It has been almost six years since Randolph the kitten handily whooped Thompson in Gothamist's first cat battle, so with many more cats in the Gothamist office mix now, we thought it was about time for a rematch. Please help us settle this office dispute and crown the Gothamist Cat Mascot for 2012!
Gothamist Cat Battle! Which Staffer's Cat Reigns Supurrreme?
Note from the Tech Department: Gothamist Redesign 2011
Hello friends! We've decided to redesign Gothamist and our sister sites, and we need your help. If you are interested, please read on. The goals of this project:
Gothamist Call for Interns
We're looking for more enthusiastic interns to work out of our Brooklyn office (or sometimes from the comfort of your own home/dorm room, depending on the task at hand) through the winter and maybe on into spring. Responsibilities vary widely, hours are flexible, but we do want someone who can be available 2 days out of the week. Bloggers, journalism students, photographers, English majors, autodidacts, quick wits, and anyone with a passion for NYC and the skills to write about it are encouraged to drop us a line.
Opinionist: Top Ten in Theater 2009
Click on the photos for Gothamist's top ten favorite theatrical productions of 2009. Last year, of course, we couldn't stop talking about Passing Strange, but this year's highly subjective list is notably devoid of musicals. (Unfortunately, we haven't seen Fela!) Two of these ten were unforgettable, site-specific odysseys—one on a bus through the Bronx, the other on a boat that went nowhere. Just two happened on Broadway—one with A-list stars, the other with brilliant yet relatively unknown downtown actors. (Both narrowly edged out the excellent revival of Waiting for Godot starring John Goodman, Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin.)
MTA Chief Means Business on Getting Cars Out of Bus Lanes
New Yorkers fed up with the city's overcrowded, snail's-pace buses can perhaps indulge in some guarded optimism now that new MTA "czar" Jay Walder is promising to improve the system. Walder was formerly the transit guru in London, where, he says, "You carry nearly twice as many people in the bus system as you do on the Underground." In New York, the opposite is true, and Walder wants to change that while simultaneously reducing bus overcrowding. Is this guy crazy?
Gothamist Call for Interns
We're looking for one more enthusiastic intern to work out of our Brooklyn office (or from the comfort of your own home/dorm room, depending on the task at hand) on Tuesdays and Fridays for the rest of the summer, and, who knows, maybe beyond. Responsibilities vary widely, hours are very flexible. Bloggers, journalism students, English majors, autodidacts, quick wits, and anyone with a passion for NYC and the skills to write about it are encouraged to drop us a line. No pay, but occasional perks and college credit available. For more details inquire within, and please email your resume and any other relevant information to info (AT) gothamist (DOT) com, subject "internship." (No attachments, please.)
Call for Interns
It's that time of the year again: we're looking for more interns to work out of our Brooklyn office (or from the comfort of your own home/dorm room, depending on the task at hand). Responsibilities vary widely, hours are very flexible. Writers, photographers, and even "undecideds" looking for their niche in the World Wide Web are encouraged to apply. This time around we're particularly interested in folks with an in interest music and the chops to write about it. We are also looking for a tech intern with skills in php, javascript, perl or mysql. No pay, but occasional perks and college credit available. For more details inquire within, and please email your resume and any other relevant information to info (AT) gothamist (DOT) com, subject "internship." (No attachments, please.)
New Year's Eve: Where to Eat If You Must Go Out in NYC
- The best place to dine on amateur night is obviously in the comfort of your own home, with the doors locked, windows sealed, a six pack of Drank by your side, and BetaMaXmas flickering on ye olde laptop. But you'll inevitably get dragged out by someone who can't resist the Gregorian calendar's charms, and you'll have to eat something to pad your stomach. Assuming that someone is "someone special," here are a number of dining options to make the best of it (and we also stand by last year's index). Time to start making reservations!
- Gothamist favorite Knife + Fork, that romantic little nook in the East Village, is doing a five course tasting menu with wine pairing. Chef Damien Brassel's menu that night will begin with Pacific Coast oysters with sweet and sour fennel, tarragon oil and peppercorn apple salad with wasabi fish roe. $85 later it culminates with warm chocolate, fondant five spice creme brulee and dried lemon panna cotta.
- L'Absinthe Brasserie: Don a blue blazer and khakis and go old school at this dramatic, ornate brasserie. L'Absinthe has a sexy website but an ancient, old money clientele that makes for fun people-watching. Chef-owner Jean Michel Bergougnoux's menu skews classic French with a bit of an edge, and it's not cheap. But judging by the NYE menu [PDF], you'll be getting your money's worth with his $84 three course prix-fixe. It's got a wide range of haute options, from his signature Dover Sole Meuniere, to a light poached Halibut, to the hearty Venison and Foie Gras Pie. Also, eight different varieties of absinthe.
- Or if you're in the neighborhood and want to go in the complete opposite direction, Slice organic pizza is offering a 5% discount on all take-out and delivery on December 31st.
Jodi Applegate's Tuna Surprise Recipe
Jodi Applegate and Ron Corning, co-hosts of Fox's Good Day New York, both claim to be serious foodies, and it was a toss-up as to which one would have the chance to share their favorite recipe with Gothamist. But New York Magazine went through Ron Corning's daily diet last month, and Jodi Applegate wanted to unveil her favorite recipe for Tuna Surprise here today.
Some Grand Central Terminal Secrets Revealed
If you are one of the 700,000 people who pass through Grand Central Terminal every day there are things that you may take for granted or just may not know about the great train station. Thanks to Metro-North's Dan Brucker, Gothamist can reveal some of them to you.
Extra, Extra
- Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck on Broadway and 231st St. in the Bronx, an aircraft alert at JFK at Queens, and a person fatally struck by a train at 57th St. and 8th Ave. in Manhattan.
- Entries for the NYC Half-Marathon will start being accepted at 11:59pm on May 29th. Details.
- And the Design Trust for Public Space is accepting submissions for its Grand Army Plaza redesign competition.
- An Internal Affairs Bureau Lt. has been reassigned to a surveillance booth in a housing project after his friend allegedly raped a young woman in the apartment of the cop's girlfriend as she begged him to stop.
- The body of Rabbi Zev Segal, missing since yesterday morning, was found in his car, which apparently slid into the Hackensack River in NJ.
- The memorial for promoter-gossip Baird Jones is being held at Plumm, a venue he wasn't a huge fan of.
- A Gawker employee was shackled and thrown into the Tombs after drinking a beer-in-a-bag in the subway system.
- The carjacker of Mayor Bloomberg's personal car, which was in the possession of one of his aides, faces 15 years in the slammer for the crime.
- A lovely castle-like house in Flushing, Queens - turrets and Tudor details!
- Former Gov. George Pataki underwent emergency surgery this morning to relieve an intestinal blockage (he's had problems with this before!).
- And former Project Runway contestants Jeffrey Sebelia, Santino Rice and Kit Pistol watched Project Runway finale in LA amidst their young, adoring fans.
Extra, Extra
- Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a person trapped under an automobile at 9th Ave. and 55th St. in Brooklyn, a missing delivery man at De Kruif Pl. and Dreiser Loop in the Bronx, and a scaffolding incident on 7th Ave. and 25th St. in Manhattan.
- NYC's Dept. of Health wants pharmacists to be allowed to administer flu shots, citing the death toll of the disease and underutilization of vaccination supplies.
- A female pedestrian was struck and killed by a sanitation truck early this morning at 50th St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan. A few hours later, a male pedestrian crossing the street at 23rd and 7th Ave. in Manhattan was struck and killed by a U.S. Postal truck.
- Publication synergy at News Corp. as Gawker notes downtown vendors selling The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post together for just $1.
- Plans for a City Jail in the Hunts Point area of the Bronx have been nixed.
- The rap artist known as Snoop Dogg will be performing in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on March 13 as part of a VH1 special. Greenpointers has the
420411 on how to win tickets. - The Town of Huntington on Long Island has banned vendors from selling 'silly string' within 1,500 feet of a parade route; but people can bring their own if they want. Firefighters complain that the novelty substance damages the paint on their vehicles.
- And "Danny Boy" is too depressing for Foley's Pub in Midtown, which is banning the song for the entire month of March.
Tenement Museum Employees Pushing for Union
Costumed performers and tour guides are fighting for unionization at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, where they work to recreate the squalid living conditions of turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants, the very group that was integral to 20th century unionization efforts. Dozens of the tenement employees protested last night outside a fundraiser for the museum at Chelsea Piers.
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One Ring Zero, Band
One Ring Zero is an unusual Brooklyn band headed up by Michael Hearst and Joshua Camp, with a troupe of musicians and lyricists filling out their ever-morphing sonic tribe. Their lyrics have been written by some familiar names: Jonathan Lethem, Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster and Dave Eggers are amongst them. This year they enter their 10th year of making music, and this Friday they'll be at Joe's Pub celebrating on stage. Join in on the party, you can buy tickets here.
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- Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a crime scene/hanging at East 13th St. and Shore Parkway in Brooklyn, a child mauled by a dog in the area of 91-43 Gold Rd. in Queens, and a possible escaped prisoner on Wards Island across from Manhattan.
- Asbestos removal at the Carroll St. F and G line station appears to be a non-issue. Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn received a note saying that air levels were fine and removal is not scheduled for the immediate future.
- The New York Aquarium's sharks at Coney Island are moving on up. They're upgrading their modest 90,000 cubic foot tank to a $67 million waterfront palace.
- The City is pursuing criminal charges against an 82-year-old buildings engineer for what they claim was perjury. A $.99 store whose designs he ok'd caught fire and rotten timbers allegedly resulted in the deaths of two firefighters.
- Did the Hell's Angels plan a 'Bay of Hogs' Long Island beachfront attack that ended in embarrassing failure during the 1960s? Apparently, after the Rolling Stones' concert at Altamont, some Hells Angels tried sailing to Mick Jagger's estate to kill him, but hit rough seas and fell overboard.
- The box office at Yankee Stadium opened this morning at 10 a.m., as the organization began selling tickets to games at the Bronx Bombers' final season in the House that Ruth Built, and that we mostly paid for when it was renovated.
- Bravo to Shannon O'Hanlon, the 9-year-old 4th grader from Queens who won yesterday's Fay Wray Scream-A-Like Contest at Film Forum in Manhattan. The contest was part of a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the original King Kong film.
Extra, Extra
- Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a missing child on Union St. in Brooklyn, a shooting on Wyatt St. in the Bronx, and a fatal car fire on the Long Island Expressway near College Point in Queens.
- Colombian immigrants celebrate their roots with rolling parties aboard buses known as chivas.
- Is the person doing Amazon.com product reviews for ski masks under the screen name "Ninja Thief" Staten Island's very own Ninja Burglar?
- New York Times critic Kelefa Sanneh is rumored to be heading to The New Yorker.
- A horse marching in the Queens St. Patrick's Day pararade yesterday bolted free from its handler and galloped into a crowd of spectators. Four people were injured.
- A woman with the unwieldy street name "Brooklyn's Reclusive Cat Woman Bank Robber" was arrested after returning most of the money she stole several years ago and attempting to apologize to the the bank.
- For the first time in its 31-year history, the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament was held in Brooklyn. First prize is $5,000 and a dictionary.
- Police arrested a man in the fatal stabbing of a Brooklyn woman that occurred Saturday night.
Week Around the -ists
http://seattlest.com/2008/02/28/foo_fighters_da.php">announced his presidential bid.
Extra, Extra
- Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on 109th Ave. and Merick Blvd. in Queens, a person under a train at Sutphin Blvd. in Queens, and a cyclist pinned beneath the wheels of a bus on 14th St. and 1st Ave. (looks like victim will survive) in Manhattan.
- The tech-savvy youth who got himself arrested for stealing a Sidekick mobile device and then allowing its owner to track him down via MySpace remains jailed on $20,000 bail.
- Welcome Abigail Fulop. The Leap Year Baby was born on Staten Island at 2:23 a.m. on the 29th. Her parents Dave and Michelle will be celebrating their daughter's birthday on March 1st three years out of four.
- A scholarship endowment fund has been established in the name of Ossie Davis to aid young actors who are not only pursuing performance arts, but embodying the activism of the late actor. Davis died in 2005, was the husband of actress Rubie Dee, and was a featured speaker at the funerals of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
- Hoboken, NJ police officers are now claiming that they were forced to go to a Hooters restaurant and hand over their automatic weapons to scantily clad waitresses while posing cheerfully for photos.
- Red Hook's new IKEA manager isn't from New York. The Brooklyn Swedish mega-furniture-mart boss is from North York, in Canada. Will the perfidy of our pleasant and polite northern neighbors ever cease?
- We find this harder to swallow than a cat fur-covered Milkbone: AIBO robot dogs are as effective at relieving lonely old persons' isolation as actual living dogs.
- Colson Whitehead is an established and successful author who lives in Brooklyn. If you're only 50% there, get over your zip code and give the attitude a rest. Apparently, Brooklyn writers are the new actor-waiters.
Extra, Extra
- Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an officer shot on Vandalia Ave & Ardlsey Loop in Brooklyn, a gas leak at Dongan Pl. off Broadway in Manhattan, and an aircraft emergency at JFK in Queens.
- The City's investigating whether its artificial turf fields are poisonous.
- The Brooklyn Paper finds Obama did get votes in many Brooklyn districts (here's the congressional district breakdown for all of NYC).
- Blogging by athletes at the summer Olympics in China will be allowed. Blogging about the summer Olympics by athletes will be highly restricted.
- The father of the three children murdered by their mother is suing Nassau County for $60 million.
- Rupert Murdoch's ownership of Dow Jones is practically unnoticeable, unless one is longtime Wall Street Journal First Amendement lawyer Stuart Karle. He's fired.
- St. Saviour's demolition was halted by the Department of Environmental Protection.
- This time arguing over a grade worked: The City will revise public school report cards issued last year, after feedback from pretty much everyone.
Thanks to This Week's Advertisers
We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Gothamist.
Exiting Like a Lion
A chilly and sunny morning will give way to clouds and snow this evening. As the clouds move in today's high should creep up to the freezing mark. Snow will likely start late this evening as an Alberta Clipper moves over the eastern Great Lakes. Only 1-2 inches of snow are expected and it wouldn't surprise Gothamist if the southern and eastern reaches of the city received only a dusting. If you're in the mood for serious snow head upstate where portions of Ulster and Dutchess Counties should get 6-10 inches.

