Last night the first of two meetings to discuss the future plans of (the recently landmarked) McCarren Park Pool took place. The NYC Department of Parks & Recreation and architects Rogers & Marvel unveiled their plans and how they will spend Mayor Bloomberg’s $50 million. The initial press release listed: renovating McCarren Park Pool for swimming, creating a year-round recreation center, and preserving and restoring the historic bathhouse building and entry arch, as top priorities......

On the front page of the NY Times section A, there was a photograph of some workers in Haoro, India and an article titled "New York Manhole Covers, Forged Barefoot in India." And in fact, the workers are barefoot, bare-chested, bare-handed, and bare-headed as they work in an iron foundry, making manhole covers for Con Ed and other cities. The Times explains that a photographer, J. Adam Huggins, who works with the newspaper brought......

Bedbugs are horrible and gross and nothing that anyone should have to deal with. That said, it's probably not a great idea to douse your mattress with gasoline in order to repel the critters. The FDNY has found a number of Queens residents who have taken to soaking their mattresses with gasoline - even children's mattresses - as a foolproof way of getting rid of bedbugs. Or even wiping it on themselves. Battalion Chief Robert......

The Department of Health has relaunched its restaurant inspection look-up website, so it'll be easier for New Yorkers to know how clean or unclean restaurants they frequent are...or maybe confirm why there are some restaurants you avoid. Gothamist gave it a test run last night and we have to say it is must easier to navigate than the old site: Now you can search by category, borough, violations, name, zip code. There are quite a......

The Port Authority is adding bomb shields to the George Washington Bridge. And we say "All right!" because when the bombs hit, we'll be fleeing to NJ and expect the tunnels to be flooded. The Daily News says that these are "first such bulwarks to appear on a New York-area bridge" - they will be shields around parts of the bridge's cables. The NYC Department of Transportation and MTA have made plans to reinforce other......

Wither the McDonald's fries and black and white cookies? The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene want to Take the Trans Fat Out of New York! It's a big initiative to prevent cardiovascular disease, and the goal is lofty: To get NYC food establishments from restaurants to supermarkets to stop using or selling partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Yes, we're talking trans fats which makes foods shelf stable (think the bag of Oreos or bag......

The NYC Department of Health issued a drinking water advisory after the yesterday's flooding may have affected NYC's Hillview reservoir. The DoH says that "higher than normal levels of particles" have been detected in the water supply. While that water has been diverted, they ask that "infants, the elderly, pregnant women and New Yorkers with conditions that compromise their immune systems– those with HIV/AIDS, especially those with CD4 counts less than 200; those with leukemia;......

With the forecast calling for possibly more than an inch and a half of rain over the next few days, the Mets will be lucky just to squeak in one game in their home opening series against the Braves. But the rain ensures that our reservoirs will remain in good shape especially compared to two years ago when we found ourselves in a Stage 1 drought emergency with the total level at 57.5%. The total......