The Brooklyn resident whose name caused him $2.1 million of trouble is still being held at Rikers, but a judge lowered his bail from $1 million to $10,000. Benjamin Lovell, a Keyspan Energy salesman with a bank account of $400, was dubious when a Commerce bank teller told him he had a $5 million account. But he withdrew $2.1 million after bank officials insisted the money was his. Of course, what really happened was Commerce......

If a bank teller told you had an unknown bank account with $5.8 million in it and the bank insisted it's yours, wouldn't you spend it? That's what Brooklyn resident Benjamin Lovell did - and now he's paying. Lovell shares the same name as an employee at Delaware company Woodlawn Trustees. Woodlawn asked that their Lovell be added to a Commerce Bank account with $5.8 million in it, but Commerce somehow mixed up the Social......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an abduction on 117th St. and Madison Ave. in Manhattan, someone robbed the Commerce Bank on 5th Ave. in Brooklyn, and serious trauma at The Marina Restaurant on Jerome Ave. and Clifford Pl. in the Bronx. Tommy Monahan, the 9-year-old boy who died in a fire last week attempting to rescue his pets, wrote a book about his dog Sophy. If you're wondering where your fare hike dollars will......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a missing child on 42nd St. and 2nd Ave. in Manhattan, someone robbed the Commerce Bank on Fresh Pond Rd. in Queens, and a severed limb on West 183rd St. in Manhattan. Someone in Richmond, Indiana won the Powerball lottery with a prize of $314 million and change. Mega-Millions is up to $250 million, however, so if you feel you're in want of a quarter-billion dollars or perhaps just......

Once upon a time at the corner of West 63rd and Broadway, there was a 6,000 square foot stationery store called Lincoln Stationers, where you could find airmail envelopes, buy a snazzy pen and order your wedding invitations. But Lincoln Stationers closed last year and a Starbucks and Duane Reade rose in its place - exactly what the neighborhood was in desperate need of, because the only other Starbucks and Duane Reades are 4-5......

There's an interesting NY Times New York region op-ed that's supportive of marketing ventures most anywhere, like Geico's unsuccessful George Washington Bridge toll plaza marketing deal. Titled "The Bridge to Prosperity," the op-ed written by Paco Underhill discusses how corporate sponsorships have long existed in philanthropy, such as the Metropolitan Opera selling naming rights to seats, and even civic institutions are working with corporations (think about the city's own Snapple deal) to make more money.......

February is the city's first I Love NYC Pets month! Various city agencies and animal rescue are having adoption events in all five boroughs to encourage people to start their year with a pet. . In fact, there are many events at Manhattan Commerce Bank locations today. For instance, there's this super cute dog at a Brooklyn shelter. Here's his info - he is a 9 year old gold and gray Cocker Spaniel. He's been......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: another scaffold collapse, a fatal fire in the Bronx, and an animal rescue uptown. Will Smith's Legend has been driving Washington Square Park area residents insane: "I haven't slept for three weeks." The NTSB is saying that wind was responsible for the Cory Lidle plane crash. The NYPD wants to install video surveillance at all 344 city housing projects to deter crime. The ACLU wants privacy safeguards. Busta Rhymes......

Some more background on the twentysomething robbing relatives, Joe and Shemini Kirby, who were arrested for three bank heists this month. Friends tell the NY Post that the Kirbys had grown up in a Catskills cult, being "psychologically abused" in a "strange 'hyper-religious'" community. Joe Kirby was "kept him in line by doling out punishments like being locked in a closet or forced to stand naked in front of a group of adults." The Kirbys......

A follow up to the story about the relatively fashionable and young bankrobbing duo: It turns out they are brother and sister and have robbed a total of three places this month. And what's more, Joe Kirby and Shemini Kirby were arrested after the cops staked out a methadone clinic when Joe was getting treatment. The Daily News reports that 20th Precinct cops suspected that the robbers were drug addicts, and once they busted Joe,......

Every day we throw our pocket change into a little box by the door, and once every six months or so, we sit down and roll it into bank coin wrappers while watching television. Sure, we could just take it to one of the coin-sorting machines at the local Commerce Bank, but rolling coins is relaxing and it only takes about an hour to roll a couple of hundred bucks worth of coins. Anyway,......

One of the first thing that came to Gothamist's mind when we first heard about the subway bag searches was "what does this mean for all those subway hopping drug dealers?" Apparently we weren't the only ones wondering, as New York Magazine's Intelligencer tackles the question this week (in short: the searches suck for them and some, especially coke runners, are adding a 'cab tax' in response). Speaking of cocaine, the white stuff just......

Ooh: The Parks Department is looking to rent out the Coney Island icon, The Cyclone. While the current leaseholder for the Cyclone, Astroland, says the city is happy with their performance, with an Astroland spokesman saying Astroland owners, the Albert family, "do an excellent job of keeping it in prime operating condition, despite the extremely hostile environment to both wood and metal." Not to mention the riders themselves. The city is required to bid out......

Gothamist loved the NY Times article about how the new Commerce Bank in Chinatown has 7500 safe deposit boxes (while the usual branch will only have 500) because it basically tells people all they need to know about Chinese people: - They like money - They like safe deposit boxes - They like feng shui - They like dim sum - They like the number 8 - Lion dances are essential The article also notes......

Bank managers around the city take note, as the manager of a Commerce Bank on the upper East Side used his black belt karate skills to nab a robber. Onlookers say that bank manager Marc Ravage told the robber, Derrick Harper, "I don't want to hurt you. Please, sir, don't run away," attempting the tactic of trying to reason with robbers. Ravage later jumped on Harper and pinned him to the hood of a car,......