There's been talk of what will happen to the Hotel Pennsylvania for a while now, and today the NY Observer reports that the skyscraper planned to take over the 401 Seventh Avenue address could be stopped by preservationists. Since the demolition project needs to be met with public approval it might not bode well that the construction "would entail building over the railroad tracks that run beneath the hotel and pose engineering and security challenges."......

Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lopez are going to be starring in a film together, about a "white female swing band that joins forces with a group of black and Hispanic musicians at a time when women were ostracized from playing male-dominated clubs. Those sex barriers shattered soon after President Roosevelt declared war on Japan and the women suddenly played the hottest clubs and even squared off against the Count Basie orchestra at the Apollo Theater."......

Central Park is celebrating its 150th birthday this year, and you can find out all the details at the 150th Anniversary page, but the official word comes today. Still, the Central Park Conservancy President Regina Peruggi tells us this: Save Saturday, July 19, for the Parkwide 150th birthday bash from dawn till dark. The day starts with a bicycle race and ends with an old-fashioned concert on the Great Lawn. There will be a dog......