Archive for June, 2010
- From the Gothamist Newsmap: A scaffolding rescue on 6th Ave in Manhattan, an injured MOS at 7th Ave & 44st in Brooklyn and an MVA/overturn at Ellsworth Ave & Ionia Ave on Staten Island.
- A British oil futures trader “single-handedly engineered a jump in the price of oil a year ago and cost his firm millions of dollars with a string of unauthorized trades after a weekend of heavy drinking.”
- Four people were killed and three injured in a three alarm fire in Paterson, NJ.
- Attorney Andrew Cuomo indicted 17 people involved in a car theft ring in the Bronx.
- Today is the anniversary of the 1900 Hoboken pier fire.
- Madonna talks about her new clothing line Material Girl.
- An ex-banker was found dead, in a pool of blood, in his Soho apartment.
- Since the whole Rielle Hunter thing, John Edwards reportedly has spent nights barhopping, and even dancing with grad students at a club. In other Edwards news, Elizabeth spoke on the Today Show.
Despite the overall crime rate being down 1% over the first half of the year, the latest crime statistics released by the NYPD reveal that the stats of six out of the seven major felonies has increased in 2010.
Murders have jumped 11%, from 199 to 221, and rapes are up 13%, from 555 to 629. More people have been shot this year, 799 compared to 748, a 7% increase. The only decrease is in grand larceny, which has a 7% drop. Deputy Commissioner Browne told the News that the NYPD “changed its strategy” after they became aware of recent trends in shootings, which have been occurring frequently outside, after midnight.
As has been the trend during the first months of the year, the crime rate has remained higher than last year, but police are fighting an uphill battle, since 2009 had the lowest murder total in at least 47 years. Earlier this year, a Brooklyn cop accused the NYPD of pressuring officers to “juke” the stats: “The rank-and-file NYPD street cop experiences enormous pressure in a strange catch-22: He or she is expected to maintain high ‘activity’—including stop-and-frisks—but, paradoxically, to record fewer actual crimes.”
- 230 Fifth (also at the top in sex assaults)
- Campbell Apartment
- 1 Oak
- Brother Jimmy’s
- Four Season Hotel Bar
To be fair, the only one of those we’ve ever been to is Campbell Apartment. That was back in 2004, and we got into a long debate with a hedge fund guy who insisted that loosening trade restrictions in developing countries like Jamaica was a wonderful thing, even if it meant that local milk purveyors couldn’t compete with cheaper imports, because maybe those locals there “shouldn’t be in the milk business.” He also promised there would be no housing market collapse, just a little “melting around the edges.” Anyway, that’s their clientele: visionary.
The Zagat surveyors also agreed that the top “newcomers” to the city’s nightlife are the Jane Hotel Lobby Bar, Bar Pleiades, Sweet Afton, Studio Square, Ace Hotel Lobby Bar, and the Boom Boom Room. The Jane has had its problems with the neighbors, of course, and Bar Pleiades is very pricey (hello $18 cocktail!) but at least it’s pretty and serves food from Cafe Boulud. Studio Square, that massive beer hall in Queens, is too upscale for its own good, but we love everything about the Ace Hotel except how everyone else loves it. And it’s funny that Zagat voters put the Boom Boom Room up there—are they actually rich enough to buy their way in, or, like us, do they just assume it’s as cool as it looks from the street?
Besides all the attention-grabbing rankings, the new guide pretty thoroughly covers and reviews 1,014 nightspots. If you want to dive down this debauched rabbit hole, you can pick up the hard copy in bookstores, or download it to the iPhone and Android. To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the guide, if you mention “Zagat Nightlife” at Brooklyn Bowl from 6-8 p.m. tonight, you’ll bowl for free and get pints of beer and margaritas for just $3. And if you say the magic words at “top Appeal winner” Madam Geneva you’ll be entitled to one free signature “jam cocktail.”