West Village residents may need to get ready for an onslaught of British paparazzi: Rumor has it that Heather Mills, ex-wife of Beatle Paul McCartney, is buying an apartment at 173 Perry Street. The Richard Meier-designed building, which has had a number of famous buyers, including Calvin Klein and Nicole Kidman, is right on the West Side Highway, and the $5 million apartment faces the Hudson River. It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and two......

This week Bruni goes to P*ong, the dessert/savory restaurant brought to us by pastry chef Pichet Ong (formerly of Perry Street and Spice Market), awards the restaurant one star. Finds the restaurant "tantalizing, often irritating," and says it challenges one's ideas of what should be sweet and what should be savory. But the desserts are the restaurant's strenth, says Bruni, and also it's too crowded and the service is not good enough to make staying......

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Insieme, awards the restaurant two stars. Says, “When Isieme is good, it’s outstanding, and any serious food lover should head here fast…” He hates the atmosphere, though, and the salmon. Insieme is the second restaurant in midtown this year where he’s been “frustrated by the way some dazzling cooking is undercut not only by unevenness across the menu or inconsistency in the kitchen but also by atmospherics......

That would be Michelin stars. The 2007 guide was released today, with ratings for 526 restaurants, including several newcomers from the past year. Del Posto debuts with a bang: two stars, joining the ranks of Masa, Bouley, and Daniel (Danube, which also had two stars last year, dropped down to one). All of those who earned three stars last year (Le Bernadin, per se, and Jean-Georges) held their ground with the exception of Alain Ducasse......

Plans are in the works to name all or part of Bleecker Playground after the steely activist and mother of three who helped lay the groundwork for New Urbanism. Earlier this week, Community Board 2 discussed the tribute to Jane Jacobs, who died last April at 89. It's unclear whether the naming will cover the playground, the sitting area and the pathway from Hudson to Bleecker, or just the sitting area and pathway. Some......

The Times’ season previews are always a shot in the arm of a little excitement, a chance to see some splashy ads and to fantasize about the shows you’re not going to be able to get tickets to. Actually, we could have used the buzz we got from Sunday’s listings more a couple of weeks ago; at this point there’s so much starting up that it’s hard to avoid, much less that anyone needs to......

Take your stunning New York City nighttime pictures before midnight, as buildings will have to turn off the lights outside the 40th floor for the birds. Birds are flying south for the winter, and NYC Audobon officials says that hundreds of birds get injured or die because skyscraper's lights can confuse them. The NY Post points out that the Empire State Building's lights have caused numerous injuries over the years and now turns its lights......

Gothamist was walking down Greenwich Avenue early one morning recently, when this sign stopped us in our tracks: A new restaurant! We peered in curiously through the glass, but sadly, we had to continue on to work and couldn't wait around for the place to open. Fortunately, both the New York Times and New York Magazine had gotten the inside scoop -- Jones is the newest creation of former Plumeri chef Jay Plumeri, who hopes......