Times Square fixture The Naked Cowboy (Robert Burck) is singing a litigious song these days against Mars Inc., maker of M&M candies. He is claiming that the company is infringing on his trademark, i.e. singing in tighty-whities, cowboy boots and a Stetson, with a six string slung on his shoulder. Burck wants $6 million after the company started broadcasting a film on a billboard screen in Times Square showing anthropomorphic M&Ms re-enacting famous scenes, structures, and places around NYC. A blue peanut M&M is shown in briefs, boots, a hat, and strumming a guitar while singing in Times Square. more ›

A Staten Island man arrived at his Clifton home to find four teen boys having sex with his 11-year-old stepdaughter and her 13-year-old friend. The stepfather called the police upon finding the naked teens. The boys, ages 16 to 18, were charged with first- and third-degree rape, first-degree criminal sexual act and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. more ›

Work has been stopped at the Trump Soho construction site, the day after an accident caused one worker to fall 42 stories to his death. The FDNY says the workers had been filling wooden forms (one was a 20-foot-square section) with wet concrete when molds broke. Assistant Chief Thomas Galvin explained that the molds collapsed from the 42nd floor to the 40th, leaving a hold in the corner of the building. Per the Daily News, Galvin said, "They were pouring it on the floor .. tamping out the air bubbles, and for some reasons the forms collapsed." Concrete and other debris fell from the area. more ›

As a counterpoint to the tale of the mugging in pre-gentrification Bushwick (or East Williamsburg) in New York magazine, we bring you this mugging story from gentrified Park Slope. From the Morgan L station to the popular Grand Army Plaza stop, a woman gave a first person account of being mugged on Sunday with Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn. more ›

It’s a good thing there weren’t any broken bats in the room because Roger Clemens might have thrown one. Clemens was aggressive and sometimes bullying towards the assembled media at his press conference on Monday, repeating his vehement denials of illegally using steroids and HGH. more ›

Things were feisty during last night's Democratic debate in Las Vegas. The big story is how frontrunner Senator Hillary Clinton seemed to hold her ground by going on the attack. The NY Times said she "shifted to a much more assertive tone" and even the NY Post thinks she won the debate, though not by a knockout. During the October 31 debate, Clinton stumbled while trying to explain her support-nonsupport of Governor Spitzer's driver's... more ›

Yesterday, a group of longboard skaters raced down Broadway from West 116th Street all the way to the bull in the Financial District for the "Broadway Bomb." Sacha Lecca took photographs of the skate, which seemed to have at least 100 skaters. Sacha tells us there were around 70 last year and 30 in 2005; according to the website, the race started in 2002. more ›

Gotham Gazette has a fantastic analysis of what happens to the hundreds of City Council bills that have been introducedsince Christine Quinn become the City Council Speaker. The article points out many interesting things. For instance, out of the 622 bills introduced, 68% of them are never heard of again. About 15% do get hearings, but are never voted on, and only 17% actually pass to become bills. more ›

Yesterday afternoon, a tractor-trailer dangled from the side of the Staten Island Expressway. Authorities believe the driver, James Christian of North Carolina, may have lost control of the rig when another car stopped short. more ›

Barry Manilow, who is out promoting his Greatest Songs of the Seventies, has refused to share a stage with Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who was barely walking in the 70s. The crooner left a little message on his website yesterday for his fans letting them know he wouldn't be on The View today, saying "I had made a request that I be interviewed by Joy, Barbara or Whoopi, but not Elisabeth Hasselback. Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request so I bowed out. It’s really too bad because I've always been a big supporter of the show, but I cannot compromise my beliefs." more ›

Just last week Jeremy Blake's body was identified after being found off the coast of New Jersey. In July he and his girlfriend committed suicide one week apart from each other, and since then stories of their lives, fears and final days have surfaced. more ›

After discovering in the body of a 55-year-old man bound, gagged, and castrated in a Queens apartment on Saturday, police believe that the apartment's tenant, Brigitte Harris, may be the murderer. Initially, it was unclear who the man, Eric Goodridge of Staten Island, was or why he was in the apartment, but the Daily News reports that he was Harris' stepfather and that Harris blamed him for sexual abusing her. more ›

To recap: in the early morning hours this past Saturday, a 23-year-old woman was shot in the Meatpacking District. Later that night Grammy-nominated rap star, and Bronx native, Remy Ma (real name Remy Smith) turned herself in to authorities. Police had sought her for questioning in the shooting and she was arrested on charges of attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. more ›

Peter Braunstein, the writer who was convicted of kidnapping and torturing a former colleague, is back to writing: He sent a letter to the judge, expressing his remorse. Last month, it took a jury about four hours to find Braunstein guilty of his 13-hour 2005 attack, and Judge Thomas Farber will be sentencing Braunstein on Monday. more ›

The Hotel Chelsea Blog explores theories about the hotel's most famous couple. This year marks the 29th anniversary of Nancy Spungen's death, who was murdered in room 100 of the legendary hotel. Since then, questions and rumors have surrounded her death - which was pinned on Sid Vicious. more ›

High school baseball is off to a vicious start. Two students at Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn claim that the assistant baseball coach at a Manhattan high school beat them with a metal bat earlier this week. One of the victims has a broken jaw, while the other was cut on the face and neck. more ›

Yeah, I know what you mean. I think I’m like that certainly. I don’t really play vinyl, though I do collect all these records. But one of the reasons I like to put out these albums is because some of these things have never been available on CD, and once they are then disc jockeys can play them forever. They can’t fade away like the old 45 does that I’ve had in my drawer for 20 years, or 50 years. So basically that’s the main thing, trying to get these songs to a new audience. None of these songs would be played together at one time on the same CD. I’m sort of like curating an art show or something. Trying to show you different styles of music that are all extreme, but all unironic in real life and kind of beautiful. I don’t think any of them are so bad they’re good. more ›

A fire that raged through a Bronx building and claimed a 2-year-old's life was actually arson. Amanda Adgivon had been sleeping yesterday morning when her downstairs neighbor, Sharon Scott, decided to set her boyfriend on fire. Scott poured nail-polish remover on the bed and lit it while James Hicks was sleeping. Hicks woke up and was able to leave the apartment with Scott, but the fire shot towards the ceiling and the Adgivon apartment. more ›

The story about Wesley Autrey jumping into the subway tracks yesterday afternoon to save a fellow straphanger at the 137th Street downtown 1 platform gets more amazing. It turns out that Autrey and two other women had helped 20 year old Cameron Hollopeter right before the fall - Hollopeter had a seizure and Autrey used a pen to keep his mouth open. They called for a station agent's help, but Hollopeter got up and stumbled into the tracks before help came. more ›

Usually I get my restaurant recommendations out of my fares. The time we spend together in the cab is perfect for my screening process. After weeding out (and occasionally kicking out) those who would send me to Applebees, I can judge a fare for ten or twenty minutes before deciding if we have similar taste buds and philosophies on life as well as, by extension, eating. more ›

I wasn't aware of stand up comedy growing up. I watched a lot of Carol Burnett with my mom. My mom was very funny. I wasn't a class clown. I was pretty shy. more ›

It's old-fashioned meetup versus high-middlebrow-concept at UN Plaza! The Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza is suing the Parks Department over the agency's selection of New York Milkshake to replace the Patio Cafe. The Friends of DHP say the Parks Department violated procurement procedures by allowing the NY Milkshake to open up this summer. Even though economics sounds like part of the reasoning, as NYM offered $18,000 more in licensing fees than the Patio Cafe, the FDHP point to the closed St. Mark's Place NY Milkshake location and wonder if it can generate enough revenue. NY Milkshake says they are planning on opening other locations. Owner Scott Marcus said to the NY Times, "All I want to do is sell milkshakes and grilled cheese. What this has turned into blows me away." more ›

Plenty of people go through painful break-ups, but it takes a special talent to turn the experience into a career. Brooklyn-bred Anita Liberty, whose boyfriend Mitchell left her for another woman shortly after he and Anita moved in together, has that talent: rather than sitting around moping, she wrote a book, called "How to Heal the Hurt by Hating," filled with poems, diary entries, and diatribes against Mitchell and the new girlfriend, and developed a live show, short film, and TV projects based on it and her bitter self in general. The dumped everywhere roared their approval, and now she’s back, but what’s this? Success, happiness, and a new man? In "How to Stay Bitter Through the Happiest Times of Your Life," which opens today at HERE and just came out in book form, she describes in her characteristically caustic yet hilarious way how she has tried not to lose touch with the anger that was her raison d’être. We asked her some questions about the show, her art, and her life in New York. more ›

The jurors listened to testimony from September 11 attack victims' families yesterday during the death penalty sentencing trial of Zacarais Moussaoui, a confessed conspirator in the plots. The families-turned-witnesses cried, and jurors themselves cried with them. US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema did note that Moussaoui's lawyers feel the prosecution's presentation was overly dramatic, leading her to limit prosecution witnesses to five photographs each. more ›

...It's not fair to the people, and it's not fair to me. I don't have enough money to buy a decent pair of pants right now, much less have the money to get them out. All I have to say is, these kids did what they did. I don't know anything. I wish I could change the whole situation, but I can't.Simmon says he told his children to go to the police, but police say that tips came from others who heard those involved talking about the crime. The police have been calling the earlier robbery and duFresne's murder "crimes of opportunity" - prompted only by running into the targets. Other police sources say that Fleming hit his head, spit and tore at his clothes in order to appear "crazy," perhaps in a bid for an insanity defense; he also allegedly "whined" while questioned and appear to be asleep when arragined. more ›

About 49% of the population is still reeling from Senator Kerry's concession. Gothamist's own Doug Gordon (also of Planet Gordon) and his wife are in Boston, and were captured for the world to see on BBC News Front Page. He tells us, "All I can say is that there is nothing quieter than the sound of 10,000 people not saying a word." And we expect the Secret Service and FBI to be investigating many more street crimes of this nature. more ›

Adam Shore, General Manager, VICE Records more ›

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released its updated report of SUV rollover safety and the Ford Explorer is at the bottom again; you can see SUV safety at safecar.gov. And WebMD notes that if your tooth gets knocked out, you should put it in milk, but after two hours, the tooth cannot be saved. Plus that Christmas chesnut, All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth. more ›

Frankly, Gothamist don't understand why the NBA players are so reluctant. We understand the security concerns and that if you're over 6' tall, you're not really going to blend in very well, but representing your country really is the opportunity of a lifetime. And it's not like you're not going to be protected. If anything, the members of USA Basketball will be protected more than the average Olympic athlete. Gothamist commends Swin Cash and her WNBA cohorts. We also realize that the the professional athletes in the NBA are in a unique situation and that more often than not, everybody would love to represent their country. more ›