Accidents and Disasters

Free Love in Times Square

Another Plane Crashes into the Hudson River, Everyone Survives (Again!)

Ah, the Hudson River! It looks so damn majestic as it flows beneath the George Washington Bridge, and it maintains a nice, wide barrier between us and Jersey City. Oh yeah, and it swallow planes whole. It's a simultaneously heart-warming and bone-chilling landmark. In utterly terrifying news, a sma ... More >>

The Numbers Are In: More Than $400 Million Was Raised For Hurricane Sandy Relief

When all else (Congress) fails to raise monies for those devastated by Hurricane Sandy, it's rewarding to see ordinary citizens donate a little extra to the cause. And even more rewarding when that little extra amounts to nearly half a billion dollars.A month ago, we reported on Attorney Genera ... More >>

Watch SpacesTV Redesign the Financial District's Giardino D'Oro in Record Time Post-Sandy

Giardino D'Oro was deep in the heart of Zone A during Hurricane Sandy at 5 Gold Street. Even with 30 inches -- table height -- of flooding, they were able to redo the entire place after the devastating hurricane, and they reopened for business on December 3rd. But it took some help from SpacesTV.

Schneiderman's Sandy Clampdown Continues: Non-Profits Next On NYAG's List

Last week, we reported on the subpoenas sent out by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to thirteen different gas providers in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The intention was simple: these providers, according to Schneiderman, were targeted for price-gouging consumers to profit off of the ene ... More >>

The Hurricane Actually Did Help Obama

The Republicans may well be right. Hurricane Sandy prompted a near blitz of Presidential politics on TV news the week before the election, helping to short circuit any attempt by Mitt Romney to create some kind of last-minute storm surge. What's more, Obama was included in a great deal of the hurr ... More >>

My Fingers Are Raw

Not for the usual reasons. They're shredded to the bone because I've been emailing and texting like a lunatic ever since the storm hit. You see, everyone's been super nice and concerned, contacting me to make sure I'm OK. People who I haven't heard from in years are coming out of the woodwork to ... More >>

A Few Reasons Why Overhyping Hurricane Sandy Is Probably a Good Thing

The current situation in New York: The subways are closed; upon the Hozziner's request, Zone A has been forced to evacuate; Broadway shows have been cancelled; Bloomberg, Christie, and Cuomo are hosting storm watch conferences; my door keeps slamming by itself, even while locked; and the quieter-tha ... More >>

Wyclef Jean

Lindsay Lohan Arrested

No, not for trying to play Liz Taylor. For a NYC driving incident where she allegedly clipped a pedestrian's knee, then left the scene of the accident (though one of her passengers did nicely check the car for damages, if not the pedestrian).

Lost Horizon

Short and… Sweet, Sincere, Cloying, Beautiful: Oscar Nominees, in Brief

Why Won't the NYPD Charge Motorists Who Maim or Kill?

The NYPD hands out plenty of traffic tickets

Bicyclist Hit By Truck and Killed in East Williamsburg

​According to police, a 30-year-old man was struck and killed by a truck on Meserole Street and Morgan Avenue last night around midnight. Cops have determined that the man was biking alongside a flatbed truck that made a right turn; as the truck turned, it hit the biker. His identity hasn't be ... More >>

Over 700 Arrests Made on Brooklyn Bridge; Hospital Wants to Release Hinckley; Typhoons Hit Philippines

As we reported yesterday, Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested while marching over the Brooklyn Bridge. The New York Times reports police made over 700 arrests. Demonstrators claim authorities misled them by saying they could march on the bridge. Officers arrested people who weren't on the pe ... More >>

Harry Shearer's The Big Uneasy: How N.O. Got So F'd Up

Doomsday Just 15 Days Away This May 21, Subway Ad Warns

​Just a reminder: Doomsday is coming on May 21, a scant 15 days away. So start collecting bottled water and flare guns. We learned this from a woman passing out fliers near the shuttle stop in Grand Central Station. We also learned this from an advertisement in the East 96th Street subway sta ... More >>

Surviving the Bomb in Children of Hiroshima

What's Happening This Week: Eating and Drinking for Good Causes

As you may know, our weekly dining and drinking newsletter features all the coolest epicurean events in the city. Sign up for it here! Salmon Week Aquavit March 28-April 1, April 4-8 You wouldn't know it by checking the mercury, but it's spring. Celebrate the season the Swedish way... with salmon! ... More >>

Man Finds Wife and Mother in Japan by Searching in Scuba Gear

​A bit of good news in the midst of the sad, the L.A. Times has the pretty great story of a one Japanese man who managed to find his wife and mother after days of waiting for outside help by donning scuba gear and going out and searching for them. Appropriately, Hideaki Akaiwa, 43, met his wif ... More >>

Now a Volcano Is Erupting in Japan

The Shinmoedake volcano in southern Japan began erupting again yesterday, after last erupting January 19. It's uncertain whether the eruption is related to the earthquake that occurred on Friday; the volcano is located about 950 miles from the epicenter of that quake. According to the L.A. Times, "J ... More >>

Exxon Wins Oil Spill Case: David Slays Goliath Yet Again!

via Alaskan Dude​Good news from Alaska: The Huffington Post reports that Exxon Mobil Corp. -- the good folks who keep your homes warm, your lanterns lit and your ovens cooking -- fought off a claim from Rick Steiner, yet another "too big to fail" marine science professor. Steiner, who was mad ... More >>

Relax, the Next Big New York City Earthquake Could Happen 'Any Minute'

​Typically impatient New Yorkers are freaking out because we haven't gotten our earthquake yet. And we're due for an earthquake! Where's our earthquake? No, we are not going to wait in line for our earthquake! Nature, do you know who the fuck we are? Fortunately, seismologist Won-Young Kim fro ... More >>

An Earthquake Hit Long Island Today. Did the Earth Move for You?

via NYT/Google Maps​This is nothing to our West Coast brethren, but it's kind of a big deal to us. A 3.9 magnitude earthquake in the Atlantic Ocean, about 80 miles off the coast of Long Island's Southampton, occurred around 10:45 a.m. today. According to WNYC, it was even "felt by a New York T ... More >>

Ace In The Hole: Rightbloggers Say Chile Mine Rescue Means Obama Sucks, Capitalism Rules

Last week we talked about the Tennessee fire department that let a man's house burn to the ground because he hadn't paid protection money, and the rightbloggers who thought this was a laudable example of free market justice. This week they celebrated another free market triumph -- though at least t ... More >>

Earthquake Strikes Oklahoma, Moves Man in La-Z-Boy

​A 4.3 magnitude earthquake struck Oklahoma southeast of Oklahoma City, near Norman, at about 9 a.m. this morning. Aftershocks were apparently felt in Texas and Kansas. Midwesterners are all abuzz on Twitter, not least because earthquakes are somewhat rare in the Midwest. Tulsa World has the b ... More >>

BP Well to Be Sealed By Saturday, Says BP

The good old days.​Hey, everybody, remember that well in the Gulf? The one that broke a while back, and leaked its oil everywhere, and got all over a bunch of birds, and fish, and shrimp, and people? Oh, come on, remember? Yeah, it was a long time ago that happened. Like, before the summer eve ... More >>

Hurricane Earl May, in Fact, Rock You Like a Hurricane

​People are getting pretty geared up about this once-again-Category-4-storm otherwise known as Earl headed hell-and-high-water for the East Coast. There are hurricane warnings in North Carolina and tropical storm warnings in Virgina, Maryland, and New Jersey, while tropical storm watches are i ... More >>

"Squeezing" Is Not a Sex Move, and Other Things We Learned During the Summer of BP

via NYT​When we look back at these hazy days of summer 2010, we'll remember oil, for sure, and birds and models in oil (thank you, Italian Vogue), and a smattering of strange, mystical, rather sexual-sounding phrases, like "junk shot," "top kill," "tar balls," "bottom kill," "annulus," "bullhe ... More >>

New York Post Declares Geese "Clear and Present Danger," Supports Wiping Them Out

​There's nothing like stoking the fear which sits mostly dormant -- though it's certainly there -- in the bellies of New Yorkers everywhere. Mentioning Giuliani usually gets 'em going, but if you want to cut the crap, mention airplane crashes. Or worse, almost-airplane crashes. That's the stra ... More >>

NYC Wins Second Place in "Who's Next for a Hurricane?" Competition

​Guess who's overdue for a hurricane? Yep, we're lookin' at you, New York. So what if we didn't make the rich and single list? We're number 2 out of the Weather Channel's "Top 5 Hurricane Vulnerable & Overdue Cities"! Hurricane expert Dr. Rick Knabb says, "It is a matter of when, not if, these ... More >>

Jersey Shore's The Situation, Gay Pride Advocate, Speaks on BP Oil Disaster "Situation"

​When we last caught up with Village Voice Queer Issue cover model The Situation of Jersey Shore fame, he was speaking for the cause he'd inadvertently appeared in front of: advocating "Guido" acceptance of gay lifestyles. It now appears he's speaking out on other issues of the day as well.

Oil Now Spewing Unchecked in Gulf After Underwater Robot Causes Accident

​According to AP reports, oil is now gushing into the Gulf unabated after an accident with a klutzy underwater robot has forced BP to remove the cap that was collecting at least some of the 2.5 million gallons of oil flowing into the ocean each day. Tony Hayward jokes aside ... seriously, ever ... More >>

BP Oil Spill Sticking Around the Gulf Through Summer

​In the latest from the historic American environmental mess in the Gulf of Mexico, BP is now warning that amid the failure of the "top kill," crude oil may be leaking into the water until August, according to the Washington Post. And as the responsibility continues to bleed from BP toward the ... More >>

Morning Links: Fergie's Out of Cash, BP Spill Estimate at 85.3 Million Gallons, Make Way for Sailors

​• Poor Fergie gets only $21K a year from her ex husband Prince Andrew and really may not have a "bean to her name." Not that that excuses anything.

RESCUE HAITI

Laughing for a good cause

11-Year-Old Killed in Car Crash; Driver Charged with DWI

​About 1 a.m. Sunday morning, Carmen Huertas was driving seven girls to a slumber party at her home when she lost control of the car at West 96th Street, crashed into a guardrail and a tree, and flipped the vehicle. Everyone was hurt -- some of the passangers have broken bones, for which they ... More >>

Not so 'Happy' Happy Hour / Ondoy Fundraiser

Raising money to aid Filipinos affected by Typhoon Ondoy

Woman Suspects Gas Leak, Impending Death; Leaves Video

Here's something else great about YouTube: you can use it to leave evidence if you suspect you are being poisoned by a gas leak. User misskriss678 ("a former self-injurer") smelled something "disgusting" on her block and it has crept into her apartment. She suspects gas. "Now I think I'm dying," ... More >>

Jason Beghe: Scientologist Feared a Gay Friend Caused My Car Crash

Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs Stand Spectacular, Tall, and Proud

Doing their part to keep New Orleans culture alive

More Blues in New Orleans

In New Orleans, the Saints Are Marching In Again

Just as Hitler and Stalin couldn't ban jazz, Hurricane Katrina can't keep it and New Orleans down

'Typhoon'

Katrina's Impact Hits Weiner

Third World

Katrina puts us—and the press—in a different place

Morning Report 9/3/05
Rotten to the Corps

World Goes Nuts

Perfect Storms

Perfect for wrecking any chance of economic recovery, that is

Paradise Regained?

A Plan to Restore Iraq's Wetland Graveyard