Photos: AP/David Guttenfelder The New York Philharmonic Orchestra’s historic concert in North Korea concluded hours ago, marking the first performance by an American orchestra in the impoverished, totalitarian nation. The event also marked a first for much of the press, who are routinely denied access to North Korea and, once inside, usually find their movements tightly controlled. The Times has a stunning slideshow of photos snapped en route from the airport to the center of......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: The War: A Ken Burns Film (Sunday - Tuesday, 8:00 p. m., WNET 13; Sunday - Tuesday, 10:00 p. m., WLIW 21) The Ken Burns World War II documentary wraps up this week. Top Gear (Monday 8:00 p.m. & 9:00 p.m., BBC America) We recently stumbled onto the insanely brilliant BBC 2 show which is in theory about cars, but is really about three crazy Brits going......

Manhattan Film Forum Following the overwhelming success of the Woody Allen series at Film Forum last winter, they've brought back the new 35mm print of the Woodman's classic ode to our great city for a one week run. Sitting back in the air conditioned dark, feeling the George Gershwin soundtrack and the stunning black and white photography wash over you, you'll fall for this metropolis and this movie all over again. As Allen's character Isaac......

What the hell is going on? The city's teachers are suddenly all Notes on a Scandal! There are three high-profile cases of improper student-teacher relations across the city. Yesterday, a Brooklyn public school teacher was arrested on rape charges. Thirty-year-old Marcia Amsterdam who taught speech skills at George Gershwin Junior High was accused of raping a 13 year old boy who may have been a student. Amsterdam was relieved of her teaching duties and assigned......

There's a long feature in the Times' City section about the Pierre Hotel's triplex penthouse. It's been on the market for $70 million since 2004 at Brown Harris Stevens, and if you had $70 million, you'd get 360-degree views of Manhattan from midtown, 16 rooms (including a huge ballroom with 23 foot high ceiling and 20 foot doors), 5 fireplaces and a housekeeper and houseman. But you'd need to pay the whole thing in cash......

We were walking downtown to the office today when one of those big red tourist buses nearly ran us over (as usual!) Just as we were about to begin screaming obscenities, it hit us: the Gray Line has tons of buses, and they are running all over the city right now! For instance, their classic tour costs $50 for two days of hop-on hop-off privileges, and the buses complete a three-hour loop around the......

Brian Reisinger, Swandivedigital...

She's too modest to write anything about it, but today Jen Chung turned 27. Other famous people with birthdays today? T.S. Eliot (turning 115), George Gershwin (relatively young at 105, but dead), and Serena Williams (a baby at 22).......