According to New Jersey's Governor Christie, their loss in the competition for Race To The Top funding was a federal government conspiracy. Christie says that the feds should have just called if they wanted to know how much the state spent on school funding in 2008 and 2009 (instead of the projected numbers for 2010 and 2011 the state provided). And according to NJ.com, he also says officials could have easily "found the information on the internet." more ›

Last month we had the pleasure of visiting with Philippe Petit as he set up his "theater of balance" inside of Williamsburg's STREB Lab For Action Mechanics (a neat little place even without the legendary wire walker, owned by his longtime friend Elizabeth Streb). Next month he'll take on the roll of teacher there, albeit temporarily, with three 2-day Action Maverick Master Classes. more ›

It's not all doom-and-gloom for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The MTA has released its route and schedule information, potentially allowing developers to create apps with accurate subway, commuter train, and bus timetables without facing as much of a risk of legal action from the agency. more ›

Okay, acrossair's New York Nearest Subway application is awaiting approval from Apple and is only for Apple iPhone 3GS users, but this video showing what it does is still pretty cool: It creates an "augmented reality" of your surroundings and transposes various subway routes into the phone camera's field of vision. Here's acrossair's description: "When you load the app, holding it flat, all 33 lines of the New York Subway are displayed in coloured arrows. By tilting the phone upwards, you will see the nearest stations: what direction they are in relation to your location, how many miles away they are and what lines they are on. If you continue to tilt the phone upwards, you will see stations further away, as stacked icons. Only available to Apple iPhone 3GS users." more ›

Pity the NYU admissions officer who thinks about rejecting 17-year-old Rena Senisi, whose father was stabbed to death by a stranger in 2007 on his way to buy a carton of milk for his daughter's cereal. Senisi (pictured here with her late father and brother) has written a moving account of that fateful day for her application essay, which was also read at the killer's sentencing yesterday. According to the Post, it describes how she "rushed downstairs to find my dad lying there on the ground moaning. I took his head in my hands, saw a little drop of blood on his chin, and ran upstairs to call my aunt and grandma...It would be an honor, an award, and a break for me from this rough period in my life if I could attend NYU." Horrible and tragic, so it's safe to say she's a lock, because obviously the university's going to want to avoid headlines like, "Heartless NYU Rejects Poor Daughter of Murdered Brooklyn Man." And the killer was sentenced to 22 years in jail. more ›

The last iPhone dining application to make news was Urbanspoon, which frustrated Times critic Frank Bruni a little bit with its random slot machine approach to locating a good nearby restaurant. So we're curious to see if the latest iPhone toy, LocalEats, is more Bruni's speed. This feature seems pretty simple; drawing from a list of the 100 best restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn (as decreed by the folks at Where the Locals Eat), LocalEats uses GPS technology to refer users to the best nearby dining options. Which could come in handy when you're getting hangry in an unfamiliar neighborhood. more ›