New York News Blog

"The State Senate just convened, and then adjourned, without doing anything," reports Jimmy Vielkind. The session was ten minutes long, including the religious invocation. Didn't matter -- a number of Democratic senators were absent, making passage of anything unlikely. That does it! says Governor Paterson -- he's threatening to keep the legislators at work through Thanksgiving. This sort of thing has been tried before, though, and nothing ever comes of it. Enjoy Happy Hour, statesmen!

​American PETA's celebrity nude ads are pretty good, but we have to admit the UK has them beat. Here's Keeley Hazell -- yeah, us neither, but PETA says she's a "sexy glamour model" -- in their latest. We will reproduce the full ad, and another, after the jump so you can enjoy the full effect of PETA's messages, having to do with fur, which the organization seems to be against.

Update: Oops, Hazell's is not the most recent nude PETA ad -- that honor goes to "Irish supermodel" Suzanne McCabe -- but Hazell's is the most nude.

Update 2: If that's not your style, you can instead watch this PETA TV ad in which a young, fully-clothed vegan activist ruins her family's Thanksgiving, which NBC unaccountably refused to run during the Parade. We all serve the cause in our own way.

​You may recall the Big Apple Coalition of Reason "Good without God" subway ads, which suggested that one needn't have a deity to be an OK human being. Now a likeminded group is about to present New York with Chirstm -- er, holiday ads for unbelievers. The American Humanist Association is rolling out holiday-themed transit ads in time for the solstice in five Sodoms, including ours. New York should have them by early December, AHA's Roy Speckhardt tells us.

As you can see, the little Santa hats suggest that the winter carnival can also be fun for what AHA calls "the 'nones:' the rapidly growing percentage of people who claim no religion."

"It's a time of year when both the folks who are religious as well as secular are taking time off and spending time with their families," says Speckhardt. "It's chance to get out our message in a very upbeat way, almost lightearted, and add some holiday cheer to it."

Those Albany "man cave" guys have been nailed and will be sentenced in January, but believe it or not their case is still causing trouble. Now inspector general Joseph Fisch wants action brought against three supervisors of former Office of General Services janitor Gary Pivoda and his direct superior Louis Marciano. That the supes -- Director of Plaza Operations Thomas Casey, Public Buildings Manager 4 Dennis Williams and former Chief Janitor William Liston -- didn't notice that Pivoda and Marciano did and dealt drugs and loafed in a makeshift break room they cooked up for themselves in the East Garage of Empire State Plaza is just part of the problem, says the IG:

​CQ Press, which apparently does this every year, has listed the 393 most dangerous U.S. cities with populations over 70,000 based on FBI statistics. Camden, New Jersey is #1, replacing last year's winner, New Orleans, which plummeted to sixth place (but then, they had an asterisk in 2008); New York, New York is #256, rising slightly from #259 last year, but still far enough down to avoid much being made of it.

The Empire State claims the safest city of size on the list: Colonie, a suburb of Albany. Amherst, Ramapo, Clarkstown, and Greece are also among the 20 safest on CQ's list...

​And you thought Mayor Bloomberg was tough on smokers: Consumerist reports authorized Apple repair specialists have voided warranties on Mac laptops in need of repair because of evidence of cigarette smoke.

In a few cases the refusals cited an unwillingness to expose technicians to the "biohazard" of tobacco leavings that had allegedly contaminated the machine. Consumerist has tried without success to get a statement from Apple on this...

​Well, the apocalypse is creeping up on us today. Thanks to a tendency to neglect sewer systems and to pave over green spaces that would have soaked up excess rainfall, our sewers are backing up and poisoning our waterways with "untreated or partly treated human waste, chemicals and other hazardous materials," says the Times. (We saw some of this in Staten Island last month, and upstate last year.) Making the problem worse: unprecedented rainfall, including three "25-year rains" in one year. Cost to fix: $400 billion. Fat chance. Better buy a filter and (in you live on the first floor) a sump pump...

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.