The U.S. Secret Service: When they're not banging prostitutes, they're running people over with their cars. The latest black eye for the scandal-scarred agency occurred yesterday afternoon when an undercover secret service agent fatally struck a woman crossing the Atlantic Avenue at Ralph Avenue in Brooklyn. Victim Maria Tripp, 47, was on her way to pick up her granddaughter from daycare, accompanied by her 19-year-old nephew and 12-year-old daughter, when the driver of a black Chevrolet Impala slammed into her. A witness tells the Daily News, "She went up like 50 feet in the air." more ›

One Long Islander is about to have a very unpleasant meeting with the Secret Service. Because of a bank mixup, $100k in counterfeit cash was recently discovered at a Chase in Huntington. And they would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for an old man's innocent error! more ›

Over the course of three days in June, artist Kyle McDonald captured the faces of Apple patrons in two of the company's Manhattan stores. He did this by installing a program on computers in the stores, which automatically took an image every minute. He explained, “I thought maybe we could see ourselves doing this we would think more about our computers and how we’re using them." Well, now he won't have to think about it, because Mashable is reporting that the U.S. Secret Service has confiscated McDonald's own personal computers! more ›

Yesterday, one of Fox News' Twitter feeds—Fox News Politics—was hacked and fake messages about President Obama's assassination were sent out. Now, the Secret Service says they are looking into the incident. Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie said an investigation was in progress, "We will conduct the appropriate follow-up." more ›

A little after 5 p.m. yesterday we got word over the newswire of a "Secret Service involved MVA" on the BQE by 39th Street, where a US Secret Service vehicle was hit by a tractor trailer. Today the NY Post has more details, saying an off-duty Secret Service agent was cut off by an 18-wheeler, whose tires flattened the front of his vehicle and caused him "to spin around and slam into a concrete barricade." Another agent had been nearby, and pulled the truck over — but the driver wasn't charged. While the car was totaled, the agent declined medical attention and is reportedly unharmed. more ›

The director of the Secret Service told Congress, "I take responsibility" for the fame-seeking, aspiring reality TV show couple that managed to get into the Obamas' first State Dinner without an invitation. Director Mark Sullivan added, "Pure and simple, this is a human error,. We could have had the best technology. ... But that still would not have prevented this from happening." more ›

The couple accused of waltzing into President Obama's first State Dinner uninvited and mugging with dignitaries and VIPs—and the President himself—appeared on the Today Show this morning and to insist they were invited to the event. Tareq Salahi said the incident has been "the most devastating thing that has ever happened" to himself and wife Michaele, emphasizing they "did not party-crash the White House." more ›

The couple who apparently crashed the Obamas' first State Dinner on Monday has now caused the Secret Service to investigate how a couple with reality show dreams managed to get through the security. Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan wouldn't given details on how Michaele and Tareq Salahi managed to attend the event, "We're being intentionally vague on that. All we are saying is that procedures we have in place weren't followed." more ›

Naturally, My Fox NY's Arnold Diaz, who broke the story with in one of his classic "Shame" segments, has been following up, and reports that State Senator Thomas Duane pressured Kefalinos to take a racial sensitivity training session. But Duane says, "He really needs to undergo much more sensitivity training because I'm not sure that he's completely got the message yet. If he doesn't... the marketplace will put him out of business." (Watch the video below.) more ›

Gunshots stemming from the attempted armed robbery of a jewelry store inside the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel led to a scene of chaos inside the lobby of one of New York's fanciest destinations for hospitality. more ›

In March, simultaneous installations in two Chelsea galleries – one called The Assassination of Barack Obama, the other The Assassination of Hillary Clinton – were canceled “due to extreme legal pressures,” according to LVHRD. This morning the artist, Yazmany Arboleda, again attempted to hang his work in an empty storefront across from the New York Times building and got as far as putting up the name of the exhibit in the window before the NYPD, Secret Service, and – who would have guessed – the major media rushed to the scene. more ›

Just a days before the Florida primary, someone gave the New York Times a 1998 NYPD memorandum advising Mayor Giuliani that the department felt locating the city's emergency command center in 7 World Trade Center was not a very good idea. The eight page memo was written by a panel of police experts with help from the Secret Service. Its conclusions were overruled by Giuliani and the command center was destroyed on September 11 as the building where it was located burned and then collapsed. more ›

It appears that Judith Nathan, the current Mrs. Giuliani, may have been enjoying taxpayer-funded car service provided by the police while her affair with former Mayor Giuliani was unknown. Giuliani's admitted that he gave his girlfriend a security detail once their relationship became public because of possible threats against her, but it appears that Nathan was enjoying New York's Finest as a taxi service months before anyone even knew the two were involved with each... more ›

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is getting a lot of ink in our newspapers today after it was revealed that (A) he had requested a visit to Ground Zero - to lay a wreath, no less - and then shortly later that (B) the city had denied the request. Way to work fast, city agencies! more ›

Maybe there is good reason to try to stay off Forbes' list of 400 wealthiest people. The Manhattan DA's office charged a 24-year-old Russian national with an elaborate identity ring that targeted rich Americans. more ›

President Bush is taking his No Child Left Behind Act education platform to Harlem today, with an afternoon visit to the Harlem Village Academies charter school on West 144th Street today. Yes, that's what all the traffic and security is for- as well as the lack of garbage cans. The school and Department of Education are proud that Harlem Village Academy was selected; founder Deborah Kenny tells the Sun, "We take in kids that are really struggling, but they just get better and better, and stronger and stronger." more ›

NJ Governor Jon Corzine may taken off a ventilator that has been helping him breathe since his Thursday night car accident on the Garden State Parkway. Yesterday, doctors removed fluid from his lungs (considered a routine procedure) successfully, and today, they will be performing another surgery to continue to clean up wounds from his left leg - when the femur broke, it punctured his skin. Corzine remains in critical but stable condition. more ›

If you come into contact with a $50 or $100 bill, check it carefully! The Secret Service says there's a lot more funny money floating around the NYC-metro area. more ›

- If you're still buying baseball cards, you may have noticed that there are a couple of mistakes on the latest Derek Jeter card from Topps (full card pictured at left). The baseball card pictures President Bush waiving in the stands and Mickey Mantle in the dugout. Problem is that Bush wasn't at the game that day. Plus, everyone knows Bush is a Rangers fan and he would be flanked by tons of Secret Service. A spokesman for Topps told the Daily News: "Somewhere in between the final proofing and its printing, someone at our company - and we won't name names - thought it would be funny to put in Bush and Mantle." Jeter had no idea of the card stunt. The card may not be as valuable as eBay makes it though. Topps hasn't decided if they are going to issue a reprint or just go with the card as is. more ›

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An envelope filled with a white powder was delivered to former President Bill Clinton's West 125th Street office, causing the two floors of the building to be shut down yesterday afternoon. Most of the building was evacuated, but eleven people were quaratined as the police, fire department, FBI, Secret Service and Homeland Secuirty descended to the scene. A source told the Daily News, "An aide opened the envelope, and she went ballistic," when white powder fell from the manila envelope. It turns out the white powder was non-toxic and harmless, but the envelope did have a "rambling diatribe" inside. more ›

Gothamist has decided to liveblog this year's Nathan's Famous July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest. Jen and Tien will be providing color commentary; Tien will also be attempting to eat hot dogs competition-style more ›

The NYCLU is working with the FBI as the federal agency investigates whether the NYPD violated civil rights of protesters during the Republican National Convention in 2004. The FBI only confirmed they did send a letter to the NYCLU, but luckily the NYCLU has a PDF of the letter here. The FBI is looking for Dennis Kyne, whose arrest was thrown out after "videotape contradicted" the police officer's account. Interesting - and we're sure the Secret Service has a list of all the protesters just in case. Still, the NYCLU loves it: "Commissioner Kelly may have thought he could ignore complaints from the civil rights community and even the Civilian Complaint Review Board about Convention arrests, but we doubt he can ignore the FBI." And we heard about the Civilian Complaint Review Board's investigations last week. more ›

Imagine the luck of the police when they arrested someone involved in an international identity theft ring. They sat down to lunch and watched Andrei Potupa, a 29 year-old Russian immigrant from Bensonhust, withdraw loads and loads of money. After Potupa inserted card after card with stolen account numbers and withdrew handfuls after handfuls of cash, the cops arrested him when he tried to exit the restaurant. He was found with $7,504 and 52 blank cards. more ›

A man who works for the Department of Transportation was pulled over after drunk driving his car into a tree. That's a problem already - but then the police found various weapons, knives and drugs in the minivan, including a samurai sword and over 10 guns. Oh, and there was pinata and a sign that says "Hang Cheney," which seems like the least odd thing in the car, but the Secret Service came to investigate as well. Glenn Kittel, a sign installer for the DoT, was trapped under his dashboard (firefighters got him out with the Jaws of Life!). Neighbors say he was a hunter, which explains why there were so many guns, but there probably needs to be a license for that sort of thing. Kittel was charged with many counts of weapons possession and DWI. more ›

Next Wednesday will be the 60th session of the General Assembly and the 2005 World Summit at the United Nations. Which means New York City is gonig to be under some serious security and gridlock for three days. As it will be the "largest single gathering of world leaders in history next week," there's a hell of a lot of planning going on at the city and federal levels. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, "It will be a General Assembly like no other," and Secret Service agent A.T. Smith told Newsday, "I don't think we've ever been more prepared because there was a lot of emphasis placed on the fact that this is the highest-attended General Assembly in history." Which means that with 227 heads of state (plus an ex-president, like Bill Clinton) in the mix, there will be street closing, vehicle searches, even more subway security, a seven mile no-fly zone, and tons and tons of police officers on the street. Okay, now Gothamist understands a little better why the U.N. had to advertise its apologies. more ›

: In possibly another sign that the WTC rebuilding totally sucks, the president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Kevin Rampe, has resigned today. NY1 says he'll still serve on the foundation, but this sounds sketchy to us. Additionally, an appeals court threw out a lawsuit against Motorola that relatives of firefighters killed during September 11 brought forth, claiming Motorola's faulty radios caused their deaths. more ›

About 49% of the population is still reeling from Senator Kerry's concession. Gothamist's own Doug Gordon (also of Planet Gordon) and his wife are in Boston, and were captured for the world to see on BBC News Front Page. He tells us, "All I can say is that there is nothing quieter than the sound of 10,000 people not saying a word." And we expect the Secret Service and FBI to be investigating many more street crimes of this nature. more ›