There were no deaths or serious injuries from that spectacular four alarm fire that engulfed the roof a high-priced East Village condo last night. (A 1400 square foot, 2 bedroom apartment in the building went for $1,795,000 according to Streeteasy, and the sales pitch promises potential buyers that the apartment will redefine what it means to have "a roof over your head.") One witness to yesterday's inferno, Parvez Ahmed, the owner of nearby burger joint Munchies, tells the Post, "It was just like a small barbecue fire, 45 minutes before the actual fire. Then there was an explosion and the whole building was engulfed." more ›

The Fire Department is fighting a 3-alarm fire that started just after 5:30 p.m. on the roof of a building at Houston Street and Avenue A. The fire enveloped the entire roof; there is scaffolding on the exterior, and MyFoxNY suggested that the renovation/construction work could have been the culprit. more ›

Nylon has some shots of the new Keith Haring mural going up on E. Houston as a tribute to the artist on his upcoming birthday, May 4th. Still a work-in-progress, you can find it between Bowery and 2nd Avenue. more ›

The rumor mill's in motion and word is that The Knitting Factory will be moving out of its long time home on Leonard Street. The news doesn't come as a surprise as last April brought word that the building the venue is housed in would be sold. more ›

As the ones who first reported on the mysterious tall bench on the median of East Houston Street, we feel some responsibility in bringing closure to the story. (fYI amNY: Link.) Contrary to some of the comments in our original post claiming that the bench was just an amateurish photoshop gag, it turns out the surreal furniture was real, quite real. And now it is quite gone. more ›

A Gothamist tipster emailed us this photo of a prohibitively tall bench on the median of East Houston Street near Suffolk. Is this guerrilla art or city-sanctioned furniture? The new cool “Bench Club” for East Village scenesters? A lawsuit in-waiting from the city’s more vertically challenged residents? A prototype anti-homeless bench? A photoshop hoax? more ›

The holidays are upon us, which means that it's busy season, and you probably have little time to do the grocery shopping, let alone cook yourself a hot dinner. Gothamist opted for one solution at the Whole Foods Market on Bowery, the megalith of a grocery store that you either love for its fromagerie, Ciao Bella gelateria, and free wi-fi upstairs--or hate for being so enormous you find it impossible to find anything--which offers... more ›

Talk about joy -- over 300 sakes will be poured at the largest sake tasting in the United States, coming our way tonight. Over 100 of them are generally not available outside Japan and about 150 are silver and gold award winners in the National Sake Appraisal that takes place each year. Never fear, there will be appetizers to soak it all up, from the likes of Bao Noodles, Bond St, EN Japanese Brasserie, 15 East, Megu, Sakagura, Tocqueville, Woo Lae Oak, wd-50, and more. There's also a sake info desk where an expert will be able to answer all of your burning sake questions. 6 - 9 p.m., the Puck Building, 295 Lafayette between East Houston and Prince Streets. Tickets are $75 in advance and $90 at the door. For more info or to make reservations, call 212-799-7243, or visit joyofsake.com. more ›

. Attendees will rock to the sounds of Terry Diabolik and DJ Never Forget of Finger on the Pulse while they taste hot, spicy, and sultry foods from Chocolove, Rick’s Picks, 5 Boroughs Ice Cream, Coffee Lab Roasters and many more. Plus there's a raffle, scavenger hunt and much mingling! more ›

What does NY need? Another historic district, of course! Downtown Express is reporting that Community Board 3 has finally voted in favor of the Lower East Side Historic District, a proposed 20-block area that comprises 450 buildings from East Houston to Canal and from Allen to Essex streets. more ›

Does your summer seem to be winding down without a fling? Stop by the Whole Foods Market Bowery for Whole Foods Market & Gothamist's , a singles event on August 28th. The event will offer plenty of mingling time, as well as activities, raffles, music and refreshments (we'll be updating with more details later). It's also free, and you can register here: more ›

The countdown prompted us to start working on our own CMJ-week event a bit early this year. So we'd like to announce that Gothamist House will be back! Since we had a great time there last year it will be at White Rabbit on East Houston Street again from October 17th to 20th (running from 2pm to around 8:30pm). Last year we had some great bands play, including Loney, Dear, Apples in Stereo, Charles Bissell of the Wrens, Bound Stems, Land of Talk, Pela and a whole lot more. more ›

With brick and mortar sales declining, and the future of the music industry uncertain - at least live shows are always dependable. Sure, there are a lot of venues closing, but how about the ones thriving? The NY Times reports on some of the big players in the New York venue scene. more ›

First Lady Laura Bush visited a school on the Lower East Side with Mayor Bloomberg and other city officials yesterday. The first lady, a former school librarian, announced a $1.3 million grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for school libraries across the country to update their book collections. Twenty-eight schools in the city will get grants up to $5,000, including the the Island School on East Houston. The Post reports that the Island School's head librarian Lewis Lhana, who conducts puppets shows, had one of the puppets "gentle dragon Qualia" tell Mayor Bloomberg he smelled "like a rocket ship." more ›

May 3: Cheezapolooza III: Naked vs Cooked more ›

It seems a week doesn't go by without more news of venues closing. This week The Real Deal reports that the 27,000-square-foot building that houses the roughly 11,000 square foot Knitting Factory, is up for sale. The sale, which includes the venue and 18 decontrolled residential loft apartments, is expected to go for $15 million or more. more ›

Yesterday, a building at the southeast corner of East Houston and Mulberry Street collapsed, causing street closures while the Fire Department and Department of Buildings inspected. The NY Times describes it as a partial collapse and, luckily, no one was injured. Workers have been preparing the building for demolition, but a stop work order had been issued two weeks ago (the DOB required "bracing and shoring" of the building). more ›

A Ghost, by Squid Ink. more ›

Tribesmen and women city-wide are frantically polishing off the last crumbs of their chametz and stockpiling matzo in preparation for Passover. April 2-10 is a torturous time for many and, though crispy potato kugels and nutty bowlfuls of charoset may soften the blow, there’s still a grim specter that hovers over Gothamist’s Passover table. more ›

SIGNING: If there is one person we could think of that doesn't need an autobiography...it might as well be Rupert Everett. Yet, he'll be signing his new book "Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins: The Autobiography" tonight. He wasn't just in "My Best Friends Wedding", he was also friends with Warhol and has been to easter egg hunts in Elizabeth Taylor's garden. Fabulous. more ›

THEATER: Survey: Do women actually, um, enjoy Playgirl magazine? It’s a timeless question, and one that - according to former editor Ronnie Koenig - even haunted the boss herself. Her multimedia play Dirty Girl, now in previews, is about her “quest to find a woman who actually likes the beefcakes in the magazine.” The cast has been blogging and a book deal is in the works. (Brace yourself for The Devil Wears Nothing.) - John Del Signore more ›

Heckling (followed by civility) was alive and well at last night's Community Board 3 meeting at Cooper Union. Wearing "Please IMPROVE the Plan!" stickers, East Village and Lower East Side residents interrupted Department of City Planning Commissioner representatives as they presented a plan for the area's first rezoning since 1961 ("Define affordable," shouted one audience member - $56,000 for a family of four, in case you're wondering, and, no, they didn't have numbers for individuals). more ›

Home stretch! Today is the final day to swing by The White Rabbit and check out our little home we've been chilling at all during CMJ. You know the drill by now...Free to come, Happy Hour all day and great music, non-stop. 145 East Houston between Eldridge and Forsyth. Here's the lineup for today: more ›

Thanks everyone so much for coming by and supporting all the unbelievable bands we had at The House yesterday. It really played out just as we could have ever imagined/hoped it would. Can't wait to get it all going again today! more ›

After months of preparation, the first day of The Gothamist House at The White Rabbit is finally here! Surely you know the drill by now...Great bands, cheap drinks, thanks to the White Rabbit extending their Happy Hour throughout the day, and completely, no strings attached free to attend. So swing by the spot at 145 East Houston (Between Eldridge and Forsyth) and come say hi! more ›

Today is officially the first day of CMJ! Starting this afternoon and going strong through the weekend, every music club in the city is going to be jam packed with hours upon hours of the hottest up and coming bands from all over the world. Seeing that we'd expect your regular Gothamist reader won't be equipped with a $500 badge, we decided to highlight some of the standout free events this week. While you will still be able to get into nearly all the night showcases by paying at the door, many of these bands will be playing for free anyway while they're in town. more ›

THEATER: Joe's Pub hosts SpeakEasy, a theatrical "event" written by Neil LaBute, Edwin Sanchez, Theresa Rebeck and many others. The performance will happen throughout the Joe's Pub space, "surrounding the spectator with the bizarre, the comic, the seductive, and the sublime. Neo-Vaudeville meets social satire in this giant play with environmental staging, original music, and compelling new writing." It's the launch of The Fire Dept. a new theater company; this show features Janeane Garafalo and Kathleen Chalfant, among others. - John Del Signore more ›

7:30 - TBA! more ›

We mentioned a little while back that we will be holding a series of day parties while CMJ is going on. With only a few weeks to go, we'd like to officially announce the lineup for the Saturday show, which will run from 2 till 8pm on November 4th at the White Rabbit on East Houston street. Each of the bands will perform a special acoustic or otherwise stripped down set. As we mentioned before, the shows will all be free and open to the public, so anyone (21+, unfortunately) is welcome to stop by, grab a drink and check out the bands! There is much more to be announced very soon, including the lineups for the rest of the days, so stay tuned! more ›

We here at Gothamist have been working long and hard to put together something very special this year for CMJ. The annual music marathon that takes over the hipper parts of our city every Autumn is right around the corner, and we've got some very exciting news to share. more ›