Early this morning, a city medical examiner's van crashed into a Nissan Altima on Fort Hamilton Parkway, leaving the Altima's driver and front passenger dead and at least five others injured. Around 3:30AM, van was headed south on the parkway when it was "struck by the Altima, traveling east on 44th Street." The van flipped over, critically injuring the driver and passenger. Customers at a Laundromat went outside to help and one told WNBC,......

Last year we "oohed" and "ahhed" at Prospect Park in Lights, and as of last night -- the seasonal luminescence is back. And this year, even the pink lights are "green":Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg tonight flipped the switch on a holiday lighting installation at Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Park. LEDs, energy-efficient and long-lasting lights that are environmentally friendly, are being used to illuminate the Bailey Fountain and a tree underneath the Sailors and......

Riders hope that low grades for the G line will eventually lead to improvements, while plans are in place to make the G a more usable line. Despite being the two largest boroughs in New York City, there is only one train line dedicated to getting people from Brooklyn (2.5 million people) to Queens (2.3 million people). All other passages must make their way from one borough, through Manhattan (1.6 million people), and then on......

There are a couple construction-related accidents today. WNBC reports that a construction worker fell off the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge around 1:38PM: "A retaining wall on the edge of a bridge roadway under construction had collapsed, but it was unclear if the worker had fallen from that area." The SI Advance reports that the worker is "believed to have fallen on the Brooklyn-side, landing on the ground near the entrance to Fort Hamilton Army Base." We're......

So, last week's weather featured intense rain that shut down the subway system, a tornado skipping through Staten Island and Brooklyn, an unbearably steamy afternoon, and a couple days of near-record low temperatures. This week's weather should feature, uh… uh… well, not much of anything other than warm, sunny days. If you haven't already seen it the Brooklyn Daily Eagle has a nice, but small, map of the tornado path. First touching down on Staten......

An off-duty police officer was raped in her Bay Ridge home last night. Police believe that the attacker entered her apartment through a window or door. The victim described him as being a white man wearing a mask; the attacker also threatened her with a knife. The police flooded Bay Ridge Avenue and the surrounding streets with patrol cars, helicopters and canine units. Neighbors were worried, with one telling the Daily News, "This is a......

Though it’s only been open for a little more than a week, Thai Tony’s on Fort Hamilton Parkway at the edge of Kensington, Brooklyn, is already building a strong neighborhood following. During repeat visits, Gothamist watched the owners and staff bustle around the dining room of the self-described “home-style bistro,” greeting returning customers by name. That’s right, they already know most of their customers by name. Thai Tony’s first came to our attention via our......

Along 65th Street near Fort Hamilton Parkway in Brooklyn are a number of culinary gems: The sidewalk-sprawling Three Guys Produce, billed as “The Original Poor Person’s Friend;” Asian markets with fresh shiso and lily bulbs, and also the legendary, cafeteria-style Rocco’s Calamari. With a fledgling greenmarket in nearby Leif Ericson Park, this Bay Ridge/Dyker Heights/Bensonhurst interzone has quietly become a destination for inexpensive, quality provisions. The three Royal Crown Magnifico locations should also be at......

High school baseball is off to a vicious start. Two students at Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn claim that the assistant baseball coach at a Manhattan high school beat them with a metal bat earlier this week. One of the victims has a broken jaw, while the other was cut on the face and neck. The Daily News reports that the two students say that Norman Thomas High School assistant baseball coach Ernesto Cruz......

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......

Though most people hate backfat when they look in three-way mirrors, another kind of backfat has surfaced. Someone has been tagging "Backfat" in Brooklyn neighborhoods Windsor Terrace and Kensington. The tagger has been hitting up pretty conspicuous places, like the public library on Fort Hamilton Parkway, schools, and stores, and has been fraying nerves in the process. One commenter on Flickr says:back fat is getting on my nerves. he is all over kensington and......

When it's this hot, even ice cream can offer little respite. You need something more hydrating, something closer to water. You need a paleta, a Mexican fruit-based popsicle. Paleta literally means “little shovel,” and these treats are wider than the standard popsicle. They have a more handmade form, reminiscent of the kind your mom used to make in a tupperware contraption. But paletas come in flavors that would confuse mom (and you), like mamey, tamarind,......

Get ready, 'cause Fleet Week begins tomorrow. There are many events planned through May 31, with a Parade of Ships tomorrow in the Hudson River (the parade is at 11:30AM, though there's a "salute to the ships" at Bluff at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn at 8AM). The Intrepid has a bunch of Fleet Week events, like the Tug of War on Saturday and Best Chow competition on Sunday. Check out pictures from last year's Fleet......

It looks the MTA has seized the opportunity to go for the jugular, as they have introduced a new contract with some provisions union members will most certainly not like. For instance, new workers will have to contribute more of their salary to pensions than current workers and there will be the possibility of one-person traiin-operation - and the pension refunds to current workers are gone, probably at the urging of Governor Pataki. AND the......

Marci Hom, Lifelong Bay Ridger...