The most famous undeclared presidential candidate, our very own Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has weighed in about the Iowa caucus results. Okay, so Mayor Bloomberg claims he's not running for president, but when you swipe at the actual candidates, have a staff that's investigating the possibility of running a campaign, and have a billion dollars to spare... The Mayor discussed the results(he didn't mention candidates by name) during radio show on WABC (MP3). Well, sort of......

Let's go to the audiotape digital recording! A Bronx detective was indicted on perjury charges after claiming in court that he never interrogated a teen shooting suspect - only for the teen to reveal he recorded the interrogation. Back in December 2005, 17-year-old Erik Crespo was accused of shooting a man in a High Bridge apartment building. He was arrested and when Detective Christopher Perino interviewed him, he used an MP3 player to record their......

Senator Barack Obama might be back in Iowa on the campaign trail, but New Yorkers are still buzzing over his coffee - and bacon and eggs and toast - klatsch with Mayor Bloomberg on Friday morning. The meeting was supposedly caught Senator Hillary Clinton off guard - and not just because it was two blocks away from her midtown offices. Bloomberg's press secretary Stu Loeser said Bloomberg wanted to talk national policy with Obama,......

If you're applying for a mortgage, you're willing to give up your personal details. Unfortunately, for some first-time applicants, their mortgage manager stole their identities - and $1 million. Jacob Milton and his sister Nira Niru were arrested for identity theft, grand larceny and scheming to defraud after investigators at the 115th Precinct received many complaints of ID theft. The police found one common thread: They had all applied for mortgage at Griffin Mortgage's Jackson......

Ever wondered what it would be like to discover a secret room in your apartment, hidden, for example, behind a concealed door in the closet? Not necessarily an entire kingdom of Narnia, but maybe a posh master suite, jacuzzi bath, or a forgotten loft with wood ceiling? Geoff Manaugh of BLDG BLOG -- who happens to live in Los Angeles -- has also indulged this typically New York fantasy. And he's doing an interactive radio......

If you're looking for a good way to mimic the great NYC outdoors, check out the NY Times article about police car sirens - the Times even has a separate page with MP3s of all the different sounds. While demonstrating the different siren sounds to Times reporter Cara Buckley, Officer Spiros Komis made his work sound like he's a DJ when trying to get someone to stop speeding:“I go through the whole mode,” he......

With the recent agreement the city made with the public school principals' union in the news for it's unusual additions (like a $25,000 incentive for principals to head schools in difficult areas), we suggest you also read the Village Voice article about teachers in "rubber rooms" for the underbelly of the public school dealings. The "rubber rooms" are where teachers who are in the middle of disputes, whether they've been rightly or unfairly removed......

Our billionaire mayor assumed a populist tone during a radio address this morning when discussing his proposed congestion tax that would charge drivers $8 for the privelege of using Manhattan's most crowded streets. Bloomberg asserted that people who drive to the city tend to be the people who can afford the additional charges and that the money would be well spent on mass transit infrastructure in long-neglected areas, like the outer boroughs. The New York......

You may have noticed that the Guggenheim Museum has been shrouded in mesh netting lately, and it makes sense the museum would be undergoing some facade/maintenance work. The NY Times, though, has this amazing graphic showing the cracks in the museum's walls. The Guggenheim explains the restoration online (and with podcast- MP3) and also has an exhibit about "Restoring a Masterpiece." Don't worry, though - the Times reports the structure is "structurally sound." And......

Yesterday's storm brought flooding, closed roadways, delayed mass transit, difficult drives, soaked clothing, upended umbrellas and 7.46 inches of rain to Central Park. There were winds of 48 MPH at Kennedy Airport, as hundreds of flights in the area airports were canceled. And some environmentalists noted the irony of Saturday's Sea of People demonstration while the mayor was issuing emergency flood warnings for downtown Manhattan. Con Edison reported about city 1,700 households were without......

Last night, a horrific fire raged through a four-story home in the Highbridge section of the Bronx and claimed the lives of nine people. Children were thrown out of the windows and one woman jumped to escape the three-alarm fire. Fire officials say the fire started in the basement and fire floor, quickly spreading throughout the building. A witness told the NY Times, "It was an inferno. Smoke everywhere." Neighbors caught children that were......

Best email we've received today - aside from all the speculation on what the damn gassy smell is:After contacting Carts of Brooklyn Racing Association (COBRA)* about this very issue, it appears that the producers of CSI:NY ARE using the name Idiotarod in press releases in regards to Wednesday's episode "Obsession." COBRA, and all shopping cart racers of New York and the country, will not take this disrespect. One, they used the name with out......

Story of the Year: Beirut The story is so well documented it's hardly worth rewriting. And of course, that was the problem. A mountain of Blog Buzz was built before the band played their first New York concert ever. Before they had even fully formed the touring band. Always trying to meet the impossible expectations, their live shows were heavily scrutinized from day one, but the general consensus was that these guys were pretty darn......

Yesterday, Democracy Now.org showed footage taken from the Air Train station near the club in Jamaica, Queens where Sean Bell and his two friends were shot by police. And the video (link to download MP3) is bananas. One video shows a bullet coming into the station and barely missing a man. Another video shows two Port Authority police officers ducking from the bullets and running. The Daily News' Juan Gonzalez, who co-hosts Democracy Now, explained......

Last week, it became clear that MP3 manufacturer BenQ used an arresting image of a disaffected youth wearing its Dog Tag MP3 player for its Chinese site, with the tagline "Even if the world is destroyed to dust, I still believe in music." Oddly enough, the dust the youth is standing in front of are the World Trade Center ruins! That kid can still believe in music, but he also still have the toxic......

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......

The Ballet are: Greg, Craig, Marina and Ginger The self-proclaimed "sissy pop band" first gained some attention when they were added to the lineup of the recent Brooklyn Vegan/Todd P collaboration at the Syrup Room With Tokyo Police Club, Land of Talk and Ramesh from Voxtrot. They have a pleasant, narrative Magnetic Fields/Belle and Sebastian type sound that is almost inoffensive to a fault. Lighthearted music with occasionally dark and dire lyrics layered within.......

- Police wonder if a Brooklyn teen was killed because of a feud with another family member - Former police commissioner Bernard Kerik is working on a plea deal for accepting gifts; his claim that he didn't reailze extensive renovations to his home cost $200,000 always seemed fishy to us - Improv Everywhere's latest MP3 experiment involved 600 people and weather-related costumes - Perez Hilton will get his own reality show - from the......

Probably realizing that many of its riders are listening to their iPods and not conductor announcements, the MTA has its own podcasts - TransitTrax:We keep New York and you moving, and we're excited to offer you a variety of Podcasts that include service change information, getaways and deals, and behind the scenes interviews - all to help you get the most out of your ride or just to get to know us better. We'll be......

Awesome - that sound some British company developed to repel teenagers from hanging outside convenience stores is now a cellphone ring tone that teens are using at school. Since many schools frown on cells in the classroom, this seems tp be a way for kids to get away with being connected. But the NY Times offered this lesson: Recently, in classes at Trinity and elsewhere, some students have begun testing the boundaries of their new......

DCist is screwed in the event of an oil crisis. Not that we're not all screwed in the event of an oil crisis, just D.C. is more screwed. Don't sell your car yet, District resident, a cabbie can kick you to the curb if he doesn't like your address. Not even Metro can save you now. Londonist experiences the London of the future through the wonders of 3D modeling, but while the 3D guys are......

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he spoke to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff Thursday night and told him "for sure" that he disagreed with the urban area funding. On his radio show, the Mayor said, "I just think the ways they went about it was wrong. I think some factual things were wrong -- forget about the fact that they didn't have the right number of financial institutions or didn't know there were any significant targets......

...and words escape us. Okay, fine: It's really, really goofy, which is probably about right for a sports team ditty (remember Let's Go Mets?) Nets part-owner Jay-Z chose the song from over 700 submissions, which makes us wish the other songs had been made public. It's by Michael Barnes, a 22 year old from Manhattan, and this is what Jay-Z/his press statement said, "In 'Going Hard' M Bars completely captured the intensity of Nets Basketball......

- A man was arrested in connection to the Staten Island brush fires - MP3 of NYC FM radio on the night John Lennon died - Join the Great River Sweep to clean up the Hudson! - Female firefighters will finally get their own bathrooms - The Villager raises interesting questions about the post-murder fate of the Falls - As the Gawker empire will go on display in a storefront office, the countdown begins......

Doveman is: thomas bartlett--voice, piano, wurlitzer, pump organ, harmoniumsam amidon--banjo, guitardougie bowne--drums, guitarjacob danziger--electronics, violinshahzad ismaily--drums, guitar Shhhh. Doveman's self-described "lamp-rock" is the quietest music you can hear in a New York rock club these days. Their album has gotten raves by the press, but it is their live show that left us with our jaw on the floor. We first saw them play at, well, our own Movable Hype 4.0 and was awed......

Tonight is the night, come celebrate Gothamist's 3rd Birthday at our Movable Hype 6.0 show. Important details are: - Drink Specials! PBR is $3, PBR and shot of Jack is $6, Bud is $4 - Hosted by comedians Nick Kroll and John Mulaney (Nick was a writer for Chappelle's Show and they both host Welcome to our Week at Rififi) - Lineup is as follows: Burnside Project (10:30), Metal Hearts (9:30), Slowlands (8:30) Doors......

Hey, happy Chinese New Year, everyone! Time to drive out the old spirits of the past year and welcome the good spirits of the new year. The Chinese do this with explosions and fireworks; we'll do it rock-style, with extremely loud noises. Such as: The week starts out with a bang on Monday, with the magically delicious, occasionally unsettling experimental rock of Deerhoof (at left) at Bowery. Instead of traditional opening bands, the show will......

New Feature Alert! In a city filled with music, bands and venues we sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed and underenthused. So here's the deal, we are going to write about one NYC band each week. We want to introduce you to some new music that we've heard, and we want you to introduce us to some new music as well (see end of post). We're all listening through cluttered ears, but that's only because we......

Like you, we assumed that the Lazy Sunday meme died about two weeks ago, but it turns out it was just waiting for us to look away, and then SNACK ATTACK, M0TH3RFCUCKER! It simply doesn't get any more meta-licious and web-overloaded than Andy Baio's niece and nephew performing their own version of the Lazy Sunday rap (direct link to MP3 here.) This proves there's no such thing as jumping the shark. Lazy Sunday will live......

On Sundays, Gothamist publishes opinions pieces by New Yorkers. The views expressed below belong only to the author-- who in this case is actually, um, me. I've discovered the secret to true New York City happiness: quit your job and throw all of your shit out. A couple of months ago, I had an epiphany. I had recently graduated from NYU's business school, and strapped down with 120k of MBA debt, I was seriously considering......