Three weeks after cable cars were stuck with passengers stranded for hours, the Bronx Zoo's Skyfari is up-and-running again. The ride was suspended as the Department of Labor investigated what caused the stoppage, and NY1 reports that issue is partly due to a derailed pulley as well as an electrical wire (the zoo has said the incident was due to the day's high winds). The Skyfari gives zoo visitors a chance for a bird's eye......

Two days after being stuck in the Bronx Zoo's skyfari for five hours, one couple is suing for $10 million. The Post reports Damien Foster and Nandi Taylor--who is pregnant-- suffered "psychological trauma" because they were stranded for hours over the "fang-baring, flesh-eating baboons." They were ultimately brought back to the ground by emergency workers using cranes for high-angle rescues, but Foster and Taylor's lawyer said his clients "didn't know if they were going to......

Yikes: A detail about last night's Bronx Zoo Skyfari cable car stoppage: Apparently the cable cars were "suspended 100 feet over the baboon habitat and the roaming lions and gazelles." While authorities say no one was in danger of falling (the stoppage was caused when one of the cars' wheels derailed), the State Department of Labor is investigating the incident (the DOL also investigated the Roosevelt Island tram breakdown in 2006).......

The cable car system at the Bronx Zoo, better known as the Skyfari, gave passengers an unexpected adventure earlier this evening. Just before closing time, around 5:30 p.m., the system broke down leaving zoo patrons hanging above the wildlife below, but at least the bird's-eye-view was nice as they waited for firefighters to rescue them. ...

Governor Spitzer may have identified himself as a steamroller in his attempts to accomplish certain executive tasks, but he's got nothing on the former federal prosecutor and Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. The NY Times has a colorful profile of the the former Mayor as a man who used his offices as bludgeons, crushing anyone who crossed him. When a chauffeur called into the Mayor's weekly radio show in 1997, saying that the cops had established......

When retired cop Paul Soto joined the force in 1993, he weighed a svelte 250 pounds. He now weighs over 500 pounds and is living off disability payments since maladies like narcolepsy, hypertension and, yes, morbid obesity, made his desk job unbearable. In 2006, he left the force, living off benefits which equal half his old paycheck, tax-free. But had his disability resulted from activity in the line of duty, Soto would be pulling in......

In the wake of the horrific tiger escape resulting in one death and two injuries at the San Francisco Zoo, zoos around the country are examining their tiger exhibit set-ups. Tiger Mountain at the Bronx Zoo has the following set-up, per the Post:Tiger Mountain is surrounded by a moat about 10 feet wide and is enclosed by a fence that is 15 feet high and has a five-foot overhang. That means that the last......

The Bronx Zoo is decked out for the holiday season through January 6th. Every animal under the sun has been recreated in twinkly lights, so bundle up and check out the sparkling safari. Giraffes and rhinos and peacocks, oh my! On top of all that, there are even real reindeer! They stay up late, so you can visit them after enjoying some of the zoo's nightly events. Photos via WallyG's Flickr.......

Souvenirs are usually inanimate doodads, so we must update the story of the man who smuggled a pygmy marmoset from Peru under his hat. The monkey attracted attention not from airport screeners in Lima or in Fort Lauderdale (where Spirit Airlines Flight 180 connected) but from passengers on the flight to Laguardia who noticed the monkey hanging from the man's ponytail. Our favorite part of the story is how other passengers apparently asked the man......

A deranged Staten Island man spotted a peacock in the parking lot of a Tottenville Burger King Thursday morning, and mistook the majestic animal for a vampire. According to the Staten Island Advance, the man assaulted the bird in pretty much every possible way except driving a stake through its heart, as onlookers watched in horror. Witnesses said a man in his late teens or early 20s grabbed the helpless bird by its neck, struck......

If you're cooped up in a stuffy apartment this muggy afternoon, consider visiting one of New York's many zoos. The cool customers pictured above are residents of the Central Park Zoo. There's also the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium at Coney Island. If you can't make it to any of those, you can always settle for the Penguin Cam. (penguins, by contrast and compare at flickr)......

Now we know what happened to the NYPD's 2003 pilot program to have some of its officers use Segways: The batteries (which were eventually recalled) would make the entire Segway stop when they were dead, so officers were fall off. Now, the NYPD has decided the newer models are up to snuff and will make like it's 2003 by having 10 Segways patrol various parts of the city starting today. The NYPD officers aboard Segways......

Three NYC females are getting moved into a 22,000 square foot, multi-million dollar residence this spring, and getting a little male companionship this summer. Fortunately, this is not a public display nightmare of Trump- or Hefner-esque proportions. The ladies in question are sea lions and they're going to occupy a newly-renovated Bronx Zoo habitat. The areas being renovated include an Italian garden of boxwoods and roses; the Rockefeller Fountain, which has provided a welcome......

When we feel the need to get away from the city without actually leaving the city, we head up to the Bronx. Places like City Island, Wave Hill, The New York Botanical Garden, and The Bronx Zoo are some of our favorite places to visit in all of New York, and we realize that's only the tip of the iceberg when considering the Bronx's appealing features. Unfortunately, the stereotype of the Bronx as a blighted......

Around midnight, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus came into Manhattan with its traditional procession of elephants, other animals and performers through the Queens Midtown Tunnel towards Madison Square Garden. Kelly Loudenberg was on the scene and captured comments from the circus as well as protesters. She also writes:City Council Member Rosie Mendez has introduced legislation to ban wild animal acts. The legislation would prohibit the display of wild or exotic animals......

Yesterday, the Daily News started a series of articles, School Bus Disgrace, detailing the horrors students face with bus drivers and monitors. For instance, here's a list of some substantiated complaints of "rude, nasty and careless behavior by school bus drivers and monitors":- Driver offers elementary schoolkids cigarettes; - Monitor sits on elementary schoolkids when they misbehave; - Driver urinates on the sidewalk in front of a bus full of children; - Driver calls one......

A beloved Bronx Zoo grizzly bear died last week at age 13. "Jughead" had been ill for months and had also undergone surgery for abdominal abscesses according to the AP. The Bronx Zoo is planning a necropsy, and the zoo's director said, "Jughead was a wonderful, charismatic animal and he will be missed by all of our staff and visitors." Jughead and three other bears, brother Archie, Betty and Veronica, had been rescued from Montana......

NY Mag's Best of New York is out. Want to know what's good in your hood? Here's a handy little chart that will direct you to just that. Here's a glance at some of the more fun categories: Best impromptu dance party: No Malice Palace, 197 East 3rd Street (take that cabaret laws!). Best zoo animal: Sasha the Siberian tiger, Bronx Zoo. Cheap men's haircut: Frank's Chop Shop, 19 Essex Street. (Wu-Tang Clan and actor......

It is a day for rodents, that's for sure. To the excitement of Big Apple animal lovers, the NY Times reported the first beaver in 200 years has been spotted in the city. A 2- or 3-year-old beaver has been seen in the Bronx River, doing one of two very New York things: Looking for a mate or trying to make his home better (the Times says he was spotted "looking for more material......

Some of Gothamist's favorite stories in the city were about the animals of New York City. Here's how animals ruled the Big Apple in 2006: - A whippet went missing at JFK Airport after appearing at the Westminster Dog Show; a loyal group people have still been looking for Vivi since February. - A star was born when Fred the cat helped nabbed a bogus vet. He was made a (honorary) detective by Brooklyn......

2007 is just around the corner, and we've got a little tip sheet on where to be when the clock strikes midnight. MUSIC + PARTY • Clap Your Hands Say Yeah will help ring in the new year with their guests the Bob Mould Band and Final Fantasy at Hammerstein Ballroom. Our friends at Stereogum are sponsoring the show, and tickets are still available here. Clap's second album, Some Loud Thunder, comes out in January,......

If it's winter, it's time for the Bronx Zoo's Holiday Lights. The lights, which are in the 10th year, have been up since November. This weekend, there's a Dinosaurs Rock exhibition between 5PM and 9PM where kids can dig for dinosaur fossils - and there are lighted displays of dinosaurs, too. The Dinosaur Dig will be there tomorrow, too, and if you're going with a child, here's a $5 off ticket promotion for online......

Who doesn't love studies involving elephants and mirrors? A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that the Bronx Zoo elephants recognized themselves in a mirror - which suggests they are self aware. The study was conducted by researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Emory University. The NY Times explained the study and results: They put an eight-foot-square mirror on a wall of the animals’ play area (out of view......

-- Remember that insane case from back in March with the Cravath, Swaine & Moore lawyer who got busted for seducing two sisters? He's been in lockup since he was captured at the St. Marks Hotel, and the judge just refused to release him on bail. -- A grad student discovered something new about the predatory dinosaur Coelophysis bauri-- while standing at 81st Street Stop on the C! -- A book-keeper at Gramercy Tavern......

Hoorah! Leo, the snow leopard found abandoned in Pakistan, is now officially in the public eye at the Bronx Zoo. Last month, the State Department touted a very special arrangement with the Pakistani government, which allowed the 14 month old snow leopard to be sent to the Bronx Zoo temporarily, because Pakistan does not have snow leopard facilities. (Leo could not be relased into the wild because he never learned survival skills - he......

This week, the Bronx Zoo is holding Skip, Skip, Skip to the Zoo! Play Week with tons of activities that are designed to show children (and adults) how animals play at the zoo. Apparently, you can "Discover bears that love boomer balls, big cats that like to splash in pools, and primates that ride piggyback" but it's unclear if the really big kids can play, though desperately want to find out this weekend. We......

-- Oh how we love those crazy hipsters and their artfully messy clothes! -- Eleven Egyptian students disappeared at JFK a couple of weeks ago, setting off a nationwide manhunt. They're probably just hanging out at the food-court hitting on stewardesses! -- AO Scott says Oliver Stone's World Trade Center is filled with "visual grandeur, sweeping emotion and heightened, sometimes overwrought, drama." -- Speaking of September 11th, WTC responders who missed the deadline are......

But not in someone's apartment - to the Bronx Zoo! An endangered snow leopard cub that was found in Pakistan will join the Bronx Zoo's snow leopard habitat this year. From the State Department:Originally from the Naltar Valley high in the Karakorum Mountains of northern Pakistan, the snow leopard cub, now approximately 13 months old and 60 pounds, was turned over to Government of Pakistan authorities in July 2005 by the local goat herder......

One of the things we love about the City section is that sometimes you can see their heads working. For instance, a month ago they had an Andy Newman story on letters to the Mayor which had a throwaway line about a letter referring to the African pygmy who was put on display at the Bronx Zoo. Eureka! Sure enough, today we get a good long look at the life of Ota Benga by......

Yesterday was the third day of the August heat wave, but the sprinkling of rain in the early evening and cooler weather today and the weekend should hopefully bring relief to us all. And it looks like Con Ed managed to avoid a bigger blackout when feeder cables on the East Side failed and manholes exploded in the area as well; of course, Con Ed sending its own non-essential employees home certainly freaked everyone......