A Coney Island firefighter's history may well be catching up with him. 27-year-old Anthony Cilento, of Ladder 166, is being held without bail and is suspended from the Department without pay due to his alleged previous involvement with a coke ring. Cilento, who is said to have left the ring when he entered the Fire Department Academy, is the second civil servant said to be involved with this particular drug delivery service: Earlier this year retired 39-year-old NYPD officer John Avvento was accused of trading "cash, cocaine and Vicodin" for NYPD gear. more ›

The city's Special Narcotics Prosecutor's office today announced that it had offered plea deals to the former Columbia students accused of dealing drugs out of dorms and frats, but none of them are biting. Yet. more ›

Suffolk police busted 18 members of a cocaine trafficking ring which included Bloods members, counterfeit money, backstabbing, and fake cocaine made from sheetrock and baking soda. Police seized about $16,000 to $18,000 worth of cocaine, several thousand dollars worth of counterfeit $20 bills, black and white hats and T-shirts labeled "Police," and a stun gun disguised as a cell phone. "The lifeblood of gangs is the illicit narcotics trade. The profits they generate contribute to other illegal activity...This is not just the sale and distribution of cocaine. It's far more than that," District Attorney Thomas Spota said ominously. more ›

During a raid of a massive Queens drug ring, police say that they arrested a 12-year-old girl who was selling drugs. The Post reports, "The grade-schooler, whose name was not released because of her age, sold the drugs to an undercover, officials said. 'She does not look 12,' said NYPD Inspector Michael Bryan. 'We were very shocked to find out' her age." more ›

A eight-year veteran of the NYPD was arrested yesterday for allegedly conspiring with a robbery crew that posed as cops to raid drug traffickers' homes, netting $1 million in drug proceeds and more than 250 kilos of cocaine from over 100 robberies. Long Island's Emmanuel Tavarez, 30, joined the NYPD in 2002 and spent most of his time in the Transit Bureau. But it was his side gig that really made it rain. more ›

The rat problem in the Upper West Side's Verdi Square, once called Needle Park, has gotten so bad that recently the Parks Dept. called for back-up. "We have sent an extra staff person there in the early morning and later in the day," said Cristina DeLuca, a spokeswoman from the Parks Dept. "The park is now being cleaned as much as three times a day to address the rodent issues." Still, neighborhood residents say the rats are part of their routine. "If you clap your hands at night they all jump out of the bushes," said Rob Hafferman, who lives nearby. It turns out, the rodents have not gone undocumented. more ›

The couple arrested over the weekend for stashing drugs inside the daycare center they ran was arraigned inside a Brooklyn courtroom yesterday. Police first came to Special Moments Day Care after it was robbed at gunpoint Friday morning, leading to a shootout between cops and one of the burglars, who ended up shot twice as a dozen young children napped peacefully below. But something about the robbery didn't add up to police, who returned to find ten pounds of marijuana and $100,000 cash hidden in the basement of East Flatbush's Special Moments, run by Donna and Sherwin Rogers. The robbers knew that it was weed delivery day and came into the daycare posing as parents. Yesterday a judge set bail at $50,000 for the owner Donna and 25k for her husband, but cops wanted stiffer penalties. A police source told the News, "It put kids at risk. The shooting happened right exactly where the kids were sleeping." more ›

Some Columbia University students are in mourning this week after cops nabbed one of the campus' more prominent dealers. Known to many there as simply "Bill," William Delp found himself in custody Monday when narcotics officers raided his West 107th Street apartment after the 49-year-old had attempted to sell drugs to undercover detectives. Delp, who describes himself on his MySpace page as "a composer, filmmaker, and political and social activist" and posts photos of himself singing "vocal duos" with snakes, faces drug charges related to possession and sale of LSD, Ecstasy, and marijuana. Now, it's not exactly a bombshell story when an aging hippie gets busted for drugs, but what may be the only surprise in this case is that Delp's neighbors were actually surprised. Said neighbor Jonathan Perez to the NY Daily News: "I'm totally shocked...He was always a pretty cool guy. He'd always give the peace sign." Yeah, that probably should have been your clue right there. more ›

The Daily News suggests that when it comes to drugs, drunks, and overall debauchery, it's all happening in the Meatpacking District. With the NYPD's crackdown of West Chelsea ever since notable, violent crimes, apparently the action has moved south. From the News: "One reporter was solicited by three dealers within two hours on a Saturday night. Reporters watched a pair of twentysomething club girls vomit in tandem; a man urinate as he weaved along Washington St.; another man so blitzed he appeared paralyzed on W. 13th St." One resident complained, "It's gotten cool, and not in a good way." (Of course, the decline of MePa has been going on for years now.) Still, it doesn't mean Club Land is totally rehabilitated. more ›

The NYC Parks Dept. is requesting that the Dept. of Justice return two sculptures of American eagles that were stolen from a war memorial to city employees back in the 1970s. The memorial itself is a flagpole located in Central Park across from the Naumberg Bandshell. It's called the City Employees War Memorial and was installed in the park in 1926 to commemorate the heroism and sacrifices that city employees made in all the wars of the nation's history to that point. more ›