Above images from WNBC 4, below right image from WCBS 2; bottom left image from Peter Haskell/WCBS 880 A building collapse at 124th Street and Park Avenue has prompted the MTA to shut down all train service in and out of Grand Central Terminal. Metro-North's Dan Brucker told WCBS 880, "We don't know how long the closure will last. We have been told by the police not to have any trains run through the......

An influential group of rabbis have put the kibosh on a concert planned for next Sunday at MSG’s WaMu theater. Billed as The Big Event, the show was to be headlined by popular Hasidic pop singer Lipa Schmeltzer and raise money for an Israeli charity that finances weddings for orphans. But after an edict was issued against the event, Schmeltzer dropped out, saying, “I have to get out of the fire.” Two Brooklyn community leaders,......

Sometimes journalists really do pull stories out of their asses: Philadelphia writer A.J. Daulerio and former Gawker scribe Alex Balk are sounding the alarm on a succulent fish that causes some extremely undesirable and embarrassing side effects, namely hours of orange, uncontrollable anal leakage. It’s called escolar but it’s often sold under various assumed names like “butterfish”, “Hawaiian walu” or, when served raw, as “super white tuna” or “king tuna.” Whatever the name, the effects......

Photo: Sherri Jackson "He put his face into the plexiglass separation, the section that is left open, and screamed 'You f------ b----!' and spit at me, which I could feel spray all over my face. I screamed the loudest I have ever screamed in my life: 'Let me out of this cab!'" So ended a ride home to the Upper West Side for 24-year-old Sarah Snedeker, who claims her driver became irate when she insisted......

Some new details from the ME's office about slain realtor to the stars Linda Stein. Toxicology tests on Stein, who was brutally bludgeoned to death in her Fifth Avenue apartment in October, show that there were "no traces of marijuana in her system," according to the NY Post. Stein's assistant, Natavia Lowery, has been accused of murdering her employer. At the time of her arrest, police had said Lowery snapped after Stein verbally abused her......

from her to you, by lisa.lisa at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on 173rd St. in Manhattan, a robbery/assault on 13th St. in Brooklyn, and an aircraft emergency at JFK airport in Queens. Barnard at Columbia has a new incoming president, snagged from Harvard Business School. Don't miss the Super Bowl sitting in your local precinct's drunk tank. Get your Super Brawling out of the way early the next time someone......

Imecca Burton, her mother, and civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel held a press conference in front of Police Headquarters yesterday to decry the handcuffing of 10-year-old Imecca, who was handcuffed by police in front of PS 25 where she attends elementary school. Police officers witnessed a fight on her school bus and in the ensuing events Imecca was handcuffed. Witnesses said that Imecca was swearing, kicking, and screaming, which is why the cops cuffed her.......

Photographs of Spitzer, Sharpton, Dinkins and Bloomberg at Sharpton's National Action Network by Tina Fineberg/AP All over the city, events were held to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy. One of the biggest events was the Reverend Al Sharpton's annual forum at his National Action Network in Harlem, which attracted Governor Spitzer, Senator Schumer, former Mayor Dinkins and Mayor Bloomberg. Sharpton hailed Bloomberg's efforts to make the city less racially divisive, "It is......

Foxy Brown, who last year found herself a resident of Rikers, is attempting to get released early. Not surprising considering she (falsely) declared pregnancy prior to sentencing. Her latest attempt for a "get out of jail free card" is based around her hearing problems. Now she's asking to serve rest of her sentence at home so she can receive "adequate treatment" for her ear and "have her cochlear implant reprogrammed and repaired or else face......

Yesterday, a jury heard opening statements in the Nixzmary Brown murder trial. Her stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, faces charges of second-degree murder, after the 7-year-old Brooklyn girl spent her final hours beaten and having her head hit against the bathtub faucet and held under water, after a life where she was repeatedly beaten, tied to a chair, starved, and made to use a litter box. The jurors cried when they saw a photograph of the child's......

After 81 years spent fattening us up with their many irresistible cookie varieties, the Girl Scout organization is dropping some not-so-subtle hints that perhaps keeping a dozen boxes of Samoas in our locked desk drawer isn’t the healthiest way to make it through the winter. So for the first time they’ll be peddling sugar-free chocolate chip cookies and another low calorie cookie option: Cinna-Spins™. (Pictured.) Each carton of Cinna-Spins™ will contain five 100 calorie packs......

A FDNY lieutenant died as he and other firefighters were battling a fire in Crown Heights. Lieutenant John H. Martinson went into cardiac arrest during the 2-alarm fire on the 14th floor of the Ebbets Field Apartments. Over 100 firefighters responded to the fire, which was under control around 8:30PM - 75 minutes after the the first call. It's unclear what caused the fire (it's under investigation but does not appear to be suspicious) but......

A child was hit by a bullet while in a car driven by her mother's boyfriend. Gunfire broke out at the corner of East 184th Street and Tiebout Avenue, and the car was caught in the crossfire. According to the Daily News, a shooter, in a different car, fired 10-15 shots at a man on the corner around 5:20PM. The Dodge carrying the 3-year-old had been idling at a stop sign and the girl, sitting......

In the middle of the month, Macy's announced it would be keeping eight locations in New York and New Jersey open from 7AM on December 21th until December 24th at 6PM - for 83 hours straight! Macy's chairman and CEO Ron Klein had explained, "We are giving our customers extra time to shop when it’s convenient for them," and said that the success of the Queens Center mall location staying open last year encouraged Macy's......

The 9 year-old boy who perished in a house fire on Staten Island late Sunday apparently died while trying to save his pets. Tommy Monahan apparently had been with his mother as they tried to escape the fire, but he raced back to his room for his dog, lizard and fish. A 12-year-old neighbor told the Daily News, "Everybody thought he was outside but he wasn't. Monahan's father had tried to rescue him from outside......

Shawn Kovell, who was arrested in an undercover drug sting in October, was released from jail yesterday to head into a drug treatment program. She was able to get out by making a deal with the Manhattan DA's office: Kovell pleaded guilty to charges that she sold cocaine with her boyfriend, Robert Chambers, the infamous "Preppy Killer" in the 1986 death of Jennifer Levin. Kovell was originally held on $25,000 bail, and Kovell's lawyer had......

Icy conditions on Sunday caused a number of accidents, most notably a 15-car pile-up on Route 3/Meadowland Parkway in New Jersey. A dump truck had jumped a divider, and then cars, unable to avoid it, piled up behind it. There were over 28 injuries and two people died. It was announced that one of the victims was Jennifer Alexander (pictured), a veteran of the American Ballet Theater. Her husband Julio Bragado-Young, another ABT dancer, was......

Since we don't get out to Red Hook Ballfields that much, taquerias are always squarely in the sights of our foodar. The Queens nabes of Corona and Elmhurst almost never fail when it comes to fulfilling a taco craving. So when we walked by a brand new spot called La Casa Del Idolo, Gothamist immediately made a note to come back and sample its fare, particularly since they seemed especially proud of their barbacoa......

The young woman accused of killing real estate broker to the stars Linda Stein pleaded not guilty in Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday. Natavia Lowery was denied bail, and her new defense lawyer, Ron Kuby, made a few points:First, he said Lowery's confession was coerced by the police detectives because, having been interrogated for hours on end without access to a phone or her lawyer "She had to make something up to get out of that......

Former Westchester County District Attorney - and one-time Attorney General candidate and potential Senate candidate - Jeanine Pirro and her husband Al Pirro have announced they are separating. Their statement to the press: "We have agreed to amicably separate. As always, our priority remains our two wonderful children. We ask that people respect our privacy. There will be no further comment." The couple has been married 32 years and have weathered through many years of......

Starting next Tuesday, Park Slope shoppers will be entitled to one of 400 free umbrellas made available at a number of neighborhood stores. Yes, you heard right. FREE. UMBRELLAS. And they’re just the most adorable shade of yellow! But what’s the catch, you say? Well, each one is emblazoned with this message: "Please enjoy this community umbrella and return it to a participating local merchant." The Park Slope Civic Council pooled $2,000 and bought the......

Mayor David Dinkins, who preceded Mayor Giuliani in office from 1990 to 1993, had his appendix removed in an emergency surgery Friday when it was determined that he was suffering from appendicitis. Dinkins was actually visiting his doctor for a routine flu shot, when he complained that he had a sharp pain in his side. A CAT scan revealed the inflamed and infected appendix--a condition that can be lethal if the vestigial organ bursts. Dinkins......

Police in Suffolk County released surveillance footage of an attempted robbery at a convenience store off the Montauk Highway in Brookhaven that showed a petite woman defending her store. Store employee Hafize Sahin, all of 4'5" and 90 pounds, swung a 3-foot-long ax at the would-be robber. The incident took place around 8PM when a mask-wearing man demanded the store's money. Sahin pretended to open the register but really took the ax from under......

Author, critic and journalist Steven Heller started out as someone who, in the words of Paula Scher, "had been more or less oblivious to design," but went on not only to launch the careers of some of our most well-known illustrators, but also to chronicle graphic design in more than 100 books. Heller also has been a contributing editor to Print, Eye, Baseline and I.D., writes obituaries for The New York Times and a column......

The lawyer for the family of Carol Anne Gotbaum, the New York resident who died while in police custody at the Phoenix airport last Friday, continued to blast the Maricopa County medical examiner's office as well as question police tactics. Gotbaum, who was traveling to Tucson for alcohol rehabilitation, had become agitated when she missed the flight. Since they were unable to calm her, police arrested her and left her handcuffed to a bench in......

The family of Manhattan resident who died while in police custody at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Friday night is awaiting more details about her death. US Airways and airport police say that Carol Anne Gotbaum, who was married to the stepson of NYC Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, had been acting irately and would not calm down, so she was handcuffed and left in an airport holding cell. Police say they checked on her every 15......

Manhattan resident Carol Ann Gotbaum, who is married to the stepson of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, died in a Phoenix airport holding cell while in police custody. Phoenix authorities believe she may have died while trying to get out of her handcuffs. Carol Ann Gotbaum, 45, was trying to board a flight to Tucson at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, but arrived too late and was booked on another flight. A US Airways spokesman, Derek......

We haven't checked in on Gossip Girl since the show was filming around town and the producer touted New York as a main character in each episode. To summarize: the show is like a New York-based version of The OC (in fact it's another Josh Schwartz creation), except the rich kids don't act like kids, they act like their parents. Meanwhile, the omniscient, omnipresent, anonymous oggler Gossip Girl blogs about it all. So two episodes......

Nationals 9, Mets 8: If a four-run lead can't stand up against the Nationals, against whom will it last? The Mets are hoping what was a seven-game lead as recently as Sept. 12 stands up, but they're not helping their fans maintain regular heartbeats. John Maine hit before he threw a pitch and still couldn't get out of the fifth. That's against a team that's last in the Major Leagues in runs scored and playing......

In late November 2005, police officer Dillon Stewart and his partner, Paul Lipka, stopped a 1990 Infiniti for a traffic violation (driving with dealer plates) in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. One of the men inside fired five bullets into the unmarked police car (Stewart and Lipka were uniformed), and Stewart (pictured) and Lipka proceeded to chase the car. But then Stewart realized that he had been shot -- the bullet had missed his bulletproof vest by......