On Saturday afternoon, Upper East Side resident John Orna called police because his son Justin, who is in his 30s and lives with his dad, was flipping out and trashing the apartment. And when police arrived, Justin allegedly grabbed a three-foot-long decorative sword from the wall and brandished it at the cops. Luckily for him, police handled the situation with a great deal of restraint, and talked Justin into putting the sword down, and no one was hurt. He was taken from the building screaming incoherently and delivered to Bellevue for a psychiatric evaluation, but his father is standing by his son, and insisting he's just a little hyperactive. more ›

Police shot an East Flatbush man four times in the legs after he lunged at them with a machete last night. Three officers encountered the 49-year-old after responding to a call from the man's daughter alerting them of an emotionally disturbed person in their East 94th Street residence, according to the Times. When the cops arrived at the door, the man approached them with the blade. After "pepper spray failed to subdue the man," an NYPD sergeant fired 13 shots, hitting him in both legs. The man, whose name has not yet been released, had no previous arrest record. In past years, machetes have been used in multiple stabbings, including several gang-related incidents in Williamsburg. more ›

The city is fighting to keep private the suicide note penned by an NYPD lieutenant who shot himself after ordering the use of a Taser on emotionally disturbed man. Facing a $10 million lawsuit from the family of Iman Morales — who died after being shot with the Taser and falling from a second-story roof ledge — the city is trying to withhold Lt. Michael Pigott's suicide note, which attorneys representing Morales' family say is a necessary part of their case the Post reports. more ›

The man who was taken into custody Tuesday after attacking a man with a machete and then throwing Molotov cocktails at the authorities from a Queens rooftop told police he was "having a bad day." Detective Robert Zajac explained that in trying to coax Felipe Velasquez down, "We were trying to tell him today is a different day, and we'll work it out with you.'' more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a person under a train at Jamaica Ave. and 95th St. in Queens, a severed limb at Blake Ave. in Brooklyn, and a child struck at 39th St. and 3rd Ave. in Brooklyn.
• "Prepare to be swabbed citizen." New York takes steps forward to our Gattaca-like future.
• A man described as being 6'1" and 300 lbs. was spotted nude and running around Staten Island. The emotionally disturbed person was eventually corralled by EMTs and police, but died on the way to the hospital.

Not all is well in the Slope this evening, Gridskipper is reporting on a "hostage situation" in a brownstone on 9th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues.

Neighbors heard gunshots and say that a man inside the home has taken hostages. The block has been roped off and the area is swarming with police personnel including a hostage negotiation team and a bomb squad robot.

That report of an EDP near Herald Square this morning? It turns out a man stabbed a woman - in the lobby of the Manhattan Mall! The Post says the woman was "stabbed in the back, arm and wrists" during the morning rush hour. The lobby was covered in blood, forcing the building to close the West 33rd Street entrance. The victim and attacker were both taken to Bellevue. The victim is described as the... more ›

The second 911 call between police shooting victim Khiel Coppin's mother and a 911 operator seems to suggests some misinformation. Coppin's mother Denise Owens claimed she told the 911 operator who called her back that her son did not have a gun. Here's an excerpt (you can read the transcript here and hear it here) of the call at 7:05PM, 14 minutes before police shot at 18-year-old Coppin 20 times: Female: Hello Operator: Hi Maam... more ›

A Brooklyn family and the police have differing views on the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Khiel Coppin on Monday night. Coppin's mother Denise Owens had called 911 because Coppin was acting irrationally. The police released the 911 call, where Owens speaks with a 911 operator and Coppin is yelling in the background; you can read the transcript here and listen here, but here's an excerpt:Background male voice: "Take that, (expletive). I've got a... more ›

Early yesterday morning in Hell's Kitchen, soap opera actor Nathaniel Martson allegedly attacked three people. The Daily News reports that Marston, who plays Dr. Michael McBain on One Life to Live, swung a metal crate at his victims, which broke one of the men's legs. One of the victims, Salvatore Cabibo who didn't even know the actor, said Marston had been arguing with a cab driver and then charged at him, shouting, "I'm going to get you!" more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: An unstable building in Murray Hill; a "serious trauma" not far from Shea Stadium in Queens; a bank robbery at Avenue A and 4th Street; and at 777 6th Ave there was a barricaded EDP (emotionally disturbed person).
• Remember those chemicals found at the United Nations? It turns out that they were probably just cleaning supplies. Hopefully these aren't the same tests the organization uses for biological weapons.
• If you're shopping for your prostitutes on Craigslist, be careful. The fuzz might be setting you up for a sting as they're busting more and more people (John's and pros) who use the service.
• A tipster tells Streetsblog that Bill Clinton agrees that "cycling is good citizenship," but we're betting that Bubba was getting into his towncar/SUV as he was agreeing.
• There are at least 5 nostalgic ConEd customers who are angry with the utility today. ConEd won permission from the state yesterday to stop delivering direct current (DC) power. Looks like Nikola Tesla wins this one.
• Queens residents who were affected by storms on August 8th are getting their own FEMA flood relief center today. Hopefully the Flushing location will do a better job than some of FEMA's other work.
• What's going to happen with Brooke Astor's Briarcliff Manor retreat. The bucolic property called Holly Hill is 65 acres and has a 9,000 square foot house. Her son Anthony D. Marshall will likely inherit the house, but people are unsure what he'll do with it.
• If Mike Bloomberg became President, could he still be a majority owner of Bloomberg LP? Some experts say no due to the conflicts that Bloomberg News would cause. Mayor Bloomberg currently owns 68% of Bloomberg LP and has denied his interest in the White House several times.

After discovering in the body of a 55-year-old man bound, gagged, and castrated in a Queens apartment on Saturday, police believe that the apartment's tenant, Brigitte Harris, may be the murderer. Initially, it was unclear who the man, Eric Goodridge of Staten Island, was or why he was in the apartment, but the Daily News reports that he was Harris' stepfather and that Harris blamed him for sexual abusing her. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a double shooting on St. Johns Pl. in Brooklyn, a collapse on Grant Ave. in the Bronx, and a barricaded emotionally disturbed person on 102nd St. in Queens.
• Like Robert Moses in reverse, Mayor Bloomberg wants highways to give way to housing by covering roads like the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, as well as rail yards, and constructing housing above them. New York's own Big Dig?
• Ricki Lake's documentary, which is debuting at the Tribeca Film Festival, includes scenes of her giving birth in the bathtub in her West Village apartment. She made her assistant clean the tub afterwards, because there's natural and then there's just gross.
• Attractive adult NYC virgins talk about their decisions to not go all the way in a slideshow presentation.
• NY1 political reporter Dominic Carter requested his mother's medical records after her death. Unbeknownst to him, Carter's mother was a paranoid schizophrenic who once choked him and thought about throwing him out a window when he was a child.
• A Brooklyn yeshiva is serving eviction notices to the residents––many elderly and disabled––of a property it owns to make way for a studyhall and more classrooms.
• 13 miles of mostly straight, flat NY highway that is the site of a disproportionate number of fatal crashes.
• NJ Governor Jon Corzine may just stay in bed and run the state better, faster, and without ribbon cuttings, via video. We have the technology.
• The City Council voted to override Mayor Bloomberg's vetoes on a metal bat ban and pedicab-limiting regulations.

• Today on Gothamist Newsmap: a barricaded emotionally disturbed person/stabbing on Parsons Blvd. in Queens, an overturned auto on Bushwick Ave. in Brooklyn, and a stabbing on Staten Island's Taylor St.
• City Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens) is a big fan of Tom Cruise's Scientology detox program that is being offered free to firefighters. He's done it and it made him feel "100 times better", which is pretty good.
• City Island residents contemplate life on the water without the repetitive "thock, thock, thock" sound of gunfire drifting across Eastchester Bay.

Yesterday, right during the evening rush hour, someone jumped in front of an F train at the West 4th Street station. As it turned out, Pretty in the City's Karyn was on a train and describes how the MTA handled the situation:

the train came to an abrupt stop. After a few seconds, the conductor came over the loud speaker and said, "We have a customer on the track." As it turns out, someone committed suicide by jumping in front of the train. The train was just entering the West 4th stop. more ›

- Can anyone tell us what this Panda says at the end of this insane video? more ›