Yesterday was a sad day for the once-illustrious Village Voice, which lost two of its legendary muckraking reporters, Wayne Barrett and Tom Robbins. Barrett, who has been with the paper since the Koch administration, says he was let go for budgetary reasons; he'll move on to become a fellow at The Nation Institute, a liberal nonprofit media group. And this morning Robbins, a dogged and indispensable political reporter who first started at the Voice in '80s, tells us why he resigned. more ›

Over a week ago, prosecutors were forced to drop charges against ex-FBI agent R. Lindley DeVecchio after their star witness's credibility came into question. DeVecchio's trial was as high-profile as they come, as the Brooklyn DA's office charged him with tipping off mobster-turned-FBI information Gregory "The Grim Reaper" Scarpa Jr. with information that led to four murders, and their case hinged on the testimony of Scarpa's mistress, Linda Schiro. In late October, Schiro had testified... more ›

After Brooklyn prosecutors decided to drop murder charges against ex-FBI agent R. Lindley DeVecchio, after the star witness's testimony was deemed questionable, the judge presiding over the case decided to scold the defendant. DeVecchio had been on trial for allegedly giving mob informant Gregory "The Grim Reaper" Scarpa information to kill other rival informants. more ›

Blockbuster trial no more: Former FBI Agent R. Lindley DeVecchio escaped four murder charges when the Brooklyn DA's office decided to dismiss its case accusing him of helping a mobster kill his rivals. The move became clear after Village Voice reporter Tom Robbins realized that the prosecution's star witness had told him very different things in a 1997 interview. more ›

READING: Mira Jacob and Alison Hart host yet another of Pete's Reading Series. Tonight they welcome Nell Freudenberger, author of "The Dissident", which focuses on lives in the aftermath of 1970s radicalism. more ›

The Village Voice's Tom Robbins looked at the city's impending announcement of an outdoor agency to handle all the advertising that goes on "3,300 bus shelters, some 330 newsstands, and 20 public toilets" - a $1 billion deal. One article looks at the politics behind the bidding, with French firm Decaux the frontrunner (it donated money to the NYC 2012 bid!). The second article hit closer to home, because it bemoans the slow saturation of outdoor advertising all over. Think Houston Street and Broadway/Lafayette: Gothamist has to agree that it's slowly becoming a Times Square South, with many huge billboards...that big PSP model...the Adidas ads...all the alcoholic beverage we're supposed to like 'cause we're downtown. Once upon a time, we'd be able to concentrate on seeing the rooftop watertanks, but now we're distracted by David Beckham (perhaps not unhappily distracted, but still). more ›