Someone please go help Julia Stiles figure out this Twitter thing. About an hour ago the actress entered the Tweet world like a deer in headlights, and the poor thing is relying on Mia Farrow and Good Charlotte for technology advice. Below, some of her Tweets (the first one seems to be a response to a Direct Message, as there's nothing on Mr. Madden's Twitter feed that's directed at her). People, help—after all, they don't teach Tweeting at Columbia. more ›

A report released Tuesday by the Food Bank for New York City has found that approximately four million New Yorkers—one in two—are having trouble paying for groceries, a 26 percent increase since the last survey in February. The Hunger Experience 2008 Update also found that college degrees are increasingly useless protection against indigence; one out of every three (36 percent) NYC college graduates had difficulty affording needed food this year, up from 11 percent in 2003. Lucy Cabrera, the food bank's president, says, "The results of this report are devastating. These numbers should be a wake-up call for all New Yorkers." The Food Bank NYC sources and distributes food to the estimated 1.3 million New Yorkers who rely on emergency food. Today you've got until noon to help the Food Bank by bidding on one of their cool celebrity decorated lunchboxes. (Just please don't outbid us on Mike D's Jacob the Jeweler box.) more ›

The third annual Lunchbox Auction to raise money for the Food Bank for New York City kicked off last night with a celebrity fundraiser at Milk Studios in the Meatpacking District. Also benefiting The Lunchbox Fund of South Africa, the auction features over 77 lunchboxes custom designed by celebrities (and/or their handlers). Among the more eye catching boxes were avant-garde Chicago chef Grant Achatz's abstract deconstruction of a lunchbox, Tony Bennett's painting of a happy pooch (see below), and Michael Stipe's three lunchboxes with bronze cassettes and a camera embedded in molds of chocolate, salt and jello. more ›

Yesterday afternoon the world learned of Heath Ledger's untimely death. Both old and new media gossiped, rumor-mongered, and pitched their circus tents outside of his building on Broome Street the moment word spread. Sadly, most of his close friends and relatives, including his parents, heard about the tragedy through the newswire. more ›

Have you re-read the classic coming-of-age JD Salinger novel, Catcher in the Rye, lately? amNewYork takes a trip down memory lane, and 5th Ave, with a pair of Holden Caulfield-tinted glasses. Apparently people like the Central Park Conservancy historian get a ton of inquiries about the New York references in the novel. The most popular question, "Where do the ducks go in the winter?" Referring to the ducks in the Central Park pond that our... more ›

TIP: Starting tomorrow Opera-For_all begins the first of three nights of performances. For cheap! The New York City Opera is selling tickets to every seat in the house for just $25. Over the course of "opera season" 50 or more seats in the front orchestra will be priced at just $25 as well. As for this week, here's the sched: more ›

The NY Sun opens the books on Bellevue Hospital's creative output. That's right, Bellevue has been publishing literature under The Bellevue Literary Review. Perhaps it's about time the 271 year old walls began to talk. more ›

"It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York. I'm stupid about executions. The idea of being electrocuted makes me sick, and that's all there was to read about in the papers - goggle-eyed headlines staring up at me on every street corner and at the fusty, peanut-smelling mouth of every subway. It had nothing to do with me, but I couldn't help wondering what it would be like, being burned alive all along your nerves. more ›

has been building. Maybe it's merely the oddity of combining Garrison Keillor's radio program, Altman's usual troop of amazing character actors and the teen starlet that has people intrigued but it finally hits general theatrical release. Besides a blonde LIndsay trying to hold her own with the likes of Lily Tomlin and Kevin Kline, it should be fun to see Streep behind the mic, as apparently she and many other cast members sing in the film. more ›

Sofia Quintero, Author, Divas Don't Yield, Activist, Co-Founder, Chica Luna more ›

The rarified air around tippy-top Broadway shows is abuzz this week with anticipation of the Tony Awards. Clicking through the official website, Gothamist couldn’t help but snort at some of the pomposity going on for a ceremony that no one outside theater could care less about, but it’s probably to be expected. With celebrity presenters ranging from Julia Stiles and Allison Janney to James Earl Jones and Alan Alda, the Tonys have to keep up appearances and satisfy the big Hollywood tastes these folks have developed. This is particularly obvious in the huge number of gifts presenters receive, as Playbill reports; the goodies aren’t quite Oscar-caliber, but there are several nice bits of bling (Gothamist’s eye lingered on the Swarovski crystal-studded earphones) but apparently the award organizers want to help these poor deprived folks get total makeovers, with gift certificates for Lasik and teeth bleaching as well as “Life Coaching” sessions and language-learning software. Because, you know, now that these people are at the top of their game, they really need some extra assistance. Sheesh. more ›

Our friends at Broadway's The Good Body, the Eve Ensler one-woman show, have alerted us to an enticing series of talkbacks that started Wednesday night. An interesting and eclectic mix of talking heads, feminists, movie stars, and so forth have been booked to give their takes on the show. Gothamist really dug this show and wants to go back and hear Gloria Steinem's take on this piece on feminine body image and the challenge of confronting society's expectations, as well as our own. We're also curious to hear Isabella Rossellini's take on the show and the ideas it explores, since she is one of the 'characters' portrayed by Ensler in the show, and in the show has a lot to say on the subject at hand. Here's the list of talkbacks booked so far: (with more dates to be added): more ›

But what we really want to know is what author Muriel Spark thinks. Read her Slate diaries from July 1996 and December 1996. more ›