Results tagged “lastsunday”

A while back Gothamist wrote about the closure and renovation of Gum Fung, our go-to spot in Flushing for dim sum. Turns out that the sign on the door was right about the space's renovation but wrong about its reopening: Gum Fung is no more; it's been replaced by Jade Asian Restaurant. Don't be thrown off by the joint's less-than-creative name though.; the dim sum here is up to the standards of its predecessor....

Last Sunday and Monday a collective of activists, journalists, retired government officials and theater makers gathered at The Culture Project to begin mock impeachment proceedings against President Bush. The “trial by theater” arose in part out of frustration with Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi’s pledge to leave impeachment “off the table” when her party seized the House majority. The month long series, called A Question of Impeachment, is intended to spark debate and, participants hope,...

Last Sunday morning, Daniel Malakov was fatally shot three times in the chest just after dropping off his daughter to his ex-wife, Marina Borukhova. While the police have no suspects in his murder, much attention has been drawn to contentious custody battle he had with Borukhova over their 5-year-old daughter Michelle. And with his death, the fight has gotten messier. Malakov had been given temporary custody of Michelle just before his death. The child was...

A fine way for the Seaport Music Festival to send off the summer, with two of the year's biggest breakout bands on a lovely evening. We were taking in both Battles and Dearhunter for the first time last Friday and were massively impressed by both bands. Deerhunter, down a man and with their usual shtick toned down, sounded like a young Sonic Youth or stripped down Broken Social Scene. A much lighter and more accessible experience that we had prepared for by listening to their thumping album. Battles was more what we expected, playing a hypnotizing hybrid of Math-Metal and some Jammy-Groove stuff that somehow works. Stereogum has some pretty pics.

Last Sunday, Mets pitcher Tom Glavine finally won his 300th career game with a victory over the Chicago Cubs. To honor Glavine, Mayor Bloomberg presented the 41-year old lefty the Key to the City on Wednesday. This was enough to upset at least one New Yorker.

Franklin spent more than two decades working among trains and on the tracks where he would eventually die, but his passion was art and he carried a sketchbook with him nearly always. In a poignant intersection of two stories this week, when two homeless men were also killed in one night while in the subway system, the people who lived in the subway were Franklin's frequent subjects. Marvin Franklin was awarded Best in Show for his art work at the 2006 City Workers Invitational, hosted by the 136-year-old Salmagundi Art Club. The honor included a year's membership in the club. The work he entered was a watercolor chosen from his "Homeless Series." Some of Franklin's sketches of the homeless in the subway system can be seen here. One of the last watercolors Franklin completed can be viewed here (scroll down). He held a degree in illustrative arts from the Fashion Institute of Technology and spent many of his off-hours studying and practicing at the Art Students League. The New York Times reported that for his retirement, Franklin's dream was to open a gallery and give the proceeds to the homeless, the people he worked around for 22 years.

Last Sunday, a woman got some crazy revenge on an old lover. According to the NY Post, the police believe 21 year old Kristina Caban convinced an old fling to go back to a hotel where two guys branded him with an "R". A police source explained, "They had sex several years ago and she was angry because he didn't contact her."

The Brooklyn DA's office has expanded its indictment of the men involved in an illegal tissue harvesting scheme. While the criminal counts stay, the new indictment says the men took bodies, cut them up and harvested organs, bones, and more from funeral homes in Manhattan, the Bronx, and upstate (the original charge was just in Brooklyn). Selling tissue or body parts is illegal, unless there is consent from the donor or next of kin, but the defendants in this case just seized the bodies and would sell parts. They used PVC pipes to replace bones so no one would notice at funerals and falsely claiming that tissue and organs had come from healthy bodies when the some of the deceased actually had cancer (one of the bodies harvested was that of Alistaire Cooke!). A harvested body can bring in $250,000 for that various tissue and organs.

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."

It's hard to believe if you've already taken in numerous performances, but the Fringe Festival is just picking up steam. Some productions haven’t even started their 5- or 6-night runs yet, including The Burning Cities Project from Dreamscape Theatre (a multimedia collage about the experiences of people who have seen their cities burn – a touch of comedy is promised); The Goods are Odd, by Julie Sharbutt and Liz Wisan (about two Alaskans looking for love in a place where, unlike NYC, men outnumber women – plus bears outnumber people); The Legitimate Theater Co.’s An Off-White Afternoon, a dramedy by Eric Meyer about a husband and wife with some strange issues, and Helen Stratford’s punk-rock opera Suicide, the Musical, which opens today. The word on the street is that Diving Normal, Flying on the Wing, and Open House are so far the hottest shows, having sold out every performance, though there are plenty others that are also sold out or are selling at the door -- plus plenty that you can still get into, and should.

With the mercury rising to high for the city's liking, Mayor Bloomberg held a press conference at the Office of Emergency Operations in Brooklyn to emphasize what the city is doing during the heat wave. We suspect he's trying to be extra visible and genially authoritative (check out the plaid shirt!) in order to salvage public opinion after the Queens blackout, but his words are important:

“The heat wave affects New Yorkers in all five boroughs, and that’s why the City is aggressively moving to protect New Yorkers from Tottenville to Co-Op City from this week’s oppressive heat and promote energy conservation. Hundreds of people have already tragically passed away due to the heat wave in other parts of the country, and I urge New Yorkers – especially seniors – to take the danger of high temperatures and humidity seriously. You can beat the heat by drinking plenty of water, staying out of the sun, avoiding strenuous activity, and taking advantage of City cooling centers and public pools. The City is also actively taking large energy users such as wastewater treatment plants off the grid and conserving energy at City buildings across the five boroughs to help cope with the increased demands on the electrical grid.”

Of course, he reiterated all the things you should do to stay healthy during the heat. When asked about Con Ed handling public information better during the next (let's hope not) blackout, NY Times reports that the Mayor says he's "confident we will ask a lot more questions.” Yes - joined by all the Queens politiicans and residents who have experience asking basic questions like "what the hell is going on.

COMEDY: The Del Close Marathon is happening this weekend, the full schedule is here.

Developer Joshua Guttman was in Brooklyn court yesterday, but not for anything related to the Greenpoint Terminal Market fire or any of the other arson cases at buildings he's owns (he's never been charged with arson). Actually, this case is about a tenant, a basement, and some missing equipment. According to the NY Times, tenant Onias Pacheco had been moving out of a Guttman building, and Guttman agreed to store Pacheco's screening equipment in the basement at 70 Flushing Avenue in Brooklyn. But after sixteen months of attempts, Pachceo sued Guttman for not allowing him access to the building, to the tune of $175,000 ($25K for the equipment, $150K for damages). Guttman's lawyer offered $17,500 to settle, while Pacheco was looking for $100,000... or $40,000 but then he got talked down to $20,000. That is some dealmaking.

Last Sunday's killing of a Harlem Dunkin' Donuts manager is still a puzzle. Police felt the MO (silver gun, robbing a fast-food-type establishment) matched that of Otis Cain, a man wanted in 15 robberies, though he had never killed anyone. But Cain surrendered himself, saying he had been watching the Super Bowl in Poughkeepsie. According to AMNew York, the NYPD believes that Cain is the perpetrator as they have two witnesses who claim it's him, but they are still checking out his Poughkeepsie alibi. But the Post has investigator sources that say they aren't sure if it is Cain. WABC 7, who spoke to Otis Cain as he pleaded his innnocence, says a person saw the killer running from the donut shop and that it didn't seem like Cain. Gothamist can only hope that eyewitness also told the police and not just the local news.

On Sundays, Gothamist runs opinion pieces on issues relevant to life in New York. The views expressed below belong entirely to the author.