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12 Feb 2011 17:10

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U.S.: Recap: The NYC serial stabber’s crazed, bloody trail

  • 30 hours – the period key suspect Maksim Gelman was on the run
  • three people were killed as a result of fatal stabbings in the NYC area; three others were attacked
  • one more person was killed in a hit-and-run accident by the serial stabber while he was trying to escape
  • four cars stolen by the suspect while on the run, including two carjackings
  • many death threats against those who got in Gelman’s crazed way
  • 100’s of police officers were hunting him down the entire time source
  • » A man who went berzerk: Lead suspect Gelman, a 23-year-old from the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn who had a criminal record, reportedly killed his stepfather, his girlfriend and her mother, and proved to be a danger to anyone who got into his way. The situation ended quite dramatically in the subway system, with Gelman hiding in the system, eventually getting on a train near Penn Station, stabbing a man in one of the rail cars, and eventually getting caught by an army of police officers, some with machine guns, under Times Square. What might be a normal episode of “Law & Order” makes for a dramatic, pulse-raising real-life experience.

01 Feb 2011 10:26

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U.S.: Mother Nature hates Americans: Chicago gets snowy, NYC gets icy

  • number of feet of snow expected in the Chicago area this week
  • 0.3˝number of inches of ice –  ICE! – expected in NYC this week
  • 3,897 number of flights that have been cancelled so far source

27 Jan 2011 10:21

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U.S.: NYC sets January snowfall record (grumble grumble)

  • 36˝ number of inches of snow that has fallen in Central Park this month – a January record, by the way
  • 27.4˝ the previous record, set all the way back in 1925 (!); good work, Mother Nature, you hag you source

20 Jan 2011 10:27

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U.S.: FBI arrests mob members en masse, herds them like sheep

  • 100+ people were arrested by the FBI in New York and New Jersey this morning for mob ties
  • 24+ of those were members of the NYC area’s five crime families; the rest were associates source
  • » Among the charges face: Murder (some dating back to the ’80s and ’90s), extortion, loan-sharking, gambling and labor-racketeering in some of the mob’s continued strongholds – the construction industry and the waterfront. Not the waterfront!

15 Jan 2011 21:02

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Tech: Worst startup angle: Naming your wannabe hip startup “Hipster”

  • 10,000 wannabe hipster signups so far source
  • » A really clichéd calling card: While not giving much away, the use of UseHipster.com appears to be ironic. Some might even say … detached. All that exists is a startup page of an aerial urban image that changes based on your proximity to NYC or San Francisco (or Atlanta or Chicago … The Washington Post lied! – thanks lemonpeelclock) – the two cities where whatever idea they have is going to launch. “I think we might have perfected the viral ‘Coming Soon’ page,” said founder Doug Ludlow, who is wrong.

12 Jan 2011 10:20

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U.S.: So, how did NYC handle their latest snowstorm, anyway?

  • 5″-9″ number of inches of snow that fell in the NYC area last night; heavy, but not too heavy
  • 2,400+ sanitation workers were out using over 300 trucks to clear out snow – they were ready this time
  • no public schools didn’t close today, but they’ve only closed six times since 1978 source

09 Jan 2011 11:03

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U.S.: Carlos Castro “scared to sleep” with boyfriend suspected of killing him

  • I’m scared to sleep with him here. I actually changed my flight to go home a couple of days early – this guy’s been acting crazy.
  • Portuguese celebrity journalist Carlos Castro • Speaking to a friend about Renato Seabra, his former lover who he went to NYC with. Castro never made it back home, reportedly dying in a wild fight with Seabra where the 20-year-old reality TV star did some things to him we choose not to repeat. If you want the full details on those, go to the link to New York Daily News, who has less of a squeam factor than we do. As for Seabra, he’s currently being held in a psychiatric facility. This story kind of got buried yesterday in the wake of the Giffords tragedy, but, really, it’s no less shocking – and involves a fairly well-known celebrity in Portugal. source
 

08 Jan 2011 13:15

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U.S., World: Carlos Castro murder: Too many gruesome stories today

  • victim Carlos Castro, a celebrity journalist and gay activist from Portugal who had been staying in New York on holiday. He was found brutally murdered and castrated. (Ugh. Too many disturbing stories today.)
  • suspect Renato Seabra, a 20-year-old model and reality TV star who was staying with Castro. He’s currently getting a psychiatric exam, because, well, who does this to somebody, anyway? source

07 Jan 2011 10:27

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U.S.: NYCers should expect more snow next week, just an FYI

  • We have to keep an eye on that, but the potential is there for another significant snowfall through Tuesday and Wednesday. The potential is there for 6 or more inches.
  • Meteorologist Brian Ciemnecki • Giving an estimate of the chances for more snow (starting today and going into next week) in the NYC area, which hasn’t finished digging out from the last storm yet. Because, let’s face it, New Yorkers haven’t suffered enough. source

03 Jan 2011 10:42

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U.S.: NYC sanitation supervisors: Drinking beer instead of digging out?

  • bad New Yorkers are already upset at the slow pace at which the recent blizzard has been getting cleaned up, and rumors suggest that sanitation supervisors shirked their jobs out of anger over budget cuts.
  • worse The latest rumor going around? Last Monday night, a bunch of sanitation supervisors were sitting around in a car and drinking beer instead of digging the city out of a freaking snowstorm. source