New York News Blog

The first round of special sessions of the Albany legislature didn't produce much; the second produced Leandra's Law but none of the budget-cutting that was allegedly the reason for the sessions. So far they've spent half a million just having the special sessions.

But third time's the charm! They go back at it today, and this time there's "Pressure on NY Lawmakers to Tackle Deficit," says WCAX. Why didn't we think of that before?

​Last month the city planning commission approved the Kingsbridge Mall project, in which Related Companies will turn the old Bronx armory into a shopping center, without adding a "living wage" requirement as Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. had hoped. But the city council may yet put the screws on. Joe Rivera, the council majority leader, claims to have the votes to block the project in the subcommittee on zoning and franchises if Related doesn't agree to pay employee s something they could live on, as opposed to the $7.25 minimum wage. Related says it can't get financing under such terms. The game of chicken continues when the committee meets today. Image via Bridge and Tunnel Club.

In entertainment news, American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert performed simulated bondage sex, including fellatio and reverse buttsecks ("This was not family entertainment"), and engaged in lascivious melisma during the American Music Awards, which gave four prizes (Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, Favorite Pop/Rock Album, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist, and Favorite Soul/R&B Album) to the deceased Michael Jackson. Also, Jennifer Lopez fell down. ("Honey, if that was your comeback, fire the baby sitters and stay home with those twins and your husband the Crypt Keeper.") The big award was won by somebody named Taylor Swift.

​A middle-aged woman and her teenage son were found stuffed inside a bedroom closet with their throats slit yesterday, police reported. The woman's husband, Otto Herrarte , of Corona, Queens, allegedly told police at the crime scene that the killer was his alter-ego, Roberto, who lived inside of him.

Otto Herrarte , a Manhattan hotel cleaner, claimed that he was only the accomplice to the murder committed by Roberto; after Roberto committed the murders, he went to the corner store to buy black plastic bags and duct tape with which he wrapped their bodies. The murdered individuals were identified as Edna Herarte, 55, and her fourteen-year-old son Daniel...

​Paul Hurley, owner of O'Casey's Tavern on East 41st Street, has introduced in time for Thanksgiving an alcoholic turkey. The turkey is not fortified, as we immediately presumed, with Wild Turkey bourbon -- which would strike us as an appropriate blend, both poetically and palate-wise -- nor with, as other recipes demand, brandy or an inserted can of beer -- but with 100 proof peach, raspberry, cherry and apple Giorgi vodka, as is the gravy. Hurley charges $29.95 for a full Thanksgiving dinner featuring this repulsive centerpiece, and promises "an ounce of vodka in every bite." It might be worth it just to meet the 125 diners he claims have already signed up for it.

​Last night police found a group of young men leaving Bayswater Park in Rockaway around 11:30 p.m., and desired a word with them. The cops report that one of the men, Dashawn Vasconcellos, 18, ran from them and, during the officers' pursuit, pointing a pistol at them, which he refused to drop. This necessitated a volley of gunfire which killed Vasconcellos. He received 11 wounds from 14 shots. The mother of one of his comrades admitted Vasconcellos, who had a police record of trespassing and robbery, kept a gun in his bookbag, but only for self-defense. The deceased's friends dispute the police account on grounds of improbability. "Why would you do something crazy, almost suicidal?" said a neighbor.

​Clip Job: an excerpt every day from the Voice archives.

March 17, 1966, Vol. XI, No. 22

The Children's Hour, or Curfew on MacDougal St.

By Stephanie Harrington

A teenage girl who looked like a boy stopped short in front of the entrance to the IND on Sixth Avenue and 8th Street last Friday night as a teenage boy who looked like a girl emerged from the lower depths. They embraced ecstatically.

"Going to the Night Owl?" she asked barely suppressing the excitement that seemed to go with the mere utterance of the name.

"Later, baby," not losing his cool. The question was academic. Where else?

She hurried down the street to the high school heaven.

We've been flooded with publicity for Sarah Palin's Going Rogue, with large book signings and subsidiary press events (like the nude photos of Palin's former son-in-law-presumptive, now nemesis Levi Johnston). The memoir is on track for a fabulous sale.

Rightbloggers, as you might imagine, have plenty to say about it. Not about the book's contents, so much -- not many of them seem to have read it yet (though Governor Palin for President approved of an alleged similarity between the covers of a Reagan book and Palin's; "Coincidence? Surely not. Make no mistake, our lady from the north is laying the groundwork and doing the homework necessary to pick up the mantle of Reagan in 2012").

It's the publicity that has excited them -- and not the favorable publicity, either. As usual with rightbloggers and Palin, even in her moment of glory (and great personal enrichment) the big story is that Palin is being mistreated.

"Sarah Palin Demonized while Obama Walks on Water," said our obama nation. "She continues to call forth a deep and almost primal rage in her opponents," said neo-neocon. "Because Sarah Palin is an individual not made in Washington D.C. and not approved by the D.C. power players," said Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog, "she must be destroyed."

​After parading his somewhat tarnished national security street cred, ruling out a gubernatorial run and floating a run at the Senate, America's former Mayor has gone to ground in Florida and isn't talking. His aides, on the other hand, say the Senate isn't big enough for him.

Despite the strenuous objections of local Republican lawmakers, some residents of Thomson, IL are hoping that the Obama administration will go through with rumored plans to move the Guantanamo detainees to the "vastly underutilized" Thomson Correctional Center. Up to 25% of the proposed federal supermax prison would be used to house terror suspects.