On Wednesday, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo crashed Fashion Week when he announced an indictment against the former superintendent of the 26th Street Armory. James Jackson had solicited bribes from fashion darling Marc Jacobs (pictured), who allegedly complied in order to secure the coveted armory space for his fashion shows. The Armory is considered a "community asset" whose space is to be used by the military and public. more ›

A New York State appellate court ruled that under the federal concept of the "marriage recognition rule," which grants reciprocity to the bond of marriage formed in other states, it will recognize gay marriages solemnized in other states. As one of the largest states in the nation, this is a huge step for proponents of normalizing same-sex marriages. Gay marriages still aren't allowed in New York State, although a young mayor in New Paltz, NY attempted to go forward with that initiative, but marriages performed elsewhere will be granted legal status. It's a bit of legalistic court-leading-the-horse, but gay rights proponents seem pleased. more ›

With Martin Tankleff's recent release (after 17 years behind bars) and the appointment of none other than New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as a special prosecutor in the murder investigation, there's more attention paid to who may or may not have been responsible for the murder of Seymour Tankleff and his wife Arlene in 1988. At the time, prosecutors pegged the cold-blooded killing on their 17-year-old son Martin, claiming that the distraught teenager copped to killing his parents in hope of getting an early inheritance. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a stabbing on Monument Walk in Brooklyn, a stabbing on West 31st St. in Brooklyn, and a stabbing on Hughes Ave. in Brooklyn.
• Cops are looking into the death of a man who was found unconscious in the bathroom of the Knitting Factory. They're deeming the incident suspicious.
• A Columbia University hunger striker was carried off a couch after passing out from hunger. Meanwhile, a group of drunken students handed out fliers articulating (presumably in lieu of verbally) why they thought eating was a good thing.
• New York poker players are feeling nervous after last week's late-night holdup that left one player dead.
• News crews with cameras are the wrong people to get into hysterical parking rage incidents with.
• Former Congressman John Sweeney was pulled over on the NY State Thruway after he was observed driving erratically. State Troopers had no comment on the identity of the 23-year-old woman who was accompanying Sweeney when he was pulled over and later registered a BAC of .18.
• Federal regulators feel their toes are being stepped on by NY State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has initiated an investigation into federally guaranteed mortgage finance companies Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae.
• On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year, armed forces veterans marched up Manhattan's 5th Ave. to commemorate those who have served.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery at the Washington Mutual on Sheepshead Bay Rd. in Brooklyn, a worker fell into the water off Pier 11 on Governor's Island, and a bank robbery on 57th St. and Broadway in Manhattan.
• Additional charges could be in store for the woman who allegedly shot a Staten Island commune leader before fleeing to Philadelphia.
• Maya Rudolph is not returning for the new season of Saturday Night Live
• New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office is cruising Facebook.com for underage hookups, in order to file charges against the online social networking site.
• Is there a mad firebomber in Park Slope, endangering Subarus, garbage cans, small animals and Eve Ensler's privates? Brownstoner readers are worried.
• A 28-year-old woman was killed while crossing Houston St. this morning. A truck knocked the young woman out of her shoes and pinned her as she was crossing 6th and West Houston at 7:15 a.m.
• Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens was scratched from the series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, including tonight's start. Kei Igawa will start in place of the high-priced hurler with the hurt hamstring.
• Six New Yorkers were awarded MacArthur Genius Grants.

Alan Hevesi recently hired a new lawyer and adopted an aggressive stance to battle accusations that he misused his position as New York State Comptroller, who oversees the state's $157 billion pension fund, for personal financial benefit. Last week, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he was investigating whether Hevesi used his tenure as Comptroller to financially benefit from the many financial firms that vie to profitably manage a slice of the enormous pension fund. more ›

Starrett City, the subsidized housing development in Brooklyn, was sold for $1.3 billion in February, but for the second time, the Department of Housing and Urban Development rejected the deal. The February sale needed to be approved by HUD, because Starrett City is the country's largest subsidized development, and shortly after the sale was announced, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo got to work on blocking the sale. more ›

After months of investigation from the State Attorney General's office, Columbia University has finally fired the director of undergraduate financial aid David Charlow yesterday. Charlow had been suspended last April when his "questionable financial ties" to a student loan company were revealed: Charlow was an adviser to Student Loan Xpress, owned stock in the company, and actively encouraged students to use Student Loan Express as a lender. Then the Post printed this excerpt from an email from Charlow to Student Loan Express's CEO Fabrizio Balestri yesterday: "I want by its design to lead the students to [the] best decision in an idiot-proof way." The best decision being Student Loan express. more ›

The executive director of Columbia's undergraduate financial aid office was suspended after the school - and NY State attorney general's office - found "questionable financial ties" to student loan company Student Loan Xpress. David Charlow sits on an advisory board for the company (as do two officials from UT Austin and USC who are also under investigation), and received stock options as compensation. more ›

The $1.3 billion deal for Brooklyn developer Berkshire LLC to buy federally subsidized Brooklyn housing complex Starrett City may be blocked by State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. Cuomo announced that his office will enforce an injunction barring the lead investor David Bistricer from completing "certain real estate for life and will not permit the conversion of any of the property to cooperative apartments." Cuomo's statement was pretty damning, calling Bistricer's real estate history "sordid" and saying, "The material I turned over today should be enough to ban him from this deal at the start."

Findings that led to the court order against Bistricer include that he failed to disclose the terms of refinanced mortgages in amendments filed prior to the auction of apartments he owned, a violation of the Martin Act. He was ordered to pay $450,000 in restitution to residents and $50,000 to the State Attorney General’s office. more ›