Head cheerleader Bloomberg held a press conference in Bay Ridge yesterday to spin the stats on the city's 2009 tourist numbers. Although tourism was down nearly 4 percent from 2008, with the number of visitors to New York City declining by almost 2 million last year, the mayor struck a triumphant note, because those precious 45.25 million tourists defied a dire prediction that tourism would drop by 10 percent last year. "Last year, while tourism declined significantly in cities across the country, we fared far better than most. In fact, for the first time in 20 years, we were the most popular tourism destination in the country," Bloomberg told the press. Sorry, Orlando! more ›

Yesterday a small but dedicated group of cyclists braved the brutal winter winds for the fifth annual Memorial Ride across Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn to dedicate eleven "Ghost Bikes." The all-white bikes, a tragically common reminder of bicyclist fatalities, commemorate the estimated ten lives lost while bicycling in NYC during 2009. Linda Langergaard, whose son James Langergaard was killed biking across Queens Boulevard in August, said in a statement, "James was a wonderful part of so many lives and we miss him terribly. It hurts to know so many families are feeling the same loss as we are. It is so important that we come together to prevent these tragedies from ever happening to another family." more ›

Three hundred sixty-five days have passed and while we can't recap every single story, here are some of the notable ones that shaped our year. more ›

As we mentioned yesterday, the last day of 2009 will be wet and messy. The snow looks beautiful now, but it is expected to turn into sleet and precipitation by the evening—sorry, New Year's Eve revelers. more ›

In New York, when we talk about the year in food, we talk about the year in restaurants, because who has the time (or counter space) to cook? (You do? Can we come over for dinner?) Also, one of the enduring pleasures of life in NYC is, obviously, a leisurely meal in a peaceful restaurant. And for those whose incomes don't have much room for dining, 2009 was a pretty good year, with more high-quality restaurants opening at a lower price point, and (sadly for us) the death of the obscenely overpriced menu gimmick, which attained apotheosis when Steven Colbert luxuriated in the $25,000 Golden Opulence Sundae at Serendipity 3. Anyway, who's got room for one more listicle? more ›

The gorgeous and funky Macao Trading Co. in Tribeca is throwing a "decadent" party with no cover. The fun-sounding shebang is intended to evoke the red light district of 1930s Macao, created by set designer Adam Aleksander (check it out). Starting at 11 p.m., there will be DJs on both floors, a burlesque performance and a midnight Fernet Branca toast. Before all that, they'll be serving their regular Chinese vs. Portuguese menu; details here. more ›

This year we talked to a lot of people, and here are a few our favorite interviewss — click through to revisit our talks with people like Rachel Maddow, Pat Kiernan, Zooey Deschanel, Joan Baez, and many many more. If you think there's a New Yorker we should talk to in 2010... let us know! more ›

Yesterday city folk got a chance to physically destroy their bad memories from 2009. (One person brought a Daily News article on the Giants' season-ending loss!) Did you take part in the cathartic chaos? We got some photos from the scene... but sadly none showing the use of the sledgehammer that organizers of this year's Good Riddance Day promised. more ›

Click on the photos for Gothamist's top ten favorite theatrical productions of 2009. Last year, of course, we couldn't stop talking about Passing Strange, but this year's highly subjective list is notably devoid of musicals. (Unfortunately, we haven't seen Fela!) Two of these ten were unforgettable, site-specific odysseys—one on a bus through the Bronx, the other on a boat that went nowhere. Just two happened on Broadway—one with A-list stars, the other with brilliant yet relatively unknown downtown actors. (Both narrowly edged out the excellent revival of Waiting for Godot starring John Goodman, Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin.) more ›

Staying in New York for Christmas? Greatest feeling in the world, isn't it? Perhaps the only greater feeling is knowing you don't even have to bother cooking. To that end, here are a number of last-minute dining options for those of you who just suddenly said, "The hell with it, why toil in the kitchen when I could spend the day viddying classic Christmas DVDs, like Die Hard?" more ›

The Hurt Locker is picking up critical momentum as Hollywood heads into Academy Awards season. After nabbing the "best film" prize from the LA Film Critics Association, director Kathryn Bigelow's taut Iraq war drama has been named best film by the New York Film Critics Circle, which also declared Bigelow best director. The NYFCC voted George Clooney best actor for Up in the Air and Fantastic Mr. Fox, Meryl Streep won best actress for Julie & Julia, Christoph Waltz got best supporting actor for Inglourious Basterds, and Mo'Nique picked up best supporting actress for her widely-acclaimed performance in Precious. But nowhere on this list is our favorite film of '09, the Coen brothers' A Serious Man, which was also snubbed by LA critics. more ›

It it's December, it must be time to visit Dyker Heights, that Brooklyn neighborhood famous for its transcendent Christmas light displays. The spectacle draws onlookers from around the world, and was immortalized in a truly hilarious documentary called Dyker Lights, which takes a priceless "behind-the-scenes" look at the predominantly Italian-American families during preparations for the annual festivities. (PBS will be broadcasting Dyker Lights again this year on Christmas Eve and Christmas day—it's not to be missed.) more ›

Despite a steady rain, thousands of people amassed at Rockefeller Center last night for the annual tree lighting event. Besides the dramatic moment when the lights go from off to on, there were performances by Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Rob Thomas, Alicia Keys, Jo Dee Messina, Barry Manilow, Shakira, The Muppets, and The Roots. Photographer Katie Sokoler got a bird's-eye view from Rockefeller Center's "620 Loft & Garden," where the Canadian Tourism Commission held an invite-only event intended to lure tourists to their country... by celebrating a classic New York tradition? more ›

The city’s unemployment rate is at 10.3 percent, its highest level in 16 years, and the unemployment rate statewide reached 9 percent in October, the highest rate since April 1983, the State Labor Department reported yesterday. Making matters worse, the usual holiday hiring bump doesn't seem to be happening; instead, the retail sector shed 1,100 jobs in October. Leisure and hospitality, which usually picks up toward the end of the year, lost jobs last holiday season and is doing slightly worse so far this year. At this point, we'd ask for a stiff drink, but who's left to pour it? Yet there is a silver lining empty lining where some copper wire used to be! more ›

Down at the Winter Garden in the World Financial Center, this year's Canstruction exhibit is underway, with 100,693 cans being used to make ingenious sculptures to benefit City Harvest. All these sculptures were assembled in a single night, and yesterday the winners were announced, with jurors declaring "Feed the Bank (Piggy Bank)," by Arianna Braun Architects, PLLC, best in show. The award for Best Use of Labels went to the Beatles-inspired "We Get By With A Little Help From Our Friends," by Ted Moudis Associates. Best Structural Ingenuity went to "A Fungus to Feed Us" by Platt Byard Dovell White Architects more ›

Most people dig good wine and food, so the New York Wine and Food Festival seems like a guaranteed winner, with myriad events over the weekend devoted to savoring both things to the max. But the word "festival" is a little more ambiguous, and depending on which event you attend, that last F in NYWFF can sometimes stand for "Fuuuuuckingcrowded!" Last night's kick-off at Chelsea Market was swarming with foodiots and not for the agoraphobic; at times it got so packed that the festive vibe almost turned surly—particularly when a certain someone elbowed that woman's wine glass. (Sorry!) more ›

Ugh, the economy. America lost 263,000 jobs in September, far more than analysts expected, and the national unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, according to the Labor Department's monthly report. (Last month it was announced that 10.3% of NYC is unemployed, the highest rate since the Dinkins administration.) State and local governments across the country slashed 47,000 jobs last month, and now the unemployment rate is at a 26-year high. more ›

Lebowski Fest rolled into town this week for three nights instead of the usual two, and it was probably one night too many. On Tuesday, there was a concert and screening of the Coen brothers comic masterpiece at Terminal 5, followed Wednesday by a bowling and costume extravaganza at Lucky Strike, and then... some sort of awkward what-have-you last night at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg. By all accounts, the blowout at Lucky Strike was (like last year) the main event, attracting the most dedicated fans and creative costumes. more ›

Park(ing) Day always goes by so quickly! One minute you're swimming in a ball pit in SoHo, and the next minute the tyranny of parked cars has returned to our city's streets. Viva la Park(ing) Revolution! Here are some more photos of yesterday's whimsical fun, which transformed over 50 spaces usually occupied by motor vehicles into imaginative urban oases. more ›

Park(ing) Day is observed tomorrow in New York City and in other cities around the world. The international holiday, which turns boring old asphalt parking spaces into whimsical urban oases, was started back in 2005 by Transportation Alternatives and Rebar, a San Francisco-based art and design collective. It became an annual event, and every year the curbside creations have gotten more elaborate and inspired. Last year saw parking spaces transformed into such curiosities as a meditation garden, a geodesic dome, and an urban arbor. more ›

Anticipation has reached a fever pitch for next Saturday's Fifth Annual Vendy Awards, the Oscars/Golden Globes/MTV Music Award/Olympics of street food, and now organizers have sprayed lighter fluid on the flames of our excitement by announcing the finalists in a completely new category: Rookie Vendor of the Year. The four contenders are NYC Cravings (Taiwanese), Schnitzel & Things (Austrian), Picnick Smoked ("Good for You BBQ"), and fabulous frontrunner Big Gay Ice Cream Truck (self-explanatory). But Big Gay is also nominated for the best dessert truck category, so voters could surprise the food world by honoring truck owner Doug Quint (right) in that category, like that time Kate Winslet won for The Reader, not for her devastating work in the superior Revolutionary Road. The nominees were selected by elite members of the food blog mafia, and the awards, which serve as a fundraiser for the Street Vendor Project, will be held on the 26th at the Queens Museum of Art. The tax-deductible tickets, which are almost sold out, get you food from the vendors and an open bar. Here's a look back at last year's Vendy's, which was a big win for Calexico. more ›

It's been nine long years since Wallace Shawn's strange and haunting masterpiece, The Designated Mourner, was staged in a crumbling old gentleman's club on Wall Street—the perfect location for a play that so vividly illustrates how pampered complacency enables brutal tyranny. Now Shawn is finally back with another play—well, sort of. His Grasses of a Thousand Colours premiered at the Royal Court in London earlier this year, but a production in New York, his home town, is far from assured. more ›

The 2009 U.S. Open tennis tournament kicked off yesterday in Flushing with fireworks, Heidi Klum, an unseasonable chill, and a hotly contested match between Venus Williams and Vera Dushevina, a 22-year-old Russian who, despite being ranked 47th, gave the number 3 ranked Williams a serious run for her money. After narrowly losing the first set to Dushevina, Williams came from behind to squeak out a second set win, then pounded the white Russian 6 games to 3 to win the match—a victory she credited to all the fans shouting "Go Venus!" throughout the long two-and-a-half hour contest. more ›

Looks like lovely weather for the kick-off to the second annual Summer Streets tomorrow! Starting at 7 a.m., the city will temporarily close Park Avenue and connecting streets from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, displacing motor vehicles and welcoming pedestrians, cyclists, joggers, skateboarders and other non-combustion engine participants. Penny farthing, anyone? more ›

As promised, last year's first Summer Streets series, which created a 6.9 mile car-free stretch of Manhattan pavement on three Saturdays in August, will return, despite heated objections from some merchants who said the closings hurt their businesses. Today Russell Simmons and Luis Guzmán joined Mayor Bloomberg, DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, and other officials to formally announce this year's events, which will take place in Manhattan on Saturday August 8th, 15th and 22nd from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Manhattan route will run from the Brooklyn Bridge via Lafayette/Centre Streets, 4th Avenue and Park Avenue up to 72nd street, while major cross-town streets will remain open to vehicles crossing the route. In addition, the Summer Streets program is being expanded to all five boroughs, with smaller stretches in a total of 13 neighborhoods. One such micro-version of Summer Streets, Williamsburg Walks, is already underway and will continue next Saturday and July 11th, unless the teenagers ruin everything with their skateboards! A full list of all the neighborhood Summer Streets events can be perused here, along with all the other free activities presented by the city. more ›

Earlier this month, Sonic Youth dropped The Eternal, the band's 16th album and their first since fulfilling their contractual obligation to Geffen and moving to indie-label paradigm Matador Records. Recorded mostly in Northampton, Massachusetts, where front-couple Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon reside, The Eternal works as both an invigorating new turn in the band's 29 year journey and an ideal point of entry for newcomers, as the 12 tracks span the spectrum from tightly-coiled incendiary art rock to virtuoso mini noise odysseys. more ›

The Rent Guidelines Board's annual carnival of cacophony—wherein hundreds of rent-stabilized tenants shout themselves hoarse as the board votes to raise their rents again—goes down tonight at Cooper Union. Speaking to the Daily News, board chairman Marvin Markus describes the always raucous affair as "one of the rites of spring," and quips, "Maybe we'll give out Valium." Ha ha, making a mockery of "rent stabilization" is always good for a laugh. more ›

"Hey, bro, take my photo! I'm addicted to adrenaline and I burst all the blood vessels in my eye doing back flips!" Such are the strange, close encounters that happen every few steps while one wanders the 700-acres of Tennessee farmland crawling with 75,000 people during this weekend's Bonnaroo music festival. Time and space don't permit a full accounting of all the bizarre sights, sounds, and smells observed during our three days here (there's still one last afternoon of Snoop Dogg, Andrew Bird, Erykah Badu, and Phish ahead), but click through on the photos here for a glimpse at the recession-defying bacchanal. (The adrenaline addict is in there somewhere.) more ›

Some 75,000 people from around the world are currently swarming the 8th annual Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee, but from the way they all sang along with the Beastie Boys' classic "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn," you'd think they were all just on vacation from the county of Kings. Last night the Beastie Boys brought their signature New York flavor to the 700-acre farm, throwing down with a well-balanced mix of crowd-pleasers, including "Paul Revere," "Pass the Mic," and "Shake Your Rump." The big surprise of the set—besides the comically butchered encore of "Sabotage," which completely fell apart both at the beginning and at the climax—was the appearance of Nas, "a special guest from Queensbridge," who isn't even on the Bonnaroo lineup. more ›

The Tony Award broadcast usually amounts to a night of boring Broadway boosterism which most Americans happily ignore to watch basketball, but last night viewers actually got a few seconds of drama to go with all the backslapping, as Poison lead singer Bret Michaels got into an exciting accident with a piece of scenery. The "Rock of Love" star was on hand to perform a song with the cast of hair band jukebox musical Rock of Ages; but as you can see from the last few seconds of this video clip, that bit of cross-promotional synergy nearly cost him his life. more ›