Videographer Kelly Loudenberg reports on a mysterious afternoon experience in the Bronx, courtesy Ars Subterranea:

Sunday Afternoon. Torrential rain. The Bronx Borough Courthouse, built between 1905 and 1914 and abandoned for more than 20 years stands beside other vacant and fire-damaged buildings. It's a desolate area of the Bronx that has recently seen some new development. The owners of the building would like to see the space turned into a library or school. They say it lends itself to public use. more ›

Ah, the ongoing fight between stores that sell adult materials and the neighborhoods that don't want them anymore. A number of stores that sell "adult materials" have successfully appealed a lower court ruling which held up a city law that said any business that sells any bit of porno is an adult business. Previously, the city had allowed stores to operate under a "60/40 rule": If 60% or more of their floor space/inventory was non-porn-related, it would be classified just as a business. (Yes, that's why some of those stores you pass by on Sixth Avenue are selling old copies of the Scooby Doo movie when most customers just head to the back.) But in 2001, in a bit of Giuliani, the city tacked on the amendment that "exiled such businesses from all neighborhoods outside certain industrial areas." According to the Daily News, Appellate Court Judge Susan Read wrote that the "[the city has to show that the 6-0/40 businesses still display a] predominant, ongoing focus on sexually explicit materials or activities." more ›

Panic Room, the movie, has been called a member of the "Manhattan luxury real estate thriller" genre by A.O. Scott, who also include Single White Female and Rosemary's Baby in it...plus Eyes Wide Shut, even though these NYC apartments were figments of Kubrick's mind. Gothamist would like to add Ransom, Sliver, and Laura. For the less luxury but still scary apartments, Gothamist recommends Wait Until Dark and the NYC apartment movie thriller to end all NYC apartment thrillers, Rear Window. more ›