Yesterday brought speculation that the fiancee of the Queens man shot and killed by police before his wedding might run for the City Council seat left vacant with Councilman Thomas White's death. At White's funeral, Nicole Paultre Bell told the Daily News, "One thing that Tom White did tell me sitting in his office is the only way you can make change is getting involved, so I'll keep that in mind."

The News notes that while as many as a dozen people might be vying for the seat, Bell "brings name recognition and a heart-stopping personal story." However, "She lives outside the district in Far Rockaway, and is still registered to vote at her mother's house in Suffolk County. Under state election law, however, Bell would have to move into the district by Election Day - and get 899 signatures from registered voters on her nominating petitions."

In July, the city agreed to pay Sean Bell's family $3.25 million to settle the wrongful death suit. The money goes to his and Nicole Paultre Bell's two daughters.

According to CNBC, "U.S. employment fell for a third straight month in August, but the drop was far less than expected and private hiring surprised on the upside, easing pressure on the Federal Reserve to prop up economic growth. Nonfarm payrolls fell by 54,000, the Labor Department said Friday as temporary jobs to conduct the decennial census dropped by 114,000." The NY Times adds, "state and local governments, many of them grappling with severe budget deficits, cut 10,000 jobs last month."

Photo via the AP

Who knew tennis matches could be so riddled with crime! While it hasn't gotten all Match Point over in Queens (yet), there has been some unsavory behavior at the U.S. Open, and it's only the first week. First up, this guy was caught trying to scalp 339 tickets on Tuesday—but then the real action happened last night, when we saw the first upper deck brawl—it was all caught on video, of course:

According to the NY Post, the fight happened during the Novak Djokovic (Serbia) and Philipp Petzschner (Germany) match, around 9 p.m., when a female fan asked a man in his 20s to refrain from using the F word so much. Words were exchanged, there was allegedly a slap match between the two, and then an older gent stepped in and ended up falling down the stairs.

The U.S. Open may want to beef up their security! Needless to say, the match stopped due to the distraction, and a U.S. Tennis Association spokesman addressed the issue, saying: “It’s a hot night in New York. Things happen." Maybe we'll get to see a Richie Tenenbaum at Windswept Fields-type breakdown sometime before the Open closes on the 12th.

Last night, four members of the Shomrim, the Orthodox Jewish volunteer patrol, were shot in Borough Park when they confronted a man who allegedly fondled himself and leered at young children in the neighborhood. When they approached David Flores, 33, near 49th Street and 10th Avenue, he opened fire on them. Motty Perl, who was shot in the hand and shoulder, told the Post, "I tackled him and as we were falling to the ground, he started shooting all over the place. I thought it was a BB gun. I didn't think the gun was real."

Apparently Shomrim, which is licensed and unarmed and has a "strong" relationship with the NYPD, had been following Flores because, the Daily News reports, "they got a call that he was touching himself in front of kids near Borough Park." The News adds, F"lores - who has nine prior arrests, including for public lewdness and weapons possession - saw the volunteers in his rearview mirror and bailed from his vehicle on 46th St. near 10th Ave. at about 7:30 p.m., when he got stuck in traffic, authorities said." But when the Shorim members tried to apprehend him, he fired.

Another member of the group, Jacob Daskel, who wasn't injured, said, "It was like a scene out of the movies. He kept on shooting. He was on the floor. We were grabbing his hand, holding it down." According to the Post, Abraham David Kastow, who tried to kick away the gun, was hit in the shoulder and suffered a burn to his palm while trying to get the gun from Flores; Yoel Klein was hit in the abdomen, back and torso; and Motty Broner was hit in the neck.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that Flores, who also shot himself in the arm during the incident, could face charges of public lewdness as well as attempted murder.

Forecasters think that Long Island will "dodge a bullet" with Hurricane Earl. Newsday reports, "The National Hurricane Center is now predicting that Earl, which went from a Category 4 hurricane with wind speeds of 145 mph to a Category 2 storm with winds of 105 mph Thursday, will likely be a Category 1 hurricane with winds in the 80-mph range by the time it passes Long Island late Friday about 150 miles to the east." Now less rain is expected, with winds in the "35 mph to 45 mph range with wind gusts to 50 mph."

The National Weather Service's Brandon Smith said, "Though it will still be a hurricane, the impact will be tropical storm force winds." However, because the storm is weakening, it could "flatten out"—Newsday explains that it means "wind velocities won't be as high the area they cover will be more widespread. And, by default, so could be the area of rainfall."

Right now, Earl is off North Carolina; a tropical storm warning is still in effect for NJ and Massachusetts is expected to be hit hard by rain, though Earl may be a Category 1 hurricane by the time it arrives there.

• Yankees 5, A's 0: CC Sabathia had no trouble with the A's. The Associated Press even posted a photo of the Yankees ace yawning in the dugout. He pitched eight innings of scoreless, one-hit ball before Jonathan Albaldejo finished the shutout. Curtis Granderson had two homers and Jorge Posada added another as the Yankees finished a four-game sweep. They moved 1 1/2 games up on the idle Rays in the American League East. They play three day games against the Blue Jays starting Friday.


• Mets 4, Braves 2: Hey, a Mets win! Johan Santana left after five innings. The Mets said they were saving him for the playoffs he is day-to-day with a strained pectoral muscle. David Wright, who had done very little against the Braves this season, hit a home run. The Mets move on to Chicago on Friday.

Photograph by Tim Schreier on Flickr

• From the Gothamist Newsmap: A suspicious package at 51st & Park in Manhattan, a DOA floater in the Bronx and an escaped EDP at 59th St in Manhattan.
• Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Lehman Brothers: "If we lent the money to Lehman … we would have saddled the taxpayers with tens of billions of dollars in losses."
• Allen Ginsberg's fourth floor walk-up in the East Village has been rented.
• The Internet, having successfully revived Betty White's career, has taken up a new cause: convincing Stephen Colbert to hold a "Restoring Truthiness" rally at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
• A model who had his ear reattached (after it was bitten off by a drag queen) lost his ear again (the reattachment didn't take!).
• Hundreds of Bernie Madoff's victims are challenging the latest invoice from his bankruptcy trustee, who is seeking more than $34 million for 120 days of work.
• NJ high school students who can't do simple math equations are nevertheless passing calculus.
• A grandmother allegedly assaulted her granddaughter with a knife over a jigsaw puzzle argument.
• Reformed graffiti artists show off their work.

The MTA just sent out its plan to deal with the possibility of transit issues related to Hurricane Earl. While Long Island would likely be harder hit than NYC—so there are LIRR service changes—the MTA is also inspecting drains in the subways in case of flooding. Yeah, remember the great flooding incident of August 2007? The MTA has details online and there's more info below.

As for NYC and a hurricane, well, we're apparently way overdue for one. And we're not that prepared which might be very ugly! Professor of Coastal Geology at Queens College Nicholas K. Coch tells Metropolis, "When people ask me what the biggest risks to New York are in a hurricane, I say ‘New Yorkers.' They think they’re immune. They’ve survived terrorist attacks and blackouts, and they think hurricanes can’t happen here, but they’ve never seen what one can do."

Long Island Rail Road Service Changes
MTA Long Island Rail Road will suspend train service east of Speonk on the Montauk Branch and east of Ronkonkoma on the Main Line, which normally takes customers to Greenport and Long Island’s North Fork. LIRR service west of Ronkonkoma and west of Speonk will operate on a normal schedule.

The last train traveling west to Penn Station is scheduled to leave Montauk at 5:39 AM and arrive at Penn Station at 8:32 AM. The last train leaving New York for Montauk is scheduled to depart from Penn Station at 12:39 AM Friday morning and arrive in Montauk at 3:57 AM. The last westbound train will leave Greenport at 5:30 AM Friday morning. The LIRR will assess any storm related damage late Friday night before deciding on when service can resume on Saturday.

Eight early getaway trains between 2:02 PM and 3:48 PM scheduled from Penn Station heading east on Friday will continue to operate to Babylon, Great Neck, Far Rockaway, Hicksville and Huntington.

NYC Transit, MTA Bus, Long Island Bus

Service on subways and buses is expected to remain normal but delays, disruptions and the rerouting of buses are possible if there is flooding underground and on city streets. Customers are urged to use caution, especially on stairs, outdoor platforms and at bus shelters.

The potential for service disruptions caused by flooding during periods of sustained heavy rains does exist so New York City Transit maintains three pump trains capable of pumping 300 gallons of water from the system every minute. The Track and Infrastructure Division also has a fleet of portable pumps, some with a pumping capacity of 600 gallons per minute. Crews will also be dispatched to cover sidewalk vent gratings in areas that are prone to flooding.

Inspections of the system's drains and culverts have already begun to make certain that they are clear and free of debris. Transit workers will also survey outdoor train lines and construction areas to identify and secure any loose materials.

Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road Preparedness

The Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad are working closely with emergency officials on hurricane contingency plans. The railroads have mobilized their maintenance of way employees, gathering teams to respond to fallen trees, downed power lines, clogged culverts, mudslides, and washouts. In preparation for the storm, both railroads are ensuring that all equipment necessary to deal with the effects of the storm are ready to go - chain saws for clearing downed trees, pumps for flooded areas, and identifying locations and availability of replacement supplies for replacing damaged utility poles and crossing gates. Vehicle fuel tanks have been topped-off and generators are being tested and fueled.

MTA Bridges & Tunnels

MTA Bridges and Tunnels is part of the city's Office of Emergency Management preparedness team and is involved in daily preparations and updates as the storm gets closer. B&T staff are readying equipment and working with contractors at our seven bridges and two tunnels, making sure that all work sites and equipment are secure in case of high winds.

Bridges and Tunnels personnel are also checking all storm drains at our facilities to ensure that they are free of debris. Wind restrictions will be in place at various B&T facilities if winds gusts rise to between 30 (wet conditions) and 39 m.p.h. (dry conditions), and motorists will be asked to reduce speeds. If winds reach 49 m.p.h., certain vehicles, including box trucks, step vans, and motorcycles would be banned.

The MTA urges all customers to give themselves extra travel time whenever there is inclement weather. Customers should visit the MTA’s website, www.mta.info, and monitor news media and traffic and transit reports for updated information on storm-related service. We also urge customers to sign up for email alerts by visiting MyMTAAlerts.com to begin receiving real-time status updates about your subway, bus, rail and/or bridge and tunnel route.

Feeling lucky, Google employees? Then stay at work and ignore this tip we just got in from an anonymous source saying that bed bugs have been detected at Google's New York offices on 9th Avenue. Twitter confirms! More details to come...

According to new research from the University of New Hampshire, marijuana is not the gateway drug your grandmother made it out to be. The study, which appears in the September 2010 issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior in the article, "A Life-course Perspective on the 'Gateway Hypothesis,'" found that while teens who smoked marijuana were more likely to use harder illicit drugs while they're young, the gateway effect was lessened by 21, and factors such as employment status and stress were more important in those decisions.

The researchers examined survey data from 1,300 mostly male Hispanic, white, and African-American young adults who attended south Florida public schools in the 1990s. The participants were followed from enrollment in the sixth or seventh grade until they reached their late teens or early 20s. The researchers found that the strongest predictor of other illicit drug use seemed to be race-ethnicity, not prior use of marijuana.

Researcher Karen Van Gundy says the researchers didn't set out to disprove the gateway theory: "We were somewhat surprised to find the gateway effect wasn't that strong during the transition to adulthood. It really didn't matter if someone used marijuana or not as a teen...If we overly criminalize behaviors like marijuana use among teens, this could interfere with opportunities for education and employment later on, which, in turn, could be creating more drug use."

Last month the Improv Everywhere troupe made a Coney Island beach trip a black tie affair—at the time we posted a bunch of photos, but now there's video to go along with it. One adorable older gent at the end of it tries to explain how it made him feel to witness the spectacle, saying: "At first I was surprised, but I saw people looking, and old people laughing... you move people... everybody's happy!"

Governor Paterson discussed the Park 51 mosque and community center project on the radio today. Paterson, who was has previously offered to find a location other than 45-47 Park Place (two blocks from Ground Zero), told John Gambling on WOR that a solution that "would rid ourselves of Islamophobia" was essential: "There are some bigots and some racists who are alive in this discussion, however when nearly 70% of the population oppose it, you’ve got a lot of people of good will and all ethnicities you’re going to have to persuade."

According to the Daily Politics, he drew parallels between the mosque furor over the civil rights movement's bus boycotts: "They chose someone simply because it would fit the pure argument that any American has a right to sit where they want on a bus. And all I’m saying, with an a little bit of an obstacle at Ground Zero, it’s kind of the same thing. “

Speaking of Islamophobia, Archbishop Timothy Dolan wants to foster a dialogue with Muslims, telling the WAll Street Journal, "I'm afraid we have maybe not been as energetic with fostering relations with our Islamic brothers and sisters.... Our coming together is not to say we can settle the mosque site issue, [but] the wider issue of Church, Jewish, Islamic tensions." He also said of the controversy, "We can't let fanatics on either side take over" the debate.

Adam Clayton Powell IV, who is trying to unseat embattled Rep. Charles Rangel, was caught taking thousands of dollars of campaign donations from the owner of Bronx strip club Sin City. The Daily News confronted and browbeat Powell into promising to return the money yesterday, telling him about owner Konstantine (Gus) Drakopoulos, who pleaded guilty to insider trading in 2002 and was recently slapped with a racial and sexual harassment suit by dancers at his club.

"Wow," Powell repeated six times, "I don't want to hear any more. Jesus Christ, that's quite a resume...I'm going to return the money. I want no part of anybody like that." Drakopoulos claims he gave Powell five $1,000 donations this spring, though Powell says there were only three checks, which he said he returned Wednesday. The News sounded even more excited than that time the "bumbling New York Post reporter was busted".

In two separate discoveries recently, nearly 200 abused, dead and neglected animals were discovered in New York. At one home on Long Island, the final count of came to 114 dogs, an emaciated pony, three goats, one cat and 11 additional, but deceased dogs (found in the kitchen sink and bathroom tub). Newsday reports that 100 or so of the dogs are currently at the Huntington Animal Shelter.

The animals were discovered when firefighters responded to an automatic fire alarm at the West Hills home yesterday morning. Owners Michael and Marilyn Gladstein have since been arrested and charged with animal cruelty, including a felony for the emaciated pony. One of the responders said upon arriving at the scene, "It was sweltering and the smell was horrendous."

Meanwhile, Fox5 reports that 40 dogs were seized in a boarding kennel raid, which they say were allegedly victims of Marie Castaldo, founder of the Queens World Film Festival. She was recently arrested in regards to the animals, but also faces a number of charges that could land her behind bars for up to seven years.

Photo via Vitaliy P's flickr

Just one day after we took a look at the disappearing iconic wooden benches of New York City's streets, amNewYork warns that the benches underground may be on their way out as well. Sitting in the city will never be the same!

The paper reports that a redesign may be in the future, noting that NYC Transit officials are trying to decide if sleeker stainless steel seats should replace the standard wooden ones in the Second Avenue Subway and No. 7 extension stations. Allegedly, "designers are having a vigorous debate between the two models, with some viewing the steel as cold, while others blasting the wood as unhygienic." Expect prototypes to be installed at yet-to-be-disclosed stations in the coming months. Let's just hope stainless steel repels bed bugs. (If you spot one of the new prototypes, give us ring!)

As an interesting bit of history, amNY points out that the masterminds behind the subway wanted it to be a “very pleasing feature to the traveling public" and believe it "should be a work of art, in keeping with the era’s 'City Beautiful' movement." [via 2nd Ave. Sagas]

The NY Times has at least two stories about bras today. There's a Styles section piece on small breasted-women feeling empowered while the New York section has an interview with bra store owner Linda Becker, who says of breasts' changing nature, "All through life your breasts change. You work out, you have babies, you have a condition, you lose weight, you gain weight, you’re lifting weights, your back gets bigger. Sometimes you do none of these things and your breasts change. I always say breasts have a mind of their own. They’re like two bad kids. If you don’t control them, they’re out of control."

At the end of a brutally hot summer filled with bedbugs, Mosque debates and cat fashion shows, The Onion reports that New Yorkers have finally realized that the city is "nothing more than a massive, trash-ridden hellhole that slowly sucks the life out of every one of its inhabitants" and thus fled the city in a mass exodus:

"I always had this perverted sense of pride because I was managing to scrape by here," said Brooklyn resident Andrew McQuade, who, after watching two subway rats gnawing on a third bloody rat carcass, finally determined that New York City was a giant sprawling cancer. "Well, fuck that. I don't need to pay $2,000 a month to share a doghouse-sized apartment with some random Craigslist dipshit to prove my worth. I want to live like a goddamn human being."

Additionally, "3 million New Yorkers reportedly left the city because they realized the phrase 'Only in New York' is actually just a defense mechanism used to convince themselves that seeing a naked man take a shit on a park bench is somehow endearing, or part of some shared cultural experience." [Via Daily Intel]

Indians in New York, upset with Governor Paterson's attempt to tax cigarettes on Indian reservation, held protests and rallies yesterday. The Post reports that they are on...the "warpath: "Dozens of Native Americans -- including one brandishing a sign showing Paterson, a handgun and the words "I'm Hunting Indians. You See Any?" -- rallied on the side of the Thruway yesterday to protest the governor's plan to tax cigarettes on Indian reservations."

One speaker said, "Watch for what we're ready to do. Watch for the other side of the sword, that's all I'm saying. Nobody's going to get hurt unless you try to keep us [Indians] from enforcing our laws." But Paterson, who proposed the tax because NY State desperately needs money, claims, “We are not going on Indian nation land. What we are doing is forcing the wholesalers to pay the tax upfront. Now either they have to get that money from anyone who would buy their cigarettes or we would have what we’ve been having for decades, an unfair competitive advantage.” Of course, the wholesalers who pay the tax expect to be reimbursed by the Indian tribes.

Spoiler alert: there are no winners in this story. According to a FIPS tipster, there are rogue balloon gangs invading Prospect Park, in which children are shooting long balloons off into the air and annoying fun-hating grown-ups. (Hey, whatever keeps them out of the bars.) The tipster writes:

"Whenever I go to Prospect Park, and I mean virtually every single time I go to Prospect Park, there is always a group of young kids (under the age of 7 mostly) accompanied by nannies, parents etc. The members of the group will change, different kids and parents each time, but regardless, they've got a pack of those long balloons that are typically used to make balloon animals, and a little specialized pump for pumping them up. A parent pumps the balloon up to its full capacity and then hands it over to the little kid who lets it go so that it rockets up into the air, and subsequently makes that shrill horrible noise that balloons make when released... over-and over-and over-and over again until I have to leave because I'm so annoyed by the noise. It's like they think that just because they're outdoors they can make whatever kind of noise they want because it's a 'public' space."

Her tirade continues here, and is filled with plenty non-child-friendly words. Any sympathizers for this serenity-seeking woman? Or should someone just tell her that Prospect Park is 585-acres HUGE and surely not every square-inch has been overtaken by these punks... yet.

After shuffling from a miserably hot and stuffy subway platform and onto a thankfully air-conditioned subway car, we noticed these ads warning straphangers that we were entering "The B.O. Zone." No kidding—this third heat wave stinks! The ads, which are for Gillette's body wash and anti-perspirant, tap into most everyone's pet peeve of B.O. in crowded public transit spaces. When we spoke to Greg Biddinger, Brand Manager for North America Gillette Personal Care, he confirmed that the ads were "definitely consumer-inspired... Inevitably every time we talk to consumers about places where they notice BO, public transportation is the first thing that comes to mind." Time for the Smell Gestapo?

Biddinger says the campaign, created by BBDO, has been especially well-received, "One consumer wished that she could 'point to the sign and hand out a sample to offenders on her train'!" And he shared a "B.O. Zone" story of his own: "I remember a time a couple of years ago.  I was in NYC for the US Open and got on the #7 to head out to the Tennis Center.  It was one of those miserable end-of-summer days when it’s 90 and humid.  I got on the train and was immediately knocked back by BO so intense I was surprised I couldn’t see it.  I decided to jump off the train and wait for the next one rather than risk choking to death!"

The ads are currently running in New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. One D.C.-area fan of the ads (who also happens to love Robert Pattinson, too) would love for Gillette to put more up!

Police discovered the body of a 4-year-old girl weighing only 15 pounds this morning in Brooklyn. Apparently Marchella Pierce's arms and legs were tied to her crib with twine and a jump rope; cops are questioning the mother, 30-year-old Carlola Pierce, who said she found Marchella's lifeless, severely malnourished body in the family's Bushwick residence at 4 a.m., but waited three-and-a-half hours to call police. According to the Post's sources, the living area of the house was filthy and Marchella had trauma to her arms, ankles and wrists, and appeared to be underdeveloped with undeveloped lungs. There was also an oxygen tank next to her bed, which she wasn't connected to. Girls at age 4 have a median weight of around 35 pounds; 15 pounds is the median weight of a 6-month-old girl.

A Queens insurance salesman is suing Random House for defamation because a sleazeball character in one its new publications is named after him. Douglas Heimowitz is angry that his name was appropriated for a professional gambler in Beth Raymer's recent book, Lay the Favorite, A Memoir of Gambling. "Our client is the only individual in the United States bearing the name Douglas Heimowitz," said lawyer Betty Tufariello.

Heimowitz, whom the News describes as "mild-mannered," admits that he and cocktail waitress-turned-author Raymer are acquaintances. According to Tufariello, Raymer thought using his name for the unsavory character would be funny. The memoir, one of Elle's top ten summer books, recounts how Raymer became a bookie's agent in the underground trenches of professional and illegal gambling. The suit notes several examples of how Heimowitz and the gambler are alike: they're both Jewish, both 6-foot-4, both hail from Queens and both attended Queens College in the early 1980s.

And if you do a Google search of Heimowitz's name, you could see even more clearly how one might be confused. "A lot of colleagues, friends and family are calling him up and [saying], 'We didn't know you were a bookie and a convicted felon,'" said Tufariello. Even worse for him, the book has been optioned as a movie.

According to an interview with Raymer in Smith, she "changed very few names" in her memoir, and "let my subjects look at the book in galley form, and they were happy about the outcome of the book and the way I portrayed them..."

Where to begin? A State Senator who threw Albany into gridlock for over a month last year, allegedly looted $14 million from his healthcare non-profit, threatened a 70-something blogger, and supposedly stiffed the tailor who makes his $1,200 suits is now telling youths to raise their image by raising their pants. State Senator Pedro Espada has joined fellow Senator Eric Adam's Stop the Sag campaign, according to the Daily Politics.

In a statement, Espada said, "We are accustomed to hearing the mantra, 'School's Open, Drive Safely.' We are expanding the mantra to, 'School's Open, Drive Safely... And Pull Your Pants Up.' Have some pride and dignity in your appearance." The Daily Politics says, "Espada, Adams and state Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson will hold a news conference tomorrow to 'unveil a mobile billboard -- a truck that will drive around Bronx neighborhoods with the message "Stop the Sag - Raise Your Pants, Raise Your Image."'"

This week in new restaurant and bar news: Whiskey and bacon at The Whiskey Brooklyn, rotisserie chicken from Pete's Since 1969's new Hell's Kitchen location, , and hamburgers with holes in them from 4Food.