In downtown Brooklyn yesterday, Michael Bloomberg announced a new program that will bring water stations to public spaces around the city, at least through Labor Day. The Water-On-The-Go program connects stations (which contain six faucets each) to fire hydrants, and allows people to fill their water bottles or their dog's portable water bowls. There will be 10 stations, rotating through locations like Brooklyn Bridge Park and Times Square, and each will have volunteers watching over them (you know, to make sure no one spikes the H2O with LSD). Here's a full schedule that'll keep you hydrated all summer long—don't forget, NYC has some of the best tasting tap water in the nation! more ›

As the classic song goes, 911 is a joke—but calling police precincts is even more of a laugh, according a little survey conducted by the Daily News. Over the course of a month, reporters called all 76 neighborhood precinct stationhouses across the city at least seven times and found that many of them need to work on their telephone manners. The tabloid gave 40% of them a ranking of "unacceptable" because nobody picked up within 10 rings on at least five out of seven calls. At one Bronx stationhouse, a uniformed officer twice picked up the phone and immediately hung it up after a reporter called from the waiting area. At the 104th Precinct stationhouse in Ridgewood, Queens, when a reporter asked to be transferred to Community Affairs, the phone rang 175 times before the caller finally gave up. And on two occasions at the 66th Precinct, the stationhouse's phone rang at least 50 times—then went to a busy signal. One anonymous cop explains that officers simply dread answering the phone, because "if you pick up the phone you are stuck with whatever ... is coming out of the receiver." NYPD commissioner Paul Browne says New Yorkers should just call 911 during emergencies. more ›

(AINT WET, by Triborough at flickr) more ›