It was originally named the 8th Avenue Subway, but the 'A' train turns 75 today, having opened September 10th, 1932. Officials are holding a ceremony at the line's northernmost station––Inwood/207th St.––and will be running six antique railcars from the 1930s during the day to commemorate the event. This is more than the Eighth Ave. Subway garnered on its opening day: Back in 1932, just before midnight, transit workers simply dropped chains blocking access to turnstiles up and down the line and riders were free to pay the five cent fare at any of the original 28 stations between 207th St. and Chambers St., a total distance of 12 miles. more ›

Six years ago, the prospects for downtown Manhattan seemed uniformly bleak. A persistent fire that burned for months amidst the wreckage of the World Trade Center filled the air with an acrid smell that was a constant reminder of 9/11. Restaurants and shops shuttered for lack of business. And many firms considered moving across the river, fearing that every tower in the financial district had a virtual target painted on its facade. The New York Times has an article today, however, that not only has the area below Chambers St. recovered to 2001 levels, the neighborhoods of downtown Manhattan are thriving like they haven't in decades, if not centuries. more ›

The safety problems on one of the city's most prominent landmarks went unnoticed until a city Buildings Department manager gazed at Tweed while walking to his office on Chambers St. in lower Manhattan. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck at Richmond Terrace and Federal Place on Staten Island, a water rescue at Chambers St. and River Terrace off Manhattan, and a homicide at Bruner and Barnes Aves. in the Bronx.
• A Connecticut doctor lost his family yesterday after two men broke into his home and held them hostage, while one family member was taken to a nearby bank to withdraw money. After killing the man's wife and two teenage daughters, the suspects set the house on fire before being apprehended at a police road block.The doctor survived a head wound and is in stable condition.
• The Weekly World News, the checkout line eye-catching tabloid that brought us Batboy, is folding in early August. There are rumors in the publishing world that Teen Vogue may follow suit.
• A stripped-down, one act version of the Broadway production Suessical will be playing at the Lucille Lortel Theater on Christopher St. this summer and all tickets are free.
• A puzzling brickwork sybmol built into a wall on Pearl St. in 1832. The building was destroyed, but the section of wall was preserved to keep the mystery alive.
• Curbed looks around the Domino Sugar plant on Brooklyn's waterfront.
• G-Unit member and rapper Tony Yayo rejected an offered plea deal that would have him serve nine months for slapping and punching a 14-year-old on 25th St. this March.
• 22-year-old Derick Phanord was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after police said he confessed to tying his dog to a tree, dousing it with clorox and then gasoline, and then setting the pitbull on fire. Phanord pleaded not guilty, but police say that in his confession, Phanord admitted he left his dog to die because it was "unfriendly."
• ConEd hasn't cornered the market on poor service. Blackouts are happening all over San Francisco today, and the servers for sites Craigslist, Live Journal, VOX are all temporarily offline.

A woman used to have to move to Alaska to find herself the center of attention of an overwhelmingly male population; now she just has to move south of Chambers St. According to an article in the New York Times, residential development of lower Manhattan and a booming financial sector economy have resulted in a population that is heavily skewed towards men.

Since 2000, men, mostly between ages 25 and 44, have accounted for more than three-fourths of the population increase in Lower Manhattan. As a result, according to a special census calculation, the sex ratio there increased to 126 men per 100 women in 2005, from 101 men per 100 women in 2000. In the rest of Manhattan, and in the city over all, there were only 90 men for every 100 women. more ›

- The total waiting time was 6 hours, 45 minutes, 46 seconds more ›

READING: The reclusive "Lemony Snicket" (known to grown-ups and non-believers as Daniel Handler) will be showing up - hopefully in a cloak and mustache disguise! - at Barnes and Noble tonight to celebrate the release of The more ›

Happy Cinco de Mayo...while you're not eating guacamole, sipping on frozen margs and taking a whack at a Sparks filled pinata...you may want to do one of the following this weekend: more ›

Ring, ring - the Straphangers have released their latest survey of subway payphone usability, finding that more 29% of subway phones (808 telephones were surveyed in 100 randomly selected stations) were non-functioning, with 28% non-working in the 15 most used subway stations. Those aren't great odds. But the most interesting thing that the Straphangers study reveals is that Verizon is no longer required to "keep any minimum number of payphones in working order," which means payphones will probably go downhill as the MTA thinks about cell service in subway stations. The NY Times asked Verizon about this, and a spokesperson said they try to address problems but, "people act out their frustrations on our phones." Yeah, maybe because they don't work! more ›

On Friday we must have gotten twenty emails asking for help solving Daily Candy's subway mosaic puzzle. Do your own homework, people! Besides, this one was a cinch-- except for the Eli Avenue and 66th Street shots, the rest were sooooo easy: more ›

There are times when watching MTV, VH1, BET or even that new upstart FUSE that Gothamist wishes we could just by pass all of the bling and booty for some videos with artistic merit. RES magazine hears our plaintive sighs and every year brings the best of digital media showcased in their magazine to theatrical establishments around the country with RESFEST, the digital film festival. more ›