Shake Shack – that object of obsession for so many burger lovers within a 10-mile radius of Madison Square Park – reopens today for their first winter season. Gothamist commenter MaiaW articulated the passion and excitement best when we first reported the year-round Shaction last month: “OMG, OMG. Now I have absolutely NO excuse not to eat there once a week (calories shmalories). Woo hooooo!!” With typically disheartening lines stretching almost out of the......

We're getting reports of a blackout on the Upper East Side, from the East 60s up to Harlem, on Third Avenue (mostly about transit blackouts) and York Avenue in the 80s. Subway service is affected - the 4/5/6 line is down. A reader whose friend was at Randalls Island says a Con Ed station exploded. UPDATE: 4PM WNBC reports that the outages are all along the East Side. OEM says "transformer explosions caused at......

The New York Times travel section brings us a fun photo scavenger hunt this weekend. What are you looking for? Well, "scenes and objects intrinsically New York." The Times gives us a bunch of categories that readers can submit photos for - food, business, transportation, living creatures, and nonedible inanimate objects. In this game that anyone can play (as long as they have a camera), The Times will even take user submitted photos to maybe......

This could also be titled "Kalikow Doesn't Care As Much About Non-Hamptons People." After receiving a complaint about the Montauk LIRR station, MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow took care of the matter immediately. Corcoran agent and Montauk resident Deanna Banks wrote a letter to Hamptons.com saying that after leaving a message with Kalikow's secretary, the secretary called to say, "Mr. Kalikow said he would make efforts to fix the parking lot." Potholes were filled nine day......

A dispatch from the field - the Ditmars Boulevard field, that is - from Dan Dickinson, who says that there is no N service into Manhattan from Queens. Why? A broken rail at Lexington! Now the MTA's service advisory is up, and it's a doozy:Due to a rail condition at the Lexington Avenue-59th Street Station: There is no service on the W train between the Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard Station and the Whitehall Street-South Ferry Station.......

Towards the end of the year, it becomes sport to wonder who Time's Person of the Year will be. It's sort of like wondering who will be on the cover of Sports Illustrated or who People's Sexiest Man Alive is (both are also Time Inc. publications, as it were). Time tried to get its readers excited, asking them to vote online for who they thought should be the Person of the Year, with choices being......

It's pork barrel time. Earlier this week, the State Legislature made its $170 million in pet projects public, only after Hearst, which publishes the Times-Union in Albany, sued them and a state judge ruled the Legislature had to disclose spending. The Legislature spends on these projects without public approval, so in the recent past, your politicians were doling out money to places unknown. The Legislature did release the data, not that it made it easy.......

A helicopter has crashed into a building on East 72nd. It was thought to be a small plane, but now reports say it is a helicopter. The helicopter seems to have crashed into 524 East 72nd Street, a residential apartment building. CNN is saying there are no reports of terrorism or hijacking. Update: Dan Dickinson says it smells like smoke three blocks away and that traffic is screwed. Update: NY1 is reporting that 3-4......

- There are 12 bids for Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Villlage; the Bloomberg administration, so far, is just waiting to see what happens - Watch out boutique shoppers - a man is targetting stores on the Upper East and West Sides - What happens when the leader of an African rebel army asks you to take him out on the town (for starters, you say yes) - World Trade Center dust could cause cancer -......

Dan Dickinson let us know some interesting news from the world of anime. An upcoming Japanese anime series, RED GARDEN, will be set on Roosevelt Island. Apparently it's about kids who go to a high school on Roosevelt Island - and we guess hijinks will occur (we have a very poor understanding of Katakana - if someone who knows Japanese better wants to translate, we'd love that) - maybe they will involve stuck trams.......

How many ways can we write that power has still not been restored in Queens? Cause it still hasn't. What else can we say? The papers are having a good time with this one, what journalist wouldn't love to write a story about a hair salon in Astoria that can't do a blowout? But good news stories doesn't bring the power back on, and neither, it seems, do all the mayor's horses and all......

Mayor Bloomberg finally made his way to Astoria yesterday to be briefed on the situation leaving thousands of Queens residents and business owners have been with little or no power. Yet he nor Con Ed could not explain why power had been out for four days. Mayor Bloomberg did say, “I cannot explain why we’re in this situation. It’s an intolerable situation.” And the Mayor and Con Ed don't know when power will be......

Most of the city got to enjoy yesterday's cooler weather - except for Queens residents and business owners. For the second day in a row, homes and businesses had little or no power and subway service was limited, with many commutes that would take 30 minutes tops taking 90 minutes. The MTA blamed Con Ed, saying, "Because of the low-voltage problem, not enough power is available to power subway signals in the area." And Con......

If you were any where in the Garment district yesterday evening, you may have noticed a huge line of non-New Yorker types outside of the bar, Stitch. And if you are any type of Amazing Race fan, you already know those people were lined up for TARCON 9 (The Amazing Race CONvention). Sponsored by Television Without Pity, the event gives TAR fans a place to reminisce over past seasons, bet on that night's finale, drink......

Ever since last week's many hour stoppage, Roosevelt Island tram officials have been trying to fix the machines. Only to find out that it's still not working, with the tram stalling twice during test runs. Con Ed emphasized that they had nothing to do with the stoppage - there were no power loads or surges found - and RI officials aren't sure when the investigation will be completed. Roosevelt Island residents are upset, saying that......

Earlier, our sources said a crane has blocked the ramp to Roosevelt Island, which is a problem because that means the Fire Department can't respond to any possible calls on RI. Now, there's no fire, but there is an EMS call. So what are the paramedics donig? They are taking the tram, then walking over to the call with their equipment! Updated: The crane has been cleared, all FDNY and EMS vehicles can get......

- Governor Pataki leaves the hospital and will try to "do some work" or whatever he calls what he's doing to our state - A look at the African Burial Ground's location - Mayor Bloomberg and State Senator Bruno meet so the press can get off their backs - but they probably still hate each other - You're warned: The film adaptation of Ethan Hawke's book, The Hottest State, is shooting in town -......

The NY Times has all sorts of great statistics about pedestrian, bicyclist and driver behavior during the transit strike today. On average, more than 34,000 pedestrians walked over one of the four East River bridges into Manhattan, compared with only 2,000 or so per day normally. Total pedestrian volume on the bridges from 6 to 10 a.m. was about 14,000 - about 14 percent higher than the 12,500 recorded during the 1980 strike. On......

'Twas the night of the transit negotiations, and all through the big city, not a straphanger (or bus rider) was calm, 'cause a strike would be damn gritty. So, it's the end of your work day and the MTA and Transit Workers Union are still engaged in intense negotiations at the Grand Hyatt right by Grand Central. (Have you seeing rallying workers?) And, uh, Newsday reports that the talks are "going nowhere." How about "...going......

Yesterday morning, a four-alarm fire broke out in Astoria, damaging a few stores on Ditmars Boulevard and 31st Street and suspending subway service temporarily. Dan Dickinson has some photos showing that among the damaged stores is the restaurant Thirty One (here's NY Magazine's mention of its opening). The Daily News says that Twin Donut employees noticed smoke coming from Thirty One. As it happens, City Councilman Peter Vallone has an office across the street;......

A month after they were proposed, the MTA is adopting a new set of rules of conduct that will see fines being handed out for things like drinking (non-alcoholic beverages) in a subway car, putting your feet on a seat, and riding between subway cars. And you can't ride your bicycle, wear you Rollerblades or be atop a skateboard, either. The MTA says that police officers, who we have been seeing in droves at......

Gothamist hears there's some fun to be had during mid-day and night at Rockefeller Center today and tomorrow: Between 11AM-2:30PM and 6-9PM, Rockefeller Center's Plaza is hosting a "lawn party," with food, music and games. For instance, Nintendo will be letting people try out new games and Brookstone will be giving Segway rides (yeah, we know it's very 2003, but still, it's something to do at lunch). And at night, there will be a happy......

The police and other law officials are still investigating yesterday's mysterious explosion at the British Consulate. The explosion, which occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning, seems to have come from two devices, one in a concrete planter and one on the sidewalk outside 850 Third Avenue, or they were both possibly planted in the planter. The grenades themselves are being described as "crude" and "clumsy," but still powerful, so many are feeling......

On 845 Third Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, two small explosions went off at the nondescript Midtown building that houses the British Consulate. The explosions went off around 3:30AM (which is when Britain was voting, though there was no voting at British consulates overseas). The AP reports that the building was slightly damaged, but various officials say no one was injured; more details: After piecing together the shrapnel, police determined the devices were......

The next time the NY State Legislature takes forever to do something (which will be next time), consider this: The Idaho Legislature has passed a resolution commending the vision of indie sleeper film Napoleon Dynamite and what it stands for. Seriously. See the resolution here, but here are some highlights of the reasons:- WHEREAS, the friendship between Napoleon and Pedro has furthered multiethnic relationships - WHEREAS, Rico and Kip's Tupperware sales and Deb's keychains and......

Improv Everywhere struck Union Square with an elaborate and stirring performance/mission in the windows of Designer Shoe Warehouse, Filene's Basement, and Forever 21 to the south of Union Square. It seems like you need 61 undercover agents, plus copious notes on what to do in the assigned windows. All of them danced, did jumping jacks, some held up letters to read "Look Up More," causing a stir in Union Square Park and encouraging people......

Gothamist was pretty wary about NBC's version of The Office, but the commercials and previews have make it look very watchable. And we love shows that touch upon how insanely soul-crushing the office life can be. The American cast even looks pretty schlubby - a rarity this side of dumb-oaf-male leads on some sitcoms (you know, the ones where you're wondering "How did he land Leah Remini?") - which must have been an answered......

Last night's episode of Law & Order was amazing. The writers threw everything, including the kitchen sink. The plot surrounded the murder of a food network executive, who had been attending a fundraiser for tsunami orphans; the executive was also the wife of one celebrity chef and having an affair with another! It was compelling and very much ripped from the headlines, as well as salacious and interesting. Here are some of the highlights: -......