We love Open House New York - it's a wonderful opportunity to venture into usually off-limits buildings and places and learn more about them. We tried to take advantage and managed to go to six different sites this year across three boroughs. We would have done more, but the weekend subway work threw a monkey wrench into things. Given what we wanted to see, we skipped everything that needed reservations, since we knew that......

Governor Spitzer nominated H. Dale Hemmerdinger to be Peter Kalikow's replacement as MTA Chairman. Hemmerdinger is a real estate developer with long and varied ties to New York City. He is the president of ATCO Properties and Management, which owns and manages two million square feet of residential, commercial, industrial, and retail space. A longtime backer of Democratic politians, Hemmerdinger's wife donated $40,000 to Spitzer's campaigns since 2000, and Mrs. Spitzer hosted a fundraiser at......

LAist is experimenting with blogging dates from J-Date, but finds the best men are found offline. Some date vicariously online and that is one reason why porn is big -- really freaking big -- so they ask if they should cover XXX since the heart of it lays in the city's San Fernando Valley. A writer grapples with her food porn photography obsession, another gets censored on Flickr, one gets scooped by the LA......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a DOA floater in the Harlem River at Manhattan's 135th St., a homicide on Church and Nostrand Aves. in Brooklyn, and a jumper was up on the Williamsburg Bridge just before noon this morning. NYC local Steven Herbst won a Hall of Fame award at the International Whistling Convention in Louisberg, NC. When we wrote about former NJ Governor Jim McGreevey's life-sized nude photo he had on display in......

If you’re hiking, consider charging up your iPod, as Seattlest finds out that a man lost during a hike was found by the glow of his iPod. That cleverness seems to be devoid in cops who were using police cruiser instant messaging clients - although we imagine IMs “so are you nakie” to be included in cop shows, just for realism. If only the cops were busting the Hummer-driving jerk who made a poor......

"I'm thinking of grilling this weekend somewhere in the city. can you give me some locations where i can grill?" With the weather looking to be just about perfect this long holiday weekend, there is no better time to bust out the apron, grill, and tongs and barbeque some meat and/or veggies here in the city. If you are not one of the lucky ones that has a backyard, it might be tempting to just......

Jean Godfrey-June has carved out a name for herself as not just a beauty expert, but someone readers turn to for a highly individual, irreverent approach to deciphering the ever-expanding maze of products available to color, highlight, firm, and enhance. The long-time Elle columnist turned Lucky Beauty Editor dishes about her unlikely path toward a desk full of products in her new memoir Free Gift with Purchase : My Improbable Career in Magazines and Makeup,......

- In Philly they love Trader Joe's, a store which incidentally maybe, possibly, might actually be on its way to Gotham? - So you know, "the Shanghai underground rock scene has moved from Xujiahui to Tangpu District." - Apparently, the mail service in San Francisco has its quirks. - Seattlest ponders living in a state where "you can't get a lap dance, but it's a-ok to blow a pig." - Our cousins to the north......

If it isn't enough that the world has issues with America over our foreign policies, Vice President Dick Cheney has made sure the world hates our fashion choices as well. When traveling to Poland for a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Cheney made the decision to wear an "olive-drab parka, hiking boots and knit ski cap," truly enforcing the ugly American stereotype. The Washington Post's Robin Givhan points out that......

My friend suggested we go hiking and camping this weekend, but I have none of the appropriate equipment. Is there anywhere in Manhattan where sleeping bags and tents can be rented? - CSM Yes, you can rent tents and camping equipment at EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports), which has stores on Broadway (between Prince and Houston) and West 61st Street. Ask Gothamist rented camping gear from them with friends several years ago without any problem. Last......

Gothamist can't decide what to think about Jillian Barberie. PROS: Self-made broadcast success; clawed her way up from an internship at Canada's The Weather Network to high-profile gigs in Miami and LA. Speaks out against Fen Phen and animal cruelty. CONS: Dresses like a skank; pimps her "weather broad" persona out to sell beer, football, and motor oil. Maybe Gothamist is just tired of seeing Jillian's face plastered all over the subway with fellow Good......