Donkey Kong’s new world champion was raised in NY AND he’s a plastic surgeon! Hank Chien—who made it to the “kill screen” in just 2 hours, 35 minutes, racking up 1,061,700 points—became devoted to the game after watching the documentary King of Kong. “Before then, I only played 1 game of Donkey Kong in my entire life—that was in 2006. I remember not being able to pass the first board and thinking this game stinks,” he told Examiner.com. But after training hard for over a year, the 35-year-old set the record in his home, taping the game so that officials could verify his scores. The champion admits that there were some obstacles along the way: “the holidays, work and women—oops—a woman.” Well he better brace for more obstacles, because arcade game mastery is catnip to the ladies. more ›

Two week after his arrest Adis Medunjanin, the Queens College grad and friend of alleged subway bomber Najibullah Zazi, has told Feds all about his own terrorist actions and those of his co-conspirators. A letter filed by prosecutors says the loose-lipped suspect—who is himself charged with getting Qaeda training and conspiring to murder American soldiers—provided investigators with “very detailed information” about “terrorist-related activities.” Meanwhile, Medunjanin’s lawyer Robert Gottlieb continues to argue that the FBI held and questioned his client illegally. more ›

It's sort of fitting that with our death sand and polluted water that our city's beach lifeguards are probably drunk and under-trained. Going to the beach is now just as adventurous as going to Tompkins Square Park after midnight in the 80s—danger lurking around every corner and no one there to save you! Anyway, the NY Post is reporting on the sad state of affairs, saying the Parks Department has launched an investigation into beer drinking at the Orchard Beach lifeguard office; which comes on the heels of the Rockaway iPod lifeguard incident. more ›

262 new cops, poised to graduate and start policing on July 2nd, gathered at Harlem's Apollo Theater yesterday for training on cross-cultural understanding, or, as Police Commissioner Ray Kelly puts it, "immersion training." For some rookies, it probably doesn't get more immersive than a visit from Rev. Al Sharpton, who was on hand to warn officers that "in most of our communities there's a tremendous fear of the cops and the robbers seem to be winning." But Sharpton's best sound bite came after the gathering, when he told reporters, "To me, it's always successful to be in a room full of police and not leave with my hands in cuffs." Yesterday marked the fourth and final day of mandatory diversity training, which was initiated after Sean Bell was shot and killed by plainclothes police officers in 2006; the sessions also come in the wake of the fatal cop-on-cop shooting in Harlem last month. The NYPD has been criticized for conducting a record-breaking number of stop-and-frisk searches this year, which groups like the NYCLU say disproportionately target minorities. Oh, and critics have also objected to the sodomy. more ›

The NYPD has dusted off a ten-year-old training video meant to teach officers how to avoid friendly fire, and has been showing it to all cops at roll call in the wake of last week's fatal cop-on-cop shooting in Harlem. The video features testimonials from plainclothes cops, sharing common sense advice for uniformed cops, such as not making assumptions about individuals based on ethnicity or attire. There are also instructions for undercover officers on how to respond when "professionally challenged" by a uniformed officer—first and foremost being stopping when someone yells, "Police! Don't Move!" and not "reflexively spinning." more ›

The family of the disturbed man who fell to his death after being Tasered by police will likely sue the city, surprising no one. Famous civil rights lawyer Ron Kuby is now representing relatives of Iman Morales, whose funeral service was held yesterday in Greenwich Village. Kuby tells the Daily News, "The first thing the family is focused on is burying their son. But the city has already acknowledged what any idiot on Earth could see - that they [the cops] acted irresponsibly and wrongfully and caused a man's death." more ›

Funeral services will be held Thursday for the disturbed man who fell to his death last week after being Tasered by police. The NYPD's entire Emergency Service Unit was retrained today on proper Taser procedures, although police Commissioner Ray Kelly says the man's death was a mistake in judgment, not a product of poor training. He tells Newsday, "We think the training they receive is sound. We're human beings. Sometimes we make mistakes. Reporters make mistakes. People on Wall Street make mistakes." The lieutenant who ordered the Taser shot, Michael Pigott, has been stripped of his badge and gun, and according to the Post, he gave the order when the man, Inman Morales, began poking at another officer with a florescent light bulb. The officer, who was standing on the fire escape, "wasn't tied in [securely]" and was in danger, the unidentified source claims. more ›

The RAND Corporation issued the findings of a report that commissioned by the NYPD in the wake of the Sean Bell shooting. Among the recommendations were that the NYPD should incorporate more realistic scenarios into its firearm training and increase the number of non-lethal weapons carried by personnel on the street. more ›

Like Starbucks baristas before them, airline workers are going back to school...or at least mandatory training sessions. JFK airport is gearing up for a busy summer of travel, and they're preparing to meet delays and frustrated airline passengers head-on, and with a happy face. more ›

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 also be introducing a honey latte soon; no word on whether the three hour espresso pouring course allowed time for the new beverage. more ›

Sorry Reverend Billy, it’s only for three hours. For those of you who haven’t heard, all 7,100 “standalone” Starbucks in the United States will close for 180 tense, irritable minutes, starting at 5:30pm on February 26th. (That’s a Tuesday.) Now don’t let panic take over – this has nothing to do with Starbucks' "sinister Phase Two" of operations; it’s planned to facilitate the retraining of their 135,000-strong army. more ›