News

• LAist had a whirlwind of a week regarding the upholding of Prop 8, prompting various protests and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to call the state "fundamentally broken." Case in point, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed cutting all welfare and 80% of state parks from the budget after voters rejected a number of deficit solutions.
• SFist, as expected, also tried recovering from the shock of this week's Prop. 8 ruling.

Prince Harry helped welcome the opening of Governors Island's 2009 season by playing in the second annual Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic. His team won, 6-5 over the Black Watch Team, and Prince Harry helped assist on the winning goal. The event, which had $25,000-50,000 VIP tickets, raised money for Sentebale, an AIDS charity, which Prince Harry co-founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. Prince Harry said, "Prince Seeiso and I both lost our mothers when we were very young. We set up Sentebale in their memory, and because my mother loved this city, it makes this occasion all the more poignant for me." more ›

The NHL is doing something they haven’t done since 1956, scheduling games of the Stanley Cup back-to-back. The reason for this almost historic event is the demands of television. NBC does not want hockey games, with their potential for multiple overtimes, running into the first week of the new Tonight Show hosted by Conan O’Brien. Yet, NBC doesn’t pay the NHL to carry it’s product, instead they have a deal where both parties split the profits after all production costs have been covered. more ›

With federal judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, much has been made of her rise from the Bronxdale Houses public housing project in the South Bronx. The NY Times has map showing the housing projects where some other successful New Yorkers grew up—and an article speaking to some of them. Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar grew up in the Dyckman Houses (back then, he was Lew Alcindor). His family moved to an apartment in Building 3 there in 1950, from a shared apartment in Harlem, "[It] was really considered a step up. We had two bedrooms — for us. We didn’t have to share the kitchen or the bathroom." Writer Richard Price lived in the Parkside Houses in the Bronx and incoming Xerox CEO Ursula Burns lived at the Baruch Houses on the Lower East Side ("There were lots of Jewish immigrants, fewer Hispanics and African-Americans but the common denominator and great equalizer was poverty"). And Whoopi Goldberg described life at the Elliott-Chelsea Houses, "People were from Latvia, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Africa., From everywhere. So you had to be able to say things like, ‘Hello, I’m so and so,’ and ‘May I use the bathroom?’ in every language." more ›

A year ago yesterday, a crane collapsed at an Upper East Side construction site at 91st Street and First Avenue. Two people were killed and it turned out the crane had been damaged from a 2007 lightning strike (the New York Crane Company had it fixed with welding). Now the Daily News reports that the Chinese company that did the welding wasn't confident of its abilities "but relented after New York Crane coughed up more money." RTR Bearings told New York Crane its welding technique "is not good" and a testing firm found (a month before the crane collapse) that RTR's work on another piece of New York Crane equipment was "unacceptable." The News also found memos showing an Ohio firm saying it could weld the crane in 28 weeks for $120,000, while "RTR said it could do the work in 80 to 90 days for just $21,710." RTR ultimately "repaired" the crane and New York Crane apparently didn't re-inspect it, simply put it to work at the UES site. more ›

Yesterday, about 250 people marched in Harlem during a rally for Omar Edwards, the off-duty police officer who was fatally shot in Harlem by a fellow cop. Edwards, who was black, had been pursuing a man suspected of breaking into his car with his gun drawn; his shooter, police officer Andrew Dunton, was white. According to the Reverend Al Sharpton said, "We're not here to play the race card. We're trying to stop the card from being played on black law enforcement." more ›

Less than a week before President Obama's visit to Saudi Arabia, the Justice Department has filed a brief before the Supreme Court urging justices not to hear a lawsuit brought by families of some of the 9/11 victims against the Saudi royal family. The lawsuit, which was formally filed by the families' insurance companies, contends that members of the House of Saud helped finance Al Qaeda preceding the 9/11 attacks. A district court threw out the lawsuit, finding that the Saudi royal family has legal protection under the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act. The Justice Department says their filing had nothing to do with the President's upcoming visit, and was just "coincidental." (A spokesperson explains that the brief had to be filed soon because the Supreme Court is deciding whether to hear the case before their June recess.) Kristen Breitweiser, a leader of the families, tells the Times, "I find this reprehensible. One would have hoped that the Obama administration would have taken a different stance than the Bush administration, and you wonder what message this sends to victims of terrorism around the world." more ›

The NY Post is hearing from some state lawmakers that Brooklyn Diocese Bishop allegedly "threatened [them] by vowing to close churches in their districts -- and blame them for the closures -- if they dared support a bill making it easier for people who were sexually assaulted as kids to sue." The Child Victims Act, sponsored by Assembly Member Margaret Markey (D-Queens), is headed to the Assembly for debate soon "seeks to extend the statute of limitations for lawsuits involving the rape or molesting of youngsters. It could cost the Church hundreds of millions in payouts to victimized parishioners." Apparently DiMarzio confronted lawmakers about the bill last fall; one Assembly member described, "He said, 'If it passes, we will close a parish in each of your districts and we will tell your constituents that it was your fault.'" DiMarzio's spokesman denies the charges of blackmail, but did note, "The consequences for our community would be profound," adding, "We're dealing with an anti-Catholic bias that's pervading the New York state Assembly." more ›

State Senators held a public hearing at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn on Friday to get a sense of where things stand for developer Bruce Ratner's $4.2 billion dollar dream of building a Nets arena and mixed-use towers on a 22-acre site that includes part of the MTA railyards. But it was difficult to get a sense of just how FUBAR the controversial project actually is, in part because the meeting was packed with hundreds of jeering construction workers wearing hard hats and "Atlantic Yards Now" buttons. At one point State Senator Bill Perkins futilely begged for silence, telling the crowd, "I think if we could eliminate some of the whistling and shouting..." But he was drowned out by cries of "Go, home Bill!" more ›

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's Friday announcement that the NY State pension fund dropped 26% in the first quarter of 2009 (it's lost more $44 billion since a year ago—it's now at $109 billion) has irked Governor Paterson. That's because DiNapoli said local governments (with the exception of NYC) will have to raise their contributions to the pension fund. Paterson criticized the suggestion, noting the "already overburdened local property taxpayers," and said, "I am asking the Comptroller to go back and identify other alternatives that won't impose additional burdens to taxpayers." The NY Times reports, "Tensions have been festering between the two men since Mr. DiNapoli criticized increased spending in the state budget that was passed last month. Mr. DiNapoli has also not embraced a proposal by the governor to move future state workers from traditional pensions to a 401(k)-style plan." Also, Paterson has also proposed a new tier for the pension system, which would require public service workers to put in 25 years (vs. 20 years) and eliminate overtime in pension calculations. For fun, here's a list of the top state pensions. more ›

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama made their first, joint trip to NYC a "personal" one—it was date night for the First Couple. The President released a statement explaining, "I am taking my wife to New York City because I promised her during the campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all finished." more ›

Early yesterday morning, the driver of a minivan was killed when a drunk driver crashed into him near in lower Manhattan. The Daily News has details on the terrible crash: Around 4:41 a.m., Long Island resident Brandon Connelly's "2005 Audi hit a Chevy Tahoe on the southbound lanes of the FDR Drive on the lower East Side. As the SUV smashed into a concrete barrier, the Audi bounced off - only to crash into a minivan near the Brooklyn Bridge exit." The minivan's 50-something driver died at Bellevue and four of his passengers had minor injuries. Connelly was charged with vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and DWI. more ›

• Yankees 10 Cleveland 5: New York jumped all over Fausto Carmona, scoring seven runs through the first four innings and that was all C.C. Sabathia needed. Sabathia was triumphant in his return to Cleveland, allowing three runs over seven innings to earn his fifth win of the year. Robinson Cano led the Yankees with 3 RBI’s while Jeter and Damon had 2 each. The win puts the Yankees 1-1/2 games in front of the AL East.
• Florida 7 Mets 3: Tim Redding was awful, allowing seven runs over four-plus innings and New York never really threatened Josh Johnson. New York fielded a depleted lineup with David Wright getting the day off and Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado on the DL. Carlos Beltran left four runners on base, but Fernando Martinez had 2 hits in the loss.
• Colorado 3 Red Bulls 2: The Bulls are not good, losing again despite outshooting Colorado. New York has only two wins on the season.

At today's rally for Omar Edwards, the off-duty police officer who was killed by another cop in East Harlem, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) was asked if he had advice to give President Obama, who is visiting NYC this evening. The Daily News reports that Rangel delivered a "snide" answer, "Make certain he doesn't run around in East Harlem unidentified." Edwards, who was black, had been chasing a man suspected of breaking into his car; he was out of uniform with his gun drawn when he was fatally shot by a white officer. Rangel, who wants a federal investigation of the shooting, also said, "If you become an officer and you have a pistol and you are of color, in or out of uniform, your chances of getting shot down by a police officer are a lot heavier than if you were not of color." Photo: jschumacher on Flickr more ›

Owing $158,000 in back rent to a formidable landlord—Columbia University—independent book store Morningside Bookshop will close tomorrow. Owner Peter Soter, who opened the bookshop on Broadway & West 114th five years ago, told the Columbia Spectator earlier this month that while Columbia was "very supportive, and very helpful," he just couldn't make enough money to stay open. Soter put up a letter to the community in the window: "We wanted to be the little bookstore that could. We couldn't." The NY Times chronicles the farewells the bookshop has been receiving, plus some of the economic realities. Some residents feel Columbia could have done more, some have offered a total of $68,000 in "unsolicited donations" to keep the store open. One teacher said, "One of the reasons I lived on the Upper West Side is that it has a sense of being a vital neighborhood. A neighborhood bookstore becomes part of you. I love that bookstore. It’s not like losing a finger. It’s like losing an arm." more ›

On Thursday, the Staten Island Advance reported that a 7-month-old tabby cat had been in the tree for four days. Luckily, on day five of her arboreal getaway, Dottie the kitten was rescued, thanks to some patience and the efforts of some nice folks. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg says those down-market beach chairs in the new car-free sections of Broadway have got to go. Speaking about the new pedestrian plazas on his weekly radio show, Bloomberg revealed his disdain for the inexpensive chairs, which have been subjected to savage criticism from the likes of cranky Post columnist Andrea Peyser, who derided them as "flimsy furniture that littered the streets like a going-out-of-business sale." Hizzoner has sided with the haters, and wants everyone to know that once work on the pedestrian plazas is complete, "there will not be those kinds of lounges." Street furniture controversy aside, the mayor declared the experiment, which reroutes southbound traffic to Seventh Avenue in an attempt to reduce congestion, an overwhelming success: "So far, it is working exactly as the computer modeling says it will." Of course, not even the most powerful computer in the world can accurately gauge New Yorkers' capacity for complaining. more ›

You do not mess with burlesque dancers—we learned that the hard way when a passing comment about the pervasiveness of cellulite on some performers sparked a mini-avalanche of irate emails. Now it's The Learning Annex's turn; they're being sued by Veronica Varlow, a big-name neo-burlesque star who taught a class there about seductive dancing. She also did instructional videos for the company's affiliate, oneminuteu.com, and her lawsuit accuses them of misrepresenting her online as a "Young Sexy P0rn Star Stripper Dancer How to Put Lipstick On" and "Big [Breasts] Sexy Teen Girl Love Sex Advice How to Be Flirty." more ›

State Senator Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn), who was arrested three weeks ago for allegedly assaulting a NY Post photographer, was indicted yesterday. The Daily News detailed the charges: "Second- and third-degree assault, third- and fourth-degree criminal mischief, third-degree menacing and second-degree harassment." Naturally, the Post reminds us how photog William Lopez, who was waiting to take a picture for a story about foreclosure proceedings on Parker's home, got injured: "Parker chased after Lopez, who jumped into his car in an attempt to flee. Parker allegedly forced his way inside the car and managed to sprain the photographer's finger and break a camera flash." Parker's lawyer Lonnie Hart previously said that Parker is "eager to defend himself" (and sort of compared Parker to Kiefer Sutherland) but had no comment about the indictment, more ›

Prince Harry's first day in New York City was a success, based on the comments from people who met with the 24-year-old. During his stop at the World Trade Center site to survey Ground Zero yesterday, he spoke with relatives of victims of the 9/11 attacks. Monica Iken, whose husband was killed on September 11, 2001, told the Post, "He was really concerned; he feels the pain of the victims. He wanted to hear my story. It was unbelievable he took the time to visit and make this his first stop. He said this is what he wanted to do; he wanted to visit the memorial." more ›

Almost 1,000 patients will need new blood tests after Bronx-Lebanon Hospital found that six patients' blood samples were mislabeled. The NY Times reports that "six patients being treated by outpatient clinics at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center had received inaccurate test results last year." While the hospital calls the mixed-up results "isolated incidents" for six patients on six different days, the hospital "decided to retest every patient tested on those six days, plus all the patients tested the day before and the day after." And that encompasses 920 patients—including children—who were at the hospital's clinics on 18 days between April and December 2008. Spokesman Errol Schneer told the Times, "We regret any inconvenience that’s been caused to any of our patients, and we will be addressing the matter through retesting and also through providing them with round-trip MetroCards." He added, "It’s not just a New York City issue; the issue of medical errors is one that’s being addressed throughout the country." more ›

We've got to admit, when we heard that residents near the Thomspon LES Hotel were vehemently complaining about the noise from the hotel's new rooftop patios, we wondered if maybe they weren't overreacting just a tiny bit, considering that they choose to live in a part of Manhattan not exactly known as an oasis of tranquility. But good grief, check out this recent Thompson LES pool party, documented by a neighbor who should be credited for shooting video, not bullets. more ›

Melissa Weber, the Queens social studies affair accused of having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student (in her classroom), is being held on $100,000 bail. Her lawyer Donald Vogelman had tried to argue for her release, since Weber, 27, doesn't have a criminal history and that "the alleged crime amounted to a statutory rape charge that would likely result in probation," while prosecutors were asking for $200,000 bail. Of the $100,000 amount, Vogelman told the Post, "She doesn't have money, and her family doesn't have the money to make bail. With what she looks like, she is going to have a difficult time in jail." The Daily News reports that Weber denied any sort of inappropriate relationship with the boy; Weber allegedly told the police he grabbed her butt a few times, "The only thing I did wrong was not reporting it." The boy's mother, who heard rumors of her son's and Weber's alleged closeness apparently found hundreds of text messages between the two. more ›

The family of Omar Edwards, the rookie off-duty police officer who was shot by a fellow cop in Harlem on Thursday night, were grieving yesterday. A family friend told the Daily News that Edwards' mother said, "My son is dead, my son is dead. They killed my son." The friend also said Edwards' wife Danielle is "in pieces right now....For the sake of the kids, the family is trying to remain strong." The Reverend Al Sharpton, who has already called for a federal investigation of the shooting, is holding a vigil and rally in Harlem this morning. more ›

First Lady Michelle Obama has made two visits to NYC since the inauguration, but the Big Apple will finally get to welcome President Barack Obama today. The First Couple will be making a "personal visit" to the city; the Caucus reports they will go to the 8 p.m. performance of the critically acclaimed and Tony-nominated play Joe Turner's Come and Gone, written by August Wilson. It's unclear whether there will be street closures in Midtown (expect at least some flashing lights and a motorcade). No other details of their plans have been leaked. The Daily News adds, "The First Couple will be traveling on one of the smaller planes in the Air Force VIP fleet instead of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet," which might be because it's a "personal visit" or maybe because the last time the Boeing 747 was here...well, you know. more ›

After months of speculation, the MTA announced that the Long Island Rail Road improvements proposed at the Atlantic Yards development will be less grand than planned. Instead of nine rails, there will be seven, and the MTA is also expecting less money from developer Bruce Ratner. The Post reports that the MTA "allowed Ratner to renegotiate because the national credit crunch was making it difficult to finance the 22-acre plan to build an NBA arena and 16 office and residential towers in Prospect Heights." To refresh your memory, back in 2005, Ratner won the MTA's land—called the Vanderbilt Rail Yard—after bidding $100 million, which was $50 million less than a rival bid (the land is appraised at over $200 million). It's unclear how much Ratner will end up paying the MTA (rumor is $50 million!); Atlantic Yards Report has details of the State Senate meeting where MTA interim CEO Helena Williams spoke. And Ratner, who hopes to break ground later this year, is downsizing other parts of his plan. more ›

• Yankees 3 Cleveland 1: The bugs were back in Cleveland, but this time it didn't bother the Yankees. Andy Pettitte didn't have much control, he walked five, but he only allowed one run over five innings. Pettitte's back locked up on him and he left the game, but Aceves and Mo pitched the last four innings to preserve the win. The victory puts the Yankees into first place for the first time this season and for the first time since the end of the 2006 season. Yesterday also marked the return of Jorge Posada, who went 2-3 in the game.
• Mets 2 Florida 1 (11 innings): It took awhile, but the Mets finally prevailed. Omir Santos proved the hero once again, bringing home Gary Sheffield from third with the winning run in the 11th. It was his second RBI for the game, as he hit his third homer of the season earlier in the game. Pedro Feliciano got the final out in the eleventh to earn the victory. After the game, the Mets announced that they traded catcher Ramon Castro to the White Sox for right-hand pitcher Lance Broadway, who will be assigned to triple-A. Castro's trade solves the Mets' catcher glut — Brian Schneider is being activated for Saturday.

Some residents on Broadway will finally see the light! The NY Times reports that after several years of illegal wrap-around billboards that have covered windows in the19th-century Cushman Building at 174 Broadway, the Dept. of Building has finally removed the ads. The agency told the paper, “This is the first time the Department of Buildings has physically removed an illegal sign from a building." The OTR Media Group, who put up the sign, was repeatedly sent violation notices that have been ignored; "The department said that 517 violation notices had been issued to OTR-controlled locations citywide." Now, what about that illegal Snickers storefront ad? more ›

Some follow-up to Mayor Bloomberg's exchange with Observer (and PolitickerNY) reporter Azi Paybarah. The NY Times described that the mayor "seemed to reach new heights of peevishness, calling a reporter who posed a question he did not like 'a disgrace.'" (The question was whether the mayor, who spoke of an economic turnaround, oversold his pitch for overturning term limits.) CBS 2 reported, "Many would say the reporter's question was relevant, especially since the city's failing economy is one of the reasons Bloomberg sought an exemption from term limits." Paybarah's editor Josh Benson told the Daily News, "It was a reasonable question. We're comfortable leaving it to everyone else to judge the quality of the response." A spokewoman for City Comptroller and mayoral hopeful Bill Thompson said, "What’s disgraceful is the Mayor’s refusal to answer the tough questions. Calling people names, having staff block cameras and bullying the press aren’t going to stop people from asking the mayor to explain his term limits bait and switch." The Mayor apologized, though indirectly; according to Paybarah, Bloomberg's press secretary Stu Loeser "called to relay an apology from the mayor." more ›

The off-duty police officer who was fatally shot by police in Harlem last night as he chased a burglar with his gun drawn died from a gunshot wound from the chest. But a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner says that though the fatal bullet was recovered from the front of Officer Omar Edwards's chest, the bullet actually entered the left side of his back before hitting his heart and left lung. Another bullet struck his left arm, and a third hit his left hip. The NYPD is still withholding the name of the white cop who fired on Edwards and is conducting an investigation to determine whether officers identified themselves. But Rev. Al Sharpton wants a federal investigation; speaking to 1010WINS, he says sees "a growing pattern of black officers being killed with the assumption that they are the criminals." On that note, City Room takes a compelling look back at the many incidents of white cops shooting black cops over the years, including one such report from 1940 with the antiquated yet eerie headline "Patrolman Slain by Fellow-Police: Negro, Off-Duty and Chasing a Burglar, Felled by Shots of Men from Radio Car." more ›

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced today that the NY State pension fund fell 26.3%, with its value now $109.9 billion. The global economic crisis contributed to the decline, and Crain's New York reports, "It isn’t clear what percentage of the decline is due to souring private equity investments, but the fund had about $11 billion worth of such investments and $4.5 billion of “absolute return” investments—also known as hedge funds—according to the previous fiscal year’s annual report. That’s about double the amount held in 2005." However, DiNapoli also said the pension fund is "built to survive even the most challenging investing environments. For example, the Fund saw the value of its assets decline by about $30 billion in the markets that followed the dot-com bust and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, only to see steady recovery in the subsequent years." However, in order to meet future retirement obligations, employers and taxpayers will give greater contributions. more ›

The Taxi and Limousine Commission says two pilot programs encouraging New Yorkers to share the back seats of cabs with perfect strangers would free up more cabs, reduce traffic congestion, and cut carbon emissions. Before voting to approve the experiment yesterday, TLC official David Kahr said another bonus is that "you'll save a little money, and maybe you'll meet someone new who's interesting." That's right, ladies! TAXI! Oh hello there, do you come to this back seat often? You know, we have so much in common, living in the same neighborhood and all. Say, why don't we drop you off next? Ladies first—it'll be fun to finally see where you live, anyway. more ›

Well, that was quick: the Upper West Side location of H&H Bagels reopened this afternoon, after being seized by the government for non-payment of taxes early this morning. The State Department of Taxation and Finance this afternoon told the CityRoom that the retail location of H&H and its Hell's Kitchen bakery owed more than $100,000 in back taxes. Clerks at the UWS bagel store have returned to laying out lox slices and buttering those poppyseed selling plain, unadorned bagels like there's no tomorrow, and have been specifically instructed not to talk about the temporary seizure. A woman at H&H's flagship (identifying herself as “Blanca, just Blanca”) said the seizure was “a misunderstanding that has been cleared up." The tax department differs; CityRoom explains, "so many tax warrants, or liens, had piled up by Friday that the department was still struggling to provide a full accounting to reporters." H&H hopes to have everything cleared up by today, so that no more locks will be hoisted upon on the House of Lox. more ›

It's official, Prince Harry's first official trip to the U.S. has officially begun! As you can see he's already visited Ground Zero, talked with firefighters, and has christened the British Memorial Garden at Hanover Square (which actually isn't all that amazing). The AP noted that when he emerged "into the sunlight where the towers once stood. He glanced upwards, seemingly taking in the enormity of the structures felled in the attack, and said simply, 'Wow'." However, while looking at the rebuilding plans for the WTC site, he asked, "Big question—when is this supposed to be finished?" Patience, dear prince. more ›

With federal judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, everyone is predicting how things will turn out during the Senate confirmation hearings. Newsday looks at how Sotomayor actually has many similarities with Justice Samuel Alito, who was appointed by President Bush in 2005: "Both grew up Roman Catholic in modest homes wanting to be judges, attended the same Ivy League schools, became prosecutors in their first full-time jobs and served more than a decade on the circuit court. And both have remained closely tied to their ethnic roots and the communities where they grew up: Alito, 59, as an Italian American in New Jersey, and Sotomayor, 54, as a Puerto Rican in the Bronx." And, as Sotomayor's impartiality gets the once over, keep in mind that Alito said during his confirmation hearings, "When I get a case about discrimination, I have to think about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of religion or because of gender. And I do take that into account." more ›

Last week, the players with stakes in Ground Zero development—the Port Authority, developer Larry Silverstein, Mayor Bloomberg, NY Governor Paterson, NJ Governor Corzine, Assembly Speaker Silver among them—met at Gracie Mansion to discuss the stalemate (and bickering) over the World Trade Center rebuilding progress. What they agreed on was, the Post reported, "to order their aides to come up with an agreement by the next summit on June 11." Um, great. The NY Times had an editorial yesterday about the stalemate, declaring that instead of helping Silverstein build (aka fund) two towers, "The authority should instead be focusing on what it has already committed to: building the substructure for the 16-acre site, the Calatrava PATH terminal and the tallest tower. The authority’s designers have also come up with an interim proposal to build multistory bases for some of Mr. Silverstein’s towers. Those could house retail shops until the market needs more skyscrapers." more ›

On Wednesday, frothing New York Post demagogue Andrea Peyser dropped her instant-classic diatribe against the new car-free pedestrian plazas on Broadway, deriding those European tourists who flocked to the open space while finding solidarity with... one homeless man. Joe Miller, who Peyser says "carried his earthly possessions in plastic bags" also shares the columnist's hatred for any human challenge to the automobile's supremacy: "It's terrible. I live in the streets. People smoke in the shelters! I can't stand it." more ›

Michael Mineo didn't hold back outside Brooklyn Federal Court yesterday, where he appeared to file a $220 million civil rights lawsuit against the city, the NYPD, and the officer accused of sodomizing him with a retractable baton last October in a Brooklyn subway station. Mineo, a body piercer employed in a tattoo parlor, explained, "It's humiliating. This is considered a rape. I'm a man. I was raped by 4 guys holding me down... putting a baton in my rectum. How am I supposed to feel? There is no forgiveness... There's no way I could've lied and made this up. They've tried to slander my name from the beginning...This is going to be in history. My kids are going to know about this when I have a kid." Mineo says he still experiences "enormous pain," including bowel problems, and is seeing a therapist. And his attorney says $220 million would send a message to the city that "we will no longer tolerate these kinds of egregious incidents of brutality." In response, Patrolmen's Benevolent Association lawyer Stuart London tells the Daily News, "The lawsuit is consistent with my feeling that this was always about money, not a search for the truth." more ›

State Senator Hiram Monserrate's claim that one of the grand jurors who voted to indict him for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend is a police officer who works at the very precinct that investigated the Queens Democrat. According to the Daily News, a 105th Precinct cop "recognized one of his colleagues sitting in the jury box" while testifying in front of the grand jury. The cop allegedly told prosecutors, who then told him "not to worry about it"; the cop also told a private investigator working for Monserrate. The state senator's lawyer Joseph Tacopina said, "It was incumbent upon the [prosecutors,] who were aware of the relationship ... to ensure that the grand juror not hear testimony from his fellow officer or participate in the proceedings." Tacopina also says the prosecution's case is flawed beyond this grand juror, suggesting the surveillance video that shows Monserrate "violently" jerking around his girlfriend after the alleged assault was edited together to look damning. Monserrate, in the meantime, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and maintains his innocence. more ›

The DOT unveiled its latest plan [pdf] to resolve Brooklyn's Kent Avenue bike lane wars at a packed community meeting Wednesday night, and guess what? Not everyone is pleased about the proposal, which would turn part of Kent, a heavily-trafficked two-way truck route, into a one-way, northbound street. Business owners and residents have decried the bike lanes ever since they were installed last fall because they came at the cost of precious parking spots, and members of South Brooklyn's Satmar Jewish community who were said to chafe at the influx of immodestly dressed female cyclists. more ›

Yesterday Al Roker was called out for Twittering too much during his jury duty duties, even posting photos of potential jurors for the case, which common sense will tell you isn't a good idea. Today the NY Post reports that Roker acknowledged making "a mistake" but said it was "inadvertent." Fellow weatherman Sam Champion showed his support on Twitter, and he wasn't the only one. David Bookstaver, a spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration, seems to be happy that Al became a poster boy for civic duty, albeit only for one day (Roker wasn't picked for the panel). Bookstaver told the paper, "What's more important is this shows Al came to do his civic duty, and we're happy about that. It's a good example that nobody's exempt." The Daily News points out that he also claimed that Roker's actions weren't illegal, "despite a sign which says in no uncertain terms that taking photographs 'anywhere in the courthouse is strictly prohibited.'" Looks like some people are exempt from that one, eh Bookstaver? more ›

CityRoom has posted the U.S. Marshals' Form 531B, which shows the "nine questions that law enforcement agencies want answered in the event of a bomb threat over the phone." Sure, not all bomb threats at called in, but, in case they are, these questions may be useful. The questions include things like "Did you place the bomb?" and "Why?" and also asks the person fielding the call to notice the caller's voice and manner (stutter? slurred? disguised? accent?) and noises in the caller's environment (P.A. system? animal noises? music?—yes, just like in The Fugitive). Initially the U.S. Marshals' spokesman William Dundon suggested that animals noises could eliminate NYC as being a caller's location, but then revised himself, "There are roosters in the city. I have heard them in the morning." more ›

Mayor Bloomberg's proposed 5-cent fee on every plastic bag used by shoppers would help reduce waste and raise an estimated $100 million to help the city's budget crisis, but it will probably never see the light of day now that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn opposes it. Quinn is also blocking a move to reimpose the city sales tax on clothing and shoes under $110, which would raise an estimated $394 million a year, and instead she wants to increase the city's sales tax from 4% to 4.5%. more ›

During the latest day in the trial of Anthony Marshall, the late philanthropist Brooke Astor's son, a lawyer who represented both son and mother testified that Marshall diligently crunched the numbers to calculate what his wife would get, in the case of his death. Because Astor despised daughter-in-law Charlene Marshall that she explicitly told lawyer-turned-witness Henry Christensen that she didn't want to leave anything to her. Christensen said that Anthony Marshall gave him a 2001 memo, titled, "Concern: My ability to provide sufficient financial assistance to Charlene upon my death after distributions and expenses, including taxes." But Christensen said that in spite that Charlene owned their $2 million apartment plus had a $1 million trust fund (that would earn $115,000/year in interest) set up by her husband, Marshall was "concerned she wasn't going to have anything." Marshall is accused of forging his mother's signature on a will and asking her to sign another will—while she was in mental decline—to give him $60 million meant for charitable groups. more ›

A 27-year-old female social studies teacher at M.S. 8 in Jamaica, Queens was arrested for allegedly conducting a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old male student—in her second floor classroom. Melissa Weber was charged with statutory rape, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child; prosecutors claim she told the boy, a student in one of her classes, "Don’t tell anyone. I could get arrested and I could lose my teaching license." more ›

If you see a royal mess of traffic on the streets today, remember that Prince Harry is in town for the weekend. Before he hits the polo field tomorrow, he'll be making the rounds in Manhattan later today. But after his visits to Ground Zero, the British Garden, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Harlem, there allegedly won't be any parties. Even TIME magazine made note of it, saying, "With those engagements in mind, the royal heartthrob, who has a well-known penchant for long, alcohol-fueled nights, won't be hitting New York City's dance floors." The prince's private secretary told them, "Quite frankly I think he will be cream-crackered and will want a good night's kip." Translation please? If the 24-year-old ginger prince wants a drink, however, one transplant from Great Britain told the Daily News, "We'd love to have him for some drinks. Tell him drinks on me." He may just take up the offer, being a recessionista and taking commercial flights here (though the Queen paid for the $40,000 trip out of pocket because "it's not a full-fat royal trip"). more ›

"Helloooo, this is Dr. Maya Angelou calling. Tell me something: Would you deny your son or your daughter the ecstasy of finding someone to love?" This was the question posed by the Pulitzer prize-winning poet over the phone to State Senator Shirley Huntley, a Queens Democrat who opposes same-sex marriage. It wasn't a pre-recorded robocall; it was actually Angelou, and at first Huntley thought it was a joke, telling the Times, "I said, ‘What?’ I heard the voice, and I said: ‘My God. It is her.’ And that was that." more ›

Back in March, the economy forced developer Bruce Ratner to scale back plans for a 76-story Frank Gehry-designed building called Beekman Tower to just a 38- (or 40-) story structure. Now, the NY Times reports that a deal between Ratner's company and labor unions will help save "as much as 20 percent on labor costs" and allow construction to resume at Beekman Tower. Forest City Ratner executive MaryAnne Gilmartin said, "We’re thrilled to be going back to work. It’s a great project and a great building." Beekman Tower, which will be the tallest residential building in the city at 867 feet, was originally planned as a condominium, but FCR made it a rental (given the economy). Gilmartin also said, The savings we achieved go a long way toward insulating the project from any dip in rents or any protracted period of time required to lease up the building. We’re really bullish on this building." more ›

A white cop fatally shot a black off-duty officer in plainclothes who was chasing a robbery suspect in East Harlem last night. The victim, a recently married father of a 1-year-old and 7-month-old from Brooklyn named Omar Edwards, had been an NYPD officer for two years and patrolled housing projects as part of the Housing Bureau Impact Response Team. Police sources say that when Edwards left duty and went to his car around 10:30 p.m., he found his driver's side window broken and a man inside searching for valuables. According to the Post, he called 911 before confronting the thief. more ›

The city is closing six additional schools after a numerous cases of "influenza-like illness" among students. Four of the schools (in a total of two buildings) are in East Harlem while two schools (in one building) are in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood. In the meantime, parents at schools which have yet to close are anxious. At PS 96 in Queens and at PS 180 in Brooklyn, parents protested. A PS 96 mom told the Daily News, "These are 4- and 5-year-olds coming down with 102-degree fevers and infecting their siblings. There is no logical explanation why our school is not closed." And PS 180 is in the same building as a school that did close. However, in spite of the absentee rates, the Health Department says, "High absenteeism by itself is not a reason for closing schools," noting no students at PS 96 and PS 180 went to the nurse with symptoms or had flu-like symptoms. (What is they were already at home!?) The city is now reporting 388 swine flu cases. more ›

This post-Memorial Day weather stinks! Yesterday's high of 61 degrees was 15 degrees below normal, and WCBS 2 reports, "Friday will be a changeable day. There could be some rain in the morning, then possibly some sun will poke through the clouds during the afternoon. The more sun we see, the better chance for strong thunderstorms later in the day as a cold front approaches the area." Yes, more sun=more thunderstorm possibility! WCBS 2 meteorologist Mike Latella explains, "Add sunshine to an unstable atmosphere and an approaching cold front. That is the recipe for thunderstorms." Today's weather will vary—low to mid 70s in the city but in the 60s along the coast. But keep the faith: Saturday will be sunny, with highs in the upper 70s (there is a small threat of a shower late in the afternoon or evening) while Sunday will be partly cloudy, highs in the mid 70s. more ›

Despite a rash of injuries hobbling the team, the Mets have found a new ally in their march onto the top of the NL East standings: instant replay. The team have gotten a boost from the umpires going to the videotape in four of the last five games and are 5-for-5 overall in replay rulings this season. more ›

Hey, just because the bomb that was set off outside an Upper East Side Starbucks on Monday morning was homemade—"fashioned from a water bottle and the same explosive powder used in fireworks," the Daily News reports—doesn't mean it wasn't a threat to the public. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said,"Had someone been walking by, this could have caused serious injury, if not death." The police also revealed that a "metal bottle cap inscribed with the capital letters VET that was found amid the bomb remnants"— investigators are looking at whether "there's a manufacturer that makes metal bottle caps that contain those letters"—and that the two teens seen fleeing from the scene that morning are described as blond teen in a red shirt and a brown-haired teen in a gray shirt. John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor Eugene O'Donnell tells WCBS 2, "Bombings are not easy to solve, sometimes because the forensic evidence is so deteriorated." more ›

Is the unofficial first rule of Mayor Bloomberg-Press Fight Club "Don't ask Mayor Bloomberg about term limits"? That's what it seems like when you watch this video from PolitickerNY's Azi Paybarah. Bloomberg, at a press conference touting how the city received $32 million in federal stimulus money for job training, said of the economy, "I’m reasonably optimistic that we’ve turned the corner" on the recession. So Paybarah asked if, since the economy was turning around, that meant Bloomberg oversold his pitch for overturning term limits—which the mayor didn't think was a "serious" question. more ›

Two 26-year-old men from the Bronx are accused of orchestrating a wide-ranging counterfeit check scheme. According to the NY Times, "Jasper Grayson and James Malloy...hired bank tellers to photocopy paychecks they were handling, and pass the copies to the two men, who created likenesses using nothing more than laptop computers, paper and printers... Next, the men hired people to deposit the counterfeit checks into their bank accounts and then take out the money, in withdrawals that averaged $2,000 apiece." The Daily News reports the laptops "contained check-making software, stolen bank account info and logos used on counterfeit checks, officials said." And the employers included city agencies (like the NYPD), Bed Bath & Beyond, Diane von Furstenberg, Madison Square Garden, and Montefiore Medical Center. Besides Grayson and Malloy, 16 other people were also charged in the 227-count indictment, but many others could be named later—the pair allegedly hired 950 people to cash the checks. And the Post adds, "Investigators think the men used most of the proceeds to finance a high-flying lifestyle of club-going, Cristal champagne and expensive meals." more ›

The BQE is back up and running after a massive accident left 59 people injured and closed off eastbound lanes for a good portion of the morning following rush hour. A school bus, a casino bus and a tractor trailed were involved with what the Daily News calls a chain reaction accident just before the Kosciuszko Bridge connecting Brooklyn and Queens near the McGuinness Blvd. exit and not far from the Midtown Tunnel. A large majority of the victims were treated at the scene for bumps and bruises. Six people were taken to local hospitals. Newsday says that two went to the Wyckhoff and Woodhull Hospitals in Brooklyn and the other four "were taken to an unknown medical facility by a Hatzolah ambulance, which is operated by Jewish volunteers." Newsmap also shows what appears to be a second accident on nearby westbound lanes, where an overturned chicken truck shut down the highway while waiting for sanitation to clean up. more ›

Time for an awwww break! Five peregrine falcon chicks were born atop the towers of MTA bridges! The MTA says that three were born at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, while the Throgs Neck and Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridges each welcomed one chick. Some details about the fuzzy birds, which are 3-4 weeks old (their talons are already the size of an adult human hand!), from the MTA: more ›

It sounds like one bad apple really spoiled the barrel at Duane Reade...to the tune of $240,000! City Room reports that the company today settled a lawsuit brought on by the federal Equal Employment Commission for "a pattern of sexual harassment and retaliation," but it sounds like it all stems from actions taking place at one Bronx location. The commission released a statement saying, “The store manager, Madiaw Diaw, frequently made vulgar remarks about women’s private parts, sexually propositioned female employees, made lewd comments about their pregnancies and bodies, assigned unfavorable job duties to pregnant employees and repeatedly grabbed female employees, including grabbing their buttocks." Duane Reade said that they will instill new training policies, possibly starting with the trick question, "Aren't pregnant women just the laziest?" All of this begs the question if this whole mess could have been avoided if the drug chain was a little more careful about stocking up on some of their OTC offerings. more ›

Maurice Parks, who killed a man he thought mugged him—but was actually just a bystander—was found guilty of second-degree murder. Over a year ago, Parks, a martial arts expert, had been mugged and stabbed by a group of men on his way home; shortly after the attack, he ran into a man he thought was one of the muggers—so he stabbed him as he was on the phone with 911. Bystander Flonarza Byas died; the NY Times reports Byas "had 15 wounds, including 7 in the back." Parks's lawyer told the Daily News, "You take one piece away, none of this would have happened. It's a tragedy all around... His whole stabbing of Mr. Byas is a reaction to what happened to him." Parks will be sentenced next month and faces a minimum of 15 years in prison. The Times also brings up how Parks applied (and was rejected) to the NYPD three times and that in 1994 he was previously charged with attempted murder, for shooting and wounding a man who tried to rob him (a grand jury decided not to indict him). more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] You do know that if gay marriage becomes legal in New York, your children will be instantly turned gay by their crusading queer teachers, right? And according to this eye-opening new TV commercial, "it's not just kids who face consequences. The rights of people who believe marriage means a man and a woman will no longer matter. We’ll have to accept gay marriage whether we like it or not." Oppressed straight couples, Albany will never respect your rights if you don't stand up now! more ›

Watching her daughter be nominated to the Supreme Court by President Obama brought Celina Sotomayor Lopez to tears on Tuesday. Obama noted her commitment to her children during his introduction of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, "Her mother worked six days a week as a nurse to provide for Sonia and her brother -- who is also here today, is a doctor and a terrific success in his own right. But Sonia's mom bought the only set of encyclopedias in the neighborhood, sent her children to a Catholic school called Cardinal Spellman out of the belief that with a good education here in America all things are possible." Now the 82-year-old is all smiles, too, telling reporters, "Words cannot tell you how proud I am...I never told them [Sonia and her brother] to do anything for a living. I didn't tell them to be this or be that. I just said be the best you can always be. Be honest. If you have to clean toilets, that's fine." She added, "I am feeling great, but very tired...I guess the best word is overwhelmed." more ›

Seems a lot of folks are looking to runaway with the circus, or at least make the current financial climate less harsh with a new job at Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The NY Times reports back from the job fair held yesterday for the 150 positions open for their new set-up on Coney Island. Over 500 applicants turned up (alongside some animal rights activists) even though the job would only be temporary, lasting around 3 months. The circus wasn't looking for carnival barkers or occupants for the clown car, rather "ticket takers, ushers and custodians" who will work for minimum wage. Lynn B. Kelly, president of the Coney Island Development Corporation said of the turnout, “It may be a function of the market. Or it may be that, how often in life do you get a chance to say you’ve worked at the circus?” We're guessing it's the former. One 16-year-old local told the paper, “A lot of jobs don’t hire teens. But I’m not like everybody else. I’m mature, plus I have a child. I need a job.” more ›

Zany teens, what will they think of next? The NY Times has a front page article about how today's teens greet each other with hugs. A Montvale NJ high school junior says, "We’re not afraid, we just get in and hug. The guy friends, we don’t care. You just get right in there and jump in," while a San Francisco alternative middle schooler puts it, "We like to get cozy. The high-five is, like, boring.” And if you don't hug? Pffft-a freshman at Laguardia High in Manhattan explains, "If somebody were to not hug someone, to never hug anybody, people might be just a little wary of them and think they are weird or peculiar." Question: Do the goth kids hug? Apparently some sociologists think this is a result of "growing up in an era of organized play dates and close parental supervision," but one warns, "Without question, the boundaries of touch have changed in American culture. We display bodies more readily, there are fewer rules governing body touch and a lot more permissible access to other people’s bodies." Which is why some high schools, like Hillsdale High in NJ, ban hugs. Related: The Today show on the scourge of high school hugging. more ›

Back in 2005, Glenn Storman, a guidance counselor at P.S. 212 in Gravesend, entered a special education classroom in which a fifth-grader was kneeling on his chair cursing at the teacher. What happened next is a matter of debate: Storman says he happened to be holding a rolled up piece of paper when he told the boy to "zip it." But according to the Times, the student says Storman "brushed the paper against his lips and embarrassed him." After an investigation, Storman got an unsatisfactory rating in his annual review, which is a big deal because it prohibits him from getting extra work as a summer school teacher and a tutor. But after a long legal battle, it looks like the alleged paper punisher will be vindicated: A judge ruled earlier this month that Storman's actions did not constitute corporal punishment, and said the unsatisfactory rating "shocks the conscience, was arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion." The Department of Education is reviewing the decision while defending another lawsuit brought by Storman in federal court. And it's unclear if the student has yet to recover from his brush with rolled up paper. more ›

Over a dozen local residents who live (if you can call it that!) near the Thompson LES Hotel on Allen Street showed up at a Community Board 3 meeting last night to complain about traffic congestion, rowdy tools crowding their sidewalks, and noise noise NOISE echoing up into their windows from the newly-opened third floor rooftop pool bar. (Which, it should be noted, is open only to hotel guests—or anyone who gets a bite to eat at the hotel restaurant Shang!) How obstreperous are those bastards drinking and swimming and digesting Susur Lee's lamb chops? Well, one neighbor says their opening parties were so loud she couldn't hear her TV. Clearly, this monstrosity must be razed or urinated on at once. more ›

Toys R Us has announced its purchase of FAO Schwarz. According to the AP, "Toys R Us will operate FAO Schwarz's flagship store in New York City and a second store at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. FAO Schwarz's Web site and catalog will continue to use the company's name." Toys R Us chairman and CEO Jerry Storch said, "We will work tirelessly to preserve the distinctiveness and integrity of the FAO Schwarz stores and brand as we grow the business and, indeed, take the brand to even greater heights." However, Storch did not details the financial agreement. FAO Schwarz has filed for bankruptcy protection twice and last year announced it would sell toys in Macy's stores. more ›

Yesterday, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced that a former Administration for Children's Services worker was arrested for "falsifying public records in order to cover up her failure to perform required home visits." Stephanie Sabouni, 27, of Brooklyn, was supposed to visited children with chronic school truancy within 48 hours of being assigned cases. However, the AG's office says, "Sabouni allegedly failed to make the required visits in several of her assigned cases. To cover her tracks she made false entries into the ACS computer system reflecting that she had made home visits to several families with whom she never actually met." more ›

The 24-year-old Brooklyn tattoo artist (pictured) who says three police officers beat and sodomized him in the Prospect Park subway station last October will be suing the city. Michael Mineo's lawyer tells the Post his client will seek $220 million in damages for the "physical pain, suffering and mental anguish, along with punitive damages suffered." In December, a grand jury indicted the three officers, and a criminal trial is expected to begin this fall. Mineo says the brutality took place after he ran from cops who accused him of smoking marijuana as he approached the station around noon on October 15th, 2008. After they apprehended him near the token booth, Mineo says Officer Richard Kern sodomized him with a baton. A transit cop who was in the station is expected to testify that he saw Kern put his baton on Mineo's buttocks. The damages sought in his civil lawsuit dwarf the money sought in other police brutality lawsuits—by comparison, Abner Louima, who was Mineo's predecessor in the annals of NYPD sodomy victims, sued the city for $155 million back in 2001, but got $8.6 million in a settlement. more ›

New Yorkers aren't exactly known for a "sharing is caring" attitude, but cab riders across town may soon be forced to make room in the back seat for total strangers, if several new proposals are approved by the Taxi and Limousine Commission. Today the TLC will meet to discuss and possibly vote on three pilot programs they say would help reduce congestion, make more cabs available, and pull in extra money for hacks. Under consideration: more ›

With another school—this time, in Manhattan's Morningside Heights—closing due to high student absentee rates, worries about the swine flu continue. The NY Times tries to delve into what "underlying conditions"—something that the four swine flu victims who died had in common—actually are. Conditions like "diabetes, asthma, heart disease, lung disease, a weakened immune system and, possibly, obesity... could aggravate the effects of swine flu." The widow of Mitch Wiener, an assistant principal in Queens who was the first New Yorker to die from the H1N1 virus, told the Times, "Many, many people share the same underlying causes that my husband had, and if he’s at risk, many people are at risk," and was skeptical of the conditions playing a part in his death, "He was overweight and he was taking medicine for high blood pressure. How many people 50 and above don’t?" more ›

With Rep. Anthony Weiner officially deciding not to run for mayor this year, that leaves NYC Comptroller William Thompson as the leading candidate in the Democratic primary. City Council member Tony Avella (D-Queens) is still running; a NY1 poll shows Thompson would beat Avella by 30 points. Thompson said of challenging Mayor Bloomberg, "This race isn't over. If anything, this race is just beginning. I think the mayor, in spending $20 million this early, is trying to create a distorted sense of reality. He's trying to let you believe that he can't be beat. The truth is, talk to New Yorkers, they want somebody new. They want someone who will stand up and fight for them." Bloomberg, naturally, disagrees, telling reporters, "If you have a good message, people are going to be responsive. It’s not money. It’s whether or not you have something to say. It’s the substance." And a Daily News editorial says the city's Democrats don't seem to have a message against Bloomberg. more ›

The new, car-free Broadway blocks of Times Square are still being appraised by pedestrians, drivers, and pundits alike. But one thing they can all agree on: It's quite a sight. On Panoramas.dk, there's a 360-degree image taken from Duffy Square (on top of the new TKTS proscenium) by Jook Leung—check it out here (the above image doesn't do it justice). Update: As eagle-eyed readers noticed, this panorama looks like it was taken before the car-ban went into effect but it was taken on Sunday (here's another shot from Sunday); from the TKTS steps, it looks like this on Memorial Day. more ›

Yesterday around 7 p.m., a drive-by gunman fired at three people on Lenox Road near Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn (here's video of the area after the shooting). One of the victims was a sanitation worker, in a street sweeper, who had taken a break to get a drink from a bodega. The Daily News reports that san worker Anthony Pollard "told cops he had parked his sweeper to say hello to a cousin and buy a soda at the ND Food Market, his usual spot for a nightly break." He had been standing outside the store with two other men when a car drove by and someone fired more than a dozen times at the store from inside the vehicle. Pollard was shot in the stomach while the other men were hit in the leg and elbow; their injuries are not life-threatening. Police are asking people with information to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS or send a text message to "CRIMES," (274637), then enter "TIP577". more ›

• Yankees 9, Rangers 2: A.J. Burnett didn't economize when it came to his pitch count, but he did most other things well. He need 118 pitches to go through six scoreless innings, but he picked up his first win since mid-April. Mark Teixeira, Hideki Matsui (twice) and Robinson Cano all homered in the rubber-game win. Burnett struck out seven and walked four. At least he didn't allow any homers, a bugaboo of his in the past. WIth Boston's loss, the Yankees are tied with the Red Sox in first place, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Blue Jays.
• Mets 7, Nationals 4: Yet another replay in a Mets game, and another goes the Mets' way. Daniel Murphy's double-turned-home-run broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning and helped make a winner out of Johan Santana. The Mets ace walked six and struck out 11. Four of those walks came in a three-run fourth inning. Bobby Parnell, Pedro Feliciano, J.J. Putz and Francisco Rodriguez got the final nine outs as the Mets swept the Nationals.
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John McCluskey pleaded not guilty today to second-degree harassment charges for his Hamptons altercation with Rudy Giuliani this weekend, but did go ahead and sign an order of protection saying that he would leave Giuliani and wife Judith Nathan alone. McCluskey did not bring a lawyer to court today, telling reporters, "Why would I dignify this with a lawyer? I think it's so frivolous." Both sides accuse the other of elevating the spat into physical threats—police reports say that when McCluskey was being taken away as he said to cops, "I didn't know that scumbag still has so much power out here...I have the right to speak my mind and tell him how evil he is...You all will regret this." McCluskey might have to think about dignifying the incident with a lawyer pretty soon—he'll need one to show up in his place at the next court date in June. He told a judge that he won't be there since he's leaving the country to film a documentary. more ›

The Municipal Art Society attended a meeting today at which the negotiations between the National Guard, the owner of the property, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) discussed the future of the buildings at Admiral's Row. The meeting was part of the federally-mandated Section 106 process that requires federal agencies to study the impact of their actions on important historic buildings. Sadly, it seems their minds were made up, the Brooklyn Paper reports that they will save two of the historic buildings in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and destroy the others, making way for a supermarket. more ›

Evan Potts was in court today for a routine conference on his upcoming manslaughter trial for fatally running over Ian Sharinn after a road rage confrontation in Long Beach a couple weeks back. Sharinn's family was there to meet face-to-face with the 22-year-old Potts, who claims that he panicked and drove into Sharinn when the victim was yelling at him and banging on his vehicle while Potts was stopped at a red light. WCBS 2 says that a witness believes it was an accident, "Someone else in our building gave the same account of the story." Potts has been out of jail for a week after posting $500,000 bond. Speculation is that parents of the Queens College student had to mortgage their home in order to raise the money. Outside court Evan Potts told a reporter, "All I have to say is I'm glad to be out to defend myself against these charges." A "Free Evan Potts" Facebook group has almost 700 members an is discussing a possible benefit concert. more ›

Former NYPD Sergeant John Galtieri may spend the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced today in Staten Island for the 2007 murder of his ex-wife. Galtieri was convicted of shooting Jeanne Kane in a Staten Island park-and-ride after becoming enraged over the divorce settlement handed out to his once-battered ex-wife. Justice Stephen Rooney said, "What's particularly chilling here is the calculated and premeditated nature of this murder...A truly cold-blooded murder such as this requires severe sentencing." Kane had once appeared on as a member of the '60s trio, The Kane Triplets. Her two sisters were in court at the sentencing along with Kane and Galtieri's daughter, Patricia. She said to her father, "John Galtieri, I should have said this a long time ago: You are a coward ... Only a coward hides behind a gun ... As he sits in his cold, lonely cell for the remainder of his days, he will be tortured by this for eternity: 'Jeanne beat me.'" (Her full remarks are here.) Galtieri's lawyer called the outcome of the trial "a conviction by character assassination." more ›

The city agreed to a $2 million settlement with the family of Esmin Green, a woman who died after being ignored in a waiting room at Kings County Hospital's psychiatric ward. Green had been waiting for almost a day last July until she received medical attention which came too late. Her decline—falling off the seating and writhing on the floor until she was lifeless— was captured on surveillance video, which showed a number of staffers ignore her; they only acted after another patient alerted them. more ›

Three pedestrians were killed by drivers in three separate accidents in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan yesterday, but there's one thing that ties the incidents together: As usual, none of the drivers were charged. In Harlem, 73-year-old great-grandmother Vivian Long, a retired teacher's aide, was crossing Amsterdam Avenue with her granddaughter when she was fatally struck by an Access-A-Ride vehicle. (For the record, Access-A-Ride drivers are the worst.) She died at St. Luke's Hospital. In Borough Park, 25-year-old Matvey Smolovich, who according to his relatives had mental problems, was run over by a mini school bus around 10 a.m. after stepping out from between parked cars 100 feet from the crosswalk. His father tells the Daily News, "He left the house without my permission... After this I don't care about anything. My life is ruined." The 55-year-old bus driver stayed at the scene, and the NYPD is investigating, but hasn't arrested anyone. Then in Flushing, Queens, the 19-year-old driver of a Nissan Altima killed a jogger who also stepped into the street from between parked cars. He was rushed to New York Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. more ›

In January 2008, 14-year-old Avi Katz fell into the subway tracks at Brooklyn's Kings Highway station when edge of the subway platform—a wooden rubbing board—crumbled beneath him. Luckily, Katz managed to get back onto the platform (after three tries) and avoid being hit by a train, but the incident raised concerns about other stations with potentially dangerous platforms. Now, the MTA Inspector General Barry Kluger has released a report criticizing NYC Transit for failing to maintain them: The Post reports, "The investigation revealed visibly deteriorating yellow bars -- called rubbing boards -- at 23 of 27 stations last year that MTA workers classified as being safe." Kluger said, "Transit has had a long-term history of ineffectively dealing with the issue of platform edges." more ›

A Staten Island teenager is in custody after beating his father within an inch of his life over the weekend. James DeLeo, Jr. was charged with attempted murder after attacking his father so severely that it put James DeLeo, Sr. into a coma and included bashing his father's head in with a shovel. Police say that the son was sent into a rage when his father confronted him about staying out too late (the victim was found by police following the fight at 8:30 a.m. Sunday). The teenager first threatened his father with a knife, knocked him down with a punch to the face, stomped and kicked him until he lost consciousness and finally went outside to get a shovel that he would then bash his father's head in with. A roommate who lived with the two DeLeos in Willowbrook called 911 and the son was quickly arrested after an initial unsubstantiated claim that someone else carried out the attack. The elder DeLeo is currently listed in critical but stable condition. A public defender for the son requested his client receive a psychological evaluation before his next court appearance. more ›

You know what the Hamptons really need? A more efficient way to throw money away. That's why the Shinnecock tribe on Long Island is hoping to get federal recognition and open a casino out there. (They've been recognized by the state for ages.) The Shinnecocks filed a petition with the Interior Department for federal recognition back in 1978, but you can't rush the Grandfather in Washington. The tribe finally sued the agency in 2006, and on Tuesday the Interior Department finally agreed to a time frame to answer the tribe's petition. John A. Strong, a retired professor who's an expert on Long Island tribes, tells the Times recognition is pretty much a lock, and once that happens, the Shinnecocks will be allowed to open a Class II casino (just video slot machines, no table games). They'd sure love it if they could get out of poverty by attracting gambling swells from the Hamptons, but because Suffolk County is worried about the traffic, the tribe may cut a deal with the state to open a Class I casino in Queens, perhaps at the Aqueduct racetrack! more ›

The case of the mugging victim who killed a man he thought mugged him—but was actually just a bystander—is now with the jury. In January 2008, Maurice Parks was mugged by a group of attackers, who also stabbed him. Parks, experienced in martial arts, managed to chase them off but then ran into a man he thought was part of the attack and plunged his own knife into him; Flonarza Byas, who was stabbed 15 times, died. During closing arguments, the Daily News reports that prosecutors described Parks as a "judge, jury and executioner," bent on seeking revenge, while defense lawyer Anthony Ricco said Byas tragically walked into "a very dangerous situation." Ricco also claimed Parks didn't intend to kill, especially since he was on the phone with 911 (audio); Ricco mocked, "I'm gonna commit intentional murder, but let me get the police on the phone first. Hello, 911 ... hold on, let me commit this intentional murder." more ›

In an Op-Ed in today's Times explaining his aborted mayoral campaign, Rep. Anthony Weiner explains that, unsurprisingly, Mayor Bloomberg's godly fortune had a little something to do with it: "The Supreme Court decision in 1976 in Buckley v. Valeo, which allows candidates to spend however much they want on their own races, makes it possible for billionaires to swamp middle-class candidates. In this case, a sports analogy is apt: If one football team has 110 players on the field, the team with 11 has a hard time getting through the blocking and tackling on the crowded turf." more ›

The first day of summer session at SUNY Farmingdale saw a tragic accident where a 19-year-old girl was killed and a fellow student left in critical condition after they were backed over by a garbage truck while on campus. The victim, Kaeli Sarah Kramer of Huntington, was beginning a class she was taking over the summer after just finishing her first year at a college in New Jersey. Kramer had graduated as valedictorian in 2008 form Knox School in St. James. Police are still investigating, but a spokesperson for the truck's company said that the alarm that rings while the front-loading truck backs up was working and had gone off—police returned the truck to the company after inspecting it following the accident. The second victim was 21-year-old Aresh Saqib, a third year student in construction management, who is in critical but stable condition with a broken pelvis. The driver of the truck finally stopped after spotting Saqib in the side view mirror on his hands and knees screaming. He did not face any charges and was treated for emotional distress. more ›

According to the Daily News, Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver "unveiled a proposal to renew mayoral control over the schools before a largely skeptical group of fellow Democrats." The Legislature is set to decide whether Mayor Bloomberg can continue mayoral oversight of the public school system, which is the country's largest. Many lawmakers are skeptical because mayoral control leaves little opportunity for parents and community members to offer their insights. The News explains Silver's plan still gives the mayor "control of the 13-member Panel for Educational Policy, but at least two of his eight appointments would have to be parents of city schoolchildren... The schools chancellor would no longer be chairman of the body and would be required to visit each school district every two years. The chairman would be voted on by panel members. The panel, which would be required to meet once a month and in each borough at least once a year, would vote on all policy decisions, capital spending plans and budgets," according to sources. Previously, PolitickerNY has suggested that Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, who supports mayoral control, could side with Republicans in order to pass it. more ›

Federal judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court is front page news around the country and especially in her hometown of New York. And as Republicans gear up to voice criticism of her, Democrats are ready—and excited. The former executive director of the Democratic National Committee Mark Siegel tells the Daily News, "I'm not only ecstatic, I pray that the Republicans do a frontal attack on her. Thirty-one percent [of the Hispanic vote] is too much for them. I want them to go down to three." And a Florida pollster who surveyed Hispanic voters for Obama's campaign told Politico, "The picture of an African-American president standing next to a Hispanic woman as his first choice for the Supreme Court — that picture is the worst nightmare for the Republican Party." more ›

Yikes! The Brooklyn Paper's police blotter details a kidnapping/mugging in Williamsburg. They report that on May 22 two perps armed with a semi-automatic pistol snatched up a Brooklyn man on Kent and North 9th around 10:30 p.m. While he was in the car (a white four-door sedan with tinted windows), they covered his eyes and emptied his pockets, taking his wallet and cellphone. They then drove to a bank on Broadway and forced the PIN number out of their victim, withdrawing around $200 from his account. Once they were done with him, about a half hour after first picking him up, they dropped him at South 11th Street between Berry and Wythe, leaving him 5 bucks for a cab. The victim managed to flag down a cop on Bedford to report the crime, which the paper says mirrors a similar incident from earlier in the month. In general, it's probably not a good idea to walk alone down the deserted Kent Avenue at night. more ›

The reviews are in on the new car-free Broadway's impact on the first day of business since traffic was diverted from the main stem between 47th and 42nd Streets and between 35th and 33rd Streets. Unsurprisingly, the Post has been breathlessly scaremongering in an attempt to milk the populist fear of change for all it's worth, with columnist Andrea Peyser leading the charge in an article headlined "Real NYers 'Malled' by Incredibly Dumb Idea": more ›

The Post reports that investigators doubt Monday's explosion outside an Upper East Side Starbucks is related to the bombings outside the British and Mexican Consulates as well as the Times Square recruiting station. Apparently the "make-up of the bomb -- flash powder stuffed inside a jumbo pill jar -- was not similar to the ones used for the earlier bombings," and the description of the teens seen fleeing the area doesn't match the others bombings' lone bicyclist. The Post adds police are investigating whether the incident is linked to a small explosion at a Starbucks in Providence, RI, but the Seattle coffee company sent us a statement, "We are confident that these two explosions were not linked. Further, though the investigation continues, we actually have no reason to believe that Starbucks specifically was a target for this incident." (Apparently there had been a series of small explosions in plastic bottles in different parts of Providence last year.) more ›

As embattled developer Bruce Ratner—who just won't let go of his $4.2 billion dream to build a Nets basketball arena, office towers and thousands of apartments in Prospect Heights— continues to stagger around like a zombie who refuses to believe he's dead, the project's celebrated architect Frank Gehry is becoming increasingly uninvolved. more ›

With Governor Paterson's sinking poll numbers, many suspect Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will run for governor in 2010. Which means the Attorney General position will be up for grabs. The NY Times counts nine possible candidates—three Republicans and six Democrats. What might hurt Paterson the most is that two of the Democrats are are in his cabinet! Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Queens), who ran against Cuomo in 2006 but dropped out before the primary, is apparently going to throw his hat in the ring again; he tells the Times, "Andrew Cuomo has been one of the best attorneys general in the state’s history, and I was honored to support his election in 2006. That said, whenever he moves on to better things, I would certainly be interested in following in his very large footsteps." more ›

Bernard Kerik, BFF of Rudy Giuliani and former NYPD commissioner, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington D.C. The indictment relates to statements he made while being vetted to head the Department of Homeland Security in 2004—prosecutors say he was lying while Kerik's lawyer says he's being "overzealously" pursued. Kerik is accused of numerous misdoings—such as not claiming more than $500,000 in income on his tax returns, taking money from a contractor who had been angling for a city contract, taking a free Upper East Side apartment from a developer, claiming $80,000 in charitable deductions he never made—and will be tried in NY for those. Kerik's lawyer told WCBS 2, "Mr. Kerik looks forward to finally clearing his name of these corruption charges at his federal trial in New York set for October...However many trials it takes, Mr. Kerik will vigorously defend himself against these unfounded accusations and is confident that he will be completely vindicated." In 2007, Giuliani called hiring Kerik "a mistake." more ›

With the city's announcement yesterday that two more people died from swine flu, New Yorkers are still, naturally, worried about the swine flu. The NY Times visited Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, where "The hospital created a flu clinic in an area that usually accommodates patients who have been admitted and are waiting for a bed. It was filled on Tuesday with people in masks being evaluated for flu." An average May 2008 day in the Maimonides ER would have about 263 patients—on Monday, there was 480. The hospital's ER chairman said, "The consensus among these physicians is that the influenza is mild but the patients are unusually scared." more ›

Yesterday, a woman described a rape and attack very similar to how John Jay College student Imette St. Guillen was attacked. St. Guillen was found dead in 2006, and a bouncer at the bar she was last seen, Darryl Littlejohn, is on trial for her murder. While the woman was unable to pick out Littlejohn in a lineup, a judge allowed her to testify because the attack was so similar to St. Guillen's and another woman's. The Daily News reports that the woman described being "snatched off" Queens Boulevard, and then "the attacker handcuffed her and bundled her into a car," threatening her with a gun. "Warning her to shut up, the attacker drove her to a bedroom that sounded similar to Littlejohn's basement apartment in his mother's Jamaica home. The attacker taped a knit cap over her eyes - a key detail because Littlejohn allegedly taped over St. Guillen's eyes." After raping her, her attacker "forced her to clean up and change into shorts and a T-shirt," which had LIttlejohn's mother's DNA on it. more ›

Mets 6, Nationals 1: After Omar Minaya finally discovered he is in fact allowed to use the disabled list, the Mets made a couple of roster moves and then went out and smoked the Nationals. Carlos Beltran's balky knee will keep him out until Friday, so the Mets had no choice but to put Ryan Church and his hamstring on the DL for a healthy outfielder. That outfielder was Fernando Martinez, the 20-year-old phenom. He ended up going 0-for-3 with an RBI groundout and a hit-by-pitch. The Mets also put Jose Reyes on the DL -- about 10 days too late -- and bought Wilson Valdez from the Indians. more ›

Radio host Rush Limbaugh had plenty to say about Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court: "Here you have a racist — you might want to soften that, and you might want to say a reverse racist... [Liberals] of course, say that minorities cannot be racists because they don't have the power to implement their racism. Well, those days are gone, because reverse racists certainly do have the power. ... Obama is the greatest living example of a reverse racist, and now he's appointed one.” Limbaugh was referring to to Sotomayor's past statement during a speech (read it here), "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,"—and then noted how "wise men like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Justice Cardozo voted on cases which upheld both sex and race discrimination in our society." Politico reports that Limbaugh also complained about moderate Republicans (of course!), "I'm the one doing the heavy lifting. Colin Powell panders to moderate Republicans. If the moderates in the Republican Party offer no way to address this danger, then they are useless.” more ›

A 25-year-old photographer was killed by a mini-school bus in Borough Park earlier today. 1010WINS reports, "[Police] say he was attempting to cross the street in Brooklyn just before 10 a.m. Tuesday. He was about 100 feet from the crosswalk when he was struck." The Daily News, which identifies the man as Matthew Smolovich, reports that he was taking pictures on 44th Street near 14th Avenue with a "Canon 5D with a 16X35 lens" and "was looking down when he crossed the street near 14th Ave.," according to sources. The bus driver stayed at the scene and was not issued a summons; none of the children aboard the bus were injured. more ›

The State Senate is still mulling over gay marriage legislation—maybe NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson's report showing that NY State "could gain over $200 million in the three years immediately following the legalization of marriage for same-sex couples" will help the senators make up their mind. The report is an update of his 2007 study, Love Counts: The Economic Benefits of Marriage Equality for New York. If the recession doesn't reduce the number of out-of-state guest, NY State could expect a $210 million gay marriage boom ($178 million is the recession is a factor) while NYC would expect $149 million ($120 million if the recession affects guest count). There would be higher insurance costs—$69 million, $37 million paid by employers. Thompson said, "Legalizing marriage for same-sex couples is not only good for the couples, but also for our economy. And while other states across our nation have legalized marriage for same-sex couples since my last report, I expect New York to still stand as a prime destination for many couples because it will stand as a welcoming beacon of diversity and acceptance." He is also "disappointed" the California Supreme Court upheld Prop 8. more ›

Now that U.S. Court of Appeals judge—and Bronx native—Sonia Sotomayor has been nominated to the Supreme Court, her fellow New Yorkers are rejoicing. Mayor Bloomberg issued a statement noting that he had told President Obama that "Sonia Sotomayor would be an outstanding choice for the Supreme Court, and people whose legal opinions I greatly respect speak very highly of her," and also said, "She has been an incredibly good federal judge, and having risen from humble beginnings in the Bronx, she brings a perspective that will serve the Court - and our nation - very well. Her story is a perfect example of the kind of opportunity that is available in this City - and this country - to those who devote themselves to their dreams. Judge Sotomayor was first recommended to the federal bench by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan - and of all his great legacies, she may prove to be one of the most important.” more ›

There have been two more confirmed deaths from swine flu in New York City, health commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden confirmed during a press conference today. A 41-year-old Queens woman and a 34-year-old Brooklyn man have died since Friday; both had underlying medical conditions. The fatalities bring the NYC death toll to four; earlier this month Mitchell Wiener, an 55-year-old assistant principal at a Queens middle school, and a Queens woman in her 50s both died from swine flu. (The two recent victims are notably younger than the others.) During the press conference, Frieden also announced the closure of another school in Queens, a 42-student special-education program where children have flu-like symptoms. Frieden, who is President Obama's choice to lead the C.D.C., said that city emergency rooms are getting more than 2,000 visitors per day—the typical number of visits is usually under two hundred a day per E.R. But he also stressed that although swine flu is more contagious than seasonal flu, it is not more deadly (so far). According to City Room, roughly 1,000 city residents die each year die from complications of seasonal flu. Mayor Bloomberg even says swine flu victims should consider themselves lucky. more ›

After suspending his mayoral campaign in March, representative Anthony Weiner has decided to drop out of the race for the Democratic nomination, according to a scoop in City Hall News. Democratic Party officials have been increasingly throwing their support behind Controller William Thompson—with the notable exception of Long Island Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, a Democrat, who today announced her endorsement of Mayor Bloomberg. Weiner spent Memorial Day weekend attending three parades, a burst of activity that could have been interpreted as campaign appearances, but a source tells City Hall News that Weiner will formally announce his withdrawal tomorrow. His exact reasons for dropping out are not yet known, but Bloomberg's God-like affluence certainly played a factor. Though the Post had been gleefully attacking the six-term congressman in recent months, it's doubtful their smears broke his will to run; as the Daily News puts it, Weiner "wakes up in the morning looking for a fight." His withdrawal leaves just Thompson and Council Member Tony Avella to fight over the Democratic nomination. more ›

The Harvard senior who was barred from graduating next month and banned from campus—due to an alleged connection with the fatal shooting of a drug dealer at the school— has spoken out. According to the Post, sources say Chanequa Campbell helped swipe murder victim Justin Cosby into the dorm to sell drugs, but Campbell denies knowing him. She admits to knowing suspect shooter Jabrai Jordan Copney of New York—but only through Copney's girlfriend, Harvard senior Brittany Smith (who is allowed to graduate next month). Campbell, a Packer College Institute graduate who earned many scholarships, tells the Post, "I'm hurt and I'm confused. For me not to be graduating is frustrating. Harvard is doing this to me because I'm black, I'm poor and I'm from Brooklyn...I'm feeling I'm being scapegoated and I can't defend myself." Her lawyer adds that Harvard hasn't given a reason for banning his client from campus, "I've been practicing law for almost 17 years and have rarely come across someone as highly educated and articulate as Chanequa... What [Harvard has] done to Chanequa is equivalent to having your house foreclosed and losing your job on the same day." more ›

After funneling $3.1 billion of clients' money to Bernard Madoff's "investment" fund, Spanish bank Banco Santander will pay just $235 million to the trustee who is liquidating Madoff's assets. Bloomberg News reports that Spain's largest bank "made the out-of-court deal to avoid being sued by trustee Irving Picard, who has been suing the conman’s biggest investors seeking the return of years’ worth of Madoff-related profits." Picard said the $235 million is 85% of what he sought, "We hope that other entities against which we have claims will likewise come forward to settle those claims for the benefit of all of Madoff’s victims." Santander, which invested in Madoff through a Geneva-based hedge fund, has offered to compensate some of its clients, but the bank still faces other lawsuits. Dealbook adds, "Spanish prosecutors have said they are investigating Santander’s relationship with Mr. Madoff’s firm and are looking into into a trip made by one of the bank’s executives to visit Mr. Madoff a few weeks before he confessed to running a worldwide, multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme." more ›

The State Supreme Court in California has voted 6-1 to uphold Proposition 8, a ballot initiative that banned gay marriage in the state last November. But in upholding the law, the court also agreed to validate the 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place between June of last year when gay marriage was legalized (by the same court) and November, when Prop 8 was passed by the voters. more ›

After news that a woman claimed she was raped in the Morristown, NJ home of Jets safety Kerry Rhodes, the press—namely the tabloids—is staked out by Rhodes' fancy condominium. Rhodes is not suspected in the rape, but the media invasion was too much for Rhodes' neighbors. According to the Daily Record, when Rhodes drove away from his home, "The photographers sprang to action, snapping photos of Rhodes, who wore a baseball cap slung low as he sped down MacCulloch toward Route 202. A neighbor, however, was incensed by their actions and chased photographers down MacCulloch, screaming expletives and threats." The police eventually arrived and asked photographers from the NY Post and Daily News "to keep their distance," noting that the Morristown police "[doesn't] have the resources to keep a car out here." The police are investigating whether a friend of Rhodes is involved. more ›

Finally, the Nobel Prize winner in economics has weighed in on the city's Greenlight for Midtown plan. Paul Krugman writes on his NY Times blog, "I’m definitely in favor of making part of Broadway a traffic-free area. But you have to wonder — who’s this for? As far as I know, nobody goes to that part of Manhattan anyway — it’s too crowded." Of course, a few of his commenters noticed the Yogi Berra-homage, with some even demanding he acknowledge the legendary Yankees catcher-philosopher. more ›

An elderly bartender who spent 27 seasons behind the bar at the Yankees' Stadium Club says he was rejected for a job at the team's new home because he's just too old. 73-year-old John Vendikos—who has served legends like Joe DiMaggio—says that when the Yankees' food service company began hiring for the new stadium, he was instructed to re-interview for his old job. He tells the Post, in an article headlined Boo-ze for the Yanks, "I had to wait in line for three hours, and when I got in, the guy said to me, 'Why should I hire you? You're an old man.' At first, I was sure he was being a wisenheimer. But then I realized he was dead serious." Vendikos is filing a complaint against the Yankees with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and says, "This never would have happened before Mr. [George] Steinbrenner became sick." more ›

Though there's been a surge in assaults in some downtown neighborhoods like Greenwich Village, the NYPD says New York's fifteen year decline in crime continues unabated, with an overall drop of 12% so far this year. But some New Yorkers, like Harlem's Kone Mahamadou, tell a different story: "If you walk these streets, especially at night, you know crime is definitely not down. It's not safe. I don't know where they get these statistics." Some say the NYPD's stats are skewed because officers have been known to discourage crime victims from filling out police reports, but David Kennedy, director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College, says the bad economy is just messing with everyone's heads: "All objective information says things are no worse, and maybe a little better, but residents think things are going in a ditch." Tell that to 20-year-old East New York resident Tianna Sanchez; the NYPD says robberies and grand larcenies are down by double digits in the area, but she tells the News, "You can't sit on a bench because you are scared there will be shootings. They were shooting on my baby's birthday. It was 90 degrees out, and we had to go in the house." more ›

Police are continuing to investigate the low-grade explosive that detonated outside a Starbucks on the Upper East Side early yesterday morning. Authorities do not think the bomb is the work of terrorists and one resident of the Third Avenue at 92nd Street building, Issan Hage, told 1010 WINS, "I looked out the window and saw two kids running away. I believe it's just kids pissed off at Starbucks for selling coffee for $2." more ›

Four intoxicated revelers tried to stay out of harm's way by taking a taxi home from the Southampton nightclub Pink Elephant early Monday morning, but their cab's collision with a teenage drunk driver landed them all in the hospital anyway—two of them in critical condition. Police say the cab driver took an illegal left turn into a convenience store parking lot around 4:20 a.m., and was struck on the passenger side by 18-year-old Ryan Rozynski, who survived the crash with minor injuries and is being charged with DWI. Not so lucky is 33-year-old Brian Cano of Jersey City; the impact threw him from the taxi and he wound up with a 12-inch gash on his head. Phil Ward of Manhattan and another unidentified passenger are both still in critical condition at Stony Brook hospital. According to Newsday, one woman was thrown through the windshield. And the Post reports that it was quite a dangerous Memorial Day weekend out in the Hamptons, with two drug overdoses, 5-10 alcohol poisonings, and a fatal stabbing during a brawl at a Hampton Bays diner. more ›

Here's the video feed of President Obama's nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. If appointed, she will be the first Hispanic and third woman Justice. And she would join five fellow Catholics on the bench. And when Sotomayor's name was raised in nomination speculation earlier this month, the Daily News had an editorial noting, "Up from the Bronxdale Houses via Cardinal Spellman High School to serious consideration for the highest bench in the land. That's a hell of a journey, one that deserves note by the young in today's hard-scrabble city." more ›

With the fate of mayoral control of public schools up to Albany, the NY Times looks at the Department of Education's shift of putting younger principals in charge of schools: "Analysis by The New York Times of the city’s signature report-card system shows that schools run by graduates of the celebrated New York City Leadership Academy — which the mayor created and helped raise more than $80 million for — have not done as well as those led by experienced principals or new principals who came through traditional routes." Additionally, the Times finds that Bloomberg administration's changes of "opening hundreds of new schools and raising salaries have swelled the principals’ payroll 43 percent after adjusting for inflation." Some veteran principals like the changes, which include overseeing smaller student populations—one said that before "You were the figurehead as a principal, but the actual power was in the superintendent’s office"—but another noted her exhaustion, “You’re a teacher, you’re Judge Judy, you’re a mother, you’re a father, you’re a pastor, you’re a therapist, you’re a nurse, you’re a social worker. You’re a curriculum planner, you’re a data gatherer, you’re a budget scheduler, you’re a vision spreader.” more ›

The MTA operates 182 passenger elevators and 176 escalators in the five boroughs, but some of them are out of service so often they might very well be cursed. The spookiest station is Herald Square, where three doomed escalators haven't moved an inch so far this year, and four others are quite often inoperative. Another notorious escalator at the Gun Hill Road station on the 2 and 5 lines in The Bronx broke down 61 times so far this year. And at one station on the Lexington Avenue line, vandals have ripped out the escalator handrail so often that workers are now trying to redesign the rail so that it can't be taken apart. more ›

Today, 20 public schools that had been closed after many students were absent (due to flu-like symptoms) are reopening, but 17 schools/programs are closed or are closing. IS 238 is among the reopened schools; the school's assistant principal Mitch Wiener was the city's first fatal swine flu victim. His widow spoke out, puzzled that Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday, "In some senses, if you have H1N1 [virus], you should consider yourself lucky because it so far seems to be a milder flu than the garden variety." Bonnie Wiener, still reeling from her husband's death, said, "I'm not feeling very lucky. I'm sorry I can't agree with that. My children are not feeling very lucky either." Bloomberg had been trying to reassure New Yorkers after the second swine flu death—a woman in her 50s with an apparent underlying health condition—and the Daily News notes he backtracked, "It's very sad that those that we've lost are gone, but the good news is that so far it does seem to be a relatively mild flu." more ›

With seven blocks along Broadway in Times Square and Herald Square closed to vehicular traffic for pedestrian promenading pleasure (oh, and to ease traffic congestion too) on Sunday, New Yorkers and tourists alike have been testing out the suddenly clear streets. The Broadway pedestrian plazas are between 42nd and 47th Streets and between 33rd and 35th Streets, and in the Times Square stretch, there were lawn chairs for perambulators. more ›

Officials say that President Obama will nominated U.S. Court of Appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to fill David Souter's seat on the Supreme Court. Sotomayor, who grew up in a Bronx public housing project and was named to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush, has been mentioned as a possible nominee since even before the election. The announcement will be made at 10:15 a.m.; the Caucus reports, "The president reached his decision over the long Memorial Day weekend...The president narrowed his list to four, according to people close to the selection process, including Federal Appeals Judge Diane P. Wood of Chicago, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Solicitor General Elena Kagan." Obama hopes to have his pick confirmed by the time Senate recesses in August. SCOTUS blog has an interesting post on a Sotomayor nomination: "For Republican Senators to come after Judge Sotomayor is not only hopeless when it comes to confirmation (something that did not deter Democrats in their attacks on Roberts and Alito) but a strategy that risks exacting a very significant political cost among Hispanics and independent voters generally." more ›

A World War II veteran was finally awarded medals for his service—64 years after his duty. In a ceremony in Brooklyn, Pasquale "Pat" Caroselli was presented with six medals—"A European-African-Middle Eastern Service medal with six Bronze stars. A Good Conduct medal. An American Campaign medal. A World War II Victory medal. An Honorable Service lapel button."—and Rep. Anthony Weiner did the honors. Caroselli, who had been a machinist during the war, explained that he didn't collect the medals in 1945 because he was in a rush to get home; when he tried to apply many years later, it turned out a fire destroyed his records. His family was over the moon; his son said, "I'm really thrilled, especially on Memorial Day, to see him receive his medals, which he earned over six decades ago, it's just fantastic." more ›

• Yankees 11, Rangers 1: When Phil Hughes last pitched in Arlington, Texas, he had a no-hitter through 6 1/3 innings when he left with an injured hamstring. This time around, he allowed three hits and no runs in eight scoreless innings. Alex Rodriguez went 5-for-5 with four RBIs, and the Yankees, looking foolish in red Memorial Day caps, started a seven-game road trip off on the right foot. Johnny Damon had three runs scored and Kevin Cash tripled his hits total for the season by going 3-for-5. Joba Chamberlain will start Tuesday, but Brian Bruney is headed back to the disabled list.
• Mets 5, Nationals 2: Good thing Omar Minaya picked up Gary Sheffield. While Ryan Church alternates from being a punchless outfielder to injured, Sheffield hit a go-ahead three-run homer off Washington starter -- and Long Beach native -- John Lannan in the sixth inning. John Maine pitched six innings of one-run ball, striking out four and and walking three. Ramon Martinez and Carlos Beltran also had RBIs.
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The NY Times has an article about the city's slaughterhouses, noting how many have sprung up "because of the demands of immigrants from countries where eyeballing your meat while it is alive is considered common sense." A native of Trinidad explained, “I like to see it fresh and choose what I want." There's also a slideshow inside a few of them, which hold various types of animals, like cows, goats, chickens (and where, sometimes, a few escape). Still, some Queens residents weren't thrilled "about having mom-and-pop abattoirs next door"—one "feared [a potential] stink would ruin backyard barbecues"—and managed to get a law passed banning new slaughterhouses from within 1,500 feet of a residence for four years. And there's plenty of other bureaucracy for live animal markets; Tom Mylan of Marlow and Daughters butcher shop in Brooklyn blames the meat lobby and mourned, "We’re used to going into the grocery store and there’s not even a butcher counter, just a bunch of foam trays with a lot of anonymous blobs of meat in them." more ›

As the traffic agent who had both of her legs broken when she was run down while issuing a ticket to a double parked car recovers, the local priest of the man accused of doing it is coming out to defend him. Anthony Grullon has been charged with attempted murder for mowing down Sabrina Rosada and is being held on $100,000 bail. He was supposedly inside Heavenly Vision Christian Center in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx when he came rushing out to hop in his Ford Taurus. Grullon, who is 5'8" and 250 pounds, was caught on surveillance video racing out to his car. Robert Pinero, the pastor at Heavenly Vision, says that the collision must have been an accident. He told the Post, "This guy's like a big baby. Everybody loves him. I don't believe he meant to kill that officer. He was trying to flee from getting a ticket." Rosada is still in guarded condition at St. Barnabas Hospital, where her aunt says she is doing much better. more ›

Since his tremendous wealth and good approval ratings make him seem like an inevitable winner, the Daily News asks experts "how can Mayor Bloomberg lose" the election. Baruch College School of Public Affairs' David Birdsell suggests a scandal could derail the incumbent mayor's bid, but "It would have to be something heinous, prurient or both - with photos." And "[barring that, a] detailed, high-profile conflicts disaster with Bloomberg LP" would also be very damaging. Another Democratic operative says it could be "something that eats away at his 'competence' factor, i.e., they really [screw] something up big-time" and also suggests "push[ing] his buttons... Voters don't see it, [but] he has a bit of a thin skin." In the meantime, Bloomberg's re-election staff does have some (possibly unintentionally) funny campaign signs in their office—PolitickerNY has the amusing slideshow. more ›

Jets officials are closely monitoring allegations that a woman was raped in the home of their safety, Kerry Rhodes. According to the Post, a Canadian tourist reported to the NYPD that she and a friend met Rhodes and another man at a Manhattan nightclub Friday night. The woman and her friend ended up leaving with them and going to his Morristown, NJ town house, where she said she was raped. NYPD brought the woman to Morristown police, who would only comment that there is "an ongoing investigation." After being questioned by cops, Rhodes, whose nickname is Hollywood, released a statement saying, "I briefly talked with police on Saturday regarding an incident that allegedly took place at my home. The police confirmed to me that I am not the subject of this allegation." The Post also adds that Rhodes "starred in an independent film about relationship dilemmas called Misunderstandings, in which he had a steamy hot-tub scene" and that the Jets are "gathering information" about the situation. more ›

Both sides of the Rudy Giuliani vs. Rudy Hater 5672834340 incident were quick to jump into the spin battle after Saturday's confrontation in the Hamptons where Jack of all trades John McCluskey was led away in handcuffs after allegedly threatening the former mayor while he was out in Bridgehampton with wife Judith Nathan. more ›

A Chelsea co-op's attempt to evict a family over its "gassy" Neapolitan Mastiff has been thrown out by a judge. In January, the Post detailed the plight of the Lyons family, who were shunned and hated by their neighbors—including CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien— because their mastiff Ugo is smelly. Though the West 26th building allows pets, the co-op board (with board secretary O'Brien) became fed up and moved to evict the Lyonses, who tried to address the issue by grooming him three times a month and spraying him with deodorizer. Now the Post reveals that Ugo can stay because the Lyonses "were not properly served in the suit." The Lyonses' lawyer said, "The board is trying to evict a family, and it can't even serve the initial papers correctly. Maybe the board should be put on a leash." Since news of Ugo's plight attracted many supporters, O'Brien has suffered a bit of opposition; she resigned from the co-op board in February, explaining, "After discussions with neighbors and others, [my husband] and I have become increasingly concerned about my personal safety." The Post also has a chart comparing O'Brien's and Ugo's characteristics. more ›

• From the Gothamist Newsmap: A crime scene at Grant St & St Pauls on Staten Island, police activity at Flatbush Ave & Linden Blvd in Brooklyn and a barricaded perp at Hobart Ave in the Bronx.
• Seventy-eight babies were born in 48 hours at Maimonides Hospital last week—they usually deliver 20 babies a day.
• The NY Times has a touching feature on the letters that actress Donna Reed received and saved from World War II servicemen—one read, "The boys in our outfit think you are a typical American girl, someone who we would like to come home to!!!!!" Reed later became an anti-war advocate, hoping for a day when "19-year-old boys will no longer be taken away to fight in old men’s battles."

The 20-year-old brother of one of the men suspected of plotting to blow up Bronx synagogues and attack a National Guard base in Newburgh is speaking out. Lord McWilliams, brother of suspect David Williams, suffers from liver disease and tells the Daily News that the informant promised his brother $20,000 for a needed operation, "[My brother] told me, 'Don't worry, when you go to the doctor, tell them you got money.'" His mother adds that Williams told her he would give her money on Thursday (the day after the plot would take place), "He was a loving, sweet kid. He took his brother's illness worse than me." However, the Post says the informant did pay for McWilliams' transplant—and also promised to take him to Universal Studios. McWilliams said of his brother, now being held without custody, "He wasn't raised to blow anyone up. We weren't raised to kills Jews and Christians." more ›

With the death of a 50-something Queens woman attributed to swine flu (though she did apparently have an underlying health condition as well), City Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens) told the Daily News, "At this point, I don't know anybody who doesn't know someone who's gotten sick in the past few weeks - at least among people with kids. We're anxious to learn the details of this latest death." Mayor Bloomberg issued a statement about the woman's passing, "My father also died in his 50s because of an underlying health condition. I remember how hard that was on my mother, my sister and me, and my thoughts and prayers are with this woman’s family." The Department of Health, which says there are 280 confirmed cases, is urging anyone with underlying health conditions, such as diabetes and asthma, plus flu symptoms to call a doctor. The NY Times adds that the number of people hospitalized with swine flu in NYC "had risen to 94 on Sunday from 68 Saturday and 57 on Friday, health department officials said, suggesting that the rate of infection and hospitalization might be increasing." more ›

We all know that the MTA is in dire financial straits, thanks to dwindling real estate tax revenues, debts from previous borrowing, the rising expense of maintaining the different systems, and many other reasons. Today, the NY Times decides to look at yet another area of lower expected revenue— advertising on mass transit and in various stations. more ›

Yesterday afternoon, a Brooklyn teenager was shot while entering her Brooklyn apartment building. According to the Daily News, the 17-year-old was "shot once in the back by a gunman aiming for another man...The thug was trying to shoot a young man running inside 3023 Avenue X, part of the Nostrand Houses, when the .22-caliber bullet struck the 17-year-old girl outside her first-floor apartment door." Friends say she was returning home from the store and that she is a student at Sheepshead Bay High School (which is across the street). Her injuries are not life-threatening. And, early on Sunday morning, a man fired into a crowd on a Bronx street; one person was injured and the shooter is still at large. more ›

Today, North Korea's news agency announced the country had "successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of the measures to bolster up its nuclear deterrent for self-defense in every way as requested by its scientists and technicians." President Obama denounced the test, "North Korea's attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, constitute a threat to international peace and security," as did China and Russia. The NY Times reports that a security expert "estimated the test had a power of one kiloton of explosives... If correct, that would be a fraction of the size of the blasts from American bombs that destroyed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, 1945 — themselves considered small by current standards." The United Nations Security Council will meet later today to discuss the test; according to Bloomberg News, "Japan and South Korea...called for the UN body to take action against North Korea." Back in April, North Korea launched a rocket, though claimed it was a satellite. more ›

Earlier this morning, around 3:30 a.m., an explosion was reported outside of a building at Third Avenue and 92nd Street. The NYPD is conducting an investigation; according to WCBS 2, "Officials tell CBS 2HD it wasn't a bomb that went off, but an improvised explosive device. The device was planted on a bench outside the Starbucks." more ›

Today is Memorial Day, the federal holiday where U.S. men and women who have died in military service are remembered. Federal and state offices are closed, as well as post offices, schools, financial markets, and banks. Alternate side of the street parking rules are suspended and mass transit is running on weekend schedules (though there's additional weekend service on some lines). There are also parades in each borough—details here; at a parade in Queens on Saturday, Mayor Bloomberg said, "There's bands and lots of smiling and laughing, but we have young men and women overseas who are protecting us in harm's way. The NY Times had a Memorial Day editorial; the Post's editorial quotes Shakespeare's St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V; and the Daily News honors the NY State service people who were killed in conflict. more ›

• Red Sox 12, Mets 5: With all the things that went wrong on this road trip, the Mets can still be pleased they finished 5-5. That doesn't mean they should be happy with Sunday's performance. Tim Redding got destroyed, allowing six runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. The Mets led this game, 5-3, at one point but didn't hang in there. They did the Yankees some favors by winning the first two games, but Ramon Castro's 2-for-4 day with a home run was not enough. A Monday night game against Washington awaits.
• Phillies 4, Yankees 3 (11 innings): Melky Cabrera had some more ninth-inning magic with a game-tying single in the bottom of the ninth, but the carriage turned back into a pumpkin when Brett Tomko gave up a run in top of the 11th. Why is Tomko on the team again? He hasn't been decent since 2004. CC Sabathia and Cole Hamels went back and forth, with Hamels standing to win the game before the Yankees came back against Brad Lidge for the second straight day. Mark Teixeira had a solo homer but made up for it by hitting into a huge double play with first and second and no one out in the bottom of the 10th. The Yankees won only one of three this weekend and couldn't match the Mets' generosity. They start a road trip with a matinée in Texas on Monday.
• Fire 1, Red Bulls 0: Chicago hasn't lost this season. The Red Bulls are stuck in last place with only nine points. They have one more game left in this four-game homestand.

The Health Department has announced that another NYC resident has died from swine flu. While her name has not been released, we're told that it is a woman in her 50s, who had an underlying condition that may be at play in her passing. The first victim to die in Queens, Assistant Principal Mitch Weiner, had a pre-existing condition that made him more susceptible to the disease. At least one other swine flu patient is known to be in critical condition at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Morningside Heights. A Health Department spokeswoman said, “As we see more cases in the community we are going to see more severe illness and possibly death. If you’re sick right now with flu, you probably have H1N1.” more ›

With the MTA's budget shortfalls this past year leading to what was once the "Doomsday" possibility of steep fare hikes and service cuts only to become a "moderate" new burden for commuters, you can't imagine that New Yorkers have had the kindest words for the agency. (If you had any doubts, please refer here or here or possibly here.) But today's Post shares some of the official feedback given to the MTA in a sampling of the 300 letters they've received this year with greetings such as "Dear morons in charge," and accounts to follow such as, "Please be advised that for the last five days, there is a horrendous stench emanating from two vomit stains located on the side of the last staircase." And with recent spat of peepers, gropers and molesters making their way through the subways, the following shouldn't shock anyone: "I recently returned to NYC, and was once again shocked by how much groping, exposure, fondling and other acts of sexual aggression occurs on the subways, especially while riding the trains." If you'd like to join the underground love fest, here's the page to reach the blessed souls at the MTA's customer service department. more ›

Derek Jeter may be the face of the Yankees. Almost every other player is more popular, but the fact remains that Alex Rodriguez is the engine that drives the team. more ›

Staten Island might be the borough that demands the greatest need for its residents to have a vehicle, but that doesn't mean that drivers there by any means enjoy smooth sailing. Shaolin natives have been sending in reports to the SI Advance saying the roads feel like obstacle courses, have led to blown tires and even cause them to come up with creative directions in order to avoid the many problematic spots. The most horrific account comes from Rich Blazewicz of Great Kills who tells the paper how his ten-year-old daughter Gina "was hospitalized for two days with a concussion last month after she tripped in a pothole on Linton Place while playing basketball. She fell backward and hit her head...and was spitting up blood after the fall." Residents complain that when the DOT does show up, they only provide band-aid fixes that wash away after four or five storms. A rep for the DOT defends their current job performance saying, "Most roads have a 20-year cycle, with the evidence of a lack of investment in their upkeep showing up years—even decades—later." more ›

Here's the first peek at the new look of Times Square without a vehicle in sight as part of the "Greenlight for Midtown" program, which began today. The early shot looking down Broadway and Seventh Avenue from 45th Street comes from Streetsblog, which says, "It's obviously way too soon to judge how this remarkable experiment is working but today, at least, car-free Broadway appears to be a huge hit. " more ›

Former Secretary of State—and New York native— Colin Powell was on CBS's Face the Nation and addressed criticism he's received from his Republican party brethren. Earlier this month, former VP Dick Cheney said, "If I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I'd go with Rush Limbaugh. My take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican." This morning, Powell said, "I am still a Republican. I'd like to point out that in the course of my 50 years of voting for presidents, I have voted for the person I thought was best qualified at that time to lead the nation. Last year I thought it was President-now Barack Obama." He also said of the GOP, "I think the Republican party has to take a hard look at itself and decide what kind of party are we? I have always felt that the Republican party should be more inclusive than it generally has been over the years." As for the radio host's influence, Powell noted, "If he is out there, he should be subject to criticism...He shouldn’t have a veto over what someone thinks," referring to how GOP chairman Michael Steele had to apologize after criticizing Limbaugh. more ›

A Brooklyn woman who is a Harvard University senior has been barred from graduation next month due to her connection to the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old man in a university dorm last week. Police have arrested Manhattan resident Jabrai Jordan Copney, 20, for the murder of Justin Cosby; police said Copney, whose girlfriend is a senior at Harvard, and two other men intended to rob Cosby of marijuana and money. Two (unidentified) female Harvard students are described as "the nexus between Cosby and Copney." A lawyer for the Harvard senior told the Boston Globe, "This is a highly educated, independent young woman who has literally been cared for since she was a teenager by Harvard - and now they have terminated her right to be on campus. There is no justification for it. She may have known the people involved, but you know, it's not guilt by association in this country." The student was also kicked out of her dorm, Kirkland House, which is where the shooting took place; a previous report said that Copney's girlfriend's "gave Copney her dorm hall access card, which allowed him to float in and out of Harvard dorms." more ›

A rep for Congressman Steve Israel is denying a report of ugly backroom politics where White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel laid down the gauntlet and threatened that the Obama administration would essentially squash his campaign if Israel went ahead and challenged Kirsten Gillibrand in the Democratic Senate primary next year. The fascinating article in City Hall News said that Israel was "1,000 percent in" to run until meeting with Emanuel, who allegedly said that Chuck Schumer would steer big donors clear of the congressman and Obama was "prepared to barnstorm through New York’s black neighborhoods hand-in-hand with (Gillibrand)." The report says that the White House was doing a favor for a Democratic Senate trying to maximize 2010 funding in an effort to hold onto their current supermajority with some room to spare. A spokesman for Chuck Schumer admits the senator had "a friendly conversation" with the potential candidate before he called off his campaign last week. City Hall stands behind their piece, which also paints Emanuel and Israel as old friends who share a love of New York bagels. more ›

Rudy Giuliani and wife Judi Nathan were enjoying the holiday weekend in the Hamptons yesterday when a publishing executive got in the face of the former mayor and gave him a little more than a piece of his mind. After stepping out of a Presbyterian church where he was attending an art fair, 69-year-old John McCluskey confronted the Giulianis on a Bridgehampton street, poked his finger in Rudy's chest and uttered a sentiment more than a few New Yorkers share, "You're the worst person in the world and I'm going to punch you out!" more ›

With the four men accused of plotting to bomb Bronx synagogues and attack the National Guard base in Newburgh, NY being held in custody without bail, their family and friends have been speaking out about the arrests. The mother of David Williams (pictured) says the government informant—known as "Maqsood"—told her son he'd take care of getting a liver transplant for Williams' dying brother. And Williams' girlfriend defended him to the Daily News, as did the girlfriend of alleged ringleader James Cromitie. Kathleen Baynes said that the informant gave Cromitie "cash, free food, rent money and even bags of marijuana," saying, "This is entrapment. They come and hit a brother who is down and out, and tell him they'll give him the world. Maqsood is no different than a pimp or drug dealer sitting on 42nd St." more ›

Welcome to the underground, Kevin Bacon. Fresh off of being swindled out of money invested in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, actor Kevin Bacon is apparently now riding the subways and discovering the criminal air down there. The Post reports that Bacon had his Blackberry stolen Thursday at the 7th Avenue and 53rd Street B, D, and E station in Manhattan. Sources tell the paper that Bacon raced after the thief, but "lost track of him as he ran through the station's crowd." The Post seems hard up for details—certainly not made any easier when the NYPD would not confirm the robbery—but the paper makes sure to rally a team of three punsters who really bring home the Bacon reporting that the star was "smoked," "not footloose enough" and "is a lot less than six degrees of separation away from a coveted cache of A-list celebrities and boldface names likely programmed into Bacon's 'Berry." While they can only speculate that the device includes the number of the "boo 'berry" belonging to wife Kyra Sedgwick "possibly along with dozens of other box office stars who have graced the big screen with Bacon," they do confirm that over one-third of subway robberies target mobile devices. more ›

If only Game Stop stocked beekeeper outfits in addition to video games: Yesterday afternoon around 2 p.m., thousands of bees decided to hang out outside the store in Union Square. A "bee watcher" told WABC 7, "When I got here, there was already like a thousand bees in there." Employees were left to close the store—with themselves inside and the bees outside—and one worker put up a sign, "Look! ... closed due to bee infestation." more ›

Last night, a man was stabbed at the South Ferry terminal after a dispute. According to the NY Post, victim Josh Davis, 21, apparently got into an argument on the subway: Davis had been "telling a female pal about how the suspect had threatened to pull a knife on him aboard the number 1 train, accusing him of looking at his girlfriend, according to Davis's friend Chantae Rivas. As he told the story just before midnight, the suspect and his girlfriend walked up and started threatening the victim again." Davis told the man, "What's your problem, I'm not trying to talk to your little girlfriend." Apparently that set the man off and he stabbed a knife into Davis. The suspect left the scene; Davis is in critical condition at Bellevue. more ›

• Yankees 5, Phillies 4: Hope you didn't donate that old "Got Melky?" t-shirt you bought a couple years back because it looks like it might be a hot item once again this summer. Melky Cabrera had his third game-winning hit of the young season yesterday with an RBI single off of Phillies' closer Brad Lidge to cap off another dramatic win in the Bronx. The Yanks came into the 9th down by two runs, but that lead was quickly erased when A-Rod took a full count fastball and sent it over everyone's favorite right field fence. After the game, Rodriguez called himself "the happiest .200 hitter in baseball," since seven of the ten total hits he has since returning have left the ballpark.
• Mets 3, Red Sox 2: After the Yankees disposed of last year's World Series champs and their star closer, the Mets pulled the same trick on the 2007 champs and their premiere stopper. Met catcher Omir Santos may have needed a little help from instant replay to record his second career home run, but that didn't take away much excitement from the two-run shot that handed Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon his first blown save of the year. The home run was originally ruled a double, only to be corrected in the first replay review in Fenway history. Until the big ninth inning hit, the Boston crowd had watched a pitcher's duel between Josh Beckett and Mike Pelfrey that hadn't seen any runs put on the board since the first inning. In the bottom of the ninth, the Mets had to turn to JJ Putz to finish things off as Francisco Rodriguez became their latest casualty to sit out with an injury, suffering through back spasms.

Tomorrow is the start of the city's "Greenlight for Midtown" program, which involves banning vehicles on Broadway between 42nd and 47th Streets (by Times Square) and between 33rd and 35th Street (by Herald Square). The city hopes that traffic congestion can be reduced by "reconnecting the street grid on 6th and 7th Avenues and giving space to pedestrians on Broadway." According to the Department of Transportation, the plan will result in "Traffic lights with up to 66% more green time," "Significant travel time improvements on Sixth and Seventh Avenues," "Safer and simpler crossings for pedestrians," and "Faster bus speeds for 70,000 daily riders." more ›

Back in the day, being able to say, "Hey it's that Eyewitness News van!" after a run-in with the news vehicle was enough fodder to get through cocktail parties for the month to follow. Nowadays that sort of excitement is reserved for spotting the Google Street View vehicle, currently at the tail end of a month where it is traversing the five boroughs in order to update the nerd's eye view of New York on Google Maps. Street View is so popular that it's even spawned a website dedicated to capturing and sharing some of the more unusual images caught by the Google vehicle. While some of those pictures include being able to detect New Yorkers at specific spots around town, a concern for the local ACLU, Google spokeswoman Elaine Filadelfo told the Times, "The spirit of Google Maps is not to tie in a specific person to a specific place." We passed along a Street View sighting by Nylon last month; the Times mentions the car's appearance on Jeremiah's Vanishing New York. While Google keeps many details of the car on the DL, the driver did tell one New Yorker that his next stop was Dubai. more ›

It was only after all this that the officer ended up passing his gun over to the janitor who had unknowingly lent his uniform to the suspect, 51-year-old Placido Contreras. As the cop wrestled with a bloody McNair, he passed his gun to Contreras and told him, "Keep your eyes on him and shoot him if you have to." The janitor told the Post that it was the first time he held a real gun. more ›

More details have emerged about the suspect killer of an NYPD investigator. Gary McGurk, an Irish national, was indicted on second degree murder charges related to the death of ex-girlfriend Michelle Lee. According to the NY Post, McGurk allegedly "used his forensic expertise to try covering his tracks by making her death look like a kinky sex crime." A police source said he left "a psychopathic crime scene to throw [cops] off his trail. He was pulling pieces from all sorts of different crimes into one scene." Eventually, McGurk apparently admitted he did scam Lee for money by claiming he had cancer, "I absolutely lied about the cancer. It was a means to an end for me," and that their sexual relations included "the bondage...the asphyxiation." McGurk's lawyer told the Daily News, "He denied it to me, he denied it to my partner, he denied it to police. Hopefully the truth will come out." more ›

Yesterday's grating collapse outside a Brooklyn yeshiva left 34 students injured. Dozens of schoolgirls, ages 10-14, at Yeshiva Shaare Torah had been posing for graduation pictures when the grating over shaft gave way. A witness told the Post, "These kids were like clinging on the side of the building. They were screaming and panicking." more ›

With many New Yorkers heading to the beach to enjoy the unofficial start to summer, the Jersey Shore has already been witness to a chaotic and tragic scene following a boating accident last night. 24-year-old Kyle Tanis of Mahwah, NJ died after being ejected from boat he was in with friends on the Manasquan River. Their 15-footer lost control leading to its collision with a larger fishing boat; two others, Gina Franzino, 22 and Jamie Franzino, 19, sisters also from Mahwah, are being treated with critical injuries at the Jersey Shore Medical Center. One witness told the Star-Ledger, "It was a loud bang. It was very clear that two boats had collided with one another. It sounded very similar to a car accident." Coast Guard officials, NJ State Troopers and even an NYPD helicopter took part in the rescue mission following the incident. An onlooker described the eerie experience of seeing "life jackets were floating in the water with no people in them." Two other passengers were treated for injuries and released from the hospital; no one from the fishing boat was hurt. There is no word yet if drugs or alcohol were involved. more ›

If you're enjoying the gorgeous weather along the Hudson today and are wondering why the bodies you're spotting are not just floating today, it's the annual Great Hudson River Swim. Brave swimmers are making their way on a 1.3 mile shot down the Hudson that starts out at Christopher Street and finishes up at Battery Park City. Some New Yorkers naturally have their doubts—one asked the News, "It's New York City, how clean can it be?" But the News reports that it's "cleaner than you think" and anyway, what's a little Dysentery between friends? The real concerns for swimmers are actually not sanitary ones, but the potentially rough current and cool temperature of the water. NYC Swim's official site says you can expect the Hudson to be around 55 to 60 degrees. A previous participant told the paper, "It's colder than the Caribbean, but you're not going to be in that long." The city's site also warns of "chop, shipping traffic and random jetsam and flotsam in the waterways," which might explain why our arms seemed to glitter after a mid-90s dip up by the George Washington Bridge. more ›

Traffic enforcement agents are used to getting sneering looks and jeered at just for doing their jobs, writing tickets to illegally parked vehicles. But one man in The Bronx yesterday took his protest of an offense to an offensive level when he got into his violating vehicle (double parked) and just rode right over the officer who was writing him up. The man's 2002 black Ford Taurus was double parked on Jerome Avenue in Bedford Park when he hustled into it and drove into NYPD Traffic Officer Sabrina Torrez, running over her legs. The 26-year-old officer and mother of a toddler is in guarded condition at St. Barnabas Hospital after being treated for broken legs and head trauma. Police are looking for help identifying the suspect caught on a surveillance video that can be seen here. Update: Police arrested Andrew Grullon, 26, for felony assault and leaving the scene of an accident. more ›

It's a miracle worthy of a 24 season finale! Actor Kiefer Sutherland and Jack McCollough, the fashion designer Sutherland allegedly headbutted after the Costume Institute gala, issued a joint statement to the AP. Sutherland, "I am sorry about what happened that night and sincerely regret that Mr. McCollough was injured," while the Proenza Schouler designer said, "I appreciate Mr. Sutherland's statement and wish him well." more ›

Seven police officers had to be treated for injuries after a home invasion robbery led to cops on a chase throughout the Lower East Side that would land three of them in the East River (yet again) while trying to apprehend a fleeing suspect. Three gunmen held up a group of residents inside an elevator of the Smith Houses, a housing project in between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, not far from the East River. After forcing the group (one of whom was a pregnant woman) into one of their apartments, the thugs duct taped them together and robbed them of guns, cash and cell phones. When one of the victims broke free and got out of the building, the chase quickly became an affair of cops versus robbers. One of the suspects tried to get away by jumping in the East River, as one witness describes it, "All I saw was a dude in the water. He was all nervous, scared. He was just trying to get away from the police." At one point, two housing officers tried to become part of the nautical apprehension late in the game as another witness tells the News, "He jumped in and the guy was already surrendering." Four other offices were injured when two squad cars crashed during the mayhem. more ›

NYC schools are feeling fortunate to have a holiday weekend as the swine flu virus has left the school system with a juggling act of deciding which schools to close while struggling to make things work at others ravaged by the virus but trying their best to keep classes going during the home stretch of the school year. The city closed four more schools yesterday—in Maspeth, Borough Park, Bushwick and East Harlem. Meanwhile in Woodside, 50 parents and teachers picketed outside PS 12 demanding it be closed after 400 students called out sick this week. One sick teacher told the Times, “Every day you wonder how many kids are coming into class and how many are going to be there at the end of the day. I know I wouldn’t be sick if they would have just closed down.” Criticism over schools staying open continues with limited subs and schools taking measures such as rewarding students who show up with no homework days. Principals are also crossing their fingers that legislation passes next week to grant a swine flu exception for schools not getting in their required 180 days in session—without it, closed schools could lose funding for next year. more ›

Yesterday, the city honored the 110 members of teams from the NYPD, FBI and other agencies who helped foil the terror plot to bomb Bronx synagogues and attack the National Guard base in Newburgh, NY. Mayor Bloomberg said, "I feel safer today in this city than ever before. They have prevented what could have been a terrible loss of life." And Governor Paterson said, "The work was simply outstanding, and it demonstrates the increased sophistication that counterterrorist activity has had to undergo to keep up with the widespread threats. I can't thank all of them enough." more ›

Yesterday, a family's father, mother, and two children died in a car crash in North Carolina. Wayne Pride-Hicks, wife Natalie, and their five kids were traveling to Alabama for a family reunion when their minivan "drifted" into oncoming traffic on I-77. Police say Wayne Pride-Hicks, who was driving, had fallen asleep; the Post reports, "8-year-old son, Elijah, futilely tried to wake him, but the family minivan rammed head-on into a pick-up truck and a car," according to Pastor Lester Williams of Community Church of Christ in Jamaica, where both Wayne and Natalie Pride-Hicks were deacons. Pride-Hicks, his wife, son Wayne Jr. and daughter Natalia were killed; the pick-up truck's driver and passenger were in critical condition while the car's driver was treated and released. Williams and his wife plan to petition for guardianship of the surviving children, Elijah and Josiah and John, both 5. more ›

• Mets 5 Boston 3: Put it in the books, the Mets got back to winning after losing four straight in California. Johan Santana stifled the Red Sox, Bobby Parnell held the lead and Francisco Rodriguez got the save. Five different Mets had RBI's while Gary Sheffield blasted his 3rd homer of the season.
  
  The Mets injury woes also continued, with Carlos Beltran relegated to DH with a sore knee, JJ Putz unavailable with a stiff neck, and Ryan Church who left the game with tightness in his hammy. And of course Jose Reyes sitting out with his injuries.
• Philadelphia 7 Yankees 3: That 10th game just wasn't meant to be. AJ Burnett was lit up for five earned runs and the Yankees' winning streak came to an abrupt halt. Burnett gave up four home runs, including one to Jimmy Rollins on the first pitch of the game.
  
  Chien-Ming Wang, fresh from the DL, relieved Burnett but didn't do much better, allowing 2 runs in 3 innings. BUT, his ERA actually went down to 25.00 from 34.50. Progress!

A Brooklyn resident pleaded not guilty to shooting a man in the basement of a Harvard dorm on Monday. Jabrai Jordan Copny, who is the son of a retired NYPD officer, is being held without bail for the murder of Justin Cosby. According to Boston authorities, Cosby was selling drugs to Harvard students and was at the Kirkland House dorm with marijuana and money; the Boston Globe reports, "Three men traveled to Cambridge from New York City with the intention of robbing Cosby." Middlesex County DA Gerald Leone said, "It was that encounter between the four men that went bad. The common denominator that led to the intent to rip-off Justin Cosby of both money and drugs was that Justin and Jordan were known to each other through Harvard students." Copny surrendered last night while the two other suspects are at large. Copney's mother told the Daily News, "My son is not a murderer. He was raised very well and is very respectful. My son wasn't into drugs, my son wasn't into being a thug...The truth will come out." more ›

Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez's photo spread in GQ was released this week, and naturally his teammates couldn't pass up the opportunity to remind of it. The NY Times reports that images from the spread were plastered all over the locker room. "They particularly liked the shot of Sanchez on the beach, the rookie quarterback turned model lifeguard, and they decided to call him David Hasselhoff, a nod to the former 'Baywatch' actor." And tackle Kris Jenkins suggested that Sanchez and Kerry Rhodes do a male model walk-off a la Zoonlander, "We need to determine the prettiest male in this locker room." Even coach Rex Ryan was somewhat approving, "[Sanchez's photos look] much better than most of our guys would. Let’s just be happy it was him and not some of our linemen.” As for his skills on the field, Sanchez was 1 for 4 in practice yesterday. more ›

A grand jury indicted Gary McGurk for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Michelle Lee. Last month, the body Lee, an NYPD criminalist, was found in her Sunnyside apartment; she was strangled, stabbed in the throat, and burned with an iron. more ›

The Grand Old Party is thinking about trotting out an old horse in 2010: Senator "Big Bad" John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is heading up the Republican's Senate campaign efforts, told reporters that he's lining up a challenger to face Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in 2010: "In New York there's sort of a short list. I've talked to Gov. Pataki about it, but I don't know what he will decide." Well, they did have some sort of talk in February—but do New Yorkers really want to see Pataki again? By the end of Pataki's term, in 2006, only 30% of voters approved of the job he was doing! Cornyn was also honest about needing less super-conservative contenders, "I don't expect candidates in the Northeast to be as conservative as I am because frankly I don't think they can win." But he's hopeful, since Hillary Clinton is no longer the incumbent, "Thank President Obama for giving us an opportunity... I'm just not ready to pop the cork yet." more ›

The Dock Street drama continues, and this time it's not about the view. Last night at a 5-hour City Council hearing "politicians focused on charges that the School Construction Authority improperly colluded with the project’s developer," the Brooklyn Paper reports. Apparently there were some questionable internal emails leading some to believe the city's school building agency didn't consider other sites. The paper says the SCA Vice President Ross Holden sent out an email that indicated he was only humoring Dock Street opponent David Yassky, leading the Councilman to believe he was would look at other potential sites for the middle school. The email read, “Now I know that if we don’t do the Walentas project that we don’t really want to do anything else over there, but I think we have to follow up on this just so we can say that the Walentas project is such a good deal." Meanwhile, the agency was unable to answer questions about how much money they would actually save by moving in to the Dock Street development. Despite having many local and celebrity opponents, like Helen Hunt, Gary Sinise, and Ken Burns, Jed Walentas told the paper he still believes his project will pass a full Council vote. To be continued... more ›

Brooklyn-based alt rock pioneers They Might Be Giants have decided to start sponsoring little league teams, following in the footsteps of other community-friendly entrepreneurs like Hoffman Car Wash and Dick's Sporting Goods. It's another savvy move for the protean Johns, because the free advertising can't help but boost record sales on their growing catalog of children's albums. (The band just won a Grammy for Best Children's album for "Here Come the 123s") more ›

A Brooklyn teen killed another youth in a Mill Basin jet ski accident almost three years ago, then sped away without trying to help the victim, prosecuters argued in court yesterday. You may recall that Aristotle Plagianakos, who was 16 at the time, was arrested in connection with Paul Zaccaria's death in 2006. It took investigators a month to find Zaccaria's body in the water, and now Plagianakos is charged with manslaughter and trying to cover up the death by telling friends, "It wasn't us, if anybody asks." more ›

A grate over a window shaft collapsed, injuring over two dozen children at a Brooklyn yeshiva. According to NY1, "Fire officials say several students fell after a grate collapsed during a class photo shoot outside the Torah Elementary School in Kensington." Yikes! 1010WINS reports, "At least five students...were rushed to hospitals, two of them with serious injuries." Twenty-seven others were treated on the scene; the students were all girls, ages 10-12. The collapse is being investigated. Two years ago, a woman fell through sidewalk grating in Midtown; while that grate protected Con Ed equipment, it seems a private garbage truck may have compromised the grate's integrity by driving up on the sidewalk over it. more ›

Meghan McCain, daughter of the Senator and presidential candidate John McCain, has an opinion piece in the Daily News today. It's actually an open letter to NY State's Republicans, asking them to support the state's gay marriage legislation, "No matter how politically charged the discussions about marriage equality may get, the question is really a simple one: Do the rights and privileges we offer citizens include everyone in our country, or only some of us? I believe that allowing gays and lesbians the freedom to marry is an idea whose time has come... Equality under the law and personal freedoms are what make America the greatest country in the world, and they are core values that I hold as a Republican." McCain also Tweets, "I sincerely hope new york lawmakers will vote YES on the marriage equality bill!" If more than a few Republicans were to vote yes, the bill could possibly pass (the Senate's Democrats are split). more ›

Yesterday afternoon, a fire broke out in a century-old barn on the Dutchess County farm owned by Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau. Yes, Morgenthau may be Manhattan's powerful DA, but he's also a farmer—sort of. His family has a working farm, Fishkill Farms. Son Josh Morgenthau, who manages the farm, said the blaze took to the barn "like kindling," and the fire's cause is being investigated. The farm is also notable for some world history: Morgenthau's father was FDR's treasury sceretary, a meeting between FDR and Winston Churchill was held at the farm. Morgenthau is retiring this year and plans to spend more time at the farm. more ›

A real summer-like day is in the cards for today. Look for sunny skies and a high in the mid 80s. Pretty good if you're driving out of town. Humidity will build through the afternoon. Combine the humidity, heat and sun with a temperature inversion and you've got a recipe for high ozone levels. An air quality alert is in effect from 11 this morning until after midnight. Tree pollen counts, mainly from pine and oak, will be high through the weekend. more ›

A MetroCard that works like an E-ZPass, allowing transit riders to pass through turnstiles and board buses without any of that messy swiping, could be implemented within two years, says outgoing MTA CEO Elliot Sander. His last day is today (he resigned after Gov. Paterson vowed a "widespread cleanup and cleanout" of the MTA) and he's given some exit interviews defending his record ("trains are on time more often!") and previewing the "contactless" device the Authority wants to replace the MetroCard. Sensors on turnstiles or near bus entrances would detect a card or key-fob-like device and automatically deduct the fare from bank accounts. He says this would improve effeciancy by speeding up crowds of riders waiting to swipe their cards. Of course, the MTA has been considering this for years, and on some stations along the Lexington Avenue line, subway riders can wave a Citibank smart card or MasterCard debit key fob at turnstiles. more ›

More details have emerged about the four men accused of plotting to bomb synagogues in the Bronx and shoot military places at the National Guard bas in Newburgh, NY and their ultimately unsuccessful plan. The men, Onta Williams, 32, James Cromitie, 44, David Williams, 28, and Laguerre Payen, 27, all Newburgh residents who were arrested after planting a 37-pound bomb (actually made of fake materials, provided by an FBI informant) outside one of the synagogues, are described as being Muslim, but the NY Times reports none of them were particularly active in their local mosque. The uncle of Onta Williams said his nephew "was not born Muslim. He's an institutional Muslim... He wasn't raised that way," adding that Onta Williams started following Islam after a stint in jail. more ›

It's one thing to have a party at home with drinks and dancing. But it's another thing to charge guests for entrance at your home basement nightclub. Newsday reports that Long Beach police, who were investigating a noise complaint, found 30 people inside—and 20 people outside—of Julissa and Joseph Naraine's home. Paying a fee would allow folks to enjoy music, dancing, a DJ and a buffet at the Naraines'. The couple, who "claimed the parties help pay for his daughter to perform in beauty pageants," now face charges related to violating zoning, building and alcohol laws. We hope Cafe Disco in Scranton, Pennsylvania isn't shut down! more ›

A public school principal in Fort Greene was arrested at P.S. 20 yesterday for allegedly assaulting a teacher during a meeting to discuss allegations of corporal punishment against a special ed teacher. Principal Sean Keaton has been the target of intense criticism from parents lately—many of them newer, more affluent arrivals to Fort Greene, who see him as authoritarian and resistant to parental involvement. According to The Local, "the community conversation about him often seemed to break down along class lines... with working-class parents defending him. There was often a racial component to the debate as well (Mr. Keaton is black)." more ›

Citigroup board chairman Richard Parsons really has a full slate. Besides trying to shepherd the troubled financial giant through the economic crisis, the Daily News reports that he "was also wrestling with a personal crisis - how to tell his wife and three children he has fathered a child with another woman." Parsons, 61, and MacDella Cooper, 32, a model, are the parents of a baby girl born last August. They apparently met through her charitable foundation which provides education and food to abandoned and orphaned children in Liberia. Cooper told the News, "My private life is private. I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions." And Parsons, once touted as a possible candidate for Mayor (if Bloomberg didn't get his way with term limits), only said, "This is a private matter, and I prefer not to talk about it at this time." more ›

As four schools are reopening today after large numbers of students (and teacher) have come down with swine flu-like symptoms, six more schools—four in Queens, two in Brooklyn—are closing. The Department of Education has finally put a list of closed schools as well as open schools with their attendance rates online— the third letter in the code represents the borough (M for Manhattan, X for the Bronx, K for Brooklyn, Q for Queens and R for Staten Island). For instance, Louis Brandeis High School in Manhattan has an attendance rate of 64% and Richmond Hill High School in Queens has one of 65%. more ›

After the city recently started charging rent to the working homeless residing in shelters, questions and criticism soon followed. Now, the NY Times reports, "The Bloomberg administration has stopped charging rent to homeless people who have income and live in city shelters, temporarily suspending a state-mandated program that has been marked by mismanagement and the threat of a lawsuit." The city started collecting rent because of a 1997 state law that hadn't been enforced; recently, the state asked the city to enforce it and pay back $2.4 million in homeless aid. Apparently there were "technical issues" (some notices had errors in how much rent was owed, some notices weren't sent to other families) and the city still hopes to have some sort of rent program. Still, some homeless residents said they were being charged more than 50% of their income (which isn't allowed), they weren't even notified and that this prevents them for saving up to move out of the shelter one day. The Legal Aid Society, which threatened to sue, said, "We would hope that the entire concept would be re-evaluated." more ›

It's the unofficial start of the summer and the AAA projects that 1.5% more Americans will travel over 50 miles from home this weekend than they did last year. That translates to 32.4 million people on the roads While gas prices are not near last year's expensive prices, some drivers are wary of creeping prices. Gas prices have risen 27 cents/gallon this month (average: $2.36/gallon) and a cab driver, at a Manhattan gas station, told the AP, "Uh-oh. That's the first thing I say when I pull into this gas station each day. Right now it's not that bad, but it's a lot worse than two weeks ago." An energy analyst told the Christian Science Monitor that the prices will top out soon, "Prices usually peak after Memorial Day, perhaps sometime in June." more ›

First innings aren't always eventful, but Thursday's between the Yankees and the Orioles was. Joba Chamberlain left the game after being hit in the leg by a line drive. In the bottom of the inning, the first three Yankees to bat doubled, and the Yankees put up a four-spot en route to a 7-4 win over Baltimore. It was their ninth straight win. Alfredo Aceves picked up the win in relief of Chamberlain, who had X-rays on his leg come back negative. Robinson Cano, hitting second with Johnny Damon getting the night off, had an RBI double and a two-run homer among his three hits. Mark Teixeira also had an RBI double in the first and had two hits. Melky Cabrera had a critical two-run double. more ›

AIG CEO Edward Liddy will be stepping down from the troubled insurance behemoth—once a replacement can be found, natch. Liddy, whose salary was $1, became CEO last September "within hours" of the firm's bailout; CNBC explains his "mandate [was] to sell off assets to generate funds to repay taxpayers." Liddy, who weathered criticism when hundreds of millions were handed out in bonuses, is the fifth person to run the company since 2005. An analyst told Bloomberg News, "It really is a terrible job, I’m not sure who would really want it. There is so much political baggage that whoever takes over the company is going to find it an extremely difficult and thankless job." In other news, Richard Fuld announced his resignation from Lehman Brothers last night, "I believe that we have worked together effectively in achieving an appropriate transition." more ›

With all the squabbling over World Trade Center development—not to mention delays and ballooning budgets and talk of cutting buildings—a number of players (like the Port Authority's Anthony Coscia, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, WTC developer Larry Silverstein,NY Governor David Paterson), met at Gracie Mansion today. But don't expect anything to come out of it. Mayor Bloomberg told reporters, "There will not be a grand announcement at the end of [this] afternoon that the days of wine and roses are here again.... If we can be a catalyst and provide a forum for them to get together - I would like to do that. It is in the interest of the city and this country to get development going at the World Trade Center site...There's no easy solution here. We'll try and come to an agreement." more ›

If Craigslist wasn't in the doghouse enough these days with prostitution rings getting broken up and murders being linked to the site, here comes consumer investigator Arnold Diaz waving that judgmental finger of his at the site's real estate section. While lately it seems like there's actually been some optimism in the air about the price of apartments around town significantly dropping, along comes a scammer offering "The Homeboy Hookup" to rain on everyone's parade. more ›

Three of the four men who were arrested for allegedly plotting to plant bomb outside two Bronx synagogues and shoot planes at a National Guard base in Newburgh, NY were charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction within the United States and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles. James Cromitie, 55; David Williams, 28; and Onta Williams, 32 appeared in court and were held without bail; assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Snyder said, "It's hard to envisage a more chilling plot to bring murder to a ...community... These are extremely violent men. These people who are eager to bring death to Jews." more ›

In Manhattan federal court yesterday, a judge sentenced former Queens Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin to ten years in prison for taking in over $3 million in embezzlement, bribes from taxpayers and other illegal means. McLaughlin even stole $95,000 from a Queens Little League, promising voters that their donations meant that "A Child in Sports Stays Out of the Courts." Judge Richard Sullivan said that McLaughlin harkened back to the era of Boss Tweed and accused the former president of the nation’s largest municipal labor council of validating “the harshest critics of organized labor who accuse the leadership of corruption, and point to you as an example of that corruption.” Prosecutors had asked the judge for leniency, in part because of McLaughlin's cooperation in the recent indictment of another pol, Queens Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio. At the sentencing, McLaughlin, who has entered into Alcoholics Anonymous in recent years, said, "I'd like to say I make no excuses for it. But over the past three, 3-1/2 years I've had the opportunity to live the way I'd like to live my life." more ›

A jury convicted Janet Redmond-Mercereau of murdering her fire marshal husband. Douglas Mercereau was found dead, shot in their bed, in December 2007; Remond-Mercereau called 911 to say her husband was shot. Prosecutors had claimed she was a cold-blooded killer, doing a load of laundry and suggesting she put the gun through the dishwasher (which witnesses later refuted), while the defense suggested Mercereau, a fire marshal who investigated suspicious fires, had other enemies and called the focus on Remand-Mercereau a witch hunt. Jurors had been deadlocked yesterday, but the judge urged them to continue deliberating. Redmond-Mercereau now faces 25 years in prison; she has two young daughters. more ›

With the final bulldozers schlepping off the remains of Shea Stadium, it appears that they've officially paved paradise and put up a parking lot. more ›

There's good news for the famously decaying Windermere, a complex of three 1881 apartment buildings in Hell's Kitchen that was landmarked in 2005. The Japanese owner of the structure, Masako Yamagata, has finally agreed to a settlement with seven tenants who had to be evacuated in 2007 because of the extreme decay. They'll collectively share $2.6 million in exchange for relinquishing claims on their apartments, and Yamagata has also agreed to pay $1.1 million in civil penalties to the city for failing to maintain the building. A judge had issued a court order last year requiring Yamagata to repair the landmark, but the city had been unable to enforce it because he was in Japan. Once a buyer expressed serious interest in purchasing the Windermere, Yamagata finally settled so he could unload it for an undisclosed sum. The buyer has promised make all necessary repairs to the complex, which was popular with single working women and artists at the turn of the 20th century. When it opened, it was known for its technological marvels like the hydraulic elevator and telephone. more ›

There's no blood on the hands of the NYPD, as usual. On Monday night the 94th Precinct held a community meeting that touched upon the fatal hit and run in Greenpoint on April 27th. Streetsblog reports that the officers denied that a high-speed chase led to the death of 38-year-old local mom Violetta Kryzak. more ›

Rub the war criminal's belly three times and make a wish! Yes, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger took a little stumble this morning as he left the Manhattan State Supreme Court building. He had been testifying in the trial of Brooke Astor's son Anthony Marshall and his lawyer Francis Morrissey; the men are accused of looting Astor's fortune. more ›

EV Grieve has a funny write-up and pictures of how 40 people lingered around not-yet-opened Madison Avenue restaurant Serge because an opossum was hanging around outside. (They are called opossums in the Western Hemisphere and possums in the Eastern.) Police officers create a makeshift barrier using folding chairs and mail crates. EV Grieve described the atmosphere, "So we all stood around like a bunch of dopes while the police officers figured out the best method of humanely trapping the possum. That left people time to theorize. 'How do you think he got here?' Well, said one man, 'I've seen possum in the Bronx.' Another man chimed in, 'I bet he took the subway!'" The opossum was rescued and, we assume, taken to Animal Care & Control. Back in 2004, ACC's director called opossums, "urban wildlife - wildlife that have adapted to an urban environment." The creatures are nocturnal and live in trees, so that's probably why we don't see them more often. more ›

Nassau Police Commissioner Lawrence told reporters his officers "will be out in full force" this holiday weekend, monitoring for intoxicated drivers on the road. According to Newsday, "the summer stretch between the Memorial Day and Labor Day holidays" is referred to as the year's "hundred deadliest days" by police. Last Memorial Day weekend, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi posted the names, photos and addresses of anyone arrested for DWI on a "Wall of Shame" after a police officer was critically injured by a drunk driver. The wall has been somewhat modified, with only convicted drivers' information and photos posted. Suozzi said drunk driving-related deaths had decreased recently—17 in 2007, 13 in 2008—and called 2009's two fatalities a "completely unacceptable number." more ›

One day in June 2007, maintenance man Robert Lopez was taking out the trash at the Cadman Towers in Brooklyn Heights when he found some fake dynamite sticks attached to a clock. "I thought it was cool," he tells the Times, and so he took it home to make a piggy bank out of it. That idea landed him in Riker's Island (where inmates called him the "Mad Bomber") and an indictment on charges of "placing a false bomb or hazardous substance," a felony that carries up to four years in prison. A transit worker had spotted him carrying the fake dynamite and called police, who arrested him outside his Fort Greene apartment. Which he no longer rents; he lost his job and he's been homeless for a month. Sometimes he cleans a McDonald's in Brooklyn. Sad enough yet? In a teary interview with the Times, he explains, "On 9/11, from my roof of my building I could see the top of the towers smoking... I’m not a terrorist. I wouldn’t hurt nobody like that. Never." The Brooklyn D.A. isn't convinced, and Lopez is due back in court on Wednesday. more ›

Every year Transportation Alternatives holds a commuter race to Manhattan between a cyclist, a subway rider, and a motorist to promote the efficacy of cycling. And every year the cyclist wins. When will the gaming commission investigate T.A.? The only difference today between the outcome of last year's race was that this year the car commuter came in dead last, taking 47 minutes, 11 seconds to get from Sunnyside to Columbus Circle in a taxi. Coming in second was NYC transit rider Dan Hendrick, who crossed the finish line in 35 minutes, 16 seconds. more ›

Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, the lone surviving pirate from the group that took an American container ship captain hostage in April, has pleaded not guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court this morning. The 10 counts in the indictment against him include piracy under the law of nations, conspiracy, hostage taking and kidnapping. Muse's age is in contention: Prosecutors say he is 19, based on statements from his father while his defense team says he's just 15. WCBS 2 spoke to one of Muse's lawyers, Phil Weiss, asking "what he saw when looked into his client's eyes." Weiss said, "A young scared kid in pain, I don't know whether he's a pirate or not. You asked me what I saw, that's what I saw." In related news, the captain that was held hostage, Richard Phillips, was honored as the Mariner of the Year at his alma mater, Massachusetts Maritime Academy. more ›

So it looks like detectives' theory that an ex-cop's bank robbery "appears to be economically motivated" is right on the money. Retired NYPD sergeant Thomas Feeney, who was arrested just minutes after robbing a Long Island bank at gunpoint Tuesday, is in major debt because of an ambitious landscaping project on the grounds of his Smithtown, LI, home, which included a new lining for his swimming pool. A neighbor tells the Post, in an article headlined "Poolhardy Choices By Heist Cop," that the pool upgrade was "a luxury item, so it didn't look like he was having any money problems." But an associate of Feeney blames his financial woes on his ex-wife, saying she "cleaned him out" after their divorce. And now she's going to try and get full custody of their daughters, which sucks for them, because their dad was probably just about to open the pool for the summer. Suffolk County Detective Sgt. Robert Doyle says Feeney's credit card debt is "well over $100,000." more ›

The long, long-awaited Fulton Transit Center will be completed in 2014. Well, that's what the MTA thinks—though MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger claims MTA construction chief Michael Horodniceanu "has, at least to me, signed it in blood." Why in blood? Because the project is seven years late. more ›

Yesterday afternoon, a car crash near JFK Airport claimed the lives of two people and injured four others. According to NY1, "Police say a Toyota Corolla traveling southbound on Brookville Boulevard in Rosedale crossed over into the northbound lane and collided into a minivan. The driver of the Corolla, Stephen Bachoon, 17, and one of his passengers, Chris Basdeo, 16, were pronounced dead at the scene." The Corolla's four other passengers—all teens—were taken to the hospital as was the minivan's 70-year-old driver. WTEN points out that you must be 18 year old to drive in New York City. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg sought to calm worried parental units at a City Hall press conference yesterday, telling the press that most of the people going to the hospital with swine flu symptoms aren't sick, just scared: "While there are an abnormal number of people going to the hospital who are worried, virtually none, a very tiny percentage of them, have any symptoms whatsoever." But the mayor's downplaying of the outbreak comes as the city closes an additional three schools (bringing the current total to 25), and mourners bid farewell to Queens assistant principal Mitchell Wiener, swine flu's first city victim. more ›

Former federal prosecutor turned defense lawyer to the stars Paul Bergrin, who represented Lil' Kim as well as members of street gangs, would say, "No witness, no case." And Bergrin apparently took that to heart, because he's been charged with plotting the murder of a federal witness set to testify against his client. Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra said, "He employed every illegal tool available to disrupt our system of justice and keep murderers, drug dealers and gang leaders on the street." The indictment mentioned another instance of Bergrin trying to plot a witness's murder—"Paul Bergrin met with the hit man and instructed the hit man to make the murder of Junior the Panamanian appear as if it were part of a home invasion robbery rather than the execution of a witness"—and accuses him of paying off witnesses. The NY Times says, "[Feds] noticed what appeared to be a pattern; in at least four other cases, his clients had been cleared after witnesses were either killed or changed their stories." Bergrin has been on probation after pleading guilty to running a former client's prostitution ring (the one run by Jason "King of All Pimps" Itzler). more ›

A week and a half ago, it was revealed that the Port Authority was considering scrapping three of the planned towers at the World Trade Center site. Towers 2 and 3, designed by Sir Norman Foster and Sir Richard Rogers respectively, would instead be transformed into 4-5 story "stumps" (Tower 5 would be abandoned for now). Today, the Post shows renderings of the stumps, which are given the more marketing friendly term "retail podiums." more ›

An unidentified man was stabbed in the neck at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and West 4th Street just after 4:40 a.m this morning, ABC 7 reports. The stabee is now at St. Vincent's in stable condition. Two suspects were witnessed fleeing the scene; one wearing a black shirt and another in a... grey shirt. So give those two a wide berth if you spot them! Last Thursday a Buffalo man was hospitalized after an alleged late-night gay-bashing assault in the Village, and on Sunday another man was stabbed in the back and arm during a heated pre-dawn argument. Some local residents are complaining that their quaint neighborhood is becoming sketchy, and NYPD stats support those anecdotal reports, at least in the category of violent assaults, which are up about 40% over last year thus far. Robbery, burglary, and grand larcenies are all down, though, so try not to panic—but do check back often for updates on this alarming crime wave! more ›

The Justice Department announced today that Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who has been held in Guantanamo Bay and is accused of 1998 bombings in Africa, will be tried in NY. Attorney General Eric Holder said, "By prosecuting Ahmed Ghailani in federal court, we will ensure that he finally answers for his alleged role in the bombing of our embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. This administration is committed to keeping the American people safe and upholding the rule of law, and by closing Guantanamo and bringing terrorists housed there to justice we will make our nation stronger and safer," Ghailani, who is Tanzanian, was previously indicted in New York in 1998 for conspiring with Osama bin Laden; afterwards, he fled but was seized in 2004 and was, according to Reuters, "one of the 14 'high-value detainees' transferred to Guantanamo from secret CIA prisons in September 2006." He will be the first detainee to face a trial in civilian criminal court. In the meantime, President Obama is pressing on with his efforts to close Gitmo, though the Senate voted 90-6 against the shutdown. more ›

Five Staten Island teenagers have been arrested and charged with second degree gang assault for jumping another teen outside his high school and beating him so bad that his jaw had to be wired shut. The victim ended up with a broken and dislocated jaw, a broken cheek bone, cuts on his elbows and arms, and a concussion. The gang showed up at St. Joseph's by-the-Sea in Hugenot and 18-year-old Mark D'Ambrosi (pictured) called out the 16-year-old victim, who is a student there. After the victim started getting the best of his aggressor, the other four then jumped in and gave him the beating of his life. A police source tells the SI Advance that the victim was able to "hold his own at the very least. And that's not good enough for (D'Ambrosi). So they decided to pummel the kid." The Advance reports that the beef was over the victim allegedly "using the Internet to chat with a high school girl who was dating a friend of the five arrested." more ›

The FBI and NYPD have arrested four men who were allegedly plotting to bomb at least two Jewish temples and attack a National Guard base. According to NBC New York, "several of the suspects are Muslims who allegedly talked about destroying two Jewish temples, including at least one in the Riverdale section of the Bronx." The men apparently ordered and received bomb making materials, but "investigators said they made sure the materials the suspects received were inert." And WCBS 2 reports, the men also wanted to "shoot military planes located at the New York Air National Guard Base at Stewart Airport in Newburgh with Stinger surface-to-air guided missiles." The four men, all residents of Newburgh, were arrested in the Bronx this evening; apparently a friend tipped off the feds, who have been investigating them for a year. more ›

Fulfilling what must have been a life-long dream, a federal judge quoted from Caddyshack in dismissing Andrew Giuliani's golf lawsuit against Duke University. All together now: So he's got that going for him. You may recall that Andrew, son of Rudolph the Red Faced Mayor, is suing the school for kicking him off the varsity golf team. He says he was promised "lifetime access" to Duke's golf facilities by ex-coach Rod Myers, but then a new coach tossed him into the rough. more ›

Those fearing a Wal-Mart might be moving to Union Square can breath a sigh of relief...for now. While the shuttered Times Square Virgin Megastore transitions into a Forever 21, WWD is reporting that the Nordstrom folks might be taking over the Virgin Megastore space. The real deal high price Nordstrom department store you've seen in the mall isn't looking to move in, however, it's their discount shop called The Rack that would be unpacking there. A spokeswoman for Nordstrom told WWD, “We looked at Union Square and would like to have a Rack in Manhattan. Nothing is signed yet. We are talking to them.” But word is the lease is "very, very close" to being signed. more ›

New Yorkers may miss former governor Eliot Spitzer enough to prefer having him as governor over Governor David Paterson, but, as the transcripts from State Inspector General Joseph Fisch reveal, Spitzer is still basically a huge asshole. As part of the investigation into the Troopergate mess—where Spitzer and his aides developed a campaign to smear (then) Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno—, Fisch needed to interview Spitzer. The NY Times reports that Fisch "found him hostile, frustrated over his experience in Albany and with his legendary temper in full bloom." more ›

We've been intrigued with He-Man, the man who walks around in muscle shirts (or shirtless) in the Union Square/Flatiron /Madison Square Park neighborhoods, since 2007 and, thanks to an Observer story, now his secrets are revealed. Well, secrets like his name (Mike Nelson), his stats ("6-foot-4, with a 50-inch chest, a 34-inch waist and 19-and-a-half-inch biceps attached to shoulders the size of bowling balls"), and dreams (bodybuilding: "He’s aiming to be ready for competition by the end of summer, after he loses 25 pounds of fat, and then gains 40 in muscle"). Nelson also has a rubber left eye (from an incident in a NJ prison; he received a $270,000 settlement), has danced at bachelorette parties, battled drug addiction and the Asser Levy gym is sort of like his Castle Grayskull. And he does know about the FindHeman.com website—apparently some cops told him. But read the article for the amazing life of the Most Powerful Man in the Universe (or at least a 10-block area). more ›

David Paterson turns 55 years young today. PolitickerNY gives a rundown of the festivities up in Albany, which including Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith surprising the governor with an exquisite-looking birthday cake. When asked why there were no candles, a Paterson staff member said, "We didn't want to burn down the Red Room." more ›

According to GMAC Insurance's annual National Driver Test, drivers in the Empire State are dead last in the country. You can take the test here; New Yorkers scored an average of 70.5 while top honors went to Idaho and Wisconsin drivers, who received 80.6. NJ is second to last and California is fourth to last, with Hawaii in between. NY1's Roger Clark posed some questions to drivers—here's an exchange (spoiler warning, if you planned on taking the test): "Roger Clark: 'A traffic light with a flashing red signal means: A) Yield; B) Stop; C) Caution.' Driver: 'I think it's C. Caution, slow down. When I see it, I slow down.' Clark: 'Actually, you're supposed to stop.' Driver: 'You are? I do not stop.'" more ›

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has announced a major bust of a Craigslist prostitution ring operating out of Queens. Room Service Entertainment ran their escort service out of Ozone Park and sent women to each of the five boroughs and beyond by advertising on the site's "Erotic Services" section. Today is the first day Craigslist is without their Erotic Services section, after calls from politicians to shut it down led them to replace it with the new staff-monitored "Adult Services" section, the place you can now turn if you're in need of a Shemale Italian Stallionette from State Island. more ›

ABC News caught up Ruth Madoff, wife of multi-billion Ponzi-scheming investment guru Bernard Madoff, while she leaving the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where her husband is being held. When asked "if she had anything to say to the victims of her husband's scam or whether she played a role in it," she simply said, "I have no response to you." Apparently Ruth Madoff has been telling people that she's lonely and feels shunned ever since the scandal erupted, but a lawyer representing victims of the scam said, "Why would you have sympathy for his wife in any of these circumstances? She was one of the largest beneficiaries of the fraud. She enjoyed a very rich lifestyle that practically everyone would love to emulate and it was paid for by someone else." ABC News also likes to mention how Madoff was very generous with his employees—"Madoff sent $2.2 million so that one staffer, now under criminal investigation, could buy a New Jersey beach house. Frank DiPascali, Madoff's right hand man, was paid nearly $3 million a year. DiPascali's boat captain was also on the Madoff payroll." more ›

This morning, parents, worried about the swine flu and their children's health, held a rally demanding that their Queens public schools be shut down. Currently, there are 21 public schools and five private schools closed due to swine flu concerns. The city maintains that they are monitoring schools, but one parent told NY1 that illness could have been avoid, "My daughter came to school on Monday, she came to school very healthy and when she went home, she was crying for her throat and her head. And then an hour later, she had a high fever." more ›

Like Charlie Bucket desperately trying to find his way into the chocolate factory, last week a Mets fan dug so hard for her golden tooth that she got her arm stuck in a Citi Field toilet as its automatic flusher flooded over her time and again. Fans started becoming more interested in the unnamed fan's struggle that turned out to be as futile as the Mets' twelve inning losing battle with the Braves last Wednesday. Team officials had to call in Cardoza Plumbing, the company that installed the low-flow "green" toilets that "use powerful vacuum suction to cut down on water use." The Post talks to a plumber who tells them, "The truth is, this kind of thing happens all the time—usually with wedding rings or cellphones. People have probably been getting their hands stuck in toilets as long as there have been toilets." The paper mentions the 2003 cell phone flushing fiasco on a Metro North train and a woman in China stuck for two days trying to save her pet turtle (and by "turtle", they secretly mean "alligator"). At the very least, it sounds like this unfortunate Met fan deserves a sympathetic call from T-Pain—don't we all? more ›

Responding to questions about a dramatic increase in violent assaults downtown, NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters yesterday that police are "aggressively investigating" the crime wave, while acknowledging that "there also has been a bit of a hate crimes element in some of those crimes, so our Hate Crimes Task Force is doing an investigation." But Kelly also stressed that "the rise in those assaults we believe emanated from clubs," and that insisted that overall crime is down in the Village. The remarks came after a City Council budget hearing, during which he warned that the impending $20 million in NYPD budget cuts could mean less cops on the street, because the department will have to fire 395 civilian administrative aides who type and file reports. At first they'll be replaced with cops on restricted duty, but Kelly predicts that officers will eventually be pulled off patrol to help with paperwork. The police force is already down to 35,571 cops, from 40,000 in 2001, and one source points out the obvious to the Daily News: "Anyone pulled in to type is a dead waste of people." more ›

A coalition of bottled water companies—including Nestle Waters, which owns Poland Spring, and Keeper Springs, a smaller company owned by environmental advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—filed a lawsuit yesterday to challenge a new state law that would require bottled water companies to charge a 5 cent deposit fee. The complaint argues that the law violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause because it exempts drinks with sugar added, such as competitors like Glacéau, makers of Vitamin Water. Lawyers also say the deposit would violate the Constitution’s interstate commerce protections the law because it could be interpreted as prohibiting companies from selling the New York-labeled bottles in other states. more ›

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer announced he would no longer consider running in the 2010 Democratic primary against Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. His statement read, "In light of President Obama's clear desire to avoid a Democratic primary in New York State, I have decided to focus on my re-election race for Manhattan Borough President and to suspend my exploratory committee and fund-raising efforts" for a Senate bid. Stringer told the NY Times, "I was surprised when Obama called Israel and decided it would be very hard for me to mount the kind of campaign I wanted to run." Gillibrand's campaign has been touting its support from Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, Rep. Yvette Clarke and Rep. Michael McMahon, but two notable Dems are still discussing some sort of challenge—Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, who has been especially critical of Gillibrand's stance on gun control. Though Gillibrand has been trying to make amends, McCarthy says, "I know she is saying the right things now, but I don’t know if she is just doing it just to win the next primary." more ›

Instead of a man-bites-dog or dog-bites-man news item, the weather for the next couple of days is more of a man-and-dog-enjoy-an-afternoon-in-the-park story. High pressure centered just off the coast means New York is in for a couple of warm, sun-filled, warn days. Today's high will approach 80 degrees inland while remaining a little cooler than that along the shore (outdoor amusements were located on Coney Island for a reason). Tomorrow should be a couple of degrees warmer than today. more ›

The owner of a Staten Island construction company pulled a revolver on a former business partner and demanded the man hand over his dentures, police sources tell the Staten Island Advance. Jospeh Nativo, the 47-year-old owner of Atec Construction, also allegedly demanded $1,200 in cash, two cell phones, a Bluetooth wireless device and the jacket worn by his victim, 40-year-old Gennario Sibbio. The incident took place in Nativo's office, but he says Sibbio wasn't a business partner but rather a former employee who stole from his company: "He owes me over $27,000 from the company. I took his phones. I took his car. Everything that I gave him, I took it. I paid for his new teeth to be put in... I told him to leave the company. I asked for my teeth back." His lawyer says the allegations are being exaggerated by the toothless Sibbio to retaliate against his former boss. And Nativo, who was arraigned Monday on a charge of first-degree robbery, denies pulling a gun: "We yelled and we argued, don't get me wrong. But in the end, those teeth belonged to me." more ›

The continuing trial over whether or not Anthony Marshall and a lawyer essentially stole the fortune of Marshall's mother—legendary philanthropist Brooke Astor—hit the waterworks yesterday when Marshall's twins son testified against him. The Post said during testimony, Marshall, 84, "hunched forward at the defense table" and "held his forehead in his trembling right hand" while, during a break, the NY Times saw him and his third wife, Charlene Marshall, "sat red-faced on a bench in the hallway. Tears trickled from their eyes." more ›

A retired NYPD sergeant with no prior criminal record was arrested yesterday just minutes after robbing a Long Island bank. Thomas Feeney, 47, who retired 12 years ago because of knee injures and a heart condition, allegedly walked into a Huntington Station bank Tuesday morning and passed the teller a note demanding cash and calling attention to the loaded .38-caliber pistol tucked in his waistband. He walked out with an undisclosed sum, but one brave bank employee trailed him to his SUV and phoned in his license plate to police, who pulled him over just a couple miles away. Besides the gun and the cash, cops found a badge noting he was a retired NYPD officer in his pocket (but arrested him anyway!). Sgt. Robert Doyle of the Major Case Investigations Unit tells Newsday, "He said he'd been out so long that he doesn't get much money in disability anymore." Apparently, Feeney's got credit card debt in the five figure range, and Doyle tells the Post the bank job "appears to be economically motivated." But let's not rule out thirst for adventure as a motive, either. more ›

The NYC Health Department announced that the baby who died at Elmhurst Hospital Center Monday night did not have swine flu. According to the Daily News, "tests on nasal swabs taken from 16-month-old Jonathan Zamora... showed no signs of the H1N1 virus. But because a fatality was involved, 'It is necessary to take extra steps to get definitive results,' the Health Department said in a statement." The CDC will be examining specimens from the autopsy. The baby's father Zeferino Zamaro, who said his son simply became very weak and extremely feverish, told the News, "People should not panic. It's not what people think." more ›

The lone surviving Somali pirate who, along with three others, held an American container ship captain hostage, was indicted on ten counts (including piracy and kidnapping) in federal court yesterday. Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, whose age is being debated by prosecutors (who believe he is 19) and his defense (who say he's 15), is accused of using a machine gun to threaten Captain Richard Phillips and "us[ing] a radio to communicate with representatives of the United States government and threaten[ing] to kill the captain unless his demands were satisfied." Prosecutors also say that Muse was the leader of the group, while his defense has previously suggested that Muse himself was "kidnapped and taken hostage." Muse will be arraigned tomorrow. more ›

Lawmakers will likely be making more cuts to the state budget now that State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has revealed "tax revenues declined even more than anticipated in April." According to his press release, the General Fund revenues were 44% less than last year and 5% less (about $239 million) than Governor Paterson's already more-modest projection for the month. DiNapoli warned, "We’ve already tapped nearly all of our unreserved funds so there is very little cushion if revenues continue to fall. We need to watch revenues and spending very closely, because the state may be forced to readjust priorities." Speaking of spending, it's up 12% from last year, mainly due to education, health and the environment. However, other revenue-generating ideas from the state budget—such as increased taxes for higher income brackets and and other fees—won't show up until this month and next. The Department of Taxation and Finance took a glass half full approach, telling the Times, "The state’s finances are in line with the fiscal plan, since decreases in projected revenues were largely offset by decreases in spending." more ›

We can't resist—here are more photographs of the newly re-opened Washington Square Park. (Yesterday really was a marvelous day to enjoy it!) more ›

A welder had a close call yesterday when he fell down a shaft on the 16th floor of an Upper East Side construction site. Luckily, the Daily News reports that George Saguay "was saved by a tangle of duct work" in the E. 77th Street building. Around 2:30 p.m., he slipped—prompting a co-worker to yell, "Yo, a guy just fell down the chute!" The duct work stopped his fall after four stories and his co-workers tried to reassure him. Firefighters were able to cut through and extract him, taking Saguay to New York-Presbyterian hospital to treat his minor injuries. A colleague observed, "He was really quiet and patient. But you could see the pain on his face." more ›

• Yankees 9 Baltimore 1: A pitchers’ duel was transformed by a seven-run seventh inning from the Yankees giving the Yankees their seventh win in a row. Baltimore jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, but A-Rod put the Yankees back on top with his fourth homer in as many days, a two-run shot to deep left. That’s where things stayed until the seventh. The Yankees blew things open thanks to a big error and a big double from Derek Jeter. Mark Teixeira added a home run of his own and the rout was complete. C.C. Sabathia went seven innings, striking out seven for the win- his first at home as a Yankee.
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Only in New Jersey, folks: According to the Gloucester County Times, "A Westville man who reportedly couldn’t pay his bar tab wound up being charged with using his own feces to draw on the walls and set fire to a bathroom in the police station." For real. Jason Detora, 24, told police that his girlfriend would arrive with the money. But when Nicole Leadbetter, 22, finally got to Skeeters Pub, the cops charged her with DWI and outstanding warrants. So she was taken to the police station, as was Detora so he could wait for a ride. That's where things got...messy: "Detora allegedly used a rest room, but when he came out, a patrolman noticed an odor coming from the men's room. Police found toilet paper and paper towels had been piled up and set on fire in the bathroom. Detora allegedly had defecated on the floor and used his own feces to draw on the walls." He was charged with arson and criminal mischief and is being held on $35,000 bail, Leadbetter was released after posting bail, and the bathroom was cleaned. more ›

The MTA may be getting a bailout, but that also comes with some cutbacks in other areas. As in, say goodbye to your station agent (200 will be eliminated). The NYC Comptroller's office declares, "Station agents are the eyes and ears of the subway system. By their very presence, they reduce the likelihood of fare-beating, vandalism, assaults and more serious crime. They help riders and make the subways easier to navigate." So when you see something, will you be able to say something? See how many positions were eliminated at your local stop, with this website from the Comptroller's office. Will you feel less safe without one on duty? more ›

Yesterday, a young woman told a Brooklyn jury that seeing media coverage of a man suspected of killing Imette St. Guillen helped her realize it was the same man who tried to kidnap her months earlier. Shanai Woodard said, "I was watching the news with my mother and I saw a picture of the van come across the screen. I started freaking out really bad. 'Mom, that was the van I was in. I know it is.'" Littlejohn is on trial for St. Guillen's murder, which took place in February 2006, but earlier this year, Darryl Littlejohn was convicted and sentenced for 25 years for trying to kidnap Woodard in October 2005. Littlejohn had grabbed Woodard off a Queens street, threw her into his van, and "punched [her] in the head two to three times." Woodard, who was also bound, eventually escaped the moving van and managed to find help. The Daily News explains that the judge allowed Woodard's testimony was allowed because the "similarities - a young woman abducted, hands bound behind, hit in the head and her eyes covered - were striking enough to let the jurors hear." more ›

It hasn't been open very long, but neighbors residing uncomfortably close to the new $100 million Cooper Square Hotel on the Bowery are already fed up with the noise reverberating from the hotel's various outdoor areas—which was only to be expected considering how many have bedroom windows facing the place. (Some just inches away from the outdoor bar!) To chronicle the escalating complaining, Vanishing New York has started a feature called "Notes from the Backside," and the first winning entry concerns one neighbor's pitched battle with the patio lounge: "About 2 a.m.a drunk woman came out to the patio and wondered at its beauty. I pulled out the megaphone and said in a store announcer kind of voice 'Attention Cooper Square Hotel douchebags: shut the hell up and get off the patio.' Didn't work. She said 'That makes my new york experience complete' and continued to yammer away. The hotel made a half-hearted effort to get her out of there." With warm weather finally here, we give it a week before neighbors go full Delicatessen on the noisemakers and unleash the bodily fluids. more ›

About two dozen toll-tally fed up Staten Islanders disrupted traffic at the Verrazano Bridge toll booths for about 20 minutes yesterday by slowly paying the $10 toll in pennies to protest an imminent increase. 40-year-old Scott LoBaido led the motorcade to the lower-level midspan, where he climbed up on his 1989 Chevy Suburban's roof, blasted "Battle Hymn of the Republic" from the car stereo, and yelled, "Come on! Honk your horns!" The Verrazano cash toll will go up to $11 on July 12th, the E-ZPass toll will rise to $9.14, and the discounted E-ZPass toll for Staten Island residents will rise to $5.48. Explaining the protest to the Post, toll opponent Genevieve Grecco said, "You can't mess with Staten Island. We are going to make a fuss. We are human beings, not bank accounts you can constantly draw from." And another protester, Tina Bellino, unrolled the $10 worth of pennies she'd obtained from the bank and sprinkled them into several sandwich bags, telling the Staten Island Advance, "You didn't think I was going to make it easy for them [to count], did you?" Check out Fox News some has some great video interviews with the demonstrators. more ›

A recently-released study [pdf] conducted by Hunter College students posits that—are you sitting down?—"a large number of cyclists routinely disobey many traffic laws." But wait, didn't these Hunter kids already alert the public to the scourge of cyclist scofflaws back in November? Indeed, they did, but according to City Room this new report is "a rigorous and scientific version" of the previous observational study, which monitored 3,000 cyclists chosen at random at 69 locations. The new version used a wider sampling compiled of 5,275 observations of riders at 45 randomly generated intersections across Midtown from First to 10th Avenues and 14th to 59th Streets. According to the study: more ›

Hedge fund manager J. Ezra Merkin, who was accused by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of funneling $2.4 billion into Bernard Madoff's Ponzi investment scheme, has agreed to turn over three of his hedge funds into receivership. Merkin, who allegedly made $470 million from the Madoff investments and was warned about Madoff, made the deal with Cuomo's office; David Markowitz, who heads the AG's office's Investor Protection Bureau, told a judge, "The purpose of this is to make sure that the victims of the fraud here have independent trustees and fiduciaries overlooking what’s left of their assets." In other hedge funds-that- invested-with-Madoff news, three hedge funds managed by the Fairfield Greenwich Group were sued by the trustee liquidating Madoff's estate; the NY Times reports, "The civil lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Manhattan, seeks the return of $3.2 billion that the three funds took out of their Madoff accounts from 2002 until the scheme’s collapse in December." more ›

After what seems like ages of renovations, Washington Square Park is back to its glorious self with fountain turned on and parkgoers enjoying the lack of construction material in the way. A tipster told Curbed, which has more photographs, "It's all very pretty, and clean -- but it looks like the local dogs will take care of that pronto. Nothing like days of yore (yet). Neither a guitar nor blunt in sight." more ›

Last week, western NY billionaire, former gubernatorial candidate and owner of the Buffalo Sabres Tom Golisano announced he was changing his legal address to Florida, to avoid paying about $4.75 million more a year in taxes, thanks to the state's increased taxes for higher income brackets. Yesterday, he told reporters he was frustrated with the State Senate Democrats (he backed quite a few of them during the election) for passing the measures, "One or two of those senators could have said, ‘Wait a minute, we'd better take a look at this budget.' A 9 percent increase in a recession. But none of them had the fortitude to do that, which is absurd." Golisano added, "Nobody wants to leave New York. Just economically, it makes so much sense to leave it, and that's because of the irresponsible government we've had." Still, the State Department of Taxation and Finance tells the Buffalo News, "If you’re a nonresident making money in New York, you are going to pay taxes to some extent." The Buffalo News points out that Golisano is dating Monica Seles (ewww), also splits her time in NY and Florida. more ›

Greenwich Village residents have been complaining about rising crime in their neighborhood in the wake of two violent assaults during the past week, and now the Post reports that they're not just imagining things: NYPD data shows that incidents of violent crime reported to the 6th Precinct, which includes the Village, are up almost 43 percent so far this year, compared with the same period in 2008. (There have been 40 assaults in the area so far this year, up from 28.) And violent crime rates have soared throughout downtown, with the East Village and the Lower East Side also seeing a big spike in street crime. Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne blames the boom on the neighborhoods' nightlife, which attracts large numbers of revelers who become targets and predators after enough drinks. G. Simon Chafik, a female photographer who has lived in Manhattan for 15 years, tells the Post, "I've never seen it like this before—never, ever. I'm a big New Yorker. New York is one of the safest cities. [But] I'm beginning to question that." more ›

USC quarterback Mark Sanchez made a splash when he was the number 5 NFL draft pick last month—and now he's doing it this month with a photo spread in GQ magazine. The new Jets player is modeling swimwear (not kissing mirrors, the way A-Rod did in Details), though he did say about one pair, "I wouldn’t necessarily be caught in those shorts." more ›

Following yesterday's announcement that American Apparel settled the lawsuit Woody Allen filed against them for $5 million, the director now speaks out about Dov Charney & Co. Upon leaving the courthouse yesterday he said, "It's, of course, possible by going through the trial a jury might have awarded me more money, but this is not how I make my living" (the NY Post points out it is, however, more money than Vicky Cristina Barcelona made during it's opening weekend, by about $1.5 million more). He's hoping the big payout will discourage other companies from illegally using his image, even though Charney has insisted he wasn't using him to sell product. While American Apparel's head honcho would like to meet the director on friendlier terms, it's unlikely Allen would ever allow it. He told the press yesterday, "Threats and press leaks by American Apparel designed to smear me did not work, and a scheme to call a long list of witnesses who had absolutely nothing to do with the case was also disallowed by the court. I suspect this dose of legal reality led to their 11th-hour settlement." Aaaaand scene. more ›

In dog-bites-man news, police say a Baruch College finance major who moonlighted as a party promoter made a little extra money by selling Ecstasy! Michail Shimonov, 23, (pictured here with E written all over his face) and his alleged partner in crime Albert Kim are accused of working with an eight-man drug crew that sold E, Ketamine (Special K) and GHB to clubgoers. Investigators say undercover cops bought the drugs during an eight-month narcotics investigation at Pacha and Rebel, and wire taps caught crew members talking on the phone about dealing drugs at Roseland Ballroom and Mansion, now known as M2 Ultra Lounge. Shimonov had 88 Ecstasy pills, each marked with a green gun, when police arrested him; he was allegedly selling them to Kim for $8 a pill, and Kim would then unload them in clubs for $25 each. Shimonov, who worked for the party promotion company Entourage, liked to tell people he was "getting my promotion career in motion." And his poor mother tells the Daily News, "I can only say good things about my son. They can say whatever they want, he's no drug ring leader. Of course not." more ›

Finally! Thanks to MSNBC's Morning Joe, we get to hear what former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani thinks of the debate surrounding waterboarding of terror suspects during the Bush administration. Giuliani first said, "Sometimes I think people get so preoccupied and obsessed with the rights of terrorist that they forget" about the need for getting information from the suspects. more ›

Legendary New York Knick—and former U.S. Senator from NJ—Bill Bradley has weighed in about the Nets' impending move to Brooklyn. And, according to CityRoom, he thinks it sucks! Noting how the Atlantic Yards project has been beset by years delays, Bradley said, "Maybe it takes something like that to bring people to their senses. They don’t belong in Brooklyn. They belong in New Jersey. They belong here." Atlantic Yards developer and Nets principal owner Bruce Ratner says that ground will be broken—in Brooklyn—this year but Newark Mayor Cory Booker thinks the Nets may never play there. Last week, Booker told a radio show caller, "I'm going to go way out on a limb here and let you know maybe more than I should. I am confident, now more than ever, that the deal with Brooklyn is just not going anywhere. The team is going to go up for sale. That's my prediction." Booker is more worried that the Nets will head to Kansas City or Seattle. more ›

A 71-year-old Queens grandmother say's she'll file a civil-rights lawsuit against the city after an altercation inside the 107th Precinct Wednesday night left her with a broken hip. Elizabeth Gorden (pictured) had gone there with other family members to find out why cops hadn't arrested a man who allegedly slapped her granddaughter at a bus station. What happened next is heavily disputed—police say the family became unruly and were asked to leave. And when a captain intervened, they say Gorden took a swing at him, missed and fell to the floor, breaking her hip. She had to have surgery this week. more ›

Before former governor Eliot Spitzer was brought down by Hookergate, he was embroiled in Troopergate, the campaign to smear (then) Republican Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. The State Commission on Public Integrity investigated the matter at the time, last week the Inspector General revealed the commission's head, Herbert Teitelbaum, leaked details of the probe to Spitzer and that the panel never truly investigated the matter! Now Teitelbaum has resigned, though he claims it was because he was a "lightning rod for criticism" and slammed the IG's report, "Calling something an ‘apparent violation' is just another way of saying ‘I have insufficient proof.' It is reckless, unprofessional and dangerous for the Inspector General to initiate an investigation based on a claim of ‘inappropriate conduct' and to then make a finding of an ‘apparent violation.'" Beyond Teitelbaum's departure, Governor David Paterson wants the entire panel to resign and start over. more ›

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wants reform of corporate incentives, rather than capping executive pay. He said yesterday, during a Newsweek-sponsored luncheon, "I don't think our government should set caps on compensation," even for companies getting TARP money. He pointed out, "You had a crisis magnified by the fact that people were paid to take a huge amount of short-term risk. And that's something that's preventable...I think we can bring about broader reforms of compensation incentives in finance as a whole. We’ll make it much less likely that people get paid to take large amounts of short-term risk at the expense of their firm and the system as a whole." He suggested instead that the government require that compensation be tied into long-term performance. more ›

Last night, a 16-month-old boy with flu-like symptoms died at Elmhurst Hospital Center. According to the Daily News, the hospital said 200 people were also there with flu-like symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control will investigate whether swine flu was the culprit. more ›

Four men are wanted in connection with two attacks at the Butler Houses in the Bronx. On April 3, the group attacked a 45-year-old man in front of a building around 11 p.m.; they also robbed him. Then, on April 18, they struck again at 2:30 a.m.—and the assault was caught on camera. WABC 7 reports, "Police said two men were assaulted as they entered the building. A 43-year-old victim was struck in the head with a bottle, pushed into an elevator and robbed. He needed stitches to his head. The other victim, a 46-year-old man, was pushed to the ground in the hallway and robbed." One suspect has been identified as Tyrone Hines; police are asking people with additional information about him and the other suspects to contact CrimeStoppers (800-577-TIPS or online). more ›

The NY Times reports, "A parent council in Manhattan and the city’s teachers’ union sued the Department of Education on Monday, contending that the department had not adequately consulted with the council in deciding which schools to close and in altering school boundaries." While the community education councils—which include parents of students—are supposed to be have power over school zoning, District 2's council (representing the East Side and Lower Manhattan; there are 32 districts total) contends that the DOE has been unresponsive to their concerns. Council president Rebecca Daniels tells the Times, "We were trying very hard and we just weren’t getting the kind of communication we needed. The reporting to parents and hearing their feedback was just not happening." She blames mayoral control for squeezing parents out of the equation—and leaving them and their children helpless when schools close. The state is in the process of determining whether to continue mayoral control; a Times editorial backed continuing mayoral control of schools, but noted, "Some fine-tuning aimed at giving parents and communities more access is in order." more ›

• Yankees 7, Twins 6: Andy Pettitte gave up two runs in the first inning, but the Yankees had his back. They got four runs before they made an out and six runs in the frame. Then they held on with Mariano Rivera sitting in the bullpen. Mark Teixeira had a three-run homer (as a righty) and a solo shot (as a lefty). Alex Rodriguez went deep right after Teixeira did in the first. Pettitte struck out three and walked one in his 6 1/3 innings. Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras and Phil Coke combined to almost give up the lead. This game ended a streak of three straight walk-off wins, but the Yankees will take it. They have won six straight.
• Dodgers 3, Mets 2 (11 innings): After getting an impressive start from Tim Redding and tying the game in the eighth inning, the Mets threw it away. Ryan Church missed third base in the 11th, costing the Mets the go-ahead run. In the bottom of the inning, Carlos Beltran and Jeremy Reed both made errors, and the Dodgers walked off with the victory. The worst news of the day came earlier, as the Mets learned they would be without Carlos Delgdo for about two months. He has a hip injury similar to the one that kept the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez out of action.
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With the swine flu outbreak closing down a handful of schools and claiming its first local victim, Mayor Bloomberg wasted no time in naming Dr. Thomas Farley as the new commissioner of the health department. Farley will begin on June 8th once Thomas Frieden takes over his new post heading up the CDC. Farley was a safe and expected choice as an epidemics expert who has advised Frieden and may have also won over the mayor's (low in cholesterol) heart with his aggressive stance against obesity. The Daily News says Farley recently ran into some controversy with "a memo to Frieden noting an increase in syphilis and HIV infection among gay men and suggesting the city 'reevaluate' its policies on gay bathhouses and other venues where men have sex with men." As for the swine flu situation, a twelfth school has shut its doors because so many students were sick. However, Upper East Side St. David's, a Catholic school for boys, closed voluntarily with the mayor saying, "They chose to close, we did not recommend they close." more ›

Memo to Rosie Mendez: Why even bother running for reelection when you've got such a cherubic challenger gunning for your City Council seat? It's all over but the crying for Manhattan's District 2; 18-year-old preppy Dodge Landesman's victory in November is all but assured—why just look at those adorable cheeks! His father happens to be Obama's NEA nominee Rocco Landesman, who draws a lot of water in this town as president of Jujamcyn Theatres, and a recent fundraiser for the teen's campaign was recently attended by Julianne Moore. more ›

While President Obama drew a lot of flak from the Catholics angry about him giving the commencement speech at Notre Dame yesterday, pro-choicer Mayor Bloomberg seemed to fly under the church's radar for being honored (and giving "humorous" remarks) at local Catholic university Fordham on Saturday. A spokesman for Archbishop Dolan said that he was "unaware that the mayor was at Fordham," but stopped short of offering any take on the school's choice. Dolan has been very open about his objections to Obama speaking at Notre Dame, saying this weekend it could be seen as an endorsement of the president's pro-choice stance. Good thing he cleared that up since there's been so much speculation on just where the Catholic Church stands on the issue. The Post talked to one New Yorker who sat out her Notre Dame graduation yesterday (opting to spend the time praying instead). She told the paper, "I wouldn't be able to approve them handing him a degree. Your commencement speaker is supposed to be someone you emulate, and they're supposed to be sending you off into the world." more ›

Tomorrow afternoon Council Member Letitia James and schools within the JHS 117 /Francis Scott Key Building will hold a press conference on Student Safety Issues following incidents of harassment/violence that have become a common occurrence for students attending school at 300 Willoughby Avenue. Over the years students have become "victims of consistent harassment, jumping, and robberies, as they travel to and from the school building towards the G-train subway stop at Classon and Lafayette Avenues, as well as when taking surrounding buses," according to the press release. On April 30th, one student was jumped and when two fellow students defended him they were all attacked by nearly a dozen neighborhood residents. The assailants then followed the students into the school, resulting in school staff and school safety injuries, as well as broken glass doors. Hopefully the meeting can lead towards creating what they call a "safe corridor" for the students to travel to and from school. more ›

Back in 2002, former NY1 reporter sued the local news station for creating a hostile work environment. Among Adele Sammarco's claims were that one reporter Photoshopped her photograph to show her with "giant breasts and the photo was then plastered all over the newsroom" and that another NY1 anchor "attacked" her in his car. Now the Daily News reports that the witness list submitted for the case is long and features a "who's who of New York journalism." more ›

Last week Brooklyn's Community Board 6, which includes Park Slope, voted again to approve a proposed two-way bike lane along Prospect Park West, but they want the project revised to separate the lane from traffic by a raised median. The 16-4 vote decided that the painted buffer zone the DOT would use to separate the bike lane is insufficient; board members think the median is necessary to protect cyclists from cars and to protect children who may dash heedlessly from parked cars into the bike lane. Speaking to the Brooklyn Paper, board member and bike lane opponent James Bernard said, "This is a crazy idea that doesn’t make any sense. People want to do something good for bikes, but you are robbing Peter to pay Paul — and Peter in this case is safety of the children." 58 accidents involving motorists, cyclists and pedestrians were reported between 2005 and 2007 on Prospect Park West, where speeding is a constant problem. A DOT spokesperson promised that the agency would review the board's recommendations, and noted any revisions wouldn't delay the bike lane because the DOT isn't planning to install it until September anyway. more ›

Whether you're selling candy bars for new basketball uniforms or could use some extra space for your xylophone and stand up bass, you'll be happy to know that there's been more room on the subways so far this year with ridership dramatically down. This past March saw approximately 2.5 million less riders take public transportation compared with March 2008. Of course good news for cramped straphangers isn't exactly music to the MTA's ears. The drop in ridership has given the agency a new budget shortfall to worry about with $7.1 million less in fares coming in than was expected in March alone. Toll collections are offering no relief—bridges and tunnels saw a million less drivers come across them than the year prior as well. How long until the MTA threatens more service cuts or starts charging those pesky two-wheeled "anti-car extremists" for using their crossings? The Post blames the lazy unemployed for no longer paying their fare to go to work and suggests heavier snowfall this winter didn't help either. more ›

Matt Lauer gave it the old college try with Caroline Kennedy today, using her appearance on the Today Show (to plug the Kennedy Profiles in Courage awards) as a chance to solve the ongoing mystery over why she dropped her bid to occupy Hillary Clinton's vacated Senate seat. A Vanity Fair excerpt of the forthcoming book Ted Kennedy: The Dream That Never Died cited an unnamed "family adviser's" assertion that Kennedy's children had intervened and begged her to drop her campaign, telling her "that if she was getting this worked up just getting the job, they didn't want to see what she would be like in the trenches of a political campaign or a fight in Washington." more ›

Once upon a time, Ray Kinsella had to turn his corn field into a baseball diamond and travel across the country in search of a reclusive author to reconnect with the memories of his upbringing and come to terms with his late father. Nowadays Yankee fans simply have enter in their credit card information and are well on their way to owning an eighty-dollar tablespoon of dirt from the old stadium in order to do the same. more ›

Almost a year-and-a-half-long pilot program in four neighborhoods in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens and Staten island, the city has announced that its message alert system, NotifyNYC, will now be rolled out citywide. Notify NYC services are available by email, text message and voice message to home, office and cellular telephones. According to the press release, starting on May 28, "Residents in all five boroughs will now be able to register multiple email addresses, text message accounts and phone numbers to receive Notify NYC advisories about events in up to five zip codes." Subscribers will get emergency alerts (hello, military plane that was supposed to fly over the Hudson), like AMBER Alerts and ones about natural disaster. Plus, you can sign up for Significant Event Notifications for less-severe situations (like brush fires, extended disruptions of mass transit services and major utility outages), Public Health Notifications and "non-emergency advisories about unscheduled suspensions of alternate side parking rules and public school closures and delays. more ›

Remember how Donald Trump was suing a NY Times business editor Timothy O'Brien and the publishers of his book, TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald, for $5 billion, because The Donald felt it misstated his wealth by billions (Smith's estimate: $150-250 million)? Well, as a hearing is scheduled to take place today, the Wall Street Journal pored over a 2007 deposition that Trump made about his wealth. He said, "My net worth fluctuates, and it goes up and down with markets and with attitudes and with feelings, even my own feeling," and when asked if he's "familiar with the concept of net present value?," Trump replies, "The concept of net present value to me would be the value of the land currently after debt...Well, to me, the word 'net' is an interesting word. It's really — the word 'value' is the important word." Ever the cheerleader, the real estate developer explains, "Would you like me to say, oh, gee, the building is not doing well, blah, blah, blah, come by, the building -- nobody talks that way. Who would ever talk that way?" [via Daily Intel] more ›

The cool and cloudy morning is not a signal for what's ahead this week. A decrepit old front that parallels the entire length of the east coast is responsible for the morning clouds. The sky should gradually clear today as that front moves eastward. Cold air trails behind the front so expect a high of only 60. more ›

What started out as an ordinary Sunday shopping trip with his son erupted into a creepy fistfight for FDNY chief Butch Brandes, who says a strange man tried to snatch his 8-year-old son Jake outside Kings Plaza Mall. The two were walking on the crowded sidewalk when an unidentified man approached and started screaming that Jake was his son, not Brandes's. The man began punching Brandes after he locked Jake in his car, and they began fighting in the middle of the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Avenue V. Brandes was finally assisted by good Samaritan Kevin Williams, who tells the Daily News, "[Brandes] was yelling as he fought, 'He's trying to take my kid - can you help me?' I was able to get the man from behind and knock him to the ground. I had to do something." The unidentified attacker was taken into police custody after Williams and Brandes subdued him. Two striking photos in the News show both the assailant, who has a dead-eye stare, and an understandably freaked-out Jake clutching his real father, who suffered several bruises and cuts during the incident. more ›

Now, it's almost common place (though incredibly exciting and bugging) when a cow escapes a slaughterhouse. But, now, after seeing WABC 7's footage of cows on the loose in New Jersey, it seems that cows just love the road! A number of dairy cows were found on Route 202 and Branchburg police had to channel Old McDonald and round them up. This video is pretty hypnotizing—the cows approach a police cruiser, check it out, and then wander around. Eventually they make it back from the highway to what looks like a farm. more ›

Sadly, the world won't see Woody Allen face off with Dov Charney in a courtroom. Not today, at least. American Apparel has posted the following statement on their website: "Today the lawsuit filed against American Apparel by Woody Allen will settle whereby he will receive a $5M payment. The vast majority of this payment will be paid by our insurance carrier who is responsible for the decision to settle this case and has controlled the defense of this case since its inception. Naturally there is some relief of not having to go through a trial but I also harbor a sense of remorse and sadness for not arguing an important issue regarding the First Amendment, particularly the ability of an individual or corporation to invoke the likeness of a public figure in a satiric and social statement." more ›

Count Senator Charles Schumer amongst those who want the space shuttle Atlantis to retire at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Following NASA's announcement that they will send three space shuttles to institutions around the country, the Intrepid put their name in the hat. It's now being reported that "Schumer said Sunday he is supporting the Intrepid's bid for a space shuttle and he has appealed to Vice President Joe Biden to make it happen." If it all goes down, the shuttle would be housed in a glass enclosure at the end of Pier 86 around 2012. more ›

NYC's DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan may be beloved by cycling enthusiasts for her radical expansion of the city's bike lanes, but to critics like Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, she's "an anti-car extremist. It's kind of easy for Ms. Sadik-Khan to be holier than thou and tell people they have no business driving. She may live down the block from the subway station—but most people don't." And John Liu, the City Council member from Queens who chairs the council’s Transportation Committee, says her agenda comes with "a sense of the elite telling the everyday people what’s good for them, and that’s simply not appreciated. I think it can no longer be ignored, the demographic groups calling for these changes versus the demographic groups that protest." more ›

Accompanying its article on how minorities were among the hardest hit victims of foreclosure in the New York City and surrounding area, the NY Times also created an interactive map showing how "foreclosure rates in the region were highest in areas with high minority populations." Minorities have been targeted by predatory lenders; the map also shows how the problem is small in 2005 but mushrooms in 2008. As for the situation at present, Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation president Colvin Grannum lamented, "Rather than helping to narrow the wealth and home ownership gap between black and white, we’ve managed in the last few years to strip a lot of equity out of black neighborhoods," and City Councilman James Sanders (D-Queens) said of the blocks with boarded houses, "My district feels like ground zero. In military terms, we are being pillaged." more ›

Yesterday afternoon, at 45th and 6th Avenue in Midtown, there was a big rally, full of gay marriage proponents urging the State Senate to pass the gay marriage bill, holding signs like "Marriage Equality Now." Governor David Paterson made a last-minute appearance, rousing the crowd, "My name is David Paterson, and I came here today seeking justice. Let New York lead the country in making the dreams and wishes come true for people who want to get married." But at Third Avenue and 40th, there was an opposing rally, organized by the New York Hispanic Clergy Organization, led State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. (D-Bronx)—signs included "1 man + 1 woman = God's will" and chants were along the lines of "New York is not Sodom and Gomorrah!" more ›

Good news for anyone sick of getting off the G at Smith and 9th Street and waiting for an F train just to go a couple more stops: Starting July 5th, the G train will continue on for five more stops into Brooklyn. The additional service is being added because of the massive Culver Viaduct Rehabiliation project, which, according to the Post, will prevent the G train from reversing itself at the next stop (Fourth Avenue). Come summer it will stop at Fourth Avenue-Ninth Street, Seventh Avenue, 15th Street-Prospect Park and Fort Hamilton Parkway before finally reversing course after the Church Avenue stop. This may be the best silver lining to the rehab work being done at Smith and 9th Street; last we heard the MTA plans to close the station entirely for at least nine months next year, and the entire project is expected to take 4 years. A spokesman for NYC Transit tells us, "We have said that we would look to make the [G train] terminal change permanent, as it makes sense both from a customer and operational perspective." more ›

Yesterday morning, the FDNY, NYPD, Port Authority Police, Office of Emergency Management and additional agencies converged on the World Trade Center PATH station in lower Manhattan to participate in a full-scale exercise—Operation Safe PATH 2009— to test their response to an improvised explosive device detonation. While PATH service was suspended and the immediate area were closed off to vehicular and pedestrian traffic, over 800 emergency responders, plus 150 volunteers who portrayed victims, participated in the drill, which involved two (simulated) explosions that occurred on a NJ-bound PATH train about 1000-1200 feet into the tunnel. more ›

Greenwich Village residents are calling for increased police presence after a Sunday morning stabbing left their sidewalks stained with blood for the second time in three days. But unlike the unprovoked Thursday morning beating that hospitalized Buffalo resident Allen Williams, this second attack does not appear to be gay-bashing. Police sources tell the Post that the victim, 41-year-old Derek Brown, has a record of 23 arrests. It's believed he was stabbed in the back and arm during a heated argument with an unidentified man at West Fourth and Grove streets about 5:45 a.m. The fight occurred remarkably close to Thursday morning's near-fatal assault, which police are investigating as a hate crime. When cops found Brown collapsed a half a block away, he refused to identify his assailant or answer questions; he's currently in stable condition at St. Vincent's. A reader tells us that on Sunday morning there were "TONS of blood in front of Gristedes on West 4th Street," and another resident tells the Post, "There are shady guys out at night dealing drugs and having heated arguments even outside my window. I'm honestly considering moving. This is the worst it's been in years." more ›

Yesterday, I.S. 238 assistant principal Mitch Wiener passed away, becoming the first NYC fatality of the swine flu. Wiener's illness was disclosed last week, when his school in Queens closed along with others. Mayor Bloomberg said, "His death is a loss for our schools and our city," and called him a "well-liked and devoted educator." more ›

With $2.5 billion in unpaid taxes owed to the state, State Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx) has introduced a bill that would post the names of tax scofflaws online. For instance, the Daily News reports that there's a "phone card company that owes more than $15 million" while "a Manhattan outfit that runs luxury yacht tours and owes $1.8 million." Klein says, "They're not paying their taxes, and hardworking people around the state of New York who are doing the right thing ...are getting hurt as a result." Assemblyman William Colton has also proposed a similar list—he'd like to list the "top 250 individual tax delinquents" and "top 250 business tax cheats." Maybe NYC should consider this idea. more ›

Well, fancy that: A TPM Cafe blogger noticed how a passage in Maureen Dowd's Sunday op-ed column was very similar to a Talking Points Memo column, posted on Thursday, by TPM editor Josh Marshall. Dowd's passage read, "More and more the timeline is raising the question of why, if the torture was to prevent terrorist attacks, it seemed to happen mainly during the period when the Bush crowd was looking for what was essentially political information to justify the invasion of Iraq." Marshall's was exactly the same, except he used "we were" instead of "the Bush crowd was." Dowd later admitted to the Huffington Post that it was a mistake—she was discussing the column with a friend "who suggested I make this point, expressing it in a cogent -- and I assumed spontaneous -- way and I wanted to weave the idea into my column. but, clearly, my friend must have read josh marshall without mentioning that to me." Gawker calls it BS and Politico's Michael Calderone has emailed Dowd, asking "if it's common practice to take an entire passage from a friend and weave it into her column." In the meantime, Dowd's column is updated, acknowledging Marshall. more ›

• Yankees 3 Minnesota 2 (10 innings): The Twins must be getting tired of seeing the same thing everyday. For the third-straight time the Yankees won the game in their last at bat. This time the hero was Johnny Damon who lofted a 3-2 pitch into the rightfield stands for the win. Damon’s heroics capped a comeback by New York. Down 2-0, the heroes of Friday and Saturday got the game tied when A-Rod homered and Melky added a RBI . In the 8th, both teams turned outstanding defensive plays to keep the game tied. Mark Teixeira made a great throw at home to nail a runner and Joe Mauer made a superb lunge to the plate to nail Brett Gardner. Alfredo Aceves pitched an inning of relief to earn his second win of the year.

We're not sure if it's the team's late game heroics or AJ Burnett becoming the Bronx's Cream Pie Bandit, but all of a sudden the Yankees became really fun to watch this weekend. Today's hero was Johnny Damon, hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th to bring the forty-four thousand-plus inside Yankee Stadium to their feet. That marked the third game in a row the team has ended the game with a walk-off hit, the first time the Bombers have had that happen since 1972. But what might be just as exciting is what has happened after all three of the game-winning hits: the hero of the day has been surprised by pitcher AJ Burnett with a shaving whipped cream pie right in the face. When was the last time the Bronx saw such spontaneity and playfulness among the reputation they've built for being a team of business-like professionals throughout the last two decades? Burnett brings the tradition from his days on the Blue Jays and before the season told a YES Network reporter, "I'm gonna mess with them all the time whether they're having a good day or a bad day. I just can't wait to pie somebody." more ›

There was some talk about a year ago that upon finishing out his second and final term, Mayor Bloomberg's plans were to ride off into the sunset and begin pouring some of the many millions he had accumulated into the philanthropic causes supported by his foundation. In the time since, Bloomberg has in fact found a way to open the vault on his fortune at a record pace—into winning an election that no one seems to believe will even be close. With a financial report filed this weekend, Bloomberg has already spent $18.7 million on his campaign for a third term, twice what he had spent at this point in 2005. It's also nearly ten times what challenger Bill Thompson has spent and triple what any possible contender can spend until September under campaign finance regulations. A public affairs expert tells the Times, “There appears to be very little downside to this kind of spending...It’s a shock-and-awe approach.” The paper also calls the mayor's treatment suspiciously harsh treatment of Anthony Weiner (who's not even in the race!) "a thuggish cast to Mr. Bloomberg’s Park Avenue-style campaign." more ›

Earlier this week, a former squat, the Bullet Space at 292 East 3rd Street in the East Village, was turned over to its residents. Or, as the NY Post puts it, "Nearly 30 years after an eclectic group of poets, performers, anarchists and artists illegally occupied a burned-out East Village tenement, they've officially become a Manhattan co-op." more ›

There have been countless stories to invite allusions to Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in the sixty-six years since she first published the novel. But Marion Smith's woeful tale of attempting to get a tree to grow in Brooklyn may be the ultimate reference-baiting tale. The Daily News has the account of the 79-year-old Smith asking that the city not plant a tree in the spot in front of her Park Slope apartment. She made the request because the previous tree began to wither right around the same time she lost her husband, as she tells the paper, "It died right after he died." After she was assured that her sidewalk would be kept clear, the city still went ahead and showed up to plant one. When a neighbor of the disabled Smith tried to intervene and halt the tree's installation, the Parks Department planter threatened to have the neighbor arrested! Smith is also concerned that she will be unable to clean up any leaves or possible fruit that comes of the ginkgo tree, the fruits of which have an aroma that has been compared to "rancid butter, vomit and dog droppings." more ›

British royal Prince Harry may be making his first formal visit to the U.S. later this month when he travels to NYC, but he won't be making any party stops. According to the Post, right after the third-in-line to the British crown (after his dad Prince Charles and brother Prince William) plays in the Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic, he's "booked him on a red-eye flight straight back to London that same day," which means no after-party at the Pink Elephant. A friend says, "It's no coincidence that while other polo players will be partying, Harry will be on his way home. He was so desperate to go that he considered defying the no-night-life rule and flying out his friends on a separate plane to join him. Now he has resigned himself to not being there." Well, that's one less night for him to break out the Nazi costume! At any rate, Harry will be in town the night of May 29—he is spending the day visiting Ground Zero and other organizations that day. more ›

In the wake of the NTSB's hearings about the fatal Flight 3407 that crashed in Buffalo, more attention is being drawn on low pilot pay and their commutes. Flight 3407's captain commuted from Tampa to Newark while the co-pilot (who only made $16,000/year) commuted from Seattle. One young pilot tells the NY Times he makes $25,000/year as a co-pilot and is $100,000 in debt from training. One senior pilot said he was lucky to get 4.5 hours of sleep at a hotel, because others can't afford hotel rooms or even "crash pads" listed on Craigslist. A former regional pilot (now a safety consultant) said, "I know a guy who bought a car that barely ran and parked it in the employee lot at his base airport, and slept in his car six or seven times a month." And NY-based (but lives in Boston) pilot Alex LaPointe spoke to the Daily News, "Probably at least once a trip you find yourself nodding off just 'cause there's some days you don't get enough sleep...If you spend an extra three or four hours commuting on top of a 14-hour duty day, you can easily go 18, 20 hours of being up. It cuts into your rest. It certainly fatigues you." more ›

The MTA is once again seeking to save money by expanding the practice of running trains without a conductor. The One Person Train Operation program, or by its robot name, "OPTO," has been previously stopped in the courts after objections were raised by the Transit Workers Union. The only instance an arbitrator has allowed the OPTO plan is late nights and weekends on the G line. Now the MTA would like to expand it to 7, L, J and M lines as well. A TWU spokesman told the Daily News, "Of course, this is one of management's demands. This is something the MTA has been pursuing the last two or three bargaining rounds and we continue to completely disagree with them." The last fight between the two was in 2006; it's unclear if the same arbiters will rule in the union's favor again or if robojudges have since ascended within the court system. more ›

In Boston they have the “Green Monster.” In New York we now have “The Moat.” We have that wide concourse which separates the ridiculously expensive seats from the seats that are just expensive at the new Yankee Stadium. You are not allowed past the moat unless you pay the exorbitant prices, no exceptions. The NYU class of 2009 was not allowed past the moat and ordinary fans seeking autographs during batting practice will not be allowed past the moat. more ›

Word is that infectious disease specialist Dr. Thomas Farley is set to become the city's new health commissioner. In recent years, Farley was a senior adviser to Dr. Thomas Frieden, who has left his post in order to head up the Center for Disease Control. The mayor is expected to make the announcement tomorrow. On Friday, Bloomberg said, "I didn't want this city, particularly at a time when you have H1N1 on people's minds, to go without a health commissioner." Currently six city schools are closed due to swine flu. Farley, the current chairman of the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, co-authored a paper with Frieden titled “Public Health in New York City, 2002-2007: Confronting Epidemics of the Modern Era." Former health official told the Times, “Tom Farley is a really top-notch epidemiologist and a really, really well-respected public health official. He has a lot of interest in addressing the issues that are causing people to have poor health.” more ›

A longstanding family feud left one man dead after being stabbed yesterday afternoon in Jamaica. 42-year-old Michael Thompson was arrested for manslaughter after allegedly stabbing Adeyimi King in the chest while trying to protect his sister, King's girlfriend. A fourteen-year-old neighbor told the Daily News that the two had been at odds for some time including and incident where King "yanked (Thompson's) dreads from his head." The 40-year-old King died at Jamaica Hospital after the fight and stabbing around 1:30 p.m. left him lying in blood on Liverpool Street. A neighbor who refused to give her name to the News told the paper, "Life is so important, and people just don't value life anymore." more ›

Evan Potts is being held on $5 million bond after pleading not guilty to manslaughter charges after fatally striking 34-year-old Ian Sharinn with his Nissan Altima and then driving over the victim's body. The 22-year-old defendant's lawyer, Stanley Kopilow, said he would appeal the high bail—$500,000 if paid in cash—as he told the court yesterday, "This was a tragedy that was fueled by unreasonable anger on the part of the deceased and panic on behalf of my client." more ›

Mayor Bloomberg was awarded an honorary degree at Fordham University's commencement yesterday. While he wasn't the marquee speaker—that was Tom Brokaw—he did get to tell the graduates a little something: "I am not going to tell you right here the secrets to success, although it never hurts to be the first one into the office each morning-and the last one to leave. I am not going to tell you how to choose a career, but it doesn't hurt to pick that first job based on how much you'll learn, not how much you'll earn. I'm not going to tell you how to avoid getting fired, because I have been fired, and it was the best thing that ever happened to my career. I am not I am not going to tell you how to spend your free time, but there's nothing more important than giving back to your community." more ›

Last week, six schools were closed last week due to high numbers of students having swine flu-like symptoms. Now, teachers union the United Federation of Teachers says 18 other schools have had high numbers of absent students—and that the Health Department should monitor them for possible closure. more ›

Tomorrow morning, the area around the World Trade Center site will be closed for a "full scale training exercise" held by the NYC Office of Emergency Management and the Port Authority of NY and NJ. The exercise will simulate an explosion in one of the PATH train tunnels and will include over 800 first responders. The following streets will be closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic between 6 a.m. and about 11:30 a.m.: Greenwich Street, West Broadway, and Church Street between Vesey Street (included) and Warren Street (not included); Vesey Street, Barclay Street, Park Place, and Murray Street between Broadway (not included) and West Street (not included). Also, the PATH will be not stopping at WTC—here are more details on PATH service tomorrow morning. more ›

With college graduation season in full swing, New York is about to be invaded with this year's crop of postgrads following the legends they've heard of this safe version of New York City that now apparently even promises affordable apartments in neighborhoods they've seen in movies since they were kids. The Times talks to recent transplants and realtors about just how affordable Manhattan apartments have gotten recently. One apartment hunter tells them, “I can type in my search criteria now and see 50 listings in Manhattan...they are definitely there and two years ago, they weren’t.” Others say that they're just satisfied with how spacious apartments are in neighborhoods they find pleasantly surprising such as Gowanus and Harlem. A recent grad described how many college friends she has in Astoria saying, “I guess it’s the same idea as immigrants—they find ways to stay near one another." One realtor tells the paper that things certainly have changed since the 32,000 graduates who arrived in 2007 when "Wall Street gave them $60,000 a year and $10,000 in moving fees.” more ›

The man accused of the stabbing murder of a Bronx woman he was AIM chat buddies with admitted to having an altercation with victim Nizmay Aponte and her friend, but stopped short of offering a full confession. After taking a swing at the friend, suspected killer Raymond Dennis told police, "I got into a fight with Nimzay. I smacked her on her ass and told her to stop lying to me. I said, 'That's what you get for playing with my emotions.'" Dennis was known online as "Mike" and was tracked down after Aponte whispered on her deathbed, "MIke did it." The News reports that he has a violent history with women, once having an order of protection taken out against by an ex-wife he had threatened he would "take off this earth" and pleaded guilty last year to hitting a woman in the face so hard she spat blood. Dennis told police that he drank two beers and smoked a blunt before going to the Mott Haven park where the murder took place and did not remember having a knife on him when he returned home. more ›

Last week, Inwood resident and schoolteacher Jason Holt was told by the Drug Enforcement Agency that his Inwood apartment was being targeted, so the feds put him up in a hotel for a little while. After that, the NY Times reports, "On Wednesday, the agents told him an arrest had been made and let him go home, but provided no details. At school Thursday morning, Mr. Holt checked the news online and got his answer." A cop, told by a drug dealer that there was $900,000 in the apartment's floor, was arrested for asking someone (who was a police informant) to help him "subdue" Holt with a stun gun and steal the cash. The news also explained why his apartment had been either broken into (the floors were torn up) or attracted odd activities (his lock's cylinder was stolen; a woman with young child said she left something there, etc). Holt, who said of apartment 4D, It seemed like a great find, a great deal," is now looking for a new place. more ›

If a strongly-worded recommendation from Chuck Schumer wasn't enough to discourage Congressman Steve Israel from challenging Kirsten Gillibrand in next year's Democratic primary for Senate, party brass brought in the big boss to make sure he knew how serious the sentiment was. Israel announced that he had decided not to run yesterday shortly after receiving a call from President Obama. Israel said, "When (the president) asked me to take a leadership role in fighting for his agenda, I wasn't about to say no. He believes that at this critical time...that party unity is important." Carolyn Maloney may be next potential challenger pushed to the side, but it doesn't appear that there is any sign of retreat from Gillibrand's most visible foe since entering the Senate, Carolyn McCarthy. She may also have to face labor activist Jonathan Tasini, who told Politico, "Had the party leadership sought to “clear the field” in 2008 and control a vigorous debate about the direction of our party and our country, Barack Obama would not be president today." more ›

After a state appellate court rejected a lawsuit stopping his Atlantic Yards project, developer Bruce Ratner says that ground will be broken sometime this year (maybe this summer, maybe this fall). He told the NY Times, "I’m honestly overjoyed. This is a weight off my back." A group of property owners in the footprint of the massive project had claimed eminent domain was improperly used to obtain land; the appellate court unanimously rejected the challenge, finding, "It cannot be said that the public benefits which the Atlantic Yards project is expected to yield are incidental or pretextual in comparison to the benefit that will be bestowed upon the project’s private developer." Still, the opponents, who believe Ratner will profit much more than the public will benefit (and who have helped stall the plans for two years), vow to take their case to the Court of Appeals. The Daily News notes, "The decision allows Ratner to qualify for tax-free bonds to build the arena and the go-ahead to purchase the MTA-owned rail yard on which it will be built." more ›

According to urine and blood samples tested, former Yankee Jim Leyritz apparently was not drinking earlier in the week when a Breathalyzer device installed in his car malfunctioned and said that he was. The failed test set the 1996 World Series hero off and led him to tell his wife, "Maybe it's better to end it all than go through this hassle." Leyritz's "hassle" stems from pending manslaughter chargers after running a red light and killing another driver while under the influence in 2007. Leyritz denies that he was ever considering suicide, telling the Daily News, "Aside from the pending trial I have a lot of other stress in my life. I can't provide for my family anymore. My brother-in-law has ALS, my children, friends and family are suffering." Leyritz has recently claimed that the victim of the DUI accident was the one who went through a red light and was also drunk. Last year Isiah Thomas accused police of a coverup after denying what appeared to be a suicide attempt. more ›

Yesterday afternoon, a pedestrian crossing 14th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues was struck by an SUV. The Daily News reports that witnesses said the pedestrian, who was taken to St. Vincent's with "massive head injuries," was jaywalking. However, the SUV—a Range Rover—may have been traveling at a very fast speed. One witness told the News, "[The driver] was turning the corner. He had to be doing 60. He swerved to avoid the pedestrian, who was running for his life. He didn't make it. He just flew and was bleeding from the head." more ›

Police are searching for a man suspected of groping at least three women in a two-hour period this past Wednesday. According to WABC 7: "The suspect first accosted a woman at a Rite-Aid drugstore on Second Avenue at East 30th Street at around 6:15 p.m. He allegedly put his hand up the woman's skirt, grabbed her crotch and buttocks and ran out of the store. Next, he did the same thing to a woman in the lobby of her building on Second Avenue near East 36th Street at around 7 p.m... He then allegedly assaulted a 27-year-old woman in the elevator of her building on East 56th Street near Third Avenue at 8:15 p.m." Police say the suspect is around 5'10" and 200-240 pounds, in his 30s or 40s with long black hair (he may be Native American). And an East Side resident told WCBS 2, "It's scary. I have a 6-year-old daughter. Can you imagine some man comes up from behind and grabs you? Scary." more ›

Advocates have been pushing for years to make swimming in the Hudson River a reality for New Yorkers, but one career thief has been doing his part to get the NYPD to explore the possibilities of entering into other local waters that would normally be avoided. Yesterday a police diver went into the 50-degree water of Meadow Lake in Fresh Meadows Park for four hours to fish out four ATMs that were allegedly dumped there by Valentin Garcia, who had been arrested for grand larceny after getting caught lifting the ATMs right into a van, seen in the clip below. more ›

A 34-year-old man was killed after a road rage confrontation in Long Beach that saw the 22-year-old driver of the other vehicle strike the victim with his Nissan Altima and continue driving right over him before fleeing the scene. Evan Potts was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter after onlookers say he panicked when the driver of a '78 canary yellow Porsche got out of his car and began yelling at Potts after the two had been in an ongoing confrontation behind their respective wheels for over a mile. Nassau County Police spokesman Kevin Smith said, "We believe he extended his arms and said something to him. We believe it was a profanity. We don't know the exact phrase that was used, but at that time the driver stepped on the gas, struck him, might have dragged him for a short period of time." A witness described it, "He went right over him like he was a cat in the road...I heard his head rattling in the undercarriage." Potts claims that he was trying to get away fro the driver for five minutes and had been attempting to call 911. more ›

After closing three schools on Thursday due to swine flu symptoms in many students, the city closed three more—JHS 74 in Bayside, Queens and P.S. 107 in Flushing, Queens and I.S. 318 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Students at those three schools also exhibited "unusually high levels of influenza-like illnesses." Health Department Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden said, "Despite the significant disruption this causes, the Health Department has recommended closing these schools to reduce the spread of influenza. We are continuing to carefully monitor H1N1 virus throughout the City, and are taking action again today because there are unusually high and increasing levels of flu-like illnesses at these three public schools." more ›

Add Mayor Bloomberg to the group of folks who doubt that the 50-cent taxi surcharge—part of the State Legislature's plan to bailout the MTA—will actually work. The surcharge, expected to raise $85 million/year, has drawn some critics who question whether the taxi owners will actually be able to collect the money and whether it will be enforced—of course the Legislature didn't consider the logistics of it all! The Mayor said yesterday, "I don't know how you're going to do that because you're going to depend on these people to pay. That's not likely." The Post points out this is not so different from his attitude in April, "They could charge $1 every time you take a shower. Who knows?. I don't know how they collect it." Taxi drivers says the surcharge will prompt passengers to tip less (some passengers confirm that much) while one passenger said, "They're raising all the prices and we don't know where it's going, who's taking it, and if it's actually improving anything." The TLC says it is speaking with the State Department of Finance this week to discuss the surcharge. more ›

• Yankees 5 Twins 4: Down two runs entering the ninth, the Yankees turned in one of their biggest wins of the season. Brett Gardner, who had already hit an inside-the-park home run, led the inning off with a triple. Gardner scored on a RBI single from Teixeira and after A-Rod walked, the Yankees had two on and no outs. But, Matsui struck out and Swisher was robbed of a game-tying hit on a great play by Morneau. Swisher’s scorcher put the runners on second and third and with two outs the Twins elected to walk Robinson Cano and pitch to Melky Cabrera. Cabrera lined the first pitch he saw into left center, scoring two runs and winning the game.

In January 2008, subway conductor Maurice Parks was walking home in Harlem when he was mugged by a group of attackers who also stabbed him. Parks, a martial arts expert, chased them off but thought he ran into one of them—and fatally stabbed the man, who turned out to be a bystander. Parks is now on trial for Flonarza Byas's death: Prosecutors say Parks "took it upon himself to exact the most ancient form of justice - an eye for an eye," stabbing Byas 15 times. However, Parks' lawyer said his client was "acting under fear and great distress" and "reasonably believed” Byas was one of the attackers, adding, "Mr. Parks was a very innocent victim who made a mistake about another innocent victim." The NY Times has audio of Parks' 911 call, where he tells the operator that he's been attacked and then apparently sees Byas and stabs him—Byas's screams can be heard. more ›

The Brooklyn kickballers have a new opponent this season: twenty freshly planted baby trees! The Brooklyn Paper reported yesterday that the leafy obstacles were planted as a part of Mayor Bloomberg's Million Trees program, and affect all three kickball fields. Allegedly the city chose that spot in order to restore the area to Gilmore Clark’s 1936 design. They told us about how in the past "McCarren Park was decimated by the Asian Long Horn Beatle crisis and lost more than 50% of it's tree canopy coverage." more ›

Move over, 646 and 347—there may be new area codes in town. CityRoom reports that the NY Public Service Commission (the same agency that oversees utilities like Con Ed) has issued a report with two options to deal with the shortage of potential 718 and 347 phone numbers to give out to folks for their cellphones, second cellphones, and whatever other devices. Option 1: "A new area code would be superimposed over the same geographic area covered by the existing 718/347 area codes," which covers all boroughs except Manhattan. Option 2: "A new area code would be superimposed over the same geographic area covered by the existing 718/347 area codes, as well as the area covered by the 212, 646 and 917 area codes," meaning the whole city would get the new area code. The PSC is accepting comments from the public. And apparently the 646 will run out of numbers by 2014! Remember when Elaine Benes tried to explain that it wasn't a NJ area code—"No, it's just like 212 except they multiplied every number by 3… and added 1 to the middle number." more ›

Yesterday, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced that Wall Street firm the Carlyle Group agreed to pay $20 million to settle its involvement in the state pension fund scandal. And the group, which the NY Times calls "one of the largest and most politically connected private equity firms," also agreed to no longer use placement agents to gain entrance to pension funds. The state pension fund scandal, which has led to similar issues with pension funds in NYC, California, and other states, involves firms pays these middlemen—some politically connected—kickbacks for help meeting comptrollers and the chance to handle millions in the pension funds. Cuomo said, "This is a revolutionary agreement. I believe it totally changes the way people operate: It ends pay-to-play, it bans the selling of access, it puts the political power brokers out of business." Tulane Law professor Elizabeth Nowicki said, "The onus is going to be on the private-equity firms to really market their results. They need to go out and get business the old-fashioned way." more ›

Hipster Grifter Kari Ferrell has been hanging out a safe distance from Brooklyn, in the unofficial sixth borough of Philly. The Observer's Doree Shafrir, who introduced the world to the grifster, was in the Philadelphia courtroom that Ferrell appeared at this morning. Reportedly Ferrell gave an address in Brooklyn as her current one (you know, aside from her really current one at Riverside Correction Facility in Northeast Philadelphia). She also told the court during her hearing that she had a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Utah, something that university was surprised to hear, as they'd never heard of a Kari Ferrell before and had no records of her ever attending. After a few more questions and answers, the hearing was over, and now Utah has 30 days to pick up their problem child. If they don't come and get her, "she has the right to habeas corpus, meaning that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania could decide it no longer wishes to keep her, and let her go." And if that happens, a few gullible Brooklynites are about to get grifted (albeit after some mouth handjobs). more ›

Last weekend, the Daily News' Bill Madden published an open letter to George Steinbrenner, asking that regular ticketholders—the many ticketholders—who don't have "legend suite" tickets be allowed to observe batting practice. Because only those who paid $2,500 (or, now discounted $1,250) for the seats were allowed to hang out by the railing to see players up close and maybe get an autograph. Now, the Yankees have agreed to relax their rules, allowing fans to descend to certain sections (the left field, right field and outfield) to watch batting practice. Here are the new rules:

Remember fans, on game days, arrive early. Yankee Stadium Gates on Babe Ruth Plaza and Gates 2 and 8, open three hours prior to the start of every home game. All fans are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy batting practice and infield workouts from select areas of the Field Level and the Bleachers; specifically, all fans may watch batting practice and infield workouts from Field Level Sections 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135 and 136 and from all Bleachers Sections. more ›

The Times is tired of giving it up for free, and at a staff meeting yesterday executive editor Bill Keller revealed two possible scenarios that would force website readers to make an honest woman out of the Gray Lady. One scheme is a "meter system" which would kick in after a reader hits a predetermined limit of word-count or page views. At that point, the meter would start running and further content would come at a price. A second scenario could be a "membership" system akin to public television. Readers who pledge money to the site would be invited to join the cool kids in the "New York Times community" and get sweet merch like Times baseball caps, or tote bags, or plush Moose dolls. The Observer, which got the scoop on the announcement, also quotes Keller as saying—and this has got to be a joke, right?—that "he wouldn't even be opposed to offering a donor access to a Page One editorial meeting as long as it doesn't affect the paper competitively." Well, if that actually happens we are so ready to pay to join those meetings and finally get the Hipster Grifter above the fold where she belongs. more ›

The Queens DA's office and NYPD announced that they broke up an international major identity theft and credit card ring. The scam, which cost individuals and banks $15 million, has roots in—wait for it—Nigeria, involved the suspects using "spoofing" technology. The suspects would call credit card companies, masked their voices, and were able to "spoof" the companies into thinking they were calling from the cardholder's actual phone number, allowing them to change PIN numbers, order new cards and increase credit lines. Then they would buy expensive items, take out cash, or sell the cards to foreign buyers. The Daily News reports, "The scam was discovered nearly two years ago when a Queens Realtor opened a package meant for one of his employees and found 60 credit cards - the type 'normally issued in anticipation of a customer's card expiring,' [Police Commissioner] Kelly said." more ›

Sorry, poor elderly, disabled and/or blind legal residents of New York State; the Court of Appeals has ruled that you're still limited to $352 a month in public aid, about half of what lower courts ruled you should get. Of course, since many of you have died since lawyers filed the class action lawsuit in 2004, Tuesday's decision might not matter much. But thousands of poor legal immigrants desperate for public assistance are shattered by the 5-2 ruling, which held that the state had no duty to fill in for a federal program that ended benefits to most disabled legal immigrants in 1996. Since the early '50s, legal NY residents who fell on hard times were entitled to a higher level of aid if they were elderly, blind or disabled, but when D.C. took over the program in the '70s, the state supplemented the benefit to reach the higher level it had set earlier. That's over now. The NY Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance applauded the ruling, saying it could save the state and local governments $100-270 million. But in a strongly worded dissent, two judges wrote that "the majority today has turned its back on the history of New York’s commitment to protect its most fragile and vulnerable populations." more ›

Last night's rain has turned into this morning's fog. At the risk of using the most misleading meteorological metaphor, the fog should soon "burn off". Fog is water, it doesn't burn! Once the fog does dissipate we'll have a mostly sunny and warm afternoon with a high in the lower 70s. more ›

If it's the football off-season, it means it's contract negotiation time. But these days, some agents are airing their clients' details via Twitter. Take for instance Leon Washington, the Jets' running back—his agent Alvin Keels has been Tweeting "contract for my client Leon Washington. Let's get it!!!" and "I want to get my client Leon Washington back into the off-season program. Its a business however and that's what we will need 2 address." New Jets coach Rex Ryan is disappointed that Washington isn't attending the off-season voluntary workouts and said, "It's a voluntary camp. Things like this come up every year on every team. Leon is a great guy, and who knows where he's getting advice from?" And while Ryan wouldn't directly refer to Keels, he did add, "I don't know who's telling who anything... Would I like him to be here? Absolutely, no question... But he chose not to be here and that is unfortunate." Keels Tweeted on Wednesday, "Positive talk with the Jets today. Jets fans everything will be fine." more ›

The NYC Water Board is expected to vote today to approve a 12.9% water rate hike. But wait, didn't they raise the prices? It certainly feels that way—this is the third double-digit rate hike in a row; the rate last went up 11.5% in 2007. Of course, the DEP had orginally proposed a 14% rate hike—which would raise an average single-family home's fees from $799 to $911 a year—so maybe we're getting off easy? According to the Daily News, the DEP was able to trim the rate hike from 14% to 12.9% because fuel costs are falling, but officials say the increase is still necessary because of 5% budget cuts the city is forcing on agencies. Councilman David Weprin (D-Queens) says, "Enough is enough. These water rate hikes have amounted to nothing more than a backdoor property tax increase." And in a statement, city Comptroller William Thompson grouses, "A 12.9 percent water rate hike is still outrageous. This reduction is a drop in the bucket and simply too little, too late... As I’ve shown, these charges are gouging New York City families and small businesses precisely at a time when they can least afford it." more ›

This Tuesday ground was officially broken on what is allegedly New York City Public Schools' first green roof (though there's been plenty of planning for similar roofs in the past). The Daily News reports that Eric Dutt, a beloved science teacher at P.S. 6 on the Upper East Side, died in 2007, leaving his dream of the rooftop garden and greenhouse unfulfilled. The roof, called the Eric Dutt Eco Center, will be built throughout the summer and will contain "planting soil for vegetables and flowers, solar panels, a weather station, a turtle pond and a greenhouse for classes during the winter." The school raised funds through selling t-shirts, environmentally-friendly lightbulbs, and even lemonade—though there was also $1 million secured by city politicians. more ›

Western NY billionaire—and three time NY gubernatorial candidate—Tom Golisano has had it with New York's taxes so he's changing his legal address to Florida. Hey, if only the little people had residences in Florida too! Notably, it's the increased taxes to wealthier individuals that has Golisano riled up. The Buffalo News reports, "Golisano told a gathering of Rochester business executives that he will remain as owner of the Buffalo hockey team, but he is fleeing the Empire State to avoid paying $13,000 a day in state income taxes. While Golisano said his move will not end his role as outspoken critic of New York state government, it remains uncertain how seriously his cause will be taken at the State Capitol as a resident of the Town of Naples, Fla." Golisano, who is working with another billionaire, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, on possibly revamping the Independence Party, says he'll use the money he's saving (over one year, that would be about $4.75 million) to finance charities and maybe his political action committee. more ›

That NYC cab driver turned billionaire has pleaded guilty to charges that he violated the Endangered Species Act by attempting to import 29 rare dead animals into the US aboard his yacht. You may recall Tamir Sapir as the Georgian man who rose from immigrant hack to Russian oil and real estate tycoon, ultimately buying the city's most expensive townhouse across from the Metropolitan Museum for $40 million in 2006. But Florida Customs officers who peered inside his yacht in 2007 know him better as a dealer in dead endangered wildlife. more ›

It's really happening: Workers are getting ready to transform Broadway traffic lanes into a pedestrian oasis as part of the DOT's plan to ban cars from part of the city's main stem. Mayor Bloomberg and other officials announced the radical move back in February; it involves rerouting vehicular traffic from part of Broadway to Seventh Avenue, a move that they say will improve traffic flow because Broadway itself creates congestion as it cuts southeast across the avenues. Pedestrian plazas with tables and chairs, similar to the new "Broadway Boulevard," will entirely replace motor vehicles on Broadway between 42nd and 47th streets and from 32nd to 35th streets. According to 1010 WINS, work will begin Memorial day weekend, and the transformation will include bike lanes in both sections. According to the DOT, the changes, which include widening Seventh Avenue with another traffic lane, are an "experiment" that will last through the end of the year but may become permanent. more ›

On Tuesday around 12:30 p.m., a young woman was fatally stabbed in St. Mary's Park in the Bronx. It turns out that Nimzay Aponte, 23, managed to tell the police as she was dying that "Mike did it"—referring to the screenname of her killer. Police arrested Raymond Dennis yesterday and charged him with murder, illegal weapons possession and assault. more ›

The NY Times has an entertaining profile of William Donohue, the head of the Catholic League: For Religious and Civil Rights. Locally, you may remember him from his support of putting nativity scenes back in public schools, condemning the Jerry Springer opera and getting Opie & Anthony fired, but he's a fixture on TV talk shows blasting movie adaptations of Dan Brown books—in Angels & Demons, "They even have a scene where rats eat a bunch of cardinals. Can you imagine any other religion where this would not be viewed as rank religious bias?"—and slamming Notre Dame's president for inviting President Obama to receive an honorary degree—"Here is a Catholic priest, bestowing an honor on someone who supports selective infanticide." The divorced father of two wants to end anti-Catholic bias, but he's not above embracing South Park's withering parody of Donohue by way of The Da Vinci Code, The Easter Bunny, and The Matrix—Donohue has a still from the episode and seemingly brags to the Times, "In the episode, they have me overthrow the pope because the pope is a wimp, and then I take over the church and give it some guts." more ›

President Obama is expected to announce today that he's appointing Dr. Thomas Frieden, NYC's health commissioner, as the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Frieden, who will take office next month, is respected in the public health field for focusing on threats that affect the largest numbers of people—during the Bush years, for example, he found himself at odds with an administration that was funneling billions into bioterrorism initiatives while he was focused on stopping cigarette smoking in NYC. The Times offers a telling anecdote that underscores his agenda: more ›

After complaints from unsuspecting cellphone users and the very vocal Senator Chuck Schumer, the Federal Trade Commission is suing the telemarketing companies responsible for billions of robocalls selling auto warranty extensions. The Wall Street Journal reports, "In two related complaints filed in federal court on Thursday, the FTC said it was taking action against the promoter of the phony extended auto warranties, as well as the telemarketing company that it hired to carry out its allegedly illegal campaign. The FTC filed complaints against four companies and a handful of individuals related to their operations." FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said, "This is one of the most aggressive telemarketing schemes the FTC has ever encountered. not sure which is worse, the abusive telemarketing tactics of these companies, or the way they try to deceive people once they get them on the phone. Either way, we intend to shut them down.” The FTC also noted that even 911 dispatchers get these calls! more ›

Yesterday's announcement that three schools in Queens would be closed today and next week because of the high number of flu-like symptoms from students has raised concerns from parents about the H1N1—aka swine flu—infection all over again. One parent told the Post, "We thought this whole thing was over," and her 10-year-old son added that he was "scared -- because I don't want to see any of my friends get sick." more ›

Police and the family of a man who is hospitalized after hit and run accident in Queens Saturday night are asking the public for help in tracking down the driver. Bernard Sebastian was outside the Crowne Plaza hotel when a car "came out of nowhere" and slammed into him, sending the 225-pound man flying through the air after possibly shattering the windshield. Friends who were with him say they saw no skid marks and no brake lights, suggesting that the driver may not have hit the brakes before the collision. Sebastian, a father of one with a second child on the way, was lucky to survive, but is still recovering in Elmhurst Hospital. Unfortunately, the description of the vehicle is vague; one witness tells CBS2, "It was a smaller, like a mid-sized, two- or four-door vehicle, dark... They ran him over, cold-blooded, and just kept moving." Police are asking anyone with information on the crash to contact CrimeStoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS. more ›

That shrill siren you may hear downtown will just be part of a test. According to NotifyNYC, the city's public messaging program, "Starting at 9:00 AM this morning and continuing on and off for several hours, Hudson County, NJ will be testing their emergency alert siren system. Loud sirens associated with this test may be heard in Lower Manhattan." (Hudson County includes Jersey City, Bayonne, Seacaucus and Hoboken.) NotifyNYC is only in four pilot communities in the city—Lower Manhattan, SW Staten Island, NE Bronx, and the Rockaways —but even if you don't live there, you can still sign up. more ›

Last night, firefighters spent hours fighting a four-alarm fire that broke out at East Broadway and Pike Street in Chinatown. The fire occurred in the 6-story building that houses the Hong Kong supermarket on the ground floor; it broke out around 9:15 p.m. and the fire spread into the apartments above. Fire officials say that no residents, who were evacuated, were injured. However, four firefighters were taken to the hospital for treatment while three refused treatments. The fire was put out at around 2 a.m.; WABC 7 has video. Photo from reader Lucas more ›

Swine flu ain't gone yet. An assistant principal has been hospitalized in critical condition with the H1N1 virus and the city is closing down three public schools in Queens after hundreds of students have come down with flu symptoms. The assistant principal works at Intermediate School 238 in Hollis and may have had a previous condition that made him vulnerable to the virus. At one of the closed schools, Intermediate School 5 in Elmhurst, 241 students were absent from classes today. The third school is PS 16 in Corona where 29 students reported flu-like symptoms to the nurse's office today. All three schools are expected to be shut down for tomorrow and all of next week. Mayor Bloomberg said, "While the symptoms of H1N1 flu seem to resemble those of seasonal flu, the H1N1 virus seems to spread rapidly, so we’re closing these schools in order to slow transmission.” Just earlier today the Health Department had reemphasized that there have been no deaths related to swine flu in the city and that all who have been affected have recovered or are recovering. The mayor is expected to have another press conference this evening. more ›

A new Quinnipiac poll reveals that New York State is split 46% to 46% when it comes to allowing same-sex marriage. Quinnipiac also says, "Black voters opposed 57 - 35 percent while white voters tip narrowly in favor of gay marriage 47 - 45 percent." But there's more support for civil unions: Overall, voters support civil unions 65-27 "with 67 - 24 percent support from white voters and 52 - 39 percent support from black voters." more ›

Mayor Bloomberg spent several hours today being deposed by the federal government. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit in 2007 against the mayor's company, Bloomberg LP, for discrimination against women and accused the mayor of creating a "systemic, top-down culture of discrimination. Though the discrimination allegedly occurred after Bloomberg became mayor in 2001—one example is that former Bloomberg LP CEO Lex Fenwick allegedly said, "I'm not having any pregnant bitches work for me"—but one complaint claimed Bloomberg told a top saleswoman who said she was pregnant, "Kill it." CityRoom reports that one plaintiffs' lawyer said Bloomberg was cooperative, "The mayor is a very smart, sophisticated person and I think his demeanor is the way it normally would be... He happens to be a very good witness." A Bloomberg LP spokesperson said, "We are confident that once all the facts come out they will demonstrate that the claims have no merit." more ›

More details have emerged on last night's brutal beating that landed a 50-year-old man in critical condition at St. Vincent's Hospital. Police sources say the attack may have been unprovoked and believe Allen Williams of Buffalo was hailing a cab in the West Village around 2 a.m. when he was beaten by strangers who thought he was gay. more ›

Senator Chuck Schumer said nothing more than "apology accepted" after learning of the apology from the Arkansas Senate candidate who referred to him as "that Jew" last week at a GOP gathering. The apology from Arkansas State Senate Minority Leader Kim Hendren was nothing short of a classic. He said, “I ought not to have referred to it at all. When I referred to him as Jewish, it wasn’t because I don’t like Jewish people...I don’t speak with a TelePrompTer, and if I had, that reference would have never made it in there." He explained that at the time, he was responding against Schumer's claim on The Rachel Maddow Show that traditional values were behind Democrats. Hendren told Arkansas News that he believed in the traditional values that came from Andy Griffith, Aunt Bea, Barney and Opie (who is a child). He added, "I said there was another Jew that I did agree with, and that was Jesus Christ.” We're guessing that Hendren may have missed this video where Andy and Opie articulated some of their current values. more ›

Bernard Madoff, everyone's favorite multi-billion-dollar Ponzi schemer, was supposed to be sentenced for his fraud on June 16, but it was postponed till June 29. While U.S. District Judge Denny Chin didn't explain why the sentencing rescheduled, Bloomberg News reports that he "[outline] a procedure for victims who wish to submit letters to him or to speak at the sentencing," with the order reading, "Due to the number of victims in the case, the court cannot guarantee that every victim who wishes to speak at sentencing will have the opportunity to do so." (His victims do have a lot to say.) Madoff, who faces 150 years in prison, is being held that Metropolitan Correctional Center. In other news, the trustee charged with liquidating Madoff's assets believes he'll be able to approve $100 million in investor claims this month and win clawback settlements later on. more ›

The Yankees are almost a quarter of their way through the season and their manager is excited that the man who was supposed to be the biggest bat while A-Rod was on the shelf is now hitting two points over .200. Apparently seeing it as a sign that Mark Teixeira is about to turn things around, Girardi called the first baseman's two-for-four performance the most promising development in the team's 8-2 win over the Blue Jays last night. Only two other regular starters in the AL are hitting lower that Teixeira and the closest recent Yankee slugger with nearly as bad of a start was Tino Martinez hitting .254 at same point one season. GM Brian Cashman is spinning the bad start as the 180 Million Dollar Man dealing with the "pressure" of his big contract and new environment. But Teixeira is taking the high road for his performance, saying, "You can always try to find excuses...Yeah, more people are watching, no doubt. More people are writing about it, no doubt. But those are things I can't control...There are no excuses. If you start making excuses for yourself, you've got something wrong with you." more ›

Though undercover cops recently arrested one pervert, there never seems to be a shortage! Take this terrible story recounted on HollaBack. A reader said that on a D train this morning, between Atlantic-Pacific and Grand, "I was napping with my iPod on, and I woke up because I felt something repeatedly hitting and rubbing up to my arm. When I looked down, I saw an uncircumcised penis being masturbated right on top of my arm. Luckily, he hadn't finished yet. (Though the police mentioned that it would have been better to have DNA evidence. Ew.) I immediately screamed something like 'OH MY GOD, GET OFF OF ME YOU SICK MOTHERFUCKER!' At that point, the man mumbled something like 'sorry' and walked quickly through the crowd to the other side of the train. I was stunned that no one tried to stop him, and even shifted to let him through. I screamed again 'DID ANYONE SEE THAT? THAT ASSHOLE WAS MASTURBATING ON ME!'" (Read the full story here.)The HollaBack reader took the man's photograph while he pretended to be asleep and reported him to the cops, but because he's still at large, a happy, um, ending remains elusive. more ›

Pfizer is making a splash with news that it will give away 70 of its drugs, such as Lipitor and Viagra, to people "who lost jobs since Jan. 1 and have been on the Pfizer drug for three months or more," according to the AP. The AP points out, "The move could earn Pfizer some goodwill in that debate after long being a target of critics of drug industry prices and sales practices" and "also likely will help keep those patients loyal to Pfizer brands." Dr. Jorge Puente, Pfizer's head of pharmaceuticals outside the U.S. and Europe, told the AP, "Everybody knows now a neighbor, a relative who has lost their job and is losing their insurance. People are definitely hurting out there. Our aim is to help people bridge this point." Patients can call 866-706-2400 to sign up; in July, they'll be able to sign up through this website. more ›

If you hear that the "Luv Gov" is chasing after Black-eyed Susans this weekend, it's probably not what you think. One of the thirteen horses entered into the Preakness Stakes this weekend in Baltimore, Luv Gov (pictured) has been given the same nickname slapped on former Governor Eliot Spitzer. The thoroughbred's owner is Marylou Whitney, an upstate Republican with another horse named "Ninth Client." more ›

A 50-year-old man is clinging to life at St. Vincent's hospital after being savagely beaten by a group of unidentified men in the West Village around 2 a.m. this morning. Police tell Eyewitness News that the victim, from upstate New York, got into a "verbal dispute" with a group of men outside Riviera Cafe and Sports Bar (pictured), which had closed down for the night an hour earlier. Witnesses saw at least two men flee the scene, but no arrests were made, and no weapon was recovered; police believe the assailants beat their victim with their bare hands. He sustained life-threatening injuries to the back of his head, and is currently in critical condition. Earlier this year, cops arrested two men accused of a violent mugging spree in the West Village, and on May 3rd, unidentified thugs broke the jaw of a 28-year-old man on Christopher Street near Washington Street, also around 2 a.m. more ›

The woman whose parents say she was murdered due to a rumor put on MySpace ended up with her photo on Facebook—taken by an EMT at the scene of the crime! Richmond University Medical Center officials fired Mark Musarella when they found out that he had posted a picture of the body of Caroline Wimmer, whose murder was just in the news last week after police arrested a suspect. Musarella, better known as "Moose," is a retired NYPD detective known for high-profile rescues and was described as "a little off-the wall...a raw sense of humor." The SI Advance says that while the picture of Wimmer was taken down, Musarella's Facebook may still have a picture of a car crash he responded to. The hospital also informed the NYPD after they were tipped off to the photo of the victim by one of his "friends" on Facebook. more ›

You're warned: This Sunday, the Office of Emergency Management is overseeing a drill that will, according to the AP, "simulate a response to an explosion at a PATH commuter rail train in the tunnel between the World Trade Center site and northern New Jersey. Officials say there will be no sound of an explosion, but emergency vehicles will respond with flashing lights and sirens." First responders from the NYPD, FDNY, and Port Authority will be on hand for the exercise; Vesey Street, on the north side of ground zero, will be closed to all but emergency vehicles and PATH rail service will be suspended from 6 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. more ›

The shuttered Deli in the Slope location at Fifth Avenue and St. John's Place in Park Slope was the site of a "good morning" car crash around 9 a.m. today. Early reports indicate that the driver of the vehicle had a heart attack behind the wheel; he's currently in critical condition. A report over the news wire doesn't mention any other passengers in the vehicle, and it doesn't seem that any pedestrians were hurt. A manager at another Deli in the Slope location on Butler Street tells us that this Fifth Avenue location has been closed for about a year. more ›

WABC 7 has Newscopter 7 footage of two dogs that ran onto the Major Deegan Expressway and reports: "Just before 6:30 a.m., a 9-year-old male yellow lab chow mix ran onto the Major Deegan Expressway and was hit by a car at exit 3. That's when another dog ran to the rescue, right there on the busy highway. Like a protective parent, the dog wouldn't let anyone near. Barking at traffic and police, even as they tried to help." The police eventually managed to get the injured dog into a cruiser and tried to catch the other dog, but the pup took off. The injured dog, who has a broken leg and maybe internal bleeding, was taken to Animal Car & Control in East Harlem. The dogs' owner called AC&C after seeing the pooches on TV and picked up the injured dog and took him to the an animal hospital (he said the other dog was back at home). more ›

Danny Dorrian, the former manager of downtown bar The Falls, was hammered on the witness stand by defense lawyers representing his former employee, Darryl Littlejohn. Littlejohn is on trial for the murder of Imette St. Guillen, last seen at The Falls on February 25, 2006. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg appointed a former Wall Street investment banker to head the troubled NYC Housing Authority. The NYCHA oversees over 177,000 apartments in 340 development in all five boroughs—the NY Times says this makes John Rhea, who used to work at Lehman Brothers and JPMorgan Chase, "in effect, the city’s biggest landlord." Bloomberg said, "John's experience makes him the perfect person to lead our efforts to create long-term financial stability at the Authority, and to ring in a new era of transparency and agency responsiveness to improving resident and community quality of life." However, some critics of the Bloomberg administration were upset with the pick: City Councilwoman Letitia James issued a statement questioning Rhea's lack of "experience in managing a low-income public housing authority of this size and scale...particularly at a time when private equity firms are purchasing under-performing housing developments, and converting them to luxury housing throughout the City" while Councilwoman Rosie Mendez told the Times, "All I see is a Wall Street person with an investment banking background and with no experience in housing management or development." more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] The daring streaker who charmed America by dashing out onto Citi Field during Tuesday night's Mets game could get up to a year in jail! After his arrest, 38-year-old Craig Coakley of Whitestone, Queens reportedly told police, "I didn't think I was gonna get in so much trouble. It was a bet. My boss said he would pay me a week's worth of salary if I did it and my lawyer told me it's only a misdemeanor." But back in 2003 the City Council passed the so-called Calvin Klein law to impose harsher punishments on fans who disrupt sporting events; the bill was prompted by the designer's bizarre, drug-fueled attempt to chat with Latrell Sprewell on the court during a Knicks game. (In 2005, the city implemented even tougher penalties.) more ›

A discerning dancer at a Times Square peep show nailed an ex-con earlier this month for trying to pay her with phony $10 bills. The unidentified stripper was plying her trade at Gotham City on Eighth Ave, where women perform private dances from behind a glass partition. It was around 2:20 a.m. on May 5th when she noticed that the two ten dollar bills handed to her by customer Michael Harris seemed to be fakes made with an Ink Jet printer. After calling the manager, he confronted Harris, who has done time on a drug conviction. According to court documents obtained by the Post, Harris proceeded to freak out and spilled 21 more bills into the aisle, later telling cops, "I panicked so I dumped them." He was subdued until the arrival of the NYPD and the US Secret Service, which has exclusive jurisdiction in counterfeiting investigations. Apparently, counterfeit money is often passed at peep shows and strip clubs; one employee tells the Post, "It happens all the time." And Gotham City isn't safe from this joker yet—he's currently walking the streets on $2,500 bail. more ›

Nassau County police say that Kay Barragan, 65, was found dead in her Searingtown home yesterday morning and that her 38-year-old son Eduardo was charged with second-degree murder. Barragan was the estranged wife of 1-800-Mattress founder Napoleon Barragan; a company spokesman called it "a terrible tragedy for the family and for the company as well" and also added that Eduardo Barragan had a history of psychological problems. Police said the son was in his bedroom when they arrived. more ›

An 8-year-old boy, who had just returned home from school, was standing on a Brooklyn sidewalk with his mother when an out-of-control minivan jumped the curb. The incident occurred when a driver was trying to parallel park on Stratford Road—the driver went into reverse and, according to WCBS 2, "witnesses said the Ford hit another vehicle before going into the building, hitting both the boy and" his mother. The boy, Justin Abuled, was, 1010WINS reports, "apparently slammed through the door of a building and shattered glass severed his leg." And a neighbor told the Post, "His leg was off to the side, he was fidgeting and crying, asking for his mother." Neighbors also packed up the leg on ice and doctors are hoping to reattach it. The Daily News, which says the boy's foot (not leg) was severed, reports that the minivan driver said his brakes failed; no charges have been filed yet. more ›

Yesterday was the biggest day of thousands of NYU students' lives as they graduated from their respective colleges and schools, but guess what—even that isn't enough to let them sit in the seats near the field at Yankee Stadium! With Washington Square Park's renovation forcing the school to relocate its school-wide graduation ceremonies to the Bronx for a spell, the Yankees prohibited NYU from filling the premium seats with students. more ›

A 15-year veteran of the NYPD now faces federal robbery charges for allegedly scheming to steal nearly $1 million in cash rumored to be hidden in the former apartment of a drug dealer. Shawn Jenkins, 41, a highway safety officer, had apparently worked as a bodyguard for a drug dealer who was deported to the Dominican Republic. The drug dealer told him where the money was—in an Upper West Side apartment—and wanted him to give some of the money to his mother. The Daily News reports, "The problem was Jenkins needed help getting into the apartment, so he wanted the informant to help him serve an official-looking summons on the current tenant and zap him with a stun gun." Jenkins was arrested early yesterday morning in Washington Heights (he apparently "had a hand-scrawled floor plan supplied by the dealer"); his bail was set at $200,000. The tenant also told the authorities the apartment had been repeatedly robbed, probably by people suspecting there might be a booty hidden away; one time, a burglar "ripped up the floorboards while the tenant was on vacation." more ›

Yes, there's still swine flu/H1N1 infection going around—yesterday, State Health Commissioner Richard Daines reported that the state's total is now at 214: With three new cases in NYC and three new cases outside (all in Westchester), the breakdown is 167 cases in NYC and 47 in the rest of the state. If you're really curious about where the cases are by county, here's a PDF. The NYC Health Department emphasizes, "To date, nearly all confirmed and probable cases have been mild, and all of the affected people have recovered or are recovering. No deaths have been associated with the illness in New York City," and adds that everyone should practice good hygiene (cover your sneezes! wash your hands!). Globally, the WHO says "33 countries have officially reported 6497 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection," with a total of 65 deaths (60 in Mexico, three in the U.S., one in Canada and one in Costa Rica). more ›

• Yankees 8 Toronto 2: New York had a great night at the plate, despite missing four starters from their Opening Day lineup. Brett Gardner had a triple and a home run while driving in three runs. Mark Teixeira had two hits and two RBI’s and Johnny Damon continued his hot hitting with two more hits. All of the runs supported Andy Pettitte, who pitched six innings of up and down baseball. Pettitte only allowed two runs, but he walked four batters and gave up five hits. If Toronto had been able to get a clutch hit, this would have been a very different game. But, they didn’t and now the Yankees have a chance to climb back to .500 tomorrow.
• Atlanta 8 Mets 7 (12 innings): Should Jose Reyes have been running? Absolutely, but his play isn’t the only reason they lost. Down by a run, Reyes led off the 11th with a shot to left field that he thought was out of the park. But, the ball stayed in and Reyes’ lack of hustle left him on second, when he probably should have been on third. Still, the Mets got him to third with one out and had two chances to tie the game. But, Carlos Beltran took three-straight strikes for the second out and Gary Sheffield was called out on strikes to end the game.

After going on Mike & Mike in the Morning to continue his denials of taking performance enhancing drugs, Roger Clemens decided to contact Houstonist (yes, part of the Gothamist family) and offered to take readers' questions: "The fans and the folks in Houston have always been great to Deb, the kids and me and we’re grateful for the support. I know a lot of baseball fans read the Houstonist and that they have asked questions about the false allegations against me. I welcome the chance to answer the questions of your readers." Yes, there are questions why Houstonist was picked as a follow-up to ESPN Radio, but Houstonist has confirmed the email's address with the Roger Clemens Foundation and until editor Jason Bargas gets to meet Clemens in person and see how he reacts to photos of Mike PIazza, we'll just assume it's legit. And Gothamist readers, you can pose your questions on the Houstonist post—your commenting usernames will work there, too. more ›

In the annual affair that provides 6,000 young New Yorkers with their "only time I've ever been to the Bronx" story, NYU held its commencement ceremonies at Yankee Stadium this afternoon. After some hype that there would be a repeat streaking performance (of both last year's graduation and last night's Met game), Will Lopez will get to brag to his bros tonight that no one had the guts to do it this year. more ›

The Bronx DA's office revealed even more disturbing news about the murder of 14-year-old Anna Matias. The teen, who was killed by her father Miguel Matias, who threw her body into the boiler), was pregnant with her father's child. According to the Daily News, "DNA taken from Matias matches a sample taken from the fetus carried by his daughter," resulting in prosecutors "consolidat[ing] the two indictments against him - an earlier one for his daughter's murder on Feb. 16, 2008, and the newest one for second-degree rape and incest." Matias, who had previously tried to kill himself, Anna and another child by dousing a car with gasoline, had allegedly claimed he was angry at Anna for messaging a boy via the computer and strangled her. He now faces 25 to life for the murder and 7 years for the rape. more ›

Made almost entirely out of bike parts found in the streets of NYC, the Skybike is the invention of Mario Diamantis, a grad student in NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program. Designed to evoke the perspective of riding through the air, Skybike straps the rider to the frame upside down at a 45 degree angle. Here's video of a recent demonstration, via Animal New York: more ›

So we know what keeps you awake at night, but what do you do about it exactly? One Brooklyn resident, for example, is wondering how to get the drug dealer living in the building to STFU. They write:

"I live on the first floor, and I know for a fact that there's a drug dealer in my building. I can hear the transactions happening since they're actually dumb enough to think their voices don't travel through my door when they're standing right next to it. This makes me extremely uncomfortable to know that this type of activity is so close to home. I want to call the police and report this, but I also am wary of the 'don't snitch' edict in this neighborhood. I should also mention that even when not dealing, this guy and some friends are usually smoking blunts in the hallway from 12 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weeknights."

Since December 2007, the Department of Transportation—under the Bush administration—was proposing to auction off airline take off and landing times, many criticized the plan, most vocally Senator Chuck Schumer, who said, "Selling these slots to the highest bidder would be an onerous sky tax, plain and simple." Now, the DOT (under Obama) has decided to cancel the idea, based on the criticism from lawmakers, agencies (like the Port Authority) and airlines alike. The plan was well-intentioned, because the DOT was trying to address congestion at the three area airports, but the waning economy help kill the plan. Transportation Secretary Roy LaHood said, "We're still serious about tackling aviation congestion in the New York region. I'll be talking with airline, airport and consumer stakeholders, as well as elected officials, over the summer about the best ways to move forward." The International Air Transport Association said it was happy about the outcome, but added, "It is a shame the government and industry had to waste 16 months debating this ill-conceived plan." more ›

The new plan to bailout the MTA relies mostly on a payroll tax in 12 counties, but one of the significant components is a 50-cent taxi dropoff surcharge. It's estimated that it would raise $85 million, but critics of the plan are wondering how it's going to work. According to NY1, "Most drivers pay a fee to lease the taxi from a garage, but then, aside from paying for gas, all the money they make goes directly into their pocket...Industry representatives say the new surcharge may be virtually unenforceable because it puts taxi owners in charge of collecting it." The Committee for Taxi Safety's David Pollack explains, "There are 13,000 some-odd taxi medallion owners. A lot of them lease to my members. So my members are responsible. Cabs have multiple drivers, it's a bookkeeping nightmare." The state says cab owners will have to submit the collections on a quarterly basis; the surcharge is supposed to be in effect by November. more ›

The trustee overseeing bankruptcy proceedings for disgraced financier Bernard Madoff has sued one Madoff client for $6.7 billion. Why? Because Jeffrey Picower, his wife, Barbara, and the Picower Foundation "knew or should have known they were benefiting from fraudulent activity or, at a minimum, failed to exercise reasonable due diligence"—they received 950% in returns one year and for a few years, returns ranged from 120% to 550%. more ›

The Giants might not be sure who will step up and lead their receiving corps next season, but at least we know that baby catchers should be well-supported at the just announced new birthing center at St. Vincent's Hospital, named after Eli Manning and his wife Abby. The newlyweds don't have any children yet themselves, but are helping to bankroll what the News calls a "state-of-the-art center focusing on natural childbirth and holistic care" at the hospital which has one of the lowest C-section rates in the city. The quarterback said, "We're enjoying being married right now. There's no exact plan, but we do plan on starting a family in the future." The construction of the Eli and Abby Manning Birthing Center will take place over the next five years and cost $10 million. Manning said, "We wanted to make it a special place to bring new life into the world." more ›

In January, Internet guru and Videogum blogger Gabriel Delahaye penned a righteously amusing rant sparked by a recent IMAX expansion into multiplexes with smaller, 29' foot high screens, which the company has tried to pass off as an IMAX experience. (For reference, the Lincoln Square IMAX is 76' high.) We got in touch with the press rep for IMAX and reported on the bait-and-switch, and that was the end of it. Until this week, when TV's Aziz Ansari came along with his own blog rant, after paying an extra $5 for a Star Trek screening on one of those dainty "IFAUX" screens. more ›

Carmine Agnello Jr., son of Victoria Gotti and grandson of the late Teflon Don John Gotti Sr., spoke out about the foreclosure proceedings on his family's mansion in Old Westbury. Agnello told the Post, "My dad"—and his namesake, Carmine Sr.—"did this to us. He decided once he got out of jail he was going to get another life, and he left us behind with the burden. He did his kids wrong, and he did his wife wrong... To be honest with you, we don't consider him our father." (Still, last year, little Carmine told Grub Street he hung out with his dad.) Victoria Gotti claims that her ex-husband took out a $850,000 mortgage on the home without her knowledge; Agnello Sr. now lives in Cleveland and is remarried to the daughter of a "former leader in Armenian terrorism." As for Carmine Jr., he revealed that he and brothers John and Frank are going to be in a new reality show set in LA. more ›

New York is in for another royal visit when later this month Prince Harry makes his first formal visit to the United States. The 24-year-old will take to the polo field on Governors Island on May 30th where he'll play in the second annual Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic. The match coincides with the 400th anniversary of New York as well as the opening weekend of Governors Island, with proceeds from the event going to American Friends of Sentebale. more ›

New poll numbers released today indicate that Governor Paterson hasn't been able to bounce back in the eyes of voters despite recent moves to introduce gay marriage legislation, push the MTA bailout through legislature and an aggressive stance indicating that he has every intention of running in next year's election. A Quinnipiac poll shows the governor's disapproval rating remaining at over sixty percent (versus 28% approving) statewide and still significantly trailing Andrew Cuomo, including among black voters. Will a Cuomo challenge continue to be presented as alienating to African-Americans if that remains the case? Interestingly, despite Paterson stepping up his early 2010 campaign, over sixty percent of New Yorkers don't believe he will run—almost half also believe that such a run would be "bad for other Democrats." more ›

If you care about cycling in New York, or just about your Constitutional right as a citizen to freely assemble, the transcript from the first day of testimony in the lawsuit over NYPD's ongoing crackdown on Critical Mass is a fun read. The defense spent most of the day trying to establish that the police have been selectively enforcing Critical Mass rides by coming down heavy on the Manhattan rides while cooperating with the Brooklyn rides. Then, during the afternoon session, someone pulled a Pacino in And Justice for All, bursting into the courtroom yelling, "This is a corrupt system you've got here!" And in cross examining Critical Mass participant Madeline Nelson, lawyers for the city brought up a typical example of ridiculous NYPD cyclist harassment: "Q. At that ride we are speaking about you were issued a summons for an improper taillight, correct? A. That's right, I was. Q. And isn't it correct that your bicycle did not have a taillight at the time that summons was issued? A. Yes, but I had a taillight mounted on my helmet... And I did, in fact, offer to move that light then onto the bicycle and, nonetheless, I was summonsed for not having it mounted on the bike when it was in fact on my helmet and flashing." more ›

Last we heard in the great Gowanus Canal Clean-up debate, developers in the area were concerned with the Superfund stigma, and would choose the city cleanup efforts over the EPA's even though their consultants found levels of hydrogen sulfide in the water that they said would create a "significant odor impact." more ›

A judge ruled that a 2001 incident where Charlene Marshall complained about mother-in-law Brooke Astor won't be heard by the jury. Marshall's husband, Anthony, is Astor's only son and is on trial for allegedly forging her will to gain $60 million. Astor's social secretary recounted Charlene that ranted, "She's f---ing killing him!"—referring to Astor and her husband—"If he dies before she does, I get nothing!" Prosecutors hoped to enter the statements into the trial, because they says it points to why Anthony Marshall would have wanted to take his mother's money—to sate his wife's greed. The Post reports that prosecutor Joel Seidemann explained it as, "It's all for Charlene. She's in the mix. It's unavoidable. They can say there is no elephant in the room. But there is an elephant in the room." The Daily News' Joanna Molloy uses her column to wonder why the trial is suddenly about Charlene Marshall, the woman who left her minister husband for the heir of Brooke Astor. A friend of Charlene Marshall's tells Molloy, "[Charlene] is an extremely compassionate woman. She's active at St. James Church. She brings Communion to shut-ins ... She listens. She helps people in pain ... She's not a golddigger at all." Brooke Astor didn't much like Charlene, FWIW. more ›

After standing by their "erotic services" section in the weeks following the "Craigslist Murder" of Julissa Brisman (pictured), the site has finally caved to pressure and announced that it will shut down the section that is home to many ads for illegal prostitution. Last week the heat on craigslist was turned up when three state's attorney generals (including Connecticut's) asked them to eliminate the section that also made headlines recently for connecting George Weber to alleged teenage murder John Katehis. The site will start a new section for "adult services" at double the advertising fee ($10 now) where each ad will be reviewed by a craigslist employee. In a craigslist blog obtained by the LA Times, a rep for the site wrote, "Unsurprisingly, but completely contrary to some of the sensationalistic journalism we've seen these past few weeks, the record is clear that use of craigslist classifieds is associated with far lower rates of violent crime than print classifieds." Erotic services will close down when the current ads expire in seven days, making a soapy body slide with a local blond one of New York's last offerings. more ›

Today's weather forecast is fairly simple. A weak high pressure system overhead means a sunny day. The sun will heat the land up but ocean is still cold. That combination means a sea breeze front is likely develop this afternoon, holding temperatures near the shore to the 60s, while it warms to 70 further inland. more ›

Speaking of stadium streaking, NYU's commencement ceremony is at Yankee Stadium today, and there's talk that the new ballfield could get its first buff job to match last night's Citi Field christening. You'll recall that last year NYU graduate Will Lopez made news by dashing onto the field (video) in boxers and his gown, rounding third, and getting tackled by security. Lopez tells the News, "I have a bunch of friends that are graduating this year. All of them are like, 'One of us has to carry the torch.' It would be great if somebody tried to make it a tradition. But I'm not sure if any of them have the guts to do it." This from the guy who "streaked" with underwear on because he "thought they might nail me for public indecency." Anyway, his buddies' fifteen minutes of fame is going be tougher to come by this year because security is definitely on the lookout for such shenanigans, and the keynote speaker is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But come on, bros, you aren't seriously going to let the Secret Service stand in the way of tradition? more ›

Administrators at Stuyvesant High School have been using handheld metal detectors on students—not to detect weapons but to disarm cheaters who might use their mobile devices during a test. Teens at the elite public school in lower Manhattan were outraged when the wands were introduced recently during two weeks of AP testing. One student tells the Post, "To wand students is absurd. If they can't tell kids are using a cellphone to cheat, it's their own fault. Next thing, we're going to have to take our shoes off like we're going through the airport." And then they'll be forced to take tests naked like they're cutting coke for some paranoid drug lord! Another student also argues that "wanding is pointless. You can cheat in so many other ways." Principal Stanley Teitel declined to comment, but Dr. Teddi Fishman, director of the Center for Academic Integrity, says the tactic is counterproductive, because it creates "an adversarial relationship where students try to get away with [cheating] and we try to stop them... Anything that can be cheated on easily is usually too simplistic a test." more ›

Colgan Air officials said that they had changed hiring requirement for pilots, raising the number of hours flown from 600 to 1000 hours. The move is a response to the fatal Continental Flight 3407 plane crash—operated by Colgan— from Newark to Buffalo, which killed the 49 passengers and crew members plus one person on the ground. The flight's pilot, Marvin Renslow, only had 625 hours of flight time; he also failed the FAA proficiency test three times. more ›

Danny Dorrian, who owned downtown bar The Falls, the last place 24-year-old John Jay College grad student Imette St. Guillen was seen, testified that he lied to police who were investigating St. Guillen's murder because he remembered how his family was treated during the Preppy Murder: "I could just imagine the repercussions it would set off -- lawsuits, police, bad press. If I pretended it didn't happen, maybe it wouldn't be true. I didn't believe it was true." more ›

After the NYCLU called attention to a record-breaking number of NYPD stop and frisks for the first three months of 2009, the department's spokesman is out defending the stats [pdf], which reveal—shocker—a continued emphasis on targeting blacks and Latinos. And at the going rate, the NYPD will stop and frisk 626,767 suspects in 2009, which would shatter the current record of 531,159, set in 2008. But police spokesman Paul J. Browne reassures the Times, "In a city where police make 400,000 arrests annually based on the higher standard of probable cause, 500,000 stops annually is not unreasonable...We believe that there is a relationship between stops and crime prevention, although you can't document crimes that did not occur as a result of stops involving suspicious activity." Ah, he has us with that koan, which is sort of like the sound of one hand cuffing. Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr. also has the NYPD's back, telling reporters, "Stop and frisks have been going up for the past three years and the reason is because they work." The Constitution's nice and quaint, but whatever works, right? more ›

At the end of March, a prominent Upper East Side psychologist was arrested after a patient discovered a surveillance camera inside a lightbulb in the bathroom. But earlier this month prosecutors dropped the felony charge of unlawful surveillance against Dr. Robert Reiner, an NYU psychologist who has appeared as a medical expert on MTV and talk shows. It turns out that the camera, which was not wired to a monitor, was unwittingly put in the outlet by a contractor Reiner hired to do some work at the office; Reiner insists he used it at his Westchester home to monitor his kids on the trampoline, and that he brought the inoperative camera into work because he needed the code number on the camera to order a new one. more ›

With the state jobless rate at, by the latest numbers, 7.8% (in NYC, the rate is 8.1%) and prospects of an economic recovery slow at best, the NY Times reports, "Lawmakers in Albany agreed on Tuesday to change the state’s unemployment insurance system in order to prevent more than 100,000 New Yorkers from running out of jobless benefits starting later this month." The State Legislature must vote on the changes which "are intended to make New York eligible to collect $645 million in federal stimulus money for its unemployment insurance system. Most of that money — $370 million — would extend benefits to people who have been collecting unemployment pay for more than a year. The rest would go toward closing a gap in the state’s insolvent unemployment fund." Apparently Albany has given up on trying to revamp the entire system (which gives a max of $430/week in benefits, $150 less than states like NJ and Connecticut) in order to at least get the benefits extension done. more ›

Last night, a man took of his clothes and streaked across Citi Field during the Mets-Braves game's fifth inning. This morning, the Post suggests it was "maybe the best base running of the night" while the Daily News identifies the "nearly-naked doofus" with "only a stuffed animal wrapped like a thong around the middle of his strike zone for modesty" as Craig Coakley. more ›

Last night, the State Assembly voted to approve the gay marriage bill. PolitickerNY reports the vote occurred "after four hours of debate and a technical problem that crashed the chamber's electronic voting mechanisms." Previously, in 2007, the Assembly passed a similar bill 85-61; this year, three Democrats switched their votes from no to yes as did two Republicans. One, Assemblyman Fred Thiele (R-Hamptons), explained, "There’s that little voice inside of you that tells you when you’ve done something right, and when you’ve done something wrong. That vote just never felt right to me. That little voice kept gnawing away at me." Assemblyman Danny O'Donnell (pictured), a vocal supporter of the bill, said during the debate, "I am seeking a piece of paper that is issued by my government that all of you have had. Some of you have had it two or three times, some of you are running for governor managed to marry their cousin and all that's ok. But I don't get one. So it's not about anybody's religion. This is about 'by the power vested in me by the State of New York.'" more ›

Authorities say that three men are responsible for at least six armed robberies in Brooklyn since April. Their M.O. appears to be two men entering and robbing a store while a third awaits in a black Ford Expedition. WABC 7 reports, "The robbers hit the Sarubia Grocery at 1266 East 37th twice, on April 6 and April 22"—getting money in the 4/22 robbery (a customer was also injured). They also robbed a grocery store at 6106 3rd Avenue in late April, and a man was shot in the shoulder. Most recently, on May 9, they robbed Blondie's Deli in Windsor Terrace. According to WCBS 2, "Two young men...jumped up on the counter and tried to open the cash register...The latest attempted robbery was thwarted however when the owner chased the suspects with a bat and a scuffle ensued. Investigators say one of the suspects returned with a gun but the men ran away without any cash." Police are asking people to contact CrimeStoppers (website or call 800-577-TIPS) with any information. more ›

• Mets 4, Braves 3: Down 3-0 entering the eighth and 3-2 entering the ninth, the Mets didn't give up. Jose Reyes doubled home two in the eighth -- he got thrown out trying to make it a triple -- and then scored the winning run in the tenth. The Mets benefited from a missed call in the ninth that let Carlos Beltran steal third -- he was out -- and then score on a Luis Castillo sacrifice fly. Beltran walked in the winning run in the 10th, capping a rally that started with two out and no one on.

Those of you at home watching tonight's Mets-Braves game missed out (fortunately?) from seeing an essentially naked man run onto the field. While the SNY cameras were trained on Omir Santos at bat during the fifth inning, this is what our own Tien Mao witnessed: "He was wearing a thong with a Mr. Met doll covering his penis. And he slid into 2nd and again in the outfield before being stopped by security. Mr Met was crying and shaking his head afterwards. " more ›

A good, if gross story about the police nabbing a serial pervert yesterday. According to the AP, the police arrested Darrel Corian "on charges of persistent sexual abuse and forcible touching." At around 9:05 a.m., police officers Michelangelo Hidalgo and Amauris Santana, who were on plainclothes assignment (part of the Anti-Crime patrol), observed Corrian acting suspiciously on the southbound platform of the 42nd Street-Lexington station at Grand Central. They followed him onto a 5 train. "Police say officers caught him rubbing his exposed penis up against at 19-year-old woman's backside, and arrested him." What's more, he had been paroled just two weeks ago "after serving time for persistent sexual abuse and was supposed to stay off buses and subways." Last month, a suspected subway perv with a long rap sheet was arrested with the help of his victim's cellphone photo of him. more ›

After paying NYC $11.5 million for the right to auction off items, the Yankees are selling off remnants of its old stadium. Yankees COO Leon Trost said at a press conference, "We're talking about making available pairs of seats, commemorative seats, seat backs, seats from the bleachers, foul poles." Heck, there's even a chunk of freeze-dried grass for $79.99 or a 4' by 80' piece of sod from between second and third bases for $6,000. more ›

The State Assembly is voting on the same-sex marriage bill today. The Assembly passed the bill 85-61 in 2007, and it's expected today's vote will have an even bigger showing of support. The NY Times reports that Assemblyman Danny O'Donnell (D-Manhattan), who is also the older brother of Rosie O'Donnell, "helped gather nearly 90 votes in the 150-member Assembly" and "is also using the Assembly vote as a way to pressure members of the Senate, where the legislation’s fate will be decided, and demonstrate to wary senators that there is support in their districts for the bill." He explains, "If you want to run for attorney general or for governor or lieutenant governor or senator or congressperson, and you’re not in favor of my equality, then I’m not interesting in helping you. And I’ve made that clear." O'Donnell is throwing an engagement party for himself and partner John Banta after the vote; he did tell colleague Greg Ball (D-Patterson) that he was "the best looking guy in the Assembly" and that Ball wouldn't be invited if he voted no. Of course, the passage of same-sex marriage in NY State hinges on the State Senate. more ›

A trial challenging the NYPD's classification of group bicycle rides like Critical Mass as "parades" kicked off today in United States District Court in Manhattan. Two years ago, the NYPD began enforcing a controversial new rule that requires groups of 50 or more to apply for permits when taking to the streets for processions, races and protests. The new policy gave legal legitimacy to a police crackdown on the monthly Critical Mass bicycle rides, which have been a source of tension between cyclists and cops since the Republican convention in 2004. more ›

Angry at Albany for passing a bill that imposes payroll taxes to help bailout the MTA and other rankling decisions, Republican lawmakers on Long Island are calling for a study for examine secession from the rest of the state. Suffolk Comptroller Joseph Sawicki said, "The state of Long Island has always been a romantic idea, its been fun to talk about and exciting to discuss. Now, it's become a matter of economic survival," and points out that Albany gets $3 billion more from Long Island than it gives back. However, Newsday notes there are some worries—for instance, Legislator DuWayne Gregory (D-Amityville) explained, "Is there going to be an impression that the Long Island delegation, that they're wacky, that they're whackos? That's the concern that I have." Well, secession is always a fun way to get people riled up—Staten Island has considered it, as have folks in NYC (NYC gives around $10 billion to the state that it doesn't get back). more ›

As we've learned with the illegal, non-permitted Snickers campaign, shuttered storefronts are perfect for cheap advertising. The NY Times now reports that companies are "taking advantage of all the abandoned retail spaces in urban areas, marketers are leasing them at cut-rate prices and filling them with their ads." They call it the poor man's billboard, and it can cost just $500 for a 3-month runs in prime locations (something that could cost $50,000 were it on a regular billboard). Some landlords even donate the space, especially if they like the message. For example, Conservation International's campaign compared the destruction of the environment with that of the economy. The windows carried messages like 'Our shopping districts are starting to look as barren as our rain forests.'" Note that the retail vacancy rose 11.2% in the first quarter, the highest since the early 90s. more ›

It's been over two years since the Landmarks Preservation Commission received a proposal for the creation of a new South Village Historic District, and preservationists are frustrated with the alterations made to the historic landscape they've been trying to save. The NY Times reports that "owners of buildings in the area began filing for permits to alter or demolish their properties." From townhouses circa 1835 to a strip of 1861 houses that included Le Figaro Cafe, facades are being destroyed and buildings are being gutted. There may be some progress now, however, as the LPC is holding a community meeting tonight "to discuss the designation of the district: a swath of the city extending south from Washington Square Park and West Fourth Street to Broome Street, and bordered by La Guardia Place to the east, and Seventh Avenue South to the west." Are the recent efforts too little, too late? Will the landmarking process move forward? Stay tuned! But as Curbed points out, keep in mind that even the designation goes through, "a historic district does not mean there won't be casualties." more ›

Because of the NYPD's abiding commitment to self-transcendence in the fields of racial profiling and constitutional violation, the department has beat its own lofty record for the number of reported stop and frisk interrogations in three months. According to a data revealed today [pdf] at the NYCLU's insistence, the NYPD stopped and searched more innocent people during the first three months of 2009 than during any three-month period since police began collecting data on the program. more ›

Now that there won't be major service changes to the MTA buses, now we can revel in a cute part of the bus experience: The bell cord, that somewhat slack length of cable that passengers pulled to alert drivers of their stops. Times dynasty scion A.G. Sulzberger writes on CityRoom, "Without fanfare, New York City Transit has installed the bell cord in all new buses, including 270 already in service in every borough, with an additional 580 hitting the streets over the next year. Eventually, the whole fleet will be outfitted with the cord." Why bring it back? Because it's cheaper and easier to repair! And a veteran bus driver added, even though the last bell cord was taken out in 1992 to make way for the tape buttons, "People still search for the cords. To this day, people will come up to me and say, ‘I can’t find the bell.’" more ›

The National Transportation Safety Board began its three days of meetings examining Continental Flight 3407's fatal crash outside Buffalo this past February. Transcripts of the cockpit voice recorder reveal that Captain Marvin Renslow said, "Jesus Christ!" and swore as he scrambled to right the plane and that co-pilot Rebecca Shaw screamed right before the plane crashed. more ›

State Senator Kevin Parker, who faces felony charges after assaulting a NY Post photographer, breaking his camera and bashing his car in, told reporters yesterday, "I don't think I have an anger issue. Hopefully this will be a bad memory." However, the State Police were aware of Parker's testy behavior last week when he "got out of his car at an entrance to a parking garage beneath the state Capitol complex and angrily confronted a security guard" because a gate wasn't raised, according to the Post. Parker was stripped of his leadership position as the Democrats' whip by Majority Leader Malcolm Smith; Parker said he backed Smith's decision, "It was the right thing to do. My personal problems cannot be a distraction to the Senate. We have a lot of work to do between now and the end of session." The Brooklyn lawmaker has previously attended anger management class for punching a traffic agent and was accused of choking and breaking the glasses of a female staffer. more ›

As they have since the beginning of the trial, prosecutors continued to present witnesses who say that Brooke Astor's mental faculties were on the decline in her later years. Astor's son Anthony Marshall, along with his lawyer Francis X. Morrissey, is accused of changing her will and forging her signature on a codicil, which gave him more money, and selling her artwork (allegedly telling her she was broke). Broadway and film producer John Hart testified that in spite of Astor meeting actor Matthew Broderick many times, she didn't recognize him at a post-Producers dinner; he recalled the actor saying, "Brooke, I’m Matthew. You love me. What did you think of the play?” Hart also said that during a 2003 visit with her, she told him, "I am gaga," apparently recognizing her problems. Hart added that Astor seemed to agree with Andrew Carnegie's belief that no good came from inherited wealth (the Rockefellers being the exception). more ›

Guilty person? Or the guiltiest person? Roger Clemens went on ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning Show to repeat his denials of performance-enhancing drugs use. He ended his lengthy media silence in the the wake the release of a book detailing said alleged use. Clemens didn't say anything new — he thinks drugs are bad, personal trainer Brian McNamee never injected him with anything illegal and that it would be impossible for his DNA to be on any drug-related paraphernalia. Based on his family history or heart attacks, Clemens said, it would be "suicidal" to take PEDs. He points to Manny Ramirez's case as a point in his favor. After all, Clemens has never failed a test, and "we have great testing." Clemens was also "sad" about Alex Rodriguez's admitted use, but he said, "I try to root for him." When asked if he expects to make the Hall of Fame, Clemens said, "Obviously I would love to get in, but I don't have any control over that. I think they [his stats] speak for themselves." more ›

Yesterday, the Daily News reported that the Port Authority may consider to scrap three of the planned towers—Towers 2, 3 and 5— at the World Trade Center site, due to costs, delays and the economic downturn. Now the Post throws out the idea that the PA may actually opt for building luxury hotel and apartments at Tower 5, which seems "a stronger bet than holding out for a commercial tenant, now that JP Morgan is out of the picture." And Globe St. suggests that the PA only wants to delay Tower 2 and 3 construction until the real estate market is better (and needs millions more square feet). The PA and WTC developer Larry Silverstein have been at odds over Ground Zero plans, with the developer asking for more financial help and the PA unwilling (thus far) to pitch in any more. Silverstein Properties president of WTC properties Janno Lieber said, "The Silverstein team has not wavered on rebuilding the World Trade Center, and we never will." [Via Curbed] more ›

Democratic State Senator Pedro Espada Jr.—who was just caught illegally residing outside his Bronx district in tony Mamaroneck—is in the hot seat again for what one Bronx political veteran describes as doing "a cha-cha around the campaign finance law—spirit and letter." After the Daily News's scathing report on Espada's conduct, Senate majority leader Malcolm A. Smith called him into a closed-door meeting, giving Espada one week to rectify illegalities with his campaign committee. But Smith is also downplaying the severity of the brewing scandal, telling the Times, "I don't think it's raining problems, the fact that a member has a challenge with his campaign finances, which he's had for awhile. So basically, he's got to correct it. He has until this time next week to correct it, or else I will take some action." Woah—a promise of action in Albany! more ›

Apple items are really hot: Police arrested a man who "would allegedly stalk his victims as they left the [Apple] store on Prince Street, assault and rob them, and then pawn the stolen merchandise," according to the Post. In one instance, Dwyane Stewart came up behind a business executive, pushed a "hard object" into his back and threatened, "Don't do nothing stupid," before taking his computer. Stewart robbed three people, pawning the items at an electronics store: "He was nabbed after a person who had unwittingly bought one of the hot computers took it in for service at an Apple Store. A worker there looked up its registration number and discovered it had been reported stolen." The computer was traced back to the store and then to Stewart. Stewart admitted to the robberies and is being held on $50,000 bail. more ›

From running a law firm that employed two hundred lawyers to facing life behind bars: Marc Dreier appeared in federal court and pleaded guilty to "money laundering, conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud." His admission read in part, "I engineered a scheme to issue and sell fictitious promissory notes purportedly issued by companies in the United States and Canada," and he noted that the scheme took place between 2004 and 2008. more ›

Victoria Gotti, daughter of the late Teflon Don John Gotti, is "bitter" about the foreclosure of her Old Westbury mansion. A panel of judges allowed Chase to start foreclosure proceedings; Gotti says that her ex, Carmine Agnello, took out a $700,000 mortgage behind her back (Chase says she never paid all the $25,000 monthly payments that were owed). Her mother told the Post that her daughter was "not in the mood to talk to anybody" and offered her own thoughts on her former son-in-law, calling him a creep. But Victoria Gotti did tell Newsday, "The house, all the marital assets, are part of a divorce package (settlement) I have never seen yet." The white brick, five-bedroom, and five-and-a-half bath home was seen on the A&E reality series Growing Up Gotti—in the past few years, Gotti has listed the home on the market for $4.8 million, $3.995 million, $3.899 million and most recently, between $3.2 million and $3.5 million. more ›

Paramedics, the FDNY, and panicked neighbors worked together to save a 7-year-old boy from falling to his death in a Bronx building's elevator shaft yesterday. Milton Apolinaris and his younger brother were on their way to play with a friend when the elevator at 710 Hunts Point Avenue stalled between the third and fourth floors. According to the Post, the boy managed to pry the doors up but when he tried to climb out he got his foot stuck between the floor and the elevator car. One resident tells the Daily News, "He was outside the elevator, but upside down in the shaft. His feet were on the fourth floor and his body was on the third." more ›

According to Fortune, David Geffen, the record executive turned Dreamworks co-founder, made an offer to buy the 19% stake in the NY Times owned by hedge fund Harbinger Capital. The Financial Times says, "His offer was rebuffed, two people familiar with its details said. One of these said the offer was made at the prevailing market price but Harbinger wanted a premium, adding that Mr Geffen remained interested in owning the company and would be "a patient buyer'." Geffen previously made a $2 billion pitchto buy the LA Times, which was rejected by the Tribune company. Fortune, which also mentions that Google briefly considered buying the Times but then passed, details the Times' financial and "esoteric" troubles; the latter is described as how the "company suffers from a kind of genetic disorder stemming from the high-minded public goals of the Ochs-Sulzberger trust...and the demands of running a public company." Gawker thinks a Geffen-owned Times is great news for the Times' gay mafia. more ›

Yesterday, a downtown nightclub bouncer went on trial for the 2006 murder of a John Jay College graduate student. Imette St. Guillen's naked body was found off the Belt Parkway, bound and wrapped in a floral blanket shortly after she was missing. Prosecutors said in their opening that the DNA of Darryl Littlejohn, the bouncer last seen kicking her out of a bar, was found on ties around her wrists and that the blanket had traces of his mother's and brother's DNA. However, the defense proposed that Littlejohn was framed and suggested the bar's owner was the real killer. more ›

Former New York City transit officer Christian Torres, 22, was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison for his armed robbery of $113,000 from a Reading, PA bank last April. You may recall that Torres's arrest in Reading came a year after his two successful 2007 robberies at a Sovereign branch in the East Village; he persuaded an ex-girlfriend who worked at the bank help him with those jobs, which netted him about $100,000. His lawyer tells the AP, "I think the fact that they got away with it empowered them, it sort of led to the next one, and then the next one. It is a shame. He's a bright kid, and he seems like a nice kid." Torres has cooperated with Sovereign Bank officials since his arrest to help them improve security (like not hiring scheming employees?), and U.S. District Judge Thomas Golden sentenced Torres at the bottom of the sentencing range. But he still faces charges for the two East Village bank heists; his lawyer says he's waiting to see the evidence before deciding if he'll try plea-bargaining on those charges. more ›