The charges have been dropped against the two men who were arrested for trying to cash a dead man’s $355 social security check. Back in January, David Daloia and James O'Hare made headlines with their foiled scheme to capitalize on O’Hare’s roommate’s death by pushing his corpse in an office chair up to a Pay-O-Matic check cashing joint in Hell’s Kitchen. They were arrested en route after a detective spotted the visibly deceased third man.......

The desperate antics of old-school Hell's Kitchen residents are still making news. James O'Hare and David Daloia were arraigned for forgery, petty larceny and other charges when they tried to cash in O'Hare's roommate's Social Security check - while O'Hare's dead roommate's body was in a chair outside the checking cashing place. Police believe dead roommate, Virgilio Cintron, died of natural causes on Monday, the day before O'Hare and Dalaia tried to pull the scam.......

Blockbuster trial no more: Former FBI Agent R. Lindley DeVecchio escaped four murder charges when the Brooklyn DA's office decided to dismiss its case accusing him of helping a mobster kill his rivals. The move became clear after Village Voice reporter Tom Robbins realized that the prosecution's star witness had told him very different things in a 1997 interview. The Brooklyn DA's office pinned its hope on Linda Schiro, mistress to mobster Gregory "The......

Facing numerous drug charges that could put him away for the rest of his life, convicted murderer Robert Chambers pleaded not guilty during a Thursday court appearance. Chambers, 41, and his companion, 39-year-old Shawn Kovell, are accused of selling drugs from Kovell's rent-stabilized one-bedroom apartment on East 57th Street in Manhattan. Earlier this week, the couple were busted by undercover officers. The Manhattan DA's office, no stranger to Chambers after the infamous 1986 murder of......

Robert Chambers, whose privileged Upper East upbringing earned the tabloid nickname "The Preppy Killer" when he killed a woman in 1986, was charged with 14 counts of selling and possessing drugs. Since two of the counts are for first-degree sale, which the Daily News reports carries 15-30 years, Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau said, "I would expect he would spend the rest of his life in jail." Chambers and girlfriend Shawn Kovell were arrested by......

The sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former Knicks executive finally offered up some soundbites from Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas. And they weren't too good for the Knicks! Anucha Browne Sanders, who was the vice-president of marketing for the Knicks, claims that Thomas acted inappropriately around her, from calling her derogatory names to claiming he was in love with her, and that Madison Square Garden executives did nothing to support her. Even......

Certainly, it's her word against his word, but if former Knicks marketing vice-president Anucha Browne Sanders is telling the truth, the disorganized management of the Knicks suddenly makes sense! Browne Sanders, who had filed a sexual harassment suit against Knicks President and coach Isiah Thomas after being fired last year, testified in Manhattan federal court yesterday. She made a number of spectacular claims: That Thomas frequently called her a "bitch" and a "ho," that he......

A judge sentenced Foxy Brown to a year in jail yesterday for violating the terms of her three-year probation. Officials asked that her probation be revoked following an incident in August when Brown (neé Inga Marchand) allegedly assaulted a neighbor with her BlackBerry wireless device. Brown was contrite and promised to adhere to whatever probation conditions the judge would set forth, but apparently the BlackBerry incident was the last of a long string of probation......

The FDNY did not inspect the Deutsche Bank building every 15 days, "as required by city rules for buildings being demolished" (NY Times). This revelation, coupled with the fact that the FDNY did not have a plan to go into the burning building, prompts the Post to demand that Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta leave his post. The city's official update about the investigation into the Saturday fire, which required 275 firefighters and claimed the lives......

The only good thing about the battle over Brooke Astor's estate that is taking place in Westchester Surrogate Court is that Astor herself does not have to be privy to it. Her son Anthony Marshall accused custodians of the estate, Astor's friend Annette de La Renta and JP Morgan Chase, of a "malicious jihad." de la Renta and Chase were appointed to oversee the estate after there were some questions about whether Astor's will......

Brooke Astor's funeral was held yesterday afternoon in midtown Manhattan, at Saint Thomas Church on 5th Ave. and 53rd St. The lineage and personal generosity of Mrs. Astor and the array of famous attendees at her funeral made it a widely covered news event. The New York Times reported that officiants at the funeral requested that all cell phones be turned off at the beginning of the service, although a Gawker correspondent pointed out......

Last month Remy Ma, after a night out at Pizza Bar in the Meatpacking District, shot her friend Makeda Barnes-Joseph. Oops. The 23-year old survived the rapper's wrath, and Remy Ma went to Riker's. The altercation began after Barnes-Joseph was believed to have stolen $3,000 from Remy Ma, something that is still unconfirmed. According to the victim, instead of calling 911 after the shooting, Remy went through her purse while she bled from two shots......

After a few days of delays, Vincent and Cheryl Pierce were finally able to pick up the Moondance Diner, the Soho standby, and move it back to LaBarge, Wyoming. The diner closed earlier this year after the landlords decided to transform the corner of Sixth Avenue and Grand Street into luxury condos. Developer Extell donated the diner to the American Diner Museum, which then sold the structure to the Pierces for $7,500. The diner's......

Mayor Bloomberg headed to jury duty this morning, with a smile, a number of bodyguards and press aide Stu Loeser. When he showed up to the waiting room for prospective jurors, apparently a woman called a friend and said he was there for the "same foolishness" as everyone else. Outside the courthouse, the Mayor mused, "It's always more interesting to be on a jury than to just sit there. You wish that we didn't......

Yesterday, the odd news about the NYPD's arrest of three men involved with an egg-shaped submarine near the Queen Mary 2, off the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, revealed that a Brooklyn artist was behind the whole benign operation. Police Commissioner called artist Duke Riley's stunt "marine mischief," adding that the "creative craft of three adventuresome individuals" did "not pose any terrorist threat." The NY Times describes Riley's intentions:Mr. Riley’s plan was also military, in a......

While the end of his playing days have been long over, Curtis Martin only officially announced his retirement from the NFL today. Martin, the running back for the Jets for 8 seasons, retires from the NFL after 11 seasons as the fourth-leading rusher in league history with 14,101 yards. The future member of the Hall of Fame only trails Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders on that list. Martin, 34, joined the Jets......

It's our favorite July 4th tradition, this side of smiley-face fireworks: The Annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, held at Nathan's in Coney Island. And this year's competition is particularly tantalizing: Current champion Takeru Kobayashi has been having jaw pains, while Joey Chestnut broke the hot dog eating record, by scarfing down 59.5 at a June event. So we shall begin our liveblogging, and Jen Chung and Tien Mao will be providing other commentary......

Competitive eating powerhouses convened in front of City Hall today to be weighed in for tomorrow's Nathan's Famous July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest. Six-time winner and current mustard belt holder Takeru Kobayashi weighed in at 154 pounds while Joey Chestnut, who broke Kobayashi's hot-dog eating record by keeping down 59.5 hot dogs at an Arizona event last month, weighed in at 215 pounds. Kobayashi had signaled his all-important jaw muscles weren't feeling that......

Yesterday, the Post revealed that Mamadou Soumare had filed a notice of claim, giving him the right to file a lawsuit in the future, related to the Bronx fire that claimed the lives of his wife and four children. But now Somare tells the Daily News that he's not so sure about the lawsuit anymore. The defendants in the notice of claim included various city agencies - FDNY, Department of Buildings - as well as......

It's been three months since the tragic fire in a Bronx family home that claimed the lives of one adult and nine children. Mamadou Soumare, who lost his wife and four children in the blaze, has filed a notice of claim, with the FDNY, Department of Buildings, Department of Housing Preservation and even his cousin, Moussa Magassa, who owned the building, as possible defendants. The fire was started by an overheated space heater cord on......

Three detectives were charged in the November 2006 shooting of Sean Bell outside a Queens nightclub, and all three pleaded not guilty. Two of the police officers, Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora, face serious charges that include first-degree and second-degree manslaughter (it was originally thought they would only face second-degree manslaughter), while Detective Marc Cooper faces charges of reckless endangerment. When asked how he would plea, Isnora's lawyer Philip Karasyk said, "Not guilty......

Families, neighbors, and others mourned Wednesday night's fire that gutted a 4-story Bronx home and claimed the lives of nine people, including eight children. Fire officials investigated the Highbridge section structure, which was home to twenty-two Malian immigrants and believed that a space heater on the garden floor bedroom overheated and caused the fire, which spread uncontrollably due to what the NY Times calls "the most basic of human oversights and seemingly innocuous events."......

We never thought Foxy Brown was all smart (our favorite example: pleading guilty but then trying to take it back) and given her penchant for getting into trouble (smacking manicurists here, "stealing" belts there), but one would think she'd get a clue. Alas, no, and the Manhattan DA's office attempted to get Brown jailed because she had violated her parole by traveling to Florida. The DA's office and the Department of Probation found out because......

We image Mayor Bloomberg had some talking-to with the new governor! A few days ago, Governor Eliot Spitzer dipped his toe into the dispute about how victims' names would be arrange at the World Trade Center Memorial. Spitzer said a "very public discussion" should be had to satisfy still-lingering unhappiness from some victims' families about the WTC Memorial Foundation's plans. The foundation, led by its chairman, Mayor Bloomberg, decided not to signify civilian victims' names......

Yesterday, the police arrested Francisco Torress of Queens, as well as Herman Bell and Anthony Bottom, in connection with the 1971 murder of a San Francisco police officer. Bell and Bottom are currently serving jail time for murdering two NYPD officers in 1971; while Bell and Bottom were convicted of the 1971 killing NYPD cops Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones, Torres and his brother were found innocent due to insufficient evidence. A SWAT team......

Federal immigration agents and city probation officers worked together to round up 45 sex offenders in an sting called "Operator Predator." The NYPD and and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been working together to locate sex offenders on probation who are eligible for deportation. The offenders were taken into custody after visits with their probation officers. Out of the people apprehended, 20 were in the country illegally; deportation proceedings have begun for all. The......

Chappaqua resident and teacher's assistant Peggy Perez-Olivo died from injuries sustained when she was shot in the head Saturday night. Her husband, Carlos Perez-Olivio, a recently disbarred defense lawyer, had told police that a car forced them to pull over on Saw Mill River Road, and a man shot his wife in the head and him in the stomach. Though injured, he was still able to drive to a hospital. Naturally, some suspicion has......

Naomi Campbell may be pleading down to a lesser charge in one of her assault cases. In the case of the March incident where Campbell allegedly beat her housekeeper with a cellphone, Campbell and the Manhattan DA's officer are looking into a plea deal that will satisfy both sides. Her lawyer hopes she'll get community service at an Upper East Side hospital, versus street cleaning in the Lower East Side, a la Boy George. Attorney......

Lawsuits and Naomi Campbell are magical together! Gaby Gibson, the former maid who got beatdown by Campbell after she couldn't find her Stella McCartney jeans in January, filed a second lawsuit against Campbell. The first lawsuit mentioned "employment discrimination, civil assault and civil battery" and now the second adds more defendants (Campbell's publicist, for one), and charges of defamation and "repeated discriminatory assaults based on her national origin." Campbell allegedly told Gibson: being told......

Foxy Brown was sentenced to three years probation for attacking employees of Bloomie Nails back in 2005. You may recall that in August Brown pleaded guilty to the assault, but then tried to take it back. Brown continued to plead her innocence, claiming her original lawyer had "rushed" and "coerced" her. The NY Times had a funny exchange between Brown (real name: Inga Marchand) and the judge:Ms. Marchand, 27, said she pleaded guilty only......