If only all crimes were this easy to solve. Last Friday, a woman robbed a North Fork Bank at 71st Street and New Utrecht Avenue in Dyker Heights. Now the police say she returned to the scene of the crime and returned the money yesterday. WNBC reports that apparently 48-year-old Catherine Kaczazanowski, who initially robbed the branch by passing a note to the teller, had a change of heart. Kaczazanowski gave most of the money......

Last Friday some shopped til they dropped, while others stopped shopping alltogether. Both groups saved money, and incase you were one of the ones who did so by abstaining from the almighty sale, check out what you "missed": While the lines were long, it's being reported that sales were down. Seems a lot of people didn't want to leave home and did their shopping online. Video via Glenn Gabel.......

Barry Manilow, who is out promoting his Greatest Songs of the Seventies, has refused to share a stage with Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who was barely walking in the 70s. The crooner left a little message on his website yesterday for his fans letting them know he wouldn't be on The View today, saying "I had made a request that I be interviewed by Joy, Barbara or Whoopi, but not Elisabeth Hasselback. Unfortunately, the show was not......

Alley Pond Park, the second biggest park in Queens, has a new attraction: The biggest adventure ropes course in the Northeast. Last Friday, the Park Department opened up the Alley Pond Park Adventure Course, which has zip lines, a climbing wall, webs, swings, trust falls, and balance boards.The course consists of 20 high and low elements that can be both physically and emotionally challenging and also encourages a connection with nature. The low elements take......

Food writing has changed a lot in the last few years. Its focus has shifted to an almost philosophical arena where any recipe can be dissected for the broader, global meaning of its constituent ingredients. The source of every carrot or celery stalk we eat is inexorably combined with issues of nutrition and environmental sustainability. It’s the Omnivore’s Dilemma effect - people are suddenly grappling with the repercussions of a country that runs on......

Thirteen-year-old Bramdon Ragnot was found in a Brooklyn alley, shot in the head, yesterday afternoon. He was discovered around 5PM by a Marine Park neighbor who told the Daily News, "I didn't know he was shot. I thought he was just beat up. I said, 'I know it hurts, but keep your eyes open.'" Another neighbor told the Post that a teen had asked to use a phone after the shooting, "He banged on my......

Staten Island is not having a good week. In addition to the outrage over the weird ad copy appearing in part of a Virgin Mobile campaign, the borough’s president has also called for an ice cream boycott. Last Friday, a perturbed James P. Molinaro wrote a letter to Scott and Kim Myles, husband and wife co-owners of the Queens-based 5 Boroughs Ice Cream company. Someone had shown Molinaro a copy of a flyer printed off......

Last Friday's Critical Mass with the NYPD's new parade rules (groups of 50 or more must apply for permits) certainly got many of you commenting. For those of you who didn't participate in the ride or see it unfold, our videographer Kelly Loudenberg filed this video. She was even riding in the pedicab with City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez! MySpace Polls - Take Our Poll More coverage from indymedia and the Village Voice.......

After the tragic murder of Natasha Ramen last week, questions were raised about the conduct of the Brooklyn DA's office. Last Friday, Ramen's throat was slashed, allegedly by Hemant Megnath in an attempt to prevent her from testifying that he had raped her. Megnath had previously harassed and threatened Ramen and her family to the point that they told the police in Queens. Yesterday, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes admitted that his office failed to......

The fall out from restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow's full page NY Times ad complaining about Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni continues, much to the delight of foodies, critics of restaurant critics, and mental health professionals. Last Friday, former Times food critic Mimi Sheraton wrote in Slate that Chodorow was an "idiot" to run an ad, given "the added exposure of the negative review to so many who may never have read the original." And then the......

Pela Rocks the Merc, V-Mars Last Friday night, after snagging a standby ticket to the Arcade Fire proved impossible, the second best place to be was at the Mercury Lounge for the sold out headlining set by one of the most promising local bands we've got in this here town, Pela. We got in right before the band started up and are pleased to say that they continue to live up to every expectation......

Girl Talk get it right Last Friday, crowds packed into Studio B to see the NYC return of laptop mashup extraordinaire Girl Talk deliver his most satisfying local set to date. 90 minutes of ADD jamz that kept the capacity crowd moving the entire time. This might sound odd, the best parts of a Girl Talk set are the mixes that don't work perfectly. They're few and far between, but sometimes two songs just don't......

The Wrens Play for Planned Parenthood, The Knit Gets a Makeover Last Friday The Wrens headlined a benefit show for Planned Parenthood, celebrating the 34th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. The band played their usual Meadowlands-heavy mix of old songs, and made an announcement that it would more than likely be their final show supporting their now nearly 4 year old album. They will be working on putting together something new this summer.......

Last Friday we announced that White Rabbits are playing our next Movable Hype show. Now we'd like to introduce you to another band playing the show: Ford & Fitzroy. Listen: The Weatherman's Refrain.mp3 (more at MySpace) While this band is newer to the scene, it sounds like they've been around the sonic block a few times (one of them did play with his old band Asobi Seksu at our first ever Movable Hype). We're really......

Last Friday, bicyclist Lawrence Yoo was hit by a bus at Ninth Avenue and 39th Street and suffered serious injuries. His family was contacted about the incident not by the police but by hospital staff. They also found the police's "incident report" - in Yoo's mangled medical bag. Yoo's family sent out a press release over the weekend complaining about the lack of police help (once Yoo's breathing tube was removed, he was able to......

Last Sunday, the Daily News had a story with the graphic, "says it all" headline: Baby dead in bucket of vomit. Last Friday night, before going to sleep with her three month old baby next to her, a young mother left a bucket next to her bed because she wasn't feeling well. She threw up in the middle of the night, and the next day, she discovered her baby daugher in the bucket - apparently......

The Post reports that crime along the "club row" of West 27th Street has jumped since last year. With the bouncer shooting club patrons incident on West 22nd Street in May and last week's murder of a NJ teen who had been clubbing on West 27th, there's a lot of attention on the nightlife ways of Chelsea. In July alone, there was a 58% increase in assaults inside or right outside clubs, and 200 summons......

- Last Friday we got a reminder from the Straphangers Campaign to email or fax questions to MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow as he'll be answering questions from the public in the Daily News (email AskKalikow@nydailynews.com or fax 212-643-783). We doubt our suggested question of "Why are you such a terrible leader who demoralizes not just the unions, but riders as well with your poor decisions?" or "Are you deliberately trying to sabotage the MTA's......

After a long week, there's something nice about a Friday night at home. But being social creatures, we sometimes like to have company over for our nights in. Often tired to cook, we tend to turn to our trusty pile of takeout menus, but there's another option -- the roast chicken. The trick is to find a place along your commute home that makes juicy, tender rotisserie chickens. Our local favorite is Pio Maya, a......

Last Friday, a token booth worker-turned-"subway station agent" was attacked by a rider. Newsday reports: The unidentified customer was unable to use his MetroCard and asked the clerk, Donald Bucco, to open the gate. After Bucco refused and looked for police, the passenger became enraged and elbowed Bucco in the face, causing him to fall backward into the gate railing. The assailant entered and fled.And this happened at 6:15PM - where there must have been......

The first hints of summer still make us think of final exams as much as ice cream and sundresses. Lingering anxiety would have us believe that before you give in to sunnier amusements, you must put your intellect through its paces (the better to enjoy afternoons spent snoozing in the park with a copy of the Styles section spread over your face). Whether this is true or we’re just neurotic, there has been some lively......

Last Friday's Critical Mass bike ride resulted in over a thousand bike riders and 33 arrests. Naturally, the riders are saying the police weer "hostile" and overzealous. Things were fine when riders rode together in a huge cycling mass, but police starting to arrest riders that "spontaneously broke up into smaller packs." A Times Up/Critical Mass organizer who was arrested told reporters, "There was an air of intimidation. There was a van projecting a recorded......

Last Friday's death of a contractor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was ruled an accident. The ME's office said the 60 foot fall from the glass ceiling that Marcin Kielar had been waterproofing was the cause of his death; other sources say Kielar was not wearing a safety harness. The Post, which used "Temple of Doom" as their headline, noted that there are "catwalks and rigging" for workers to maintain the area and that......

Last Friday, 43 year-old Susan Pogolowitz committed suicide by falling off a Chelsea building. She had a history of mental illness depression and had been living with her aunt, photographer Flo Fox. Fox, who is legally blind, took photographs of her niece's body, but there are conflicting reports of whether or not Fox knew that it was her niece. The Post says that Fox had a suspicion the woman who jumped off her buliding (Fox......

Last Friday was the deadline for teams in the NBA (except for the Pistons and Lakers) to turn in their list of unprotected players that will be made available for the expansion Charlotte Bobcats during the expansion draft. Charlotte will form the core of their new team during the draft, to be held on June 22, assuming the NBA Finals do not reach a seventh game. In that case the draft will be held on......