- From the Gothamist Newsmap: A barricaded situation at W 52nd St & 7th Ave in Manhattan, an attempted bank robbery at 163rd Ave & Cross Bay Blvd in Queens, and an MVA at 140 St & Grand Concourse in the Bronx.
- Just after graduating from the Police Academy and becoming a full-fledged cop, rookie police officer Dariel Firpo helped nab a man robbing an elderly man in Midtown.
- Regarding Thursday's Staten Island Ferry crash, one of the boat's transformers broke down and the other three malfunctioned.
- The long-planned expansion to the Javits Center has been approved; Governor Paterson says work will begin immediately.
- A non-profit group wants to turn a decrepit lighthouse on Long Island into a bed and breakfast.
- City Councilman Simcha Felder is looking into abolishing the Public Advocate's Office. His spokesman said, "Ninety-nine percent of New Yorkers don't know what the public advocate does or who the public advocate is, and Simcha believes the money in the advocate's budget could be better used for education, child care, senior services and elsewhere."
- The elephants beat the humans in the hot dog eating contest at Coney Island today.
- A California teacher gave her students DVD of class memories—but it included clips of her having sex on a couch. A parent, who said the tape goes from his son to the couch scene, said he'd like the school to "offer some sort of counseling for my children, ask me how my children are doing. I want somebody to ask me the kind of questions my kids are asking me."




Isn't that squirrel so cute? Now take away the bushy tale and what do you have?
A frequent Gothamist commenter?
James Cagney no longer frequents this blog due to the higher internet connection charges where he lives in Hawthorne, New York.
A rat with a fur coat and great PR!
Love the rats as we love the squirrels.
"Grant, who was on parole, had just been released from prison on Friday after serving a three-year stint for stealing a car. Cops said he had been arrested 48 times"
Week late he is arrested again. What judge wouldn't lock this guy up for life? *rolleyes*
Let's not rush to judgment here. He might have been arrested 48 times, but how many times was he convicted? He might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time for forty seven of those events.
Where do these judges come from? HELLO! HELLO!
Felder might be onto something if he goes one step further and eliminates the City Council as well.