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The Village of Melrose Park decided that it would be a good idea to issue 62 tickets to an elderly couple for having lawn chairs in their front yard. The Village issued ticket after ticket, imposing fine after fine, to two eighty-year-old residents, Plaintiffs Vincent and Angeline Cozzi. The fines were not small potatoes. Each ticket cost $500, so the Village tagged them with fines totaling about $30,000. And when it was all said and done, the Village slapped them with a lien on their house, for good measure. The tickets faulted the Cozzis for creating a nuisance and for...

Mikis Theodorakis, the renowned Greek composer and Marxist firebrand who waged a war of words and music against an infamous military junta that imprisoned and exiled him as a revolutionary and banned his work a half century ago, died on Thursday at his home in central Athens. He was 96. The cause was cardiopulmonary arrest, according to a statement on his website. His family said in a statement read on Greek state television that his body would lie in state, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared three days of national mourning. Mr. Theodorakis was best known internationally for his scores...

The son of NYPD whistleblower Frank Serpico died of an apparent drug overdose in his Manhattan apartment, police and sources said Tuesday. Alexander Serpico, 41, was discovered lying face down in bed in his Wall Street home around 1 p.m. Monday and was pronounced dead a short time later, cops said. He was the son of Frank Serpico, who famously exposed corruption within the NYPD in the late 1960s and early ’70s, leading to the creation of the Knapp Commission, police sources said.

Robert Evans passed away on Saturday night at the age of 89. The Hollywood legend made his mark on the industry starting in the 1967 when he became the head of Paramount Pictures. The Godfather, Chinatown, The Godfather Part II, Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Rosemary's baby, Harold and Maude, Serpico, True Grit, The Italian Job and The Great Gatsby were just a few of the films released during his tenure. At the same time, Evans was thrust into the spotlight when his third of seven wives, Ali McGraw, left him for Steven McQueen. Evans later fell on...

take a knee for team-less Colin Kaepernick at Brooklyn rally Because Colin Kaepernick took a knee, these cops have his back. Law enforcers past and present turned out Saturday in a show of support for the controversial NFL quarterback — whose public stance against racism and police violence preceded his current unemployment. “What Colin Kaepernick did is try to bring awareness that this nation unfortunately has ignored for far too long,” said NYPD Sgt. Edwin Raymond, who helped organize the Brooklyn event. “And that's the issue of racism in America and policing in America. We decided to gather here...

In the opening scene of the 1973 movie “Serpico,” I am shot in the face—or to be more accurate, the character of Frank Serpico, played by Al Pacino, is shot in the face. Even today it’s very difficult for me to watch those scenes, which depict in a very realistic and terrifying way what actually happened to me on Feb. 3, 1971. I had recently been transferred to the Narcotics division of the New York City Police Department, and we were moving in on a drug dealer on the fourth floor of a walk-up tenement in a Hispanic section of...

In the opening scene of the 1973 movie “Serpico,” I am shot in the face—or to be more accurate, the character of Frank Serpico, played by Al Pacino, is shot in the face. Even today it’s very difficult for me to watch those scenes, which depict in a very realistic and terrifying way what actually happened to me on Feb. 3, 1971. I had recently been transferred to the Narcotics division of the New York City Police Department, and we were moving in on a drug dealer on the fourth floor of a walk-up tenement in a Hispanic section of...

Whistleblower cop Frank Serpico remembers the night he took a bullet to the face — even if the NYPD continues to ignore it. One day after the 43rd anniversary of his near-fatal shooting, Serpico, 77, said he has yet receive his long-delayed Medal of Honor certificate, which typically accompanies the medal. Serpico was given the NYPD’s highest award, the Medal of Honor, in 1972. But the medal wasn’t given at a ceremony; it was dispensed over a counter top, he recalled. In a statement, he said was tired of “waiting for the NYPD to overcome their pettiness and animosity.”

Dede Allen, the film editor whose seminal work on Robert Rossen's "The Hustler" in 1961 and especially on Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" in 1967 brought a startling new approach to imagery, sound and pace in American movies, died Saturday. She was 86.

He looked like some sort of fur trapper, this bearded man walking through the snowy woods here in upstate New York. But then, Frank Serpico has always been known for his disguises. Anyone who has seen the celebrated 1973 film “Serpico” knows that he often dressed up — bum, butcher, rabbi — to catch criminals. His off-duty look was never vintage cop either, with the bushy beard and the beads. This is the man whose long and loud complaining about widespread corruption in the New York Police Department made him a pariah on the force. The patrolman shot in the...

Dirty cop to tell all at murder trial By MICHELE McPHEE DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU CHIEF A rogue cop who was a key member of a notorious Brooklyn gang that specialized in robbing and killing drug dealers is set to take the stand this week in the double murder trial of one of his former cohorts. Anthony Trotman, who once pulled a sweatsuit over his uniform and robbed a jewelry store while on duty, will testify in the double murder trial of Kingsley (Lee) Bernard. The trial of Bernard, 27, who already is in prison for rape, caps an extensive...

Serpico Decries Anti-Terror Measures ASSOCIATED PRESS CHATHAM, N.Y.- Frank Serpico, the whistle-blowing ex-New York City cop, criticized the government's anti-terrorism measures at a July Fourth reading of the Declaration of Independence. "It is my opinion that never before have we, as a nation, stood in greater danger of losing our individual liberties as we are today," he said. "We, the people of this great nation, are being punished for the transgressions of our leaders and their consorts." Despite catcalls from the audience, he continued with his statement before moving on to the text of the historic document. "When I still...