Former TV producer Julie Horner Lankamp was found dead in her Gold Street apartment Tuesday with "her crying young daughter clutching her legs," as the Daily News sensationally puts it. Relatives say they hadn't spoken with Lankamp since Sunday and police don't know how long the two-year-old had been stranded with her mother's body, which had begun to decompose. Lankamp had a broken jaw, bruises, and dried blood pooled near her nose and mouth, but......

Just as the NYPD announced that it would distribute more Tasers as a non-lethal alternative to firearms, a Brooklyn man was killed by a Long Island police officer when he was Tasered. Suffolk County police said that the 26-year-old Tony Bradway died after being shocked twice by an officer's Taser, as the deceased was attempting to swallow a bag of cocaine. According to the police, the Southampton police were at a house for another matter......

Following her Sunday night arrest, Tatum O'Neal held her head high yesterday upon her release from the 7th Precinct, where she spent the night. The actress was busted buying crack and cocaine on Clinton Street, not far from her apartment in The Forward building, around 7:30 p.m. Not even a full 24-hours later she quickly came clean to The NY Post, thanked the cops for saving her, and is even trying to help the guy......

We may have entered an unheralded era in political frankness with the inauguration of Gov. David Paterson. The new gubernatorial head admitted in an interview with NY1 political anchor Dominic Carter that he's done drugs; different drugs. And not experimenting; he used substances a few times.Carter: Marijuana? Paterson: Yes. Carter: Cocaine? Paterson: Yes. Carter: You have used cocaine governor? Paterson: I'd say I was about 22-23. I tried it a few times, yes. Where's all......

An ongoing investigation of corruption and illegal practices in the Brooklyn South Narcotics Unit could jeopardize dozens, if not hundreds, of successful prosecutions of drug dealers. The possibility has arisen days after a sergeant and a detective were arrested for paying an informant with drugs and cash that they themselves had robbed from the addict. Another sergeant in the unit was also arrested for using NYPD resources to investigate the vehicle IDs of a drug......

Detective Sean Johnstone of the Brooklyn South Narcotics Unit was arrested yesterday along with police officer Julio Alvarez in connection to 11 missing bags of cocaine that Johnstone seized in a drug bust. The detective was caught talking about the drugs when he forgot that he was wearing a wire for an undercover operation and he recorded himself talking about them to Alvarez.The officers were caught after Johnstone unknowingly left a wire that he was......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a ceiling collapse at Franklin Ave. and Union St. in Brooklyn, a pedestrian was fatally struck on Queens Blvd. in Woodhaven, Queens, and an unusual rescue on the south bound tower of the Throgs Neck Bridge in Queens. An undercover cop forgot to turn off the wire he was wearing while discussing 11 bags of cocaine he seized in a Brooklyn bust that were never turned in. He was......

The NY Post warns the women of New York that their bag habits may be bad for them. Some women sling up to 11 lbs over their shoulder on a daily basis, and doctors warn that "Any time there's an unequal weight distribution on the shoulders or upper back, it's going to affect alignment of the spine." While we think it's more about living in New York and carrying around what you need to get......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Austin St. in Queens, a pedestrian struck off Balfour Pl. and Empire Blvd. in Brooklyn, and a rescue on Bank St. in Manhattan. The Domino Sugar factory on Brooklyn's waterfront has achieved landmark status. David Chase is heading to court to face a former municipal court judge who claims he came up with an idea for a show about a northern NJ mob family. David......

Shawn Kovell, who was arrested in an undercover drug sting in October, was released from jail yesterday to head into a drug treatment program. She was able to get out by making a deal with the Manhattan DA's office: Kovell pleaded guilty to charges that she sold cocaine with her boyfriend, Robert Chambers, the infamous "Preppy Killer" in the 1986 death of Jennifer Levin. Kovell was originally held on $25,000 bail, and Kovell's lawyer had......

The Hershey candy company is under fire for producing a breath mint candy that police say is hard to distinguish from an illegal drug. Philadelphia cops are complaining that a new iteration of Hershey's Ice Breakers product looks a lot like crack cocaine. When we initially read a quote from a local Philadelphia news station––"Even veteran narcotics officers acknowledged that they could not tell the difference between a package of crack cocaine and the breath......

An ex-husband and other acquaintances have been sharing their experiences with the two women accused of robbing open houses in Manhattan and NJ. After a rash of robberies sparked fear in home sellers - and their brokers - the police caught the suspects and Jessica Joyner and Jennifer Jones have pleaded not guilty to grand larceny and other charges related to at least four robberies on the Upper East and West Sides, and will be......

Robert Chambers, whose privileged Upper East upbringing earned the tabloid nickname "The Preppy Killer" when he killed a woman in 1986, was charged with 14 counts of selling and possessing drugs. Since two of the counts are for first-degree sale, which the Daily News reports carries 15-30 years, Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau said, "I would expect he would spend the rest of his life in jail." Chambers and girlfriend Shawn Kovell were arrested by......

Maroon 5 Not Terrible Anymore, Played MSG We're sure to take a bunch of flack about this, but bear with us for a sec. Maroon 5? Not so bad. In fact, at least judging by the first two singles off their latest album, they've moved past the tasteless soccer-mom rock into a legitimately perverted cocaine-sex territory (Exhibit 1: Their amazingly over the top video for 'Wake Up Call'). And that's a good thing. Combine that......

Wall Street trader Greg Calvino wrote out a $100,000 check to his girlfriend as a testament to his commitment to not straying, saying she could cash it if she ever found out he was partying with strippers. Well, one thing led to another while he was out with co-workers one night in 2005, and girlfriend Elisa Kwon cashed his check after he admitted to partying with strippers and doing cocaine, although the latter was against......

Are the munchies a side effect of cocaine abuse? The NYPD busted a multi-million dollar drug ring where buyers could buy their cocaine and deli meats. The police found 4.5 kilograms of cocaine ($175,000 worth) and arrested 25 suspects. The Sun reports that the $4 million ring was operated out of establishments such as the Fiesta Meat Market in Washington Heights, billiards hall D.D. Café Billiard Sport, clothing store Yaharra (the headquarters), and bodega Broadway's......

Concluding an 18-month police operation named "Operation Dumbbell," police arrested two dozen people in a steroid peddling ring that operated out of two Queens gyms. Among the arrested was a female professional boxer who fought under the nickname "Checkmate." 25-year-old Cindy Serrano is awaiting arraignment along with her husband Jordan Maldonado, who is a manager and trainer at the Envy Us Gym. That gym and the Powerhouse Gym allegedly made thousands of dollars a week......

The cops were looking for an alleged gang member in Bed-Stuy when they found something very disturbing - a 4-day-old baby in a Timberland shoe box. After arresting the 21-year-old they were looking for, police found the baby girl in an apartment that is described as filthy. Also found in the apartment was a loaded .45-caliber pistol, ammo, and a small amount of cocaine. Police arrested the 19-year-old mother for endangering the welfare of a......

Mr. Black, a club at 643 Broadway (near Bleecker) was raided early yesterday morning. Thirty-two people were arrested, including 17 employees, on charges ranging from suspicion of drug possession and suspicion of selling drugs. Apparently many bags of cocaine and ecstasy were found. DJs Are Not Rockstars have a weekly gig at the club. Paper magazine has called the club a "downtown, gay hotspot." And the MySpace page for Mr. Black says it's "where anyone......

All the papers are asking where Spider-Man was when Mary Jane Watson Kirstin Dunst's belongings were burgled on August 9th. The actress, who was in town filming How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, was staying at the SoHo Grand Hotel and had just left her suite with some others before the crime took place. What was in her room was a $13,000 handbag, $2500 in cash, ID and credit cards, two digital cameras, a......

New York's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is reporting that there has been an alarming resurgence in the reported number of cases of syphilis in the city. The New York Times writes that after spiking in the late 1980s during a wave of unsafe sex fueled by an epidemic of crack cocaine use, cases of syphilis dropped steadily. By the late 1990s, incidences of the disease became so rare that public health officials at......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an abduction on Dorchester Rd. in Brooklyn, an armed robbery with shots fired on Richmond Ave. on Staten Island, and a bank robbery on Broadway and 68th St. in Manhattan. If one has been ordained by an online ministry, it's good to make sure the state you marry people in will recognize your performance at the altar. A possible problem is that even state officials in charge of issuing......

An ice-cream man whose Mr. Softee truck was parked across the street from an intermediate school in Jamaica, Queens was arrested yesterday for allegedly selling drugs in addition to frozen treats. Police executed a search warrant for the Mr. Softee truck yesterday afternoon and found cocaine, marijuana, and a loaded handgun. Jermaine Jordan is the 26-year-old ice-cream man/alleged drug dealer who is now under arrest. Neighborhood parents were concerned that he was possibly selling drugs......

MUSIC: If you haven't checked out the Summer of Love exhibit at the Whitney, head over there after work and get a double dose of rock while you're at it. Tonight Dirty Projectors and Lucky Dragons take the stage at Whitney Live. Get there early to get in. Check out this "Take Away Show" in New York featuring the Dirty Projectors. Friday // 6pm // The Whitney [945 Madison Ave at 75th St] // Free......

"I find people who read to be sexy. And I find people who have bought my book to be even sexier." Drinking, drugging, casual sex, and living at a group home. For fifteen-year-old Janice Erlbaum , this was everyday life. But if you want to make conversation with her now, you better be a fan of reality TV or an avid reader. "If a person does't feel a great need for reading, then it's just......

When asked in 2005 what train wreck of a celebrity she would give some advice to, then-Gawker editor Jessica Coen said, "Lindsay Lohan, may God help you secure a room at Promises." Lohan ended up going to Wonderland for rehab, and apparently it didn't work any wonders on her. Adding to the list of Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name is the one and only La Lohan. Recently in town for the......

Charting the New York Times bestseller list for the third consecutive week is a memoir by the 42 year-old Las Vegas chef Jeffrey Henderson. Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, from Cocaine to Foie Gras, is Henderson’s tale of becoming a teenage drug dealer in South Central Los Angeles, getting caught and going to federal prison, and of how Henderson ultimately flourished in restaurant kitchens as a chef, something that changed his life. When......

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......

The papers take a look at the life of David R. Garvin, the man who shot and killed a restaurant employee and then two auxiliary police officers in a shocking Greenwich Village incident Wednesday night. Garvin's brother Charles Garvin spoke extensively with the Daily News, that his ex-marine brother said to him two weeks ago, "If anything ever happens to me, remember the name Morales." The employee at DeMarco's Pizza was named Alfredo Romero......

H&M fans will be cutting themselves over this one: The Misshapes Clothing Line. We were just doing some light reading, when we came across the following: MisShapes Getting Their Own H&M Line? I was just eating brunch with a New York friend of mine in Glendale and he told me that the MisShapes are getting their own line at H&M! Apparently it will be their name on the line but designed by Benjamin Cho......