Years and years ago, a number of city and state officials gathered together to figure out what kind of building should be the centerpiece of World Trade Center redevelopment. Freedom Tower, at 1776 feet (including spire and antennae), was unveiled in December 2003, only for the Daniel Libeskind-design to be scrapped for one by Skidmore Owings & Merrill's David Childs. But that revised design remained a patriotic 1776 feet, even if officials say the building should be called "One World Trade Center." Now, it looks like the tower will be actually even more patriotic than previously thought. more ›

If you weren't worried about being clobbered by the massive hail falling in Queens (while Manhattan stays sunny!) this should keep you indoors for a bit longer. Reddit user xixtoo was filming the hail coming down outside his parents' house in Douglaston, Queens when lighting struck the tree in the front yard a few feet away. Naturally, the language is NSFW (can you blame him?) more ›

The severe thunderstorm watch is over—and so is the lightning show! Our readers have taken some photographs of the dramatic lightning storm. more ›

A Bronx security guard got an unexpected shock during Friday night's storm, as lightning struck her buzzer just as she was pressing the button! Laverne Cook was working at an East Tremont apartment building, buzzing a resident in around 8:40 p.m. At that moment, lightning struck the gate. She told the Daily News, "The lightning struck the gate as I pressed the button. It threw me back. The current went through my right arm." more ›

There was a victim from last night's sudden, violent storm: A 54-year-old man walking in Crown Heights was struck by lightning. According to the Daily News, he was "walking under some trees in the median of Eastern Parkway near Bedford Ave. A witness who was in her home at the time described, "His feet were smoking and he was bleeding from the mouth. It was terrifying." The Post says a Good Samaritan started CPR on him and then medics showed up and were able to revive in him the ambulance with the debibrillator. Lt. Joe Cengiz of EMS Station 38 said, "You could smell burning flesh. His heart stopped." The man is at Kings County Hospital on a respirator. more ›

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for most of the city last night as a fast-moving storm swept in and the city recommended residents "stay away from windows." Lightning struck repeatedly for what felt like a pretty long time (10-15 minutes or so?) and reader Kelles described it as "turn on a strobe light, then pour out a bucket of water in front of you." Other readers shared their photos with us—see them above. more ›

While NYC seemed to escape the havoc from last night's sudden storm, which caused damage outside in the suburbs, there was lightning. Brian Dubé took this photograph of lightning in the sky and writes, "There was a brief lightning storm dramatic enough to make many of us look up and say - wow." more ›

We know it's been hot these past nineteen days of July. And now, it's going to thunderstorm-y. The Post says, "Now we can expect at least a week's worth of thunder and lightning with sporadic storms barreling through the city almost every day through the end of the week." more ›

The storm was short, but that lightning was intense. A couple readers managed to photograph it. more ›

The summer storm that rolled into town a couple hours ago was brief but powerful: There are a number of incidents about downed trees all over Manhattan (see the Gothamist Newsmap), such as "Trees down at West Side Hwy & 70th St," a "downed tree on a taxi" on E 86th St, and "Tree down on a car" at Riverside Dr & 101st St (a tipster writes, "Man was stuck under car for 20 minutes after an entire tree fell on him while he was driving in Riverside Park on 101 st)—some even have requests for "additional chain saws"—we hope no one was hurt. more ›

It's such a pretty day today that it's a little hard to believe that yesterday was practically apocalyptic with the big afternoon-into-evening thunderstorms. Now the National Weather Service has confirmed that the funnel cloud seen in Wantage, NJ did touch the ground and is in fact a tornado. According to WCBS 2, there was a lot of havoc from the tornado, whose winds were up to 120 mph: "Officials say an EF2 tornado tore through the town of Wantage, ripping roofs of some houses, destroying barns, and causing extensive damage to roadways in its path... Two barns were ripped apart; their walls tossed around like pieces of paper. Then there was the silo that tumbled like it was a toy. The silo was made with about 40 tons of concrete and steel all meshed together." more ›

Yesterday's afternoon thunderstorms claimed the life of a NJ man in Newark while a cricket player in Brooklyn was seriously injured. In Marine Park, Brooklyn, Patrick Gibson had been playing cricket when the storm broke out: The Daily News reports that he may have lagged to collect equipment. A witness said, "His pants were burned. His tongue was out of his mouth and his eyes were rolled back in his head." Gibson had a heart attack and is currently in critical condition at Beth-Israel Medical Center. And in Newark, according to the Star-Ledger, four men were seeking refuge from the rain in a wooded area behind an apartment complex. All were struck by lightning: One died, while another remains in critical condition; the other two men suffered burns but are stable. more ›

When our weather guru Joe Schumacher proclaimed that this week's weather would be unsettled—"The primarily west-to-east flow of the summer jet stream will let surface fronts flop around like an oversized Montauk Monster in its death throes"—he was not kidding! Who wasn't woken up by the insanely loud thunder and lightning around 2:30 a.m.? The National Weather Service issued an urban flood advisory: "At 822 am EDT Doppler radar and local observations indicate very heavy rain occurring from a line of thunderstorms. The storms will move through New York City during the next 30 minutes... and Nassau County during the next hour." And AccuWeather says, "This will be the first of several waves of showers and thunderstorms expected to overspread the region through the end of the week" and "While the storms will most likely not be capable of producing tornadoes, they will feature damaging winds and some hail." Well, at least the dog poo gets washed away, right? more ›

Lots of excellent weather action going on today. The source of weather fun is a big old low pressure system moving up the Ohio Valley toward Buffalo. Tentacle-like warm and cold fronts extending from that low will give New York a variety of springtime weather over the weekend. more ›

Some of the victims struck by lightning on Sunday spoke to Newsday about their ordeal, with one describing how, "The lightning came out of my body through the foot, and my shoe exploded." A group of men who had been playing and watching soccer in a Hicksville park took shelter under a tree during the storm. But lightning struck, injuring five men. Elber Guerra has second- and third-degree burns on 35% of his body (his clothes caught fire) while Rene Castro has less severe burns; three others were released. Guerra doesn't remember being struck, but said his friends told him he "was choking on my tongue, with blood coming out of my mouth. They had to open my clenched teeth to get the tongue." more ›

Hazy, hot and humid are today's buzzwords. The weak cold front that was responsible for the thunder and lightning (note: lightning safety tips) that brushed the city yesterday should scuttle across the metro region later today. The high should reach the upper 80s before the front passes. There's a slight chance of scattered showers this afternoon and evening. more ›

Lightning strikes from NJ to Long Island hit twelve people. One of those people was fatally hit--a 38-year-old NJ man who was laying on a Sandy Hook beach with friends (two of them were also hit). Five men who had been playing soccer in HIcksvile but took shelter from the storm under a tree were also hit when lightning struck the tree. Four other were injured during a lightning strike in Cape May, NJ. While a National Weather Service meteorologist told the NY Times, "It was just a stormy day," a National Parks Service spokesman said of the lightning on Sandy Hook, "I’ve been here for 17 years, and it has never occurred on my watch.” more ›

Lightning lit up the skies and thunder roared as storms rolled into the region. Winds gusted through, blowing construction debris into the streets and knocking scaffolding and trees down. more ›

Rangers 2 Tampa 1: New York got back on track quickly, coming out in the first period with intensity and jumping to a 1-0 lead thanks to Fedor Tyutin. Henrik Lundqvist wss his usually brilliant self, making 32 saves including several huge ones while the Rangers clung to a one-goal lead. It wasn’t until Colton Orr hit a knuckleball off the stick of a Lightning defenseman at 2:05 of the third period, that the... more ›

Meet Sam Ellis, Broadway’s esteemed “technical wizard”, who is in charge of all the myriad effects in Young Frankenstein, which is rumored to have cost between $16 million and $20 million – about twice the price of the average Broadway musical. A big part of that budget was poured into making the adaptation “more zowie!” than the movie. According to a profile in Christian Science Monitor, some of Ellis’s responsibilities include overseeing: A Tesla coil... more ›

This afternoon's rain will continue into the evening, as some areas are being warned about the storms. New Jersey is supposed to have heavy thunderstorms, a tornado warning was issued, then canceled, for Nassau County, and an urban flood warning was issued for Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens until 7PM! more ›

• IIndians 12, Yankees 3: Well, that didn't go as planned. Chien-Ming Wang didn't have his sinker, gave up a ton of two-out and two-strike hits, and the Yankees got buried. Their patient bats wore out C.C. Sabathia, but they only got three runs for their efforts against him, and that wasn't nearly enough given the way Wang pitched. Then they stunk up the joint against the Indians bullpen, but by them the game was over. It's only one in a five-game series, but the Yankees have an uphill battle. Remember who's likely pitching in Games 3 and 4: Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina. Andy Pettitte will face Fausto Carmona in Game 2 on Friday. Want a positive spin? The Yankees have never lost a division series in which they have lost the first game. That includes 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004. Those teams were better than this one though.
• Rangers 5, Panthers 2: A sluggish second period couldn't slow down the Rangers, who lit the lamp four times in the final session to pick up a win in their season opener. Who knows what Tom Renney said in the dressing room during the intermission, but it worked. The Rangers got three goals in two minutes and two in 12 seconds. Chris Drury, one of the big offseason signings, got a goal in a five-point performance.
• Lightning 3, Devils 1: Things didn't come up roses for the Devils, who started a season-opening nine-game road trip with a loss in Tampa Bay. Why the long trip? They're waiting for their new arena.
• FC Toronto 2, Red Bulls 1: Ah, the own goal. Soccer players' way of giving back -- to their opponents. Blame this one on Chris Leitch, who kicked the ball into his own net for the deciding score. New York will have to wait for a playoff berth.
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Will lightning strike twice for Mel Brooks, who hopes to enliven his stage adaptation of Young Frankenstein with the same spark that made The Producers a money making machine? His new monstrosity is already selling advance tickets for a Broadway run in October – a top ticket price of $450 sets a new record for excess – but last week Young Frankenstein came staggering out of the lab for an out-of-town rampage in Seattle. The haunting question at the show’s world premiere Thursday night was whether his 20 million dollar baby would be embraced by the Emerald City or get trampled by critics with torches and pitchforks. more ›