Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Elliot Ave. in Queens, a pedestrian struck on West 86th St. and Amsterdam Ave. in Manhattan, and a stabbing on Cozine Ave. in Brooklyn. The brother of murdered Councilman James Davis decried the threats of assassination against another councilman from Charles Barron's chief of staff. A man robbed a sunbathing woman in Central Park of her iPod and wallet, then also demanded a kiss before departing.......

When NJ Governor Jon Corzine was critically injured in a car accident two weeks ago, a commenter wrote, "Obviously, God wants Codey to be governor," referring to Richard Codey, the NJ Senate majority leader (pictured) who has served as acting governor under the three past NJ governors. And, apparently, so does Corzine himself: The NY Times has an article about how Corzine was often not in NJ before being injured.:In the 450 days between his......

A new wrinkle to the Rudy Giuliani presidential campaign that doesn't involve the words "anti-" (like anti-gun, anti-abortion, and anti-straight-only marriage) or "marrying his cousin." Yesterday, the NY Times revealed that Andrew Giuliani had been estranged from Rudy Giuliani, because of problems with his dad's new wife. The 21-year-old Duke student told the Times, "There’s obviously a little problem that exists between me and his wife. And we’re trying to figure that out. But as......

We couldn't even get through Governor Spitzer's first month before a "showdown with Assembly Speaker Silver." State Democrats have been saying they feel betrayed - or, in the words of Manhattan Assemblyman Keith Wright to NY1, "totally, totally disrespected" - because the panel formed by Spitzer to select State Comptroller candidates didn't select any of their choices. State Democrats claim the panel was supposed to pick five candidates, including a Democratic Assemblyman interested in......

Texas is thawing, the Northeast is freezing, and a sort of natural order seems almost restored to the Ist-A-Verse. Almost. Londonist HQ—that is to say, the city of London—was battered by heavy winds, making it a bad time to be a twelve-meter (nearly forty-foot) tall snowman. Still, not everyone decided to keep warmly covered. Meanwhile, back indoors, the Big Brother racism is now causing all kinds of headaches for international diplomats, and Londonist got into......

- Brooklyn Papers talks to Brooklyn Beep Marty Markowitz who tells them they are biased about the Atlantic Yards project and updates them on his diet - An eighth grader tells The Politicker's Azi Paybarah that Eliot Spitzer's inauguration speech was positive but "mean" to George Pataki. How naive the young are - wait till you pay taxes, kid! - Speaking of Spitzer, good luck to him on trying to introduce gay marriage proposals......

At midnight, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was sworn in as the 54th Governor of New York. The NY Times reports that during the private ceremony (the public inauguration will be today at 1PM, pushed back an hour because of the weather) that federal judge Robert W. Sweet swore in his former clerk, that guests cheered, "Go get 'em, Eliot!" after he took the oath, and that a 12-liter bottle of Veuve-Clicquot was very difficult......

A look at some noteworthy programs this week: New York City Ballet: Bringing Balanchine Back (Sunday, 7:00 p.m. WNET 13) Kevin Kline narrates this documentary following the journey of the New York City Balet to St. Petersburg, the birthplace of its founder George Balanchine, where they perform at the storied Mariinsky Theatre. Great Performances Garrison Keillor's New Year's Eve Special (Sunday, 10:00 p.m. WNET 13 and NJN) we all know about the other hackneyed New......

This has been a rough week for your -ist pals, though you wouldn't know it from the great posts all over the network. Plagued with server problems, our tech team (led by the great Neil Epstein) toiled around the clock to solve the glitches as they arose. Seriously, we've said, typed, and thought the phrase "server problems" more in the past week than we have for the last 35 years combined. Why not say it......

New York based fashion designer Oleg Cassini died at age 92 last night. Best known for his work as Jackie Kennedy's "official wardrobe designer," he also dressed a number of Hollywood stars, including Gene Tierney (his second wife) and Joan Fontaine. He was also a playboy, dating Betty Grable, Lana Turner, Ursula Andress, and Grace Kelly. The AP reports that "fashion historians credit him with the sheath, the A-line, the little white collar and the......

There's a funny article in the NY Times about how many linguists believe Mayor Bloomberg has shed his Boston accent for a... well, it's hard to say whether or not he speaks New Yorkese, but it's definitely less Boston than before. There is a funny quote from Barry Popik, the administrative judge, former candidate for Manhattan Borough President, member of the American Dialect Society and Big Apple enthusiast: "It appears to me that Bloomberg's been......

There is a lot of speculation about how Mayor Bloomberg will make good on his inauguration day promise to go after illegal guns. After his speech, the NRA and various pro-gun groups attacked the Mayor; for instance, the NY Sun had an NRA quote saying that "Mayor Bloomberg ought to focus on New York City, given that that's his area of responsibility. He has challenges over there because he has misplaced priorities." Misplaced priorities? To......

Mayor Bloomberg will not only have celebrity friends at his inaugural party, he'll have hot dogs too! On the menu, according to the Daily News, are tomato soup, mini sandwiches, hamburgers, grilled vegetables, popcorn and pretzels, cupcakes decorated in orange and blue (the city's colors), chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and "Hizzoner's favorite dish," hot dogs. Hot dogs are really his favorite food? Hmm, wonder if he prefers the Kobe Beef Hot Dog - or......

Since the only thing happening in the Mayor's office is fussing over the inauguration party (let's hope a civilian isn't injured by the scrum of reporters this year!) and possibly needing to spin the "thuggish" remarks from last week's transit strike, all eyes are on the City Council which is about to select a new Speaker. The NY Times says that the two frontrunners are Bill DeBlasio and Christine Quinn, of Brooklyn and Manhattan respectively.......

Keeping in the electoral mood, Gothamist wants to point out the Museum of the City of New York's exhibit on former Mayor Ed Koch, who is the first mayor we remember (sorry, Abe Beame). The exhibit is called "New York Comes Back: The Mayoralty of Edward I. Koch," which coincides with the book with the same name by Daily News writer Michael Goodwin, and it promises to reveal "the accomplishments and the controversies of the......

The NY Times reports that the Mayor's approval ratings are still on the rise. While his rating is at a stellar (for him) 50%, the NY Times tempers that news by running terrible photograph of him (right) - he looks exactly like a Sleestack! Of course, higher voter approvals can be helped out by sophisticated voter analysis and spending $1 million weekly on TV media. People are giving him credit for paying attention the public......

If it isn't enough that the world has issues with America over our foreign policies, Vice President Dick Cheney has made sure the world hates our fashion choices as well. When traveling to Poland for a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Cheney made the decision to wear an "olive-drab parka, hiking boots and knit ski cap," truly enforcing the ugly American stereotype. The Washington Post's Robin Givhan points out that......

Well, New York Republican politicians must have felt right at home in D.C., because it looked just liked New York City did last year during the Republican National Convention. Both Governor Pataki and former Mayor Giuliani were in attendance (they got to sit in a special Presidential box), but the NY Times reports that New York Region > Reporter's Notebook: Pataki One-Up Over Giuliani in Jockeying for Attention" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/21/nyregion/21york.html">Pataki had a much higher profile,......

All attention is on Washington D.C. these few days, with President Bush's second Inauguration on deck. While the White House has its own information (yes, White House, America's Future does Rock - especially when Hillary Duff is performing!), but Gothamist highly recommends you check out DCist's Inauguration section, like how mylar balloons, if launched at the same time, could cause problems for the festivities. Newsday notices that all the big events this weekend are happening......

Hmm, remember, in the throes of the Republican National Convention, last August, when political tempers flared and the weather was so so so so much warmer, New York magazine ran a story about the feasibility (and reasons why) NYC should secede? Apparently, the possibility of NYC seceding is not such a wacky idea, as the City Council is considering a bill that would propose a commission to study exactly that. The Post reports that the......

L.A. Times entertainment reporter Patrick Goldstein looks at the California recall nuttiness in his column, The Big Picture. After analyzing Arnold's win ("once hard-nosed political reporters got their mitts on Arnold, he would crumble like a bad Schatzi strudel. Well, they proved to be about as scary as Don Zimmer throwing a punch at Pedro Martinez."), Goldstein goes through a few candidates he thinks might have the stuff to run against Arnold. Here are a......

Rudy Giuliani and companion Judith Nathan were married yesterday by Mayor Bloomberg at Gracie Mansion. Gothamist likes the idea of having a press conference right after the wedding - it's very romantic. We were also shocked when we saw the pictures of Caroline and Andrew Giuliani, especially Andrew. Gothamist is very fond of Chris Farley's performance as a clambering, fat, hyper Andrew Giuliani during Rudy's inauguration and we're sure all of you are, too.......