​If you go for a swim in New York's waterways, you might have a bit of uninvited company -- the 27 billion gallons of raw sewage that get dumped into the harbors yearly, that is.

Leif Percifield, a grad student at Parsons, would like to reduce this deluge of human excrement flowing through the rivers and bays, so he's launching DontFlushMe -- an app that will alert sewer system users to overflows related to toilet-flushing.

Or, as the EPA's Elizabeth Myer puts it, the program will advise "when to let it mellow." (Disclosure: We really wish we'd used that line first.)

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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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C.S. Muncy

​The Coney Island Polar Bear Club, the "oldest winter bathing organization in the United States," was at it again with aplomb over the weekend for their annual New Year's Day swim. Photographer C.S. Muncy was there to get some shots. While it was warmer than usual as far as outside temperatures run this time of year, the water was a reported 45 degrees and "one heck of an ice bath," per one participant. If semi-nude bathers willingly plunging into frigid waters in January are a thermometer of the times, styles for 2012 are skimpy, but hats are definitely in, as are (still) homemade Occupy signs.

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​Today on the nude beat: There's a calendar/guide available that may be the perfect stocking stuffer for your nudist uncle, if you have a nudist uncle (and who, honestly, doesn't?). This gift item is called The Skinny Dipping Report, and it is described as "a calendar and guide to swimming naked in beautiful places, featuring the best amateur nude photography the Internet has to offer." The whole Internet! That is a big place.

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​WTF, weather? For days we've been sashaying about complaining and/or rejoicing (whether we're feeling glass-half-empty or glass-half-full) about the bizarre temperate weather. Our actual winter coat has only been worn, like, twice! But today, in weird conjunction with the MTA's announcement that they'll be better about the winter this time, they promise, comes a winter weather advisory from our friends in the know. It might snow, and it's definitely going to drop quite a few degrees. In fact, it already has.

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A weapon in the hands of Washington.

​Greg (Grover) Washington, who the Daily News has dubbed "the squeegee king of New York" was arrested for the 186th time on Tuesday, making him not only the squeegee king of New York but possibly the king of New York City arrests. The trouble with Washington is not his squeegee, per se -- it's that he is really bad with rejection. Lt. Patrick Heraghty explained, "He goes up [to cars] and squeegees ... and when he doesn't get paid, he breaks the windshield wiper or assaults the driver."

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Here's your heartwarming adorable animal rescue story for the day. A deer dubbed "Rudolph" by cops was rescued from the water under the Verrazano Bridge yesterday. Apparently his back legs had been bound by twine, which led to his struggles. Fortunately, a good citizen called 911 and the deer was rescued, "tranquilized for his own comfort," and taken to Great Kills Park Marina in good condition, reports NBC NY. Watch the video of the rescue, above.

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​The auction of a bona fide New York City island happened yesterday, and the winner was Alex Schibli, a 71-year-old retired Port Authority worker who lives in the Bronx and has gazed hungrily at that island, or, slab of 2 1/2-acre rock, for more than a decade, wishing he owned it. For $160,000, now he does. Schibli says he and his wife, who live on City Island, have often kayaked around Rat Island, and he's always felt a sense of ownership (he's taken it upon himself over the years to clean up after parties, for instance) over the property.

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​The Dead Sea is a lie. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute found that the body of water, once thought to be barren, is actually "a fantastic hot spot for life." They discovered this after a series of dive missions last year. National Geographic reports the dive teams discovered craters at the bottom of the sea that "were covered with films and sometimes surprisingly thick mats of new bacterial species." Like LaserJet printers, the Dead Sea is not what its name would portend.

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A flash flood watch is still in effect for New York City and surrounding areas, though the rain seems to have calmed down a bit, for the moment. But earlier today it was pretty awful, outside and apparently in the subway as well. AM New York's Tim Herrera shot this video, in which commuters actually have to use umbrellas to get out of the E train at 34th Street to avoid being drenched by the wave of water pouring down.

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