One hundred years ago today, the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad opened for business with one mission – to get the passengers to and from the various railroad terminals on the Hudson County New Jersey side of the river to or from Manhattan who would otherwise have to take ferries. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the PATH, the Port Authority is giving free PATH rides today between 6AM and 11PM. more ›

The Health Department revealed that cases of the flu have increased 19% since November. Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden said urged New Yorkers who haven't gotten a flu shot yet to do so. more ›

COMEDY: In November, shortly after the WGA strike sent SNL to reruns, the cast took the UCB Theater stage for an off-air show. If you missed that one, there's a chance to catch some of the cast doing stand-up at Comix tonight. The site says "sold out" but the people at the venue say they just added more tickets! So give a call and enjoy "An Evening with the Writers and Performers from Saturday Night Live." The money raised will go toward the Writers Guild of America. And yes, Andy Samberg (pictured with cat) will be there. Andy Samberg, originally scheduled to be there, has dropped out of the show. more ›

Police arrested a suspect in the shooting of 11-year-old Tyshaun Falconer as he stood in the doorway of his parents' home in Springfield Gardens, Queens. The suspect is identified as 19-year-old Michael Peterson of Elmont, Long Island. Peterson allegedly went to the Falconer home and when Tyshaun answered the door asked for his older brother Tony. When the younger brother answered that he was not home, Peterson is accused of shooting him once in the chest. more ›

In November, we wrote about famed realtor Barbara Corcoran advising home owners to ditch their lawns and gardens in favor of a concrete parking spot. Some homeowners really take this advice to heart and insist on wedging an extra parking space onto their property even when it's not very practical, or possible. Above is a cropped portion of a picture posted at Queens Crap. While this sidewalk-blocking parking job at 68th St. and Hull Ave. looks ridiculous at first glance, Queens Crapper points out that the owner also had to build a makeshift plank system under the front of the car to prevent the sedan from bottoming out on the steep grade. Perhaps a Smart Car would have been a better vehicle choice for this driveway. more ›

A plan is going to be submitted to the MTA's board for approval this week to spend $1.3 million to install a computerized monitoring system for the subway systems 300+ elevators and escalators. The purpose is to speed the response when elevators and escalators are out of service. Currently, the MTA operates a web page that is updated three times a day to inform riders when escalators and elevators are out of service, but it is reliant on NYC Transit employees or riders themselves to report malfunctions. more ›

In November, Charlie Rose sat down with rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z. The musician is originally from Brooklyn and late in the interview Rose queries about the expected success of the Nets once they move to Kings County. Jay-Z is very enthusiastic about the potential of the team and the virtues of the borough, as he prefaces every statement about Brooklyn with the words "we" and "ours." It is unintentionally comedic then when Rose immediately follows up with the question "And where do you live now?" The answer is a terse "In Manhattan, uh." The exchange begins around 48 minutes and 45 seconds into the interview and a quick transcript is available at the Atlantic Yards Report site here. It reminded us of the first time that we heard that director Spike Lee had moved to the Upper East Side. more ›

THEATER: In November, Tom Stoppard’s latest smash hit Rock ‘n’ Roll will transfer from London to Broadway (delighting Rushmore fans by bringing Brian Cox – AKA Dr. Guggenheim – in tow.) In the meantime, fans of our most intellectually dazzling living playwright can plug into Stoppard Goes Electric, an evening of three short teleplays that Stoppard penned for BBC early in his career. According to the Boomerang Theatre Company, which is producing the program, some have never been seen live on stage before. Ends Sunday.– John Del Signore more ›

The City Council unanimously reappointed four commissioners and appointed a new one to the Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday (via the NY Observer). Four of the five have ties to the outer boroughs. more ›

more ›

In November, it was reported that, in spite of a lack of news, cell phone bids to wiring subway stations were still alive. But the Sun reports that they may actually be "dead in the tracks", as MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow isn't sure if the agency will pick a vendor:

The service providers want riders to make calls while in the tunnels. The MTA has remained adamantly opposed to chatting in transit. more ›

For their upcoming November issue (The Art Issue), Vanity Fair is running what appears to be an epic photo story on Andy Warhol and the crew that made up the legendary Factory. more ›

After Scott Fappiano was freed last week, after being in falsely imprisoned for 21 years (he was mistakenly convicted of raping a police officer's wife in their Brooklyn home), more questions are being raised about the way police evidence is stored/a>. Thought Fappiano had requested a pair of sweatpants be tested for DNA evidence in 1989, the technology back then wasn't able to read the small sample - and then the pants and sample were basically lost until this year (they had been in the DNA testing company's storage all along). The Innocence Project, which took on Fappiano's case, said that the NYPD evidence collection and tracking systems need to be reformed; IP's Peter Neufeld told WABC 7, "Unfortunately it's a black hole. We've had less good fortune locating evidence in New York City than in the rural quarters of Mississippi and Alabama." more ›

A few years back we experienced one of the most exciting concerts of our lifetime, and looking back now it's hard to remember if it ever actually happened. more ›

It came as a surprise to Gothamist when we first heard this story. Apparently only half of the officers in the NYPD are wearing the newest bulletproof vests. Yesterday, a group of City Council members called on the city to add 18,000 more bulletproof vests that use the latest technology at a cost of almost $10 million. The group said the cost for the vests will be in the council's budget proposal on Thursday. more ›

We noted in yesterday’s roundup of theatre in 2005 that at least in our optimistic eyes, last year had plenty of great shows. If anywhere like the same number of impressive plays and musicals appear in ‘06, it’d be hard to complain. But nonetheless, we do have a small wish list. more ›

Rachel Sklar, co-editor and writer of FishbowlNY more ›