Earlier this month, Sarah Lewitinn (Ultragrrrl) brought her label, Stolen Transmission, back to the bedroom after leaving Island/Def Jam. This was just one of many things that signaled more changes for the major, and now it turns out that the president of Def Jam, Jay-Z, is stepping down from his position. The NY Times reports:Jay-Z made the announcement with Def Jam’s parent, Universal Music Group, as his employment contract was expiring. Under a separate long-term......

Streetsblog summarizes Bloomberg's ten point plan for New York's future-- more housing, more parks, more mass transit, more water, better infrastructure, more environmentalism, more access to waterways. Amy went to the annual New York Public Library open house, and took some freaky Ghostbusters-style pix in the stacks. Ronell Wilson, the suspect in the double cop-killing on Staten Island, is also an aspiring rapper. Sample lyric: "You better have that vast and dat Golock /......

- A judge puts an injunction on a possible transit workers strike - not that it'll necessarily stop 'em - Hotel Chatter has a preview of some 2006 hotel openings - 4 of the 6 are downtown - An explosion at a NJ apartment building killed two today - and more are missing - The NYPD hates how the media is gravitating to the acting credits of a suspected cop killer-accomplice - Curbed tracks progress......

The feds have arrested members of an intricate marijuana operation called the "Cartoon Network." Was Mojo Jojo in on this? Newsday reports that the operation spanned NYC and Long Island, and offered home delivery of high-grade marijuana, with customers shelling out $100 for 2 grams. A source said, "It is the best. They called regular marijuana 'Grandma.'" Aw, that's not nice. Anyway, members of the drug ring claimed that they had some high-profile cilents ("professional......

It's always been one of our dreams to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade from a hotel room overlooking the parade route-- and then to jump on to the top of the Big Bird balloon, and ride him (her?) triumphantly down Broadway to Herald Square. If you have similar ambitions, you should definitely check out Hotel Chatter's list of hotels on the parade route: Sheraton New York Hotel & Tower This hotel is just finishing......

A widow in a wheelchair is suing the Waldorf Towers, the residential part of the Waldorf-Astoria, for discrimination, claiming the WT did not accomodate her disability. Rose Gutmacher is suing for $8 million, with the thinking going that $37,500 a month should bring a little more service than what was offered, but the WT, perhaps fed up with her requests, raised rent to $63,500. What Gothamist found interesting is that the Post mentioned old school......