Three men and one woman were arrested during yesterday's spirited protests against the tuition hikes that were passed by the CUNY Board of Trustees. According to the NYPD, those arrested faced varying charges of reckless endangerment, harassment, and disorderly conduct outside a Baruch College building, where hundreds of protesters had gathered as the meeting itself became closed to the public. "Money does affect me," a CUNY sophomore tells Baruch's newspaper, the Ticker. "I have two jobs…Tuition is hard for me, I pay it by month and every dollar counts." more ›

[Updates below] Several hundred protesters are currently marching near Baruch College at 24th Street at Lexington Avenue to demonstrate against the planned $300/year (over five years) tuition hikes that the City University Board of Trustees is expected to vote on this afternoon, as well as a need for "democratic accountability." There's a heavy NYPD presence, with police on scooters attempting to funnel the demonstrators into barricaded areas and off the street. more ›

Baruch College's afternoon classes (after 3 p.m.) are cancelled because the City University Board of Trustees is voting on tuitions hikes—$300/year for five years—and CUNY officials are concerned about another clash between protesting students and campus police. Still, students are taking the time to rally at 4 p.m., to criticize last week's chaotic confrontation as well as the hikes, "They make tuition increases over the summer knowing many students are not on campus, they continue to increase tuition, while cutting, resources (closing libraries, writing centers, etc), they have public meetings where students and faculty are denied admittance, then are beaten for attempting to peacefully assemble and have a voice." more ›

Last night at Baruch College's Mason Hall in Manhattan, a motley crew of indie rock and power pop all-stars came together to pay tribute to the seminal Third/Sisters Lovers album by Big Star. The group of musicians, which included Michael Stipe and Mike Mills of R.E.M., Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo, Matthew Sweet and original Big Star drummer Jody Stephens, was organized and directed by Chris Stamey of the dBs, one of the descendants of Big Star. It was a reverential but heartfelt evening, with upwards of 10 people on stage at a time bringing the haunted, drug-addled album to life with generous, often upbeat arrangements, including full string and brass sections. more ›

Through some strange stroke of Manhattan Supreme Court scheduling, Ja Rule, Remy Ma, Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes all appeared in court yesterday (at different times) to face various charges. Ja Rule and Lil Wayne faced gun possession charges from separate incidents on July 22. The pair, who collaborated on a song "Uh Oh," also shared the same attorney, Stacey Richman. Richman said that Lil Wayne couldn't be guilty, because when his tour bus... more ›

Mayor Bloomberg spoke out about the various lawsuits alleging that his company, Bloomberg LP, discriminates against women. He believes that he was personally named in one of lawsuits "because I’m so visible, that obviously I’m a target." He added, "We think there's no substance to it whatsoever and the company will vigorously defend it and that's that. more ›

Tenzing Bhutia, a 21-year-old Baruch College student, is being held on $75,000 bail after fatally driving into a young woman crossing Bowery near East 4th Street in Lower Manhattan. Bhutia did not stop after hitting Julia Thomson early Sunday morning, and when police found him - and his father's damaged Mercedes Benz in Queens - hours later, his blood alcohol was 0.087, above the 0.08 legal limit. more ›

Why is it that things are hotter in Albany with the Legislative session over? The brouhaha between Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Governor Eliot Spitzer has, as the Sun put it, "reached a new low." Bruno had a press conference yesterday, saying Spitzer's alleged State Police surveillance on Bruno's activities was "espionage." From the Times Union:

"I've been in government 31 years and I've never experienced anything like this," said Bruno. "I was stunned to learn Governor Spitzer is using the fine men and women of the New York State Police to conduct surveillance on me," Bruno said. "This should send shivers up the spine of every New Yorker."

Albany seemed to be its usual stagnant self, as the legislative sessions closed on notes of rancor, versus happiness and optimism on the job well done. Many issues were left unresolved, and Governor Spitzer and Senate Majority seem to be rarin' for a fight. more ›

But, the NY Times says ahem, reporting Bloomberg aides have working on a possible 2008 bid for the past two years. And the Sun pointed out how he "indulged" questions about national issues at the press conference yesterday. Then again, when asked if there were a situation when he would run, he said, "If everyone in the world was dead and I was the only one alive? Yeah, sure. I mean, come on." more ›

In this week's New Yorker, Lauren Collins has a funny bit on the popularity of "Fuck Frank Gehry" T-shirts. Popular, that is, with Frank Gehry himself! more ›

Congratulations to everyone graduating this month! As NYU's commencement was today, with speaker jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, we decided to list the many NYC commencement speakers, with help from The Chronicle of Higher Education (if we've missed any or gotten it wrong, let us know in comments): more ›

Can't a guy change his website without people suddenly asking questions about it? Well, if you're the billionaire mayor of the country's largest city who may or may not have presidential/gubernatorial leanings, then no. And not when he announces to to the press, either. more ›

• Tody on the Gothamist NewsMap: a carjacking in Staten Island; a missing patient at Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn; and a fatal accident in Queens.
• The Staten Island carjacking, which included a police chase, injured three people, including a child and a police officer. One suspect is in custody and police are on scene looking for a possible 2nd suspect.
• The fatal accident in Queens was a small school bus striking a 23 year-old woman in Richmond Hill. The bus had special-ed students from St. Joseph's - the students are uninjured.

Update: WNBC reports that Cho Seung Hui sent a "box containing a manifesto of sorts, photographs and other material" (including videos) to NBC News. NBC News received it today and president Steve Capus turned the box over the FBI, but MSNBC says that the box was sent between the two shootings.

The package included a long, “rambling, manifesto-like statement embedded with a series of photographs,” Capus said. The material is “hard-to-follow ... disturbing, very disturbing — very angry, profanity-laced,” he said. more ›

Tired of your job and want to strike out and open up a coffeehouse, even though your friends think you're crazy? Jonathan Rubinstein and his successful Joe coffeehouses were profiled in the Jobs section of the Times, $14,000 espresso machine and all. Rubinstein prices his java similarly to Starbucks and his customers will wait for his beautifully brewed coffees and espressos (the image is from the Joe website). With three locations (Waverly Place, East 13th Street, Greene Street at the Alessi store) , Rubinstein, a former talent agent, hopes of expanding but...

Joe has stiff competition from Starbucks, which now has 170 cafes in Manhattan, as well as from a new crop of coffee connoisseurs who are trying to fulfill their own entrepreneurial urges. Mr. Rubinstein said he recently found an ideal location, also on East 13th Street, only to learn that another cafe was scheduled to open down the block. more ›

Congressman Charles Rangel is in the news again, but this time he's not upsetting Southern states - he's scaring the bejesus out of young Americans! He told CBS's Face the Nation that he will will propose legislation to bring back the draft. Why? Because it might act as a war-deterrent, as well as fulfill the need for more troops.

There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way. If we're going to challenge Iran and challenge North Korea and then, as some people have asked, to send more troops to Iraq, we can't do that without a draft.

The Mayor won a ruling from the state's highest court - the Court of Appeals - that says he's allowed to, er, ignore certain laws the City Council might pass against his wishes - if he thinks they violate state and federal law. The case they ruled on was the 2004 City Council law that required city contractors to offer domestic partner benefits; the Mayor vetoed it, saying it didn't hold up with state and federal law, but the City Council overrode it. Fast forward to 2006, the Court of Appeals ruled, 4-3, that the Mayor was right not to enforce it. While it sounds bad, pundits say this does not mean the Mayor can do as he pleases. New York Law School's Ross Sandler tells the NY Times, "These issues exist in a political world and neither the mayor nor the Council want to be so far off base that they appear to be acting unlawfully." Yeah - just think what Mayor Giuliani would have done if he knew this! And, from Newsday, Baruch College's Jay Weiser makes the point that this is more about competitive bidding that domestic benefits. more ›

A man who tried to rob a Harlem Dunkin' Donuts shot its manager to death yesterday. The attempted robbery was during broad daylight at 1PM, with the Post reporting that the robber waited in line until his turn and announced a stick up. The 20-something manager, a student at Baruch College, tried to flee, but was shot in the back, and then shot two more times as he tried to leave the store. The robber left after being unable to open the cash register - other employees had already left the scene. The Dunkin Donuts at 145th Street and Lenox Avenue did have surveillance cameras, so the police will be reviewing the tapes to see if they can get a picture of the killer. more ›

Ellen Friedrichs, Sex Educator more ›