A boy who recently graduated middle school drowned yesterday afternoon after jumping into the Reynolds Channel off Long Beach. Leo Vann and his friends had been at the skateboard park, and Vann decided to jump in to cool off. Though Vann reportedly could swim, it's believed he got caught in the undercurrent. Witnesses were unsuccessful in saving him and it took rescuers over 30 minutes to pull Vann from the water. His mother questioned why......

A retired cop who can't abide cell phone users or loud talkers on his daily LIRR commute to and from Manhattan has made it his business to intimidate fellow riders into being quiet. Standing six foot four inches, John Clifford can be an imposing figure, especially if he's yelling at you, slapping a phone out of your hand, or throwing food or a beverage on you. Clifford's been arrested a number of times, but he's......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: Is there a bank robber hitting up multiple banks on the Upper West Side? There were robberies at 2438 Broadway and 59 West 86th St; there were also two separate police vehicle MVAs in The Bronx and Brooklyn; and a fatality under a train in Jackson Heights (it says A, but we'll assume it's the E). If any Wall Street types you know were depressed yesterday after the Dow......

Red Bulls 5, Galaxy 4: Giants Stadium fills up for plenty of events, but Red Bulls games don't usually rank among those. Saturday's did, if only because David Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy was in town. Those fans, who were there for Beckham and not the Galaxy, found another rare treat: goals in a Major League Soccer game. Soccer doesn't need frequent scores to be exciting, but the rare 5-4 game never hurt anyone. Not......

A Brooklyn resident who went swimming in the buff off Long Beach was lost overnight until the Coast Guard found him yesterday morning. Newsday reports that Neal Mello went for a swim around 9:30PM on Saturday night. He "left his clothes, phone and wallet beside a friend, who then fell asleep on the sand near Edwards Avenue." According to authorities, when the friend awoke around 10PM, she became worried that he was still gone, so......

New York has a small Cambodian community. The Fordham and University Heights sections of the Bronx are home to about 2000 Khmer immigrants. One of the more recent immigrants is Ratana Veth, Cambodian actress and karaoke star. (Note: The Times refers to the her as Ratana Veth but her internet fans invariably call her Veth Ratana). Veth married Tek Vandy, owner of the Battambang II grocery store on East Kingsbridge Road, last year and moved......

We cannot resist stories that involve superheroes wearing briefs or high school antics, even if they take place in Long Island. So: Three Long Beach High School seniors caught the ire of principal Nicholas Restivo yesterday when they celebrated "Superhero Day." In the tradition of many a high school, there's a Senior Week where seniors have dress up and do silly things, and Long Beach has a "Superhero Day," in addition to "Nerd Day" and......

"Cool" parents, watch out! The City Council is considering bring a "Social Host" law to NYC. The law makes parents responsible for any underage drinking in their homes, and, in fact, many other cities and states have social host laws as well. Parents can serve alcohol to their children (within reason, we'd imagine), while it would be illegal to serve alcohol to minors who are not their children. According to 1010WINS, there would be a......

It's hot, humid, and I want to go to the beach. What are my options? Well, Gateway National Recreation Area is right in our neck of the woods, extending in three New York City boroughs and into northern New Jersey. It is a good place to start your quest for the perfect patch of sand and cooling waters. Queens: Jacob Riis Park 2 to Flatbush Ave., Q35 Bus to Riis Beach Staten Island: Great Kills......

Forgotten-NY has a great feature on the decline of Edgemere, Queens-- a neighborhood out in the Rockaways. Back in the day, it was apparently a nice summer resort spot. Now, it's just a few miles of spooky empty lots and boardwalk, but Forgotten wonders if it can be resuscitated: Can Edgemere be brought back south of the el? Various plans are out there, most of which call for residential development. This should be an......

The Times this morning has a story about air pollution in Los Angeles. The city and state have been very successful in reducing pollution from cars –ozone alert days reduced by half, but are growing concerned about the increasing levels of pollution from particulates. Particulates are fine particles, less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter that lodge themselves in your lungs and cause all sorts of problems. Particulate pollution is increasing because the ports of Los......

Kevin Walsh, Forgotten NY...

Here at Ask Gothamist HQ, we've received tons of questions about fun summer activities, like the recent question about the New York Philharmonic Outdoor Concert Series. Gothamist readers seem to want summer activities that are fun (of course), free or low-cost, and easily accesible without a car. So, Ask Gothamist is glad to present the definitive guide to Summer of Fun 04 (SOF04). Beaches: New York has beaches aplenty, many that are easily reached by......

Josh Aiello, Author...

Laurie Woolever, Cook/Food Writer...

Jesse Oxfeld...

The circumstances around the actions of the third driver who hit Queens teenager Natalie Guzman, who eventually died after three separate cars hit her, are now revealed. Long Beach resident Ramundo Herrera, charged with criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident, had been in the area, drinking and eating with a cousin. Guzman, who had been hit twice and was being attended to by onlookers, was then hit again by Herrera's SUV.......