Images from WNBC Earlier this morning, around 1:30AM, police were chasing a stolen car in Brooklyn, at 93rd Street and 4th Avenue, but the 1997 Nissan slipped away, heading onto the Belt Parkway. The cops later found it on the Parkway at 65th Street, after it had crashed into a car carrying four people, killing one. The stolen car had "rammed into the back" of the other car. The three other passengers, including a......

Bumper to Bumper on the Belt Parkway, by AllWaysNY at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: someone fell three floors from a fire escape on Leland Ave. in the Bronx, a pedestrian struck on Delancey and Eldridge Sts. in Manhattan, and a homicide on Edison and Randall Aves. in the Bronx. Nassau County cops searched a Syosset, Long Island home yesterday to find a menagerie of animals living admidst filth. Dozens of dogs and......

Early Sunday morning, an 86-year-old man was found driving in the opposite direction as traffic on the Belt Parkway. Luckily no one was hurt, but the highway patrol had to divert traffic in order to stop Bernard Hummel. The Connecticut resident had been reported missing from his home the day before. The Post reports that Hummell suffers from Alzheimer's and "wanted to drive his wife, Anna, to the Connecticut shore." He left home - without......

A year after Michael Sandy was lured to a parking lot at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn under the pretense of a sexual encounter and then killed in an attempted robbery, the spot on Sheepshead Bay continues to be a place where men congregate for furtive homosexual encounters. John Fox and Anthony Fortunato were both convicted last week of manslaughter as a hate crime in the death of Sandy, who was struck by a car......

Anthony Fortunato was found guilty of manslaughter as a hate crime yesterday, after intense arguments by the jury. He was the second man found guilty of the crime. Fortunato was accused of killing Michael Sandy in a hate crime after luring him to a known gay cruising spot at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn. The encounter ended with Sandy being chased and beaten onto the Belt Parkway where he was struck by a car and later......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Waring Ave. and White Plains Rd. in the Bronx, a water rescue at the foot of East 79th St. in Manhattan, and a pedestrian fatally struck at Cropsy Ave. and the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn. A Jewish family had to have their housekeeper call animal control to report a five-foot-long snake in their Brooklyn driveway. The definitions of midtown and the stress of establishing boundaries. New......

John Fox was found guilty of manslaughter in the killing of Michael Sandy. Fox was convicted on charges of a hate crime and manslaughter, but not murder, for chasing Michael Sandy onto the Belt Parkway where he was fatally struck by a car. Three men are on trial for Sandy's killing: John Fox, Ilya Shurov, and Michael Fortunato. A fourth man, Michael Timmins, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for his testimony. Fox......

Accused murderer Michael Fortunato is pinning his hopes of exoneration by baring his soul on the stand and revealing that he was an until-now closeted gay person. In the opening statements of the trial, the lawyer for Michael Fortunato––the purported ringleader of the three men charged––stated that his client was not guilty of a hate crime murder against a gay man because he himself was gay. Michael Sandy was attacked by a group of men......

The claim that Anthony Foturnato, one of three men on trial for hate crime murder of a gay man, was gay himself was not only strange to most everyone - it was apparently mysterious to the judge as well! Fortunato, Ilya Shurov John Fox, and Michael Timmins had lured Michael Sandy to meet them at a secluded location in Sheepshead Bay, via a gay chatroom, in 2006. Once there, they robbed and beat Sandy, who......

One of the defendants accused of murdering Michael Sandy as part of a hate crime a year ago is now claiming that he is innocent because he himself is a gay man. Michael Fortunato is on trial for the murder of Michael Sandy after he and three friends arranged to meet him in a secluded spot in Sheepshead Bay for a gay tryst. Instead, they ambushed the 29-year-old Williamsburg man who, fleeing his attackers, ran......

There were a number of deaths and injuries from incidents all over the city early Sunday morning. The first was a collision between a Toyota and BMW on Hylan Boulevard in Staten Island. The Toyota's driver, 29-year-old Paul Vinin, died while the BMW's driver Jolyn SIlva, was critically injured. Silva's passenger, 17-year-old Paulina Vivirito, had minor injuries. The Staten Island Advance, which said that Toyota "t-boned the BMW", reports that both Vinin and Silva had......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a possible abduction at the Mobil gas station off the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn, a suspicious death on Cornelia St. in Queens, and a pedestrian struck at Buffalo St. and Hylan Blvd. on Staten Island. The Dept. of Buildings declined to revoke permits for Donald Trump's planned 46-story Trump SoHo "hotel" on Spring St. near the Holland Tunnel. A State Bridge Task Force completed its inspection of New York's......

The three men accused of murdering Michael Sandy as part of a hate crime last year appeared in a Brooklyn courthouse yesterday. According to The New York Times, they struck humble poses––wearing ill-fitting suits and displaying good manners to courtroom personnel––that belie the joking manner they treated the alleged murder of a man chased onto the Belt Parkway, where he was struck by a car. The youngest of the four men accused in the crime,......

Supreme Court Justice Jill Konviser has ruled that the three men charged in the murder of Michael Sandy can be charged with murder as a hate crime. Last October, Anthony Fortunato, John Fox, and Ilya Shurov had lured Michael Sandy through a gay chat room to meet them near the Belt Parkway. When Sandy arrived, they robbed and beat him, causing him to flee into the highway and get hit by a car. Sandy was......

There were a number of people injured or killed during vehicle crashes over the weekend. Yesterday afternoon, a livery cab went out of control at Flatbush and Glenwood in Brooklyn. The cab jumped a curb, after, per WABC, taking down a traffic light and street sign, and hit three pedestrians before crashing into a nail salon. A 51-year-old man and 16-year-old are in critical condition; a 15-year-old boy is in stable condition with a head......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: brush fires in Jamaica caused delays and suspensions on the LIRR west of Jamaica Station (it's okay, just booze up) - there may still be some delays; a water main break on 3rd Ave at 86th Street; and found DOA on the Belt Parkway. Being the head of a crime family isn't easy these days. Danny "The Lion" Leo, the reputed head of the Genovese crime family was arrested......

When transporting nuclear material in the trunk of your car while driving through Brooklyn: prepare to be pulled over. We're not sure if serendipity is the word for this, but an NYPD lieutenant carrying a radiation detector was surprised to hear it go off while driving through Brooklyn on the Belt Parkway. The device, a RadEye Pager, sounds its alarm when it detects higher than normal levels of radiation nearby. The police have about 900......

David Byrne's foldable Montague mountain bike has been stolen. The avid city biker rode in the 5 Boro Bike Tour last year, commenting: "The organizers close the FDR drive, the BQE, the Belt Parkway and the Verrazano-Narrows bridge on one side — so we get the thrill of riding in the middle of the street, not having to stop at red lights and no worries of the ubiquitous jaywalking peds on suicide missions." This past......

The family of Imette St. Guillen spoke to the Daily News as tomorrow will mark the one year anniversary of her death. St. Guillen, whose bound body was found dumped near the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn, was last seen at the Falls restaurant and bar in SoHo. The gruesome nature of her death - raped, stripped naked, and tied with duct tape - worried some that she was killed by a serial murderer, but then......

Last fall, three men were charged with hate crimes in the October death of Michael Sandy. Prosecutors charged that lya Shurov, Anthony Fortunato, and John Fox had gone to a gay chat room, lured Sandy to Plum Beach, and then robbed and beat him. Sandy ran into the Belt Parkway and died from injuries sustained when he was hit by traffic. Sandy had been in a coma for six days; family took him off a......

The first lawsuit has been filed by the family of Imette St. Guillen, the graduate student who was brutally murdered last February. The Post reports that St. Guillen's family believes "her death resulted directly from negligence of the owner of the now-shuttered Falls Bar and the brutality of its employee, [Darryl] Littlejohn, a paroled violent felon." Falls owner Michael Dorrian also did not initially cooperate with the police during the investigation. The lawsuit specifically notes......

If you've ever wondered how some big-name lawyers get attached to high-profile defendants without money, check out the NY Times article about lawyers jockeying to defend Darryl Littlejohn. Littlejohn, the bouncer of former SoHo bar and restaurant The Fall, is accused of murdering John Jay graduate student Imette St. Guillen, whose body was found late February off the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn, bound and wrapped in a blanket. St. Guillen's murder caused fears that a......

Three men were indicted yesterday for murder and attempted robbery as hate crimes in the Belt Parkway death of Michael Sandy. Ilya Shurov, Anthony Fortunato, and John Fox are accused of going to a gay chat room and asking Sandy to meet them at Plum Beach off the Belt Parkway. There, the three men are suspected of robbing and beating Sandy, who then ran to the highway and was hit by a car. Sandy lay......

-- Nothing says love like an illegal wedding at the Metropolitan Museum. -- The Brooke Astor saga is over-- her son agreed to give up guardianship, in exchange for keeping the cash he diverted from the estate. -- 50,000 people sent Katie Couric suggestions on a sign-off line. Our submission: "Suck on that, America!" -- Is Pirro really tough on pedophiles? She let 93% of the ones she caught plead out to probation. --......

Three Brooklyn men, ages 16-20, were charged with hate crimes in the beating of Michael Sandy. Police believe that John Fox, Ilya Shurov, and Gary Timmins met Sandy online and lured him to Plumb Beach, an area off the Belt Parkway, with the intention of robbing him - because Sandy was gay. While setting up the meeting, they asked him to bring enough money for a hotel room. From the NY Post: Fox then lured......

Police are investigating whether a black man was hit by a car because he was trying to get away from assailants. The incident occured in Sheepshead Bay-Gerritsen Beach area. WABC 7 reports that two white men were "seen fleeing the man's body on the Belt Parkway after he was struck by a car" - and the car didn't stop. Police believe the victim and the two men got into a fight; since the man was......

Jordan’s Lobster Dock seemed like it would be right up my alley. It’s been open since Lou Gehrig was playing first base for the Yankees. There’s outdoor seating. It’s hidden on a side street in the old waterfront neighborhood of Sheepshead Bay. They proudly boast there is “No Tipping” necessary because of the cafeteria style setup. And they serve loads of seafood. Martin Scorsese even attached his name to a Danny Aiello movie about......

Nothing you order at Randazzo’s Clam Bar will be the best thing you ever ate. But you can’t say you know Sheepshead Bay unless you know Randazzo’s. It is the indisputable heart and soul of the neighborhood, a hold-out from the days when working class clam bars lined that storied waterfront. Today, you’ll still find a thriving seaside community, but the vibe is decidedly contemporary. New luxury condos are going up all over, and......

Since I’ve dubbed myself The Hungry Cabbie, I thought my first post as Gothamist’s outer borough food correspondent should be about a classic eating institution that absolutely every cabbie should know: New Park Pizzeria. It lies directly beneath the flight path into JFK Airport in the proud, old Italian neighborhood of Howard Beach, Queens. Unfortunately, the neighborhood is not known for being a particularly inviting place to outsiders thanks to a white mob that lynched......

Is this a break? The police have questioned a bouncer at The Falls yesterday, as well as conducted more investigations at the 218 Lafayette Street bar and restaurant over the weekend, as they try to solve the murder of graduate student Imette St. Guillen. The NY Times calls the bouncer a "potential suspect," and the NY Post says that the bouncer is a "hardened criminal still on parole for a robbery rap." While the Post......