After hearing about the tragic rush-hour bridge collapse in Minneapolis that has claimed at least four lives, we wondered what the conditions of New York City's bridges were. Like the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, several of our city's largest bridges are undergoing what seems like constant construction. All the East River bridges are either undergoing repairs right now, have plans for the future, just finished construction, or all of the above. more ›

The NY Sun has a report on the city's largest music festival in history. We mentioned Make Music New York back in April when it was all still being pulled together. This Thursday, it begins. more ›

What would the boys at McNamara/Troy do? Thirteen people are suing the head of plastic surgery at Montefiore for various instances of malpractices. The Post reports that one woman says Dr. Berish Strauch "removed so much of her skin he didn't have enough to form a belly button" and that her surgery took twice as long as it should have. And another woman's right nipple wouldn't reattach after a breast-reduction surgery. Strauch's lawyer would only say, "Plastic surgery is a high-profile medical specialty that, by its nature, attracts unwarranted litigation and media attention." Sure, plastic surgery has its pros and cons, but should losing a nipple or belly button just be collateral damage? more ›

Yesterday's maps were all about the way things were physically, so obvs, today's map is all about the way things . So everyone give a warm Gothamist salute to the NYSoundseeker map, a project of the New York chapter of the American Society for Acoustic Ecology. Yet another nifty Google Mashup, this 'un let's you listen to the sounds of the city you normally block out with your little white earbuds. Personally we wish they had a lot more sounds posted, but we'll give them time... more ›

Hooray for all of our freelancing writer friends:

The American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Authors Guild, and the National Writers Union today announced the filing of a motion for court approval of an $18 million settlement in a class action suit they and 21 freelance writers filed on behalf of thousands of freelance writers whose stories appeared in online databases without their consent. They expect preliminary court approval of the settlement within the next month... more ›

Priscilla Grim, Membership & Advocacy Director AIVF more ›

The American Society of Magazine Editors announced the nominations for the National Magazine Awards. Among the pieces is Adam Gopnik's "Bumping Into Mr. Ravioli," in the September 30, 2002, issue of The New Yorker, about his young daughter's imaginary friend, Charlie Ravioli, who was always too busy for her. While Gothamist understands that Gopnik's piece was a metaphor for the increasingly busy lives we lead, Gothamist also feels for young Olivia Gopnik, resorting to developing imaginary friends to forward a self esteem downward spiral. more ›