If only all crimes were this easy to solve. Last Friday, a woman robbed a North Fork Bank at 71st Street and New Utrecht Avenue in Dyker Heights. Now the police say she returned to the scene of the crime and returned the money yesterday. more ›

Last Friday some shopped til they dropped, while others stopped shopping alltogether. Both groups saved money, and incase you were one of the ones who did so by abstaining from the almighty sale, check out what you "missed": While the lines were long, it's being reported that sales were down. Seems a lot of people didn't want to leave home and did their shopping online. Video via Glenn Gabel.... more ›

Barry Manilow, who is out promoting his Greatest Songs of the Seventies, has refused to share a stage with Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who was barely walking in the 70s. The crooner left a little message on his website yesterday for his fans letting them know he wouldn't be on The View today, saying "I had made a request that I be interviewed by Joy, Barbara or Whoopi, but not Elisabeth Hasselback. Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request so I bowed out. It’s really too bad because I've always been a big supporter of the show, but I cannot compromise my beliefs." more ›

Alley Pond Park, the second biggest park in Queens, has a new attraction: The biggest adventure ropes course in the Northeast. Last Friday, the Park Department opened up the Alley Pond Park Adventure Course, which has zip lines, a climbing wall, webs, swings, trust falls, and balance boards.

The course consists of 20 high and low elements that can be both physically and emotionally challenging and also encourages a connection with nature. The low elements take place on the ground or on cables a few feet above the ground. Many of these elements are handicap accessible and concentrate on team building and problem solving skills. High elements take place on cables suspended 45 feet in the air, require a harness and climbing rope for safety, and focus personal achievements as they may require participants to confront personal fears. The Adventure Course staff is trained in program implementation and safety techniques.

Food writing has changed a lot in the last few years. Its focus has shifted to an almost philosophical arena where any recipe can be dissected for the broader, global meaning of its constituent ingredients. The source of every carrot or celery stalk we eat is inexorably combined with issues of nutrition and environmental sustainability. It’s the Omnivore’s Dilemma effect - people are suddenly grappling with the repercussions of a country that runs on 200 million acres of corn, wheat, soy, and rice. Within the restaurant industry, and for the foreseeable future, it’s far less expensive to source and cook mass-produced vegetables and meat from immense, industrialized farms. This not only comes with a huge environmental cost, but consequently buries the flavors of food. more ›

Thirteen-year-old Bramdon Ragnot was found in a Brooklyn alley, shot in the head, yesterday afternoon. He was discovered around 5PM by a Marine Park neighbor who told the Daily News, "I didn't know he was shot. I thought he was just beat up. I said, 'I know it hurts, but keep your eyes open.'" more ›

Staten Island is not having a good week. In addition to the outrage over the weird ad copy appearing in part of a Virgin Mobile campaign, the borough’s president has also called for an ice cream boycott. Last Friday, a perturbed James P. Molinaro wrote a letter to Scott and Kim Myles, husband and wife co-owners of the Queens-based 5 Boroughs Ice Cream company. Someone had shown Molinaro a copy of a flyer printed off the 5B website, meant to help persuade local specialty food storeowners to carry the ice cream. There are currently eight 5B flavors, all made in small batches; each is named after a NYC locale or neighborhood. For Molinaro and many Staten Islanders, the offending ice cream flavor is Staten Island Landfill- a swirly mix of brownies, fudge, crunchies, and cherries in a vanilla base. Molinaro objects to what he considers old hat outer borough typecasting; the Staten Island Advance quotes his letter to the company as saying "I am hard-pressed to think of a more insulting and derogatory attack in the name of consumerism.” more ›

Last Friday's Critical Mass with the NYPD's new parade rules (groups of 50 or more must apply for permits) certainly got many of you commenting. For those of you who didn't participate in the ride or see it unfold, our videographer Kelly Loudenberg filed this video. She was even riding in the pedicab with City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez! more ›

After the tragic murder of Natasha Ramen last week, questions were raised about the conduct of the Brooklyn DA's office. Last Friday, Ramen's throat was slashed, allegedly by Hemant Megnath in an attempt to prevent her from testifying that he had raped her. Megnath had previously harassed and threatened Ramen and her family to the point that they told the police in Queens. more ›

The fall out from restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow's full page NY Times ad complaining about Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni continues, much to the delight of foodies, critics of restaurant critics, and mental health professionals. Last Friday, former Times food critic Mimi Sheraton wrote in Slate that Chodorow was an "idiot" to run an ad, given "the added exposure of the negative review to so many who may never have read the original." more ›

(pic via Maryanne Ventrice's Flickr) more ›

Last Friday, crowds packed into Studio B to see the NYC return of laptop mashup extraordinaire Girl Talk deliver his most satisfying local set to date. 90 minutes of ADD jamz that kept the capacity crowd moving the entire time. This might sound odd, the best parts of a Girl Talk set are the mixes that don't work perfectly. They're few and far between, but sometimes two songs just don't work together. The remarkable feat is that Gillis is able to quickly realize this and seamlessly correct it right there. It's a reminder that he's not just pressing a button and letting the whole set roll, but is actually constructing these mashups on the fly. Nothing made this clearer than when after trying and failing to somehow successfully mix JT's 'My Love' with a variety of songs, finally hitting gold by matching it with the oh so timeless 'Whoop, There it is.' Ever so subtle, the trial and error made the end result that much more rewarding. Getting a peak inside how his head functions in real time gives an added sense of legitimacy to what is an already amazing performance. (Pic via Ben Shapiro's flickr) more ›

Last Friday The Wrens headlined a benefit show for Planned Parenthood, celebrating the 34th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. The band played their usual Meadowlands-heavy mix of old songs, and made an announcement that it would more than likely be their final show supporting their now nearly 4 year old album. They will be working on putting together something new this summer. It's always a treat to see the Wrens live, who for our money is one of the best straight-up rock acts around these days, but even more so in an intimate club such as the Knitting Factory. Speaking of which, perhaps nudged along by the Bowery Presents recent power play to control the live music scene in NYC, The Knit gave a serious makeover to their main room, significantly upgrading their sound system and adding a fancy new array of animated stage lights for the performers. As if it wasn't already one of our favorite local venues, (um, 2 years of Movable Hype?) it now has even further separated itself from the midsize club pack by creating an environment that has the bands looking and sounding that much better than ever before. The ball is now back in Bowery's court to see if any of their many new venues will step up to match this level of quality, or will they rest on their laurels as being the go-to venue empire. We'll have to wait and see. (More pics like the one above here.) more ›

Last Friday we announced that White Rabbits are playing our next Movable Hype show. Now we'd like to introduce you to another band playing the show: Ford & Fitzroy. more ›

Last Friday, bicyclist Lawrence Yoo was hit by a bus at Ninth Avenue and 39th Street and suffered serious injuries. His family was contacted about the incident not by the police but by hospital staff. They also found the police's "incident report" - in Yoo's mangled medical bag. more ›

Last Sunday, the Daily News had a story with the graphic, "says it all" headline: Baby dead in bucket of vomit. Last Friday night, before going to sleep with her three month old baby next to her, a young mother left a bucket next to her bed because she wasn't feeling well. She threw up in the middle of the night, and the next day, she discovered her baby daugher in the bucket - apparently the baby fell in. Baby Niah Ford was pronounced dead, and an autopsy found she died of drowning and asphyxiation. Yesterday, mother Savarin Dejesus was arrested for criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child. Newsday reports that the police waited for autopsy results before charging her: "A three-month-old just doesn't walk into a bucket." more ›

The Post reports that crime along the "club row" of West 27th Street has jumped since last year. With the bouncer shooting club patrons incident on West 22nd Street in May and last week's murder of a NJ teen who had been clubbing on West 27th, there's a lot of attention on the nightlife ways of Chelsea. In July alone, there was a 58% increase in assaults inside or right outside clubs, and 200 summons have been issued for "public drinking" and "disorderly conduct." (Question, is public drinking also taking a drink out of a bar/club and walking down the street?) One new way police are monitoring club activity is with a sting. From the NY Post:

Since Jan. 1, cops in the 10th Precinct have engaged in 15 undercover operations using a 19-year-old police cadet accompanied by an older cop to determine if the clubs were serving minors. more ›

- Last Friday we got a reminder from the Straphangers Campaign to email or fax questions to MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow as he'll be answering questions from the public in the Daily News (email AskKalikow@nydailynews.com or fax 212-643-783). We doubt our suggested question of "Why are you such a terrible leader who demoralizes not just the unions, but riders as well with your poor decisions?" or "Are you deliberately trying to sabotage the MTA's credibility?" will be submitted to him (we probably have to frame the question differently) but maybe you'll have better luck. more ›

After a long week, there's something nice about a Friday night at home. But being social creatures, we sometimes like to have company over for our nights in. Often tired to cook, we tend to turn to our trusty pile of takeout menus, but there's another option -- the roast chicken. The trick is to find a place along your commute home that makes juicy, tender rotisserie chickens. Our local favorite is Pio Maya, a taqueria that also has nicely spiced roast chickens, available whole, by the half or quarter, either by themselves or with sides, and served with a side of tangy hot sauce. Last Friday we grabbed a few roast chickens, knowing we had some leftover potatoes and green beans at home, and chowed down with some friends. Buying two whole chickens gave us plenty of great leftover meat for dinner and lunch this week (curried chicken salad, shredded chicken tossed in some soup, chicken burritos), and we'll pop the bones in the freezer for homemade stock. more ›

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The first hints of summer still make us think of final exams as much as ice cream and sundresses. Lingering anxiety would have us believe that before you give in to sunnier amusements, you must put your intellect through its paces (the better to enjoy afternoons spent snoozing in the park with a copy of the Styles section spread over your face). Whether this is true or we’re just neurotic, there has been some lively commentary on the Nature of Literature this week…we dare say we’d perk up for it even if it was July. more ›