Horace Mann, the elite private school located in the Bronx, prides itself on its approach to diversity—but a recent assembly where students were asked to participate in a poetry exercise resulted in some students using racial slurs and sexist comments, a second assembly to discuss what happened and possibly most embarrassing, a NY Times article about the debacle. more ›

Lou Reed has been quite busy these days. When he's not collaborating with Metallica on a record, he's spending time putting together a graphic novel based around his "spiritual forefather" Edgar Allen Poe, called, appropriately, The Raven. more ›

In honor of National Poetry Month, Mayor Bloomberg has been holding his second annual Twitter poetry "Poetweet" contest. Through April 13th, poems written on Twitter with the tag #poetweet will be considered for publication in Metro for Poem in Your Pocket day on April 14. But why wait? Here are some of the best poems to come out of the Twitterverse: more ›

What is it about Bill Murray that makes him so mystically, eternally cool? What other 59-year-old crashes hipster house parties with MGMT? Well here are two more reasons to love him: he likes to walk the streets of Williamsburg late at night, and he's a "frustrated" poet, just like us! He even dropped by Poet's House last year as it was being constructed to read to the construction workers (you can see the video below). The only thing that could match that would be re-imaging Groundhog's Day as an epic poem. more ›

Is everyone excited for Poem in Your Pocket Day today? Mayor Bloomberg is! Though he already implored his Twitter followers to write 140-character poems for a chance to be published in Metro New York, Bloomberg decided to show off a little with a poem inspired by the first line of Emily Dickinson's "Hope is the Thing with Feathers." You can barely tell whose is whose! more ›

Who knew Bloomberg was so deep? To celebrate "Poem in Your Pocket" day on April 29th, Bloomberg is hosting a Twitter poetry contest. To enter, just write out a 140 character poem and tag it @NYCMayorsOffice. Bloomberg will pick his favorites, which will be printed in Metro New York next Thursday. Bloomberg went first: "Don’t worry if your poem is a terrible mess/As long as it’s 140 characters or less!" How about, "Bloomberg tweets with grace and ease / Cause he doesn't care about the economies!" Here we come, Metro New York! more ›

Ever wonder what museum security guards are thinking as they stand next to great works of art for days, weeks and months on end? A new journal, Sw!pe Magazine: Guards’ Matter, addresses the question from the perspective of the workers themselves, reports the Times. It’s put together by 35 guards at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, themselves working and aspiring artists in all different media from comics to photography (image gallery here). To accompany the release an exhibition of their work will be on view through tomorrow at 25 CPW Gallery at 62nd Street and Central Park West. “Being surrounded by the art, if you’re not helping someone, you’re just thinking about your work” said one featured artist, Jack Laughner. “I got my master’s at the Met,” he quipped. more ›

Writer Jim Carroll died of a heart attack Friday while working at his desk inside his Manhattan apartment at age 60. Carroll is most famous for writing , his follow-up memoir about working in Warhol's Factory and attempting to get clean. Carroll is survived by a his brother, Tom. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg may be a lame duck mayor, but he's super busy. Earlier this week, he recommended to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the United State should open its markets. Yesterday, he met with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and showed off his open-cubicle bullpen (and huge plasma TV). And today, besides hosting the 2008 New York City Luncheon at the Four Seasons, the Mayor had a peom published in today's Metro, in honor of Poem in Your Pocket Day. more ›

MUSIC: Come enjoy the Whitney after dark tonight as the museum's live showcase series invites Dan Deacon (pictured) to the stage. If you haven't seen Deacon before, get ready for some Casio keyboard electro-rock compositions and an art dance party. more ›

MOVIE: Delve into the mind and life of H.L. “Doc” Humes (pictured) in a documentary by his daughter. Titled Doc, the 96-minute film focuses in on the counterculture icon. "In the 1950s and early '60s, Doc co-founded The Paris Review, wrote two acclaimed novels, and was a gregarious fixture of the cultural scene in Paris, London and New York. Doc was a 1950s NYC intellectual, a 60s free speech militant, and a 70s visionary crazy genius. His story is the story of decades of cultural history, a poignant personal long-strange-trip, and a fount of ever-relevant ideas." Tonight Immy Humes (filmmaker) will be at the 8pm screening, and tomorrow night she will be joined by Paul Auster. More info here. more ›

THEATER: Wolf Lane Productions presents Victims of the Zeitgeist (The Tragedy of Martin Luther King, Jr.), written & directed by Ellwoodson Williams. The production "offers an exciting and telling insight into just who Martin Luther King, Jr., was as leader and simply as a sensitive and intelligent human being who loved life and who had a sense of humor, a deep understanding of the human condition - its strengths and weaknesses - and a profound belief in justice." more ›

SHOP: Still looking for that perfect gift? The Brooklyn Historical Society is holding the 4th Annual NY Creates Craft Fair, and they may have just what you're looking for. Check it out today and tomorrow, and it will be back the 22nd and 23rd for the real last-minute shoppers. more ›

BENEFIT: Tonight catch a special performance by Alanis Morissette, while rubbing elbows with Matt Dillon...all for a good cause! The inaugural fundraising benefit for the Adrienne Shelly Foundation will be held this evening, and you can get in with a ticket from $150 to...well, $10,000 bucks. You'll be supporting the late Shelly's foundation which "supports the artistic achievements of female actors, writers and directors through a series of scholarships and grants." 6pm // Skirball Center... more ›

EXPLORE: Last call to visit the historic Governors Island this season! Free ferry rides depart hourly right next to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. Sitting 800 yards off the southern tip of Manhattan and about 400 from the Brooklyn waterfront, it isn't often you can get a view of the city and a house like that one to the right all from the same place. more ›

It’s been over three decades since experimental theater company Mabou Mines arose out of a collaboration – which took place in the small Nova Scotia town of Mabou – involving JoAnne Akailitis, Lee Breuer, Philip Glass, Ruth Maleczech, and David Warrilow. In the years since, the company has become renowned for restlessly shoving the boundaries of theater in myriad different directions. Tomorrow a new production directed by Maleczech begins a five night run outdoors in Long Island City, Queens. Called Song for New York: What Women Do While Men Sit Knitting, the ambitious multi-disciplinary work will be performed on a barge anchored in the East River at Gantry Plaza State Park. The production celebrates each borough through live music, oral history and poetry commissioned from five New York writers. Gothamist recently spoke with Maleczech about the project, the company, Frank Rich and New York City. more ›

New York artist Elizabeth Murray (who split her time between Tribeca and Washington County, NY) died yesterday after a battle with cancer at the age of 66. Her husband (with whom she had several children), Bob Holman, is the founder of the Bowery Poetry Club. more ›

We don’t know if you heard or not, but apparently the “sexiest event of the year is back and better than ever.” That seems to be an awfully big promise but considering the dangerous combination of wine, chocolate and adult toys, the Erotic Wine Tasting Soiree at Babeland NYC, has the potential to really heat up. more ›

MOVIE: It's certainly not the kind of night for an outdoor movie, so we suggest sitting in the cool a/c and watching the 1978 classic Dawn of the Dead. "Gone is the possibility of mankind’s dominance in this sequel to Night of the Living Dead; the zombies are in control now, with a group of AWOL soldiers and TV producers on the run from the staggering hordes. A deserted shopping mall offers a safe hideout, as well as the setup for Romero’s savage satire on consumer culture." The early screening will be introduced by producer Richard Rubenstein, more info here. more ›

MOVIES: With another version of Hairspray hitting the big screen this summer, it seems to be a season of decades past and, of course, hair! Movies With a View brings back the musical tale of Central Park hippies, small town boys headed to Vietnam and the '60s as they show the film Hair tonight. more ›

"I've seen bizarre sex acts followed by gentle poetry followed by very perplexed wannabe stand-up comics." Francis "Faceboy" Hall has been hosting Faceboyz Open Mike for just over 13 years, with its 666th weekly performance coming up on July 15th. His stage has been graced by countless comedians, musicians, performing artists, and everyone in between, making it an institution of what it means to aspire to entertain in New York City. more ›

"People create because they feel what everyone else is thinking." In 1964, Tommy Trantino was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of two New Jersey police officers. In 1971, the death penalty was over turned and Trantino was sentenced to life in prison. During that time, Trantino wrote to Leonard Weinglass, the lawyer who defended the Chicago Seven, which included social and political activist Abbie Hoffman. Through Hoffman, Trantino's letters were seen by an editor at Bantam, who commissioned him to write Lock the Lock, a collection of poetry, drawings, and autobiographical stories detailing Trantino's youth, the events that led to his incarceration, and the harrowing experiences he'd witnessed in prison. The book was praised by the likes of Howard Zinn and Henry Miller. more ›