It's been awhile since we've had a good old fashioned nude pics political scandal—maybe it's because politicians are getting savvier about technology and sexting, maybe it's because they've learned from the mistakes of their colleagues, or maybe it's just because no one could possibly top Weinergate. But one upstate legislator is feeling the heat after his Republican opponents revealed the scandalous news that he has two nude photographs on his personal website—except the candidate proudly admits he posed nude for a photography project while getting a fine arts degree in college. more ›

An unidentified male cop in the notorious Brooklyn South Narcotics unit allegedly took personal photos of a female drug suspect during multiple, unauthorized strip searches. Claudia Bova, 23, was arrested in a Coney Island drug sweep in June 2007, and taken to a building in downtown Brooklyn for booking. The officer allegedly told Bova he would have to perform a body search because there were no female officers available, in violation of an NYPD policy prohibiting cross-gender searches. Bova claims he led her to the bathroom and ordered her to lift up her shirt, "shake out her bra" and pull down her pants, according to court papers obtained by the Daily News. But it didn't end there! more ›

Celebrate Ben Franklin's 300th birthday with the Bikini Bandits and Phillyist! (NSFW). Speaking of Mr. Franklin, send in a picture of Ben (or Ed Rendell) with a red tongue and win a free t-shirt. And they might have the next YearlyKos in Philly. more ›

The Skyscraper Museum asked one hundred architects, brokers, builders, critics, developers, engineers, historians, lawyers, officials, owners, planners and scholars what their ten favorite NYC skyscrapers were from a list of buildings (which did not include the World Trade Center). The NY Times looks at the results, which are a great shorthand of the must-sees in the city. The top ten are Chrysler Building (with the most votes), Seagram, Flatiron, Woolworth, Empire State, Lever House, RCA, McGraw-Hill, U.N. Secretariat, and CBS. Reporter David Dunlap notes the Chrysler Building's "ebullient eccentricity" as being the best at "expressing New York's cloud-piercing ambitions" and calls the runner-up, the Seagram Building, the Chrysler's "anthithesis" as the Seagram is "cool, tranquil, rectangular and restrained." more ›

The NY Times has an interesting explanation of this accident, adding that if the train had crashed into the concrete bumper at a higher speed, the train could have "pushed the front car of the train upward, possibly striking the metal beams above the tracks." The media says there were only minor delays yesterday, but with one of those shuttles out, Gothamist knows it must have been a bitch to get to work because those cars are packed with people trying to get to the East Side from the West Side. And remember last December's F train derailment and fires? And there was a big subway derailment in 2000 on the B train that had about 60+ injuries. Also: Abandoned Stations has an interesting look at a proposed platform at Grand Central. more ›