Sunday's Central Park Summerstage show at Rumsey Playfield brought together three talented young female singer-songwriters—Basia Bulat, tUnE-YaRdS (Merrill Garbus), and St. Vincent—in a night of surprising contrasts (videos below). In particular, tUnE-YaRdS and St. Vincent, two acts that might be thought of as carrots-and-peas because of their intricate electronic instrumentation, turned out to offer powerful yet distinct pleasures. more ›

Also this week:

• The King of Pop, Michael Jackson died at age 50
• JetBlue announced a live music series at their new T5 terminal
• We interviewed Dr. Dog (who play a free Celebrate Brooklyn! show tonight)
• We also talked to Thurston Moore
• Lou Reed got angry
• Sound Fix will be moving and bringing back live music (but not with the alcohol)
• Nightlife apparently needs to be saved more ›

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The WNBC.com headline says it all: "Man Critical After Being Suspended From Ceiling At S&M Club." And before he was taken to St. Vincent's, he was found "bound and suspended from a ceiling while wearing women's high heels and a neck choker." The Post now says he may have suffered brain damage due to the lack of oxygen! more ›

It's not just property values that are collapsing in New York; a construction crane collapsed in Tribeca and injured two workers who were working to repair the crane on the 300-unit residence building. The crane was 200 feet tall and buckled Friday under the strain of an overweighted payload of lumber. Initial reports said that there were no injuries and that several buildings surrounding the 450 Washington St. address had to be evacuated. more ›

Our favorite bespectacled WNBC political reporter was beaten and robbed in the West Village last night! Naturally, WNBC has the scoop. Apparently Jay DeDapper, who had finished reporting on the Democratic debate for the 11PM newscast, stopped at a pizzeria on his way home.

After he left the restaurant, three people jumped him, hitting him on the head and kicking him, according to authorities. more ›

Ah, there's nothing like the having a local team in a championship game. That's when the mayor breaks out the big guns and bets items of food against the mayor of an opposing team's city. Mayor Bloomberg announced a friendly wager today with Green Bay Mayor James Schmitt, as the Giants and the Packers face off Sunday in the NFC Championship game. more ›

Work has been stopped at the Trump Soho construction site, the day after an accident caused one worker to fall 42 stories to his death. The FDNY says the workers had been filling wooden forms (one was a 20-foot-square section) with wet concrete when molds broke. Assistant Chief Thomas Galvin explained that the molds collapsed from the 42nd floor to the 40th, leaving a hold in the corner of the building. Per the Daily News, Galvin said, "They were pouring it on the floor .. tamping out the air bubbles, and for some reasons the forms collapsed." Concrete and other debris fell from the area. more ›

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Early yesterday morning a 32-year old man was shot and killed outside of Stereo, a so-called hotspot and celeb-touted club at 512 W 29th Street. The dispute leading up to the shooting began inside, but was eventually taken to the street, where Queens resident Brione Schneider was shot and was later pronounced dead at St. Vincent's Hospital. He was the father of a 6-year old boy, managed a Finish Line sports in Brooklyn and was described by his mother as "a very laid-back guy who was about going to work and taking care of his son...[he] was never a problem." more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an abduction on 117th St. and Madison Ave. in Manhattan, someone robbed the Commerce Bank on 5th Ave. in Brooklyn, and serious trauma at The Marina Restaurant on Jerome Ave. and Clifford Pl. in the Bronx.
• Tommy Monahan, the 9-year-old boy who died in a fire last week attempting to rescue his pets, wrote a book about his dog Sophy.
• If you're wondering where your fare hike dollars will wind up, a good portion will be in the pockets of lawyers who work at some of the most profitable and expensive legal firms in the country.

A construction crane crushed construction trailers and trapped a worker this morning. According to 1010WINS, the FDNY says "the crane dropped a load of steel it was carrying and crushed the trailers. At least one person was rescued; his condition was not immediately available." more ›

Don Marbury Sr, Stephon Marbury's dad, has passed away at age 69. He was in attendance at the Knicks game last night when he suffered chest pains and was rushed to St Vincent's. Stephon learned the news after the game and quickly left the Garden without comment. The team, which kept its locker room doors closed for 30 minutes after the game to allow Marbury to leave, refused to talk about why Steph stormed out... more ›

A 25-year-old man was stabbed to death inside the Flatiron club Duvet early Friday morning. Shamel McKinsey stumbled outside and collapsed outside on West 21st street, "blood gushing from his wounds, just after 3:30 a.m.," according to the Daily News. McKinsey, who had an arrest record for drug possession with intent to sell, was pronounced dead at St. Vincent's Hospital. Police suspect that McKinsey may have been partying with the rapper Fabolous at Duvet,... more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Prospect Pl. in Brooklyn, a collapse at Flushing Ave. at Portland Ave. in Brooklyn, and an armed robbery on 157th St. and 109th Ave. in Queens.
• The Queens courtroom where three cops will be tried on charges of shooting Sean Bell to death is undergoing $175K in renovations in preparation for the trial, even though attorneys for the defense are arguing for a change of venue.
• Rehab center Silver Hill Hospital is being sued after a woman committed suicide while under the facility's care. The person bringing the suit is the executor of her estate, himself a former patient at Silver Hill and someone her doctor advised her to avoid.
• AM New York looks at some NYC bars beloved by Hollywood filmmakers.
• Alex Kelly, the high school rapist from Darien, CT who fled to Europe where he lived on the lam for years before being captured, was released from prison after serving 10 years of his 16 year sentence.
• Cops responding to a call that a woman was being assaulted inside Club Duvet on East 21st St. early this morning were instead met with a patron staggering out of the club with blood flowing from a chest wound. The victim died after being taken to St. Vincent's Hospital.
• A 14-month-old toddler fell out of an open window at his Brooklyn home yesterday, but landed without injury. The child fell 20 feet to the roof of an adjacent record store.
• The Gowanus Lounge reports that the IKEA in Red Hook believes in recycling. It will be using the paving stones that are being ripped up out of Beard St. for some secondary use on the store's property.

Cops are now searching for the three gunman who apparently killed a New Jersey man by accident during a Friday night Flatiron poker club robbery. Fifty-five-year-old Frank Desena was declared dead at St. Vincent's Hospital shortly after he was shot in the abdomen during the robbery. Initial reports said that Desena was shot when one of the gunmen was picking up his sawed-off shotgun, which he'd dropped. Today, the New York Post is saying that Desena was shot by the gunman's pistol, which he fired when picking up the shotgun. more ›

An illegal poker game in the Flatiron district may cost a participant his life after he was accidentally blasted with a shotgun during a hold-up. Three robbers crashed the game shortly after 11 p.m. last night and ordered the players to dump their cash on the table for collection. The illegal club was operating a game out of an office on the 7th floor of 251 5th Ave. more ›

Early this morning, four people were hit by gunfire and another person was stabbed while in Union Square Park. WABC 7 says that a fight "broke out in a McDonald's at 17th and Broadway." And then someone fired into a crowd in Union Square Park - it's unclear if the fight from McDonald's traveled into the park. more ›

Early this morning, a man was stabbed to death on Washington Place near 6th Avenue in the West Village. Police believe the 43-year-old victim was arguing with other men outside 123 Washington Place when the attack occurred around 1:40AM. more ›

An 8-year-old child is in critical condition at St. Vincent's Hospital after being hit by a car on West 17th Street in Manhattan. The Post says the child, Prince Harris, "darted out between two parked cars." more ›

A woman crossing the street early Sunday morning was killed when a drunk driver barreled down Bowery near East 4th Street. Twenty-four-year-old Julia Thomson had gotten out of a cab with friends around 4AM when a black Mercedes hit her without stopping. The police found the car in Queens hours later and arrested 21-year-old Tenzing Bhutai for leaving the scene of an accident and DWI. more ›

Early this morning, a pedestrian was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver. WABC 7 reports that the police received "several 911 calls for a motor vehicle accident involving a pedestrian lying in the roadway" after 1:10AM. more ›

The Post and Daily News have a number of editorials and columns about the Deutsche Bank building fire response and fallout. The Post continues to demand FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta's resignation and faulted Mayor Bloomberg for standing by Scoppetta. The Daily News' Juan Gonzalez wonders why Bloomberg and Scoppetta have gone into "virtual hiding" and blasts Bloomberg for sending lobbyists to kill "legislation that would force tougher enforcement of safety laws by the city Buildings Department." The News also has an editorial saying that Spitzer must take charge (he "has the muscle to crack heads among the contractors and federal, state and city agencies that have made a perilous hash of the job"). more ›

The woes of the downtown club scene continue to follow, even as the clubs themselves migrate eastward. Last night a 25-year-old man was stabbed to death outside of the Flatiron District club Strata. The man was stabbed in the torso and taken to St. Vincent's Hospital where he died from his injuries. Strata is a multi-level dance club at Broadway and 21st St. The name of the victim was not disclosed to reporters because his family had not been notified of his death. Police took one person into custody for questioning, although it was unclear whether the individual was a witness to the stabbing or a suspect. more ›

Yesterday morning, a 77-year-old Queens man walking in Chinatown was injured when he seemingly fell into the path of a police cruiser. Tong Hong had been walking with his adult daughter at Canal and Broadway and tripped on his flip-flops, sending him into the windshield of the cruiser. more ›

Remy Ma, the female rapper who was suspected in a shooting early Saturday morning shortly after leaving Pizza Bar in the Meatpacking District, turned herself in and was questioned by police. According to The New York Times, Ma and the victim were arguing inside Pizza Bar, where they were attending a birthday party, about $3,000 that was missing from the rapper's purse. Makeda Barnes-Joseph––the woman who would eventually get shot––left the party with the rest of the group and got into her Nissan Maxima while Ma got into her Cadillac Escalade. Police believe the shooter got into Barnes-Joseph's car, shot her twice in the abdomen, and retreated to the Escalade, which sped off and crashed two blocks from the scene of the shooting. more ›

An argument between two women out on the town last night devolved into gunplay in the Meatpacking District. WCBS reports that the shooter and her friend/victim were at the Pizza Bar on 9th Ave., and left shortly before 4 am. The women, who are described as being passengers in a three vehicle caravan, were arguing when the older woman (27 years old) shot her younger friend (23 years old) in the lower torso before fleeing the scene. The victim is in stable condition at St. Vincent's hospital and police are still searching for the so-called friend who shot her. more ›

The funeral of Fermin Arzu was not as much a memorial as an event to condemn his death at the hands of an off-duty police officer - we think. As a husband, father, and uncle was being remembered, community activists and the media were conducting a referendum on racial relations and police conduct. Comparisons were drawn between Arzu's shooting and that of Sean Bell, who was killed in a hail of police gunfire in November of last year. Bell's fiancée (Bell was killed the day before his wedding) actually attended Arzu's funeral yesterday and was escorted there by the Reverend Al Sharpton. Sharpton also gave the eulogy; he said, "Mr. Arzu came to this country to pursue the American dream. He ended up being the American nightmare." more ›