The digester tanks at the Wards Island Water Pollution Control Plant extract lots of gas from raw sewage. But a lot of that gas is going to waste, and the Department of Environmental Protection is looking for someone to put it to good use. The Post calls it a "poop-to-power project," and reports that some of the gas "has been used for heating at the treatment plants in the past, but all the excess gas has to be burned off, which creates greenhouse gases." more ›

A noxious stench is oppressing Astoria, but it's nothing a little eau de toilette can't fix. In response to complaints, the DEP is spraying a chemical perfume over a wastewater treatment plant across the East River from Astoria, on nearby Wards Island. "It smells like Chanel Number 2," one DEP worker quipped to CBS2. It's believed that the pervasive odor has blanketed Astoria because an aeration blower broke down at the plant a few weeks ago. And when the heat soared earlier this week, locals say the stink became unbearable. more ›

Some ledes can't be improved upon, so we have to hand it to the Post for this one: "In a grab for even more 'power,' Mayor Bloomberg is about to harness the sun, the wind and East River tide." But unlike his mayoral rival Montgomery Burns, Bloomberg intends to use the power of the sun for good...or so his Parks Department henchman says. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe has revealed that the city is moving forward with plans to create an alternative-energy "theme park" on Wards Island, which would include 800 square feet of solar panels, a 140-foot-high wind turbine, and four 100-kilowatt tidal turbines to generate enough electricity to power 100 homes. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a crime scene/hanging at East 13th St. and Shore Parkway in Brooklyn, a child mauled by a dog in the area of 91-43 Gold Rd. in Queens, and a possible escaped prisoner on Wards Island across from Manhattan.
• Asbestos removal at the Carroll St. F and G line station appears to be a non-issue. Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn received a note saying that air levels were fine and removal is not scheduled for the immediate future.
• The New York Aquarium's sharks at Coney Island are moving on up. They're upgrading their modest 90,000 cubic foot tank to a $67 million waterfront palace.
• The City is pursuing criminal charges against an 82-year-old buildings engineer for what they claim was perjury. A $.99 store whose designs he ok'd caught fire and rotten timbers allegedly resulted in the deaths of two firefighters.
• Did the Hell's Angels plan a 'Bay of Hogs' Long Island beachfront attack that ended in embarrassing failure during the 1960s? Apparently, after the Rolling Stones' concert at Altamont, some Hells Angels tried sailing to Mick Jagger's estate to kill him, but hit rough seas and fell overboard.
• The box office at Yankee Stadium opened this morning at 10 a.m., as the organization began selling tickets to games at the Bronx Bombers' final season in the House that Ruth Built, and that we mostly paid for when it was renovated.
• Bravo to Shannon O'Hanlon, the 9-year-old 4th grader from Queens who won yesterday's Fay Wray Scream-A-Like Contest at Film Forum in Manhattan. The contest was part of a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the original King Kong film.

Planetarium, AMNH, by chschulz at flickr more ›

We were glad to see The New York Times giving front-page treatment (of the Metro section anyway) to a group of city employees who probably don't get as much recognition as they deserve. The Times' Ellen Barry was on hand for the 20th Annual Operators' Challenge yesterday, where six teams competed to determine who was the best of the best among city sewer workers. more ›

Clearly it's Thanksgiving when a wild turkey tries to hightail it out of the city by way of the Triborough Bridge. A 10 pound female bird was loose around the toll plaza on the Manhattan side, and six MTA workers chased her! After fifteen minutes, a construction worker helped catch the bird. more ›

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Yesterday morning, police arrested a homeless man for three separate stabbing incidents on Tuesday afternoon and early Wednesday morning. Four cabbies who witnessed Kenny Alexis stab two women near the Times Square W Hotel called 911 and followed him until police apprehended him at a McDonald's. Alexis's brushes with the law started before the first stabbing on a downtown C train - he was stopped by the police are trying to enter the 42nd Street and 8th Avenue subway without paying, but since he didn't have a record, the police just issued him a summons. The NY Times has a map and timeline of Alexis's actions. more ›