Families of September 11 victims and rescue workers held a midnight Christmas Mass at Ground Zero for the last time, as construction will make it impossible for masses to be held on-site in future years. The Reverend Brian Jordan, who has been holding the Ground Zero mass since 2001, said, "This is the holiest of all nights. We're here on sacred ground. That's what makes it special." The mass was held near a trailer on......

An exhibit at the main branch of the New York Public Library is drawing outrage from Republicans because some of the work on display depicts former and current members of the Bush administration posing for fake mug shots. Each official in the visionary series, called “Line Up”, is seen holding a slate with a date of arrest corresponding to a date when the official said something about Iraq that was not “reality-based.” Matthew Walter,......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a stabbing on 168th St. and Hillside Ave. in Queens, a sexual assault at Stanton and Attorney Sts. in Manhattan, and a missing child on Himrod St. in Brooklyn. Artist Eve Mosher is outlining in chalk the high water lines that floods will reach every four years by 2080 if global warming continues unabated. The project can be seen at her site highwaterline. Six-year-old Natalie Shea is now a......

Darren Dopp, Governor Spitzer's communications director who was suspended after it was discovered he and other aides were plotting against a Spitzer rival (the State Senate majority leader), may be leaving state government for the warmer shores of...political lobbying. Dopp allegedly accepted a job at Patricia Lynch Associates, which was formed at a former aide of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, according to its website, occupies "the number two spot among all lobbying firms in New......

Governor Spitzer's ethics woes went to the national stage yesterday when the Today show ran a segment (see it here) about the mess that included the on-screen caption "Spitzer Scandal." Sure, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office did not find any law-breaking by Spitzer's aides, just dirty tricks-ing by way of using the state police to discredit Spitzer's main Albany rival, State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. Though Spitzer has maintained he had no idea that......

Last right, NYU's Asian Heritage Club protested the selection of a Valentine's Day concert band whose name is The Ching Chong Song. NYU junior and AHC member Frederick Wong told the Washington Square News that 20 students had gathered for the protest because "The name, Ching Chong Song, did not really relate to any of the lyrics in their songs. So we thought it was completely unnecessary to have a racist name." The band apologized......

Two quite controversial and buzzed about movies hit New York theaters this weekend. So far the critical opinion of raving lunatic Mel Gibson's new foreign language feature, Apocalypto, seems to be pretty favorable. The movie about a Mayan family man and the invading nearby tribe, sounds like it is painstakingly composed but has quite a bit of gratuitous, sadistic violence. Lisa Schwartzbaum in EW even calls it "the weirdest, most violent movie of the year,"......

With Election Day in a little more than two weeks, candidates are pushing into the home stretch by rallying their supporters and looking for undecided voters. The NY Times made some more big endorsements. The Gray Lady threw support behind Eliot Spitzer for Governor and Andrew Cuomo for Attorney General. The Spitzer endorsement was enthusiastic and hopeful, while the Cuomo one...well, here's a bit from it which contrasts Cuomo with the embattled Republican Jeannine Pirro:The......

State Assembly members met with various parties involved with the World Trade Center rebuilding yesterday to discuss development progress. Or, rather, the lack of progress. Assemblyman Richard Brodsky even said, "I wouldn't do any more groundbreaking right now" as a zing to all the ceremonies, photo ops and public puffery but little actual work getting done. And what's more, WTC leaseholder and developer Larry Silverstein says that insurance companies may not pay out all of......

There's an interesting Metro article about the NY Masons, who convened to see a new Grand Master elevated. Basically, the Masons want people to spruce up their image for the 21st century. “We’ve been too sheltered,” said Bidnick, a 52-year-old Brooklynite who now lives in Rockland County. “People think we’re strange with our aprons and rituals.” That’s why the organization has a public relations firm. Declining membership has also been a factor. “The secret is......

Audacia Ray, Writer, Sex Worker Rights Advocate...

At the moment the copious press concerning the MTA revolves around two and a half distinct political ends, one very visible and one regularly being pushed under the radar: The Bond Act and the Union negotiations (with a dash of the regular maintenance issues for good measure). The Bond Act, which is on the block this election day, in the long term is probably more important than the negotiations, though not necessarily in the short......

All Gothamist has to say about the Jets suing Cablevision for being a monopoly is that it took them long enough. With all the blah public relations blah MTA auction blah battle, we figured it would just be a matter of time until they decided to direct their money into various law firms. Now, while Gothamist waits for these two billionaire backed organizations to waste some money in money-siphoning ventures like, says, weblogs, we would......

Last night, Rocco DiSpirito's reality show, The Restaurant, premiered and the Times' food critic William Grimes reviewed the show in the weekend's Arts & Leisure section. (Gothamist is curious if one of the TV critics Alessandra Stanley or Julie Salomon or even Caryn James - who we haven't seen much of lately - will be reviewing Rocco's On 22nd Street, the restaurant, as a restaurant then?) Biff loves the "thrilling" glimpse into what goes......

The New York Times implies that Daniel Liebeskind's personality will need to drive the project to achieve the emotional connection initially proposed. This recognizes that there has not been a forceful personality in the city's ultimate plan since loved-and-hated but undeniably powerful Robert Moses, whose vision shaped the city for better and worse in the 5-s and 60s. Robert Caro's book about Moses, Power Broker. Among his infamous decisions, shepherding Lincoln Center, legacy of......