The Atlantic is asking if today's McMansions are tomorrow's tenements in an article titled The Next Slum. It seems suburban developments nationwide are seeing the same problems the city streets are: druggies, homeless, grafitti, gang activity, broken windows, stray bullets, and even in Pleasantville copper wire is a commodity. Suburban decay is on the rise, making them a far cry from what they were presented as at the New York World’s Fair of 1939 and......

Anyone who’s ever gotten off the 7 train in Flushing and walked to the Queens Botanical Garden knows that the majority of the area’s Chinese eateries and businesses are clustered around the northern end of Main Street. As you move further south, Indian sari shops, chaat houses and grocery stores start to appear. But lately a handful of Chinese restaurants have elbowed into the southern end; one such newcomer is Oriental Express Food Garden,......

Gothamist has dined in all kinds of joints in Flushing’s Chinatown – killer Cantonese, top-flight dim sum and lamb-laden Northern Chinese. The area we haven’t explored much is the food courts, mazes of stalls so diverse that Tony Bourdain could easily cull material for an episode or two. It’s not that we are squeamish, it’s just that the signs are all in Chinese and many of the proprietors speak little English. A non-Chinese speaker......

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......

The other night we found ourselves craving shwarma as we strolled the stretch of Flushing’s Main Street that’s home to kosher groceries and dairy restaurants. As Gothamist approached Pita Hot, with visions of rotating meat dancing wildly in our head, we noticed an orange storefront out of the corner of our eye. Next to the utilitarian space that’s home to some of the borough’s best shwarma was a joint with a day-glo orange sign that......

Looks like complaining about crowded trains on the MTA's Rider Report Cards works - the MTA announced it will increase service on the 7 and L subway lines. The 7 line will have more trains running during the morning rush hour between Flushing-Main Street and Times Square, by extending rush hour service 25 minutes (new: 7:10-9:05AM; previously it was 7:20-8:50AM). Between 8:30PM and 10PM, Main Street-bound trains will operate every 4-5 minutes, versus the current......

A reader sent us this horrible but all-too-familiar story: I was on the 7 train riding from Flushing Main Street when a man sat across from me (a few stops before 82nd street Jackson Heights he got on) with a newspaper on his lap pretending to be sleeping. I glanced over and to my horror all his goods were in plain view. I did not react and I pulled out my cell phone and took......

The NYC Transit Authority may not be able to figure out which subway stations to paint after more than seven months, but it's taken only two months to launch the report card initiative! Back in May, NYCTA president Howard Roberts Jr. said that he wanted to know what subway and bus riders thought of their respective lines and announced that the 7 line's straphangers would get first crack at filling out report cards. The Post......

Korean fried chicken has been on the radar of Manhattan foodies for quite some time, thanks to Koreatown's Bon Chon. But nowhere else in our fair city has this highly cravable treat spread its wings so rapidly as in Flushing, particularly around Northern Boulevard in the 150s and 160s. The number of restaurants in the nabe serving this delicacy invites comparison to the growth of Starbucks, but in a better, less evil way. There are......

TONY blog has a report on the most endangered sites in the world. The World Monuments Fund released its 2008 list yesterday, which is packed with far off places. The U.S. isn't exempt, of course, with a whopping seven endangered structures: the Salk Institute in California, the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed Florida Southern University Historic Campus, historic neighborhoods of New Orleans, Route 66, Main Street Modern, Tutuveni Petroglyph Site in Arizona and our very own New......

There have been murmurs of Galapagos moving from its current space for a while now. The Burg even did an entire episode about saving it. From that show: "Galapagos is many ways is the heart of Williamsburg, the oldest consistently operating bar in the area, it's been around for seven years - it's historic. And now I hear Clear Channel's trying to buy it." "I hate Clear Channel, first McCarren Park Pool and now this!"......

Yesterday morning, a group of teens got into a fight that left two wounded at the Main Street 7 station in Flushing. The fight started on the street, but it moved into the station, where the teens used knives and bottles. As many as 6-12 people may have been involved, and 14 year old Eric Valasquez was charged with stabbing a 17 year old in the chest and a 19 year old in the back.......

Remember yesterday's story about the DUMBO man whose car was ticketed and towed on a street where a "No Parking" sign magically appeared? And the Department of Transportation said that parking was allowed on that stretch of Front Street, so they would help David Bourgeois get his ticket dismissed? Well, now the DOT tells the Daily News that the agency DID put up the sign and therefore, Bourgeois will have to pay the ticket and......

We got an email from the Straphangers yesterday, who directed us to check out the MTA's NYC Bus Rapid Transit Study. The MTA is looking to identify "corridors in the five boroughs that have BRT potential," and there will be public information sessions starting next week in all five boroughs. So far, the MTA is considering fifteen corridors:Bronx - Fordham Road/Pelham Parkway - Grand Concourse - Webster Avenue + 3rd Avenue Brooklyn - Flatbush Avenue......

We passed a storefront on West 3rd Street between McDougal and 6th Avenue last night -- a huge reprint of this New York Times review was posted in the window, which led us to one conclusion. Seems like there will be bing in the 'hood in the not-too-distant future. Before we read the article, we had no idea what a bing was either, but upon further investigation, we discovered that a bing is a......

Kate Wood, executive director, LANDMARK WEST!...

Sundance is definitely in full swing - you can tell by all the blurry-eyed revelers wandering up and down Main Street. We're trying to make all the rounds, but it's difficult because we actually have paying work to do at the festival. Today, we thought we'd serve up our report in terms of bests and worsts: Best party - Palm Pictures Like defamer, we hit the Palm Pictures party last night. We had a bunch......

Bubby's Pie Co. presents the first annual Brooklyn Pie Social, to be held on Main Street in Brooklyn (near the entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park) this Sunday, September 12 at noon. There will be live music and face-painting, but otherwise it's pretty straightforward: show up and eat pie. Tickets are $10 for 5 tasting tickets if you bring a pie to share. Otherwise, admission is $20 for 5 tasting tickets or $50 for 15 tasting......

Nicole Beland, Writer/Girl Next Door...

If you take the 7 train between 10AM and 1PM, you may be riding on a vintage train! The Post, as the official newspaper of old subway trains, reports that a vintage train will run from Times Square to Main Street in Flushing, Queens today. This sounds good to Gothamist, but given how hot today is, we might opt for some trains with A/C. Check out Tien's Nostalgia Train to the Bronx. Gothamist on the......

It's only two days into the Chinese New Year, so here's some more information on the festivities in the city from NYC Visit. The Post looks at places to eat and shop in the Chinatowns of Manhattan, Queens (Flushing) and Brooklyn (Sunset Park). Some of their picks: Gum Fung (Main Street and 39th Avenue) for food and Flushing Mall (39th Avenue and College Point Boulevard) in Queens; Jade Plaza (6022 Eighth Avenue at 61st......