Iraq weren't dogs of war or trained to sniff explosives. Instead, they provided a little comfort and unconditional love to soldiers stuck in a war zone. With the help of the International SPCA's Baghdad Pups program, two dogs named Liberty and K-Pot have been adopted by soldiers' families. Because the military doesn't allow units to take adopted dogs with them when they move, soldiers either had to turn......

Photograph of Uno posing with his Best in Show trophy by Jason DeCrow/AP Given the state of the Knicks and Rangers, the Garden hasn't heard cheers as resounding as it did last night during the Westminster Kennel Club Best in Show ceremony for some time. But a Beagle named Uno brought the house down, becoming the first ever of his breed to win Best in Show. The last time a beagle even made it......

Photograph of Uno, a 15-inch beagle who won the Best in Group, by Seth Wenig/AP It's that time of year again - the Westminster Kennel Club will be naming the Best in Show dog tonight. Today is day two (of two) of the Westminster Kennel Club's 132nd Dog show, and the best in group for the sporting, working and toy groups will be determined. Those dogs will face off against the winners of the......

The 132nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show arrives at Madison Square Garden Monday. The two-day event has thousands of dogs undergo a winnowing process that culminates with the awarding of Best in Show. The American Kennel Club recognizes 157 disinct breeds that are eligible for competition, and four of those breeds are brand new entries to the field. They include the Tibetan mastiff (a working dog), the Beaucerand and Swedish vallhund (herding dogs), and the......

The American Kennel Club annually releases a list of the most popular dog breeds in the country and in the biggest cities. No beating around the fire hydrant, this year's favorites in NYC: 1. Labrador Retriever 2. Yorkshire Terrier 3. Dachshund 4. Havanese** 5. Poodle** 6. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel 7. French Bulldog 8. Golden Retriever 9. Bulldog 10. Pug **Tied for 3rd American Kennel Club officials noted that NYC residents are among the cutting......

Earlier this week, the NY Times had an article about how Apple's retail stores were uncommonly successful. The Apple Stores contribute to 20% of revenue, unlike other big brands whose brick-and-mortar offerings tend to be more about brand presence than actual ringing of cash registers (example: the Samsung Experience store at the Time Warner Center doesn't actually sell Samsung products). Experts credit Apple with creating stores that seem like a community gathering places, where......

The city's shocking sidewalks strike again! An Upper West Side pup was electrocuted Thursday during a late night walk on 72nd and Amsterdam. This has happened too many times over the past few years, more recently to a NY Post reporter's dog in Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem, who died from the shock. A few years ago when Jodie Lane died, and her two dogs were injured from a similar shock, Con Ed reported they......

On any given night, visitors to The Stanton Social may encounter Executive Chef-Owner Chris Santos making his post-rush rounds through the dining room, or they might not: Problem is that the rush at the restaurant, which can feed (between its bar, lounge, and dining room) up to 200 people at a clip, sometimes just doesn’t let up. The 36 year-old Santos, who says he “feels 39,” is known for food that ditches ornate, mother-sauce heavy......

We always thought that Visine poisoning was an urban legend, but a crazy story from Long Island seems to suggest otherwise. Twenty-four year-old Kristine Anzalone has pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault and third-degree criminal mischief after being arrested for allegedly spiking her roommate's drink with Visine and then agitating his dogs to get into a fight. According to Newsday, Anzalone and her husband Christopher lived with a male roommate in a North Bellmore home......

With street-side Christmas trees going for more each year and the average apartment size decreasing, we propose the adoption of a new holiday standard: Enjoy your Christmas Tree in a highball glass. To wit: Clear Creek Distillery’s Eau de Vie of Douglas Fir, 375 milliliters of pine flavored brandy, found at Red Hook booze and esoteric spirits emporium LeNell’s. This small, $45 bottle is cheaper and has a lesser environmental impact than deforestation, and will......

The New York Post profiles a West Village man who's taken to vandalizing cars with incessant anti-theft alarms. Harry Schroder is a retired art director who likes to spend his afternoons practicing the piano in his home on Charlton St. Occasionally, however, he is interrupted by a car alarm. If it goes on long enough, Schroder leaves the car's owner a note in black magic market on an 18-inch by 24-inch posterboard which he sticks......

What's today's salacious claim about Anthony Marshall, who was recently indicted for allegedly mishandling his mother Brooke Astor's estate? That he hated his mother's dear dogs so much, he wanted them dead! Rush & Molloy spoke to a source who claims Marshall "wanted to put them to sleep." "Them" being Astor's dachshunds Boysie and Girlsie. When Marshal's own son originally claimed his father was not properly caring for Astor, it was mentioned that Marshall wouldn't......

Few have noticed, and perhaps less care, but there aren’t too many hot dog shacks or trucks left in the city. Despite the recent success of relatively fancy dogs topped with everything from kimchee puree to avocado mash, a few legendary hot dog outposts still exist in the far reaches of Brooklyn and Queens, tucked away on corners near scrap metal dealers and steel-frame towers of junked cars. These are the kinds of places where......

Being heir to $12 million can be a real dog. Especially if you're Trouble Helmsley, the cherished Maltese owned by the late real estate developer Leona Helmsley. "Queen of Mean" Helmsley shocked people from the grave by leaving $12 million to the pooch, which was more than what her grandchildren (combined) inherited. Helmsley's friend John Codey, who oversees Helmsley's trust, reveals that there have been many death threats: "We received any number of threats to......

An appellate court ruled this week that a 71-year-old woman could remain in the West Village apartment she shares with her two cats, despite a no-pets clause in her lease. Siiri Marvits has lived in the same apartment for 43 years and has had her two cats Athena and Apollo for more than ten years. The Daily News reports that according to the New York City Law Journal, a landlord must begin eviction proceedings within......

The Thanksgiving Day and Thanksgiving Day Eve have emerged as some of the busiest travel days of the year. While the media shows shots of crowded airports and train stations on the Wednesdays before Thanksgiving (like today), the Bureau of Transportation Statistics says that when personal vehicle travel is included into calculations, "Thanksgiving Day is actually a heavier long-distance travel day [to and from a destination more than 50 or more miles away] than......

AMNY ruined elitist drinkers’ fun today by outing some “secret” watering holes around town. One of them, The Back Room, is no secret, just a pain to find for first-timers. The capacious bar is tucked away at 102 Norfolk Street two doors down from a "Lower East Side Toys" sign; pass through a gate and down some steps to a narrow alley that leads to an unmarked door. Or just look for the bouncer standing......

Insert obligatory phoenix metaphor here: Brooklyn’s Freebird, the used book and corn dogs mecca that closed earlier this year, is set to re-emerge a little later this week from The Embers of Gentrification. While the NY Magazine article linked in that last sentence is about the real estate debacle of Red Hook, the shuttered Freebird, which is technically in Cobble Hill, is sometimes considered (with restaurants like Alma) to be an extension of that troubled......

It appears the rumors of autumn's demise have been greatly exaggerated and you're going to have to start wearing a jacket outside after all. But the change of seasons is not without its perks; there are those hot winter drinks to look forward to, and a number of bars around town offer the perfect accompaniment for your hot toddy: a crackling fireplace. Below are some of New York's best places to chill out on a......

Ten years ago today, Camden Sylvia and Michael Sullivan left their rent-stabilized loft in downtown Manhattan, went for a jog, rented a video and were never seen again. Today, the Daily News revisits the mystery and speaks to Sylvia's mother. Laurie Sylvia says, "I want to know what happened. Each year that goes by I think, maybe this year. I never imagined I would be doing that for 10 years." Sylvia, then 36, and Sullivan,......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck on 160th St. and Sanford Ave. in Queens, a stabbing on 10th Ave. in Manhattan, and a homicide on Kelly and East 163rd Sts. in the Bronx. CUNY hired a legendary graffiti artist to teach a course on the subject, which is upsetting a lot of people. Ron Kuby is upset that Don Imus is back on the air. Mostly because he took his job to......

The Bronx DA's office is investigating Ralph Reyes, a Bronx man who was singled out by the New York Post last week as the center of New York City's dogfighting world. The Post was acting on information provided by the Humane Society of the United States, which has an Animal Fighting Task Force that investigated Reyes and dogfighting in the city, but abandoned its project when it was unable to get much cooperation from local......