A group of influential paisans from Staten Island, drunk on the idea of starting the first vineyard in contemporary New York City, have been on a wine-tasting tour of Tuscany, researching vineyards to figure out the best way to bring their brain-child back to their home borough. Yes, you read that correctly – according to today’s Times, you’ll soon be able to step off the Staten Island Ferry and pick up a bottle of Fresh......

The good news is that the FDA didn't find rat poison (aka aminopterin) in pet food samples from Menu Foods, which is what NY State authorities found last week. The bad - very bad - news is that traces of melamine were found in the pet food, and apparently melamine-contaminated wheat gluten was also sent to a dry food manufacturer. From the AP:Cornell University scientists also found melamine — used to produce plastic kitchen wares......

SCIENCE: The UnCoolKids always know about all the best science events. Tonight is The Revolution in Physics at the Turn of the 20th Century, featuring “a presentation by Richard Liboff, Distinguished Professor of Physics, University of Central Florida, formerly Professor of applied physics, applied mathematics, and electrical engineering at Cornell University, author of the best- selling college text book, Introductory Quantum Mechanics, featured in “Spider-Man 2" movie.” 5:30pm // NYPL, Science, Industry and Business Library......

You know it's the beginning of January when the gyms are filled with New Years resolution exercisers and the movie theaters are filled with post-New Years dreck. Frankly, it's best to focus on getting caught up on last year's best (see our Top 10 and the subsequent comments for suggestions) and leave this week's releases for suckers with movie money to burn. Hilary Swank often stars in Oscar-lauded movies but her newest about an inner-city......

Alexander Zalben, People's Improv Theater...

Hal, the Central Park Coyote captured last week, died before being released into the wild. He was being transported to California Hill State Forest upstate in Putnam County. The cause of death is still being determined. "We took him yesterday from a wildlife rehabilitator on Long Island," Department of Environmental Conservation spokeswoman Gabrielle DeMarco said. "He stopped breathing during a routine tagging procedure and he couldn't be resuscitated by DEC biologists or Cornell University graduate......

One summer when Gothamist was younger we worked at the Hospital for Special Surgery on 71st and York (don't worry, we were far away from the patients). Riding our bike to and from HSS we were often struck by the fact that there were so many medical institutions in such a dense area. HSS, Rockefeller University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering and the Weill Medical College of Cornell University)! "That's a lot of prestigious lifesavers a long walk......

While Central Park had its rainiest October and second wettest month ever, several locations across the northeast did us one better. According to the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University, the JFK, Islip and Newark all had their rainiest month ever as did Allentown, PA and Concord, NH. No need to think about rain for the next several days. Except for a chilly morning tomorrow we are in for a run of clear skies......

Apparently the school likes jerking around poor high school seniors: "Virtually everyone who has used e-mail knows the feeling: You press the send button and realize that you just sent something embarrassing to someone by mistake.That happened to Cornell University on Wednesday: It sent welcoming letters to 1,700 high school students who had submitted early-decision applications, including nearly 550 who had already been rejected in December. "Greetings from Cornell, your future alma mater!" the e-mail......