Dubai Debt Issues Push Stocks Down

For some reason, spending billions on skyscrapers and man-made palm-shaped island leads to...debt! So far, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq have fallen at least 1% (even up to 2% as soon as the markets opened today), due to, as the Wall Street Journal puts it, "fears...about the potential fallout of debt prolems at Dubai World, the city-state's largest corporate entity, which asked creditors for a six-month stay on repayment of its $60 billion in debts." UBS actually estimates that Dubai's overall debt may be over $80 billion.

Photos of D Train Murder Depict Bloody Panic

Graphic photos have surfaced from the recent murder on the D train. Photography student Paola Nuñez Solorio was on her way home with fellow students when Gerardo Sanchez allegedly stabbed Dwight Johnson because he wouldn't move his bag from an unoccupied seat to make room on the half-empty train. The two men did not know each other. Solorio took 120 photos during the murder, and today the Times has published four of them online. The images are very disturbing, as is Solorio's first-hand account of the murder:

Black Friday Shoppers Flock To Stores

Like clockwork, stores hyped up their Black Friday/Doorbuster sales and potential shoppers waited outside for hours, in hopes of getting great deals. A crowd was waiting outside a Jersey City Best Buy; one person told WCBS 2, "There's a lot of people on this line for laptops, like HP laptops for $197. Normally it's $500 or $600," with another possibly bragging that he "was here yesterday since 12 o'clock in the afternoon"—as in noon on Thanksgiving.

Three Injured In Bronx Shooting

2009_11_tripsh.jpg Terrible: Three people were shot when gunmen opened fire in a Bronx store, near East Fordham Road, and it seems that at least one of the victims was a bystander. WABC 7 says the shooting started outside, with two people working inside the florist getting wounded, while the Daily News reports the shooting occurred inside "when the gunman barged in around 6:15 p.m." The store owner's wife was hit in the leg, while a 47-year-old and 25-year-old were also hit. The News adds, "Investigators believe the 25-year-old was the gunman's intended target, a police source said. It was unclear if the two male victims knew each other." No arrests have been made; all victims are in stable condition.

Last Night's Action: Giants Backtrack Again

For those that thought the Giants' overtime win over the Falcons last week spelled a turn around, think again. New York gave up the first 16 and final 10 points in a 26-6 loss to Denver on Thanksgiving night. That drops the Giants to 6-5 and puts them in a world of hurt in the NFC East. The Giants, who snapped a four-game losing streak of their own Sunday, helped the Broncos break theirs. Denver held the Giants to 57 yards rushing and sacked Eli Manning three times. Big Blue's quarterback needed 40 attempts to accumulate 230 yards and an interception.

                  

The day was clear and perfect for watching giant balloons and floats meander down from the Upper West Side to Herald Square during the 83rd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This year, the parade's new route took the procession down Sixth and Seventh Avenues instead of Broadway (the route is now slightly longer) and millions lined the streets for the festivities.

Extra, Extra

Today's end-of-day links: Roman Polanski will be under house arrest, neighbors rally around an elderly Brooklyn couple who lost their home, a Thanksgiving Eve suicide on the Upper West Side, and more.

WikiLeaks Posts Alleged 9/11 Pager Messages

Yesterday, WikiLeaks began posting "half a million US national text pager intercepts," saying, "The archive is a completely objective record of the defining moment of our time. We hope that its entrance into the historical record will lead to a nuanced understanding of how this event led to death, opportunism and war."

NYPD Firing Range Will Torment City Island Less

City Island residents have finally gotten rid of the NYPD firing range on nearby Rodman's Neck in the Bronx, which has been disturbing their peace since the Kennedy administration. Last week the City Council approved the site of a 40-acre Police Academy in College Point, Queens, where the NYPD will relocate training to an enclosed firing range. But some residents say their aural nightmare endures!

Cops Bust 3rd And 5th Graders On Weapons Charges

Police arrested two 3rd graders and a 5th grader suspected of bringing a box cutter and a knife to their Bronx elementary school on Wednesday. According to the Post, a school safety agent nabbed a 9-year-old with a box cutter inside P.S. 2 on Franklin Avenue in Morrisania at around 9:30 am. When questioned, the student ratted out his accomplices — an 8-year-old and an 11-year-old — who reportedly were plotting an assault against a faculty member.

       

The New York Public Library has a great collection of photographs from 1933 of "Thanksgiving Ragamuffins." Unfamiliar with the term? According to this website, kids would get dressed up and "go from house to house yelling, 'Anything f' Thanksgiv'n?' In return they would be rewarded with coins, or a piece of fruit, or a piece of candy. Apparently in those days it was called Ragamuffin Day and was practiced the day before Thanksgiving."

2010 Senate Run One Of Thompson's Possible Next Moves

After his surprisingly competitive mayoral bid against Mayor Bloomberg, there have been various rumors about what City Comptroller Bill Thompson might do next. First there were murmurs of a Senate run, and then ones that Andrew Cuomo was eyeing him as a running mate during for his gubernatorial campaign. Now the NY Times says the Senate run is just one of three options that Thompson is mulling.

Have Fancy Dress & Thirst For Spotlight, Will Crash State Dinner

While the Obamas' first State Dinner was hailed as a glamorous evening, one thing is looking bad: The security, because a couple from the now-filming "Real Housewives of D.C." managed, somehow, to crash the dinner and mingle with the VIPs. While the Secret Service emphasized that no one was in danger because of the "magnetometers and several other levels of screenings," a spokesman did admit there was "a Secret Service checkpoint which did not follow proper procedure to ensure these two individuals were on the invited guest list."

                     

In spite of the dreary weather, thousands of New Yorkers flocked to the Upper West Side to see balloons get inflated for today's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Here are just some photographs of the pre-parade excitement—that Spider-Man balloon looks pretty awesome.

Sex Slave's Baby Entombed In Cement And Rubbermaid

Investigators uncovered the remains of an infant encased in cement and a Rubbermaid container when they broke up a suspected sex trafficking ring in Sunset Park. Federal prosecutors allege that Domingo Salazar, 33, smuggled a young Mexican woman into the country, forced her to turn tricks, and then refused to provide medical care for their three-month-old baby — whose remains were recovered in their 40th Street apartment on Tuesday.

Early Addition

Today's mid-day links: The subway murder suspect was hospitalized, Dubai may be broke, the John Gotti Jr. jury can't discuss the case during Thanksgiving, looking back at Sugar Ray's Harlem and more.

Bloomberg: Teacher Tenure Will Be Tied To Test Scores

While in Washington D.C. yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg said the city will start to use students' test scores when evaluating teacher tenure. The NY Times called the proposal one "that has been bitterly opposed by the teachers’ union and criticized as putting too much weight on standardized exams."

Thanksgiving In The Time Of Swine Flu

2009_11_tday.jpg This Thanksgiving, the CDC has been concerned that the H1N1 virus may spread further, what with holiday-related travel. The CDC's Dr. Beth Bell said, "It's important to remember the things that everybody can do to stay healthy," as in not traveling if you're sick, washing your hands frequently, and covering your sneezes and coughs—not to mention getting the vaccine. But what about coughing relatives already parked in your home? Long Island College Hospital's Dr. Clifford Bassett tells WCBS 2, "Without causing a political crisis within your family, you really want to quarantine anybody that's ill from an area where the people are congregating. If someone is ill, keep them away from the food preparation area - that's very important."

Stuy Pyro Leaves Notes In Hieroglyphics

Just days after a student was suspended from Stuyvesant High School for allegedly setting fires, investigators say a copycat arsonist has been lighting blazes in the esteemed Lower Manhattan school — and taunting police in hieroglyphics.

Elderly Couple, Walking To Church, Killed In Hit-And-Run

Last night, a couple in their 70s were fatally struck by a vehicle as they were crossing a Staten Island street to attend a church mass. The Staten Island Advance reports, "Lillian Sabados [77] was pronounced dead at Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, at 4 this morning. Her husband, Peter S. Sabados, 78, was pronounced dead shortly after the 7:15 p.m. accident in front of our Our Lady Queen of Peace R.C. Church."

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