TREE LIGHTING: Earlier this year, New Yorkers Fountains of Wayne transformed Demetri Martin into a lonely suit living in Brooklyn in this video. Tonight the band will be rockin' around the Stuy Town Christmas tree. A reader writes in:I just happened to see this flyer hanging up for the annual christmas tree lighting. And what the hell is this...7:30-8:00pm, FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE. Seems like it's top secret, but there are flyers everywhere.Random! But if you're......

Anger and frustration about the Deutsche Bank fire that claimed two firefighters' lives simply continues to mount as the Uniformed Firefighters Association says helicopters could have prevented the tragedy. Union president Stephen Cassidy said, "I think it’s very possible that the outcome would have been entirely different." While responding to the Deutsche Bank fire, firefighters found that the standpipe was broken, which meant water could not be delivered to the higher floors immediately (firefighters ended......

Yesterday evening, Bovis Lend Lease, the contractor charged with dismantling the WTC-dust contaminated Deutsche Bank building, faced an angry group of residents and lawmakers during a crowded community meeting. The seven-alarm fire on August 18, which claimed the lives of two firefighters, was likely started by construction workers smoking, which is against the rules in the highly flammable environment. Investigation after the fire found that the demolition site was essentially a "deathtrap," with a standpipe,......

There are many questions surrounding Saturday's Deutsche Bank building fire that took the lives of two firefighters. Were firefighters using outdated information? WABC 7 says that a FDNY report, which is used by fire commanders for planning how they will attack the fire, indicated that the building had 38 floors (when it was really 26) and that the standpipe was working (it wasn't connected). Did the FDNY ignore post-9/11 advice? The NY Times reports that......

With the $5.4 billion purchase of the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village apartment complex by Tishman-Speyer, some longtime rent-stabilized tenants have been worried about whether they will be able to stay. Well, now tenants are complaining that Tishman-Speyer has been spying on them. Some residents have received non-renewal letters, with Tishman-Speyer explaining that since the tenants do not use their Stuy Town-Peter Cooper apartment as a primary residence, then their lease can be over. The......

The NY Sun reports that doctors believes less people will suffer "craniofacial injuries" during cab accidents because many new cabs, such as the hybrid taxis, don't have the bullet-proof partitions. Drivers of hybrid cabs, especially luxury ones, have been opting for security cameras. Which could mean less business for plastic surgeons, who say that they see some people with "crushed noses, fractured cheekbones and eye sockets, and 'stellate,' or burst lacerations" after accidents. Now, we......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A truck vs. building in Staten Island, a hazmat situation in Queens and a child was stuck in an elevator in Times SquareThe 50 day protest over the Sean Bell shooting ends today - his family and friends held a daily rally, one day for each bullet fired by the police copyranter dares you to put some sizzle on your wrist with a bacon wristband The down side of......