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At least four people were killed and dozens more injured when a Metro-North train derailed Sunday morning in the Bronx.

Here are some photos from the scene. 

The train derailed on a curved section of track near Spuyten Duyvil station.

The passenger train came to a rest just a few feet from the water.

At least five cars from the Metro-North train slid off the tracks, officials said.

At least two passenger cars were flipped over on their sides.

The National Transportation Safety board has sent a team to New York to investigate the accident. 

Four people were killed when the New York City-bound train derailed. 

Emergency workers examine the site of a Metro-North train derailment in the Bronx borough of New York December 1, 2013.

SEE ALSO: Follow our coverage of the New York train derailment

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As the Manhattan luxury market continues climbing, pricey homes outside the five boroughs are seeing plenty of action of their own.

This month, The Real Deal brings you a roundup of the priciest listings in New York City’s toniest suburbs: Nassau, Bergen, Fairfield and Westchester counties. They may not break Manhattan records, but they have plenty of luxury cachet.

With new foreign buyers, Nassau’s luxury sales boom

Foreign investors are a growing presence in the luxury residential market in Nassau County. And the priciest listings those buyers have to choose from are all about the bling — including indoor basketball courts, home movie theaters, and the like.

Nassau’s five most expensive listings range in price from $15 million to $15.9 million, with several ties to boot.

Many of the buyers eyeing properties with price tags of $10 million or more are Chinese customers purchasing homes that can also serve as corporate retreats or entertainment venues for overseas guests, sources say.

“Foreign investors don’t know a great landscaper, who to call to put a pool in, who to call to furnish,” said Shawn Elliott, founder and CEO of Shawn Elliott Luxury Homes and Estates. “Because of the language barrier in most of these cases, they want it all there.”

Nassau County’s Gold Coast — which includes Sands Point as well as the Oyster Bay villages of Old Westbury, Muttontown, Centre Island, the Brookvilles and Mill Neck — is drawing most of the high-end buyers, said Elliott, who has the county’s priciest listing.

Long Island sales overall grew 4.1 percent in the third quarter, with median prices also up 6.6 percent since the start of the year, according to Douglas Elliman’s latest market report.

And like in the Manhattan market, inventory in Nassau County is tightening, feeding into the urgency to buy. Indeed, year-over-year, inventory shrank 13.5 percent to 15,652 homes countywide. Properties are also moving faster than they did a year ago, with listings spending an average of 102 days on the market in the third quarter, down from 116 days in the comparable quarter last year. Specifically, Elliott said that properties priced over $10 million are moving much faster than in the past.

Nassau County’s second priciest listing — a $15.8 million contemporary home finished in 1994 — belongs to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles creator Mark Freedman.

Freedman purchased three adjacent, two-acre vacant lots in 1992 in a subdivision called Broad Hollow for $1.5 million. He then constructed a 15,000-square-foot home. The property is decked out with all the trimmings a youthful ’90s cartoon creator might want, from a movie theater to indoor basketball courts. (When reached late last month, the listing broker said the property was “in the process” of being taken off the market.)

Another quirky high-end offering is the so-called Twinight estate at 103 Centre Island Road in Centre Island. It is owned by the world’s foremost porcelain collector, Richard Cohen, and modeled after Versailles’ Le Petit Trianon. The home did not make the top five list, but does come with a hefty $14.98 million price tag. The home’s Napoleon room, decorated in the general’s favorite colors (purple and green) and accented with his crest, pays homage to the leader, who housed his mother at Le Petit Trianon after he came to power. Twinight spans more than 21,000 square feet and the porcelain collection housed there is itself worth $15 million, according to Elliott, the listing broker.

Best school districts draw Bergen’s high-end sales

While the luxury market in Bergen County is strong — with the most expensive listing clocking in at $29.9 million — brokers say there is no Manhattan-like madness there.

The market in New Jersey is municipality-sensitive, meaning that buyers are especially keen (and willing to pay top dollar) for areas with excellent school districts, such as Alpine, according to Dennis McCormack, a broker with Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty, who currently has two of the county’s five most expensive listings. (The other three are also listed by his firm.)

“I think that in the mid-to-late 2000s, even in 2007 and 2008, it seemed to be widespread where the luxury scope of the market was fruitful in all the municipalities — but that’s not the case today,” said McCormack, who’s worked in the area for 18 years.

“Alpine is very strong because the school system is excellent, and prices are higher than they’ve been in past years,” he added. “I find that the towns with the higher taxes, and not-as-good schools, are the ones that have sat out the uptick in the market.”

Cresskill and Englewood fall into that category, he said, though the latter is actually home to the county’s priciest listing — the $29.9 million Gloria Crest estate, once home to actress Gloria Swanson.

Kennedy family patriarch Joseph Kennedy, who owned the property and for years maintained a public affair with Swanson, sold it to the Wassil family, heirs to a trailer-park fortune, before Kennedy died in 1969.

Current owner Edward Turen, chairman and CEO of the property management and security firm Control Equity Group, paid Wassil $4.6 million for the estate in 2000, according to New Jersey’s Multiple Listings Service.

Since Turen took ownership, the property has undergone a gut renovation and complete system overhaul, according to McCormack, who has the listing.

Meanwhile, Alpine’s $49 million Stone Mansion (also known as the Frick Estate) was Bergen County’s priciest listing until it was taken off the market in June. The property — which was originally listed in 2010 for $68 million and has been on and off the market — was co-listed by McCormack and Oren Alexander, a Manhattan-based Douglas Elliman agent, in its last go-round. But owner Richard Kurtz told TRD that he will re-list the property before the end of the year. (He said he is currently interviewing agents.)

Kurtz’s $58 million purchase of the Frick Estate in 2006 still ranks as the state’s priciest-ever sale, according to published reports. (Kurtz subdivided the land and built the Stone Mansion.)

Overall, Bergen County saw a 26.3 percent jump in sales activity in the third quarter year-over-year, with a total of 1,973 single-family homes changing hands, according to New Jersey-based residential brokerage NRT, parent company to firms including Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s and the Corcoran Group. The median sales price rose as well, up 6.7 percent to $480,000.

Read about Fairfield and Westchester at The Real Deal >> 

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In August, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump over his eponymous "Trump University."

Schneiderman argued that the "university" was more like a get-rich-quick scheme, and that the school defrauded students looking for the Donald's brand of real estate investing tips out of, in some cases, tens of thousands of dollars.

In a new story in Vanity Fair, William Cohan highlighted one sorry tale from Trump's alleged shakedown. From Vanity Fair:

Bob Guillo, from Manhasset, New York, and his son, Alex, fell hard for the Trump line. After the free seminar and the three-day course costing nearly $1,500—and which he graded as “excellent” in his evaluation—Guillo signed up for the Trump Gold Elite program and paid nearly $35,000. He was told he would be part of a select “in-the-know group” and among “insiders” who would have access to proprietary real-estate deals. “For example,” Guillo wrote in an affidavit, “where Mr. Trump would be involved in building condominiums, we would get first choice at purchasing an apartment and then would be able to immediately sell it at a profit.”

Guillo wrote that at the first day of the Trump Gold Elite program he “began to realize I had been taken” because the information conveyed seemed to be coming from Zillow.com, a real-estate Web site, or from the I.R.S. Web site.

Turns out $35,000 is a lot to spend on free information from Zillow. Guillo complained to the folks at Trump University and tried to get a refund. He told Cohan, "“I got a picture of myself with a Trump cutout and basically very, very little else.”

A Trump representative maintained to Vanity Fair that Guillo "could not articulate one thing that was wrong with the course."

Ever since this saga began, Trump has called out Schneiderman for playing politics. The two have gone back in forth in the media over the past few months. Trump even filed a formal state ethics complaint saying Schneiderman asked Trump's daughter Ivanka and her real estate magnate husband for favors as he "downplayed the ongoing probe into her father's venture,"the New York Daily News reported.

Read the full story at Vanity Fair »

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NEW YORK (AP) — Billy Joel will perform once a month at Madison Square Garden — as long as the fans will have him.

The Grammy Award-winning icon announced Tuesday that he'll perform a residency at the famed NYC venue every month for as long as New Yorkers demand.

He's set to perform sold-out shows on Jan. 27, Feb. 3, March 21 and April 28.

He will also perform on his 65th birthday, which is May 9. Tickets go on sale Saturday.

"We're gonna dust off some stuff. We're gonna feature more of the album tracks, more obscure songs. We'll still do some songs people are familiar with and like, but we're gonna change it up. It gives you an edge," he said in an interview after the press conference.

Joel was introduced by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who called the singer a "worldwide superstar who values most that he is a hometown hero," citing Joel's participation in the Concert for New York City after the Sept. 11 attacks and the 12-12-12 concert for Hurricane Sandy relief.

The Bronx-born Joel first performed at MSG in 1978. Since then, he has played at the venue 46 times.

"I said it in '78, and I'll say it again, there is no better venue in the world," he said.

Joel will perform at Brooklyn's Barclays Center on New Year's Eve. He said that show and previous shows are prepping him for his MSG run.

"We did a series of gigs in England and Ireland and they went well. That's kind of how we warmed up to this," he said.

___

Follow John Carucci on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jacarucci

SEE ALSO: Here Are The Most Popular Songs On Spotify In 2013

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We know it's cold outside and you want to burrow under the covers.

But winter in New York City is actually one of our favorite times of year, thanks to all the twinkly lights, creative holiday displays, and surplus of delicious hot food and beverages.

Plus, those sub-par temperatures keep the majority of tourists at bay after the Christmas season.

So keep reading to see your seasonal to-do list, from tonight's Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center to indulging at the best steakhouse in the city.

Pile into Rockefeller Center with 250,000 other spectators to watch this year's Norway Spruce light up with a flick of the switch. There will also be performances by Mary J. Blige, the Goo Goo Dolls, Mariah Carey, and Kelly Clarkson.

Find out more information about the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree here

Skip touristy Serendipity 3 and head to Jaques Torres Chocolates in DUMBO for the best hot chocolate in the city. It's so thick and delicious you just might have to share.

Find out more info and directions here

Join drunken revelers around the city and dress up for SantaCon on December 14th. Or stay as far away as possible — certain bars and restaurants in Midtown will be banning Santas for the annual "holiday."

Find out more info about NYC's SantaCon here

One person was injured after a freight train hit a truck in West Nyack, New York late this morning, according to News 12 Hudson Valley:

Firefighters on the scene after CSX train hits car carrier in West Nyack, injuries reported. http://t.co/LieGhvPuldpic.twitter.com/C7iCRgBByC

— News12HV (@News12HV) December 6, 2013

According to Lohud.com, the train was carrying flammable liquids. It and the vehicle both burst into flames.

The West Nyack Fire Department confirmed that the driver of the truck was injured, and in stable condition.

A photo from the scene show that the fire was brought under control:

@RocklandFirespic.twitter.com/hMZ6Ydlbxh

— Monsey Tweets (@Monsey311) December 6, 2013

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More than a dozen people have been reported injured after a woman drove her car into a Trader Joe's grocery store on Long Island on Friday, the New York Post reports.

The store is in Oceanside, Long Island. At least one person is seriously injured, according to NBC New York.

The driver is reportedly an elderly woman, according to the Post. Her car might have pinned one man in an aisle. Police found the man trapped under the vehicle.

This photo from the scene show the car completely in the store:

Car crashes into a Long Island Trader Joes, barreling over a dozen shoppers http://t.co/zoigbpUEjxpic.twitter.com/J9oSmUFPhv

— New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) December 6, 2013

Here's another view:

Hey @Gertrude_Larue is that your car at the Trader Joes in Oceanside? pic.twitter.com/ZtQ4rGE3f9

— Honky Lips (@halo_five) December 6, 2013

UPDATE: 1 person was pinned under car that slammed into Trader Joe's http://t.co/S71Noga4YJpic.twitter.com/VG3qGeI1e2

— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) December 6, 2013

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As part of their first anniversary celebrations, the Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) and about 500 math enthusiasts of all ages proved that New York's iconic Flatiron building is approximately in the shape of a very special type of right triangle.

"Pythagorizing the Flatiron" is the first in a planned series of "MathHappenings" to be run by MoMath. 

The proof of the Flatiron building's right triangle nature is based on the Pythagorean theorem — the statement that for a right triangle with legs (shorter sides) of lengths a and b, and hypotenuse (long side) of length c, the sum of the squares of the two shorter lengths equals the square of the long length — a² + b² = c².

The Museum of Math flipped this idea around — if the lengths of the sides of a triangle, like the Flatiron building, satisfy the Pythagorean theorem, then the triangle must be a right triangle.

MoMath measured the sides of the Flatiron building in a unique way. People lined up around the three sides of the building, and MoMath workers and volunteers handed out lightsticks that the math enthusiasts held end to end. By counting while handing out the glowing toys, MoMath was able to estimate the length of the building's sides in terms of lightsticks.

The shortest side of the building, along 22nd St and designated side A, measured 75 lightsticks. The longer leg of the building, going up 5th Ave and designated side B, measured 180 lightsticks. The longest side of the building, the hypotenuse C running along Broadway, had a length of 195 lightsticks.

Having found the lengths of the sides of the building in lightsticks, MoMath then projected on the side of the building the calculations that showed that the three sides do in fact match up with the Pythagorean Theorem, proving that the Flatiron is in fact a right triangle:

Square the lengths of the two shorter sides: a² = 75² = 5625 and b² = 180² = 32,400. Add those together and get a² + b² = 38,025. Then, square the length of the longest side: c² = 195² = 38,025 — you get the same number as the sum of the squares of the shorter sides: a² + b² = c². So, the Pythagorean theorem holds for the Flatiron building, proving that it is in fact a right triangle.

Right triangles whose sides all have whole number lengths are special. For most right triangles, at least one of the three sides will be an irrational number — a right triangle whose shorter sides both have length one will have a hypotenuse of length square root of 2 (since, again by the Pythagorean Theorem, 1² + 1² = 1 + 1 = 2, and 2 is, by definition, the square root of 2, squared).

Sets of three whole numbers that describe a right triangle, like 75, 180, and 195, are called Pythagorean triples, and they have been of interest to mathematicians since the time of the ancient Greeks.

This particular Pythagorean triple also has one other interesting property. All three of the numbers 75, 180, and 195 can be divided by 15 without leaving a remainder: 75 ÷ 15 = 5, 180 ÷ 15 = 12, and 195 ÷ 15 = 13. So, if we "rescale" the length measurements by performing this division on the three lengths, we get that the sides of the Flatiron building are 5, 12, and 13.

MoMath thus was very clever in choosing the date for the event — December 5, 2013, or 12/5/13, matching the sides of the building.

After making the measurements of the Flatiron building's sides and showing their Pythagorean relationship, MoMath projected a couple nice geometric proofs of the Pythagorean theorem onto the side of the building:

This proof is based on representing the squares of the side lengths as being the areas of squares drawn around the triangle. MoMath then showed how one can cut up and move around the two smaller squares based on the legs of the triangle, so that they fit perfectly inside the large square based on the hypotenuse, showing that the two smaller squares put together have the same area as the larger square — proving that a² + b² = c².

Events like this are a delightful way for all kinds of people to participate in the elegance and beauty of mathematics. The Pythagorean Theorem is a core concept in our understanding of geometry, and in many ways, it defines the shape of our world. It was exciting to see this fundamental mathematical principle brought to life in a fun and interactive way.

SEE ALSO: The Only 8 Numbers You Need To Do Math

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A wintry mix of rain, snow, and ice led to a massive pileup of more than 20 cars on the Bronx River Parkway outside New York City on Sunday night.

According to ABC 7, at least 35 people were injured in the chain reaction accident in Yonkers just after 11 p.m., but no one was killed. The highway was cleared and reopened early this morning.

The Bronx River Parkway dates back to 1907, and much of its route is narrow, with tight turns.

An image from the scene shows just how crazy it was:

SEE ALSO: JFK Airport Workers Have Been Ordered To Shoot The Majestic Snowy Owl On Sight

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A new species of cockroach that is cool with the cold has arrived in New York City, and they are likely here to stay year-round.

The species is called the Japanese Cockroach (its scientific name is Periplaneta japonica). It's native to Japan but has spread throughout Asia. This is the first time it has been seen in the U.S. It was found on the High Line in 2012 by an exterminator, and scientists have just published confirmation of its identity as the Japanese Cockroach by DNA sequencing. It probably made its way there in the ornamental plants used in the park. 

We don't know how big of an impact these roaches will have, but the researchers, who published their DNA analysis in the Journal Of Economic Entomology, say they are similar enough to the roaches we have now they their impact shouldn't be huge.

"To be truly invasive, a species has to move in and take over and out-compete a native species," Michael Scharf, a researcher at Purdue University, told The Associated Press. "There's no evidence of that, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be concerned about it."

The already-established cockroach populations in New York should keep these newcomers at bay. Their physical differences make it unlikely they would be able to interbreed and create hybrid super-roaches, the researchers said.

What sets it apart from local populations of cockroaches is its ability to withstand cold temperatures.

"It is very conceivable that it could live outdoors during winter in New York," study researcher Jessica Ware, of Rutgers University, said in a press release.

"I could imagine japonica being outside and walking around," Ware said. "Though I don't know how well it would do in dirty New York snow."

Normal American and German cockroaches we see here in NYC prefer temperatures in the 80s and can't survive the below-freezing temperatures outside during winter (which is why you find them inside). 

Here's what the cockroaches look like:

SEE ALSO: Huge Profits Leading To Surge In Chinese Cockroach Farming

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The New York tech scene is booming.

RRE Ventures Principal Steve Schlafman has put together a terrific presentation that sums up the big trends and sectors coming out of New York, or "Silicon Alley," as the locals call it.

He graciously gave Business Insider permission to publish it.

This is an extremely thorough summary of the tech and digital media community. 

Vegetarians, rejoice! Jean-Georges Vongerichten — the head chef of the eponymous and four-star Jean-Georges restaurant in Manhattan — is coming out with a new vegan restaurant in 2014.

The top NYC chef told the New Potato, "We’re opening a vegetarian restaurant in the spring — 100% vegetarian, raw, and vegan."

This would be the 12th restaurant in New York for the talented CEO and restaurateur, as well as his 37th around the globe.

This year, Vongerichten opened the critically-acclaimed Spanish restaurant ABC Cocina, which was already listed on Michelin's Bib Gourmands for 2014, and his well-known restaurants The Mark on the Upper East Side and Spice Market in the West Village continue to be extremely popular.

As for which NYC neighborhood will be getting the latest Vongerichten eatery, the chef didn't say. Perhaps this time he'll even cross the bridge into an outer borough and satisfy Brooklyn's fine diners.

SEE ALSO: The Best Restaurants In 20 Big Cities Around The US

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The first-ever crossword puzzle ran in the New York World newspaper on December 21, 1913.

One hundred years later, the puzzles are still extremely popular and run in newspapers across the country. The crosswords we see today are a bit different from the original "word-cross," which was in the shape of a diamond and didn't note "across" or down" moves.

See if you can solve the world's first crossword puzzle, embedded below:

Parade magazine has an answer key for the puzzle.

And if the above crossword is too puzzling, NPR has an updated version with some of the more obscure words removed.

Although New York World editor Arthur Wynne is credited as the inventor of the crossword puzzle, The Guardian points out that similar word games can be traced back as far as Pompeii.

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We know it's cold outside and you want to burrow under the covers.

But as of today, it's officially winter in New York City!

It's also one of the best times of year to live in NYC, thanks to all the twinkly lights, creative holiday displays, and surplus of delicious hot food and beverages.

Plus, those sub-par temperatures keep the majority of tourists at bay after the Christmas season.

So keep reading to see your seasonal to-do list, from ice skating to indulging at the best steakhouse in the city.

Head over to Rockefeller Center to take a picture with this year's Christmas tree. The Norway Spruce looks especially dazzling with 45,000 multi-colored LED lights and a 9 1/2-foot-wide Swarovski star.

Skip touristy Serendipity 3 and head to Jacques Torres Chocolates in DUMBO for the best hot chocolate in the city. It's so thick and delicious you just might have to share.

Find out more info and directions here.

Browse some of the city's best pop-up holiday markets. Local purveyors set up shop at locations such as Columbus Circle, Astoria's Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden, and Union Square to bring you great gifts and goods.

Find a holiday market near you here.

Allegedly, married New York assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak is a butt guy who likes attempted infidelities with 20-somethings and massages with happy endings – something his political career may not get the chance to enjoy.

As first reported by the Albany Times-Union, three of the Buffalo-area politician's former aides have charged him with making their work environment inhospitable, serving Gabryszak (and his chief of staff, for ignoring their complaints) with a sexual harassment suit.

Among the things the aides allege Gabryszak told them that you will also wish you didn't know about the 62-year-old: he offered one aide a $100,000-a-year job to leave her fiancé; he sent a video of himself receiving a blowjob; he invited them for hotel stays and massage parlor visits; and he has a tattoo on his penis, which if nothing else has to be objectively one of the worst things one can do to one's own penis. He also made such bone-headed (you'll see what I did there in a second) sexual advances as this:

I got a boner when I walked into the office today when I saw you.

This, dear readers, is a horrible, terrible sentence to say.

While the allegations remain just that, and haven't been proven in court or otherwise, New York governor Andrew Cuomo and the Erie County Democratic Party chairman have already called for Gabryszak to step down. 

According to the Times-Union story, Gabryszak would not comment on the issue, and said "he did not have a problem with the women involved," which is kind of exactly what the problem isn't. 

Beyond the sheer lechery of the claims, which purportedly took place between March and October, what makes Gabryszak's alleged actions even more audacious is the fact they actively flouted New York House Speaker Sheldon Silver's past pledge to run a clean ship after May allegations that 72-year-old assemblyman Vito Lopez had asked female staffers to grope him and fondle his cancerous tumors.(Lopez resigned and has been fined, thank God.)

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Yorkers are largely optimistic about the city's future as Bill de Blasio prepares to be sworn in as the next mayor on January 1, according to a poll released on Monday.

De Blasio, who will take over from Mayor Michael Bloomberg and will be the first Democrat to lead the city in two decades, won a resounding victory in November after campaigning to confront economic inequality, improve police and community relations and expand access to city services like pre-kindergarten.

Two-thirds of city voters say they are hopeful about de Blasio, while nearly six in 10 voters think he will change New York for the better, the poll by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion showed.

"Coming off a huge election victory, expectations are sky high for what Bill de Blasio will do for the city as mayor,"Lee Miringoff, the poll's director, said.

But he warned: "If de Blasio is evaluated on whether or not he's able to close the income gap, that's going to be tough."

While de Blasio's favorable rating has slid since the campaign, more New Yorkers say his "political ideology" is the right one for the city, the poll found.

In a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans six to one, about half of Republicans say that de Blasio, who has an unabashedly liberal bent, will do more harm than good as mayor.

More than seven in 10 black voters and about two-thirds of Latinos think de Blasio will change the city for the better, but just under half of white voters share that view.

With just over a week to go before his inauguration, some political watchers have balked at the pace of de Blasio's appointments.

While he has made a number of key appointments -- including Bill Bratton, a veteran law enforcement official, as his next police commissioner -- other top jobs, including schools chancellor, remain unfilled.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg, who took office just months after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and has led the city for three terms, will leave office with a 49 percent approval rating.

Half of voters say they will remember Bloomberg as one of New York's best mayors or as an above average mayor. Two in 10 rank him as below-average or one of the city's worst mayors, while three in 10 will remember him as average.

"He was not someone who aroused great passion -- for or against," Miringoff said of the outgoing mayor. "He was always more in the middle."

New Yorkers are less set in their views about the city's next first lady, Chirlane McCray, who will have an office inCity Hall and who de Blasio has said will take an active role in his administration.

While about half of city voters have a favorable view of McCray, the other half have never heard of her or are unsure how to rate her.

(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Kevin Gray and Leslie Adler)

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Maybe it was getting his first video game, Cosmic Avenger, for Christmas at the age of 12, and then having to wait an entire year for the hard-to-land Colecovision console to play it on that made Michael Thomasson so determined to get his hands on every video game and system he could find.

Now, 31 years and roughly 11,000 games later, Thomasson is the newly crowned world record holder for having the largest collection of video games.

He is featured in a two-page spread in the just-released "Guinness World Records 2014 Gamer's Edition."

"I have games on cartridge, laser disc. I have VHS-based games, cassette-based games," Thomasson said, standing among the collection that fills the basement of his suburban Buffalo home.

Along with the games, he has the devices to play them on, not only the Xboxes and PlayStations but obscure ones like the Casio Loopy, the only game system specifically geared toward girls, which came out in Japan in 1995, and the Pippin, a dud released by Apple the same year.

"Every game on it is awful," Thomasson says of Apple's foray into the gaming world. "It's the least fun of anything in the house."

At the other end of the spectrum is the old Colecovision unit like the one that appeared under the Christmas tree one year after his grandparents gave him his first game for it. They had mistakenly believed his parents had gotten their hands on the playing system, which was a hot item that year. It stands to this day as the best present his parents ever gave him.

"It's my first love so it's sentimental," Thomasson said. But the games also were quality, with very little of the "shovelware"— mediocre, rushed releases — typical of many systems, he said.

"They looked good, they played good. For the time they sounded good," he said, "for the bleeps and blips of the 80s."

Thomasson began collecting almost immediately, he said, but the path to the world record had a couple of restarts. He sold off his collection twice, first in 1989 to raise money for a Sega Genesis, then again to pay for his 1998 wedding. ("I was heavy into collecting when we married so she knew what she was getting into," he says of his wife, JoAnn.)

Since then, Thomasson has methodically rebuilt the collection, averaging two games per day on a strict $3,000-a-year budget which means never paying full price.

He estimates the collection is worth $700,000 to $800,000.

He hasn't played every game. The father of a 5-year-old, Anna, Thomasson designs games and teaches 2D animation, game design and the history of video games at Canisius College in Buffalo. He also writes on the topic for magazines and books.

"I probably get three hours of playing in a week," he said. "If I'm lucky."

Guinness lists the number of games in Thomasson's record-breaking collection at 10,607, though he said the number exceeds 11,000 now, a year after the official count and after discovering forgotten stashes of games after the counting crew left.

Either way, it bested the previous record holder, Richard Lecce, who held the record first recorded in 2010 with 8,616 games.

"My congratulations to a fellow collector," Lecce, 39, said by phone from his Florida home upon hearing his record had fallen. "It's very impressive and I'm very happy for him."

Lecce began collecting as a way to own all the games he couldn't have as a kid, he said, and grew to appreciate their place in pop culture.

Still an active collector, Lecce hasn't counted his games in the last few years and doesn't know what his number has grown to, but he has no immediate plans to challenge Thomasson for his old record.

"It's something I did for my own enjoyment. I applied for the Guinness book for my kids so that years from now they can look back and say, wow, my father was in the 'Guinness Book of World Records,'" Lecce, a father of two and numismatist, a rare coin dealer, said.

He's happy to see more people collecting, and appreciating, video games.

"Everything from the original artwork to the actual code that was written for the games to the actual box art and the whole marketing plan," he said. "It's just a very undervalued and underappreciated art form."

SEE ALSO: 11 Ways Video Games Make You Smarter And Healthier

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Hedge-funder Robert W. Wilson jumped to his death yesterday from the 16th floor of his Upper West Side apartment, reports the New York Post.

He was 86.

Sources told the Post that Wilson, who left a note before jumping at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, suffered a stroke a few months prior.

Wilson was relatively low profile, but amassed an $800 million fortune by the year 2000, which he then proceeded to donate away (especially to environmental and conservation efforts). He had started his firm, Wilson Associates, with $15,000. 

Friends of Wilson told the post it was his ambition to give away most of his wealth before he died, but he still had about $100 million to go.

Read the full report at the Post »

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Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has announced that his marriage to his estranged wife Silda Wall Spitzer is over, the New York Post reports.

The couple said in a joint statement obtained by the Post: "We regret that our marital relationship has come to an end and we have agreed not to make any other public statement on this subject."

The Post reported earlier this week that Spitzer is dating New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's spokeswoman, 31-year-old Lis Smith.

Eilot and Silda have been married since 1987 and have three daughters together, according to the New York Daily News. They've been living apart for months.

Spitzer resigned his position as governor in 2008 amid a prostitution scandal, during which his wife stood by him.

Spitzer ran for city comptroller earlier this year but lost in the primary.

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