Leona Helmsley, whose conviction on tax evasion charges made her infamous beyond her repute as a hotelier and real estate developer, died today at age 87. She and her husband Harry Helmsley (who divorced his wife of 33 years to marry her) ran a $5 billion real estate empire that included the Empire State Building, 230 Park Avenue, Tudor-City, a number of hotels including the Park Lane, New York Helmsley, and Helmsley Palace, and much more. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A steam leak at 39th Street and Lexington in Manhattan, a car vs. building on Hoyt Avenue in Staten Island and an oil slick on Park Lane and 85th Road in Queens
• An unorthodox robbery in Brooklyn: a burly Hasidic Jewish man brandished a knife and threatened a woman in South Williamsburg.
• Defense lawyers for the men charged with shooting police officer Russel Timoshenko are wondering why Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes described their clients as "scum" in an interview
• Freak-out in brownstone Brooklyn: Someone is painting a brownstone white!
• Does Rudy hate video sharing? Former mayor Giuliani is skipping the YouTube debate
• Yet another reason to slow down when you're driving around in Douglaston: There have been deer spottings.
• The police officer indicted for reckless endangerment in the Sean Bell shooting is asking for his own trial. Earlier this week, Bell's fiancee filed a wrongful death suit against the city, NYPD and five officers involved; her lawyer says the lawsuit will be pursued after the trial.
• And the State Legislature finally voted to approve a commission to study congestion pricing.

We've heard of hotel staffs doing anything for their guests, but providing them with drugs and guns goes a bit too far. The Post revels in news that some employees at the Helmsley Park Lane hotel on Central Park South were arrested for selling six guns and half a pound in cocaine to undercover police officers, because that means they can run unflattering photos of the Queen of Mean. more ›

- 11:37 p.m. at Booth and 137th Sts. One man is shot at. He is not hit but is injured by flying glass. The shooter was apprehended by the police at 2AM this morning, after NYPD helicopters and police from the five precincts where the shootings took place went on the hunt. The shooter was in a green Cadillac, and it's unclear what weapons he used (there was a 9mm shell casing), and the police boxed in his car at 2AM. All the victims are in stable condition and are expected to recover.
more ›

emotional distress and lost earnings." Helmsley lawyers are saying that the lawsuit is a publicity stunt, considering they have only heard about it through the media. But what a publicity stunt it is: The Queen of Mean and bedbugs! more ›