Yesterday morning, police found the bodies of two women inside a home on 38th Avenue in Astoria, Queens. Olga Annarumma and her 25-year-old daughter, Valeria Kuzmina Lowery, were shot and police arrested Annarumma’s estranged husband Guerino Annarumma. Lowery died from her injuries while her mother is in critical condition. The suspect wrote on a blog ranting at his wife, “You are going to pay for whatever you did. I dont [sic] play no games. Good Luck, Bye Bye Bye.” [ more › ]

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Man Arrested For Shooting Estranged Wife, Killing Stepdaughter

Though Occupy Wall Street has spent much of their time amidst the canyons of the Financial District’s “heroes,” tomorrow’s efforts are focused in East New York, as part of a nationwide day of action to call attention to the housing crisis that continues to plague much of the country. Occupy Our Homes will meet at the Pennsylvania Avenue subway stop in Brownsville at 1 p.m. for a tour of foreclosed homes, ending with a housewarming party for the families who are “taking these homes back for the community,” despite impending foreclosure, and according to a release, volunteers from the many organizations involved will begin fixing up abandoned property. [ more › ]

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Occupy Wall Street Hosts "Foreclosure Tour" In East New York Tomorrow

Faced with the collapse of the Argentina economy a decade ago, Alfredo Santa Cruz turned trash he had hoped to sell for profit into a full-on, fully inhabitable house. Called La Casa Ecologica de Botellas, it’s made of 24,000 interlocking plastic bottles, many filled with sand or water for fireproofing; inside, furnishings are also made from recycled finds. Cruz estimates that 20,000 people have come and taken advantage of his free training sessions, making his project not only a really cool piece of green architecture but also something that combats homelessness around the community. Watch the video below. The Video: · Plastic Bottle House [YouTube via BuzzFeed ]

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Video Interlude: Man Builds Whole House From 24,000 Used Plastic Bottles

This morning, huddled at the top of the steps at City Hall in an effort to stay dry, City Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn) and Kirsten John Foy (Public Advocate Bill de Blasio’s Community Affairs Director), held a press conference to discuss their arrests after yesterday’s West Indian-American Day Parade. After being allowed to pass through two check points near the Brooklyn Museum in Prospect Heights, Williams and Foy were halted and—even after they had properly identified themselves as an elected official and a high ranking government aide—an altercation ensued. “I was actually handcuffed while talking to the chief of police telling him what was going on,” recalled Williams, who went on to blast the arresting officers as racially-profiling liars. [ more › ]

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Arrested City Councilman: This Never Would Have Happened If I Was White

In today’s end-of-day links: Shackleford won the Preakness, the Sean Bell Community Center opened, and children of illegal immigrants have it rough. Also, follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook . You can also get the top stories mailed to you— sign up here . [ more › ]

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Extra Extra: Shackleford Wins The Preakness

In a move that will drastically decrease the rate of success for the Bridge and Tunnel traps, Community Board 3 is considering expanding parking restrictions in the Lower East Side to cut back on noise and late-night traffic, the Post reports. The ordinance would “prohibit parking between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights,” from Orchard Street to Essex Street, bounded by Broome Street up to East Houston. [ more › ]

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Parking In Lower East Side May Get Even More Impossible

Next month the community board that covers North Brooklyn is expected to vote on a moratorium on new liquor licenses in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Board chairman Christopher Olechowski tells the Wall Street Journal , “We feel that the community is over inundated with the bars and it’s becoming not only a quality of life issue but it’s a safety hazard. Too much of a good thing starts turning into something that turns counterproductive for a community. Where are we going with this?” Good question—we were thinking first The Diamond , then The Gutter , then maybe the late night happy hour at The Soft Spot , followed by Lucky Dog , and shots at The Woods ? And guess what? The State Liquor Authority isn’t going to stand in our staggering, loudmouthed way. [ more › ]

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SLA: There Will Be No Liquor License Moratorium In Brooklyn

Kermit once told us that it isn’t easy being green ; words of wisdom from a frog who knows… but is he even a frog at all?! It appears that everyone’s favorite amphibian—whose catchphrase declares, “Heigh-ho, Kermit the Frog here!”— was not born a frog, but rather, an amorphous, “lizard-like” character. In ” Jim Henson: The Works ,” the master puppeteer explains that “all the characters in those days were abstract because that was part of the principle that I was working under, that you wanted abstract things.” Kermit the glorified sock puppet made his first appearance in 1955 on Henson’s show Sam and Friends (pictured at right) as a species-less creature made out of a turquoise ladies’ coat discarded by Henson’s mother, and two ping pong balls for eyes. [ more › ]

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Muppets Scandal: Kermit Was Once… A Lizard!

Let’s not let the news that Brooklyn’s Community Board 1 voted (symbolically?) against the concerts at the Williamsburg Waterfront overshadow the other distressing development that emerged from last night’s meeting: the locals are poised to go through with this moratorium on new liquor licenses in north Brooklyn. And unlike the State Parks Department, the SLA has a history of doing the community boards’ bidding. [ more › ]

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North Brooklyn Liquor License Moratorium Looms

An ex-con was arrested yesterday for allegedly admitting to killing a Bronx grandmother while in a crack-addled daze. Tyrone Ragland allegedly admitted he was high on crack when he got into a fight over money with 70-year-old Ethel Klein, and stabbed her to death three months ago. ” Apparently there had been disputes in the past over that work. He alleges that she owed him $80 ,” said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. [ more › ]

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Handyman Allegedly Killed Bronx Grandmother In Crack Haze