Photograph of a vacant lot on the Lower East Side by p0psharlow on Flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bicyclist struck on Queens Blvd. and 55th St. a smoke condition at the Heartland Brewery & Rotisserie At 350 5th Ave & East 34th St. Your name is Leila. You're a Verizon customer. You are receiving every text msg. addressed to Leila across the planet. A science teacher at a Staten Island H.S. along......

It's official. Today the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate DUMBO a historic district, pending City Council approval. The area, composed of 91 industrial buildings dated mostly from 1880 to 1920, is bound by John Street to the north, York Street to the south, Main Street to the west and Bridge Street to the east. It is the city's 90th historic district. The district contains the Manhattan Bridge, and its support piers and anchorage......

For those not wanting to hit the big Halloween parade (led by today's interviewee) there are other options: Park Slope's Halloween Parade (info here), Clinton Hill's Halloween Walk (info here) Prospect Park South's Halloween Parade (info here) and Williamsburg's Witches Walk (info here). EVENT: Hallowe'en is Happening Downtown at Trinty Church where both both kids and adults will find spooky spectacles tonight. For the little ones there will be an early evening filled with games,......

The MTA has announced the times of public hearings where the agency will discuss the impending bus and subway fare hike. There are eight meetings across the five boroughs, Westchester, and Long Island. We've all heard about the two kinds of fare hikes - a traditional across-the-board hike and another hike that would give discounts during off-peak rides. The a single ride would be $2.25, up from the current $2. And the early mentioned......

SPORTS: It's time to get in shape for a summer of dodgeball at McCarren Park Pool. What better way than with PartyDodgeballNYC? Get together one night a week for "socially competetive coed dodgeball, and partying that goes on at the bar afterwards." Sign up deadline for the 7-week season is today! Of course, for much less money you could just buy a dodgeball and head to the park. 7 to 10pm // PS 116 [33rd......

Subway riders from Inwood to the Rockaways should steel themselves, because those delays they experienced yesterday were planned and should continue for the next five weekends. The A and C lines are undergoing track work to replace 70-year-old rails. Over the long term this should result in smoother rides and safer service. But over the short term expect no C trains between Upper Manhattan and Brooklyn's Euclid Ave. on Saturdays and Sundays. The A train......

CELEBRATION: There's nothing like flowers to cheer you up in the dreary month of January. The Museum of Chinese in the Americas presents Arts in Full Bloom at 3rd Annual Lunar New Year Flower Market. The Flower Market reinvents tradition by incorporating performers and artists as the colors and fragrances of auspicious plants and blossoms linger in the air and atmosphere. The flowers are widely used decoratively as symbols of prosperity, fortune and abundance. Friday......