The Bronx houseboat, measuring in at only 250-square-feet, really should have cleaned up ship and entered this contest. Apartment Therapy's Smallest, Coolest Apartment Contest is underway for a fourth year, and below are some of the New York City entries, all under 850-square-feet. Design solutions for cramped living quarters never cease to amaze, and apparently a key factor to maximizing your minimal space is to add a sheepskin throw -- as just about every entrant......

Bumper to Bumper on the Belt Parkway, by AllWaysNY at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: someone fell three floors from a fire escape on Leland Ave. in the Bronx, a pedestrian struck on Delancey and Eldridge Sts. in Manhattan, and a homicide on Edison and Randall Aves. in the Bronx. Nassau County cops searched a Syosset, Long Island home yesterday to find a menagerie of animals living admidst filth. Dozens of dogs and......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: fatal person under a train incident at 34th St. and 6th Ave. in Manhattan, a collapse at 64th St. between 8th and 9th Aves. in Brooklyn, and a confined space rescue on 43rd St. and 5th Ave. in Manhattan. The one-legged spokesman in an anti-smoking campaign admits that smoking has cost him a limb due to health complications, including multiple heart attacks, surgeries, and strokes. That doesn't mean he's......

Preempt some of the holiday lunacy by scooping up some of these food-oriented gift items. We found five gifts that are perfect for someone who loves to cook or who maybe just appreciates food a bit more than your average eater. All these items are under $50, and all available online. Olive Wood Mortar and Pestle from Sur La Table. Great for making guacamole, pesto or grinding up spices. Also looks lovely on your kitchen......

We've gathered a bunch of our favorite ice cream recipes from some of the best food blogs we know to keep you busy and cool over the weekend. So, get busy in the kitchen and give these ice creams a taste this weekend: Hazelnut Cookie Sherry Vinegar Swirl Ice Cream (pictured) from Habeas Brulee Gianduja Gelato from Cafe Fernando Dulce de Leche & Nougat Ice Cream from R Khooks Tiramisu Ice Cream from Desert......

Every year there are two treats we make to give as gifts during the holiday season. First, this "Easy-does-it" granola, which combines roasted nuts, dried fruit, oats, butter and honey, to create a tasty and unique granola. The recipe also makes 15 cups -- plenty to give as gifts and keep a little for yourself. We also make English Toffee, and have had great success with this recipe from Nick Malgieri, not to mention rave......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a police car MVA on the West Side Highway and Spring Street, a jumper down on Broadway and Havemeyer in Brooklyn, and car vs. building in Greenpoint. Scary: "About one hour ago I was walking down Washington Place and at the corner of Avenue of the Americas, an SUV pulled up onto the sidewalk right in front of me. Two guys jumped out, maybe three, I was kind of......

We had the pleasure of attending a food-blogger get together of sorts this past weekend, hosted by Chris of Apartment Therapy: The Kitchen, Ann of A Chicken in Every Granny Cart and Jon of Wheelhouse Pickles. Sure, there was great conversation and booze and whatnot, but the highlight of the evening were the pickled delights from Wheelhouse. We tasted the Big Bang Okra, Top Shelf Beets, Horseradish Spiked Wax Beans, and one pickle variety that......

I just moved into my first apartment all to myself. It's really small (like 250 sq. ft), but I'd still like it to look nice. What are some tips for cool design without breaking the bank? We feel your pain, but congratulations on your first place! Living alone can be great - you can express your personal style without compromise. However, it will also mean you'll be footing the bill for your creativity on......

Check this out! Apartment Therapy has been running a Pet Decor contest, and today's entry are cat stairs for two kitties living in Dumbo. We actually know these felines, Oliver and Dodger, from their TV-watching habits, and now understand why we never get to hang out with them - being at home is too much fun. The stairs are actually floating bookshelves covered with carpet tiles! Gothamist is very impressed, as the only decor......

- It's official: Eliot Spitzer is the Democratic candidate for NY Governor this fall - Ironic Sans looks at The Critic's animated Manhattan - The transit worker caught sleeping on the job by cameraphone was fired! - Bees attack Park Slope restaurant; no word on whether Winnie the Pooh's hunny pot or Max Fischer was found on the scene - A teenager managed to save her siblings from a Brooklyn house fire but not......

Like so many things, good design is like pornography: you know it when you see it. And seeing it in person is always more exciting then looking at pictures. The problem is that you don't often get a chance to go and actually see high-design stuff half the time (well, we don't). Enter the third annual BKLYN Designs show which is going on this weekend in DUMBO. BKLYN DESIGNS™ exhibitors are selected by a......

- It's ramp season -- get 'em while there here. The Kitchen over at Apartment Therapy gives us some great ideas on how to use them (we know from experience that they're great pickled). - Junior's is bringing its legendary cheesecake to Times Square. - Augie gets a taste of A Dirty Bird. - Best 10 Burgers in NYC, as compiled by the AOL Cityguide. - New York Magazine gives us a rundown of "New......

- We're in awe of some of Apartment Therapy's smallest, coolest apartments. - Commence panic: juviPod crime wave continues! - No ringtones for the pious: introducing kosher cellphones. - Cop-killer Lillo Brancato's ex-girlfriend was arrested for DUI on the Hutch-- maybe she'll see her dad in jail. - Some people are still designing their own WTC memorials. - We love free Brooklyn street cheese! But really, who doesn't? - Someone has KIDNAPPED the Tom's......

- The NY Times takes a long look at NYPD Comissioner Ray Kelly. He has a hard record to live up to - his own. - A Brooklyn post office is robbed a second time. No word on whether they bulked up on stamps for the holiday season. - If you're a stalker, wanted on sex charges, and on the lam, the popo can track you via Metrocard if you buy it with your......

I need a few large pieces of plexiglass for a project I'm working on. Don't ask, but I'm talking big. Short of hauling my butt out to some godforsaken suburban Home Depot, do you know of any place in the city where I could get something like this? - Pat, Battery Park City While many people are aware of places such as Restaurant Row or the Garment District, not too many people realize that......

There's a good question over at Apartment Therapy's "good questions" regular feature this week that stood out to us: "How do [NYers] incorporate nature or relaxation into their daily lives?" Finding a way to be comfortable and/or relaxed in the city is a tricky task, one that becomes increasingly important (and harder) as the days get shorter and shorter (damn you depleted daylight!). AT offers some sage advice (regular exercise and a calm home environment)......

Gothamist received the latest Design Within Reach catalog, and we, as we always do, lusted over various Le Corbusier and Mies items we would love after we graduate from our current cobbled together decor. [And after we actually earmark the "better furniture savings fund," which somehow gets shortshrifted by the "useless tcotchkes slush fund."] So Gothamist was seriously amused by Design Without Reach, a resource for you to copy Design Within Reach designs. Got that?......

After a whole lotta drama, New York City's most famous couple, red-tailed hawks Pale Male and Lola, will get their Fifth Avenue digs back - and they'll be better than ever. For starters, an actual human architect, Dan Ionescu (assisted by Beyer Blinder Belle) has designed a 8 foot by 3 foot stainless steel basket that will attach to 927 Fifth Avenue. Of course, the Audobon was also consulting on the project to make sure......

There's nothing like using craigslist for multiple purposes: Night in the Big City's Jill reveals how ingenious girls use the online resource to find some cheap labor:They find four postings for painters. They book all four painters for "interviews." You know, so they can attempt to discern which one is most capable/least likely to steal things. What they really do is determine which of the hipster boys is most attractive. Because today he will be......