NYPD's Internal Affairs is looking into a Bronx family's charges that when cops came to break up their New Year's Eve celebrations, they crashed more than just the party. Emilio Serrano says that cops immediately started hitting him when they arrived to respond to a noise complaint. He tells 1010 WINS, "They just came and starting beating me with sticks, punching me in the face, kicking me." He says that a security video (captured on four cameras set up inside the apartment) shows police throwing guests down violently and spraying them with mace. He apparently had to get a staple in his scalp and has bruises on his face from the incident. Cops however say that the video will only vindicate them, showing that guests were acting belligerently toward them and that the Serranos were illegally using their apartment as a nightclub. It seems that parties this New Year's Eve just wouldn't wind down quietly—in Staten Island, a landlord is accused of breaking into a tenant's home and firing off a shotgun in order to put an abrupt end to the festivities.

A new poll released is showing that—surprise, surprise—New Yorkers have soured on Caroline Kennedy since she began making her presence felt. Almost half say that their opinion of her has worsened over the last month. And while Caroline once had twenty percent more support to replace Hillary Clinton than the next most likely choice Andrew Cuomo, now that figure has flipped and Cuomo is favored by twenty percent more of state Democrats than the one-time first daughter. The New Yorker suggests that all of her "you knows" might be a desperate plea to connect with people and that maybe what she needs to regroup is a listening tour.

For some reason, this amazing contest from the Parks & Recreation Department escaped our attention until now! Parks officials want you to think of a mascot! This adorable (and nutty) image of a squirrel unzipping his fur (ew) to reveal a Parks logo is included, but don't let that stymie your imagination: "Is it Nutty the Squirrel, Hudson the Hawk, or Parker the Leaf? Is it another animal, person, or object, or a previously unknown creature that emerged from the depths of New York City’s 29,000 acres of parks, gardens, and forests?" Person? That means you could potentially suggest former Parks Commissioner Robert Moses! Still, keep this in mind: "Designs must be able to be produced into a costume that can be worn by an adult between 5’6” and 6’ in height and up to 180 pounds in weight. There may be some creative adjustments to your original design due to accommodations made for the human body." More details here.

Word on the Grub Street is that the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre is eyeing the now-abandoned Two Boots Pioneer Theater space at 155 East 3rd Street. Alex Sidtis, directing manager of UCB-Chelsea, "revealed that the troupe is hoping to open an East Village outpost," and because most comedy is exponentially more funny when you add alcohol, it's all "depending on whether it can secure a tavern wine license (the theater will plead its case at a January 12 meeting of Community Board 3’s licensing committee)." Sidtis points out the pluses of the space, mainly "that the 99-seat theater has a lobby, and the layout, “It’s a little different [than that of the Chelsea location]. The shows will be more presentational and less theatrical in nature.”." Two Boots owner Phil Hartman told the site, “I love the theater and I’m pleased to think that it would stay alive as a theater and not get gutted and turned into something else.” The neighborhood got significantly less funny when Mo Pitkins closed over a year ago. Photo via NYDailyPhoto.

Some cab drivers are worried about a pilot program to install digital cameras on the outsides of their vehicles in order to monitor their driving. The city is planning to install the cameras on at least 20 vehicles as part of a pilot program, and Matthew Daus at the Taxi and Limousine Commission says, "This technology is being used effectively throughout the for-hire vehicle industry, and it is saving them considerable amounts of money on their insurance costs." EmpireCLS, the country's largest luxury car chauffeur company, has reduced payout costs for accidents by more than $500,000 since installing the cameras. Some yellow cabs already have cameras pointed toward the interior to deter crime, but Bhairavi Desai, president of the Taxi Worker's Alliance, hates the idea of exterior cameras. He tells the Daily News, "This would absolutely be an invasion of privacy. It's intrusive."

In case you haven't noticed, Manhattan's winter Restaurant Week is fast approaching, and participating eateries are now accepting reservations for their prix fixe specials (three-course lunches for $24.07 and dinners for $35). The confusingly named "week" is actually 12 days long, running in two intervals from January 18th through the 23rd, then continuing from the 25th through the 30th. But whatever. The key here is to do a little research, because while the Restaurant Week prix fixe at, say, 21 Club isn't much cheaper than their usual $40 pre-theater dinner prix fixe, there are some sweet deals to be had.