The Grand Council of Guardians, 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Alliance, and the Corona branch of the NAACP will hold a press conference today at which they will discuss controversial remarks made by Eduardo Giraldo, a candidate for the 21st district city council seat in Queens.

The remarks in question can seen in the above Youtube video. If the English subtitles that appear at the bottom of the screen are accurate, the candidate seems to be putting forth some kind of strange theory about the superiority of Latino blood.

"Now what's the best blood for us Latinos? Our own blood. The blood of blacks has problems. The blood of Europeans has problems and the best blood for us Latinos is Latino blood because it has the antigens that make us different. But us Latinos don't donate blood," the translation goes....

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​Biking Daily News reporter Simone Weichselbaum may be furiously searching for her beloved two-wheeler: a blue and yellow Surly Steamroller.

The reporter has written that she uses her cycle to go pretty much everywhere: "I hate being in the overpriced sticky subways and opt to ride my sweet Surly Steamroller instead of paying for a cab. I bike to crime scenes while on the job for the Daily News, and have no problem peddling to dinner parties sporting shorts under a fancy dress."

But Weichselbaum may have to endure humid subways and expensive cabs like the rest of the city's non-biking dupes, as she appears to have taken out a Craigslist ad asking for help finding her vehicle, which got swiped last week.

"If you guys have seen my Surly Steamroller painted blue and yellow covered with pro-biking stickers, could you please help me get it back. Someone managed to slip the U-Lock off a pole in front of 212 Ave A on Sunday. This bike is my baby"...

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​Perusers of eBay may from time to time find an auction of cards signifying membership in the New York City Patrolmen's Benevolent Association. No seller seems to be stupid enough to say the cards are for getting special treatment from the police, and some offer warnings like, "These cards should only be bidden on for the purpose of... Collectible Items only!"

Of course that's not why anyone wants them.

Put out by NYPD's unions so members can give it to family and friends, the card alerts NYC officers the carrier should be treated with courtesy. A Google search of "NYPD PBA card" suggests, though, that the cards aren't just about courtesy, but are mainly prized for getting civilian New Yorkers out of the consequences of minor legal hassles like traffic violations.

For example, a poster at the Maxima cars forum, Maxima.org, claims to have escaped a ticket in Queens using the apparently-purchased plastic:

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An NYPD officer accused of providing false financial information in an attempt to qualify for subsidized housing turned herself in today.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office says 31-year-old Simone Smith, "who was assigned to the 108th Precinct in Queens, was arrested on charges of welfare fraud, forgery, criminal possession of a forged instrument, attempted grand larceny, falsifying business records and offering a false instrument for filing." Smith allegedly turned in old pay stubs and W2's to the City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development in hopes of getting $7,600 in assistance.

The AP reports NYC's Department of Investigation says the pay stubs Smith turned in made it seem as though she'd earned only $32,258 in 2008, when she'd really earned $58,000. The defense attorney currently representing Smith wasn't in when the Voice called his office this afternoon; hs partner, Elizabeth Crotty, points out that Smith is a single mother."This was a person who was trying to make ends meet," says the lawyer.

​Greenpoint has a 12-strong moped gang called The Orphans, and you can imagine what's coming next: they're in a major beef about who's a damn hipster.

The pretend thugs have gotten some press of late, most notably from Wired, where text and pics allow readers to "meet some of the Orphans, have a run-in with the law and take a ride over the bridge into Manhattan, moped-style." The article suggests the easy-riders are unconcerned with other people's opinions. "The mopeders ride on at their own speed (fast but not too fast) and on their own creations (solid but not too pretty)," Wired says. "They're unconcerned with acceptance, just enjoying the wind in their faces and the mild rumble beneath them. "

But a look at the blog for the gang's moped shop (the Orphanage) suggests the moped-ers do in fact care what people think, particularly commenters. A post titled "Media Moped Love Fest XXX" takes a jab at some of the negative reactions the media coverage has attracted...

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​HuffPo wants to know who penned the best headline for yesterday's subway masturbation story and we're proudly in the running. "When one of the top stories is a subway flasher, it's practically a field day for the local media. Here's a quick rub- er, rundown of the wit that is New York headlines -- VOTE for your favorite!" the online giant grins.

Readers are being asked to pick between three heds: the New York Post's, "Lazy Cop Is A Jerk," 1010 WINS' "Woman Jerked Around By Cop?" and of course the Voice's highly superior Runnin' Scared hed, "Have You Seen... Stroker on the #3?" So far we're neck and neck with the Post but a little ahead of the (currently ironically named) 1010 WINS.

​Evidently, Bill Clinton isn't done trying to improve things for business owners of Harlem without handing them any (often badly needed) cash. The Clinton Foundation and Zagat Survey have rolled out a new guide to Harlem as part of the Clinton Economic Opportunity Initiative (CEO). According to the foundation's web site, the guide points to more than 300 Harlem restaurants, nightspots, and stores.

"We are pleased to partner with Zagat to showcase all there is to see and do, and hope visitors and residents alike will come explore the great restaurants, quaint shops, cultural landmarks and exciting events the neighborhood has to offer," Clinton is quoted as saying via the foundation site.

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​Actress Kyra Sedgwick wants Mayor Mike Bloomberg to help some visiting circus elephants she thinks are being tormented. The celeb has faxed Mayor Bloomberg a letter (which PETA provides a via its blog.) in which she asks him to assure he'll never again let allegedly elephant-torturing Ringling Bros. Circus come to Coney Island.

Sedgwick says the circus abuses its elephants with bullhooks and chains (as seen in this now-famous video) and the city should distance itself from such cruelties. The actress then moves on to making some suggestions on how Bloomberg could alleviate the suffering of the circus elephants that are currently entertaining crowds at Coney:

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​A 13-million dollar sports betting-ring that was toiling away in Queens, as well as in other spots, has been busted up by authorities. According to the Queens District Attorney's office, indictments and arrests have come down on eleven defendants, one of them a retired New York City cop.

The D.A. alleges that former officer Joseph R. Sophia "acted as an 'agent' who gave bettors access codes, collected payments, and set limits on the amount they were allowed to bet."

The suspected ringleaders of the operation are Michael Mildenberger, 71, and James Rossi, 49, a "reputed Genovese crime family associate..."

The D.A. says a "wire room" in Costa Rica facilitated the gambling. Risk-takers accessed the wire room using either a toll free phone number or this eye-catching Web site.

Wagers were placed on everything from Hockey to Baseball, and ranged from $200 to $4,000. At the North Carolina home of one defendant, $210,000 in cash was found in a safe.

This all sounds remarkably similar to another Queens gambling bust. One of the suspects is still at-large, theoretically in Costa Rica.

​Someone decided to leap off the Brooklyn Bridge Tuesday night, NYPD confirms. The Brooklyn Heights Blog says the suicidal man "kept police at bay for over 30 minutes last night as he threatened to jump...

"The drama unfolded shortly after 10:30 p.m. with reports of a man, armed with a knife, threatening to commit suicide. Police responded, and found the man clinging to the outside edge of the bridgework, west of the Brooklyn tower, along the Manhattan-bound lanes of traffic. Cops from the Emergency Service Squad secured themselves to the bridge, and attempted to initiate conversation, as police and fire boats circled nearby.

"The officers encountered difficulty communicating with the subject, as he could only speak Arabic. An Arabic-speaking officer, assigned to the Transit Bureau, was located and hurried to the scene. The distraught man, still apparently armed with the knife, was now clinging to the bridge by two fingers, and he plummeted to the water seconds later."

The man was then apparently pulled out of enveloping waters by the crew of an FDNY Marine boat. The blog reports the jumper sustained minor injuries, and is being treated at Lutheran Medical Center.