New York City welcomed royalty yesterday, as Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of Orange and Crown Princess Maxima were greeted by a 21-gun salute and welcomed by Mayor Bloomberg and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a ceremony at the USS Intrepid. It's all part of the 400th anniversary celebration of Henry Hudson's arrival in the New York Harbor; the Crown Prince said, "It's an honor to be welcomed here by the Secretary of State and the mayor of this great city. Arriving in New York is always a great pleasure, and the pleasure increases with every visit." more ›

Yesterday, New Amsterdam Village, the miniature Dutch village, opened up in Bowling Green Park as part of the ongoing festivities surrounding the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's arrival. Dutch ambassador to the United States Renée Jones-Bos and Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe made the village's opening formal by cutting a Gouda cheese! more ›

Those likable Dutch, to celebrate the quadricentennial of Hudson's arrival in New York harbor in 1609, are busy right now building a replica colonial village at Bowling Green. It's part of the NY400 Week celebration, which officially kicks off Tuesday September 8th, and includes a massive Dutch music, art, and dance festival on Governors Island (The New Island Festival), tours of the replica of Hudson's ship The Half Moon , sailing races, the unveiling of the New Amsterdam Pavilion (a gift from the Netherlands at Peter Minuit Plaza, Battery Park), an historic walking tour co-hosted by Russell Shorto, author of the stellar book The Island at the Center of the World; and a boatload more activities! [This pdf has it all.] more ›

The Triathalon spirit seems to be spreading all over town this weekend. A 65-year-old man had to be pulled out of the Hudson last night after he dove in and attempted to swim out onto the Intrepid. He made it 50 feet off of shore before firefighters caught up with him and assisted him onto a ladder leading to a rescue boat. An FDNY source told the News, "He felt like he had to go and touch the Intrepid, so instead of paying for admission and going on board, he decided to jump in the water. He was intoxicated. ... You could smell it." The man was taken to Roosevelt Hospital for observation and treatment for minor injuries. Where will the Dutchman's celebratory Quadricentennial festivities lead next?? more ›

As Ed Koch awaits going under the knife for a heart operation in the next couple days, he has the same old playful, dark, New York sense of humor as ever when talking to reporters at his Columbia-Presbyterian hospital room. The former mayor said to the News, "Whatever God wants, God will have. If He wants me to hang around, I'll hang around. If He wants to have some legal [or political] advice, He'll take me." Koch was going in for routine angioplasty when doctors told him he would have to repair damage to his aortic valve stemming from a heart attack he had in 1999. Koch said he loves Columbia because it's the hospital where "the food is good" and added, "I'm looking at the Hudson - oh, wait a minute, Henry's going by... Henry Hudson. He's waving." more ›

Saturday saw one of the many festivities celebrating the 400 year anniversary of Henry Hudson's visit to the area—the launch of River Day, with a flotilla of ships, including a replica of Hudson's ship the Half Moon. Ships left the Statue of Liberty yesterday morning and are heading up the Hudson River, making stops along the way, ending in Albany on Saturday. more ›

At a press conference with Dutch officials to announce plans for the joint Dutch- more ›

A doctor who practices in NJ with admitting privileges at New York Presbyterian Hospital. His 94-year-old mother. Her $832,453 savings. And a wall collapse in Upper Manhattan. In a case Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau called "a mini-Astor case," Dr. Robin Motz was accused of stealing his mother's savings since 2003. more ›

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a commercial robbery on Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn, a suspicious fire on Renwick St. in Manhattan, and an "air-mail incident" at Union St. and Franklin Ave in Brooklyn. We can't wait to hear what that possibly means. Six men were murdered Saturday morning in New York City. Separately! The Times reports that patrons of the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden don't know what they're enthusiastically drinking to at a... more ›

Historical ecologists and research cartographers are using historical pre-Revolution military maps produced by the British to create a 21st Century digital rendering of the topography of Manhattan in the 17th Century, before the arrival of European colonists. The New Yorker has a slideshow of a number of images that are attempts to show Manhattan as it was occupied solely by Lenape Indians. The basis for the topographical model was drawn from this 1782 map* drawn up by the British military to help defend the colony from George Washington and the Continental Army. The image above is a rendering of what a 17th Century Times Square looked like in comparison to West 42nd St. today. more ›

The AP has this great photograph of a dog named Rocky at the Atlanta Humane Society. The Humane Society explained that Rocky had a #7 Michael Vick t-shirt because the society has been taking donated Vick clothing and using them as rags and bedding. Vick, the star quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges related to running a dogfighting ring at his Virginia home. more ›

Police are investigating the murder-suicide of an 18-year-old woman and a 40-year-old police officer. When 7-year veteran officer Fred Maselli didn't show up for work at the 34th Precinct, his colleagues were sent to his apartment at 3611 Henry Hudson Parkway West to investigate and found Maselli's body as well as the blood-soaked body of Shirley Fontanez. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a motorcycle jacking at 230th Place and 148th Ave. in Queens, shots fired at police at Gates and Nostrand Aves. in Brooklyn, and multiple pedestrians struck at Coney Island and Ditmas Aves. in Brooklyn.
• State and city politicians broke ground in the Bronx yesterday on a new Metro-North station stop at the under-construction Yankee Stadium. It's hoped that the transit option will cut down on auto traffic from upstate fans driving to games.
• The FDNY's officers (e.g., lieutenants, supervisors) will get a 4% pay increase retroactive to March 20th, and annual increases of 4% each year for the next three years. It nets out to a 17% salary increase.
• A tip led police to the arrest of two women in the brutal 2003 killing of a 91-year-old woman in a robbery that gained them a gold chain snatched from the woman's neck and a stack of bath towels.
• Long Island animal-cruelty authorities are offering a $20,000 reward in an effort to find out who tied a two-year-old dog to a tree, doused it with gasoline, then lit it on fire and left it to die.
• The Nautica New York City Triathlon is tomorrow and there will be significant traffic disruptions on the West Side and Henry Hudson Highways and 72nd St. NY1 has the details.
• It's Saturday, so Canada's Globe and Mail takes a look at which city has the better 24-hour, never-sleeps nightlife, London or New York.
• If Jay-Z's mom bought him a computer with Microsoft Excel when he was little, instead of a boombox.
• There's still some time to get to Coney Island to catch the headliners of today's Siren Festival. Here's the schedule.
• Helmet-cam video of a NYC bike messenger on the talk show "Ellen".

There's a fascinating obituary in the NY Times today for Harvey J. Weinstein (no relation to the movie producer). Weinstein died on May 13 at age 82 in Manhattan, and while he was once the head of the biggest tuxedo manufacturer, he gained a different kind of notoriety when he was kidnapped in 1993 by a man who worked at one of Weinstein's companies as a collar maker. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a body was found at Schenk and Livonia Aves. in Brooklyn that was initially reported as body parts, a shooting on Prospect Ave. in the Bronx, and there was a police car multi-vehicle accident on the Henry Hudson Parkway near 79th St.
• A daycare cries child abuse as the artists who share their space are attempting to throw the tots out on the street.
• The head of neuropsychiatry at NYU Medical Center testified that Peter Braunstein was plotting to cap his life of crime by killing Vogue Editor Anna Wintour.
• A former domestic violence counselor was found strangled to death in her own home in Brooklyn.
• The Yankees cursed pitching staff suffers another setback as Darrell Rasner broke his finger in today's game against the Mets.
• New York's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating real estate practices that may have involved brokers pressuring appraisers to inflate values.
• Jason Giambi finally admits to taking steroids prior to the BALCO scandal and apologizes for it. Deafening silence is heard from other accused players.
• Eyewitness News anchor Liz Cho gave birth to a little girl this week.

Almost exactly two years after a 150-foot part of a 600-foot retaining wall next to the Castle Village apartment buildings collapsed into the Henry Hudson Parkway, the Department of Buildings is ready to release its report. The Post have the exclusive and says DOB investigators "determined that the managers of the apartment complex and an engineering firm brought in to examine the wall knew the structure was at imminent risk of falling." The DOB feels the firm could have warned the city about the wall's instability, since its engineers had seen the "65-foot-high wall move 9 inches away from the hillside in less than a week." more ›

Yesterday, two people were killed in different incidents where their cars crashed over guardrails and plunged 26-40 feet below the roadways. Near midnight on Saturday, Joseph Harris's car rammed one driven by Gretchen Patterson on the Henry Hudson Parkway near West 74th. As the Post reports, Patterson's car went "banging into a wall, flipping over it and then plunging down into Riverside Park." The 48-year-old Brooklyn woman was pronounced dead at St. Luke's Hospital, while Harris, who had been driving 90 MPH, was charged with DWI and vehicular manslaughter. more ›

Robert Moses’ legacy may be getting tweaked if organizers of three upcoming exhibitions have their way. more ›

A woman driving on the Henry Hudson Parkway died after a crash near the Moshulu Parkway. Police believe that 34 year old Lusaed Perez lost control of the car as she was putting on her makeup. A police source said, "There was makeup all over the air bag," plus there were open containers of makeup in the car. The Post says Perez's Mitsubishi "careened across an embankment, smashed into a lamppost then crashed into two trees." more ›

Yesterday afternoon, a 51 year old Bronx woman was fatally hit by a city bus. Rachel Levy had been crossing a road near the Henry Hudson Parkway around West 236th Street. The bus driver didn't realize someone was hit and didn't stop; the driver was not charged. more ›

With the mercury rising to high for the city's liking, Mayor Bloomberg held a press conference at the Office of Emergency Operations in Brooklyn to emphasize what the city is doing during the heat wave. We suspect he's trying to be extra visible and genially authoritative (check out the plaid shirt!) in order to salvage public opinion after the Queens blackout, but his words are important:

“The heat wave affects New Yorkers in all five boroughs, and that’s why the City is aggressively moving to protect New Yorkers from Tottenville to Co-Op City from this week’s oppressive heat and promote energy conservation. Hundreds of people have already tragically passed away due to the heat wave in other parts of the country, and I urge New Yorkers – especially seniors – to take the danger of high temperatures and humidity seriously. You can beat the heat by drinking plenty of water, staying out of the sun, avoiding strenuous activity, and taking advantage of City cooling centers and public pools. The City is also actively taking large energy users such as wastewater treatment plants off the grid and conserving energy at City buildings across the five boroughs to help cope with the increased demands on the electrical grid.”

- And speaking of horrible accidents, a man was thrown from his car on the Henry Hudson - and then a car drove over him; police suspect his wife was speeding, causing the accident that threw him out more ›

The body of a 39 year old black woman was found on the shore of Riverside Park yesterday morning. A passer-by called 911 after seeing the body near Marginal Street and the West Side Highway. The Post says the woman lived on 143rd Street, with two children. A purse filled with cash was also found at the scene, but police did not see any "immediate signs of criminality," according to Newsday; the ME's office will perform an autopsy. more ›

Were you stuck in crazy traffic on the west side last night? Here's why. more ›

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We're always looking for current bike path maps. The most authoratative comes from Transportation Alternatives, but it's a 1.5MB PDF, and hasn't been updated this year. The NYC Bike Map 2006 mashup pictured above is attempting to fill in the gaps, but seems to be missing a bunch of the smaller paths. We've already featured the Secret Bike Maps page-- but still haven't taken that trip to City Island. Has anyone successfully biked up there from Manhattan? We've circled the route on the map above, but we're not sure how long it would take to get there and back, and none of our pansy-ass friends will do it without some more information. more ›

Police suspect that the 22 year old man who died when his car crash into a Brooklyn home was driving at 100 MPH. Witnesses say that Michael Adams's driving was "out of control" early yesterday morning in the Farragut section of Brooklyn; WNBC reports that the car plowed through an iron gate and brick wall, "landing on another car." Then the two cars exploded, setting Gregory Mewborn's house on Clarendon Road on fire. Mewborn escaped (but said he saw a "wall of fire"), but Adams died. Adams' family disputes the drag racing idea, but speeding at late hours is much more common than you'd think. When we've had to travel to the airport at 4AM, we've seen cars go crazy speeds on the West Side Highway. more ›

The police are searching for a livery cab driver who drove his car into the Hudson River near 69th Street. Reports say that the driver was asked to move his car around noon, "from an area near West 69th Street and the Henry Hudson Parkway," and then he drove it off the pier. What's unclear is whether or not the cab was on the Henry Hudson Parkway, or actually in Riverside Park, where the pier is located. If you look at this photograph we took a few years ago of the pier during an icy period, you'll see that the Parkway is actually above the pier. Did the cab go through the parkway's railing, falling onto the pier, and then off the pier? Or was actually in front of one of the Trump buildings on the West Side (you know, Trumpistan), and it flew off from there, into the park, onto the pier, and into the water? This is very strange. more ›

Last night, one of the walls of 496 LaGuardia Place collapsed, causing the evacuation of all residents and Houston Street to be closed. Luckily, no one was hurt as a "cascade of bricks" fell at 6:30PM. Residents told the Daily News that there was no construction at the buliding; the Department of Buildings is investigating the collapse. And according to Wired New York, 496 LaGuardia was built in 1909 and converted to a condo building in 1984. more ›

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