Councilwoman Letitia "Tish" James (D-Fort Greene) is suing a day laborer for causing "serious, severe and permanent [injuries] to her limbs and body" after she walked into a four-inch trailer hitch protruding from the back of his parked car. According to court documents cited in the Brooklyn Paper, James says she suffered "great physical and mental pain" when she brushed against the hitch and cut her leg in Fort Greene last July. more ›

New York City small business have seen their health-insurance premiums increase by an average of 17 percent this year. Small-group HMO plan providers like GHI HMO Select and Healthnet have increased their premiums by 30 percent, while premiums at Aetna and policy rates at HIP of Greater NY rose by 20 percent, according to the Post. more ›

In the past months and years, NYU has shocked the city with a number of high-profile jumping deaths, but such tragic incidents are nothing new at Cornell. Three students died in the course of a month recently, and Cornell is currently on suicide watch, kicking off a full-scale campaign that urges stressed and depressed students to get help. The three students are thought to have taken their own lives—all by throwing themselves into the town's famous gorges (Ithaca's version of the Bobst Library). “While we know that our gorges are beautiful features of our campus, they can be scary places at times like this,” Susan Murphy, the vice president for student and academic services. more ›

While on Don Imus' radio program this morning, Gov. Paterson took time out of his charm offensive to comment on Sen. Gillibrand, his hand-picked Senate appointee who called for his resignation earlier this month. "That's about whenever you get in a jam, there are people who will throw you under the bus...Whenever you watch a movie or whenever you read a book about someone that's in terrible...in a difficult situation, there are always those who do that...They just don't expect you to get out from under the bus. And when you do, they should be forewarned." more ›

Though she was hoping to secure a lease, Astroland Owner Carol Albert told the Post that she will most likely never be able to resurrect Astroland Park in another area of the boardwalk. Rather than let Albert open a new park with both old and new rides, the city picked Central Amusement International to open up the new Luna Park. Albert has had her 22 rides in storage while trying to reach a settlement, but is now ready to sell them. more ›

Rielle Hunter, John Edwards's baby momma, onetime lover and sex tape co-star, says a GQ photographer told her he'd capture her mostly from the neck up, but that doesn't explain why she wasn't wearing pants. The blonde posed on a bed, cradling her child. In one photo she's kneeling next to stuffed animals, wearing only a collared shirt; in another she's sprawled bare-bellied on tousled sheets. Hunter claims she "cried for two hours" upon seeing the pictures, but GQ says she's faking. "Rielle is a smart woman," said her interviewer. "She knows what she wore and what she was doing in the photo shoot." more ›

Seems that people really are offended by this mural! Tonight at 6 p.m. there is actually going to be a protest against Sofia Maldonado's work recently put up in Times Square. more ›

A Fine Blog spotted a demonstration today outside the Dunkin' Donuts on East 14th Street, where protesters were handing out free vegan donuts and literature about the chain's use of factory farm eggs: "When asked if DD would change to a cage free supplier who used humane practices, one protester said 'that would be an improvement, but that would never happen for such a large chain.'" For more on what these people are so upset about, check out Dunkin' Cruelty, which has targeted Michael Foods, the egg supplier for several national restaurant chains, including Dunkin' Donuts. One investigator used a hidden camera to document abuses including "hens immobilized in the wires of their cages, unable to access food or water; and decomposing and 'mummified' corpses left in cages with live birds." Mmmm, mummies. Disturbing video below! more ›

Think your landlord blocking out the windows makes him a slumlord extraordinaire? You might have to re-evaluate: the Voice has recreated their compendium of the sleaziest, most exploitative landlords in the city. It's a long piece (part 1 of 2), but filled with balanced reportage and some priceless personal anecdotes (on the record, to boot!), and well worth a look through. more ›

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus—who will be at MSG later this month—are returning to the beach this summer. According to the Daily News, they'll be setting up shop at Coney Island again, and pitching tents on the same West 21st Street lot as last year. more ›

While traveling to Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral this morning, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly tended to a woman who suffered a fractured skull after being run down by a cyclist. In his second well-publicized rescue this month, the potential 2013 Mayoral candidate hopped out of his unmarked police SUV at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 84th Street and helped 55-year-old Kinuko Hoffman, who was bleeding from the head after being struck by a deliveryman. more ›

In the past year or so, the DOT has made great strides making the cycling corridor between North and South Brooklyn much safer. Besides the Bedford Avenue bike lane expansion (and slight retraction), a large stretch of Kent Avenue along the East River was turned into a cycling oasis: two lanes of bike lanes separated from traffic by parked cars. For a while, cyclists still had to share the road with motor vehicles on Kent, when the bike lane ended at Clymer Street, but a few months ago the DOT turned a wide, sparsely populated sidewalk on Kent into a shared-use bike and pedestrian zone. And then a hairy stretch of speedway on Williamsburg Street West, where cyclists would turn right to hook around the Navy Yards, was made infinitely safer by separating bikes from cars by a cement barricade. Which brings us to the not-fun-to-ride Flushing Avenue, where big changes await! more ›

Last week, the Taxi and Limousine Commission revealed that the majority of cabdrivers had overcharged passengers at least once, by using a rate twice the usual NYC rate, resulting in over $8 million in overcharges. Now it turns out that the TLC's investigation was partly prompted by a doctor who was suspicious of his fare last August. Dr. Mitchell Lee tells the Post, "New Yorkers are smarter than cabbies think. In these down times, everyone is watching the meter. Even the tourists are careful about their money and they're watching, too." more ›

If you've ever stepped foot in the East Village, you've probably seen Jim Power's work. Bedazzled around lamp posts and trash cans, his art has been brightening up the neighborhood since Avenue A was adventurous, B was brave, C was crazy and D was deadly. Now Elvis Maynard, a film student at Hunter College, has made a documentary both honoring Jim's work and following the ever-controversial change that has come to the neighborhood in the past years. At his peak, Jim had over 65 lamp posts decorated in the city, though he never got funding for his work. He describes his trail of mosaics as "a nice thing people would enjoy and it would make people feel good." The film also has a chance to be aired on PBS on Saturday night, so go vote for it! [Via EV Grieve] more ›