The growing backlash against bottled water as an environmental abomination is stretching into some of NYC's premiere eating and drinking establishments. Ten years ago it was the de rigeur of fashion to be toting a bottle of water everywhere one went; now it marks you as a polluting pariah. According to the New York Post, bottled water is being banned at places like the Waverly Inn, Il Buco, Del Posto, Gemma in the Bowery Hotel,......

Despite years of sake drinking experience at many of New York City’s finest izakaya ranging from the rarefied Sakagura to the funky yakitori spots on St. Marks nothing could have prepared us for the Joy of Sake. Hordes of revelers gathered in the Puck Building last week to sample more than 300 hundred sakes, many unavailable in the U.S. Just because of the sheer variety of rice libations on offer, the three-hour event was overwhelming,......

THEATER: Sarah Maxfield, the brains behind theater collective Red Metal Mailbox, brings THROW, the bi-monthly performance series she curates, to The Chocolate Factory in Long Island City. Imbibe cheap beer and vibe new work by Rebecca Davis, Betsy Miller & Dancers, and Tara O'Con. After each experiment, Maxfield moderates an exchange in which each performer interrogates the audience in hopes of culling constructive criticism from the increasingly lubricated crowd. Who’ll be the first to declare,......

Today, the NY Times had some advice for incoming first years to the city's colleges. They were:- Don’t fall asleep on the subway. - Don’t drink too much beer and use the street as a toilet. - Don’t ask a cabbie (or anyone else) to take you to “HUGH-ston” Street. - Don’t play chess for money with the hustlers in Washington Square Park. - Don’t try to swim in the river. - Don’t count......

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take......

On Friday, Pepsi-Cola announced that its Aquafina brand bottled water would carry labels clearly stating that its water is tap water. If you think "The Aquafina in this bottle is purified water that originates from a public water source" or something along those lines is considered clear. Sure, Aquafina says its water is filtered, but this is a win for environmental groups (think the waste from bottle, the trucking to distribute the product, etc.) and......

Imagine having your apartment cleaned and keeping things "green" around your home, all at the same time. Enter Zen Home, the eco-friendly, chemical-free cleaning service that embraces the non-toxic approach and leaves your home smelling of lavender instead of ammonia. Upon your return home you'll be greeted with an apartment aromatherapy treatment, and even an organic chocolate on your pillow! We recently asked Mikella Millen, a professional organizer with the company (yes, they even offer......

After higher-than-safe levels of the chemical terachloroethylene, also known as PERC and used by dry cleaners and auto body shops, were found in Queens drinking water last month, a Queens politician wants to phase PERC from use. State Senator Malcolm Smith proposed legislation to help businesses switch to environmentally friendly products by 2012. Sounds like a no-brainer, but probably having the Department of Buildings check up on whether buildings have backflow preventer valves would help......

The Department of Environmental Protection says that Thursday afternoon tests of tap water in southeastern Queens found little or no traces of tetrochloroethylene, aka perc. The chemical, used in dry cleaning and in auto repair, can cause cancer if exposure is high, but the DEP says that the higher-than-normal levels found last week were "minute" and "were not expected" to lead to health risks. Here's the DEP's press release:After conducting extensive inspections of water/sewer connections......

Thank goodness for routine drinking water testing? The NYC's Department of Environmental Protection found higher-than-usual (and higher than what's safe) amounts of tetrachloroethylene, commonly known as PERC, in the drinking water of southeastern Queens. DEP investigators believe that the chemical might have seeped in from an auto-body repair shop or dry cleaners, because it's commonly used as a degreaser and cleaning agent. The agency is looking for the source. The affected areas include St. Albans,......

While the Department of Homeland Security is enforcing a no-carry-on-liquids ban for the safety of airline passengers, some desperate people are thinking of ways around it. Namely women who cannot lie without their cosmetics. CNN reported that a woman embarking on an 18 hour flight sneaked her lip balm on her plane via a candy bar wrapper. And to that, we just shake our heads. The NY Post interviews female travelers who wish they could......

The NYC Department of Health issued a drinking water advisory after the yesterday's flooding may have affected NYC's Hillview reservoir. The DoH says that "higher than normal levels of particles" have been detected in the water supply. While that water has been diverted, they ask that "infants, the elderly, pregnant women and New Yorkers with conditions that compromise their immune systems– those with HIV/AIDS, especially those with CD4 counts less than 200; those with leukemia;......

After the suspicious deaths of two patients from Legionnaire's disease at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital (neither patient was hospitalized for Legionnaire's), it turns out that the hospital had been trying to treat its water pipes and the possibility of Legionnaire's outbreaks in them since last year. The Daily News "obtained state records" that showed Columbia Presbyterian only told a few hospital employees about the Legionnaire's possibility. The disease can further worsen people with compromised immune systems,......

Columbia Presbyterian Hospital enjoys one of the best reputations in the country. So, when you hear that a man died of Legionnaire's disease while being treated there, you're perturbed. Especially since the Legionnaire's outbreak was apparently in the hospital's water supply, and the patient had water sprayed into his throat for sleep apnea. Since Legionnaire's can be especially harmful to people who had weak immune systems, having Legionnaire's bacteria in a hospital is very bad.......

Coming out of our Beltway blog's neigborhood, the Washington Post reports that New York City might have been manipulated results of drinking water tests that measure lead levels. NYC isn't the only city that might have falsified results - Philadelphia, Boston, Providence, RI, and Portland, OR, are also noted. This is pretty disturbing, because if you're anything like Gothamist, we tend to opt for tap water when we're at restaurants. And we're all about the......

With the forecast calling for possibly more than an inch and a half of rain over the next few days, the Mets will be lucky just to squeak in one game in their home opening series against the Braves. But the rain ensures that our reservoirs will remain in good shape especially compared to two years ago when we found ourselves in a Stage 1 drought emergency with the total level at 57.5%. The total......

If you just have a Brita to filter tap water, versus your own Poland Spring water cooler, don't fret: A study commissioned by the Post says that NYC tap water is great considering it's free. Now, Gothamist knows what you're thinking – "Study? By the Post? Of what, tabloid headlines' attention grabbing capability?" – but the study was conducted by the Univesity of North Carolina at Asheville, an accredited institution (ten bottled brands were tested......

No, these are not more pictures from the blackout, these are kids who tried out for American Idol at the Jacob Javits Center. Newsday reports that these hopefuls "slept in the streets, washed their hair with bottled water � and, in one case, a toilet bowl � and lived on coffee and McDonald's for the last two days." Hmm, that does sound like a blackout story. Except for the McDonald's part. There were about......

The L.A. Times looks at the world of Los Angeles dogwalkers, the celebrity gossip, the nutty owners, the lifestyle. One dogwalker who makes $150,000 a year with her doggie exercise is the focus, as her clientele is mostly star-driven. Annie Lever, laughs at owners who feed their dogs extravagantly and give them bottled water ("they lick their own butts") and she says her day is filled with saying stuff like, "No humping. Don't pee......