The art world is breathing a sigh of relief today as the announcement of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation's director stepping down was announced. For many, Thomas Krens has been more of a dictator than director; with a focus on franchising a "McGuggenheim" business over exhibiting modern art or focusing on the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building itself.The Guggenheim flagship -- one of New York's top tourist attractions -- was falling apart. (Its crumbling facade is......

The Columbia Teachers College professor who was in the news last year when a noose was found on her office door angrily denied she plagiarized others' work. Madonna Constantine, who the Teachers College sanctioned after a year-and-a-half investigation, will appeal the charges. Constantine, who remains a tenured professor, issued a statement, calling the memo (released to TC faculty) discussing sanctions "premature, vindictive, and mean-spirited," lacking "sensitivity and due process." She wondered "whether a White faculty......

This week in the Times, Bruni three-stars Le Cirque, bumping the restaurant's rating up from the two stars he awarded it in 2006. Executive chef Christophe Bellanca’s menu “nimbly straddles the line between predictable decadence… and creative flair,” he says. He also says that you’ll pay—a lot—for what you get, and that Le Cirque isn’t quite as reliable as other three star restaurants. In $25 and Under, ">Peter Meehan is at Soba Totto, where he......

2007 photograph of Yahoo billboard in front of a ticker mentioning Microsoft news by Mark Lennihan/AP Giving business analysts something to talk about besides the economy, Microsoft has made an unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo!. The offer is at $31/share, which is 62% more than Yahoo's closing price. Microsoft hopes to create efficiencies by teaming up to compete with Google. However, Pioneer Investments fund manager Thomas Radinger told Bloomberg News, "Microsoft is under......

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Shorty’s.32 and Smith’s, awards each restaurant one star. Says that at both, “Skill, standards and a few well-chosen grace notes lift what might otherwise be favored neighborhood charmers into a slightly loftier league.” Loves the chicken and all side dishes at Shorty’s, though says the chef is “overly fond of wet fish and wet food.” Um, yuck. At Smith’s, says the lamb and lobster are the way......

This week in the Times, Bruni three stars Fiamma and rates it a top pick. Says that the restaurant is not, by any means, classically Italian, but “when a restaurant turns out this many dishes that make you stop mid-chew, nudge a companion and nod your head vigorously—because you’re excited; because you need to start working off the calories any way you can—it needn’t worry about fitting into a tidy box.” Also in the Times,......

This week in the Times, Bruni one-stars Sam Mason’s Tailor. Loves the design of the place, and—along with everyone else—the pork belly, the arctic char and the drinks. Overall? “[Mason’s] infatuation with his own imagination doesn’t leave room enough for a self-appraisal of the results… a duck-and-eel terrine in a chocolate consommé tastes like cat food splashed with Yoo-hoo.” Hee. In Dining Briefs, Bruni goes to Toloache. Calls the upscale Mexican restaurant a “welcome addition”......

The financial markets may be taking a hit lately, but Wall Street is still planning about $38 billion in bonuses this year. Bloomberg News reports that the money was thanks to "a record $9 billion of fees for arranging acquisitions and $5 billion for underwriting initial public offerings and sales of junk bonds." This translate to an average Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers or Bear Stearns worker getting over $200,000 in bonuses.......

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Harry Cipriani in the Sherry-Netherland Hotel, awards the restaurant no stars. Finds “service so confused and food so undistinguished it wouldn’t pass muster at half the cost.” Says prices at the restaurant ridiculous. The restaurant was last reviewed in 1991, when Bryan Miller gave it two stars. The one positive? “The people-watching is nonpareil." Peter Meehan visits Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, for tacos. Likes Epocas......

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Alex Ureña’s Pamploma, gives the restaurant two stars. “Pamplona is Ureña [the chef’s former restaurant] with an attitude adjustment,” he says. “His best dishes are more than memorable enough to redeem Pamplona’s shortcomings.” In the Post, Cuozzo goes to BLT Market, where he finds “Tourondel’s first fully-composed dishes since Cello.” Says the restaurant revives the corner of Sixth Ave and Central Park South, and “What BLT Market......

For the past few weeks, an art gallery has been locked down by judge's order as angry partners and clients claimed that the gallery sold their works without permission and that the gallery's owner reneged on millions of dollars of debts. And yesterday, a judge toured the toured embattled art gallery Salander O'Reilly to examine its conditions as many artworks are still hanging on the walls. The accusations range from John McEnroe and other investors......

This week in the Times, Bruni one-stars Centro Vinoteca. Says of chef Anne Burrell “The woman can fry,” and you’ll be happy with your food provided you choose anything fried, especially those items on the piccolini (small plates) menu. The rest is erractic: “Both on and off the plate, Centro can elate and deflate you.” Peter Meehan goes to Nusara for Thai in $25 and Under; says the restaurant “belongs on the short but growing......

Bruni visits Park Avenue Autumn this week, giving the seasonal restaurant, which changes name (Park Avenue Spring, Summer, etc.), décor and menu every three months to suit the season, two stars. Says that executive chef Craig Kotesku’s cooking here is much more interesting than at Quality Meats, the other restaurant he oversees. “Park Avenue Look-at-the-Weather-and-Fill-In-The-Blank has more than a striking gimmick,” he says. “It also has some terrific food.” In Dining Briefs, Julia Moskin goes......

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Gemma in the Bowery Hotel for Italian, awards the restaurant one star. Calls it a “cheat sheet” of a restaurant that recalls Morandi, but with a less skilled chef. “It’s also Morandi in a smarter, sexier outfit, with more charismatic, fluid service. That’s it’s saving grace,” he says. Ryan Sutton stops by Tailor for Bloomberg News. Says “two evil geniuses [Sam Mason and mixologist Eben Freeman, both......

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Peter Luger, gives the restaurant two stars—a drop from the three awarded it by Ruth Reichl previously. Says “no other restaurant serves a porterhouse so breakthtaking.” But he also says that the restaurant is inconsistent, service ranges from gruff to hostile, and the winelist needs an upgrade. Also in the Times, Peter Meehan visits Justin Timberlake’s Southern Hospitality for $25 and Under. Loves the baby back ribs,......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: An unstable building in Murray Hill; a "serious trauma" not far from Shea Stadium in Queens; a bank robbery at Avenue A and 4th Street; and at 777 6th Ave there was a barricaded EDP (emotionally disturbed person). Remember those chemicals found at the United Nations? It turns out that they were probably just cleaning supplies. Hopefully these aren't the same tests the organization uses for biological weapons. If......

This week in the Times, Bruni two-stars Soto, calls the restaurant “an unipalooza like none I’ve encountered.” Don’t stick to the sushi and sashimi; if you do, you’re “missing not only the best of this restaurant but also the point of it.” The service? “Sluggish and absent-minded.” In $25 and Under, Peter Meehan goes to Go! Go! Curry where he finds the curry sauce gloopy and sludgy, but ultimately “beguiling.” And they have a mascot......

Bruni goes to Franny’s in Brooklyn, rates it a top pick, awards it two stars, and calls himself a newly converted “besotted Franny’s believer.” Says Franny’s simplicity—they serve crostini, cured meats, pasta and pizza (along with a few other items)—“is deceptive. The restaurant finds transcendence in dishes and genres that wouldn’t seem to yield so readily to invention or open the door to so much pleasure.” And Cuozzo says Little Italy is “drawing unaccustomed buzz”......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck at 186th St. and Amsterdam in Manhattan, a child was struck and killed by a car on 130th Ave. and Springfield Blvd. in Queens, and a pedestrian was struck by a Bobcat (motorized work vehicle) on Monroe St. and Catherine Slip in Manhattan. Ironic Sans examines the new animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and finds specific references to it taking place in NYC, but a......

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Suba, awards the restaurant two stars. “While it has definite shortcomings and at least a third of the dishes don’t measure up to the others, the best of the food here is distinctive and exciting. In a few instances it’s even dazzling,” he says. And in $25 and Under, Peter Meehan visits to the new Shopsins, located in the Essex Market. Says the new place still reflects......

This week in the Times, ">Bruni one-stars Wild Salmon. We’re surprised Chodorow let him in the door, after their feud over his review of Kobe Club. “The food runs the gamut,” Bruni says, “by turns excellent, ordinary and puzzling.” He recommends that you stick with the salmon, and try the different varieties offered (except the coho). Finds the service “oppressive” in its exuberance. In ">Dining Briefs, Bruni goes to Amalia. Says “Many of [chef Ivy......

This week in the Times, Bruni Bruni visits Top Chef winner Harold Dieterle’s Perilla. Finds it “earnest, endearing, and just a bit of a snooze,” and awards the restaurant one star. Sees more of Deiterle and partner Alicia Noscenzo’s past at The Harrison in the restaurant (friendly service, cozy atmosphere, reasonable prices) than in his past on Top Chef. But he finds some “primness” at Perilla, along with “scattered errors of judgement.” Doesn’t much like......

This week Bruni goes to P*ong, the dessert/savory restaurant brought to us by pastry chef Pichet Ong (formerly of Perry Street and Spice Market), awards the restaurant one star. Finds the restaurant "tantalizing, often irritating," and says it challenges one's ideas of what should be sweet and what should be savory. But the desserts are the restaurant's strenth, says Bruni, and also it's too crowded and the service is not good enough to make staying......

This week in the Times, Bruni doubles up on sushi restaurants, reviewing 15 East and Ushiwakamaru. 15 East gets two stars; Ushiwakamaru, one. 15 East “manages to stand out in a crowded marketplaces of Japanese restaurants that focus on uncooked seafood,” he says, partly with the cooked dishes, partly with the sushi and sashimi itself, partly with the “gracious service,” and partly with the outstanding wine and sake list. Whereas at Ushiwakamaru, “for every two......

This week in the Times, Bruni dines at Mercat, awards the restaurant one star. He likes the food; doesn't like the noise level. "Some wonderful food, some clangorous acoustics: these are the defining traits of Mercat," he says. Prices at the Spanish restaurant are quite reasonable, and with it come some tradeofffs: the food is sometimes uneven (particularly the seafood), service a bit off, noise level too high, desserts less than spectacular. In Dining Briefs,......

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to the new Landmarc in the Time Warner Center, awards the restaurant one star. “It’s three times the size of the original Landmarc in Tribeca,” he says, “whose menu and competent cooking it replicates but whose warmth it largely lacks.” He compares the food to what you’d find at a Midwestern Marriot, but says that perhaps it’s just what the overly self-conscious Time Warner Center needs. Peter......

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Insieme, awards the restaurant two stars. Says, “When Isieme is good, it’s outstanding, and any serious food lover should head here fast…” He hates the atmosphere, though, and the salmon. Insieme is the second restaurant in midtown this year where he’s been “frustrated by the way some dazzling cooking is undercut not only by unevenness across the menu or inconsistency in the kitchen but also by atmospherics......

Bruni visits the recently reopened Provence (now owned and run by Cookshop & Five Points’ Marc Meyer and Vicki Freeman), awards the restaurant one star. He likes the minimal changes they’ve made to the design; the food, not so much: “Provence’s is inconsistent and dull,” he says. He does like the wine and the cheese selection though. Also in the Times, ">Peter Meehan goes to Grand Sichuan East Village for $25 and Under. Says, “Of......

This week in the Times, ">Bruni goes to Gramercy Tavern, awards the restaurant--now helmed by chef Michael Anthony--three stars. It was last reviewed by William Grimes, when Tom Colicchio was cooking and when it also received three stars. Bruni says the restaurant delivers what diners want: “a kind of unstrained graciousness and unlabored sophistication.” Nearly everything he tasted was “exquisitely cooked,” and while the desserts aren’t the best ever, “there are some fine choices.” In......

This week ">Bruni two-stars Belgian Resto. Loves the beers, the fries and mussels, and the hint of Asian seasonings in some dishes: "Resto's version of Belgium is neither clichéd nor isolationist," he says. It’s not great for your arteries, either, he points out, but sometimes it's worth the health risk. In ">Dining Briefs, Bruni stops by Perilla (the new restaurant opened by Top Chef winner Harold Dieterle). Says "Like a bistro with elegant tailoring, it......