Arts and Events: October 2009 Archives

       

Click through for more photos from It Came From Brooklyn, and a review of They Might Be Giants, who played a benefit in town earlier this week.

This Sunday, not only is it time to fall back for Daylight Savings Time, it's the 40th ING NYC Marathon. An expected 40,000 runners will be ready to hit the roads from the start at the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in Staten Island and through the four other boroughs with about a million people cheering them on from the sidelines.

Artist Stephen Wiltshire has been hard at work this week drawing the Manhattan skyline from memory over at Pratt. He only took a 20 minute helicopter ride prior to getting started, "during which time he impressed on his mind thousands of landmarks, great and small." He told the Brooklyn Paper: “My arm starts to hurt sometimes, but I push on.”

            

Click on the film stills above for more on this week's releases, including This Is It, Gentlemen Broncos, the Boondock Saints sequel, Labor Day, Skin and more.

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A reader sent in the photo on the left earlier today, letting us know that Sad Panda is "at his usual spot Downtown." It's nice to see he hasn't totally sold out to the Spongebob Squarepants corporate machine. However, it's going to get cold soon, and we know that Sad Panda suffers from Seasonal Affected Disorder and loves to take vacations, so where do you think he'll go? Let us know your answers in Photoshop! There's an image for you to use after the jump.

Answer: Some of them don't! Matthew Broderick's difficulty remembering lines during performances of Kenneth Lonergan's new play The Starry Messenger has, ahem, prompted a long article in the Times on the history and ethics of learning lines. The takeaway is that some actors, including the great Angela Lansbury, use earpieces to stay on cue.

       

Purgatorio, the new multi-level erotic haunted house from the people behind exclusive raunch den The Box, is open for business for just a few more days, disappearing permanently into oblivion after Halloween. We've already shown you the necrophilia promo video, but here's a closer look at some of what your $39.99 will get you. A couple weeks ago we were all set to attend the opening party hosted by Perez Hilton, but at the last minute we couldn't make it up to Times Square. Family emergency. NOT because we were scared... of just about everything in that last sentence.

       

The leaves have been turning, and falling, all over New York. You can still track the foliage here, or just get thee to a more nature-heavy nook in your borough (but make it quick). And don't forget to send us your photos or tag them 'gothamist' on Flickr!

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This year (and last) the annual Greenwich Village Halloween Parade was scaled back after sponsors were hit with budget cuts and donations slowed down. As of October 12th only three floats were expected (down from the normal 20).

       

The New York Public Library is pitting Philly and NYC against each other in this fantastic catalog of old baseball images they put online. They say: "The 2009 World Series brings together two cities uncommonly rich in baseball history. Some of the game's earliest years are chronicled in over 500 photographs, prints, drawings, caricatures, and printed illustrations donated in 1921 to the New York Public Library by early baseball player and sporting-goods tycoon A. G. Spalding (whose name to this day is printed across every ball used in the National League)."

Did that New Jersey storefront on the Upper West Side get you across the Hudson to check out some foliage? The NY Times reports from the state's temporary Manhattan outpost (which is still up and running), saying that it's not about competition or stealing Manhattanites away (was that really ever a fear?).

Did you know Frankenstein was a vegan? (Well, he was rather pale.) In Mary Shelley’s classic Gothic horror novel, the man made monster says, “I do not destroy the lamb and kid to glut my appetite; acorns and berries afford my sufficient nourishment." What a compassionate guy!

    

Hopefully Linus knows his way to the Intrepid, because there is a Great Pumpkin on deck right now. Sculptor Patrick Moser, who has multiple sclerosis and cannot use his right arm, will spend nearly five days transforming a 932-pound pumpkin into what he calls a “Grumpkin.” He scooped out the insides yesterday, and today through Friday the public is welcome to drop by, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and see him work on the carving. It will also be on display over the weekend. Can't wait to see it all lit up! Wonder how many candles that will take.

If you hop on the 2/3 train, and go back in time about 116 years, you might find yourself in the above setting. Harlem Bespoke found this photo of 116th Street by Lenox Avenue taken in 1893. They say: "Yes, those are cows standing around an open watering hole. The middle class apartment buildings can be seen encroaching on the once pastoral setting. The farmer was probably one of the last ones to sell out." It's also possible that there's currently a luxury condo development called the Kalahari in this exact spot. Which only means one thing: poltergeist ghost cows!

Another one to file under: "Just in time for Halloween." The Chelsea Hotel bloggers received a desperate cry for answers after a tourist spent three nights at the hotel, only to be menaced on her final evening by the ghost of Dylan Thomas! She was with her boyfriend, but he slept soundly through the sighting. She reports back from Room 114:

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The Club Animals who give bouncy rides, deliver crack candy around town, and give us an overall uncomfortable feeling, are multiplying like Gremlins at a waterpark. Tonight the newest member will be giving away free butterfly kisses on the Union Square L platform from 9 to 10 p.m. We have also been alerted that free bouncy rides will take place from 8 to 9 p.m. in the same location, which makes us think that dolphin and bunny are one in the same!

This map-cut of New York City is almost as insane as the skyline being drawn from memory right now. The four paper panels are each 3' x 4' and together show the city blocks, parks and other areas in 4 of the 5 boroughs (sorry Staten Island). It's one-of-a-kind, and the artist is selling it on Etsy for $550 (Paris is only $250).

It's not even Halloween yet and Christmas has already popped up on Court Street in Brooklyn! Pardon Me For Asking has photos of the festive decor, have you seen any more around? Send us your photos of any over-the-top or way-too-early holiday decorations. We haven't spotted nearly enough haunted houses this year.

   

Congratulations to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for housing not one, but two champion trees. 1010 Wins reports that "The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has named two trees at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden state champions — meaning they are the largest of their species on record in the state." The Kansas hawthorn is 31' tall, and the Carolina holly is a whopping 35' tall. Together they are the first two trees in New York City to receive the honor, and they were presented their awards today.

It's been just over 6 months since the Hipster Grifter, Kari Ferrell, was introduced to the masses. Happy belated anniversary everyone — remember, we're all in this together, and it isn't ending anytime soon. Bucky at Animal, Ferrell's pen pal while she's in jail, just received his latest correspondence from Salt Lake City... and it looks like she's coming back to NYC.

Move over Tiffany! After Disney swooped in with precious princess bridal dresses a few years ago, now the house that Mickey built is offering diamond engagement rings inspired by the "Disney princesses," like Cinderella, Snow White, Prince Jasmine, and Belle.

       

The Bronx Museum recently opened an exhibit featuring Bronx "artifacts" from 1971 to present day. Urban Archives: That Was Then This Is Now is "the first of a new, multi-year series of exhibitions that look at contemporary culture as a living archive.” This one was drawn primarily from personal collections of artists that have been working in and on the Bronx for decades, and "in their collections, the testimonies of long-time residents and occasional visitors coexist in the form of mementos, documentation, artwork and other sort of cultural artifacts." Check it out sometime between now and March 1st.

Scarlett Johansson will make her Broadway debut in Arthur Miller's classic tragedy A View from the Bridge—not in Neil Simon's musical Promises, Promises (as previously rumored). Her co-star will be kick-ass actor Liev Schreiber, who'll play Eddie Carbone, a Brooklyn longshoreman obsessed with his 17-year-old niece Catherine, played by Scar-Jo. We can't foresee Schreiber having any trouble making that role convincing, but will the smoldering, soft-spoken starlet be able to translate her cinematic heat to the stage? More importantly, what will she be wearing? And if she's playing a 17-year-old, is it wrong to drool during the performance? (If so, we're in big trouble over Ghost World.)

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As we mentioned yesterday, teams of whitewashers clashed with a postering company during the second New York Street Advertising Takeover. The takeover, convened by the Public Ad Campaign, aimed to to take back hundreds of advertising locations that "wild posting" company NPA has placed around the city.

Amazing. 34-year-old British artist, Stephen Wiltshire, who was diagnosed with autism at an early age, is currently taking residence at Pratt to do what he does best: draw. But not just draw; the artist is creating a detailed panorama of New York's skyline from memory, after only briefly visiting the city and taking it all in from a helicopter. He has done this around the world, 8 times in total, and says this is his finale.

   

Click through to read about Kidrockers, Cruel Black Dove, Bridges & Powerlines, this year's Gothamist House, and a CMJ Fail at Brooklyn Bowl.

New York artist Rob Pruitt just j'adores the Oscars. The red carpet, the flashing bulbs, the drawn-out speeches! But what's a conceptual artist to do when such award shows revolve around Hollywood A-listers? Create one for the art world, of course. This week's Talk of the Town places focus on Pruitt's vision, which will become a reality this Thursday as his First Annual Art Awards takes over the Guggenheim.

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Yesterday afternoon the Martha Stewart dropped by the Brooklyn Flea, causing a commotion and getting vendors worked up into a tizzy. It was a good thing! Martha says she loves Brooklyn, and it seems like the feeling might be mutual... except for some who sneered, calling her entourage "fucking ridiculous." Can we just file "Martha Stewart is at my designer flea market" as a Hall o' Fame White Whine?

                            

While the humans get the big Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village on October 31, canines have a series of Halloween Parades to participate in. This past weekend, there dogs were decked out in elaborate costumes in both Carl Schurz Park on the Upper East Side and Tompkins Square Park in the East Village. Take a look at these awesome costumes—our favorite is the Hulk Dog, if only because she endured getting dyed green! Update: We learned that Hulk Dog is an Olde English Bulldogge named Fanny—she got 2nd place for her costume.

Over the past three years, we have slowly and steadily interviewed each of the four members of the trailblazing DC band Fugazi... except one: inimitable singer and guitarist Guy Picciotto. Today we complete the set, and we're going to have to find a new goal in life. (Counting Crows, maybe?) The chance to finally to speak with Picciotto arose because he's performing twice this week in NYC with Vic Chestnutt, whose haunting and heartfelt new album At the Cut features Picciotto.

              

Click on the film stills above for more on this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which also include Antichrist, (Untitled), Astroboy, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant , Saw VI, Eulogy for a Vampire, Motherhood, Night and Day, Ong Bak 2: The Beginning, Rembrandt's J'Accuse, Wild River, The Lost Boys, and Life of Brian.

As reported yesterday, superstar rapper/pot-enthusiast Lil Wayne pled guilty to gun possession charges in Manhattan Supreme Court, and is expected to serve most of 2010 behind bars in Rikers. The plea of "attempted possession" came as a surprise from Wayne, a dramatic turnaround after his attorneys spent the past two years arguing that police could not prove the gun found on his tour bus in July 2007 belonged to him. His defense lawyer, Stacey Richman, told MTV: "He opted to take the deal to take responsibility for the situation and I think it speaks of him that he's an individual with a strong constitution that he took that responsibility."

Things are heating up in marathon running circles, or should we say slowing down? The New York Times reported that by allowing slower runners on the New York City Marathon route, the intensity of the debate over how quickly an able-bodied runner should finish the once-elite event is increasing.

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We thought that using Craigslist to find someone to harass one's married lover's wife was bad, but Topless Robot offers up this NYC Craigslist ad. TR does warn with its headline that "The Most Awful Nerd in America Found," and that sensitive souls might be disturbed by it—plus "I don't think I'll ever be clean" again after reading it: "Need an amputee to complete my Halloween costume (Brooklyn)"...

FINALLY: Run-DMC is going to Broadway, people! Joseph Simmons (Run) and Darryl McDaniels (DMC) are cooperating with the estate of Jason Mizell (Jam Master Jay) to create a stage musical about themselves: Run-DMC, the hip-hop pioneers from Hollis. Maybe it's not so crazy? Run-DMC were hilarious master showmen, and we could see their larger-than life personas served well by a big, loud Broadway spectacle. On the other hand, the producer is Hollywood's Paula Wagner, known for her association with Tom Cruise and War of the Worlds, which gives us a not-so-fresh feeling.

A few years ago, Charmin decided to take some empty retail space in Times Square and turn it into a destination for people to enjoy some of its toilet paper during the holidays. Now, Charmin is looking for this holiday season's workers, asking, "Do you enjoy going to the bathroom enough to earn $10,000?"

Earlier this week NYMag reported on Ilya the manatee, "who traveled to Cape Cod this summer via New York Harbor," and ended up in New Jersey this past Friday. Ilya hasn't been spotted since, with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center unable to track her down. Today someone reported they saw the manatee off the coast of Bayonne, but the MMSC says the report came in 8 hours after the spotting, and Ilya is still nowhere to be found.

       

While it may not be opening until the Spring of next year, the Limelight Marketplace invited us over today to take a look at the space as it transforms yet again. Photographer Katie Sokoler reports back that, "although it's just a bunch of mini stores, they don't want to be known as a mini mall! It's a market." The folks there also told her that it would be very family friendly (but no club kids), and "Saturdays it will feel like a carnival because they'll have clowns and mascots walking around." Terrifying!

Our CMJ show (which we're co-hosting with the lovely people at Brooklyn Based) is TONIGHT at the Bell House [149 7th Street in Gowanus]. The show is FREE, and no CMJ badge is required. You can RSVP right here, and the details are below:

Following the 40th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's death (which was yesterday), a fan of the author is speaking out again about the lack of recognition the beat gets in his one-time home borough of Queens.

Trick or treat, it's chocolate Michael Jackson! That Cult that began around the late performer opened their first chapel "praising the life and teachings of Michael Jackson" in Brooklyn earlier this season, and now they're chocolatizing their leader.

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Small Black seemed to just pop up out of nowhere and slap the music corner of the internet in the face this year, after silently toiling away in attics and basements recording their EP. Josh Kolenik and Ryan Heyner make up the duo, creating what they describe as "minimal Casio noise pop," and are joined by Juan Pieczanski and Jeff Curtin for live shows. By the end of this week they'll have had seven more of those live shows under their collective belt, all for CMJ. Tonight they're playing ours (at 10 p.m.) — more details here.

We've been thoroughly enjoying Max Silvestri's rants and commentary over at the AV Club, and in his latest piece he takes on Regal Cinemas. The young lad is living the dream out in Williamsburg, just one 11 minute train ride from Union Square... and as such, from Regal Cinemas on Broadway and 13th. But before your face turns green with jealousy, Silvestri says:

The Village Voice released its yearly Best of NYC 2009 list, just in time for all of you looking for ridiculously specific things like the best tattoo parlor straight out of "Cry Baby," the best mini-golf in Bushwick, or the best erotic bloodletting. Here are a couple of notables:

While some Brooklynites are lobbying to get trees removed from their neighborhood, Canadian street artist Poster Child is planting them around the city. There's already a dwarf pine in a long-retired newspaper dispenser on Bedford Avenue, and now he's gone and planted another in a telephone booth in Astoria. Personally, we'd like to see an entire greenhouse in one of the four remaining enclosed booths (as long as no one's using them anymore, that is). Challenge.

As mentioned in our newsletter this morning, the Guggenheim turns 50 today (and is celebrating with free admission). The Daily News looks back on the museum's past, with 50 facts about the building, which Robert Moses once described as "an inverted oatmeal dish." A few of our favorites:
• To design the museum, Wright created more than 700 sketches.
• As for the unusual look of the building, Wright proclaimed, "It's going to make the Metropolitan look like a Protestant barn."
• The building was named a landmark in 1990, one of the youngest ever to earn the distinction.

The latest Improv Everywhere mission brought the troupe to the Best Yet grocery store in Astoria, Queens to end fruit segregation... in musical form!

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Many of you probably have that image of a youthful Farrah Fawcett in a red bathing suit engraved in your memory, but another iconic photograph was taken of her that decade.

Last week, NBC dramatic warhorse Law & Order continued its "ripped from the headlines" mantra and filmed a crash at Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard at West 151st Street that resembled this past summer's Taconic State Parkway wrong-way crash that left eight people dead. In the Taconic incident, mother of two Diane Schuler was apparently drunk and high when she rammed her minivan—carrying her two children and three nieces—into a car carrying three adults, killing everyone, except Schuler's young son. The Post says the L&O crash features a "Chevy Astro minivan -- packed with kids -- north in the southbound lane of the boulevard, causing a fiery crash that leaves the minivan and another car burned to a crisp."

While Hog Island used to be the family vacation spot for Tammany Hall politicians, after surfacing off the coast of the Rockaways in the mid-1800s, it was no match for Mother Nature. Ephemeral NY revisits the old destination spot, which "featured the usual late-19th century bathing facilities, pavilions, restaurants, and regular ferries," noting how by the late 1800s the sea swallowed it back up, whole!

When news broke two weeks ago that Andrew Lloyd Webber had set his hotly-dreaded Phantom of the Opera sequel in Coney Island circa 1919, the AP quoted Webber saying, "[Coney Island] was the eighth wonder of the world. Think of Vegas and then triple it." But the wire service left out the best and most controversial part of that quote, and some Coney Island locals have been insulted a little bit.

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As previously mentioned, the Empire State Building donned the official hippie color, Tie Dye, last night in honor of an upcoming Grateful Dead exhibit at the NY Historical Society. (A benefit with Dead members Phil Lesh and Bob Weir will be held in the city tomorrow.) Some readers certainly came through with some fantastic photos of the lights last night — some including trippy photo tricks, and psychedelic Photoshopping. Enjoy!

                     

As we mentioned last week, the first annual Meet the Breed event—featuring 160 purebred breeds of dogs and 41 purebred breeds of cats—was held at the Javits Center. And people weren't able to walk a foot without in any direction without saying, "Awwww." Enjoy these photographs by Katie Sokoler.

Doesn't anyone have HBO anymore? Writer Jonathan Ames has penned a new series for the network, called Bored to Death, and even he can't watch it! The show is set in Brooklyn, where Ames resides... and last night the author took to Twitter to find a tube to watch it on. Some kind strangers took him in, and aside from a few grammatical errors while Tweeting that Ames called himself out for, he seemed to enjoy the experience. Maybe next Sunday he'll bring you a bottle of vino and his wisdom on how to perfectly illuminate your living room to view his show. [via Animal]

Are you ready to hear 16 hours of Beatles tunes live... on the ukulele? Well, you have over a month to get ready. This December 5th and 6th, a two-day benefit for Yoko Ono will take place, featuring 185 Songs (the entire Beatles catalog), 60 Singers, 40 Musicians and 16 Yokos.

Last year residents of a Perry Street townhouse, one that is home to Carrie Bradshaw in a fictional world, put up a chain and a sign threatening away any fans taking photos on the stoop. Since fans allegedly are ignoring the sign, they have added a new one. This time around it's attached to a money drop box, and asks if you take a photo, to donate to a charity for orphaned animals. Hear that Carrie fans? For every photo you take, and dollar you don't donate, you are killing kittens and puppies. VanishingNY spotted the new system, and calls for a new tax in the city: a Tourist & Yunnie Nuisance Tax.

Poster Child has finally brought a planter box to New York City! This dwarf pine is now planted outside of the Bedford Avenue L stop in Williamsburg; he explains his project: "If you are new to these FlyerPlanterboxes the idea is to take the empty & disused newspaper and flyer boxes that litter our sidewalks and put them to a better use than say trashcan or Space-Filler." And check out that newspaper dispenser, it's from The National, which debuted in January of 1990 and folded 18 months later. He notes, "this empty, useless box has somehow managed to consume valuable sidewalk space in New York for 16 odd years."

Thirteen's new series profiling New Yorkers released a new video this week, this time traveling to 33rd and 9th to visit Carlos Sarabia's coffee cart. They say he "emigrated from Jalisco, Mexico to the United States, bringing his mother's breakfast torta recipe with him." He works from Mondays through Friday, starting at sun up — and says he'd like to own his own cafe, where he wouldn't have to confront the harsh weather in the winter.

Lincoln Center Theater has terminated the contract of South Pacific stage manager Michael Brunner, after he was arraigned on Friday on a charge of unlawful surveillance. Brunner, 54, has admitted to using his iPhone to videotape one of the actresses in the hit revival. (Pervy spying? There's an app for that.) The actress, whose name is being withheld, discovered the iPod on a desk in her dressing room between acts, and said, "What the hell is this?" She then proceeded to finish the performance, and alerted theater personnel after the curtain call.

If you were planning on ducking out of the office to watch Game 3 of the ALCS at a bar, you could go really hardcore by taking the train to the Bronx and watching the game at Yankee Stadium. After consulting with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., the Yankees are opening the Stadium Field Level and Great Hall to the public to watch the broadcast of the game in Anaheim, which has a start time of 4:13 p.m. (EST) with Andy Pettitte pitching for the Bronx Bombers and Jared Weaver starting for the Angels.

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Oh you Bushwickians and your tent cities. The latest in neighborhood tent news comes by way of a Craigslist posting, written by some younger folk who possibly have Where the Wild Things Are fort envy:

According to this Twitter update, farm animals are super in right now amongst the skinny jean set. The witness twote, "I just saw a hipster walking a sheep on Bedford Ave. So hot right now!" People, please take photos next time.

                     

Over the weekend, Pier 94 was the place to be for fans of comic books, science fiction, and other TV shows with the Big Apple Comic Con taking place.

In honor of the New York Historical Society's upcoming Grateful Dead exhibition, the Empire State Building is going to be tie dye tomorrow. At press time, we were unable to confirm how in the world this was going to happen, short of dosing the entire city with acid and hoping everyone sees beautiful melting colors shining off the building.

Was James Franco getting ready for his return to TV (he's got a General Hospital stint coming up) by appearing on Saturday Night Live? Of course, in the "What Up With That?" skit, about a BET show that answers the issues of today with soul, Franco didn't actually have any lines but he looked pretty good just being there.

Thursday night was a milestone for anyone who ever came home to find their newly purchased parrot was not just pining for the fjords. The remaining five members of Monty Python gathered for a rare reunion in honor of the theatrical version of their new film, “Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut)." The lengthier version will be showed over six nights next week on IFC, starting tomorrow night. John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam took the stage after the screening for a Q&A, with the late Graham Chapman represented by a large cardboard cutout. At least they didn't spill his ashes like they did at the Aspen Comedy Festival in 1998!

Once again CMJ is upon us, and our show (which we're co-hosting with the lovely people at Brooklyn Based) is next Thursday, the 22nd at the Bell House [149 7th Street in Gowanus]. The show is FREE, and no CMJ badge is required. You can RSVP right here, and the details are below:

If you like your relics served up with an extra dose of creepy, have we got the exhibit for you! One-man traveling sideshow, Father Thomas Michelet, is bringing the bones of St. Mary Magdalene to the Big Apple. Oh the things her bones will see! Can't you just picture those two out on the town, snapping photos and seeing the sights? Hopefully there will be time for a Broadway show.

Ready for a three-story outdoor theater in Union Square? Well, the former Virgin megastore is transforming itself into just that on October 28th, when Marvel Comics takes over the outdoor wall to premiere its "Astonishing X-Men" motion comic on the building.

           

Click on the film stills above for more details and reviews on this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which also include Black Dynamite; Law Abiding Citizen; New York, I Love You; Food Beware; The Little Traitor; The Maid; Adela; Splendor in the Grass; Beetlejuice; and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Earlier this week Ralph Lauren was accused of some over-the-top Photoshopping in their ads, and now it appears GQ has given Betty Draper a digital boob job. Mad Men's January Jones graces the magazine's November issue, and NYMag accuses them of "artificial enhancement by way of Photoshop." What do you think? We don't want to know what they'd do if Joan Holloway were on the cover!

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For twelve years now the American Museum of Natural History has brought butterflies to Manhattan from all over the world. Last weekend their "Butterfly Conservatory: Tropical Butterflies Alive in Winter" exhibit opened (it will run through May 31st of next year), and we sent Katie Sokoler over to photograph the 500 vibrant creatures (monarchs, zebra longwings, and paper kites amongst them). What to expect: a 1,200-square-foot vivarium, a freestanding structure aflutter with activity, lamps simulating sunlight in the rain forest, recorded sounds of howler monkeys, parakeets and other animals. Get more details here.

Tonight and Saturday night, the inimitable punk/avant-garde cabaret band Tiger Lillies return to St. Ann's Warehouse for two "Dark and Deviant" concerts, celebrating 20 years together as a band. The shows will highlight songs from the Lillies' award-winning show, Shockheaded Peter, along with numbers from their Grammy-nominated album The Gorey End , plus other deranged favorites spanning their extensive catalogue. Frontman Martyn Jacques, who plays accordion, trained himself as an opera singer with a castrati style while living above a strip club in London for seven years. Which explains a lot about this band! On his way to the airport in England, Jacques responded to some of our questions via e-mail.

                     

This weekend, the American Kennel Club and the Cat Fanciers' Association are joining forces at the Jacob Javits Center this weekend to allow the public to Meet the Breeds. There will be 160 purebred breeds of dogs and 41 purebred breeds of cats on the scene—"each in its own designated booth, decorated to reflect the heritage of the breed, its characteristics and unique attributes as a pet." We went to the press preview yesterday and got to meet some of the animals—they seem pretty excited about this weekend!

Street naming became a point of controversy a couple of years ago; however, earlier this year Run-DMC got an intersection named after them in Queens, this week Where the Wild Things Are got a temporary street name... so now should the northeast corner of Central Park West and West 72nd Street be named for John Lennon?

       

If you've ever lived in an older building in New York, you've probably wondered what was behind your walls (a secret room, perhaps!). Or maybe that's just us. Anyway, the Tenement Museum is readying their visitors center, and has just posted up some gorgeous photos of the process. When they renovated their 97 Orchard space, there was more in-depth archeological research done; the selective demolition at 103 Orchard Street includes the basement, ground, and second floors of the building — which dates back to the 1880s. Click through for some hot shots of ceiling timbers! Phantom staircases! Old playing cards! And much, much more.

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Last night the final preview performance of the Broadway revival of Bye Bye Birdie was halted for about 20 minutes when the electronically controlled set failed to clear during a scene change. The curtain fell, and star John Stamos came out to the footlights to stall for time. Fortunately for him, inimitable cut-up Don Rickles was in the audience cracking wise. "I'm too old for this," Rickles shouted from the orchestra section. And as the delay dragged on, Mister Warmth grew increasingly impatient, yelling, "I came here for a night, not a weekend!" Rickles also told that hippie Stamos to get a haircut.

Director Spike Jonze, actress Catherine Keener and third grade students from P.S. 41 temporarily renamed the intersection of Greenwich Avenue and Christopher Street "Maurice Sendak Way" and "Wild Things Way" earlier this afternoon. Marketing is alive and well in Greenwich Village! The movie comes out this weekend, and the wild rumpus has already begun as it's Wild Things Week in the city.

The people behind the Limelight Marketplace have released renderings of their future mall. They tell us "the storied 163-year-old venue in Manhattan’s Flatiron district is being transformed into a three-story shopper’s paradise." When it opens, expect to see jewelry, organic groceries, candy, art, home decor, a salon and a sneaker shop. Do not expect to see club kids, trannies and cocaine-coated floorboards.

Today NY1 anchor John Schiumo stole the Twitter spotlight from Pat Kiernan with a harrowing tale of taxi cab body odor. The good news is he lived to Tweet the tale, which is complete with burning eyes and a stinky receipt. As Seinfeld once said, "There should be a B.O. squad that patrols the city like a 'Smell Gestapo.' To sniff 'em out, strip 'em down, and wash them with a big, soapy brush..." [via Animal]

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While the Jane Hotel undergoes some "minor physical adjustments" after their loving neighbors had them temporarily shut down, Eater reports that other local establishments are picking up the slack. Here's a list of where to go in the neighborhood til the Jane reopens, but the Rusty Knot is actually hosting the hotel until further notice.

As the NY Times noted, the artists are also bringing empty storefronts to life — something that's been happening in other boroughs as well. They explain these particular spaces were "donated or leased by building owners unable to rent or develop them." Starving artists are making out well during this recession with prime real estate! The benefit for developers? "The artist gets a gallery or studio, and the landlord gets a vibrant attraction that may deter crime and draw the next wave of paying tenants."

     

If you've ever seen Warhol's Factory, it was likely in part through the lens of Nat Finkelstein, who documented much of that era and the characters who created it. The photographer died of pneumonia and emphysema on October 2nd at the age of 76, while at his home in Shandaken, New York. The NY Times notes that he was the house photographer at the Factory from 1964 to 1967, and "created spontaneous portraits not only of Factory regulars like Sedgwick and Gerard Malanga but also of the artists and celebrities who drifted in and out of the Warhol orbit."

It's been a few weeks since we've checked in on the foliage situation, and after seeing these hidden patches of color at the NY Times, we got a little worried we might be missing out on the changes. So, we turned to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden horticulturists, who gave us these helpful tips if you can't make it out of town this season:

       

A couple of months ago the scenesters behind the infamous Naked Ping Pong parties went legit and opened a beautiful 13,000 square foot table tennis emporium in a subterranean space on East 23rd Street, formerly occupied by Woolworths. Called SPiN New York, the approach is sort of like what Brooklyn Bowl is doing with bowling; taking a sport normally associated with basement-dwelling poindexters and recreating it in a funky nightclub context with a bar, restaurant, DJ.