However you are spending Christmas Day, we hope you have a happy and safe holiday. Please take the time to think of others: If you get new clothes, make room in your closet and consider donating your gently worn ones to charities Donate food to City Harvest or the Food Bank. Here are more giving opportunities via the City of New York. Government offices are closed today, as are public schools (which have recess......

Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn have announced a plan to issue 1,500 new permits to vendors who commit to selling fresh fruits and vegetables from carts in low-income neighborhoods. The “Green Cart” plan, expected to be approved by the City Council, comes on the heels of a Health Department study comparing Harlem to the Upper East Side; it determined that supermarkets in Harlem are 30% less common than the UES, and......

During the holidays, we are all bombarded with requests for charitable giving. Sure, it's a great way to do something good and squeeze in one more tax deduction before year's end, but given the number of requests, making a choice about how to spend your charity dollars can be somewhat daunting. The Times focused this week on the dizzying number of food-related charities making year-end requests. Alongside the more traditional hunger-related organizations, "[c]haritable groups dedicated......

For the second year running, the Food Bank for New York City and the Lunchbox Fund of South Africa have enlisted over 100 celebrities in their holiday fundraiser. Boldface names like Kanye West, Elton John, Cameron Diaz, Mike Meyers, William Wegman and, um, Urban Outfitters, have created personalized, autographed lunchboxes that are now onsale via online auction. At Thursday night's kick-off event at Saatchi & Saatchi, a lunchbox by Michael Stipe was snatched up......

We hope the following doesn't put anyone off their appetite before they've even had a chance to tuck into their Thanksgiving feast, but we have to describe what champion eater Tim Janus managed to consume in a publicity feast for charity. In the course of 15 minutes, Janus gobbled down the following:A 10-pound turkey Four pounds of mashed potatoes Three pounds of cranberry sauce Two and a half pounds of green beans This was accomplished......

If you’ve got a sweet tooth and a couple hundred bucks to blow, you’ll want to mark your calendar for Friday November 16th, when the Food Network throws New York’s “largest dessert party ever.” Called Sweet, the event will unleash a massive tsunami of temptations from some of NewYork’s top pastry chefs, confectioners, cheese makers, bakers and chocolatiers. To wash it all down there’ll be a wide selection of champagne and wine, including samples from......

March 3 - 5: Hop Heaven NYC New York City's annual salute to the hop, features hop-heavy beers on tap at Hop Devil Grill. Taste Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA, Bell's Hop Slam and Rogue I2PA, or one of 20 others offered on tap starting Saturday at 12:00 PM and ending this Monday morning at 12:00 AM in the morning. 129 St. Marks Place, 212-533-4468. March 4: Food Bank's Time Out for Hunger Over 90......

The phrase "soup kitchen" might not bring gourmet food to mind, but Michael Ennes, the chef at the Broadway Community soup kitchen, is looking to change that. Mr. Ennes cooks approximately 500 meals a week using "homemade stocks, oils without trans fats, organic peanut butter and local produce when he can get it," food from the Food Bank of New York City, and donations from City Harvest, some of which is collected from some of......

Yesterday the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene held a public hearing about banning trans fats in city restaurants. Overall, most people said it was a good thing, with health and diet experts noting the "historic nature of these hearings" and that 22% of heart-related deaths are due to trans fats consumption. However, there was opposition - and not just from fast food restaurants. The Food Bank for New York City pointed out that......

September 7: Sake Tasting Oer thirty Japanese brewers will offer over 100 different types of sake, shochu, and wine previously unavailable in the US for a public tasting. Nibble on hors d'oeures as you speak to the brewers themselves to learn more about individual types of sake. Please call 212.647.9196 or email finfo@enjb.com for more information or to purchase tickets. $40 plus tax. 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM, En Japanese Braserie, 435 Hudson St. September......

Ooh: Sculptor Tom Otterness has a helium balloon in tomorrow's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - a balloon of Humpty Dumpty. Humpty Dumpty seems like a perfect subject for Otterness, whose round figures do seem eggish. You can see the balloons for the parade being blown up on the Upper West Side, at West 77th and West 81st Streets and Central Park West (near the Museum of Natural History), from 3PM-10PM today. [Gothamist went two......

- A majority of NYU grad students vote to strike. even though some think the strike is a bad idea - The Village Voice says the increase in emergency room visits for assaults means Mayor Bloomberg is fibbing about the city being so safe - And the NY Times wonders about the Mayor's lowering-welfare claims - The Food Bank is starting its November canned food drive - Gentrification in the East Village and Lower East......

September 25-29: Latin Beer Tasting Dos Equis, Sol, Corona and Negra Modelo, are paired up with tasty (and Kosher!) Latin dishes in a prix-fixe menu from September 25-29; cost is $49 per person. For details, visit their website. Park East Grill, 1562 Second Ave., 212-717-8400. September 27: Eat Out '05 Time Out New York continues to celebrate its tenth birthday with Eat Out ’05, a tasting event benefitting the Food Bank For New York City.......

Throughout the month of May the Food Bank for NYC is holding their annual CANS Film Festival. It's much better than Cannes (less travel and papparazzi) and of course beneficial to our city - as it's a fundraiser for their hunger awareness-raising campaign. You may have noticed some PSA's for the event by Christopher Michael Imperioli. [Sidenote: Gothamist is having some trouble even remembering what happened to him in the season finale of the Sopranos......

May 10: A Taste of the Good Life, Une Soirée en Provence Transport yourself to the sunny lavender fields of Provence, if only for one night, while learning about the local wines and helping support a great cause. CancerCare provides free professional support services to people affected by cancer, and all proceeds from this event support their programs. Taste three of the region’s celebrated appellations: Côtes de Provence, Côteaux D’Aix en Provence, and Côteaux Varois......

March 16th: International Chocolate Panel. The folks at the at 92nd Street Y are putting together a panel discussion and a fantastic-sounding tasting of chocolate from around the world. The panel, moderated by author and culinary historian Alexandra Leaf, includes Stephanie Teuwen, special events producer for the Chocolate Show, Clay Gordon, chocolate critic and founder of the New World Chocolate Society (sign us up for that one!), Francois Payard, chef-owner of Payard Patisserie & Bistro,......

We know there's still plenty of eating to do in September, but there are already a few October events that Gothamist has discovered coming down the pike. October 4th -- Time Out New York's annual event celebrating the release of their Eating & Drinking 2005 guide, featuring tastings from more than 35 of Time Out New York's favorite restaurants. Tickets are $75 and admission includes a copy of the Eating & Drinking 2005 guide. Buy......

If you work in the Financial District, Gothamist suggests you check out the Downtown Alliance's Dine Around Downtown event, where you can try samples of food from restaurants like Capsuto Freres, Ciao Bella, Bouley and Danube, and Les Halles Downtown, for $3 to $5. The event will be held at Chase Manhattan Plaza (between Liberty & Pine and Nassau & William Streets), from 11AM-3PM. Here's a PDF of participants. [If it's raining, the event will......