It's not easy maintaining a healthy relationship when you're fully immersed in the not-so-healthy restaurant and bar industry. So Time Out NY has come to the rescue this week, highlighting personal ads from local chefs, bartenders and club owners who are on the prowl. Anita Lo (pictured), chef and co-owner of Bar Q, is attracted "to pretty girls" and wants "someone who eats everything." Alex Day, a bartender at fussy cocktail lounge Death & Company, gets points for being totally upfront about his twee attire: "I wear a tie and vest or suspenders six nights a week—you can’t work in this part of the industry without being a little bit of a dandy." And Matthew Roff, who co-owns Southpaw and Public Assembly, likes "girls who know how to fucking drive." Go get 'em, fast drivin', big eatin', Wes Anderson fans! more ›

The four city officials who are assigned a security detail no longer have to pay the expenses on their taxpayer-funded official cars and drivers when they use them for personal excursions, according to a ruling by the Conflicts of Interest Board. The lucky protected ones are Mayor Bloomberg, Comptroller William Thompson, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. more ›

In a world of Julia Allisons, personal blogs about personal relationships have become the norm; the Reality TV of the internet. But what happens when these tell-all bloggers grow up? For better or worse, they continue their sagas online. more ›

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A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

Megan Montgomery was, apparently, the city's first personal chef for dogs (though were sure there are more than enough now). Preparing her meals in Downtown Brooklyn and using her dogs as guinea pigs, she's brought Dean & Deluca-esque dining to the doghouse. more ›

The Chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, was recently featured on WNBC.com following an address at Pace University, where he discussed the potential for the Internet and sites like Google, in particular––and its recent acquisition YouTube.com––to affect political campaigns. He mentioned the long tail-end effect of viral marketing, which emphasizes the persistence of certain political memes and their effects on voters, saying, "I expect technology will have a significant effect on the '08 election. The Internet is the best way of delivering sound bites ever invented. Schmidt's address at Pace was a keynote speech at the Google sponsored Personal Democracy Forum. more ›

The ProTran1 ProTracker Personal Pocket Device (PPD) Is a handheld R.F. transceiver designed to automatically send and receive digital commands to/from the ProTran1 ProTracker Train Unit. This unit will alert the user by an audible/vibrating alarm to an approaching train.ProTran1 co-developer Peter Bartek told the Post he started work on the Pro-Tracker "after a friend was killed while working on Boston's subway tracks." more ›

The vlogosphere has its first shake-up: Rocketboom's Amanda Congden was, in her words, unboomed (she has a video, natch). Wanting to set the record straight after Rocketboom showed a week of non-Amanda clips, she says that her Rocketboom partner - and owner of a 51% share in Rocketboom - Andrew Baron fired her and she actually starts to get teary in the video. ValleyWag says she seems much realer in this clip or "it's a hoax and Congdon's finally learned how to act." more ›

Jennifer Lynn, 23. I work as a Personal Chef and in the kitchen of Chef Daniel Boulud's restaurant, Daniel. As a Personal Chef, I prepare six- to nine-course tastings for up to 12 guests in the homes of my clients. I grew up all around the States, but spent most of my time in Orlando. I've lived in the Lower East Side for the last few years, and I think I'll be in New York forever. more ›

Especially when it is hot and humid, it's easy to get grumpy and mean to your fellow New Yorkers. And then you look down at the chalk on the sidewalk and how can you not smile a little? more ›

Artie, who knew? Actor John Ventimiglia who plays tortured Vesuvio chef-owner Artie Bucco on The Sopranos was pulled over for a DWI and drug possession in Park Slope! The Post says the police pulled him over when they "spotted him with his headlights off and weaving in and out of the oncoming traffic lane on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope at around 1AM," and Ventimiglia admitted to having four glasses of wine in Manhattan before driving; later he claimed he had been drinking in LIC, and that he had been driving to find a parking spot. Oh, finding a parking spot in Park Slope sucks. But does that explain the Ziploc bag "with cocaine residue" found in his pocket? Ouch! Ventimiglia was arraigned on Monday; he was featured prominently in the second most recent episode, where he managed to put the hurt on Benny (who would have guessed that?) and show off his poor employee-relations skills. We've liked his understated narration in Personal Velocity. more ›

Last week we lost a dear friend and old contributor at Gothamist, Ben Chappel. We wanted to take a moment to remember the work he did and the wonderful person he was. more ›

A survey says that NY State is only the most 32nd livable state in the union, which New Hampshire is where it's at. A Morgan Quitno survey issued it's Most Livable States list for 2006, and our neighbors New Jersey and Connecticut rank at places 5 and 10 respectively. Down in the muddy middle with NY State are Pennsylvania (30), Florida (31), Oregon (33) and California (34). For the survey nerds in all of us, here's the list of the 44 factors judged - and instantly we understand why NY State was ranked to so low ("State & Local Taxes as a Percent of Personal Income" and "State and Local Government Spending for Welfare Programs as a Percent of All Spending "). Good work, Governor Pataki and the State Assembly - we're just mediocre! That said, we're staying here and not moving to NH, Minnesota (2), Iowa (3), or Vermont (4) anytime soon, although we could go for some maple sugar candy right now. Granted, these surveys don't really do much expect to make people who live in said states feel better or worse, but it's fun to think about for 20 minutes. more ›

The Post totally has got its panties in a twist today over an article in the latest issue of the Midwood High School Argus (sadly, or luckily, a brief search turned up no web presence for the Argus) by a junior boy and a junior girl there. The article? "Personal Grooming Goes Down Under" a tongue-in-cheek look at "a problem most teenage males struggle with today:" Manscaping. more ›

Every year, Gothamist looks forward to the Independent Budget Office's ideas on how the city can save and make money. The IBO is a nonpartisan, publicly agency, and the report shows both the pros and cons of certain suggested measures. Here are some of the suggestions:

State Reimbursement for Inmates in City Jails Awaiting Trial Over One Year more ›

- Michelle more ›

The Phantom of the Opera may be nearing the ripe old age of 18, but most shows in this city don’t even play 18 shows. That doesn’t mean that they’re unworthy, of course – far from it, at least in our book. For instance, there’s Clubbed Thumb’s new production What Then, which (including previews last weekend) has 16 showings at the Ohio Theatre. Written by Rinne Groff and directed by Hal Brooks, who recently got accolades for his work on Thom Paine, this is the story of a dysfunctional family and their attempts to stitch their relationships and psyches back not through therapy but rather through creating and exploring new realities through dreams and drugs. It’s a powerful vision that will leave you questioning your own perception of existence. more ›

Since boing boing posted it on Monday, Gothamist has been enjoying Ji Lee's Bubble Project. Lee printed 50,000 "thought bubble" stickers and plastered them over advertisements of all sorts across the city, waited for the vultures to uncap their pens with glee, and then went back to photograph what people wrote. The results are broken up into different sections, such as Social Commentary, Personal Messages and Media and Fashion. Gothamist's favorites are would be this one of Michael Douglas, a Thomas Jefferson quote and a Starbucks thought. If you haven't already, also check out the Seeds section, where it seems like empty bubbles are waiting to be filled like this one. more ›

The long-awaited return of the third season of Chappelle's Show will actually be an even longer-awaited return, as Comedy Central has yanked the premiere and stopped production. Augh!! Even though it's funny, seeing "The Niggas" for the literally 50th time is wearing on us! But enough about us, as we'll take The Mad Real World any day. Variety's article (registration req'd) said Chappelle had to "seek treatment for unspecified personal issues." Personal issues after getting $50 million for two more seasons of Chappelle's Show? Blog loosie has a lot of dirt, saying that insiders on the set confirm that Chappelle's behavior is "increasingly erratic; he regularly arrives hours late for shooting and has disappeared for days at a time without offering an explanation for his absence." Also, loosie reports that a "demented-looking" Dave Chappelle was at a Midtown ATM last week, where it took a minute for the ATM to spit out all the cash and he forgot about his card, leaving it to another customer to run after him with the card. As the report goes, Chappelle thanked her in a slurred speech and "has not returned to the set" since. more ›

The City paid $570 million in personal injury lawsuits last year. This is a new record, and the City's Tort Chief (possibly the best job title in the city) told the NY Post that the increase was caused by even more lawsuits being filed (over a third of the settlements were medical related - like all those stories you hear about hospitals not diagnosing a patient or operating on the wrong organ). The city settled more cases faster, to avoid backlogs and even bigger payouts in appellate courts. Gothamist now expects that even more those ambulance-chasing lawyer ads will pop up in the subways. more ›

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Toby Leah Bochan, About.com Editor more ›

Perhaps a more compelling reason as to why Giuliani's list was taken down might be the various health code violations at the restaurants, noted by the Village Voice [via Curbed]. As for Da Nico, Gothamist has never been but now we have all the more reason to go. more ›

I am a single man in the city and hoping to find a suitable match for myself through some sort of dating service. I've tried meeting women online, but I haven't found a 'click' yet, and I hear that there are some professional matchmaking services available. I am willing to pay whatever they cost, but do they really work, or will I just end up broke and single (again)? more ›

Books: Interpreting dreams book, books of Arabic poetry, Crime & Punishment more ›

Jake, may your 27th year be filled with much BBQ-eating, pickles, girly drinks, happiness, and embarrassment. And you better photo blog at least 70% of it. more ›

She's too modest to write anything about it, but today Jen Chung turned 27. Other famous people with birthdays today? T.S. Eliot (turning 115), George Gershwin (relatively young at 105, but dead), and Serena Williams (a baby at 22). more ›

The AP examines how the phenomenon of camera phones is causing Asian society more than a few headaches. With more and more people adopting to the technology, businesses worry about industrial espionage and digital shoplifting - taking pictures of magazine instead of buying them. more ›

As expected, Jen mixed with the locals and Jake was thrown in lockup. And while Gothamist and friends were at the Harriman Reservoir, where the nudist beach, The Ledges (which was profiled last year in the New Yorker, causing Jake a little shock) is also located, we stayed clothed. But it didn't mean we weren't curious. more ›