Yesterday, the Justice Department announced it arrested 10 people for "allegedly carrying out long-term, 'deep-cover' assignments in the United States on behalf of the Russian Federation." And in case you were wondering, "Federal law prohibits individuals from acting as agents of foreign governments within the United States without prior notification to the U.S. Attorney General." However, Russia's Foreign Ministry is blasting the arrests, saying, "We do not understand what prompted the U.S. Justice Department to make a public statement in the spirit of Cold War espionage. Such incidents have occurred in the past, when our relations were on the rise. In any case it is regrettable that all these things are happening on the background of the 'reset' in Russian-U.S. relations announced by the U.S. administration." more ›

The author of a new book about the CIA’s hallucinogenic drug tests during the Cold War says there’s evidence the agency used NYC commuters as their experimental subjects. He found documentation of the subway tests—which allegedly occurred in 1950—while researching his nonfiction account. "The experiment was pretty shocking — shocking that the CIA and the Army would release LSD like that, among innocent unwitting folks," H.P. Albarelli told The Post. more ›

Brilliant, reclusive and eccentric, Chicago-born and Brooklyn-bred Bobby Fischer died at age 64 in Iceland. His spokesman said the cause was kidney failure, after a long illness. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg's trip to the University of Oklahoma to caucus with a bipartisan group of current and former politicians and grouse about Washington gridlock only fueled the fires of speculation that he is preparing a Presidential run. People are already strategizing about who his ideal running mate would be. Bloomberg is sticking to his (anti-)guns, however, and still claiming that he is not a candidate. But his pollster told the LA Times that our Mayor is seriously considering a run and will make a decision in the next two months. more ›

Today, we come together with hope and determination, with a determination to stop politics as usual which seeks to divide us for political gain. We come together to resurrect that kind of bipartisan statesmanship that united us as Americans to win the Cold War. We come together to appeal to all presidential candidates to tell us how they plan to bring us together. Hear our plea! Bring us together! Bring us together! Bring us together and the American people will assure our future. We also have the joint statement from the participants (including former elected officials such as Bill Cohen and Christie Todd Whitman as well as current senator Chuck "Often mentioned as a running mate for Bloomberg" Hagel) after the jump. more ›

Prestige filmmakers take note: If you want the Times critics to really love you, what you need to do is put the fear in them. At least it worked for Tim Burton; his adaptation of Steven Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd gave reviewer A.O. Scott nightmares. And for that, Scott deems the film “close to a masterpiece, a work of extreme – I am tempted to say evil – genius.” (Current Rotten Tomato rating: 88% fresh.) One big question was whether the non-singing actors cast in the film would be able to pull it off; according to Burton the film is almost 90 sung. Well, it worked for Scott:

Johnny Depp’s voice is harsh and thin, but amazingly forceful. He brings the unpolished urgency of rock ’n’ roll to an idiom accustomed to more refinement., and in doing so awakens the violence of Mr. Sondheim’s lyrics and melodies.

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We've got a stack of tickets over here for you, and all you have to do is email us telling us which pair you want, and answer a little question. more ›

THEATER: We could try to describe Neal Medlyn's Coming In The Air Tonight, but why bother when there’s this: “The show features a variety of Phil Collins and Genesis music and is about how Neal is starting to slowly fall apart due to how he's all torn up inside from getting his heart broken into tiny pieces. It is also about how Neal steals a lot of stuff from people. Like their belongings and house wares but also their thoughts and ideas…Over the course of which Neal gets progressively covered in more and more blood. The end. As if that weren't enough, it features special guest appearances by Kenny Mellman (of Kiki & Herb), Bridgett Everett (At Least It's Pink), and Adrienne Truscott (of the Wau Wau Sisters).” Read ye olde timey 2004 Gothamist interview with Medlyn. - John Del Signore more ›

EVENT: Tonight is the "Taxi 07: Transforming and Icon" event, marking the 100th anniversary of the New York taxi. The Design Trust for Public Space have gathered together members of the city’s design community and tonight they discuss ideas for the redesign the yellow cab. The idea of a redesign was announced back in 2005. more ›

Can't get in to any of the Cold War Kids shows (their bi-coastal residency is in full swing)? Well, you can still check out one fo the Kids tonight, at his art show, "I’m celebrating my love for you with a pint of beer and new tattoo: New work by Matt Maust". more ›

VACATION: The Greater Fort Lauderdale visitors' bureau has brought the Sunshine State to NYC in the form of a 3,600-square foot virtual vacation. The space includes a palm tree-lined "beach", complimentary mini-massages and, of course, bikini clad models. Virtual fishing, golf and more, will make you forget the sudden drop in temperature. more ›

THEATER: This week marks your last chance to see TRUTH {the heart is a million little pieces above all things}, a one-man show by Mike Daisey that NYMetro declares “a delirious, brainy, hilarious, infuriating experience from which one emerges perversely hopeful.” The play follows the fictional and non-fictional stories of James Frey's self-destruction, the sordid and shocking tale of J.T. LeRoy, and Fernando Pessoa, a Portuguese poet whose great works were written by warring multiple personalities inside his head. These stories are reflected against an autobiographical accounting of Daisey's own history of lying and telling the truth. - John Del Signore more ›

Moving on, there are four bands used in this "scientific study": Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Tapes n' Tapes, Arctic Monkeys and Cold War Kids. more ›

, which had at least the benefit of still being a well-crafted spy novel until the third act. more ›

The week is short and there really isn't a huge amount going on in the venues until the weekend. Plus, it's going to be about 1000 degrees, so packing in to a small sweaty venue isn't highest on our list of priorities. Here's what we do suggest, and as usual - feel free to list some shows in the comments. more ›

Lead Singer Noah Chernin is playing a solo set this Monday at Mercury Lounge, followed by a full band headlining gig at Southpaw next Thursday. You can listen to some of their music on myspace. Here's an mp3: more ›

For some reason there doesn't seem to be a lot going on this week. Tonight Cold War Kids take over Pianos, catch them there before they're headlining Bowery (and then having that show switched over to Webster Hall to accomodate all of their fans). What we're trying to say is...there is buzz. more ›

Tonight San Francisco rockers with the middle class rasp, Two Gallants, come to Bowery Ballroom. We interviewed them last week, and you should really check them out while they're in town. For serious. Opening up for them are Sam Champion (the actual NY weatherman still comes up first in a Google search) and Cold War Kids. Elsewhere in the city, Pela is playing with Project Jenny/Project Jan (at the Delancey). more ›

For New York moviegoers, this is a good week for those who worship at the cult of the director. In both the theatrical releases and the repertory columns, film fans of various established and up in coming auteurs will surely get their fill. more ›

We hear about a lot of events each week and we can't write one post about each of them, because then you'd be here all day. So we're going to sift through and pick out some gems for the weekdays, here are some of the highlights for this week... more ›

Don't get confused – today is Friday. Gothamist has been a bit under the weather, hence our little weekend movie preview showing up today rather than on its usual Thursday. And while we all anxiously count down the minutes until Monday's Golden Globes, there are a lot of great movie options available without even considering all the 2005 films hoping to take home a prize. more ›

The International Olympics Committee eliminated New York as a possible site for the 2012 Olympics in the second (of four) round of voting. Gothamist thought that watching the city selection process (starting at 6AM) was incredibly bizarre: The IOC Chairman comes out, tells how many votes were given, how many people voted, what the majority is, and then matter-of-factly says something like, "New York will not proceed to the next round of voting." When Moscow was voted out in the first round of voting, the split screen coverage showed the IOC on the right and people at Rockefeller Center cheering (so much for ending the Cold War!) on the left. Then a few minutes later, when New York was voted out, people were just quiet, and cameramen raced to find some crying NYC 2012 supporters. Then Madrid was eliminated in the third round, putting the age-old rivalry of England and France in the spotlight once again, with London and Paris in the final two. The 2012 Olympics city will be announced at 7:43AM (EST) - the IOC was running late! more ›

And if you want some music stylings, check out Coolfer's weekend picks at Gothamist Arts & Events, which also has the inside scoop on music, film, and other stuff to keep you occupied. more ›

, a Lomographic competition and exhibition. more ›

Andrew Krucoff, Rhythm Guitar more ›

Sam Potts, Graphic Designer more ›

The Fog of War site has an interesting lesson plan (PDF) for teachers that acts as a great way for anyone to brush up on their history. more ›