Results tagged “freepolls”

The Associated Press and Ipsos asked Americans to pick which candidates would make the scariest Halloween costumes. Naturally, frontrunners Senator Hillary Clinton and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani won in their respective political parties (there were separate polls for the two parties). Clinton led Democrats with 37% while Giuliani had 14%, and no other candidates broke 6%, giving them resounding wins. And we found this interesting: "While a predictable two-thirds of Republicans picked [Clinton], she also was the choice of 18 percent of Democrats. Among members of her own party, that made her second only to Giuliani as the scariest costume."

With the jury for the sexual harassment trial of Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas and the rest of the Knicks organization continuing its deliberations for a third day, an interesting workplace question has been raised. Is swearing at the office okay?

The Grey Lady is paying a return visit to Peter Luger Steak House in tomorrow's dining section. This New York institution was last reviewed by Ruth Reichl, who awarded it a hefty three stars, proclaiming it "the best steak in New York City." Her description of the Luger experience is almost pornographic:

You know the steak is great before you even taste it. You know it from the fine, funky, mineral aroma that wafts across the table and announces that this is a piece of meat. When the waiter appears with the platter, he stands there spooning a mixture of butter and meat juices across the sizzling porterhouse in an exercise of pure theater. He is merely prolonging the moment, allowing the aroma to revive all your primal instincts as he stretches out the time until you can actually sink your teeth into the flesh. Finally he serves, slowly doling out slices of fillet and sirloin. As your mouth closes on the incredibly tender piece of beef, aroma and flavor come together, exploding on the palate.

Here we are - day two of the taxi strike by a group of taxi drivers upset with the changes that the Taxi and Limousine Commission has enacted. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which organized the strike, claimed that 90% of -owned cabs were on the streets (versus 93% last Wednesday), but that doesn't include owner-operated cabs (fleets comprise only 30-40% of cabs). A taxi industry group reported that 72% of the city's 3,200 cabs were on the road.

Yesterday, the odd news about the NYPD's arrest of three men involved with an egg-shaped submarine near the Queen Mary 2, off the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, revealed that a Brooklyn artist was behind the whole benign operation. Police Commissioner called artist Duke Riley's stunt "marine mischief," adding that the "creative craft of three adventuresome individuals" did "not pose any terrorist threat."

As many people wonder about the state of the bridges in the New York City region, in the wake of I-35 collapsing in Minneapolis, the city's Department of Transportation is trying to reassure residents that our bridges are safe. Though many bridges meet the definition of "deficient" - 19% of bridges are in "fair" or "poor" condition, 15% meet the federal definition of "structurally deficient" - a DOT first deputy commissioner Lori Ardito says, "In New York, we do not have any bridges that are structurally deficient."

You may have many opinions of Senator Charles Schumer. A man who gives weekly press conferences by way of making the rounds on Sunday morning news shows, someone who will "put a bullet betweens the president's eyes," the senior Senator of New York, orchestrator of the Senate's shift back to the Democrats, husband of a recent Department of Transportation commissioner, imaginer of middle class couple the Baileys, cereal hog. But defender of hedge funds' and private equity firms' desire to keep their low tax rate? Who knew?

If you have yet to vote what burger should be on the menu at next weekend's Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach, today is your last chance. Since we announced the event on Monday, the leading vote getter is the onion burger, followed by the butter burger and the pimento burger. Only the top three vote-getters will make the menu for the July 28th event. Also up for contention are the Motz burger, the guber burger, the nut burger, and the hammmburger. For descriptions of each burger, check out our previous post. There will also be a keg of Orlio Common Ale provided by Six Apart.

After the success of our Gothamist-A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ last year (that's quality before quantity), we've decided to team up with Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today for another burger event at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City. At last year's event, Chef Harry Hawk served up four regional burgers from around the nation. This year, you get to choose what burgers are served, with the top three vote-getters across Gothamist, Serious Eats, and A Hamburger Today making the menu.

Yesterday saw two important moment in the Department of Transportation's handling of bicylist quality of life issues. One was the installation of bike racks on North 7th at Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, which the DOT said was "the first time car parking spaces have been removed to accommodate bicycle parking in New York City." Previously, cops have sawed through locks chained to the subway entrance and impounded bikes, leading to community demand for bike racks.

Happy July 4th! After some spectacular weather, today is rather blah. And to make matters more meh, it's a Wednesday! The NY Times pondered the oddness of a hump day July 4th, a mini-break in the middle of the week.

Rebecca Charles, NYC lobster roll pioneer and owner of Pearl Oyster Bar will do whatever it takes to protect the formula she has created to make Pearl such a success. She has brought suit in Federal court against Ed McFarland, her former sous chef and owner of Ed's Lobster Bar, claiming that he copied “'each and every element' of Pearl Oyster Bar, including the white marble bar, the gray paint on the wainscoting, the chairs and bar stools with their wheat-straw backs, the packets of oyster crackers placed at each table setting and the dressing on the Caesar salad," amounting to a theft of Charles' intellectual property.

We've had half a day to absorb the news, but it's still kind of crazy that Mayor Michael Bloomberg decided to drop his 6-years-old Republican coat for an unaffiliated one. Here's his official statement:

“I have filed papers with the New York City Board of Elections to change my status as a voter and register as unaffiliated with any political party. Although my plans for the future haven’t changed, I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our City.

Continue reading "Michael Bloomberg, the Ulitmate Party Hopper"

The city's deputy mayor of health and human services Linda Gibbs announced some details of how the cash-incentives-to-the-poor program will work yesterday. Students (whose schools participate in the program and whose families meet the critieria) would get $25/month for at least 95% elementary school attendance and 50%/month at the high school level, $600 for each of the five Regents exams passed, $300 for taking 11 high school credits a year, $50 for getting a library card and $50 for taking the PSAT. Additionally, some families will qualify for $150/month for working 30 hours a week and $600 for every 140 hours of job training.

We've got a (spoiler-full) summary of the episode after the jump, but we want to know what you thought of finale:

The tabloids and cable news media got a weekend windfall when a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered socialite Paris Hliton back to jail. The Post called her a "Wailbird" while the Daily News described her as a "blubbering blond". And let's not even discuss the ridiculous coverage of her arrest at her home and the TV helicopters following her to court on TV.

An AMNew York article delves into the neighborhood and tactical thoughts behind NYPD sky watch towers. The towers have four digital cameras, a spotlight, and a place for a cop to observe what's happening from two stories above the sidewalk. Reaction to the sky watches has been mixed.

A number of politicians offered their support (though not 100%) of Mayor Bloomberg's Voldemort, aka congestion pricing, today. U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters appeared with Governor Eliot Spitzer and Bloomberg at a press conference today, with Peters saying, "This plan will keep the city that never sleeps from becoming the city that never moves." She also put some pressure on the state Legislature to approve the just submitted S. 6068, the NY State Senate's congestion pricing legislation, by saying that in order for the city to continue to qualify for federal transportation grants, it needs to pass congestion pricing.

Sure, the Yankees have lost their fifth game in a row and are 14.5 games behind the Red Sox, but know what's more interesting: Alex Rodriguez's off-the-field activities in Toronto! The Post puts A-Rod on cover, calling him "Stray-Rod," and wondering why he was hanging out with a "mysterious, busty blonde" at a strip club AND his hotel. Apparently he went to the strip club with two other guys, but he was seen going into the Four Seasons elevator with only the woman.

We read the headline "5 New Yorkers detained in Disney World brawl" and thought, "Uh oh." Then it turned out that the five people were from Long Island! (Shirley, NY, to be exact.)

Baseball fans are crowding the 7 train to head to Shea for Game 2 of the Mets-Yankees Subway Series this afternoon. Though veteran pitcher Andy Pettitte threw well enough for the Yankees in their 3-2 loss last night, we asked if it's panic time in the Bronx, given that two inexperienced pitchers are starting Games 2 and 3. What do you think will happen in the rest of the series?

And with that, he's trying to convince the conservative voters out there that he's a good choice. He gave this opinion at Houston Baptist university, where one poli sci major said, "Overall, I thought it was a great speech. I think it was a good political stance to take. He's sitting right in the middle," but then admitted he wouldn't vote for Giuliani because he's anti-abortion. Of course, given that Giuliani donated to Planned Parenthood in the 1990s, the conservatives are having a field day with him.

It's a tabloid Saturday jackpot as a Los Angeles County judge sentenced "celebrity" Paris Hilton to 45 days in jail. Superior Court Judge Michael Sauer agreed with prosecutors who felt that Hilton's driving with a suspended license (she was busted for DUI on September 7, 2006, ordered to go to alcohol education this past February, and then was pulled over yet again in late February) deserved jail and sentenced the infamous sometimes New Yorker to 45 days in jail. Both the Post and Daily News put her on their covers and detailed yesterday's hearing. From the News:

When a prosecutor asked if she read the license suspension notice that was mailed to her from the DMV, she replied, "I have people do that for me."

Continue reading "More Than One Night in Jail For Paris"

Last night, eight Democratic candidates met in the first debate of the already very long road to the 2008 presidential election. And the debate, which included Senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd, and Joseph Biden, as well as former Senator John Edwards and Mike Gravel, Representative Dennis Kucinich, and New Mexico Bill Richardson, was more an opportunity to criticize President Bush's policies, versus each other. With eight candidates vying to make the most of the time, it was a somewhat underwhelming debate.

Studying for the LSATs is nothing compared to stripping down for Playboy TV! The Daily News reports that Adriana Dominguez is getting a lot of attention for a naked romp that is circulating on the Internet. Dominiguez posed for Playboy TV's "Naked Happy Girls" - episode, "Rock Star and the Lawyer" (here's a link - definitely NSFW) - where she gets spanked and poses with gavels among other things. Though the show aired in January, a clip has been forwarded to law schools and law firms in the past month.

Have you ever wanted to rub shoulders with Tom Cruise and learn about Scientology's detox treatment for 9/11 workers? Then you'll be excited to learn that the superstar will be in town for an April 19 fund-raiser. The Post reports that while the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project hasn't been approved by the NYPD or FDNY, some swear by it. However, even those involved with the fund-raiser are conflicted.