alphabet city no. 3, by nschaden at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on 120th St. and 3rd Ave. in Manhattan, a stabbing on West 31st St. in Brooklyn, and a fall victim at MoMA in Manhattan. The New York Yankees took first place in franchise spending, with a total payroll of $218.3 million last year. The World Series-winning Boston Red Sox payroll totalled $155.4 million to finish a distant second. The......

Like Jay-Z's 40/40 Club before them, the NY Post reports that two more Manhattan clubs are now being drawn into a lawsuit for playing music they didn’t have a license to play. With the music industry in an increasingly sad state, you would think getting the tunes out to the public (not for downloading or stealing but for the pure enjoyment of listening) would be a good thing. However bars are finding they have to......

The Wrens Play for Planned Parenthood, The Knit Gets a Makeover Last Friday The Wrens headlined a benefit show for Planned Parenthood, celebrating the 34th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. The band played their usual Meadowlands-heavy mix of old songs, and made an announcement that it would more than likely be their final show supporting their now nearly 4 year old album. They will be working on putting together something new this summer.......

If Thanksgiving is over, then Christmas trees all around the city must be lit. Here are three events the Daily News notes: - Tonight, the holiday tree at Lincoln Center will be lit. ABC 7's Sam Champion is hosting the event, which will feature high wire artist Pedro Carrillo, Sr., walking a tightrope across Lincoln Center's plaza and Mickey Mouse helping throw the switch to illuminate the 50 foot tree. Also, there are free saplings......

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is tomorrow and New York is excited. Starting at 9AM, balloons will make their way from 77th Street and Central Park West, down CPW, the Broadway, to 34th Street and Broadway. Heading off the parade will be Jake, an inflatable turkey recreated from vintage balloons, followed by more helium friends. (tale of two cities looked at this year's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons as well as suggested some new ones.) Performers......

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog has gotten neutered, but for a good cause: He's starring in a PETA ad - one that slams American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken. Aiken told Rolling Stone, "I think cats are Satan. There's nothing worse to me than a house cat. When I was about 16, I had a kitten and ran over it." Apparently it was an accident, but Aiken needs to up the training for media requests, while......

On an optimistic note, as well as a lucky piece of re-election/ratings improvement PR for Mayor Bloomberg, the Times says that New York might actually be recovering from its fiscal crisis, which surprises many, due to "a formula consisting of higher taxes, service cuts, extra aid and greater government efficiency." Yeah, Gothamist would never have thunk that would help a deficit! Mayor Bloomberg recently welcomed Wachovia Bank to the city, which will create 300......

Looks like "alternative" music festival Field Day Fest is happening at Giants Stadium, at least according to Ticketmaster. Gothamist thinks it's funny how last weekend, Giants Stadium held Zootopia, the pop-hit heavy concert thrown by Z100 that had, according to their site, "Aerosmith, Kelly Clarkson, TLC, Mariah Carey, Ja Rule, Ashanti, Jewel, Third Eye Blind, Wayne Wonder, Simple Plan, Tanto Metro & Devonte, Daniel Bedingfield, JC Chasez, Bowling For Soup, Ginuwine... your American Idol's Ruben......