This Bites: Called for Bedbugs, City Shuts Astoria Apt. Bldg.

The Guardian newspaper asked climate scientist James Lovelock—who formulated the Gaia hypothesis while working for NASA— what could be done about climate change. Lovelock’s answer: Not much. "There have been seven disasters since humans came on the earth, very similar to the one that’s just about to happen. I think these events keep separating the wheat from the chaff. And eventually we’ll have a human on the planet that really does understand it and can live with i... more

A sign outside 1849 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx labels the building a shelter in the event of nuclear fallout, but residents in this recently privatized building say that they have received scant protection from more immediate harms: mold, rodents, and New York City winters. “Over the last six years, this building has totally deteriorated. Rents have increased but services have decreased. The lack of heat and hot water has made this building a disaster� said Eugenie White, the Presid... more

Well, we didn’t see that one coming with the Texas and Ohio primaries. We doubt the Post and the News did either, since a lot of the coverage has a "Hillary? Really?" tone to it. Sure, there’s plenty of "Comeback Kid" metaphors in the tabs (look at the front page), but for two papers that were all but ready to anoint Obama the nominee (and had practically forgotten that Clinton existed), there’s an awkward, "Oh, you’re still here?" narrative playing ... more

There are 3,306 homeless people living on New York City streets, a decline 12 percent since last year, Mayor Bloomberg and the Department of Homeless Services announced Tuesday. Two years ago, Bloomberg launched a “supportive housing� program that provides access to subsidized housing designated specifically for use by the homeless. That program helped spur the decline, as well as more aggressive efforts to break up homeless encampments and cooperation with MTA to reach out t... more