• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting at 178th Pl. in Queens, a bank robbery at White Plains Rd. in the Bronx, and a homicide on West 157th St. and Broadway in Manhattan, and a water rescue off 88th St. near Gracie Mansion..
• The suspected killer of FDNY Chief Ray Downey's nephew, who was tracked to California, killed himself yesterday when cornered by cops.
• East River State Park opened today. Be one of the first to visit.
• $1,000 goes a long way: the cash handed to Richard Johnson at the NY Post continues to gain him press at the Times.
• Perhaps in an attempt to take the edge off moving it from Gramercy, Manhattan, to College Point, Queens, the City wants to pour $1 billion into the new Police Academy.
• A Long Island husband was arrested for allegedly murdering his estranged wife in a Long Island bagel shop.
• The original Star Wars was release this weekend 30 years ago.
• Vice President Cheney delivers the commencement address at West Point.

One can practically hear the giggling between the lines as The New York Times covers the New York Post's gossip page scandal that had the Post airing its own dirty laundry. Last year the Post fired Jared Paul Stern, a Page Six freelancer, after a billionaire accused him of trying to shake him down with promises to not write embarrassing things about him in exchange for cash. Stern is now suing the Post for his termination, in addition to a lot of other people, including Bill and Hillary Clinton. As part of his suit, Stern enlisted the aid of a friend named Ian Spiegelman, who the Post had fired a few years ago after he sent an extremely obnoxious email that was widely circulated. Spiegelman more recently wrote a litany of embarrasing things about the New York Post and its employees and gave it to Stern, but it became public on Page Six, where the Post characterized its former employees as liars. more ›

against the law. And who knew he drove a Ford Escape? more ›

- And speaking of bad behavior by rich people: Eater hears a rumor about CSFB bankers bribing their way past the line at Shake Shack. Scandal! more ›

With obvious glee today's Times and Daily News went to task covering the Page Six payola scandal in greater detail. more ›

slow news day yesterday, or the Times gave a very generous gift to Six Editor Richard Johnson on his wedding day today, devoting more than a fifth of its front page to the story, including a super classy photo of Johnson with Sharon Stone (Who doesn't like free publicity, right?). Not to mention the Gray Lady's brief history of the the gossip sheet and its lingo ("the labels it pins on the people it covers can be zingers, as the actor Alec Baldwin and the actress Cheryl Tiegs learned when Page Six dubbed him a 'bloviator' and her a 'superannuated supermodel.'") and a look at Ron Burkle the California billionaire who opened this Pandora's box. more ›

This a very good day in the Daily News newsroom, while it must be more of a bummer at the Post's offices. News that a NY Post gossip writer has been investigating for trying to extort a billionaire mentioned in Page Six has turned into Christmas in April for the Daily News. (You can read the NY Times' article, as they are somewhat less invested in the story.) According to the Post's statement on its website, Jared Paul Stern (called a "freelance reporter who sometimes worked two days a week" by editor in chief Col Allan) tried to extort over $100,000 from Ron Burkle, investor, big time Democratic party donor and friend of Bill Clinton, in exchange for not featuring stories about Burkle in the paper; according to the feds' tapes, Stern even tried to get Burkle to invest in his clothing line! That's Page Six chutzpah right there. more ›