There's nothing like using a sledgehammer to break into the window of a Diamond District jewelry store. And that's what a group of robbers did at the Diamond Exchange on 47th Street and Sixth Avenue. A guard told the Daily News, "They hit the window where all the big pieces are." What's wild is that the robber with the sledgehammer, Stephen Garrison, actually hammered away at the windows for two minutes (which was so loud......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a stabbing at Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, another stabbing at 131st St. and 9th Ave. in Queens, and a third stabbing on West 167th St. in the Bronx. Three men sprayed mace in the face of a Diamond District jeweler at 1 p.m. last Wednesday in the Rockefeller Center subway station and grabbed his bag containing three spools of gold wire worth $115,000. Subwayblogger.com looks at MSNBC's list......

Did you see CBS 2 Investigates: Too Good For Gridlock? The too-good-for-gridlock offender is Isaac Heschel, a diamond dealer who is also a rabbi and volunteers time as a chaplain to the MTA and Port Authority Police. Heschel frequently uses sirens and lights in his Crown Victoria, but neither agency gave him sirens or lights, meaning that Heschel pimped the car out for emergency fun himself. CBS 2 was tipped off by an anonymous member......

Gothamist friend and occasional Opinionist Andrew Bast has recently pulled off a nice relaunch of his site, The New York Inquirer ("We don't break the news; we put it back together") and in the process put back together some interesting stuff worth checking out. This week, for instance, has focused pretty much exclusively on the diamond trade including a five-part series on the darker side of 47th Street, one of the many hearts of......

- AMNY looks ahead by 24 years at NYC's future - cue the "In the Year 2030" music - A glimpse into the Diamond District from The Morning News - Rikers Island geese control measures work, but what to do with the dead geese? - Governor Pataki tries to give his friends sweet jobs in the state government before the door hits him on his way out - A toddler drowned in a Queens......

Yesterday Gawker had some amusing pictures of people scrounging around for little gold pellets that had been dropped on 5th Avenue near 47th Street. The pellets were about the size of BBs, and it looked like they had been dropped in a big dirty puddle just off the sidewalk. Sadly, it turns out that in New York, the streets are not paved in gold balls. The Post picks up the story: But all that glitters......