Photo, by ultraclay! at flickr Pity the poor tourist who comes upon this ad hoc weekend subway service advisory message scribbled on a series of dry erase boards at the Fulton St. station in Manhattan. Actually, pity any subway rider who pauses at great length to try to determine the meaning behind this advisory and then comprehends what it ultimately means for them to get to where they need to go. The above photo......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Franklin Ave. and 169th St. in the Bronx, a missing child on West 54th St. in Manhattan, and a stabbing on Fulton St. and Red Hook Lane in Brooklyn. Walter O'Malley was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame recently. The former owner of the Dodgers, he infamously moved the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles because the city wouldn't build him a new stadium. Times......

After months and months of delays, the BAM Cultural District may be moving forward. The NY Times is reporting that city officials have chosen Harlem-based developer and Brooklyn resident Carlton Brown to create what the Times' Terry Pristin calls the "cultural district's centerpiece." This is the first Brooklyn project for Brown, who developed the Kalahari and 1400 on Fifth in Harlem and the Solaire, the city's first residential green building, in Battery Park City. The......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a carjacking at Tompkins and School Rds. on Staten Island, a person was killed by a 5 train at Bowling Green station in Manhattan, and an armed robbery at 51st Ave. and Northern Blvd. in Queens. Bidding closed at $2,600 for the new owner of the Seinfeld ASSMAN license plate prop on eBay. Another Mister Softee driver was busted for selling drugs out of his ice cream truck, this......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck on Pennsylvania Ave. and Fulton St. in Brooklyn, a bank robbery on Co-Op City Blvd. in the Bronx, and a commercial high-rise fire on Broadway in Manhattan. An actor who once played a police lieutenant on L&O: SVU turned himself in to NJ cops today on suspicion of possession of child pornography. YouTube wants to subpeona comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in a lawsuit charging......

Reader Bill Leahy recently scanned a number of slides that his father took in New York City during the 1950s. Above is a picture of the intersection of Main St. and Northern Blvd. in Flushing, Queens. There are many more pictures that are fascinating looks at the city more than a half century ago. Looking westward up Wall St. at Trinity Church. City Hall when pedestrians could still stroll right past the front steps.......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: missing children on Lenox Rd. in Brooklyn, shots fired at Columbus Ave. and West 104th St. in Manhattan, and a water rescue at the Stepping Stone Lighthouse off City Island in the Bronx. The chief of a volunteer fire company in the Bronx is scrambling to explain how the firehouse is now broke, after receiving a half-million dollars in donations after 9/11/01. A pair of 15-year-olds will be tried......

We're not sure when this started, but somewhere along the line it became common for reporters to quiz Presidential candidates on the campaign trail about the price of grocery staples, like a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk. It's supposed to be some indication of how in-touch a candidate is with the common American voter, but it's also a form of "gotcha!" question, especially when asked at a $1,000-a-person fund-raiser. Knowing this, one......

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. The Post spoke to......

Remember all the excitement surrounding the BAM Cultural District around, oh, 2001? Well, the NY Post is reporting that the previous plan for a theater and arts library has been expanded to include a dance studio, public park, museum and gallery, underground parking garage and residential housing. The district, which will cost $650 million, will be located between Fulton St. and Lafayette Ave. along Flatbush Ave. More details from the Post: - The 229-seat theater......

EVENT: Tonight at the Apple Store, the NYC photobloggers get together again. Come check out: Scott Heiferman, Kara Canal, Rebecca Smeyne, Will Sherman, Kamau Mucoki, Boogie and Martin Fuchs. There's an afterparty (TBA) so be sure too look nice, with all those cameras out and all. Friday // 6:30pm // SoHo Apple Store [103 Prince Street @ Greene] // Free SIDEWALK SALE: Have a bookshelf to stock? Head over to the Strand Bookstore. They're having......

"One doubles," a lady in line was ordering at the counter of Ali's Roti Shop. Is this some sort of code language that only Caribbeans know? How can you have just one doubles? It turns out that doubles is the essential snack food of Trinidad, and doubles is/are delicious. It starts with a small biscuit-sized disk of fried bread that is slathered with a thick chickpea curry and then topped with another round of bread.......

YUM: If you're unable to jet off to a remote beach and sip on drinks in coconut cups, then do the next best thing. Okay, maybe the next next best thing, head over to The Carribean Fair. It's an all day festival giving you a taste of indigenous foods (prepared by celebrity chefs!). You can also check out some dancers, models, singers and bands - all celebrating the sites, sounds, and tastes of the islands.......

Proving that some subway stations are in a sad, vicious circle of getting worse and worse every year, the NY Daily News selected ten subway stations, with the help of readers, the NYC Transit Riders Council and the Straphangers, that are awful. Bad stations seem to be ones less frequented (five stations in the Bronx, two on the G, and the lone Manhattan station being the J, M, Z station on Bowery) and in poor......

The city will dedicate $71 million to improving traffic for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians thanks to some federal aid (yes, we actually do get some!) from the Federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program, with the overall goal being to have better air quality. The money will be distributed accordingly (via the Daily News and Newsday): - $26 millon to incentivize delivery companies to use alternative fuels - $21 million for the Pedestrian Network Development......

How come certain stations at 34th St (A/C/E and 2/3) have it set up so that you can't cross the platform to get from the express line to the local? You actually have to go down and up stairs to get to the express line from the local. It doesn't make sense. -Renee As regular riders of the A, we always see confused people at the Penn Station subway platform, especially late at night, when......

Matthew Rose, Wall Street Journal...