After Capital New York reported that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was injured when, while riding his bicycle, he hit a pothole and fell, his press office couldn't explain where the accident occurred (a woman who answered the phone said, "I assume it was New York City") although the powerful 67-year-old lawmaker sported a "stitches over his left eyebrow and a scab across his nose and the back of one of his hands." Now the mystery is out: Silver was brought down by a Puerto Rican pothole. more ›

Hey kids, meet Coqui the Chef! No, don't run away in terror, Coqui is here to teach you that nutritious food can be fun! So put down that Arizona Ice Tea and pick up a "refreshing Pina Colada"! Coqui's mission is to raise awareness and spread the word about preventing obesity, diabetes and heart disease, and that's why Coqui will be marching in the Puerto Rican Day parade this summer. more ›

Did The Social Network marketing team plant this story? Or was it's Mark Zuckerberg's PR team? Allegedly Facebook has done some good in the world. The social networking platform helped a Staten Island woman get her long forgotten Bishop Kearney High School class ring back after she lost it over thirty years ago in the ocean, while swimming off Fire Island during a family vacation. more ›

Everybody was Boricua along Fifth Avenue yesterday for the 53rd Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade. Over three million spectators were estimated in attendance, standing several-people deep to get a look at Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Paterson, and parade royalty Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. Many parade-goers began lining up hours before the starting time of 11 a.m. to get prime spots, and though the parade was limited to five hours and the route was cut, people were as excited as ever. Claudia Albarado, wearing a shirt reading "When I die and Heaven does not want me, take me straight to Puerto Rico," told WCBS, "I see all my people here. I'm very happy." However, the parade wasn't complete without some SNAFUs. more ›

The Puerto Rican Day Parade has been marching all day down 5th Avenue, drawing about three million spectators and most likely bringing traffic to a grinding halt throughout the city. However, due to new parade route rules, the parade was limited to five hours and shortened by 25%. But that didn't stop people from coming out. If you were there, share your photographs of the parade by tagging the "gothamist" on Flickr or email them to photos@gothamist.com. more ›

A Rhode Island man was arrested after trying to board a Jet Blue flight from Puerto Rico to Boston with "a stun gun, a pepper spray canister, four box cutters, and a switch blade knife." TSA screening noticed the items in Jose Pol's carry-on, and found "two lighters, six batteries, a button device attached to a wire that gives a charge when pressed, a flight simulator program, scissors, three boxes of matches, and New York city information cards" in his other bags. more ›

The FBI's longest wanted fugitive was arrested at JFK yesterday, where he had arrived from Cuba after spending more than four decades outside the feds' grasp. Louis Armando Peña Soltren, 66, was arrested at the same airport where his crime originated: On November 24th, 1968 he left the airport with two accomplices on a Pan Am 707 bound for Puerto Rico. During the flight they forced their way into the plane's cabin and ordered the crew to fly to Havana, threatening them with guns and knives quaintly smuggled on board in a diaper bag. more ›

Anywhere between hundreds of thousands to over a million revelers cheered on yesterday's Puerto Rican Day Parade along Fifth Avenue. Some told NY1, "Puerto Rican is one, we all are one, It's the pride of all Puerto Ricans in New York and in the island," and "Nobody understands how proud we are to be from Puerto Rico. Just to show that is an honor." more ›

Senator Hillary Clinton won the Puerto Rico primary with about two-thirds of the votes over Senator Barack Obama. However, there was low voter turnout in what was considered an expected victory for Clinton, who campaigned vigorously on the island. more ›

When Staten Island Mall shoppers saw a mother beating her 3-year-old son Tuesday afternoon, some followed her to "make sure she didn't leave," reports the Staten Island Advance. Eventually, the police arrested 33-year-old Yesenia Hausler with felony assault and endangering the welfare of a child. more ›

THEATER: The salty, electric dynamo that is Elaine Stritch shows no sign of waning – about to turn 83-years-young, the show biz legend has kicked off 2008 with a reprise of her Tony-winning cabaret show. Backed by a six-piece band and performed in two acts for a dining audience at the newly restored Café Carlyle, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, co-written with the New Yorker’s John Lahr, is a hilarious, old-fashioned ride through star-studded post-war Broadway, bursting with stories from her roles in such legendary productions as Company, Bus Stop, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Times raves: “Every story in her arsenal of seamlessly stitched personal anecdotes is illustrated with body language that erupts like lightning out of words spoken in the gravelly voice of a tough old dame with a tender heart. Because she has the gift of gab, this loudmouthed life of the party could go on forever.” It’s an expensive night, but worth it. Dining reservations are almost booked through the end of the run on Jan 19th, but they do accept walk-ins for the bar seating. – John Del Signore more ›

SHOP: Tonight head to Dumbo for an “Evening of Cheer,” where three neighborhood events coordinated by the Dumbo Improvement District will be taking place. "The night’s events combine Dumbo’s monthly cultural event, First Thursdays, with extended shopping hours and promotions by local retailers and the illumination of the Empire Stores in Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park by famed lighting designer Brendon Boyd." 6pm // Various location details here EVENT: Tonight some experts gather around to celebrate... more ›

What’s worth watching on food-TV this week? We're definitely setting our DVR to record The Martha Stewart Show. She’s got a three great New York Italian chefs on today: Odetta Fada of San Domenico, Lidia Bastianich of Felidia and Del Posto, and pastry chef Gina DePalma of Babbo. On Tuesday she’s got cookbook editor Judith Jones, and on Wednesday, New Orleans chef Susan Spicer (Monday-Friday, 1pm, NBC). But the prime time highlight might be a... more ›

Irene Boland, the co-author of Wind the World Over, works in the sustainability office of the EPA. Her office covers Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) helps people pursue green living through their built environment. You can find out more about her office at the EPA on their website. Irene resides in Brooklyn, "under the BQE." How did you and your co-author, Vanessa Kellogg come up with the... more ›

The man who breached security at JFK Airport on Tuesday, after entering the restricted areas by walking through the exit lane near security screening and caused two terminals to be evacuated as the TSA and other authorities searched for him, was arrested yesterday in Albany. Authorities say that William Contreras Ramos, who managed to board his plane to the state capitol, had a 4-inch razor in his carry-on bag and was charged with carrying a concealed weapon onto a plane. more ›

The Giants are heading south to play Atlanta this evening and the Falcons won't have their star quarterback, after Michael Vick was caught running a dogfighting ring out of his Virginia home. It turns out that New York City might be the nation's dogfighting capital though. The New York Post reported yesterday that Bronx resident Ralph Reyes runs an unlicensed kennel out of the basement of a residential walk-up building on Valentine Ave. That's where he allegedly breeds and supplies American Pit Bull Terriers for fights to the death. more ›

With the notable exception of Brooklyn, the Outer Boroughs are a veritable wasteland when it comes, to bánh mí, or Vietnamese sandwiches. Despite repeated forays, we've yet to find any decent versions in Queens. Those that do exist are served in restaurants, and every bánh mí fiend worth his Sriracha knows that restaurants never serve a good Vietnamese sandwich; it's simply not in their best interests to sell $3.00 entrees. As with many sandwiches, the best bánh mí are found in mom and pop delis. We like to think that these refreshing sandwiches are at their best at delis because those joints specialize in bánh mí and little else. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a partial roof collapse on Union St. in Brooklyn, a person under a train at Coney Island and Brighton Beach Aves. in Brooklyn, and a slashing at Dyckman St. and Broadway in Manhattan.
• Artie Fufkin speaks! Paul Schaffer, who was the musical director of the Blues Brothers, keyboardist for Bill Murray's lounge singer character on SNL, and the bandleader for David Letterman's "The World's Most Dangerous Band" since 1982, is publishing his memoirs. Yeah!
• A local moving company is converting a number of its trucks from diesel to biodiesel fuel in an effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
• The producer of a Broadway show called "My First Time" is employing a mindreader to determine who gets free tickets to the show. Recipients must affirm via a psychic they are virgins.
• A 17-year-old was shot several times in the head as he lay in bed in the middle of the afternoon while visiting relatives in the Bronx.
• Juana Yolfo is a Spanish-speaking 106-year-old woman who was born in Puerto Rico before moving to Brooklyn and then settling in the Lower East Side more than 40 years ago. She's celebrating her birthday this week after more than 50 years as a NYC resident.
• Al Sharpton as Apollo Creed? The reverend is getting in shape to pummel Giuliani if there's any hope the latter's electoral prospects brighten.
• Carroll Gardens parents are in a huff about youthful neighborhood ruffians, who are disrespectul to adults and unmindful of younger children as they engage in shenanigans and otherwise behave like hooligans.

Fifth Avenue was packed with revelers and performers during the 50th Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade. Celebrities, like "King" Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, were out in force, as were the politicians, including Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Eliot Spitzer, Senator Charles Schumer, Representative Jose Serrano, and Puerto Rico governor Anibal Acevedo-Villa. more ›

The Puerto Rican Day Parade is supposed to draw 2.8 million spectators to 5th Ave. in Manhattan this Sunday, making it one of the most popular annual parades in New York City. It's the 50th occurrence, so expect lots of enthusiasm from marchers, who will be heading north from 44th St. to 86th St. and entertained by Parade King Ricky Martin. more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

When a judge threatens you with contempt when you don't show up for your own client's trial, one would think you'd try to get into court to explain yourself. But after not showing up for client Paul Cortez's murder trial on Monday, attorney Laura Miranda still did not appear yesterday, even after Justice Carol Berkman threatened her with a $1,000 fine and/or contempt. So Berkman fined her $1,000, found her in contempt, and questioned her motives. more ›

an excuse to Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Carol Berkman, who then said, "I'm supposed to believe this" and later "I'll have [Miranda] arrested." more ›

A day after the Daily News reported that City College had allowed a campus center to be named after two controversial figures on its cover, complete with scorching editorial criticizing the school, City College's chancellor Matthew Goldstein had the sign taken down. The center was called the Guillermo Morales/Assata Shakur Community Center. Guillermo Morales was a radical for Puerto Rico's independence and made bombs, including one that killed four people at Fraunces Tavern in 1975. His fingers blown off while making a bomb, but he escaped from Bellevue to Mexico and now lives in Cuba. Shakur, born Joanne Chesimard, was a member of the Black Liberation Army. In 1973, she killed NJ State trooper Wayne Foerster, she escaped from prison in 1979, headed to Cuba and now goes by Assata Shakur. There is still a $1 million reward for her capture. more ›

The New York Times takes a close look at the Essex Street Market, a Lower East Side institution that's been doing business since 1940. Although the market was only 60 percent full five years ago, its low rent and the steadily increasing income stream of many in the neighborhood have led to a rejuvenation. But not everyone who walks in the door is a LES trust fund hipster with extra cash to spare. Saxelby Cheesemongers is one of several merchants who advertises their acceptance of E.B.T. cards -- the electronic replacement for food stamps. The market is a shopping mecca for all in the community, and has not become unwelcome to those who have been shopping there for decades just to cater to the influx of wealthier residents:

While the market has welcomed purveyors like Ms. Saxelby, it has not given itself over entirely to epicurean gentrification. The indoor stalls are a good place to encounter yautia, a root vegetable that looks like the love child of a soup can and a coconut. One morning last week Maria Maldonado was buying some to make spicy fried cakes. The 40 pounds of banana leaves in her cart would wrap pasteles, a sort of Puerto Rican tamale filled with pork shoulder and olives and popular at Christmastime. more ›

Former president Bill Clinton remarked upon his neighbor Peggy Perez-Olivo's death. Perez-Olivo and her husband Carlos were shot in their car on a Westchester road last weekend. Police are still looking for a gunman, but Carlos Perez-Olivo, a recently disbarred lawyer, has been questioned as well (police have called his account an "unusual sounding" incident). more ›

If you were wondering how former mayor Rudy Giuliani feels after the thumpin' the Republicans took last week, wonder no more, because he's been facing it with the same, stubborn Rudy-vision that we all remember from his NYC mayoral years. The NY Times was on the scenefor a speech Giuliani made:

In his first public comments about last week’s Democratic sweep of Congress, Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former Republican mayor of New York City, who is a possible 2008 presidential candidate, said on Sunday that he did not view the election as a major rebuke to his party. But he said that Republicans “have to go back to your principles in figuring out how you react to something like this.” more ›