traffickin', by jonfeinstein at flickr The common rule of thumb is that there are eight or nine rats for every human being in New York City, which means a scurrying verminous population of 64-72 million lurking in walls, below streets, in trash cans, and sometimes in plain sight. Being a rat catcher or, better yet, a rat exterminator is a profession that will never end, and the NY Times spoke to some exterminators about......

For the second time in as many years, the famous Stage Deli in Manhattan was shuttered by the Dept. of Health after inspections found the restaurant infested with vermin. The Times Square institution was last closed in mid-2006 after it accrued too many points during a health inspection (points are for violations and a score above 28 is a failure.) As reported in The New York Times, the DOH inspected the Stage last Wednesday and......

Cats in delis: they are ubiquitous, loved, objected to, necessary, and illegal. City inspectors are constantly on the prowl to ferret out deli felines, but deli owners say they are necessary fixtures to keep their businesses free of pests like mice, rats, and roaches. The New York Times has a story today on the ongoing battle between the city and the cats that are the sentinels of its delis--feline samurai who serve their masters in......

It seems like just yesterday that the Brooklyn Bridge was being blown up by Hollywood. How time flies. I Am Legend, the movie for which this post-apocalyptic craziness occurred, is opening today (get your promotional survivor kit ready!). In the 100 minutes of watching it, you'll meet three main characters: Manhattan, Sam the dog, and Will Smith ("Robert Neville"). The combination is apparently a winning one, as the reviews have been frighteningly positive...it will scare......

Riders were stranded on the platform and in subway cars when a Brooklyn-bound L train stalled under the East River just after 8PM. Reader tokyohanna, who took this photograph of people waiting, wrote at the time, "There is a train stalled between first and Bedford. They stopped trains in both directions. A sea of people is on the platform and we can barely walk." amNew York reports that the train had a mechanical failure close......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a fatal fire on Pennsylvania Ave. in Brooklyn, a train derailment on 41st St. and 1st Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting on East Gunhill Rd. in the Bronx. Anthony Marshall's––Brooke Astor's estranged son––lawyer pleaded not guilty to forgery in the sordid case of her will. BestWeekEver.tv's Michelle Collins manages to compliment Tony Bennett, fling a t-shirt at Nick Lachey, stump Josh Groban on the definition of "Cougars", covet......

Preempt some of the holiday lunacy by scooping up some of these food-oriented gift items. We found five gifts that are perfect for someone who loves to cook or who maybe just appreciates food a bit more than your average eater. All these items are under $50, and all available online. Olive Wood Mortar and Pestle from Sur La Table. Great for making guacamole, pesto or grinding up spices. Also looks lovely on your kitchen......

Forget the new JJ Abrams film about a fictional monster attacking New York...the Mulberry Street monster is a real-life city menace: the rat! Many rats actually, like more rats than they have at Peter Luger and Da Silvano's...combined! The movie, which came out last year, is summarized as follows: "a deadly infection breaks out in Manhattan, causing humans to devolve into blood-thirsty rat creatures. Six recently evicted tenants must survive the night and protect their......

City Councilman Simcha Felder's proposed legislation to fine people $1,000 for feeding pigeons has struck a nerve. Felder and other elected officials claim that pigeons' poop is harmful to New Yorkers and, therefore, various ways to limit pigeons' eating and procreating should be explored. But some pigeon lovers are unhappy with the level of vitriol directed at the city's unofficial bird. Hence the video from Animaniacs, "Goodfeathers" (it's 10 minutes, so settle in to......

Citing the unsightly damage that pigeon poop does to the city, City Council Member Simcha Felder announced a bill proposal to fine people $1000 for feeding pigeons. Some of Felder's key remarks and findings: "Stop feeding pigeons!" "If people like pigeons... feed [them] in your house and let them crap all over the place in your living room." A pigeon creates about 25 pounds of poop annually. "[The pigeons] may go elsewhere. Let them......

The elements that have made City Hall Park so attractive to New York's humans have also made the area hospitable to the city's rodent population--so much so that the park has become overrun with rats, who don't seem to mind people company as much as people mind rat company. Regardless of the time of day or the number of people congregating there, rats--lots and lots of them--have made City Hall park their home. The New......

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......

We've never been all that intrigued by Burning Man, but Limewire has some great photos of the recent annual desert voyage that make it look more appealing than appalling. That's right, someone - actually the Open Planning Project - recreated New York City right there in the Black Rock Desert. It sort of begs the question "why leave New York in the first place?" but you've gotta hand it to them for even including......

This week Inside Edition aired footage of rats in some of New York's more popular restaurants. The statement we received from the program states: "In middle to late August, Inside Edition’s 'Rat Patrol' took to the streets of Manhattan between 1am and 4am peering their cameras and flashlights into the windows of a wide variety of eateries from fast food places to fine dining establishments." In total they found 22 restaurants harboring the urban......

With New York adding Wi-Fi access to the Internet in city parks recently, some New Yorkers must be making use of the coverage in more than the usual way of checking one's email or what's new on Gothamist while one is in the park on a lunch break. The Wall Street Journal Online recently added a video podcast called "Tech Diary" to its site that has journalist Andy Jordan exploring the sometimes-odd intersection of......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: missing children on Lenox Rd. in Brooklyn, shots fired at Columbus Ave. and West 104th St. in Manhattan, and a water rescue at the Stepping Stone Lighthouse off City Island in the Bronx. The chief of a volunteer fire company in the Bronx is scrambling to explain how the firehouse is now broke, after receiving a half-million dollars in donations after 9/11/01. A pair of 15-year-olds will be tried......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a homicide on Melrose Ave. in the Bronx, a lightning strike at 82nd Ave. and 249th St. in Queens, and a hate crime on the walkway of the Williamsburg Bridge. 25-year-old former model and current vice president of the Trump Organization Ivanka Trump was appointed to the board of directors of Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. A recent New York Times column noted that investors in Trump's casinos would have......

With The Sopranos gone, those wishing for a slice of gangster life and a free John Gotti poster can watch out for Mob Candy magazine. Back in May, Radar explained how the magazine came to be during a conversation between editor in chief Tyrone Christopher and publisher Frank DiMatteo and that the first issue would feature "articles on Don Carlo Gambino's legacy, 50 years of rats, FBI vs. Italian Americans, along with current mobster......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian was struck at Neptune Ave. and Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, a shooting on Bivona St. in the Bronx, and a burn victim at East 20th St. and the FDR in Manhattan. An assistant DA for Staten Island is considering possible charges against relatives who may have aided in the fugitive status of Rebekah Johnson, who is accused of attempting to murder a commune leader by shooting him......

Nowadays, when people see rodents at restaurants, they aren't necessarily calling 311 immediately - it seems the first call is to the local news station! A couple strolling by the Upper East Side Pinkberry at 82nd and 2nd Avenue called WABC 7 when they saw mice running around the store at 2:30AM yesterday. WABC 7 observed, "The mice seemed to prefer the counter area. It is just feet from the yogurt machine where the......

Restaurants have been having a relatively difficult time in NYC lately and are striking back in court. There was the trans-fat controversy that had the Board of Health ready to ban the possibly unhealthy oil from use in restaurants, if a suitably tasty replacement could be found. Then there was the rat fiasco, when scores of rats frolicking in a West Village restaurant drew onlookers and news crews, initiating a wide round of restaurant re-inspections......

It's hard enough when a loved one passes away, but reading a story from last week's Village Voice about abuses at a funeral home is absolutely horrifying. The story is one of mutilated, decaying, stolen bodies, as well as lost ashes. The Voice found that Riverton Funeral Home in Harlem had an ugly, ugly history. Riverton opened in 1957 near Harlem Hospital and was eventually shut down (it changed its name to Riverton Funeral Home......

The trial of Peter Braunstein reached another pinnacle of weirdness as some new revelations were made. First, the defense team of the journalist, accused of the sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary and more of a former co-worker at Women's Wear Daily, argued that certain passages from Braunstein's diary - or "personal manifesto," as he called it - shouldn't be read to the jury. The prosecutors, though, wanted to get all the mentions of "serial killer......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a brush fire at 165th Ave. and Crossbay Blvd. in Queens, a stabbing on Bedford Ave. in Brooklyn, and hazardous material reported at 86th and 1st Ave. in Manhattan. A Credit Suisse First Boston banker faces up to 20 years in prison and $14 million in fines after he and a co-conspiritor were arrested for insider trading. Preservationist irony: Brooklyn's epic-sized grain terminal in Red Hook will remain a......

Gothamist became acquainted with Kristen Buckley after reading her book, The Parker Grey Show, which is about a New Yorker who is not only a waitress and aspiring musician, but she also decides to negotiate with her friend's kidnappers. When not writing screenplays (the upcoming Accidental Husband with Uma Thurman; she also co-wrote 102 Dalmatians and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) on the Left Coast, Kristen has been working on a memoir......

David Byrne's foldable Montague mountain bike has been stolen. The avid city biker rode in the 5 Boro Bike Tour last year, commenting: "The organizers close the FDR drive, the BQE, the Belt Parkway and the Verrazano-Narrows bridge on one side — so we get the thrill of riding in the middle of the street, not having to stop at red lights and no worries of the ubiquitous jaywalking peds on suicide missions." This past......

Remember when a filmmaker claimed that a group of lesbians attacked him outside the IFC Center last summer? And it was revealed that the women felt they were defending themselves, with one woman saying, "I admit I did cut him one time for my own safety"? Well, the case has made it to court. Manhattan prosecutors say that Dwayne Buckle was viciously attacked - he was stabbed, punched, and kicked - by Patreese Johnson, Venice......

And we'd subtitle the report "Or How 311 Doesn't Quite Work So Well." If you're looking for a page-turning read, look no further than the Department of Health's report - complete with next steps- on the rats at KFC/Taco Bell incident. Yesterday, Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said, "Our restaurant program performs well overall, but in this instance there were failings of personnel, policy and practice." Well, that's an understatement. The DOH detailed the rat......

Adam Rapp’s play Essential Self-Defense takes place in a Midwestern anytown where children have been steadily disappearing. In this self-described “grim fairy tale”, there are no clues to indicate the culprit; the townspeople (Klieg the butcher, Chuck the barber, Isaak the Russian custodian, Sorrell the punk librarian) are all eccentric but not particularly sinister. Rapp, to his credit, isn’t interested in whodunits; his focus here is the awkward courtship between the diminutive Sadie (brought to......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: truck vs. building near the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn, stabbing at Coney Island Hospital, and a missing child in LES. Ronnell Wilson, the Staten Island man who killed two undercover cops, was formally sentenced to death today If you live in Fort Greene/Bed-Stuy, or points east, looks like the next five weekends are going to suck pretty hard: the A and C are both being shut down, and replaced......