Yesterday morning in Midwood, on the anniversary of the end of Kristallnacht, vandals torched three cars, tried to burn a fourth, and scrawled anti-semitic graffiti on a nearby van and benches. The attack took place around 5:30 a.m. in the heavily Orthodox Jewish section of Ocean Parkway. The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force, along with 66th NYPD Police Precinct, are currently investigating the vandalism as a hate crime. “I think it’s a jealousy of wealth, and then the use of anti-Semitism as a way to express that jealousy,” Bobby Tebeli, whose mother’s BMW X5 was burned, told the Post. more ›

File this under why-we-can't-trust-anyone-anymore: the Post sinks its teeth into the tragic story of panhandler Robert McMahon, the one-armed Vietnam vet who can be seen hobbling for change along Ocean Parkway in his combat fatigues. Except that he's not really a Vietnam vet. And he has both of his arms. more ›

A woman is in critical condition after being hit by an empty school bus in Gravesend yesterday afternoon. The woman was carrying groceries while crossing Ocean Parkway near Avenue X. She had the light, but it changed when she was halfway across the street, and the Grandpa's Bus Co. Inc. bus crashed into her. One witness told the Daily News, "I heard the noise and went to help her. She was already bleeding from [her] head and mouth." more ›

In the span of two hours, two people were injured and two dead in three motorcycle accidents in three boroughs. According to the Post, the first was at 11:10 p.m., "when a 35-year-old man smacked into a car on Ocean Parkway near Avenue Y"; he is now in stable condition. Around 12:30 a.m., two people on one motorcycle more ›

Bad news if you live on Ocean Parkway: your landlord might be racist. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has filed lawsuits against owners and managers of properties in Brooklyn and Glenville, Schenectady County, claiming an undercover investigation caught them refusing to rent or show apartments to black applicants. Cuomo said in a statement, "Our investigation found that housing discrimination continues to this day and landlords who continue to ignore the law will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." more ›

Yesterday morning around 9 a.m, two students were walking to Lincoln High School when they were struck by an unlicensed SUV on Ocean Parkway and West Street in Brooklyn. The teens, both 17, were taken to the hospital; the male student is stable while the female is in critical condition. WPIX reports that the "SUV's 54-year-old driver stopped at the scene and waited for police to arrive" and "was arrested and charged with driving with a suspended license." One Lincoln HS student told WCBS 2, "People zoom up and down this block, I don't know where they need to go." Update: The Daily News says driver Oliver Black was allegedly drunk. more ›

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Oh no! An 8-month-old baby bitten by a family dog was pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital. more ›

An early morning argument Saturday left a 19-year-old dead and a building on Ocean Parkway besieged with heavily armed police searching for the killer. Allen Tahiraj was shot on Ocean Parkway around 3:30am Saturday morning as he congregated with friends. One friend said, "There was a little argument and one of the kids pulled a gun." more ›

Two hit and run drivers were arrested late this week; one through the actions of a horrified but brave bystander and the other through a successful effort by the Brooklyn Accident Investigation squad. Cops arrived at Sergey Satyr's Mill Basin home Thursday to arrest the 20-year-old for the hit-and-run death of 71-year-old Grace Smith of Sheepshead Bay. The Brooklyn Accident Investigation squad used debris from Satyr's Nissan and a partial license plate number to track the suspect down. Satyr allegedly ran down Smith December 21st on Ocean Parkway near Avenue X. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A police impersonation on Ocean Parkway and Quentin in Brooklyn, a car vs. Pathmark at 107th Avenue at 105th Street in Queens, and an evidence search at 13 East 12th Street.
• The new report cards for public schools may mean principals will be fired and schools closed.
• A stop work order didn't stop a construction crew from tearing up the building where Gertel's once stood on Hester Street.
• Giuliani sticks up for his pal, embattled former NYPD commissioner Bernard Kerik: "if I have the same degree of success and failure as president of the United States, this country will be in great shape."
• A Rockland County church isn't very forgiving to the homeless man who broke in to call sex hotlines.
• Speaking of sex, the National Organization for Women's NYC chapter succeeding in getting New York magazine to stop running sex ads in the back of the magazine. It was really convenient, since New York says they were thinking of getting rid of them some time anyway.
• Was the poker heist that left one player dead an inside job? The victim's friend thinks yes.
• City Council Speaker Christine Quinn would prefer to reform the St. Patrick's Day Parade to tout inclusion, versus green beer.

In addition to running the kitchen at NY dining landmark Brasserie, Chef Franklin Becker is also a tireless advocate for two particular causes: Raising awareness for Autism research, and developing recipes and healthy food choices for diabetics. Becker, who turned 38 at the beginning of the month, has been in the business for a staggering 24 years. Many New York Times stars later, he now cooks at Brasserie, and was an awarded a StarChefs Rising Star Award last year. After one recent lunch rush, Becker spoke to us at a side table about the benefits of growing up in Brooklyn, an Arthur Avenue restaurant with no menu, and what it’s like to clean the kitchen at 4 AM with the ghosts of Studio 54 keeping time at the bar. more ›

Around 1:30AM, a livery cab driver who decided to help another livery cab with car trouble is now dead. An allegedly drunk driver fatally struck him near Church Avenue and Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian was struck at Neptune Ave. and Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, a shooting on Bivona St. in the Bronx, and a burn victim at East 20th St. and the FDR in Manhattan.
• An assistant DA for Staten Island is considering possible charges against relatives who may have aided in the fugitive status of Rebekah Johnson, who is accused of attempting to murder a commune leader by shooting him several times.
• A Queens inventor is selling a eucalyptus-scented trash bags that repel rats and raccoons. They're so effective that most of the 2,000 residential buildings his company sells janitorial supplies to have made the switch, and they are being used in Central Park.
• The TB patient who travelled against doctors' advice to Europe and then snuck back into the US when told he should check into an Italian healthcare facility, is stunned that the CDC resorted to subterfuge to lure him to a NYC hospital for forced quarantine.
• In the first five days since a new noise ordinance took effect, New Yorkers have flooded 311 with complaints. The number of noise-related calls is up 36% from last year.
• WNBC is reporting that a helicopter equipped with pontoons crashed into the Hudson River just 50 yards north of the Lincoln Tunnel entrance this evening.
• Onetime gun control supporter Rudolph Giuliani espoused his strong belief in the 2nd Amendment and gun rights before a town hall audience in Georgia yesterday.
• NY1 is reporting that when EMS workers arrived at an accident scene in Brooklyn, the injured driver pulled a gun on them. Passing police stopped and the man was killed in a shootout. It's suspected that he has taken part in multiple recent carjackings.

-- Holy schlamoli, the College Humor kids are rich, bitch! It's not Girls Gone Wild money, but still! more ›