Olympics planners and San Francisco authorities made many attempts (making up the route as it went along) to prevent demonstrators from disrupting the Olympic torch's only North American appearance on Wednesday, they couldn't stop a torch bearer from the Bronx from expressing her pro-Tibet sympathies. Majora Carter, a 41-year-old environmental activist from the South Bronx, had tucked a small Tibetan flag up her sleeve, with the torch in the other. The NY Times described her......

While San Francisco is bracing for tomorrow's Olympic torch relay--protesters scaled the Golden Gate Bridge and unfurled "Free Tibet" banners yesterday --torchbearers hailing from New York City say they aren't worried about potential disruptions. A retired NYPD cop, James Dolan, told the Daily News, "I've seen enough demonstrations in my career. I'm confident the city will be able to make the event go off smoothly." The Olympic torch is only visiting San Francisco in the......

There have been several Free Tibet protests happening around town this month; one of them even featured city council member Tony Avella. While Tibetan protesters are routinely beaten, imprisoned and even killed by police in China, police brutality is something you might be surprised to see in New York City, unless of course you've attended demonstrations over the years and experienced it first hand. During a Free Tibet protest near the UN on March 14th,......

Top photograph of Tibetan protesters outside the United Nations building by Mary Altaffer/AP; lower photograph of the riots in Lhasa, Tibet from the AP Roughly 100 protesters, most of them Tibetans, demonstrated outside the United Nations today against the Chinese government, which has been trying to put down protests and rioting in Lhasa. Three demonstrators were arrested for trying, unsuccessfully, to enter the U.N. and six were arrested for disorderly conduct. This demonstration coincided with......

City Council member and probable 2009 mayoral candidate, Tony Avella, is the latest politician to ask for America's withdrawl from the Beijing Olympics if China will not grant Tibet independence. Under China's rule for over 50 years, Tibet has made no headway, even with the support of human rights groups, activists...and Richard Gere. When we interviewed Robert Thurman, co-founder of the Tibet House, earlier this year he touched on the Olympics, saying:The thinking is that......

EVENT: For book lovers and the broken hearted, head over to the Knitting Factory after work for the book release party for "How Not to Date." The series of vignettes will make you feel better as they focus on nightmare dates, relationships and every sordid detail in between. Author Judy McGuire says, "There'll be snacks, a cash bar with happy hour prices, book giveaways, and some surprises (which may or may not include interpretive......

Professor, author and activist Robert Thurman is widely regarded as the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism, having been a major force in the widespread introduction of Tibetan culture and religion to the west. In 1962, Thurman became the first American ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk, but after a few years he shifted from strict monasticism to the more conventional lifestyle of an academic. Though currently on sabbatical to write another book, Thurman remains......

The Dalai Lama has arrived in New York, speaking in his native Tibetan language for two hours yesterday to followers, fans and the faithful at the Javits Convention Center. Newsday reports:He delivered his entire speech without notes, pausing to take a sip of tea only at the end as tears of joy flowed through the crowd. [He stated:] "The Tibetan cause is a cause of justice, and that's something that cannot fade away. That is......

Her name known worldwide, Liz Claiborne has died at the age of 78. The designer had a rare form of cancer affecting the abdominal lining, complications of which put her in the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where she died Tuesday. Born in Brussels, she ended up in New York as her family was driving through Manhattan (after Claiborne had already gotten a taste for design by winning a contest) when she told them she was staying.......

Tibet Rocks Last Monday at Carnegie Hall there was a Hall of Fame reunion of sorts to support The Tibet House New York. Rock icons such as Ray Davies, Debbie Harry, Lou Reed, Patti Smith and Michael Stipe teamed up with more of-the-moment stars Sigur Ros and Ben Harper to celebrate Tibetan culture. The show was a great success, from all reports, including some duets and surprise arrangements from the legends on hand. Them aside,......

ART FAIR: The Fountain New York Independent Art Fair aims "to reflect the avant-garde in-your-face attitude of the Dada movement." Located a few blocks of the Armory show, it presents a ton of young Brooklyn based galleries. So go check out the works they have to showcase. 11am to 7pm, through the 26th // 660 12th Ave // Free THEATER: Tearing your hair out over lousy subway service, Williamsburg’s trust-fund hipsters, or the frequency of......

One of the first Carnegie Hall shows we went to, years ago, was the Tibet House Benefit. The President of Tibet House is none other then Uma's dad, Robert A.F. Thurman. The annual show he has help put on is now in its 17th year, and this time around will take place on February 26th. The lineup has been confirmed (why the press release is giving Ben Harper top billing is beyond us) and some......

Baby, it's cold outside—go see a movie, why dontcha? Werewolves, comic books and hot girls who prowl the streets of Bucharest in high heel boots should be the stuff of great geek cinema. Unfortunately, Blood and Chocolate, a new movie starring Agnes Bruckner as a werewolf girl trying to get along with the pack is utterly laughable. And not even in a good, kitchy, throw popcorn at the screen and giggle with your friends sort......

May 19-26: Tibetan Yak Cheese Week We were excited merely by the title of this event -- an entire week dedicated to Tibetan Yak Cheese, presented by the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity and Trace Foundation. A week-long celebration of Ragya Yak Cheese: a new artisanal cheese based on traditional Tibetan dairy techniques combined with European gourmet cheese-making expertise. Learn more about the story behind the cheese with Jigme Gyaltsen, a senior monk from Ragya......

Gothamist hasn't really heard that much about protests outside the U.N. during the World Summit, probably because the news has been focused on Hurricane Katrina, Judge Roberts, and the mayoral election hoo-ha. And most of the U.N. news has been that the President wants some help or that traffic is terrible. So we were glad that Newsday had a story and a good gallery of protestor pictures outside the U.N. and the hotels where the......

There are some great shows coming up that will get you from Valentine's Day to St. Patricks Day, but you're going to want to buy tickets SOON, before they sell out. Gothamist is particularly looking forward to the Thermals [pictured, reading Nabokov - hott!] @ Knitting Factory, as well as our own Movable Hype 2 at the same venue. And if you don't know who the Kaiser Chiefs are, you will, so just buy tickets......

Ben Lyons, MTV Co-host...

Now here's something you don't see everyday. On the Upper West Side there's a little mom-and-pop restaurant serving what they call "Tibetan Home Cooking". Gothamist wasn't sure what to expect - yak cheese and steamed vegetables, maybe - but we tried it out anyway. We were pleasantly surprised to find that not only was the menu broader than the bill of fare at a Buddhist monastery, it included some real winners. Chief among these are......

He may have won an Oscar for it, but Sean Connery's performance as Jim Malone in The Untouchables has been called the worst movie accent of all time by Empire magazine. Awww, maybe, but it's got one of the best explanations of how to fight your enemies ever, when Malone tells Elliot Ness how to get Al Capone: You wanna know how you do it? Here's how, they pull a knife, you pull a gun.......