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. Last year Cityroom reported that Haring's "Crack is Whack" mural in Harlem River Park is "one of the only — if not the only — public art works by Haring still visible in New York......

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. This will be the third location for the club, which started off at 48 East Houston Street some 20 years ago (it's been on Leonard Street for 14......

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. We spoke to Ted Timbers at the DOT......

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? Lots and lots of phone calls to the City Council representative, the Community Board, the Parks Department and D.O.T. have......

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......

September 27: Joy of Sake 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......

Next Tuesday night, Whole Foods Market Bowery and Gothamist will be holding a singles event, Check Out. 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! Register here (if you've already signed up, no need......

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. Officials at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum have been vocal proponents of the district, which has been pushed forward by the Lower East Side Preservation......

Does your summer seem to be winding down without a fling? Stop by the Whole Foods Market Bowery for Whole Foods Market & Gothamist's Check Out, 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: (Your email address will only be used to confirm your attendance.)......

It seems every day we get an email from CMJ urging us to tell our musical readers that there is "only one day left to apply!" followed by an email two days later saying there's an extended deadline. Well, bands, apply here if you want to be a part of the festivities because apparently the clock is ticking. The countdown prompted us to start working on our own CMJ-week event a bit early this......

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. In New York heated competition among concert promoters has driven a building spree of small and midsize spaces over the last two years.......

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......

May 3: Cheezapolooza III: Naked vs Cooked Nolita House hosts cheese gurus Waldemar & Nadia as they feature six of spring's best artisanal cheese both unadulterated and then all hot and melty. Nibbles include Piave Vecchio and Pancetta Mini Grilled Cheese Sandwiches; Mini Valdeon Blue Cheese Burgers on Brioche and Four Year Aged Gouda Mini Mac & Cheese. You'll get drink tickets for a glass of wine or beer selected to pair with the each......

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. With last years announcement of Knitting Factories opening up all over the country (maybe even Boise, Idaho!),......

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). Curbed has been following the......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: Bldg Collapse | Maulberry [sic] St & East Houston Street Manhattan, NY | 3/31/2007 4:37 p.m., Construction Accident | W 60th St & Amsterdam Ave Manhattan, NY | 3/31/2007 12:06 p.m., and Ballistics Search | 2750 W 33rd St Brooklyn, NY | 3/31/2007 10:58 a.m. (In other words, heads up.) Long live Photoshop: Did you see today's Nancy Pelosi cover? They'll leave the light on: hotel at 6 Columbus......

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. We’re referring of course to gefilte fish, that jellied quenelle-like bitch of a dish whose nuances are often lost on the......

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. 7pm // Barnes & Noble [33 E 17th St] // Free SHOP:......

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......

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......

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: 2:15 - The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers (Listen at Myspace) 3:00 - Judah Johnson (myspace) 3:45 - The......

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! Here's the lineup for this afternoon. Same deal as before...The White Rabbit on 145 East Houston Between Eldridge and Forsyth. Completely free to attend. Stop on by anytime and say hi! Friday: Hayes Peebles......

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! Below is the lineup for today. Two quick programming notes:......

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......

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......

Jeez, CMJ is only a week away! We have already announced the Saturday lineup for our unofficial CMJ day party, and now we'd like to give you the bands scheduled for next Thursday, November 2nd. All the shows will be at The White Rabbit on East Houston, and all the bands are preparing acoustic, or otherwise stripped down sets to perform. Shows are free to attend (21+). No badges, no cover, nothing like that.......

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......

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. This year, from Thursday, November 2nd through Saturday the 4th, we will be hosting a series of unofficial day parties at The White Rabbit on......

EVENT: Help raise some money for the good fight with the Rude Mechanical Orchestra and Time's Up! Two long time allies are coming together to raise money and awareness for the environment. RMO is NYC's punk rock radical marching band and will lead the evening of music that includes Monkeyshine 9, Heavy Creatures, Quick Release and Phil Not Bombs. Also featuring DJ Suggested D's dance floor madness and the infamous blender bike. Time's Up!'s has......

We know that watching a movie that consists of Al Gore giving a slide show presentation doesn't sound that intriguing. However, the former Vice President has got a lot to say, and it's all kind of...scary. After writing his book, Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit, the man decided to lead us all in a save the world campaign. He put together a slide show and traveled around the country, telling whoever......