Ugh: A Lake Beach in Southold, Long Island is closed due to "high levels of bacteria caused by waterfowl droppings and storm-water runoff." Luckily no one has reported any illnesses. It's unclear if officials will require the services of the Geese Police.......

City councilman and mayoral hopeful Tony Avella held a press conference today at City Hall to spotlight a pending council resolution urging the New York State Senate to outlaw force-feeding ducks and geese to produce foie gras. A bill to ban the practice is languishing in Albany, and Avella hopes his largely symbolic gesture will push it forward. Yesterday Avella told the Village Voice that though there are only two foie gras farms in New......

Spurs 99, Knicks 93 (OT): Normally, the Knicks do this in reverse. They fall behind big early, rally to make things respectable and pat themselves on the back. This game was worse. They blew an 18-point third-quarter lead and then didn't seem to care about the result when the game went to overtime. This is the second time they've lost eight straight. Will they have another eight-game skid before the season ends?Nets 104, Bobcats 90:......

Anaheim 4 Rangers 1: Will they ever wake up? That’s the question Rangers’ fans have to ask after another game where things just didn’t click (again). Anaheim gave up 33 shots, but Jean-Sebastien Giguere only allowed one of them to get through on his way to the win. Former Ranger, Mathieu Schneider scored first and although New York tied things up at 1-1, they never got back in the game. The Ducks scored two times......

Kings 4, Rangers 2: Sometimes teams have quality efforts and still lose. That's what the Rangers put forth Tuesday. They had 41 shots on goal -- including 24 in the second period alone -- but only got two by Jason LaBarbera. Henrik Lundqvist wasn't at his best, and that didn't help. The Rangers had won three straight and five of six, but don't view this as a step backward. They still seem to be headed......

Have you re-read the classic coming-of-age JD Salinger novel, Catcher in the Rye, lately? amNewYork takes a trip down memory lane, and 5th Ave, with a pair of Holden Caulfield-tinted glasses. Apparently people like the Central Park Conservancy historian get a ton of inquiries about the New York references in the novel. The most popular question, "Where do the ducks go in the winter?" Referring to the ducks in the Central Park pond that our......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an unstable building on 118th St. and 2nd Ave. in Manhattan, a person burned on 130th St. and Park Ave. in Manhattan, and a shooting on Lafayette Ave. in Brooklyn. Maybe it's because we're lifelong NYC baseball fans who think the Dodgers still belong in Brooklyn, but we think Joe Torre looks goofy wearing an LA jersey. Maybe he should lose the tie. Citigroup's Charles Prince is ousted or......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a home invasion robbery on Lincoln Ave. in Brooklyn, a hostage situation on Duane Ct. on Staten Island, and a sexual assault on West 153rd St. and Macombs Pl. in Manhattan. "Live Free or Die Hard" director Len Wiseman is slated to direct a remake of "Escape From New York," with Gerard Butler ("300") assuming the role of Snake Plissken, who was originally played by Kurt Russell. The Bronx......

MOVIE: It's certainly not the kind of night for an outdoor movie, so we suggest sitting in the cool a/c and watching the 1978 classic Dawn of the Dead. "Gone is the possibility of mankind’s dominance in this sequel to Night of the Living Dead; the zombies are in control now, with a group of AWOL soldiers and TV producers on the run from the staggering hordes. A deserted shopping mall offers a safe hideout,......

-Knicks 101 Boston 77: It’s hard to believe that this used to be a great rivalry. Two once-proud franchises that are now the laughingstocks of the NBA took the floor in Boston last night and the Knicks came away with an easy victory. Eddy Curry had a great game, but it is important to remember that he wasn’t playing against a center of note. David Lee provided a huge spark again off the bench, grabbing......

-Knicks 118 Memphis 117 (Triple OT): New York almost wrecked their season in the first game. After building an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Knicks let it slip away and found themselves in a contest of endurance. It wasn’t pretty most of the time, but the important thing is they found a way to win. Also important is that they won using only nine players (a rotation at last!) and with significant contributions......

Sampaist is on the scene in São Paulo beginning this week to become the only ist south of the Equator. Editor Leandro M. Pinto leads the paulistanos down there. You can protest someone at his office, sure, but when the whistle blows at the end of the day can you follow him home? D.C. has sports fans, apparently, and elephants aren't really cut out for zoos. There's this trick where you can read information from......

Ryan Owens, Musician...

The Daily News says that we're in for an old–fashioned winter. Though NYC won't likely see snowfall like last winter's 4 feet, meteorologists hesitate to guess how much we're getting, lest we take their word for it. One reason for the prognostication hesistation is that this season the area has been seeing more jet streams, leading to questionable weather. (We're just nodding our heads along as we try to bypass slush puddles.) The Mayor......