When a sewer main circa 1939 collapsed in Bedford Park, Bronx yesterday, it created a sinkhole reminiscent of War of the Worlds on Webster Avenue at 198th street. The 25-feet wide, 20-feet deep hole has left 200 people out of water and street closures into this morning, according to NY1. And the smell of gas was still lingering in the air after a gas service line was damaged in the collapsing sewer main. No one was hurt, but the tripods will soon change all that. more ›

The pedestrian, bicyclist and sensible transportation advocacy group Transportation Alternatives has just launched a new website, Crash Maps: CrashStat 2.0, which maps intersections and streets where pedestrians and bicyclists have been hit by vehicles. It's an updated version of their previous map, and when the information is presented different depending on how closely you zoom into the map. For instance, at one level, it shows crashes (those with injuries as well as the fatal... more ›

We've always been well aware that neighborhoods are a tricky thing to define - growing up we were never really clear if we lived in the East Village, NoHo or the Lower East Side - but this wonderful article by Manny Fernandez in today's Metro section still managed to surprise us with just how hard it can be. Especially in places where the populations have constantly turned over rapidly and dramatically. For instance the only New York borough on mainland America, the Bronx:

According to a Department of City Planning map of the city’s neighborhoods, the Bronx has 49 [neighborhoods]. The map publisher Hagstrom identifies 69. The borough president, Adolfo Carrión Jr., says 61. The Mayor’s Community Assistance Unit, in a listing of the borough’s community boards, names 68. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, lists 44.

-Hylan Boulevard Looking at the MTA's site, it's pretty cool that the MTA is taking other bus systems around the world into consideration - and we love any plan that wants better bus boarding! more ›