The juvenile humpback whale, caught in lobster netting and gear near the Ambrose Channel, off Sandy Hook, NJ, was freed yesterday by a rescue team (another photograph of the rescue is after the jump). However, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Teri Frady said, "It does have serious injuries, but it is much better off than being anchored in the shipping lane." Here's video of the rescue, via CityRoom: more ›

Somehow, a tanker managed to strike the Ambrose Light navigation aid early Sunday morning. The Ambrose Light is a 76-foot structure that sits 12 miles southeast of Staten Island and, according to the Coast Guard, "watches over the main shipping lanes to New York Harbor." The 799-foot tanker Axel Spirit "slammed" into the light, which is usually visible for 18 miles. Now the light is not rotating and, therefore, is not reliable. A commercial pilot... more ›

Families and friends are mourning the deaths of Robert Chacon and John Isello, two friends who died when their motorboat capsized in the Ambrose Channel Saturday night. Chacon, Isello and two other friends were on a 24-foot fishing boat when their vessel hit a tugboat's towline. more ›

A motorboat crashed into a tugboat pulling a barge last night and two motorboat passengers died after the vessel overturned. The incident occurred in the Ambrose Channel, near the Verrazano Bridge. more ›

Yesterday morning, two Bangladeshi brothers jumped off a freighter ship that was leaving the Port of Newark, "somewhere between the Kill van Kull and Verrazano-Narrows Bridge." One brother was found, while the other is still missing. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on West 24th St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan, another shooting on Rockwell Place and Dekalb Ave. in Brooklyn, and yet another shooting at 92 -35 215th Place in Queens.
• Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James' female acquaintance made an amazing amount of money by buying properties from the city and then flipping them for huge profits.
• Phone records reveal that an upstate teenage driver may have been responding to a text message "What are you doing?" sent by a friend, moments before she ran into oncoming traffic, killing herself and four other just-graduated-from-high school young women.
• After drifting off course and running aground near the Ambrose Channel in New York's lower bay, the oil tanker White Sea was finally floated and moved for repairs at high tide.
• Lenox Hill Hospital was the point of arrival for seven sets of twins this week on East 77th St. Girls: 8; Boys: 6; Healthy: 14!
• A Westchester store is charging $55 for less than a liter of water.
• The young man who was accused of attempting to molest a girl in Queens, and was scared off by an alert and intuitive pit bull who started barking like crazy in response to her cries, turned himself in to police.
• Former U.S. Senator from New York Al D'Amato is expecting a child with this new wife, who is almost 30 years his junior, (she's 41).
• NYPD Officer Russel Timoshenko died today from injuries sustained during a traffic stop early Monday morning, when he was shot twice in the face. He was 23 years old. We'll have further coverage tomorrow.

The fuel tanker, the White Sea, that ran aground near the Ambrose Channel off Coney Island and Sandy Hook, NJ, yesterday morning, is still stuck in the waters. An attempt to dislodge the 800-foot ship carrying over half a million barrels of "low-sulfur fuel oil" failed last night, so the Coast Guard began plans to "lighten" (remove) 110,000 barrels of fuel after the ship couldn't be moved. Coast Guard officials are hopeful that it can be dislodged during tonight's high tide around 8PM. more ›

WCBS 880 reports that an oil tanker, the White Sea, has run aground in the Ambrose Channel, which is a shipping channel south of Lower New York Bay, off Staten Island, Coney Island, Breezy Point and NJ's Sandy Hook. The Coast Guard says that there are no reports of injuries. more ›

There are some very observant drivers on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and BQE. WCBS 2 reports that a number of drivers called 911 to report that a freighter ship was sinking in the New York Harbor. But it turns out the freighter, Dockwise Swan, is actually supposed to sink a little bit! more ›