www.lakesidelounge.com

www.lakesidelounge.com

The East Village must be getting used to all these closings by now. First, it was Mars Bars on East First Street; then Banjo Jim's on East Ninth Street; and, now, the Lakeside Lounge on Avenue B will see its doors close for good. In an e-mail message to Runnin' Scared, co-owner Eric Ambel confirmed that, "after 16 years on Avenue B, our last night will be April 30." What a shame.More >>

via @skuyel

A fire in the ductwork of a restaurant at 101 Orchard Street that broke out this morning in its kitchen is under control as of 10:28 a.m., the FDNY told Runnin' Scared. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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Sad news out of Los Angeles tonight: The Associated Press reported that Whitney Houston has died at the age of 48. Houston was found dead in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where she was scheduled to attend producer Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party tonight.

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By a vote of two to one, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has just ruled that California's Proposition is unconstitutional.

Simply put: even though more Californians voted for Prop 8 than not, that proposition was a violation of the constitution of the United States of America, according to the Ninth Circuit. This paves the way for the issue of same-sex marriage to head up to the Supreme Court in the near future.

Also, according to the Los Angeles Times, "In a separate decision, the appeals court refused to invalidate Walker's ruling on the grounds that he should have disclosed he was in a long term same-sex relationship. Walker, a Republican appointee who is openly gay, said after his ruling that he had been in a relationship with another man for 10 years. He has never said whether he and partner wished to marry."

We will be updating throughout the afternoon with reactions from marriage equality activists around the city, along with legal analysis about what this could mean for marriage on a national level.

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Cops want your help finding the two young hooligans who broke into a Carpenter Avenue apartment and stole two flat screen TVs from the Bronx residence on Friday.

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A deaf-mute 18-year-old woman left her East Harlem residence Friday morning and never returned home, and cops want your help finding her.

Police say that Keyla Contreras was last seen at 2390 Second Avenue at 7 a.m.

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via Larissa Martell via @dietznutz

It's windy out there, be careful! So windy that on the way into work we almost blew across the street. So windy that a billboard on the BQE between Meeker and Metropolitan plummeted 200 feet to the ground below, blocking traffic and effectively closing the BQE for a period this afternoon.

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A car plunged into the Hudson River off of the West Side Highway earlier this morning, according to reports. The FDNY confirms the incident and says the call came in at 10:05 a.m. -- the vehicle went into the water near West 94th Street. One person was removed from the water prior to FDNY arrival; FDNY says, "they were either taken out of the water or got out on their own." That individual was transported to St. Luke's with minor injuries.

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According to a tipster, a woman has just jumped off the Williamsburg Bridge, landing on an vehicle parked on Pitt Street, at Delancey. Our tipster says, "She fell onto the windshield of an SUV on Pitt Street, right across the street from the fire/police station. When I walked by about 10 minutes ago she was still alive and was moving around slowly."

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Dan Robins

Protesters have formed a human chain around Occupy Albany's info tent.

Occupy Albany, one of the longest-lasting Occupy encampments -- and the only one to issue specific demands -- is currently being evicted, according to Capital Tonight's Twitter feed.

The Albany occupiers recently issued a list of demands that include ending corporate personhood and changing the incentives structure for elected officials. They also notably put pressure on Governor Cuomo by focusing early on in their demonstrations on the Millionaire's Tax. Cuomo and state legislative leaders recently agreed to change New York State's income tax code, reducing the tax rate for middleclass taxpayers.

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