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May 16, 2008
Brooklyn prosecutors have charged a landlord with Trying to kill a tenant. Yung Tang is accused of attempted murder, assault and arson for the 2002 incident. According to prosecutors, Tang wanted to evict tenant Israel Halberstam, who was $100,000 behind on rent on an electronics showroom space. Tang planted a homemade bomb under Halberstam's minivan; when the tenant moved his vehicle, the bomb exploded and he lost a leg. Initially, the incident worried people that...
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Photograph by catelinp on Flick The raccoon seen in a tree at East 88th Street and 1st Avenue ultimately died after the police tried to capture it. The Post reports the cops "bungled" the raccoon rescue operation, firing tranquilizer darts "deep in its body." Animal Control said the animal was euthanized because it would have been "difficult, if not impossible, to remove them." But some residents told the Post the police were joking about...
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There are more answers and questions regarding the disappearance of a NJ woman from a cruise ship. The Norwegian Cruise Line company said surveillance videos show 46-year-old Mindy Jordan alone in her room and falling from her cabin's balcony, and the FBI said, "The information that we have acquired does not suggest a crime, but that is not definitive," and said it would continue with the investigation (the FBI did seize the cruise's railings). Jordan's...
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The police are searching for a man who robs subway passengers during their morning commutes. He targets his victims on the subway platform, grabs their purses and then runs into the subway tunnels. The suspect has committed four robberies in the past five days, all during the morning rush hour, all with female victims. Here's a list of the robberies, via WNBC:The man first struck at approximately 8:30 a.m. Sunday on the L subway at...
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A state official confirmed that a retired state trooper who had headed former Governor Pataki's state police protection unit committed suicide. It was Berwick's 12-year-old daughter who found him in their Albany garage, "after disregarding a note left on the door telling her not to enter." Governor Pataki told the AP, "My family is just devastated. He was an ultimate professional who put his life on the line to protect us." The NY State Police...
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May 15, 2008
Washington 1 Mets 0: Where was Jose Reyes going? Down 1-0 in the 8th, Reyes led off the inning with a single. The Mets played for the tie by sacrificing him over to second and it worked, but for some reason Reyes tried to get to third. With his speed and the middle of the order coming up, it was a stupid risk and Reyes was thrown out. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only baserunning gaffe...
Continue Reading "Today's Action: A Double Downer"
Newsday's Verne Gay reports WNBC 4 "released another statement" today that apologizes for Sue Simmons' unexpected f-bomb during a Monday night promo. Gay believes the statement is "designed to dash media speculation that Simmons' 28-year tenure was imperiled by the outburst." Here's the statement:"Sue Simmons is a highly valued 30-year veteran of WNBC. Sue, along with WNBC, remains deeply sorry for her offensive remark on Monday night for which she quickly apologized. It was...
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Photograph by joeholmes on Flickr The California Supreme Court struck down the gay marriage ban and legalized gay marriage. The decision will go into effect in 30 days. Chief Justice Ronald M. George wrote in the majority opinion, "In view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or...
Continue Reading "California Recognizes Gay Marriage"Here's what new NYU graduate William Lopez's run onto Yankee Stadium looked like. The crowd does seem to be cheering very heartily. [Thanks, Gerritsen Beach!] Remember the Seinfeld episode where George tries to get fired from the Yankees with outrageous behavior like eating food over Babe Ruth's jersey and streaking across the field in a flesh colored-bodysuit? And for comparison, after the jump, here are videos of a fan running onto the field during...
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What could make these people stop and take photos at First Avenue and 88th Street today? Why a raccoon stuck in a tree! We imagine the critter survived his arboreal adventure when he was rescued by the proper responders (but the police were called). Photographs from a set by catelinp on Flickr....
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Since the MTA is working on finder another developer to transform its 26 acres of Midtown Manhattan rail yards after its talks with Tishman Speyer collapse, it's only natural officials are trying to put on a happy face. NY1 notes that MTA executive director Lee Sander's positive spin is, "We're hopeful that we can put the deal back together. You never know till it's done, as we found out with Tishman. But we are optimistic."...
Continue Reading "Hudson Yards, Rail Yards of Dreams"
The Empire State Building will continue its tradition of equally supporting the Mets and Yankees (and whole-heartedly supporting Big City Rivalry) as the two teams enter the Subway Series.Beginning on Friday, May 16, the north/south sides of the building will be lit in Yankees blue and white, while its east/west sides will be lit in Mets blue and orange. The team who wins the series will have its colors displayed on all four sides of...
Continue Reading "Empire State Building Split for Subway Series"The image below isn’t a rejected Rage Against the Machine album cover, but rather an ad campaign for a leading Brazilian business newspaper, Gazeta Mercantil. Designed by illustrator Pedro Izique for the São Paulo office of ad agency JWT, the print ad redesigns the Dollar, Euro and Yen with images of “some of the most important events of the last century.” For the U.S., that means 9/11, pot, oil, war and Arlington Cemetery. The slogan?...
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While many people are wondering when they are getting their stimulus check, some are finding out they have accidentally received other people's checks! Newsday reports checks being sent to taxpayers who paid via electronic payment have been direct deposited to the wrong accounts. One person who found "an unexpected deposit of $1,800" learned it was a "deposit from the IRS bearing another taxpayer's Social Security number." The IRS admitted to Newsday, "We do know of...
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Starting Monday, alternate-side-of-the-street parking will be suspended on residential streets in Park Slope until further notice. The parking reprieve is being granted while the city changes all the signage to reflect a big change in the alternate-side parking rules: On street cleaning days, the duration of the “No Parking” times will be cut from three hours to 90 minutes in Park Slope. This also means that until all the new signs are in place –...
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May 15, 2008
The siren song of the Big Apple lured Ashley Alexandra Dupre back! The 23-year-old known better as "Kristen," former Governor Spitzer's high class prostitute, was spotted taking a bus from NJ (she's been living with her parents) into the Port Authority. Three guesses: the Emperors' Club VIP took a big chunk of her fees; she hasn't been paid for her music; or she believes very strongly in ways to reduce her carbon footprint. Of course,...
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Photograph of Avenue A by x-eyedblone on Flickr From the Gothamist Newsmap: A home invasion robbery on Ocean Ave in Brooklyn, a fire on Irving Place in Manhattan, and a person hit by a train at 61st Street and Woodside Avenue in Queens. The police are looking for two men who have robbed various stores in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Have you ever dreamed of owning a pizza truck? Well, there seems to be one...
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Marc Jacobs, who is no angel himself, had a questionable employee managing one of his three stores in the Village. The NY Post reports that 24-year-old Kyle Avila stole approximately $62K from the designer in just 18 months. Gawker notes that the Kansas boy also once posed nude for a Jacobs t-shirt (pictured), so maybe he just felt he was due. It appears no one was the wiser at the 385 Bleecker Street shop, as...
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Yesterday, a NJ volunteer firefighter was found guilty of fatally hitting an off-duty police officer. Robert Derian, who had a blood alcohol level of 0.12, had been driving his Jeep on the West Side Highwaywhen he hit 29-year-old Eric Concepcion. Concepcion was on his motorcycle, and prosecutors said that road rage caused Derian to hit Concepcion's bike. Concepcion's body was dragged 3000 feet along the road in August 2006. Derian's lawyer said it was an...
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Because Washington Square Park is undergoing renovations, NYU had to move its school-wide graduation ceremony to Yankee Stadium this year. And while there, one graduate made a splash or, rather, a diving tumble, when he ran onto the field without his pants, only to be tackled by security. The Daily News reports that William Lopez--a Mets fan--was seated near home plate and the new graduate decided to run onto the field in the House That...
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Photograph of Governor Paterson and Senator Schumer during an agricultural town hall upstate by David Duprey/AP With all the horror stories about sexual predators trolling the Internet for young victims, Governor Paterson signed legislation requiring convicted sexual offenders to register their screen names with the state. Paterson said, "New York State will do everything possible to try to protect young people from the actions of convicted sexual offenders." Called the e-STOP law, the sexual...
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Trying to quell speculation about a missing passenger's disappearance, the Norwegian Cruise Line says there is surveillance video showing 46-year-old Mindy Jordan falling from the ship. Jordan fell overboard the Norwegian Dawn two hours after it left NYC, on its way to Bermuda. Further, NCL says its surveillance video shows that Jordan, a NJ resident and registered nurse, was alone in her stateroom. The cruise's timeline indicates she and her boyfriend Jorge Caputo went into...
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Yankees 2, Rays 1: Forget Joe Girardi's pregame meeting or Hank Steinbrenner's bluster. Mike Mussina's continued revival is the real story of Wednesday's win. He went 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball to help the Yankees take a squeaker. He's now won five straight starts and lowered his ERA to 3.99 on the season. Remember when he was left for dead? Robinson Cano, a corpse for most of the season, went 4-for-4. The team's bats...
Continue Reading "Last Night's Action: The Resurrection Continues"May 14, 2008
Tonight, when you go to barackobama.com, the Obama campaign heralds its endorsement from John Edwards. But if you head to hillaryclinton.com, you'll be reminded that she won West Virginia last night. Pundits noted how the Edwards endorsement didn't even give Clinton 24 hours to revel in her huge win. Good thing Clinton is very determined....
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Former senator and presidential candidate John Edwards will endorse Senator Barack Obama at an event in Michigan today. Edwards, who dropped out of the Democratic hunt for the nomination back in January, had been expected to support Obama, especially after statements referring to him as the likely nominee. Edwards and Obama appeared to team up to attack Clinton during a debate in New Hampshire earlier this year. When Clinton was claiming Obama was inconsistent with...
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May 14, 2008
It's a common observation, but are New Yorkers really more rude than residents of other cities? In Smithsonian magazine, New Yorker dance critic Joan Acocella thinks we’re just misunderstood. After years of life in the city, she’s made a thorough argument that what outsiders perceive as rudeness is just a side-effect of life in New York, where the boundaries between public and private life are less pronounced. New Yorkers spend more time up in each...
Continue Reading "Are New Yorkers Rude or Just Overly Familiar?"Last night, a woman was found dead in a SUV which was parked on the second floor of an Essex Street parking garage. The woman, identified as 39-year-old Leonida Davila, was slashed in the throat. Her body was wrapped in a blanket, in the front passenger seat. The Daily News says the car, a Chevy Suburban, is registered to Davila's estranged husband William Davila, who lives on Rutgers Street. The couple reportedly has a history...
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Cursing on the job is a hazard for not just TV newscasters. One cabbie was fined for his swears at another cabbie! The Post reports that Zbigniew Sobczak got hit with a $1,000 fine after his run-in with fellow hack Malik Rizwan. Sobczak allegedly cut off Rizwan, who honked for 10 seconds, and then got out of his cab, yelling, "What the f---? You have problem? Why you beeping?" Rizwan responded with "You f---! You...
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Tameka Rachelle Lewis, a University of Virginia graduate now immortalized as the prostitution ring booker who confirmed an escort's visit with Governor Spitzer, has pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution and money laundering. Lewis was taped by the FBI when she spoke to Alexandra Ashley Dupre (pictured), whose escort name was "Kristen." She told Kristen that "Client 9"--believed to be Governor Spitzer--"would ask you to do things that, like, you might not think were safe -...
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Photos by Vincent Ng. This past Saturday, one of the Obama posters Shepard Fairey added to the cityscape was taken down by graffiti writer MARTY -- who Razor Apple reports "has been holding down that corner for years." The Obama poster is on the corner of Houston and Bowery, and reportedly Shepard was apologetic for pasting over another writers work, but added, “however, I feel Obama being elected is very important to everyone’s future...
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Today there's talk of the chaos that ensued after Remy Ma's sentencing yesterday. To recap, so far in this ongoing saga there's been an alleged theft, a shooting, a conviction, a Rikers Island almost-wedding, an attempted jail break, a sentencing...and finally, what is hopefully the last bit of drama: the courtroom outbursts. The NY Times reports that Remy's sentencing went from emotional to violent as the judge sentenced her to 8 years behind bars. Just...
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Photograph by EssG on Flickr From the Gothamist Newsmap: An armed robbery on Hylan Blvd at Ocean Breeze in Staten Island, and a bank robbery on East 17th Street in Manhattan. So much for going to the school dance on your own and showing your independence: St. Peter's Girls, a private school in Staten Island, requires that girls bring dates to the junior dance. The woman who abandoned her baby on a Queens stoop...
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Satellite image that screams "avoid northeastern Texas today" from the National Weather Service There are discrepancies in the details of today's forecast but the Weather Channel, Weather Service and AccuWeather all agree that today will be a beautiful spring day. The Weather Channel says today's high will be 70, while the latter two forecasters are calling for 76 and 77, respectively. Gothamist leans toward the higher temperatures, except near the shore. There's a slight...
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WNBC anchor Sue Simmons's unexpected cursing during a Monday night promo continues to be watercooler gossip. The veteran news anchor appeared on yesterday's broadcasts, surprising some industry insiders who thought she might be suspended. As for the reason why Simmons may have cursed on-air, various WNBC sources suggest the she and Chuck Scarborough thought the promo was being taped. So when Scarborough was looking at his computer monitor, not paying attention to reading the tease,...
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Brooklyn Bridge circa 1896. The 125th birthday of the Brooklyn Bridge will be observed this month with a five day celebration from May 22nd through May 26th, Mayor Bloomberg and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz announced earlier this week. Completed in 1883, the bridge opened with a “People’s Day” celebration; for a penny toll the general public was permitted to traverse its span. (A few days later, on Memorial Day, 12 pedestrians were trampled to...
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May 14, 2008
Nine-year-old Akeem Suluki was thrown across the road when a car hit him around 3:30 p.m. He had been leaving his after school program at PS 262 in Bedford Stuyvesant, and the crossing guard tried to pull him out of the Dodge Charger's way but couldn't save him. Suluki was taken to Kings County Hospital Center, after suffering a collapse lung, bleeding to the brain, and more (news reports said he was in a...
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