Now that you've torn through your presents and are making room for new gifts and purchases -- why not give a little back? Green Brooklyn reminds us that we have until December 31st to make tax-deductible donations (to claim on 2007 income taxes). They were particularly moved by the amount of work Habitat for Humanity has been doing for Brooklyn, they just completed their 9th home in the area -- all "constructed using state-of-the-art, eco-friendly......

The low-slung Port Authority bus terminal will be getting a heady addition: The Port Authority will announce a deal for a tower to be built at its north end. The NY Times reports that Lawrence Ruben Company and Vornado Realty Trust is buying air rights for $400-500 million, which the Port Authority will then be used to add 18 bus platforms, give the terminal a "major face-lift" and overall refurbishing. Well, finally - commuting to......

EVENT: White Castle is sponsoring an "over the top" (heh) event today at Port Authority...it's the 30th Annual White Castle Empire State Golden Arm Tournament of Champions. Over 100 ladies and gents will face off to become the arm wrestling champ! The event starts at 12:30 and the finals begin at 3:30pm. More info here. 12:30 and 3:30pm // Port Authority Bus Terminal [North Wing/Main Concourse at 625 8th Ave] // Free MUSIC: The Scotland......

The police charged a Queens man with raping a woman he met on the Internet. A 21-year-old woman traveled from Indianapolis to the Port Authority Bus Terminal on Tuesday, where David Graham picked her up. He then allegedly took her to his home in Queens Village, where police say he raped and sodomized her. The woman managed to escape to a neighbor's house yesterday morning. Graham was charged with rape, sexual misconduct and criminal misconduct.......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an overturned auto on Christopher and New Lots Aves. in Brooklyn, a scaffold collapse on East 166th St. and Sherman Ave. in the Bronx, and a fire with evacuated animals on Greenpoint Ave. and 46th St. in Queens. If you're the head of a major corporation that wants to make a mark on the New York skyline by occupying space in a tower that comes with all the cachet......

The area around the Port Authority Bus Terminal is about to get more sexy. MUJI, the Japanese retailer known for its minimalist goods, announced that it will open its flagship American store in The New York Times building on 8th Ave between 40th and 41st Streets. Currently, MUJI only has two "stores" in the United States, both small sections at MoMA stores in New York. The company's full name, Mujirushi Ryōhin, translates to "No......

"Across from the Port Authority Bus Terminal" is becoming the new benchmark in swank office location. Crain's reports that the New York Times Building (pictured right) designed by Renzo Piano and FxFowle has "breathed new life into the formerly moribund area" across from the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The proof? Sky-high rents from high-end corporate tenants. While Class A office space in the formerly "tawdry" district rented for about $30 per square foot in......

If you've got millions, does the Port Authority have a deal for you! The Port Authority is considering bids for naming rights to the bus terminal. And some companies might be interested, since it's in the hubbub of Times Square, even though some critics think people might be confused. But PA officials doubt that even the most ardent preservationists would bemoan the loss of "Port Authority Bus Terminal" from the cityscape. And money earned by......

+ Looks like Hevesi could be in big trouble for not reimbursing the state for his wife's chauffeur. + Via the Gothamist Newsmap: a worker was killed when he fell off a scaffold on the Queensboro Bridge. The Port Authority Bus Terminal on 42nd was closed for an hour after an EDP made a bomb-threat. + Curbed has the story of that huge, mysterious building on the corner of 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue......

More reason for Gothamist to invest in paper towels, but reconsider the soap futures: It turns out that while most New Yorkers wash their hands, many don't bother using soap to wash them. Hunter College students in a basic research methods class conducted a "nonscientific study" which showed: - 26.1% women used only water and no soap, compared with 33.7% men who used water but no soap - 7.4% women did not wash their hands......

Jacob Kornbluth, Filmmaker...

Two 16 year-old Hasidic girls from Brooklyn finally returned home after running away. According to the Daily News, Elky Stern and Frimcha Hirsch left their Borough Park home last Monday, armed with a few thousand dollars in savings, went to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and took a bus as far as they could go. Phoenix, to be exact. Their parents, upset and worried, held a press conference fearing the girls had been killed, but......