Tonight is the last chance until December 2010 to witness a total lunar eclipse. This is the third such eclipse in the past year. With any luck the weather will cooperate. It looks like there will be breaks in the clouds over the city, which should make for dramatic views. Break out the tripods and cameras! A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth wedges itself between the sun and moon, casting its shadow on the......

There are no "garage bands" in New York City. Unlike some of their suburban counterparts, musicians here have to pay the piper for their practice spaces, which can be hard to find in a city where every no-frills square-foot costs something. In fact, to really be a "garage band" in New York, one may end up paying $225K a year. The NY Times reports on where musicians city-wide are rehearsing these days, and how it's......

Over the weekend we pointed to a death at the Knitting Factory that the cops were deeming "suspicious." Yesterday it was announced that the man was Nicholas Phillips, an East Village resident. The Post reports:An East Village man who died of an apparent drug overdose at a Manhattan rock club has been identified, sources said yesterday. Nicholas Phillips, of East Ninth Street, was found unconscious in the bathroom of the Knitting Factory on Leonard Street......

In recent years, Third Avenue in Brooklyn has seen three children killed by vehicular traffic. Last year, 4-year-old James Rice was fatally struck by a Hummer at Third Avenue and Baltic Avenue, and in 2004, PS 124 Juan Estrada and Victor Flores were fatally struck by a vehicle as they crossed Third Avenue at Ninth Street, just blocks away. On Tuesday, arts organization Groundswell Community Mural Project unveiled a mural at Third and Butler:......

As we mentioned yesterday in Extra, Extra, this week brought Manhattan preservationists some bad news and some bad news with a side of hope. First up, the bad but slightly hopeful news. On Thursday morning the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York shocked a number of folk when they, with no warning, started to demolish St. Brigid's Church on Avenue B and 7th (above), which at 157-years-old is one of the oldest houses of......

Apparently bad behavior by real estate developers isn't limited to Brooklyn. On Tuesday, the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission awarded protected status to the old PS64 building on Ninth Street. The building had been occupied for 20 years by CHARAS/El Bohio, a community organization, until it was bought by Gregg Singer. He announced plans to strip the building of its architectural details and turn it into a 19-story university dorm, outraging just about everyone in......

Detail from a series of photographs of the Smith-Ninth Street Station from Joe's NYC.......

July 14: Bastille Day at Paris Commune Celebrate Bastille Day, with a prixe fixe menu ($29.95) that includes choices like filet mignon with duck mousse, and salad nicoise. The cost of dinner covers an additional course for dessert: a ride along the Hudson River in a rickshaw-styled Petite Cab courtesy of Bicyclette Wines after dinner. 99 Bank Street, 212-929-0509. July 16, 17, 23, 24: Blue Crab Festival Join the gang at Bar Minnow from 11......

Gothamist tried to see the eponymous Lillie of Lillie's in Red Hook this week to report on bar’s reopening. It didn’t quite work out for us (we tried going twice this week- they are reopening slowly). But she promises this weekend is a good time to check out the renovation and changes, and everytime we’ve visited we’ve had fun- either staring wistfully (read:tipsy) at the rest of Brooklyn through the garden or drinking shots of......