Now that unemployment and poverty rates are sky high, why not open a few casinos? The Post reports that both parties agree: legalized gambling should happen. It'll give people a chance to discover a new rock-bottom get back on their feet, inject some cash into the state's austere budget, and finally allow us to knock Native Americans out of the one position of power that they currently hold. Everybody wins! more ›

Are drivers speeding through Queens to get to the Pop Tart Experience as fast as possible? Or are they just subconsciously pressing the gas harder while they sext their sweethearts? An analysis of the 624,813 moving violations cited by the NYPD this year by the Post reveals that Elmhurst has the highest number of speeding tickets (2,094) while Flushing tops the cellphone citations (2,589). Shockingly, on the Upper East Side, drivers apparently feel they're above stopping for a red light or going the right way, as the East 60's racked up the most tickets for running reds (1,480) and ignoring wrong way signs (359). more ›

As the sexual assault charges against him remain in jeopardy, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his wife took some time away from the city on Thursday, taking in a classical performance at Tanglewood outside Lenox, Massachusetts. The Times reports that Strauss-Kahn saw a recital by a Danish violinist and a pianist on Thursday, and returned Friday for a solo performance by a cellist. While some overheard Strauss-Kahn speaking in French at the performances, none could make out what he was saying. more ›

A 29-year-old mechanic from Crown Heights, a 27-year old ballet dancer and a 28-year-old indie filmmaker from Bed-Stuy all found themselves tumbling down a 700-foot cliff in Massachusetts over the weekend. The trio were part of six that took an all-terrain vehicle for a joyride at 2 a.m., when the driver didn't see an upcoming cliff fast enough and they all went over. One of the adventurers, Kurt Wolfard (who has a little baby girl!) admitted they had been drinking, and told the Daily News, "We all agree now that it was a dumb thing to do. We weren't planning on driving off a cliff." Even though some fell the full 700 feet, they all miraculously survived. more ›

In an ironic twist, formerly-obscure Republican Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senate seat occupied by the late Ted Kennedy from 1962 until his death in August, throwing into jeopardy Congress's most recent attempt to pass some kind of health care reform, Kennedy's most beloved cause. Brown's decisive 52-47 percent victory over Attorney General Martha Coakley has Republicans giddy and Democrats panicked—Brown doesn't think waterboarding is torture, opposes a federal cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon emissions, and posed nude for Cosmo. more ›

It's desperate, it's risky, and it's an eleventh hour guilt-by-association Hail Mary, but panicked Democrats are hoping that a video showing an off-color remark at a political rally yesterday will derail a looming Republican Senate win in Massachusetts. Yesterday some yahoo at a rally for Republican Scott Brown yelled, "Shove a curling iron up her butt!" The comment was a reference to Brown's opponent, Attorney General Martha Coakley, who was criticized for not aggressively pursuing a child rape case in 2005. In the video below, Brown does not say anything in response to the remark, but he appears to smile in response! It's not quite a Macaca moment, but for Democrats, it'll have to do. more ›

The Massachusetts Secretary of State moved to revoke the license of a brokerage accused of raising money for Ponzi scheme maestro Bernard Madoff. Secretary William Galvin says firm Cohmad has not cooperated with an investigation—and the Boston Globe reports the complaint also alleges NYC social scene fixture "Ruth Madoff, Madoff's wife, maintained a brokerage account at Cohmad and withdrew $10 million on Dec. 10, the day before Madoff was arrested" (not to mention withdrawing $5.5 million in November). So that's how she's paying for his house arrest security! Galvin alleges that Cohmad and Madoff's firm were "deeply entwined"; read his complaint here (PDF). Today, Madoff prosecutors are supposed to seek an indictment or ask for a delay but Agence-France Press notes, "Prosecutors and the alleged fraudster's defense team already agreed in mid-January to a 30-day extension. Observers believe the same thing will happen Wednesday." more ›

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed a bill allowing out-of-state gay couples to marry in the Bay State. The bill repeals a 95-year statute that prevented out-of-state same sex marriages (originally drafted in response to interracial marriage) and in his speech, he said, "In Massachusetts, equal means equal...by repealing this law, we have affirmed the democratic principal that all people come before their government as equals." Back in May, NY Governor David Paterson ordered state agencies must recognize same sex marriages. more ›

Yesterday, the police arrested Rodlyn Petitbois (pictured), who they believe killed a Massachusetts woman who sheltered Petitbois's girlfriend and their four children. Petitbois was found walking down a street while the children and mother were found in Prospect Park. more ›

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href="http://londonist.com/2008/02/air_bound.php"> remove one man from Gatwick.

The Wisconsin, Washington and Hawaii primaries have been going on today, and while John McCain is expected to further solidify his presumptive nomination, the Democratic race is tight as ever, with a Gallup pole now showing Clinton closing the gap on Obama after his string of eight straight victories. more ›

With the writers' strike looking like it'll wrap up this week, Crain's points us towards another problem for New York's entertainment industry. more ›

Barack Obama won yesterday's Maine caucus, with about 57-60% of the vote to Hillary Clinton's approximate 40-42%. This makes Obama's fourth win in a row, after sweeping the Democratic contests in Louisiana, Nebraska, and Washington yesterday. more ›

The specter of a Mormon multimillionaire as president has been lifted; Mitt Romney announced his withdrawal from the Republican primary race this afternoon. Romney used his speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee to declare: “If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win.” Wonkette liveblogged the speech to great comic effect. more ›

It was an exciting night of Super Tuesday primary returns. In the Democratic contest, Hillary Clinton won eight states, including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California, but Obama won twelve - Illinois, Connecticut, Alabama, and Missouri - among them (New Mexico is still undecided as the two candidates are in a tie). The NY Times notes that since there were no decisive victories, "an electoral fight...will unfold for weeks to come." Or, as the Post puts it in more visceral terms, "Neither Clinton nor Obama was able to deliver a knockout punch on a night that had once been expected to crown a winner." more ›

As of 11:45 p.m., Hillary Clinton and John McCain are projected to win their New York primaries. The Democratic primary distributes NY delegates proportionally, so the final total will be important in determining how many will go to Clinton and how many to Barack Obama. more ›

Barack Obama won the South Carolina Democratic primary yesterday, taking 55% of the vote, winning by a greater margin than most pundits and recent polls had predicted. Hillary Clinton finished second with 27% and John Edwards came in third. The NY Times headline writes that he won by "forging a coalition of support among black and white voters in a contest that sets the stage for a state-by-state fight for the party’s presidential nomination." more ›

A congenital defect left three chihuahua puppies lacking their forelegs, but between an employee at the North Shore Animal League on Long Island and a company in western Massachusetts, Venus, Carmen and Pablo are three para-pups on the move with aluminum walkers and foam wheels. more ›

While Six Sigma's goal-oriented blather and obsession with measuring everything was jarring, it was also weirdly familiar, inasmuch as it was strikingly reminiscent of my college Maoism I class. Mao seemed to be a good model for Jack Welch and his Six Sigma foot soldiers; Six Sigma's "Champions" and "Black Belts" were Mao's "Cadres" and "Squad Leaders." more ›

That just happened! Senator Barack Obama won the Democratic Iowa Caucus with at least 37% of the vote (projections are changing). Former Senator John Edwards got 30% of the vote while Senator Hillary Clinton got 29%. The media is playing this as a huge failure for the Senator from New York, given how powerful the Clinton machine has seemed. Also stunning: There were 82% more Democratic voters in this year's caucus compared with 2004, which pundits suggest means Iowa, which President Bush won in 2004, is certainly in play for the Democrats. more ›

Television producer Matthew Weiner recently shared his holiday gift horror stories with the Times, relating a sad/funny discovery made by his brother while exchanging a Day-Glo orange sweater given to him by their parents; it turned out they spent $1.00 on the item. Which still doesn’t sound as bad as the gift Weiner got: “a crimson suede Nascar jacket covered with sewn-on patches with emblems of Skoal chewing tobacco and Drakkar Noir cologne. On the back was a huge Budweiser insignia.” more ›

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Former mayor Rudy Giuliani visited Barrington, New Hampshire store The Christmas Dove yesterday during various campaign visits in the Granite State and bought a ceramic angel. Perhaps it was an angel of mercy, as he has begun to pull back NH-related advertising in order to concentrate on the Florida primary, implicitly acknowledging that he doesn't have a chance against Republican front runner Mitt Romney and Senator John McCain, who has surged into second place in NH polling. more ›

In spite of the reports, hypes and fears, there actually wasn't much snowfall in the city yesterday - just about an inch - though we did see some sleet that quickly melted. The suburbs got a few inches of snow, while much of the accumulation was in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. more ›

Londonist was proud to announce the winner of this year's Turner Prize was Mark Wallinger who made long-standing London protester Brian Haw a work of art, after he has previously been made into a sort of law due to his lengthy banner-waving vigil outside parliament. The strength of the pound made real in the form of a 25 foot high coin on a quiet patch of the Thames river bank, aiming to inspire all Londoners in a publicly voted decision on spending £50 million Lottery money. Perhaps some new play projects for London kids who, for the lack of youthful entertainment, are trying to amuse themselves by collecting prostitute calling cards, which are worryingly rigged and booby-trapped. And for those who are anticipating a lovely fat check from a great-aunt this Christmas and wondering what to spend it on, the London Marathon will need a new sponsor after 2009. How does The Londonist London Marathon sound? more ›

Last week, a CNN/WMUR poll with "likely Republican voters in New Hampshire" gave a snapshot of what they were thinking and Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign got the bad news that not only had his poll numbers slid from 24% to 16%, he was now in third place after former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (33%, up from 25%) and Arizona Senator John McCain (18%). Third after McCain! So, Giuliani hustled to New Hampshire to make... more ›

Is Mayor Bloomberg a big Grey's Anatomy fan? Because he was a witness to Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo's wedding at City Hall last week.* Pompeo, the squinty-eyed- sorta- Renee Zellweger- doppelganger, married her fiance Chris Ivery in a simple ceremony. According to the AP, the only witnesses were Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Patricia Harris, and a city clerk's office official performed the ceremony last Friday. We hope that the ceremony was uneventful and happy,... more ›

The Boston priest arrested for stalking "Late Night" talk-show host Conan O'Brien has been found fit for trial. A Manhattan judge declared the Reverend David Ajemian mentally fit for trial after a court-appointed psychologist examined him. Ajemian was arrested after issuing a number of threats to the host of the NBC talk show host and attempts to get into an O'Brien taping. Ajemian was relatively more unhinged than your average show biz stalker. He was... more ›

The Manhattan District Attorney's office announced that the Reverend David Ajemian was arrested on charges of stalking and threatening Conan O'Brien. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston placed Ajemian, a 46-year-old priest in Stoneham, Massachusetts, on leave. The DA's office says that Ajemian had sent letters (some on parish letterhead!) to O'Brien's offices at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and home, contacted his parents, and tried to attend tapings of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He was... more ›