MR GRADY'S DAILY BLOG: AMERICAS NEWS

EXCLUSIVE: Manhattan landlord, whose ex-cop enforcer is accused of terrorizing tenants, probed in forcing renters out of stabilized units

Tenants of landlord Steven Croman (left) say they have been subjected to harassment and had their possessions ruined while trying to be forced out of apartments that could be rented at a higher rate.

NOT SO FAST, BRUCE LEE: Neighbors grab robbery trying to flea crime scene after 23-year-old victim calls out apartment window

A Bronx woman's fellow tenants sprang into action Friday night and held the thief who had just tied her up and robbed her until cops came to arrest him, police and witnesses said.

Man, woman found dead on bed fully clothed and embracing one another at New York City Hilton hotel

The pair were found dead in each other's arms in a bed in a Staten Island hotel on Friday, and are suspected of having committed suicide by overdose, police said.

FBI investigates former Ford engineer after listening devices found in meeting rooms of company's Michigan headquarters

Eight listening devices were found in the automaker’s meeting rooms on July 11 following a search of its building by federal agents. A former employees home was searched three weeks earlier.

Ebola patient from Sierra Leone is missing after being forcibly removed from quarantine by family after positive diagnosis

A woman who tested positive for the disease that has killed 660 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is missing after officials say her family forcibly removed her from a Freetown hospital after her blood samples came back positive for the deadly disease.

EXCLUSIVE: Homeless stalker leaves Rihanna troubling letters

On list of America's 'snobbiest' small cities, Hoboken, N.J. ranks behind Silicon Valley, Capital Beltway communities

Hoboken has been named one of the “10 Snobbiest Small Cities in America,” according to real estate website Movoto.com. The highbrow haven on the west bank of the Hudson River came in sixth on the list behind top-ranked Palo Alto, Calif., and runner-up Bethesda, Md.

Minnesota man shoots teenage girl THREE times after she asks him to get off her family's property: cops

A Minnesota man ambushed his 17-year-old neighbor, shooting her three times hours after she asked him to not ride his lawn mower through her yard, prosecutors say.

Two teens arrested after being caught on video torturing, lighting a turtle on fire: officials

Jennifer Emoke Greene, 18, and a 15-year-old girl, both from Orange Park, face charges including felony cruelty to animals after an extremely disturbing video surfaced on Facebook last week. The threatened gopher tortoise is seen being kicked, lit on fire and crushed to death.

Disgraced captain of capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia spotted back on the high seas in Italy

Disgraced sea captain Captain Francesco Schettino — whose hapless leadership sank a Concordia cruise liner in 2012 and left 32 people dead — piloted a power boat Friday on vacation in his native Italy.

It's a ... belfie? Tim Howard’s girlfriend takes butt selfie

Asbestos removal worker injured after falling 10 feet from scaffold at J.C. Penney is awarded $7.6M

Santiago Cortes, 53, was removing asbestos from a J.C. Penney at Roosevelt Field in Garden City back in April of 2010 when he lost his balance and crashed into the ground 10 feet below.

Melted, mummified remains of 8 bodies found in abandoned Texas funeral home

Gruesome details have been revealed in an already disgusting of saga of bodies abandoned at a Texas funeral home.

Lelands auction house removes football great Jim Brown's 1964 NFL championship ring

The Cleveland Browns ring “has been withdrawn,” Lelands said on its website, also noting it still plans to sell the ring. Brown had claimed the ring was stolen but the auction house says he's wrong.

Hillary Clinton praises Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor's memoir during visit to New York City college

Hillary Clinton took a break Friday from promoting her new book to tout the recent memoir of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “I hope you will read her autobiography,” Clinton told hundreds of students.

New York

Brooklyn crash victim, 12-year-old Joie Sellers, mourned at wake as sister, 9, remains paralyzed after driver jumps curb

Pink and green wreaths shaped like ballet shoes held pride of place at the Friday night wake of Joie Sellers, the 12-year-old killed July 2 by an out-of-control driver.

Mother, stepfather of Staten Island boy, 3, who drowned unlikely to face charges

The relatives of a 3-year-old boy who drowned Thursday when they left him to play unattended at a Staten Island day care are unlikely to face criminal charges, police said. Little Edward Harris plunged into the above-ground pool at the Mother Byrd Group Family Daycare center in Mariners Harbor after he was left alone in an outside play area.

FIVE-WEEK HEADACHE: G train set to close for more than a month, starting TONIGHT

The troubled subway line is ready to close down for five weeks of repairs, beginning Friday at 10:30 p.m., between Court Square and Nassau Ave. in Brooklyn.

Queens man falsely reports ex-wife as terrorist threat: officials

A Queens man called 911 and falsely claimed that a female passenger on an incoming flight from India — his ex-wife — was a “terrorist” involved in a “plot,” authorities said Friday.

Eric Holder says Justice Dept. is 'monitoring' chokehold probe as Sharpton meets with feds

Sharpton and Garner's family, including his widow and mother, met with the feds for about 30 minutes Friday to make a "formal appeal" to ask for a civil rights investigation into Garner's death.

LATEST FROM AROUND NEW YORK

'Weaknesses' remain in city’s handling of computer contracts in wake of CityTime scandal: investigators

Following the December 2010 CityTime indictments, DOI reviewed the way the city handles huge technology contracts and found oversight and planning lacking.

Chuck Schumer introduces ‘Avonte’s Law’ to provide tracking devices for autistic children

Sen. Chuck Schumer said Friday he has introduced legislation to provide law enforcement around the country with tracking devices that parents can voluntarily place on their autistic child.

New clue from Brooklyn Bridge flag swap could lead authorities to hiding vandals

Investigators trying to track down the vandals who pulled a switcheroo with the Brooklyn Bridge’s flags found DNA at the scene that may lead them to the guilty parties, a police source said Thursday.

Taxicab app Lyft to launch Friday after reaching deal to comply with taxi commission rules

Lyft will launch Friday night in New York City after the company reached a deal with the state and city to end the latest round in the cab-app wars.

Kate Upton flaunts curves soaking up sun in tiny two-piece

Toddler drives Jeep into house, runs home to watch TV

He had more important things to do than stay at the scene of a traffic accident. His cartoons were on.

'WE SHOULD BE HUMANE': City Council Speaker says NYC should offer to house unaccompanied immigrant children

New York City should offer to house some of the unaccompanied immigrant children who are streaming across the United States border, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said.

Watch Dog passes out from sheer joy after family member returns from long absence

The video of an overjoyed, fainting dog has only been up for a day, but it’s already garnered more than 440,000 views.

Foster baby in Kansas dies after sweltering in hot car

Months after getting a new chance at a happy life, a Kansa foster child was forgotten by her new dad.

Justin Theroux's fake mug shots air on 'Jimmy Kimmel'

Two cane corso dogs maul to death Mich. jogger, owner may face charges

The owners of two massive cane corsos that mauled to death a man as he jogged along a rural Michigan road could face charges in the death, the third attack involving the dogs since 2012, authorities said.

Belgian cafe posts sign banning Jews from entering store while hanging Palestinian flags outside: report

A sign in Turkish and French announced, “Dogs are allowed in this establishment but Jews are not under any circumstances,” the Jewish Forward reports.

Underwear bomb aboard 2009 flight failed because it was soiled

An explosive smuggled aboard a Northwest Airlines flight in 2009 failed to detonate because the bomber wore the same underwear for two weeks straight and soiled the device.

Cruel Bronx man kills cat by setting fire to defenseless animal: cops

Ernesto Bailey, 31, was hit with aggravated cruelty to animals and other charges for the sickening act Friday morning, cops said.

Sports

Ichiro goes deep with three-run blast to help Yankees top Blue Jays, 6-4

After a quiet four games when the Yankee bats were largely silent against the last-place Rangers, the Bombers bats awoke in a 6-4 win over the Blue Jays in front of 44,237 in the Bronx. The game got off to a rough start for starter Hiroki Kuroda, who allowed singles to Jose Reyes and Melky Cabrera and then a three-run homer to Jose Bautista in the first inning.

Carmelo Anthony says Knicks 'aren't far away from contending'

Carmelo Anthony reiterated that that he has faith in Phil Jackson to build the Knicks into a championship contender.

Baseball Insider: Dispelling five Cliff Lee myths that are relevant to Yanks

The tinkering GM was at it again, as a weekend of pennant-race baseball began in the Bronx. A day after Brandon McCarthy’s latest domination, Brian Cashman welcomed Chris Capuano to town, and the manager told him he would start on Saturday. The moves fostered envy in the other contender’s clubhouse.