Today's afternoon linkage: American Airlines has found something new to charge you for, Norah Jones has a new window, a man has sex with his wife in a car in Brooklyn, and a Williamsburg neighborhood character has died. Plus more! more ›

The rat problem in the Upper West Side's Verdi Square, once called Needle Park, has gotten so bad that recently the Parks Dept. called for back-up. "We have sent an extra staff person there in the early morning and later in the day," said Cristina DeLuca, a spokeswoman from the Parks Dept. "The park is now being cleaned as much as three times a day to address the rodent issues." Still, neighborhood residents say the rats are part of their routine. "If you clap your hands at night they all jump out of the bushes," said Rob Hafferman, who lives nearby. It turns out, the rodents have not gone undocumented. more ›

Well this seems unfair: MTV is allegedly trying to stop the Jersey Shore cast from cashing in on personal appearances. Well, not all of them, but the NY Post reports that the network's head honchos have warned the cast to "rein in their appearances" or face fines and legal consequences! Allegedly they are trying to "protect the brand," but none of the guidos or guidettes are abiding, even after signing their $180K contracts for a 2nd season. more ›

A Rockaway resident claims that no-parking signs that bar visitors from leaving their cars in the beach-front neighborhoods of Belle Harbor and Neponsit during summer weekends and holidays are "racist and illegal." The signs force beach-goers to drive west to pay parking lots in Jacob Riis Park, or east to look for street parking in areas that "have a higher percentage of lower-income and minority residents," according to the Times. But the signs themselves don't exist in city or state records. more ›

For the third year in a row, The New Yorker's celebrated its anniversary by asking readers to submit illustrated riffs on the magazine's iconic cover, created in 1925 by Rea Irvin, the magazine’s first art editor, who also designed the distinctive New Yorker headline type. The original features a fictional dandy, Eustace Tilley, inspecting a butterfly. As Louis Menand explained, the character "seems to be saying something about the magazine itself, and the question is: What? Is the man with the monocle being offered as an image of the New Yorker reader, a cultivated observer of life’s small beauties, or is he being ridiculed as a foppish anachronism? Is it a picture of bemused sophistication or of starchy superciliousness?" (If you're a subscriber, you can peruse the first issue, online here.) The first three images in this gallery are taken from the official "winners" this year; our favorites follow in the last four images. more ›

Perhaps following in the footsteps of Alain Robert and the other men who followed his climb up the NY Times building in 2008, a man was just spotted scaling the Manhattan Bridge (Brooklyn side). We'll update when we have more info! Let's hope he made it... more ›

Speculators say the NY Times's Paterson scoop has to do with drugs, swinger parties or some combination of the two, but as scandals pile up, it seems like the news could have to do with 4,500 video slot machines planned for a racetrack in Queens. In a move that by some accounts "smacked of favoritism" Gov. Paterson awarded the project to a company that operates a shabby casino in Elko, Nevada. Now, sources say, Paterson is "paranoid" and lashing out at aids over the corrupt-looking gambling deal. According to one insider, "He sits gnashing his teeth, looking around for scapegoats among the people around him. He's lecturing them, launching into tirades, and he's demoralized the entire staff in the process." more ›

Checker cabs are a thing of the past, so what does the taxi of tomorrow look like? Well, maybe you can have a say... more ›

The Central Park Conservancy asked New Yorkers to pick the most romantic spot in all the park, and today they unveiled the winning location: Bow Bridge. Can't you just hear Johannes Brahms playing right now? more ›

[UPDATES BELOW] Everyone's talking about the supposed "bombshell" article on Governor Paterson that the NY Times is said to be sitting on (except the NY Times). Over the weekend, Paterson met privately with key Democratic leaders, but his campaign spokesman says the "routine" meetings concerned his re-election plans, not the sensational rumors of a drug and sex scandal that some speculate will end his administration. "The governor started making calls two weeks ago to step up his campaign effort and get ready to officially announce his re-election campaign," Fife told the AP. "The calls were—and are—going well... And then look what happens—a coordinated effort to stop him and spread rumors." But one source reveals that Paterson's resignation was discussed. more ›

In a year when charitable giving dropped among the nation's wealthiest people, Mayor Bloomberg handed out $254 million in donations—making him not only richest man in New York City but also the country's fourth biggest giver. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Bloomberg—who is worth an estimated $17.5 billion—donated money to 1,358 different nonprofits and dedicated $125 million to help six charities devise a plan to help reduce traffic accidents in developing countries. more ›

The Guggenheim has invited creatives worldwide to come up with a way to fill the void at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed museum, and starting on the 12th (through April 28th) you'll be able to see what the 200+ artists, architects, and designers imagined at the Contemplating the Void: Interventions exhibit. A few options are above; our favorite is JDS Architects, who proposed a spiraling trampoline net that looks really dangerous! more ›