NYCTV plays host to just about any New York-centric show worth watching, and Trevor Scotland is at the helm of many of them. Scotland executive produces a handful of the programs, and will even step up as host in the near future. This summer the network celebrates their 5th year, and this week Scotland told us about his shows, his city and that time he stood next to the Mayor at the urinal. What NYCTV......

Recently Brian Greene won a daytime Emmy for his writing work on Cash Cab. The show follows unsuspecting folks hopping into a cab, only to find themselves taking a pop quiz and standing a chance to win some cash. Greene recently told us about the show, his various other writing gigs, and his encounter with Michael Richards. And in case you were wondering, the cash cab will be roaming the streets again starting this fall.......

Channeling Yoko Ono's yelps of yesteryear, Ponytail's Molly Siegel leads the band into a frenzied sonic psychedlia. In their glowing review of their album, Ice Cream Spiritual, Pitchfork noted: "It's hard to know how Siegel's approach might work if she were in another kind of band, but in Ponytail her voice fits perfectly." The band has thrived in the DIY scene in New York, but their roots lay in Baltimore. They took a few moments......

If you've spent much time making your way through they city's transit system, your ears have probably been mesmerized by the ethereal music of Natalia "Saw Lady" Paruz. When she's not calming straphangers with serene renditions of Ave Maria, Paruz ventures above ground to join everyone from the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to the Little Orchestra Society. Last fall she even made her debut at Carnegie Hall as a musical saw soloist! This Saturday, Paruz will......

For their fourth full-length album, BITS, Oxford Collapse reportedly wrote over 30 songs – more than twice as many as they needed. "The economy has been bad, so we decided to write more songs," explains Michael Pace. It was originally assumed that BITS, their second album on Sub Pop Records, would be a double album, but in the end 13 tracks round out the CD, to be released on August 5th. One song, "The......

Along with Doug DeFalco, Sarah Hooper co-runs JellyNYC -- the company that brings free concerts to McCarren Park Pool each Sunday of the summer. With the space undergoing some changes in the future, we checked in with Hooper on the status of the parties and where they may go when the empty pool gets filled with water again. Good news: Marty Markowitz promises they'll be sticking around..and could possibly have a water view. Is this......

Last year Tom Mylan and Sasha Davies went head-to-head with the Fancy Food Show, held at the Javits Center, with their first Unfancy Food Show, held at the East River Bar in Williamsburg...and this year they're back for seconds. Expect everything from pickles to cheese to beer (including Hop Obama) this coming Sunday (more details here). While Davies left the city to explore the craft of hand-made cheesemaking, Mylan is still in town, occasionally airing......

This weekend the FIGMENT festival will be inhabiting Governors Island for its 2nd consecutive year. The three day free, non-profit, participatory art celebration is a collaborative effort mainly organized by David Koren and a fleet of volunteers. This week Koren told us about what one can expect on the island this year, the importance of Governors Island, and the mini-golf course they've set up called City of Dreams (named after the Talking Heads song) which......

Brianna Taylor entered MTV's Real World Hollywood house as an unknown, but is using the show to catapult her music career. Her debut album just came out earlier this month, and tonight she plays at the Canal Room with American Idol's Blake Lewis. Earlier this week she told us about her music, the reality spotlight, and how the new Brooklyn cast may act around town. Being from Philly, have you played many shows in NYC?......

Savitri D., normally acting as director of the Church of Stop Shopping, became a mermaid this past weekend. After marching in the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island as Queen, and attending the Ball later that night, she began a hunger strike. She now sits in a storefront on Coney Island, fasting until a scoping meeting tomorrow regarding the fate of the area. You can see her on a livecam that's been set up; she talked......

Last year Aaron Friedman took Fête de la Musique and moved it across the Atlantic, calling it Make Music New York. Tomorrow is the 2nd annual event, and thousands upon thousands musicians will take the stage around the city; venues will be on the streets, in bodegas, and other nooks around New York (Governors Island will become "Punk Island" for the day!). Earlier this week we asked Friedman about the huge task of planning such......

As Central Park's SummerStage enters its 23rd season, James Burke has taken the helms. The massive task includes organizing festival lineups, music, dance, film and more. This year began with a bang last Saturday as the sky opened up over the outdoor venue; hopefully they'll see drier days to come. After nature's wrath subsided, Burke told us about his role in entertaining the masses, the best place to dine before attending one of the CPSS......

Born in Munich in 1942, Werner Herzog grew up in a remote mountain village in Bavaria, where he never saw any films, television, or telephones until he was 17. The effects of this isolated childhood can be seen in many of his films, which often focus on the struggles of independent dreamers who deliberately square off against impossible circumstances. Herzog has directed more than 40 films over the course of his career, and although the......

Last week, City Councilman Tony Avella introduced a resolution to urge the state senate to outlaw the force-feeding of ducks and geese to produce foie gras. A bill has been on the back burners in Albany, and Avella hopes that his resolution will move things forward. Ariane Daugin, head of D'Artagnan, the nation's leading foie gras purveyor, had a some strong opinions to share on the matter. Read more about her opposition (and see the......

Since he began his fruitful collaboration with Walter Becker back at Bard College in 1968, Grammy award-winning musician Donald Fagen has steadily distinguished himself as one of the smartest and most imaginative contemporary songwriters. As Steely Dan, the innovative duo lays claim to an impressive catalog of hit singles that somehow manage to stay fresh despite their everlasting ubiquity on classic rock stations across America. For whatever reason, people still can't help cranking up the......

Not too long ago there was a heated debate over the upcoming Rock the Harbor festival, making it the city's most controversial festival to date! The only source of conflict was geographic location...the fest will take place on Staten Island this coming Saturday. For those who can get over the stigma attached to the borough, you're in for a treat. Pat Duffy, who also runs the blog Pop Tarts Suck Toasted, has helped organize a......

Jenny Scheinman is a catalyst of beautiful moments. Once, while recording an album with Lucinda Williams she coaxed the whole crew up to the roof for a candlelight dinner. Magical. Another time, she brought Paul Motian and Jason Moran together for a trio concert at the Village Vanguard. Superb. And one night, she invited banjo master Danny Barnes to join her at Barbes. The result: a space jammed with banjo players. Terrific. Last month the......

Joe Franquinha and his father run Crest Hardware store in Williamsburg. In the '90s the shop began hosting a unique art show, which integrated various artists' pieces into the shelves amongst the hardware supplies (watch a video about it on PBS). After a hiatus, they brought the show back this past weekend with a grand celebration, and we highly recommend checking it out. The Crest Hardware Art Show runs through July 11th; now, meet the......

Death Cab for Cutie hit the scene before most of the well-known music blogs even registered a URL -- and even though they've made the major label jump (moving from Barsuk to Atlantic in 2004), become prime time sweethearts (with their music soundtracking shows like The OC) -- they've maintained their indie cred. On May 13th they released their second album on Atlantic, their seventh in total, called Narrow Stairs, and tomorrow night they play......

Before becoming the Food Network's youngest host ever, Dave Lieberman hosted a cooking show and ran a catering business while he was a student at Yale. After being discovered and launched into the public eye by Amanda Hesser during his senior year, Lieberman published his first cookbook, Young and Hungry: More Than 100 Recipes for Cooking Fresh and Affordable Food for Everyone. He then went on to host Good Deal with Dave Lieberman, and now......

Two weeks ago, during the festivities for the Brooklyn Bridge's 125th birthday, a mysterious and massive device was unveiled with little fanfare near the base of the bridge. Called the Telectroscope, the installation was said to optically connect passersby at either end of a forgotten tunnel between Brooklyn and London (near the Tower Bridge). The British artist behind the project, Paul St George, says he's merely fulfilling the Victorian-era dream of his great-grandfather, inventor Alexander......

This year sex shop Babeland celebrates its 15th year, and its 1st Brooklyn store. Claire Cavanah is the co-owner, but she's also a Park Slope mom...so naturally the borough's first Babeland is landing right in her own nabe. So far the neighbors have greeted them with an unexpected level of excitement, and today the Park Slope outlet of Babeland will finally open its doors. Recently Cavanah told us about the shop's history, the neighborhood-specific events......

Nestled away on a romantic little bend of Commerce Street in the West Village is Commerce, the newish bar and restaurant from chef Harold Moore and restaurateur Tony Zazula. Operating out of a carriage house dating back to 1911, the place was formerly a Prohibition-era speakeasy, then Blue Mill Tavern for 50 years, then the neighborhood favorite Grange Hall. You might assume that its new iteration is a fussy stab at resuscitating the past, but......

Cesar Ramirez, the 36 year-old chef at Bar Blanc, doesn’t want to be called a chef. Taking a cue from his mentor David Bouley , he prefers the term craftsman, and insists that his food speaks for itself. Ramirez doesn’t waste a lot of bandwidth talking up his game, bragging about how often and how hard he hits the Greenmarket. In a time when it is not uncommon for chefs to spend their days with......

Comedian Demetri Martin's initital career trajectory wasn't aimed toward show business stardom; the New Jersey native went from busing tables in his parents' diner to Yale and a full scholarship at NYU Law School. But a year before graduation, to his family's dismay, he abandoned the justice system to pursue a career in comedy. A gutsy move, but one that paid off, against considerable odds, when Martin worked his way up to a recurring spot......

Fugazi's page on the Dischord Records website still somewhat defiantly declares the band's timeline to be "Fall 1987 - present," so one can't completely rule out the possibility that they'll pick up where they left off in 2002, but at this point holding one's breath seems ill advised. Like the others, bassist Joe Lally has been determined to move on and make music on his own terms; his contemplative solo debut, There to Here,......

Wolves and Wishes, the fourth LP from the wizardly Martin Dosh, may have been fused in Minneapolis (with contributions from artists like Will Oldham and Andrew Bird), but hear it through headphones while wandering New York at dusk and you'll think it was specifically made to accompany aimless strolls through the city's more deserted quarters. That the album's expansive soundscape is richly layered with looping keyboard, guitar, sax, banjo, percussion and other surprising instrumentation will......

Not long after graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Kelly Overton got a big break when she was cast in the memorable Broadway stage adaptation of The Graduate, with Jason Biggs in the Dustin Hoffman role and Kathleen Turner famously baring all for her portrayal of Mrs. Robinson. Film and TV roles followed, including a part in The Ring Two. Overton has also been busy with a project of her own, a......

Since 2000, Anathallo has been traveling the world, delivering tunes to many a diverse audience. Band dynamics and direction have shifted over the course of their career, accurate since their name means to renew or bloom again, but their aesthetic has maintained a powerful balance of light and dark throughout. This time around they return with a new album under their belts, called Canopy Glow, and like good troubadours, they're back on the road (even......

Sloane Crosley has made an impressive leap from being the most popular publicist in New York to the role of published author. While she can't yet claim victory in that category's popularity contest, it doesn't hurt that both Jonathan Lethem and Ames are singing her praises, thus locking down her support among esteemed authors named Jonathan. With her debut book of essays, I Was Told There'd Be Cake, she'll take you on an amusing tour......