The NYPD's recruiting woes appear to be continuing through 2008, with a sharp drop-off in the number of candidates applying to sit for the Police Officer Exam, which is the first step to qualifying to enter the Police Academy. According to the New York Post, the number of test takers is down 20% from number of people who took the exam at the same time last year. "Slightly fewer than 20,000 have applied for the......

A sparkling new 700-pound ball, tons of confetti, and over a million people helped ring in the New Year from Times Square last night/early today. Mayor Bloomberg and police Police Academy valedictorian Karolina Wierzchowska, who also served in the Iraq War, hit the switch that brought the famous Times Square New Year's ball down. The Daily News called it a "shimmering pole dance," and it was the 100th time Times Square has had a......

And by "you," we mean New York's Finest. Reader Graham tipped us off to a empty storefront at Grand and Crosby that has been wrapped in this Albuquerque Police Department recruiting ad; he sent the picture and said, "It pretty much speaks for itself." Sure does - it tells us there was no empty ad space right across from 1 Police Plaza. The Patrolman's Benevolent Association has been complaining about low police pay (new......

Police officer Sonia Garcia was found dead in the Bay Shore, Long Island home she shared with fellow NYPD officer Alexis Chaparro. Chaparro, an instructor at the POlice Academy, told the police he heard a shot and found Garcia, who worked at the 77th Precinct in Brooklyn, in their bedroom early in the morning. He called 911 at about 5:15AM. Chaparro was led out of the house in handcuffs, and Suffolk police questioned Chaparro for......

About 14% of new police recruits have dropped out of the latest Police Academy class of over 1,000 recruits, and some are worried that the city's crimefighting programs will be hurt. Notably, "Operation Impact," which Police Commissioner Ray Kelly credit withs helping decrease crime by 25-30% by concentrating cops in those "impact areas" may be without more police officers. Kelly blames the attrition partly on the low starting salary of $25,100. Indeed, many police recruits......

A jury convicted 15-year NYPD veteran Alberto Sanchez of beating his subordinate and girlfriend in Manhattan last year. Sharon Gandarilla had accused Sanchez of punching and kicking her on Bleecker Street after she had spoken to another male officer at a party. Sanchez and Gandarilla, who were in other relationships at the time, had been having a consensual relationship that started at a Harlem Precinct and continued when Sanchez, and then Gandarilla, transferred to the......

Yesterday, a police officer testified that her police captain boyfriend viciously beat her. Sharon Gandarilla, who was married to another man at the time of the affair, had filed a sexual-harassment suit earlier this month, alleging that 17-year NYPD veteran Alberto Sanchez had assaulted her multiple times during they three-year affair. She also claimed that Sanchez forced her to have sex at their East Harlem precinct house and at the Police Academy, where he was......

Yesterday afternoon, 1,097 police cadets graduated from the Police Academy in a ceremony at Madison Square Garden. The Mayor said, "Just a few weeks ago, the FBI reported that violent crime went up in the rest of the nation during 2006, but here in New York violent crime decreased. The NYPD has continued to drive violent crime and property crime down to historic lows this year - and year after year. Today we welcome 1,097......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting at 178th Pl. in Queens, a bank robbery at White Plains Rd. in the Bronx, and a homicide on West 157th St. and Broadway in Manhattan, and a water rescue off 88th St. near Gracie Mansion.. The suspected killer of FDNY Chief Ray Downey's nephew, who was tracked to California, killed himself yesterday when cornered by cops. East River State Park opened today. Be one of the......

Gutenberg! The Musical! may not have been about the Police Academy star, but tonight's installment of Inside Joke is. But before The Gute heads off to The UCB Theater to discuss the art of comedy, he sat down with Gothamist to discuss what he's hiding from TMZ. You do quite a bit of work with the homeless and foster children. What attracted you to these two causes? Years ago, I got involved with helping......

The recent $10,000 bump in rookie firefighters' pay is probably a hot topic of conversation at Cosmo's Diner on 23rd St. That's where police recruits often gather before and after their days at the police academy in Gramercy. The new contract between the FDNY and the City leaves new members of the NYPD in the dust, earning only an annual salary of $25,100 during their first six months of duty. Once officers graduate from the......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A shooting in Brooklyn, a power outage in Queens, and scaffolding that fell on the 5 tracks - subway service on the 2 and 5 is messed up! A Bronx man pleaded guilty to terror plotting; Tarik Shah will serve no more than 15 years for offering to teach Al Qaeda operatives "how to wage jihad with hand-to-hand combat" New lawsuit to stop the Atlantic Yards lawsuit, on the......

A driver, either "emotionally disturbed" or simply drunk, caused a crazy, violent scene yesterday in Ozone Park, Queens. Fifty-year-old Joseph Leonardi had been driving the wrong way on 83rd Street, when his car "hopped onto the sidewalk," according to the Sun. The car was headed towards Sister Hannah Marie Cox, but a Good Samaritan Juan Valez pushed her away and the Buick hit a tree and a building. Leonardi got out of car and ran......

There's always some sort of trouble in West Chelsea. Last night, two off-duty police officers were assaulted by a group around 4AM. Officers Richard Lomax and Robert DeFazio, friends who both graduated from the Police Academy last year, were in a Ford Explorer that apparently slid on ice at West 28th Street and 10th Avenue. They rear-ended a Nissan Maxima, whose driver and passengers were not happy: Lomax, who was driving, and DeFazio got out......

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly heralded the new group of police officers to graduate from the Police Academy. And this was the most diverse class. Here are some stats from the city:Of today's graduates, approximately 28% of the graduates are Hispanic, 17% are black, 8% are Asian, 1% are other ethnicities, and 46% are white. Approximately 18% of the graduates are female. Among today's class, 23% have received four-year college degrees; 17% have......

The Suffolk County DA's office believes that the NYPD cadet who plotted to kill his girlfriend may have wanted to prevent her from telling anyone about his "shady past." Kabeer Din, a Long Island resident who is being held on $1.5 million bond/$150,000 cash bail, had just started the city's police academy after some time with Baltimore's police department when the NYPD's Internal Affairs found out that Din was looking for a hit man. When......

Bridezillas are bad, but this wanna-be groom takes the cake. Recent Police Academy recruit Kabeer Din tried to hire a hit man to kill his girlfriend. Din, who transferred to NYC after recently graduating from Baltimore's police academy, wanted to get married sooner while the girlfriend wanted to wait. The scheme was revealed when Din asked for help in finding a killer - the man he asked to help set him up with a hit......

The Post blew its wad too early with yesterday's cover story, "NYPD JEW," ab out the city's first Hasid joining the Police Academy. Why? It turns out that Joel Witriol didn't have enough academic credits to be accepted. Naturally, the Daily News loves pointing that out, as well as the fact the NYPD has hired Orthodox Jews in the past (but were they Hasidic?). Anyway, the Post notes the credit snafu and has a quote......

The Post delights in finding Police Academy cadet, Joel Witriol, and devotes a cover story to the NYPD's first Hasidic cop. What's interesting is that Witriol, a 24 year old from Williamsburg who studied at United Talmudical Seminary, became interested in joining the force after being on the NYPD's Auxillary Police Force. Regular citizens (without convictions or arrest records, of course) can patrol their neighborhoods, parade, subway entranges - even do traffic patrol - to......

Last night was an unfortunate one for drivers. Not that there aren't a lot of accidents all the time sadly, but the early hours had some particularly upsetting stories: - Around 11:20 p.m. a drunk driver mowed down a pedestrian, a light pole, a mailbox and just missed another couple of pedestrians on Fifth Avenue near 30th. The pedestrian was in critical condition as of this morning. - Around 3:30 a.m., a young man......

If it's a cold weather month, it must be time to ponder the ethical behavior of Bernard Kerik! The former police commissioner is being accused of accepting gifts from a family with mob ties. While Kerik didn't accept cash wrapped in a box and tied with a ribbon, apparently a construction company did $200,000 of renovations to his Bronx apartment for just $17,000. Man, if that's what you get when you're the head of NYC......

- New York is the only city in the country (with a population of 1 million plus) to record an increase in the poverty rate... expect Mayor Bloomberg to refute the Census' figures somehow, as that totally screws with his re-election platform - The NYPD flunks 42 police cadets from the Police Academy, leaving 42 people who will not have to endure Steven Guttenberg and Michael Winslow jokes anymore - The NY Press looks at......

You know it's the Oscars when P. Diddy busts out the velvet suit! Gothamist loves the Oscars, and we're going to attempt to do a little liveblogging. We might need to order a vat of caffeine and an EMT team at the ready; not because Chris Rock will be boring, but because we think that Gil Cates might kill us with his newfangled ideas and because we're meh about this year's nominees in the big......

Right on the heels of the latest class of NYPD cadets graduating, it seems that Warner Bros. is bringing back the Police Academy franchise. According to the Hollywood Reporter, series creator Paul Maslansky said, "I felt it was time to start again. I saw that 'Starsky & Hutch' and a number of other revivals were doing really well. 'Police Academy' has such a great history. I thought, 'Why not?'" Gothamist isn't totally sure of the......

Gothamist is always interested in New York crime stories, and yesterday's discovery of pipe bombs in Brooklyn Heights makes for a truly confusing case. Take a look at the details and post your hypothesis in comments. The opening of the Times article gives a sense of the strange intrigue: Nearly two years ago, a 64-year-old military buff was arrested on charges that he set off a pipe bomb at a Brooklyn Heights party thrown for......