Erica Chang

City Councilman Jumaane Williams and a number of other elected officials, advocates and citizens joined together in Downtown Manhattan to shed light on the injustices of NYPD's Stop And Frisk policy, according to NY1. The group further proposed new measures to reform the current policy.

The Transel Elevator company has fired five of the mechanics who were on duty during the tragic elevator accident that killed advertising executive Suzanne Hart, according to NY1. The lay offs are in response to a city report that cited the mechanics for failing to follow several safety protocols while maintaining the elevator.

City Comptroller John Liu is distancing himself from his campaign staff in response to a scandal involving his campaign treasurer, who was arrested on fraud charges, according to NY1. At a Black History Month event at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, Liu commented, All options are on the table. We're moving forward.

Police Commissions Ray Kelly defended the surveillance of Muslim students during an appearance on WOR-AM. Kelly maintains that the surveillance was necessary and accused people of having short memories as to what happened here in 2001.

A 36-year-old waitress is accusing a veteran NYPD cop of taking advantage of her at the Washington Heights restaurant where she worked, according to NY Daily News. The waitress claims that her boss had paid her $200 to entertain several cops, and was then taken to a back room by one former detective who allegedly sexually assaulted her. However, she says she cannot remember the details because she had blacked out.

The renowned red-tailed hawk couple has encountered a tragedy. Just a day after Pale Male and Lima were seen mating, the she-hawk was found dead in Central Park by photographer Lincoln Karim, who has been avidly tracking the birds, according to DNA Info.

The 8-year-boy who was shot and wounded by a stray bullet while browsing for chips in a Bronx deli last weekend was released from the hospital Monday, according to NY1. Armando Vigo was standing near the front door of the bodega when a bullet hit him in his left shoulder.

A recent report released by city officials reveals that critical safety procedures were ignored leading up to December's tragic elevator accident in Midtown Manhattan. 41-year-old advertising executive Suzanne Hart was stepping into the elevator on the first floor of a 26-story office building late last year, when the elevator doors suddenly closed on her leg and pulled her body into the shaft, killing her instantly.

The world's tallest penguin species once inhabited New Zealand, according to LiveScience. Scientists discovered the fossilized species almost 20 years ago, but have only recently released the details of their findings. The Kairuku Grenbeffi once stood as tall as a small human at approximately 4.2 feet (1.3 meters) and lived roughly 27 million years ago along the coasts of the island country.

A pair of NYC architects have submitted plans for a Kickstarter campaign that will allow them to build an underground park in an abandoned trolley terminal in the Lower East Side. Dan Barasch and James Ramsey of Raad Studio are hoping to convert the unoccupied Williamsburg Bridge Trolly Terminal into the city's first subterranean park. The plan is called Delancey Underground and has also been cleverly dubbed the Lowline.

Following the controversial release of over five million private emails by online anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks, global intelligence company Stratfor undoubtedly has some explaining to do. The emails reveal all sorts of information including details regarding sources, operations and miscellaneous gossip. But, perhaps most peculiar is one specific document circulated among employees in 2007. The document, titled The Stratfor Glossary of Useful, Baffling and Strange Intelligence Terms.

Police are on the lookout for a man who fired a gun into a Bronx deli Tuesday night, injuring an 8-year-old boy.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan began Lent by making his Ash Wednesday rounds, just after returning from the Vatican where he was made a price of the church, according to the NY Post. Dolan handed out food to the homeless at St. Francis of Asssisi Church on 31st Street just before heading uptown to St. Patrick's Cathedral, where he held an afternoon session of mass.

Six years after the controversial incident in which former Playboy Playmate Stephanie Adams was brutally handled by NYPD for allegedly threatening a cab driver with a gun, a Manhattan jury awarded Adams $1.2 million for the injuries she incurred during her scuffle with the police.

A commenter on the Gothamist was arrested for making online death threats targeting Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, according to the New York Post. 49-year-old Richard Strauss posted a series of comments allegedly encouraging New Yorkers to aim their sights at Kelly with a well-placed [bullet] to his thick skull.

As rumors of Adele's supposed five year break finally begin to subside, another shocking story has made it's way into the news. The French magazine Public recently ran an issue with the headline, Adele: La Sex Tape! The issue included stills from a home-made adult video that supposedly features Adele and her former boyfriend. However, Adele's spokesperson immediately shot down the claims, saying that the allegations of a sex tape featuring Adele were 100 percent false an...

Former Smallville star Kristen Kreuk has scored the lead role in CW's new show Beauty and the Beast. Contrary to popular belief, the show is not a remake of the original Disney animated production but is actually loosely based on a 1980s CBS series. The Canadian actress, best known for her role as Lana Lang in Smallville, will play leading lady and New York homicide detective Catherine.

Jean-Marie Loret never met his father. In fact, Loret had only learned of his father's identity just a few weeks before his biological mother, Charlotte Lobjoie, died in the 1950s. And although Loret was aware that he was the son of a German soldier, nothing could prepare him for the shock of being told that he was the son of chancellor and dictator of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler.

An elementary school teacher in Queens had her 5th grade students draw Christmas cards for her boyfriend in prison, according to the NY Daily News. Melissa Dean organized the holiday activity at Public School 143 in Corona because she thought it was a nice thing to do.

Ex-Governor David Paterson has contacted Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance to dismiss the weapons possession charges against retired Marine Ryan Jerome, according to the NY Post. Jerome is currently being prosecuted after attempting to check in his Indiana-registered handgun at the Empire State Building last year.

A woman's body was found stuffed into a black laundry bag in a vacant Brooklyn lot Wednesday, according to the NY Daily News. The middle-aged black woman was discarded in the lot on Lott Avenue in Brownsville. Authorities believe that the body had been abandoned there only a short while before police were notified. The bag was left out in the open, just two feet from the sidewalk.

Yet another peculiar trend is gaining traction among hip Brooklynite parents: the babyccino. The drink is described as a macchiato-like beverage featuring a shot of decaf expresso topped with steamed milk and froth, according to the Huffington Post. Not ordinarily listed on the menu, a babyccino usually costs around $2.

Manhattan millionaire Ed Bazinet went on a rather peculiar shopping spree at the Javis Center New York International Gift Fair, where he ordered $20 million worth of knickknacks just before he was taken to a mental hospital, according to the New York Post.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found trace amounts of lead in 400 shades of popular lipstick. While these findings are not unheard of, the federal government did discover that the lead was detected at higher levels and in a larger variety of lipsticks than ever before. The top 10 most contaminated brands include lipsticks by L'Oreal, Maybelline, Cover Girl and NARS lipsticks.

Over a year after police discovered the bodies of two Catholic priests in a car in Southern Bogota, investigators have revealed a shocking new twist. What had appeared to be a robbery and a homicide has actually turned out to be a suicide and a murder, prosecutors said Tuesday.

According to statistics released by the Pew Center of the States, at least 1.8 million dead people are currently registered to vote. Additionally, 24 million voter registrations have some serious errors. While there is little suspicion of voter fraud, many people have pointed out the serious consequences of using such a flawed system.

Four TCU football players were arrested along with 13 other students in a campus-wide drug bust. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the arrested players are defensive lineman D.J. Yendry, linebacker Tanner Brock, offensive tackle Tyler Horn and cornerback Devin Johnson.

New Jersey's State Senate passed a bill legalizing gay marriage on Monday, despite the fact that Governor Chris Christie promised to veto the legislation. The Senate voted 24 to 16 in favor of the same-sex marriage bill, which is expected to be approved by the state Assembly on Thursday.

The medication used to treat childhood leukemia is experiencing a nationwide shortage. Hospitals across the country could run out of supplies within the next two weeks, leaving thousands of children at a greater risk of dying from the disease.