Two white Staten Island cops were indicted today for an incident last Halloween in which they allegedly handcuffed a black egg-throwing teen and drove him to a dark, secluded marshland he was stranded (the handcuffs were taken off). Initially, the cops were also accused of stripping him down to his shorts and kicking him. The officers, Thomas Elliassen and Richard Danese, who are pleading not guilty, said they just wanted to "scare him" and later......

Okay, maybe pets aren't so into the holidays, except when it comes to scraps that fall to the floor or the prospect of a new chew toy. But that doesn't mean that pet owners aren't enthusiastic about projecting the spirit of the season onto Fido and Fluffy. Clockwise, from the top left, we have: Delco the West Brighton wanna-be (and possibly reluctant) reindeer, photograph by walkwpack, a reader on SILive.com; a cute Christmas tree......

On Friday Gothamist visited the set of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead, a bizarre little indie shooting in the East Village. The movie is a sequel of sorts to Tom Stoppard’s hilarious existential comedy Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, but with “sexy vampires, the Holy Grail and Hamlet.” Jake Hoffman (son of Dustin), who appeared on some Arrested Development episodes, is a broke, frustrated ladies man who jumps at the chance to direct an......

Peter Braunstein really loves the New York Post. The fashion industry reporter-turned-prison inmate, after being recently convicted of the kidnapping, sex assault, armed robbery and burglary of a former co-worker on Halloween in 2005, gives his first interview since being locked up this past summer to the tabloid. He gives a number of choice quotes to the Post, who calls him "still-crazy." And how! Not only does he regret not killing his ex-girlfriend Jane......

The Loch Ness monster, who has been tagging the city, has been in a marsh in Brooklyn for over a month. A note to New York's mythical creature coterie, you only have through December 31st to catch Nessie so close to home. The serpent has made the salt marsh off of Marine Park homebase ever since Ridgewood artist Cameron Gainer placed his creation there at the end of October. Using boats and divers at high......

What can you say about the Vernon NJ Police Department except that they like Hanna-Barbera? Because they created a "WANTED" poster with Yogi Bear's likeness, after discovering a black bear had stolen a minivan. Well, maybe "stolen" is overreaching, but Patrolman David Dehardt noticed that a Mazda minivan was parked in an odd spot, and when he approached the car, it had the classic signs of bear presence: "mashed window, paw prints, smudge marks on......

Photo of by Tomoharu Mizuno (snowman) djwerdna on flickr; Mizuno finished in 6:25:34 The marathon is the city's most lucrative single-day sporting event; this year, the marathon will bring in an estimated $220 million to city businesses. Blind marathoner Henry Wanyoike ran the course in 2 hours, 52 minutes, and 18 seconds. The NY Sun reports that Wanyoike, who is blind from a stroke, runs " tethered by a rope to his partner, Joseph......

With Craigslist becoming ever-increasingly creepy, this smitten young man has gone and purchased his own URL to find the girl he ogled on the subway last night. NYGirlOfMyDreams.com has a simple mission, it's "skinny, tall, not insane" creator would like to meet the the "fancy-braided, rosy-cheeked, journal writing" girl he saw on the the 5 train at 9:30pm last night. And if it doesn't work out, we're sure he has that URL for at......

Last week marked the five year anniversary of the murder of Jam Master Jay, who was shot and killed at his studio in Queens the night before Halloween 2002. The slaying was one of many that went unspoken about by witnesses, all of whom follow the "no snitching" rule. However, The Daily News has just talked to someone who is breaking this absurd code of silence.Randy Allen, the iconic turntablist's longtime business partner, told the......

Last night, during the Brian Williams-hosted and Feist-soundtracked Saturday Night Live, the show opened with a scene from Chappaqua, New York. All of the Democrats were there to celebrate Halloween, and who was under the Barack Obama mask... ...but Barack himself! The rest of the democrats were all played by SNL cast members, though it would have been interesting to have seen them all playing themselves. As a sidenote: Brian Williams did a pretty good......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: The Simpsons (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., WNYW 5) This is the annual Treehouse of Horror episode airing after Halloween thanks to Tim McCarver and bad baseball coverage. Family Guy (Sunday, 8:30 p.m., WNYW 5) The good news is that it is the 100th episode, the bad news is that it is a clip show. Thankfully the clip show is followed by a new episode entitled “Stewie Kills Lois”......

The Queens DA's office is allegedly split over how to handle a Halloween night fight in Howard Beach. A fight erupted on the Cross Bay Boulevard between a group of white youths and a group of black and Hispanic youths. The white youths, after feeling intimidated by a black or Hispanic youth, threw eggs at him, and then a melee broke out when 30-40 others, some with sticks, fought the white youths. Five black and......

On the Gothamist Newsmap: A large fight/stabbing at Church and Remsen in Brooklyn, a stabbing on 5th Ave. in Manhattan, and a home invasion robbery on Cruger Ave. in the Bronx. An early morning fire damaged four businesses in Inwood; the FDNY is investigating, but the fire may have started in a business that's been closed for months. Senator Schumer releases a statement about his support for Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey (the senior......

Not So Silent, Jens Jens Lekman is one of our favorite songwriters, so any opportunity to see the funnyman crooner play is a treat, no matter the circumstances. The set at Webster Hall was generally excellent. Bordering on Magical, in fact, a perfect mix of his old and new -- mixing in Swedish deadpan quips and stories the whole time through. The only knock we had came from the venue, which we usually enjoy. The......

Halloween tricks are never a good idea, no matter what side of the law you're on. A 14-year-old boy was throwing eggs at cars in Staten Island when two police officers decided to teach him a lesson. Police sources S.tell the Daily News that Officers Thomas Elliassen and Michael Danese picked up Rayshawn Moreno around 8:30PM, drove him to "a swampy area of the 122nd Precinct" and then "dropped him off wearing only boxer shorts......

Howard Beach residents are probably shaking their heads over reports of yet another allegedly racially motivated attack in their neighborhood. The police say that a group of white teenagers claims they were attacked by a group, who were made up of Hispanics and blacks. At Cross Bay Boulevard, a the group of white teens noticed the group of black and Hispanic teens; according to the Post, "The apparent leader of the black group walked up......

The early Thursday morning fight in Union Square was apparently set off by a diss. The Post reports that the victims were all affiliated with gangs and the "violence appeared to have stemmed from a show of 'disrespect.'" The police confirmed that a fight did occur at the McDonald's at East 17th Street and Broadway, but it's still unclear if that fight continued on into the park, where a gunman later fired, injuring four people.......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an officer assaulted on Church Ave. and 53rd St. in Brooklyn, a car into a coffee shop in the area of Skillman and 50th in Queens, and two people shot on Park Ave. and 17th St. in Manhattan. An insurance broker pleaded guilty to idiotic target practice that launched arrows from his compound bow on the Upper East Side. Bono and Bloomberg's mutual admiration society. Brooklyn state Assemblyman Dov......

Missed Halloween but still feeling spooky? Never fear, you can continue the creepy vibe by celebrating the Mexican Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos. Observed on November 1st and 2nd, this holiday celebrates and honors the lives of the deceased and welcomes them to the new stage in their lives that commences upon death. Several Mexican restaurants across the city are joining in the celebration -- here's where to go and what to......

The Village Halloween Parade brought out some amazing costumes last night...and as with any October 31st, it brought out some innovative and just downright funny ones as well. Even the NYPD seemed to be having fun. Did you dress up and take part? Above photos from nd10011's Halloween Parade set on Flickr. Photo via otherground's Flickr. More after the jump.........

We'll have another post about the amazing Halloween costumes later, but we wanted to update everybody about the fellow who dressed as a vagina (tampon and all) last year. This year, he dressed as many a girl's movie crush Lloyd Dobler and, correctly anticipating sore arms from carrying the boombox, created fake arms. [Via reader Gregg - thanks]......

Early this morning, four people were hit by gunfire and another person was stabbed while in Union Square Park. WABC 7 says that a fight "broke out in a McDonald's at 17th and Broadway." And then someone fired into a crowd in Union Square Park - it's unclear if the fight from McDonald's traveled into the park. Four men were hit by the gunfire and a woman was stabbed in a related incident. All this......

We have lots of videos to get you in a Halloween state of mind while you undoubtedly are suffering from a sugar crash after too much office candy. First up, IntoTheBox has a scary New York story with a real estate twist (after all, what's scarier than Manhattan real estate?!) -- travel to Confucius Plaza on Bowery and Canal, here. The Today Show turns Rockefeller Center into 1313 Mockingbird Heights and really outdoes their previous......

Whether or not you're going to the annual Village Halloween Parade this evening, it'll probably effect your day in some way if you live or work in the area. If you want to avoid the mayhem, don't be anywhere in the vicinity of 6th Avenue between Spring and 22nd Steets. The streets intersecting the route will be closed off at 5pm sharp! If you want to watch, get there early to stake out a spot.......

If you're impressed when you see homes and apartment windows with store-bought cobwebs and a carved pumpkin, then prepare to let your mind explode. NewYorkShitty quite possibly hits the mother lode of all Halloween decorating with this haunted house on Humboldt Street in Greenpoint. Miss Heather writesThese folks managed to outfit this most unhappy chap with a pump so he vomits a continuous stream of blood into this barrel. Could you imagine what would......

It's a Halloween Hump Day! We will have more details about the Halloween Parade and other events in the city later, but we thought we'd point you to It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown videos on Youtube (part 1, 2, 3), in case you missed ABC's airing last night. You can also get it on DVD, and there's also the book It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: The Making of a Television Classic. Halloween......

Mother Nature is all treats and no tricks this Halloween. With southerly flow around a high pressure system centered to the east today's high temperature should be nearly ten degrees warmer than normal. The day should be mostly sunny but there may be a few clouds and ghouls this evening. The quest for a record warm October has come down to the last day! Gothamist calculates a monthly average temperature of 63.65 degrees if Central......

For those not wanting to hit the big Halloween parade (led by today's interviewee) there are other options: Park Slope's Halloween Parade (info here), Clinton Hill's Halloween Walk (info here) Prospect Park South's Halloween Parade (info here) and Williamsburg's Witches Walk (info here). EVENT: Hallowe'en is Happening Downtown at Trinty Church where both both kids and adults will find spooky spectacles tonight. For the little ones there will be an early evening filled with games,......

Donna Henes has been bringing peace to New York for decades as an Urban Shaman (you didn't know we had one?), and tonight she is charged with leading the Halloween parade. How does one woman handle all of this responsibility? We recently asked what her job entails, both on and off the parade route. What is an urban shaman? There used to be a person whose work it was to keep track of the seasons:......

READING: We originally thought this was going down yesterday, but you still have a chance to see it! Not in a million years would we have thought we'd be listing a reading by former Guns n' Roses guitarist, Slash. But it turns out old rockers love to dish on their sordid lives, and this mysterious musician is no different. Tonight he'll read from his book, called Slash, which apparently "redefines sex, drugs, and rock 'n'......