A Queens man was found dead in his bathtub last night from what police say was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, after a nearly four hour standoff with a SWAT team. The NYPD says Mark Vasquez, a 34-year-old Hispanic man, fired shots at them from the window of his apartment, located at 70-7 68th Street in Glendale. Officers had been called to the scene by Vasquez’s wife; she had fled the apartment after an earlier dispute, then called 911 after receiving text messages from her husband threatening to commit suicide. [ more › ]
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Barricaded Queens Man Commits Suicide During 4 Hour Standoff With SWAT Team
You know what will make Columbia University undergraduates more insane than rumors about Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadenijad being invited to speak on campus ? The confirmation that President Barack Obama, Columbia College Class of 1983, will speak at Barnard College’s commencement . Here’s a sample comment from Columbia’s student newspaper: “What a dbag. Romney 2012.” [ more › ]
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Columbia Undergrads Really Envious Of Barnard’s Obama Visit
One of Columbia University’s most famous undergraduates, President Barack Obama, has just been confirmed as the keynote speaker at Barnard College’s commencement on May 14. According to Barnard, “He will address approximately 600 members of the Class of 2012 and receive the Barnard Medal of Distinction, the College’s highest honor. The speech will be broadcast live on www.barnard.edu .” Suddenly, Columbia College students are more “WTF John MacArthur? ” [ more › ]
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President Obama To Speak At Barnard Commencement On May 14
This week, an executive with Morgan Stanley was charged with assault , theft of services and second-degree intimidation based on race or bigotry after allegedly stabbing a cab driver in a dispute of a fare. Cab driver Mohamed Ammar described the incident in detail to the Post , telling them that William Bryan Jennings, Morgan Stanley’s co-head of North American fixed-income capital markets, screamed and threatened him when he refused to pay the full fare: “You should go back to your own f–king country…I’m gonna kill you, motherf–ker!” [ more › ]
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Cabbie Claims Stabby Banker Screamed: "I’m Going To Kill You”
Because you’d like to see a bridge get blown up, check out today’s end-of-day links: a polar bear livestream, Obama’s hipster fedoras, Bill Murray as FDR, and “the most perfect viral video.” Don’t forget to 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: Does President Obama Wear Hipster Fedoras?
A number of Congressional leaders are blasting Urban Outfitters for selling St. Patrick’s Day merchandise that mocks people of Irish descent for acting like obnoxious, binge-drinking idiots every March 17th. It’s unclear where Urban Outfitters got this notion, or why they think it’s funny, but the company is in hot water with New York Democratic Rep. Joseph Crowley, who says , “By selling and promoting these items, Urban Outfitters is only fueling stereotypes that many Irish Americans, as well as the people of Ireland, work so hard to dispel.” Got it, people? These are stereotypes. That Urban Outfitters beer jug labeled “Leprechaun Piss” is not literally for leprechaun piss. [ more › ]
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Irish Angry At Urban Outfitters For Offensive St. Patrick’s Day Merchandise
Because cats and rats can get along with the right milk, check out today’s mid-day links: Totes Amazeballs cereal, Bobby Brown’s funeral behavior, Obama’s “Sweet Home Chicago,” and Conan O’Brien’s sticking around TBS. Don’t forget to 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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Early Addition: Queensboro Bridge Attacks Mercedes
In yet another revelation of the scope of the NYPD’s surveillance of U.S. citizens throughout the Northeast based on their religion, the AP has obtained secret reports on Muslim communities in Newark, New Jersey, and Suffolk and Nassau Counties in New York. The reports contain photographs of mosques and Muslim-owned businesses, and the names and descriptions of those who worked in them. Newark’s mayor Corey Booker claims to have had no knowledge of the NYPD’s actions, which occurred in 2007. “Wow,” Booker said upon learning of the surveillance. “This raises a number of concerns. It’s just very, very, sobering.” [ more › ]
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NYPD Spied On Muslims In Newark, Persian Jews On Long Island
Reverend Franklin Graham, isn’t convinced that President Obama is a Christian, and this morning on MSNBC alluded to the delicious possibility that he is a secret Muslim: “I can’t say categorically [that Obama doesn't practice Islam] because Islam has gotten a free pass under Obama.” But if Graham really wanted to know if Obama is a Christian, he could have just asked his father, the Rev. Billy Graham, who prayed with the president in 2010 at his private residence in North Carolina. [ more › ]
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Evangelist Franklin Graham: Obama May Be A Secret Muslim. Santorum? He’s Cool
It’s pretty tough to sound dumber than Rick Santorum, who’s been on a tear recently by comparing Barack Obama to Hitler, calling public schools “factories,” and accusing the president of practicing “phony theology.” But Santorum aide Alice Stewart one-upped her boss on MSNBC today noting that Santorum wasn’t actually making some crypto-racist comment about Barry’s religion, “He was referring to the radical Islamic policies the president has.” [ more › ]
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Santorum Aide: Obama Has "Radical Islamic Policies"