[UPDATE BELOW] Arnold Diaz and his Shame Crew over at Fox5NY are on part five of their Broken Subway Escalator series. Most recently they revisited the Union Square and 53rd and 3rd stations, both of which have had busted escalators for years. To recap, Diaz says the MTA gave sweetheart deals to real estate developers who promised to install and maintain escalators. In both stations they have been boarded up and straphangers are directed to take the stairs instead—and while that may be a healthier alternative for some of us, there are plenty who need the escalators. more ›

Anthony Daly was visiting NYC from Boston at the end of December when a violent encounter with the NYPD left his leg broken in three places. Cops were called to the Hotel Chandler on December 27th after getting a report that Daly had assaulted the bartender in the hotel bar. Daly denies assaulting anyone but admits he got drunk and insulted some Englishmen who were singing English football songs. "I put my hands on their backs and just said, 'Sing it up boys, sing it up. That's all that's left of your little empire, soccer,'" Daly tells NY1. more ›

At least one part of the city's planned rehabilitation of Coney Island seems to pay homage to the amusement district's gritty history. Newly installed sections of the Coney Island Boardwalk are already starting to fall apart — less than a year after they were screwed down. "It's not even a year old, and we're right back to square one," Todd Dobrin, chairperson of Friends of the Boardwalk, told the Daily News. "Something is wrong, and we need to find it out now before we waste all our resources on something that needs to be done again." more ›

A sushi chef who tried to "hold" a parking space for his manager by standing in the street ended up with a broken foot and other injuries after an irate driver tried to claim the space. Ke Hai Du says it all started around 5 p.m. on October 9th, when he noticed the space become available in front of the Peck Slip restaurant Suteishi. He dashed outside to save the space while his manager got her car, but before she arrived driver Paul Todd pulled up with plans of his own. more ›

The MTA operates 182 passenger elevators and 176 escalators in the five boroughs, but some of them are out of service so often they might very well be cursed. The spookiest station is Herald Square, where three doomed escalators haven't moved an inch so far this year, and four others are quite often inoperative. Another notorious escalator at the Gun Hill Road station on the 2 and 5 lines in The Bronx broke down 61 times so far this year. And at one station on the Lexington Avenue line, vandals have ripped out the escalator handrail so often that workers are now trying to redesign the rail so that it can't be taken apart. more ›

The city's Sidewalk Management Unit has not been doing a very good job, according to Comptroller William Thompson, Jr., who is releasing his annual report on the state of the sidewalks. Over the last several years, the city has paid an average of $63.5 million annually to settle claims relating to defective sidewalks. Thompson says millions could have been saved if the DOT hadn't failed to inspect one out of every five sidewalk defect complaints; he's also dismayed that violations remained unfixed for an average of four years. According to the Daily News, the DOT issues summonses to homeowners, and if they fail to fix the violation, the city is supposed to do the repairs and bill them. But when the repairs aren't done, the city is liable in court. (In 2003, a law was passed to make commercial businesses responsible for their sidewalks, which reduced the number of lawsuits against the city.) Another part of the problem is that parks officials don’t have the $34 million necessary to fix the 22,229 reported sidewalks that have been buckled by the city’s mischievous street trees. more ›

We've been getting more and more tips about broken crosswalk signals showing both the Don't Walk symbol ("Red Hand") and the Walk symbol ("White Man") simultaneously. Today a reader e-mails: "My girlfriend and I have noticed an ongoing problem of the 'Walk/Don't' walk signs actually 'freezing' in place when it gets cold out. Both a bright red hand and a walk sign stay up at the same time, presumably opening the city up to some serious lawsuits should something go awry. We must have seen it about 30 times in the last month, prompting my email." more ›

According to witnesses, 17-year-old Jessica Williams got a powerful punch in the mouth after mouthing off to NYPD housing cop Desmond Nichols last Sunday outside the Tompkins Houses in Bed-Stuy. The trouble started when Nichols stopped Williams for riding her bike on the sidewalk and asked to see her I.D. When pressed for her apartment number, she reportedly dismissed Nichols as a "rookie." This struck a nerve with Nichols (who is, in fact, a rookie), and he allegedly punched her in the face, remarking, "I had enough of your smart mouth." Williams's jaw broke in two places, and she's awaiting surgery to insert metal plates. After that, a lawsuit! Nichols is under investigation, but he insists Williams threw the first punch. After the altercation he charged her with resisting arrest and marijuana possession. more ›

UPDATE: The American Airlines situation at JFK still seems to be a mess, with about 25 flights delayed due to a computer "glitch" in the software that controls the baggage sorting conveyor belt. As of 1 p.m., delays were ranging from an hour to an hour and a half, according to Reuters. In the meantime, one Gothamist reader took the time to vent with the image above. more ›

Commuters trying to buy Metrocards with credit or debit cards on Monday or yesterday morning faced problems at non-working Metrocard vending machines and, worse, money taken out of their accounts though they were told the transactions didn't go through. The NY Times spoke to NYC Transit, which described the systemwide outages (yes, pretty much all the machines) as unprecedented. more ›

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a former NYU student against the university after he broke his hip in a Jell-O wrestling tussle gone horribly wrong. As a junior in 2004, Avram Wisnia was one of the organizers of what was supposed to be a totally awesome “Beach Bash” event, held in an NYU dormitory courtyard with water guns, water balloons, and a kiddie pool filled with the gelatinous snack. Wisnia sought a million dollars in damages for his injury, claiming the university was at fault for sanctioning the bash, providing the Jell-O and failing to “maintain a safe condition.” more ›