As mentioned yesterday, Brooklyn Borough President and stoop drinking enthusiast Marty Markowitz bought his first home in Windsor Terrace for $1.45 million, which it turns out, was partially funded for by the Albany Econo Lodge.

How will Jersey Shore breakout star Snooki pay the bills now that she's been fired from her job as a receptionist? If a pickle endorsement doesn't come through, she's got representation now from Neon Entertainment who say she is available for personal appearances.

Joseph Petcka, a 205-pound former minor league baseball player who killed a former girlfriend's 7-pound cat in 2007, avoided jail time and probation after completing 500 hours of community service. During a trial last year, Petcka had claimed Norman the orange cat attacked him while he was in a drunken mood, provoking him into beating the feline to death.

Yesterday Senator Al Franken denied Joe Lieberman's routine request for an "additional moment" to drone on about an amendment to the health care bill on the Senate floor. If you're someone who's felt any degree of frustration with Lieberman's recent role in killing the public option, it's a trivial but deeply fulfilling video:

           

Click on the film stills for details and reviews of this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which include Avatar, Crazy Heart, Did You Hear About the Morgans?, Nine, A Town Called Panic, Ricky, The Young Victoria, Ball of Fire, His Girl Friday, Black Dynamite, and Bad Santa.

Get the hot chocolate ready—and this should make Saturday's naked bike lane protest interesting: NYC is expected to get 3-6 inches snow, according to AccuWeather—and WCBS 2's Megan Giaros says, "All five boroughs, back to parts of northern New Jersey and the Lower Hudson Valley, could get as much as 5-10 inches."

Last week AT&T Mobility President and CEO Ralph de la Vega stated at a conference in New York that the company was studying ways to encourage high-bandwidth users to modify their usage. Like, uh, usage-based pricing maybe? Though he didn't say as much, he hinted at it as a future solution if the industry can't find a fix. At the same conference he finally admitted that New York's service is not up to par, and today AT&T's PR firm sent out a release stating that "AT&T has suffered in New York and San Francisco from better than average iPhone penetration. In these two cities, AT&T has been too successful in selling the iPhone, to the point where the network has been severely strained."

If you wondered how much the DOT has spent so far to add and subtract a controversial 14-block stretch of bike lane on Bedford Avenue in South Williamsburg, here's your answer: $11,000 to install and $15,000 to sandblast it away. As NBCNewYork.com observes, "That's $26,000 of taxpayer money that isn't making bicyclists any safer." But at least now that the bike lane's gone, the Hasidic rabbis in the neighborhood can protect their flock from immodestly dressed outsiders—that is, unless bicyclists do something crazy like ride without a bike lane. This weekend, some are planning to do just that. And without clothes.

The amusing Fake MTA Twittered this picture and added: "Jared likes transit 10% more than the NYC's public school system. Transit 2, education 0!" Plus, MTA employees don't even have to show ID!

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The Center for Disease Control, of all people, says that New Yorkers are the unhappiest people in the entire country... with New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan and Indiana rounding out the Top 5. On the other side of the spectrum, Hawaii, Louisiana, Colorado, Florida and Tennessee are filled with the happiest folks. All in all 1.3 million people were surveyed over the course of four years, and the least miserable were those residing in states that do well in quality-of-life studies.

President Obama arrived in Copenhagen this morning to address the UN conference on climate change. In a stern speech delivered hours after his arrival, Obama told world leaders and their delegates that "the time for talk is over... All of you would not be here unless you — like me — were convinced that this danger is real. This is not fiction, it is science." The President's arrival came as any agreement on climate change remained out of reach, and China, the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gas pollutants, was accused of holding back progress in the climate talks by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. During his address (text here, video below), Obama expressed frustration and urgency:

Today's mid-day links: It's now a felony to drive drunk with a kid in the car, Twitter was hacked by the "Iranian Cyber Army," a debate about World War II revenge movie Inglourious Basterds and more.

Well, hello there! It looks like disgraced former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik has been prepping for prison by eating plenty of tossed salad. Recent Facebook photos show the convicted felon looking fit and fetching—a lot less Sergeant Schultz and a little more Kevin Spacey.

Following a lot of noisemaking by artist/activist Robert Lederman after his two recent arrests on the High Line, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe has personally assured him there will be no more trouble. Quite the change of tune considering it had been reported that Benepe personally ordered his arrest earlier this month!