Photograph above and gallery by Phil Ritz on Flickr Police have charged the driver who mowed down pedestrians outside the State Supreme Court with "reckless endangerment and aggravated unlicensed operation, for having a suspended license." Though 33-year-old Queens resident Lorenzo Bello had a seizure during yesterday's morning crash, it wasn't his first. Per the Daily News, "His wife told cops he has a history of seizures and shouldn't be behind the wheel." Six people......

Above image from WNBC, below image from WABC An out-of-control car jumped a curb on Centre Street and mowed down three pedestrians outside the State Supreme Court. According to NY1, the car "crashed into a coffee cart and continued up several steps of the courthouse," where one man was pinned under the car. WNBC reports the man, who was "pinned from about the mid-chest down," was removed by emergency workers who used a power......

Photograph of Mayor Bloomberg proclaiming a counterfeit foods store closed in a raid of counterfeit good sellers by Bebeto Matthews/AP Nothing says press conference like raiding a 32 stores in what the city dubs "Counterfeit Triangle" and hauling away over a $1 million worth of brand-name products. The raid, taking down stores in the area bounded by Canal Street, Walker Street and Centre Street, occurred in the early morning, with cops using bolt-cutters to......

Today marks the third annual Informal Presentation on the Art of Dance, a dance event put on by the Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Dancing Through Barriers Ensemble. The two troupes converge each year in a most unconventional space: The State Supreme Court of Manhattan! Arthur Mitchell (himself a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet in the '50s and '60s) co-founded DTB after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr, and the......

Photograph by Jake Dobkin Later today, the city will discuss whether the I.M. Pei-designed Silver Towers should be landmarked. The Observer reported that NYU announced its support today, a reversal from an earlier position over three years ago. The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation pushed for landmarking the complex, located between Bleecker and Houston Streets and LaGuardia Place and Mercer Street, a few years ago, calling it "an innovative modern design by I.M.......

Rendering © Rafael Viñoly Architects Well, candy is in the mouth of the beholder, but here are the actual renderings. As noted yesterday, the proposals for the new residential and retail complex at the Domino Refinery will be presented to the Landmarks Preservation Commission at a public hearing today at 2pm at the Municipal Building (1 Centre Street), 9th Floor North. Brownstoner posted snapshots of the renderings taken last week at a community board meeting,......

More detailed images of the proposed development at the landmarked Domino Refinery in south Williamsburg have emerged; the biggest news is that developers plan to build a five-story glass addition on top of the Filter House (above), the tallest structure at the refinery, which has been closed since 2004. According to plans revealed by architects Beyer Blinder Belle, the modified refinery would have 1,550 underground parking spaces, 30,000 square feet of retail space, an......

Yesterday, the NY Post revealed that the dingy Manhattan Marriage Bureau would be getting a deluxe makeover. First of all, the City Clerk's Office will move from 1 Centre Street at the Municipal Building to 80 Centre Street. Second, Mayor Bloomberg's personal decorator, Jamie Drake, will be overseeing the redesign - at a discount (we doubt the new bureau will have the touches that Mayor B's swank townhouses do), but the budget is still......

Mayor Bloomberg headed to jury duty this morning, with a smile, a number of bodyguards and press aide Stu Loeser. When he showed up to the waiting room for prospective jurors, apparently a woman called a friend and said he was there for the "same foolishness" as everyone else. Outside the courthouse, the Mayor mused, "It's always more interesting to be on a jury than to just sit there. You wish that we didn't......

Reverend Billy was arrested and detained last night while reciting the First Amendment in Union Square. The police claimed his preaching it at this month's Critical Mass constituted "Harassment of a Public Official". The NYPD has a history of some controversial arrests at the Critical Mass events, and at last night's the number of police practically outnumbered the riders. From the press release we received: "...even unaffiliated riders were ticketed as they approached the park.......

Google Maps has upped its considerable offering to include "Street View," which offers views of the certain locations at the street-level imagery. The areas where you can see images are noted by blue lines on the map (click the "Street View" button). Manhattan is pretty covered and downtown Brooklyn is covered, but the Bronx, Queens and State Island views are pretty much limited by major roads. Below is 1 Centre Street; you can't get......

The future development of Brooklyn's DUMBO district could be shaped by the results of a public hearing scheduled for today at 1 Centre Street in Manhattan. Although the Landmarks Preservation Commission's online calendar does not list such a meeting, the Gowanus Lounge and DumboNYC are spreading the word about this important first meeting, which could initiate the process of protecting DUMBO as a historic preservation district. Such a designation would require property owners to......

How badly do you want that fake purse? Just know this the next time you're perusing Chinatown for some cheap Prada or Coach gear: You may be trapped in a basement if the store gets raided. Yesterday, twelve shoppers were herded into the basement at 218 Centre Street while the police were busting the counterfeit ring - and were kept there against their will. NY1 reports that 2 hours later, the police got a call......

Public access to City Hall Park is about to get better. The Parks Department has agreed to reopen a part of the park that has been closed since the Giuliani Administration. The section of park in question includes the grassy areas to the east and west of Tweed Courthouse. The area directly around City Hall will still remain closed for security purposes. The Sun reports that the gates on Broadway and Centre Street could......

Google Maps Mania points to a new map offering: Walking, subway and bus directions from GypsyMaps, all laid out on a Google Map. Actually, bus information will be coming in April, but GypsyMaps has a nice start, as it shows the point to point directions all laid out. (We asked for directions between 1 West 57th Street in Manhattan to 1 Centre Street.) Google Maps Mania also lists other NYC Transit and Transportation maps,......

The Post reports that the MTA has released a new and improved Trip Planner website last week to replace the somewhat aggravating Trips123 site. The new site is supposed to be more accurate, taking into account "up-to-the-minute service changes and many of the system's lesser-known idiosyncrasies." We played around with the Trip Planner which is at travel.mtanyct.info and liked that service advisory alerts, but the options offered still leave something to be desired. For instance,......

Lawsuits and Naomi Campbell are magical together! Gaby Gibson, the former maid who got beatdown by Campbell after she couldn't find her Stella McCartney jeans in January, filed a second lawsuit against Campbell. The first lawsuit mentioned "employment discrimination, civil assault and civil battery" and now the second adds more defendants (Campbell's publicist, for one), and charges of defamation and "repeated discriminatory assaults based on her national origin." Campbell allegedly told Gibson: being told......

It's another battle of old versus new. The Post reports that the Landmarks Preservation Commission is trying to prevent the demolition of the city's last horse-and-carriage building. The building at 126-128 East 13th Street, the old Van Tassel & Kearney Horse Mart, is supposed to be replaced by a modern seven floor building. But a demolition permit hasn't been issued (though construction permits have been) - enter the LPC. Preservation Perspectives has information about Thursday's......

WNBC's Chopper reporter Dan Rice has been doing a Friday feature of certain buildings and landmarks. Last week, he focused is the largest statue in the city after the Statue of Liberty: Civic Fame, which is perched on top of the Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street. Rice wrote a post about the statue on the Today in New York blog and marveled at the detail he's able to see from the WNBC 4......

Looks like Boy George won't be behind bars for blowing rails after all, he will be raking up leaves and picking up trash however. The cocaine possession charges were dismissed yesterday, but the pop icon will still have to serve five days of community service on the charge of falsely reporting that his Centre Street apartment had been burglarized. The defense lawyer hopes that a benefit concert for AIDS can be the service that the......

Sometimes we come across a fun photo and we want to share it with ya'll, but don't really have much to say about it. Hence the Gothamist Random Photo of the Day. In this inaugural edition we have a photograph from a set called "215 Centre Street" on Postive-Negative.......

Over the weekend, the Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street had a fire break out on its 20th floor. Luckily, firefighters were able to control the fire (seven had minor injuries), and the FDNY is still investigating its cause - only maintenance workers were around on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We're glad that the Municipal Building is okay, because it is easily one of the most awesome buildings in the city. Designed by McKim, Mead......

Ooohh... In 1905, when the original Police Headquarters was being built at 240 Centre Street, the NYPD may have buried a time capsule under a cornerstone, in hopes of it being opened on May 6, 2005. However, the posh co-op which now occupies 240 Centre Street is against, well, busting through some granite for what could be a wild goose chase. The president of the co-op board, Arthur Emil, says, "My answer is, 'No.' There......

It's the time of year again: Starting at 9AM today, one hundred three-seats sets from Yankee Stadium will go on sale. The Department of Parks and Recreation will use any funds raised and put them back into the city's health, safety, parks and municipal services activities. These seats were installed in 1975 and removed in 1998/99 during a renovation which welcomed seats with padding, which means that the seats have seen World Series Championships.......

Brilliant! It looks like Pier 57, aka Guantánamo on the Hudson, aka the holding pen for protesters during the Republican National Convention, may have been used by the police without permission! The Hudson River Park Trust is saying that the NYPD said Pier 57 would only be used as a secondary facility, but the NYPD says that the primary holding area at 100 Centre Street was in fact overwhelmed and that the NYPD did......

As the number of shopping days tick down in the single digets, you may have a few people on your list who call themselves cinephiles. Or at the very least are movie-lovers. In which case we have a few gift giving suggestions for the season. And if you've finished all your shopping already, remember that Gothamist has been a very good little weblog this year... The Incredibles Interactive Talking Edna Doll -- She's a sassy,......

There are tons of cultural events going on this week as a response to the convention, such as this past weekend's Margaret Cho performances at the Apollo, the giant red megaphone at 60 Centre Street here all this week, or the Thalia Follies revue at Symphony Space every night of the convention. Check out what the Imagine Festival has planned for tonight, and we must tip our hats to tomorrow's panel discussion on The State......

Sometimes you just want to say what's on your mind. But how about in public, to complete strangers? Now you can. The Freedom of Expression National Monument awaits speakers-out to be heard in Foley Square (60 Centre Street) amidst the courthouses of New York City. Celebrating its twentieth anniversary, the interactive installation consists of a bright red ramp that leads to an oversized megaphone atop a platform. Designed by architect Laurie Hawkinson, performer John Malpede......

With a hearing scheduled for today over whether or not they can protest in Central Park, United for Peace and Justice, the group behind the largest protest timed during the Republican National Convention, has said if they can't rally in Great Lawn, then screw rallying at all. Yes, they are huge, huge babies. Gothamist became unhinged after reading this quote from Jeffrey Fogel, lead lawyer for the protest group, in the Times: "Now that the......

Dirk Westphal, Artist...