In January, Yechiel Bromberg got a $300 summons for leaving his garbage cans outside his Midwood home when it was not a trash collection day. At an Environmental Control Board hearing, he successfully beat the ticket after showing the judge surveillance footage taken outside his house. The video revealed that the DSNY enforcement agent who issued the ticket had blatantly lied—the cans were by Bromberg's door, behind the fence, not on the sidewalk. Here's the video (the third one in a series). Skip to the 9 minute mark, where the DSNY agent issues the ticket then glumly wanders back to his car, clouded in an almost palpable miasma of self-loathing. more ›

Police are investigating a rash of weekend hate crimes in Midwood, Brooklyn, where swastikas were spray painted on three buildings, along with the words "Die Jews" on a garage door. The garage door vandalism occurred at a private residence located 100 feet away Assemblyman Dov Hikind's home, and the politician says the latest outburst of anti-Semitism has local residents increasingly alarmed. Midwood has one of the largest populations of Holocaust survivors in America, and Hikind says, "You wouldn't believe the comments that I hear. 'Does this mean something? Is this the beginning of something?' I tell them no because this is America." more ›

Are the children and ultra-conservative Israel lobbyists out of the room? Good, because we don't want to scare/offend anyone with this advertisement, which was put up in subways earlier this month. The campaign, paid for by a coalition of pro-Palestinian groups, calls for an
 end
 to
 U.S.
 military
 aid
 to
 Israel. This message, according to local Assemblyman Dov Hikind, is "very, very dangerous." more ›

After a frantic search involving thousands of people and a $100,000 reward for the return of a 9-year-old Hasidic boy who didn't return from day camp on Monday, police made a horrifying discovery: Half of Leiby Kleztky's body was found in a Kensington refrigerator, while the other half was found in a Greenwood Heights dumpster. Police have made one arrest and other in custody; Assemblyman Dov Hikind said, “It’s just a horror for every parent. I mean it’s just a tragedy today for everyone in New York.” more ›

First they came for the bike lanes, and we did nothing (besides take funny photos of the protesters). Now they're coming for the pedestrian refuge islands the DOT has been installing on busy roadway to save the elderly from getting stranded in the middle of traffic. At an angry Community Board 12 meeting in Brooklyn last week, politicians and residents of Borough Park blasted the new curb extensions and pedestrian islands that have been installed on four blocks of Fort Hamilton Parkway. Local merchants say the change is bad for business, and Assemblyman Dov Hikind claims an EMT told him a patient died before the ambulance could reach Maimonides because it was stuck in traffic. more ›

Hikind also called Phelps-Roper a "whore" (you can see video below). Yeshiva World News reports that the Westboro protesters' minivan's tires were slashed: "They were seen a short while later getting their flat fixed at a local tire-repair shop. 'The only thing I’m sad about, is that all four of their tires weren’t slashed', Dov Hikind told YWN." more ›

In the wake of a Nigerian man's failed attempt to blow up an airplane as it landed in Detroit on Christmas, Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind is calling on authorities to instate a policy of ethnic profiling to stop would-be terrorists. According to CBS, the Borough Park Democrat — who was last spotted protesting against the inclusion of gays, gypsies, and the disabled at a Holocaust memorial — argues that politicians must "[l]et law enforcement do what it feels is necessary without tying their hands." more ›

A group of politicians and activists gathered at the city-owned Holocaust Memorial Park in Sheepshead Bay to protest the Parks Department's plans to make additions to the memorial to more prominently commemorate other groups killed under the Nazi regime on top of the Jewish victims currently being honored there now. more ›

Stand clear of the platform edge and then some: A 14-year-old boy fell into the tracks at the Kings Highway subway station when the platform partially collapsed. Avi Katz was able to get away before the approaching Q train made it into the station. more ›

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an officer assaulted on Church Ave. and 53rd St. in Brooklyn, a car into a coffee shop in the area of Skillman and 50th in Queens, and two people shot on Park Ave. and 17th St. in Manhattan. An insurance broker pleaded guilty to idiotic target practice that launched arrows from his compound bow on the Upper East Side. Bono and Bloomberg's mutual admiration society. Brooklyn state Assemblyman Dov... more ›

After weeks of media attention about the rising incidence of people, especially students, being afflicted by an antibiotic-resistant strain of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, more commonly known as a staph infection, MRSA has struck NYC. The Health Department confirmed that Omar Rivera Jr., a 7th grader at I.S. 411 in Canarsie, Brooklyn, died of MRSA on October 14. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a confined space rescue at The Beverly Hotel on 50th St. in Manhattan, a pedestrian struck on West 145th St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan, and a fall victim on West 24th St. in Manhattan.
• Former NY State chief judge Sol Wachtler got his law license back, 14 years after pleading guilty to being a stalker.
• Some Jewish leaders are angry that Mayor Bloomberg met with London mayor Ken Livingstone, who Councilman Dov Hikind calls an anti-Semite racist. If it's any comfort to critics, it looks like taking a public bus ride with a mayor nicknamed "Red Ken" was Bloomberg just being a gracious guest.
• Herbert Muschamp, the architecture critic for The New York Times between 1992 and 2004, passed away yesterday
• Two Brooklyn parents were killed in a car accident upstate when the driver overcorrected after losing control and he crossed into oncoming traffic on a highway near Goshen, NY. Their four-month-old child and two friends survived the crash.
• Fishing for sport or fishing for dinner? Some argue that eating reel-caught fish is fine, which worries some lawmakers.
• Brooklyn Heights Blog features a report (with pictures) of George Clooney shooting a film on Middagh St. today.
• The two cops injured in a shootout in the Bronx this morning had to go undergo alcohol testing––the first time it's happened since the department's new policy was implemented. A union official said that giving a "Breathalyzer" to shot cops was demoralizing and degrading.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is visiting Columbia University today to give a speech for the World Leaders Forum. And he continued to get a big New York-style welcome: The Daily News has its "The Evil Has Landed" cover while Assemblyman Dov Hikind told protesters outside Columbia's gates yesterday, “He should be arrested when he comes to Columbia University, not speak at the university, for God’s sake. I call on New Yorkers to make the life of Ahmadinejad as he is in New York miserable.” more ›

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The State Assembly voted in favor of allowing same-sex marriages in New York. Newsday said it was the first time a gay marriage bill was "debated publicly in one of the houses of the State Legislature Tuesday." However, the bill is not expected to make it pass the Republican-controlled Senate. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said, "We're not doing gay marriage by [tomorrow's adjournment], that's for sure." more ›

Yesterday, NBC News revealed that Virginia Tech shooting gunman Cho Seung-Hiu sent them a package of photographs, writings, and video - a "multimedia manifesto." The network turned over the materials to the authorities but also shared the package's contents during the evening news last night and on its website. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Broadway in Queens, a water rescue from the Bronx River, and a retaining wall collapse on Waterview Ct. on Staten Island.
• A judge awarded equal custody of a 17-month-old infant to the child's father, the boyfriend of Jennifer Rubell. She is the daughter niece of the late club impressario Steve Rubell, and previously claimed her boyfriend was a stoner mooch, who refused to leave her apartment or get a job.
• The former head of the Brooklyn Democratic party, Clarence Norman, Jr., is heading off to prison for 1-3 years, for what amounts to a shakedown of a judicial candidate.
• Al Sharpton is turning his attention from Imus to the Hip-Hop industry, and demanding the end of racist and sexist content. We're feeling good about his recent increase in police protection following Imus-related death threats.
• Some students at Columbia want to return to the days of 1968-style radicalism, but without all the bra-burnings, free love, and drug use. Sticks and carrots, kids.
• We hope East Village Idiot tipped this waitress well for her subtle observation
• Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind wants to know why there's such great disparity in what NYC hospitals charge for identical or similar procedures, because the differences can be pretty outrageous.
• The Anarchist Book Fair was held this Saturday at the Judson Memorial Church, but there's no word yet as to whether the Dewey Decimal System is oppression or not.
• Finally confirmed: Hipsters love vinyl records

Chief of Police Joseph Esposito apologized for his remarks during the Borough Park protest-riot Tuesday night. Esposito doesn't mention using Jewish slurs (as some have charged him), but did say that he used the F-bomb to intimidate crowds to stop, as they were angry over rough treatment (real? perceived?) of a 75 year old Hasidic man pulled over and arrested for driving while talking on the cellphone and not responding to the police. Assemblyman Dov Hikind and City Councilman Simcha Felder met with Esposito and responded that he "has been a friend and continues to be a friend to us personally and to our community. In reaching out to us and the community, the chief brings closure to the events which transpired in Borough Park this week." more ›

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to have to search the "75-year-old grandmother, with sloping shoulders, who has an oversized tote bag firmly tucked under her arm," but the truth is, she'd be happy to show the NYPD what's in her tote bag. John Jay College Professor Charles Strozier (he specializes in contemporary terrorism) told NY1, "The Arab-American community in the United States and Muslim community in general is highly assimilated, very American, not radical. There's no reason to believe that it is from this community that you're going to find anyone who is likely to be a bomber." more ›

Last night, Gothamist threw our mail on the table and ignored it while we made some Very Important Calls (to discuss the impending panda pregnancy - twins! - in San Diego, the newborn panda in DC, and tiger cubs nursing on sows). And the next thing we realized was that we had been staring at Mayor Bloomberg's face for five minutes - AUGH! It was his reelection flyer, and let's talk about a Photoshop flyer controversy: His picture on the cover is totally Photoshoppped - no wrinkles, very waxy faced, very non-Bloomberg. The four main points of his flyer were his strides with the crime (it's down!), economy (it's up, and there was that property tax rebate!), education (test scores are up!) and quality of life (noise ban!), and there were very few instances of minorities in the photographs as far as we could tell. Gothamist doubts this will be only time Mayor Bloomberg sends out some collateral, but we'll make sure that next time we'll put a Pottery Barn catalog over it. Also: The Mayor discussed space travel and ate kosher pizza after getting an endorsement from Assemblyman Dov Hikind; the Politicker explains that the Mayor probably wanted to seal support from Orthodox Jews who wondered if the Mayor is a self-loathing Jew. more ›