In honor of National Poetry Month, Mayor Bloomberg has been holding his second annual Twitter poetry "Poetweet" contest. Through April 13th, poems written on Twitter with the tag #poetweet will be considered for publication in Metro for Poem in Your Pocket day on April 14. But why wait? Here are some of the best poems to come out of the Twitterverse: more ›

Join Denise Landis, recipe tester for The New York Times, as she shares recipes and expertise from her newest cookbook, Dinner for Eight. Free tasting and book signing to follow the demonstration. Broadway Panhandler, 65 East 8th Street (between Broadway and University), 3 PM, free. more ›

Last night Gothamist attended the 4th annual benefit for the Academy of American Poets at Alice Tully Hall and was reminded that reciting poetry aloud is really a wonderful thing. As the kick-off to National Poetry Month in April, a panel of celebrity readers including William Wegman, Mike Wallace, Dianne Weist, Alan Alda and Meryl Streep read a few examples each from a variety of American poets. Great poets like William Carlos Williams, Sylvia Plath, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes and Kenneth Koch were represented in the mix, with a highlight for the night coming from musician Wynton Marsalis's lyrical reading of Sterling A. Brown's "Ma Rainey -- a poem he punctuated by breaking into song a cappella during one portion. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg says, "Poem in Your Pocket Day offers all New Yorkers a unique way to celebrate and reflect on the beauty and power of language. We are proud to launch an initiative that celebrates literacy and poetry, and the meaningful role they play in all of our lives. I'll be carrying a poem on April 30, and I encourage all New Yorkers to do the same." Gothamist would like to know what poem Mayor Bloomberg is carrying - will it be about getting elected with voters who just don't understand? Or making lots of money? Or not being a dynamic speaker? more ›