Around 3:45 a.m., a device exploded outside the military recruiting center in Times Square. No one was injured, but a glass entryway was shattered. more ›

Photograph of Mayor Bloomberg speaking at the State of the City address by Mary Altaffer/AP more ›

For just 25 cents, you finally can experience the steel-and-glass splendor of the city's first new public toilet. City officials gathered in Madison Square Park for the ceremonial first flush of the Automatic Public Toilet (APT). Almost a year after the location was announced and almost 2 years after the toilets were first previewed, Department of Transportation Commissioner Jeannette Sadik-Khan said she was "flushed with excitement in this new era...New Yorkers had their fingers and legs crossed for this special day." And so it goes. more ›

Stores were packed with post-Christmas shoppers, as retailers marked down their products in hopes of boosting holidays sales. So far, holiday period sales are up 3.6%, which is the "lower end" of expectations according to MasterCard Advisors. more ›

He’s made his list, he’s checked it twice and now we are going to find out who has been naughty and not nice. Former Senator George Mitchell's report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball comes out at 2pm today. And besides providing us with the most complete look at the use of performance-enhancing drugs to date, the Mitchell Report will also name names. While it is just speculation at this point,... more ›

The New York Rangers have hit a speed bump, coming out flat in two-straight games, getting some bad goaltending and losing badly at home. Thursday night’s 6-2 loss was even more disappointing than Tuesday’s because the Rangers rallied in this game and then fell apart. Down 2-0 in the first the Rangers came back with two goals off of the power play to even things up heading into the second. But, Toronto took the... more ›

The Broadway stagehands strike may not be a hit with audiences, but it’s settling in for a long run anyway. Day eleven of the strike is dominated by the dashed hopes of children who’d been promised a visit to Whoville. Yesterday James Sanna, a producer of “The Grinch”, announced that because the show had a separate contract with the stagehands’ union, they’d reached an agreement that would let the kid-friendly musical continue its brief... more ›

Isn't the Internet wonderful? It lets baseball fans vote in an All-Star game player and now it lets people around the world decide what to do with a historic ball. After purchasing the ball that Barry Bonds hit to break baseball's all-time home run record, fashion designer Marc Ecko has decided to give the public a vote on what to do with the ball. On the website Vote756.com, Ecko gives voters three choices, "Bestow it. Brand it. Banish it." That's bestow it to Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame, brand it with an asterisk and then send it to Cooperstown, and banish it to space via rocket. more ›

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 that this did not stop the woman sitting next to him from allegedly loudly typing away on her BlackBerry throughout the service. more ›

REV. SHARPTON TO APPRAISE RUDI GIULIANI AT TENTH ANNIVERSARY RALLY & DISCUSS THE STATE OF POLICE BRUTALITY TODAY IN LIGHT OF GIULIANI'S FRONTRUNNER STATUS ON THE REPUBLICAN TICKET BY ANALYZING WHAT THE NATION MIGHT FACE IF GIULIANI IS ELECTED PRESIDENT AND OVER THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENTOther attendees include Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, who survived being shot by police officers last fall (their friend Sean Bell did not survive) . more ›

Yay! For only the fourth time since it was finished in 1917, the fountain in the Central Park's Reservoir is flowing again. The reservoir, officially named the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in 1994, served as the backdrop for Mayor Bloomberg as he announced that city water supply won't require filtering for at least 10 more years. Yesterday, the EPA granted the city a 10-year waiver on a filtering the water from its Catskill and Delaware systems. The two reservoir systems supply about 90% of the city's water (the Central Park Reservoir no longer supplies drinking water) and the city is one of 5 in the nation that isn't required to filter its water. According to The Post, the waiver saves the city from building two filtration plants which would cost at least $8 billion. Instead, the city will add a new ultraviolet disinfecting facility. more ›

Yesterday, two cars full of gasoline and nails were found near London's Picadilly Circus. The car bombs were defused, and British authorities determined that the two vehicles were linked, which is apparently an al Qaeda tactic. Had the bombs gone off, the Post reports "security experts said that if the car bombs found yesterday had been ignited, they would have created enormous fireballs, followed by shock waves forming a killing zone at least 400 yards in diameter." more ›

Former Brooklyn political boss Clarence Norman Jr. and former Justice Gerald Garson appeared separately in a Brooklyn courtroom yesterday, but both left in handcuffs and headed off to prison after sentencing on corruption charges. Actually, Garson received a stay on his imprisonment while he appeals his conviction. The two disgraced public officials were sentenced in successive hearings, but both cases are related and part of the Brooklyn DA's office five year investigation into governmental corruption. more ›

Even though a Sunni insurgent group claimed yesterday that two captured U.S. soldiers had been killed, one of the soldiers' mothers hoping that her son is still alive. Maria Rosario Duran spoke to reporters outside her Corona, Queens home. She said, "I can't even imagine that he's not going to return alive, that I will never see him again." more ›

Yesterday's Second Avenue Subway groundbreaking was notable for a few things: First of all, as we all know by now, it's was the fourth groundbreaking - three occurred in the 1970s, so yesterday's event was an introduction to the pomp and pageantry of subway groundbreakings for many of us. Second, it was pouring. When it rains at weddings, some people say that's lucky (though we suspect it's just to make the couple feel better). We say it's lucky that parts of the subway were already built, so the dignitaries and MTA official gathered could stay relatively dry. more ›

Ever since The Lab, the gallery at the Roger Smith Hotel, canceled an exhibit of a 6-foot, nude crucified Jesus carved out of chocolate after much furor, the question is now: When will My Sweet Lord (the name of the 200-pound sculpture) rise again? more ›

A six-foot tall chocolate sculpture of Jesus which will be displayed at a Midtown hotel next week is stirring up controversy. Catholics are calling Cosimo Cavallaro's "My Sweet Lord" an "all-out war on Christianity." more ›

At 7AM, the three detectives indicted in the shooting of Sean Bell last November turned themselves. WNBC reports that Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora, and Marc Cooper will be fingerprinted and processed before their arraignment this afternoon. more ›

Today, many businesses are closed in honor of President's Day. Wall Street is closed, as are banks, government offices and schools. There's no regular garbage pickup, but the Department of Sanitation will be picking up garbage that has been stranded due to last week's storm. more ›

Purebred dogs from across the country are rocking out at Madison Square Garden for the Westminster Kennel Club's 131 Westminster Dog Show. Over 2,600 dogs are competing today and tomorrow for Best in Breed and Best in Show prizes. Many dogs and their owners stay at the Hotel Pennsylvania across the street from MSG, where dogs meet each other and their owners sniff out the competition. more ›

More details have emerged about why the police raided the Hells Angels Headquarters on East 3rd Street yesterday. It turns out that 52 year old Roberta Shalaby was beaten into a coma when, as the Daily News puts it, she "tried to push her way into the Hells Angels clubhouse" Sunday night. Shalaby had gotten into an argument with a female Hells Angel biker at The Edge, and then followed them to their headquarters. Witnesses say she yelled, "You motherf----r! Let me in!" as well as "Come down here and say it like a man!" when someone from the club told her to shut up. Then someone came out and beat her up, according to police. more ›

The Mayor unveiled his Fiscal Year 2008 Preliminary Budget and was very upbeat, if cautious. Mayor Bloomberg said of the $57.1 billion budget:

“Because of our strong economy, tax revenues are running higher than expected this year. That’s good budgetary news, including $1 billion in tax cuts for the people of New York City. If conditions permit, we’ll propose extending that tax cut in the future. But with slower job growth and other indications of economic uncertainty on the horizon, it’s wiser to take a wait-and-see approach, while also putting $500 million more into our Retiree Health Benefits Trust Fund and using $1.4 billion to close the expected budget deficit in 2009.”

Yesterday, Senator Hillary Clinton visited Ground Zero and asked for $1.9 billion in funding to address September 11-related illnesses. Various people afflicted with issues after working at the World Trade Center site were also on hand as Clinton said, "This is a crisis, and we need for the President to respond. We want the President and members of Congress to see the faces of those who have suffered because of our negligence." Yes, better to attack that negligence than discuss the war. The visit was mentioned by Clinton during her first web "conversation" last night, in the context of how she'd be tough on terrorism - you can see the chat here. more ›

At the podium with his highest approval ratings ever, Mayor Mike gave his annual State of the City address and outlined an agenda that will dictate his last three years in office and most likely, his legacy. Some of these items include passing $1 billion in tax cuts (including $750 million in property tax and eliminating sales tax on clothing and shoes), improving the school system, pursuing anti-gun laws, and continuing development projects across the city. In fact, his recommendations to continue school reform were the first things he mentioned, from further empowering principals to do a better job retaining good teachers (and getting rid of tenure), and shifting funding to students, instead of schools, and grading the schools themselves.. more ›

In the wake of President Bush's Wednesday night address to the country, when he announced that he will send thousands of more soldiers to Iraq, hundreds of people protested the plan. They convened at the tiny island in the middle of Times Square in front of the U.S. Armed Forces recruiting station, with signs like "Stop the funding, stop the war" and "When government lies, Democracy dies" with drivers passing by honking their horns. Some protesters were dressed as Guantanamo prisoners. Of course, there were counter-protesters; one sign said, "Warning: Leftist protesters trying to demoralize our troops." No arrests were reported. more ›

Earlier today, a horse drawn carriage carrying the casket of James Brown traveled through Harlem to the Apollo Theater, where fans had been lining up since last night to pay their respects to the Godfather of Soul. People had followed in the street, singing "Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud." more ›

-Wizards 113 Knicks 102: Well, Isiah and the Knicks didn’t take long to wipe out any good feelings over their last game. Facing a pathetic Washington team, New York gave a lackluster effort again in the loss. more ›

Last night, the family and friends of Sean Bell were joined by hundreds for Bell's funeral in Queens. Bell was killed during a chaotic confrontation with police officers last weekend. The Reverend Al Sharpton spoke during the service. From the Daily News:

"We must give Sean a legacy, a legacy of justice, a legacy of fairness, not a legacy against police. We don't hate cops. We don't hate race. We hate wrong. We dislike wickedness in high places." more ›

By now most Giants fans have heard of Michael Strahan's controversial comments this week. The injured defensive lineman first went after receiver Plaxico Burress on WFAN for lackluster effort, and Wednesday he criticized ESPN reporter Kelly Naqi and accusing her of taking an overly negative slant on the team. Those comments were naturally replayed countless times by the sports network. more ›

The NYPD and FBI shut down a $3.3 billion Internet gambling ring, arresting 27 people and seizing $7 million in cash and assets worth $500 million, including four Manhattan condos. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly called shutting down website Playwithal.com "the largest illegal gambling operation this department has ever encountered." Here's how it worked, according to the Daily News:

Traditional bookies would give bettors a secret code to use the Internet gambling site, authorities said. Bets were taken on all kinds of sports, including football, baseball, basketball, hockey, auto racing and golf - and at the end of each week, the bookies would pay off or collect from each client. more ›