• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an unconscious baby on Ralph Ave. in Brooklyn, a construction accident on Bedford Ave. and Crown St. in Brooklyn, and a found grenade at 54th Ave. and Junction Blvd. in Queens.
• Dave Chappelle made an unannounced appearance at a comedy club, where Radar learned he "took the stage at approximately 12:30 a.m. and didn't leave until club management turned off the lights at 4:20 a.m."
• Busta Rhymes got three years probation, 10 days of community service, $1,250 in fines and will have to cover court costs in relation to assorted offenses related to DWI and assault.

The trial of Peter Braunstein reached another pinnacle of weirdness as some new revelations were made. First, the defense team of the journalist, accused of the sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary and more of a former co-worker at Women's Wear Daily, argued that certain passages from Braunstein's diary - or "personal manifesto," as he called it - shouldn't be read to the jury. The prosecutors, though, wanted to get all the mentions of "serial killer David "Son of Sam'' Berkowitz, fictional cannibal Hannibal Lecter, the Columbine massacre, and a quote from the Notorious B.I.G. about killing" (per the AP) out there. However, the judge did not allow mentions of those folks, plus Gianni Versace's murderer Andrew Cunanan, while he did allow the prosecution to present Braunstein's journal entry about killing Vogue editor Anna Wintour. What? more ›

Chloroform. High-heeled shoes. A message written on the bathroom mirror. All these were things mentioned during the first day of Peter Braunstein's criminal trial, which proved graphic and upsetting. Braunstein's lawyers do not deny that the journalist attacked a former Women's Wear Daily co-worker in her apartment on October 31, 2005, by posing as a firefighter. But his defense team says that he's so mentally ill that his actions could not intentional and that Braunstein's brain "just broke." more ›

Now that he's been found medically fit to stand trial, jury selection has started in the trial of Peter Braunstein, the journalist who allegedly posed as a firefighter and molested a former co-worker on Halloween in 2005. The thing is 70% of the jurors questioned yesterday had heard about the trial and left, thanks to the moment-to-moment coverage of the case (exhibit A, B, C). But the NY Times said 30 prospective jurors who would be able to be fair remained. Can you imagine if you were on called to serve on that jury? more ›

Jeffrey Sebelia, 36, Los Angeles, CA The NY Post had scoop on the New Yorkers: Laura Bennett has five children, has no "formal training" (Marla redux?), and designs clothes and jewelry; Keith Michael is from Brooklyn, designs menswear, was named "best newcomer" by Sportwear International; Malan Breton does voiceover work and was named "one of 12 new designers to watch by Women's Wear Daily in 2005"; and Alison Kelly has a clothing line, Dahl. And we guess the finale will take place during the Spring 2007 fashion shows this fall. If you know anything more, let us know. more ›

Obviously hurting for some Fake Firefighter Perv coverage, the Post breaks the story that Peter Braunstein has gotten a new haircut! Unfortunately, the online version didn't provide a picture or illustration, so we had to mock up our own ideas, seen above. The Post's description: more ›

More and more bizarre details (even more than yesterday) trickle out about suspected fake-firefighter-rapist Peter Braunstein. The freelance writer is belived to have an apartment in Harlem, watching coverage of his crime from a midtown hotel. His father, Alberto Braunstein, continues to feel guilty and apologizes to the woman who was attacked by a man disguised as a firefighter; the police believe it was Braunstein since he worked with her at Women's Wear Daily and has a history of stalking and looking for the spotlight. And following up on yesterday's news that he'd fabricated a story about an ex stalking him to get in PAge Six, he also threatened other women that he'd plant unflattering items about them in Page Six if they turned on him. The Post adds that he lied about his lifestyle, saying he lived with a wealthy woman on Park Avenue but it was really his' mother's place in Kew Gardens: "'It's a two-bedroom, and it's prewar, so it does have oversized rooms, but they don't even have an eat-in kitchen,' a neighbor said." Gothamist hopes that the media attention on Braunstein will lead him to turn himself in sooner or others to alert the police to his whereabouts, because this story doesn't seem to be going anywhere good. more ›

The gruesome Halloween night rape, where an attacker dressed up as a fireman, set a small fire to create smoke, forced his way into his victims apartment and then had his way with the victim for hours upon hours, is just getting stranger. On Thursday the police were reporting that they had a suspect but only today are we starting to hear about the guy. more ›

According to a survey from Trojan, more New York City women have sex several times a week (23%), way more than women in L.A., Dallas, Miami or Chicago. Excellent: Our city's reputation as a hotbed for sin and carnal pleasures will not be undone by quality-of-life measures and a cleaner Times Square! Some other interesting facts: Only 22% say they orgasm during sex, NYC women are the safest in the country (93% use protection on the first sex date) and 68% of NYC ladies admit "they have had a sex partner whom they don't consider 'relationship material,' but whom they consider 'thrilling' anyway," versus 58% nationwide. However, for all the bravado, NYC women are less likely to "experiment," though Gothamist is curious what "experiment" means because "experiment" in Chicago could mean something pretty tame here (well, we're just saying). more ›

Greg Lindsay, Freelance Writer more ›

NYU's students are best dressed in the country, according to Women's Wear Daily [Via the Post]. Gothamist supposes its alma mater was never really in the running. more ›