Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

While President Obama and the assorted GOP contenders for the 2012 presidential nomination push their ideas for getting the country back in the black, there are some U.S. cities and counties on the brink.

The best place to get arrested in the city is the Bronx. Hands down. That's because the Bronx district attorney's office declines to prosecute an alarming number of cases, a Daily News probe found. Prosecutors toss cases at twice the rate of the citywide average - and more than three times the rate of their counterparts in Manhattan and Brooklyn, stats show.

The office refused to press charges for 1,195 felony arrests, or about 10% of 11,938 total felony cases. They also rejected 6,315 misdemeanors, or roughly 20% of the 31,582 total. The overall 17.3% rejection rate is more than twice the citywide average of 8.4%.

In the past month, the Bronx district attorney's office declined to prosecute a number of disturbing crimes. Among them: - A crazed woman slashed a man in his stomach, but dodged attempted murder charges because of an uncooperative victim. A cop source said prosecutors did "less than nothing" to gain his trust. - Officers found two men sitting on a park bench reeking of pot with a large bag of crack cocaine at their feet. Prosecutors deemed there was not enough evidence to prove the drugs belonged to them, records show. Steven Reed, a spokesman for Johnson, attributed the office's high case rejection rate to "rigorous screening." "Charging decisions are based on the facts of the case and the law," he said. "The deprivation of an individual's liberty is something that we take very seriously."

Poverty grew nationwide last year, but the increase was even greater in New York City, the Census Bureau will report on Thursday, suggesting that New York was being particularly hard hit by the aftermath of the recession.

Poverty grew nationwide last year, but the increase was even greater in New York City, the Census Bureau will report on Thursday, suggesting that New York was being particularly hard hit by the aftermath of the recession.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Sunday that his sexual encounter with a New York City hotel chambermaid was “an error” and “a moral failure” he would regret his whole life, but not a criminal act.

The city sheds its skin every day; Mom & Pop are always getting the boot. Manhattan now has 186 Starbucks, which is eight per square mile. There are more Starbuckses than subway stations. You might think that 186 stores on one small island is the functional equivalent of everywhere, but it turns out not to be, in Starbuckian terms, enough: outlet No. 187 is opening Friday in Times Square, and sometime early next year, No. 188 — or so — will be hanging its shingle on Third Street, right down the block from the world headquarters of the Hell’s Angels. But sing no sad songs for the Bean. By the time Starbucks has rebuilt the corner of Third Street and First Avenue to meet its quality standards for hospitable monotony, the Bean will be flying its flag about 100 yards south.

A 15-year-old Hoboken girl was assaulted in a Downtown Jersey City park Friday night by a group of roughly 30 girls who stole her cellphone, police reports said.

HICAGO - Authorities say a fire in a Chicago subway has injured 19 people and sent black smoke billowing from grates along city str

KABUL, Afghanistan — Teams of insurgents firing rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons struck at the U.S. Embassy, NATO headquarters and other buildings in the heart of the Afghan capital Tuesday, raising fresh doubts about the Afghans' ability to secure their nation as U.S. and other foreign troops begin to withdraw. Seven Afghans were killed and 15 wounded in the coordinated daylight attack, which sent foreigners dashing for cover and terrified the city from midday well into the night as U.S. helicopters buzzed overhead. No embassy or NATO staff members were hurt.