Yesterday a man tried to smuggle a knife onto a flight from JFK to Mexico City—and he might have gotten away with it too had he not decided to hide it inside another item he wasn't allowed to have. The TSA says the unidentified knife-wielder desperately wanted to bring his precious Leatherman blade aboard the plane. But the uptight TSA rules prohibit these sort of shenanigans! So why not sneak it aboard inside a big full jar of mayonnaise? That plan's a Swiss watch. more ›

Three men celebrating a birthday at an illegal underground club in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens were stabbed in a fight outside the speakeasy early Sunday morning. Police have not identified the names of the victims, but the NYPD says a 21-year-old man was fatally stabbed in the chest and the stomach. One source tells the Wall Street Journal the man was attending a party with his friends at a basement speakeasy near Rogers Avenue and Fenimore Street when he got into an argument with another group of men. more ›

Yesterday we learned that dog owners are packing heat (okay, knives and billy clubs and hammers) at the Tompkins Square dog run, as a means of protection against possible pit bull attacks (there have been at least 5 on dogs and 2 on humans since September). What do the pit bull owners think of this? DNA Info says they're shrugging it off; pit bull Lily's owner, Dennis, says "Dogs aren't born bad, they're made bad," and his was made sweet! more ›

It's back to the Bad Old Days in Tompkins Square Park, where dog owners have begun carrying assorted weapons to protect themselves and their pooches against vicious attacks. According to DNA Info, the residents are carrying knives, hammers, billy clubs, and metal rods to the park after recent pit bull attacks at the dog run there. Local dog owner Garrett Rosso listed all of the attacks in a recent letter to the editor at the Villager, explaining five dogs and three people have been brought to the hospital during a two-month time span. more ›

Yesterday, the body of senior Nicaraguan diplomat Cesar Mercado was found inside his Bronx apartment. His driver, scheduled to take him to the U.N. General Assembly, found the 34-year-old with his throat slashed behind an open door. A neighbor told NY1, "[Wednesday night] I heard a lot of things on the floor, like 'boom, boom,' but I don't know what they were doing. I heard somebody banging on the wall and all that and somebody screaming." more ›

Life just got a lot less convenient for stabby folks who stock up on blades at the local hardware store. After the Manhattan D.A. launched a new initiative to get knives off the streets, investigators discovered illegal switchblades and gravity knives at 41 stores, ranging from mom-and-pop stores to chain behemoths like Home Depot. Now two national chain stores and five other operations have agreed to stop selling the items. These companies, as well as the 34 others implicated in the bust, handed over their existing stock and $1.9 million—their total profits from the weapons. more ›

Two narratives are developing concerning the Brooklyn family that kept 30 unregistered firearms, as well as blades and collectible items like an umbrella knife and a machete in their two-story dwelling. One group of neighbors describe the Sianos as “lovely” people if a bit “strange,” stressing that in the quiet Gravesend neighborhood people keep to themselves mostly. A woman who’d shared the block with them for some 45 years told CityRoom their weapons collection was “fine, as long as nobody gets hurt.” Still another group was disturbed by the discovery, recalling visits by unsavory characters and disruptions by the cops. more ›

In a Bronx housing development, cops shot a man threatening to use two kitchen knives against his neighbors. Around 9 p.m. last night police anwered a call about a disruption on the 18th floor of an apartment building on E. 149th Street. Residents told them a 33-year-old man—who lived a few floors down—banged on their door and threatened murder. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] High school students in Washington Heights and Elmhurst were stabbed in unrelated incidents this morning, according to authorities. A 15-year-old is expected to survive after getting stabbed with a steak knife 16 times in his back and arm in his Upper Manhattan school, while a Queens 17-year-old was cut inside Newtown High School in a separate violent confrontation. more ›

The NY Times visited Room 129 at Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday, "It is one of the rooms on the main floor of the courthouse where many of the men and women arrested in Manhattan are arraigned," finding it humming with activity, even though it was New Year's Eve. more ›

Yesterday, a Las Vegas-bound flight from Newark Airport was delayed after knives were found in the carry-on luggage of one passenger. According to the AP, the Transportation Security Administration explained that a "passenger looking through her overhead luggage had a small Swiss Army knife and another knife with a 2 1/2 inch blade." It's unclear who alerted the crew, but the Continental plane was returned to the gate and cleared of passengers for a check. Oh, and "The TSA is investigating how the knives made it through security." more ›

A third-grader was given a superintendent's suspension today after bringing a knife into his East New York elementary school. The child was reprimanded after stashing the knife in a bathroom and telling classmates, who then told staff members. According to the News, parents claim that children at PS 345 "have created problems in the bathrooms, lunchroom and gym class, where students have jumped onto tables and thrown food or punches without consequences." Parents blame the principal for "keeping everything under the table," with one mother saying, "She's really failed us. I don't see her interact with the kids. She doesn't get involved with the parents." Even a teacher added, "It's not only safety. We're dealing with educational neglect." The Department of Education defended the Brooklyn principal, both in her handling of the incident as well as having no record of excessive discipline problems at the school. more ›

Not too long ago a reader sent in this photo of weapons being sold from behind the counter of Williamsburg's Eden Pizza, located just off Bedford on North 7th. The reader told us: "I was rather pissed off too see this display of knives and brass knuckles for sale in my neighborhood at a local pizza joint." The establishment gets a 3.5 on Yelp, with mentions of a sweet staff, so it's likely they're not going to slice you up when you order up your slice—but still, this can't be legal. (A call to the NYPD about this yielded some confusion and we're still waiting to hear back about the legality behind selling brass knuckles.) Either way, it's sort of unsettling given the gang activity in the area. On the other hand: $1.25 slices! more ›