MUSIC: Merkin Concert Hall is reopening, and to help celebrate some of the piano greats will be on hand for a free, six hour concert. Philip Glass and John Medeski will be amongst those who will perform. Get more details here. more ›

Soon after the New Year, the inviting little café formerly known as Chickenbone will be reborn as Dram. So named for the unit of measurement in the apothecaries' system, the south Williamsburg bar will focus on specialty pre-prohibition cocktails made with all-fresh ingredients. Managing partner Tom Chadwick – who currently moonlights behind the bar at Bushwick Country Club – told us that his vision for Dram involves bringing the fastidious cocktail craze, popularized by exclusive... more ›

FAIR: The International vintage poster fair has arrived. It's time to take that ironic velvet Elvis off the wall and class up your joint. The fair will include "over 25 international dealers with more than 10,000 original vintage posters." More info here. more ›

Ann Bannon’s 1950s lesbian pulp novels, The Beebo Brinker Chronicles, have long been beloved for their vivid portrayal of secretive homosexual subcultures in ultra-repressed America. The series has been recently adapted for the stage by Hourglass Group; their production charts the parallel lives of two amorous sorority sisters who painfully part ways after graduation. Beth settles down and starts a family; Laura heads to New York where, after a torrid affair with the titular Beebo – the Donna Juan of the lesbian bar scene – she is able to ultimately embrace her sexuality. When, years later, Beth breaks her bonds of domestication and tracks Laura down, she’s subjected to a traumatic tour of a life that might have been hers. more ›

The Brooklyn Paper reports on an odd incident involving a bride in Park Slope. On Fourth Street (between Eighth Avenue and Prospect Park West) this past Sunday residents awoke to a woman in a wedding gown sleeping on a ledge of a brownstone. more ›

It used to be that the only kind of croissants you could find were the fake ones—made without a trace of butter and not flaky at all. Now though it seems there’s an authentic French patisserie on every corner offering up flawless renditions of the pastry. But in the search for the best croissant, Gothamist still prefers the classic crescent at Patisserie Claude. The proprietor here—let’s call him Monsieur Claude—has been holed up in his tiny hot kitchen on West Fourth Street for years. Perennially sweaty and grumpy, he radiates a disdain for all things American. (Hint: don’t order American coffee.) But paying him obeisance is part of the charm. Regulars often form lines out the door of the unassuming storefront, but they never complain. more ›

It's all about lesbian chic in City Hall these days! First, gay City Council member Christine Quinn is made the City Council Speaker, and now, City Council member Margarita Lopez dubs Mayor Bloomberg an "honorary lesbian"! And the Mayor didn't admit to watching the L Word or thinking about adopting a baby from China with his girlfriend - all he did was turn over a few city buildings on East Fourth Street to arts organizations in Lopez's district. Lopez's designation (Sapphicization?) of the mayor was in the context of saying she wanted the mayor to perform in a theater piece and he'd be "part of the group of people that I am part of, the gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender community. And I'm making him an honorary lesbian." Mayor Bloomberg did laugh and say, "Let the record show that the mayor moved right along after that." Hmm, would Brian Ellner call Mayor Bloomberg an "honorary homosexual?" more ›

There is the loveliest story in the NY Times today about Yuki Endo, a young man who lives on the Upper Side and how he loves the city so much. The article, in fact, is titled, "He Loves New York, and It Loves Him Right Back," as Endo has befriended pretty much everyone in his neighborhood, from firefighters to security guards at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, from classmates to people he meets on the subway, as he lives the city. Endo is disabled, born without chromosome 18, which "makes it hard for him to speak clearly." Even still, for living in the city for 10 years, Endo might know the city better than most New Yorkers.

Yuki is fascinated with the tiniest of the city's intricacies: the toll-free number (#3333) dialed at subway pay phones to hear automated service information and changes; the elevator at the Met that people often confuse for a gallery room when the doors are open because of its wood paneling and display case; the long-forgotten news that earlier this month southbound F trains were operating on the D line from West Fourth Street to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue, an announcement of which Yuki carried in his backpack.

The Metrocard is dispensable in ways that the MTA probably never guessed. In fact, the subways seem to be the transport of choice for suspected sex attacker, Peter Braunstein, who has been dodging the police for the past two weeks. The NY Post says that the NYPD has been able to track Braunstein's whereabouts because he purchased an unlimited Metrocard with his credit card, putting him at West Fourth Street and near Richmond Hill on various days. But the lagtime between receiving the information and getting detectives there takes a while - and Braunstein's unlimited card expired. We supposes the MTA never installed a special alarm if someone's card was swiped through, sort of like a "You're the millionth shopper" acknowledgement. more ›

The New York Times profiled the Waverly at IFC Center cafe, observing it’s “nearly always empty, although it's hard to know why… Its location could be a lot worse: it is stumbling distance from the West Fourth Street subway stop in the West Village….And while most restaurants that lack a sport, ninja or Martian theme have to rely on cooking to draw diners, Waverly has movies next door to do that (And tickets to the theater get you a 15 percent discount on lunch or dinner).” more ›

The Daily News looked at the dangers of some subway stations' platforms: At many stations, the "rubbing boards," which are the barriers next to the platform that act as a buffer so the train doesn't hit concrete, are crumbling apart, which can lead to potential subway riders' falls. The DN says riders could trip on the uneven surfaces and the cracked boards could snag someone's heel. The dangerous stations are "Burnside Avenue, Mosholu Parkway, Kingsbridge Road and 183rd St. on the No. 4 line in the Bronx and at Smith/Ninth Sts. (F), Lawrence St. (M,R) and Newkirk Ave. (B,Q) in Brooklyn." more ›

Now, you know us, we'll drink to anything- Tuesday, pandas, a subway ride without a man exposing himself to us- but recent events have really made us wonder if we shouldn't be doing more with those dollars. more ›