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Mayor Michael Bloomberg won his controversial third term by beating Comptroller William Thompson by a much smaller than predicted margin. See the updates below for how the election night unfolded.

Early this morning we received an email from an NYU student who was studying at Bobst Library. He told us that around 4:30 a.m. he heard a "huge boom" that ended up being a successful suicide attempt. He told us the "kid must have jumped from high judging from where he landed in the lobby. Couldn't tell his condition from what I saw. I was told by a cop on the scene that he didn't look good."

Yankees 7, Phillies 3: For the first time since 2000 and the 27th time in franchise history, the New York Yankees are the World Champions of baseball. The Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies four games to two behind the bat of Hideki Matsui and the solid pitching of Andy Pettitte. Matsui was 3-4 in the game, including two two-RBI hits off Phillies starter Pedro Martinez and two more RBI against Phillies reliever Chad Durbin.

A Long Island student who dressed like Aunt Jemima for Halloween was sent home from school when he refused to wipe off his blackface make-up. Before being kicked out, Commack High School senior Dean Jeziorkowski — who has dressed in drag for every Halloween since third grade, going as Barbie, a nun, Wilma Flintstone, and Pocahontas in past years — donned a wig, a bandana, and blackface and "darted in and out of classrooms toting a syrup bottle, asking, 'You want some pancakes?'"

Ugh, servers. After they bring your food they're always butting in asking if you're "still working" just as you're reaching the punchline of your most well-rehearsed anecdote! Weren't we supposed to eliminate the human element from the dining experience with computers and conveyor belts by now?! While the world waits on that technology, would-be Hamptons restaurateur Bruce Buschel has completed his list of 100 things servers should never, never do. For instance:

This short video of James Gandolfini menacing a Guest of a Guest photographer who was videotaping him in the West Village is funny, but also kind of sad, for a couple reasons. First, Gandolfini's worked hard to find roles that take his career past the Tony Soprano archetype, and now here he is acting just like Tony about to thrash the Bada Bing bartender for not being sufficiently anxious about Al Qaeda.

Former NYPD Commissioner and Giuliani crony Bernard Kerik could not hold back the tears during his court appearance yesterday to plead guilty to eight felonies. According to the Daily News, "As the judge spoke, Kerik seemed to take measure of the magnitude of his fall. He bowed his head and repeatedly wiped his eyes with his fingers... Kerik kept daubing his eyes, his face going red as if with the strain of all he was trying to hold in. He did not seem to be weeping so much as seeping." Wow, we felt zero sympathy for Kerik yesterday, and now we feel twice as much!

An unusual complaint about carriage horses was sent in to the NY Times' Metropolitan. A woman tells of her harrowing parking experience, saying she was about to back in to a spot on Central Park West, across from her apartment building, but "as soon as I put the car in reverse to parallel park, I noticed a horse and buggy..."

The High Line only just opened to the public this past June, but already it's facing a $2 million lawsuit. We've been told by the NYC Park Advocates that "a basic design flaw that regularly causes pedestrians to trip has rendered the vast majority of the first section of the million High Line promenade a hazard."

Bad news for the cabbie who kicked the embracing gay couple to the curb on Monday night — Mayor Bloomberg has gotten involved! The NY Post reports that he declared everyone has the right to ride in a cab (duh), and added, "I thought the taxi driver's behavior -- if it is as reported -- was a disgrace. Somebody's orientation has absolutely nothing to do with whether they can ride a taxi. That kind of attitude doesn't fit with what this city's become."

A cabbie is being called out for kicking a gay couple to the curb after they dared embrace in his car. The G-rated PDA caused Medhat Mohamed to allegedly toss the two out just two blocks after he had picked them up at 13th Street and First Avenue around 10:20 p.m. Monday night.

According to the Army, seven people were killed and 20 were wounded in two shooting at an army base in Fort Hood, TX. The AP reports, "An Army spokesman at the Pentagon says the shootings began about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at a personnel and medical processing center at Fort Hood. The spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Banks, says two shooters were apparently involved. There is no word yet on who they were, nor on identities of the dead. He says it is too soon to tell whether there is any link to battle stress or repeated deployments."

Dimwitted former cheerleader and frat-boy boozer George W. Bush has agreed to face loquacious skirt-chaser and crafty triangulater Bill Clinton in a debate. With words! In our dreams, it goes something like this:

Reader Sherri Jackson took this picture during the NYC Marathon yesterday and wonders if someone could help identify the people in it:

This runner stopped along the NYC Marathon course, right after mile 16 (coming off the 59th St. Bridge into Manhattan) and proposed to his girl. He pulled a ring out of his pocket (I'm assuming it was a ring box - it was something black and square) and they had a few moments. I didn't think to get a shot of his bib number to identify him, so I'm hoping that people might link to this pic on facebook or twitter in hopes that it'll get to this couple. I'm sure they'd love to have it. :-) I have a couple more photos, so if they find me, they can email me: sherri [at] sherrijackson.com (Plus, they might need a wedding photographer)

Though the end result of last night's mayoral election doesn't come as much of a surprise, the closeness of the race shocked a lot of onlookers. After running a record-breaking $100 million campaign that won major endorsements and blanketed the city in nearly non-stop advertising, Mayor Bloomberg defeated the underfunded Democratic candidate Bill Thompson by only 5 percent of the vote, winning with 51 percent to his rival's 46. This comes after polls from the days before the election predicted Bloomberg ahead by double digit — some even anticipating a win almost as large as his 20 percent victory in 2005. The pollsters might have some explaining to do.

According to the Post, the ex-wife and daughter of the Reverend Al Sharpton "were arrested [Friday] night after berating a pair of Harlem cops who pulled them over for running a red light in the wrong lane to get around their slow-moving, unmarked cruiser." The incident began at West 110th Street and 8th Avenue, when Dominique Sharpton, allegedly frustrated by the unmarked cruiser, "honked her horn and tailgated the vehicle" and then "furiously swerved across the double yellow line and sped through a red light to get past the cop car."

Acting on a dare, a drunk Harvard Law School grad allegedly set fire to a chapel yesterday that houses the remains of unidentified victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The perp — identified as 26-year-old Brian Schroeder — broke into Memorial Park near the corner of First Avenue and East 30th Street and set the blaze at around 9 am. The fire did not get to the remains, which are kept in climate-controlled containers awaiting advances in DNA technology that might allow them to be identified, but notes, photos, flowers, and other mementos inside the white-tented sanctuary were either stolen or burned. Schroeder turned himself in to police last night.

• Yankees 7, Phillies 4: Alex Rodriguez hit a go-ahead double in the top of the ninth to help the Yankees bounce back from a blown lead and take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven World Series. Joba Chamberlain had served up a two-strike, two-out homer to Pedro Feliz in the bottom of the eighth, and the first two Yankees in the top of the ninth had made out. But Johnny Damon hit an opposite-field single and stole second and third on the same pitch. Mark Teixeira was hit by a pitch, and that set the stage for Rodriguez's double. Jorge Posada singled in two more runs to give Mariano Rivera some breathing room.

A judge overthrew a plea deal offered to suspected feline arsonist Cheyenne Cherry yesterday, potentially extending the prison sentence for the 17-year-old who is accused of killing a kitten by baking it in a 500-degree oven. According to the Post, "Judge Margaret Clancy, who had earlier approved the plea deal, said 'nobody realized' at the time that reducing a violent felony charge to a nonviolent charge was illegal."

For the love of everything that is good and pure in this world, the next time there are multiple Lloyd Doblers around town, please alert us! Yesterday there were not 1, not 2, but approximately a zillion trench-coat wearing, boom-box-over-head-holding Lloyd Doblers right in this very city. Did you see them? USA Today reports that the self-dubbed "Mobler" hit up Penn Station, NYU, Union Square and landed in Times Square to meet up with a band called the Lloyd Dobler Effect, who sang "In Your Eyes."

Looks like that temporary Walmart in Times Square last year may have been a sign of what’s to come for the city. The Financial Times reported today that the retail giant is finally ready to muscle its way into larger cities, including New York. "We already have in our real estate program a robust plan to go after those [urban markets]," Eduardo Castro Wright, the CEO of Wal-Mart's U.S. stores, told analysts

Some residents of the Upper West Side are outraged that a new business called Pet Fashion, mostly selling overpriced leashes and whatnot, is selling dogs from a puppy mill. The store, on Columbus Avenue between West 87th and 88th streets, often puts attention-getting pups on display in the front window, but West Side Spirit reports that "these dogs come from puppy mills, and the store is not welcome in the neighborhood."

Just after midnight, four people were shot at West 11th Street near 7th Avenue. At this point, all the police know is that none are likely to die. We'll check in later to see if there are any more details, but in the meantime, does anyone who was in the area know what happened? Update, 11/2: The NYPD had a couple more details this morning—the four victims were black males, shot in the legs and arms (no ages). No arrests have been made.

Federal officials busted 53 gang members affiliated with the Bloods today in a massive bust, the Post reports. They were charged with dealing crack cocaine and heroin in the Bronx, particularly the Morrisania section near Yankee Stadium, and officials believe they "are behind at least 20 unsolved murders and more than 40 shootings over the past few years." Cops made over 30 undercover heroin purchases from the gang, which had names like "Get Money Crew" and "Bronx Gun Slingers." Thirty-seven members were arrested, 3 were already in custody, and 13 remain at large. The details of the investigation, "Operation Rotten Apple," were revealed in the indictment (PDF), and really sounds like something out of "The Wire."

Yesterday a 50-cent surcharge was tacked on to taxi fares as part of the state's MTA bailout, starting a cab ride with a $3 base fee... and no one is happy about it.

NJ residents—and the White House—are anxiously wondering who the next governor of NJ will be. Incumbent Jon Corzine (D) was facing not just Republican challenger Chris Christie but also independent Chris Daggett. Currently, NBC projects that Chris Christie is the winner.

Ever wonder what occupies that prime piece of real estate on the corner of West Houston and Varick streets in the West Village? Apparently a chronically overcrowded jail for "illegal immigrants, asylum-seekers and legal immigrants who face deportation because they have past criminal convictions," the Times reports.

Cherry Currin, a member of the The Dazzle Dancers who goes by the stage-name Cherry Dazzle, has had trouble with Facebook in the past over risque photos; she's previously received warnings about a photo of herself backflipping out of the vagina of a giant female statue, and then again for an image of her breasts covered in flame-shaped pasties. But it wasn't until Cherry got pregnant that Facebook went nuclear and canceled her account!

It's a game of he said/he said with this story of a gay couple being kicked to the curb by a cabbie. Paul Bruno and his partner were allegedly embracing in Medhat Mohamed's cab Monday night in the East Village, when they say the driver tossed them, declaring: "Hugging is not allowed in here!"

The crisp and clear weather was perfect for a Yankees 27th World Series Championship ticker tape parade—so perfect that the streets along the Canyon of Heroes were teeming with excited people celebrating the Bronx Bombers victory. In fact, check out the Gothamist Newsmap and see the incidents of "large crowd," "unruly crowd," and "airmail" (things larger than confetti/streamers being thrown) in the area.