Avian enthusiasts who are bummed about the recent death of Washington Square's red-tailed hawk Violet may find solace in the fluffy bosom of New Jersey's new snowy owl. That's right: an owl that normally makes the Arctic tundra its home has been roosting at the Merrill Creek Reservoir in Warren County New Jersey for two months. Experts the Star-Ledger spoke to seem to think that there may be a "baby boom" of snowy owls in Canada, forcing them to travel further south. We're eagerly awaiting Chris Christie's demand that the owl "get the hell over to the Jersey Shore's fabulous casinos and fine dining." more ›

NYC has agreed to lower the water levels in some of its reservoirs that supply the city with its drinking water. The move came after pressure from Ed Rendell, the Gov. of Pennsylvania, who argued for reduced reservoir capacity to spare citizens of his state from the regular spring flooding along the Delaware River that results from New York keeping its reservoirs filled to the brim. When spring storms exceed the already-full reservoirs' ability to retain water, the Delaware River floods and Pennsylvanians suffer. more ›

This Saturday and every Saturday at 1:00 pm, Chocolate Zoom presents a chocolaty view of our fair city. The first leg of the tour starts off in Soho, where you will get a chance to sample treats from Mariebelle, Vosges, and Kee’s Chocolates. Next, a quick jaunt uptown for five more chocolatiers. More details provided at the Chocolate Zoom website. $50.00 per person (adult or child). Booking in advance is essential and required. Payment is due prior to the tour date and may be made by credit card online, call 917-292-0680 or email tours@chocolatezoom.com. more ›

Here's a geeky weather factoid Gothamist dug up this morning: Through the first 16 days of March we have had 9 days of colder than normal temperatures, 6 days above normal, and one day, yesterday, of normal temperature. With half again as many cold days as warm you would expect the average temperature to be below normal, but the warm days were so above average that March is way warmer than normal. If that average were sustained for the rest of the month we'd have one of the warmest March's ever. Alas, there will be no warmth for the next several days. Like today's weather? It is going to be repeated well into next week. Clear skies, highs in the lower 40s, lows in the mid-20s. A warm-up is expected at the end of next week. more ›

Child: "Probably like the biggest thing to happen in the Delaware River."Well, probably, next to Washington's crossing. But we guess that happened the Delaware. more ›