Penguins 4, Islanders 2: A busy day for the Islanders didn't end with a win. They signed Mike Comrie to a contract extension, shipped off resident thug winger Chris Simon to the Minnesota Wild and also got rid of Marc-Andre Bergeron for a draft pick. Then they faced the depleted Penguins -- who made the biggest deal of the day in adding Marian Hossa -- and lost a bizarre game. They outshot the Pens 52-21,......

Pinch & S’MAC: Dejected fans of Pinch, the defunct Park Avenue South “pizza by the inch” joint, will not only be reunited with their favorite Pinch pizza, but they can even slather it with the incredible mac-n-cheese from East Village favorite S’MAC. The new cheese and carb cartel will bring the best of both menus together on the Upper West Side, forming a single, unified, belt-busting celebration of starch. If you’ve never tried S’MAC, you’re......

Salt & Samovar are a Brooklyn band that sound more like they're just visiting here from Upstate...or a Coen brothers film. Their live shows are described as "pentecostal revival-like performances that evoke the musical and spiritual heirlooms of a cherished American past." A simpler and simply transporting sound that'll have you pining for the past. Come check out their revival-rock this Friday at Mercury Lounge -- get your tickets here. Where did your band name......

August 19: 8th Annual Blues & BBQ Head to Pier 54 at Hudson River Park for meat, music, meat, and more meat. Hill Country, Dinosaur Bar-b-Que and other city favorites will be offering up their wares for sale. Full listing of blues acts here. Admission and music free. Pier 54 at 14th Street, 2-9 p.m. August 19: 4th Annual Singapore Chili Crab Festival This year's Tiger Beer Singapore Chili Crab Fest is in a new......

EVENT: GRBG is helping in the celebration of the “Gangs of New York” Fall ’07 collection. Enjoy a photo exhibit of the fall look book shot in Coney Island, a screening of The Warriors and free Rum! 6 to 9pm // powerHouse Arena [37 Main St, Brooklyn] // Free READING: His book on the nightlife scene hit the stores yesterday, and today Rob the Bouncer will be joining them. He's not even quite sure what......

Band of Horses at the Pool, Another Great Show It’s getting a bit repetitive. Every week it seems like we rave and rave about how impressive the Pool Party was. This week brought Band of Horses back to New York for a big free happy show, alongside last year's premiere blog buzz band, Annuals. While there were few complaints about last Sunday, Jelly's got themselves quite the tall order coming up this week. TV on......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Lexington and 55th St. in Manhattan at 4:03 pm (and a second bank robbery seven minutes later on 27th St. and 6th Ave.), a special delivery (as cops helped a mother give birth) at Henry and Rutgers Streets in Manhattan and a home invasion/homicide on 100th St. in Brooklyn. Former Staten Island ferry captain Richard Smith was released from prison after serving his term for......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a partial roof collapse on Union St. in Brooklyn, a person under a train at Coney Island and Brighton Beach Aves. in Brooklyn, and a slashing at Dyckman St. and Broadway in Manhattan. Artie Fufkin speaks! Paul Schaffer, who was the musical director of the Blues Brothers, keyboardist for Bill Murray's lounge singer character on SNL, and the bandleader for David Letterman's "The World's Most Dangerous Band" since 1982,......

Yesterday we pointed out WCBS tip-sheet that reminded vacationers that the beach is a deadly minefield of hazards, potentially littered with actual explosives. Now, local ABC affiliate WABC has a piece pointing out the dangers of Memorial Day grilling. Salmonella, e. coli bacteria, and other causes of food poisoning tend to proliferate when people get relaxed about cooking cleanliness while grilling. The CDC reports that food-poisoning illnesses necessitate 300,000 hospitalizations a year and cause 5,000......

A friend who emailed us a few weeks ago to inform us that the Beastie Boys were releasing a new album and that it was going to be all instrumental left us conflicted. We'll admit that the instrumental portion of their last shows at the Garden were great, but we wouldn't consider them highlights, and we generally judge their last tour a high-point of our concert-going existence. A week or so later, this same......

READING: We've been gushing over filmmaker, performing artist and writer, Miranda July's new book (and its accompanying website), No One Belongs Here More that You. Tonight she reads from her collection of short stories at Paula Cooper Gallery. There she is at left, typing away, and you can listen to her reading on her MySpace. Reminder: She'll be at 192 Books tomorrow night, call 212.255.4022 for reservations. 7pm // Paula Cooper Gallery [534 W 21st......

Like the Blues Brothers, God's Pottery are on a mission from God. But instead of driving through malls or shooting up dope, they're changing the world one youth at a time through inspirational song. All the prayer and hard work have paid off for band members Jeremiah Smallchild and Gideon Lamb because May 21st they'll be recording an EP at Comix for Comedy Central Records. Gothamist sat down with these holy crusaders to do a......

If you tuned into WNBC last night at 10 p.m. you may have discovered that NBC’s The Black Donnellys has been canceled and in its place the supposedly funny Thank God You're Here. We loved the gritty drama and the fact that it was filmed on location in the city. As sort of the booby prize, we are getting the rest of the series online, but still that doesn’t really satisfy. Now this is all......

Celtics 96, Nets 88 (OT): The Knicks do not have a local monopoly on losing to the Celtics. This loss was probably worse than New York's earlier this week. The Nets blew an 11-point lead with less than four minutes to play, allowing Boston to score on 10 of its last 11 possessions. By letting Boston star Paul Pierce take over, the Nets ruined their chances. Knicks 104, Hawks 100 (OT): One night after impressing......

Pittsburgh 4 Rangers 3 (Shootout): Sidney Crosby will not be stopped. The Penguins’ star was held scoreless in the game, but provided the game-winner in overtime to give Pittsburgh the victory. But, this was a game that never should have gotten to a shootout. The Rangers dominated the first two periods, building a 2-0 lead behind goals from Jagr and Nylander. Once again, it was short-handed goals that killed them as they gave up two......

TASTING: Forget wine and cheese...come pair up your favorite fromages with some beer! FreeNYC points us to Bierkraft - Park Slope's proprietor of some of the finest microbrews, cheeses, and chocolates. They're having a pairing of 5 beers with 5 cheese tonight, here's what's on the menu: Beer Samplings: Slyfox Pale Ale Rogue Brutal Bitter Southern Tier IPA Oskar Blues Gordon Smuttynose Imperial Stout Cheese Samplings: Chebris Zamorano Polder Schapenkaas Cambozola MiraBleu Yum! 7pm //......

You probably already know Jeff Newelt, a.k.a. "Jahfurry," and if you don't, he's probably waiting to meet you. The professional publicist, tireless connector, and man about town, goes out almost every night of the week, with several parties and people on permanent mental speed dial, his brain constantly buzzing with new ideas. Described by friends as a "human MySpace" (Anthony Lappé) and "an infectious force of nature" (Larry Smith), the 35-year-old Long Island native and......

EVENT: Tonight head uptown to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of The Beats, or more accurately, of Kerouac’s On the Road and Ginsberg's Howl. Join writers, scholars and more. The event will feature Laurie Anderson, Ann Charters, Joyce Johnson, Hettie Jones, Bill Morgan and recordings of Ginsberg. And if you haven't watched this video yet, do it now. 8pm // 92 St Y [1395 Lexington Ave] // $18 PERFORMANCE: Between the holiday and the typical Monday......

Knicks 106, 76ers 99: If there's one team that has the Knicks beat in the turmoil department, it's the 76ers. They've traded star guard Allen Iverson and are about to buy out Chris Webber's contract. A team with such distractions proved no match for the Knicks. Eddy Curry had 20, and Stephon Marbury scored 24. The Knicks welcomed back Nate Robinson from his 10-game suspension and Quentin Richardson from back spasms. They've won three straight.......

In more James Brown news: He will lie in repose at the Apollo on Thursday. "The Godfather of Soul will get a New York-style tribute tomorrow, when he lies in state at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Tomorrow afternoon and evening the public will get the chance to say their goodbyes to James Brown in person, starting at 1 p.m. His close friend Reverend Al Sharpton will deliver a sermon at 7:30 p.m. The......

The big holiday weekend is upon, and the pickins are slim, here are some things to keep you busy while you start your holiday vacation... MUSIC: The Mooney Suzuki and The Pierces play Maxwell's tonight. The Pierces are just back from a UK tour with Albert Hammond Jr., the duo is backed up by a pretty solid band consisting of: Russell Simins (drums – Jon Spencer Blues Explosion), Sammy James Jr. (bass – lead singer......

If you count yourself as a New Yorker and a movie lover, it's tough to not have a special affinity for films by Woody Allen. Practically the filmmaker laureate of the city, Allen's prolific 40 plus year career is getting a three week long screening series at Film Forum starting this Friday. Gothamist loves Allen's movies (both the highs and the lows) so much that we thought we'd chat with an Allen expert, Queens College......

It sounds like an open and shut case: A hip London theater company snatched up some funny short stories by Woody Allen and adapted them for the stage, adding live jazz to punch things up. The stories feature a private dick named Kaiser Lupowitz and absurd cases like the search for the missing Almighty and women of the night who’ll talk Proust for a price. Murder Mystery Blues was a hit when it premiered across......

THEATER: Dance-theatre maverick Pina Bausch returns to the Brooklyn Academy of Music with Nefés, which is described as an ode to Istanbul, 'the city of water'. Originally conceived in 2002, Nefés (Turkish for "breath") “quickly became a life-affirming response to Istanbul's bouts with political upheaval. But rather than echoing the violence, Bausch invests her signature humor and emotional pathos with an acute sense of calm. Set to an eclectic score featuring Turkish songs, tangos from......

With visions of sugar plum fairies dancing through their heads, the -Ists began to get into that holiday mood. Well, some did. Austinist wasn't as the NY Times dissed them and a local Tex-Mex institution sold out. Making them feel better was music, sweet music and the local theater getting name checked on "Heroes" Chicagoist tried to wrap their heads around a religious movie being banned from a Christmas themed park. To wash that......

Edie Sedgwick, "It" girl of the 60s, once said her colorful life could never be accurately portrayed on The Big Screen. However, now it is (though it's accuracy is in question). The actress playing Edie is Sienna Miller, has just finished reshooting some scenes for the movie (called Factory Girl) that is supposed to be out sometime in the next month. Socialite, party girl, Warhol's muse...Sedgwick also inspired other artists in her short life......

Let's face it, this weekend was made for bonding with your couch, napping and eating leftovers. But if you really want to go against the flow, here are some things to get you out of the house... THEATER: Gutenberg! The Musical did so well at the recent New York Musical Theatre Festival that it’s moved on up to 59E59. (The show was directed by Alex Timbers, who most recently helmed Hell House.) In this two-man......

After what seems like decades of dragging its feet, it really is going to happen. After tonight's performance by Patti Smith, CBGB's will close its doors on the Bowery for the last time. CBGB's & OMFUG (Country, BlueGrass, Blues & Other Music for Urban Gormandizers) opened its doors to the Bowery back when the Bowery was the last place on earth most people would go voluntarily. Since then it helped usher in some truly......

THEATER: Among the many great things about the Fringe Festival is that it makes theatre available on Mondays, when almost all venues are usually blacked out. 34 different shows are on today, to be exact, including Armageddon Dance Party, David L. Williams' inspired, hilarious take on our precarious times, in which a couple does what comes naturally when they hear the end of times is nigh: invite people over and crank up the music to......

Did Mayor Bloomberg brind the Country Music Awards to NYC to get some of the heartland vote? Earlier this week, the Norwalk, CT paper "The Hour" asked our Mayor about his presidential aspirations, if any. Mayor Bilng said, "Absolutely not... And anybody who's running will say exactly that." Plus, he made it clear he could pay for a presidential run. Well, duh - he could probably pay for a couple presidential runs, but we thought......