. Back in heady days of 2007, real estate developers followed a simple algorithm: add the city's finite housing supply with the massive demand for housing and you could make money by building a condo on just about any property. Though the recession [...]

They are a lot of issues that Allen Iverson brings to the table. He sulked his way out of Memphis and he has never been a great distributor of the basketball. But, he is still a great scorer and a great defender and for a [...]
The restaurateur who sent out an obscenity-laden missive against his employees last week stands by his angry rant, which he has defended as his food industry version of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl." Vadim Ponorovsky, owner of the Meatpacking [...]

Photograph of one bad Muni Meter parking job by Lorcan Otway on Flickr Earlier this week, the City Council passed a bill to add a five-minute grace period for drivers in certain no parking zones, such as alternate side parking [...]
Police gunned down an 18-year-old in Far Rockaway when he pointed a 9mm handgun at officers. When four plainclothes cops approached Dashawn Vasconcellos and two other men as they were leaving Bayswater Park after-hours at around 11:30 pm, Vasconcellos fled. Officers pursued [...]
DCist caught up with the dapper gents and ladies who took to the streets in high style for the D.C. Tweed Ride.
Chicagoist focused on Oprah Winfrey's announcement that she plans on ending her show [...]
The off-duty NYPD cop who shot a man following a Long Island bar brawl fired the round after the altercation was over, according to the lawyer representing victim Atiba Watkins. The fight that lead to the shooting started [...]
As more and more New Yorkers are using bikes to commute and the city continues its massive — and at times controversial — push to expand its network of bike lanes, the Daily News [...]

The majority of New Yorkers want to see Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four other suspected terrorists put to death, according to a study by Marist and the Daily News. If found guilty, 73 percent of locals want Mohammed to be executed, while 67 [...]
During the Knicks' "Basement Battle" win over the Nets yesterday, there was one sour moment for New York coach Mike D'Antoni. It was when Nate Robinson threw the ball at the Nets basket—and it went in—just after the first quarter buzzer. As Deadspin put it, "rather than quietly" [...]

The Jets are in New England to play the Patriots at 4 p.m. today, but players didn't get a great night's sleep. Safety Kerry Rhodes Tweeted, "you know we are playing new england when in the middle of the night when u r'" [...]

The fallout continues from tween pop star Justin Bieber's chaotic Friday appearance at a Long Island mall. Record executive James Roppo was charged with "endangering the welfare of a child, obstruction of governmental administration, reckless endangerment and criminal nuisance"—Newsday reports, "Nassau police said" [...]
A Queens father is suspected of slitting the throats of his wife and son, then blaming the act on his alternate identity, according to cops. "Otto does not do these things, but Robert does," Otto Herrarte, 48, told investigators, according to [...]

Embattled political journalist Dominic Carter told the press yesterday that he was innocent, but that the allegations of domestic abuse and his conviction of attempted assault mean that his family has "lost everything."
A tearful Carter apparently broke down after "being fingerprinted like a common" [...]

Though Governor Paterson signed the nation's toughest DWI bill into law this week, making it a felony to drive drunk with a passenger under age 15, it won't apply to one man who allegedly broke it yesterday. Suffolk County police arrested Ivan Llaghza' [...]

Photograph of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., center, embracing Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V., as Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., left, looks on by Jose Luis Magana/
Last night, the Senate voted to debate health care legislation after Thanksgiving, in a 60-39 vote [...]
More details have emerged on the gruesome stabbing on the D train yesterday that left one straphanger dead and another behind bars. Bronx resident Geraldo Sanchez, 37, allegedly stabbed Dwight Johnson, 36, repeatedly in the face and neck in an altercation [...]
There was a lot of attention, blame and heated sentiments exchanged last week over the little-dog-that-almost-could, Oreo. The pit bull mix survived being thrown off a six-story building in Red Hook last summer only to be euthanized last [...]

Christina Ambers and Angel at their wedding.
Yesterday we heard one-half of the love story of the year, when a famed hand and foot model who married her doorman filed a $10 million lawsuit against an Upper East Side coop board that [...]

The judge who convicted NY1 political anchor Dominic Carter of attempted assault for "punching, choking, and kicking" his wife, ruled that his spouse's conflicting testimony blaming a day laborer for the attack was "preposterous."
In a written statement on the misdemeanor conviction, Judge [...]

Photograph of Great Performances catering captain Ken Bohlander, right, trying dishes that will be served on behalf of the Salvation Army on Thanksgiving Day by Kathy Willens/AP
After admitting it did some things that were "wrong" and donating a pittance to help [...]
A source at the real estate agency that leased Jude Law an apartment in the heart of NYU's campus has no sympathy for the "Hamlet "star. The actor — who has been so terrorized by his collegiate fans that he was [...]

photo by Caitlin Brown
A disabled Iraq War veteran who relies on the assistance of a service dog claims he was beaten by employees at a McDonald's in Sunset Park after being repeatedly kicked out of the fast food joint for bringing his [...]

Janine Brawer's Facebook photo
The Staten Island teenager who was run over in a chain reaction car crash in front of her high school last week has died. Janine Brawer, 17, was taken off of her respirator on Thursday after going [...]

Photograph of Eli Manning by Frank Franklin II/AP The Giants have had two weeks to think about the unraveling of their season. A four-game losing streak punctuated by a last-second loss to the Chargers has put the entire season into question [...]
The WNYC "Radio Rookies" recently went on a search for the "Flushing Pimp," whom many have consistently seen on the streets in Queens throughout the years (he's even got a Facebook page dedicated to him). Their search took some dark turns, however, when they ultimately found out through [...]
The Health Department is holding weekend clinics for people in the priority groups—more details here—to get H1N1 vaccines. Here's a PDF of the locations and hours in each borough and there are two more weekends of clinics scheduled after the Thanksgiving Day weekend. Last weekend, 15,000 people [...]
A knife-wielding commuter stabbed a passenger to death on the D train early this morning in a fight over a seat. Cops arrested a 37-year-old man suspected of repeatedly stabbing a 36-year-old man in the neck and face when the victim refused [...]
A 16-year-old Stuyvesant High School student was caught on camera setting two fires in school bathrooms this week, according to police. Cops arrested junior Mohammed Hassan after obtaining surveillance tapes that apparently show the teen entering a seventh-floor bathroom at 1:13 [...]
A 67-year old Bronx man is suing NYC and the Montefiore Medical Center for throwing out his severed ear, the Daily News reports. A chunk of Eduardo Garcia's ear was bitten off by his son's bull terrier on May 10 last [...]
This is simply disgusting. A teacher is suing the city after she slipped and fell on condoms and other garbage scattered across the floor in the High School of Art and Design. Educator Karen Hollander says she injured her head [...]
After 911 operators mistakenly dispatched firefighters to the wrong addresses in response to at least two fatal fires, the NYPD and FDNY announced that they will alter the city's emergency phone-answering system. Police phone operators will still respond to all 911 calls [...]

Yesterday, tween singing sensation (or so Wikipedia leads us to believe) Justin Bieber was scheduled to make an appearance at the Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island. Apparently the 15-year-old's fans were really excited to see him, because thousands flocked to the mall,' [...]

Vada Vasquez Vada Vasquez, the 15-year-old Bronx student who was shot in the head Monday afternoon by suspects targeting someone else, was taken off her ventilator and remains in critical condition. The intended target spoke to the Daily News, "I'm'" [...]
Yesterday the US Postal Service announced they would save 9 of the 14 branches that were set to shutter, due to a decrease in business. CityRoom reports that the five still being shut down are in the Bronx and Queens. [...]
For the first time in six games, the Islanders fell in regulation in a 3-2 loss to Minnesota on Friday. They allowed the Owen Nolan game-winner with 67 seconds remaining. Jon Sim had a goal and an asssist. Despite trailing by [...]

Reclining her hospital bed yesterday, the 66-year-old Harlem woman who took a stray bullet in the leg in Harlem Wednesday sent a strong message to Mayor Bloomberg about what Harlem needs: "Bloomberg's getting in there and making the place look fancy and all of that," [...]
Ladies in over-the-top lingerie get-ups stomped down the runway at the Lexington Avenue Armory for Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. According to [...]
Former NY1 senior political reporter Dominic Carter was found guilty of misdemeanor assault after several accusations of "punching, choking, and kicking" his wife Marilyn Carter in their Rockland County home. (His wife claims a day laborer assaulted her.) Carter, 45, [...]

Daniella Zalcman's Flickr You might remember back in May when the Taxi & Limousine Commission threatened the public with three new pilot programs that would reduce congestion by packing more fares into fewer cars. Well, unlike most pilot programs, it appears [...]

An off-duty New York City cop shot a knife-wielding man Thursday night after a bar brawl that started in the Strong Island watering-hole Napper Tandy's and spilled out into the street. John Gomez, 27, was one of the many witnesses in the crowded bar at [...]

Smart Destinations' Flickr More than two dozen Park Slope restaurants and cafes owe at least $910,000 in unpaid wages to more than 200 workers, the State Labor Department announced yesterday. Inspections during the spring revealed that some workers made as little' [...]

Photo by Joe Schumacher The latest public art project to glean some attention can fit right in your pocket... but it's gonna cost ya. The NY Times reports that seven million MetroCards were distributed starting in September, all containing the word [...]
As one man battles a ginkgo biloba tree in Brooklyn, another fights his own stinky tree situation in Queens. Barry Plonski's home on 210th Street and 43rd Avenue in Bayside is within smelling distance of multiple gingkos —Â and he places the [...]
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The NYCLU's Bust Card (PDF) The NYPD's stop and frisk policy shows no signs of abating. The latest data on the controversial program shows that the NYPD is on track to stop a record number of New Yorkers this [...]

The last dolphin spotting reported was off Staten Island this August, but today, just before 3 p.m., we got word that a dolphin was entangled in Queens — somewhere around Beach 87th and Beach Channel Drive. And some good news followed the original [...]
Click on the images above for more details and reviews on this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which include Bad Lieutenant: [...]

John Brek, the former NJ airport security guard who was accused of threatening President Obama last month, was released today after serving 29 days in the Newark county jail for harassment. Brek was interviewed by CBS 2 for "about 15 minutes" after he was [...]

Narcotics investigators seized more than $800,000 and 61 pounds of cocaine worth nearly $1 million in a Williamsburg apartment yesterday. The drugs were hidden under the seat of a portable sauna, and officials say—wait, portable sauna?! Is that really a thing? Turns out yes, [...]
Following her trip on the Hudson, Swoon got a bit more adventurous and gathered up more than 30 other artists to help her take her Swimming Cities to the Adriatic Sea. Three handcrafted vessels [...]

Reportedly some residents of a Queens housing complex, Rochdale Village, "may have a wily coyote — or a close cousin — in their midst." After confirmed sightings of it prowling the territory, Animal Control officers have set up traps to capture the creature, which [...]
A tipster spotted this truck stuck under the Q train subway station on Avenue J in Midwood this morning around 8:45 a.m. We're told "the truck was all crumpled and the fire department had to come out." We're guessing at this point [...]

Infrared satellite image from the National Weather Service
Thank goodness for the Gothamist tipsters. Until we read Contribute we weren't sure if last night's really loud clap of thunder that woke us up was real or part of a' [...]
We're bringing Pencil This In to you earlier with our new newsletter, GothamList. Sign up below for the daily scoop on concerts, readings, performances, and other events, which will arrive in your inbox first thing every morning Monday through Friday. You can get today's newsletter when you sign' [...]

Carvett Gentles Though prosecutors say he gave a written and videotaped confession, the 16-year-old Bronx boy accused of shooting two teens on a crowded street Monday afternoon pleaded not guilty at his arraignment yesterday. As his mother wept in the third [...]

Oh, my: The city's new school zoning may split residents of the same Tribeca building into different schools. Of course, the building is already split with two addresses and lobbies—101 Warren for the luxury condos, 89 Murray for the rentals and affordable housing units—and [...]

When we previously noted on the Knicks burgeoning interest in signing free agent guard Allen Iverson, it seemed as though it was a long shot to happen. But new reports have come out in the last two days that are making us question everything.
According [...]

[UPDATE BELOW] Life is so unpredictable: One minute you're pulling out of a New Jersey gas station, the next minute you're diving off the George Washington Bridge to escape police after a high-speed chase. An unidentified man presumably fell to his death yesterday morning after [...]
Could the fourth time be another charm? The jury deliberating the fate of John Gotti Jr.—whose past three federal trials have ended in mistrials—sent a note to Judge Kevin Castel yesterday reading, "We are unable to reach a verdict." Castel [...]

Christina Ambers and Angel Rotger at their wedding. 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 [...]

A tipster described his morning commute on the F as screwy (Manhattan-bound F rerouted to Hoyt-Schermerhorn, to pick up the A/C) —and NYC Transit workers chalked it up to a broken rail. The MTA's service alert page says, "Due to a rail condition at" [...]
There's not much background on this video depicting the violent arrest of a demonstrator last night, but it's still a bracing way to start your day. New School students and their comrades had brought the ruckus downtown to show solidarity with students at the University California, who are occupying various [...]
Yesterday, developer Bruce Ratner and architect Frank Gehry celebrated the "topping off" of the 76-story Beekman Tower in lower Manhattan. A 10-pound bucket of concrete was lifted 900 feet onto the roof of the 1.1 million square [...]

It's hard to feel bad for Jude Law when we all lack privacy in the city — in much less swank digs. Turns out the actor moved in right next to the NYU freshman dorm Hayden Hall, and the student body is enjoying their new [...]

If it's almost Thanksgiving, it means the city is gearing up the influx of visitors to the city for the holidays. The Department of Transportation released its calendar of "Gridlock Alert Days" (PDF) and its "Holiday Traffic Mitigation Plan" (PDF)—above all, the [...]

The city’s unemployment rate is at 10.3 percent, its highest level in 16 years, and the unemployment rate statewide reached 9 percent in October, the highest rate since April 1983, the State Labor Department reported yesterday. Making matters worse, the usual holiday hiring bump doesn't' [...]

Photograph of Oprah Winfrey with former governor Sarah Palin and her two daughter Piper and Willow
Oprah Winfrey, the media mogul-juggernaut, is going to end her successful daytime talk show when her 25th season ends on September 9, 2011. She will be [...]

While tUnE-YaRdS may sound like a band comprised of more than one, it is just one woman: Merrill Garbus. During live shows she's accompanied by Nate Brenner — and currently they're both on tour with Dirty Projectors. They're in town all weekend (at Music [...]
Former Nets star Jayson Williams is expected to plead guilty to manslaughter charges for the 2002 shooting of his limousine driver. According to the Star-Ledger, his sentence, in a deal with prosecutors, would be 18 months. Williams was previously convicted of [...]
The Devils came back twice, thanks to Zach Parise, but they ultimately fell to Nashville 3-2 in a shootout. Parise scored his 12th and 13th goals of the season, but he did not convert in the shootout and when Martin Erat did, New Jersey went home a loser. Jason [...]

Perhaps realizing that blaming NY State's woes on Governor Paterson's blindness wasn't a great idea, media mogul Rupert Murdoch apologized to Paterson. The Daily Politics reports, "Apparently, Paterson was willing to chalk Murdoch's bizarre comments up to a 'random misstatement,' according to this'" [...]

A 66-year-old Harlem woman became the second victim of stray gunfire this week in NYC. Virginia Valree was walking along Lenox Avenue in Harlem around 3:30 p.m. yesterday, carrying potatoes to deliver to a sick friend, when a bullet struck her left leg and knocked [...]

In February, FLAG Art Foundation will be presenting "Size DOES Matter," an exhibition showcasing the element of scale in contemporary art in February with the 7'1'' center for the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted to curate. Yes, Shaquille O'Neal has selected—and even commissioned some—52 pieces of [...]

In a 4-3 decision, New York State's highest court rejected a Christian legal group's argument that same-sex marriage was akin to incest and polygamy, and should therefore be denied government benefits for spouses. But the court's narrow ruling did not address the broader question [...]

Photograph of a woman holding up a picture of pilot Charles Burlingame, whose plane was crashed into the Pentagon, behind AG Eric Holder by Alex Brandon/AP The furor over holding the trials of alleged 9/11 terror plotters in a Manhattan federal court [...]

Remember that whole Obama Fried Chicken debacle? It's back, in a sort of blurred-out-on-MTV kind of way. Brokelyn reports that the Clipse video for “Popular Demand (Popeye’s)” consists mostly of Clipse and Cam'ron and company "in front of a place with a blank'" [...]

Photograph by Dave Surgan on Flickr Today, NYPD Chief James P. Hall, who heads the department's Transit Bureau, told the City Council that sexual harassment was the "No. 1 quality of life offense on the subway," according to City Room. [...]

Photo via guy on the streets' flickr Since the Department of Transportation can't fix all the cracked sidewalks in the city at once, they came up with a new system in which locals can pay their way to the front of the [...]

Photo: Seanie Dog After the New York State Pavilion at the former World's Fair site gained landmark status, the structure finally started moving towards getting preserved. Now's your chance to help out! The HDC reports that this Saturday [...]
Click on the images for details on newcomers Spot Dessert Bar, Obao, Lucy's Cantina Royale, and the latest at Emporio and Death & Co, which just introduced their fall menu.

Yesterday, a fire in a Crown Heights apartment building killed a man, 42, and his two young sons, ages 2 and 1. While the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, fire officials said incense had been burned in the bedroom [...]
Jen Carlson, Jen Chung, John Del Signore, Peter Trinkle, Jake Dobkin, Joe Schumacher, Ben Yakas, Ben Muessig, Mihir Kelkar, Jaya Saxena, Tom Boorstein, Ellen T, Sponsor, tien mao, Robert Horan, Ben M.