Patients at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center are discovering a hidden cost of healthcare: the theft of their identities at the hands of a hospital employee. During a federal investigation, it was revealed that as many as 40,000 patients over the last five to six years had their names, phone numbers, and social security numbers stolen from hopsital records. An audit at the hospital confirmed that the information had been misappropriated. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a foot pursuit on West 50th St. and Broadway in Manhattan, a missing person on West 110th St. in Manhattan, and a stabbing on Grove St. and Seneca Ave. in Queens.
• The 57-year-old man shot to death by a federal agent during a grenade sting this week was a career criminal. Authorities believe the proposed sale of what turned out to be an inert grenade was probably just an attempt to scam a gullible buyer.
• On the heels of his attempt to curb NYC's pigeon population, Councilman James Oddo now wants to reduce the population of wild turkeys on Staten Island, which he claims are a nuisance to the town of Ocean Breeze.
• Dick Wilson, the actor who played the ("Don't Squeeze the") Charmin salesman Mr. Whipple, died this week.
• A firefighter featured in the 2005 Calendar of Heroes was arrested on misdemeanor assault charges yesterday.
• Contrary to popular opinion, it isn't the tryptophan in turkey that makes people tired after Thanksgiving dinner. The likely culprit is a combination of eating too much, alcohol, and a long day.
• Approximately 1,000 doctors at Columbia University are now at risk for identity theft after a healthcare provider published their social security numbers online.
• BoingBoing brings us the holiday krunk video "Turkey Wrap."

The laptop of a private consultant for the Financial Information Services Agency was stolen from a restaurant last night. The stolen computer could contain the personal financial information of as many as 280,000 retired city employees and the obvious concern is that the information could fall into the hands of identity thieves. The Daily News reports that the data could possibly include the names, address, social security numbers, and pension information of thousands of retirees. more ›

This video from Chase Trash, a blog formed by the Service Employees International Union, makes us want to curl up into the fetal position. It shows unshredded financial documents in the trash outside a Chase location. Chase Trash's Chase Monitor says:

Check out this footage of bank account numbers and other personal information I found in the trash bags at Chase Banks throughout the Big Apple. That’s right, in trash bags on the curb outside Chase Bank branches in Brooklyn, Chinatown, Queens, and the Upper East Side—so the swankiest among us aren’t safe either—I found everything from bank balances and account numbers to social security numbers and addresses ready for the taking by any mildly industrious ID thief.

Did you act quickly enough to get Donald Trump's social security number yesterday? The New York Department of State had posted commercial loan documents online that was meant to let lenders view the financial status of loan applicants. The problem was that anyone could search the site and social security numbers were associated with names, including the Donald's. Yikes, the identity theft possibilities were yooge! more ›

- Tomorrow is Columbus Day. Or Thanksgiving, if you live in Canada. more ›

Someone on the Gothamist forums asked: more ›