The city can now properly accommodate low budget nuptials and shotgun weddings. |NYT|
The financial crisis is really starting to hit home: no more free wireless internet service in some of the city’s parks. |NYP|
Hunter College gets some credit, ranking #8 in Princeton Review’s list of “Best Value Public Colleges for 2009.” |NYP|
The racist assholes from Staten Island that were charged with attacking a young black guy on election night also ran down a white guy down they thought was black. |NYT|
An informant claims that John Gotti Sr.’s neighbor was killed and dumped in a barrel of acid after accidentally hitting the mobster’s then 12-year-old son. |NYDN|
Pedicabs get caught up in a ticket blitz in Central Park. |City Room|
Bloomberg won’t get the luxury suite he wanted so badly at Yankee Stadium and the city will instead take the cash value of the 12-seat box and give it to the community instead. |NYT|
Meanwhile, it appears the mayor’s staffers receive luxury salaries. |amNY|
The wafting, mysterious maple syrup smell is back with over 3 dozen New Yorkers calling the city’s 311 line to report the sweet odor. |NYP|
A rare disease is killing off dogs at a Brooklyn animal shelter. |NYDN|
An ex-MTA board member refuses to turn in his all powerful, park anywhere you want permit. |NYDN|
Back in 1989, over 37 ceramic murals were installed at the 86th Street station for the No.3 train and the people that made them are still proud of their work. |NYT|
Thanks to the recession, Manhattan properties are slightly more affordable for rich people. |NYP|
But for the poor, it could mean no affordable housing at all. |NYT|
And for the homeless, not even a shelter. |NYDN|
Still, economic downturn or not, New Yorkers still love to drink. |amNY|
Speaking of which, the city’s Health Department did a groundbreaking study and found that people abuse alcohol tend to have more sex partners, increasing their risks of HIV. |NYP|
The city’s highest court found a crack in the law when it comes to sidewalk injuries and challenges the inaccurate maps that used to be the mainstay for trial lawyers. |NYT|
Kaie Holmes provided 14 million reasons why New Yorkers should tolerate her existence in the city. |Telegraph|
Solider desperately wants to join the NYPD—probably to shoot people—but has an outstanding gun related felony. |ABC|
More reasons (as if you needed any) to not trust Caroline Kennedy. |The Right Perspective|
Even the Rainbow Room restaurant can’t weather the economic crisis, is shutting down. |Bloomberg|
Citing security concerns, the Charmin holiday toilets in Times Square were shut down for nine hours and the lack of access has forced some tourists to wear diapers or use “bottles to relieve themselves.” |City Room|
Federal prosecutors were forced to drop a murder case against a Bronx man and his brother after a MetroCard provided the perfect alibi. |NYT|
At 78-years-old, pot promoting lefty George Soros, is still the man. |NYP|
A Starbucks coffee truck was the highlight of Brooklyn’s New Year’s Eve celebration. |NYP|
2010 will mark the end of those “goofy” New Year’s googles with the inventors unable to come up with a design that works. |NYP|
No matter how much we bitch about the M.T.A. we still love our subways, making this and heart shaped map of the city’s transit system relevant and graphically striking. |Kottke|
$3 for a subway fare? Not likely, but very possible. Either way, make sure you give them hell for it. |amNY|
He might suck as a criminal, but Lillo Brancato is still a great actor and beat a murder charge. |NYP|
Cheapy tourists are only browsing and not buying much. |NYP|
This interactive feature detailing Peter Luger’s meat vault is a vegetarian’s worst nightmare. |NYT|
André Balazs’ The Standard hotel opened up in New York City and the views are less than majestic. |Curbed|
Calling the generic temporary holiday shops that line Union Square and sell mostly arts and fairs type crap a “jewel box” is a bit of an overstatement. |NYT|
The NYPD had a plan to make up for a shortage in cops: decoys. |NYP|
As well as more SkyWatches, this time the Diamond District gets one. |NYP|
“Palinized” is the new term for charismatic women unfit for office. |NYDN|
Park Slope teacher wrongly uses slang to discipline students. |NYDN|
NYC’s annual two week eviction holiday begins today. |NYT|
Cardinal Egan and his Catholic cohorts really know how to put on a dramatic show when a fellow clergyman dies. |NYT|
After the MTA passed that Doomsday budget and in light of the recent stabbing of a bus driver, the city is running a pilot program to install partitions to keep pissed off passengers away. |NYT|
A city councilman who fashioned himself as an advocate for domestic violence victims was arrested this morning for attacking a girlfriend with a broken bottle. |NYP|
An astute clerk double checked a lottery ticket a customer discarded and gave it back to the woman once he discovered it was a winner. What he didn’t know, it was worth $1 million. |NYP|
Apart from her name, Caroline Kennedy isn’t qualified to be a senator, plus she doesn’t even vote! |NYDN|
A registered sex offender ruined the United States Post Service’s ‘Operation Santa’ after he participated in the charitable program. |City Room|
A Brooklyn woman isn’t happy that Osama bin Laden hasn’t been caught yet and updates a billboard in her yard daily to prove it. |City Room|
Go ahead and secede Staten Island, we’re all for it. |City Rooom|
A transit rider testifying at yesterday’s MTA budget hearing was so pissed off about the proposals that he attempted throw his shoes. |NYT|
Surprise! New Yorkers hate the governor’s new tax plan. |NYP|
Jeremy Piven abruptly left a Broadway show he was staring in due to a “high level of mercury,” prompting the playwright who wrote the show’s humor to respond: “My understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer.” |NYP|
It only makes sense that the birthplace of Hip Hop could double as the birthplace of Jesus in this custom manger scene that depicts the South Bronx, circa 1975 and comes complete with graffiti covered subway train models. |City Room|
Governor Paterson’s plan to raise revenue includes “37 proposed new and hiked taxes on everything from beer to cab rides to iTunes downloads and movie tickets.” |NYP|
Now that he’s been formally indicted, bike pushing rookie cop Patrick Pogan has been suspended. |NYP|
He’s also become a “YouTube Star” along with other deserving officers. |NYT|
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