It all started with a NY Times reporter-blogger's ride on the DC Metro. The Times' Jennifer 8. Lee spied a poster in a Metro subway car, showing a rat along with the copy (emphasis is ours): "Unlike some subway systems (which will remain nameless), you don’t see rats the size of house cats roaming the Metro. Why not? Because we are so strict about eating and drinking in the system. So help us keep......

Some troubling news about yesterday's three-alarm fire at 200 East 72nd Street which left 19 firefighters and 14 resident injured. Apparently the fire alarm system had been undergoing repairs (there were complaints about "multiple false alarms" according to the Sun), which led to chaos. The building is "fireproof," and the FDNY says residents should have just stayed in their apartment, but many tried to leave the building. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer issued a following......

To be a young harbor seal taking some time from swimming to sun! A young seal was seen hanging out at the 79th Street Boast Basin yesterday morning the Parks Department. Sergeant Rakeem Taylor told City Room, "He was moving around pretty fine, yawning and sunning himself," and estimated the seal to be "3 to 4 feet long and about 90 pounds." Taylor said that the seal's appearance means the Hudson is clean enough for......

Pictured are the items on the line Sunday between Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Schmitt. On the top (from left to right) Carnegie Deli cheesecake, Peter Luger Steakhouse, Brooklyn Lager, Peter Luger Steaksauce; On the bottom United States Specialty Cheese spreads, Smithfield Beef, Beerntsen’s Candies, Cheese Shades Ah, there's nothing like the having a local team in a championship game. That's when the mayor breaks out the big guns and bets items of food against......

The most famous undeclared presidential candidate, our very own Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has weighed in about the Iowa caucus results. Okay, so Mayor Bloomberg claims he's not running for president, but when you swipe at the actual candidates, have a staff that's investigating the possibility of running a campaign, and have a billion dollars to spare... The Mayor discussed the results(he didn't mention candidates by name) during radio show on WABC (MP3). Well, sort of......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a stabbing on 20th Ave. and the Whitestone Expressway in Queens, a slashing on Van Siclen Ave. and Linden Blvd. in Brooklyn, and three people were shot (one homicide) on Hoe Ave. in the Bronx. Just when you thought crime in Newark could not possibly get worse, a witness in a major drug trial was murdered before he could testify. Cops believe that his killing was facilitated by a......

The NY Times is reporting that the Nets won't be playing in Brooklyn for the 2009-2010 season because the arena won't be finished until 2010. The Times attributes the delay to legal challenges. The most publicized lawsuit is the federal case brought by 13 property owners and tenants. The suit alleges that the taking of their property via eminent domain was unconstitutional. In June, a US District Court judge dismissed the case, finding that......

...and a thousand Photoshop files were launched! Diane Sawyer may be a veteran journalist and may seem totally unflappable, but even she has totally embarrassing moments. This morning, during a segment unveiling Good Morning America's new holiday windows from the New York Botanical Gardens, she called Mayor Bloomberg a "munchkin." Really: “As a little munchkin, did you come to New York?” To be fair, she was asking Bloomberg whether he visited New York during......

After City Council member Simcha Felder announced he would propose legislation to ban feeding pigeons, bird lovers joined forces and, yesterday, held a rally at City Hall. Armed with posters like "Save Our Right to Feed Wildlife," "Have U Known Anybody Killed by a Pigeon?", "Pigeons are Beautiful Birds," and "Felder's Pigeon Bill is Poop!", the pro-pigeon protesters spoke out for their feathered friends. One demonstrator told City Room, "We are voices for the......

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted yesterday to landmark eight new sites in four of the city's boroughs - the Bronx loses out. City Room details the new landmarks, which include the Lord & Taylor building, the white brick Manhattan House, two homes on Grand St., the Standard Varnish Works Factory building (its owner thinks the designation is bad for business) and the Greek-Revival style Fillette Tyler Mansion in Staten Island and the Voelker-Orth Museum, Bird......

Earlier today, the following incident was noted on the Gothamist Newsmap: "EDP / Injured Officer: Fulton And Broadway Manhattan, NY | 10/22/2007 1:39 p.m." Now it turns out it was no ordinary officer - it was one of the police officers assigned to guard Mayor Bloomberg! Mayor Bloomberg was with other city officials and his security details. A 30-year-old, "disheveled-looking" man yelled at an officer, "I hate you" and then a profanity. Then he attacked......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a double shooting/possible homicide on Greene St. in Brooklyn, a shooting at Wyckoff Ave. and Starr St. in Brooklyn, and another shooting at East 51st St. and Church Ave. in Brooklyn. An appreciation of Jewish Delis in New York City. To avoid the widespread use of pesticides on its acres of grounds, real estate firm Tishman Speyer released 720,000 ladybugs around Stuy-Town and Peter Cooper Village. The ladybugs will......

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke today, giving a speech and sort of answers some of questions posed by Columbia University President Lee Bollinger and School of International and Public Affairs Dean John Coatsworth. We're sure video and transcripts will come shortly, but in the meant time, The Bwog, New York, and City Room have been liveblogging the speech. Here's a sample of questions posed, via the City Room:In response to a question about the treatment......

Reader Ben sent us this picture of a cab on fire at West 42nd Street and 8th Avenue. This is odd, but made odder by the fact there was a taxi fire outside Rockefeller Center on West 50th on Tuesday. What's going on with the Crown Victorias? It's unclear if anyone was injured. If anyone knows, can you tell us if taxi fires are fairly normal? Or car fires, for that matter. And a......

Donald Trump held a press conference to welcome his yooge Soho condo-hotel hybrid this afternoon, and it was a Trump family affair: Donald, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric were all involved in pointing out various aspects of the project. Trump said, "I want to thank all the protesters outside for making this project so successful." Well, even though the city approved the building, the protesters aren't stopping any time soon. Not only did they......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an escaped prsioner at East Fordham Rd. and Webster Ave. in the Bronx, a gas leak on Main St. in Queens, and a pedestrian struck on East 55th St. and 2nd Ave. in Manhattan. FEMA toured parts of Staten Island to determine if any homeowners were entitled to federal aid following last week's tornado and torrential rainstorms. Mayor Bloomberg shared some tips on how to be more environmentally friendly......

As recently discussed here and there, a group of scientists have tried to predict how more frequent flooding--induced by global climate change--could affect New York City. An interesting facet of this conceptual floodmap from the Union of Concerned Scientists is the way it uncannily traces the boundaries of 400 years' worth of landfill on both East and West sides of lower Manhattan. In the 1600s, the East River lapped the edge of Pearl Street,......