Dan Meth spent seven months (on and off) on his montage of the Twin Towers appearing in movies, and courtesy of the internet, upon its release he was met with an instant barrage of criticism for things he missed. CNN tracked down Meth to discuss his efforts (which have also received applause!), and puts a spotlight on our very own Gothamist commenters mid-way through Jeanne Moos's report. Moos says, "film buffs can't resist telling Dan Meth the clips he missed in his montage." more ›

Readers who commented on an online newspaper article about a car crash are being called to testify in a vehicular homicide case in Montana. The defendant is Justine Winter, a 17-year-old girl accused of trying to commit suicide by veering into oncoming traffic. (She lived; two people in the other car died.) Her attorney is trying to change the trial's venue, and has subpoenaed seven individuals who commented on the website for the local paper, the Daily Inter Lake. more ›

Does that headline make some of you trolls a tad concerned that the bridge is collapsing down on top of you? Because it is, so stop being so nasty! Okay, we're bluffing, but not completely: Six commenters on a website about Elizabeth, Pennsylvania could have their identities revealed within a month, after a judge ruled in favor of Township Supervisor Thomas DeRosa, who is trying to determine who defamed him on the site's online bulletin board. The ACLU had been fighting on behalf of the commenters, but recently decided not to appeal and has turned over their I.P. addresses. more ›

John Waters has written a memoir. That statement alone may be enough to make those who are familiar with his work lunge towards the nearest bookstore—or to Bryant Park on Monday night, where the inimitable auteur will be having a conversation with Paul Holdengräber as part of the free "LIVE at the NYPL" series. Everything about the cult film director—who has been called the "Pope of Filth," and is responsible for such classics of their own very off-kilter genre as Hairspray, Cry Baby, and Pink Flamingos—begs the question, "how did he get this way?" more ›

This weekend a Times reporter gets his hands dirty (but keeps his fingers unsmudged) while diving into the cutthroat world of commenting on New York neighborhood blogs. They discover that the city's "fabled brashness" often leads to "raucous New York-style debate." The writer then falls prey to something that a lot of us have been guilty of on more than one occasion—following insane comment threads. After introducing us to a Brownstoner post where commenters had a familiar battle over parents in Park Slope, the story ends with (Spoiler Alert) a get-together of Brownstoner regulars that was "bearing a notable absence of ill will" where "virtual friends didn’t look like what they had expected." The whole thing leaves you with so much of a virtually warm feeling that you almost begin to imagine a world where a couple who met as fellow Gawker commenters could end up betrothed—oh wait. more ›

Amanda Palmer coined the term and genre "Brechtian punk cabaret" for her band The Dresden Dolls so that critics wouldn't describe them as Goth. After two albums with the Dolls and a live show that has earned a reputation for doubling as a circus act, she is just beginning her first tour on her own. Her upcoming solo album sports the Twin Peaks-inspired title "Who Killed Amanda Palmer?" and will be released in September alongside a book with same title that is a collaboration between Palmer and graphic novelist Neil Gaiman. Tonight Amanda brings her unique brand of theatricality into town with a show at Spiegelworld. She talked to Gothamist last week about blogging, opening herself up to new collaborations, and what Britney Spears's next tour should look like. more ›

In a couple of weeks Staten Island will hold its very own music festival called Rock the Harbor, something Brooklyn Vegan posted about this week -- instantly sparking a lot of "discussion" about the borough ("Does everyone have to tan and work out before the show?" etc). With Manhattanites trying to pawn SI off on Jersey, and Jerseyites rejecting it, it was only a matter of time before Staten Island Advance caught wind of the fightin' words, noting that "battle lines were drawn." One of the promoters of the show also chimed in, saying, in part:

We actually have a lot more to offer on Staten Island aside from what you may have seen on True Life: I'm a Staten Island Girl. Not all of us say 'Bro', not all of us are mobbed up, and not all of us have no idea about the arts or culture. We actually have quite a few beautiful attractions, but I'll save the tourism chat for another time. The whole point of Rock the Harbor was to shine a light on a music scene that is slowly gaining some steam. There's all sorts of bands on this lineup from straight up indie, to shoegaze, to punk, to pop, to bluegrass, we have a bit of everything and are planning on hosting this event with a completely open mind.

A Gothamist tipster emailed us this photo of a prohibitively tall bench on the median of East Houston Street near Suffolk. Is this guerrilla art or city-sanctioned furniture? The new cool “Bench Club” for East Village scenesters? A lawsuit in-waiting from the city’s more vertically challenged residents? A prototype anti-homeless bench? A photoshop hoax? more ›

The current New York Magazine dives deep inside the navel with seven sprawling pages on Gawker. The rather tame procedural is conducted by Vanessa Grigoriadis, who's up front with the disclosures: Her NY Times wedding announcement was savaged by Gawker, New York Magazine currently employs two former Gawker editors, and Grigoriadis peeped managing editor Choire Sicha’s underwear. more ›

Joe's Pub is going uptown and outdoors for some shows this month, and we've got your tickets to a few of the performances. more ›

Whoa-- apparently the 0.5% interest rate cut the Federal Reserve announced a couple of hours ago wasn't entirely anticipated by the market! Currently the Dow Jones index is up more than 330 points, or more than 2.5%! The rate reduction was the first in four years, and was unusually steep by the Fed standards. The Times reports: more ›

Les Savy Fav, known for rocks songs, bringing babies on stage and lovely apartment decor...are playing a couple of shows in their, and your, hometown this month. And we've got your tickets. more ›

What better way to brighten up a Monday morning than with Björk tickets? The Icelandic singer is back, and playing Madison Square Garden on September 24th. Tickets are on sale here, but we have two pairs to give away! more ›

More updates below, but here's a summary so far (8:20PM): A steam explosion occurred on East 41st and Lexington Avenue (41st between Lex and Third) just before 6PM - right during the evening rush hour. The NYPD does not think it was a terrorist attack. It appears that there is a hole about 25' in diameter with a red tow truck in the center. One person has died (possibly from cardiac arrest) and there are at least 15 people injured. It is a six-alarm situation for the FDNY, which includes 24 engines and 13 ladders. more ›

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 ›

Watching the Brooklyn Dodgers documentary on HBO made us dig for some more footage on YouTube. The team had many nicknames, one being the Trolley Dodgers, and their fans were often dependent on the trolley system to get to the games. The above film shows a Brooklyn trolley at 5th Avenue and Flatbush, 5th Avenue and Bergen Street and finally 5th Avenue and 9th Street, with some great shots of the people and area at the time. One commenter on the video points out that at the 2:30 mark the Avon Theater is shown (which in that day would show double features and cartoons for "25 cent a pop"). more ›

What with Paris Hilton's release earlier this week and the upcoming celebration of American Independence (sorry, Londonist!), we've been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom to vote, freedom to choose, and most importantly, freedom to blog. Here are a few things we're happy we've been free to blog about this week. more ›

On Sunday we posted about the Bard Family being all but dismissed from their post at the Hotel Chelsea. As the interrogation spotlight continues to shine in the faces of the faceless "Board" that made the decision, a press release was sent out to explain what's going on behind the famous doors. more ›

Hey everyone-- you may have noticed that we've made a few small changes to our commenting and feedback systems: more ›

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! more ›

For Brutus, Tugger and Monte, life at Claremont since April 29 has been unusually quiet. Their stablemates — about 45 of them — are gone. The ground-floor riding ring, where parents would watch their children take lessons, seems more spacious. Among the white-painted stalls upstairs, the only sounds are often the whir of fans and the smooth jazz that plays from a radio outside Tugger’s stall. The riding academy — at 175 West 89th Street, a few blocks from the bustle of Broadway — was for decades a 19th-century anachronism. Now, it feels more like a relic. more ›

We have some exciting news to share with our readers - Jen Chung, co-founder, editor of Gothamist, and executive editor for all Gothamist sites, has won a Wired Rave Award! The Rave Awards look for people that are "innovators, instigators, and inventors" in their field, with Jen receiving the award for blogs (she's "The Town Crier"). Lest you think Wired hands the award out to anyone, Jen has some pretty good company. Some of the 2007 Rave Award winners include: Tim Kring, creator of Heroes (and Crossing Jordan!); J.K. Rowling; Alfonso Cuarón; fellow blogger, Arianna Huffington; and the Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger. more ›

Two more big pet-food brands joined the massive pet-food recall announced on Friday. Nestle Purina and Hill's Pet Nutrition voluntarily recalled some of their products. Pet-food manufacturer Menu Foods, which sells food to stores and other brands that then market the food under their own names, has not found out what is causing pets to become ill (10 cats and dogs have died so far), but believes the problem is related to wheat gluten in wet foods. more ›

after Freedom of Information Act requests. more ›

10:20AM Rail fixedOf course, it's not clear why the rail was broken - the MTA is investigating. We suspect the C.H.U.D. have developed a taste for iron. more ›

- Florentine specialty gundi gets the Sunday treatment in the Daily News from Irene Sax. April Bloomfield speaks about the “fluffy little bites of love”, Iacopo Falai calls them a “woman's dish”, and Mark Ladner’s recipe from Del Posto is included. Hit DiPalo’s to find the sheep’s milk that is essential for a winning dish at home. more ›

Everyone freaked out by the crazy noise from the Con Ed plant on 14th Street and C late Monday night can relax further. Because Con Ed tells amNew York everything is fine and it was only steam that was released repeatedly around 11PM. There was a malfunction, but the everything "worked just as it should have," according to Con Ed spokesman Chris Olert. His explanation is that a "generating unit tripped as it was being brought online, and the noise and steam originated from boiler safety valves." The booming steam helped "depressurize" the boiler. There were no fires and there were no explosions. Suddenly it's all so anti-climactic! more ›