If a place isn't reviewed on Yelp, does it even really exist? It's a haunting existential social media question, but we have been able to confirm that Rikers Island, Manhattan Central Booking, and the 19th precinct station house are all real legitimate establishments—the Post reports today that Yelp users "have started branching out from their foodie focus by writing reviews of the city's jails. According to Yelp, Rikers Island is the Per Se of pokeys, getting an average rating of 4½ stars." One reviewer who gave it five stars writes: more ›

Newlywed Rebecca Padro had just moved to Flatbush from Philadelphia, so when her husband Miguel, a grad student, went missing on his way to work two months ago, she got a little panicked. According to Fox News, Miguel had left the apartment on his bike to ride over to his part time job at the Prospect Park tennis center, but never made it work and wasn't returning her calls. After some hours passed, she notified Miguel's parents. His brother Juan rushed down from Massachusetts, and she called the 71st Precinct, where the person who fielded the call wasn't aware that Miguel had been arrested and booked that day in that very precinct. more ›

We've heard a lot about how ignoring tickets can lead to a less-than-ideal stay in a city cell, and the Gowanus Lounge has a story on one Brooklyn woman's recent encounter with "the system". A summons for not walking her dog with a leash and a "free" subway ride were her two violations that collided in a perfect storm, landing her at the Brooklyn Central Booking for 24+ hours. Her main gripe was with the conditions of the place (located on Schermerhorn Street between Smith and Boerum Place):

I was going to see a student in Manhattan. I went to the Nevins Street 4/5 station. The Metrocard machine did not take my ATM card and was not accepting bills! No one was in the booth...I decided to pass through turnstile. I heard someone on the platform below, a cop was there with the token booth worker! I wondered if this was a ticket quota trap. more ›

Dan Hoyt, the East Village man suspected of masturbating on the subway only to have a rider cameraphone his picture and put it online which then made him a front page story on the Daily News, surrendered to the police yesterday. However, he claimed his innocence saying, "I didn't do anything," as he was paraded out in Columbus Circle. When Gothamist watched the local news coverage of this, it looked as though he was leaving the Columbus Circle subway station, making us wonder if someone else spotted him underground, but he was actually just on his way to Central Booking. Four women picked Hoyt out of lineups as being, as the Post calls him, the "self-touching rider," and he was charged with four counts of public lewdness. Thao Nguyen, who took the photograph that launched dozens of complaints about Hoyt, says she hopes he gets jail while employees at Quintessence, the restaurant he co-owns, had no comment. Hoyt's previous public lewdness arrest resulted in community service. more ›

Felix Salmon was also at the protest and writes about it; he was not arrested. callalillie has great photos (1, 2), as well as ones of the pro-choice rally yesterday.
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The NYPD is turning Pier 57, at 11th Avenue and 15th Street, into a holding pen for protesters they detain, according to the Post, which says "unruly protesters at the Republican National Convention will get breathtaking views of the Hudson River." Heh. From this holding pen, detained protesters will be bussed to Central Booking on Centre Street where they will be "processed." If anyone does get processed, let us know how it goes and whether it's anything like Bovine University type processing. more ›

The Low Flying Jets are one of the most enthusiastic live shows around, don't believe me? Check them out yourselves this Friday @ Pianos (details below). Described as "punk & roll" their sound makes even want to jump up on stage and fling around instruments. It's that electricity we feel that keeps us dancing in a crowded hot club for as long as the music goes on. Beyond all this chaotic sound that amps us up there is a beauty in what we are hearing too, its as if the chaos and the noise are in direct competition with the beauty of the music itself. We like what we hear, is all we're sayin'. more ›