No one has been surprised that Gristedes supermarkets have been closing steadily over the past ten years, given the influx of other grocery options and rising rents. But the NY Times has a fascinating article on why Gristedes still manages to exist, despite shrinking in size. more ›

The Post and Daily News have a number of editorials and columns about the Deutsche Bank building fire response and fallout. The Post continues to demand FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta's resignation and faulted Mayor Bloomberg for standing by Scoppetta. The Daily News' Juan Gonzalez wonders why Bloomberg and Scoppetta have gone into "virtual hiding" and blasts Bloomberg for sending lobbyists to kill "legislation that would force tougher enforcement of safety laws by the city Buildings Department." The News also has an editorial saying that Spitzer must take charge (he "has the muscle to crack heads among the contractors and federal, state and city agencies that have made a perilous hash of the job"). more ›

Aha! The Sun has some feedback from a number of organizations about the Manhattan Mini Storage billboard that proclaims "Your closet space is shrinking as fast as her right to choose" with a big hanger in the image. The ad, which on the storage company's West Side highway space, has been generating much controversy. more ›

Earlier this afternoon, we watched Scholastic transform Mercer Street between Prince and Spring Streets in "Harry Potter Place" in anticipation of the 12:01AM release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - early reviews be damned! Not only was the Whomping Willow ready, there were owls (stuffed), messages on the Muggle Message Board, and a copy of the book signed by JK Rowling. more ›

The Daily News has an exclusive with Jan Gehl, the Danish architect the Department of Transportation would like to hire to help reduce congestion in the city. It's a nice introduction to Gehl, who has worked on congestion-reducing projects in London and Copenhagen, but it also seems like the perfect article to fire up passions. Gehl said, "...we can do is to reduce the number of parking spots. I would raise the price for parking right away." Street parkers, commence the freaking out! Some more Gehl quotes:

"There are so many places in this city where people are treated very badly on the sidewalk, where the congestion is unpleasant. ... The balance is not very good here.... more ›

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Yes, the MTA scheduled a lot of service advisories for this past weekend. But didn't it seem like the subways were much more screwy than usual? more ›

Sometimes, a middling restaurant can be where everyone wants to dine - if it has outdoor seating. Last week, WNBC's Andrew Siff had a story on the rise of al fresco dining in the city and had some interesting statistics. And we also liked that al fresco diners use their laptops during dinner. more ›

hallway of Newtown High School, located at 48-01 90th Street, and stated, “I have to cut your hair.” When Harpal asked, “For what, it is against my religion,” the defendant allegedly displayed a ring with Arabic inscriptions and stated, “This ring is Allah. If you don’t let me cut your hair, I will punch you with this ring.” It is alleged that Harpal initially refused to go into the bathroom with the defendant because he feared that the defendant would hurt him with the scissors. more ›

If it's exam time, it must mean that kids are settling down and studying for finals. Or, if they are Columbia freshman, they just might be using a review sheet that essentially gives all the answers to a big exam. A few days ago, Columbia blog The Bwog broke news that a professor had given her students much of what would be on the Literature Humanities final in the form of a review sheet. Hilariously, the cheating was discovered because the faculty changed one of the excerpts; while the study guide said the excerpt would be from the epilogue of a novel, the faculty switched it out for an earlier passage. The novel: Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment." more ›

We've seen pet strollers in the SkyMall catalog and wondered who would buy them. We've seen them at pet stores and wondered again who would buy them. But then we've run into people pushing their pets in actual children's strollers, so it's clearly a market opportunity. This week, the Brooklyn Paper examines the phenomenon of stroller dogs and, you know what, it's just as mysterious. more ›

Last Friday's Critical Mass with the NYPD's new parade rules (groups of 50 or more must apply for permits) certainly got many of you commenting. For those of you who didn't participate in the ride or see it unfold, our videographer Kelly Loudenberg filed this video. She was even riding in the pedicab with City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez! more ›