While Shopping:

·Stay alert and be aware of everything around you.
·Be cautious of strangers soliciting for charitable donations. Ask for identification, how the donated funds will be used, etc.
·Park in a highly visible well-lit space. It may be daylight when you arrive at the mall, but by 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. it will be dark outside.
·Lock your vehicle both when driving and parked.
·Carry your purse close to your body, not dangling by the straps. Put a wallet in an inside coat or front pants pocket.

Just because a lawyer can afford to pay for expensive advertising doesn't make him a better lawyer," says Robert Grant Niznik, founder of Shpoonkle, who is about to graduate from New York Law School.

Robert Grant Niznik says he is well aware of the lousy job market and wondered what he was going to do after graduating from New York Law School.

At the same time, he'd read about middle-class folks who didn't qualify for Legal Aid, but couldn't pay high-priced attorneys.

He came up with the idea of a matchmaking Web site. http://www.shpoonkle.com

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., joined Mayor Bloomberg, Deputy Mayors Linda Gibbs and Cas Halloway, as well as Health Commissioner Thomas Farley to announce that obesity rates among New York City public elementary and middle school students have decreased over the past five years across all race and ethnic groups, marking the biggest decline in childhood obesity reported to date by any large city in the country. The event took place at P.S./I.S. 218 on Gerard Avenue.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. also wishes everyone happy holidays!

Tomorrow morning, NYC Council Member James Vacca will join officials at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the installation of a highly advanced MRI machine at the Gruss Magnetic Resonance Research Center. Council Member Vacca allocated $2 million in City Council capital funds that helped Einstein purchase the new equipment, which will augment the research capabilities of the College of Medicine and enhance its efforts to develop improved understanding of a variety of diseases and disorders.