A fire earlier today has shuttered the Tick Tock Diner in Midtown—and authorities believe it was caused by a discarded cigarette. The fire started in the facade of Tick Tock Diner, which is housed at 303 W. 34th Street in the New Yorker Hotel building, around 10:15 a.m. There was a packed house in the popular diner for Sunday brunch, and patrons didn't seem to mind a little smoke: "We seat 300 people and it was a Sunday morning, so people were waiting on line," waiter Steve Tsiolis told DNAInfo. "People kept eating. They didn't want to leave their food." more ›

Four children, including an eight-month-old girl, were injured in an early morning Harlem fire yesterday. The fire broke out on the fifth floor of the six-story building at Manhattan Avenue and W. 115th Street. "My dog woke me up barking and when I went into the hall it was black with smoke. I felt the flames on my face. I was terrified," said resident Shaun Holbrook, who was able to escape down a fire escape with his dog in his arms. more ›

New Yorkers will do anything for their morning cup o' coffee including, apparently, risking their lives. When we first got a tip about some uncaffeinated New Yorkers begging Starbucks baristas for their morning fix, as smoke billowed through the store we initially thought it was an April Fools joke. But a call to the store confirmed that this actually happened. We'll let our tipster tell the tale: more ›

A reader wrote to us about a fire that occurred in NJ "that woke us up here in Brooklyn. I live near the Brooklyn Museum, off of Eastern Parkway, and the smell of fire and burning rubber was so strong that someone in my building called the fire department. We gathered on the steps at 2 am with other residents in our building. When people called 911, they had been told there was a warehouse or junkyard fire in New Jersey. It was really alarming-the air was thick with smoke and it smelled so strongly for a few hours." more ›

A four-alarm fire ripped through several Union City, NJ buildings yesterday morning at 11 a.m. One resident said, "People were all over the streets. The black smoke was hitting all the buildings. Tires were popping, tanks exploded, and the gas lines went." And Jersey City Assistant Fire Director Armando Roman said, “When I got there, the three story wood-frame building was almost demolished. Fully involved, fully involved. I haven’t seen a fire like that in a while. It just completely destroyed the building.” more ›

Obama had his first physical since taking office and the docs say he’s "fit for duty." But because health care will actually never pass if Obama dies, we the public get to know his vitals: “At 6-feet,1-inch (1.85 meters), weighs 180 pounds (82 kilograms) in shoes and exercise clothing. His pulse rate is 56, which is very good, as is his blood pressure — 105 over 62…vision was 20/20 in both eyes for both distance and near vision,” said the report. According to WCBSTV Bam’s cholesterol has gone up, so if he’s still sneaking smokes, he should cut that out. It’s been revealed that Obama uses a "nicotine replacement therapy” (maybe nicotine gum). more ›

These aerial photos of billowing smoke, collapsing buildings and scattering debris were released recently for the first time. They're from the archives of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, originally collected as part of the investigation of the 9/11 attacks. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, ABC received nine burned CDs containing 2,779 pictures; many had been taken from police helicopters and had never before been seen by the public. Twelve, including the ones shown here, are posted to its website. more ›

A Brooklyn mom is charged with endangering the lives of her two young sons, after a fire broke out in her East New York apartment yesterday when they were home alone. Milagros Perez left her two-year-old and four-year-old for 25 minutes just before the fire started, officials say. Firefighters were able to find the two boys in the smoky apartment—both were unconscious and not breathing, but now are expected to survive. "When you find somebody, especially a kid, it gets you going," one firefighter told NY1. "It gets the blood flowing and it's pretty exciting. Especially when you get them outside and you are able to bring them back to life." No word on how the fire started. Last week a heroic mom perished in another Brooklyn fire after throwing her two kids from a window and saving them. more ›

The city is forcing stores that sell cigarettes to display graphic anti-smoking posters—despite complaints by shopkeepers and customers. So the owner of Montague Street Bagels in Brooklyn Heights is fighting back against the ads, which depict a damaged brain and blackened lungs, by hanging his own handwritten disclaimer reading: "We are very sorry, but by the order of [New York City Department of Health], we are required to post this sign, or face a $2,000 fine!" more ›

Following New Jersey's decision to legalize medical marijuana, New York cannabis activists say now is the time to push for similar legislation in the Empire State. Though New York City might be the marijuana arrest capital of the world, the state has "relatively liberal possession laws and actually passed a medical-marijuana law in 1980 but never put it to use," according to the Times. And considering the fact that 14 other states have already given medical marijuana the greenlight, Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) says there's no reason why it shouldn't be New York's turn. more ›

About an hour ago there was what the MTA was describing as a "subway smoke condition" near West 53rd Street and 7th Avenue. We just received some photos of a manhole fire at that intersection, and NotifyNYC is now alerting straphangers that "the F and V trains are suspended in Manhattan. B and D trains are diverted onto the A line between West 57th Street and West 4th Street." NY1 adds that there has been a "forced evacuation" but no injuries have been reported yet. more ›

First they came for the smokers in bars and restaurants, and we said nothing—we simply enjoyed breathing air without carcinogens. Now the Mayor is coming for the smokers on park benches and beach towels, and we're still saying nothing! As part of an ambitious new public health initiative, city health commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley announced that the Bloomberg administration would seek to ban smoking in all city parks and beaches. Public health advocates like Dr. David A. Kessler are elated; he tells City Room, "The issues with secondhand smoke are very real and the majority of the population today doesn’t want to be breathing in tobacco smoke, whether indoors or outdoors." Farley says the proposal to proscribe cigs may require the approval of the City Council, and health department spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti tells Bloomberg News that officials haven’t yet devised "a specific strategy for reducing smoking in parks." But if cops can be as militant about busting smokers as they are ticketing people for public drinking, we're sure this'll be a big cash crop for the city. more ›

A fire broke out at a warehouse, located at 27th Street and 50th Avenue, just before 6 a.m. and has grown into a three-alarm blaze. The smoke has been so heavy that all westbound Long Island Expressway lanes were shut down temporarily—they have since reopened but there are still delays near the Queens Midtown Tunnel. According to MyFoxNY, "NY Traffic Authority Ines Rosales recommends drivers in the area take the 59th Street Bridge or get off on Queens Boulevard and take the Queens Borough Bridge." And firefighters are still working to get the fire under control. more ›

According to the Post, two JetBlue flights had issues after take-off from JFK Airport last week, requiring both to return to the airport. On Monday, "smoke seeped into the cabin of JetBlue Flight 654, which was bound for Rochester, NY, and carrying 40 passengers, just after takeoff." The pilot told air-traffic control, "We need to return immediately. We have some smoke in the cabin," before "briefly" losing contact but ultimately made it back safe. The FAA found no cause for the smoke. Then on Friday, "an electrical smell filled JetBlue Flight 63, bound for Tampa and carrying 63 passengers, just after it took off"; the plane managed to land safely. And a JetBlue flight landed in Bahamas on Thursday just as a fire was spotted on the left wing. The Post says all planes were the Embraer 1910 model and have been taken out of service as JetBlue investigates. more ›

Yesterday, smoke escaped from the former Deutsche Bank building on Liberty Street—the Daily News reports, "It turned out the smoke was from a battery-powered forklift that overheated about 4 a.m. Firefighters simply unplugged it." And while firefighters were on the scene, they found that a switch for an air-filtration system (you know, to keep toxic air—the building is full of debris from the 9/11 attacks— from escaping the building) wasn't working, so work was halted. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which is overseeing the demolition of the building, believes the building will be decontaminated by July and ready for demolition in January. In 2007, a seven-alarm fire, started by a worker's cigarette, killed two firefighters and, in 2006, it was hoped the building would be gone by...2007. more ›

Think you're safe from lung cancer because you don't smoke? Here's a fun fact: Secondhand smoke is estimated to account for at least 35,000 deaths from heart disease and 3,000 deaths from lung cancer in nonsmokers nationwide each year. And a recently-published study suggests that New Yorkers are even more at risk because our dense urban environment results in a greater exposure to secondhand smoke. more ›

With the weather warming, this will likely become less of a visible concern, but the City should also view the spring and summer as an opportunity to crack down on buildings who spew oily black smoke across the New York's skyline. The Gay Recluse has been concerned for some time about the cluster of chimneys in his Washington Heights neighborhood that spew plumes of noxious smoke into the air. more ›

Thick black smoke hovering above Washington Heights is apparently a common occurrence, but it is legal? The Gay Recluse has some photos of the area and says it's the result of "improperly maintained or outdated boiler systems," with one building in particular being a main culprit (671 West 162nd Street). Has anyone seen something similar, or worse? This certainly can't be helping with the rising asthma problem. more ›

The Brooklyn fire that killed FDNY Lt. John H. Martinson was caused by a six-year-old child who was playing with wrapping or packaging paper over the open flames of a stove left on to heat a 14th floor apartment. When the paper caught fire, the boy attempted to hide the smoldering paper under a mattress, trailing embers throughout the apartment. When the child's mother discovered the bedroom in flames, she grabbed the six-year-old and his twin brother and fled from the building. The door to the apartment was left open, however, allowing billowing smoke to fill the hallway. more ›