New York magazine has an extensive New York vs. London features package. Apparently, now is the time to wonder which city is better, although the International Olympics Committee decided that almost two years ago. There are immediately controversial stories like where is the sex better, where real estate obsession is greatest, which lit scene is more stuck up and who is having more fun. There is an obligatory London sucks essay, but regarding which......

Lawsuits claiming hostile work environments have now hit the gym. A group of janitors claim that while working at Equinox fitness club locations, the Post excitedly details, they were "exposed inappropriate, lewd, embarrassing and humiliating sexual behavior and activities occurring in the showers, saunas, steam and [men's] locker rooms." The group of janitors say had to clean up after encounters at the Columbus Circle, TriBeCa, East 63rd Street, Wall Street, and Greenwich Avenue locations. And......

December 24: Feasts of the Seven Fishes Join in the Italian tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes -- a seafood meal in observance of the La Viglia Di Natale, or the wait for the birth of Christ. - Jovia: Chef Eben Copple and Pastry Chef Jennifer Domanski serve up a four-course menu including Seafood Salad with diver scallops, mussels, calamari, shrimp, clams, arugula, olives and radicchio, Linguine Nere with baby sepia and spicy......

Galas make us kind of nervous, but we attended this week's Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation dinner at Balthazar honoring the work and life of Jane Jacobs to hear what more could be said about the revered author and activist. New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger called Jacobs "the great prophet of the Village" and praised her legacy of radical intervention. "What she believed," he said, "is that every place has an essence,......

Gothamist now officially cannot wait for 2007: The Fire Department has released its new New York City Firefighters Calendar! Yes, it's another new edition of firefighters posing shirtless in neighborhoods and in front of landmarks, with proceeds going to the The Children's Storefront, a tuition-free school in Harlem, and the Thomas R. Elsasser Fund, which raises money for firefighters' families. You can buy the calendar online from the NYFirestore ($14.99), but we recommend heading......

Without talking to our resident weather experts, we can only reccomend a couple things to do during the near-Biblical rains we've heard are still coming this weekend: don't leave your apartment or go directly to the nearest dive bar and do not move from that barstool. And try Johnny's Bar. This dive's twinkling lights, decals on the walls and the smart-ass bartender flirting or abusing everyone on a stool are better than most things......

The black and white striped awning at Greenwich Avenue's Elephant & Castle screams hello, but even more inviting are the words "I love brunch" scrawled across their brunch menu and the refreshing lack-of-a-weekend-morning line. Serving American fare with a homey touch and care for aesthetics, Elephant & Castle occupies a seemingly age-old building in the West Village, with a glass-panelled front letting lots of light in on diners, and a few tables with nooks......

The bad news is that Chowhound reports that Taqueria de Mexico on Greenwich Avenue has closed after over a decade of business. The good news is that, according to a follow-up post, "[t]he owner, José Hurtado-Prud'homme, told me he's opening a nicer (though not expensive) Mexican place in that space that will be open until the wee hours and will have a liquor license." I'm sure we can welcome another neighborhood late night taco choice......

We noticed this sign walking down 8th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues in the Village the other day and were perplexed. Fresh food nirvana? On this block? You've got to be kidding. There isn't anything resembling "fresh food" or "nirvana" on that stretch of 8th Street (well, with the possible exception of Gray's Papaya, depending upon how you feel about hot dogs). But last night, we saw some activity inside. Peering in, we......

Gothamist was walking down Greenwich Avenue early one morning recently, when this sign stopped us in our tracks: A new restaurant! We peered in curiously through the glass, but sadly, we had to continue on to work and couldn't wait around for the place to open. Fortunately, both the New York Times and New York Magazine had gotten the inside scoop -- Jones is the newest creation of former Plumeri chef Jay Plumeri, who hopes......

The big bird downtown is not Mayor Bloomberg but Zelda the Battery Park turkey who stopped traffic when she wandered onto the West Side Highway yesterday. The amazing thing is that cars skidded to avoid her (Gothamist finds this amazing because drunk drivers manage to humans which are larger than turkeys; sure, Zelda was walking around during the day when people are sober, but still, there is no excuse for drunk driving). The Fire Department......