Testimony picked up again yesterday in the trial of three police officers for fatally shooting an unarmed man in 2006. The prosecution called friends of victim Sean Bell and the commanding officer of the undercover operation to the stand. Bell was to be married on November 25, 2006, and the night before, he and his friends were celebrating with a bachelor party at Club Kalua, a topless bar in Jamaica, Queens. Friend Hugh Jensen said......

The City Council voted 40-3 to end the tax breaks Madison Square Garden has enjoyed since 1982. It's estimated that the city has lost almost $300 million in potential revenue in subsidies to the "World's Most Famous Arena." Although the City Council wants the tax breaks to end (our favorite quote is from Councilman Lew Fidler: "I have spent my entire life as as Knicks fan, and I doubt if there's anyone who loves the......

We were encouraged to hear a statue would be unveiled in Central Park memorializing the racehorse Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winner who remained undefeated in all of his races before tragically breaking a leg in the Preakness Stakes (video). The sculpture by Daniel Edwards - whose Paris Hilton and Britney Spears sculptures are familiar eye-openers - is scheduled to be unveiled on April 30th to coincide with this year's Kentucky Derby. Unlike the beloved statue......

MUSIC: If you see a lot of guitar-toting ladies and gents around the Puck Building right now, that's because CMJ has officially begun. This means there is a ton of music happening (including at our own Gothamist House starting tomorrow). Tonight we suggest hitting up Brooklyn Vegan's show at Bowery Ballroom: Voxtrot, The Rosebuds, Dean & Britta...and so many more. 6pm // Bowery Ballroom [6 Delancey St] // $16, or free with badge THEATER: A.R.......

This week Inside Edition aired footage of rats in some of New York's more popular restaurants. The statement we received from the program states: "In middle to late August, Inside Edition’s 'Rat Patrol' took to the streets of Manhattan between 1am and 4am peering their cameras and flashlights into the windows of a wide variety of eateries from fast food places to fine dining establishments." In total they found 22 restaurants harboring the urban......

Something we did not realized happened on Sunday: Governor Eliot Spitzer attended a Nascar race in Watkins Glen, NY (the only NY State town that has a Nascar track, same town where the Farm Sanctuary is located) and was called "the best Jewish Nascar fan" by cable executive and race car driver Leo Hindery. The NY Times explains that his brother-in-law is an engineer at Hendrick Motorsports and that Hendrick driver Jeff Gordon is......

EVENT: Join a slew of artists, bid on their work and enjoy complimentary cocktails tonight at a benefit for the Seed Project. Artwork from Swoon, Lisa Dahl, Todd Deluca, Troy Dugas, Lee Everett, Midori Harima & Annysa Ng, Fumiko Toda, Sarah Trigg and a whole bunch more will be auctioned. The Seed Project asks that you buy basil seeds and after planting them: 1. Document what you have planted and put the picture online. 2.......

EVENT: "Home Buying for Hipsters" would like to help out all of you "creative non-traditional wage earners" during your quest to own a home. Buying property is an art, after all, so creatives may even have a head start! They "aim to specifically address your concerns and break down the process into steps you can understand." Their classes are free and open to everyone ("hipsters, non-hipsters, art stars, rock stars, designers, freelancers, sculptors, poets, part-time......

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (directed by David Yates) In a funny reversal of the "movie's more important than the book" paradigm, the excitement surrounding the release of the fifth Harry Potter movie on Wednesday was but a preview to the real midnight mania next Friday. While the movies in this children's books franchise have been popular, they could almost be seen as publicity tools for the books, psyching up fans for......

Jordan Carlos first came to the attention of most as Stephen Colbert's Black Friend Alan, but he's much more than just a face. Jordan is a comedian, an Eagle Scout, a self proclaimed preppy black guy, and the host of Nickelodian's Me: TV. And if that's not enough, he also looks snazzy in a vest. What does it mean to be a preppy black guy? Being a preppy black guy means growing up privileged......

Along 65th Street near Fort Hamilton Parkway in Brooklyn are a number of culinary gems: The sidewalk-sprawling Three Guys Produce, billed as “The Original Poor Person’s Friend;” Asian markets with fresh shiso and lily bulbs, and also the legendary, cafeteria-style Rocco’s Calamari. With a fledgling greenmarket in nearby Leif Ericson Park, this Bay Ridge/Dyker Heights/Bensonhurst interzone has quietly become a destination for inexpensive, quality provisions. The three Royal Crown Magnifico locations should also be at......

If Justin Timberlake is being credited for bringing sexy back, then the Scissor Sisters can be credited for bringing disco, fun and colorful stage shows back. The (mostly) New Yorkers are back in town tomorrow night, taking the stage at MSG. Babydaddy recently took the time to answer some questions for us (he's the one in the pink pantsuit). Let's get this out of the way, where did your band name originate? Friend of Jake's......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery in Harlem, a suspicious package on the West Side, and a stabbing in Astoria. Bad news for geese: Governor Spitzer has come out against a ban on foie gras, and he controls the state agency that would get to make the decision. There might not be an Idiotarod next year: the NYPD has adopted a rule that says groups of 50 or more have to get......

The controversial proposal to turn the UPS lot on Spring Street and West Street into a place for 106 Sanitation trucks may align Donald Trump with critics of his planned Trump Soho Hotel. The Donald takes a break from blabbing about ladies of The View and tells the Post, "I don't like trucks, the fumes, the traffic from the standpoint of the community... If the community wanted help, I would certainly help." Still the Trump......

A young Queens boy was hit and killed by an oncoming LIRR train near the Forest Hills station yesterday afternoon. Ari Kraft and his friends had been tagging signal boxes when a train headed to Huntington hit him. The police say they had been taking pictures of their work before they crossed the tracks to leave. According to the Daily News, Kraft managed to beat one train on a third track and he thought he......

Many people in the tri-state area have been asking the same question: “What the hell is going on at Channel 2?” The one easy answer is that it is the work of the station’s general manager Peter Dunn. Dunn came to WCBS in November of 2005 from CBS owned sister station KYW in Philadelphia. There, he turned the station’s newscast into a tabloid newscast heavy on infotainment, complete with former Access Hollywood host Larry Mendte......

READING: What do you do after you've outed Deep Throat? Well, David Friend, editor extraordinaire at Vanity Fair and general writer-about-town, has put out a new book - Watching The World Change - obervations on the post-9/11 world, and he's reading from it at the ever-popular Half King in Chelsea. - Krissa Corbett Cavouras 7pm // The Half King [W 23rd St at 10th Ave] // Free TALK: Director of "Requiem for a Dream" and......

With the fifth anniversary of September 11 drawing near, many related books are being released this and next week. One of the most intriguing is The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon. Both have a rich history in comics: USA Today explains, "Jacobson, 76, created Richie Rich and was executive editor of Marvel and Harvey Comics, and Colon, 75, drew Casper and Wonder Woman" - but the book is......

In this week's New Yorker, Fred Willard goes on a Gray Line bus tour of the city with writer Tad Friend (aka Amanda Hesser's Mr. Latte). And Willard analyzes the tour guide's skills from the upper deck of the bus. Here's an excerpt, and for background, the tour guide is a "small Japanese-American woman":As the bus drove down West Seventy-second Street, past the Dakota, where John Lennon was killed, Willard looked away: “It’s too recent,......

We all know that city buses move slowly. Some might say it's because of traffic, double parking, the people who get off at the front of the bus instead of the back, but overall, we all want them to move a lot faster. The City Council's Gale Brewer issued a report on how to speed up buses and here were some of the ideas:- Installing bus-mounted cameras for better enforcement of bus lanes and stops;......

If you're in the West Village or Chelsea today, swing by one of these happenings: 1. Trish Grantham billboard painting: "With the help of up-and-coming artists, Visa is transforming a Greenwich Village intersection into a cornerstone of art and expression. As part of a multi-day project, ground-breaking artist Trish Grantham will create a one-of-a-kind billboard mural under the banner of a Visa's newest ad, "Life Takes Expression." Below Grantham's mural, Visa will also showcase......

This scenario has happened a thousand times. We can play it back in our minds. Friend: I had the best wine last night. It was amazing. Us: Really. What wine? Where was it from? Who was the producer? Friend: Uhmm…I can’t remember but it was red and it was delicious. The most valuable tool in exploring the world of wine is finding out what you like. The rating scores, the best sellers, the gold medal......

Come this summer, you may see a new NYPD car - the Dodge Charger, best known as the Dukes of Hazzard car. The NYPD is adding fifteen 4-door Chargers for its Highway Unit - they must really love the Hemi - and ten will be tested this summer. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, "We're always looking for good equipment, including a little muscle in the car department," which almost sounds dirty. Of course, the NYPD's......

Yesterday, Oprah Winfrey admitted she made a mistake (gasp!) and took James Frey and his publisher, Nan A. Talese, to task for making her look foolish on her show. Yes, Oprah defended the readers' right to know if something peddled as truth is false, but mainly, Oprah was ashamed that she had embarrassed herself by defending A Million Little Pieces. [You can order the tape and/or transcript that amazing hour of televsion here.] Gothamist then......

Yes, it's that time of year again - it's Festivus! The holiday, which gained national popularity thanks to Seinfeld, was actually created by a Seinfeld writer's father, and Wikipedia has many Festivus details, more than we really remembered. Our favorite part of Festivus would be the Airing of the Grievances. Here are some of Gothamist's grievances that we'll be sharing at Festivus Dinner tonight: - Cat's refusal to wear cute outfits - Friend's refusal to......

Mick Stingley, Low-Rent Rock Critic...

CONTEST ALERT: We're part of a joint blog contest thing that we don't completely understand, but here's what you need to know: FREE iPod Nano! Filled up with the soundtrack from Elizabethtown. You can enter here, and you should. Seriously. Do it. ART: "For the first time in history, Skewville, America's most subversive street art twins, will be unlocking their doors and allowing the public to explore their secret laboratory..." of their own brand of......

Day 2 was significantly busier than Day 1. All in all, we made it to 12 different shows between 10:00am and 2am, we'll highlight the highlights here. Bright and early yesterday morning we shot uptown to The Museum of Television and Radio for a KEXP in-studio performance by The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers. Due to some wretched midtown traffic, we didn’t get there until they were halfway through the set, but we......

Tonight is Gothamist's Movable Hype 4.0 show at Knitting Factory with Doveman, Raising the Fawn, Bravo Silva, and Langhorne Slim. In case you missed it, we interviewed Langhorne, Doveman, and Raising the Fawn. The free shows of summer are drawing to a close, but not without a bang. Spend nothing but your time at a show almost every night this week. "The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop group, known mostly for one hit,......

Besides filming the new Robert DeNiro-directed The Good Shepherd in New York City and becoming an honorary Cambodian citizen, and besides shtupping America's Favorite Friend's husband and being hotter than hell, Angelina Jolie is making news with the announcement that MTV will air a "video diary" of her trip to Africa. Jolie and Jeffrey Sachs - yes, that Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, the noted economist who works for Columbia's Earth Institute and advice UN Secretary General......