Because it took 550 cats to break up one marriage, check out today's end-of-day links: "expert pimp" sentenced, best fake Twitter account, SPURA approved, Jay-Z inspired, Tribeca spa offering champagne, and doggy plays with pig. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Remember when NJ Governor Chris Christie complained about the NYPD's spying on Muslims in the Garden State, "This is the New York Police Department. I know they think their jurisdiction is the world. Their jurisdiction is New York City. My concern is this kind of obsession that the NYPD seems to have that they’re the masters of the universe." Well, now the NJ Attorney General says that the NYPD didn't do anything wrong! more ›

Despite a court-ordered 2010 report that showed that there was "actionable balance sheet manipulation" at Lehman Brothers, the emails to prove that company brass knew about it, and a Lehman employee who was willing to help expose wrongdoing at the company, the SEC will do nothing. Bloomberg News obtained a memo prepared by SEC investigators that states that the agency likely will not recommend any enforcement action against the firm or its executives. Screw up a food festival in Brooklyn, and you'll taste justice in 48 hours. Help cause the implosion of the global economy? Nothing to see here, folks! more ›

A Utica man has been arrested for accidentally striking his 8-year-old son with a samurai sword while trying to hit another man with it. Police say that on Tuesday morning, Thar Kyi, 42, barged into the home where his three children live with their mother in order to attack her new boyfriend. According to UticaOD, the boyfriend was helping the 8-year-old tie his shoes when Kyi swung at him, missed, and hit the boy. more ›

The man who allegedly told NYPD detectives that he killed a missing Soho child in 1979 has been identified as NJ resident Pedro Hernandez. Inside Edition obtained photographs of him and reports, "At the time Etan [Patz], 6, went missing, Hernandez was 18 and lived near the Patz family in Soho. Hernandez now lives in New Jersey and is married with a college-aged daughter." Tomorrow will be the 33rd anniversary of Etan's disappearance. more ›

Rumors ran wild in the last 24 hours that the Steinbrenner family was considering selling the Yankees in the wake of the Dodgers $2.175 billion sale this year. "There has been chatter all around the banking and financial industries in the city for a couple of weeks now," one anonymous baseball source told the Daily News, who broke the rumor. Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner adamantly denied it in a statement: "I just learned of the Daily News story," Steinbrenner said. "It is pure fiction. The Yankees are not for sale. I expect that the Yankees will be in my family for many years to come." more ›

On May 24, 1883, New York City all but shut down for the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge (then the "East River Bridge") to the public. There was a massive fireworks display, a visit from President Chester A. Arthur and New York governor Grover Cleveland, and some 50,000 people came in from out of town to witness the ceremony. But the Chief Engineer who had shepherded the bridge through its 13 years of construction, Washington Roebling, could only watch the ceremonies from his house in Brooklyn Heights: the bends had debilitated him to the point where he wouldn't walk across his own bridge the day it was completed. more ›

Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes is desperately trying to extricate himself from a political scandal sparked by his refusal to release the names of ultra-Orthodox Jews suspected of child molestation, as well as letting powerful rabbis decide whether child abuse allegations should be reported to the police. Hynes's cooperation with the ultra-Orthodox community has been absolutely crucial to his reelection campaigns; he's won landslide victories in neighborhoods with large Jewish populations. Now, in the wake of a damning New York Times article about his handling of sex abuse cases in these communities, Hynes is... proposing legislation. more ›

On Tuesday, actor Michael McKean was walking on Broadway and West 86th Street when a car struck him, breaking one of his legs and leaving him with other injuries. McKean had surgery this morning and his wife, actress Annettte O'Toole, just Tweeted, "Surgery went great. He took 4 steps just now. Sitting in chair. Very good attitude. Sends his love." more ›

A taxi fare hike of 16 to 20 percent is looking increasingly likely. Monday's surprise announcement that the TLC would be looking into a hike, just 76 days after they said they wouldn't, not only seems to have the full support of the Mayor, but it also has the backing of TLC chair David Yassky. more ›

After matching a franchise record of five straight wins last weekend in Montreal, the New York Red Bulls had one final league match before June international break. A win would've left them in an unstoppable position—but the visiting Chivas USA proved to be fly in the ointment, forcing a 1-1 draw thanks to former New York legend Juan Pablo Angel. more ›

Both the prosecution and the defense have vowed to appeal the judge's decision to sentence 20-year-old Dharun Ravi to 30 days in jail for spying on his Rutgers roommate, Tyler Clementi, who later committed suicide. But if Ravi's sentence stands, New Jersey law may allow him to serve less than 30 days provided he maintains good behavior and completes his designated chores. The Star-Ledger reports that short-term inmates in county jails "are seldom kept for their full terms unless they are charged with rules infractions," and a 30-day sentence is automatically reduced by 10 days for good behavior. more ›

In 1994, Times writer Joe Lapointe decreed, "Twenty years from now, hockey fans around the region will reminisce about the Rangers-Devils playoff round of 1994. Either they will recall the stress and strain the Rangers endured before finally eliminating a stubborn rival and reaching the Stanley Cup finals or they will remember the tortoise-and-the-hare approach of the Devils, who never got the respect and attention of the local public, even when they overtook the Rangers and upset them before moving on to the championship round." more ›

Riding the subway for decades we've seen some pretty annoying subway behavior, but here's a new one: people holding the doors between subway cars open. more ›

Because Vice President Donald Trump rolls off the tongue, check out today's mid-day links: John Malkovich's Siri Commercial, New Yorker tweeting fiction, Super Soaker shotgun, beer iPad magic, and skinny jeans science. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Today Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy Wall Street Librarians filed a federal lawsuit against Mayor Bloomberg, the City, and the NYPD for compensatory and punitive damages totaling $47,000 for the roughly 3,600 books that were confiscated—nearly 2,800 of them destroyed— during the raid of Zuccotti Park on November 17. "This is an important and potentially historic lawsuit," attorney Norman Siegel, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit says. "It not only addresses the seizure and destruction of the books, but it also seeks to show why, how, and who planned the raid on Zuccotti Park." more ›

By now, you've likely noticed that we are sticklers for subway etiquette. And we generally believe that when in doubt, you probably shouldn't do it in public—like when it comes to clipping your nails. But here's a situation we're not 100% sure about: tipster Allison Lucas sent us the above photo of a cop who was clipping his nails while apparently on-duty at the Times Square train station yesterday morning. And he kept doing so even as he was approached by people for help. more ›

Two days after police arrested a 15-year-old for shooting blow darts at pedestrians in Brooklyn, two teens have been arrested for shooting BBs at a school janitor on the Lower East Side. Cleveland Williams was hit in his right leg as he was taking out the trash at PS 2 on Henry Street. The Post reports that police entered an apartment building across the street and "observed the stock of a rifle in plain view." A 15-year-old and a 14-year-old were taken into custody. more ›

The NYPD released video of a person suspected of sexually abusing a woman at 16th Street and 4th Avenue yesterday morning. And one neighbor claims the cops let the suspect get away. more ›

Last night, while Hillary Clinton was no doubt pounding Irish Car Bombs at Double Down with Ron Jeremy and Ryan Gosling, former president and eternal ladies man Bill Clinton was in Monaco, for the “Nights in Monaco” gala, a benefit for the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and the William J. Clinton blah blah blah. Here is a photo of the 42nd president working hard to raise awareness about how he looks totally in his element canoodling with a couple of porn stars. more ›

With the MTA busy taking away subway station trash cans, members of the City Council have decided what the Authority really needs to do is start grading station cleanliness the way the DOH rates restaurant cleanliness. Fat chance that is gonna happen. The MTA is not at all interested in the idea. "We’re not doing it," MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said. more ›

Police say that a 21-year-old woman was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver early this morning in Union Square. The incident happened around 1:30 a.m. when the driver, who was in a blue dump truck heading eastbound on 14th street, attempted to turn southbound onto Broadway at the same time the woman was crossing the street. "He didn't see her. It was a big truck, a dump truck," eyewitness William Cayame told the News. "The light was for her. She had the walk sign." more ›

A cat on Long Island died earlier this week after some miserable P.O.S. shot the poor thing with a bow and arrow. Now the Suffolk County SPCA is offering a $2,000 reward to help track down and convict the kitty killer. Because seriously, who does that? This isn't The Hunger Games people and you aren't Hawkeye. Put the bow and arrow down! more ›

Oh for crying out loud, can't an important billionaire get a break? All poor Mayor Bloomberg wanted to do is land one of his many helicopters at a heliport on the east side that's conveniently located closest to his townhouse. Sure, there are antiquated "rules" closing the landing pad on weekends, and some ungrateful area peons have been whining about the noise, but come on—it's not like he was landing his choppers directly on their rooftops with Wager's "Ride of the Valkyries" blasting! Would they prefer that? Because he can probably get a law passed to make that happen. more ›

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly issued a statement just after 6:30 a.m. this morning, "An individual now in custody has made statements to NYPD detectives implicating himself in the disappearance and death of Etan Patz 33 years ago. We expect to provide further details later today." According to the Daily News, the suspect, Pedro Hernandez, was picked up yesterday in Camden, NJ. more ›

This wasn't a pretty game from a hockey standpoint, but it was an incredibly entertaining one. New Jersey stunned the Rangers by exploding out of the gate with Stephen Gionta and Patrik Elias scoring in the first four minutes of the game to put the Devils up 2-0. Rangers' coach John Tortorella used his timeout to try and settle his club, but it didn't work and Travis Zajac scored at the 9:49 mark to give New Jersey a three-goal lead- a deficit seemingly insurmountable considering the Rangers' lack of offense in these playoffs. more ›

Because Madonna picked Mick Jagger's kid and not you to represent her clothing line, check out today's end-of-day links: Charles Rangel hated his dad, cop DWI, ALF the movie and one possessed kitty. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

'Tis the season for weddings and wedding court stories: Besides the terminal leukemia-faking bride from upstate, there's the story of Steven Silverstein, who says that his ex-fiancee broke their engagement TWICE and also left him with tens of thousands in bills. Of course, Silverstein is suing. more ›

We already knew that the Barclays Center over at the Atlantic Yards was going to have half the parking it originally promised, but yesterday officials came together to try and explain why that is actually a good thing. And also to talk bike parking, animal marches and the not-surprising death of the dream of "Netrocards." more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] The artist who installed the "I Love NY" bag that caused a bomb scare in Williamsburg on Friday has finally been released from jail. After three days at Rikers, Takeshi Miyakawa finally appeared before a judge in Brooklyn court today. Before releasing the suspect, Judge William Garnett called his lawyer and the prosecutor to the bench and spoke about the previous judge's decision to jail Miyakawa for 30 days for a mental health evaluation. "Some people might call it a little bizarre," Judge Garnett was overheard telling the attorneys, referring to Miyakawa's art installations. "And my colleague's decision is arguable." more ›

Remember Jessica Vega, the upstate woman who admitted to faking having terminal leukemia so she could get a free wedding, honeymoon and even cash? Well, today was her sentencing day and a judge decided that time served, plus five years probation, would be enough. more ›

One year ago today New York City's ban on smoking in beaches and parks kicked in. So how's that going? Really, really great, if you ask the Department of Health. So how to explain why the police this year have actually started getting aggressive about issuing tickets for the offense, despite saying they wouldn't? Because we still see smokers in parks on a regular basis. more ›

A man who pushed a police officer to his death off a 9-foot balcony last year was sentenced to 28.5 years to life in prison today. "The fact of the matter is I didn't push your son, all right?" George Villanueva told the parents of decorated Officer Alain Schaberger in court. According to the Daily News, Villanueva added, "Do the math. I'm not going to turn a simple domestic thing with my girlfriend into a murder case. My deepest condolences go out to you guys." more ›

The two men who got into a Monday night shootout at the Rugged Sole store on Utica Avenue—wounding a 12-year-old boy and a 33-year-old man—have been identified. The store's guard, Kenneth Meeks, 45, was arrested after the shooting and charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon (firearm) and reckless endangerment while Gerald Spears, 23, turned himself in last night. more ›

Next time you go to get your hair did, or your nails trimmed or just to drop off some dry cleaning take a look at the prices listed. Is your salon or dry cleaner charging more to work on customers of one gender than the other? You might want to give them a heads up that not only is that illegal, but the city is starting crack down on the practice. Because really, taking this to an extreme, why should it cost more to jazz up the area above one's johnson than the area above one's vajayjay? more ›

The family of a 15-year-old honor student is suing the city after she was tackled by plainclothes police officers after matching the profile of a shoplifter. Last Friday afternoon, police in the 78th Precinct received a description of shoplifters as "two female black teens, dark hair," one with a ponytail. Brittany Rowley was walking down Prospect Park West with a friend; the two were on the way to the library. Suddenly an unmarked police car appeared. “I thought we were being abducted,” Rowley tells the Daily News. The girls ran, but two officers tackled them. "Why did you fucking run? I should punch you," Rowley says one officer told her. more ›

Because a man was drunk driving with a baby zebra and parrot, check out today's mid-day links: a TV auteur discussion, Zach Galifianakis is a "Dunce," scissor stabbing, and Christopher Guest coming to TV. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

A woman who was arrested after leaving her six-month-old twins in her minivan while she ducked into a NJ CVS—only for the minivan to roll away—is insisting that it was just a "momentary lapse in judgment." Natalie Akselrod was arrested for endangering the welfare of a child, and told the Bergen Record that the eight hours in processing was the longest she had been away from her children. Akselrod added, "They're my life. I would never put them in danger." more ›

Three people were randomly hit by three-inch long darts on Sunday evening in Bensonhurst, in a sniper attack that brought to mind the dreaded "Dart Man" attacks of 1990. Police quickly apprehended a suspect, a 15-year-old boy, who allegedly fired the darts from his roof using a blowgun. An NYPD source told the Post on Monday that Vasquez "basically copped to it," but now the teen is insisting he was just along for the ride. more ›

If you like humidity today is your special day! Thanks to some tropical air the dew point is in the mid 60s this morning. That's just a couple degrees less than the temperature, making for an uncomfortable day. A zombie-like cold front to the west of the city may provide just enough energy to produce scattered showers or a thunderstorm this afternoon. Some of that rain could be heavy given the amount of moisture in the air. Given all the cloud cover today's high should stay in the lower 70s, but the mid 70s is not out of the question. more ›

A Queens woman is in critical condition after her husband allegedly stabbed her in the head several times with a meat cleaver. According to police, the attack happened around 5:45 a.m. today in the couple's Parsons Blvd. apartment. more ›

We never thought we'd be the ones to defend your right to anonymously scrawl "bike lanes fart lampshade" on a post about food stamps but Albany's idiocy so moves us. Identical bills that have been proposed in the Assembly and the Senate that would require New York websites to "remove any comments posted on his or her website by an anonymous poster unless such anonymous poster agrees to attach his or her name to the post." more ›

It's going to be a busy summer for soccer. AC Milan director Umberto Gandini broke news on Twitter today that the storied Italian club will face Real Madrid in a friendly match at Yankee Stadium on August 8th. more ›

Because apparently some people just can't help but simulate sex acts on the subway, the NYPD has sent out yet another request for help in finding an alleged subway pervert. And this one, the police say, is a repeat offender. more ›

Midtown traffic had a serious rush hour hiccup yesterday when a speeding SUV struck, and seriously injured, a 20-year-old woman before hitting a taxi cab and a private sanitation truck. "I saw her kind of flying in the air," Mohammed Gherabawy, whose cab was hit by the SUV told NBC. "And the guy, he was coming towards me, and I was trying to get out his way, he didn't give me no chance. He just struck me from behind." more ›

Residents who live near the busy heliport on East 34th Street fought hard to get a curfew imposed in 1998, prohibiting landing and taking off on nights and weekends. Of course, such trivial things as noise and air pollution shouldn't stop important plutocrats from going about their business. In the last six months, nearby resident Ron Sticco and his wife have caught the mayor's helicopter breaking curfew sixteen times. more ›

The police are asking for the public's help in finding two people who allegedly robbed a woman at a F train station in Queens last month. Wait, let's clarify that: They allegedly robbed a blind woman at a F train station. more ›

Beloved actor Michael McKean was struck by a car when he was crossing the street at Broadway and West 86th Street. The Daily News' photographs at the scene show a bloodied McKean on a board. Apparently McKean has a broken leg and was taken to St. Luke's in critical condition; his condition was upgraded but doctors are checking to see if the 66-year-old has other broken bones. more ›

In today's day-end link roundup, Kevin Smith becomes a critic, Amanda Knox make Maxim Hot 100, a cat speaks, and more! Follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

The Rangers and Devils are now tied at two games apiece in the Eastern Conference Finals, but one Rangers fan is still miserable over Game 3. Stephanie Gorman says that in the wake of the Rangers' victory, three Devils fans attacked her: "The one guy spit at me, all over my face and jersey. Another guy pushed me and right after that, a third guy grabbed me around the neck and pushed me, very hard." more ›

Plans for a 30-inch natural gas pipeline that would run underneath the Hudson from New Jersey into Manhattan's Meatpacking District have been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. "We determined that construction and operation of the NJ-NY Project would result in limited adverse environmental impacts," FERC's report states. We're guessing they wrote that sentence after being denied entry to Le Bain. more ›

There will be no voting on Tuesday, September 11, 2012 in New York. Instead, the powers that be have decided that—for pretty obvious reasons—the primaries scheduled for that day will be held on Thursday, September 13. more ›

Yesterday, the federal authorities raided a Chinatown building at 35-37 East Broadway—apparently, it was full of "table games and slot machines," "Chinese mahjong," and "large cardboard boxes—allegedly filled to the brim with cash." more ›

Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar—the 75-year-old former chairman of Egypt’s Bank of Alexandria who pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor charge of sexually abusing a maid at the Pierre hotel—got some bad news yesterday when a judge recommend he pay the maid $350,000 for her troubles. more ›

Yesterday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan led 43 Catholic groups in filing 12 federal lawsuits against the White House's birth control mandate, requiring religious institutions' insurance plans to cover birth control. Today, Dolan appeared on CBS This Morning to further his case that the White House is "strangling" them. more ›

Meet Ava, the "latest and greatest in next-generation public advertising technology." Yesterday the Port Authority unveiled a new helpful hologram intended to help travelers at information kiosks in all three major NYC airports. Here's video of the so-called "avatar" in action—created by Cyberdyne Systems AirportOne, the eerily lifelike Ava insists, "I'm so versatile, I can be used for just about anything": more ›

Bicycle Magazine, the publication that Senator Chuck Schumer totally stores under his mattress and reads with a flashlight under the covers, has rated New York City the 7th best city in the country to pedal around on two wheels. #1 was Portland, Oregon. We demand to know which city has more subscribers to Bicycle Magazine! more ›

In today's midday link roundup, history's most terrifying restaurant incidents, dirt cheap Brooklyn Bridge tattoos, an eagle likes street signs with the word eagle in them, and much more! Follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Yesterday, a NJ judge sentenced Dharun Ravi to 30 days in jail for spying on his Rutgers roommate with a webcam. The roommate, Tyler Clementi, who was gay and had been seen on the webcam with another man, killed himself soon after in September 2009, prompting national debate over bullying and homophobia, and now the sentence has launched disparate views about whether justice was served. more ›

Ah, the East Side Access. The long-running project to bring the LIRR to Grand Central is now set to take a lot longer. And cost a lot more money. At an MTA meeting yesterday it was revealed that the project, which was once slated to be done by 2015, will not be done until August 2019. Also? That $6.3 billion price tag quoted in 2006 is now looking more like $8.24 billion. Thank goodness the MTA is made of money, right? Sigh. more ›

Important investigative journalist Bill O'Reilly is on to these so-called "protesters" of economic inequality. "This Occupy Wall Street movement is now very coordinated and they are terrorists. They are trying to create trouble. That's what terrorists do," O'Reilly told human paper bag of vomit Laura Ingram last night. But does he have proof? Of course: a random guy accosted him outside a Broadway theater on Friday night after he and three kids saw Jesus Christ Superstar. Strangers + Tim Rice = TERRORISM. more ›

A former employee of lingerie wholesaler Native Intimates says she was terminated by her supervisors simply for being too busty and attractive. Lauren Odes, 29, has filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against the company, alleging that her bosses asked her to tape her breasts down and wear her boyfriend’s oversize sweats to the showroom office. "When I was first told that I was too hot and that my breasts were too large, I was shocked," Odes said at a press conference yesterday. "After I was told to tape down my breasts, I cried." more ›

Newark Mayor Cory Booker wants us to know that the stir over comments he made on Meet the Press condemning the Obama campaign's attacks against Mitt Romney's old gig at Bain Capital is all just a big misunderstanding. more ›

Teenagers: When they're not lobbing bricks at cyclists or jumping onto subway tracks to play chicken with oncoming trains, they're firing freaking darts at pedestrians with blowguns. Yesterday residents of Bensonhurst and Bath Beach were on edge after several pedestrians were hit with three-inch long darts. Now police say they've caught one of the culprits, who allegedly fired the darts at random passers-by from an apartment window. more ›

The MTA and officials in Albany mulled it, and it seems they decided it was a good idea: Going forward, if you witness an assault on an MTA employee and report it to either the NYPD or the MTA Police you can make up to $2,000 in cash thanks to a new MTA-funded program called Transit Watch. more ›

A 12-year-old boy was inside a sneaker store with his father last night when a violent confrontation erupted between a Rugged Sole employee and another man. According to the store's owner, surveillance video shows the employee, apparently a security worker, pulling out a gun after an armed man showed his gun. Sang Han told the Daily News, "They both had guns and the boy got caught in the crossfire. The kid was just an innocent bystander." more ›

In both of their wins in the Eastern Conference finals, the Rangers have weathered an early Devils storm and then won it in the third period. In Monday's 4-1 Devils victory, they came out flat but didn't hold off the Devils. The result was a New Jersey win and a tied series ahead of Wednesday's Game 5 at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers are now 0-7 when leading in a series in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs. more ›

In today's day-end link roundup, a blowgun dart attacker terrorizes Brooklyn, Ruby's reopens on Coney Island, a dog rides a bicycle, and more! Follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Here's a little manufactured sunshine on this rainy day: NJ's infamous tanning mom Patricia Krentcil is speaking out on the Today Show and she wants you to know she's not sitting around tanning all the time: "I'm up at 3 in the morning, making sure all the wash is done. My husband goes to work at 4:30." After she makes her kids breakfast and packs their lunches, "They’re all off and gone. And then I work all day inside and outside the house.” more ›

Two Time's Up! activists wearing cartoonish police costumes were arrested on the Lower East Side during a "Film the Police" group bike ride Friday night as they headed downtown to gather in solidarity with jailed Occupy Wall Street protesters. As you can see in the videos below, Barbara Ross and Keegan Stephan were told they were being arrested for impersonating police officers. But after spending a few hours locked up at the local precinct, officers apparently came to their senses. more ›

Erin, a librarian living in Brooklyn, has an epic account of a run-in with a drunk fat guy wearing chef's pants on the G train who was trying to wow her and her friend. Apparently the man was so drunk that he thought she and her friend from Boston were speaking with accents. She continued: more ›

The top 1% of New York City's earners made more than a third of the city's income in 2009, according to a report by the Comptroller's office obtained by the Times. That's double what members of the 1% take in nationally. Shockingly, the city that supports a market for million-dollar parking spaces and run by a billionaire may be squeezing out the middle class. more ›

Yesterday was blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng's first day in New York City. Chen arrived on Saturday, after seven years of abuse from Chinese officials, a daring escape and sudden uncertainty over whether he and his family would be able to leave. According to The Daily Beast, he "relaxed in an outdoor playground with his family Sunday, basking in perfect spring weather—and not having to worry about being beaten or harassed for the first time in years." more ›

Remember when TLC Commissioner David Yassky told us in March that a fare increase was "not on our agenda?" What a difference 76 days makes, because today Yassky indicated that fares may go up by as much as 16% to 20% this summer. "The fare hasn't changed since 2006, so it is reasonable for taxi drivers and fleet owners to put this on the table,” he tells the Daily News. Woah, if Yassky keeps it up he might just earn himself the title of Deputy Commissioner of Public Information for the NYPD. more ›

An online petition and a Facebook page have been started to "demand justice" from the City of New York over the arrest of artist and designer Takeshi Miyakawa, who was arrested by police early Saturday morning for planting false bombs. more ›

Last October the MTA started an interesting experiment. Without telling anyone, they removed all the trash cans from the Eighth Street N/R and the Main Street 7 stations in an effort to reduce trash. And, despite skepticism from almost everyone, the plan seems to be working as hoped. But it is hard to determine much of statistical value from just two stations. So now, AMNY reports, the MTA is looking to expand the program to a few more stops. more ›

Tonight, Mary Richardson Kennedy's family will be holding a private memorial to remember her—and they have not invited estranged husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Post reports, "Instead, he’ll take their four children to Florida, according to another source... In Florida, the kids are likely to stay at their grandmother Ethel’s oceanfront home in Palm Beach, said a family friend." more ›

Another pervert allegedly exposed themselves to a woman on the subway, but police have obtained video to hopefully identify him. more ›

In today's midday-roundup, a dinosaur fossil sells for a cool $1 million at auction, Beach House thinks VW ripped them off, Hell's Kitchen bees held a family hostage inside their SUV, and much more! Follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

An NYPD sergeant was captured on video profanely berating a 21-year-old man in a Chinese restaurant in Kensington. "My dick will go in your mouth and come out your ear," Sergeant Lesly Charles says. "I have the long dick. You don't." According to the Post, which obtained the video from the man, it was an illegally parked car that got the well-endowed officer so aroused. more ›

A judge is currently in the middle of the sentencing for Dharun Ravi, the former Rutgers student who was found guilty of bias crimes for spying on his roommate Tyler Clementi. Clementi, whose gay encounters with another man were seen on Ravi's webcam, killed himself in September 2009, just weeks after starting his freshman year. UPDATE: Judge Glenn Berman has just sentenced Ravi to 30 days in jail and probation. He will also recommend Ravi not be deported. More details below. more ›

Back when Cornell's bid to bring a high-tech campus to Roosevelt Island was approved by the City the school said that it'd be holding classes in the city (if not on Roosevelt Island) ASAP. And thanks to a very generous gift from Google, that really will happen. Despite its longstanding ties to Stanford, internet behemoth Google today announced it is giving the school 22,000-square-feet of space on an upper floor of its NYC headquarters, rent free, for the next five-and-a-half years. more ›

Some 40,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews packed Citi Field last night (with another 20,000 overflowing into Arthur Ashe stadium) for a huge rally warning about the evils of the Internet. If you're curious about what went on inside, look no further than the Internet, where the Twitter hastag #Asifa yields a slew of live updates from the rally. Organizers had futilely tried to keep the sold-out event private, to no avail. Josh Nathan-Kazis at the Forward was told that reporters would not be permitted inside because of Homeland Security. more ›

Time for another tale of "farebeaters get caught by cops carrying concealed weapons!" This time, the story takes place at Union Square at 4 a.m. yesterday, when two cops assigned to the transit division stopped two men who entered the subway system with only one swipe. Cue the music! more ›

Because you wish Rex Ryan would bless you on your wedding day, check out today's end-of-day links: Cory Booker defends Bain, "Avengers" rules box office, geekology, and an adorable cystic fibrosis dance. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

The artist who was installing the "I Love NY" bag that caused a bomb scare in Williamsburg on Friday was arrested early Saturday morning while he was installing an identical work in Greenpoint. 50-year-old Takeshi Miyakawa, who lives in Brooklyn, was arrested at the intersection of Bedford, Lorimer, and Nassau, and charged with planting false bombs. At his arraignment this morning, Miyakawa was ordered to be held for an additional 30 days for a mental health evaluation by Judge Martin Murphy, despite the prosecution's request to fix bail. more ›

According to the Post, the seven-months pregnant wife of Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie sent her husband a series of suicidal texts messages in May 2011 that read: “God forgive me, I don’t want to die. What have I done?” and “I cut my wrists. I took those pills.” It turned out all to be a ruse to get her husband back home, fearing he was cheating on her with another woman. After all, the 28-year-old Cromartie has quite the reputation: he has 10 kids by eight different women in six states, AND the couple is expecting a set of twins soon. more ›

To celebrate the occasion of a gang of toothless millionaires pushing a disc around for glory (and money), the New York Rangers sponsored a flight from La Guardia to Newark yesterday, and the Times (with a photographer!) was on hand to witness the five minute flight. Reporter and Rangers fan Tony Gervino writes that the whole trip, "door to door," took five hours, "almost twice as long as the game itself." And what about the fact that Delta and the Rangers just spewed a ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, not to mention all the people who had to drive to the airport because they—WOOOOO GO RANGERS! more ›

Chen Guangcheng, blind Chinese dissident whose uncertain future nearly sparked an international incident, arrived at Newark Airport last night and appeared on the New York University campus last night to address the media. But, before landing, he told reporters on the plane, "I thank the American Embassy and American people. I’ll never forget what they’ve done." more ›

Week in and week out, the New York Red Bulls face adversity and pull out unlikely results. Saturday night's trip to Montreal saw them overcome injuries, terrible officiating, and a red card in a come-from-behind 2-1 win. more ›

Kenneth Moreno, the former NYPD officer who was acquitted of raping a woman in her East Village apartment but was convicted of misconduct, is contemplating filing a civil suit against New York City and HBO. "It's a civil-rights action," attorney Eric Sanders tells the Post. Moreno, who admitted under oath to spooning with and singing a Bon Jovi song to the woman he was accused of raping, and whose attorney compared a woman's vagina to a venus fly trap, feels aggrieved by his ordeal and that the prosecution planted evidence. more ›

Yesterday, the city's second most powerful public official got married—and it was a historic wedding. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn married her partner, lawyer Kim Catullo, in what the NY Times calls, "one of the most prominent same-sex weddings of a public official to date." more ›

This week, we finally learned the identity of the young woman who has been walking around the East Village topless in recent weeks. Activist Moira Johnston said she wanted to raise awareness that "it's legal for woman to be topless anywhere a guy can be without a shirt since 1992 here in New York State." Joey Boots caught up with her in Union Square the other day, and filmed an interview with her. Watch the NSFW (breasts ahead!) interview below. more ›

Burns, a married father of two, says it all began when Trapano—who frequently rode his line with her sister—passed him a handwritten note in April 2011: “She gave me a note telling me all about wanting to get together, [to] give her a call." He claims he put her off for awhile, but eventually she cornered him and he called her to clear everything up: “I called the lady, and I told her, I said: ‘Look, I read your letter. I appreciate your interest but I’m married and I don’t get involved with my passengers like that.’ ” more ›

Yesterday, the funeral of Mary Richardson Kennedy was held in Bedford, NY. The battle over her body, between the Kennedys and Richardsons, was ultimately settled in favor of the Kennedys. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the opportunity to make his case during the eulogy, "I know I did everything I could to help her." more ›

Early this morning, there was a two car accident in Brooklyn—and we happened to be on the scene when it occurred. The incident occurred just after 4 a.m. today at the intersection of Rogers Avenue and Union Street in Crown Heights. FDNY tells us that four people were all taken to Kings County Hospital with minor injuries. Check out photos of the accident above.
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While you were sipping your third mimosa and complaining about the subpar battery life on your cellular phone, Greg Wetzel was saving a woman's life. Wetzel, a 40-year-old father of three, was standing with his children at the West 72nd Street subway station at 12:45 yesterday afternoon when he saw something out of the corner of his eye: a woman had fallen unconscious onto the tracks. He immediately jumped down and lifted her to safety. "He didn’t hesitate,” a witness told the Daily News. “The guy was really amazing. This guy was like a real hero.” more ›

This fall, be the envy of those losers on 11th Avenue and own your very own parking space on 66 East 11th Street for $1 million dollars. "It's for someone who wants complete privacy," a vice chairman for the realty company tells the Post. Because the key to privacy is living in the most publicized, ostentatious parking space in New York City. more ›

Chelsea FC shocked the soccer world yesterday, defeating a dominant Bayern Munich side on penalties to earn their first UEFA Champions League title. Local Chelsea supporters took to the streets, and KickTV captured the drunken celebration outside the Football Factory at Legends in Midtown. As you can see from the screenshot above, the fans were positively gushing. more ›

This has been the longest 90 days ever: Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 were killed (189 of them Americans), has died, according to his brother. The BBC reports that he died in his home in Tripoli, Libya. more ›

With 36 saves, Henrik Lundqvist made it possible for the Rangers to once again stay in a game long enough for their offense to wake up. The alarm clock went off in the third period, and for the second time in three games this series, the Rangers won, 3-0, to take a two-games-to-one-lead. The Rangers have six goals in the third periods of their two wins, and two total in the other seven sessions. Dan Girardi, Chris Kreider (on a deflection) and Ryan Callahan (empty-netter, but it's still something) scored. more ›

Because NBC may have totally Britta'd this one, check out today's end-of-day links: Dan Harmon disaster, adorable 911-dialing little girl, "Avengers" Union Square fist fight, bizarre bike racks, and the cutest kitteh. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Talk about crushed hoop dreams: A teenager from East New York is suing the city for "several millions" after breaking his knee while playing basketball on a supposedly faulty school court in 2010. more ›

Chen Guangcheng is the blind Chinese dissident who was recently granted permission from the Chinese government to defect to the United States after a difficult bureaucratic battle. He will finally touch down on U.S. soil tonight, having left China with his family today on a Newark-bound flight. more ›

Sure, global warming might be destroying the environment one arctic glacier at a time, but what are a few dead baby seals in comparison to getting an extralong pre-summer weekend? Today, the Times reported that many city schools will be giving students two days off before the official last day of classes, due to this academic year's unusually warm winter, which led to a lack of snow days. more ›

Yesterday, the hipster capital of North America was under siege after someone called in a report of a suspicious package on Bedford Avenue between North Fourth and North Seventh Streets in Williamsburg. NYPD and FDNY descended on the area only to discover that the suspicious package was nothing more than a plastic bag. Now, the person who originally called in the scare explained to us why he did so: "I even said to the cops when they came: it's Williamsburg, so it's probably some stupid street-art project. The fact is, though, if something like that was taped to a column on a subway platform, they would have cleared out/shut down the entire system to investigate." more ›

Poor Mary Richardson Kennedy: the troubled, estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy cannot even rest in peace, as Robert Kennedy and her relatives battled over her body yesterday. Her brother filed papers in court to challenge RFK's handling of Mary Kennedy's body. According to the Daily News, her family "didn’t want her to be buried beside members of the Kennedy clan in Hyannisport." more ›

Yesterday, Facebook's much-ballyhooed initial public offered sputtered, closing at $38.23, just 23 cents above it's offering price. Which was red meat to the New York Post! more ›

Ah, love! Today, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and her girlfriend of over ten years, Kim Catullo, finally get to tie the knot. The couple will make it official at 5:30 this evening at the Highline Stages on West 15th St in front of a potpourri of local politicos: guests include Mayor Bloomberg, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, and State Assembly members Vito Lopez and Deborah Glick. more ›

This week has been filled to the gills with nakedness: yesterday there was the East Village topless woman, and on Wednesday there was the upstate woman who decided to take a completely naked stroll through a Saratoga Springs lumber store and convenient store. Below, you can now see NSFW video of Barabara Lafleur "merely expressing her freedom to be fully liberated." more ›

Last year, despite some issues including fudged crime stats and a jump in subway crime, New York still saw a drop in overall crime according to the NYPD. Most importantly, the number of murders continued to drop. And, if trends hold, this year promises to have even fewer murders (there have been 136 so far, 20 percent below where we were this time last year). To celebrate that news, the NYPD has sent out its annual analysis of murder victims, and once again it's an interesting read! more ›

Bus drivers have it hard out there—when passengers aren't punching them in the face, they have to deal with their bosses licking their face. At least that's what Bronx driver Nancy Jenkins claims her superior did to her: “He stuck out his tongue and licked me from under my chin all the way up to my eyebrow,” Jenkins told the News. “It was just so nasty.” more ›

Four people were arrested yesterday for criminal possession of pot in Brooklyn. Police recovered approximately 125 lbs of marijuana in the Brownsville home where the four suspects all lived. As you can see above, they really took advantage of the 5 gallon "All-Purpose" buckets (which only go for $2.60 each). more ›

On Thursday morning, a woman wearing scrubs rang the bell of a Staten Island home owner. The woman told the resident that she was a home health care worker. Then, NBC New York reports, "When he told the woman he didn't use a home health aide, a man who appeared to be her accomplice pushed his way into the house flashing a gun, police said." So the homeowner ran out and called 911. more ›

Because you don't try to get jiggy with Will Smith without his permission, check out today's end-of-day links: Mad Men's Megan goes Vogue, "Highlander" remake, adorable Ramen Noodle poodle, and magical meerkat moments. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

New York City's war on graffiti has been going on for decades, and Mayor Bloomberg formed an anti-graffiti squad in 2005, "Graffiti is something for which our administration has zero tolerance...[it's] an invitation to criminal behavior." But now there's a new way to fight graffiti, besides spying on taggers and arresting taggers: It's shutting down the stores where spray paint is sold—talk about going up the chain! more ›

There's been a lot of Pollyannaish talk in the past month about how we may be turning the tide in the war against bedbugs, with rosy reports of the city "winning." Last month the city released stats suggesting that bedbug complaints to 311 were still on the rise, but were increasing at a slower pace. Victoryish! It was enough for DNAinfo, which triumphantly declared that the "bed bug epidemic that has plagued the city for nearly a decade finally appears to be waning." Today Patch brings the sad news that the bastards are surging, and have launched a brazen attack on schoolchildren in Carroll Gardens, in direct violation of the Geneva Bedbug Convention. more ›

Last fall, NJ teacher Viki Knox was being investigated for homophobic remarks she posted on Facebook, like calling homosexuality "a perverted spirit that has existed from the beginning of creation," and a "sin" that "breeds like cancer." Now, after being suspended for the incident and about to face tenure charges, it seems that she'd rather just retire from Union High School on disability pension. more ›

One way to deal with the problem of teachers who don't have permanent jobs in the Department of Education but can't be laid off thanks to their union contract? Buy 'em out. And that option is exactly what Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott proposed doing yesterday. Probably better than spending $100 million or so a year to keep them employed, which Walcott says we currently do. more ›

We were excited to go check out this Sunday's "Ultra-Orthodox Jews Against The Internet" rally, which we're putting in quotes here because that's not technically what it's about. The rabbinical group organizing the event says that contrary to initial reports, they're not trying to stop the Internet, but rather raise awareness about its dangers. Apparently it's a message people want to hear—not only did they sell out the 40,000 seat Citi Field, but the 20,000 seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, which was rented for overflow, is also sold out. (And only men allowed.) more ›

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

[Update Below] Yesterday's police crackdown on SoHo's street vendors is turning into a serious headache for a slew of licensed peddlers. After police from the 1st Precinct showed up on Broadway yesterday and started shutting down vendors for things like being inches under 20' from a building entrance and having tables that were "too tall," they came back to the bewildered workers and confiscated their carts and merchandise, too. This is not a small thing when your merchandise is your livelihood! more ›

Well, it was fun while it lasted! Starting this weekend the MTA will, as planned, ban boozing on board the LIRR from midnight to 5 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Considering how inebriated things were last weekend, we don't have high hopes for this one. As the Wall Street Journal notes, the LIRR can be a pretty sodden place. Then again, new source of income for the MTA! more ›

After a group of teens attacked five people following a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert two weeks ago ("leaving one man with a fractured eye socket, another unconscious and a boy with multiple facial fractures"), the Newark police have decided to increase security at the Prudential Center for tomorrow afternoon's Game 3 between the Devils and Rangers. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW -- Scroll down for a photo of the scary package: a plastic bag.] The world's hipster capital is under siege at this hour, with emergency crews and a bomb squad responding to a suspicious package on Bedford Avenue between North Fourth and North Seventh Streets in Williamsburg. An FDNY spokesman tells us units are on the scene to asses the threat of "something taped to a tree." In Williamsburgese, we think/hope that translates to "suspiciously annoying art project." more ›

The suicide of Mary Richardson Kennedy continues to shock the 52-year-old's family and friends, many of whom are blaming her estranged husband, Robert Kennedy Jr., for her decline since he filed for divorce in May 2010. She will reportedly be buried at a cemetery near the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, Massachusetts, but a friend told the Daily News, "Hyannisport? You mean the place from which she had been virtually banned for the past two years?” more ›

Because you want to hear the Aflac duck read mommy porn, check out today's mid-day links: Al Gore's "horsewoman," UWS mosquitos, dangerous sidebangs, "Blade Runner" sequel, and how to open a beer with a chainsaw. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

The taxpayer-funded Bronx health clinic robbed of hundreds of thousands of dollars by ex-State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. is hanging by a thread. Soundview has provided low-cost health care to thousands of South Bronx residents for years, but since Espada and his son Pedro G. have been on trial, it's drastically cut services and even stopped paying the malpractice insurance for its physicians. Fortunately Soundview still has enough cash to pay the Espadas' legal fees! But now the state Department of Health has moved in to shut it down, and it may cease operating completely. more ›

BAM. And the record for the most expensive apartment in New York City has been broken. Again. Just months after the penthouse at 15 CPW sold for $88 million, the Times today reports that a 10,923-square-foot duplex penthouse at the still-under-construction Extell building One57 has sold to a mystery buyer for a whopping $90+ million. Are we feeling poor yet? more ›

Yesterday, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly promised more scrutiny and oversight for the NYPD's controversial stop-and-frisk policy, outlining several changes to the policy in memos to the NYPD and City Council. But as far as Mayor Bloomberg is concerned, everything is working just fine, and there's nothing controversial about stop-and-frisk, and he can't hear any complaints nah nah nah: "We're going to keep doing this...We're not going to walk away from tactics that work and we're not going to walk away from bringing crime down," he said on his radio show this morning. more ›

Just before 4 a.m., a LIRR Amtrak worker was hit by a train near the Hunterspoint Avenue station. According to WCBS 2, the worker was taken to Elmhurst Hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. more ›

A construction worker from Ditmas Park fell to his death in SoHo yesterday. Adrien Zamora, 28, was three stories up working on the facade of a low-rise luxury building at 450 Broome Street when he slipped from the scaffolding. His death comes four months after one of the contractors at the site was cited for "failure to safeguard all person and property." According to the DOB report, a worker dropped a wrench from the eighth floor scaffolding and hit a pedestrian. (That violation was dismissed last month.) more ›

Because you're sick of the Westboro Baptist Church, check out today's end-of-day links: abandoned bike porn, rock star sexual prowess dirt, tapeworm epidemic, Super Bowl rings, confused kitties, and Jeffrey Dahmer's signature. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Listen, Eduardo Saverin, you may have co-founded Facebook and you may have renounced your U.S. citizenship in anticipation of tomorrow's big IPO day, but there's something you're not familiar with: The wrath of Senator Chuck Schumer. Chuck and Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania are looking into ways to bar tax dodgers like Saverin. Schumer said today, "Saverin has turned his back on the country that welcomed him and kept him safe, educated him and helped him become a billionaire. This is a great American success story gone horribly wrong... Sen. Casey and I have a status update for him: Pay your taxes in full, or don't ever try to visit the U.S. again." more ›

Billionaire TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts managed to crowd out Mitt Romney's good fundraising news, thanks to the NY Times' report about a study prepared for Ricketts—the study was titled, "The Defeat of Barack Hussein Obama: The Ricketts Plan to End His Spending for Good," and suggests spending $10 million to ruin the President, "The world is about to see Jeremiah Wright and understand his influence on Barack Obama for the first time in a big, attention-arresting way." more ›

While Coach Mike Woodson has said that Jeremy Lin is "absolutely" going to be a Knick next season, Lin has been slightly more cagey about what might come next for him: "Personally, I think it would be great if I come back. But crazy things happen and I don’t really know what’s going to happen.” Now, there are reports that the Nets would love to steal Lin from the Knicks and transplant Linsanity to Brooklyn. At least that means he won't have to break up his new Entourage just yet. more ›

On Sunday, a motorcyclist was killed in a head-on collision when a Ferrari swerved into his lane on a service road near the MetLife Stadium. State police believe that the Ferrari driver, Joseph Ferretti, who was charged in Stephen Lenge's death, was traveling above the 25 MPH speed limit. It also turns out that his brother, who works for the company that hired Ferretti to drive the car to an event, promotes a line of DVDs and experiences called, SuperSpeeders, "where Horsepower Rules and the rules of the road Don't Apply." more ›

In a shocker of a trade, the New York Red Bulls today announced a deal that will send 18-year-old US soccer star Juan Agudelo west to Chivas USA, in exchange for veteran defender Heath Pearce. more ›

Yesterday during a Q&A at City Hall, Mayor Bloomberg claimed that the NYPD's controversial stop-and-frisk policy is actually not that controversial, and most NYers (outside a vocal "minority of people") overwhelmingly support it. But Police Commissioner Ray Kelly seems to disagree with that assessment—why else would the NYPD issue a department-wide memo instructing officers (yet again) to not racially profile? And why else would Kelly send a letter to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn describing the changes and improvements the NYPD has made to "increase public confidence" in the policy? more ›

[Updates Below] Tension between street vendors in SoHo and the police has been ebbing and flowing for quite some time now, but leave it to the New York Post to stir things back up. Over the weekend the tabloid ran an editorial complaining about the vendors (sample quote: "It’s a horror. Everybody wants to make money down here, like we’re whores.") and so today a group of cops have been working their way up the west side of Broadway with a tape measure, kicking vendors out for relatively minor infractions. "We're not even the ones protesting down on Wall Street!" pointed out vendor Adam Elbaz. "Why are they picking on us?" more ›

We recently received a tip that could potentially blow the door wide open on this whole entirely-too-long window of time we are all given when we await the cable guy. Last week our tipster, a Brooklyn Cablevision customer, was waiting for the internet repair guy to come by during the 2 to 5 p.m. window that was given. more ›

A 30-year-old off-duty police officer was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing for moving to a better seat at Citi Field last night. In other words, Eduardo Cornejo was arrested for doing something that every baseball fan has done at some point in their lives. more ›

Traffic accidents happen all the time in NYC—but why? WHY? In a groundbreaking poll, Marist asked 866 New Yorkers which they thought caused the most accidents in the city: people driving cars, people riding bikes or people walking. Their answers may not shock you! more ›

As we noted yesterday, the network of Bronx health clinics pillaged by disgraced ex-State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. are struggling to stay afloat. Since Espada was indicted and put on trial for embezzlement, the non-profit has had to turn away more and more patients—the Times reports today that three-quarters of Soundview's patients are being denied health care. The government has been withholding Medicaid funding to Soundview, and to make matters worse, the clinic is reportedly picking up the tab for Espada's legal fees. more ›

Because you love lamp, check out today's mid-day links: Anchorman 2 teaser, on-street bike parking, Cory Booker Twitter tips, new flesh-eating bacteria report, puppies falling from the sky, and Abe Lincoln's mullet. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

A 49-year-old woman was arrested after going on a naked stroll through a Saratoga Springs lumber store and convenient store this week. Barbara Lafleur has been charged with public lewdness, but she nonchalantly countered that she was "merely expressing her freedom to be fully liberated." Doesn't she know she could just use the fugue state defense? more ›

Maybe we should be working for Time Warner Cable—sounds like you can stare at sexy pictures there all the live long day. (Wait, we already get paid to do that.) At least according to one ex-employee, Keith Reid, you can. He has reportedly filed a $2 million lawsuit against TWC claiming that it ignored his complaints regarding his coworker's penchant for porn. And then, he says, they fired him for complaining. more ›

Last month, a 22-year-old man claiming to be a West Village "neighborhood watchman" was arrested after he allegedly robbed and raped a 29-year-old woman who had lost her wallet. Ivan Ramos, 22, has now been indicted on two counts of rape and three counts of criminal sexual act. Prosecutors successfully lobbied the judge to increase bail after revealing new surveillance video that purportedly shows the incident: "The defendant savagely preyed on a vulnerable victim while posing as someone who wanted to help her," Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance said in a statement. more ›

Two people were arrested at a protest last night in South Williamsburg, outside a fundraiser for an alleged child molester. Nechemya Weberman is accused of sexually abusing a girl over the course of four years, starting when she was 12 years old—she's now 18, but she claims that when Weberman was her therapist he forced her to perform oral sex and other acts. Weberman belongs to the tight-knit ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in South Williamsburg, and many of his neighbors are donating money to his legal defense, which has outraged others. more ›

The number of stop and frisks in the city may be soaring to record highs and we're still the marijuana arrest capital of the world, but other police stats are actually dropping at a surprising rate. Specifically, traffic and parking tickets. Today's Post points out that buried inside the city's budget is the fact that the NYPD is on pace to write nearly 269,597 fewer tickets for traffic violations this fiscal year than they did last year (which was already an eight-year low). That means potentially $9 million less in revenue for the city—unless they can make up the difference by ticketing cyclists? more ›

Yesterday afternoon a housekeeper discovered the body of Mary Richardson Kennedy, the 52-year-old estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Various news outlets are reporting that Kennedy had hanged herself in an outbuilding on the property of her Mount Kisco home. The Richardson family released a statement, "We deeply regret the death of our beloved sister Mary, whose radiant and creative spirit will be sorely missed by those who loved her. Our heart goes out to her children, who she loved without reservation." And friends of Mary Kennedy are blaming her apparent despair on her husband's behavior. more ›

After a 3-2 loss to the Devils, the Rangers still have not won a 2012 playoff game while leading in a series. more ›

Because ponies are now used as seeing eye horses in some states, check out today's end-of-day links: "Anchorman 2" poster, SNL Jagger promos, bee attacks, Nic Cage fans, crazy raccoons, and Justin Bieber profiles. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Brooklyn Heights residents may be holding their breath: The Post reports that a developer whom the Public Advocate has called a "slumlord" has confirmed that he bought the Hotel Bossert, which is for Jehovah's Witnesses members, on Montague Street: "He declined to reveal the purchase price but said the building’s original façade would be preserved and that he plans to have it running as a hotel again by 2014, pending city approval." more ›

Raymond Gumti, the former police cadet who sold his mom's personal info to a gang of ID thieves got a stern talking to from a judge at his sentencing yesterday. Not to mention a $13,000 bill to pay. more ›

The Department Of Education already officially investigated Principal John Chase Jr. of Bronxdale High School after he allegedly made at least three remarks about oral sex to female staffers last fall. And even though Chase was found to have regularly made "inappropriate sexual comments," he was only disciplined with a letter of reprimand and sensitivity training. Well, the DOE is really coming down on him now—they've demoted him to Assistant Principal at another school. That'll, um, teach him! more ›

We were worried there for a minute that convicted thief Pedro Espada, Jr. would quickly fade from the public consciousness now that his embezzlement trial is over, taking his crucifix and conspiracy theories with him. But have no fear—the disgraced ex-State Senator from Bronxchester will be haunting the Brooklyn federal courthouse steps for months to come, because sources tell the Wall Street Journal the feds are expected to prosecute Espada all over again on the four federal counts on which a jury couldn't agree. more ›

Following a press conference in City Hall today where he announced that the Mets will host the All-Star Game in 2013, Mayor Bloomberg opened up the floor to other topics in an open Q & A session. And the light-heartedness of the baseball news was soon overshadowed by questions regarding the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy. Bloomberg made it clear that he absolutely supported stop-and-frisk, and dismissed critics as a vocal minority: "Nobody should ask Ray Kelly to apologize—he's not going to and neither am I—for saving 5,600 lives. I think it's fair to say that stop-question-and-frisk has been an essential part of the NYPD's work." more ›

The Barclays Center is getting ever closer. Not only is Babs is going to play the joint but so is Jay-Z and Leonard Cohen. The Nets are really coming this fall. Oh, and, as they promised in 2009, the MTA has started renaming the Atlantic Avenue station after the arena. Well, after its sponsor. more ›

Possibly confirming that Kim Kardashian is a fraud, NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a $45 million settlement between 45 states and the Federal Trade Commission with Skechers, for the shoe company "to end the deceptive marketing of its footwear products including Shape-Ups, Tone-Ups, and the Skechers Resistance Runner athletic shoes." Basically, Skechers was lying about your butt looking better and your sleep being better by wearing its shoes. more ›

After helping take down a powerful governor, opening a fake restaurant in LA with Heidi Montag for reality TV, giving out sex advice for the Post, posing for Playboy and not writing her promised tell-all, what's a former working girl to do? Why, open a lingerie store in New Jersey, of course! more ›

The Blue Room at City Hall was an especially appropriate setting today for the announcement that the Mets will host the 2013 All-Star Game. Mayor Bloomberg was joined by MLB commissioner Bud Selig, Mets owner Fred Wilpon, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon, MLB Executive Vice President Joe Torre, and Citi Field's most beloved resident Mr. Met to make the announcement. "Competition for All-Star Games over the last five years has been enormous," Selig said during the press conference. "The new ballpark, Citi Field, that was certainly a primary reason for it. It was their time in a new ballpark." more ›

In today's midday link roundup, more than 3,000 MTA workers get raises, Robert Downey Jr. also gets paid, Bob Marley is swallowed up by gentrification, and more! Follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Despite the constant crowing from the NYPD and city officials that the police department's stop-and-frisk policy is a necessary nuisance for New Yorkers (mostly those who are black and brown!), a federal judge today granted class-action status in a lawsuit against the NYPD that claims the practice violates the constitutional rights of blacks and Hispanics. more ›

The analysis of the city's ambitious upcoming CitiBike bike share program continues! And while the program's proposed map of initial bike share locations is drawing praise, its pricey pricing scheme is still getting some grief. more ›

Yesterday the killer of former Beatle John Lennon was transferred to a new correctional facility. Mark David Chapman has been at Attica for 31 years, but yesterday the 57-year-old murderer was moved to Wende, which is 18 miles away in Alden, NY. According to Peter Cutler, a spokesman for the state's prison and parole system, "this is an unusual move after such a lengthy stay in one facility." more ›

According to a Siena College poll released today [pdf], 57% of New York voters support the legalization of medical marijuana, while 36% oppose it. Presumably, those 36% think that New York will never, ever be as cool as Connecticut so there's no point in trying. more ›

In early April City Council Speaker Christine Quinn described the City Council's argument that unused parking time bought at one meter should still be usable at another meter like so: if "you buy the time, you get to use it." A month later that quip is set to be the rule of the road. more ›

New Yorkers may have a constitutional right to look at porn in libraries, but that doesn't mean your fellow patrons are just going to put up with it. A homeless man allegedly stabbed a 52-year-old man for perusing porn at the Brooklyn Heights Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library last night. “I’m innocent. My wife was there and he’s looking at porn,” suspect Ralph Neptune said as he was being arrested. more ›

We're getting a flood of reports about problems on the L train this morning, and it turns out the cause of the delays is as dreadful as one might suspect. An MTA spokesman confirms that an unidentified person was struck at Union Square by an 8th Ave bound L train. The MTA says that as of 9:50 a.m., they're running one track operation on the L between Bedford and 8th Ave. There are currently unconfirmed reports that the person was killed. more ›

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers searching a shipping container at the Red Hook Container Terminal last week opened up a refrigerator unit and found a pretty sizable haul of cocaine. 24.6 pounds of blow were concealed in bricks within the container, which was bound for the Antwerp, Belgium. Sounds like those hard-partying students at the University of Antwerp are gonna have to make do with Red Bull and Adderall for a few more days. more ›

Newark Mayor Cory Booker is known for his hands-on approach to government, from shoveling people out of blizzards to pushing away his security so he can save people from burning buildings. So it makes sense that NJ Governor Chris Christie is jealous! more ›

In today's day-end link roundup, Park Slope residents take advantage of nannies, Brooklyn kids dominate in chess, a stunning Icelandic midnight sun video, and much more! Follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

An activist protesting the NYPD's stop-and-frisk tactics was held in contempt of court on Friday, and sentenced to ten days in jail, after she called Judge John H. Wilson a "white racist pig." In 2006 Judge Wilson penned a children's book called Hot House Flowers, which was an allegory for illegal immigration that depicted immigrants as dandelions that should be "weeded out." A man videotaping the exchange was also handcuffed, and had the contents of his camera deleted by court employees. more ›

Citi Field, home of the best mascot in sports, financial woes, and a better-than-expected (so far!) team, will host the All-Star Game next year. more ›

DEA agents and Internal Affairs investigators swooped in and arrested an NYPD officer on his way to work this morning and charged him with improperly using law enforcement databases to do favors for a notorious heroin dealer. According to wiretap evidence collected by the feds, Officer Devon Daniels, 30, was at the beck and call of heroin dealer Guy Curtis, allegedly scoring him an NYPD parking placard and using a national law enforcement database to run searches for Curtis. more ›

Right now the Internet is understandably aghast at the story of Aimee Copeland, a 24-year-old woman who, after cutting her leg on a zip line and then going swimming, has lost a leg and may lose another foot, plus her fingers, due to a flesh eating bacteria called necrotizing fasciitis. Really scary stuff, right? It gets worse. You can get necrotizing fasciitis from lots of places that don't involve zip lines. As we pointed out in 2010, you can even get the bacteria from a dripping garbage bag in Prospect Park. Have fun at the Great GoogaMooga this weekend! more ›

More information is starting to come in about the Newark Airport security supervisor who allegedly pretended to be a dead man for the past twenty years to avoid deportation. Though, as you might expect in a case like this, the more info that comes in, the more questions we have. more ›

In the first major legal victory for those detained during Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Matthew Sciarrino found photojournalist Alexander Arbuckle not guilty of disorderly conduct after a two day trial. more ›

Aww, two weeks after a judge ruled that he could not claim diplomatic immunity in a civil lawsuit, Dominique Strauss-Kahn has filed a counter lawsuit against the hotel maid who claims he raped her a year ago. Strauss-Kahn, who resigned from his position at the International Monetary Fund during the scandal, wants at least $1 million in damages from Nafissatou Diallo for "knowingly and intentionally making a false report" that ruined his "professional and personal reputation ... throughout the world." more ›

When they're not groping our genitals or practicing pointless security theater, occasionally the TSA gets it right, like when they patted down Henry Kissinger at La Guardia last Friday. According to the Washington Post, TSA agents didn't recognize who Kissinger was, and subjected him to "the full Monty"—a complete pat-down. Surely the TSA agents were aware that Kissinger won a Nobel Prize for ending the Vietnam War, but they were likely cognizant of the role he played in Chile's military coup in 1973 in making people "disappear." So spread 'em, "Heinz," if that's your real name. more ›

Last week the city not only released the name and pricing of its ambitious new bike share program, now called CitiBike, it also released a draft map of the locations where it hopes to put the program's initial 420 bike stations and 7,000 bikes in July (an additional 3,000 bikes and 180 stations will come next Spring, expanding the program into the UES and UWS, as well as Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Prospect Heights and Crown Heights). While we've raised questions about some aspects of the program's pricing, we really are fans of the prospective rack locations. Even more so after spending time studying the map of locations for Manhattan. However, we suspect some motorists are not going to like what they see come July. more ›

Jamie Dimon is really sorry that his bank invested too heavily in Italian leather laptop tote bags, and though he's said as much many times since the world learned that JP Morgan lost $2 billion, he'll likely have to bust out his gilded apology-kneepads at the bank's annual shareholders meeting today in Tampa. The Times reports that despite the official line that the chief investment office alone got out of hand in ramping up riskier, high-yield trades, former and current employees describe an "increased appetite" for those trades by the bank's "upper echelons." Presumably the paper is referring to the top-secret memo from Dimon to his deputies entitled, "Braaaaiinnnss." more ›

In today's midday link roundup, a duck falls into a fiery chimney and lives, Mark Zuckerberg's machinations to oust Facebook's co-founder, a look at the Wythe Hotel's gorgeous neon sign, and more! Follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

The Ferrari drivers whose driving led to one of the cars swerving into a motorcycle on a service road near MetLife Stadium, killing the motorcyclist, were charged with death by auto. Joseph Ferretti, 28, of Dumont, and Joseph Meyer, 19, of Oveido, Fla., are being held on $50,000 bail each (no 10% option), and NJ State police say that the pair also face traffic violations. A witness who saw the Ferraris before the crash said they were going "faster than you see on an interstate." more ›

The City Council is expected to pass a sunshine bill today that would create an advisory committee to oversee banks that do business with the city. The Responsible Banking Act would require such banks to submit detailed records to the NYC Department of Finance Commissioner, showing how they operate citywide, with a special focus on poor neighborhoods. This information would be made public on the Department of Finance website, and city officials could use it to pressure banks to improve services. Naturally, our billionaire mayor hates it. more ›

The city has allocated $1.6 million to fund the revamped Civilian Complaint Review Board, which has traditionally been a toothless, opaque system that was easily dismissed by the NYPD, but will now have the power to prosecute police officers accused of wrongdoing. According to the Wall Street Journal, the board's Administrative Prosecution Unit will include a chief, a deputy, ten prosecutors, and five investigators, and the funding will kick in on July 1. more ›

Ekeythia Dunston, the former Queens cop who shot her then-girlfriend twice over a text message in 2010, was convicted of assault yesterday. She now faces up to 25 years in prison. On the plus side, however, the 34-year-old niece of former Mets shortstop Shawon Dunston was acquitted of attempted murder in the shooting—which she has maintained was in self-defense. Always look on the bright side! more ›

The most obstinate holdout juror who, despite mountains of evidence, found Pedro Espada, Jr. not guilty of embezzlement just so happens to work for JP Morgan Chase, which, you may recall, has been in the news recently for its own shady financial activity. Fifteen minutes into deliberations, Chase employee Fabiola St. Phar reportedly jumped up from her seat and declared, "He’s innocent! He’s innocent! He’s innocent and I’m not going to change my mind," another juror tells the Daily News. See, who needs prayers, protective red clothing and crucifixes when you've got the hazy moral twilight culture of the banking industry to protect you? more ›

For two periods, Game 1 of the Rangers-Devils Eastern Conference finals looked similar to the Blueshirts' first two rounds. Blocked shots, few great scoring chances and Henrik Lundqvist's making save after save. Then the third period opened up into a veritable offensive explosion. Dan Girardi and Chris Kreider beat Martin Brodeur before Artem Anisimov found an empty net to remove all doubt in a 3-0 win. The Devils may have won the first 40 minutes, but they didn't have a goal to show for it. Then the third period belonged to the Rangers. more ›

In today's day-end link roundup, Barbara Streisand tickets are expensive, ?uestlove works out, baby hawks doing their thing, and so much more. Follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Nope, nothing unsettling about this: A longtime security supervisor at Newark airport has been arrested and charged with using a dead man's identity for two decades. According to the Port Authority, Bimbo Olumuyiwa Oyewole worked for the airport for roughly twenty years and had totally passed background checks he'd been given. To his co-workers, the illegal immigrant from Nigeria was known as Jerry Thomas. Which must have been hard for a guy with a name as fun as Bimbo. more ›

A Netherlands resident was accused of importing 16 pounds of cocaine hidden inside markers, deodorants, nail polish bottles, and buttons at Kennedy airport last Tuesday, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Tomas Sykora's bag was pulled for inspection on his layover between Haiti and Brussels, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Anthony Bucci tells the Daily News Sykora showed "some traits of nervousness," likely due to the 16 markers, 17 roll-on deodorants, 24 nail polish bottles and 684 buttons all containing cocaine. more ›

Dog is man's best friend, but is spending $60,000 in a custody fight over a dog too much—or too little? Craig Dershowitz is trying to get a puggle named Knuckles back from his ex-girlfriend, claiming that she kidnapped him when they broke up. Dershowitz has turned to a website to raise money for legal fees and says, "My ex has a wealthy family that is backing her. I do not. I am paying for this out of my own savings while also helping my mom through her medical issues. My ex is filing motion after frivolous motion just knowing that each time my lawyer responds it takes me one step closer to having nothing at all. It is a game I cannot win, but, with the justice system the way it is, it is a game I must play." more ›

Twenty days before Sasha Blair-Goldensohn was struck by a falling tree limb in Central Park, an arborist with the Central Park Conservancy sent an email to parks officials about a dead 15-foot limb hanging across the entrance at 63rd Street. A follow-up email by a park supervisor asked the next day, "Did the tree crew get this?" The response: "Yes, the tree crew got it." But "it" turned out to be the email itself, and the branch that severely injured Blair-Goldensohn, a father of two, was never removed. more ›

To loud cheers, President Obama addressed Barnard College Class of 2012 graduates this afternoon, imploring the women, "Don't just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for your seat at the head of the table." Obama mentioned how he graduated from Columbia College, right across Broadway, in 1983, which was "the first year women were admitted to Columbia. Sally Ride was the first American woman in space.  Music was all about Michael and the Moonwalk," to which someone yelled, "Do it!" Obama laughed, "No Moonwalking today." more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Bronx Democrat Pedro Espada, Jr. has been found guilty on at least four counts of theft, reports Capital Tonight. Toward the end of last week, the jury asked the judge if they could submit a partial verdict in the embezzlement trial of Espada and his son Pedro, who are accused of siphoning hundreds of thousands of dollars out of Espada Jr.'s non-profit health clinic to pay for their lavish lifestyle. Jurors have gone back to deliberating on the other charges of embezzlement and three counts of conspiracy. . more ›

If there is one kind of crime that makes our blood instantly boil it'd be granny attacks. And while we wish the NYPD had already caught the fake good Samaritan who allegedly ripped a gold chain off of an 80-year-old woman in Chelsea last week (before shoving her to the ground), we appreciate that they're staying on top of it by releasing surveillance footage of the alleged attacker. Have you seen the man in the below video? more ›

To the horror of anyone who reads TMZ, it was revealed that tanorexic NJ mom Patricia Krentcil would be happy to show off her over-baked body in Playboy. If you can hold your lunch, there's also footage of her doing "sexy" poses (sigh). more ›

We hate to say that we called it last August, but it appears that Ron Paul has finally seen the light. In an email to his supporters, Paul says that he can no longer campaign in the states that have yet to hold Republican primaries, because it would "take many tens of millions of dollars we simply do not have." Why doesn't he just take Romney's advice and borrow some cash from his parents? more ›

Yesterday morning, a motorcyclist was killed in a head-on collision with a Ferrari at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Photographs from the scene show the motorcycle in two pieces. more ›

Grover Cleveland was in the White House and we could pick up laudanum without a prescription to cure what ailed us, but cyclists were still running afoul of pedestrians and motorists. New York City's first automobile accident occurred on May 30, 1896, when Henry Wells of Springfield, Massachusetts, struck cyclist Ebeling Thomas on the "Western Boulevard" (better known to us as Broadway). more ›

In today's midday links, Louis C.K. is taking questions on Reddit, a look at Kodak's nuclear reactor, how to be annoying on Twitter, and much more! Follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

The U.S.'s proceedings against the alleged 9/11 terrorists are moving along in Guantanamo Bay, and while relatives of victims are eagerly seeking justice, one doesn't want the accused plotters to be killed, if they are convicted. Blake Allison, whose wife was on American Airlines Flight 11 that crashed into World Trade Center Tower 1, told the Post, "The public needs to know there are family members out there who do not hold the view that these men should be put to death. We can’t kill our way to a peaceful tomorrow." more ›

According to a report by investigative journalist Wayne Barrett, Mitt Romney has accepted around $1.5 million in campaign contributions that stem directly or indirectly from two men who were involved in the graft that plagued the International Olympic Committee before Romney was charged with cleaning it up. But this being an arms race made entirely out of sweet, sweet "speech," who doesn't have connections to less-than-savory donors? more ›

A little more than a year after it came up the last time, the city is again publicly mulling the idea of privatizing its parking meters. As the Wall Street Journal reports, nothing has been decided on, and the idea is still in the very early stages, but it is something that is definitely being talked about. On the plus side, City Hall seems aware of trying to not make the same very costly mistakes Chicago has. more ›

What are the chances of this happening? For the third straight week a cold front is going to stall once it passes through the city. For the third straight week that means a good chance of rain through Wednesday. Spotty showers are possible through the day today but it looks like the heavier rain will wait until this evening. Today's high will be in the low 70s. more ›

Just before 4 a.m. on Mother's Day, Stephanie Taveras, a 21-year-old mother of two from Irvington, N.J, was riding in a white BMW when she was gunned down by unknown assailants driving a black SUV. “I had just met her,’’ 29-year-old driver Rafael Herrera tells the Post, explaining to the Daily News that he met Taveras on a street corner on Saturday night. After partying at his Glendale home, they went on an early morning booze run. more ›

Number one at last! The New York Red Bulls continue their perfect run in May, picking up a comeback road win in a Mother's Day grudge match over the Philadelphia Union. With their fourth straight win, they now sit on top of the Eastern Conference for the first time this season. more ›

We aced our semester of Inconspicuous Cocaine Transport (Automobile), mostly because of our award-winning thesis, "Keep The Michael Bolton Turned Up & The Speed Of The Car Down." The same might not be said of 34-year-old Silvestre Mahon, who was pulled over by two officers on foot in Queens yesterday for having too dark a tint on the windows of his 2007 Accord. The NYPD says in a press release that as the officers approached the vehicle, they smelled marijuana, and saw "in plain view" a gravity knife and what they believed to be crack cocaine and marijuana. A short search later, and they allegedly found what is likely to be two kilos of cocaine. more ›

Now, we're no security experts but if we happened to run an NYPD locker room in the East Village where cash, iPads, bulletproof vests and four service guns had mysteriously walked away we would probably install some cameras, or have someone fix the lockers so you couldn't open them with a Fonzie-like pound of the fist. And apparently actual security experts would too...So maybe the NYPD really does need to pay officers to secure their own locker room round the clock? more ›

After JP Morgan Chase publicly admitted that it lost $2 billion while executing various complicated bets (and counter bets) on credit derivatives, heads are rolling. Ina Drew, the Chief Investment Officer, is resigning today because her division oversaw the London office—which handles nearly $400 billion in trades— that made what CEO Jamie Dimon called "a terrible egregious mistake." Wait, actually the press release says Drew is "retiring," but let's face it—this $2 billion mistake has the potential to be a $4 billion mistake. We're guessing her retirement party's not going to be pouring top shelf champagne. more ›

An immigrant from the former Yugoslavia who has worked as a janitor for Columbia University for two decades graduated Sunday with a bachelor's degree in classics, with honors. Full time custodian Gac Filipaj took classes at the school for free, often studying late into the night after the end of his 2:30 to 11 p.m. shift, then taking classes in the morning. Yesterday all his hard work paid off, and he joined his fellow students at commencement ceremonies on the sunny Columbia quad, where he also received an honorary degree in making everyone else feel like a lazy, entitled bum. more ›

President Barack Obama will be in town later today, to chat with the ladies of The View, raise money and, of course, give the commencement speech at Barnard College. Tickets are needed for commencement (naturally, security at the campus will be tight)—but don't worry, you can watch the speech live at Barnard's website, at WhiteHouse.gov and on CSPAN. Update: Here's a transcript of his speech. more ›

Because there's nothing like a burping dog, check out today's end-of-day links: "Community" on Fridays, Newsweek's gay Obama cover, RIP Donald Dunn, and why the woman who started Mother's Day would hate it now. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

The NYPD is on pace to break last year's record 601,055 stop-and-frisks (that's 1,900 people a day). According to the Times, the department released data yesterday (on a Saturday? Hmmm) that shows police made 203,500 stops from January through March of this year—last year it was 183,326 during the same time period. Your move, McDonald's. more ›

It was only three months ago that Knicks star Jeremy Lin was avoiding paparazzi and eager female fans at downtown club Avenue—Linsanity was fully underway when reports came out of him shunning champagne for Bud Light, leaving the club by the relatively modest hour of 2 a.m. The NY Post is sad to break the news, but that Lin is gone now—and all that is left is a party-hardy husk of swishing, dishing, and tipsy flirting. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg gave a commencement speech to the graduates of UNC Chapel Hill today, and along with an obligatory joke at Duke's expense and a recitation of the school's fight song, he pointedly criticized the state's vote last week that banned same-sex marriage. Noting that America's generations "expanded upon the freedoms won by their parents and grandparents," Bloomberg said that it was necessary that the graduates keep expanding. “And—I would argue—last week’s referendum banning same-sex marriage shows just how much more work needs to be done to ensure freedom and equality for all people." more ›

The bronze sphere that used to stand in the World Trade Center plaza before getting moved to Battery Park post-9/11 will be getting a new temporary home while the park undergoes a renovation, the location of which will be revealed next week. more ›

The NYPD detective accused of drinking and driving in an incident that killed 67-year-old Bronx grandmother Drane Nikac in October 2009 will receive his pension, regardless of whether he is convicted of a felony in the case. The Post reports that Kevin Spellman, a 24-year-veteran of the department retired in April, and will collect around $49,000 a year. more ›

Recently, it was reported that Columbia University's Interfraternal Council has approved notorious fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) to return to the university for the first time since 1961. Because welcoming aboard one of the most notorious, scandal-friendly frats in America—who were the subject of a scathing exposé recently—is just the thing to wipe away the bad vibes after Operation Ivy League revealed rampant drug dealing amongst campus frats. more ›

Today's New York Post has an Xclusive excerpt from the new book, The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House, written by renowned journamalist Edward Klein. Klein, who is best known for being the most important reporter to misspell the names of people he claims to know a lot about, writes in his new book that Oprah Winfrey has some freaky mind-meld (Shining?) going on with President Obama's mind and therefore the direction of the country, and that Michelle is pissed. Here are the five portions from the excerpt that likely made the book's team of capuchin monkey copyeditors howl with glee. more ›

On Friday, a 22-year-old woman was arrested and charged with attempted murder for stabbing her boyfriend with a kitchen knife. Yekaterina Pusepa initially claimed that boyfriend Alec Katsnelson had stabbed himself in the chest during an argument inside their Gold Street apartment, but after coming out of surgery, Katsnelson told police she had stabbed him. Neighbors think the two will work it out though: “They’ll be back together, I guarantee it,” sone neighbor told the Post. “He’s going to forgive her, I just know it.” more ›

Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes responded to Mayor Bloomberg's criticism of his policy that allows ultra-Orthodox rabbis to hear complaints of sexual abuse before they're reported to the authorities. “Ya know, had he bothered to reach out, I would have explained that I didn’t object to someone going to see a rabbi...but I certainly expected that they would report promptly any allegations of sexual abuse,” Hynes told CBS. more ›

While responding to a fire in Bushwick early yesterday morning, firefighters found the unconscious body of a 25-year-old woman who was pronounced dead at the scene. Now it turns out that the victim was a notable transgender performer, Lorena Escalera, who was the "Puerto Rican Beyoncé." more ›

A judge has ruled that the blind New Jersey man who has been fighting for his right to bear arms will get his guns back. Last year, the state had confiscated the weapons of Steven Holper and pushed to remove his gun rights, but a judge decided that the decision goes against a constitutional right to bear arms. “I’ve handled guns for many years — being sighted and being blind — and I’ve never had a problem,” Hopler told CBS. Err, except for that time Hopler shot himself in the leg. more ›

A 15-year-old boy has died after falling into the East River last night. CBS reports that Justin Smith was playing with his friends near the water around East 102nd and 105th Streets when he fell into river around 8:15 p.m. FDNY and NYPD divers responded and recovered Smith, but he was unable to be revived at Metropolitan Hospital. It's unknown whether the Smith died of drowning or some other cause. more ›

Eighteen seasons after they beat the Devils to earn the right to play for the Stanley Cup, the Rangers will again face their rivals from across the Hudson River. A dominant defensive effort and goals from Brad Richards and Michael Del Zotto lifted the Rangers to a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden. more ›

Because some moms think smartphones are really sexy, check out today's end-of-day links: "Friday Night Lights" the movie, segregation in NYC schools, a Queen's panties, Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs, and Bloomberg's bike share advice. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is glad that the latest underwear bomber was thwarted by the feds, but he'd sure like to be briefed on what that device was exactly made of. "This is the type of information quite frankly, that we need, we deserve, in the nation's biggest target," Kelly told NBC. Presumably Kelly added, "Hey did you know that we can probably shoot down aircraft? And that we have officers stationed in Abu Dhabi? Also: we're bigger than the FBI. Wanna see me do 50 one-handed pushups?" more ›

Mitt Romney gave a commencement speech at Virginia's ultra-conservative Liberty University today, and received the most applause for his line defining marriage. “Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman," Romney said, according to the Roanoke Times. And humor is a relationship between a bigoted preacher, his mother, and a bottle of Campari. more ›

A 15-year-old boy was beaten and stabbed by a large group of teens in Brooklyn yesterday. According to police, the incident occurred around 6:30 p.m. yesterday at a playground on Madison Street, in Bushwick, behind PS 299. The victim and some friends were shooting hoops when a group of 10-20 teens came in with sticks and bottles. "They grabbed him and they pulled him down. They started kicking him and beating him with sticks,” one witness told the News, adding that she was terrified by the ordeal. more ›

Call it the Diaper Defense: the Muslim-American family that got kicked off a JetBlue flight on Tuesday because their toddler daughter was flagged as no-fly says the airline had no right to toss them, since children under two years of age don't even show up on the list. And to top it off, the airline hasn't even apologized over the incident. more ›

The incident unfolded around 3:30 a.m. Friday morning; neighbors had heard arguing from the apartment, which Pusepa and Katsnelson share with his cousin. “I heard a lot of yelling, two people screaming,” a 26-year-old student who lives in the building told the Post. “A lot of the screaming was coming from a woman. She was screaming more and louder. It was anger and hostility like someone making threats. You could tell there was a fight.” more ›

There's no shortage of intelligent explanations of just exactly what went wrong at JP Morgan, but our favorite is the Times' quasi-flow chart that breaks it down for people who haven't done any math whatsoever since 2004. Who knew losing $2 billion could look so easy! more ›

This week, police in Fort Lee, NJ became fed up once and for all with the irritating texting while walking epidemic. Fort Lee’s police chief has started ordering his officers to ticket careless pedestrians on the spot: “They’re not alert and they’re not watching what they’re doing,” Police Chief Thomas Ripoli told CBS, saying his office had seen 23 pedestrian accidents since January because of Twexting. “As of now, they are to give summonses to pedestrians who do not adhere to crosswalks and the lights.” more ›

Following a series of articles in the Times detailing Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes' willingness to allow ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities to self-police cases of sexual abuse, Mayor Bloomberg says he "completely disagrees" with Hynes' methods. “Any abuse allegations should be brought to law enforcement, who are trained to assess their accuracy and act appropriately,” the mayor's spokesman Marc LaVorgna tells the paper. more ›

Yesterday, it was reported that an 80-year-old woman was robbed and shoved to the ground in Chelsea for her gold chain by a mugger. Now there are two more reports of 80-something-year-olds being mugged and punched—and all three incidents happened this past Wednesday! more ›

Last month, the city unveiled the new Boro Taxis in a low-key ceremony—Bloomberg took pains to describe their color as apple green, NOT "something resembling the putrid product famously coughed up by Linda Blair in The Exorcist," seriously, why do you guys keep bringing that up? It turns out that most people are satisfied with the color—especially people in Manhattan, who won't have to see their streets awash in puke-colored cabs along with all the puke-stained sidewalks. more ›

Yesterday, the Daily News published a heartbreaking story about a Manhattan couple, Arthur and Madeleine Morris, who died after getting into a car accident at their Catskills vacation home: "Arthur, 88, was smothered trying to crawl out of the Ford Fusion, while brave wife Madeleine, 89, trekked to a road but died of exposure after a rainy night under a tarp." And they tried to call from their cellphone—nine times—but there was no service, seemingly dooming them to their circumstances. more ›

Police are looking for a bearded man who attempted to kidnap a six-year-old yesterday. The incident took place near The Equality Charter School at 4140 Hutchinson River Parkway in the Bronx around 7 a.m. Friday. The suspect (who is said to be in his 50s) approached the six-year-old victim, grabbed him by the arm, and told him to come with him to his house. more ›

A cyclist was struck and killed by a car near Citi Field yesterday evening. According to police, a man in his 40s was traveling westbound on Roosevelt Avenue and was hit by a Nissan sedan that was sharing the same lane, just west of 126th Street around 5:45 p.m. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, and the driver remained for questioning after the incident. Police say there is no criminality suspected at this time. more ›

According to the NYPD, all the victims called a phone number they got on a flyer, which was posted on a utility pole, and set up appointments to see vacant apartments. After the suspect showed them the apartment, he demanded a deposit to hold the apartment. The victims handed over cash and when they tried to call the suspect to arrange a move, the cell phone was disconnected. more ›

Because The Sexational Pam is young at heart, check out today's end-of-day links: Louis CK's surprise online special, Trayvon Martin gun range targets, pole dancing Emma Watson, hilarious headlines and baby orangutans. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

The New Yorker just revealed what its new issue's cover will be—and it is a nod to President Obama's historic support of gay marriage. more ›

It's back. Though Governor Andrew Cuomo tried to drop New York out of the Department of Homeland Security's controversial, creepily-named Secure Communities program last summer, officials say we'll be back in the game next week. According to Homeland Security the not-at-all flawed Secure Communities program, which weeds through local police fingerprint information sent to the FBI to find illegal immigrants and deport them, is mandatory. more ›

Just in time for Mother's Day, a depressing granny attack story. Everybody say hello to 80-year-old Marie Casimir, who tells the Daily News that a mugger ripped a gold chain right off her neck in Chelsea on Wednesday morning—before shoving her to the wet ground. Still, before you start wondering why nobody helped her, at least feel better knowing that they tried! more ›

After an incredibly bipolar season filled with multiple injuries, coaching changes, a revolving door of starting lineups, ego clashes, superstars unable to play with one another, and a month of Linsanity, the Knicks' wacky season ended Wednesday night with a 106-94 loss to the superior Miami Heat in Game 5 of their playoff series. There seem to be a million questions hovering over the team now, already threatening to make their offseason as dysfunctional as this past season. Can Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire coexist? Will Jeremy Lin be back? Will Mike Woodson be coach? Will this lineup ever gel? And will Stoudemire ever help Shane Battier get up? more ›

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

Add this to the file of incredibly bizarre questions asked by educators. If it's not cannibals on math problems or whether a pineapple can race, it's... asking NJ third-graders to reveal a secret? That's what a standardized essay prompt asked of the kids—and why the secret was difficult to keep— and some parents are furious. more ›

Back in February, in the wake of two serious collisions between cyclists and pedestrians in the often-crowded 3.3 mile Prospect Park Loop, the DOT proposed a significant redesign to change how the road gets shared. Many were disappointed the DOT didn't use the opportunity to try banning cars completely from the park, but the new layout does shrink the real estate allocated to motorists. Here are details about the work that starts today. more ›

The police are asking for the public's help in identifying a mugger and his accomplice who attacked a woman in Bedford-Stuyvesant last month. There's video showing the suspect grabbing the victim and putting her into a headlock: more ›

Powerful ultra-Orthodox rabbis in Brooklyn's insular Jewish neighborhoods have long discouraged their followers from reporting any instance of sexual abuse to the police without the rabbis' permission. Apparently, Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes knows all about this, and he's just fine with it. In an outstanding investigative report in today's Times, influential ultra-Orthodox rabbis say Hynes knows all about their policy, and he has not opposed it. In fact, the rabbis say Hynes has been very accommodating in their efforts to self-police sexual abuse. more ›

Attacking an MTA employee is a felony in New York State, yet it just keeps on happening. In just the past few weeks we've seen a lady bus driver punched in the face and a subway conductor knocked out by a man as he was pulling a 1 train out of the station. In fact, attacks are up 30 percent this year with 40 reported already (there were 94 attacks reported in 2011 and 72 in 2010). So now some pols are proposing offering cash to those who help catch those terrorizing transit workers. Sort of a 'if you see something, stick around and get cash' kind of thing. more ›

Because Freddie Mercury is now "an optical illusion of sorts," check out today's mid-day links: "Arrested Development" legos, Japanese manholes, an anti-Obama Beach Boy, and a Maurice Sendak documentary. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

The jury is still agonizing over the fate of disgraced ex-state Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. and his son Pedro G. They're accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a nonprofit health network in the Bronx that Espada founded and funneled taxpayer money into before he lost his Senate seat amid a widening corruption scandal. The jury has sent notes to the judge insisting they're deadlocked, informing him that jurors are screaming and cursing at each other. But Espada says there's a simple explanation for the jury's consternation: black magic. more ›

Police fatally shot a Queens man who had stabbed himself and his wife during a domestic dispute in Oakland Gardens last night. According to police, the incident happened around 8:30 p.m. Thursday night when the couple's 17-year-old daughter called 911 after finding her father Samuel Rivers cutting himself with the knife at their 223rd Place home. When cops arrived, they found Samuel and wife Sharon outside the home; Sharon was bleeding from her neck and chest, and was wailing, “I’m dying! I’m going to die!” more ›

The arrest of a convicted killer for the 1998 rape and strangulation death of a 14-year-old Bronx girl now has the police looking at whether the suspect may be involved with more crimes. A police source, while talking to the Post, said of James David Martin, "We’re looking at him for at least three, and possibly four other rapes." more ›

The map is here! The map is here! Besides the pricing, the part of the city's wildly ambitious new bike share program, now called CitiBike, that we've been most eager to see was the all important map of where the city was planning on putting those 600-odd racks where you can pick up and drop off the program's thousands of bikes. And now a draft of it is here. And, on first glance, it is pretty fabulous. more ›

Yesterday New York briefly turned its attention to the Hilton Garden Inn near JFK Airport when, a little after noon, a man at a meeting in the hotel's lobby suddenly shot one of his companions before shooting himself. Since then a little more information about the incident has come in, but really just enough to raises more questions: was the shooting mob related? What does Oprah have to do with this? And what will the tourists staying in the hotel have to say about their trip now? more ›

Mitt Romney does not remember that one time in his senior year at prep school when he allegedly pinned down a gay classmate and cut off his slightly longish hair. ("It was a hack job," one classmate recalls. "Clumps of hair taken off.") But everyone else who witnessed and participated in the bullying does remember, and Romney isn't denying it. He's even sorry—sort of. In addition to not recalling the episode, yesterday Romney sought to frame the alleged bullying as the sort of stupidity all teenagers are prone to—not something that speaks to his character as a rich kid with a mean streak. more ›

Yesterday, JP Morgan Chase chairman Jamie Dimon had excruciating calls with analysts, admitting that a series of April trades—by a mysterious person nicknamed the "London Whale"—had resulted in a $2 billion loss for the investment bank. Bloomberg News says the loss "jeopardiz[es] Wall Street banks’ efforts to loosen a federal ban on bets with their own money." more ›

New York State's school kids are not great at the science, it seems. The results of last year's National Assessment of Educational Progress science exam are out and New York kids scored an average 149 (out of 300), about the same as they scored in 2009 and two points below the national average [PDF]. And it gets more depressing. How bad are we talking? A disturbing 46 percent of those eighth graders tested didn't know how much hydrogen and oxygen is in a molecule of H2O. more ›

Now that the police admit they were wrong in arresting a Park Slope man for a series of groping attacks in Manhattan, the cops have released a new set of surveillance video images of the suspected "well-dressed groper." more ›

Because you like animatronic butts and you cannot lie, check out today's end-of-day links: Bond Girl inforgraphic, cones of shame, "Animaniacs" history, RIP Prince Harry the pygmy hippo, and a cat and pony show. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

The problem with cracking down on drug addicts is that once you stop, they just come back. Take, for example, the so-called "Methadone Alley" on the east side of Union Square. Last year, after concerns arose the area was going back to the bad old days, the NYPD came in and cracked down on the drug users who had settled there. Good, right? But twelve months later grim scene was back and so, on Tuesday, the NYPD had to go back in for another taste. They walked out with 12 people in cuffs and a whole lotta pills, A Walk In The Park reports. more ›

This week, former police officer Michael Pena was sentenced to 75 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 25-year-old school teacher at gunpoint while off-duty in Manhattan last August. In the Daily News today, his defense attorney Ephraim Savitt wrote a passioned op-ed about what he calls an unjust sentence: "Is there a constitutional carveout for rape charges involving a police officer? The quest for proportionality has taken a dangerous detour. It is one that neither deters criminal behavior nor promotes respect for our criminal justice system. But it’s good press and even better politics." more ›

The people at the Humane Society of the United States are still fighting the good fight against puppy mills, and today they—along with Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, D-Manhattan, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and Friends of Finn members Amanda Hearst and Georgina Bloomberg—announced the introduction of a new bill (A.10150) in the New York legislature. The bill would strengthen standards of care for dogs in these large-scale, commercial breeding facilities, aka puppy mills. The HSUS reminds us why they're advocating for change: more ›

City Councilman Peter Koo, the Queens Republican-turned-Democrat, may be starting an international incident. He is considering whether to create a memorial to honor Asian "comfort women"—a touchy topic for the Japanese. more ›

On the heels of a "damning" report on the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policies (conducted using the NYPD's own data), Public Advocate (and presumptive mayoral candidate) Bill de Blasio called on Mayor Bloomberg to issue an Executive Order dramatically reducing the number of unwarranted stops. Among other things, the NYCLU's analysis found that in 2003, the NYPD stopped 266 people for every gun recovered, but in 2011, cops had to stop 879 New Yorkers to recover a single gun. And so de Blasio has launched a citywide petition drive through the new website Bloomberg Act Now, which he hopes will be an online hub for the stop stop-and-frisk movement. The Bloomberg administration hopes people just ignore him, and issued this statement yesterday: more ›

The MTA's love affair with its FASTRACK program—in which large portions of whole subway lines are shut down from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for a week's worth of much-needed maintenance work—shows no sign of slowing down. After returning to the 1/2/3 last month the program is again hitting up the B/D/F/M lines on Monday. more ›

Two men are dead near JFK airport today in an apparent murder-suicide. Details are still few and far between but it appears the pair were arguing in the lobby of the Hilton Garden Inn in Queens around 12:30 p.m. when one of the men pulled out a gun and shot the other before shooting himself. more ›

Everyone's favorite Jets backup quarterback/meme generator/Hoboken resident Tim Tebow is back in the news today thanks to the dog formerly known as Bronco—despite the fact that Yankees fans hate him, it turns out Tebow is a big enough Yankees fan and NY-lover to rename his dog "Bronx." more ›

When Kenny Cooper was traded from the Portland Timbers to the New York Red Bulls in the off-season, reactions were mixed. Despite being Portland's leading scorer in 2011 with 8 goals, his cold streaks lead some Portland fans to celebrate his departure and RBNY fans to wonder how he would fit in. But Cooper proved the doubters wrong Wednesday night, scoring the winning goal in a 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo, and matching his 2011 scoring total in 24 fewer games. more ›

An ex-cop was sentenced to 25 years in prison yesterday for robbing drug dealers with a gang—whom he outfitted in NYPD gear—on the side. Though Emmanuel Tavarez tried to "portray himself as a victim who had been forced into participating in the robberies," the judge on the case was having none of it, telling Tavarez his claim was "arrogant and insulting to this court. You acted out of greed and not duress." more ›

We know that air travel has become difficult, especially for the vulnerable (hello, granny stripping), but isn't it weird when an airline allows a family to board a plane... and then tells them to leave, claiming that their 18-month-old baby is on the no-fly list? That's what one NJ couple claims happened to them and their adorable daughter when they were trying to go back home to the Garden State. more ›

The poor female mallard duck above was brought to Upper West Side veterinary hospital Animal General in bad shape Wednesday afternoon—they believe the duck was attacked by an off-the-leash dog in Central Park. It had most of its bill torn off and half its tongue missing, as well as lacerations to the back of its head, according to practice administrator Karen Heidgerd. "It’s one of the worst things we’ve seen," she told DNAInfo. The duck had to be euthanized due to the extensive injuries. more ›

Prosecutors ended the four-week trial with a PowerPoint presentation in which they juxtaposed pictures of a seemingly healthy Marchella with ones showing her looking remarkably thinner and bruised. The prosecution showed evidence of drugs in Marchella's system, showed proof that she had been tied to her bed, and let jurors hear Brett-Pierce's prison phone calls in which she referred to her deceased daughter as "that bitch." "The words she chose to describe her show her disregard for her child's life," prosecutor Jacqueline Kagan said. "She couldn't be bothered with her. She didn't care." more ›

Ever since a few Canadian geese unwittingly tested the piloting skills of Captain Sullenberger, the Port Authority has stepped up its wildlife management and bird depredation efforts. A team of wildlife supervisors drive around JFK in SUVs using noisemakers, balloons, lasers, and shotguns to disperse or kill birds that may put human fliers in danger. Recently a Port Authority spokesman gave us some insight on the constant struggle to keep winged animals at bay. more ›

Because you don't fear the kinky sex revolution, check out today's mid-day links: pizza making record, flesh-eating bacteria, Anna Wintour's gay world, weatherman Prince Charles, Avengers damage costs, and a bear conga line. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Because we need to be reminded of good things and good people, here's another heartwarming feature on the inspiring Columbia University janitor who has spent the last 20 years learning English and working his way to get a B.A. in classics. Gac Filipaj, who fled war-torn Yugoslavia in 1992, will graduate from Columbia's School of General Studies this Sunday. While he is very proud, Filipaj also says he wished he had told his father (who died three weeks ago) that he had been studying "because he thought that I'm not that smart." Plus, he still sends most of his income back home to Yugoslavia. Uh, is it a little dusty in here? more ›

For years and years and years we've been waiting patiently for Moynihan Station to open in the old Farley Post Office across from Madison Square Garden. And now, just two oh-so-short years after the Mayor held a ceremonial groundbreaking at the Post Office, it looks like Phase 1 of the project is really going to happen. This summer! Y'all ready for multiple new ways to enter the misery that is Penn Station? more ›

Our city's manholes are safe again—for now. Yesterday police arrested an alleged crack-addict named Andrew Modica and charged him with stealing multiple manhole covers across town. He reportedly admits to taking some of the 30-odd, 320-pound cast-iron ConEd covers that have recently gone missing across town—but denies taking all of them. Meanwhile, police also arrested two different men in relation to the iron tree guards that had recently disappeared from Restaurant Row. Stealing metal and selling it for scrap: it's a real growth industry! more ›

In February 1998, a 14-year-old Bronx girl was raped and strangled in a Bronx park, and it wasn't until October 1998 that the girl was identified as Marleny Cruz, a runaway from a foster home. Now, the police have finally made an arrest in her murder, all because a Bronx homicide detective decided to go back to evidence storage. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] In a TV interview this month, Mitt Romney's wife Ann insisted, "There's a wild and crazy man inside of [Mitt Romney] just waiting to come out." How wild and crazy is he? Well, when he was a teenager at boarding school in 1965, he was so crazed by a fellow student's slightly long hair that he organized a wild mob that held the boy down while Romney cut off the offensive locks, as his victim wept. Which we guess isn't that wild and crazy when you compare it to that one time a young George W. Bush branded a dude. more ›

Last month it was Charles Manson's turn to get his parole shot down and this month it was the Son of Sam's. A parole board came to the decision yesterday that David Berkowitz, 58, is not ready for the release. This was the reportedly reformed serial killer's sixth failed bid for freedom. more ›

A report released yesterday by the NYCLU uses the NYPD's own numbers on stop-and-frisk to reveal the depth of racial disparities and ineffectiveness of the policy. The report constitutes the most comprehensive analysis of NYPD stop-and-frisk activity ever conducted. "In the most basic sense, there are no surprises here," said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. "We see the same targeting of totally innocent people by the police that we have seen since the beginning of the Bloomberg administration, but this analysis paints the most vivid and damning picture yet of how the police department routinely abuses the stop-and-frisk tactic." more ›

They flirted with relevance during for parts of the lockout-shortened season, but the 2011-12 Knicks will be remembered as a fleeting disappointment. Their season came to an end with a 106-94 loss to the Heat. Meanwhile, the Rangers fell, 2-1 to the Capitals and will play a seventh game on Saturday. more ›

Because you want to be encased in Carbonite, check out today's end-of-day links: Beastie Boys cancer benefit, human flesh capsules, old Spiderman interviews new Spiderman, and Fox News reacts to Obama gay marriage endorsement. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Sure, 1 World Trade Center may now be the tallest building in New York City, but now its long-promised plan to be 1,776 feet tall is in jeopardy. Does this mean the terrorists win?! more ›

Wouldn't it be great if you never had to worry about your bike light turning on in your pocket and exhausting its battery without your awareness? The designers of a new rear bike light called Blink / Steady feel your aggravation, and want to lighten your load. Designed by the head of the Gowanus Studio Space, Blink / Steady contains an accelerometer, so it only burns when the bike moves. And it's tough to steal because it slides over the seatpost and is screwed on. more ›

Despite the mounting injuries and merciless defense of the Miami Heat, the Knicks were able to snatch Game 4 at MSG on Sunday, avoiding a sweep and ending their NBA-record 13 consecutive playoff losing streak. The Knicks are hoping to win tonight in Miami and push the series to a Game 6 back in NY on Friday—but with the losses of Jeremy Lin, Iman Shumpert and Baron Davis, the Knicks are left relying on Mike Bibby and Toney Douglas (who hasn't played once during the series) to lead the team at point guard. Oh yeah, and they'll also be playing a thoroughly pissed-off Heat team, and the ghosts of their recent past: "I just don't want to look at that fire extinguisher at all," Amare Stoudemire said. "But getting a win in Miami would be huge for us." more ›

At a breakfast to honor the Eagle Academy for Young Men this morning at Yankees Stadium, Mayor Bloomberg joked that he was feeling slightly inadequate because "hero rock star" mayor of Newark Cory Booker was in attendance. The Daily News has the setup and the punchline: "He runs into burning houses... He's making all the other mayors look bad. And he's much taller. But I'm richer, Cory." Ha, ha get it? You don't get $30 million helicopters by doing something so vulgar as heroically saving lives. more ›

Two years ago, it was reported that an Upper West Side building superintendent allegedly offered to help female tenants pay their rent in exchange for sex. Residents of three different buildings claimed that William Barnason, who was convicted of rape and molestation of three young girls and classified as a high-level sex offender, would also enter apartments—he had keys to all of them—and demand sex. Now Barnason, as well as landlord Stanley Katz and his son Stephen Katz (who managed the properties) have agreed to pay $2 million to six tenants to settle their claims. more ›

If you enjoyed the Weegee exhibit at the International Center for Photography you'll probably like gawking at these grisly (and we MEAN grisly: some are 100% NSFW) crime scene photos that we found in the city's municipal archives. more ›

According to the Daily News, an 11-year-old Bronx girl committed suicide on Monday, after she had send out suicidal texts to several of her friends. Family and loved ones of Wilnery Polanco-Uben can't understand what happened: “I don’t know why no one stopped her,” said her building super Bobby Singh. “She was such a beautiful, happy little girl. I just don’t understand how something could happen to someone so young.” more ›

No arrests have been made in response to an ugly racist assault that took place outside the Sigma Pi frat house at Cornell early Sunday morning. A spokesperson for Cornell, Claudia Wheatley, tells us Ithaca police and Cornell campus police are still interviewing witnesses and victims. The victims, who are all black, say a group of people on the roof of the frat house threw bottles at them as they walked by, then shouted, "Come up here, Trayvon." more ›

If you're looking for a good place to stash some illicit substances, you can totally just hail a taxi now—the NYPD has been issued an order prohibiting cops from searching or pulling passengers from cabs. The operational order was launched by Police Commissioner Raymond "Stop Criticizing Stop and Frisk" Kelly two weeks ago, and came out of a lawsuit filed by two men who were reportedly pulled out of livery cars and frisked by police officers in separate incidents, one in Brooklyn and one in the Bronx. more ›

The 21-year-old man who was arrested for breaking into an Upper East Side apartment and raping a 27-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to rape. Jason Quinones initially claimed that the sex had been consensual, but he confessed today as part of a plea deal. Quinones will be sentenced to 20 years in prison. more ›

In a move that is sending ripples into the world of manufactured ultraviolet radiation, it seems that some New Jersey tanning salons are making sure a certain infamous tanning enthusiast doesn't step foot inside their establishments. more ›

Because West Virginians love insane Texas inmates almost as much as Obama, check out today's mid-day links: pig hoarders, women's sexual appetites, Andy Pettitte's return, single Sofia Vergara, and Will Ferrell SNL promos. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Following years of accusations of racism and lawsuits alleging discrimination, the FDNY accepted 19,260 applications from non-whites, out of the 42,161 total applicants this year. 1,952 of the applicants were women. “This is a huge step forward,” the department's assistant commissioner for recruitment Michele J. Maglione tells the Times. Michele J. Maglione. “We just opened the door to thousands of New Yorkers." more ›

Last week, Mayor Bloomberg begrudgingly released an independent consultant’s report on New York City's 911 system, which found that "call operators waste time on duplicative questions and employ inconsistent questioning procedures." Even more startling, nearly 40% of all calls to 911 in 2010 came from butt-dials. Now we have a much clearer picture of why Bloomberg was reluctant to release all the data: it makes the city look like an ass. more ›

In the wake of the horrifying death of a 12-year-old boy, who was killed while playing chicken on a rolldown gate, a lawyer for the boy's family says they will sue. Alberto Ebanks said the Brooklyn apartment complex's guards were "asleep at the switch," not paying attention to surveillance cameras that showed Yakim Daniels and other children playing on the gate. Ebanks said, "They have blood on their hands as far I’m concerned." more ›

The 24-year-old woman who was raped at gunpoint by an NYPD officer is in no hurry to relive the ordeal of another trial. You'll recall, with revulsion, that ex-cop Michael Pena was convicted of three counts of predatory sexual assault, but the jury deadlocked on the rape charge. It was unclear whether prosecutors would pursue a retrial on that charge, but sources now tell the Post that they're deferring to the victim—who is now determined to move on and put this nightmare behind her (as much as possible). more ›

The weather is being all busy today. A coastal storm is moving northward, and that will cause both a warm front and cold front to pass through the city in quick succession. The warm front's path is making for a steep precipitation gradient. more ›

Today CBS has more on Gac Filipaj, the janitor who earned his classics BA at Columbia University with honors over a 20-year-span. We realize it's the crack of 10:15 in the morning, but it's never too early to let a custodian's humble smile remind us what fat, lazy slobs we are. "The key is he was in class with every other undergraduate at Columbia and competing with them," Peter Awn, the Dean of the School of General Studies says, crushing any suspicions you may have had that Filipaj received special treatment and is therefore somehow your moral equal. more ›

Two teens were hospitalized with alcohol poisoning Saturday night after police broke up a raucous party in Breezy Point, the insular "privately owned cooperative" at the western edge of the Rockaway Peninsula. The parents who threw the party at their home were arrested and charged with 10 counts each of endangering a child under 17. Dozens of teens were reportedly drinking at the party—most of them lacrosse players from the prestigious Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn. Now the incident has shed unwanted light on Breezy Point, where residents pride themselves on their tight-knit community, which is mostly policed by a private security force. more ›

Hey, to all the 2 train riders who think their commutes suck most—you have some statistical proof now! The Straphangers Campaign released a study of the nearly 5,000 alerts the MTA issued last year and found that the 2 train had the "most controllable significant incidents in 2011." more ›

With a 3-1 win over the Flyers in Philadelphia, the Devils won the series four games to one and did their part to set up a Devils-Rangers Eastern Conference finals. After losing Game 1, the Devils reeled off four straight wins and will are two rounds from the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2003. The Rangers can join them in the conference finals if they beat the Capitals on Wednesday. more ›

In today's day-end link roundup, a new Beach Boys song, a giant squid bicycle rack, hearbreaking BP oil spill photos, and more. Follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Yesterday, U.S. agencies confirmed that the CIA had thwarted a new underwear bomb plot from an Al Qaeda group in Yemen, but assured everyone that the public wasn't in danger. Now here's the reason why the U.S. was confident: The bomber was actually a double agent. According to the LA Times, "Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency, working closely with the CIA, used an informant to pose as a would-be suicide bomber. His job was to convince the Al Qaeda franchise in Yemen to give him a new kind of non-metallic bomb that the militants were designing to easily pass through airport security." more ›

Rapper G. Dep, a former P. Diddy protégé who turned himself over to police for a cold-case murder he wasn't suspected of committing, was sentenced to 15 years in prison today. You'll recall that in 2010, G. Dep (born Trevell Coleman) came forward to confess to a murder he committed in 1993, because his conscience was bothering him. At the time, his brother told the Post he thought G. Dep was an "idiot" to confess: "He has three kids and a wife. It was years and years and years ago. Finally, we're not always thinking about it...and now it has to be dug up all again." more ›

The 35-year-old Queens electrician who punched a woman in a fight over a parking spot on East 14th Street last year was acquitted of felony assault today, but convicted of a misdemeanor. According to DNAinfo, Oscar Fuller still faces up to a year in jail at his sentencing on June 13. The woman Fuller punched, 25-year-old Lana Rosas, was in a coma for nine days following the incident, and was hospitalized for months afterwards. more ›

After a Manhattan judge denied Occupy Wall Street protester Malcolm Harris' motion to quash a subpoena for his (innocuous) tweets, Twitter has filed their own motion to quash the Manhattan DA's subpoena. "Twitter's Terms of Service make absolutely clear that its users own their content," the company's attorneys write. "Unlike bank records, the content that Twitter users create and submit to Twitter are clearly a form of electronic communication that, accordingly, implicates First Amendment protections." more ›

The TSA communications department has really been hustling lately, sending out a flurry of press releases with photos and stories about all the potentially dangerous things stupid people try to sneak onto flights. Fruits of the TSA's recent security theater include: land mine casings (filled with shrapnel, but no explosives), three stuffed animals with gun parts inside, a trio of dainty yet deadly throwing knives, and a pepper spray canister gun with a sparkly silver trigger (WANT!). Click through on the photos for the TSA's stories about their recent scores. more ›

This morning at 1 Police Plaza, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly announced a new citywide campaign to combat domestic violence. Beginning today, advertisements will be displayed on bus shelters, phone kiosks, and newsstands across the five boroughs in English, Spanish, and Russian. The objective of these ads, not unlike the familiar "If You See Something, Say Something" posters found throughout the subway system, is to encourage New Yorkers to speak up if they suspect a family member, friend, coworker or neighbor is the victim of domestic violence. “Silence is an accomplice of domestic violence,” said the police commissioner. “That’s why people should heed the message of this campaign, ‘Don’t mind your own business.’” more ›

A week ago, several hundred protesters ran through Lower Manhattan on a "Wildcat march" that was coordinated around other May Day protests. Some black bloc tactics were used, but most of the violence was directed towards photojournalists, as several fought with protesters who were attempting to damage their cameras or prevent them from covering the march. A thread on Anarchist News calls the photographers "vultures" and notes, "journalists are fucking enemies." But how many protesters actually believe this? And what does it say that a faction of anarchists seem to be taking a page from the NYPD in limiting what press can and cannot cover? more ›

Yikes: The Buffalo Police Department released this video of an 18-year-old man being struck by a hit-and-run driver, and it's pretty intense. It shows Victor Jerez and two other men walking in the street; they see a car coming, so they rush to the sidewalk. But the driver comes barreling onto the sidewalk, hitting Jerez and sending him flipping through the air. more ›

It's been a tough four weeks to ride a bike around the Lower East Side: Stanton, Rivington, Suffolk and Norfolk streets were all stripped of their paving, making it rough on riders' bikes and derrieres. One of our commenters even noted, "I have to find a new commute from Greenpoint or else I'll start getting chronic yeast infections from that turbulence." Luckily for ladyparts, the DOT tells us that the resurfacing of Stanton and Rivington will begin tomorrow night, weather permitting. Norfolk & Suffolk will begin on the 21st. more ›

Earlier this morning we received reports that a pedestrian—possibly a school crossing guard—was likely to die after being hit by a truck on the Upper East Side. Now City Room reports that the victim has died, and it turns out it wasn't a crossing guard, but rather a 75-year-old man who was hobbling around on crutches and wearing a reflective vest. A statement from the NYPD press office describes what investigators believe happened at the intersection of First Avenue and 89th Street: more ›

In today's midday links, the Seven Second Bandit is collared, the East Harlem Cafe is begging, Dustin Hoffman is life-saving, and more. Follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

One year before he faces re-election, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is flying high in the polls. According to Farleigh Dickinson University the Rubenesque governor is approved of by 56 percent of New Jersey voters—including 36 percent of the Garden State's democrats. That's way up from the the 44 percent overall approval rating he got last May. Our favorite part of the poll, however, is probably the steady one percent of those New Jersey residents who just didn't know who Chris Christie, their own governor, was. America! more ›

Yesterday, after what felt like years of waiting, the city introduced us to the pricing scheme for its ambitious new bike share program, now dubbed CitiBike after its sponsor (Citibank). And the reaction was mixed. While many—including us! We swear!—are very excited to see the program prosper and bring more cyclists to the streets, its very aggressive pricing had us (and others) worried. Yes, New York's bike share will be the largest in the world but it will also be the most expensive. Well, sometimes. more ›

Fans of watching two guys in their underwear elbow each other in the face while Joe Rogan screams at them will still have to go to New Jersey to see it live: a bill legalizing Mixed Martial Arts won't make it to this year's legislative session. A spokesman for Democrat and State Assembly leader Sheldon Silver tells the Times that "there is no clear sense of confidence," so there won't be a vote. “All I want is a vote on the Assembly floor,” Marc Rater, the senior VP of government and regulatory affairs of U.F.C. says. "If it doesn’t pass, it doesn’t pass. Not to get a vote by the full Assembly, to me, is un-American.” Beating the sh*t out of someone atop a Bud Light logo? American. more ›

If you've been wondering when bears would finally wise up and partake in NJ's fine public school system, you can stop: WCBS 2 has video a little bear visiting Ogdensburg Elementary School on Friday. Watch how he crashes through the glass door! more ›

As a family and community mourned the loss of a 12-year-old in a horrifying accident, the real estate company that operates the parking lot at Lott Avenue where the child was killed on Sunday revealed it would remove the automatic rolldown gate. A spokesperson for the real estate management company said, "We extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to the family." more ›

An immigrant from the former Yugoslavia who has worked as a janitor for Columbia University for 20 years has finally earned his bachelor's degree in classics, with honors. The Daily News reports that while you were concerned with catching up on Boardwalk Empire and content to remain in the same, midlevel job because "the economy just isn't right yet," Gac Filipaj toiled day and night, first taking classes to learn English then courses in the classics department at the Ivy League university. "Only half my dream come true," Filipaj says, with an earnestness that kills a million photos of cats drawn in steamed milk. "Today, one ought to have a master's or a Ph.D." more ›

A group of Cornell students were walking by the Sigma Pi fraternity house on the Ithaca campus early Sunday morning when bottles began crashing down around them. The students, who are black, say unidentified individuals on the fraternity house roof threw a bottle of Jack Daniels, an unopened beer can, and other debris at them. When they yelled up to implore their assailants to stop, the people on the roof allegedly shouted, "Come up here, Trayvon!" more ›

A Brooklyn man was arrested yesterday by an ASPCA agent for allegedly starving his three-year-old pit bull named Drew. According to a release, Leedell Walker brought Drew to the ASPCA's Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital in December claiming that the dog refused to eat. Concerned vets called the ASPCA and the organization launched an investigation. When he was brought in, Drew "was near death, in a critical state of shock and anemic," and weighed 37 pounds. He now weighs 65 pounds and is still recovering so that he may be adopted. more ›

Henrik Lundqvist, on the bench to give the trailing Rangers an extra skater, said he was already thinking about the next game. But he started planning ahead 6.6 seconds too early. Brad Richards scored a game-tying goal in regulation's dying moments, and Marc Staal scored in overtime to give the Rangers a 3-2 win over the Capitals. The Rangers now lead the series three games to two. They can advance to the Eastern Conference finals if they win on Wednesday. more ›

In today's day-end link roundup, a robot espresso machine, how your trash gets from midtown to China, kids falling asleep with ice cream, and so much more! Follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Earlier this afternoon, the police shot a man who was threatening his mother with a knife because he refused to drop the blade. The suspect was shot three times in the torso, and police say his mother was also hit in the buttocks. more ›

NYPDRob, AKA The Reddit Cop returned to the online forum yesterday to answer more questions about his job and the department, and he doesn't disappoint in dropping eye-opening, "man we wish more cops would speak their minds" knowledge. The officer defends stop-and-frisk, as "an excellent tool," writing, "If someone gives me a good description, chances are in a city of 8 million people there are going to be a handful of people who are innocent but still fit that description." more ›

Good news for those looking to propose on a MegaBus! Despite mounting pressure from the Port Authority and neighbors, the Department of Transportation has decided to let the cheap bus company continue to drop off and pick up customers outside of the PA terminal in Midtown. For now. The company's temporary permit to park outside the terminal was supposed to have expired today. more ›

The MTA is really working to stop MetroCard swipe sellers. As the News' Pete Donohue reports today, the Authority has gone so far as to begin a "secret pilot program" designed to make life harder for the swiping scofflaws. There are downsides to progress though. more ›

Who would think that the billionaire bard and three-term mayor of New York City, who runs an international media company worth hundreds of billions of dollars and gives away hundreds of millions through various philanthropies is also powerful and well-connected? more ›

The Associated Press reports that the CIA "thwarted an ambitious plot by al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden... The plot involved an upgrade of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas 2009. This new bomb was also designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but this time al-Qaida developed a more refined detonation system, U.S. officials said." UPDATE BELOW: The FBI says the public was never in danger. more ›

We can't get enough of the Red Admiral butterflies that have swept into New York City. Yesterday's beautiful weather meant that many were fluttering about in the sky—or taking the D train. We asked Dr. Christie Johnson, curatorial associate at the American Museum of Natural History's Division of Invertebrate Zoology, about the Vanessa atalanta and learned how we, as New Yorkers, can attract them! more ›

Men who've been charged for soliciting prostitutes in Brooklyn have an option: court and possible jail time, or a $350 fine and images of "diseased genitalia." The Post recently attended the Brooklyn DA's "john school" (actual name: Project Respect), which has only a 1% recidivism rate, in part thanks to its lectures from prosecuting attorneys and a former HIV-positive prostitute. “When I heard about the class, I was relieved. [A prostitution bust] is not something I want on my record,” 25-year-old Adrian Caesar said, seemingly fine with the Post reporting that he got busted soliciting an undercover officer "minutes after he dropped his girlfriend off" at her apartment. more ›

Fresh off their 2-1 victory over Liverpool to clench the FA Cup, Chelsea FC today announced they have added a stop in NYC to their summer US tour. The Blues will face French Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday, July 22nd, in the first soccer match to be played at the new Yankee Stadium. more ›

The NJ mom who has captivated the country with her pre-cancerous skin condition, Patricia Krentcil, was in good spirits about Saturday Night Live's spoof. She told the Post, "It was well done... the whole thing was hysterical." more ›

Yesterday the Hotel Chelsea got some attention in the form of a somewhat impromptu press conference on the sidewalk outside of the landmarked building. In recent years the strong community that had formed over decades has fallen apart at the seams, which started to happen the minute Stanley Bard was forced to leave as manager. The current state of things inside is dismal, with some remaining tenants holding strong, as construction crews gut their home and expose them to hazardous conditions, and new landlord Joseph Chetrit makes eviction attempts. more ›

Following yesterday's reports that a Park Slope resident would be cleared, a judge has officially cleared Karl Vanderwoude of forcible touching, unlawful surveillance and sexual abuse charges. He told reporters, "I’m really glad this has come to an end. It’s been hard." more ›

Last month, you may recall, at least nine beautiful blooming cherry trees were chopped down outside Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens. Blogger Geoffrey Croft was outraged to learn, at first, that the trees were killed to make way for a "staging area," for construction of a new $17 million atrium on the property. But the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) told us, "While preparing for the Queens Borough Hall project, we found that the cherry trees were diseased and needed to be removed." Now, however, Croft has learned that most, if not all, of the trees were healthy. more ›

A roofer jumped into a vat of acid to save his co-worker who fell 40 feet through the roof into the liquid. NorthJersey.com reports that the men were working on the roof of the Swepco Tube LLC tubing company in Clifton when one fell and was fully submerged in a solution that contained 40-70% nitric acid. The worker was waist-high in acid pulling his peer out, while three other employees assisted. "It takes a lot of courage," Fire Chief Vince Colavitti said, in what strikes us as an understatement. more ›

In case you were wondering what Charles Grodin thought about Post columnist Phil Mushnick's Jay-Z-Brooklyn Nets musings ("Why the Brooklyn Nets when they can be the New York N------s? The cheerleaders could be the Brooklyn B----hes or Hoes."), today is your lucky day. The actor writes in his Daily News column, "I know Phil Mushnick. He is a friend of mine, and he is the opposite of a bigot. He is a satirist and satire can easily be misunderstood." more ›

Remember when besuited money-Gollum and CEO of Lehman Brothers Dick Fuld denied knowing that his bank was headed for a ditch in 2008? Well, internal emails and documents released by the law firm who performed the "post-mortem" on Lehman reveal that the bank's executives were repeatedly warned about the risks the company was taken, and willfully ignored them. more ›

In today's midday link roundup, a famous 39-pound cat passes away, oil prices drop, Chris Meloni's True Blood character revealed, and more! Follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

The former cop who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a teacher was just sentenced to 75 years to life in prison. According to the Post, this means that Michael Pena "must serve at least 75 years before even seeing a parole board." more ›

New York City's massive new bike share program is inching ever closer to its July debut. To that end, the city just announced not only the name of the program's $41 million sponsor (Citibank) but also the program's official name (CitiBike, of course) and, most important of all, the exact pricing for the program. And if you were thinking of joining up in order to go on bicycle weekend trips to City Island...sounds like you'll be better off just buying your own bike. When they say these bikes are meant for short three miles-ish trips, they mean it—the system gives members unlimited free rides for short trips, but the pricing skyrockets as sand falls through the hourglass. more ›

Today is one of those days when the atmosphere disagrees with itself, giving us blah, overcast skies. Surface high pressure sitting just southeast of the city is providing a somewhat cool, dry air near the ground, but a few miles above a disturbance is approaching the area. There's just enough moisture, and the shortwave has enough energy, to produce clouds, but not enough for rain—so we're looking at overcast skies and a high in the mid to upper 60s this afternoon. more ›

Guess who has a case of the Mondays? Everyone trying to travel to New Jersey via the Lincoln Tunnel—things have slowed to a crawl because there's a tractor-trailer stuck in one of the NJ-bound lanes. As one person Tweeted, "If thats yo truck stuck @ the Lincoln Tunnel yo ass need to start looking for a new job asap." more ›

Hey, guess what thieves are also stealing besides high-end smartphones—high-end headphones often used with high-end smartphones! One of the hot theft targets in the city these days, besides smartphones, are pretty much any variation of the colorful Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. Will Bloomberg blame the victims for this crime trend, too? more ›

Central to Amtrak's charm is that taking a train still makes you feel like a human being, rather than flying veal. You can show up 2 minutes before the train pulls out of the station, there's ample legroom and space to move around (dining car!), everyone isn't breathing recycled rage-air, and a friendly person takes your ticket and gives it a punch. However, you'll see less of that bygone ritual this summer, when 1,700 conductors will start using iPhones to scan tickets. more ›

When you are a second generation governor with excellent approval ratings and awhile to go before a viable space opens up in the White House, what to do? Why, if your name is Andrew Cuomo you write a book! A book about being governor, specifically. more ›

The organizers of the Five Boro Bike Tour appear to have delivered on their promise to work out some of the kinks that marred the massive group bike ride last year. It seems yesterday's the sublime weather and improved organization greatly reduced the consternation that erupted from last year's tour, which forced thousands of participants to a standstill in massive bike traffic jams repeatedly throughout the day. more ›

A 12-year-old boy died after apparently playing a game of chicken on a parking lot gate in Brooklyn. According to the Daily News, Yakim McDaniels was on the roll-down gate when, around 4:30 p.m., "a car moved to leave the lot and the horrific accident occurred." A witness explained, "The gate is automatic, the car was coming out and the gate started rising." Yakim was trapped—his hand and then apparently his upper body was caught in the gate. more ›

Because what surgeon hasn't accidentally set one of their patients on fire, check out today's end-of-day links: Howl festival, Andre 3000's Hendrix movie, the world's hottest inmates, and Rikers Island Fight Club. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

[Updates Below] We've been there for every minute of this agonizing playoff series between the Knicks and Miami Heat—watched every Carmelo Anthony shot attempt, read about every fire extinguisher incident, listened to every absurdly confidant quote. And now we're exactly where we were last season, with a Game 4 elimination match at MSG. Amare Stoudemire is starting, bandaged hand and all—but will it make any difference? We'll be here to update the post through every high and low this afternoon. more ›

The five men accused of planning the 9/11 attacks acted out during their 13-hour-long hearing before a military commission yesterday in what one of their lawyers deemed a "coordinated strategy" against an "unjust system." At times, the defendants shouted, prayed, made paper airplanes and one even removed his shirt. Defense lawyers tell the Times that the designation of "contraband" information that may prevent death sentences but may not be used to confer with their clients is crippling their cases. more ›

President "Bling Bling" has been replaced by "Mr. Normal." Francois Hollande has won France's presidential runoff, beating Nicolas Sarkozy. “François Hollande is the president of the republic, he must be respected,” Sarkozy said in a concession speech. “I want to wish him good luck in the midst of these tests.” Sarkozy then presumably jumped into a Bentley convertible waiting for him with his wife Carla Bruni and their daughter before screaming "Au revoir, suckers!" more ›

Have you been seeing an unusual number of orange and black butterflies fluttering about? Well, they are probably Red Admiral butterflies, which are in the middle of a migration from the South. (Update: Some Red Admirals will end up settling in NYC!) We spotted the one above during Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's press conference by the West 72nd Street subway station—there were dozens of butterflies flying around, landing on everything! more ›

This week, we learned way too much about Tony, the Q69 bus driver who has been the subject of a very public flyer campaign against him for more than a year. Apparently, Tony is a "flirt with all the women every day" who had a "One Night Stand" with a passenger—the scorned woman claims he got her with this pickup line: “I won’t forget your famous line, ‘Married men are lonely, too.’” Tony's coworkers have some advice for him: “She seems like a woman scorned,” one told the Post, “but if Tony is still working that line, he’s crazier than she is.” more ›

As annoying as dealing with the MTA is for everyone, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer wants to make it a little less painful to two sets of vulnerable riders: seniors and the disabled. Today, Stringer pointed out that the current process for senior citizen and disabled customers to replace their reduced-fare Metrocards was "stressful and cumbersome," creating a "dangerous situation" for these very vulnerable riders. So, just how bothersome is the process? more ›

Last week we learned that the NYPD and the FBI attempted to glean information on the May Day protests by executing bench warrants on people they believed were involved with planning Occupy Wall Street demonstrations and interrogating them. One of those people, who goes by the pseudonym Shawn Carrié, spoke to WNYC about how he was detained by the NYPD on May Day for over 13 hours on a warrant for a public urination charge that didn't belong to him. more ›

A 23-year-old Brooklyn college student was killed and two others were injured in a heads-on car crash yesterday. Victim Jamal Iqual was driving his Ford Windstar minivan north on Ocean Parkway in Sheepshead Bay when he was hit head-on by a black BMW M6 around 11:45 p.m. Saturday. Police say the 26-year-old driver of the BMW was speeding southbound on Ocean Parkway when he lost control of the car. more ›

Vice President Joe Biden went on Meet the Press this morning to say something reasonable, with a great amount of conviction: "I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties." Naturally, immediately after Biden said this, flacks for Campaign Obama began walking it back, and the VP's office released a statement saying that Biden wasn't supporting same-sex marriage, and that, "he too is evolving on the issue." more ›

Last month, police arrested and charged a suspect who they believed was the "well-dressed groper" accused of attacking at least four women in Manhattan this year. Friends and family couldn't believe that 26-year-old Park Slope resident Karl Vanderwoude could be the perp—and now that his alibi has checked out, the DA is expected to drop all charges against him on Monday. “A lot of people say they didn’t do it. This is the real case,” said lawyer Douglas Burns. more ›

No one expected much out of the New York Red Bulls in their only 2012 league match against 2011 MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy. On paper, a full strength LA and a depleted Red Bulls sounded less like the "1 Percent Derby" and more like the 1% hosting the 99%. But even without its highest paid players, the Metro side made waves with a defensive 1-0 win at the Home Depot Center. more ›

A Libyan war refugee has been arrested and charged with fatally stabbing an acquaintance inside his Astoria apartment. Police say that 35-year-old Wahid Elawame stabbed 28-year-old Mrwan Said (also of Queens) inside Elawame’s four-bedroom home on Steinway Street, near 28th Avenue, around 11:30 p.m. Friday. Two of Elawame's roommates jumped out of the window of the second floor apartment when the stabbing started; and according to the Post, the stabbing happened because Said didn't want to take part in an alleged plot to kill Elawame’s boss, Sammy Zebib, the Layali Beirut Cafe and Restaurant owner who had refused to give Elawame more work. more ›

The police say that they managed to arrest three people suspected of robbing a couple on Central Park West last night. And one of the suspects had a loaded .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun. more ›

Last night's SuperMoon turned out to be a superfail—it was too cloudy in NYC to see the lunar phenomena. New Yorkers handled it like champs though—after all, we're more than a little bit used to crushing disappointment: "What do the Knicks, playoffs and "Supermoon" have in common here in NY? Huge build up, anticipation and, in the end, disappointment," tweeted Danny Hairston. more ›

The Rangers will return to MSG Monday with their series with Washington tied 2-2 thanks to a couple of mistakes and an interesting penalty call. more ›

Because the Rupert Murdoch thinks Twitter is bringing society down, check out today's end-of-day links: A 10-year-old girl who can bench you, blessed bikes, Jay-Z working construction and adorable boxing kittehs. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Patrcia Krentcil, the NJ mother who puts the "tan" in "tanorexic," is out on $25,000 bail after pleading not guilty to child endangerment—the 44-year-old is accused of taking her 6-year-old daughter tanning at a tanning salon in Nutley, NJ—and she's been busy. Busy buying tanning cream and saying that is Snooki "fake" and "fat," that is. Oh, and flashing photographers. more ›

Barack Obama is running for president. In a move that should surprise absolutely nobody the current leader of the free world officially kicked off his campaign for a second term today with rallies in Ohio and Virginia. Which means that this seemingly endless campaign is one tiny step closer to being over. more ›

Bona fide supermodel Linda Evangelista has been in court this past week, demanding that her billionaire baby daddy, fashion industry magnate Francois-Henri Pinault, pay her $46,000/month to cover the cost of caring for their five-year-old son August. The model, who famously uttered about herself and cohorts Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington back in the 1990s, "We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day," now she says she won't walk the catwalk for less than $100,000/day. 1% problems? more ›

Disgraced former State Senator and esteemed pizzaiolo Hiram Monserrate pleaded guilty to corruption charges yesterday after being indicted for misusing taxpayer money during his past stint as a councilmember. Monserrate's last publicized fling with the criminal justice system was in 2010, when he was convicted of misdemeanor assault after slashing then-girlfriend Karla Giraldo in the face. This time around, Monserrate's accused of siphoning over $100,000 in City Council "slush" funds in 2006, which he allegedly used to finance a campaign for higher office. more ›

Yesterday afternoon, two police officers arrested two farebeaters at a Brooklyn subway station...and discovered one of them had a loaded gun. more ›

And legal medical marijuana inches ever closer to the Empire State. Earlier this morning, after nearly 10 hours of debate, the Connecticut Senate voted 21 to 13 to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule 1 drug to a Schedule 2 drug. Once Governor Dannel Malloy signs the bill (which he is expected to do) the state will join 16 other states and (not to mention DC) in legalizing the drug for medical purposes. Time to try in Albany again? more ›

Take a moment tonight to put down your silver chalice, wring the margarita salt out of your hair and gleefully tremble at the sight that confirms your insignificance: the SuperMoon. According to the AP, at 11:34 p.m. the moon will be a mere 221,802 miles from earth, the closest it will get in 2012, before the earth yet again tells the moon to stop texting her and that it will never work, so he'll back off for another year. more ›

Either somebody is really into selling scrap metal these days, or an incredible art show is coming to Bushwick soon. Just after we were left giggling over somebody robbing more than 30 NYC manholes of their covers comes word that somebody else (or maybe the same somebody?) went and stole a slew of iron tree guards from Times Square's Restaurant Row. And unlike ConEd, the Times Square Alliance is offering a reward for anyone who can help them catch the culprit. more ›

Bicycle foes, you have been warned: Tomorrow is the annual 40 mile Five Boro Bike Tour, where swarms of cyclists get to break free from the bike lane and take to the streets for a few hours. more ›

The Bronx DA's office previously announced that the police officers who beat 19-year-old Bronx resident Jateik Reed in January weren't being investigated for committing a crime, despite the fact that authorities dropped the drug-related charges against Reed. That may change now that NY1 has obtained a surveillance tape that shows that police likely did not have reasonable suspicion to stop Reed, contradicting sworn police statements that Reed had bags of drugs that he threw on the ground. more ›

Yesterday, a Manhattan judge convicted twenty activists of disorderly conduct seven months after their arrest at a protest outside a Harlem police precinct last year. The defendants, including Princeton University professor and civil rights activist Cornel West, were among 32 demonstrators purposefully arrested while protesting the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy at an OWS-related rally on October 21. The trial drew national attention for being one of the biggest and most politically charged group trials the city has seen in recent years. more ›

Two off-duty police officers were involved in a shootout with a 19-year-old in the Bronx last night. According to the NYPD the officers, who have not been identified, were off-duty and heading home after their tours around 8 p.m. when they say they noticed a young man firing a gun into St. James Park in the Bronx. When they approached him, he fled. Then, he reportedly turned around and fired at the officers. more ›

Emergency services in Manhattan responded to three different "jumper down" calls this morning—one at a very tony address. Police are now investigating all three cases. more ›

A 77-year-old Holocaust survivor is claiming in a federal lawsuit that an NYPD officer punched him in the face during a traffic stop on the Long Island Expressway. In the court documents obtained by the Post, Miklos Muller admits that in November he ran a red light on Woodhaven Boulevard and was pulled over moments later on the LIE. “They flashed their lights and I pulled over to the side . . . One cop started screaming at me, ‘You almost killed me,’ and punched me through the open window," Muller says. more ›

Police are currently looking for a fortysomething man who allegedly attacked his bus driver yesterday morning in East Harlem. For unknown reasons the man apparently punched the driver, a 58-year-old woman, in the face before jumping off the bus and making a run for it. more ›

Because the Mets will fight for their right to play ball, check out today's end-of-day links: Amare Stoudemire's hand, Avengers trolling, great uses of bullet points, anti-global warming campaigns, and sleepy kittens. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

A day after tearing his right ACL while shagging balls during batting practice, the Yankees' legendary closer Mariano Rivera told reporters, "I'm coming back. Write it down in big letters. I'm not going down like this." more ›

A five-story building at 110 West 123rd Street totally collapsed, with the floors pancaking on top of each other. The Fire Department has at least 130 firefighters on the scene. more ›

Today, NY Post columnist Phil Mushnick decided to unleash the full force of his edgy satire on the Brooklyn Nets—in particular, he raged against owner Jay-Z's new designs for their branding, wondering why the team didn't just rename themselves the "Broolyn N****s." Mushnick has now defended himself against the swift internet backlash: "I don't call black men n****s; my kids never heard the word until folks such as Jay-Z came along. I'd suggest you talk to him about it. What I wrote today was on Jay Z's artistry, and only the wishful and foolish would so badly misinterpret and mischaracterize it," he told the Village Voice. more ›

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

After a lot of back-and-forth and confusion, it looks like blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng will be allowed to leave China—if you believe the Chinese government, that is. Earlier today, the State Department said, "The Chinese Government stated today that Mr. Chen Guangcheng has the same right to travel abroad as any other citizen of China. Mr. Chen has been offered a fellowship from an American university, where he can be accompanied by his wife and two children." more ›

Even in an edited version, that report on New York City's 911 system that Bloomberg had to be ordered by a judge to release reportedly does not paint a pretty picture of our city's emergency preparedness. The Mayor's office today released a 133-page version of the 216-page report from a group of outside consultants. We haven't gotten our hands on it yet, but it reportedly "found that call operators waste time on duplicative questions and employ inconsistent questioning procedures. The system, it found, sends some responders to the wrong address and slows fire and medical dispatchers' efforts to give instructions to callers." Oh, good. more ›

Way back in 2008, then-newbie ProPublica reporter Michael Grabell submitted a public records request for filed complaints made against the TSA. But maybe the TSA was too busy strip-searching senior citizens and evacuating airports over unchecked babies to respond, because it wasn't until this week that Grabell received 87 pages of documented TSA-directed ire. Hey, we thought getting through baggage claim took forever! more ›

We suddenly feel like we know way more about Q69 bus driver Tony then we'd ever, EVER want to know: we were sent the above photos from a tipster, taken at 21st Street and Astoria Boulevard at the southbound Q69 stop. It appears that someone has been waging a one-person campaign against Tony—and this has been going on for several months, per Passive-Agressive Notes. more ›

Subway station internet service is coming to Verizon and Sprint customers. Eventually. Yesterday Boingo Wireless announced that it had struck a deal with Transit Wireless, which manages cell service underground, to bring its wi-fi services to customers underground. Because not everyone has AT&T or T-Mobile! more ›

The NY Post has had their fair share of racist controversies—just recently, there was the cartoon which portrayed Muslims as terrorists—but it seems as though columnist Phil Mushnick really wants to take things to the next level. Today, he rails against the new Brooklyn Nets and Jay-Z, who owns 1.47% of the team: "Why the Brooklyn Nets when they can be the New York N------s? The cheerleaders could be the Brooklyn B----hes or Hoes." Wow. Here's the full quote in its grotesque context: more ›

In one of those amazing 'really?' stories, a 22-year-old dishwasher at the Terrace on the Park in Queens last night was rescued after he somehow got his legs trapped between an elevator car and the shaft wall. And though initial reports said his legs were crushed, it appears he didn't even break a bone! more ›

Because who doesn't love to laugh at Hitler, check out today's end-of-day links: bestiality videos, RIP Falling Bear, stripper Hulk, inflating dogs, and a shark with a laser attached to its head. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

An 80-year-old man was mugged inside his apartment building by two men yesterday. The attack occurred Thursday around 3:15 p.m. on the Upper East Side after the two suspects followed the victim into the building. One put the elderly man into a chokehold when they reached the second floor, while the other grabbed his wallet. You can see surveillance video of the suspects entering and then fleeing the building below. more ›

The U.S. Secret Service: When they're not banging prostitutes, they're running people over with their cars. The latest black eye for the scandal-scarred agency occurred yesterday afternoon when an undercover secret service agent fatally struck a woman crossing the Atlantic Avenue at Ralph Avenue in Brooklyn. Victim Maria Tripp, 47, was on her way to pick up her granddaughter from daycare, accompanied by her 19-year-old nephew and 12-year-old daughter, when the driver of a black Chevrolet Impala slammed into her. A witness tells the Daily News, "She went up like 50 feet in the air." more ›

A fight broke out between a party promoter and several women at DUMBO mainstay Superfine in March that the Post is calling a "hipster catfight." In their eyes, it seems this story has a little bit of everything: wolves, libations, lawsuits, trendy neighborhoods, ripped skirts, bitten legs, Galapagos, felony assault, and cigarette burns. more ›

iPhone-related thefts are up 44 percent this year, but that doesn't really seem to bother Mayor Bloomberg. At his budget announcement yesterday Hizzoner was asked about the spike in crime and replied nonchalantly that, "If the worst problem we have is iPhone stealing..." Then he turned to the police commissioner added, "Ray, you’d better get on this iPhone right away. This is serious!" Somehow we suspect the parents of the chef killed for his iPhone, or the teen stabbed in the face for his, or the 81-year-old pushed in the subway tracks for his, wouldn't appreciate the mayor's tone. more ›

The NYPD is looking for the public's help in finding a man suspected of punching then robbing someone near Central Park on Wednesday. The weapon of choice? An ice pick! more ›

Of all the ways for baseball's greatest closer of all time to be injured: The Yankees' legendary pitcher Mariano Rivera tore his ACL during batting practice in Kansas City, Missouri yesterday. And now many wonder if his career is over. When asked when—and if—he'll pitch again, a "damp-eyed" Rivera told reporters, "At this point I don’t know. We have to fight this first," adding, "I want to think and pray a little bit before I make decisions of whatever happens." more ›

The driver of a privately operated garbage truck struck and killed a pedestrian in Hell's Kitchen earlier this morning at 3 a.m. The victim has not yet been identified pending notification of his family, but the NYPD press office says he was 23 years old. According to a preliminary investigation, the man was crossing 10th Avenue at 45th Street when he was fatally struck by the truck, which was heading northbound. more ›

The unemployment rate dropped to 8.1%, the lowest in three years, but the April figures from the U.S. Department of Labor are sobering because only 115,000 jobs were added, much fewer than expected. more ›

Down two games to none in their playoff series and without Amar'e Stoudemire, the Knicks needed a better performance at home in Game 3 against the Miami Heat. For three quarters, they put forth a better effort than the first two games (not saying much), but they fell apart in the fourth quarter of an 87-70 loss. The Knicks led by four at the half but scored only 30 points after intermission. Despite the belief he might benefit from Stoudemire's absence, Carmelo Anthony laid an egg. He shot 7-of-23 for 22 points, and had almost as many turnovers (five) as made baskets. The Knicks were outscored by 25 points with him on the floor. The Knicks have now lost an NBA-record 13 straight playoff games. They'll play for their season Sunday. more ›

Last week, David Segal was working as City Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez's spokesman until he was abruptly fired after the New York Post printed a story detailing the federal prison term Segal served when he was 19 years old for throwing a burning rag into an Army recruitment center. At 26, Segal is recently married, working on his masters degree at Brooklyn College, and has been described by many as adept as his job. After a media firestorm, Segal was rehired today by Rodriguez's office, only to be fired again six hours later. "I came in at 9 a.m., the chief of staff gave me my ID back, I ghost-wrote a press release, and at 3 p.m. I got the letter saying I was fired. I'm just really disappointed." more ›

Because "hipster" is a confusing word, check out today's end-of-day links: Kanye and Kim talk marriage, Sgt. Sesame Street Pepper, marijuana-infused wine, sexy Mondays, chocolate candles, and St. Mark's history. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Did you realize that Amtrak's Northeast Corridor is the route of choice for colorful Boston mobsters? Last summer, William Coyman, 75, had a heart attack on a Penn Station train platform when he got off an Amtrak train from Boston. The AP reports, "As medics tried to revive him, police searched his backpack for identification. Inside, they found the stuff that "Law & Order" episodes are made of: $179,980 in cash, bundled with rubber bands and tucked inside two plastic bags." Chung chung! more ›

Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, who escaped from house arrest in a village last week and was given refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing for six days, is now worried about his family's future. He has told reporters that American diplomatic officials have essentially abandoned him and is now desperate, "My fervent hope is that it would be possible for me and my family to leave for the U.S. on Hillary Clinton’s plane." more ›

A Westchester County grand jury has decided not to indict the White Plains officer who fatally shot an unarmed chronically ill elderly black man. There will be no trial for Officer Anthony Carelli, who shot Marine veteran Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr. during a tense confrontation last November. “After due deliberation on the evidence presented in this matter, the grand jury found that there was no reasonable cause to vote an indictment,” said Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, who added that the case was “a tragedy on many levels.” more ›

On Sunday, a minivan carrying a family of seven flew off the Bronx River Expressway and fell 60 feet, killing four adults and three children. Critics noted that there have been many accidents at that stretch of the BRE, and the AAA said the guardrails were inadequate. Yesterday, crews started to make improvements to the dangerous road. more ›

A 50-year-old bus driver and a 58-year-old bus matron were arrested this morning in Staten Island after they failed to notice a four-year-old girl was still on a school bus—and left her in the vehicle for more than four hours. The two, who both told authorities they didn't see the girl, have been charged with endangering the welfare of a child. more ›

While Brooklyn Heights is now freaking out over potentially 2,500 people filling its streets when a new Fieldhouse comes to Brooklyn Bridge Park, residents around the Atlantic Yards have been freaking for ages now about the 18,000 people expected to flood the area when the Nets start playing the Barclays Center this fall. And for them, there is good news today! The arena will initially have less parking than originally planned. more ›

Since March, authorities say that more than 30 manhole covers have been stolen from the streets of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Perhaps it was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Or just a fan of various manhole cover designs? We'll leave the risque jokes to you guys. more ›

The TSA has long been criticized for what overly-invasive security theater, particularly when it comes to elderly travelers. But the next time Grandma's crying about how she had to strip naked and show her colostomy bag for the nosy TSA, remind her that oldsters aren't automatically innocent. Today a TSA spokesperson sent us this photo of a walker used by a 69-year-old Bronx man who tried to get through security with a knife "artfully concealed" on it. Apparently it wasn't artful enough! more ›

As tanorexic NJ mom Patricia Krentcil tries to explain that she never took her young daughter into a tanning booth, one mother-to-be and tanning enthusiast is speaking out. Snooki told Extra, "That b**** is crazy…you are not supposed to take kids there. Everyone knows you are NOT supposed to take kids there." more ›

When he wasn't watching porn in his Abbottabad hideout, Osama bin Laden was writing a lot of letters. The Army just released declassified letters from the terrorist leader's Pakistan house. The letters—about 175 pages in Arabic (or 197 pages in English)—were written between September 2006 and April 2011, and feature thoughts penned by numerous Al Qaeda leaders, including bin laden. The Combatting Terrorism Center writes, "In contrast to his public statements that focused on the injustice of those he believed to be the 'enemies' of Muslims, namely corrupt 'apostate' Muslim rulers and their Western 'overseers,' the focus of Bin Ladin’s private letters is Muslims’ suffering at the hands of his jihadi 'brothers'." more ›

Last month a passenger aboard a Delta flight out of JFK decided to film the takeoff with his iPad, and as "luck" would have it, he ended up capturing rare footage of geese flying to their deaths into the plane's engine. The plane safely returned to JFK for an emergency landing, and Grant Cardone, a motivational speaker, made the rounds giving interviews to nightly news shows. But while he delighted the masses with his harrowing mini-documentary, it seems he also attracted some unwanted attention from the folks at the FAA. more ›

With the Democratic candidates for mayor pretty well locked up, much has been made about who will run on the other side. There have been lots of rich people pushing for Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to make a go for it, and billionaire John Catsimatidis has expressed interest if Kelly declines, but there are others! What would you think our current Mayor's girlfriend Diana Taylor made a go for Gracie Mansion? She's has been wanting to spend a night there and previously mulled a Senate run—and it appears that GOPers have noticed. more ›

Because sometimes "Game Of Thrones" looks just as good in legos, check out today's mid-day links: Beyonce's journalism award, old Jews telling jokes, Courtney Love doesn't control Kurt's image, and surprise squirrels. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

If the state police stop you and tell you that you were going at least 150 mph on the NY State Thruway while on your Suzuki motorcycle, would you tell the troopers that your ride can go easily top 190 mph? Well, that's allegedly what Nikkolaus V. McCarthy did yesterday. more ›

The Occupy Wall Street protests have been some of the most well-documented political demonstrations in history—with the ubiquity of cell phone cameras, almost every protester is also a photographer, and the NYPD has a special unit equipped with video cameras too. So there's no shortage of footage from Tuesday's May Day actions—for the armchair activist, here are some more videos that offer a visceral view of violent arrests and alleged vandalism. The first and longest shows a big scuffle between police and anarchists at the start the Wildcat march: more ›

Last year, Columbia business school student Ash Sinha suffered a psychotic break and punched, kicked and bit a young woman who was walking at Broadway and 116th Street. Sinha also kicked a police officer in the face during the incident. Now, prosecutors have given him a no-jail, no-probation plea deal. more ›

New York we love you, but you're bringing us down. Only here would locals actively complain about a $40 million dollar gift that will bring them a year-round recreational facility with all its expenses paid for a decade. Yup, it appears that a bunch of Brooklyn Heights locals are not looking forward to the 115,000-square-foot Fieldhouse which it was recently announced will be underwritten by philanthropist Joshua Rechnitz. Why? The traffic, of course. more ›

In the wake of two bad losses to the Miami Heat and Fire Extinguishergate, the Knicks are not exactly in great shape heading into Game 3 at the Garden tonight. But even with no Iman Shumpert, Amare Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin, the team is still hopeful they can end their playoff win drought...somehow: “It’s a big challenge but we’ve been facing challenges all year,’’ Carmelo Anthony said after yesterday’s practice. “We all got to do it. I’m not going to do it myself. We just got to believe we can go out there and win the game. “They did what they had to do on their court. Now it’s our turn.” more ›

The specter of a mistrial looms in the juicy embezzlement trial of disgraced ex-State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr., who's accused of funneling taxpayer dollars into a non-profit health clinic he operates, and then using clinic funds to finance a lavish lifestyle in Westchester. During three days of deliberations, the juries sent multiple notes to the judge reporting extreme consternation among the jurors, and at one point judge Frederic Block told the courtroom, "There seems to be some turbulence or screaming and stuff like that in the jury room." Hey wait a minute, Pedro's not supposed to be in there! more ›

When life gives you a billion-dollar boondoggle, use the settlement to make budget-saving lemonade! At least that appears to be Mayor Bloomberg's logic. Hizzoner is set to announce his executive budget proposal this morning, but yesterday he gave a little early taste and it's something of a surprise. In order to fill "an unexpected hole in the budget" the city is planning on using that half-billion CityTime settlement the city announced in March. See, there's a silver lining in the city getting swindled! more ›

The NYPD is asking for the public's help in identifying 12 teenaged suspects accused of robbing and assaulting two other teen girls on a southbound 4 train in March. There was hair-pulling and French fries-stealing. more ›

Marian Gaborik, who scored 41 goals in the regular season, had one goal in nine playoff contests entering Wednesday's Game 3 against the Capitals. The Rangers had lost seven straight playoff overtime games. Both droughts ended 14 minutes, 41 seconds into the third overtime, when Gaborik finally beat Braden Holtby between the Washington goalie's legs. Henrik Lundqvist stood tall and made 45 saves to end his overtime losing streak. The Rangers lead the best-of-seven series two games to one, with Game 4 set for Saturday. The teams will welcome the extra day off. more ›

Because you can't always drink what you want, check out today's end-of-day links: Rolling Stones alcohol, Osprey tracking, The BOSS Act, "Speed" at a piano, and Morgan Stanley allegedly stabby banker doesn't want a jury. Don't forget to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. more ›

Last month, a police officer was stabbed in the head by an emotionally disturbed man. A knife with a 3.5" blade was driven into Police Officer Eder Loor's head, penetrating his skull and brain. A doctor called Loor "the luckiest unlucky man you could ever have." Today, Loor left Mt. Sinai Hospital. more ›

David Maraniss, who wrote the great Bill Clinton biography, First In His Class, has a biography about President Barak Obama, Barack Obama: The Story, coming out in July, but Vanity Fair has an excerpt now. And perhaps timed for Obama's address to Barnard College on May 14, it focuses on his years in New York... and in love. more ›

If you've had to bike down Allen Street south of Delancey recently you might have noticed that the bike lanes stretching down to East Broadway are blocked off by construction at various points, forcing you to jockey with traffic into the pothole-marked street. Though initially projected to finish in March, a Parks Department rep tells us that the Pike-Allen Street Pedestrian Mall project won't be done until July. more ›

Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman of the New York Court of Appeals announced yesterday that, starting next year, all new lawyers in the Empire State are going to have to perform 50-hours of pro bono work if they want to join the bar. Considering roughly 10,000 attorneys apply to the New York State Bar each year, that's a half-million hours of badly needed legal help for the needy right there. Or is it just a tax on poor, defenseless lawyers? more ›

You'll have to excuse us today, we are traumatized by the Weather Channel's redesign. So traumatized that we're boycotting them for a day. Anyway, as expected earlier in the week a warm front has taken up residence a couple hundred miles south of the city. The front itself isn't going to move much until Friday, but there will be episodes where warm, moist air overruns the front and gives us rain. Like this afternoon for example. Most of the rain will be light but heavier showers are possible at times. more ›

Shortly after yesterday's May Day rally in Union Square, we witnessed what we could only assume were three plainclothes NYPD officers detain a woman and search her bag, before leading her through the crowd and into police custody. Several times the officers are asked to identify themselves, and refuse. According to the NYCLU's Associate Legal Director Christopher Dunn, plainclothes officers must identify themselves by name, rank, and shield number upon request, per the department's patrol guide. more ›

Unlike Old Amsterdam, New Amsterdam lacks charming canals into which rusty bicycles can be tossed out of sight, so our bike-carcasses are left to rot on the street. If you call 311, the Department of Sanitation will pick up the bike within a week or so to recycle it, but in the last 18 months only 40 bikes have been removed. To illustrate that this is just a drop in the graveyard, WNYC's Transportation Nation has created a map of all the city's busted bikes hogging up prime bike-parking real estate based on submissions. more ›

The tanning-obsessed NJ mother accused of taking her young daughter to a tanning salon, resulting in the daughter getting a severe sunburn, was in court today. Patricia Krentcil, 44, pleaded not guilty to the charge of child endangerment and her lawyer said, "Forget about the presumption of innocence; my client is 150 percent innocent. She loves that child more than her whole life. She would never, ever allow her child to go inside a tanning bed." more ›