The popularity of location-based services and the seemingly insatiable desire to share every move on Foursquare is undeniable. Now check-in fanatics can find all their daily wanderings mapped on Livehoods, a site that uses over 18 million check-ins from the social media phenomenon. Livehoods applies a series of clustering algorithms to "create a representation of the organizational structure of the city," which in turn shows you when your favorite bar is mobbed by B&Ters desperate to prove that they're in Manhattan. more ›

Sadly, no. But this affects all of us! Democracy, or at least some twisted semblance of it, is important, and this morning, a federal magistrate judge unveiled a proposal that redraws the map in some some key Congressional districts across the state, and promises to stir up some hyper-partisan hyperbole. more ›

We love few things at Gothamist as much as we love the OG Law & Order and maps (pretty much only one thing, in fact: Pandas). So we'd be remiss not to mention Very Small Array's latest bit of awesome: A map of all of the (non-fictional) street addresses listed in the first season of Law & Order. more ›

Over the years we've had lots of reasons to love the folks over at the Red Cross, but this map is a great example of just how much the organization does for our fair metropolis. more ›

Neighborhood NIMBYs are about to get a new tool in their arsenal. DNAinfo reports that the New York State Liquor Authority is getting ready to launch an interactive map this month that will let you see what your local bars have been up to (along with any bar in the State). Better than having to file a FOIL-request just to find out if anyone else has been whining about that noisy bar on the block! more ›

At the beginning of the year statistics came out that showed New York has a 40 percent abortion rate, statistics which many (especially the clergy) were not happy to see. Bus ads regarding the stats were put up, people doubted and backed up the numbers, a racially charged billboard was put up in SoHo (and then taken down for "safety") and then the whole issue kind of went away for a bit. Until now. At the request of Chiaroscuro Foundation, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has broken down their 2009 abortion statistics by zip code, and the results may surprise you. more ›

Have you ever noticed the mosaic map of New York City at the police station in the middle of Times Square? Beehivehairdresser did, and though they thought it was a beautiful mosaic, they observed something peculiar about the map: it was completely mislabeled. more ›

We're all super pumped about the results of the 2010 Census. Who isn't dying to find out that white people still live on the Upper East Side? But some just can't wait for the results to come in to start writing their angry editorials: the Daily News points out today that in the 2000 census, New York was America's third most racially segregated city, after Detroit and Milwaukee. And as far as they can tell, the results of the latest survey will come to terrifyingly similar conclusions. more ›

Do you remember a year ago when Sad Panda disappeared, presumably escaping the city heat and taking a little vacation? No word on if he was out at his Wall Street post last week during the heatwave, but a reader wrote in to tell us he spotted him on Google maps. And sure enough, here he is frozen in time walking on Washington Street! He's now a part of that special club of people captured by the Google Street View camera, joining the likes of Rachel Maddow's web producer, who discussed his Google appearance on her show last year. more ›

Next time you have a hankering for some Nigerian food, skip the Zagat and just consult these handy maps from very small array. Based on the Village Voice restaurants guide, the website compiled the most common type of restaurant based on zip code and came up with these maps. Some neighborhoods are a no-brainer (Chinese in Chinatown, Greek in Astoria, Dominican in Washington Heights), but there were a few surprises. Who knew how many Mexican Sandwiches there were in Sunset Park? Or that there is a Sri Lankan enclave in the otherwise culinary dead zone of Staten Island? At least we know we can always hit up Bed-Stuy if we're in the mood for African, American, Italian, Jamaican or Sandwiches. Or is that just some weird fusion place? more ›

Think your cell phone service is bad? Well, it probably is, and not just for those sending their monthly payments to AT&T. The Wall Street Journal has now examined Nielsen's data on dropped and unsuccessful calls in the city (did you know the company sends out vans to make 140,000 test calls in the 5 boroughs, and beyond, every year?). Sadly, what they find is that we've got far too many dead zones for such a populated city. more ›

This morning we looked at the Croton Reservoir, where the New York Public Library's main branch now sits. In the time that it's been there—since the early 1900s—the surface of New York City has continued to change. Luckily, the library is home to a massive collection of maps, which chart the changes of this city as well as other areas—and this week they've officially launched maps.nypl.org. The site also hosts "a powerful set of tools designed to significantly enhance the way we access and use maps and the cartographic information they contain." Click! Zoom! Pan! more ›

Looking for that perfect Christmas tree is always a pain, but finding a location that's convenient to your apartment may be even more painful. Nobody wants to walk the all the blocks around their neighborhood looking for a tree, find the perfect 5' tree (small apartments, after all), only to have to drag it 10 blocks to their apartment. So we're putting together this handy dandy map of tree locations around the city in hopes of making it a little easier for everyone to find a tree of their choosing. more ›

This September the New York Public Library will bring you back to school with some topographical history lessons. They're celebrating the New York Harbor Quadricentennial with an extensive exhibit featuring rarely seen maps, atlases and other treasures from their own personal collection. The exhibit is titled Mapping New York’s Shoreline, 1609-2009, and opens on September 25th... but here's a sneak peek. more ›

Back in the day, being able to say, "Hey it's that Eyewitness News van!" after a run-in with the news vehicle was enough fodder to get through cocktail parties for the month to follow. Nowadays that sort of excitement is reserved for spotting the Google Street View vehicle, currently at the tail end of a month where it is traversing the five boroughs in order to update the nerd's eye view of New York on Google Maps. Street View is so popular that it's even spawned a website dedicated to capturing and sharing some of the more unusual images caught by the Google vehicle. While some of those pictures include being able to detect New Yorkers at specific spots around town, a concern for the local ACLU, Google spokeswoman Elaine Filadelfo told the Times, "The spirit of Google Maps is not to tie in a specific person to a specific place." We passed along a Street View sighting by Nylon last month; the Times mentions the car's appearance on Jeremiah's Vanishing New York. While Google keeps many details of the car on the DL, the driver did tell one New Yorker that his next stop was Dubai. more ›

As a reader pointed out, while Google's Google Maps ads-wrapped subway cars are nifty-looking, an ad inside the car "mislabels Times Square as Grand Central Station." The mistake implies that one can get the 1, 2 or 3 from Grand Central--when everyone knows that the only way to get to the 1, 2, or 3 from Grand Central is to take the S shuttle or the 7 (if the S isn't working) to Times Square first, and then get the 1, 2, or 3 there. At least, that's what experience and Google Maps tells us. more ›

Summer may be slowly winding down, but that doesn't mean you can't have a taste of that New England lobster shack year round. This map will help you find lobster rolls in New York City, Maine, Connecticut, or California if you still have a few weekend getaways left. Brought to you by Tony Green, a man who is slightly obsessed with the crustacean creation, it does contain a few spots that have been shuttered (Bar Minnow, for example), but is otherwise a helpful resourse for those moments you need your lobster roll fix. more ›

The NY Times posted this map showing just how many big players in New York City politics will be forced out of office next year due to term limits and just where those leaving may end up next. With so many heading out, the Times says that "a record 166 people have declared for city office thus far." The biggest question surrounding those leaving of course is just what direction Mayor Bloomberg will head next, if any at all. more ›