Where to begin with this one: a lawyer and deputy director of the city’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) was arrested this week and charged with impersonating a Staten Island woman online in order to meet women on a lesbian dating website. As if that wasn't bonkers enough, lawyer James O’Hare, 51, was also a high-ranking former military JAG lawyer singled out for criticism for his role overseeing the detention facilities at Abu Ghraib. more ›

Academy Award-winning director Errol Morris was on hand last night for a Tribeca Film Festival screening of his new documentary Standard Operating Procedure, a nuanced exploration of the detainee abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Those familiar with Morris’s innovative oeuvre won’t be surprised to hear that, far from a tendentious indictment of the perpetrators, his film is a circumspect consideration of some of the factors that contributed to those infamous photographs of humiliation. [Today, the NY Times' movie critic Manohla Dargis calls it a "blockbuster of a documentary."] more ›

Good news about the man who was found in respiratory distress while suspended from the ceiling at a Midtown S&M club on Friday. The 60-something retired math professor from Montreal woke up yesterday, but he didn't remember the incident. more ›

Patrick Venetek, the cop whose service weapon wound up shooting through the ceiling of his downstairs neighbors' apartment and striking an 18-month-old's arm, gave further details on how the incident occurred. Perhaps to the relief of Porcellini's six brothers and sisters, Venetek has been stripped of his badge and gun at this time and is on modified duty. more ›

EVENTS: Both Open House NY and The New Yorker Festival are upon us. You can check out more of OHNY's event here, and The New Yorker Festival here. Some picks: more ›

American Experience: New York Underground (Monday, 9:00 p.m. WNET 13) Channel Thirteen re-airs this 1997 documentary about the building of the New York City Subway. more ›

A few days after Saddam Hussein was hanged, he became the subject of an art exhibit. And who does Hussein share the canvas with? None other than Donald Rumsfeld. Back when Rumsfeld was Special Envoy to the Middle East under the Regan Administration, he and Hussein met to discuss the Iran-Iraq War. Oh yeah, and oil (see sections 18-19 on pages 15-17 of this then-confidential report). Two years ago, Jonathan Podwil began a series of paintings based on this historic encounter. Now on exhibit at Greenwich Village’s Plane Space till February 4, Meeting 1983 becomes even more significant than when the artist began his work. more ›

Remember the New York magazine cover story from July 2005 about the $2000/hour "escort"? Even though the escort, Natalia McLennan, was charged with money laundering, prostitution and money laundering and Jason Itzler, aka "The King of All Pimps," pleaded guilty to money laundering and attempting to promote prostitution from a Worth Street address, the story gets a second life. Former NJ prosecutor Paul Bergrin is being charged with promoting prostitution, money laundering, and conspiracy by the Manhattan DA's office. more ›

George Saunders, Writer more ›

Ida Dupont, Professor of Criminal Justice, Women's Advocate more ›

Chung chung! It's the moment Gothamist has been waiting for - at least since May 20 - it's the season premiere of Law & Order. And since it's the much ballyhooed CSI:NY vs. Law & Order smackdown on Wednesday at 10PM, NBC is rolling out TWO episode of L&O tonight, starting at 9PM. The first episode is "Paradigm":

Dennis Farina joins the cast as Detective Joe Fontana, a stylish veteran uneasily paired with Detective Green (Jesse L. Martin) when a former female Guardsman from the second Gulf War is found murdered -- and evidence points to the vengeful Iraqi sister of a an ex-inmate at infamous Abu Ghraib prison. However, when D.A.s McCoy and Southerlyn begin to prosecute, they discover that the suspect's lawyer boldly plans to defend his client as an "enemy soldier" -- subject only to the terms of the Geneva Convention. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg guest-stars as himself. .

Slate, the online magazine published by Microsoft, is a daily stop in our web surfing and one thing that Ask Gothamist likes on the site is its regular Explainer column. Whenever we have a question about something in the news, Explainer is there to help us. But did we really need this week's explanation? more ›

It's an election year and the Republican National Convention is coming to New York City. It seems impossible to avoid political discussion. more ›

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