There are some residual delays on Metro-North this morning after yesterday's East Harlem building collapse that led to the suspension of all service in and out of Grand Central. The trains' speed restrictions were lifted at 6:30 a.m. and there may be 5-10 delays. A crowd formed in Grand Central as commuters waited out the suspension or devised alternate routes to get home as the New Haven, Hudson and Harlem lines were all down. But......

Some troubling news about yesterday's three-alarm fire at 200 East 72nd Street which left 19 firefighters and 14 resident injured. Apparently the fire alarm system had been undergoing repairs (there were complaints about "multiple false alarms" according to the Sun), which led to chaos. The building is "fireproof," and the FDNY says residents should have just stayed in their apartment, but many tried to leave the building. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer issued a following......

Photograph of an injured worker being unloaded from the construction bucket from reader Nick Sonderup There are reports that a crane lost its load of concrete beams at Spring and 6th Avenue. The beams hit the building and sidewalk scaffolding and people are trapped. One fatality is being reported. Photograph of workers on the sidewalk pointing by from stconrad on Flickr The reports indicate the accident occurred at a building under contraction at 246......

Norman Siegel, former NYCLU director, is taking the city to court today on behalf of Harlem residents opposed to the city’s plan for sports fields on Randall's Island. The city is building 63 new fields on the island in addition to the 36 fields already there; the construction is being partially financed by a consortium of private schools who will be given exclusive access to most of the fields between 3pm and 6pm on weekdays.......

The professor at Columbia University's Teacher College whose office door was found with a noose on it spoke out for the first time yesterday. Madonna Constantine told students that gathered for a rally, "This is a heinous and highly upsetting incident. I am upset that our community has been exposed to a blatantly vile incident like this. It is an act of cowardice. I would like the perpetrator to know that I will not be......

A reader sent us this horrible but all-too-familiar story: I was on the 7 train riding from Flushing Main Street when a man sat across from me (a few stops before 82nd street Jackson Heights he got on) with a newspaper on his lap pretending to be sleeping. I glanced over and to my horror all his goods were in plain view. I did not react and I pulled out my cell phone and took......

Hollaback! A man was arrested for menacing, stalking and exposing himself to a woman on the B and Q trains on Monday. The Post reports that the police caught 24-year-old Jay Arungah after the victim showed them a camera phone picture of a naked Arungah. The 30-year-old woman's subway ride sounds harrowing: She was at the Avenue M station at 8PM and she noticed Arungah staring at her. From the Post: When they boarded the......

The Fire Department is investigating whether standpipes failed to bring firefighters water to help fight a seven-alarm fire that broke out on the 17th floor of the Deutsche Bank building on Saturday. The cause of the fire, which spread between the 14th and 26th floors of the lower Manhattan building, is also unclear, though the FDNY suspects it may have been caused by a cigarette or a faulty electrical panel. FDNY officials suspect that......

Last week, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer released a study finding that many New Yorkers have been harassed or assaulted on subways but most of the time, these incidents go unreported. Some key findings included:- 63% of respondents (both male and female) reported having been sexually harassed in the New York City subway system. - 10% reported having been sexually assaulted in the New York City subway system. - 69% have felt the threat......

Seething over their many, ignored complaints about new construction at 808 Columbus Avenue, residents of Park West Village held a rally to demand an investigation. All 280 apartments at one Park West building, 784 Columbus, were evacuated when a retaining wall collapsed at the 808 site on Wednesday night. However, there were a number of calls to the Department of Buildings from 784 residents, complaining that the building was shaking as workers blasted in......

Residents of 784 Columbus Avenue are saying "I told you so" as the Department of Buildings continues its investigation into the retaining wall collapse at 808 Columbus Avenue. Residents at 784 have been complaining about the new constructions for some time and detailed how they've been wearing earplugs and noise-canceling headphones. A wooden retaining wall at the new construction site had been shoring up the land next to 784 Columbus; when the wall collapsed......

Hundreds of residents near West 97th Street and Columbus Avenue were evacuated when a retaining wall collapsed last night. The wall, at a three-block long construction site for the 808 Columbus Avenue development (which willinclude a big retail center with a Whole Foods), was next to 784 Columbus Avenue, which has 288 apartments. The "wooden" retaining wall fell, exposing 784's foundation. 784 Columbus Avenue's residents were taken to PS 163 as a temporary shelter; one......

Mayor Bloomberg just hates congestion: He announced a plan to more aggressively go after drivers who "block the box" at intersections. The city describe box blocking as "driving into an intersection as the light is changing without room to continue through it, thus blocking traffic," and it seriously sucks. Mayor Bloomberg wants to allow all 2,800 traffic agents to issue tickets (for some reason, only a few traffic enforcement agents can issue them now) in......

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): Barnard College: Anna Deveare Smith, playwright-actress CUNY Lehman College: Representative Charles Rangel CUNY Brooklyn College: Roberta S. Matthews, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Brooklyn......

Yesterday, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to uphold the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Immediately, politicians weighed in with their reactions, including two notable presidential wannabes from our area. Senator Hillary Clinton calling it a "dramatic departure from Supreme Court rulings that upheld a woman's right to choose" while former mayor Rudy Giuliani said the Supreme court came to the "correct conclusion." Which the Daily News points out is a reversal from his 2000 position,......

It's been 33 years since the last Second Avenue Subway groundbreaking, so it's high time for new generations of straphangers to revel in the hope of a new subway line. We also expect the public -- especially the Upper East Side-residing public -- to become jaded with construction delays, traffic issues, and noise. Here's the press release from the MTA:Tomorrow morning's historic groundbreaking ceremony for the Second Avenue Subway can be seen by all......

Workers at Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Grill have gone on strike - and have also been locked out by the owners - for over two weeks. Now, the workers have filed a lawsuit against Saigon Grill for a wide range of labor violations. According to the Justice Will Be Served, the group that is working with the workers: "The owners demanded workers sign an illegal contract, stating that they have received minimum wage, even though......

The city's Franchise and Concession Review Committee is scheduled to vote this coming week on whether or not to approve a proposal to have twenty Manhattan private schools pay for part of the renovation of Randall's Island athletic fields in return for exclusive use of a majority of the fields. The plan, which is separate from the controversial water park, calls for schools such as Dalton and Spence to pay the city $52 million dollars......

Apparently the way to celebrate a NY Times endorsement in Mark Green's household is to get your email on. And by email, we mean "E-mail people that have endorsed Andrew Cuomo instead of Mark Green". The Daily Politics has an email that Green's daughter Jenya sent to one of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's aides, with Jenya criticizing Stringer for being "so totally controlled....and therefore unfit to hold office" and excerpting part of the Times......

We used to think it was pretty sweet that disabled people got themselves a handsome little discount when riding subways and buses. But we always felt that there was probably some downside that we didn't see. In fact, it turns out that only a little over 10% of the subway stations in NYC are actually even accessible to the disabled. And apparently even a $300 million renovation of the Stillwell Avenue Station in Brooklyn wasn't......

Considering the redunkulous prices for shoe-boxes there it's hard to believe, but apparently there really are abandoned properties on the isle of Manhattan. How many there are is an open question though. That's why today Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's office has organized "the first large-scale count of abandoned properties in Manhattan." As part of the count volunteers will scour designated neighborhoods looking for any vacant lots and buildings which look not be occupied......

Gothamist can't so much drive (well, this part of Gothamist) and yet even we know that one of the basic principles of driving in the city is "Don't Block The Box." It's a simple rule for a complicated city and it can make all the difference in keeping traffic flowing, especially in the grids of Manhattan. But in order for a rule to be effective, we've always thought, it is a good idea to......

If you're in the West Village or Chelsea today, swing by one of these happenings: 1. Trish Grantham billboard painting: "With the help of up-and-coming artists, Visa is transforming a Greenwich Village intersection into a cornerstone of art and expression. As part of a multi-day project, ground-breaking artist Trish Grantham will create a one-of-a-kind billboard mural under the banner of a Visa's newest ad, "Life Takes Expression." Below Grantham's mural, Visa will also showcase......

Every now and then Gothamist sees Mayor Bloomberg in the lede of a news piece and DOESN'T get upset. This is one of those times. Along with the DOT Commissioner, Iris Weinhall, he announced a six month pilot program that would reduce the number of hours vehicles are allowed in both Central and Prospect Parks. The new traffic regulations go into effect June 5th and will hopefully bring some relief to automobile-weary park goers. The......

Water rats, your time will come in 2008: It looks like the Randalls Park Water Park will will be approved by the city's Franchise and Concession Review Committee. City Comptroller William Thompson and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer had opposed the the park's expensive tickets and questioned whether or not it will really serve the community closest to the water park, Stringer has come around, as the Aquatic Development Group Inc. has agreed to......

Those crazy kids over at Transportation Alternatives are grumpy again! Hot on the heels of the recent EPA revelations about New York's awful air quality (a story so nice we posted on it twice) TA has come out kicking, along with the American Lung Association, Borough President Scott Stringer and a bunch of city council members, calling for automobiles to be banned from Central Park's loop drive (they are currently banned on the weekends,......

No longer will children have to go to Hurricane Harbor or Dorney Park because the Daily News reports that the city has a proposal in hand for a $168 million, 26 acre water park on Randall's Island in the East River. The park, originally proposed in as a smaller 12 acre park in 1999, would be paid for by Aquatic Development Group, who would have a 35-year lease with the city. The park plans call......

Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives...