Here, pour yourself a morning cup o' contempt, courtesy Frank Bruni's review of Delicatessen (pictured), the overpriced, overcrowded Soho comfort food lounge where tools and over-privileged scenesters flock to judge each other. (You know, the place that's driving neighbors to urinate on it.) After conceding that "this seriously mediocre but ingeniously conceived restaurant" isn't catering to epicures, but rather "night crawlers looking for foodstuffs that double as alcohol sponges," Bruni decides that "many of these......

Photograph of people mourning outside of shooting victim Bukhari Washington's--and alleged shooter Terrance Perry's--home by Mike Derer/AP On Thursday morning, 15-year-old Bukhari Washington was killed in his bedroom when a bullet from a semiautomatic rifle entered through the floor of his bedroom in Newark, NJ. He had been sleeping, and it turned out his downstairs neighbor, 19-year-old Terrance Perry, accidentally fired the rifle when "fiddling" around with it. In a city too accustomed to......

Sharpe James, the former five-time mayor of Newark, NJ who was convicted of corruption in April, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for "failing to disclose his romantic relationship with a woman whom he helped to get a lucrative deal on some city-owned land." U.S. District Judge William Martini said, "This is a sad day. A sad day for the citizens of Newark who are disappointed in the conduct of the mayor." Martini also......

The tabloids have caught wind of a bird smuggling operation uncovered by customs officials at JFK airport: For years now people have been sneaking Guyanese finches called Towa Towas into New York. The birds are used by Brooklyn’s Guyanese community for singing competitions; people place bets on two birds, and a judge decides which one has the lovlier song. (Here’s YouTube video of a Towa Towa singing.) According to the Post, a Brooklyn man was......

On Friday, three paramedics were fired from Newark's University Hospital for making student interns wear KKK-like robes. Apparently paramedics had seen a racist parody video and then decided to re-enact it. The president of University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ, which operates the hospital, William F. Owen said, "You can't make this stuff up. It's like being in Tennessee in the 1950s." The Star-Ledger reported emergency service supervisors rode with ambulance crews yesterday "in......

The almost-new Prudential Center in downtown Newark was shut down yesterday. Officials say there were issues "related to its smoke evacuation system," according to the Star-Ledger, which also notes the arena has had to pay for city firefighters to stand in stairwells during events because of these issues. New Jersey Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek and Mayor Corey Booker were spotted heading into the center this morning, to find out what was going on.......

Early this morning, a crash occurred near Newark on Route 21, killing three people. The Star-Ledger reports the accident was "on the northbound overpass linking McCarter Highway to Routes 1&9 and Route 78," which is a very busy artery leading to other highways and Newark, and shut down traffic for hours (the roads are now reopened). The investigation is continuing; WABC 7 says "One of the cars may have been heading in the wrong direction......

Stewart International Airport in Orange County, NY is losing one of its two major carriers--AirTran. The airline cited rising fuel costs, which are affecting all carriers negatively, as the reason for its ending of routes from Stewart. AirTran carried 315,000 passengers over the last year to Florida destinations and its Atlanta hub. In combination with Jet Blue, AirTran has been critical to the near-tripling of passengers at the airport in 2007. The loss of one......

We heard there was a huge fight in Newark, with hundreds of teens involved and then a stolen police car that hit two people in the crowd. It now turns out that the situation was less crowded but still with a stolen police car. According to the Star-Ledger, about 100 high school students had gathered to watch a fight at Park Avenue and North 5th Street. While it's unclear why the fight started, witness said......

The revelation that Bruce Ratner, would-be Atlantic Yards developer and Nets owner, has been secretly discussing selling the team to the owners of the New Jersey Devils, has put Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz’s athletic reputation on the line. Newark mayor Cory Booker, who would love the team to come to the Prudential Center in his town, has offered to settle the fight for the Nets with a simple, winner-takes-all game of hoops: Cory vs.......

Unnamed sources are telling the Jersey Star-Ledger that Bruce Ratner, principal owner of the New Jersey Nets, has secretly met with the owners of the New Jersey Devils and Newark mayor Cory Booker to discuss selling the Nets and moving them to Newark. If true, it would signal the end of Ratner’s troubled bid to relocate the Nets to downtown Brooklyn, where he is trying to build a controversial $4 billion stadium, residential, office and......

Sharpe James, five-time former mayor of Newark, NJ, was convicted by federal jury this morning on charges he conspired to, per the Star-Ledger, "rig the sale of nine city lots to his mistress, who quickly resold them for hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit." The jury, which had deliberated for five days before returning a verdict today, found James guilty of 13 counts of corruption. James' ex-girlfriend, Tamika Riley, who bought South Ward properties......

Just the kind of thing needed for everyone to continue questioning in the current air traffic control situation at area airports. Two planes almost collided on Sunday at JFK Airport. Senator Charles Schumer said that an air traffic controller said, "That was the closest I have ever seen two airplanes get together." According to the NY Times (also, see image at right), a "37-seat commuter jet" almost collided with a "Boeing 747 cargo jet on......

If Barry Melrose ever goes to Newark, he probably won't be getting a warm reception. Melrose, a hockey analyst for ESPN and a former player and manager, said some disparaging words about the city of Newark when talking about the new Devils arena on his webcast last week. Melrose said, "It looks great on the inside but don't go outside, especially if you got a wallet or anything else because the area around the building......

Passengers on a PATH train from Newark to the World Trade Center station had a shaky ride this afternoon. The train started to shudder from side to side, causing a motorman to stop the train. WNBC reports that at least 30 people were injured, with "as many as 10 passengers...taken off the train on backboards." Hours earlier, a train on the M line derailed at Chambers Street. There were no passengers, just transit workers, and......

When it comes to driving routes for a JFK airport pickup, George Costanza advocates taking the Grand Central to the Van Wyck, deriding Kramer’s L.I.E. route as a “suicide mission.” In the current New York Magazine cover story, “How to Escape Airport Hell”, the editors invited chauffeur Kevin Sullivan to weigh in. While he comes down squarely on Costanza’s side, he also shares some invaluable alternative routes to all three airports in the unlikely......