This week the Times's Frank Bruni forgoes his weekly restaurant critique in favor of a look back at 2008, culminating in his top ten new restaurant list. David Chang's Momofuku Ko (pictured) is unsurprisingly #1 (Bruni's extreme reservation hassles all but forgotten), with Paul Liebrandt's Corton a close second, and Michael Psilakis's Mia Dona rounding out the list at number ten. Bruni declares '08 to be "the best year for new restaurants in this city since 2004, when New York welcomed two four-star restaurants, Per Se and Masa, in one month." But it's a shame nobody has the money to eat at them anymore: "I shudder to think about this time in 2009 — about the kind of reflection on the New York restaurant scene that might be in order then. The next 12 months promise to be a grueling survival test for all but the most intensely beloved or flat-out utilitarian restaurants." more ›

Every Christmas residents of the predominantly Italian-American community of Dyker Heights in Brooklyn try to outdo each other for the most epic light display. And they're certainly not about to let a little economic meltdown spoil the festivities; this year's displays are as spectacular as they were in the year 2000, when the hilarious documentary Dyker Lights was filmed. (It airs again on PBS Thursday night!) more ›