Back in 2009, Joe Pompeo at the New York Observer coined the term "Foodiot" to better describe the food fanatics who increasingly fill our fine metropolis's restaurants and watering holes with their cameraphones and social networked tips. But since then they haven't gone away. Instead, they've just gotten worse. And this week, in an epic piece appropriately titled "When Did Young People Start Spending 25% of Their Paychecks on Pickled Lamb’s Tongues?" New York magazine provides the world with an anthropological status update on the subset of humanity that really cares about every morsel that passes through their lips. Oh, to be young and...full? more ›

Back in 2008 New York Magazine made a big splash when it purchased MenuPages for an undisclosed sum, scooping up the site's local food blogs with it. Three years later those blogs are gone (or merged into Grub Street) and New York has decided it can do without the hassle of maintaining up-to-date listings of what local restaurants have on their menu. So they've gone and sold the site to Seamless, the delivery site that used to be called SeamlessWeb (and which last we checked was owned by ARAMARK). But what does that really mean? more ›

Statistician Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com has named Park Slope the best place to live in the city, coming in just ahead of the Lower East Side and Sunnyside, Queens. The research, done for the latest New York Magazine, is based on things like cost of living, access to bars and restaurants, diversity and safety. Of course, Park Slopers are ready to burst out of their baby bjorns with joy. "I like what it was, I like what it's become, I like the people that live here. I like the sense of tolerance," resident Louise Fisher Cozzi told the Daily News. Sure there's tolerance, just as long as you don't try to keep their babies out of the bars. more ›

On Wednesday, Lazard Freres chief Bruce Wasserstein died, leaving questions about the fate of New York magazine. Wasserstein bought the magazine in 2003 for $55 million and an expert suspects he "invested much more money along the way. [If his heirs were to sell, they] would probably want a minimum of $75 million to $100 million." Even though "money-losing media vanity ownership is usually the exclusive preserve of the mature rich, not their progeny," Gawker wonders if his family will be less inclined to sell since they'll get an automatic $188 million payout from Lazard. more ›

The NY Times reports, "Bruce Wasserstein, a Wall Street investment banker who helped pioneer the hostile takeover in the 1980’s and turned the mergers and acquisitions business into a high art, died Wednesday." The 61-year-old, who was #147 on the latest Forbes Richest Americans list, had been in the hospital for an irregular heartbeat. He was the chief executive of Lazard Freres and also owned New York magazine. more ›

It's not fair! For years and years the financial industry helped everybody live beyond their means, asking relatively little in return, and now that everything's gone sideways there's a big mob gathered with pitchforks and torches demanding taxes on the rich, and salary caps, and heads on sticks. Did you ever for one second think about how hard all this must be on the bankers? Well, this week NY Mag's Gabriel Sherman lends a sympathetic ear to some of Wall Street's fallen titans, many of whom were more than willing to (anonymously) take a ride on the whaaambulance. Here are some of the greatest hits:
• "I’m not giving to charity this year!" declares a hedge-fund analyst when asked about Obama’s planned tax increases. "When people ask me for money, I tell them, ‘If you want me to give you money, send a letter to my senator asking for my taxes to be lowered.’ I feel so much less generous right now. If I have to adopt twenty poor families, I want a thank-you note and an update on their lives. At least Sally Struthers gives you an update."
• In an e-mail, one "irate Citigroup executive" vents to a colleague: "No offense to Middle America, but if someone went to Columbia or Wharton, [even if] their company is a fumbling, mismanaged bank, why should they all of a sudden be paid the same as the guy down the block who delivers restaurant supplies for Sysco out of a huge, shiny truck?"
• A former Bear Stearns senior managing director whines, "We’re in a hypercapitalistic society. No one complains when Julia Roberts pulls down $25 million per movie or A-Rod has a $300 million guarantee. We have ex-presidents who cash in on their presidencies. Our whole moral compass has shifted about what’s acceptable or not acceptable. Honestly, you can pick on Wall Street all you want, I don’t think it’s fair."
• Nicholas Cacciola, a 44-year-old executive at a financial-services firm, whimpers, "If you really take a look at what Obama is promising, it’s frightening. He’s punishing you for doing better. He doesn’t want to have any wealth creation—it’s wealth distribution. Why are you being punished for making a lot of money? You can’t live in New York and have kids and send them to school on $75,000. And you have the Obama administration suggesting that. That was a very populist thing that Obama said. He’s being disingenuous. He knows that you can’t live in New York on $75,000."
• And one former JPMorgan VP complains that, "You wear a nice suit on the subway, and people look at you," while a mortgage-investment banker implores, "Suddenly, the simple fact I work on Wall Street means that I’m a bad person? You know, I lost my job. I’m more of a victim."

If you've been following along with the allegations of sexual harassment and general depravity at The Box—the nightclub where guests pay over $1,000 so that performers like transvestite Miss Rose Wood can pull a Jameson's bottle out of his ass, take a swig and then spit on them—you may be interested in NY Mag's lengthy profile on owner Simon Hammerstein, "The Impresario of Smut." He strongly denies the most scandalous accusations, but unnamed sources say auditions for Simon sometimes climax back at his apartment. Miss Rose Wood has perhaps the best Hammerstein horror story: "Then Simon said to me, ‘So, can you pull a string of Christmas lights out of your ass?’ I said to him, ‘Well, you know, I’m Jewish. And so before the Christmas lights come out, I’ve got to dislodge the menorah.’" That's professionalism, people! more ›

The Life Vicarious scooped New York Magazine on the announcement of their own 40th birthday extravaganza. As the mag goes over the hill, they'll have Brooklynites The National and Grizzly Bear on hand. The concert, at Hammerstein Ballroom on October 10th, will also include some comedy, with hosting duties appointed to Stella (aka Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and David Wain) – all in all you can expect to throw down $35 a ticket. Could all of these recent bookings (see: NYxNY event series) be the equivalent of the magazine's mid-life crisis Porsche? more ›

Move over Madonna, you may be 50 now, but newly divorced Christie Brinkley's 54 and sans scary arms, in fact, "her hair is thick and golden, her skin is tanned but only just. Her teeth are gleaming, her waist is narrow." That's all according to the opening paragraphs in the uptown girl's cover story in New York magazine's current style issue. Rafael Nadal graces the back cover, and we learn all about his pirate look, "he’s managed to create what might be the most original look in men’s tennis history: sleeveless tees, shin-length pants, and bandannas tied with a cheeky flourish." There's also a feature on some New York folks (with tie racks the size of a studio apartment) and a look inside their closets. more ›

The media is observing the recent death of influential New York Magazine founder Clay Felker with a predictable avalanche of eulogies. New York has an elegant essay from Tom Wolfe (who also double-dipped his B material for Time), rounded out with a big collective tribute from colleagues and friends ranging from Gore Vidal to Tim Zagat. Elsewhere, Jon Carroll recalls Felker comparing feet with Milton Glaser, Voice theater critic Michael Feingold recounts his discourteous first encounter with Felker, and the Observer has anecdotes from other notables who knew him. more ›

Clay Felker, founder of New York magazine – a publication he once described as a guide to “how the power game is played, and who are the winners” – died this morning at his home in Manhattan. He was 82 and had been battling cancer of the throat and mouth. more ›

Even back in 1984 there was mainstream media attention on the ever-changing landscape of the Lower East Side and East Village. Real estate was "exploding," chain stores were popping up, and galleries were abundant. The New York Magazine cover story on May 28th of that year was titled: The Lower East Side -- There Goes the Neighborhood. more ›

You didn’t forget about New York Magazine’s 40th Anniversary did you? Quick, it’s not too late to make it up to them by buying their hefty, back-slapping issue and acting like you give a shit. Nestled among the ads for shoes, perfume, and luxury handbags you'll find descriptions of the most “unmistakably New Yorky” cultural events since 1968, as determined by the magazine’s critics, who’ve gone so far as to declare this The New York Canon. (Trumpet flourish!) more ›

Jodi Applegate and Ron Corning, co-hosts of Fox's Good Day New York, both claim to be serious foodies, and it was a toss-up as to which one would have the chance to share their favorite recipe with Gothamist. But New York Magazine went through Ron Corning's daily diet last month, and Jodi Applegate wanted to unveil her favorite recipe for Tuna Surprise here today. more ›

The 20-member New York Times editorial board nearly endorsed Barack Obama for president, but ultimately Times chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. pushed through a Clinton endorsement, anonymous sources have told The New Republic. The behind-the-scenes article echoes conjecture from New York Magazine that Sulzberger’s BFF gym buddy Steven Rattner, a major Clinton donor and former Times reporter, may have been the deciding factor. more ›

Today the Times’s Frank Bruni marvels at Manhattan’s new wave of high tone restaurant openings during a recession, and pins the trend not on entrepreneurial bravado but on the fact that it takes years to get a fancy eatery open, and most of these new places were envisioned in flusher economic times. It is true that in 2005, the top fifth of earners in Manhattan made 52 times what the lowest fifth make – $365,826 compared with $7,047 – comparable to the income disparity in Namibia. Yet thanks to tax cuts and stagflation, the income gap has only widened in the past three years. Dinner at Per Se is as unattainable as ever for New York’s lower orders, but even with Wall Street turbulence it’s unlikely the ranks of the well-heeled will thin to the point where a fashionable restaurant can’t manage. Of course, chefs like Ken Friedman (The Spotted Pig) are artists and don’t chain their muse to the vagaries of the economy: “I’m certainly not the kind who would look at the Dow. Does a writer write or not write a book based on the economic climate? Does a songwriter write songs that way?” more ›

When Super Sunday rolls around, there will be a lot of questions that will be answered. Will the Giants stop the undefeated season of the Patriots? How will Eli Manning perform in the biggest game of his career? And how Tom Brady's foot be? While there are clearly lots of other questions, one question that isn't so obvious is...who's the hotter quarterback. Is it the boy from New Orleans with Southern charm? Or is it the quarterback from California's Bay Area with the supermodel girlfriend? more ›

Anthony Lappé is a writer, blogger, television producer and executive editor of GNN.tv, the web site for the Guerrilla News Network. He's written for mainstream press like the Times and was the National Affairs Editor for Black Book, and in 2003 he collaborated on the award-winning Showtime documentary about Iraq called BattleGround: 21 Days on the Empire’s Edge, which covered the front lines of the simmering guerrilla war in Iraq in 2003. Part of what he saw there influenced his new graphic novel, Shooting War, which started out as a serial on the Smith Magazine website. The lavish hardcover print edition, with illustrations by Dan Goldman, follows the gonzo adventures of a New York blogger who becomes a media darling in 2011 after his footage of a bombing at a Williamsburg Starbucks gets picked up by the mainstream media. Looking to keep coverage of the ongoing Iraq quagmire edgy, a global news network hires him to bring a youth angle to the guerrilla war. Part satire, part dystopian nightmare, Shooting War is unflinching in its depiction of the hellish future toward which the Bush administration is corralling us. more ›

You will never find Chef Bobby Flay too far away from an ancho chili pepper. Back in 1991, he opened Mesa Grill in New York, his shrine to the Southwestern flavors for which he is now famous around the world. In 1992, Mesa Grill won New York Magazine's Best New Restaurant, and the following year, Flay was given the James Beard Rising Star Chef award. Since then, he has created a mini-empire of six restaurants, including two other Mesa Grills, one in Las Vegas and another in the Bahamas. more ›

Good news for old-school New Yorkers: the new 2nd Ave Delicatessen is expected to open sometime next week in its new Murray Hill Location on 33rd Street, near Third Avenue. Lovers of the deli’s famous matzo ball soup and pastrami sandwiches were devastated last year when, after a half-century in business, the 2nd Ave and 10th Street legend was snuffed out. The closure came in the wake of a bitter rent dispute between deli owner Jack Lebewohl and the landlord over rent increases; the soul was promptly siphoned from the site and turned into a Chase bank (though the Yiddish theater “Walk of Fame” on the sidewalk remains). more ›

"Sleight of hand," "litany of needless fights," "ugly racial polarization" - just some of the phrases in this week's New York magazine's cover story about Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor turned presidential candidate. Chris Smith's article serves as both refresher to New Yorkers about Giuliani's reign as mayor with some fun tidbits (did you realize that then-Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik commissioned 30 miniature busts of himself?) as well as a cautionary tale to non-New Yorkers.... more ›

The Todd Haynes Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There has gotten so much press for so long we kept forgetting it wasn't actually released until today! The high-concept Oscar contender, for those who haven’t heard a million times already, features six different actors portraying a Dylan-type character at different stages of his career. It opens today at select theaters but film buffs have been cultivating opinions about the polarizing film since it first screened... more ›

You're tired. You have a kitchen the size of a closet. You can't handle dealing with your guests' various and sundry dietary restrictions/food allergies/food quirks. Whatever the reason, you'd rather eat out on Thanksgiving this year. You've only got a few days left to lock down your reservation, but the options are plentiful. We present you a roundup of roundups, and our picks from the bountiful and tempting options. Restaurant Girl gives her top picks,... more ›

No news is bad news when it comes to the long-delayed opening of Radegast Hall & Biergarten, the new 2,000 square foot Williamsburg bar owned by the savvy Czechs who run Astoria’s Bohemian Hall. The establishment, designed to feel like a turn-of-the-century Austro-Hungarian beer hall, has been physically ready for business since Oktoberfest, but owners have been hung up on various permits and paperwork. The last hurdle was supposedly the certificate of occupancy, which... more ›

Once again Taste of New York lived up to its name, with a roster of restaurants serving everything from ‘cue to cevape and some well-crafted cocktails to boot. Gothamist was honored to attend this culinary blowout thrown by New York to benefit City Harvest. One of the evening’s tastiest offerings was Insieme’s tortelli di zucca, or pumpkin filled pasta. We’d love to think that this judgment was based solely on the dish’s fall theme,... more ›

When it comes to driving routes for a JFK airport pickup, George Costanza advocates taking the Grand Central to the Van Wyck, deriding Kramer’s L.I.E. route as a “suicide mission.” In the current New York Magazine cover story, “How to Escape Airport Hell”, the editors invited chauffeur Kevin Sullivan to weigh in. While he comes down squarely on Costanza’s side, he also shares some invaluable alternative routes to all three airports in the unlikely... more ›

News of Norman Mailer’s hospitalization broke today; the cantankerous and influential author is suffering from severe respiratory problems following a collapsed lung. His children have been keeping a bedside vigil in the critical-care unit of Mt. Sinai Hospital, where Mailer is reportedly still in fighting spirits, thumb-wrestling and cracking jokes. (The Post has more, while New York Magazine looks at the illness in the context of his recent ruminations on spirituality in a new book, On God.) more ›

The current New York Magazine dives deep inside the navel with seven sprawling pages on Gawker. The rather tame procedural is conducted by Vanessa Grigoriadis, who's up front with the disclosures: Her NY Times wedding announcement was savaged by Gawker, New York Magazine currently employs two former Gawker editors, and Grigoriadis peeped managing editor Choire Sicha’s underwear. more ›

THEATER: New York Magazine called Kanene Holder’s last solo show, SITCHAASSDOWN “21 pitch-perfect snapshots of the black experience”. His current multimedia performance art installation, Committing that Black on Black Crime Called Blackface, goes down in the front window of chashama on 37th Street. Between the hours of 5:30pm and 8pm, curious passers-by can behold Holder paying satirical homage to Buckwheat “via a self-muzzled/pantomiming character who navigates a racist cauldron of images while staring into circus mirrors for glimpses and reconfirmations of reality, by repetitively applying and removing black-face makeup. The menacing screens around him “flash a motley crew of visual memorabilia and supplanted nostalgic references to "the good ole' days" of minstrel shows then and now.” - John Del Signore more ›