Suffolk County on Long Island has become the first place in New York State where it's illegal to send text messages while operating a motor vehicle. Effective immediately, drivers spotted fiddling with their cell phones will face a $150 fine. Similar legislation has been passed in Nassau and Westchester counties but has not gone into effect, and a statewide law is still tied up in the legislature. In August, New York City Councilman David Weprin......

There was no brother's keeper in this Central Islip house: According to Newsday, a 14-year-old boy "stole his brother's car, took his friends for a ride around the block and slammed into a fire hydrant yesterday afternoon." And then the car exploded into flames. Two of the young passengers were taken to the hospital, while the 13-year-old in the front passenger ran away from the scene. The underage driver was taken to the hospital, treated,......

Suffolk County police are trying to find the driver who apparently chased a man into traffic early yesterday morning. Timothy Broderick, 42, was hit by a car driven by 19-year-old Christopher Martinez on Route 25 and Depot Road in Huntington Station. Police say Broderick was chased onto the road by a silver Dodge pickup. Martinez was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of drugs, but police say he had nothing to do with......

Just as the NYPD announced that it would distribute more Tasers as a non-lethal alternative to firearms, a Brooklyn man was killed by a Long Island police officer when he was Tasered. Suffolk County police said that the 26-year-old Tony Bradway died after being shocked twice by an officer's Taser, as the deceased was attempting to swallow a bag of cocaine. According to the police, the Southampton police were at a house for another matter......

During his testimony for the defense, a former Suffolk County medical examiner said 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown was not killed by child abuse syndrome but by a single blow. In spite of her malnourished state and various injuries battering her body, Dr. Charles Wetli said, "If you take away the head injury from this child, there is no reason that the child should have died in that time and place." The NYC Medical Examiner's office said......

With Martin Tankleff's recent release (after 17 years behind bars) and the appointment of none other than New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as a special prosecutor in the murder investigation, there's more attention paid to who may or may not have been responsible for the murder of Seymour Tankleff and his wife Arlene in 1988. At the time, prosecutors pegged the cold-blooded killing on their 17-year-old son Martin, claiming that the distraught......

An explosion in a Long Island man's basement damaged sheet rock and spread broken glass while shredding a soft cooler Saturday evening, causing Long Island emergency personnel to respond in force. The bomb scare was the result of a show-and-tell gone awry. Francisco Lopes is a researcher at Stony Brook University, who said that he brought home some pieces of dry ice in a sealed glass jar to show his daughter. He left the container......

The Reverend Al Sharpton organized a rally of about 400 people outside the Suffolk County courthouse to protest the conviction of a black homeower in a white teen's death. They chanted, "Step down, DA, step down, DA" as well as "Free John White! Free John White!" John White was found guiltyof manslaughter for shooting a teenager, Daniel Cicciaro Jr., in the summer of 2006. White claimed he felt threatened when he saw Cicciaro and......

Yesterday, the Suffolk District Attorney's office announced that Martin Tankleff would not face a new trial for the 1988 murder of his parents. Tankleff was found guilty of the murders in 1990 and served about 17 years in prison. When Seymour and Arlene Tankleff were found beaten and stabbed in their home in Belle Terre on Long Island, suspicion focused on 17-year-old Martin. As Newsday reports, "Tricked into believing his father had awakened and accused......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on 1st Ave. in Manhattan, a possible abduction at 183rd St. and Webster Ave. in the Bronx, and a homicide on Cedarcroft Rd. and Home St. in Queens. A student at Stony Brook University was arrested for falsely reporting to police that he had been robbed at knife point on the Suffolk County school's campus. The newborn found by skateboarding teens on a Queens dumpster has......

When a deal is too good to be true, remember, it might not be true - that it might be a nightmare. On Long Island, there have been two incidents where people are enticed by a Craigslist ad selling a Porsche, only for "sellers" to beat up and attempt to rob the potential buyers. Newsday reports that two Suffolk County residents were interested in buying a 2002 Porsche, which was listed on Craigslist for $44,000.......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a construction accident on 23rd Ave. in Queens, a child was struck on West Houston and Thompson St. in Manhattan, and shots fired on 29th St. in Brooklyn. Going along with a network-wide environmentally conscious theme at NBC this season, the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center will be decorated with low power-consuming LEDs. The flat rate for a single subway fare will remain $2 until 2009. The fares will......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Nature: Silence of the Bees (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., WNET 13; Wednesday 8:00 p.m., WLIW 21) The long running PBS nature series Nature takes a look at the recent decline in the honey bee population and the possible consequences of it. Masterpiece Theatre: The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13) The story of a supermarket manager becomes Prime Minister continues with Mrs. Pritchard facing some hard......

Police in Suffolk County released surveillance footage of an attempted robbery at a convenience store off the Montauk Highway in Brookhaven that showed a petite woman defending her store. Store employee Hafize Sahin, all of 4'5" and 90 pounds, swung a 3-foot-long ax at the would-be robber. The incident took place around 8PM when a mask-wearing man demanded the store's money. Sahin pretended to open the register but really took the ax from under......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: there was a falling bricks collapse at East 128th St. and Madison Ave. in Manhattan, a stabbing on East 180th St. in the Bronx, and a homicide on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. An interview with the creators of a multimedia presentation that represents a post-Atlantic Yards development Brooklyn. Visit upper Manhattan's Ft. Tryon Park tomorrow to go old school at the 2007 Medieval Festival around The Cloisters. Jesters, jousters,......

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......

Looks like New York State beaches have become just as dirty as the thoughts you have while lying there sunning yourselves (and we're not just talking about hypodermic needles). A new report from the NRDC says there's been a serious rise in the number of health-related advisories and beach closings thanks to pollution. New York beaches experienced over 1200 days of closings and advisories last year (that's up from about 830 in 2005). You can......

Jesenia Vega, the 27-year-old woman charged with DWI after fatally running over her boyfriend, told police that boyfriend Louis Wiederer had pushed and punched her and that she got into the car to get away from him. But Suffolk County prosecutors asked that charges be upgraded, noting that Wiederer, who clung to Vega's car door to stop her from driving drunk, was dragged under the vehicle and killed. The Suffolk County police are investigating Vega's......

A terrible drunk driving story from Long Island: Suffolk County police say that 26-year-old Louis Wiederer was trying to stop his drunk girlfriend from driving after a Saturday night block party. Newsday reports that a witness heard Wiederer say, "You're going to get arrested. You can't drive like that!" but 27-year-old Jesenia Vega ignored him, saying "Leave me alone!"With that, Vega, 27, of Carle Place, put her key in the ignition and drove off --......

Today's morning subway and bus commute should be a lot smoother (unless you need to stop at Grand Central) than yesterday's messy commute. There were a number of subway disruptions and diversions due to flooding from the rain, which left many straphangers frustrated. But why did pouring rain stop the subway? Well, here's what the MTA says:NYC Transit utilized portable pumps and pump trains to help clear 600 feet of 2-foot-deep water across all four......

The five men who identified themselves as police before bursting into a Cypress Hills, Brooklyn home demanding to know "Where are the drugs?" were actually just thieves. WABC's Eyewitness News is reporting that the five men were dressed in police-type clothing, with one actually wearing a bulletproof vest and wielding a gun. They tied up two female residents and pistol whipped a man as they ransacked the home. An infant lying in a crib was......

A man who posed as a police officer in Suffolk County and NYC has been indicted on 54 counts, from first-degree rape to fraud. Twenty-four year-old Terry Henry was held without bail, and one law enforcement source called him a "serial killer in the making." Henry was initially arrested for impersonating a police officer and stealing his landlord's car earlier this year, but investigators found that he used realistic police gear and a car with......

Police brutality claims occur in even tranquil beach towns. The Suffolk County DA's office has charged four members of Fire Island's Ocean Beach police, including the acting chief of police, for the 2005 beating of a Manhattan resident. Last week, other former police officers had filed a lawsuit, as the NY Times reports, claiming the acting chief "surrounded himself with a clique of officers who they claimed covered up instances of police brutality against vacationers......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: 10-75 at the Milford Plaza Hotel, DOA floater in Bay Ridge, and a water main break in East Midtown. Barclays, the bank that just bought naming rights to the Atlantic Yards arena, is demanding newspapers retract stories that mention Barclays' past involvement in slavery. The NY Times speaks to an "expert on the early British Empire" who says that all banks at the time had relationships with the slave......

Breathe easy, New York City - the NYPD has removed the LED pieces with Aqua Teen Hunger Force's mooninite Ignignokt from locations. It's unclear where they were, but WNBC reported that one was at 54th Street and 9th Avenue. And don't worry, folks, the Boston police have arrested Peter Berdovsky for planting the LED devices. Berdovsky's website, Zebbler.com, shows the locations of 20 devices (or, as the Massachusetts authorities are calling them, "hoax devices").......

It seems that the e. coli that's been hanging out at a few New Jersey Taco Bells this week has joined the bridge and tunnel crowd, making its way over to New York. At least 14 people in Suffolk and Nassau Counties in Long Island are being treated for the infection, bringing the New Jersey/New York total to at least 39. While there is no definite link between the incidents in both states, eight Taco......

Did you realize that yesterday's methampetamine lab busts in the city and Suffolk County happened on National Meth Awareness Day? The things you learn! The Drug Enforcement Agency named the bust "Operation Red Fusion" and targeted the nine meth labs because they used the same online company to buy materials like red phosphorous. The DEA's Administrator Karen P. Tandy said, "The danger of meth labs has spread from Mid-America to Midtown. Meth labs are......

Earlier this week, Queens assemblyman Brian M. McLaughlin was charged with 43 different crimes, including racketeering, embezzlement, stealing from a Little League, fraud and more, taking $2.2 million. McLaughlin's office was raided by the FBI in March, and the indictment that was unsealed this week was 186 pages. The NY Times summarized some of his misdeeds:Law enforcement officials said that Mr. McLaughlin used subordinates as “personal servants,” to take his dog to the veterinarian, hang......

This might be the craziest story you'll hear all week: A modest wife and mother of three who worked as a bookkeeper ended up embezzling $2.3 million from her job for her scratch-off Lotto habit. Oh, yes: Long Island resident Annie Donnelly would spend up to $6,000 a day on Lotto tickets at a local card store while siphoning money from the medical practice she worked at. Donnelly started small, taking $41,261 in 2002; in......

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......