Capping off a gangbusters week of widespread adulation following his daring rescue of a woman from a burning building, Newark mayor Cory Booker was awarded the highest honor for valor last night when Stephen Colbert named him his "Alpha Dog of the Week." In the segment below, Colbert salutes Booker for his quick-thinking resourcefulness: "He is so hands on, one time he even pulled himself over and sued himself for racial profiling." more ›

Hey, New York... if you live long enough, you will probably one day be saved by the second sexiest man of the past year—the odds are getting pretty good on this one! Tonight, somewhere on 6th Avenue—mere months (and months) after Ryan Gosling broke up a street fight in Astor Place... in broad daylight... between two elderly men... over a piece of artwork (HERO)—the actor reportedly saved a woman's life as she was about to get hit by a cab. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Not to be outdone by Gwyneth Paltrow, who only saved one woman's life on 9/11, actor Mark Wahlberg has now told Men's Journal that he could have stopped 9/11 from ever happening! Actor Mark Wahlberg needs to stop reading so many movie scripts! more ›

Yesterday around 9 a.m., a former Marine was dropping his daughter off at the baby-sitter's house in Whitestone when he heard screams from a wooded area. It turned out a man was trying to rape a woman. At first, it was unclear what was going on, but Bryan Teichman told the Daily News, "When I saw him throw her over the guardrail, that's when I knew it wasn't play." So he jogged over and starting screaming, "Get the f--- off her!" more ›

Overnight internet sensation Ryan Gosling has finally spoken out about that somewhat awkward scuffle he jumped into earlier this summer, right on the mean streets of Astor Place. The then unknown Gosling decided to break up a fight going down in the middle of an intersection, where a man had been stopped after stealing a painting. Gosling eventually paid the artist for the work, and the thief was sent on his way with the stolen item, learning absolutely nothing about the consequences of his actions. Because everything is, this was all caught on tape and later put into the YouTubes, making the young man famous (he's even since been cast in a movie called Drive which we hear is really good). Watch him blush below—this kid's got a future!: more ›

Still have some questions about Ryan Gosling breaking up that NYC street fight earlier this week? There are so many answers on the internet! First off, US Magazine talked to a witness that had the real story, saying, "There is a man who sells paintings [that] he makes on that corner. This older man ran by him and tried to grab and run away with one of his paintings. The painter was able to stop him before he took off with him and tackled him to the ground." Yawn, not enough Ryan Gosling in that eyewitness account, but it gets more interesting when Our Hero steps in... more ›

Gwyneth Paltrow saved a life on 9/11, and even if she's only finding out about it ten years later, she's embracing it like her precious Oscar. more ›

A hero dog named Rufus—who saved 50 GIs from a suicide bomber in Afghanistan—was honored right here in New York last night. Five hundred guests were on hand at the Animal Medical Center charity event at the American Museum of Natural History, according to the NY Post, and Rufus was toasted by them all. The Centennial Top Dog Gala honors service dogs that go beyond the call of duty. For Rufus, he attacked a Taliban suicide bomber, causing him to detonate a bomb early. He now lives with his handler Sgt. Chris Duke in Atlanta and hopefully he's microchipped. more ›

After a Good Samaritan helped save a woman who fell into the L train tracks at Union Square on Monday night, practically everyone is eager to know who mystery man is! Wesley Autrey, whose subway heroics of 2007 still amaze us (Autrey crawled over a man have a seizure in the tracks and the 1 train went over their heads!), tells the Daily News, "I would just want him to come forward so the city could recognize him - and so I could meet him. You don't find too many people who are willing to save lives." more ›

Last November a 24-year-old Bay Ridge nursing student, Vivian Tran, helped save a man after he collapsed on a subway platform. The 63-year-old John McDermott suffered a stroke and was allegedly dehydrated from chemotherapy for cancer—Tran revived him when she noticed he had no pulse. Apparently looking to get on the subway hero reunion track, the Daily News has now introduced the two to each other, months later. McDermott—a security guard for the Metropolitan Opera—tells them, "God, I was lucky. She's my guardian angel. I had a funny feeling someone did something." Handing Tran flowers, he told her, "I never knew you existed. Thank you." more ›

Who doesn't love a good subway hero story? The two real-life leading roles this time around are played by 18-year-old Rosie Rittenbery and 23-year-old Lance McGraw. Though the two had never seen each other before, even though they're practically neighbors, he saved her life last Thursday morning. more ›

Yesterday, a Sheepshead Bay fisherman was reunited with the family he saved from a sinking car. On October 10, after hearing the screams of two teen girls, Gorman jumped into the bay's cold waters to rescue their mother Alla Yelizarov, who couldn't get out of her seat belt. At the meeting, Yelizarov managed to joke, "I was just trying to park." more ›

The good folks at NY1 didn't have to think too hard when it came to their "New Yorker of The Week" this week. The honor went to Horia (Billy) Cretan, the electronics store owner who ran into a burning building in the Bronx to save a 4-year-old boy on Wednesday. Cretan recounted his time with the boy as he held him, saying, "I said, 'Stay there and just keep your head up and make sure you breathe. No matter what you do don't go nowhere, you are going to be fine.'" And as if there's any question this guy is basically the most admirable man in the galaxy right now, he settled it by quickly changing the subject from his rescue and saying, "I hope somebody will come forward to help these families that suffered damage." Cretan was also honored yesterday by Bronx Beep Ruben Diaz Jr. more ›

Who doesn't love a good heroic dog story? Word is that a concerned canine named Max saved an 89-year-old woman in Little Neck last Friday. The pup, who is a neighbor's dog, made a ruckus after finding Tina DiLuca face-first in her garden on a 90-degree-day. His barking caused Maria DiLuca, her daughter, to rush outside. She said, “We live next door to Max and we’re used to hearing him bark. But he didn’t sound right. I looked out the window and I saw my mother laying there. She’s lucky she fell in the dirt and not the concrete.” Currently the 89-year-old woman is recovering from four fractured ribs and a few abrasions in the hospital, and is expected to stay there for a few weeks. Hopefully Max is getting some extra treats and belly scratches at home. more ›

Hooray for Georgette Clemons, a literally newlywed bride and hero. The Connecticut Post reports that Clemons was being driven to her wedding reception with groom Charles Clemons when she spotted a North End home on fire yesterday afternoon in Bridgeport, CT. She yelled at the car's driver to stop and headed to the house—"charging through the thick curtain of smoke in a wedding dress." The car's driver said, "I don't know what she was thinking, she had just got married." Clemons yelled for the home's occupants to get out and eventually headed in, "The woman was yelling about her animals and didn't want to get out so I had to pull her out." The home's residents, including humans, two dogs and two ferrets, made it out and Clemons also warned neighbors. Though her dress is blackened from the smoke and her "shoes got messed up," Clemons told the CP, "What are you going to do? At least the people are OK." more ›

Police believe that arson suspect Caleb Lacey set fire to a Lawrence, Long Island building because he, as a volunteer firefighter, wanted to play the hero, but the relatives of the four family members who died in the blaze say Lacey had another motive. Saul Preza, 19, his mother, Morena Vanegas, 46, and her daughters Susanna, 9, and Andrea, 10 were fatally trapped in their second floor apartment, with the fire set in the stairwell and the building's fire escape removed. Newsday reports that relatives say Lacey, who lived 100 feet from the building, was "jealous" because his girlfriend was interested in Preza: Preza's brother said that Lacey "felt threatened by Saul. That's why he did it. That's the only reason," adding that his brother wasn't interested in the Lacey's girlfriend. Lacey's father, an evangelical pastor, told his church, "The tears that I shed today are not tears of sadness - they're tears of joy because I decided that I was going to turn my issues over to Jesus." more ›

As luck would have it, a New York Times editor was on the C train platform at Penn Station Monday afternoon when a man fell down onto the tracks and cracked his skull. Lucky not because the editor rescued the man, but lucky for the Times because he gave his card to the guy who did, a 33-year-old actor named Chad Lindsey (pictured), who has come forward to tell his story to the paper. Reached by phone, he tells the Times, "I’m of many minds of being in the spotlight, but what the hey, I’m an actor—shocker." Lindsey was on his way to a "reading" when the man took a nosedive off the platform.

I’m kind of zoned out, and I saw this guy come too quickly to the edge. He stopped and kind of reeled around. I felt bad, because I couldn’t get close enough to grab his coat. He fell, and immediately hit his head on the rail and passed out. I dropped my bag and jumped down there. I tried to wake him up. He probably had a massive concussion at that point. I jumped down there and he just wouldn’t wake up, and he was bleeding all over the place. I yelled, ‘Contact the station agent and call the police!’ which I think is hilarious because I don’t think I ever said ‘station agent’ before in my life. What am I, on ‘24’?

Memo to lazy dudes: If you buzz your girlfriend into the building and she's not at your door in a timely manner, you need to put Guitar Hero on pause and get your ass downstairs. On Saturday night the girlfriend of a Greenwich Village man was taking longer than usual to get upstairs to his apartment, and when he finally went down to see what happened he found that she was being raped in the building's vestibule. This happened around 7 p.m. on lower Fifth Avenue, according to the Post. So be alert! At least in this case the boyfriend was able to subdue the attacker and call the cops; the alleged rapist, 28-year-old Dean Rogich, told detectives, "I followed her into the building so I could rob her." more ›

Last weekend a mystery surfer saved the life of Brian Jordan, who was struggling in the water 100 yards off the shore of Coney Island. The story surfaced with a photo on the cover of the Daily News late last week (a surefire way to crack the case) and lo and behold, the mystery man has been unmasked...or rather, outed by his family. Turns out the hero is humble, and just a bit shy of the spotlight.

Kevin Campion, a 30-year-old ship's captain from Seattle, doesn't mind if his lifesaving deed goes unrewarded. more ›

In a headline ripped from a superhero flick, the Daily News is reporting that a drowning man, Brian Jordan, was saved by a solo surfer off the shore of Coney Island last weekend. Jordan is now trying to find his saviour, who fled the scene after carrying him 100+ yards back to shore and saving his life. more ›

Veeramuthu Kalimuthu, a Columbia University mechanic, managed to lift the man to the platform and then crossed the tracks again in order to catch a downtown train. more ›

One very new New York resident has been given a crash course on city living. Kevin, the blogger at Naked Sponge, just moved here a week ago from Canada and he's already jumped into the subway tracks to save a life! Something that could possibly help him in his apartment hunt (nothing says "perfect tenant" like a Post headline calling you a hero). He explains his underground adventure:

See, I was waiting for the L train at 3rd Avenue just minding my own business when this lovely lady in her 50’s decides to peer down the track to see how far away the oncoming train is. You know the one I’m talking about; the one with the 6 foot drop from the platform that leads down to two metal rails? When all of a sudden… she falls over the edge. more ›

A woman shoved into the Brooklyn-bound Q train tracks at Union Square was saved by two bystanders on Monday night. Suzanne Trotman only suffered bruises as she was pulled from the tracks less than a minute before a train pulled in. Two people, a man and a woman, jumped into the tracks to help Trotman out. Trotman told the Post she 'got up really quickly," adding, "Good thing I didn't get knocked out... I kept... more ›

Today, the Daily News put Amarjit Singh on its cover and asks New Yorkers to help him. Who is Singh? He was the cook at the Texas Smokehouse BBQ in Murray Hill until October 6, when a mentally ill man, Lee Coleman, stormed into the kitchen and grabbed four knives. Singh tried to stop Coleman, but Coleman slashed him in the head before heading outside to repeatedly stab pedestrian Susan Barron. Coleman only stopped when... more ›