Did you know that the Tenenbaum family summered in the Bronx? Their home on Eagle's Island was, in real life, at 21 Tier Street on City Island. That's right, just about 12 miles from their home on 339 Convent Avenue is where little Chazzy got that BB lodged in between his knuckles. more ›

Our dreams of turning the desolate Rat Island off the coast of City Island into our own personal evil lair have been dashed—for now. As planned, the island was sold at auction last weekend. On the plus side? It isn't going to be turned into the Trump Rat Island Resort And Spa, as the guy who bought it plans on keeping the island just the way it is. Except for the name, maybe. more ›

At least 21 deaths have been attributed to Hurricane Irene, and even though it was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it tore through the Northeast, it still proved deadly. One fatality has been reported in the Bronx, where a 68-year-old father of 13 died while checking in on his boat at a marina Sunday morning. Police say Jose Sierra was found dead at the City Island Marina Sunday afternoon, over seven hours after he was spotted arriving at the the Sunset Marina nearby. more ›

Months after serving a driver who later hit a teenage girl, a City Island bar is in the hot seat. According to city lawyers, who called it a public nuisance that shouldn't be allowed to do business, the Library Bar & Grill doesn't card young-looking customers. more ›

Apparently last month's bust of City Island's drug-dealing barber wasn't exactly a "wake-up call" for authorities. Residents of the Laurels apartment complex were convinced that drug dealers were using their residence as a home base, despite the fact that six NYPD cops lived there. Three policemen who recently moved in, saw "cars pulling in at 2, 3, 4 o'clock in the morning," and cameras the drug dealers set up to monitor their surroundings. They took notes on license plates, makes and models and even the dealers' names. Civic Association president, former cop and onetime partner of the man who created Compstat, Bill Stanton, took the information to the 45 precinct captain. But that's where the investigation was stymied. "Nothing" happened, Stanton tells the Post, "It's like a free pass to drug dealers." more ›

Residents of City Island, a wee outpost off the coast of the Bronx known for its New England-style architecture and fried seafood, were rattled yesterday upon learning of the arrest of a the local barber, who was selling drugs—possibly to teenagers—out of his storefront. more ›

Florida native Peter Wolfman was charged with driving while intoxicated and refusing to take a breathalyzer test after pulling a U-turn and pinning 17-year-old Emily Sexton against a wall on City Island yesterday. Sexton and a few friends were standing at a bus stop on City Island Avenue when Wolfman turned around and headed for them. 15-year-old Blake Cottam, who was standing with the group, told ABC 7, "He went to go make a U-turn, didn't complete the turn and went straight at us, he went faster and faster. I thought he was going to joking with us, three kids, speed up and then slow down. I moved back just in case and then he didn't stop and I know it would be bad from there." more ›

A fiery crash on the City Island Bridge killed the driver of a 3-wheeled motorcycle late Sunday night. Police say Richard Perez, 37, was driving his vehicle, known as a T-Rex, with two other trikes and a motorcycle. As he was going over the bridge around 11:40 p.m., Perez lost control of the $50,000 trike, which has two wheels in the front and one in the back. He crashed head-on into a 1991 Isuzu Rodeo, and one of his friends pulled him out of the wreckage. more ›

A waitress at City Island’s most popular seafood restaurant, The Lobster Box, is suing the joint for firing her after reporting a manager's sexual harassment. The lawsuit claims manager Lanni Liapis allegedly fine-tuned his misogynistic pick-up lines to match his surroundings. "He grabbed his penis and said, ‘Come over here. I want you to turn my shrimp into a lobster,'" according to court papers filed by 28-year-old Rosemarie Ferranti, who was presumably hired to wait tables, not transmogrify genitalia. more ›

City Island residents have finally gotten rid of the NYPD firing range on nearby Rodman's Neck in the Bronx, which has been disturbing their peace since the Kennedy administration. Last week the City Council approved the site of a 40-acre Police Academy in College Point, Queens, where the NYPD will relocate training to an enclosed firing range. But some residents say their aural nightmare endures! more ›

Yesterday morning, a fire broke out in a City Island building with apartments and retail establishments. While firefighters were able to contain it, NY1 reports that the Uniformed Firefighters Association is worried about the response time, claiming "an inexperienced fire dispatcher gave the crew the wrong address.. But fire officials say the original call went dead before an actual address was given, and that the operator sent crews from Ladder 53 to the location of the call, which turned out to be a cell phone tower." more ›

Last June police busted four people on prostitution charges at a massage parlor on City Island, but rumors persisted throughout the tight-knit community that tugs were still following rubs at the Sun Spa Massage Parlor, which happens to be two doors down from the home of Adolfo Carrión Jr., who was Bronx borough president until Obama chose him as the White House urban affairs director. Two days after a community meeting last month, during which some 70 islanders urged the 45th Precinct to firmly end the happy endings, cops moved in and once again made arrests: two for prostitution and another for unlicensed massage. Bill Stanton, president of the City Island Civic Association, tells the Daily News, "There is an up-and-running brothel four doors away from my church. When there's arrests for prostitution, I call it a brothel." He adds that residents have been reluctant to speak out because they were "worried about their property values." But just to be absolutely certain, last week the News assigned one lucky reporter to visit Sun Spa; he paid $70 for a massage, which ended without full or even partial release. more ›

Who said there were no fireworks on the East River last night? A family who had taken a holiday cruise down to the Statue of Liberty ended up in danger of almost capsizing as dusk approached yesterday evening. The Delorbe family had headed down for lunch on the Jersey side of the Hudson and were making their way back home to City Island when they hit a rough patch and water began entering their 15-foot jetboat near East 34th Street. Luckily for them, their state of peril was quickly spotted by a nearby water taxi named "Frank Sinatra" who put out a mayday call that was promptly responded to by an FDNY rescue boat. The four adults and three young children were pulled out just after 7 p.m. The rescuing captain told the News, "It was the right place at the right time. If we didn't get to them, they would have gone under." more ›

Ah, summer, when the news is sprinkled with a healthy portion of marine life sightings. This one could turn out to be the summer of dolphins! Yesterday we noted that following the sighting of 150-200 confused dolphins in Long Island Sound on Saturday, a pod of dolphins was spotted off the south end of City Island. Reportedly the group had started off as one (they were also sighted last Wednesday in Northport), and has now split in two: the City Island crew (team Bronx) and the the Long Island Sound crew (team Bayville). more ›

From the wires: A marine unit has reported seeing a pod of dolphins off the south end of City Island!! (Maybe they heard how much Remy Ma likes Sammy's?) About 150-200 dolphins were seen in the Long Island Sound yesterday; the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation told Newsday they were "acting normally"—and chasing herring—but reminded people to stay 150 feet (or more) away from them. Update: The marine unit says the dolphins appear to be "confused" in the Long Island Sound—poor dolphins! more ›

Ninety celebrities and Daily News staff writers shared their favorite spots around town for the paper to turn into a fun (and addictive) interactive map in honor of their 90th birthday. Spots go from the painfully obvious (News baseball writer Bill Madden couldn't come up with something better than Yankee Stadium?) to some shockers (Chloe Sevigny choosing somewhere above 14th Street!). There are some fun personal anecdotes mixed in, like Rosie Perez talking about her high-school track and SNL's Abby Elliot sharing the restaurant her comedian dad Chris took her to after her first failed audition. Without Ghostface being polled, poor Staten Island didn't get one locale chosen in the bunch. But at least News readers can find a few excuses to trek up to the Bronx. Remy Ma gives the lowdown on City Island, telling the paper, "Sammy's restaurant in City Island was like the Mr. Chow's of the Bronx. Growing up as a teenager that was the place you'd go to with a guy and then come back and tell everybody, "Girl, he took me to Sammy's!" It meant something." more ›

Is quaint City Island getting less nice and more vice? According to an alarmist article in today's Post, residents are shocked because cops busted four people on prostitution charges at a massage parlor—they were allegedly giving rub and tugs for $200 a pop. The bust happened last June, but rumors are swirling that the full release is back at Sun Spa parlor, which happens to be two doors down from the home of Adolfo Carrión Jr., who was Bronx borough president until Obama chose him as the White House urban affairs director. He tells the tabloid, "Everybody is hearing the rumors, and everyone is concerned." The article also explains that unnamed residents are troubled by "brazen, open-air drug sales and drug use by local teens." Local PTA dad Michael Shanley says, "It's an outrage. You feel like you're on our beautiful island with no police protection, and it's a free-for-all." Teens doing drugs!? Men hiring prostitutes!? What is this, the Bronx? Oh, right. Well, at least the NYPD is now increasing foot patrols on City Island, so perhaps this anecdotal crime story will have a happy ending after all. more ›

Yesterday, Daily News noted that former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr.—now the White House's director of urban policy—approved a big city project designed by an architect who had just finished a renovation project on Carrion's own home back in 2007. After initially not telling the News how much he paid for the project or responding to the paper's request for cancelled checks, now the News gets a response: "Carrion admitted he hadn't paid architect Hugo Subotovsky to design a porch and balcony for his City Island home." Carrion adds that the final bill will end up being $3,627.50 for Subotovsky's 51.5 hours of work (just $71/hour) and claimed no bill was paid because he's waiting for the "final survey" to be "filed and approved...as is [the architect's] practice for projects of this kind." Hmm, that's interesting—one would think an architect would get on that immediately to, you know, get paid. more ›

A Bronx firefighter has been arrested for making calls about non-existent fires, apparently in protest of FDNY budget cuts that will eliminate a night tour at his City Island firehouse. Nicholas Vrettos allegedly made a dozen calls about fires, including one in a school cafeteria, on December 4 (when the cuts were announced). Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said, "You're taking a unit away from what might be a real emergency where somebody is having a heart attack or there's a fire or any other life-threatening emergency and that's the danger and that's why this is a felony," but a City Island resident, who did not condone calling in false alarms, told NY1, "If it in any way illustrated our plight, it at least had that effect." Vrettos could face up to seven in prison. more ›

After the many questions about the unofficial Democratic primary results, the NYC Board of Elections has released the official results for the February 5 primary results, confirming a Clinton victory in the Big Apple. She won 55% of the vote with 527,941 votes, to Barack Obama's 43% (413,898 votes). A total of 955,966 votes were cast, meaning 34% of the city's registered Democrats voted. more ›

The great-grandson of one of an early owner of Macy's is being accused by a 52-year-old jewelry designer of imprisoning the woman and torturing her with, of all things, a lobster trap. Bette Marchek claims that William Straus kept her captive on his Westchester estate, starved her, beat her, and eventually attacked her with a lobster trap while the pair were on City Island in the Bronx. That was the figurative straw that broke the... more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: missing children on Lenox Rd. in Brooklyn, shots fired at Columbus Ave. and West 104th St. in Manhattan, and a water rescue at the Stepping Stone Lighthouse off City Island in the Bronx.
• The chief of a volunteer fire company in the Bronx is scrambling to explain how the firehouse is now broke, after receiving a half-million dollars in donations after 9/11/01.
• A pair of 15-year-olds will be tried as adults after breaking into a woman's Central Park West home and allegedly raping her four times each before fleeing.
• The Daily News reports on the progress of Reid Stowe and his girlfriend Soanya Ahmad, who are attempting to sail 1,000 consecutive days without making landfall. They left New York Harbor 100 days ago, so only 900 days left.
• Complaints about rude police officers have risen dramatically over the past six years, so programs are being instituted to improve and chronicle relations between cops and the public. Critics of the new programs say that cops have to be rude and mean to do their jobs effectively.
• Some reports claim that the area around South Street Seaport is being overrun by rats, as construction to replace a 150-year-old water main on Fulton St. have driven the pests into the street.
• The New York Times has a short video piece on the replacement of hot dog sidewalk pushcarts with halal food carts.
• A 30" alligator was found in a pillowcase on a Long Island beach this morning. The person who found the pillowcase was forewarned of its contents by the message written on the outside, which read "Live gator, please find him a home."

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a homicide on Sands St. in Brooklyn, a water rescue off City Island in the Bronx, and a stabbing at 146th St. in Queens.
• The national press is focusing on possible candidates Hillary, Rudy, and Bloomy, and catches on to the obvious fact that has been evident for the last century in politics: the rest of the U.S. hates New Yorkers and especially hates New York City politicians.
• If you haven't heard of Florsheim Shoes, you're not really a New Yorker. The company and the family are back.
• A NJ schools superintendent calls "Yuck!" at two gay boys kissing in a high school yearbook. That is so totally gay.
• John Lennon's sons, Sean and Julian, hug and make up.
• Before we get all worked up about the U.N. and its diplomats, City Comptroller Bill Thompson would like to remind us that there are a lot of companies and organizations that owe the city millions in unpaid taxes, like the Cyclones baseball team, the Mets, Hyatt Hotels, and the National Tennis Center. Pay up deadbeats.
• An FDNY rescue worker swam to a man crying for help as he clung to a the underside of a pier at East 38th St. this morning. #1 request after the near-drowning man was rescued from the chilly East River: "I need water."
• Mike Bloomberg: Populist Mayor or Plutocrat Kingmaker?

The story: a man walks into a clam bar and orders a plate of fried clams, and the confusion begins. “Fried clams” can refer either to squiggly strips a la HoJo’s (RIP), or clam bellies. Otherwise known as Ipswich clams, bellies refer to the shucked ball-and-chain shaped whole bivalve, minus the clam’s soft shell. In its fried form, Ipswich clams are harder to find. Regardless, there are few restaurants that serve fried clams in either form; those that do include the array of boutique oyster bars in Manhattan, and Brooklyn Fish Camp. Also in Brooklyn is the passable but nonetheless iconic Randazzo’s of Sheepshead Bay. For summer, in season clams are starting to appear on special menus: this week, Country is doing an upscale take on clam shack food, serving fried Ipswich bellies with local flounder, sauce gribiche, and frisee salad. And starting July 6th, Savoy will once again offer its special fixed-price summer clambake menu ($60, with clams on the half shell). Meanwhile, up north, the blenders and kitchens at Johnny’s Famous Reef and the rest of City Island’s fish houses are about to go into deep fried overtime. Summer is your best chance to get some real fried clams. more ›

Sunsets at the Harlem Yacht Club won't be the same anymore. A state appellate court ruled that the club must follow the DEP's orders and stop firing a miniature cannon when the club lowers the flag. The yacht club, which is on City Island, and its residential neighbors have been facing off over the cannon firing since 2000, when the neighbors brought a petition asking the club to consider "another maritime tradition that does not impact the quality of life of your cheek-to-jowl neighbors in such a nerve-shattering fashion." From the NY Sun:

Several weeks later, a noise inspector from the city's Department of Environmental Protection traveled to City Island to investigate the complaints. Inspector J.R. Zimmerman of the Night Enforcement Unit testified that, his sound meter in hand, he "jumped" when club officials fired the cannon, and characterized the shots as both "startling" and "annoying." more ›

Thank you, Michael Wolff, for giving us a blast from the past. Wolff has an article about Rudy Giuliani's craziness, Crazy for Rudy. Wolff recalls arguing with the late Jack Newfield about the former mayor: When Newfield says, "He's just insane!" Wolff thinks Giuliani's "hysteric nature was part of what enabled him to appear so reassuring on 9/11: When everyone is crazy, he, being actually crazy, is calm. When everyone is stunned, he's expressive." more ›

When we feel the need to get away from the city without actually leaving the city, we head up to the Bronx. Places like City Island, Wave Hill, The New York Botanical Garden, and The Bronx Zoo are some of our favorite places to visit in all of New York, and we realize that's only the tip of the iceberg when considering the Bronx's appealing features. more ›

• Today on Gothamist Newsmap: a barricaded emotionally disturbed person/stabbing on Parsons Blvd. in Queens, an overturned auto on Bushwick Ave. in Brooklyn, and a stabbing on Staten Island's Taylor St.
• City Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens) is a big fan of Tom Cruise's Scientology detox program that is being offered free to firefighters. He's done it and it made him feel "100 times better", which is pretty good.
• City Island residents contemplate life on the water without the repetitive "thock, thock, thock" sound of gunfire drifting across Eastchester Bay.