Stand clear of the breaking water, please. A husband and wife were riding the subway to Bellevue so she could give birth but never quite made it to the hospital, settling for delivery on the F train platform at East Broadway. Yep, a husband relied on the MTA to get his wife to the hospital, despite the fact that entire generations of New Yorkers have grown old and died while waiting for the F. But......

A violent scene unfolded on the platform of the 23rd Street and 6th Avenue F train yesterday afternoon when a person was stabbed by a homeless man. Clarence Carter Cochran had a steak knife plunged into his chest when he tried to stop the homeless man from bothering a pregnant friend. According to the Post, Cochran and his friend were talking when Herron Wilson, "who was screaming wildly, lunged at the woman and spit on......

If you were planning on taking the F train anywhere this weekend, better put on your reading glasses -- Gowanus Lounge spotted commuters stalled in front of the following sign. The 9-year-old should attempt this for his next subway challenge: Transfers and shuttles and buses, oh my. Read the MTA advisory here, or just slide on those walking shoes and stay above ground.......

Newsday reports that emergency track work at West 4th Street will be causing delays on the A, E, D and F lines. Apparently Brooklyn-bound F train will be running on the E between 36th Street Station in Queens and 42nd Street Times Square, and then the F will run on the A between Times Square and Jay Street-Borough Hall. And some other Brooklyn-bound F trains will "run on the D line from 47th-50th Street-Rockefeller Center......

There may be March Madness in the air, but East Village Idiot has the cure for New Yorkers who can't get behind the NCAA: March Radness, which take 64 disparate NYC moments/ people/ objects/ stores/ trends/ nonsense and sees who will reign supreme. Some key matchups are:Bloomberg Region - The U.E.S Crowd (seeded 7) vs. The B&T Crowd (10) - Trans Fat (1) vs. Rats at Taco Bell (16) Isiah Region - The Knicks......

A bunch of people emailed to ask if we knew what was going on with that huge cloud of smoke visible over Brooklyn. One of our Gothamist Contribute commenters answers: "There is a brush fire in Great Kills Park That is in Staten Island for those who don't know." NY1 is reporting that the fire is pretty large, but no one has been injured. Picture of the fire taken from the elevated F Train......

Overnight...

A bunch of people have written in to ask if the Roosevelt Island Tram is running. The answer is yes-- it is not operated by the MTA (it's run by JWP and overseen by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation.) Some tram info: Each cabin accommodates a capacity of 125 people, makes approximately 115 trips per day, and about 100 on weekends. It glides at approximately 16 miles per hour and travels 3,100 feet. At......

David clued us in to this great set of pictures of the Kentile sign in Gowanus. Check out the slideshow for a "23 Views of South Brooklyn" experience. Sadly, we could only track down one photo of the Eagle Clothes sign on Flickr-- it gets a lot less attention than the Kentile sign because it is harder to see from the F Train as you come in from Manhattan. And for more Gowanus goodness,......

Showcases are pretty standard nowadays, especially in the realm of Off-Off Broadway. The big idea, of course, is for several new playwrights to get together with short plays that are as yet unproduced, split the costs and consolidate the potential audience. In a showcase environment, the plays usually have something in common, and it's frequently thematic. Perhaps they all deal with love, loss, or death. In the case of the new showcase at manhattantheatresource, it's......

Reverend Billy, Street Preacher, The Church of Stop Shopping...

Tonight there's a book release party for G.O.P. D.O.A. by Jay Brida. The book is described as a NYC-based thriller of murder, hypocrisy, and sexual heat set on the eve of the Republican National Convention. When a well-connected ‘escort’ is found murdered on the night before the opening ceremonies, RNC operatives must move fast to cover up a potentially politically fatal secret. A Brooklyn-based political fixer named Flanagan is hired to wade through the pasty......

Stacey Herron, AOL Music...