Photograph of Fidel Castro from 2006, proving he was alive after intestinal surgery and wearing an Adidas tracksuit Cuban president Fidel Castro resigned his position after nearly 50 years of rule. The 81-year-old Castro has been battling illness since 2006, notably turning over power to his brother Raul and other ministers temporarily. Though he was still ruling after his 2006 surgery, Castro was little seen. Now it is expected that Castro's resignation positions Raul......

Streetsblog summarizes Bloomberg's ten point plan for New York's future-- more housing, more parks, more mass transit, more water, better infrastructure, more environmentalism, more access to waterways. Amy went to the annual New York Public Library open house, and took some freaky Ghostbusters-style pix in the stacks. Ronell Wilson, the suspect in the double cop-killing on Staten Island, is also an aspiring rapper. Sample lyric: "You better have that vast and dat Golock /......

Even as the stores sport back to school sales (which depress us, even now), summer lingers on your friends the -ists. This week's collection of links provides some of the best, worst, and oddest bits of summer fun. So, bring your laptop up onto the roof, make yourself an umbrella drink or ten, and enjoy this week's choice posts from across the Gothamist network. Torontoist (where it's 75 degrees F as of this writing)......

There's a wonderful article in the NY Times about the county clerk, Norman Goodman, who is in charge of jury summons for Manhattan courts. Not only has the 82 year old Goodman been there for almost 40 years (it's also a "lifetime" post), he gets to read all the excuses people give for not rising to their civic duty. Here are some of the "excuses": - A cat threw up on the jury summons -......

The New York Times explains a lot about the New Yorker sign that we always see when we're driving through the Lincoln Tunnel from New Jersey (yes, that happens sometimes). The sign, which refers to the New Yorker Hotel, not the magazine (which was never that far West - heavens!), at 481 Eighth Avenue and 34th Street, is in the process of trading in its white letters for red ones that can light up. Built......