Alycia Lane, the Philadelphia newswoman who punched a female NYPD police officer, was relieved after appearing at Manhattan Criminal Court today. The Manhattan DA's office basically dismissed her case, for an "adjournment in contemplation of dismissal." Prosecutors said the female cop's injuries "were not serious enough" to support the felony assault charge, so charges were reduced to obstruction of governmental administration and harassment. Lane, who allegedly called the cop a "dyke bitch" during a run-in......

Barbecue and sushi aren’t the first two cuisines you'd expect to find cohabitating under one roof. Leave it to Jim Goldman, a.k.a Brother Jimmy, to open Lucky Mojo, which features that oddball pairing – plus Tex-Mex and New Orleans fare. An eclectic, highly uneven menu isn’t the only challenge this new Long Island City spot faces. Lucky Mojo’s space has been afflicted with bad juju of late. In the ’90s it was home to the......

Bumper to Bumper on the Belt Parkway, by AllWaysNY at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: someone fell three floors from a fire escape on Leland Ave. in the Bronx, a pedestrian struck on Delancey and Eldridge Sts. in Manhattan, and a homicide on Edison and Randall Aves. in the Bronx. Nassau County cops searched a Syosset, Long Island home yesterday to find a menagerie of animals living admidst filth. Dozens of dogs and......

With Mayor Bloomberg up in Albany deriding Gov. Spitzer for bilking the city out of $500 million in promised funding, it's no wonder that the perennial call for secession has arisen. Every time NY State politics gets heated, we get to rehash the economics of NYC declaring itself independent from the state. During his NYC budget speech last week, Bloomberg pointed out (again) how NYC pays more than $11 billion in state taxes it doesn't......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Richmond Ave. on Staten Island, an injured corrections officer at Rikers Island in the Bronx, and a gas leak on East 68th St. in Manhattan. Chris Booker, the NY radio DJ boyfriend of Philly news personality Alycia Lane who allegedly punched a female NYPD police officer after calling her a dyke, says that she's being singled out because "[she's] a babe." Or it's because she......

Yesterday's Knicks practice was cancelled so that the entire team could attend the funeral for Don Marbury, father of Knicks captain Stephon Marbury. Don Marbury died during the Knicks' Sunday night game. Despite being a team often criticized for lacking chemistry, they all stood together at the Coney Island Gospel Assembly on Neptune Ave. to support their point guard during his difficult time. Malik Rose spoke on behalf of the team to the 600-plus......

The Giants head into Week 14 with a remote chance to clinch a playoff spot, but a win over their hated-rivals would be reward enough at this point. Coming off of a great win against Chicago, Eli Manning will hopefully show some confidence and the defense, while unsure if they can duplicate their previous effort, dominated the Eagles the last time they met. Beating Philadelphia means containing Brian Westbrook. Westbrook didn’t play the first time......

WWOR/channel 9 got a wake-up call that it's supposed to be a New Jersey TV station when the FCC held a hearing about the station's license renewal. Critics say the station's license shouldn't be renewed because it has failed to discuss NJ news and issues. The station, owned by News Corporation whose local media holdings include WNYW/Channel 5 and the NY Post, was moved to NJ in 1986 due to FCC law that each state......

It took all of 45 seconds on Sunday to tell you that the Giants were in trouble. Lawrence Tynes sent the opening kickoff out of bounds and Minnesota scored on a 60-yard bomb on their second play of the game. It was a harbinger of things to come as Minnesota thrashed the Giants 41-17 on Sunday. You can blame the entire team for this one, but the quarterback deserves special consideration. Eli Manning was terrible......

FAIR: Attention vinyl junkies! WFMU is hosting their Record Fair starting this eve and running throughout the weekend. "Hundreds of dealers specializing in the out sounds that WFMU is adored for delivering year round will gather for three days of merciless hawking o' the wax, and thousands of area music geeks are already trembling with nervous anticipation!" There will also be live performances this year, check out more details here. Friday, 7pm to 10pm and......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a child shot on Kingsborough Walk in Brooklyn, a person under a train at Kingston Ave. and Lincoln Pl. in Brooklyn, and a pedestrian struck at 12th St. and 8th Ave. in Manhattan. John Mayer performed an impromptu set at the Mercury Lounge to the surprise of attendees last night. John Galt Corp., the contractor doing the demolition work at the Deutsche Bank Building where two firefighters were killed,......

This year's Zagat NYC guide is out on the streets today. The familiar burgundy book is still a staple to many searching for the top food in the city, although many argue that the voting process leads to inconsistent results. That said, here are the numbers, the highlights, and the rest:This year's edition covers 2069 restaurants and compiles results from over 34,000 surveys. Gordon Ramsay knocks one over the fence with the top newcomer, earning......

Reuters is reporting that today New York was named "the U.S. city most vulnerable to a rat attack as warmer weather and aging infrastructure fuels rodent populations across the United States." At least we don't have to worry about earthquakes (yet)? Rodent management consultants Dale Kaukeinen and Bruce Colvin (self nicknamed the "rat pack") have determined this by assessing the rat problem in different areas. They look at 14 risks factors, including: age of......

It took the Mets a little more than two weeks, but they've somehow managed to squander a seven-game lead in the National League East. Since September 12th, the lead has slowly gotten smaller and is now zero, zilch, zip, nadda, nil. With three games left in the regular season, the Mets are tied with the Phillies for first in the NL East. The last time the Mets weren't in sole possession of first place......

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market......

There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and......

Meow! The Post reports that a Long Island man is suing a West Village bodega Andy's Deli at Seventh and Grove Street because the bodega's cat attacked him - and wants $5 million. However, Andy's Deli owner Andy Singh says he doesn't even own a cat. Dunh dunh DUNH! The claim: Adalberto DeSousa says he went to Andy's to buy a sandwich when he "felt something strange on my shoes." It was a kitty at......

Last Monday was one of those sweltering August days, which is why Gothamist was quite glad to kick off the evening at Kyotofu with the house cocktail, a refreshing combination of sesame shochu and raspberry. Refreshing as the cocktails were, we must admit that's not what drew us to Kyotofu that night. We were there to drink (and talk) sake. The Hell's Kitchen dessert spot was host to a tasting of sakes from Yamagata Prefecture's......

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. The deaths of two firefighters shook Bostonist this week. Boston's firefighters bent over backwards all week long - first, they fought flames pouring from the Boston Tea Party museum, and then a restaurant fire killed two and injured many more. Their efforts make everything else - like Tom......

MOVIE: The 2006 Clark Kent hit the big screen in Superman Returns. Tonight catch the superhero do his thing all over again at the River Flicks outdoor film series. Free popcorn, free film and a nice cold summer breeze. Bring a blanket! Sunset // Hudson River Park, Pier 54 // Free MUSIC:The XYZ Affair has pretty much pounded their new song into our heads via a video starring old Nickelodeon "stars" we don't recognize. Tonight,......

Johnny Utah's -- Nothing says classy like a mechanical bull and an enormous bourbon selection. Marlon Manton, formerly of Blue Smoke, will be serving up twists on Tex-Mex, including Texas brisket with red-eye gravy, and smoked chorizo with pickled okra. 25 West 51st Street, (212) 265-8824. Noble Food and Wine - Talk about taking your wine seriously -- these guys have a high-tech wine preservation system allowing them to pour eight different bottles by the......

MOVIES: It's a perfect night to head to the movies. Get a double-feature in at the MoMA with Fabricating Tom Zé followed by David Cronenberg's Crash. Let's focus on the former film. Tom Zé (pictured) is a Brazilian songwriter and composer and this documentary (filmed during a 2005 European tour) charts his "personal universe". Zé is an "uncompromising and inspired artist...seen by many (including David Byrne and Arto Lindsay) as revitalizing the ever-evolving Tropicalia movement.......

The New York Times takes a look at Rafael Martínez Alequin, who is the publisher of a small independent newspaper and recent evictee from the Blue Room, the room where press conferences are held in City Hall. According to the Times, Martinez Alequin has been antagonizing public officials for years with his questions: Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani once called him a “jerk” and an “embarrassment,” and City Council Speaker Gifford Miller asked him in 2005,......

In case you need a warm up for the Big Apple BBQ Block Party this weekend, newest NYC 'cue joint Hill Country NYC is scheduled to open on Friday, June 8th. The product of a collaboration between Robbie Richter, the man behind BBQ-NYC (pictured above with his brisket) and partner Marc Glosserman, Hill Country NYC aims to give diners the experience of Texas Hill Country barbecue without ever leaving Manhattan. Off the Broiler gives a......

What does the future of the Fulton Street Mall look like? If the Bloomberg administration and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership have their way, it'll look less gritty and more like Herald Square and Bryant Park in Manhattan. The Post has details on the city's $18 million investment to re-make the Fulton Street and Albee Square mall areas nicer. The Fulton Street mall will get the new bus shelters and benches, with more "lighting and trees," while......

We caught Pete and J earlier this year at the Living Room and their sound fit and filled the space perfectly. They put their own twist on folk rock that you can check out this Saturday when they play the venue again. But first, get to know your friendly neighborhood troubadours... How did Pete and J become Pete and J, did you ever play solo prior to becoming a band? We were birthed as one......

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist's London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with......

38-year-old New Yorker Larry Smith has parlayed his extensive magazine experience (Yahoo! Internet Life, P.O.V., ESPN, Might) to create the online magazine that's not only named after him, it represents his vision for the future of populist storytelling: SMITH. Launched on January 6, 2006 (National Smith Day), the site features everything from photo essays to diaries, memoirs, interviews, blogs, and reader-generated content. The site has also spawned two book deals: one for its first webcomic,......

With all that went down this week, we thought we thought we'd cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions this week at DCist. Like the rest of country, we were floored by the news of so many dead coming out of Virginia Tech, and with so many of the victims and their relatives from the D.C. area, we felt it important to pay......

With their future stadium as the backdrop, the Mets took on the "team to beat in the NL East." Those were the words of Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins in January, words that he would eat in the Mets 11-5 win Monday afternoon. John Maine lacked control in his second start of the season, loading the bases in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings. Maine was removed after 4 2/3 innings of work. The Phillies......