If you couldn't get into the mysterious Spiegeltent in the Extra Mooga area of the Great GoogaMooga this weekend, don't sweat it—another one just popped up in Times Square. This particular century-old tent was found in a barn in Belgium and was restored for this NYC appearance. (It's also a different tent than the one that was down at the South Street Seaport back in 2006, when Gothamist presented Movable Hype 9.0 with O'Death.) These luxuriant traveling Spiegeltents were used as traveling dance halls and music/cabaret venues throughout Europe in the early 20th century; inside it feels like time stood still. more ›

Back in 2008, we shared some exhilarating video of cyclists peddling through NYC at breakneck speeds. The hardcore footage is part of a documentary called Empire, which director Luke Stiles tells us is almost finished. The hour-long feature will resemble a "BMX or skate video; music-driven action sports stuff," says Stiles. "All fixed gear, all NYC, with traffic and tricks. No one has been injured to date except for the occasional shin burger or twisted angle by one of the trick guys. Everyone's pretty good at what they do." They better be—as you can see from this gnarly new video, serious injury is just one handlebar twist away: more ›

While it feels like New York may be crumbling around us at times, The Cueto Project and The Bruce High Quality Foundation piece it all back together with a new exhibit called Empire, opening tonight and running through April 11th. They explain: "Concomitant with the impending financial meltdown of the galaxy, and in the spirit of elaborating on political metaphors by way of natural events, Empire re-imagines New York City as a pastiche of Utopian visions through photographic historical interventions, dis-temporal allegorical paintings, broken statuary, and unrealizable urban planning models." Looks like a lot of D.I.Y. Transformers to us! more ›

Here's a fresh, hip-level view of what it's like to pedal at top speed through New York City traffic with a flagrant disregard for traffic laws, safety and basic common sense. The people behind the video say it's "a teaser for Empire, a film about having fun on your bike in the city." Sure, it's all harmless DIY fun until your fixie's painted white and locked at the corner where you ran your last red light. But be sure to stay tuned for the 2:30 mark, when a couple of these maniacs actually wear helmets! And at 3:14, there's a taste of what it's like to merge with highway traffic on a bike. more ›