brooklyn bridge traffic, by Idle Type at flickrToday on the Gothamist Newsmap: a crime scene/hanging at East 13th St. and Shore Parkway in Brooklyn, a child mauled by a dog in the area of 91-43 Gold Rd. in Queens, and a possible escaped prisoner on Wards Island across from Manhattan. Asbestos removal at the Carroll St. F and G line station appears to be a non-issue. Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn received a note......

The cutest mustachioed baby in this town is definitely the new walrus at the New York Aquarium. The baby walrus, who was born on June 12 and weighed in at 115 pounds, is ready for his public, as he made his first appearance yesterday. But he needs a name, and people can vote on the Today Show's website for one of four names: Utvak (Means ice made from snow or ice cube), Ukiivak (Means......

That shark that washed up on Rockaway Beach yesterday and briefly caused lifeguards to close the beach was not much of a threat. The shark, which seems to have beached itself, was pushed back into the water by a beachgoer and was seen swimming offshore for about an hour afterwards. WCBS reports that, according to an Animal Department Supervisor at the New York Aquarium, the shark was a thresher shark, not known for attacking......

If you're cooped up in a stuffy apartment this muggy afternoon, consider visiting one of New York's many zoos. The cool customers pictured above are residents of the Central Park Zoo. There's also the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium at Coney Island. If you can't make it to any of those, you can always settle for the Penguin Cam. (penguins, by contrast and compare at flickr)......

A few weeks ago, the New York Aquarium and Kinsborough Community College went out to count harbor seals in the NYC area. The Staten Island Advance tagged along and found nine seals in mid-March. (Last year, there were 20 seals in the first formal seal count by Aquarium Curator Paul Sieswerda, who says about this year's count, "Likely there are more out fishing at the time we happened to look.") The seals are drawn......

The NY Sun reports that the New York Aquarium has selected a plan for its redesign. The Wallace Roberts & Todd and Cloud 9 design has a dramatic "wavy, cage-like enclosure." NY Times critic Nicholas Ouroussoff said it resembles a whale last October when the design, along with two others, were announced as finalists. The Wildlife Conservation Society (which oversees the aquarium along with the city's zoos) is working on details of funding and......

Some of Gothamist's favorite stories in the city were about the animals of New York City. Here's how animals ruled the Big Apple in 2006: - A whippet went missing at JFK Airport after appearing at the Westminster Dog Show; a loyal group people have still been looking for Vivi since February. - A star was born when Fred the cat helped nabbed a bogus vet. He was made a (honorary) detective by Brooklyn......

A horrifying tragedy in Brooklyn: Sadier Jean Noel, who had jumped in front of a train on Monday as her 9 year old son's dead body was found in her apartment, admitted that "demons overtook her" and that she killed her son. Sadier Jean Noel said that son Knil was brooding about his birthday celebration from the day before - the family went to Junior's but Knil was upset an invited friend wasn't able to......

Today in the Gothamist newsmap: a fatal subway accident near Wall Street, several stabbings, and two bank robberies. Curbed has some more insane renderings from the New York Aquarium design competition. If this ever gets built, we're going to have some very confused fish on our hands. If Al Qaeda ever invades New York City via the Staten Island ferry, we're totally safe. Apparently Hevesi isn't alone in cheating on chauffeur privileges-- the Post......

As the redevelopment of Coney Island keeps moving ahead, it's starting to become clear what will be around next summer and what won't. Thor Equities, the developer with 10 acres of Coney Island land, has been letting various tenants know whether their leases are up or if they get to stick around. The NY Post put a positive spin on things, noting that "11 boardwalk businesses would be allowed to remain open at least......

We read Nicholas Confessore's NY Times article about three finalists being chosen for the New York Aquarium's redesign in actual paper, but it's much better online with the color renderings of the designs. The designs had to make the aquarium "visually porous, engaging and inviting," because many people find the current structure too remote and walled-up. Oh, and the design had to be a "beacon for Coney Island." The three finalists do seem rather......

We can't believe it. There apparently was a manatee swimming up the Hudson since Saturday, and we had no idea. Observers spotted him at 23rd Street, then at 125th Street. We suppose he continued north, though it would have been cool if he turned around to venture over the Boat Basin and give us a shout. Gothamist will have to head to the New York Aquarium for our manatee fix, instead. Last year, a......

The oldest known female sea lion in captivity, Breezy the Sea Lion, was quietly euthanized yesterday. Breezy, who lived in the New York Aquarium at Coney Island from 1972 until 1990, spent the past sixteen years hanging out in the Central Park Zoo. When living in Coney Island Breezy got a reputation for her outgoing personality: "She Was feisty in her youth! She wasn't the biggest sea lion in the exhibit, but she seemed......

"Look at them, they're like bags of meat. They're huge." That's Paul L. Sieswerda, the curator of the New York Aquarium, talking about the packs of seals (schools of seals? passels of seals?) that have been coming down to "winter" on Hoffman and Swinburne Islands in NY Harbor (Forgotton-NY has the story on the islands). The big guys were first noticed back in the harbor in 2001 after decades of absence. Since then the......

Gothamist loved The March of the Penguins (the drama! the weather! the adorable baby penguins!) so much that we decided we had to see some penguins, since this town may never give us the pandas we deserve. And the NY Post had the same idea, dispatching a reporter to visit the penguins of Coney Island. Reporter Michael Kane had a Costeau-y narration ("In an isolated and untamed Atlantic outpost separated from civilization by a......

Yesterday's shark shoring is pretty exciting, especially now that Gothamist knows the thing in the shark's mouth wasn't a big stuffed sock - it was actually his stomach! A helpful reader pointed out since there was a hook found in the shark, the shark probably died a "slow and painful death" (thanks to "an irresponsible and cruel fisherman") and had regurgitated its own stomach. Blech! The Daily News say a teenager saw the shark corpse......

Kathy, a Beluga whale at the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn, died on Friday at the age of 34. One of the most beloved animals at the NY Aquarium for her expressive face, Kathy outlived many Beluga whales, who live till 30. She was born in Canada and brought to Coney Island in 1974. She had a baby calf in 1981, "Nikki," for NYCI (New York City's First), the first baby beluga born in captivity......