The fight over the right for school children to bear cell phones in schools moved to the Appellate Court, where lawyers for NYC and public school students' parents appeared before a five-judge panel. This comes after the City Council passed a bill allowing cell phones in schools, which the Mayor vetoed. Many parents believe cell phones are critical for keeping in touch with their children, in case of an emergency or just to check in......

A state judge has shot down Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to rent sports fields on Randalls Island to private schools because the administration failed to follow the legally required land-use review process when it made the deal. The plan was for private schools to pay $2.6 million a year for the next two decades in exchange for use of the renovated fields during peak hours from 3pm to 6pm. The Parks Department had agreed to contribute......

Imecca Burton, her mother, and civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel held a press conference in front of Police Headquarters yesterday to decry the handcuffing of 10-year-old Imecca, who was handcuffed by police in front of PS 25 where she attends elementary school. Police officers witnessed a fight on her school bus and in the ensuing events Imecca was handcuffed. Witnesses said that Imecca was swearing, kicking, and screaming, which is why the cops cuffed her.......

Norman Siegel, former NYCLU director, is taking the city to court today on behalf of Harlem residents opposed to the city’s plan for sports fields on Randall's Island. The city is building 63 new fields on the island in addition to the 36 fields already there; the construction is being partially financed by a consortium of private schools who will be given exclusive access to most of the fields between 3pm and 6pm on weekdays.......

The family of Carol Simon is grieving after she was killed while walking on Eastern Parkway near Bedford around 5:30PM on Saturday. Simon, a 35-year-old nurse's assistant, had been on her way to take her son to swimming lessons when an argument between two men became violent and one pulled out a gun. Simon and her son Kieron, 9, had driven to an Exxon to buy some things. Simon realized she forgot her purse, so......

First responders gathered in front of the NYC Medical Examiner's office to protest how the ME has classified deaths seemingly related to Ground Zero illnesses. State Senator Eric Adams said he would introduce legislation making sure first responders who worked at Ground Zero will "get the same line-of-duty benefits" as September 11 victims. Recently, the ME's office has not named two rescuers, who worked at the World Trade Center site after September 11 and later......

Hallelujah! Yesterday the judge presiding over the Reverend Billy case dropped the charges that claimed he harassed public officials. The Rev was arrested in June while reciting the First Amendment in Union Square during a Critical Mass ride which coincided with the protest of the proposed MOFTB rules. Turns out the prosecutors didn't meet their deadline to file papers explaining the arrest and its justification. The Reverend's (whose real name is Bill Talen) lawyer, Earl......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a vessel in distress off Rikers Island in the East River, a dead body found in the East River off Roosevelt Island and Queens, and an industrial accident on 52nd Ave. in Queens. Confirming recent speculation, The New York Times is cancelling its TimesSelect initiative, in which people subscribed to read a number of columnists and other special online content. Mayor Bloomberg signed autographs, greeted courtroom personnel, and posed......

The City Council voted, 46-2, to allow NYC public school students to bring cell phones to and from school - though not to use them during the day. The bill was meant to address concerns of parents and students who believe cell phones are critical to students' safety (see these tales of cell phone-less horror). City Councilman Lew Fidler who sponsored the bill said his 17-year-old son walks eight blocks for a bus and "We......

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn fired Councilman Charles Barron's chief of staff Viola Plummer yesterday. Quinn had required Plummer to sign a letter agreeing to behave during meetings, after Plummer heckled Quinn during a meeting about street namings and made reference to an "assassination" of Councilman Leroy Comrie, but Plummer refused (she has maintained that she meant a "assassination" of Comrie's character and/or political prospects). And Plummer filed a $1 million racial discrimination suit against......

Saturday we posted about Reverend Billy getting arrested during Friday night's Critical Mass as he recited the First Amendment. The above is a video of how it went down. Each police officer involved is identified by the cameraman, and at the end you'll see Lt Daniel Albano, "one of the main architects of the recent NYPD crackdown on civil rights." That night Reverend Billy was in jail for 20 hours, and charged with harassment......

To anyone attending next year's Puerto Rican Day Parade, we have this suggestion: Don't wear black-and-gold. At a press conference, parade organizers decried arrests of people who were not engaged in any illegal activity during Sunday's event. National Puerto Rican Day Parade president Madelyn Lugo said, "We are very disappointed and alarmed that these violations of civil rights should occur." The organizers, who admitted they warned the NYPD that the Latin Kings might try to......

Yesterday afternoon, hundreds of New Yorkers took to Fifth Avenue and participated in the first annual Dance Parade. From whirling dervishes to salsa dancers, from break dancers to hula hoopers, not even the rain could stop the two-hour celebration that started near Herald Square and ended in Wasington Square Park. Here's a brief description from the organizers about the parade's vision:To honor Dance's historical roots: New York has never celebrated the forms of dance......

The Department of Education officials are smiling and parents are seething: Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Lewis Bart Stone ruled that the DOE could continue to ban cell phones. The DOE has claimed that cell phones are disruptive and students use them to cheat, while students and parents feel the phones are necessary for safety purposes. The DOE's cell phone ban prompted eight parents to sue the city, and, per the AP, calling the ban......

Hello, cellphone vigilantism! As part of his State of the City address, Mayor Bloomberg announced some new technology for New Yorkers. This year, we'll begin a revolutionary innovation in crime-fighting: Equipping "911" call centers to receive digital images and videos New Yorkers send from cell phones and computers something no other city in the world is doing. If you see a crime in progress or a dangerous building condition you'll be able to transmit images......

A series of robberies at the 7th Avenue F train subway station in Park Slope has allegedly prompted the NYPD Transit captain to order officers to "stop all black male teens" there, according to the NY Post. Cops are apparently supposed to stop and question teens, while filling out "250 forms." This, of course, has set off a frenzy from different unions and organizations. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Assication's Patrick Lynch said, "Ordering police officers to......

The city must have many storage closets that escape notice. The city will release 1,613 phone calls made on September 11 by emergency workers and trapped people at the World Trade Center. As Newsday explains it, "The fire department is releasing these recordings now because of an oversight that occurred after a March decision by the New York State Court of Appeals to release all calls, according to a statement. A personnel error led to......

Oh sweet Jesus! Doesn't the city have anything better to do than harass peaceful cyclists? It's only been six months since a judge ruled that the Critical Mass monthly ride didn't require a permit. Rather than comply with the judge's order, the NYPD has decided to simply change the rules. The New York Times reports: The Police Department wants to require parade permits for bicyclists traveling in groups of 20 or more, and any......

Police are looking for fifth suspect in connection to the death of NYU junior Broderick Hehman. Police have already arrested four teenagers who allegedly chased Hehman, who then ran into a car at Park Avenue and 125th Street and later died of his injuries. And the teenagers are only 13 and 15 years old. Though the police are not charging the four with a hate crime - they reportedly said, "Get whitey" while chasing him......

Police captain Eric Adams, who had been reprimanded by the police department for speaking out against last fall's terror alert and implying that Mayor Bloomberg used the alert to draw attention from a mayoral debate he was not participating in, was found not guilty of two charges the NYPD brought against him in a trial. Adams, who is retiring to enter politics, had said the NYPD waited three days before telling the public about a......

Umar Abdul-Jalil, the city's top chaplain and a Muslim imam, was suspended for two weeks for controversial remarks given at an out-of-state speech. When the NY Post published that Abdul-Jalil said "the greatest terrorists in the world occupy the White House" (plus referred to "the Zionists of the media"), a furor erupted over what a city employee should or should not say. Mayor Bloomberg (and his advisers) ultimately decided that the comments warranted only a......

Imam Umar Abdul-Jalil, executive director of ministerial services for the city's Department of Correction, was suspended Thursday for saying, while speaking at a conference in Arizona last April, that Muslims were being tortured in city jails and that "the greatest terrorists in the world occupy the White House." Abdul-Jamlil has been put on paid leave while the remarks are being investigated. Meanwhile his lawyer Norman Siegel points out that Abdul-Jamil has a well documented right......

Gothamist is following the trial of Police Captain Eric Adams. The NYPD claims that Adams gave false information to the public during an appearance on CBS 2 about the subway terror alert last fall, while Adams' lawyer, Norman Siegel (of the ACLU), says that Adams' remarks fall under free speech. Adams had implied that the terror alert was used to overshadow the fact that Mayor Bloomberg wasn't attending a mayoral debate in Harlem (basically that......

- A police officer dies the day after suffering a heart attack on the job - Norman Siegel may not be in elected office but he is asking that grannies' charges are dropped - There are half a million (though many repeated) apartment listings on craigslist - Kottke recommends the Edward Burtynsky show at the Brooklyn Museum of Art - School children try to exorcise their test taking demons through drawing - if only art......

So, in all of that post-turkey, tryptophan-induced lethargy last weekend, we completely forgot to talk about last week's Critcal Mass, aka Cranksgiving. Apparently we weren't the only ones to forget about it as the turn out of bikers (erm, cyclists) wasn't enormous. But that's the holidays for you. When last we checked in with the Mass, way back in October, word was beginning to spread that despite the NYPD's bike crackdown arrests had been minimal.......

Just in case you've left a little space in your weekend for some literary-minded events (and we're sure you have), make it a priority to stop by the 18th Annual Independent and Small Press Book Fair, a totally free event that's happening all weekend, on Saturday, December 3rd (10am to 6pm) and Sunday, December 4th (11am to 5pm) at the Small Press Center, located in The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen building at 20......

Unlike the uncertain Democratic mayoral primary, the other races were more decisive. In three big races, the incumbents prevailed, with Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau (top left), Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum (top middle), and Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes (top right) winning their respective Democratic primaries. Morgenthau had his first real challenger in years with Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder, but managed to hold her off. Gotbaum won very decisively against challengers like the Norman Siegel and......

The NY Times paired their article, "Many Democrats Prefer Bloomberg, Poll Finds," with group photo op with all four Democratic candidates. The photograph by Librado Romero catches them in the middle of a press conference after touring distressed buildings, and they look out of sorts. Sure, they are each doing something - Anthony Weiner (holding an adorable moppet - rule #1 of politics - find a child to pose with if you don't have......

If there is a worse time to announce why your schedule isn't made public, it might be during a debate with your rivals candidates running for Public Advocate. At least that's what current Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum found out last night when she was mocked, criticized and called ineffective by challengers Norman Siegel (you may remmeber him from various civil rights cases), Andrew Rasiej (wireless for the city!), and Jay Golub (a dentist from Queens).......

A group of dancers is suing the New York City over its cabaret laws. Currently, NYC requires any establishment with three or more dancers to have a license. And many establishments don't, because they are difficult to get and are only allowed in certain areas. Norman Siegel is representing the dancers, and told the press, "Most New Yorkers think we're making it up. They [people] don't believe ... if you get up and move your......