Gothamist

Extra, Extra

Jen Chung — 2009-11-15T18:45:48-05:00

Photograph by Kevin H. on Flickr

From the Gothamist Newsmap: A water main break at 6th And Carmine St in Manhattan, shots fired at 54th St & Beach Channel in Queens, and a police car MVA at Belt Parkway At Bay 8 St in Brooklyn.
Fit for a king: Mayor Bloomberg's media company wants to rule the world.
NJ Governor Jon Corzine has declared a state of emergency in the six counties battered by the Nor'easter.
Stuyvesant Town residents rallied in favor of keeping their rent-stabilized rents going into the future.
The Justice Department is launching a probe into why NY milk farmers are getting record low payments but consumers aren't seeing related savings.
Old age? Bruce Springsteen greeted a Michigan crowd with "Hello, Ohio!"
The NY Times profiles the law firm chairman who "earned millions last year arranging shotgun weddings for the busted firms of Wall Street." He drives a Subaru, likes Hitchcock movies, is generally unassuming and modest, and looks like Mr. Peepers.
Ridiculed apocalypse movie 2012 made $65 million at the weekend box office.

Early Addition

Jen Chung — 2009-11-15T13:20:25-05:00

Photograph by luluinnyc | Amy Dreher

From the Gothamist Newsmap: A confined space rescue on Park Ave in Manhattan, a fatal pedestrian struck at E165st & Grand Concourse in the Bronx and an evidence search on Lafayette St on Staten Island.
Two cops who stopped by a Brooklyn pizzeria for a slice were able to help rescue a mom and her baby from a nearby fire.
Some harmless white powder forced the evacuation of Ellis Island yesterday.
Farmers are reeling from this fall's harvest: "Plagued with inclement weather, disease and complications from both, farms throughout Connecticut, New Jersey and New York generally suffered one of the worst, if not the worst, growing season in memory."
The Pentagon is barring the release of detainee abuse photographs.
A woman found her ex-con boyfriend shot to death and laying in a pool of blood in front of their house, ""I just lost my man and my baby lost her father."
Michael Lohan is allegedly a deadbeat to charities too!
And Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade volunteers head to clown school to learn how to interact with the crowds.

Extra, Extra

Jen Chung — 2009-11-14T18:40:30-05:00

Photograph by krzysztof.poluchowicz on Flickr

From the Gothamist Newsmap: A large crowd at 69 St & 5th Ave in Brooklyn, a fall victim on Amsterdam Ave in Manhattan and a homicide on Van Buren St on Staten Island.
Cabbies who talk on their cellphones while they drive won't face higher fines for at least the next six months — but the Taxi and Limousine Commission still plans to impose a three-strike policy for repeat offenders.
The State Senate says they'll fight cuts to education funding.
Rep. Peter King (R-Long Island) won't back down from his statement that some mosques stand in the way of law enforcement, adding: "It is not politically correct and I don't care."
Of course: A porn company wants to release the Carrie Prejean sex tape.
Zsa Zsa Gabor owes the IRS over $100,000 for 2001 and 2002, but her lawyer blames...Bernard Madoff!
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in NJ today, stumping for health care reform.
Six psychologists and psychiatrists have been forced to resign from Bellevue Hospital Center for falsifying their time sheets.
EW offers its dream list of Saturday Night Live hosts, including Jane Lynch and Ricky Gervais.

Early Addition

Jen Chung — 2009-11-14T12:14:17-05:00

Photograph by Adhocism on Flickr

From the Gothamist Newsmap: A pedestrian struck DOA at Central Pkwy & 94 St in Queens, a shooting at Bowery & Bond St in Manhattan and a pedestrian struck at 23 St & 5th Ave in Manhattan.
Yankee reliever Mariano Rivera found out that former Yankee John Wetteland possibly tried to commit suicide when a Daily News reporter told him.
The mumps outbreak from an upstate camp has now grown to 180 cases in the NY and NJ area. It's believed that a child from England triggered it; 4,000 in Britain have the disease.
Yesterday, the Chabad Lubavitchers had their first international conference of emissaries since the killing of an emissary couple from Brooklyn in Mumbai.
Brooklyn Bridge Park got grassed.
The Chinese police busted a 215 square-foot factory making fake condoms including brands like Durex: "Employees were found neglecting to sterilize the condoms. Instead, the workers simply lubricated the rubbers with vegetable oil and popped them into bags."
Lindsay Lohan allegedly grabbed two bottles of champagne and finished them with a friend when asked to pay her bar bill, "She was crying and wanted to go home. She kept saying 'I don't pay for drinks! This is ridiculous! I'm freaking out!'"
The Empire State Building is blue tonight for World Diabetes Day.

Extra, Extra

Jen Chung — 2009-11-13T18:12:19-05:00

Photograph by trippchicago on Flickr

From the Gothamist Newsmap: A fire at 5th Ave & W 20 St in Manhattan, a person shot on Boston Rd in the Bronx and a bank robbery at Fulton St in Brooklyn.

A Staten Island high school student was critically injured when she was struck by a fellow student's car while walking outside the school.

Former State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno was on the receiving end of a judge's wrath when Bruno made a remark during his corruption trial. The judge told him, "For once in your life, you don’t control something — I do. You ever do what you just did in the presence of that jury again, which is question any of my rulings, and I will take measures to make sure you don’t repeat that."

They're making a big-budget bike messenger movie in NYC, and it's not a sequel to Quicksilver!

Mayor Bloomberg hears about Brooklyn's booming restaurant scene from his friends—"Time and time again, when I say, 'Where do you want to go to have dinner?' Friends who've come from out of town pick restaurants in Brooklyn, and that is really different... hey didn't used to before. Maybe one or two in [Brooklyn] Heights, but Brooklyn has really come back." Oh, and he was planning on having dinner in the borough.

Acorn is suing the government for being unfairly targeted and losing its federal funding.

ABC News has offered George Stephanopoulos the chance to host Good Morning, America.

Sgt. Kimberly Munley may have shot accused Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Malik Hassan, but so did fellow cop Sgt. Mark Todd.

The NYPD cop who robbed banks in Pennsylvania and NYC was sentenced to another 78 months for his Big Apple robberies.

Thanks to This Week's Advertisers

tien mao — 2009-11-13T16:00:00-05:00

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Gothamist.

Pirate Radio, tthe new comedy starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, from the creator of Love Actually. In theatres today.

‘Win an Office’ Sweepstakes by Regus, workspace solutions. Win one year of office space at one of 18 NYC locations.

Rubin Museum of Art with the first first public presentation of the preeminent psychologist C. G. Jung’s famous Red Book.

The New School, offering online and complete the degree you’ve always wanted from anywhere.

American Apparel, with 25 stores in NYC, you can look your best after dark.

If you're interested in advertising on Gothamist or any other site in our network, check out our online mediakit.

Sponsored Post: Pirate Radio, In Theatres Now

Sponsor — 2009-11-13T15:30:00-05:00

The following post is from our advertiser, Focus Features.

Pirate Radio is the newest ensemble comedy from filmmaker Richard Curtis (screenwriter of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, and writer/director of Love Actually). This high-spirited film tells the story of 8 DJs whose love affair with Rock n Roll changed the world forever. In the 1960s a group of rogue DJs, on a boat in the middle of the Northern Atlantic, played rock records and broke the law all for the love of music. The songs they played united and defined an entire generation and drove the British government crazy.

The band of rebels is lead by The Count, played by Academy Award Winner Philip Seymour Hoffman. Pirate Radio also stars Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh, and Tom Sturridge, and features an unbelievable selection of music including The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, Cream, and The Beach Boys, just to name a few. Pirate Radio in theatres now!

Early Addition

Jen Chung — 2009-11-13T12:00:19-05:00

Photograph by suburbanslice on Flickr

From the Gothamist Newsmap: A home invasion robbery at 139th Ave & Carson St in Queens, a suspicious package on the Bayonne Bridge in Staten Island and a pedestrian struck at 8th and 28th in Manhattan.

An NYPD detective was acquitted of charges that he tipped off drug informants. He said, "I hope to continue my career in the New York City Police Department, put this behind me and keep it moving."

With the tanking economy, Americans shoplifted an estimated $42 billion worth of goods last year.

OMG OMG OMG: Trader Joe's is headed to Chelsea.

Two programmers who worked for Bernard Madoff were arrested today.

Euna Lee, one of the Current TV reporters who were held in North Korea before former president Bill Clinton escorted them out of the country, has a book deal.

A hilarious analysis of NY Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton's writing tics.

And improbable couple Emmy Rossum and Adam Duritz met through Twitter.

Extra, Extra

Jen Chung — 2009-11-12T18:30:29-05:00

Photograph by jphillipobrien2006 on Flickr

From the Gothamist Newsmap: A suspicious package at Hamilton Pl & W 142nd in Manhattan, a barricaded EDP at 30 Ave V & W13 St in Brooklyn, and a jumper down on the Throgs Neck Bridge in the Bronx.

The U.S. military will seek the death penalty against accused Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who now faces 13 counts of premeditated murder.

Singer Chris Brown was heckled in Manhattan last night (video)—a woman yelled, "F---king beater. You belong in jail ... you feel like a man?"

Fairfield University's student newspaper is under fire—and in danger of losing funding—for using derogatory language (like "hood rat") to make fun of women who have one-night stands in a column.

As Rep. Anthony Weiner claims he could have beaten Bloomberg, the Observer points out that he was also too scared to run.

Long Island fishermen are enjoying the revival of scallops in the Peconic Bay. However, it's unclear why the brown tides, which decimated previous harvests, have subsided.

At the Fleshbot Awards, New York magazine spoke to Levi Johnston, who said of Barack Obama, "I don't really pay attention to politics now that Sarah is gone, but I think he is doing a lot better than Sarah would have done, so I give him props."

Early Addition

Jen Chung — 2009-11-12T12:15:37-05:00

Photograph by randomike on Flickr

From the Gothamist Newsmap: An armed robbery on 7th St & Havemayer St in Brooklyn, a home invasion on 203 St in Queens and a commercial robbery on E 5th St in Manhattan.

A subway track worker is hoping to become the next president of the Transit Workers Union and says," TWU Local 100 is not looking for a fight with the MTA, but the level of disrespect they have exhibited by withholding our wage increases can't go unanswered."

Two-year community colleges are now more selective.

A police officer was run over by a golf cart during the Veterans Day Parade yesterday.

Have a nice day: Jon Bon Jovi is playing at Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's birthday fundraiser next month.

After a year MIA, an Australian special forces dog trained to find explosives was found by a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan!

Here's a look at construction of the new "Xanadu" facility at the Meadowlands.

Fox News' Sean Hannity admitted, after the Daily Show pointed it out, that his team used incorrect footage to show that a health care reform protest was more well-attended than it really was.

And the founder of San Diego's Comic-Con, Sheldon Dorf, passed away at age 76.

Extra, Extra

Jen Chung — 2009-11-11T18:38:27-05:00

Photograph by adamlerner on Flickr

From the Gothamist Newsmap: A truck vs. building at Bowery & Canal in Manhattan, a hazmat/burn victim on University Plaza and Flatbush in Brooklyn and a fuel spill at Bronx Expressay & Rosedale ramp in the Bronx.

When envelopes are scary: The Lithuanian Mission had hazmat teams check out the suspicious envelope it received...but the envelope had no powder, white or otherwise, in it.

At a panel about New York's financial crisis last night, Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch said, "New York is in serious trouble."

A judge denied the use of the "battered woman syndrome" defense by a woman accused of killing her husband, saying that she and her lawyer failed to follow up with a psych exam.

Rep. Eliot Engel (Bronx, Westchester) will be at a City Hall rally to celebrate the health care reform bill's passage in the House—and to show disappointment in Rep. Michael McMahon (Staten Island) for voting against it.

Fellas, Jezebel says you "kind of suck" if you won't have sex with your menstruating partner.

The cop who shot the accused Fort Hood shooter was also on Oprah today; Sgt. Kimberly Munley said, "Every day is progress for me. Emotionally, I'm just hoping that the rest of the officers and the injured and the families of the deceased are healing as well."

James Franco's General Hospital guest arc looks AMAZING.

Early Addition

Jen Chung — 2009-11-11T11:52:02-05:00

Photograph by meta nemegi on Flickr

From the Gothamist Newsmap: A suspicious package at West 116 & Broadway in Manhattan, a car vs. a pole at Park Lane S X Woodhaven Blvd in Queens and a stabbing on Lenox Rd in Brooklyn.

A woman was raped at gunpoint on a Harlem rooftop (8th Avenue, just north of 155th Street) yesterday. Police are reviewing surveillance tapes from the building.

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) say that there are almost 10,000 homeless veterans in the NYC area—and that programs are running out of funding.

The armed man who took a Dutchess County school principal hostage is considered "mentally unstable." Neighbors say the cops have been at his house all the time.

This is a joint reminder to (a) not put your wedding ring in a cup and (b) not to throw anything out without asking: Lady's ring, placed in cup, thrown out in trash; husband has to dig through garbage dump to find it.

Why live in Manhattan? A new downtown Brooklyn/Fort Greene rental building is offering studios for $1995/month—it's $2,255 for a one-bedroom and and $3,400 for two-bedroom.

The man suspected in 14 subway robberies may be responsible for at least six others.

Kyle Okposo of the New York Islanders hockey team has the H1N1 virus. His teammate Doug Weight also had the swine flu, as have other NHL players.

Get this fixed by 2016: Huge power outages hit Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo and other Brazilian cities last night.

Extra, Extra

Jen Chung — 2009-11-10T18:36:10-05:00

Photograph by See-ming Lee on Flickr

From the Gothamist Newsmap: A confined space rescue at Church St & Vessey St in Manhattan, a barricaded EDP on Morris Ave and an unusual EDP at Beach 30th St in Queens.

The victims of Bernard Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme may get some more billions from Jeffry Picower's estate.

Charles Sifton, the city judge "whose rulings paved the way for women to join the New York Fire Department and for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to run for a third term," died yesterday at age 74.

Speaking of the mayor, he is, according to the Observer, "a big, inviting target in the race to succeed him" after his narrow victory.

For some reason, people who attended Tracy Morgan's comedy show last night were shocked he used racy, provocative material.

The Department of Transportation giveth bike shelters, the Department of Transportation taketh them away.

Denzel Washington has joined the cast of the Broadway revival of August Wilson's Fences.

A NJ town's first black mayor is stepping down after death threats.

And director Jason Reitman created a pie-chart of questions he's getting during the Up in the Air junket—questions about Juno are not in the top 10.

Early Addition

Jen Chung — 2009-11-10T12:07:31-05:00

Photograph by photographynatalia on Flickr

From the Gothamist Newsmap: A person struck by a train at Queens Blvd & 70th Rd in Queens, a chimney collapse at Boylan St on Staten Island, and a fall victim at W 53rd St & 8th Ave in Manhattan.

NY State is the 2nd worst state in the country in awarding GEDs.

A Hebrew bible that disappeared from Vienna when Kristalnacht began was smuggled in New York City, where it was put up for auction. The federal authorities seized it and now it's on its way back to Austria.

A State Senate committee to investigate State Senator Hiram Monserrate has officially been convened.

Great Scot! A Scottish opera enthusiast has left $7.5 million to the Metropolitan Opera.

Oops: A veteran NJ Transit engineer missed a 7 p.m. stop at Princeton Junction, so the passengers got off at the next station (Hamilton Township) and had to wait until 8 p.m. for a train to Princeton Junction.

Pass the Alka-Seltzer: Nathan's Hot Dog Contest champ Joey Chestnut ate 50 meatballs in 10 minutes.

Winona Ryder is joining the Darren Aronofsky movie, Black Swan, which is set in the New York ballet world. Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis are already named as stars.

And up in Boston, the MBTA operator and inspector—whose quick thinking saved the life of a drunk woman who fell into the train tracks—were honored.

Extra, Extra

Jen Chung — 2009-11-09T18:39:00-05:00

Photograph by Valerio B on Flickr

From the Gothamist Newsmap: A gas main break on Sneden Ave on Staten Island, an injured firefighter on N Moore St in Manhattan and a working fire at Webster Ave & E 168 St in the Bronx.

The stock indices jumped 2+% today—the Dow is now at a new 2009 high, 10,226 points.

The man arrested in connection with a Central Park mugging was released because he wasn't picked from a police lineup.

An Australian study found that low-fat diets make people less angry than low-carb ones.

Plastic surgery enthusiast Jocelyne Wildenstein is accused of stiffing workers at her Trump World Tower apartment.

Lance Armstrong bikes up the West Side Highway to Piermont or rides in Central Park when he's in town. Of the loop, he says, "Best urban riding in the world... A lot of hours of the day it's closed to traffic. There's nothing like Central Park."

Connecticut governor Jodi Rell isn't seeking re-election next year. Rell became governor when governor John Rowland stepped down after a corruption scandal.

Because Soho is "no longer a bastion of the art world the way it was," neighborhood mainstay Zoë is closing after almost 18 years in business.

And a big rig truck drove off San Francisco's Bay Bridge. The driver died and it's the 42nd crash on the "S-curve" in the past two months.