Former Bush senior adviser Karl Rove is settling plenty of scores in his new book, Courage and Consequences—and former Secretary of State Colin Powell is one of his targets. ABC News reports that Rove used his brute upper body power to get back at the general in 2004—by way of doing twenty push-ups. more ›

Yesterday's West Indian American Day Carnival was the place for city-wide office candidates to be seen, and leading the way were Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Comptroller William Thompson, who are expected to battle to be mayor come November. Mayor Bloomberg marched with one of the parade's Grand Marshals—General Colin Powell—who endorsed him heartily, while Thompson marched with Governor David Paterson. more ›

Because the brouhaha over Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s arrest will never end, it's time for former Secretary of State Colin Powell to weigh in. While on Larry King Live last night, Powell, who said Gates is a longtime friend, said, "When you're faced with an officer trying to do his job and get to the bottom of something, this is not the time to get in an argument with him...I was taught that as a child. You don't argue with a police officer." He did suggest Gates was tired from his flight from China through NY and also wondered about the Cambridge police, "Once they felt they had to bring Dr. Gates out of the house and to handcuff him, I would have thought at that point some adult supervision would have stepped in and said, OK, look, it is his house. Come on. Let's not -- let's not take this any further. Take the handcuffs off. Goodnight, Dr. Gates." [Here's a transcript and video is after the jump.] Powell also discussed being racially profiled a few years ago—"You just suck it up"—and endorsed Mayor Bloomberg—"I think Mike Bloomberg should be given a third term. And yes, I would say, reelect Mike Bloomberg." more ›

Former Secretary of State—and New York native— Colin Powell was on CBS's Face the Nation and addressed criticism he's received from his Republican party brethren. Earlier this month, former VP Dick Cheney said, "If I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I'd go with Rush Limbaugh. My take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican." This morning, Powell said, "I am still a Republican. I'd like to point out that in the course of my 50 years of voting for presidents, I have voted for the person I thought was best qualified at that time to lead the nation. Last year I thought it was President-now Barack Obama." He also said of the GOP, "I think the Republican party has to take a hard look at itself and decide what kind of party are we? I have always felt that the Republican party should be more inclusive than it generally has been over the years." As for the radio host's influence, Powell noted, "If he is out there, he should be subject to criticism...He shouldn’t have a veto over what someone thinks," referring to how GOP chairman Michael Steele had to apologize after criticizing Limbaugh. more ›

During an appearance on Meet the Press, former Secretary of State under President Bush (and native New Yorker) Colin Powell announced his endorsement of Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate. He said he had been studying both candidates in the past few weeks and concluded that Obama was a "transformational figure," citing his inclusive campaign and intellectual curiosity. more ›

Yesterday, the 2008 Democratic ticket appeared together for the first time in Springfield, Illinois. When Barack Obama introduced Joe Biden, he emphasized the Senator from Delware's roots, “He is still that scrappy kid from Scranton who beat the odds — the dedicated family man and committed Catholic who knows every conductor on that Amtrak train to Wilmington.” And when Biden made it to the stage, Bruce Springsteen's The Rising played. more ›

It's finally 2005, and many New Yorkers enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather (50 degrees) and headed up to Times Square for the festivities. It's unclear whether they were there for Lindsay Lohan or Reege. Perhaps it was to see Mayor Bloomberg and Secretary of State Colin Powell who, as the NY Times put it, "locked arms and swayed awkwardly to Frank Sinatra's version of ," because maybe they thought Powell would break out in song again [also, look at this photo of Powell and Bloomberg]. Some estimates say that over 750,000 people were in Times Square celebrating New Year's for the 100th time. And elsewhere, records were broken for the NY Roadrunners New Year's Eve Midnight Run (the champagne at the finish line was probably incentive; here are the top finishers) and the Critical Mass ride was pretty peaceful. Gothamist hopes that you and yours had a fun time...all we can say is huzzah for a new year and a new start, though we're apt to break any and all resolutions by the time we step outside the house. more ›

The Times Square Alliance has mucho information about New Year's in Times Square. Going to Times Square is not really Gothamist's cup of tea, but there are a lot of interesting things happening, like Kathy Griffin hopefully skewering celebrities, a wrap-up of the year's events by the Fox News Channel (ha!) and Lindsay Lohan performing for MTV - plus free confetti, balloons, pom-poms, glasses, etc. from the Alliance. It's also the 100th Anniversary of Times Square, so there's a special tribute between 11:05PM and 11:10PM. Here's the schedules of events. more ›

Priscilla Grim, Membership & Advocacy Director AIVF more ›

Happy 4th! Some holiday notes: more ›

Also, the week in full. Plus, look at a round-up of a week of great advice from Ask Gothamist and check the forecast with Gothamist Weather. more ›

Possibly, if you were trying not to watch the Nets-Pistons game last night, for fear of the 'fro, you might have channel surfed over to CNBC, which rebroadcasts Meet the Press on Sunday nights, where you might have seen that insane part of the Colin Powell interview, where Powell's press aide Emily Miller seemingly off Powell. Powell and Miller argued about the move, Powell saying that the interview wasn't done and Miller saying something about "they're editing it," with host Tim Russert waiting and saying, " I'm right here, Mr. Secretary. I would hope they would put you back on camera. I don't know who did that...I think that was one of your staff, Mr. Secretary. I don't think that's appropriate." White House communications people claim that Meet the Press had run over its allotted time, but come on, the American people are stupid, but we're not naive about our TVs. Meet the Press is the highest rated network political program. It's an influencer. Silly Bush administration, your strong-armed media tactics ain't gonna fly. Especially not when at least part of the U.S. has watched The West Wing at some point. more ›

Jesse Oxfeld more ›

Besides how foreign issues will be settled, President Bush's visit to the U.N. today and tomorrow means one thing to New Yorkers: Gridlock in midtown. Certainly around the East 40s and 50s from Park Avenue to First Avenue, with Bush shuttling between the Waldorf Astoria and U.N. And Midtown Westerners, stop your laughing: according to the Daily News, Colin Powell is going to be on David Letterman tonight and Second Lady Lynne Cheney is on tomorrow. more ›

, about the Kennedy administration dealing with Russia, Cuba, and America during that time is a pretty riveting piece of film. Hopefully, this situation will turn out as relatively peacefully. more ›