In case you missed it, here's our list of ways to celebrate Cinco de Mayo around town; if you aren't in the mood for margs tonight, here are some alternatives: EVENT: NonsenseNYC points us to a Potluck and Horseshoe Crab Mating Bike Ride. Need more details? "For over 300 million years, when high-tide, the full moon and springtime collide, horseshoe crabs have been gathering by the thousands to spawn. These little dinosaur tanks are expected......

In an extremely embarrassing incident for the Brooklyn DA's office, an audio technician taped over a statement made by a cop killer while in custody. The DA's office will now have to rely on a detective's notes taken during that statement and the videotape recorded during a follow-up interview with suspect Robert Ellis. Ellis was arrested after the fatal shooting of police officer Russel Timoshenko, who was shot in the face at point blank range......

After a public scrutiny over police procedure when dozens of youths were arrested on their way to a gang members' wake, the Brooklyn DA's office has decided to drop the charges of 22 of the arrestees. Ten others will face charges. Last May, a number of young people were headed to the wake of 17-year-old Donnell McFarland, who police say headed the "Pretty Boy Family, a subdivision of the Bloods gang." The mourners wore t-shirts......

An ongoing investigation of corruption and illegal practices in the Brooklyn South Narcotics Unit could jeopardize dozens, if not hundreds, of successful prosecutions of drug dealers. The possibility has arisen days after a sergeant and a detective were arrested for paying an informant with drugs and cash that they themselves had robbed from the addict. Another sergeant in the unit was also arrested for using NYPD resources to investigate the vehicle IDs of a drug......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A steam leak at 39th Street and Lexington in Manhattan, a car vs. building on Hoyt Avenue in Staten Island and an oil slick on Park Lane and 85th Road in Queens An unorthodox robbery in Brooklyn: a burly Hasidic Jewish man brandished a knife and threatened a woman in South Williamsburg. Defense lawyers for the men charged with shooting police officer Russel Timoshenko are wondering why Brooklyn DA......

Yesterday, the three men charged with first-degree murder of police officer Russel Timoshenko all pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn court. However, Dexter Bostick, Robert Ellis, and Lee Woods, who were also charged with a number of other crimes related to the July 9 traffic stop shooting, did not ask for bail. The Post and Daily News had the varying statements the men gave investigators:Woods, 29, told detectives "I ain't going to jail for something I......

After the tragic murder of Natasha Ramen last week, questions were raised about the conduct of the Brooklyn DA's office. Last Friday, Ramen's throat was slashed, allegedly by Hemant Megnath in an attempt to prevent her from testifying that he had raped her. Megnath had previously harassed and threatened Ramen and her family to the point that they told the police in Queens. Yesterday, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes admitted that his office failed to......

In less than a year and a half, former Brooklyn Assemblyman and Democratic party boss Clarence Norman was found guilty on corruption charges. This time, a jury found Norman guilty of five counts of coercion, grand larceny by extortion, and attempted grand larceny by extortion related to, as the Daily News put it, "shaking down court candidate Karen Yellen for $10,000" back in 2002. Norman's threat was that she would lose his support if she......

A year ago, the big news out of the Brooklyn DA's office was that an eight month old cat had helped sting a fake vet. And the DA Charles Hynes was able to parlay good will over the adorable Fred (the Detective) until Fred's death in August. Now, over the course of just two days, there are two scandals brewing in Hynes' office. In the first, investigator Maria Bigani, a 15 year veteran in the......

The Village Voice's Wayne Barrett has the scoop on a big case Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes is working on: How disgraced former Brooklyn Democratic party boss Clarence Norman managed to buy a State Supreme Court judgeship for $56,000. Fifty thousand in cash and then $6,000 in stamps ("$3,000 wheels of stamps on sprockets that could be purchased at a General Post Office"). Barrett writes, "When the disturbing details become fully known, Hynes's stunning prosecution may......

Some of Gothamist's favorite stories in the city were about the animals of New York City. Here's how animals ruled the Big Apple in 2006: - A whippet went missing at JFK Airport after appearing at the Westminster Dog Show; a loyal group people have still been looking for Vivi since February. - A star was born when Fred the cat helped nabbed a bogus vet. He was made a (honorary) detective by Brooklyn......

A pair of homeless man have been arrested for starting the fire that caused the NYC's biggest blaze (this side of the World Trade Center). Leszek Kuczera, a 59 year old Polish immigrant, and another as-yet unapprehended homeless man were attempting to burn the insulation off copper wire by setting eight tires on fire, but the fire got out of control. Kuczera was arrested and charged with arson, buglary, reckless endangerment and petty larceny;......

If you wondered how much you should emphasize cats over humans, let's take a look at what Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes did. He honored a bunch of people at his "16TH ANNUAL LAW ENFORCEMENT APPRECIATION AWARDS," but the one honoree who got the most attention was Fred the crimefighting cat. Now, Gothamist LOVES Detective Fred, the kitty who helped bring down a phony vet, but compared to the various court officers, police officers, fire......

Everybody is getting screwed this year during March Madness! If you thought your brackets getting screwed left and right was bad, how bad would it suck to be one of the people busted Saturday by the NYPD at the height of gambling season. The NYPD raided a $45 million gambling ring with several locations in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens according to Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes. The raids led to the arrests of 10 people......

The tragic story of Romona Moore finally saw some justice yesterday as the two men who kidnapped, raped, tortured, sodomized and eventually killed the 21-year-old Hunter College student were both found guilty. Troy Hendrix, 22, and Kayson Pearson, 24, now face maximum penalities of life in prison without parole. The Moore case has been one ordeal after another from the onset. When police were first informed by her family that Romona was missing they responded......

As expected Darryl Littlejohn has been indicted for first-degree murder in the killing of Imette St. Guillen. On a CBS interview last night Littlejohn emphasized his innocence, saying that he had escorted St. Guillen from the Falls because it was closing time. He did not say what happened after that, but said that the police had focused on him because of his past. "I'm a likely suspect because I have a criminal background and......

While the police touted the DNA evidence found on plastic ties (originally used on computer equipment) links Falls bouncer Darryl Littlejohn to the murder of Imette St. Guillen, the police's case may not be that strong. The NY Times reports that the police are still gathering evidence for the case where most of the evidence is circumstantial - even though there has been a lot of to examine. The Post looks at how the blood......

Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes charged both parents of Nixzmary Brown, the 7 year old girl who died of abuse, with second degree murder. Stepfather Cesar Rodriguez had beaten Brown to death on January 10 as Brown's mother Nixzaliz Santiago did nothing, and originally Rodriguez was charged with second degree murder and Santiago with manslaughter - but yesterday DA Hynes said the grand jury found that Santiago "created a grave risk of death" for her daughter.......

Unlike the uncertain Democratic mayoral primary, the other races were more decisive. In three big races, the incumbents prevailed, with Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau (top left), Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum (top middle), and Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes (top right) winning their respective Democratic primaries. Morgenthau had his first real challenger in years with Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder, but managed to hold her off. Gotbaum won very decisively against challengers like the Norman Siegel and......

Okay, here's a 11PM check on the votes: With 5999 precincts of 6033 precincts reporting, it seems like Fernando Ferrer has a 39.99% of the vote, with Anthony Weiner snatching up 28.9%. C. Virginia Fields has 15.89% and Gifford Miller has 10.19%. That is some ouchy for the Miller campaign. If these numbers hold, then there will be a runoff. Ferrer originally had a pretty substantial lead (with 500-some precincts reporting, his lead was......

This must a be a new one: A drug dealer kidnapped beacuse her clients "wanted to teach her a lesson" was rescued by the police tracing her cell phone. Apparently Erica Rodriguez's drugs weren't good enough for three men who ended up kidnapping her from her Hamilton Heights home to East Flatbush. Two of the men got away, but the one that was arrested allegedly has a criminal justice degree (his landlord, who works for......

You know a fight to be district attorney is getting nasty when you use the tagline "Really, should we re-elect a D.A. who's been around longer than The Simpsons?" First of all, there's nothing wrong with The Simpsons being around so long. Sure, it's creaky and isn't as seamless funny as it used to be in earlier seasons, but it's a lot better than a lot of dreck. Second, the poster calls current Brooklyn......

Yesterday, there were two separate hate crimes in Brooklyn and Manhattan. A black man was beaten and robbed by a group of white men in the Mill Basin section of Brooklyn, while a man was attacked by men yelling anti-gay slurs as he and another man were on their way to a Chelsea Bar. Alex Moore was beaten by the a group, which had a baseball bat and an iron pipe. The Brooklyn incident was......

Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes sure does have a lot of enemies. One of his rivals is pointing out many of his top assistant DA's don't live in Kings County, which might violate their "duty as public servants to live in the city where they work," as the Post puts it. John O'Hara filed a complaint with the Conflict of Interest Board; the Post notes that O'Hara has been "prosecuted three times for the felony crime......

Take an old school district attorney and an upstart assistant D.A. with other ambitions, set them in the biggest borough of the country's biggest city, inflate egos accordingly, and you've got the best look inside what happens in a NYC DA's office since...yes, Law & Order! The case of former assistant district attorney and novelist Robert Reuland versus Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes (right) stems from Reuland's "forced" resignation in 2001, with Reuland claiming that his......

The Brooklyn DA's office busted a huge drug ring that provided a "pizza delivery service" for drugs to middle-class professionals yesterday, but the media is focusing on how the drug ring also used a witch doctor for advice and guidance. The Post describes her as a "bushy-haired, 53-year-old Santeria priestess who advised" the drug dealers "via a Yahtzee-like game of hocus-pocus: putting "magical" objects resembling shells into a special container, shaking it and then spilling......