The NY Times delved into an amazing story of how a painting left for the trash was actually a long-missing painting by Rufino Tamayo, the Mexican artist. Someone, make this into a movie! more ›

While filing out of the Laura Pels Theatre after Patrick Marber’s Howard Katz, a woman of a certain age was heard exclaiming, “A tour de force!” Having brandished that over-ripe phrase myself on probably too many occasions, I was amazed to hear it applied to the play we’d just sat through. Had I been misusing it all this time? Was the expression actually French for “a total waste of time”? more ›

Hmm, maybe it's time to ask Grandma or Great-Grand what they've gotten stashed away in a drawer: A woman auctioned a perfume bottle that her husband bought in 1939 at Saks Fifth Avenue and it sold for $216,000. more ›

All Weekend // The Metropolitan Museum [1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd St] more ›

Last night, the premiere of King Kong was held in midtown, but the PR folks also dragged out a huge King Kong model to place in Times Square, probably getting soggy from the snow (we're sure he smelled like a real ape after that). Gothamist has been watching some King Kong coverage lately since we can't escape it, and we have two observations: (1) Damn, did Peter Jackson lose a lot of weight; and (2) Charlie Rose still gives the worst interviews - his interview with Adrien Brody went nowhere in the ten minutes we watched...Antiques Roadshow is more exciting! The Mayor also proclaimed it King Kong Day - what do we do next year to celebrate? Climb the Empire State Building? more ›

Hooray! The City managed to scrape together enough coin to save the B&B Carousell at Coney Island and buy it for $1.8 million. The owners of the B&B shut down the carousel in May (he said he was too old) and decided to auction off the carousel. There were fears that the carousel would be sold to someone out of state, or worse, that the horses would be sold individually. The auction house had rejected the city's earlier bid of just over $1 million - apparently the carousel's appraised value high was $3 million - but lease, Gothamist has seen Antiques Roadshow - no appraisal is perfect. Anyway, the city coughed up in another couple hundred thousands, from the "Emergency Petty Cash For Merry Go Rounds" box, we imagine. Let's hope the city starts to take bids for a company to restore and manage the carousel, as Coney Island needs carousel rides. more ›

Narelle Sissons, Set Designer more ›