Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a baby was struck on 120th St. in Queens, an auto extrication on Wilson Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting on Sherman Ave. in Manhattan. Forgetting the name of the 13-year-old boy injured in a game of Quiet last week, his middle school principal just referred to him as "spleen boy" during a faculty meeting. A former concierge at a Central Park South residential building is suing building owner......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a carjacking at Tompkins and School Rds. on Staten Island, a person was killed by a 5 train at Bowling Green station in Manhattan, and an armed robbery at 51st Ave. and Northern Blvd. in Queens. Bidding closed at $2,600 for the new owner of the Seinfeld ASSMAN license plate prop on eBay. Another Mister Softee driver was busted for selling drugs out of his ice cream truck, this......

Today is Columbus Day, which means that your employer is probably not giving you the day off (according to the Society for Human Resources Management) but many government offices and schools are closed. The stock market is open, some banks are closed while others are open, and alternate side of the street parking is suspended. Here's a list of closures, but this sort-of-holiday is confusing. And, of course, there is steady opposition to Columbus Day......

In time for next week’s Columbus Day festivities, the Post’s Steve Cuozzo lets his Ital flag fly with two gushing columns on Italian cuisine. He points out that Italian restaurants outnumber all other kinds of restaurants in New York by a big margin (and that’s not because of the ever-metastasizing Olive Gardens.) He cites seven “marvelous” eateries – Del Posto, A Voce, Abbocatto, Insieme, Fiamma, L'Impero and Alto – that “establish Italian as the cuisine......

Yesterday's low temperature of 69 degrees was higher than the normal high for the day. A high pressure system that's now centered over Connecticut should make today and tomorrow slightly warmer. Highs will be in the mid-80s, which is typical for July. A back door cold front, a front that sneaks down from New England, is expected to bring a few showers and cooler weather on Sunday. In this case cooler means a high around......

For those lucky enough to be enjoying this three-day weekend, let’s take a moment to raise our glass to Christopher Columbus, who arrived in the Americas, this time back in 1492. For many, the second Monday in October just means another day to work off our hangover and spend the majority of the afternoon in p.j.’s watching the Food Network (or is that just me?). But for Italian-Americans, Columbus Day marks an opportunity to celebrate......

Well, considering that there's been a deathwatch for Lloyd Grove for weeks (if not years since he moved from DC to do NYC gossip), it's not a shock that Lloyd Grove buried at the end of his column today that he would be leaving the Daily News (on announcing his departure: "Let's make it short and sweet — and, most of all, unsnarky."). In David Carr's NY Times column, Grove does admit, "New York is......

Today is Columbus Day, and since it's a federal, state and local holiday, there are many closings. Public schools and public offices are closed. There is no mail delivery, but the James Farley Post Office at Eighth Avenue and West 33rd Street is open. There's no garbage or recycling pick up or street cleaning. Things that are open: The stock market and many offices (based on the grumblings we've heard). The Parade will start at......

-- New video footage of the Columbia/Minutemen mess is a real doozy. -- "Suddenly, the future of the Bombers is gloomy." -- The price of a hot dog at Grey's Papaya is going up. -- A human skeleton was found on Friday on Staten Island. No word yet on its gender, race or age. -- Dog sitting horror! A woman was killed, and her sister injured, by a pit bull they were watching for......

- The Village Voice gets director Victor Buhler (he did the documentary Rikers High) to do a feature about the kids getting their GEDs at Rikers - The teachers' union is going to vote on the new contract with the city - The Apiary talks to Neil Swaab, whose cartoon Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles, was yanked from the NY Press - A reason we don't want malls: A woman falls from the second floor of a......

New York's favorite AM radio station that gives us the world if we give them 22 minutes, 1010 WINS, is 40 years old. Newsday asks 1010 WINS about the famous line "Give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world," because "the station does three segments per hour, each one the same length" (it was probably a marketing hook). What's fascinating is that 1010 WINS was the first major all-news radio station in the country,......

Mayor Bloomberg is pulling out all the stops to appeal to the minorities, and today's rumor that he's hired Brian Ellner to join his campaign proves that he wants to show he's a Democrat in Republican's clothing. And suddenly, the Mayor's Republican supporters reach for their Zantac. But this could be the start of a brilliant new ad: Mayor Bloomberg stepping out with his girlfriend Diana Taylor and Ellner with his partner Simon. In other......

- The ME's examination of the body found in a Pennsylvania dump is inconclusive about whether or not it's the body of Monica Lozado-Rivadineira - Forgotten NY goes old school and revisits 5th Avenue in Brooklyn, and looks at gentrifications benefits and drawbacks - Thousands of people watched today's Columbus Day Parade, with Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia leading the way... no word on whether or not he continued his endorsements of Harriet Miers along......

With Mayor Bloomberg's reelection spending at $46 million - and that's weeks before the actual election - it's hard not to feel bad for Fernando Ferrer, no matter how questionable he may be as a politician. It's this NY Times story about how Ferrer had to march after Bloomberg in yesterday's Bronx Columbus Day parade that lays out the disparity: Here Ferrer is, son of the Bronx, former Borough President, and he's waking in a......

-Construction induced cracks (right) inspired some Ave. B tenants to evacuate. Twice. - Ratner's Atlantic Yards project is hitting some more community noise because a rooftop garden that was previously proposed for public use is now not so much. - Dan Doctoroff vows to never leave Bloombergs side. And in case you were wondering, Governor's Island is his next project. - An Upper East Side Blockbuster left reams of personal information including social security......

In a definitive move to wake up America this morning from our case of the Mondays, President Bush has nominatd his White House Counsel Harriet Miers (pronounced like Meyers) to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. According to early reports, Miers, who had been the assistant Chief of Staff (think Josh on The West Wing!), has known W for ages as his private lawyer, even helping him clear brush in Crawford. Not......

Columbus Day, which Gothmamist hasn't really celebrated, except for college protests about the holiday (which are pretty matter-of-fact at the alma mater), means that banks and some schools are closed. There's only Express Mail from the US Postal Service, but the branch at 8th Avenue across from Penn Station is open. And more likely than not, you still have work. But for those of you who are able to, the city has some festivities you......

With rain postponing yesterday's Game 4 of the Yankees-Red Sox ALCS, the Yankees and Red Sox mull the nutty antics from Saturday, as fines were levied against Yankees Karim Garcia and Don Zimmer and Red Sox Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez. Both front offices of the teams did their share of fingerpointing. Even Mayor Bloomberg got into the act, saying Martinez should have been arrested for pushing Zimmer: "If that happened in New York......