Last December New York-based DJ Jonathan Toubin was injured in a freak accident while visiting Portland, Oregon. Toubin was asleep in his hotel room when a cab crashed through the wall and pinned him beneath the vehicle. He was in critical condition at Oregon Health and Science University Hospital in Portland—with fractures in his skull base, pelvis, collarbones, ribs, sternum, and many internal injuries including a punctured liver and crushed lungs; since the accident, benefits have been thrown for him. Now the New York Night Train DJ has spoken for the first time, to Rolling Stone.
NYC DJ Jonathan Toubin Talks For First Time After Horrific Freak Accident
Are Brooklyn And Portland Actually The Same Place?
Earlier this week, we were strong-armed into watching Brokelandia—but not everyone was impressed with the Brooklyn-based response to Portlandia, the love letter to artisanal knit cap-wearing locavore hipsters. The Frisky was particularly riled up by it, and came up with the above Venn diagram to demonstrate just how dumb and surface-level the comparisons have gotten at this point. Either that, or they're making an even deeper point about the space-time continuum.
Justice Dept: Homeland Security Advised Raids On Occupy Wall Street Camps
President Obama's "position" regarding the NYPD's raid of Zuccotti Park, is that "every municipality has to make its own decision about how to handle" the issues of free speech and the concerns of the community. But according to Rick Ellis at the Examiner, a Justice Department official says that the recent evictions of Occupy movement across the country including Salt Lake City, Denver, Portland, Oakland, and New York City were "coordinated with help from Homeland Security, the FBI and other federal police agencies."
Beloved Portland Pok Pok Chef Coming To LES
Big news for bi-coastal foodies: Andy Ricker, the chef at Portland's ragingly popular Thai restaurant Pok Pok, is coming to New York before the end of the year.
19-Year-Old Arrested In Portland, OR Bombing Attempt
A 19-year-old Oregon resident was charged with suspicion of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction during an attempted bombing at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland Oregon. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia and student at Oregon State University, was arrested by the FBI and local police when he tried to detonate a van full of what he thought were explosives, but in fact, the materials were a "mock bomb" supplied by the undercover FBI agents.
Last Night's Action: Another Big "W"
Chris Drury had two goals, one against an empty net while Brandon Dubinsky got things started for the Rangers with a nice play in the first. Things got a little chippy at the end of the second when Ryan Hollweg and Vitaly Vishnevski mixed things up in the Devils’ net, but overall it was a clean, good game. Henrik Lundqvist added 34 saves to get the win.
New York in Top 5 Most Miserable Cities, Says Forbes
New York City faced some stiff competition in the Forbes Top 10 “Misery Measure”, but ultimately moped away with a respectable fourth place, losing only to such perennial dystopias as Detroit (#1, forever); Flint, Michigan (#3) and… Stockton, California, in the #2 slot? Apparently, the Bay Area satellite has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country and a swelling population.
Last Night's Action: Slides Continue
Video of the Day: Bike Box
The Times takes a look at Portland’s $150,000 project to retrofit some major intersections with cyclist-friendly “bike boxes.” The painted stripes and signs create a zone where cyclists can cross in front of stopped traffic to turn without getting run down by turning trucks, theoretically. Dubbed a “right hook”, it resulted in the deaths of two cyclists last October in Portland, and plenty in New York.
Mark Russell, Under the Radar Festival
In 2004, Mark Russell resigned from his position as Artistic Director of P.S. 122 after more than two decades spent developing the theater into a mecca for wildly adventurous performance art. And he hasn't looked back; in addition to serving as Artistic Director for Portland's Time Based Art Festival, Russell has remained a major force in New York with his Under the Radar Festival, now in its fourth year and headquartered at the Public Theater. The event draws performers and audiences from around the world for what has arguably become the most exciting theater festival in New York City, a town lousy with them. Russell's impeccable taste is integral to Under the Radar's success; as Eric Bogosian – who got his start at P.S. 122 in the 80s – puts it: "Russell is a genius at finding the awkward new stuff, the gems and diamonds no one's noticed yet. If the 'artist is the antenna of the race,' then Mark is the antenna of the antenna."
Todd Patrick, Concert Promoter
Since settling in New York in 2001, promoter Todd Patrick – known through his website as Todd P – has established himself as a major force in the avant-garde rock scene. In the fastidious spirit of a modern day Bill Graham – though without the passion for profits – Patrick has distinguished himself with his commitment to producing shows at atypical, under-the-radar locations like lofts, rooftops and funky, “illegal” clubs. Often eschewing such vagaries as...
Extra, Extra
- Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Prospect Pl. in Brooklyn, a collapse at Flushing Ave. at Portland Ave. in Brooklyn, and an armed robbery on 157th St. and 109th Ave. in Queens.
- The Queens courtroom where three cops will be tried on charges of shooting Sean Bell to death is undergoing $175K in renovations in preparation for the trial, even though attorneys for the defense are arguing for a change of venue.
- Rehab center Silver Hill Hospital is being sued after a woman committed suicide while under the facility's care. The person bringing the suit is the executor of her estate, himself a former patient at Silver Hill and someone her doctor advised her to avoid.
- AM New York looks at some NYC bars beloved by Hollywood filmmakers.
- Alex Kelly, the high school rapist from Darien, CT who fled to Europe where he lived on the lam for years before being captured, was released from prison after serving 10 years of his 16 year sentence.
- Cops responding to a call that a woman was being assaulted inside Club Duvet on East 21st St. early this morning were instead met with a patron staggering out of the club with blood flowing from a chest wound. The victim died after being taken to St. Vincent's Hospital.
- A 14-month-old toddler fell out of an open window at his Brooklyn home yesterday, but landed without injury. The child fell 20 feet to the roof of an adjacent record store.
- The Gowanus Lounge reports that the IKEA in Red Hook believes in recycling. It will be using the paving stones that are being ripped up out of Beard St. for some secondary use on the store's property.
Last Night's Action: A Busy Thanksgiving Eve
Rangers 2 Tampa 1: New York got back on track quickly, coming out in the first period with intensity and jumping to a 1-0 lead thanks to Fedor Tyutin. Henrik Lundqvist wss his usually brilliant self, making 32 saves including several huge ones while the Rangers clung to a one-goal lead. It wasn’t until Colton Orr hit a knuckleball off the stick of a Lightning defenseman at 2:05 of the third period, that the...
Jake Morris, Drummer
Anyone yet unfamiliar with Portland's phenomenal guitar rock quartet The Joggers (myspace, website) can glean a lot about their music from this photo of their drummer, Jake Morris. For one thing, he's pouring sweat for a reason; the band's propulsive, serpentine arrangements demand a high-degree of octane from the guy behind the kit. And as the microphone indicates, everyone in the band pitches in on vocals to fill out lead singer Ben Whitesides's theatrically ambitious...
Pencil This In
ART: Duke Riley brings his latest exhibit, After the Battle of Brooklyn: East River Incognita II, to Magnan Projects. Starting tonight and showing through December 22nd, the works imagine New York during the Revolutionary War and "interweave historical and contemporary events with elements of fiction and myth to create allegorical histories. His re-imagined narratives comment on a range of issues from the cultural impact of overdevelopment and gentrification of waterfront communities to contradictions within political ideologies as well as commerce and the role of the artist in society and at war."
Gideon Glick, Actor
So what is Speech and Debate about? Speech and Debate is about three misfits who become united by a sex scandal in their school, and in doing so come to terms with themselves and are forced to relate to each other.
Brooklyn Shooting Leaves Teen Dead, Another Injured
A clash between teenagers in Fort Green has left a 16-year-old dead and a 17-year-old injured. The shooting took place around 6PM outside the Whitman-Ingersoll Houses on North Portland Avenue. A 16-year-old was confronted by three other people and shot in the neck and torso.
Spring Not Warming Up Anytime Soon
We overheard someone this morning talking about going to last night's Yankee game "It was freezing, and then it started snowing…" Tonight's game will be just as cold, if not colder. If you are going to an afternoon game this weekend try to get a seat in the sun as the cold should be around for several more days. At least the Yankees can get their games in. Portland, Maine had a foot of snow yesterday and their minor league team was forced to postpone their opener until tomorrow.
Last Night's Action: Typical Knicks
But, in classic fashion, the Knicks didn’t show up. Eddy Curry continued his regression (19.6 ppg pre All-Star game/16.9 after including 15.4 in March) scoring only eight points and Marbury went 6-22 from the field.
When Silly Promotions Go Bad (Where Are NYC's Mooninites?)
Up in Boston, parts of the city were at a standstill when the police discovered a variety of suspicious packages. Streets were closed and mass transit was suspended as the police investigated... and found out the packages are part of a promotion for Aqua Teen Hunger Force! Seriously, major roads, a bridge, subway stations, and part of the Charles River were shut down for that.
NYC Streets Aren't Made For Walking
Today, there's a fascinating Op-Ed by Robert Sullivan about the state of NYC streets. Titled, "The City That Never Walks," Sullivan describes how NYC has "lost [its] golden pedestrian touch."
...yet, here in New York, we even have the debate over bicycle traffic backwards. We focus on drivers’ complaints about the bicycle commuter who races through red lights, rather than on the concerns of the mother biking her child around organic-food delivery trucks that idle in bike-only lanes. In December, the police say, a bicyclist was killed on the Hudson River Greenway by a drunken driver speeding along a bike lane that was completely separated from the road. Asked what was being done to improve safety in light of the biker’s death, Mayor Michael Bloomberg suggested that bikers “pay attention.”more ›
M. Ward, Musician
Portland, Oregon resident M. Ward (or "Matt", as his friends call him) is an enigmatic good 'ol fashioned singer/songwriter. Appearing detached and independent from the world he connects to through music, he seems to come to us from another time and place. Without pretense he delivers songs with a voice that hangs in the air, enchanting an audience of listeners who are always left wanting more. An old soul with a guitar and the ability to tell a story through song, his live show is not one to be missed. Tomorrow night he plays Town Hall for the first time.
Last Night's Action: Knicks Won't Leave West Empty-Handed
- Knicks 99, Blazers 81: When the Knicks win, they can usually thank Eddy Curry. The big man took congratulations again for leading the Knicks to a victory in Portland, their first on this five-game West Coast swing. After seeing his team drop games to the Suns, Clippers and Kings, Curry helped his team stop the bleeding by dumping 27. Jamal Crawford -- who, behind Curry, might be the most consistent Knick -- had 25. Knicks fans should also be happy to see that David Lee logged one more minute than Jared Jeffries, even in a blowout. Lee has outperformed Jeffries in every way possible since the higher-paid player came back from his wrist injury. But the Knicks would be a better team if Coach Isiah Thomas weren't so stubborn and let Lee's merits outweigh Jeffries' income.
Spitzer (and Everyone Else) on Colbert Report Last Night
We're sort of over the Colbert vs The Decemberists publicity stunt, but it aired last night - and it was pretty hilarious. There were appearances by: Henry Kissinger, the New York Times Anthony DeCurtis, Jim Anderson, Eliot Spitzer, Peter Frampton and Apples in Stereo's Robert Schneider (Stereogum has the lyrics to his song from the show last night). No Colin Meloy, though...Colbert said, "The rest of the band is back in Portland probably growing hemp and trying to find the most pretentious rhyme for "salamander". I'll save you guys some time, it's "coriander"."
Last Night's Action: One Bad Start, Another Bad Finish
-Timberwolves 107, Knicks 89: Lackadaisical defense and inconsistent offense plagued the Knicks, who have lost three straight since undressing the Heat in Miami on Friday. Minnesota torched the Knicks by shooting 53 percent from the floor, and New York couldn't make the most of its shots. Quentin Richardson, one player who has appeared to benefit from Isiah Thomas' coaching, did not score and didn't attempt a field goal in 18 minutes. At least Steve Francis took his demotion from the starting lineup well -- he scored 19 points, including eight of nine free throws. The Knicks are 0-8 when they score fewer than 100 points.
Last Night's Action: It's Over
-Cincinnati 30 Rutgers11: The dream is over in Piscataway. The Scarlet Knights not only lost, but they were humiliated in a hideous loss to the Bearcats.
Pencil This In
THEATER: A.R. Gurney’s new meta-play, Post Mortem, takes place in a future tyrannical America where a college student discovers a lost “masterpiece” by the largely forgotten playwright A.R. Gurney. In Post Mortem's cowardly new world, many believe Dick Cheney to be responsible for Gurney’s death, and the discovery of an unpublished memoir reveals Gurney affairs with Cameron Diaz, Katherine Hepburn and Katrina Kerns. (Okay, that last one's from our own meta-memoir.) The student’s willingness to defy the government by producing the banned play wins him both a shot at the Nobel Peace Prize and his hot professor’s affection. - John Del Signore
The Gothamist House Kicks off today!
After months of preparation, the first day of The Gothamist House at The White Rabbit is finally here! Surely you know the drill by now...Great bands, cheap drinks, thanks to the White Rabbit extending their Happy Hour throughout the day, and completely, no strings attached free to attend. So swing by the spot at 145 East Houston (Between Eldridge and Forsyth) and come say hi!
Extra, Extra
-- Sweet and sort of sad: the public make-out session planned to celebrate Columbia's Gay Day was only lightly attended.

