Well, most of them. According to a reported issued by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene yesterday, the city's overall death rate fell to an all-time low in 2006 mostly owing to decreases in smoking and HIV-related deaths. But although deaths from these causes were on the decline, those caused by substance abuse were up by 8 percent and lives lost from cancer and heart disease held steady for the year. 55,391 New Yorkers......

Just in time for the holidays - and holiday presents - the Ninja Burglar has returned! The nefarious nighttime nuisance that had Staten Island residents on their toes after hitting sixteen homes (some with homeowners in them) robbed two homes in the Todt Hill neighborhood over the weekend. The Advance reported that the "elusive serial bandit" first robbed a mansion on Louisa Lane. He entered through a second floor terrace door - while the......

A school in Aberdeen, NJ, was locked down yesterday after a deer jumped through a classroom window. More specifically, it was a buck that joined a fifth grade class that was finishing up a vocabulary lesson. The Asbury Park Press says the animal "burst through the double-paned lower window of the classroom...charged straight through the room and left through an already open door, dashing into the hallway." The Lloyd Road School, about 38 miles......

After Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro recommended that the 5 Boroughs ice cream flavor "Staten Island Landfill" be boycotted, sales of the swirly mix of brownies, fudge, crunchies, and cherries in a vanilla ice cream base have been so hot, it's hard to find it anywhere. Which makes the owners of 5 Boroughs happy - Kim Myles, who founded 5 Boroughs with her husband Scott, said, "We have one thing to say to Mr.......

Staten Island is not having a good week. In addition to the outrage over the weird ad copy appearing in part of a Virgin Mobile campaign, the borough’s president has also called for an ice cream boycott. Last Friday, a perturbed James P. Molinaro wrote a letter to Scott and Kim Myles, husband and wife co-owners of the Queens-based 5 Boroughs Ice Cream company. Someone had shown Molinaro a copy of a flyer printed off......

Virgin Mobile's "You Rule" campaign has been in town for a few weeks, but the confusion still runs high. Ad agency Havas McKinney developed an ambitious outdoor campaign that involves specific posters and billboards to praise residents of various New York neighborhoods, such as Chelsea, Murray Hill, Lower East Side, Upper East Side, and Bed-Stuy. But some people have been insulted by the ads (such as one Chelsea resident who called Virgin Mobile to......

Staten Island may not be the only borough worried about its future, but it might be the only one to have commissioned a study to understand the next 13 years. Earlier this week, the Center for an Urban Future presented Staten Island 2020 plans. The Advance noted that Mayor Bloomberg had PlaNYC 2030 while SI had 2020, "The study...lays out an ambitious series of recommendations aimed at promoting sensible growth, boosting tourism and protecting......

Here at Gothamist Health we stand against borough bashing in all its forms, but if you're going to get the flu this year, try not to get it in Staten Island. The Daily News reports that the death rate from the flu and pneumonia is more than twice as high in Staten Island than in the rest of the City. In 2005, the death rate in SI was about 67 deaths per 100,000 patients compared......

There were hopes that the Department of Environmental Protection would be able to figure out the very gaseous smell that plagued Staten Island on Tuesday. But DEP testing cannot determine the origin of the stink, which the Staten Island Advance described as "though everyone had left their stoves on" and "similar to that of the chemical artificially added to natural gas to allow people to smell a leak." Hmm, no traces of a big spill......

Mayor Bloomberg announced the city's plans to turn the closed Fresh Kills landkill into a park. The Times points out that the landfill is "a garbage dump site that is so large it can be seen from space," which is why it's a sensitive and important issue for Staten Islanders...especially Staten Islanders who can vote. Reporter Michel Cooper describes the city's renderings of a Fresh Kills Park as "Monet using Photoshop" or Andrew Wyeth-like. Staten......