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. In 2006, former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi resigned after admitting he assigned a government......

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. On the heels of Tricia Walsh Smith divorcing her husband Philip via a YouTube video, the NY Times looks at the public world of private relationships, and how they're falling apart online. The numbers are in,......

ART: Come help open up the new Chelsea gallery, Honey Space, tonight. Check out their inaugural exhibition whilst you nosh on fondue. The space is unique in that it will present "regular programming of site-specific installations and special events...and during normal daytime hours, the space will be open to the public, and unmonitored." Suggested attire for the evening is red (well that's not very creative!). 6pm to midnight // Honey Space [148 11th Ave]......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Nature: Silence of the Bees (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., WNET 13; Wednesday 8:00 p.m., WLIW 21) The long running PBS nature series Nature takes a look at the recent decline in the honey bee population and the possible consequences of it. Masterpiece Theatre: The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13) The story of a supermarket manager becomes Prime Minister continues with Mrs. Pritchard facing some hard......

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. Her company is called Zen Chien Personal Chef Service for Dogs, and her menu choices sound like "people food": Mediterranean ground lamb, with whole wheat couscous, blueberries and fresh-grated squash; beefy macaroni with......

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......

Reader Steve said he heard a rumor that the NYC Transit Authority was "testing some type of new device that detects trains and warns workers via a clip on unit." And it turns out the rumor was true. The Post reports that the MTA started testing the ProTracker. This is how the ProTran1, which makes it, describes the device:The ProTran1 ProTracker Train Transceiver is designed to be mounted in the cab of a train and......

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......

Name, age, occupation, where are you from and where do you live now. 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......

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? Though we still appreciate this too. Tanya & Marcus by ianqui via Contribute.......

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......

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. When Ben first started here, he interviewed Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls. After he got back from their meeting, he sent us a photo of him and her and explained that there would be no interview. The two became friends instead. That's......

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,......

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. Specifically, pubic-manscaping. "One junior boy called shaving his......

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 Establish a Progressive Commuter Tax Health Insurance Copayment by City Employees Increase the Auto Use Tax 'On the......

Every tax season in NYC, I hear rumors that it's possible to write off your monthly rent... Is that true? - Michelle Sort of. You may be able to write off part of your rent, but only under certain circumstances. According to Kiplinger's Personal Finance, "You might be able to deduct your home office expenses if you do your freelance work from an office in your house." This personal finance column on their site states,......

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......

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......

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......

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......

The NY Times has a long Education > Mideast Tensions Are Getting Personal on Campus at Columbia" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/18/education/18columbia.html">feature on the student-professor tensions in the Middle East studies department at Columbia University, namely around allegations that certain professors created an "inhospitable" environment for Jewish students. There are a number of different opinions out there from professors inside and outside the MEALAC department, that begs the question, "Can professors have controversial opinions students might be uncomfortable......

Toby Leah Bochan, About.com Editor...

The GOP is trying to stop its guests and delegates from really getting to know NY during the upcoming convention by taking down the Top 10 lists of restaurants, cheap things to do, and museums submitted by politicians like Mayor Bloomberg, former Mayor Giuliani and Governor Pataki off the GOPNY2004 website. Why? The NY Times offers that Giuliani's Top 10 list of restaurants was "too spicy" as it had been mentioned earlier in the trial......

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)? Robert, Midtown Online dating has its......

The Washington Post has a detailed look inside Saddam's Tikrit hut. Gothamist has broken it down so you too can live like a dictator on the run, once you get a two room mud hut with rusty beds. Clothing: Three pairs of white boxer shorts and two white sleeveless undershirts (XL and XXL) still in their plastic wrapping...(with "A row of bright blue hooks for hanging clothing; the middle one is shaped like a heart.")......

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.......

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).......

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. Personal violations are also a possibility: "Fears are rising about photos being surreptitiously taken in swimming pools and locker rooms. Cell phones have already been declared off-limits by Japanese public......

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. Pictures at Bluejake.......

Newsday reports that 71 establishments (of a possible 20,000) had been cited for violated the smoking ban - and most for having ashtrays out and not having dinstinct signs saying "No Smoking Allowed" - and some restaurant owners claim the smoking ban has affected business by 20%. Gothamist started to wonder if the smoking ban violations were recorded yet, and we stumbled onto the Department of Health's searchable database of restaurant inspections, which is where......