Above photograph of Mets manager Willie Randolph (center) with Jackie Robinson's widow Rachel (left) and daughter Sharon (right) and below photograph of Governor David Paterson throwing the ceremonial first pitch of the game by Kathy Willens/AP Mets 6 Washington 0: It was a great day and night at Shea. During the day, Rachel Robinson, Jackie’s widow, toured the Jackie Robinson Rotunda at Citi Field and described it as “walking into a cathedral in a......

Midtown Sunset, by djwerdna at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on 31st St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan, an attempted sexual assault at Broadway and Gates Ave. in Brooklyn, and an aircraft incident at Laguardia in Queens. The Yankees Double-A farm team in Trenton has a mascot named Chase, who catches frisbees, brings water to umpires, and serves as a canine batboy. In his off hours, he managed to knock......

Johnny Podres died last night in a hospital in upstate New York at the age of 75. He'd been suffering from serious medical problems for some time. In 1955, Podres ensured himself a place in Brooklyn and baseball history as a young left-hander who pitched the Dodgers to their only World Series Championship while in Brooklyn, and he did it against the hated Yankees. Ask someone real quick, "Who was the World Series MVP in......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: person under a train at 71st St. and 16th Ave. in Brooklyn, a stabbing on 112th St. and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan, and a bank robbery at Ave. of the Americas and West 18th St. in Manhattan. The Times wonders if people will be hoarding pre-rate-increase Metrocards the way token buyers used to stock up before a fare hike. A 17-year-old from Mt. Vernon was being held at Rikers......

In the wake of the horrific tiger escape resulting in one death and two injuries at the San Francisco Zoo, zoos around the country are examining their tiger exhibit set-ups. Tiger Mountain at the Bronx Zoo has the following set-up, per the Post:Tiger Mountain is surrounded by a moat about 10 feet wide and is enclosed by a fence that is 15 feet high and has a five-foot overhang. That means that the last......

MOVIE: The 2006 Clark Kent hit the big screen in Superman Returns. Tonight catch the superhero do his thing all over again at the River Flicks outdoor film series. Free popcorn, free film and a nice cold summer breeze. Bring a blanket! Sunset // Hudson River Park, Pier 54 // Free MUSIC:The XYZ Affair has pretty much pounded their new song into our heads via a video starring old Nickelodeon "stars" we don't recognize. Tonight,......

EVENT: Join a slew of artists, bid on their work and enjoy complimentary cocktails tonight at a benefit for the Seed Project. Artwork from Swoon, Lisa Dahl, Todd Deluca, Troy Dugas, Lee Everett, Midori Harima & Annysa Ng, Fumiko Toda, Sarah Trigg and a whole bunch more will be auctioned. The Seed Project asks that you buy basil seeds and after planting them: 1. Document what you have planted and put the picture online. 2.......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian was struck at East 51st St. and Linden Blvd. in Brooklyn, a fatality as a person was struck by a train at West Houston St., and a baby water rescue on Bodine St. on Staten Island. In response to an overabundance of animals at city shelters, Broadway stars gathered to promote pet adoption this weekend at Broadway Barks. Little Leaguers played tee-ball on the South Lawn of......

Joel Siegel, perhaps best known as Good Morning America's film critic (a program he was on weekly since 1981), died yesterday in New York at the age of 63. Siegel had been battling colon cancer, though many didn't even know he was sick as he stayed positive until the end and kept working until just two weeks ago. In addition to his weekly appearances on GMA he was also seen frequently on ABC News, and......

The best rapper in the Mets organization might be Lastings Milledge, but he shouldn't be expecting a call-up because of his music anytime soon. Milledge a 22 year-old outfield prospect for the Mets who was briefly in the bigs last season. While with the Mets last year, some criticized him for his showiness at times, being late, and not running hard on the basepaths. In 166 at bats, Milledge had a .241 average. Though......

Over the past decade, Major League Baseball has experienced its largest shift in ethnicity since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. Numbering about two in ten in the mid-1990s, Latin American players now constitute about 30% of the rosters in the big leagues, and nearly half of the 2006 All-Star players were Latin American. The trend should continue: a 2005 New York Times article stated that almost half of all minor leaguers are Latino. The......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a water main break on Rosedale Ave. in the Bronx, a shooting on 80th St. and 41st Ave. in Queens, and shots fired on Coney Island Ave. in Brooklyn. Several firefighters jumped into the Hudson yesterday afternoon to rescue a husband who was trying to save his wife, who had somehow fallen into the river. A man and a woman embarked from Hoboken this afternoon on the 70-foot boat......

Sixty years today at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, Jackie Robinson made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers. When Robinson took the field to play first base against the Boston Braves, he became the first African-American player in modern era of Major League Baseball. Despite enduring constant harassment by fans and other players during his first year, Robinson won Rookie of the Year honors from the Sporting News and Major League Baseball. In what would......

We don't know about where you are, but it seems like spring can't decide whether or not to happen. Some days are warm, some days are cold, and sometimes you aren't sure which. Baseball may have started up (and soccer/football winding down) but it still seems cold out there. Unless it's not. Anyways, onto the -ists. Austinist happily anticipated fall's Austin City Limits, even though they're not fully recovered from South By Southwest. In......

Mayor Bloomberg has been denying that he will run for President in 2008, steadfastly maintaining that he will be Mayor for two full terms. Except yesterday, the billionaire mayor told Fox News "You never know", which instantly sprinkled fuel on the "Is he or isn't he running?" fire. To accompany its Rudy Giuliani cover story, Newsweek has an article about Bloomberg's potential in 2008. His fortune is cited as a reason it'll be possible for......

Yesterday, the Mets organization and various city and state officials broke ground on the new Mets stadium, Citi Field. There had been criticism about the Mets taking $20 million a year for 20 years (aka a "multi-faceted strategic marketing and business partnership") to name the stadium after CitiGroup, and not name the stadium Shea again or after Jackie Robinson. To which the Mayor said, "The people who said that aren't the ones putting up......

Finally, an update to the story from last year about the tiger that escaped from the Cole Bros. Circus in Queens and tried to run away. When the tiger bounded across the Jackie Robinson Expressway, one car stopped in order not to hit the white Bengal tiger, but that caused a three car pile-up. The drivers of the first car and third cars each filed a $10 million lawsuit against the circus and the city's......

Darrell Shines, Producer of Anything...

Kevin Walsh, Forgotten NY...

NYers have a rep (well-deserved in most cases) for being blase and nonchalant about bizarre occurences that happen in city life (except for seeing naked people in the apartment across the way - that's always cause for a phone call to a friend) because that just the way it is. Except when it comes to tigers roaming city streets. That's why an escaped tiger escaped tiger stopped traffic in Queens. The 450 pound white tiger,......

The Straphangers and Tri-State Transportation Campaign have been collecting collected suggestions for how to celebrate the subway system's 100th anniversary next October. The Daily News has the top ten suggestions: - Have a special edition Subway M&M's. The A train would be honored, for example, with blue candies with the letter A on their shells. - Publish a coffee table book of subway maps and how they have changed since 1904. - Issue a commemorative......