Private sanitation worker Michael Taylor finally caught a break yesterday when a judge dismissed charges against the Brooklyn man—moments before his trial for robbing a Radio Shack of $1,400 in 2009 was to start. The case was thrown out after the key witness spotted the "real" perp while he walked to court. more ›

Just before noon a reader wrote in from 6th Avenue and 20th Street saying, "Lots of emergency vehicles. People in the street. Smoke billowing out the north side (20th st.) of the building. 6th ave traffic messed up." Word over the newswire was the fire, at 641 6th Avenue, was sparked by a manhole explosion. Another reader, who works in that building, told us they were evacuated because of a fire in the subway; she also notes a "huge fireball" reached the 5th floor. Con Ed and the FDNY are on the scene. more ›

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a scaffolding collapse on Vernon Blvd. and 51st Ave. in Queens, an unstable building on East 102nd St. in Manhattan, and a homicide on Tompkins Ave. in Brooklyn. Probably one of the worst group of employees one should try to steal IDs from for bogus credit cards is cops. A civilian employee of the NYPD was arrested for doing just that at her second job as a clerk at... more ›

TJ Miller is not only one of the strongest new talents in comedy today, he's also a terrific actor. And why not, he studied at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford England. Plus, he can stilt walk. And he makes porn! Very bad porn. In fact, there's not even any nudity or sex on Verybadporn.com, but there's plenty of hilarity! more ›

- Fifty-eight percent of New Yorkers polled say they are prepared for an emergency that would require them to evacuate their homes and leave the immediate area for up to three days, yet 32 percent indicated that they don’t have emergency go bags ready with the necessary supplies to take with them. On the upside, 17% of people feel that they are more prepared than last year, so at least they feel good, even if they're going to be struggling in a waterlogged taxi. NY Times talks to a number of disaster preparedness experts, like 's National Center for Disaster Preparedness director Dr. Irwin Redlener, who says recent disaster have "not wake-up calls, but more like snooze alarms, where we get aroused briefly and then drift back to sleep." Fine - you got us: Gothamist bought a handcrank radio at Radio Shack, but we still haven't Ziplocked any cash or credit cards...we have a "maybe we're going somewhere" bag. more ›

- The NY Times reports the problems with the MTA's wish for cell phone service carriers bid on wiring stations more ›

If you are forgetful, constantly curious, or gifted with a craptastic sense of direction, you should definitely check out Google SMS. The service is simple-- send an SMS from your phone to 46645 (that's GOOGL on the keypad.) For instance: more ›