The City Council is set to pass a law requiring that homeowners keep 20% to 50% of the property in front of their homes covered with greenery. The law is in response to a trend by homeowners to cut down trees or pave over their lawns in order to create parking spaces. more ›

• Today on the Gothamis Newsmap: a bank robbery on 40th St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan, a stabbing on Morris Ave. and East 190th St. in the Bronx, and a sinkhole on 68th St. and Madison Ave. in Manhattan.
• The original and exisiting Coney Island boardwalk originated from wood chopped down from the Amazon rainforest. The new and improved CI boardwalk will be made of plastic, made from oil. Onwards and upwards!
• Queens Crap reports the Mayor's Community Affairs Unit "sent police to St. Saviour's today to make sure the developers' efforts to demolish the church were not impeded."
• That duct tape-homicide at the Best Western motel? The ME ruled it a suicide.
• The Park Slope Armory's $16 million renovation was revealed; the YMCA will operate the stunning facility.
• Bernard Kerik was back in court. Prosecutors are arguing his lawyer has to recuse himself because he's a likely witness.
• Parker Posey sells her East Village digs, joining the establishment at 30 Fifth Avenue.
• A Connecticut battalion chief firefighter was shot during a bank robbery. Cops shot another person by accident as the actual robber made his getaway.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a missing child on Bivona St. in the Bronx, a scaffolding collapse at Clifton Ave. in Brooklyn, and a bomb threat at 9th Ave. and 53rd St. in Brooklyn.
• The Fed lowered interest rates again - Bernanke is totally freaking out!
• NYU reaches an accord with neighbors regarding continued expansion. We won't have to start referring to New York as NYUC.
• Stuyvesant High is back on the scene by gaining acceptance to the final round of the Intel Science Competition.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Stuyvesant Ave. and Hart St. in Brooklyn, a multiple stabbing on West 49th St. and Broadway in Manhattan, and a car in the water on Beach St. and Rockaway Pt. Blvd. in Queens.
• After a 14% surge between 2005 and 2006, complaints about the NYPD from civilians dropped 1% last year.
• The lawyer defending the man on trial for killing his 7-year-old stepdaughter has been receiving phoned-in death threats. The defense attorney says that he doesn't bother reporting the threats anymore because cops don't seem very interested in investigating them, but is determined to defend his client to the best of his ability.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a person struck by a train at 14th St. and 8th Ave. in Manhattan, a shooting on Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting on Houston St. in Manhattan.
• Yet another reason to celebrate: today is the 110th anniversary of Richmond County joining us as the 5th borough of NYC. The Staten Island Advance features a picture of a general store with a wooden Indian in front of it to remind readers what the county was like at the time.
• Queens Crap hands out its annual overdevelopment award. Crappy New Year Councilman John Liu!

In November, we wrote about famed realtor Barbara Corcoran advising home owners to ditch their lawns and gardens in favor of a concrete parking spot. Some homeowners really take this advice to heart and insist on wedging an extra parking space onto their property even when it's not very practical, or possible. Above is a cropped portion of a picture posted at Queens Crap. While this sidewalk-blocking parking job at 68th St. and Hull Ave. looks ridiculous at first glance, Queens Crapper points out that the owner also had to build a makeshift plank system under the front of the car to prevent the sedan from bottoming out on the steep grade. Perhaps a Smart Car would have been a better vehicle choice for this driveway. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an abduction on 117th St. and Madison Ave. in Manhattan, someone robbed the Commerce Bank on 5th Ave. in Brooklyn, and serious trauma at The Marina Restaurant on Jerome Ave. and Clifford Pl. in the Bronx.
• Tommy Monahan, the 9-year-old boy who died in a fire last week attempting to rescue his pets, wrote a book about his dog Sophy.
• If you're wondering where your fare hike dollars will wind up, a good portion will be in the pockets of lawyers who work at some of the most profitable and expensive legal firms in the country.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a homicide on Merrick and Baisley Blvds. in Queens, an overturned auto on the F.D.R. Drive at East 23rd St. in Manhattan, and shots fired at the police at 58th St. and 18th Ave. in Brooklyn.
• Two employees were found dead in an empty 20,000 gallon vat they were cleaning at an industrial laundry service in NJ. The men appear to have been overcome by chemical fumes and suffocated.
• New York politicians pile on the Bush administration over proposed cuts to Homeland Security funding. Sen. Schumer wondered aloud, "You scratch your head and wonder, is the White House on the same planet as the rest of us?"
• People rallied outside the Venezuelan consulate in Manhattan today in support of President Hugo Chavez, who is in an electoral bid to become the permanent leader of his country. Chavez supporters suggested that the U.S. follow Venezuela's lead, and we're fairly sure they were referring to expanding social programs and not installing President Bush as leader for life.
• Queens Crap spots some paved-over property to provide parking. These super-steep driveways should be fun to negotiate in winter weather.
• Tagging a museum is okay if you fork over enough money for the privilege.
• After a 25-year-old man was fatally stabbed inside the Flatiron district's Club Duvet, owners closed the nightspot "by court order."
• Photos of the Banksy show opening at the Vanina Holasek Gallery.
• A red tailed hawk fell 20 stories off the top of a building in the Bronx and was then hit by a passing car. Police suspect the bird was attacked by a person.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a water rescue at Chambers and Water Sts. off Manhattan, an armed robbery on Rockaway Blvd. and 75th St. in Queens, and a shooting on Grafton St. in Brooklyn.
• LibrerDia Lectorum, one of the city's oldest Spanish language bookstores will be closing September 30th. The Manhattan store on 14th St. opened in 1960 and became a mainstay of Spanish literature in the city.
• A fire broke out yesterday afternoon in a building undergoing demolition at 80 Washington St., just a few blocks from the Deutsche Bank building. The fire ocurred in an elevator shaft filled with debris.
• President Bush reversed course and decided that Brooklyn residents should be eligible for disaster relief after all. The Brooklyn Paper reports that Bay Ridge residents affected by the August 8th tornado can call (800) 621–FEMA or visit www.fema.gov to apply for assistance.
• The Times reports that New York City's school bus union is all mobbed up, and that the supposed housecleaning following the federal indictment of its leaders was nothing of the sort.
• Park Rangers and the NYPD's Emergency Services Unit were called to Central Park to rescue a six-foot-long boa constrictor that appeared to be stuck in a rock's fissure. ESU members eventually had to drill the rock to successfully remove the snake, who will likely wind up at a reptile refuge.
• Queens Crap wonders why Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. is holding his German Octoberfest fundraiser (with honorary co-host AG Andrew Cuomo!) at the Czechoslovakian Bohemian Beer Hall and Garden.
• Dirty Laundry: where writers read and musicians perform over the hum a laundromat's machines in the East Village.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a police-involved shooting at 149th St. and 3rd Ave. in the Bronx, an attempted sexual assault on 55th St. in Brooklyn, and a bank robbery on West 52nd St. between 7th and 8th Aves.
• Kenneth Eng, noted earlier this year for his controversial essay "Why I Hate Blacks", was arrested again by the Feds shortly after pleading guilty to harrassing his neighbors and threatening them with a hammer.
• The New York Post reports that rumors of white people fleeing the city in a "white flight" are an urban myth, and that the latest census data supports the opposite conclusion. This is the first we've heard of any "white flight" rumors, and we probably would have correctly guessed the opposite over the last ten years.
• NYU is expanding across the East River, with the announcement of its first dorm in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the school is opening a dorm for students in Brooklyn Heights, previously used as a dorm for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
• Chris Noth signed on to the movie adapation of the HBO / NYC-centric series Sex and the City. He played the character Mr. Big, who flew to Paris to sweep protagonist Carrie off her feet in the series finale.
• Queens Crap has a round-up on what people are saying about the indictment of Queens Councilman Dennis Gallagher after he allegedly raped a 52-year-old woman in his Queens office.
• Martin Scorcese's Rolling Stones concert documentary has been pushed back seven months, to April, 2008. A Viacom spokesman said that the company needs more time to set up proper promotion for the movie.
• The Queens man who caught Barry Bonds' 756th homerun ball may just hang on to it, for sentimental reasons.
• A collection of spoof SubTalk transit posters.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Lexington and 55th St. in Manhattan at 4:03 pm (and a second bank robbery seven minutes later on 27th St. and 6th Ave.), a special delivery (as cops helped a mother give birth) at Henry and Rutgers Streets in Manhattan and a home invasion/homicide on 100th St. in Brooklyn.
• Former Staten Island ferry captain Richard Smith was released from prison after serving his term for his role in the 2003 ferry crash that killed 11 people and gravely injured many more.
• Blues guitarist Bill Perry died of an apparent heart attack Tuesday, and opera singer Jerry Hadley passed away after being removed from life support. They were 49 and 55 years old, respectively.
• The anniversary ceremony of the 9/11 attacks, where victims names are read aloud, will not take place at Ground Zero this year due to construction activity, but at a small park.
• Queens Crap may know why foreclosures are at "worrisome levels": "Queens has the most lending predators and subprime mortgage victims."
• With the opening of a new DNA facility on Manhattan's East Side, the city's capacity for DNA tests will soar from 3,000 annually to 20,000 annually; the extra capacity will be used to pursue suspects in cases such as burglaries.
• The Macy's-sponsored fishing contest held annually at Prospect Park's lake lets kids 15 and under fish for a special tagged fish nicknamed R.H. Macy. The child who catches it wins a prize. The opening ceremony was rained out yesterday, but the contest continues through Sunday.
• Should Berlin's recycling bins come to NYC? Brownstoner thinks it would at least make things more simple.

There are toxic plots of land all over New York City, hello Greenpoint, but Queens Crap has some maps showing the toxic parts of Queens. The maps they show are from Property Shark, but they also link to a site where you can see maps for all the neighborhoods of Queens. more ›

Chimney, by Sixeight. more ›