Neil Diamond riding the subway shouldn't be too surprising, since he was born and raised in New York, but the crooner is sort of a "big deal" -- so it's nice to see he's still swiping his Metrocard like the rest of us. One fan spotted him Wednesday around 2 p.m. on the N train and reports back, "I was coming from my office on 37th and 5th to take the subway to Union Square...the trains weren't so crowded...I saw a camera crew, and I saw Neil, and my heart leapt!." Alright, so maybe he only goes underground these days when he's got security and a camera crew with him, but the fan said he was quite a gentleman when approached about his show the previous night. He was reportedly talking to a British film crew about his Brooklyn days. [via Urban Prankster] more ›

Senator Hillary Clinton is asking the public for some advice on what may very well be the most important part of her campaign: The Song. more ›

- Lyrics from "On the Town" more ›

There's a particularly crazy fight over an Upper East Side backyard featured in today's NY Times. One family, the O'Maras, bought a townhouse with a big back garden that extends across a few properties on East 83rd Street. When their plans to building a three-story kitchen and personal gym addition that would span three backyards (see this graphic), their immediate neighbors to the west, the Brimberg-O'Brian family, freaked out. And now the two neighbors have been waging a fight, complete with former buildings department officials and many, many lawsuits. The Brimbergs say they'll lose their view and that the O'Maras are violating numerous building laws and are creating fire hazards, while the O'Maras say the Brimbergs are upset they didn't get to buy the garden in the first place. There's a great quote from the O'Maras' neighbor to the east, Clorinda Romano:

"A gym! That's what every family needs. I don't understand people anymore — this need to be bigger and bigger and bigger and more and more and more. There's an expression that Italians have: 'If you eat with both hands, you'll choke.' It's better in Italian; but it's true."

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Years ago, Gothamist would head over to Smalls on 10th Street to listen to jazz. It was byob, cozy, intimate, dark and open pretty much all the time. In 2003 Smalls closed its doors. We were left with high priced jazz venues that looked more like Miami nightclubs. However, we recently heard a rumor of Smalls re-opening. We can't seem to find a thing about it, can anyone confirm? more ›

Will the real Neil Diamond please step forward?
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Gothamist didn't know if it was some sort of subtle threat to voters' ears or just some way to show how the Internet! seriously! rocks!, but we have to admit that we got a kick of the NY Times' story about how City Council Speaker and wannabe mayor Gifford Miller love love loves to sing. The NY Times also has a slideshow with audio that has Giffy belting out some tunes, and while he's not the worst singer, we understand why the Times, in the print edition, noted that the audio was "Not Available in Stores." Miller mentions at various points that he's not allowed to sing at home but that he realized his many public appearances with captive audiences would let him "indulge" himself. Listen, Giff, if this means that all the mayoral candidates will get equal singing time, we're so going to send bills from our ear specialist. But other than that, this is the makings of a great off-off-off Broadway musical! more ›

There's a lot going on this weekend, as per usual. While we didn't celebrate Cinco de Mayo last night, nor were we at the New Order show...we are finding ourselves a little bit tired today. We blame the weather and lack of caffeine in our system, so we're hoping the sun will come out and we'll be able to motivate to some of these events: more ›

Turn your heartlight on this summer, and enter Gothamist's new contest to win Neil Diamond concert tickets. The Brooklyn native is coming to NYC this summer on his world tour, and the countdown to the ticket sale is on. But Gothamist happens to have three pairs of tickets to give away! more ›

Gothamist is very fond of the film, Searching for Bobby Fischer. Although there is no Bobby Fischer in it, it does have an interesting look at the chess games in Washington Square Park. For more Bobby Fischer, read Rene Chun's 2002 Atlantic article, Bobby Fischer's Pathetic Endgame. One person doesn't think Fischer's playing was in violation of anything, but adds that Fischer's criminally charges were ordered by "Executive Order" from President Bush (41). more ›

[Ed. note: Gothamist got our favorite music blogger, Coolfer, to take a break from his copious music industry watching and give us the scoop on this weekend's shows that might be of interest. Without further ado, straight from Coolfer:] more ›

red wine extends life! It's all due to a nautral chemical substance called resveratrol, a compound found largely in the skins of red grapes. Also, resveratrol is found in grapes of cooler climates, like New York State, in what can only be a boon to the New York wine industry. The Times quotes the Oxford Companion to Wine: "" more ›