Considering how often we hear about Community Boards shooting down small bars, let alone huge ones, the fact that Community Board 12's Economic Development Committee just gave approval for a massive, 30,000-square-foot eatery in Washington Heights is a bit of a surprise. Whether it was a pleasant one, however, depends on your perspective. more ›

Police say that a 24-year-old man was beaten with a piece of wood by a group of men and then fatally stabbed in upper Manhattan early this morning. The incident occurred outside of Lucky Seven Tapas Bar on St. Nicholas Ave. in Washington Heights around 4:30 a.m. "I heard screaming, yelling," a witness named Eddie told the Daily News. "It sounded like a huge group, they chased him down the street. It looked like he was running for his life." more ›

The so-called "Vaseline Bandit" has been busted. Police this morning arrested Luis Gonzalez, the 40-year-old man they say was behind a string of robberies in Inwood and Washington Heights. His MO, according to authorities, was to smear petroleum jelly on apartment door peepholes to obscure his face in case neighbors were watching before breaking locks. more ›

He uses Vaaaaaa-seline. Cops think they've got a suspect in a series of robberies in which a prolific perp smeared Vaseline over the peepholes of his victim's neighbor's doors to cover his tracks. Police now suspect that Luis Gonzalez, 40, is the man behind the brazen crimes and are hoping to talk to him. Since September of last year police think he's hit at least 14 homes. more ›

Two of the four NYPD detectives who were stripped of their guns and badges after surveillance footage allegedly showed them drinking wine at a Washington Heights restaurant while on duty have been ordered to go to rehab. The four detectives, all of whom have been placed on modified duty from the 33rd Precinct, were directed by the department to go to the facility upstate, according to DNAInfo. This comes as one of the detectives—Det. Douglas Strong—is also being investigated for questionable behavior towards a 36-year-old waitress in the back of Parrilla Steakhouse on Feb. 16. more ›

The NYPD detective who is accused of questionable behavior with waitress at a Washington Heights restaurant—while on-duty—claims that he's innocent. At least that's according to a NY Post source, with information about what Detective Douglas Strong told his union lawyer. more ›

The 36-year-old waitress claiming that a veteran NYPD detective may have taken advantage her in the back of a Washington Heights restaurant says he returned her underwear to her in a plastic bag the next day. “The last thing I remember is him patting the bed and telling me to sit down next to him,” the waitress, whose name is being withheld, told the Daily News. “I remember trying to slide away from him, bob and weave. He was like, ‘Come here, everything’s all right. I’m not gonna hurt you.’” [Ed. note: This has been revised to reflect changes in the Daily News' story.] more ›

A new report downplays the seriousness of an incident in which four NYPD detectives allegedly consumed alcohol on duty and focuses on a "possible rape" a detective may have committed against a waitress. more ›

Four NYPD detectives have been stripped of their guns and badges and placed on modified assignment after surveillance footage allegedly shows them drinking wine while on duty at a Washington Heights restaurant. According to the Times' police bureau chief, IAB is also investigating if one of the detectives had a sexual encounter with a waitress. "We are investigating whether or not one of the officers sexually assaulted this woman," the paper's NYPD source said. more ›

The 20-year-old woman who was charged with self-abortion for the death of her 24-week fetus arrived in court today to find out that the Manhattan DA's office was dropping the charges. DNAinfo reports the prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to charge Yaribely Almonte. more ›

A man who was arrested for attempted larceny in Washington Heights died in police custody after suffering an apparent asthma attack last night. The 52-year-old suspect, whose name hasn't been released yet, was allegedly caught breaking into a car; he fled into Tommy’s Grill, near the corner of West 158th and Broadway where police caught up with him. As he was being arrested, he told officers he was having difficulty breathing and said he had an asthma inhaler in his pocket. more ›

One man was killed and another wounded in a shootout in Washington Heights early Saturday morning. According to DNAInfo, a 30-year-old man was fatally shot numerous times in the head in a car in front of 555 Edgecombe Ave., near 160th Street, shortly after 1:30 a.m. Another 31-year-old man was shot multiple times to the chest, and is in critical condition at Harlem Hospital. "I’ve lived here 17 years and nothing like this has ever happened. This is insane," a witness told them. more ›

Police say that a 65-year-old was robbed and slashed in the face and chest while taking out her garbage outside her Washington Heights building. The incident occurred last Wednesday around 8:30 p.m. and WABC 7 reports, "She says he slashed her in the face and chest with a box cutter when she didn't have the cash, keys and cell phone he demanded." more ›

A woman pregnant with twins has been arrested and accused of fatally stabbing her boyfriend after they fought in her Washington Heights apartment early yesterday morning. Kelly Lopez-Roldan, 22, was arrested for the murder of 24-year-old Antoine Scott. He was found with stab wounds to his chest shortly before 2:30 a.m. at 450 W. 164th Street. And sources tell the Post that Lopez-Roldan plans to argue she committed the act in self-defense. more ›

Yesterday, the NYPD announced that a 20-year-old woman was charged with self-abortion, after a Washington Heights building super found the body of a fetus in a trash can. There have only been four other cases where women have been charged with self-abortion in the first or second degree since 1980: The NY Times reports, "Three of those cases, from Nassau County in 2006 and 2010 and from Monroe County in 2000, ended in dismissal. A first-degree case in Wayne County in 2006 resulted in a sentence of conditional discharge, meaning the charge would be dismissed if the woman did not get into trouble again." more ›

The body of a newborn baby girl was found in a Washington Heights alley on Tuesday. Now police have charged the mother of the baby with self-abortion. more ›

At 10:30 this morning, elected officials and neighborhood civic leaders began marching 11 miles from 181st and St. Nicholas down to Zuccotti Park, in an event dubbed "End to End for 99%" that seeks to link the communities of Northern Manhattan and the Bronx with the movement in Lower Manhattan. "Our communities have been devastated by the economic assault on middle class and poor families, even as Wall Street has enjoyed a historic financial bonanza," State Senator Adriano Espaillat said in a statement. "We're marching for jobs, we're marching for affordable housing, we're marching for the millionaire's tax," city councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez says. more ›

A 14-year-old Bronx boy has turned himself in for the murder of an 18-year-old young man in Washington Heights early Saturday. Alvin Diaz is being charged with second-degree murder after police say he fatally stabbed Dereck Cabejas in the chest; the murder was allegedly committed in reaction to a water fight two days earlier. more ›

Two women say they were driven out of the Washington Heights apartment they just moved into by an infestation of bats that kept them up all night and possibly bit them in their sleep. Holy smokes! And now, the women are suing the landlord for a cool $1 million. more ›

Yesterday's deadly naked knife rampage in Washington Heights has claimed a second victim. A 60-year-old woman, who was a neighbor of 23-year-old alleged assailant Christian Falero and whom he is said to have stabbed in the eye and chest, died earlier today. Meanwhile, the son of the one of the victims has told reporters that the reason Falero went mad was a simple one: yesterday's earthquake. more ›

A naked 23-year-old man went on a bloody stabbing rampage in his own apartment building yesterday afternoon, killing one and seriously injuring three others, before running outside to cut himself and beg to be put out of his misery, police say. Christian Falero was heard to be muttering about the end days when he got outside of the building at 812 Riverside Drive in Manhattan, but police suspect the motive for the outburst—which included stabbing one 60-year-old woman in her chest and eye—was just "psychotic." One witness recalled seeing him "walking down the street naked, covered in blood. He was just saying stuff that didn't make sense, talking about how the world was going to end." more ›

Better pause production on those "Ray Kelly For Mayor" bumper stickers: nine police precincts have seen a surge in crime in recent weeks, including the 34th Precinct in Washington Heights [pdf], and the 90th Precinct in Williamsburg [pdf]. more ›

Yesterday, three members of a Washington Heights family died after a horrifying crash on I-95 in North Carolina. NC authorities say the SUV blew a tire, making driver Rosanny Marte, 22, lose control. more ›

New York native Emmanuel Abreu (aka DJBoy) filmed some locals in Washington Heights cooling down on July 22nd, when temperatures reached 104 degrees. Their method: taking running dives onto soaked trash bags on the street. Check it out in this gorgeous video: more ›

We knew there was a reason people think he's the best mayor this town's ever seen! Rudy Giuliani, who's been busy hosting AMC's Mob Week, visited Jimmy Fallon last night and waxed poetic about the good old days of the '80s, when he could just cruise up to Washington Heights and buy crack from his car, "like a McDonald's." Wait, what!? more ›

Earlier this week, NBA superstar Kevin Durant delighted basketball fans by putting on a clinic at different streetball and summer league games at Rucker Park and Baruch College in the city. Durant showed up again last night to play at the Dyckman Tournament in Washington Heights, but he was upstaged this time by Minnesota Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley, who got into an argument with a heckling fan, palmed his head like a basketball, and shoved him aside. Watch the video below: more ›

Police revealed new information about the suspect in a Washington Heights sexual assault from last week. Police Captain Jose Navarro gave local residents a description of the suspect, saying he had multiple lip piercings, two nautical star tattoos on the backs of his calves, and was wearing a multi-colored beanie hat... or in other words, he was a hipster. "He had a particular look," Navarro said, describing the hat as "something a hipster would wear." Below, check out a video of the suspect getting stuck in the turnstiles: more ›

Despite the absence of any sweet sweet cheeba, parks officials destroyed a vegetable garden cultivated in Highbridge Park by Washington Heights senior citizens to prove a point: parks are meant for tweaking out and screaming at smokers, not experiencing a kinship with the earth through peaceful cultivation. "The basic principle is that what this person did is wrong. This is a public park, not private," Manhattan Parks Commissioner WIlliam Castro told DNAinfo. Although the Parks Department initially said the garden may have contaminated the soil, Castro said, "We're not really concerned about contamination so much…you just can't go into a public park and dig up a significant area, or any area, it's just not right." That'll teach those seniors to not neglect Highbridge park! more ›