City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's living wage bill has been watered down so much you could film a big-budget post-apocalyptic Kevin Costner movie in it and still have enough water left over to start hydrofracking in Sheep's Meadow. But it's not watered down enough for Mayor Bloomberg, who promises to file legal action to stop it if necessary. It's not because he hates the idea of plebes getting paid enough to live with dignity, it's because he knows his history, and he's seen what happens when the government subsidizes businesses and then makes them treat workers fairly. more ›

Lech Walesa, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning former president of Poland, will show his support of Occupy Wall Street by paying Zuccotti Park a visit. "How could I not respond," Walesa said, "The thousands of people gathered near Wall Street are worried about the fate of their future, the fate of their country. This is something I understand." more ›

If you had a dream last night that ee cummings went around replacing all the street signs in your neighborhood, you may want to stop taking your medication: it's happening. An EV Grieve reader pointed out the first "signs" of the lowercase-ization of the city's 250,000 street signs as part of a $27.5 million federal program that is supposed to make the signs easier to read. As our scientific poll showed, most people think this idea is a waste of money, and the reader who sent the photo in feels that we'll all die a little inside when the changes are made: "They may not look like much, but I was still shocked by their ability to make a quiet corner of Greenwich Village look like…well, every other town in the US." more ›

Glenn Beck needs to get his house in order. Only a day after the Fox News Channel host identified President Barack Obama as a white people-hating racist who doesn't not like white people (got that?), he confesses in a YouTube video promoting his latest book that his daughter hopes to attend that august institution of radical Islam and communism, Columbia University. Admits Beck in the video: "My middle daughter, she wants to go to Columbia. Do you have any idea the price of Columbia? Please, buy the book! Buy two! Buy three!" And it gets worse—not only does Beck's daughter want to matriculate at the same school that launched arch-superliberals like Eric Foner, Eric Holder, and Barack Obama, she is also a devoted follower of pagan lit! Says Beck: "My daughter is a huge reader—Harry Potter changed her life." So let this be a lesson to all you parents out there: letting your children read books about godless, spell-casting teen wizards will convert them into snobbish intellectuals with effete Ivy League aspirations. It's almost enough to make you cry. FWIW, one notable Republican's daughter attended Columbia—gay marriage-supporting Meghan McCain. more ›