Laura Eldridge, Executive Director of NYC CLASS, says in an accident last week, "a French tourist in Salzburg, Austria was killed by a bolting carriage horse. According to the Austrian Times the 16 year-old horse was startled and galloped over the woman, who was standing on the sidewalk. She died of a head injury on her way to the hospital." This, of course, raises concerns once again over the carriage horse industry still kicking in New York. more ›

In September, the bar Apothéke opened in an unmarked space on Doyers Street, a tiny alley in Chinatown that sort of plays hangnail to Worth Street's cuticle. Apothéke is one of those semi-private venues, a bar you can't get into; that it's close to a secret tunnel makes it all the more baroque. You half expect to find a minotaur preening in the bathroom mirror with a bottle of Binaca and a comb. The name Apothéke refers to the pharmaceutical-themed nature of its mixed drink menu. The idea is that the place raises the bar for bars, and that head chef (or lead apothéker, as it were) Albert Trummer is half-and-half supertaster and chef, and one part sage. His specially concocted, spiced-tinctures-botanical-elixirs might cure your woes, homesick blues, lovelorn heart, or gnostic turpitude, if you're into that kind of thing. more ›