First NBC announces it's starting a 24-hour local NYC news channel yesterday--a possible competitor to NY1-- and now Matt Lauer is invading the turf of NYC TV's Kelly Choi by heading to the "secret subway station" under the Waldorf-Astoria! In the Today's show "Access Granted"series, the Today show personalities are getting behind-the-scenes looks at private places (Meredith Vieira visited the Vice-President's mansion yesterday and Al Roker visited the Malstrom Air Force base on Tuesday).......

The Waldorf Astoria loves to brag about how every president since Herbert Hoover has been a guest at their hotel, but they rarely disclose what delicacies our rulers savor while there. But starting this month, guests at the Waldorf Towers and diners in the hotel’s Bull & Bear steakhouse can have a taste of presidential luxury that, until now, only taxpayer money could buy. For $330 each, guests in the towers can have a four......

Photograph of the memorial outside 421 Broome Street taken on Friday by vinnie 716 on Flickr Last night, the G'Day USA Australia Ball was held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, concluding Australia Week festivities. But the week held sadness, after Australian actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his Soho apartment on Tuesday. At the ball, Australian Counsel-General John Olsen read an unexpected letter from Ledger's father Kim:"Heath is, and always will be, an......

EVENT: Join Chief Jim Riches, 9/11 families, rescue and recovery workers in an effort to Tell Rudy Giuliani to "Stop Politicizing 9/11". Rudy will be at a fundraiser at the Waldorf later today, and will be greeted by those who believe he's no hero. Why? They say: "He failed the FDNY & uniformed & civilian victims. He gave us incompetent commissioners ( FD,PD, OEM). No integrated command. He abandoned us on 9/11. He gave the......

Last night at the Waldorf Astoria, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - the first hip-hop act to receive the honor! The South Bronx group pioneered the genre, being the first to incorporate deejaying and emceeing. Melle Mel told AllHipHop.com: “We are going in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to represent exactly who we are and what we did. Nas saying that......

Ouchy. As more polls continue to suggest that Mayor Bloomberg is enjoying a very comfortable lead over Fernando Ferrer in the mayoral race, and just as Ferrer is releasing a negative ad pointing out the places the Mayor went to promote to failed NYC 2012 Olympics bid, Bloomberg's team happily distributes a photograph of Bloomberg and former President Bill Clinton at a speaking event at the Waldorf Astoria. Hilariously, when Clinton aides tried to push......

Sure, Gothamist is thinking about big issues, like the election, stem cell research, hypoallergenic cats, and how to eat more candy, but sometimes we need an escape. And that's why we look to America's Next Top Model, with it's acid-trip Waldorf Astoria apartment, as our "Calgon, take us away" corrective. With Chicagoist's Margaret Lyons, we've developed a drinking game to get even more wonderful mileage of the show. Let us know what else you think......

The Post decides to tell the public about the special, brand new Metro-North train parked under the Waldorf Astoria as an emergency getaway train: - The platform - identified as Track 61 on Grand Central Terminal blueprints - can be directly accessed from inside the posh hotel in the event of an emergency. - A 6-foot-wide freight elevator and stairway also connects the subterranean platform to a brass-sheathed door located on street level at 101-121......

Besides how foreign issues will be settled, President Bush's visit to the U.N. today and tomorrow means one thing to New Yorkers: Gridlock in midtown. Certainly around the East 40s and 50s from Park Avenue to First Avenue, with Bush shuttling between the Waldorf Astoria and U.N. And Midtown Westerners, stop your laughing: according to the Daily News, Colin Powell is going to be on David Letterman tonight and Second Lady Lynne Cheney is on......