Two of the four NYPD detectives who were stripped of their guns and badges after surveillance footage allegedly showed them drinking wine at a Washington Heights restaurant while on duty have been ordered to go to rehab. The four detectives, all of whom have been placed on modified duty from the 33rd Precinct, were directed by the department to go to the facility upstate, according to DNAInfo. This comes as one of the detectives—Det. Douglas Strong—is also being investigated for questionable behavior towards a 36-year-old waitress in the back of Parrilla Steakhouse on Feb. 16. more ›

We guess that getting made fun of by Al Qaeda really is hitting rock bottom: since his sextra-cirricular flame-out last month, former Rep. Anthony Weiner has been laying low, spending some quality time with the wife, and embracing his sex rehab. But according to the Post, a friend of Weiner's says the disgraced pol admitted that he still has a lot to prove to a few special women in his life: "My problem is that I have three women I have to convince that I'm cured: Huma, her mother -- and Hillary." more ›

Though it feels like more, it has been two weeks since Anthony Weiner resigned from Congress over his sextra-curricular habits and the Post just won't leave the man alone. And we just can't look away. Since leaving office Weiner has bought cheap flowers for his wife, took her out to dinner where he allegedly left a bad tip and tried to ingratiate himself into the decision of who his successor will be. And now the paper reports that not only is Weiner finally going to go to that rehab (for sexting?) he'd talked about before, his pregnant wife, Huma Abedin, is taking a break from work. more ›

The man with the Golden Voice, Ted Williams, got a second chance earlier this year when a video of him showcasing his radio voice went viral. At the time Williams was living on the side of a highway in Ohio, but he quickly ended up sitting on plush couches across from the likes of Matt Lauer on the Today show. Unfortunately, the change was fast and sent Williams running back to his old friends, drugs and alcohol. Dr. Phil eventually convinced him to enter rehab, but Williams quickly checked himself out. And now, he says he's started a new, sober chapter of his life. He wears glasses now, so he's definitely serious about it this time. more ›

Allegedly Charlie Sheen dropped $500,000 on hookers and drugs in the six months before checking into rehab home this week. Doesn't that number seem a little low? This is the highest paid man on television, who cannot stop going on benders that involve freebasing, consuming "mountains of cocaine and other drugs," binge drinking, and high paid escorts. And sometimes these benders happen in fancy hotels, and sometimes he has to buy his entourage escorts for the night, too! Anyway, the number just seems low—but these are the facts rumors we're working with, so let's just move along and pretend we live in a world where Charlie Sheen only spends $500K on hookers and blow every six months. more ›

Couldn't we just have our one feel good story of the year, universe? It's only been three weeks since Ted Williams was saved from the streets—since then he's become a media darling, he's been handed over job offers, vacations, houses, he's been reunited with his family... and then last week he entered rehab (but not before some celebrating in Ohio). The formerly homeless Williams was a recovering addict when thrust into the spotlight, but Dr. Phil quickly pointed him towards help so he didn't fall back in to old habits. Now TMZ reports that he's already left rehab... against medical advice. The site says that he just checked out, and is on his way to the airport... more ›

In just two weeks, Ted Williams went from living in a tent on the side of a road, to internet stardom, to having all of his dreams come true, and now... to rehab. The formerly homeless man with the golden voice has battled numerous addictions in his life, and once he was in the spotlight, he revisited all of his vices. Dr. Phil encouraged him to go to rehab, and he's currently at Origins Recovery Center in South Padre Island, Texas. more ›

It's hard to believe that it's only been 9 days since Ted Williams became a viral video sensation, which led him off the cold streets and into the warming spotlight. In that short amount of time he's been on the Today show multiple times, given voiceover work, been offered movie roles, vacations, houses, jobs... but the sudden attention hasn't cured Williams of his past demons. He was on the street because he abandoned his family and turned to drugs and alcohol—though the past week he has proclaimed he's been clean for two years. more ›

Following her short stint behind bars, and her early release from rehab, Lindsay Lohan is now left contemplating her next move. And New York, lock up your liquor cabinets (and maybe break out the Cookiepuss cakes), she's coming for us! more ›

Joe Biden likes to work hard/play hard. When he's not spiking the White House eggnog or washing his Trans Am in the White House driveway, he's out there appearing in photo ops at scenic locales like the Brooklyn Bridge, where he surfaced yesterday to publicize the Recovery Act funds that are being used to rehab the bridge. But just because it was a boring "official" appearance doesn't mean Amtrak Joe couldn't have little fun. more ›

Now-repentant golfer Tiger Woods held court in two TV appearances last night—one with ESPN and the other with the Golf Channel—and admitted, "I've done some pretty bad things in my life," and that he's "disgusted" with his own behavior, adding, "I tried to stop and I couldn't stop -- It was horrific." (You can say/sext that again!) These were his first interviews since his Bimbogate erupted. more ›

Check out the bank that Rip Torn broke into while drunk. The actor, who was found by police with his fly open and armed with a .22-caliber gun, thought he was in his own Salisbury, CT home, but in non-wasted "reality" he was actually in the Litchfield Bancorp! The Post decides that though the bank "looks nothing like Torn's house, the two-story yellow Colonial does not resemble a commercial building and could be mistaken for a home—especially to someone who was smashed." (Torn's blood alcohol level was 0.203, over double the legal limit.) more ›

The family of Vada Vasquez, the 15-year-old Bronx girl who took a stray bullet to the skull last Monday, declined their usual Thanksgiving feast this year, postponing it until the teen can eat again. But the five young men accused of involvement in the shooting were given a seemingly generous Thanksgiving meal in jail yesterday. Dinner included turkey with dressing, yams, steamed greens and carrot cake! more ›

Recovering drug addicts can look forward to climbing even further up the walls starting tomorrow, when all drug treatment centers in New York State implement a smoking ban. Bryan Lapsker, a 21-year-old PCP addict, tells amNY he’s been dreading the change: "Nicotine helps (addicts) get through the day. Now you take the nicotine away from us, it's almost impossible to get through the day. Addiction is addiction, I understand that, but nicotine is a legal substance." The state will now spend $8 million training health care workers how to treat nicotine dependence, and if the regulation’s a hit, maybe they’ll finally take away addicts’ caffeine, chocolate and soda pop, too. more ›

Isiah Thomas thinks he deserves more time. Not that much more, just two weeks, but time to show he can turn this club around. Of course, he has had four years already, but at this point who is counting? Maybe Isiah noticed that the next two weeks contain six games, but only two of those teams currently have winning records. The two-week timeframe came up as Thomas was asked what he would do to a coach with his record as GM. His response: "That's a better question in a couple of weeks. Not today, but in a couple weeks, that would be a fair question. We'll see if we can come out of this. If we can't come out of this, then those are fair questions. There's still a lot of basketball left in the season. There is time to turn it around." more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Prospect Pl. in Brooklyn, a collapse at Flushing Ave. at Portland Ave. in Brooklyn, and an armed robbery on 157th St. and 109th Ave. in Queens.
• The Queens courtroom where three cops will be tried on charges of shooting Sean Bell to death is undergoing $175K in renovations in preparation for the trial, even though attorneys for the defense are arguing for a change of venue.
• Rehab center Silver Hill Hospital is being sued after a woman committed suicide while under the facility's care. The person bringing the suit is the executor of her estate, himself a former patient at Silver Hill and someone her doctor advised her to avoid.
• AM New York looks at some NYC bars beloved by Hollywood filmmakers.
• Alex Kelly, the high school rapist from Darien, CT who fled to Europe where he lived on the lam for years before being captured, was released from prison after serving 10 years of his 16 year sentence.
• Cops responding to a call that a woman was being assaulted inside Club Duvet on East 21st St. early this morning were instead met with a patron staggering out of the club with blood flowing from a chest wound. The victim died after being taken to St. Vincent's Hospital.
• A 14-month-old toddler fell out of an open window at his Brooklyn home yesterday, but landed without injury. The child fell 20 feet to the roof of an adjacent record store.
• The Gowanus Lounge reports that the IKEA in Red Hook believes in recycling. It will be using the paving stones that are being ripped up out of Beard St. for some secondary use on the store's property.

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The family of Carol Gotbaum, the New Yorker who died at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport on September 28, held a funeral for the mother of three at Congregation Rodeph Sholom yesterday. Her husband Noah, son of labor leader Victor Gotbaum and stepson of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, mourned his wife, saying, "Carol, you were an angel, and everyone knew it. My girl was born with the most beautiful smile on her face. It put people at ease, it made others smile, it radiated the warmth of Cape Town.” But he was angry as well, "If the airline or the police authorities had treated Carol with some modicum of dignity and grace or if one single person at that airport had put an arm around her shoulders, sat her down and given her some attention, she might still be with us today." more ›

, isn't the standard memoir. It's not about getting addicted to drugs and going to rehab or about living on the streets and selling her body. It's about what happens when you start doing stand up for ten minutes every night at the dinner table when you're eight because you don't want your adopted parents to send you back to the adoption agency because you didn't provide the "hours of entertainment" that they expected and never stopping, not when you're meeting Jon Stewart on your first day at the Daily Show, not when you're going through a divorce, and not when you meet the friends and family of your live in boyfriend for the first time after the death of his wife. For this reason, Weedman's memoir is non-stop funny and provides "hours of entertainment". And she'll be reading at McNally Robinson on October 10th and the UCB Theater on October 11th. more ›

The Daily News and NY Times both look at the life of Carol Anne Gotbaum, the New Yorker who died while in police custody at Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport over a week ago. She is portrayed as a vibrant woman and loving mother to three children who had become depressed in recent years. more ›

A Phoenix medical examiner's autopsy conducted on the body of New York resident Carol Anne Gotbaum was inconclusive. Gotbaum died in police custody at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport on Friday, after she became upset when she missed a connection to Tucson, where she was planning on checking into the Cottonwood de Tucson alcohol rehabilitation center. Police suggested that she died while struggling to break free of her handcuffs; her family, which includes stepmother-in-law Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, believe she may have been manhandled and wonder why a disturbed woman weighing 105 pounds was handcuffed behind her back and left alone. more ›

A proposal for 9th Ave. in Manhattan will utilize cars themselves to protect cyclists from vehicular traffic. The seven-block stretch of road in Chelsea will run from 23rd St. to 16th St. and designers are calling it the street of the future. It will feature a ten foot-wide bike lane adjacent to the sidewalk that will be separated from traffic by a parking lane. To prevent motorists from using the wide-open curbside lane for parking, it will be buffered by physical barriers like planters. more ›

. From her days as a young girl in Long Island, trying to navigate her way through social circles while discovering boys, punk rock, and drugs, to her increasing addiction that eventually leads her to rehab and then sobriety, Arfin remains honest in her appraisal of the past while making sure to interject just the right amount of humor to make the whole thing work. more ›

Friday night, Perez pitched seven shutout innings and out-pitched one of the best in the NL, Brad Penny. David Wright had a home run and Mike DiFelice went 3-for-3 as the Mets won the series opener. more ›

Starting this morning and through Sunday, the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour is making its 2007 stop in New York City with the AVP Brooklyn Open. In it's 2nd year in NYC, the Brooklyn Open features over 150 beach volleyball players, a temporary 4,000-seat stadium, and 13 outer courts that will offer general admission seating (ticket info). Qualifying round play began today at 8 a.m. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an unusual sexual assault on Broadway in Brooklyn, an unstable building on Sutphin Blvd. in Queens, and a shooting on West 142nd St. and Amsterdam Ave. in Manhattan.
• Central Park's Sheep Meadow was the first park location to upgrade its wifi Internet connection to high speed. The new 15-megabits-per-second service is five times faster than the previous connection.
• Madame Tussauds wax museum in Times Square wasted no time in dressing its likeness of Lindsay Lohan in prison stripes, after the young star was arrested for drunk driving and drug posession shortly after leaving rehab.
• Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason is in talks to fill the morning time slot on WFAN left vacant by the abrupt departure of Don Imus.
• Williamsburg! The Musical will premiere August 11th as part of the 11th Annual Fringe Festival.
• Gridskipper has a guide to NYC record stores for vinyl enthusiasts.
• Turning Long Island City into a giant sundial, with the Citibank tower as the shadow-casting spire.
• The City Council is thinking of revising its cell phones-in-schools policy, to allow kids to bring them to school, but not use them there. Schools would be required to set up cell phone storage facilities to secure the devices during the day.