A 28-year-old police officer died yesterday after a run. Sherman Abrams had been running along the East River with his Police Academy colleagues and after the run, he collapsed and died a short time later. Abrams had joined the Academy in July more ›

These people bring the idea of taking the stairs to a whole new level every year. It's that time again, the 35th Annual Run-Up at the Empire State Building—where tomorrow people more in shape than us will run up 1,576 stairs... for "fun," or whatever. Last year 300 runners participated, with the winner crossing the 86th floor finish line in just 10 minutes and 16 seconds; the record time, set in 2003, is 9 minutes and 33 seconds. So tomorrow, at least try to get up all of the subway stairs in that amount of time. more ›

Dozens of firefighters ran from Los Angeles to New York for the "Tour of Duty" run, ending in New York on September 11th. But as they were crossing the Brooklyn Bridge around 6:15 yesterday morning, a woman jumped to her death. Several of the firefighters ran toward her, but were unable to reach her before she jumped. Investigators are unsure whether or not her death had anything to do with the anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks. more ›

Queens resident Yi-Joo Kwon, 64, crossed his finish line in front of the UN yesterday after running 3,200 miles across country to raise awareness for diabetes. Nicknamed "Flushing's Gump," Kwon ran across 15 states in 95 days without aid of a GPS device—he just kept a piece of paper telling him where to go. After finishing his journey, he told the Daily News, "The reason I was able to finish this cross-country run is because I was thinking of everyone here supporting me." Kwon began running marathons just 10 years ago, and has since finished 100 of them. more ›

Flushing resident Yi-joo Kwon is passing through Missouri in his run from LA to NYC to raise awareness for diabetes, which he almost died from in 1996. Beginning on March 23rd, the 64-year-old has averaged over a marathon a day, and is currently a week ahead of his 110-day schedule. Facebook fans have nicknamed him "Flushing's Gump," and seem to be giving him a lot of support (in Korean). Supporter Sang Ho Seo writes, "Thorny path of suffering and self. Set forth in the way of your, Wishing you the glory." Poetry, or just Google Translate? more ›

This morning the NYC Road Runners took their 33rd run up the Empire State Building. Meanwhile, the rest of us were probably busy avoiding staircases and unnecessary exercise. The 300 runners hauled ass up the 86 flights, with the winner—25-year-old German Thomas Dold—leading the pack and finishing up at 10 minutes and 16 seconds. But maybe everyone's a winner, because that's gotta be the nicest finish line view in the history of races. more ›

The 8th Annual Tunnel to Towers Run was held. The 5K run/walk, which echoes the path that firefighter Stephen Siller ran from Brooklyn to lower Manhattan to help during the 9/11 attacks, attracted thousands, even in spite of the rainy morning. Frank Siller, one of Siller's brothers, said many were still trying to register yesterday morning, "At the end of it all, there were a couple of thousand people still waiting to register. We just let ‘em go. They wanted to participate. So I’m going to say we had about 25,000 people here, without a doubt." more ›

While some of you have been enjoying a lazy Sunday morning, thousands of people spent their early morning starting the Nautica NYC Triathlon—a 1500 meter swim in the Hudson River followed by a 40KM bike race (in Manhattan and the Bronx), ending with a 10KM run in Central Park. Though the race was delayed by rain, there are already winners: Greg Bennett of Australia won the men's competition, with a time of 1:45:50 (swim: 12:34; bike: 58:37; run: 31:12), while Rebeccah Wassner of New York won the women's, with a time of 1:58:25 (swim: 13:40; bike: 1:06:01; run: 34:36). And in the ParaTriathlon competition, Aaron Scheidies won with a time of 2:02:15. Last year's competitors faced obstacles like jellyfish and the heat and humidity; the NYC Tri website says, "This year, the rain certainly slowed athletes’ final times, while the humidity made the race seem to last too long for some," but the participants were undeterred. One said, "Running through one of the best landmarks in the world… it was a privilege." more ›

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Olympics planners and San Francisco authorities made many attempts (making up the route as it went along) to prevent demonstrators from disrupting the Olympic torch's only North American appearance on Wednesday, they couldn't stop a torch bearer from the Bronx from expressing her pro-Tibet sympathies. more ›

Perhaps an Uptown versus Downtown battle would have worked better, as The NY Times says only 100 people showed up at this past weekend's "Battle of Manhattan," which pitted the East versus the West side of town (perhaps they were all at the Scotland Run). more ›

Helmed by Boys Don’t Cry director Kimberly Peirce, Stop-Loss follows Texan soldier (Ryan Phillippe) from a firefight in Tikrit to life back home, where his army buddies start to crack up and he goes AWOL upon learning he’s going back to Iraq as part of the military stop-loss program. The Voice thinks it’s too derivative of Vietnam PTSD movies like Deerhunter, but admirable for its measured contemplation of the Iraq fallout. more ›

You may have heard that New York City will have two new ballparks to attend in 2009. Of course that means that Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium will close their doors forever after the 2008 season. And if you want to be there for the last scheduled game at either venue, you better have a lot of money. Tickets for the finale at Yankees Stadium are being scalped online for as much as $17,000 with tickets for the Shea Stadium finale, and last chance to see the Home Run Apple, going for “only” up to $6,000. more ›

Team Obama can breathe a sigh of relief, they officially got the Russell Simmons endorsement. From a letter sent out this weekend, Simmons declared:

Today I am announcing my personal endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States. During the last nine months, I have closely observed the presidential campaigns, analyzed the issues and platforms of the major candidates, and have had substantive discussions with Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. From the sidelines of the primaries and debates, I have been particularly inspired by the fact that Senator Obama has built an unprecedented, national movement comprised of people from all ethnic, racial, political, social and economic backgrounds.

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Frank Nardi, Jr. (pictured), who appeared as a surprise guest on Fox reality show Moment of Truth to ask his married ex-girlfriend Lauren Cleari if she believes she should have married him instead, has come forward to tell the New York Post that he “really just wants all of this to be over.” The Post’s weekly circulation is usually in the neighborhood of 650,000. more ›

It's that time of year again - the Westminster Kennel Club will be naming the Best in Show dog tonight. Today is day two (of two) of the Westminster Kennel Club's 132nd Dog show, and the best in group for the sporting, working and toy groups will be determined. Those dogs will face off against the winners of the herding (an Australian Shepherd), non-sporting (a standard poodle), terrier (a Sealhyam Terrier), and the hound (a beagle) groups. more ›

Think you've seen some big cockroaches around here? Apparently there are far superior critters in space! It's being reported that some cockroaches were conceived in space late last year onboard the Russian Foton-M bio satellite and are developing faster than the common terrestrial ones we see scurrying about the city. Some "highlights": more ›

• 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!

The long-awaited opening of Radegast Hall & Biergarten, Brooklyn’s first old-timey beer hall, is finally upon us, just in time for… winter. The 2,000 square foot establishment is designed to feel like a turn-of-the-century Austro-Hungarian beer hall, with a retractable roof canopy, 32-foot high ceilings, communal tables made from 150-year-old barn wood, a seasonal grill and 13 varieties of beer on tap, as well as a wider array of exotic-sounding bottled beer, such as the... more ›

The 69-year-old woman who was burned over 90% of her body in a gas explosion in her Sunnyside home died yesterday. City Councilman Eric Gioia said, "It is with great regret and sadness that I announce the passing of Kunta Oza. My deepest condolences go out to her entire family, and I ask that all New Yorkers keep them in their Thanksgiving prayers." On Wednesday afternoon, calls were made to 911 about a gas smell... more ›

While the maple syrup smell remains a two-year-old mystery to us, 30 Rock entered the fray with a hypothesis. On last night's episode, Liz Lemon, who smells waffles from her Upper West Side apartment, calls Tracy Jordan to remind him to practice his Re-Run dance for the What's Happening! sketch. But Tracy, in his NJ home, says that the smell of waffles is distracting him. Then Liz gets another call - it's Jack Donaghy,... more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an unstable building on 118th St. and 2nd Ave. in Manhattan, a person burned on 130th St. and Park Ave. in Manhattan, and a shooting on Lafayette Ave. in Brooklyn.
• Maybe it's because we're lifelong NYC baseball fans who think the Dodgers still belong in Brooklyn, but we think Joe Torre looks goofy wearing an LA jersey. Maybe he should lose the tie.
• Citigroup's Charles Prince is ousted or jumping ship, depending on how you want to paint it. The mega-bank expects to write down another $11 billion in assets related to sub-prime loans.
• A fugitive being filmed by a Swiss documentary film crew making a movie about his involvement in a drug smuggling ring was unaware that cops might want to arrest him for his crimes from 20 years ago. Surprise! They were and did.
• Policy makers may be emphasizing preventative care and shunting patients away from emergency medical care, but hospitals are putting their money where they see the future is, by expanding their ERs at a record pace.
• South Carolina cold cocks Stephen Colbert's Presidential aspirations and New York magazine makes light of the disruption of the democratic process.
• More than a dozen people were hospitalized after exposure to chemical fumes on Staten Island.
• Mayor Bloomberg has apologized to the family of James Zadroga for deriding their deceased son publicly.

Next week, Halloween eve to be exact, will mark the five year anniversary of Jam Master Jay's death. The murderer still walks the streets, as witnesses don't want to step forward in naming the man who ended the life of the rap legend. more ›

BEER: This one is pretty simple...there will be lots (58!) of New York beers, and a few bands to soundtrack your drinking them, at the Seaport tonight. Go, imbibe, enjoy! more ›

If you make it out to Shea Stadium the rest of this season and next season, and you witness a Mets home run, be sure to wave bye-bye to the Home Run Apple. We previously wrote about the movement to save the Home Run Apple when the Mets move to Citi Field in 2009, but recent reports makes it look like its days are numbered. more ›

As we were away from televisions most of Wednesday, we can’t give a blow by blow account of the storm coverage. However, we can give you a brief summary of some of the major things. more ›

Before the Beastie Boys’ concert at McCarren Park Pool last night, Gothamist attended a press conference with the 3 MC’s and verified an interesting bit of trivia: Despite having formed in Brooklyn, rehearsed often at Adam Yauch’s parent’s crib downtown, and associated themselves with the borough constantly over the decades, the band itself had not yet performed in Kings County. Mike D broke it down like so, “When we came up none of the clubs were really in Brooklyn except for L'Amour. My theory is that they didn’t really want to have hip-hop functions in Brooklyn because they figured it would just end badly. Soon there will be an arena there but there was never an arena-type venue there.” The Beastie Boys’ mainstream popularity – by '85 they were supporting Madonna on tour, by ’86 Licensed to Ill had moved five million units – outpaced the borough they helped popularize; not until the late nineties had Brooklyn gentrified to the point where there was even a venue big enough to accommodate them. more ›

(pic via Muzikspy's Flickr) more ›