Is your brain frazzled from staring at the computer screen all day? Want to save the Post Office? Looking for a bit of old-fashioned correspondance... with a famous person? The lit-lovers over at The Rumpus have just launched a great way to do all three, with a new project they've dubbed, appropriately, Letters in the Mail. more ›

The US Postal Service made it clear earlier this week that they were close to shutting down in the face of a $9.2 billion budget deficit and a $5.5 billion payment due on the 30th of this month. But now the Times reports that the Obama administration is proposing covering the gap for an extra three months. An extension? At least that's better than a "bailout," which would be totally unheard of and completely uncalled for. more ›

Neither wind, nor rain, nor sleet nor hail, nothing will stop the US Mail. Except maybe Saturdays. And a crippling $9.2 billion budget deficit. While some have been warning of the closure of one of America's greatest institutions, most of us have been sending crappy e-cards to Grandma and refusing to set foot in those "crowded" post offices (but we'll wait 2 hours for Shake Shack?). Now, the Times reports that the United States Postal Service will be unable to make a $5.5 billion payment due later this month and may completely shut down this winter unless Congress does something fast. HAHA get it? Congress? Fast? more ›

Former Bonanno crime-family boss Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano really appreciated it when Judge Nicholas Garaufis lent the well-groomed mobster some dress clothes for trial; he also really appreciated it when Garaufis advised against giving him the death penalty for a 2008 murder conviction. He appreciated it so much, he started writing tons of letters to the Judge. And now, the Judge has demanded he stop writing him. It's like a friendlier version of Cape Fear! more ›

In what is likely just the first of such discoveries, eleven previously unpublicized letters from J.D. Salinger have been unsealed by The Morgan Library and Museum, and are being prepared for exhibition. The correspondence between the author and Michael Mitchell, the designer of the first cover of The Catcher in the Rye, "reveals an enduring fascination with pop culture and politics that is at odds with the popular mythology of the past half-century of Mr. Salinger as an odd recluse," the Times reports. These revelations reportedly include: more ›

Poor Bernard Kerik shouldn't have to spend much time in prison because of his "extraordinary public service," and his "extraordinary and meteoric rise from truly humble origins wrought with hardship," his defense lawyers argue. On the other hand, prosecutors submitted a long memo to the judge yesterday that highlighted Kerik's "egotism and hubris", and dredged up an extraordinarily petulant letter the former NYPD commissioner sent in 1999 to his buddy Larry Ray (himself a former NYPD commissioner) which makes Kerik look like a crass, money-grubbing whiner. more ›

Could Brooklyn have skateboard parks? I like to skateboard with my cousin . . . I like to stop and kick the board up in the air and catch it in my hands and would like a skateboard park to ride in and do tricks. It's good exercise and burns lots of calories. Without a skateboard park, people will have to jump over a fire hydrant for a stunt. They would say, "This is boring, dude." I hope there is a skateboard park here one day. more ›

With the MTA's budget shortfalls this past year leading to what was once the "Doomsday" possibility of steep fare hikes and service cuts only to become a "moderate" new burden for commuters, you can't imagine that New Yorkers have had the kindest words for the agency. (If you had any doubts, please refer here or here or possibly here.) But today's Post shares some of the official feedback given to the MTA in a sampling of the 300 letters they've received this year with greetings such as "Dear morons in charge," and accounts to follow such as, "Please be advised that for the last five days, there is a horrendous stench emanating from two vomit stains located on the side of the last staircase." And with recent spat of peepers, gropers and molesters making their way through the subways, the following shouldn't shock anyone: "I recently returned to NYC, and was once again shocked by how much groping, exposure, fondling and other acts of sexual aggression occurs on the subways, especially while riding the trains." If you'd like to join the underground love fest, here's the page to reach the blessed souls at the MTA's customer service department. more ›

An ongoing dispute over surveillance warrants between the F.B.I.’s New York office and the NYPD "has brought the relationship to a new low," according to the Times, which is reporting on "a highly unusual exchange of letters" between commissioner Ray Kelly and attorney general Michael Mukasey. The acrimony stems from the feds' reluctance to press the FISA court to issue broad warrants for the NYPD, which wants to eavesdrop on "numerous communications facilities," including subway pay phones. Each side is now blaming the other for mishandling terrorism investigations. Responding to a letter from Kelly in which he accused the FBI of making "the city less safe," Mukasey wrote: "Not only would your approach violate the law, it would also in short order make New York City and the rest of the country less safe." Mukasey added that he was "unable to have a meaningful conversation" on the phone because "you were not versed on the facts." Next: Mukasey will get upset with Kelly for staggering home drunk with lipstick on his collar. more ›

After Remy Ma was found guilty earlier this week, she was carted off in handcuffs screaming, "Oh, my God! My son! My son!" If she receives the maximum sentence of 25 years, her son will be 33 by the time she's free again -- and she will be 51. more ›