The David Byrne and Creative Time installation, Playing the Building, opened earlier this month and will stay open through August 10th. If you're still unsure about what this endeavor involves, Byrne himself explained it all over at Boing Boing. Some fun facts are learned (the organ centerpiece only costs around $200, and isn't usually in tune with any other instrument) -- but the highlight is getting to see the nooks and crannies of the Battery......

The late artist Jim Flora, perhaps best recognized for his album cover art in the 1940s and '50s, was also known for his commercial art, illustrations, paintings, woodcuts and prints. The above is "a limited-edition, archival-quality fine art print of a 1954 Jim Flora hand-tinted woodcut entitled Manhattan." There were 5 of these prints selling on eBay (only 25 were made), but they sold out quick! Here's the seller's description of the coveted work:The......

Today Lego celebrates the big 5-0, even getting some Google-love for hitting the half century mark. New York has long been recreated in Lego-form, our favorite was at an exhibit housed in the Storefront for Art and Architecture late last year. Do you have a favorite Brick Apple? We love Sean Kenney's Greenwich Village (pictured) and Nathan Sawaya's Brooklyn Bridge. In a related story, this past Saturday was the city's first Lego League Citywide Championship,......

Think you've seen some big cockroaches around here? Apparently there are far superior critters in space! It's being reported that some cockroaches were conceived in space late last year onboard the Russian Foton-M bio satellite and are developing faster than the common terrestrial ones we see scurrying about the city. Some "highlights": Limbs and bodies grow faster Run faster, and are much more energetic and resilient Can give birth several times after one impregnation Thanks,......

Photo by Michael Sporn. It's not a secret that the subway system has some great art, an entire book was put out about it in 2006. But since residents often stick to their regular lines, it's likely that not many have seen it all. Last week Boing Boing pointed to some subterranean tile art featuring polar bears and penguins, oh my! For those who want to see all of the subway sights without putting......

The other day we visited the past's future by looking at the aero-tropolis, now let's see what how the future of mass transit was envisioned back in the day. The future, straphangers, is all about endless belt trains! Modern Mechanix takes a look at the November 1932 debut of the vision:Transporation of city inhabitants through subway or overhead tubes on endlessly moving belts, providing more speed and comfort than our present systems of passenger service,......

The New Yorker invites one and all to create a Eustace Tilley! The now iconic character first appeared in 1925 on the cover of the magazine's debut issue, and has returned every year for the anniversary. He was originally drawn by Rea Irvin, the magazine’s first art editor, and since 1994 a series of contributing artists have been invited to reinterpret him. If you want to be next in line, check out the details here......

In the November 1939 issue of Popular Science, New York commercial artist Nicholas DeSantis designed a "metropolitan skyport of tomorrow". His five years of study led to a proposal that included a 200-story building topped off with a landing field spanning 8 city blocks long and three wide. And to top that all off, the 50 highest floors in the building were reserved for light aircraft, so one could commute to work in the......

Artist and David Byrne collaborator Danielle Spencer (not to be confused with the Danielle Spencer who played Dee in What’s Happening!! or the Australian actress/singer Danielle Spencer married to Russell Crowe) has some pretty creative friends. Every November this Danielle Spencer hosts a pre-Thanksgiving dinner party in which guests make a fake turkey out of various eccentric ingredients. Some of them, like the Quiche turkey (pictured) or the sushi turkey look to be even......

Should Bob Saget, John Stamos or … that other guy... decide to keep it real by riding the New York City subway, they’ll likely find themselves wondering whatever happened to predictability. That’s right; consider yourselves on notice Danny Tanner, Joey and Uncle Jesse. The Olsen twins are one thing, but our subways are full enough without you and your irreverent hi-jinks, thank you very much. Though we might consider an exception for Stamos if......

We have lots of videos to get you in a Halloween state of mind while you undoubtedly are suffering from a sugar crash after too much office candy. First up, IntoTheBox has a scary New York story with a real estate twist (after all, what's scarier than Manhattan real estate?!) -- travel to Confucius Plaza on Bowery and Canal, here. The Today Show turns Rockefeller Center into 1313 Mockingbird Heights and really outdoes their previous......

Boing Boing has a story that borders on an urban legend we once heard. Nadege Brunacci, owner of Pit Stop in Brooklyn, found a snake in her home's sewage pipes -- and not just any snake, a very large python! Brunacci sent out an email explaining the incident (in her own special French way) to her friends, saying: "monday night after 2...3.... beers i did need to go 'pipi' did not put the light on......

Michael Dory is expanding the definition of graffiti, with his non-visual sonic street art (presented last month at Conflux). His inconspicuous concrete crickets (pictured) recently got some NPR and Boing Boing love, and his own site explains:Graffiti is one of the most powerful and most personal displays in the urban experience, and can be used to make statements, tag territory, spread messages — urban markup language in practice. However, the output is nearly always visual......

Amidst all of the iPhone hoopla there was probably more than one incident of unkind words being exchanged around the long lines. Boing Boing points out one in which a mascot for a hunger-awareness campaign named Hungrr got assaulted by the NBC News crew! This happened outside the Apple store on 5th Avenue as the mascot was handing out pins for the organization. Hungrr was there buying an iPhone to sell on eBay to raise......

Breathe easy, New York City - the NYPD has removed the LED pieces with Aqua Teen Hunger Force's mooninite Ignignokt from locations. It's unclear where they were, but WNBC reported that one was at 54th Street and 9th Avenue. And don't worry, folks, the Boston police have arrested Peter Berdovsky for planting the LED devices. Berdovsky's website, Zebbler.com, shows the locations of 20 devices (or, as the Massachusetts authorities are calling them, "hoax devices").......

- Museum masterpieces meet modern monsters, halloween hijinks ensue. [via Boing Boing]. - Speaking of Halloween, are you looking for some Halloween events to attend tomorrow? GoogGhoul might be the search engine for you. But seriously, the main event is clearly the famous Village Halloween Parade. - The Times lets MoDo out of her Select chains in order to ">excerpt her new book. - Trick-or-treaters to be subject to random bag searches. - On......

Since boing boing posted it on Monday, Gothamist has been enjoying Ji Lee's Bubble Project. Lee printed 50,000 "thought bubble" stickers and plastered them over advertisements of all sorts across the city, waited for the vultures to uncap their pens with glee, and then went back to photograph what people wrote. The results are broken up into different sections, such as Social Commentary, Personal Messages and Media and Fashion. Gothamist's favorites are would be this......

When Gothamist read about the electronic silencer that can muffle phone calls you get in your office cubicle, we instantly thought of WKRP in Cincinnati's Les Nessman. We've long attempted to create our own special space in our office cubicle, but we have never put down the tape to demarcate our bounty. Anyway, our first thought was whether or not the silencer, the Babble, would be an office expense or something that employees who don't......

Well, clearly, when your T-Mobile Sidekick is hacked, it's scary. And newsworthy, in a Metafilter/slashdot/boing boing sorta way. But when you're Paris Hilton, clearly it's an opportunity for all sorts of heck to break loose. Not only were some strange photographs (kiss with another girl - check; kiss with top off - check) on it, but the phone numbers and emails of many celebrities, including a few New Yorkers (who knew Lindsay Lohan had a......

Thanks to boing boing, Gothamist has been enjoying the experimental-only (not-for-commercial use) Grey Video, which is a video mash-up of The Beatles and Jay-Z, using DJ Danger Mouse's Grey Album. It's an imaginative way to bring past and present together, with a Beatles concert suddenly interrupted by Jay-Z...and there's just something incredibly hot about seeing the words "Bronx" and "Brooklyn" flash up behind Ringo. You can download the Grey Album at Illegal Art. And our......

Awesome find from Ask Gothamist: A 1940s phone etiquette manual, How To Make Friends By Telephone. It reminds Gothamist of the old home ec books, lying in dusty corners of classrooms, that teach you how to file your nails, make a pot roast, deal with nosy Mrs. Kravitz, and make cocktail weiners. But it's worth a read, if only to be reminded good phone etiquette is timeless. Another way of making friends by the......

In another spooky step to monkeys taking over the world, Duke University researchers have found that monkeys can control a robotic arm...with their minds! Eeep. boing boing also notes the crazy Flash animation on the Duke site; Gothamist thinks drawings of monkeys are fun, but we want video footage. Monkeys we love: Mojo the Helper Monkey Curious George Babar's friend, Zephyr Monkeys we are scared of/sorta amused by: Mr. Peepers George W. Bush Monkey we......

I'm getting my wisdom teeth out (just the right side, I had the left side out 5 years ago; they are erupted and not terrible, but they are hard to clean and would be better if gone) in a few days, and Boing Boing had a piece about the panoramic X-rays for facial maxilo images. You stand with your chin in a brace and the machine rotates around you. Pretty exciting. I got one done,......