August 15, 2007
Extra, Extra

- Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a home invasion robbery on Lincoln Ave. in Brooklyn, a hostage situation on Duane Ct. on Staten Island, and a sexual assault on West 153rd St. and Macombs Pl. in Manhattan.
- "Live Free or Die Hard" director Len Wiseman is slated to direct a remake of "Escape From New York," with Gerard Butler ("300") assuming the role of Snake Plissken, who was originally played by Kurt Russell.
- The Bronx GI who hired someone to shoot him in the leg so he wouldn't have to return to serve with his unit in Iraq was spared indictment on felony charges by a grand jury.
- The original home of The New York Times, at 113 Nassau St. between Ann and Beekman Sts., is being demolished.
- Former New York Met Jose Offerman, who was a Major League All-Star while playing with the Dodgers in 1996 and Boston in 1999, has been suspended indefinitely from the minor league Long Island Ducks after striking the opposing pitcher and catcher with his bat after he was hit by a pitch.
- An NYPD captain is on trial for dragging a subordinate officer by her hair to the backseat of a car where he allegedly punched her. An NYU security guard testified yesterday that he witnessed the attack on the female officer by the ranking officer she was having an affair with.
- New York magazine searches out the best lemonades in the city.
- The New York Times reports on the biology of sweating.




An Escape from New York remake makes no sense in 2007. Thirty years ago the idea of New York City being walled in as a prison was damn near plausible. Now, if you want a real dystopian futuristic reflection of the city, you'd be better off with a movie where common people are trying to break into a walled-off New York City that is like a gated community, a playground for the super rich to live in decadent luxury.
Hmmmm.... I should pitch this.
[1] That was the synopsis of 2005's "Land of the Dead" in a nutshell, if one replaces "common people" with cannibalistic zombies.
I'll only watch the new Escape from NY if they still open the film with "THE YEAR...(dramatic pause) IS 1997."
How about Manhattan as a demilitarized zone. "Think equal parts Escape from New York, Fallujah and New Orleans right after Katrina".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMZ_%28DC_Comics%29
Man! That is one scary looking hot dog (on the right).
Isn't that the outfit The Scarecrow put on in the last Batman movie before he sprayed you with his hallucinogen?
how can you put this a "home invasion robbery on Lincoln Ave. in Brooklyn" and then not have it on the news map?
whos runnin this joint?
I think I have a crush on the relish
I dunno, they look lke vaginas to me.
yeah, but you say that about tacos and clams too, so...
My summer job:
I dress as relish and dance on the infield of a minor league baseball park btwn innings
Oh dear god, enough with the remakes already. Doesn't anyone have any new ideas anymore?