Lucky Cheng's, the self-proclaimed "Drag Capital of the World," apparently does not include the East Village in their world anymore, with the news that the bachelorette favorite is leaving their longtime home on First Avenue in coming months to chase the tourists down in Times Square. more ›

When the Dark Room first opened on Ludlow Street in the summer of 2004, it was a different era of the Lower East Side. Like, an era where you'd see Interpol's Carlos D hanging around at bars and everyone was meeting up with "Michael Caine" in the bathroom, and Pianos didn't totally suck. So, granted the Dark Room has probably significantly changed in terms of what kind of people it draws these days, rumors that it's closing is sort tugging at our former self's drunken heartstrings. According to Bowery Boogie, the place may shutter sooner rather than later: more ›

Today is the day that the hard-fought changes to the Rockefeller-era Drug Laws go into effect, and lawyers for hundreds of low-level drug offenders in New York prisons are preparing petitions for shortened sentences or release. Once among the harshest in the nation, the laws were enacted more than 30 years ago under Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and required mandatory prison terms for a variety of drug crimes. more ›

With Starbucks stock plummeting – it lost half its value in the past 15 months – C.E.O. Howard Schultz spent yesterday reassuring thousands of anxious shareholders that everything would soon be right as rain, once some new changes “restore an authentic coffeehouse experience to the company’s stores,” as the Times puts it. It’s fun to watch corporations trying to “restore” authenticity, like when elderly bluebloods try dressing “casually” in their creased blue jeans. more ›