A woman was robbed in her Staten Island home by a man clad in black on Monday morning but authorities do not think it's the Ninja Burglar. A police source told the Staten Island Advance, "There are burglaries committed every day and everybody is wearing black out there." In the Christmas Eve robbery, a woman, who left her Great Kills home at 5AM, startled the burglar when she returned at 8AM. The burglar, who seemed......

On Friday, dozens of birds fell out of the sky and died on a street in the Great Kills section of Staten Island. Residents grew concerned as, the Staten Island Advance reported, birds "flopped and twitched...as they breathed their last" (video here). One resident said the birds were flying "as if they were drunk" before falling to the ground. Residents were advised to stay in their homes as the fire department, police and as well......

The other day, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a new way the city will be able to monitor streets and make sure they are in good repair: The Street Conditions Observation Unit (SCOUT). SCOUT inspectors will "drive every City street once per month and report conditions that negatively impact quality of life to 311." The inspectors will use their Blackberrys to report things like graffiti, clogged sewers, potholes, damaged bus shelters, and more. Mayor Bloomberg explained,......

After scaring residents of two boroughs when a woman discovered a pipe bomb on her Jeep Cherokee, police arrested Baudelio Rodriguez for making a pipe bomb and placing it on a car. What makes the story more strange is that it was Rodriguez's daughter who discovered the bomb - the Jeep belongs to his daughter and his wife! He was reportedly angry at his wife for leaving their Brooklyn home and staying with their daughter......

City trash inspectors have been checking out neighborhoods all around town and say that the South Shore of Staten Island has the cleanest streets. The dirtiest? Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant, where residents tell the Daily News that drivers litter the streets. A church administrator said, "It seems every time we sweep, more trash comes." How do trash inspectors rate the streets? There's a scale, and according to the News, "3.0 is the dirtiest rating and 1.0 is......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: bank robbery on 1st and Houston, train tunnel fire under the East River, and a pedestrian struck in Park Slope. Roccer Mom, the 47-year old Myspace-using woman who was convicted of killing her daughter's friend in a drunk driving accident on the way home from clubbing, was sentenced to 16 months in prison today. Donut war on 14th Street: "A Dunkin’ Donuts will soon open several doors down from......

For the second time in a year a patch of radioactive land has been found in the Great Kills Gateway National Recreation Area on Staten Island. The contaminated area is in a wetland area that was made accessible after a wildfire last week. The radiation levels are extremely low and pose no health risk according to National Park Service spokesman Brian Feeney. An expert from the US Department of Energy said the radiation was......

A woman in her car at the park and ride in Pleasant Plains, near the Outerbridge Crossing, was shot in the head. The victim, 58 year old Jeanne Kane of Great Kills, was taken to Staten Island University Hospital, where she died. Police said the gunman may have been in a gray Grand Prix with NJ license plates - and that Kane had been fighting with her ex-husband over money. The Daily News reports that......

Well, maybe not. But parts of it are radioactive. AM New York tells of a secret program conducted by the Department of Energy which had federal helicopters surveying the city to look for areas with abnormal radiation activity. This was in order to help the NYPD prepare in case a "dirty bomb" or other radiation-based weapon was ever deployed in New York. The survey discovered 80 radiological "hot spots" around the city with a particularly......

It's hot, humid, and I want to go to the beach. What are my options? Well, Gateway National Recreation Area is right in our neck of the woods, extending in three New York City boroughs and into northern New Jersey. It is a good place to start your quest for the perfect patch of sand and cooling waters. Queens: Jacob Riis Park 2 to Flatbush Ave., Q35 Bus to Riis Beach Staten Island: Great Kills......

There was a fire this afternoon on Lafayette Street, and Eric Brown took some photographs that are on Flickr. And what we found interesting is that the fire seems to be on the roof - most fires we see seem to come from the inside of the building. We hope no one was hurt. [Related: There was another brush fire in Staten Island's Great Kills area last night...arson or just brush fire season?] And......

Saturday night's blaze across Great Kills Park and neighboring homes may have been set on purpose. The Staten Island Advance reports that fire officials believe smaller fires had been set, leading to the big one that swept across 75 acres. Apparently the weather conditions (warm, dry) contributed to the fire's intensity, and residents are bracing for brush fire season. It's always odd to think about brush fires in NYC, but we're not so different......

A bunch of people emailed to ask if we knew what was going on with that huge cloud of smoke visible over Brooklyn. One of our Gothamist Contribute commenters answers: "There is a brush fire in Great Kills Park That is in Staten Island for those who don't know." NY1 is reporting that the fire is pretty large, but no one has been injured. Picture of the fire taken from the elevated F Train......