If you've ever taken the train to 68th Street and Lexington, you know that the Hunter College stop is not exactly the prettiest. What it is is very, very busy. And handicap inaccessible. But between the Second Avenue Subway and a planned elevator on 68th Street the MTA is really trying to make things better on both fronts. Cool, right? Ha! Ever meet an Upper East Side NIMBY? more ›

An Upper East Side man was arraigned yesterday for bludgeoning his roommate to death—and police now believe he may have used his pit bull as a weapon in the attack. Shaun Dyer was arrested last month after city marshals discovered roommate David Shahda's dead body when they went to their shared apartment to deliver eviction papers. Police say Dyer "bludgeoned his roommate to death with some sort of cylindrical object," adding that there were "fresh bite wounds" on his body—but people who know Bones the pit bull say he isn't vicious at all: "He had a horrible owner, but he's a wonderful dog," one source told the Post. more ›

After a taking a summer vacation, the anti-cyclist's favorite threat, cycling licenses and registration, returned to town last night at the Transportation Committee of the UES's Community Board 8, where a resolution "petitioning the city and state to require bicycle registration and some kind of identification for the vehicles, like a license plate" was approved. The nearly unenforceable idea now moves on to the full Community Board which will vote on it October 19th, before sending it on to City Hall and Albany. more ›

Grilling on the Upper East Side usually involves going to Parlor or flying to the Humid Pampa in Argentina to hand-pick a cow for slaughter. However, one couple who dared to dirty their hands on a "grill" are being sued by their co-op for "creating dangerous fire conditions on their balcony each time they cook," according to court filings obtained by the Post. more ›

People in New York City can get really upset if they think you've taken their parking spot. Earlier this year a 25-year-old Bronx woman was put into a coma over a spot and this afternoon a 62-year-old truck driver was slashed across the face while fighting for one. The incident took place on East 86th Street near Second Avenue around 4 p.m. and police tell us the driver was quickly taken to New York Hospital and is listed as being in stable condition. more ›

A woman in her 20s jumped off the 18th floor of an Upper East Side luxury building to her death earlier today. Suyeon Kim, 29, landed on a second-floor ledge on East 79th Street and Second Avenue. "I heard a big thump—real loud. I thought it was an air conditioner falling. It was that loud," said doorman Juan Gonzalez, who was working across the street. more ›

Four people were injured after a multi-car crash on the Upper East Side yesterday night, including one man who was pinned between two of the cars. "The man was getting something out of the back of his parked SUV when the cars hit each other. He was stuck between them and just screaming," witness Beata Dheriault told the Post after the incident on Second Avenue near 82nd Street just before 8 p.m. more ›

Yesterday, police released a sketch of a serial groper who they say may have attacked at least seven different women this year all on the Upper East Side. After an attack early Saturday morning on a 29-year-old woman, it seems the groper attempted to attack another woman early this morning. Heather wrote us with the story of her close encounter with the groper. Check it out below: more ›

Last month Community Board 8, which includes the Upper East Side and borders Central Park, voted to approve a car-free park trial (ain't gonna happen) while simultaneously blasting a plan to let cyclists cut (slowly) across the park on paths formerly reserved for pedestrians only. The vote was widely reported, but the formal resolution memorializing the vote didn't get much press, which is a pity because it belongs in the Hall of Fame of anti-cyclist screeds. (Sample: "WHEREAS... virtually all bicyclists ignore the laws, rules, and regulations—despite the presence of adequate signage and red traffic lights.") We've embedded it below for posterity and for CBS 2's Marcia Kramer, who'll no doubt want a framed copy of it for her home or office. more ›

The transgender girlfriend of the man who is accused of sexually assaulting an elderly woman on the Upper East Side last week wrote an email expressing her condolences to the victim of the assault today. And she wanted to make sure the 85-year-old victim knew she too was a victim: "I as well am a victim. A victim of falling in love." more ›

Yesterday, police arrested Jeffrey Ritter in connection with the sexual assault of an 85-year-old Upper East Side woman from earlier this week. The News spoke with Ritter's twin brother Jeremy, who gave them a peek into his brother's screwed up life. Suffice to say, he didn't sound too sympathetic to his brother's current predicament: "I tried to help you and you chose the wrong path. It hurts me to see you locked up. But from me to you, heart to heart, you have issues and you need help." more ›

Police have arrested a Brooklyn man in connection with the sexual assault of an 85-year-old Upper East Side woman from earlier this week. Jeffrey Ritter, 32, of East New York, has been charged with criminal sexual act, robbery and sexual abuse. "I didn't do it! I didn't do it!" he yelled at reporters while being walked to the NYPD Special Victim's Unit headquarters in East Harlem. more ›

Ruth Carmelitano O'Sullivan is the proud owner of two miniature dachshunds—Elizabeth and Emily—and with that, the most animal noise violations the city has issued to one household (at least in the past year). The Upper East Sider leaves her two pups at home when she goes to work, according to the Daily News, and her co-op neighbors are let with a yapping duo. more ›

A Manhattan jury acquitted the 33-year-old man who confessed to yanking a gold chain off the neck of a developmentally delayed three-year-old girl last year on the roof of an UES project. Anthony Faison of upstate NY signed a written confession to the robbery, and an eensy weensy bit of his DNA was found on little Mariah Rodriguez's dress. 50.4 pictograms, to be precise, which was too little (we're talking 50.4 trillionths of a gram little) to convict Faison. According to the Post, the man also "testified, believably, that cops had threatened to charge him with sexually assaulting the girl unless he confessed to the chain snatch." Faisal would have faced up to 14 years in prison if convicted. more ›

Over 2,000 previously-guarded FBI documents were revealed yesterday, all with one common tie: Ted Kennedy. Not so shocking is that the Kennedy paper trail eventually leads to sex parties with Marilyn Monroe. Yep, according to the documents, which the Smoking Gun got a hold of, the juiciest bit of vintage gossip is that Ted, John and Bobby Kennedy, along with Marilyn and some of the Rat Pack, used to hold the scandalous soirees at JFK's suite at the Carlyle Hotel. more ›

After the relative lull in bed bug news since last fall, the bugs have resurfaced! But this year, the critters just aren't satisfied with the relative squalor of the outer boroughs. According to New York Magazine, they've made their debut in multimillion-dollar apartments on the Upper East Side. Hide the winter furs! more ›

Spotted on the Upper East Side: a young boy traumatized by one person's inability to clean up after their dog. He'll never wear sandals again! He'll spend his twenties in therapy wondering why he can't date a girl who wears open-toed shoes! Life: ruined! Also, it's sandal season already? more ›

Forget heading south during your autumn years—according to a new study one of the top retirement spots in the country is right here in NYC. Manhattan's Upper East Side neighborhood was ranked #7—just one spot below Fort Meyers, Florida. The study was based on housing, low crime rates and large populations of well-educated seniors. more ›

Apparently the city's safety zone is between 5th and Park Avenues, from 77th to 84th Street. The patch of space was just deemed the safest neighborhood in the city, according to a WalletPop.com survey. They note that there's a 1 in 625 chance of becoming a victim here, and the Daily News points out that the area has the highest median home prices in the country, with an average household earning around $5 million. One resident told the paper, "I always find it very safe. I even have a uniformed police officer in my building 24 hours a day, seven days a week because an ambassador lives in my building." Well la-di-da. And of course when there is a crime in the neighborhood, it's going to be high profile. more ›

The robber who killed a 71-year-old man in an Upper East Side jewelry heist stole so many valuables that investigators believe he threw away a Fabergé-style egg during his escape. According to law enforcement sources, the gunman who shot Henry Menahem in the R.S. Durant shop on Madison Avenue on Wednesday grabbed more than 700 items worth nearly $1 million, then dumped the decorative egg, valued at between $100 to $1,000, in a bag next to a trash can at the northwest corner of Lexington Avenue and 73rd Street. more ›

Foot model Christina Ambers and her husband Angel Rotger have officially left the building. The duo caused quite a stir at their Upper East Side co-op after falling in love in 2007, when Rotger was Ambers' doorman there. At first it was reported they were receiving harsh treatment from uppity neighbors who didn't support socializing with the help — Rotger was actually fired when the relationship continued — but later some unsavory stories came out about the couple. more ›

Hand and foot model Christina Ambers fell in love with the doorman at her Upper East Side co-op in 2007, but the superintendent forbade Angel Rotger to see her romantically. And yet the romance between doorman and foot lady could not be so easily snuffed out, and the two continued their affair in secret. When they were found out, Rotger was fired—but not before the super's wife allegedly swung her handbag into his groin so hard he suffered a contusion of the testicle. Naturally, their story is on the cover of the Daily News and the Post today. more ›

Jay-Z and Beyonce are spreading the wealth. The Daily News reports that the couple "ran up a $1,200 bill at the Upper East Side Italian restaurant Nello's last week" after savoring their Dom Perignon, white truffles and lobster salad. If they liked it so much why didn't they just put a ring on it! (Sorry.) They were so pleased with the service and food, however, that they dropped a $500 tip. That's over 40%! The News calls out another Nello's diner, a Russian billionaire, for being relatively stingy with a 15% tip of $7,328 tip on a $47,221.09 lunch. more ›

Forget about swine flu, the kids at Dalton are suffering from shortness. The fancy pants Upper East Side school is filled with boys battling the problem. The cause: being a child. The cure: parents armed with growth hormones. The NY Post reports on a few of the kids — one, Jeffrey, went on the Humatrope hormone at age 10. In just five years he shot up from 4'1" to 5'7" ... and still has hopes of growing more. One expert told the paper the designer drug is like "Miracle-Gro for kids." more ›

Yesterday just after noon we reported that a cab had collided with a horse and buggy on the Upper East Side. While we received plenty of photos and video of the aftermath, showing the wrecked car and carriage, there was no sight of the horse. more ›

Oh dear. Word just came in over the newswire that a horse and buggy has been struck on East 60th Street and 5th Avenue. The report says there are "2 aided at this point," and we'll update as soon as more information becomes available. Hopefully the horse is okay, but either way this will surely give animal rights activists more evidence that horses shouldn't be lugging tourists around the crowded streets of NYC. more ›

What's an aging pop star to do when banished from her Wiltshire estate? Madonna has purchased a new place on the Upper East Side, as we know, and has now ordered the architects to replicate her Ashcombe country home feel room by room. Since she thinks it's bad karma to snag any of the possessions from her House of Divorce, she is having her people find replicas around New York instead, because that's what people with money choose to do with it. She's come a long way from her 234 East Fourth Street digs—originally “the architects were under the impression she wanted the place modernised. But Madonna said if she wanted some hipster apartment she never would have bought this place on the staid Upper East Side." The Mirror also notes that her Madgesty has been talking to friends about bringing some chickens in to the new abode, to make her kids feel more at home, of course. [via Curbed] more ›

This Tuesday ground was officially broken on what is allegedly New York City Public Schools' first green roof (though there's been plenty of planning for similar roofs in the past). The Daily News reports that Eric Dutt, a beloved science teacher at P.S. 6 on the Upper East Side, died in 2007, leaving his dream of the rooftop garden and greenhouse unfulfilled. The roof, called the Eric Dutt Eco Center, will be built throughout the summer and will contain "planting soil for vegetables and flowers, solar panels, a weather station, a turtle pond and a greenhouse for classes during the winter." The school raised funds through selling t-shirts, environmentally-friendly lightbulbs, and even lemonade—though there was also $1 million secured by city politicians. more ›

Not too many people are buying $40 million homes with grottos these days, but Madonna's never been a conformist. The NY Post reports that her Madgesty has just purchased a four-story, Georgian-style townhouse on East 81st Street, complete with 13 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, 2-car garage, 3,000-square-foot garden, 9 fireplaces, an elevator and a wine cellar with a grotto. If you need some jealousy-inducing visuals, Curbed has photos. She'll be doing extensive renovations before moving in, however, and in the meantime is looking for an English-style manor in Westchester or on Long Island. A source tells the Post that, "She's trying to recreate London in New York City." Recently the Material Girl tried to acquire a new 4-year-old but was told she had to live in Malawi for 18 months in order to do so. She already owns land there, possibly for a future school, and has asked a family home be built there as well. Related: Watch the Angelina vs. Madonna baby-off from SNL earlier this month. more ›