Sure, Los Angeles is an okay place to live if you like abundant sunshine and driving up Highway 1 on a weekday afternoon with the top down, a surfboard in the backseat, and Steely Dan's "Babylon Sisters" blaring on the stereo. But we could never live there! We'd miss the seasons; these magical winter days playing in the snow and nights making love in front of a roaring fire. And then there are precious afternoons like this, where all the windows in the office are open and we're fighting a despicable urge to turn on the air conditioning. more ›

We love the smell of hype in the morning: smells like... fresh coffee! Someday L.A. company The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is gonna open in NYC, and we've just been told that day is fast approaching. A representative of The Bean says the first location, at 39th and Broadway, is poised to open by the end of the month with seating for 35. And four more locations, all in Manhattan, will follow on its footsteps by the end of 2011. more ›

You may remember Chef Ludo Lefebvre from his appearances on Top Chef Masters (offal tacos! electrified tartar sauce!) but he's garnered acclaim for his pop-up restaurant, Ludo Bites, in LA to the point that the Sundance Channel is airing a show—Ludo Bites America—that features him and wife Krissy opening pop-up restaurants in small towns the country. So, when is he going to open one in NYC? more ›

Commuting by bicycle is gradually becoming more popular over in car-crazy LA, where the City Council has just sent a message to anyone who tries messing with bike riders, with the passage of The Bicyclist Anti-Harassment Ordinance. In a unanimous vote, the Council passed stiff fines of up to $1,000 for such violations as physical assault or attempted physical assault against a cyclist, threats of physical injury, intentional distraction and forceful removal from street. more ›

LA-based coffee chain The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is setting up shop in New York, because this town apparently doesn't have enough retail coffee options. more ›

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge—who you know as Will and Kate, or Pippa's relatives—are coming to North America! And their itinerary for their 11-day tour looks something like this: Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada, Los Angeles. What gives Will and Kate, New York City showed you so much love prior to your nuptials! more ›

We've done many dubious things to prove our parents wrong (we still owe you one, Peruvian consul!) but hailing a cab from LaGuardia to LA strikes us as the ballsiest. John Belitsky's father, a former New York City cab driver, told his son that there was no chance he could catch a ride that far. But that's exactly what Belitsky and a pal did, for $5,000. more ›

Lonely Planet is at it again—this time pitting NYC against LA in what would be a laughable battle if we weren't so cold right now, and craving decent Mexican food. The creators of the poll say they are here to put "this historic banter to a test." They do seem to know what they're talking about, in it they include their pick for best city tour: "the elevated purple No 7 subway line across Queens is actually deemed a national historic trail, akin to Lewis & Clark. Going on/off it is one of NYC's classic one-day explorations many miss." You can place your vote here (and seriously, vote—because we totally lost to San Francisco recently and that is not okay). more ›

Remember Ted Williams and his golden voice? Last week he was panhandling on the side of a highway in Ohio, only to be pulled from the street by way of a viral video. Since then he's been whisked away by various press outlets and possible employers, and most recently he was in Los Angeles meeting Kobe Bryant and filming a Dr. Phil episode (with his ex-wife and estranged children). And then the levee broke! more ›

New Yorkers have never shown a shortage of opinions on either tourists or cyclists, which is why an attack near Central Park on Thursday night has us confused as to whose side we're on. In the red corner we have Tamara Farra, a 45-year-old tourist from Los Angeles who was meandering down East 74th Street with her friend from New Jersey. In the blue corner, we have Carl Goodman, the 25-year-old cyclist with a "long rap sheet" who began circling Farra, spitting at her and grabbing at her throat. While Goodman sounds completely nuts, Farra did have the audacity to be from Los Angeles. Surprisingly, the good guy seems to be the one motorist in the story. more ›

For all our muttered complaints, New York City's public transportation system is still one of the oldest and most extensive in the world. Dating back to 1910, the subway is today one of four in the U.S. to at least partially serve 24/7, 365 days a year, and is ranked fourth in the world for annual ridership, just under Tokyo, Moscow, and Seoul. But as in all other walks of life, though size matters, so does price. Following the horrifying news last month that the MTA greenlit a 7.5 percent fare hike for January, riders have been in an uproar. more ›

Think you're hardcore barreling down the Williamsburg Bridge bike ramp on your fixie? Try pedaling on the 405 in L.A. Here's a fresh trailer for the forthcoming documentary To Live & Ride in L.A., which is somewhat reminiscent of the forthcoming messenger bike documentary Empire. They both seem pretty rad, but this one from the West coast gets extra points for looking so exotic. LA bike hipsters: they're just like us, except they have surfboard baskets on their frames. more ›

Last night, a fire broke out in the cockpit of a United Boeing 757 headed to LAX from JFK Airport. The plane landed safely at Dulles at 9:36 p.m. Passenger Phil Lobel, told the AP that 30 minutes in, "he detected an electrical burning smell. He said flight attendants began going over emergency instructions with passengers in the exit rows and someone brought up a fire extinguisher from the back of the plane to the cockpit." Other tidbits: Some passengers took pictures of the flames, some passengers were celebrities, and "About an hour after the plane landed, Lobel received an e-mail from United apologizing for the 'experience' he had on the flight." more ›

A recent nationwide round-up of metropolitan commutes placed NYC's sort of near the top of the list, at sixth place. But of the area's highways and byways, the Cross Bronx Expressway is a standout for congestion, reported the Daily Beast. “There’s an old phrase that we used to have: too many cars and not enough roadway, and that fits the Cross Bronx to a T,” said Tom Kaminski, traffic reporter for WCBS 880. “There’s no room to expand, there’s no way to throw in an additional lane or an additional shoulder—people have started changing their driving habits whenever they can.” more ›

Jeffrey Dietch, controversial art dealer and founder of Manhattan's Deitch Projects gallery has been named director to Los Angeles's Museum of Contemporary Art. MOCA, which sagged with the economy last year, is putting its money in the hands of a savvy businessman, hoping Deitch can save the non-profit cultural institution from sure financial ruin. So why are museum people whimpering that the dealer will commercialize their precious shrine to modern creativity? more ›

The author of the new book Save the Deli has declared that LA has better Jewish delis than NYC, but he only says such hurtful things because he wants to see New York do better. We haven't read David Sax's heretical book, but the LA Times did, and of course they're gloating over there, because Sax says, "The [delis] that are most inspiring, the ones that people cling to, the ones that people enshrine for years and years are the traditional Jewish delis. And Los Angeles just happens to have more of them than any city I've been to." How can that be?! more ›

After the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Orlando Magic for the NBA Championship last night, Los Angelenos apparently decided that celebrating equaled setting garbage on fire, jumping on cars, tearing down street signs, breaking into and looting stores, and tagging buildings. We hear that police basically let people throw things at them, only intervening to put fires out; LAPD police chief William Bratton, who is a former NYC police commissioner, said, "Officers tonight used minimal levels of force..behaving very professionally," also calling the revelers "knuckleheads" and "cowards." (Was nothing learned after the 2000 win?) Newsday's Neil Best blogged, "Thank you, Los Angeles for the timely reminder - 15 years to the day since the Rangers won the Stanley Cup - that New York consistently is better behaved in celebrating sports championships than are other, less civilized burgs." Damages are estimated to be at least $1 million. more ›

When giving his Best Actor acceptance speech, Sean Penn said, "For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support." LAist has photographs of the protesters, who are from Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas; one said, "I'm picketing the Oscars because the entertainment industry in this country is just ...one of the institutions, that you're using to promote sin and filth and rebellion against the commandments and standards of God." And Penn later said backstage, "I think that these are largely taught limitations and ignorances. It's very sad in a way, because it's a demonstration of such emotional cowardice to be so afraid to be extending the same rights to a fellow man as you would want for yourself." more ›

Though the show takes place here, Ugly Betty isn't actually filmed in New York; the first two seasons were filmed in Los Angeles. However, with Gov. Paterson's new tax credit program, the show may uproot and make a move east. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck on Broadway and 231st St. in the Bronx, an aircraft alert at JFK at Queens, and a person fatally struck by a train at 57th St. and 8th Ave. in Manhattan.
• Entries for the NYC Half-Marathon will start being accepted at 11:59pm on May 29th. Details.
• And the Design Trust for Public Space is accepting submissions for its Grand Army Plaza redesign competition.
• An Internal Affairs Bureau Lt. has been reassigned to a surveillance booth in a housing project after his friend allegedly raped a young woman in the apartment of the cop's girlfriend as she begged him to stop.
• The body of Rabbi Zev Segal, missing since yesterday morning, was found in his car, which apparently slid into the Hackensack River in NJ.
• The memorial for promoter-gossip Baird Jones is being held at Plumm, a venue he wasn't a huge fan of.
• A Gawker employee was shackled and thrown into the Tombs after drinking a beer-in-a-bag in the subway system.
• The carjacker of Mayor Bloomberg's personal car, which was in the possession of one of his aides, faces 15 years in the slammer for the crime.
• A lovely castle-like house in Flushing, Queens - turrets and Tudor details!
• Former Gov. George Pataki underwent emergency surgery this morning to relieve an intestinal blockage (he's had problems with this before!).
• And former Project Runway contestants Jeffrey Sebelia, Santino Rice and Kit Pistol watched Project Runway finale in LA amidst their young, adoring fans.

Even though there wasn't a "villain" along the lines of Santino Rice or a favorite like Michael Knight, the fourth season of Project Runway has been pretty captivating with some very lovely work. Tonight, the three remaining designers' Bryant Park Fashion Week face-off will be shown and a winner announced. more ›

Some good news in the ongoing saga to save 1520 Sedgwick, better known as the Birthplace of Hip Hop. Today Senator Schumer, who has been lobbying on behalf of the tenants to preserve the building's affordability, announced that "the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development rejected the proposed sale to developer Mark Karasick because current rents could not be sustained if the sale had gone through." The move doesn't insure that the building’s owner won't still opt out of the Mitchell-Lama program, however. more ›

The following post is from our advertiser, Campaign for New York's Future. more ›

Snoop Dogg, in town shooting BET interviews last week, was caught green-handed with the drug he claimed to give up at age 30: pot. The rapper was busted outside of hotspot Lotus last Wednesday for marijuana possession, and was issued a desk appearance ticket. The Post reports that didn't stop Snoop from partying the very next night, with his 25-strong posse, at Serafina and the tapas lounge Lollipop (somewhere in between they ordered 15 pizzas, so we're guessing there may have been some weed around that night, too!). During one of the BET interviews, he claimed the accusation was "bogus". more ›

Banksy, the cheeky street artist/prankster turned multimillionaire art star, was in town last week, presumably for the Damien Hirst-coordinated auction at Sotheby’s to benefit the (Project) RED campaign, which works with corporations like the Gap to raise money for the treatment of A.I.D.S. patients in Africa. The $48 million raised at the event – through the sale of works by Hirst, Banksy, Jeff Koons, Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning and others – will be distributed by the Global Fund. more ›

At this point, it's hard to tell whether Ed Begley, Jr. is more famous for his decades of acting or his decades of environmentalism. Sure, he's logged over 200 appearances on stage, film and television, including his Emmy-winning breakout role on St. Elsewhere and his priceless turn on Arrested Development. But his funniest performance is arguably his self-effacing cameo as a hardcore green activist in the classic 1999 Simpsons episode "Homer to the Max", in which he's shown driving a nonpolluting go-cart powered by his "own sense of self-satisfaction." Off screen, he's embraced this role of ardent environmentalist with an infectious positivity and seemingly tireless commitment to reducing his own impact on an increasingly injured ecosystem. The many green improvements to his largely solar powered, energy efficient home have been documented in the amusing and informative reality show Living With Ed, and now a newly published book offers a wide range of changes readers can implement to make their lifestyles more sustainable. Called Living Like Ed, it's as inspiring as it is handy, and Begley will be at the Strand bookstore at 7pm tonight for a reading and book signing organized by Environmental Defense. more ›

Rudy Giuliani may have exited the presidential campaign, but that doesn't mean he's disappeared. For starters, we hope those Rudy Giuliani campaign staffers who gave up their paychecks feel good about this: According to the Washington Post, Giuliani's campaign paid his firm Giuliani Partners $60,000 in rent and paid Giuliani Security & Safety $300,000 for security. We don't understand why he stopped running - it's a perfect way to convert donations into revenue! Well, his lawyer told the WaPo that Giuliani "recused himself from taking profits. His portion would be donated to charity." more ›

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We think NYC area hospitals should be on alert: TMZ reports that Britney Spears is headed to NYC. Well, if not NYC, something close:

"Spears left Van Nuys Airport at 4:00 PM PT this afternoon. We're told Brit Brit, Adnan and one other male passenger were on the plane. The plane is about to land at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. Next stop ... unknown."