Marvel Entertainment and the NBA are planning to release a line of apparel, and Spider-Man has been paired with the Knicks, which is like saying Woody Allen and Jay-Z have something in common because they're both from New York. Vicky Picca of NBA marketing cheesily explained, "The NBA is filled with highlights as amazing as the feats of Marvel's storied characters." So the Knicks are the lovelorn boy geniuses of the NBA then? And who gets Deadpool? more ›

It's come to this: Mayor Bloomberg has gone crawling to the vigilante freak called "Spider-Man" for help solving the city's unemployment crisis. In an eight-page comic given out with the Daily News today, Spidey spreads the word about the city's Workforce 1, a free service "which helps New Yorkers find jobs, gain additional training opportunities, and develop their careers." (You can also find bedbugs at one of their locations!) Of course, Spider-Man's participation is just a tad ironic, since the NYPD infamously cracked down on Superman and Batman for trying to make a living in this town. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a church shooting on Schenectady Ave. in Brooklyn, a pedestrian struck on West 17th St. and Union Square West in Manhattan, and a water rescue in Raitian Bay between Staten Island and Sandy Hook, NJ.
• City Councilman Charles Barron's chief of staff, Viola Plummer, was suspended for six weeks from the City Council and by Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who she's also heckled, with a promise of reinstatment if she promises to behave herself. Plummer is in her 70s, but threatened another Councilman with assassination on a contentious vote.
• A grand jury in a federal court case voted to indict four alleged plotters that wanted to blow up JFK airport, kill thousands, and cripple the U.S. economy with a harebrained scheme to take out a pipeline that runs towards the airport.
• "...the red, white and blue leader of the Avengers was felled by an assassin's bullet on the steps of a New York federal courthouse." Captain America got capped, by Marvel Comics no less.
• A 21-year-old White Plains worker at the Rye Playland Amusement Park was killed when thrown from a gyrating ride. Gabriela Garin had changed shifts with another ride operator and then got on the ride to make sure visitors were properly secured, when her replacement started the ride.
• The new rules against noise and trans-fats go into effect tomorrow. Somehow we feel that NYers will remain louder, skinnier, and better looking than the rest of the country, regardless of what laws are passed.
• The City has a list of all the designated grilling areas around the five boroughs. The Parks Dept. says "Designated Barbecuing Areas," but frankly, we don't want to get into all that right now.
• We've pretty much given up on listening to radio, but this blog may point us to something it's possible we'll want to hear. Thank you New York Radio Guide.
• The Staten Island Advance points out that Mayor Bloomberg's ambitious plan to make all yellow cabs hybrid in a few years overlooks the livery cabs that service the outer boroughs. Car service owners and drivers would prefer to keep it that way.

At the end of this month, your friendly neighborhood Spider Man will be all over New York for...Spider Man week! A five-borough-wide celebration (marketing ploy) featuring a ton of live events, screenings, parties and exhibits. The city has been central to the Marvel Comics legend since Spidey's beginning in 1962, so it only makes sense to launch the latest movie here. more ›

Today's map comes from Marvel Comics, by way of the Travel Channel's New York City page. Click on the little circles to learn about all the superhero hotspots-- Doctor Strange's mansion in Greenwich Village, Daredevil's apartment in Hell's Kitchen, the spot in Central Park where the Punisher's family was murdered, and of course, Forest Hills, where Spiderman grew up. The map also mentions that the Thing grew up on the Lower East Side. That makes perfect sense, because we recently learned that he's Jewish. Does that make him the earliest Jewish superhero? more ›

Because of yesterday's strange and ultimately hilarious for us - since we're not a recognized government or royal figure in Britain - stunt that involved a man dressed as Batman staging a protest at Buckingham Palace, Gothamist thought it a great opportunity to look at the meaning of Gotham City. Wikipedia's definiton:

Gotham City is a fictional city appearing in DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. At one point, DC placed Gotham City in the state of New Jersey, though its features and location have been altered at times due to the capricious nature of the writers, editors and storyline. Gotham is known to be architecturally modeled after New York City and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but with more exaggerated vices. It has been said that, metaphoricaly, Metropolis (home to Superman) is New York during the day, and Gotham is New York at night. This comparison is helped by the fact that Metropolis is more often seen during the day, and Gotham more at night. Longtime Batman writer and editor Dennis O'Neil has also said figuratively that Metropolis is New York above 14th St., and that Gotham City is New York below 14th St.

Joe Quesada, Marvel Comics Editor in Chief more ›

Although Rawhide Kid is the first gay title character, Marvel does have several existing gay characters, such as North Star of the "X-Men" comic book series. CNN.com - Marvel Comics to unveil gay gunslinger - Dec. 9, 2002 more ›