A 6-7 month old baby girl, strapped in a car seat, was left in the backseat of a livery cab this morning. Tel-A-Car driver Klever Sailema picked up a man and the baby around 9:45AM this morning at 106th Street and Northern Boulevard in Queens. When the cab got to 83rd and Northern, the man said he needed to make a call and left the car. Only he crossed "the street to a pay phone......

Whether it was a PR stunt or a legit "teach-in" on espresso, Starbucks shut down for three full hours last night to train baristas --leaving the 5:30 to 8:30pm coffee crowd out in the cold. Today they are back, with a new take on "the customer is always right" policy posted about their stores; it reads: "Your drink should be perfect, every time. If not, let us know and we'll make it right." Reportedly they'll......

Better late than never: The Port Authority turned over part of the World Trade Center site to developer Larry Silverstein. This parcel of land is where two of the five planned towers will be built. As part of Silverstein's deal with the Port Authority back in 2006, the PA would control the land but Silverstein, who held the lease to the WTC during the attacks, would be able to build on top of it. The......

After Hillary Clinton's started airing a commercial in Wisconsin questioning why Barack Obama declined to appear in another debate, Obama came back with his own ad. The voiceover says:After eighteen debates, with two more coming, Hillary says Barack Obama is ducking debates? It's the same old politics, the phony charges, and false attacks. On health care, even Bill Clinton's own labor secretary [Robert Reich] even says Obama covers "more people" than Hillary and does......

For those of you that still collect baseball cards (are there any left), be on the lookout for a joke card from Topps. The card manufacturer of our childhood, Topps is sneaking in a card with the former mayor and Yankees fan as a member of the Red Sox. You ask, "'But that's just nuts! He's a Yankees fan through and through! Why would Topps do such a thing?'" Well, because Rudy said in......

Just a little over two weeks after his death, and as his family prepares to bury him, the NYC medical examiner has given the results of Heath Ledger's toxicology report. The official word is that the actor died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. A lot of prescription drugs. The ME's spokeswoman, Ellen Borakove, made the following statement: "Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone,......

A van carrying members of Stuyvesant High School's junior varsity girls' track team overturned on the way to a track meet in New Hampshire. The crash occurred last Saturday on I-91 in Vermont, when the van "veered into a median and rolled over," according to Vermont State Police. Other passers-by who stopped helped hold the van so it wouldn't roll over again. The AP reported that "four passengers crawled out, two were partially ejected, one......

Whoa: A NYC Transit worker who was walking home in Harlem was attacked by a group of four men. One stabbed him, but 5 train conductor Maurice Parks managed to pull out his own knife and retaliate, stabbing one 28-year-old in the chest and a 22-year-old in the stomach. The four men, who approached the transit worker near 139th and St. Nicholas Avenue, were trying to rob him. The 22-year-old and a 15-year-old attempted......

On Wednesday three former waiters filed suit against Keith McNally, owner of upscale eateries Pastis and Balthazar. The AP reports that the "restaurants had failed to pay minimum wage and overtime while letting non-tipped employees share in their tips." Both restaurants are established, having opened in the late '90s, so the trio sought a class action which would allow them to include any workers who were employed by McNally over the past six years. It's......

2008 is almost here, the ball drop is turning 100, the 8 is going to make its big debut, the year's bad memories have been shredded...so there's just one thing left to do. This year messages, wishes, resolutions and probably some nonsense will flutter to the ground when the clock strikes midnight. And you can join in the fun. For the first year ever, people worldwide can write messages on the confetti that will fly......

We've had plenty to say about rapper Remy Ma after she shot a woman this past July in the Meatpacking District, but things have been quiet since she appeared in court early last month. Until now! The AP reports that the woman she is suspected of shooting, Makeda Barnes-Joseph, is suing her for $20 million -- a figure much higher than the $2,000 Remy thought Barnes-Joseph stole from her that night.The lawsuit says the shooting......

The AP reports on two Picasso paintings that have hung in the MoMA and Guggenheim for decades, and the fight to keep them there. Julius H. Schoeps claims they are the property of his great uncle who was persecuted in Nazi Germany, and has demanded the museums hand over the paintings, "Boy Leading a Horse" (MoMA) and "Le Moulin de la Galette" (Guggenheim). The suit was filed at the District Court in Manhattan. Both museums......

It's been quite a 24 hours for Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama. Last nght, he was at the Apollo for his first Harlem event. And this morning, he had breakfast with Mayor Bloomberg at a Midtown diner. At last night's $50-per-ticket fund-raiser, both Cornel West and Chris Rock introduced Obama. West asked the audience to think about entertainers like James Brown and Billie Holliday, who "represent a way of life that goes all the......

The only time Paula Radcliffe seems to carry any body fat is when she's toting around her 9-month-old daughter around. Mothers, new and old alike, are still in awe over the British marathoner's ability to win the famed NYC marathon months after giving birth. The AP reports that she ran the 26.2 miles in 2 hours and 23 minutes (we've sat through football games this weekend that lasted longer) just 291 days after delivering little......

Not quite outdoing her husband's 60th birthday bash at the Beacon last year (which starred the Rolling Stones and was filmed by Martin Scorsese), Hillary Clinton entered a new age last night. Choosing the same venue to celebrate her 60th in, the music was provided by Elvis Costello and the Wallflowers (apparently no one from her campaign song list was available), and Billy Crystal provided some humor. The AP reports that she likened herself......

Remember the summer night that Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" rang throughout the homes of Sopranos fans? Followed by a good week or two of debate on how David Chase chose to whack the series, everyone on the inside was pretty silent. Now Chase is speaking out about his decision. The AP reports:He strongly suggests that, no, Tony Soprano didn't get whacked moments later as he munched onion rings with his family at Holsten's. And mostly......

Earlier today, the following incident was noted on the Gothamist Newsmap: "EDP / Injured Officer: Fulton And Broadway Manhattan, NY | 10/22/2007 1:39 p.m." Now it turns out it was no ordinary officer - it was one of the police officers assigned to guard Mayor Bloomberg! Mayor Bloomberg was with other city officials and his security details. A 30-year-old, "disheveled-looking" man yelled at an officer, "I hate you" and then a profanity. Then he attacked......

B&H Photo-Video, the huge photo and video store on 9th Avenue and 34th Street, will pay $4.3 million to settle an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint. The EEOC contended that B&H paid Hispanic employees in its warehouses less than other workers, many of whom are religious Jews; this is in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Other allegations included that B&H "failed to promote" and "provide health benefits" to Hispanic......

Former President Bill Clinton may love to eat foods like osso bucco, but he's not so happy with the restaurant Osso Buco. Clinton's lawyer sent owner Nino Selimaj a letter demanding that a photograph of Selimaj and Chelsea Clinton, which had been featured in the University Place location's window, be taken down. The AP reported that lawyer Douglas J. Band (apparently using letterhead from "the office of William Jefferson Clinton") noted the young Clinton's status......

We really love the story of the brown and white Hereford cow found wandering around Briarwood in Queens, so we're especially happy to learn that she headed upstate to the Farm Sanctuary. The AP reports that the cow has been renamed "Maxine" ("after artist Peter Max and his wife, Mary, who brought another animal to the shelter in 2002") and that she probably ran away from a live market, as there was a tag in......

The world's sultan of song, Luciano Pavarotti, died at 71 from pancreatic cancer early this morning. He was at his home in Modena, Italy -- where he was born in October of 1935. Last summer he was in New York for surgery and hadn't made any public appearances since then, apparently retreating to Modena afterwards. The AP received the following email statement from his manager: “The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic......

The AP has this great photograph of a dog named Rocky at the Atlanta Humane Society. The Humane Society explained that Rocky had a #7 Michael Vick t-shirt because the society has been taking donated Vick clothing and using them as rags and bedding. Vick, the star quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges related to running a dogfighting ring at his Virginia home. Vick will appear in court on......

How did we miss this? Last week, City Hall News had an interview with State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and it included this photograph of Bruno boxing! Bruno is, of course, riding relatively high as Governor Spitzer's reputation is tainted in the wake of Troopergate, and Bruno can play the unwitting victim of Spitzer's aides dirty tricks plotting. According to the City Hall News article, Bruno still works with a speed bag "five times......

There's nothing like an endorsement from Gray's Papaya to show that NYC generally likes Mike. But it seems that to hinge upon his subway straphanger credentials - will the hot dog eatery reconsider, given that he is chauffeured to a subway station 22 blocks away (when there's one four blocks away), only likes to take the express and that his spokesman thinks people who like riding the subway need a shrink (hello, universal health......

Only 2 weeks after his 89th birthday, Swedish film and theater director Ingmar Bergman passed away at his home on Fårö Island this morning, the Associated Press reports. "Astrid Soderbergh Widding, president of The Ingmar Bergman Foundation, confirmed the death, and Swedish journalist Marie Nyreröd said the director died peacefully during his sleep. Bergman never fully recovered after a hip surgery in October last year, Nyreröd told Swedish broadcaster SVT." As the New York Times......

Unhappy that this year's September 11 anniversary events will be moved from Ground Zero to Zuccotti Park, some families of September 11 victims are demanding that the events be moved back or else they'll hold their own ceremony at Ground Zero. The AP reports that a group of eleven September 11 family groups sent a letter to Governor Spitzer and Mayor Bloomberg, saying, "As America watches the memorial service on Sept. 11, 2007, we are......

What do kids like more than Harry Potter? Alex Rodriguez, of course. Okay, maybe not, but there was a block-long line Friday for the a signing of A-Rod's new children's book, Out of the Ballpark. The AP reports that the book features "a green-eyed youngster named Alex lets a grounder get between his legs at second base and loses a popup in playoff games attended by friends and family." Sounds a little like a certain......

More updates below, but here's a summary so far (8:20PM): A steam explosion occurred on East 41st and Lexington Avenue (41st between Lex and Third) just before 6PM - right during the evening rush hour. The NYPD does not think it was a terrorist attack. It appears that there is a hole about 25' in diameter with a red tow truck in the center. One person has died (possibly from cardiac arrest) and there......

WCBS 880 reports that an oil tanker, the White Sea, has run aground in the Ambrose Channel, which is a shipping channel south of Lower New York Bay, off Staten Island, Coney Island, Breezy Point and NJ's Sandy Hook. The Coast Guard says that there are no reports of injuries. The 800-foot tanker is carrying 455,000 gallons of "low sulfur fuel oil", none of which has spilled. The Coast Guard says "the ship's crew deployed......

EVENT: The New York Book Club at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum presents…"Breaking News: How the Associated Press Has Covered New York City". The panelists include "Hal Buell, longtime AP photo editor who put images of the Vietnam War in newspapers across America; Richard Drew, AP photographer who has covered New York events including 9/11; Edie Lederer, longtime UN correspondent and first woman to be the foreign chief of bureau; and Valerie Komor, corporate......