Early yesterday morning, a 1992 Thunderbird crashed into an MTA bus on Hillside Avenue in Queens, killing the car's two occupants. Christopher Boyd, the driver, and passenger Eric Richmond were pronounced dead at the scene. The bus driver and one of the passenger suffered minor injuries. Boyd had received the Thunderbird as a Christmas present, and police believe he was speeding when he lost control of the vehicle as he tried to make a turn.......

There was a bit in the MTA's August 8 Storm Report which mentioned that the MTA was working on some street furniture designs to "raise vent heights to prevent water inflow." As part of the recommendation to "Implement corrective action plan for top flood-prone locations," the MTA, with the Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Protection, is developing short- and long-term solutions at the most flooding-vulnerable locations. Perhaps a more promising and intriguing......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A special delivery (as in a birth) on Hillside Avenue in Manhattan, a jumper down on Flatbush in Brooklyn, and a pursuit with injured officers at 106th St & Rockaway Blvd. in Queens. A Gambino crime family associate's son was working the elevator the day of the Deutsche Bank fire and helped save a woman right before the firefighters arrived. What will someone pay for signatures from people like......

Why was a 33 year old man running around the streets of Jamaica, Queens, firing a machine gun on Monday? To settle a beef with his sister's ex, of course. Patrick Ledger was unable to find his sister's ex, though, so he started firing the weapon around 179th Street and Hillside Avenue. After many 911 calls, the police found Ledger and shot him in the eye when he refused to put down the gun. The......

A man firing a .45 caliber machine pistol was shot by police in Jamaica, Queens. After receiving 911 calls about a man firing a gun at 179th Street and Hillside Avenue, police had chased the 33 year old man four blocks. A nearby office worker Ron Karo told the NY Times, "I looked out the window, and I saw two cops shooting a black man...He was going up and down. I never saw him shooting......

Yesterday the Department of Transportation installed the first countdown pedestrian signal at the intersection of Coney Island Avenue and Kings Highway. Here's how the city explains the timer: The pedestrian countdown signals are the same size as the existing pedestrian signal head, but feature a dual display - the traditional "Walking Man" and "Hand" display, and a pedestrian interval countdown display. The countdown feature is programmed to start at the beginning of the "flashing hand"......

We got an email from the Straphangers yesterday, who directed us to check out the MTA's NYC Bus Rapid Transit Study. The MTA is looking to identify "corridors in the five boroughs that have BRT potential," and there will be public information sessions starting next week in all five boroughs. So far, the MTA is considering fifteen corridors:Bronx - Fordham Road/Pelham Parkway - Grand Concourse - Webster Avenue + 3rd Avenue Brooklyn - Flatbush Avenue......

Those brothels in Queens just keep on popping up. Last night cops busted not one but two of them. Well, OK, it sounds like one was more of an illegal strip club but the Post calls 'em brothels so... The first one, Club Daydreams, at 146-16 Hillside Avenue in Jamaica was busted by the NYPD Vice Squad around 1 A.M. who arrested eight women for prostitution. The Buildings Department also got the joint for......