Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens) is accused of soliciting favors from Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez on behalf of an alleged Ponzi schemer who paid for the politician's Caribbean vacations. According to a story broken by the Miami Herald, Texas billionaire and suspected scammer Allen Stanford asked Meeks — a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs — to convince Chavez to initiate a criminal investigation against a former employee in March 2006. Meeks allegedly agreed, and traveled to Venezuela a month later where he met with Chavez. Venezuelan prosecutors indicted the former employee the following year. more ›

A few years back, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez famously proclaimed from the U.N. General Assembly podium that President Bush was the "devil" and the podium area still smelled like sulfur because W. had been speaking up there. But this time around, Chavez said, "It doesn’t smell of sulfur, anymore. It’s gone. No, it smells of something else. It smells of hope." more ›

City Councilman Charles Barron has extended an invitation to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop by City Hall while he's in town for this week's UN summit. Barron has a history of wooing controversial world leaders, having brought Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe by the city's chambers in 2002. Barron's latest invitation has raised the ire of other local politicians like Peter Vallone Jr., who told the Daily News, "If he wants to invite despotic dictators, he should invite them to his own house. They don't belong at the home of democracy in New York City." Barron clearly doesn't see Chavez in the same light calling him "a shining example of a humanitarian." The controversy even got the fiery of late former mayor Ed Koch into the discussion, saying, "Barron has a right to invite anybody he wants, and everybody else has a right to moon him." more ›

Footage of Fidel Castro was released yesterday, showing the former Cuban president visiting with Venezulan President Hugo Chavez and his young brother Raul Castro, who now rules Cuba. Per CBS News:

A thin but animated Castro, dressed in an open-neck track suit over pajamas, is seen in a spirited conversation with the other two men in an unidentified garden setting. There is no audio, but the government news anchor said the three were discussing the global food crisis and the U.S. elections, among other issues.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a homicide on Merrick and Baisley Blvds. in Queens, an overturned auto on the F.D.R. Drive at East 23rd St. in Manhattan, and shots fired at the police at 58th St. and 18th Ave. in Brooklyn.
• Two employees were found dead in an empty 20,000 gallon vat they were cleaning at an industrial laundry service in NJ. The men appear to have been overcome by chemical fumes and suffocated.
• New York politicians pile on the Bush administration over proposed cuts to Homeland Security funding. Sen. Schumer wondered aloud, "You scratch your head and wonder, is the White House on the same planet as the rest of us?"
• People rallied outside the Venezuelan consulate in Manhattan today in support of President Hugo Chavez, who is in an electoral bid to become the permanent leader of his country. Chavez supporters suggested that the U.S. follow Venezuela's lead, and we're fairly sure they were referring to expanding social programs and not installing President Bush as leader for life.
• Queens Crap spots some paved-over property to provide parking. These super-steep driveways should be fun to negotiate in winter weather.
• Tagging a museum is okay if you fork over enough money for the privilege.
• After a 25-year-old man was fatally stabbed inside the Flatiron district's Club Duvet, owners closed the nightspot "by court order."
• Photos of the Banksy show opening at the Vanina Holasek Gallery.
• A red tailed hawk fell 20 stories off the top of a building in the Bronx and was then hit by a passing car. Police suspect the bird was attacked by a person.

A report released by the Center for Immigration Studies shows that foreign born immigrants living in New York are socioeconomically closer to the average citizen than elsewhere in the country. The study says that New York immigrants are more likely to be in the country legally, have health insurance and tend to be better educated. The New York Times reports that the states with the widest income gaps between immigrants and citizens are California, Texas,... more ›

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a double stabbing at 14-19 31 Drive in Queens, a double shooting at 138th St. and 59th Ave. in Queens, and a commercial robbery on East 12th St. between 3rd and 4th Aves. in Manhattan. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is committing millions of dollars to residents of the South Bronx, pleasing some, rankling others, and infuriating the Mayor of Caracas, which is Venezuela's desperately poor capital. Marilyn Kaytor, who... more ›

Soft Ice Cream, by I'mJustSaying on Flickr. Tag yours with "Gothamist" if you want us to use them. more ›

Towards the end of the year, it becomes sport to wonder who Time's Person of the Year will be. It's sort of like wondering who will be on the cover of Sports Illustrated or who People's Sexiest Man Alive is (both are also Time Inc. publications, as it were). Time tried to get its readers excited, asking them to vote online for who they thought should be the Person of the Year, with choices being George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Kim Jong Il, Al Gore, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hugo Chavez, Nancy Pelosi, and The YouTube Guys. Well, if you bothered to vote, you never had a chance - Time decided to make "You" the Person of the Year. more ›

With Tina Fey gone from the writers' staff to primetimier pastures and Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz and Finesse Mitchell axed from the staff, people were wondering how this season of Saturday Night Live would stack up. And while articles calling it "Saturday Night Dead" are a mainstay every fall, Gothamist wasn't very confident given that the host would be Dane Cook, who already hosted not even a year ago! Here's our thoughts about the season premiere: more ›

Is it any surprise that money speaks to Mayor Bloomberg? During his radio hour with John Gambling on WABC, Mayor B said that in spite of the hassle - and vitriol - that the United Nations generates (diplomats' reckless driving! world leaders calling the President a devil! gridlock!), they do bring a lot of money to the city:"This is a good business for us. What is said in the UN, I find most of it to be despicable. But whether they say it here or in Bonn, Germany, doesn't change that. Why have the Germans make all of the money off it?"Yeah! Don't let those stinkin' Europeans get money we could be hording! The Mayor's remarks come as some who were reeling from Hugo Chavez's dramatic speech question whether the U.N. should stay. The Daily News has a quote from State Senator Martin Golden who says, "We could rent that space out in a heartbeat. I have no problem hosting the UN, but we shouldn't be putting out the red carpet for people to beat up on us - no matter how much business it accounts for." Ooh, the Secretariat as a rental building? That would be sweet - firetrap or not! more ›

Venezulan President Hugo Chavez followed up his devilish U.N. appearance with a visit to Harlem's Mount Olivet Baptist Church, where his tirade has earned him a nickname from the NY Post: . (Yeah, it doesn't quite have the ring of "Wacko Jacko.") Though Chavez's main goal was to announce that he would distribute discounted heating oil to the poor, he took the time to continue his jabs at the Commander in Chief :

Bush "is an alcoholic, a sick man and very dangerous. And he has a lot of power," Chavez said. more ›

President Bush ended many New Yorkers' gridlock nightmares by leaving the city yesterday, but he - and the rest of the U.S. delgation to the United Nations - missed Venezulan President Hugo Chavez's speech. And what a speech it was: Chavez called Bush "the devil," said it smelled of sulfur (since Bush had stood there), and showed said Americans should be reading Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance instead of "watching Superman and Batman movies." Yeah, a big F-U to Bush and Hollywood! The NY Times reported laughs and gasps during his speech, because the General Assembly is normally a staid crowd. (The NY Times also reported how Chavez's regret was that he never met Chomsky before he died, pointing out that Chomsky is actually alive.) And, to think, people were worried about what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would say (though Chavez didn't deny the Holocaust happened in his speech.) more ›

Houstonist reports on cross-dressing thieves and undressing educators this week. A Peeping Tom defends himself with a papaya and an outraged onlooker asks Ken Lay, "TATER TOTS OR FRIES?" Also, FEMA wants it's money back. more ›