After Wednesday's drenching that caused the subways to melt down, terrible flooding, and sewage to back up into streets and into homes, officials are creating task forces for review what the hell is going on. But the sad truth is that NYC's drainage systems are complicated. The NY Times has a fascinating and frightening (if the ideas of lots of sewage frightens you) article that looks at the dirty secret of NYC's storm water......

May 26 - 27 Barbecue at Flatbush Farm The gang at Flatbush Farm hosts a barbecue the last weekend of every month, including this one. Feast on grilled clams, barbecued chicken legs and ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, veggie chili and more. 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 76 Saint Marks Avenue, Brooklyn. Call 718-622-3276 for details. May 29: Is New York Dining Really Better Than Ever? Ask the experts! Mike Colamenico will moderate a panel discussion......

- Is New York going to go the way of LA with posted letter grades for restaurant health inspections? - If you are getting your Seder meal planning underway, feel free to ping the experts over the NY Times with any questions you may have. Click here to email them a question or send it direct to diningqa [at] gmail.com. Funny how the Times even knows Gmail has great spam protection. - Sometimes not eating......

DISCUSSION: Is New York losing it's New York charm? Tonight contributors to the new tome "The Suburbanization of New York" will talk about just that (and is conveniently located down the street from H&M and Pottery Barn). The panel includes Marshall Berman, Eric Darton, Francis Morrone, Matthew Schuerman, Neil Smith, Michael Sorkin, and Suzanne Wasserman. 6:30pm // The Gotham Center at the CUNY Graduate Center [Elebash Recital Hall, 365 Fifth Ave] // Free EVENT: This......

San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic Michael Bauer poses a heated question to his readers: Is New York better than San Francisco? His thoughts on the matter are clear: I've been asked the question of which is better many times, and I have a stock answer. Because of its size New York has more to offer, but if we viewed things on a per capita basis, San Francisco would blow the Big Apple to bits. I......

- The MTA/TWU discussions kinda continue, with the TWU now threatening to take its pension concerns to the courts. - Is New York losing her creative types? - Maybe Avenue A won't go one-way. - "Do your special dolls and cuddly stuffed animals need a home while you're away?" Meet the Park Slope-based Home Away from Home Doll Care Service. - Remembering the ideal taxicab. - You first heard they were getting their own......

- Is New York ready for Charles and Camilla? - Robbers hit church safe in Queens, only find it had no money - A female teacher is accused of raping a male student, starting when he was 13, at a Manhattan Montessori school - yikes! - Fire at a Times Square budget hotel; unclear whether or not the fire will damage or improve the atmosphere there - True Crime: NYC is teaming up with Puma......

Yesterday, the NY Times had a City section feature wondering if New York Region > Is New York Losing Its Street Smarts?" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/24/nyregion/24smar.html">the concept of NYC as a scary place was lost, as the city gets more cleaned up and gentrified every moment. Gothamist liked how the author called it from Son of Sam to Sex and the City and were amused that one person felt his mugging was like a "badge of honor" -......

Thanks to strategically placed displays in certain bookstore windows, Gothamist picked up Czech artist Miroslav Sasek's illustrated book, This Is New York, and fell in love. His elegant illustrations of the city crisply captured a New York and its dynamism that still rings true over forty years after its publications. There's a fine site dedicated to the Czech-born Sasek (he worked in Munich but traveled around the world) This is M. Sasek, that's loaded with......