Last week, the story of a 21-year-old female student who was arrested and held by NYPD for 36 hours for not carrying ID outraged many people—even if the arresting officers didn't do anything explicitly illegal, most agreed it was an unnecessary and unwarranted abuse of power, and the fact that none of the officers stepped up to let Samantha Zucker free during her 36 hour ordeal was even worse. But now the NY Times reports that the president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association can explain what happened: Zucker was just a casualty of the ticket-fixing scandal. more ›

NYPD's Internal Affairs department, which hasn't been as active as some would like of late, is currently investigating a very strange case on the Upper West Side. Officer Benjamin Ambrosio, 28, claims that he was attacked twice while off-duty in two months in the same area near Riverside Park. Now, DNAinfo reports, Ambrosio has been put on modified duty and stripped of his gun and badge while Internal Affairs tries to figure out what in the world is going on. Getting your gun stolen by a man slashing tires is not an easy thing to do! more ›

Hugues-Denver Akassy, the Ivory Coast native who claimed in court to be an irresistible ladies man, was convicted today of raping one woman and harassing three others. However, the self-described journalist was acquitted of a fifth attack. Akassy now faces a possible 25 years behind bars for his role as the "Riverside Rapist." more ›

Extending the courtesy of ticket-fixing to fellow officers, pepper-spraying peaceful protesters, and planting drugs on innocent suspects to meet arrest quotas are but three of the NYPD's less savory on-the-job exploits which have been put under the microscope via recent high-profile cases. But the NYTimes' Jim Dwyer points us in the direction of one person's smaller story of a particularly frivolous arrest which seems just as ridiculous as those bigger cases: a 21-year-old female student was arrested and held by NYPD for 36 hours for not carrying ID. And as Dwyer so simply puts it, once she finally reached a courtroom, "the judge proceeded to dismiss the ticket in less than a minute." more ›

Hugues Akassy, who is accused of raping a woman in Riverside Park in 2010, forcing a different woman to give him oral sex, and stalking numerous other women, took the stand yesterday. And though he has been portrayed as a homeless squatter, Akassy wasted no time portraying himself as an irresistible ladies man skilled in the fine art of seduction, from his love of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sex And The City to his four college degrees and sonorous French accent. “You say sex—I say ‘making love,’” he corrected his defense lawyer yesterday. more ›

Late last night, an off-duty cop was jumped at 91st Street and Riverside Park. He fired at the suspect, who got away and managed to take the cops gun! more ›

The trial of accused rapist Hugues Akassy continued yesterday with testimony from a gallery director who said he stole the venue's keys and copied them, so he could hide out there. The Post reports that 25CPW's Bess Greenberg spotted him hiding behind a pillar. When asked about her reaction, she said, "Shock... And disbelief. And then -- that sort of fear, of not being able to register what was behind the mind of the person who had just broken in and who I was alone with in the back of the gallery." more ›

The trial for the man allegedly raped a woman in Riverside Park in 2010—and stalked numerous other women— finally started. A woman who briefly went out with Hugues Akassy but found his behavior odd and aggressive said she received this text from him, "You are the most shallow, pathetic, retarded idiot woman I have ever met." And when he sent that text, Akassy was supposedly banging on her apartment door yelling "bitch!" because she wouldn't let him in her apartment. more ›

Last year police arrested 43-year-old Hugues Akassy after he allegedly raped a date in Riverside Park. Soon after the arrest a number of other woman (including an assistant DA) came forward to say that the native Frenchman had sexually assaulted them or attempted to. Since then, the self-styled TV reporter has been remanded to jail and apparently it has not been treating him well. Akassy is trying to get transfered out of Rikers because he says he's been repeatedly assaulted. more ›

Today, the Art Students League of New York and the Parks Department are teaming up to unveil eight giant sculptures in Riverside Park, along 59th to 72nd Sts. The project is called "Model to Monument," and a group of sculptors have been working on an intensive nine-month program to create the figures, which range from abstract figures of New York's past to a life-size bronze girl and her dog looking out on the Hudson. Riverside Park "provides the ideal platform to show these powerful examples of public art," said ASL Executive Director Ira Goldberg in a statement. Here's a look at some of the sculptures, which will be up for a year, and how they came to be. more ›

The man suspected of raping a woman in Riverside Park last week after their picnic date may have a history of questionable behavior with women. The Manhattan DA's office is asking if anyone with information about suspect Hugues-Denver Akassy to contact the office and the Post reports, "Akassy allegedly struck three times since March 2009, tormenting his victims on the street, via e-mail, and even climbing a fire escape to one woman’s apartment." And a Post columnist who once went out with him also tells about her upsetting encounter with him. more ›

The Post reports that a woman was allegedly raped in Riverside Park. Apparently a woman was chatted up by Hugues Akassy at the Time Warner Center on Sunday (he "complimented her on her looks") and he "asked if she'd meet him later." Cut to Tuesday night, when they met at the park: "As promised, he'd prepared a picnic, which they ate near the 79th Street Boat Basin. Around 9:30, Akassy told her he wanted to take her to an area of the park with a scenic city view, according to police sources. Instead, he raped her, according to the criminal complaint." The victim ran away and some other park-goers helped her call the cops; Akassy was arrested at West 72nd Street and West End Avenue. He's being held on $100,000 bail. more ›

As police patrols have been stepped up in Riverside Park after two women were attacked on July 5—one near 120th Street and the other at 98th Street—the Post reports that a homeless man was arrested for allegedly trying to attack three women who were tanning in the park between 11:50 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. in the Riverside Park South section. One of the victim, aspiring actress Raili Munson, said, "Since moving to New York, this is the scariest thing that's happened to me." more ›

As New Yorkers who enjoy Riverside Park worry about the two attacks on Monday, police released surveillance video of "a person they say fits the description of the suspect." The video was taken about an hour after the attacks, which occurred at around 6 a.m. at 120th Street in the park and at 6:20 a.m. at 98th Street. One parkgoer told WABC 7, "It's pretty shocking, I go walking in Riverside Park all the time. I've always thought it was pretty safe, it's disturbing." more ›

[Update BELOW] Today, the NYPD announced that a second woman was attacked in Riverside Park on July 5. The police say a 48-year-old woman who was walking her dog in the park, when, at 6:20 a.m. and West 98th Street and Riverside Drive, a man walked up behind her, struck her on the back of her head, threw her to the ground and kicked her in the chest and stomach. more ›

The police released a sketch of a "person of interest" wanted for questioning in the mugging of a 19-year-old in Riverside Park on Monday. Marisa Cortright, a Barnard sophomore from Oregon, was jogging in the park near 120th Street at 6 a.m. when a person grabbed her iPod and attacked her—according to the Post, she "was grabbed from behind, punched in the face and had her head slammed into a wall by the thug." more ›

Police are looking for a mugging suspect who attacked a jogger in Riverside Park on Monday morning. According to the Post, "The 19-year-old victim was running by the tennis courts near West 120th Street at 6 a.m. Monday when the thug attacked her and stole her iPod." The suspect allegedly "threw her into a wall," and she hit her head, losing consciousness. more ›

A reader sent in these photos from Riverside Park—one from tot lot 110 at Riverside and 110th Street, and the other from tot lot 108 at Riverside and 108th Street. Is this some sort of exercise to get kids to think outside the (sand)box? We've contacted the Parks Department to see what they had in mind when dumping the sand so far away from its intended destination, and will update when they get back to us. more ›

To be honest, the photo of the bald eagle we posted last week near Fairway was just kind of depressing. There he was, pondering existence over icy waters, looking lonely, and actually balding. But the blogger who spotted that one, spotted two more this week on an ice flow in Harlem; "a huge female adult eagle finishing up a fish as another adult and juvenile begged for scraps!" If you want to see one of these in real life, they're being spotted up and down Riverside Park... just watch out for the packs of coyotes. more ›

Last night's storm tore through the Upper West Side and Central Park, tearing trees out of the ground and throwing them across streets and onto cars. Our weather guru Joe Schumacher said, "Within the larger area of rain there was a smaller, intense area that crossed the Hudson and Upper West Side and then went up through Central Park and Harlem before heading into the Bronx." more ›

As if Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe hasn't been given enough agita by the New York Post this summer as they breathe down his neck over delinquent lifeguards, now he has to answer why his officers are giving out $200 tickets to a 10-year-old girl selling lemonade at Riverside Park. 10-year-old Clementine Lee and her dad Richard set up a stand selling lemonade for fifty cents a cup yesterday afternoon when they had their run in with Parks officials. Richard Lee describes, "They approached us nonchalantly but then surrounded us. They were very hostile as soon as they approached, saying 'Where's your permit? Where's your permit?' " The Parks party poopers issued a summons that carries a fine of up to $200. Benepe waved off the ticket, saying the officers used poor judgments and would be retrained. He tried to save face by telling the paper, "We're going to make lemonade out of lemons...I look forward to buying lemonade from her if I pass by." But if you think the commish can out-adorable young Clementine, guess again. The "soccer enthusiast" says she was "really nervous" when she and her dad were cornered and added, "It was such a hot day I figured people would want a cold drink." more ›

Someone's been bringing their parrot to Riverside Park, near the 79th Street boat basin, to entertain passerby—and one spectator has just posted this video! more ›

After yesterday's funny post about the hawk who flew into an East Village restaurant, we thought it a good opportunity to enjoy some photographs of red-tailed hawks in a more familiar setting—the park. Flickr user atkaufman has a really nice set of photographs of red-tailed hawks in Riverside Park. more ›

After January hype - which resulted in rain - and a brief moment of snow last week, a winter snow storm finally made an appearance this year. Two weather disturbances resulted in many inches of snow falling in the region: By 2PM, more than 6 inches fell in the city, which is the biggest snowfall in two years and the biggest daily snowfall on the books (old record: 5.7 inches in 1948). more ›

Staten Island: Clove Lakes Park, Martling and Slosson Avenues more ›

Tonight striking writers and friends will take the stage again for a 2nd Strike Night! Joining John Oliver (The Daily Show), Liz Cackowski (Saturday Night Live), Andy Secunda (Conan) and Maggie Carey, Joe Grossman (Letterman) is John Mulaney -- possibly one of our favorite young comedians today. Mulaney helped host one of our Movable Hype shows last year and currently can be seen on stages around town and on screen at Best Week Ever. Buy... more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an unusual rescue on 68th St. and Central Park West in Manhattan, a confined space rescue at Lorimer and Meserole Sts. in Brooklyn, and a shooting on Carpenter Ave. and 221st St. in the Bronx.
• Columbia University is a-brimming with protests, against things like torture and apathy.
• A young man and his family are recovering from a freak accident involving a fallen tree branch in Riverside Park that put him in a coma.
• Billionaire Ron Perelman is suing his ex-wife Ellen Barkin and her brother for draining a company they founded together of a few hundred thousand dollars.
• The Long Island man with the "GETOSAMA" license plates filed a federal suit against the DMV to have them returned.
• Regulatory and zoning issues continue to hold up the construction of a Brooklyn Whole Foods grocery store, despite a groundbreaking that occurred a year ago.
• A 37-year veteran with the DOT was arrested after being accused of accepting bribes in relation to bridge construction.
• The application for a zoning change to the St. Saviour's property in Queens has apparently been withdrawn.

Oysters, Guiness, Irish music -- what more do you need, really. Head to Riverside Park for this free festival -- oysters and Guiness available for purchase. Hudson Beach Cafe, 103rd St, at Riverside Park, 4-9:30 PM, call (917) 370-3448 for more information. more ›

A helicopter operated by Liberty helicopters, a tour company, was forced to make a precautionary landing in Riverside Park yesterday morning at 10AM. No one was on the ground when the chopper touched down at a baseball field near West 79th Street, and no one on the helicopter was injured. more ›