Even while targeted in the Troopergate scandal, State Senate leader Joseph Bruno was living in high style. The New York Sun is reporting that Bruno enjoyed a 3,500 square foot, two-story penthouse suite at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, just weeks before the legislature selected the hotel chain to construct a luxury hotel in Albany.On November 30, the nine-member board of the Albany Convention Center Authority, which includes a member appointed by Mr.......

The three police officers facing trial for the November 2006 shooting of an unarmed man are requesting to their trial moved from Queens. Lawyers for Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora, and Marc Cooper claim they won't be able to get a fair trial in Queens, blaming media attention for "incurably poison[ing]" any potential jury pool. On November 25, 2006, Sean Bell was having a bachelor party with friends on the eve of his wedding. When he......

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development has compiled a list of the city's 200 most poorly maintained buildings and has told the owners they must be repaired in 4 months. Or else, the NY Times reports, the city will be able to overhaul them and force the owners to pay. On November 11, a Local Law No. 29, the Alternative Enforcement Program, went into affect to help the HPD to "enforce the correction of......

The police arrested a man for the killing of a poker player during a robbery earlier this month. On November 2, a group of robbers held up a secret poker club in an office building at Fifth Avenue and 28th Street. During the chaos, one of the robbers "accidentally" fired a gun, killing Frank DeSena (pictured), a math teacher at the Steven Institute of Technology in NJ. The robbers were wearing masks, making the police......

Yesterday, people gathered for the sixth anniversary of the fatal American Airlines Flight 587 crash in Belle Harbor, Queens. It was the second deadlist aviation crash in U.S. history, with 265 victims. Mayor Bloomberg led the ceremony, saying, "Once again, we have come together to remember all of them, and to share the sorrow that all of us feel." On November 12, 2001, the Dominican Republic-bound plane had taken off from JFK Airport; turbulent air......

Ten years ago today, Camden Sylvia and Michael Sullivan left their rent-stabilized loft in downtown Manhattan, went for a jog, rented a video and were never seen again. Today, the Daily News revisits the mystery and speaks to Sylvia's mother. Laurie Sylvia says, "I want to know what happened. Each year that goes by I think, maybe this year. I never imagined I would be doing that for 10 years." Sylvia, then 36, and Sullivan,......

On November 23, 1990 a bouncer outside of the Palladium nightclub (now an NYU dorm on 14th St.) was shot and killed when a fistfight escalated to gunplay. A year later, David Lemus and Olmedo Hidalgo were convicted of the killing and sent to prison, despite their defense that they were not even at the Palladium that night. Hidalgo's conviction was later overturned and Lemus was released from prison after 14 years, only to face......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a jumper up on Hicks Street in Brooklyn Heights, a stabbing in Harlem, and an airplane fire on taxi-way B at Laguardia. Chung Chu has put together a cool set of 3D images of NYC-- but you'll need those red-blue glasses to check them out. The Times has a short piece and a moving gallery of photos of the Ghost Bike project: "According to the Department of Transportation, 109......

"Last year Elton John declared that Rufus Wainwright was the greatest songwriter on the planet. Quite a profound statement from the king of pop himself. This was presumably based on hearing 2004's Want One, followed earlier this year by the groundbreaking opus, Want Two." Elly Roberts goes on to say that Wainwright's recent show at The Lowry was "An epic night, and a high watermark of a musician on top of his game, who......

On Sundays, Gothamist publishes opinion pieces on issues relevant to life in NYC. Here's one: This time last year, all I wanted was for everyone to vote. Everything I did revolved around electoral politics, because, like many of my peers, I just wanted W out of the White House. I preached that the only way this country could have a true representative of the people was if everyone voted. When I overheard my neighbors on......

Yesterday afternoon, the Franklin Avenue shuttle derailed at Flatbush Avenue and Empire Boulevard, knocking some passengers out of their seats. Riders escaped serious injury but had to be evacuated as authorities investigated the trains. One early hypothesis is that signal problems caused the derailment - damn those signals! The Franklin Avenue shuttle is only two cars long and is conductorless, leading the NYC Transit to try to reassure people by saying, "All these shuttles are......

On November 12, 2001, as New York was still reeling from 9/11, American Airlines Flight 587 to the Dominican Republic took off and then crashed into the Rockaways. The crash killed all 260 people aboard the plane and five people on the ground. Yesterday, nearly four years later, the city released six proposals for a memorial. The proposals were selected out of 68 that were submitted. Two things about the memorial are certain: it......

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is up, and thus begins the semi-official start of the holiday season and throngs and throngs of tourists - from far away and near - to Midtown. On November 16, next Tuesday, a special Swarovski-designed star will be topping the tree, and the official tree lighting ceremony is on November 30. Think 30,000 lights being put on by a dozen electricians! You have some time to build up your strength......

If you're anything like Gothamist, there are dozens of restaurants in the city that you're dying to try, but you can never seem to get around to actually trying all of them. That's one of the reasons we love tasting events, and we particularly like them when they're for a good cause. On November 8th, New York Magazine is hosting A Taste of New York at the Puck Building to benefit City Harvest. And although......

Hello, everybody. We've had a couple of exciting months, launching SFist and DCist as well as growing our staff, and have a busy fall/winter planned as well: - On September 30, there will be a second New York City Photobloggers event. Hosted by Rion and Jake, the evening's speakers include Eliot, David, Mike and many others. The action will begin at 6PM at the SoHo Apple Store. - On November 16, Gothamist will have its......