Famed New York City journalist Jimmy Breslin, who has spent his long, storied career highlighting the plight of the common man, has visited Zuccotti Park and mingled with the Occupy Wall Street protesters. Not surprisingly, he approves. Calling the protests a "human rights movement" that's "threatening to become historic," Breslin writes in the Daily News, "Each day, the crowd grew larger and there came a moment in a city newsroom when somebody picked up his head and wondered if they couldn't begin to cover the news." more ›

Quintessential New York reporter Jimmy Breslin was feted Monday night at NYU by former colleagues at the Daily News and Newsday, at an event that featured a surprise appearance by Tony Bennett and lots of anecdotes from Breslin's long career. When it was all over, Breslin, who had been on stage looking "amused or incredulous" during the extolment, took the mic and said, "I don’t want to go back over my life. I don’t want to start doing that, because it is boring, I think, No. 1, and No. 2, I’ll start lying to you." Breslin, an Irish-American known to enjoy a good drink, also revealed that he's given up alcohol on the advice of doctors: "I’m not drinking. If I were drinking at the bar with you, I would tell a lot of lies and I would almost be charming." City Room has a good, thorough report. more ›

The family of legendary newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin announced today that his daughter, 44-year-old Kelly Breslin, had passed away after collapsing suddenly in a restaurant days before. After sharing a meal for a friend's birthday at L'Express at around 2 a.m. Friday morning, Ms. Breslin put her hand on a friend's leg and collapsed to the floor, her head hitting the table. She was on life support at Bellevue Hospital until her death yesterday. Her stepmother, former City Councilwoman Ronnie Eldridge, told the Times, “They think it most likely was an arrhythmia episode. They do not believe she died from choking.” Ms. Breslin was not known to have any history of heart trouble; she had gone into cardiac arrest for too long to be revived by the time EMTs arrived. She is the second daughter lost by Jimmy Breslin, best known for his involvement in the Son of Sam story. His daughter Rosemary died at 47 from a blood disease. Eldridge said, “She was a healthy, chattering young woman. She had so many friends that the hospital did not know what to do with them. She reminded me of a fluttering bee that cross-pollinated all over the place. She loved life.” more ›

Last June Scientific American took a look at a human-less New York, a vision that was fairly on par with how the city was portrayed in I Am Legend. Now it's The History Channel's turn to jump on board the post-apocalyptic train, their show Life Without People will premiere this Monday (at 9pm). The scene is eerily similar to how Chernobyl looks after decades without human inhabitants. The show's site tells us: "Abandoned skyscrapers would, after hundreds of years, become 'vertical ecosystems' complete with birds, rodents and even plant life," bridges crumble, subway tunnels transform into watery canals, and...bears take the JMZ? more ›

"Hello from the gutters of N.Y.C., which are filled with dog manure, vomit, stale wine, urine, and blood," these were the opening lines in a letter written by David Berkowitz to columnist Jimmy Breslin thirty years ago. more ›

Three detectives were charged in the November 2006 shooting of Sean Bell outside a Queens nightclub, and all three pleaded not guilty. Two of the police officers, Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora, face serious charges that include first-degree and second-degree manslaughter (it was originally thought they would only face second-degree manslaughter), while Detective Marc Cooper faces charges of reckless endangerment. When asked how he would plea, Isnora's lawyer Philip Karasyk said, "Not guilty of each and every count of the indictment." more ›

Thirty years is a long time, and yet for many people not long enough. Today, Sunset Parker reminds us, marks the thirty-year anniversary of the first of the Son of Sam killings, one of the most notorious murder sprees in Gotham's history. more ›

The MTA has installed cameras in certain subway stations, according to the Post, to keep an eye on "suspicious activity." (I'm sure the Straphangers will like that, as it'll be the foundation for a plan to install cameras in all station to catch the crazy people who pee in the stations and make them reek.) Depending on where you are, Operation Atlas may be affecting your daily commute. Walking through Grand Central Terminal this morning, I did see a lot of police officers and military types, but perhaps that's because there were some news remotes happening there, but I really hate Jimmy Breslin for saying that the Times Square subway will be target #1, a fear that I have not wanted to utter aloud. Joyce Purnick points out that New Yorkers have lost some swagger with the start of the war. Not Jimmy Breslin, Joyce, not Jimmy Breslin. more ›