A man who fatally hit a bicyclist and dragged him while he drunkenly crashed into other cars in Hempstead was charged with murder, as well as vehicular manslaughter and DWI. Lorenzo Tobar was allegedly upset his ex-girlfriend (and mother of his child) was dating the bicyclist Ludwin Marcia. A Hempstead resident, who heard the crash and ran out of his house, took the keys from Tobar's car and kept him at the scene until police......

Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi has revamped its DWI "Wall of Shame". Suozzi sought to publicize DWI arrests after a police officer was critically injured when a drunk driver hit him--the officer was in his cruiser on the LIE having just pulled over another DWI driver--and released names, addresses, and photos of arrestees. Now Suozzi has removed offenders under 19, after parents complained and the fact that the youngsters could be given "youthful offender" status.......

Today, a 6-year-old boy will finally see his father, a Nassau County cop who was critically injured when a drunk driver rammed into his cruiser a month ago. Newsday reports little Christopher Baribault, who has been "plead[ing] to see his dad," will go to the hospital today. His father, Kenneth Baribault, had returned to his patrol car after pulling over a drunk driver on the Long Island Expressway when another drunk driver slammed into his......

Photo of Big Brown before racing in Saturday's Belmont Stakes by Tien Mao Saturday's Belmont Stakes wasn't the swan song for Big Brown. The three-year-old horse will reportedly race again. While they are still searching for an injury to explain the horse's last-place finish in the Belmont, his owners, IEAH, have decided to enter him in the Travers Stakes in Saratoga Springs on August 23rd. The Travers usually attracts the top three-year olds in......

Gianna Vigliotti was swept up in Nassau County's DWI crackdown and campaign to publicly announce DWI arrests (with arrestees' names, hometowns and mugshots) in order to deter drunk driving, but it turns out the 17-year-old resident told the police her Memorial Day weekend DWI was all a mistake. According to Newsday, Vigliotti blew a 0.15 blood alcohol level (the legal limit is 0.08) but apparently told the cop who pulled her over, "I didn't drink!......

Nassau County's unusual decision to release the names and photographs of everyone arrested for DWI over the Memorial Day weekend was both hailed and decried. Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi was moved to post the details and asked media outlets to run the information after a drunk driver plowed into a police cruiser--the police officer, who had just pulled over another drunk driver, was critically injured. Newsday spoke to a few of the arrestees, who......

Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi made good on his promise to publicize people arrested for driving while intoxicated over the Memorial Day weekend. Yesterday, he released the names of 109 arrested--81 were for DWI while 28 were arrested for driving while impaired, which is a lesser charge. The mugshots of the 81 DWI arrestees were also released. Suozzi said, "If the fear of killing somebody or the fear of ruining your life by getting......

Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi is going to release information about everyone arrested for a DWI or DUI over this holiday weekend. Names, addresses, and mug shot photographs will be sent to local newspapers, with the request the papers print the information--all in an effort to shame people into not drinking and driving. Suozzi has been very upset by the incident where a Nassau County police officer suffered grave injuries after a drunk driver plowed......

A Nassau County cop who had just pulled over a car for drunk driving early Sunday morning was hit by another drunk driver on the Long Island Expressway. Newsday reports 30-year-old police officer Kenneth Baribault "suffered severe head trauma, as well as broken bones in both his upper and lower torso" and underwent surgery for a blood clot. After pulling over a Kia SUV's for drunk driving, Baribault went back into his patrol car when......

drunkie the snowman, by brainware3000 at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an officer shot on Vandalia Ave & Ardlsey Loop in Brooklyn, a gas leak at Dongan Pl. off Broadway in Manhattan, and an aircraft emergency at JFK in Queens. The City's investigating whether its artificial turf fields are poisonous. The Brooklyn Paper finds Obama did get votes in many Brooklyn districts (here's the congressional district breakdown for all of NYC). Blogging by......

In the wake of the deaths of three children on Saturday, apparently killed by their mother, the Nassau County Children's Protection Services supervisor was suspended today. Caseworkers had gone to Leatrice Brewer's apartment to investigate complaints, but she was not in. According to Newsday, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi said CPS supervisor Eddie Arrendondo failed to send caseworkers on Saturday to follow up, "despite the warnings by relatives that the children were in mortal......

Any color you like, by Unlisted Sightings at flickr; Artist: Jim Lambie at MoMA.Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on East 39th St. in Manhattan, a large fight on 2nd Ave. in Manhattan, and a child in cardiac arrest on Pitt St. in Manhattan. Police in Nassau County are conducting an active homicide investigation in New Cassel, after they were called to a home where three children--all under the age of seven--were found......

In an extremely embarrassing incident for the Brooklyn DA's office, an audio technician taped over a statement made by a cop killer while in custody. The DA's office will now have to rely on a detective's notes taken during that statement and the videotape recorded during a follow-up interview with suspect Robert Ellis. Ellis was arrested after the fatal shooting of police officer Russel Timoshenko, who was shot in the face at point blank range......

Bumper to Bumper on the Belt Parkway, by AllWaysNY at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: someone fell three floors from a fire escape on Leland Ave. in the Bronx, a pedestrian struck on Delancey and Eldridge Sts. in Manhattan, and a homicide on Edison and Randall Aves. in the Bronx. Nassau County cops searched a Syosset, Long Island home yesterday to find a menagerie of animals living admidst filth. Dozens of dogs and......

A 17-year-old student at Massapequa High School died of bacterial meningitis yesterday. Michael Gruber had gone to bed with flu-like symptoms on Wednesday and on Thursday morning his parents were unable to wake him up. He died at New Island Hospital. Gruber was also in the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Youth basketball league and worked part-time at a King Kullen in Massapequa Park. The Nassau County Health Department is notifying people who had close......

The mother of the NYPD police officer killed when her friend and fellow cop drunkenly crashed on a Long Island highway spoke of forgiveness of the sentencing of Danielle Baymack. Baymack, who had been charged with DWI and vehicular manslaughter for the 2006 incident, pleaded guilty in exchange for what Newsday calls a "lenient sentence" of six months in jail and five years probation. Baymack and Marlene Rivera had both worked at the 103rd Precinct......

Two deliverymen-turned-thieves ripped off a shipment of Apple iPhones headed for Hong Kong, and traded in their loot for matching maroon cars and "diamond stud Yankee earrings." Really! Cathay Pacific Airlines reported the theft when they discovered not the almost $150K of digital devices (475 of them), but reams of copy paper. Nassau County cops traced the theft to two workers who delivered the shipment to the airport and had quit their jobs almost immediately......

There are worries that a proposed $50,000 surcharge on all MD's in the state could do irreparable harm to New York's health care community. The state's medical malpractice liability fund is underfunded, and state insurance superintendent Eric Dinallo is looking for ideas. Doctors unable to obtain liability insurance from commercial carriers are required to get insurance from a pool for high-risk doctors called the Medical Malpractice Insurance Plan, which charges doctors at least 290% the......

We knew Sean Connery was a tough guy (or so his screen persona and Darrell Hammond's impression would have us believe), so we might have imagined the lawsuits between him and his East 71st Street neighbor would pile up. But who knew that it would get to the point of a judge complaining that the two parties were being too fighty? Dr. Burton Sultan, who lives on the first four floors of the Upper East......

The Independent Budget Office released a report examining who might be affected by congestion pricing. The report, "Behind the Wheel: Who Drives Into The Proposed 'Congestion Zone'" can be read here (PDF) but the topline is that drivers are middle-class and over half are from Nassau County, Westchester, NJ, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The report states, "Looking at the extremes of the earnings distribution for all congestion zone commuters, motor vehicle users were less likely......

If you're going to donate sperm to someone as a favor, talk it over with your lawyer first! Newsday reports a Nassau County doctor who donated sperm to a co-worker over 18 years ago is "legaly considered the father and may have to pay child support for the college-bound teenager." The doctor says he donated the sperm to his co-worker and her partner; he had agreed to give up rights and benefits to the child,......

Yesterday morning, surfers contacted the Coast Guard about "tar-like balls of oil washing up" on the shoreline of Lido Beach, near Jones Beach on Long Island. The surfers said they also had oil on their wet suits. The spill seems to be about 3000 feet wide and 1500 feet long. Now the Coast Guard, working with other local, state and federal agencies, are trying to figure out where the spill is coming from as they......

Governor Spitzer said that the NY State Department of Health's response regarding the Nassau County doctor exposed over 600 patients to hepatitis C and HIV was "unacceptably slow" and ordered an investigation. Dr. Harvey Finkelstein, an anesthesiologist, reused syringes and multiple-dose medicine vials between January 2000 and January 2005; some patients learned they had contracted hepatitis in 2005, but the state and Nassau County officials waited 34 months to contact other patients. It turns out......

How would you like to get a letter from your doctor saying, surprise, you may have hepatitis? Well that's exactly what happened to patients this week who received injections from a certain Nassau County doc. Six hundred thirty patients were contacted by the Nassau County health department who advised them to seek testing for hepatitis B, C as well as HIV. This is due to a confirmed case of HCV transmission between two patients at......

This afternoon's rain will continue into the evening, as some areas are being warned about the storms. New Jersey is supposed to have heavy thunderstorms, a tornado warning was issued, then canceled, for Nassau County, and an urban flood warning was issued for Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens until 7PM! There was a "ground stop" on arriving flights at Newark and LaGuardia, and delays range from 3 to 4 hours at the three area airports.......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a carjacking at Tompkins and School Rds. on Staten Island, a person was killed by a 5 train at Bowling Green station in Manhattan, and an armed robbery at 51st Ave. and Northern Blvd. in Queens. Bidding closed at $2,600 for the new owner of the Seinfeld ASSMAN license plate prop on eBay. Another Mister Softee driver was busted for selling drugs out of his ice cream truck, this......

About 14% of new police recruits have dropped out of the latest Police Academy class of over 1,000 recruits, and some are worried that the city's crimefighting programs will be hurt. Notably, "Operation Impact," which Police Commissioner Ray Kelly credit withs helping decrease crime by 25-30% by concentrating cops in those "impact areas" may be without more police officers. Kelly blames the attrition partly on the low starting salary of $25,100. Indeed, many police recruits......

As part of the deal to advance congestion pricing (and nab the $354 million the feds are offering), the city and state have announced their appointees to a panel to, ur, study congestion pricing and develop a recommendation. The Mayor, Governor, City Council, State Senate Majority Leader, and State Assembly Speaker each get to select three appointees, while the Senate minority leader and Assembly minority leader each select one. Mayor Bloomberg said, "Today we are......

Look out, Jones Beach regulars. Trump’s moving in. The NY Post is reporting that a $40 million complex called Trump on the Ocean, will be completed in 2009. The restaurant, including a lounge and catering facility for up to 1,500 people, will replace the former Boardwalk Restaurant. It’s the developer’s first stand-alone public facility purely for events. According to a New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation press release, the lease between......

Usually married people, when not fighting, are pretty supportive their spouses, but that's not the case with Congressman Gregory Meeks and his wife Simone-Marie Meeks. Rep. Meeks is backing his congressional aide, Brian Simon, instead of his wife for the City Council seat being vacated by Leroy Comrie because of term limits. The seat for the 27th District represents parts of southeast Queens and Comrie started the movement to ban the N-word and was threatened......