Photograph of a vacant lot on the Lower East Side by p0psharlow on Flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bicyclist struck on Queens Blvd. and 55th St. a smoke condition at the Heartland Brewery & Rotisserie At 350 5th Ave & East 34th St. Your name is Leila. You're a Verizon customer. You are receiving every text msg. addressed to Leila across the planet. A science teacher at a Staten Island H.S. along......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a police officer struck on 125th St. and St. Clair Pl. in Manhattan, a double stabbing on West 181st St. and Audubon Ave. in Manhattan, and a person under a train at Queens Blvd. and Broadway in Queens. The six-year-old who started the blaze that killed a firefighter is sorry. His mother says he's been crying since that night and repeats "I didn't mean to do it. I didn't......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a ceiling collapse at Franklin Ave. and Union St. in Brooklyn, a pedestrian was fatally struck on Queens Blvd. in Woodhaven, Queens, and an unusual rescue on the south bound tower of the Throgs Neck Bridge in Queens. An undercover cop forgot to turn off the wire he was wearing while discussing 11 bags of cocaine he seized in a Brooklyn bust that were never turned in. He was......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an armed robbery on Washington Ave. in the Bronx, a bank robbery on 18th Ave. in Brooklyn, and a pedestrian struck on 69th St. and Queens Blvd. in Queens. Amidst "barbs and accusations," talks between studios and the writers guild appear to have broken down. Repeats will continue, as will Seth Meyers' long circular picketing sojourn. Animals at the Queens City Zoo will be receiving special holiday culinary treats......

At the Ethnic Market highlights international specialty foods and ingredients that you're very unlikely to find at your local Gristedes. Euro Shop, a small store whose window is decorated with the flag of the European Union has always intrigued us. Among other things it offers a half dozen types of paprika paste; a meat counter filled with bacon, sausages and pork crackling; and a plethora of Hungarian junk food. Now that we’ve had their homemade......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an injured police officer on Queens Blvd. and Ascan Ave. in Queens, a stabbing on Nostrand and Willoughby Aves. in Brooklyn, and a large fight at Targee St. and Sobel Ct. on Staten Island. Neighbors, customers, and small investors get involved to save a local bookstore in Park Slope, Brooklyn. In order to pay off sex harassment lawsuits and under-performing athletes, the Dolans are jacking up cable rates for......

As much as Gothamist tries to be on the bleeding edge of the food scene in Queens, sometimes only an old favorite will do. Which is exactly what happened the other day when we found ourselves standing in front On the Grill craving chicken shwarma. This three-year old Israeli spot serves up some of the city's best shwarma, and it had been months since we'd had eaten any. So we were jonesing for some of......

Holy Tornado, Brooklyn! Reader Jeanne just emailed us with this observation: I live in Kensington, Brooklyn and I think that a tornado just passed through. Have you heard any news about a tornado from anyone else? Around 6:30am there were heavy rains, thunder and lightning when all of a sudden the wind got really loud and we could hear stuff smashing into the house. It was all just 30 seconds or so but now......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: multiple auto fires at 51st Ave. and 11th St. in Queens, a fatal double shooting on Watkins St. in Brooklyn, and a fatality under a train at 47th St. and Queens Blvd. on the 7 line in Queens. A 12-year-old boy was arrested for throwing two plastic bottles filled with an unknown chemical at two women with toddlers at a Queens playground. The four victims were taken to hospitals......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a double shooting at Willoughby and Throop Aves. in Brooklyn, a bank robbery on Queens Blvd. in Queens, and a water rescue off the North Channel Bridge in Queens. A Bronx man taking his 5-year-old nephew to the bathroom in an East Harlem park was gunned down in front of the child when accosted by thieves. A new safety group formed after 9/11 is proposing that skyscrapers include a......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a North Fork Bank was robbed on Union St. in Queens, a Sovereign Bank on Ave. A in Manhattan was also robbed, and a stabbing on Chauncey St. in Brooklyn. A man and his cow return to New York City after 68 years (it's a different cow). Al Sharpton doubts that poor minorities would be let out of jail on request, and is upset that Paris Hilton is getting......

Subway edition of the Gothamist Newsmap: stabbing at Hoyt Street and a large fight at 42nd. Tragedy in Brooklyn: "A 14-year-old Brooklyn girl who went to a hospital with stomach pains yesterday revealed that she had given birth hours earlier and tossed the baby from a third-floor window, a police source said." The Post looks at the hierarchy at the Waverly Inn - and Mariah Carey rates much higher than Jimmy Fallon The San......

Tofu is like chopped liver in the world of haute cuisine—overlooked and undervalued. A handful of restaurants are challenging that attitude though by presenting dishes with tofu front and center. A few even take the next step and make tofu from scratch. At En Japanese Brasserie in the West Village, the menu makes a big deal over the homemade tofu, listing the timeslots that the kitchen makes up a batch each evening. It may seem......

Holy shit-- remind us never to walk on Canal Street again. According to this extremely scary crash map put out by Transportation Alternatives, getting hit by a car is almost guaranteed! Transalt compiled the map from stats put our from 1995-2001, so the street may have gotten slightly safer since then (seems unlikely, given what we observe in our daily crossing going down to GothamistHQ.) They also have stats for the other five boroughs.......