by Marcus Woollen at flickr 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. Since you might be curious......

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......

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......

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......

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......

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......

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." But......

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. Unfortunately, the stereotype of the Bronx as a blighted......

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......

On Passover, Coca-Cola makes special Kosher Coke with regular sugar (instead of corn syrup)-- it tastes like the Mexican version enjoyed by many Coke enthusiasts. You can recognize it by the yellow cap and OU-P symbol. Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: DOA floater in the Harlem River, serious MVA in Brooklyn Heights, and a boat fire in City Island. Caffeine fiends rejoice: free coffee at local Starbucks tomorrow from 10am to 12 noon. The......

'Tis the season for stabbing your mom with a samurai sword because she attempted to stop you from arguing with your sister over a pack of cigarettes. Bonus: "Torres smashed a TV and stereo and scrawled 'Scum Germs' with a marker on the walls of the Taylor Ave. apartment before cops arrived, relatives said." Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a child struck by car in DUMBO, a suspicious DOA in Queens, and two bank......

One of the many things I love about this town is that there are a thousand places where you might find yourself saying, “It doesn’t even feel like I’m in New York City anymore.” I started driving a yellow cab, in large part, to try to find as many of those places as I could. I’ve discovered quite a few. The first time I drove down those steep streets in upper Manhattan I imagined I......

We love Fresh Direct for its convenience, if nothing else. They've taken it one step further by incorporating a new feature called One-Click Recipes: over 400 recipes from 53 cookbooks including The Silver Palate, The New Basics, The Barbecue Bible, the French Laundry and Bouchon cookbooks, and, one of our favorites, the New York Cookbook. Fresh Direct plans to add new recipes to the site regularly. Not only is there a great search feature......

In all my years as a yellow cabbie, not once have I taken a fare to City Island in The Bronx. But I can’t say I’m surprised by this fact. Exactly 4,634 people live on that tiny island in Pelham Bay, so in a city of eight million it would be statistically unlikely to find one of these “clamdiggers” as they call themselves. Consequently, I had no idea which of the wall-to-wall seafood restaurants......

It's Memorial Day in the city, and there are many events, from parades to concerts - a commemoration at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monuments in Riverside Park at 10:30AM, a parade on City Island at 2PM, a concert with Frank Sinatra Jr. at 3PM in Little Italy, and a free concert from the Philharmonic at St. John the Divine at 8PM. For more info, check out NYC Visit and go to their calendar of......

We're always looking for current bike path maps. The most authoratative comes from Transportation Alternatives, but it's a 1.5MB PDF, and hasn't been updated this year. The NYC Bike Map 2006 mashup pictured above is attempting to fill in the gaps, but seems to be missing a bunch of the smaller paths. We've already featured the Secret Bike Maps page-- but still haven't taken that trip to City Island. Has anyone successfully biked up......

Have you ever wondered how to bike to City Island from Manhattan? Now you know! Check out the five great other routes up at Recteck-- the most bizarre is the nine bridge circumnavigation of Jamaica Bay. That's probably not for beginners!......

The Morris Yacht and Beach Club was destroyed by a four-alarm fire this morning. At least 120 firefighters reported to the scene, trying to save the landmark building, using a fireboat as well as groundpower; they believe the fire, which was noticed at 1:30AM, started on a lower floor. The Victorian mansion was originally built by the Hearst family in 1850, and was later converted to be a yacht club in 1899. It's situated at......

The NYPD is now embarking on a program to pinpoint cellphone users who call 911. After the City Island drowning of teenagers who used a cellphone in an attempt to give their location, only for the call to break break, the NYPD has new technology that will enhnace its reading of cellphone locations. Of course, this will be useful in other police situations they may need to investigate. The new technology will rollout in the......

I don't get up to the Bronx that much- my parents grew up there, but it's definitely off the beaten track- even Queens is more convenient. Off the northeast coast of the Bronx is City Island, where four teenagers disappeared and most probably drowned this weekend. The Times has a good article on Hart Island, the spookiest island in the Long Island Sound, which was where the kids were probably rowing when their skiff went......