After over three decades at The Post and a 55-year-long career, right-wing "populist" reporter Steve Dunleavy bowed out today, explaining to readers that "when the bones get a bit creaky, you can't stay at the dance too long...I never spent a single hour at Columbia School of Journalism, except when I gave a lecture to journalism students - and I was about as popular as a fire hydrant at the Westchester dog show...Oh, yeah, I will miss those great cops and firefighters, the nutty judges and politicians and the criminal lawyers who were more colorful than an explosion in a paint factory." Here's video of Dunleavy telling the famous story of slashing his dad's tires to get a scoop. more ›

Robert Chambers, whose privileged Upper East upbringing earned the tabloid nickname "The Preppy Killer" when he killed a woman in 1986, was charged with 14 counts of selling and possessing drugs. Since two of the counts are for first-degree sale, which the Daily News reports carries 15-30 years, Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau said, "I would expect he would spend the rest of his life in jail." more ›

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has secured the votes necessary to purchase Dow Jones & Co., Inc. which includes The Wall Street Journal itself. The win comes after a lengthy proxy battle in which the Bancrofts––the family that has acted as stewards of the company from afar for more than a century––resisted a very generous overture from Murdoch. more ›

The Bancroft family, who owns a controlling interest in publicly traded Dow Jones & Co., Inc., is considering an unsolicited bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. to purchase The Wall Street Journal. Trading in Dow Jones shares was halted temporarily after their price jumped 57%, or nearly $21 during the day. Murdoch is reportedly offering $60 a share for the company, which would make the total offer worth approximately $5 billion. The New York Times reported last week that he loses approximately $70 million annually running the NY Post, which seems to confirm our suspicion he secretly swims Scrooge McDuck-style in a huge vault of cash. more ›

Yesterday, people headed to to Battery Park City to sign one of the steel beams bound for Freedom Tower. Dina LaFond, whose daughter died on September 11, told NY1, "This is going to be part of the structure that's supporting the building. So those names are going to be forever inscribed in the way the building's actually holding up. It's not just the physics and steel that's holding the building up but people's ideas and emotions and the spiritual idea of creating a tower that will speak to the world about this site." Daniel Liebebskind, Ground Zero's master planner who stopped by to sign a beam, told the NY Times, "This beam is not only supporting a physical building, it’s supporting the spirit of America." more ›

-- And some sad news: St. Brigid's is being torn down. more ›

Gothamist's favorite drunk columnist, the New York Post's Steve Dunleavy, was pickpocketed last night. According to Newsday, he admitted being "very drunk... .comatose." Ah, just the way we like that bombastic Aussie. Dunleavy claims he "kicked the guy in the ass" but it was the police who later arrested the men. more ›

I always look to the grizzled, drunkard Aussie STEVE DUNLEAVY when I need a dose of real inflammatory editorial: "I know some veterans who would say that if the French are in training, they are training to throw up their arms in surrender." Of course, in this case, I happen to agree with him. more ›