In a stunning blow to capitalist principles/principals this country was founded on, a Brooklyn high school principal who instilled the virtues of hard work and making an honest living by taking students on a furniture-moving field trip last month is no longer a principal. Altagracia Liciaga was removed from her post at Multicultural High School in Cypress Hills by the DOE a day before fall classes started, after it was revealed that Liciaga forced the students to ride unrestrained in the back of a U-Haul after an enlightening day of hauling filing cabinets. The Post reports that Liciaga even taught one student self-reliance, by letting them drive the U-Haul just a year after getting a driver's license. more ›

Marist released the results of a massive poll yesterday (below), in which they surveyed 4,500 New York state residents about government consolidation and the state of the state. But inside are some interesting facts about city residents, including that we have the longest tenure than any other region; NYCers live here an average of 28 years. You'll have to drag us out of our tiny, rent-controlled apartments, transplants! more ›

"The Empire State is being drained of an invaluable resource -- people," proclaims a new study from the Empire Center For NY State Policy. It shows that many New Yorkers are leaving the state in record numbers, and the move is looking to be quite taxing on the state. Between 2000 and 2008, 1.5 million state residents left for other parts of the U.S., leaving the state with a huge loss in taxable income. Nearly 80% of those who left were New York City residents. more ›

Need your live music fix back on North 11th Street? Williamsburg's Sound Fix had to shut down their lounge earlier this year, which housed comedy and music events, as well as a cafe and bar. In order to bring back the events, owner James Bradley has announced he's moving out, and re-opening in September at a new location just about a block away on Berry Street. Hopefully the neighbors over there won't have any complaints; Bradley told the Brooklyn Paper, “Record stores all over the nation [have live music]. Why can’t we?'" more ›

Moving in New York just got so much easier (on the eyes). People, prepare to swoon: Ryan Gosling was been spotted on East 7th Street in the East Village today with a moving crew. Allegedly he's researching a new role, and Vanishing NY reports back with all the details (and more importantly, photographs): "Word on the street is he's doing research for a new movie called Blue Valentine in which he plays the part of a mover. (His co-star is Michelle Williams.) So he’s traveling around town with Steinway Movers, lugging furniture and boxes in and out of a big red and yellow truck." And we're guessing as this news leaks, Steinway movers will be getting a lot more business. more ›

The soon-to-be former home of Heights Books on Montague Street recently sold for $3.7 million, so the shop is movin' out and over to 120 Smith Street. But won't they need their books? A reader sent in these photos saying they've "set up a dumpster out front filled with books which presumably won't be following them to their new location. Dozens of people are sifting through the piles of dusty books, although the owner has been discouraging full-on dumpster diving." Though the store specializes in one-of-a-kinds, we're guessing they weren't sloppy enough to toss out any first editions. more ›

With jobs getting cut, budgets on the chopping block and an economic crisis that has everyone tightening the pursestrings, you can be sure to expect many an article penned about New Yorkers fleeing their expensive rents for new out-of-city digs (there's at least one writer looking for such subjects right now). TONY recently asked some deserters why they left New York after years of calling it home (marriage, bigger apartment, etc etc), and they all seem so...happy. While they're not living in their own versions of Galt's Gulch just yet, some are recreating New York in their new stomping grounds. One 26-year-old says she left the Astral in Greenpoint, which was infested with bedbugs and giant cockroaches, and moved into a palatial palace in Kansas City, where they even have Critical Mass, Bloody Mary brunches...and 3-bedroom apartments for $750 a month. Sigh. more ›

The Cheyenne Diner, one of New York City's last streamlined railway car-inspired diners, is one step closer to its relocation to Birmingham, Alabama. On Sunday workers removed the Cheyenne's neon signs in preparation for the move, which is to take place within the next few weeks. Last April, owner George Papas (who also owns the nearby Skylight Diner), closed the Cheyenne, which was built in 1940, and prepared to demolish it to make room for a nine story condo. more ›

You may recall that the beloved Chocolate Bar was priced out of its West Village home back in April and, after months of searching, finally settled on a new location on East 7th Street. The East Village spot was popular with a few regulars like Janeane Garofalo, but owner Alison Nelson had a tough time making the steep rent there as well, and abruptly shut down earlier this month. Now, in an ironic twist, the foul economic winds have blown her right back where she started, just across the street from her original West Village location, with a rent that's cheaper than either place. Indeed, real estate analysts expect retail rents to continue decreasing throughout 2009. Nelson tells the Observer, "I’m walking up and down Hudson and Eighth Avenue every day, and one by one, I’m watching all these stores close and I’m like, 'What the hell is happening?'...For me, it’s funny that this whole economic hell has kind of reopened doors that had been closed only seven months ago." more ›

After a planned relocation to Red Hook fell apart, the beloved old Cheyenne diner will most likely be sold to a buyer in Alabama, after almost 70 years in business near Penn Station. Owner George Papas, who will demolish it if no one buys it so he can build a nine story condo on the property, tells Chelsea Now he's "pretty confident" that an unnamed man will move it to Alabama. Which beats demolition, but you'll recall how the Moondance Diner fared when a Wyoming couple bought it. Of course, there's a certain bitter irony to all this, since newcomers are perpetually drawn to New York in large part due to the distinctive character created by places like these, which are now forced to relocate to the provinces to make way for the same generic eyesores found everywhere. The lesson, perhaps, is that if you live in the Midwest, you may as well just stay down on the farm until a taste of New York comes to you—because there ain't much of it left here, y'all! more ›

Plans to move the old Cheyenne Diner from its current location near Penn Station to a new home in Red Hook have fallen through, as many feared last week. Michael O’Connell, son of Red Hook developer Greg O'Connell, who bought the old prefab gem after it closed last April to make way for a condo, says it's too big to transport over the East River bridges. O'Connell considered moving it by barge, but that "proved 3 times as costly as traditional figures a year ago," according to a press release from Michael Perlman, a New Yorker who's become The Fixer when it comes to relocating doomed diners. more ›

When the vintage factory-built Cheyenne Diner near Penn Station closed last April after 68 years in business, widespread dismay was quickly replaced with hope when a Red Hook man bought it for $5,000 and promised to move the prefab gem across the East River. But it's been almost nine months since the closure, and the diner's gone nowhere because, as it turns out, it's too big to be moved over the Manhattan Bridge, even in two pieces. more ›

Unmoved by a petition signed by over 4,500 people, an Upper West Side landlord has refused to renew the lease on the 66-year-old P&G bar, whose iconic sign is familiar to many from cameos on Seinfeld (and its ideal proximity to the Beacon Theatre). So Steve Chahalis, the fourth-generation owner of the bar, located at Amsterdam Avenue and 73rd Street, has decided to relocate a few blocks away. He's putting on a brave face, and tells the Observer his new subterranean location is more than four times bigger than the original. (There's also a stage and a full kitchen.) But the Observer worries that moving the famous sign will be logistically impractical and also require approval from the landmarks commission. Also, what will neighbors like the Museum of Natural History think of all that neon? more ›

Word has come in via The NY Times that the Knitting Factory will officially make the move to Brooklyn...and Boise? Jared Hoffman, who took over the good ship Knit five years ago, announced that both the Idaho and a new Spokane, WA venue have already hung up signs -- something that Brooklyn may see soon as well, as the venue has just received the borough's approval. The Times reports they "won community board approval to begin moving into 361 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the former site of the Luna Lounge." The space will give them a smaller New York presence, moving their multi-level, multi-room venue that's been housed on Leonard Street for 14 years, into one room with a smaller capacity (around 300). Look for a grand opening between 4 and 9 months from now, and don't expect to see the same look as Luna Lounge, as they'll be doing some renovations. more ›

The NY Sun has an alarming headline today: "40,000 New Yorkers Flee State for Atlanta," a fact that may be harshing the "southern hospitality" vibe Georgia had going for it. The newcomers are calling their new hometown a "second-tier city," and one woman declared: "If my kids have a Southern accent, I will kill myself." Unsurprisingly, the ex-NYers stick together down there, going so far as to start their own MySpace group -- while one keeps a blog called Voted Off the Island. As for the Atlanta locals, they seem welcoming, as the director of the Gone With the Wind Museum noted: "Since 9/11, everybody in the country has bonded with New York." The upsides to the move come off as few and far between in the article, perhaps the only one being that you can buy a 4-bdrm house there, with a yard, for $275K. The downsides: no good pizza, bagels, and no Central Park. more ›

Every New Yorker realizes that 'moving day' can be a pain in the butt, so you'd think only two moves in over two centuries might not be that big of a deal. It is when one is moving the entire house for the second time. Hamilton Grange was the country home of Alexander Hamilton, who only got to live there a short time before that scurrilous character Aaron Burr shot him in a duel. more ›

Last spring, it was announced that Galapagos was being priced out of their N 6th Street digs in Williamsburg, which the club had inhabited permanently since 1998. more ›

The rumor mill's in motion and word is that The Knitting Factory will be moving out of its long time home on Leonard Street. The news doesn't come as a surprise as last April brought word that the building the venue is housed in would be sold. more ›

Having to move out of and in to apartments in the city is not a fun task. One group of avid bikers decided to try an apartment move with just their two hands, two feet and two wheels. In just under four hours they managed to complete the Brooklyn-to-Brooklyn move, which included the contents of a one-bedroom apartment. At one point they pass another man who is helping a friend move with a U-Haul, something he declares they could never do with just bikes and a little manpower... more ›

More than 200 years after its construction, preservationists aren't sure which direction Alexander Hamilton's country house should be facing. Hamilton Grange, located in Harlem, has already been moved and reoriented once, but that was just a temporary relocation undertaken in 1899. Now preservationists want to give the Federal-style country house a more permanent and less cramped site, but can't agree on what axis to place it. more ›