This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Grayz, gives the restaurant one star. He says of the restaurant that refuses to call itself a restaurant (it’s a ‘cocktail lounge that serves small dishes’): “These dishes demand fuller attention than the setting allows, and the prices—$39 for the short ribs—only make total sense if eating is the point of a visit.” In Dining Briefs, Bruni goes to Belcourt, which he says is much better than......

The man who breached security at JFK Airport on Tuesday, after entering the restricted areas by walking through the exit lane near security screening and caused two terminals to be evacuated as the TSA and other authorities searched for him, was arrested yesterday in Albany. Authorities say that William Contreras Ramos, who managed to board his plane to the state capitol, had a 4-inch razor in his carry-on bag and was charged with carrying a......

Happy Father's Day! For those of you who have dads, are dads, or know dads, this one's for you, from all of us at the Gothamist network." It was a week of bizarre, embarassing headlines at DCist. The trial of the local administrative law judge who sued his cleaners for $54 million over a pair of missing pants left everyone shaking their heads. Then the capital city was nearly brought to its knees, twice, by......

To anyone attending next year's Puerto Rican Day Parade, we have this suggestion: Don't wear black-and-gold. At a press conference, parade organizers decried arrests of people who were not engaged in any illegal activity during Sunday's event. National Puerto Rican Day Parade president Madelyn Lugo said, "We are very disappointed and alarmed that these violations of civil rights should occur." The organizers, who admitted they warned the NYPD that the Latin Kings might try to......

There are new details surrounding Sunday's 208 arrests at the Puerto Rican Day Parade: According to the NY Times, the police still claim that people were arrested for "specific illegal behavior," like blocking traffic, and not because they were wearing colors of the Latin Kings gang. However:Criminal complaints filed against 10 defendants show that the police were concerned about the risk that those arrested would engage in violent or threatening behavior or cause some public......

Yesterday's reports about the number of people arrested during the 50th annual Puerto Rican Day Parade were incorrect: While numbers like 80 and 173 were offered, today the NY Times reveals 208 people were arrested, due to police concerns about the Latin Kings. However, there's some question as to whether more people without gang connections were arrested during the sweep. Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said the breakdown of the arrests was 198 gang......

Fifth Avenue was packed with revelers and performers during the 50th Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade. Celebrities, like "King" Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, were out in force, as were the politicians, including Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Eliot Spitzer, Senator Charles Schumer, Representative Jose Serrano, and Puerto Rico governor Anibal Acevedo-Villa. Bloomberg said, "I think the most impressive thing is that people love to be living here and be part of New York......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Madison St. in Manhattan, a homicide on Wyckoff Ave and Himrod St. in Brooklyn, and an overturned auto on Hone and Mace Aves. in the Bronx. A trio of yeshiva students and their teacher were rescued from a 200-foot-high ledge by rapelling park police yesterday, after straying from a trail at Bear Mtn. State Park. The news of a crash that persists in Chinatown, as the......

The Puerto Rican Day Parade is supposed to draw 2.8 million spectators to 5th Ave. in Manhattan this Sunday, making it one of the most popular annual parades in New York City. It's the 50th occurrence, so expect lots of enthusiasm from marchers, who will be heading north from 44th St. to 86th St. and entertained by Parade King Ricky Martin. The size of the event is amazing, considering that the estimated population of......

Yesterday, the controversial immigration bill proposed by President Bush stalled in the Senate when both Republicans and Democrats could not come to a final vote. The bill, which neither party liked very much for different reasons, represented a historic to change immigration law, and both parties tried to work on a compromise that would satisfy most Senators. Sixty votes were needed to stop debate and move to a final vote, but there were only 45......

Yesterday, the Daily News started a series of articles, School Bus Disgrace, detailing the horrors students face with bus drivers and monitors. For instance, here's a list of some substantiated complaints of "rude, nasty and careless behavior by school bus drivers and monitors":- Driver offers elementary schoolkids cigarettes; - Monitor sits on elementary schoolkids when they misbehave; - Driver urinates on the sidewalk in front of a bus full of children; - Driver calls one......

The MTA announcement that alcohol would be banned from LIRR and Metro-North trains on St. Patrick's Day has caused quite a stir. The NY Sun has angry comments from barkeeps and even a State Senator. Irish State Senator Marty Golden said, "It definitely looks like stereotyping, and that's what the MTA should be faulted for. Some people do get out of control, but to focus on that day, and on certain segments of the......

For decades East Harlem has been the center of New York's Puerto Rican community. Over the years many Mexican and Dominican immigrants have also made East Harlem their home. Now, as the squeeze of affordable housing gets tighter and tighter in Manhattan, more middle-class professionals are moving to the neighborhood. In a tale almost as old as New York itself, the changes have long-time residents worried about the loss of community. The Times describes......

The New York Times takes a close look at the Essex Street Market, a Lower East Side institution that's been doing business since 1940. Although the market was only 60 percent full five years ago, its low rent and the steadily increasing income stream of many in the neighborhood have led to a rejuvenation. But not everyone who walks in the door is a LES trust fund hipster with extra cash to spare. Saxelby Cheesemongers......

A very weird incident occured in Washington Square Park yesterday morning. Apparently a man put a stocking over his head and harrassed two couples with babies for a while, but then calmed down. The Post reports that the man climbed over a fence to the playground (though the gate was unlocked) and charged the couples a few times, and then climbed "the jungle gym and sat, Buddha-like, atop the kiddie-slide." It took a while for......

Hundreds of thousands of revelers enjoyed the beautiful weather and celebrated during yesterday's Puerto Rican Day Parade. And this year's theme was, "Boricuas...We count, We Vote!" Though Marc Anthony was the Grand Marshal, the real attraction was his wife, Jennifer Lopez. Mayor Bloomberg, who marched with the couple, said, "In the pictures tomorrow, I will be lucky if I am noticed at all." Anthony and Lopez ultimately needed the help of Guardian Angels to......

- The Williamsburgh Savings Bank prepares for luxury. - Chelsea residents seem to be winning the war against a 17-story tower. - The first female rabbi is retiring soon. - A Sweet 16 party was ended badly yesterday when a car ran over four partygoers. - Gypsy moths are eating New Jersey! - Jane Smiley chews out a certain very thin conservative pundit. - Meanwhile, the ever-wonderful Joyce Wadler takes on celebrity commencement speaches.......

- "Fat Nick" found guilty. - A truck with 500 gallons of hypochlorite, a highly concentrated chlorine-based bleech, was stolen Thursday. - A woman waiting for the southbound A train at 125th street fell into the tracks. Short one leg, the woman is in critical condition at Bellevue. - Bloomie really wants to keep those cell phones away from the school kids. - From the Doorman: "Ten Things Not To Do When You Get......

With the Puerto Rican Day Parade right around the corner, Mayor Bloomberg reminded Fifth Avenue buildings not to board up their properties. Many buildings along the parade's two mile route had taken to putting plywood on doors and windows, fearing rowdy crowds. While Puerto Rican Day parade violence has been a concern since the 2000 "wildings," the NYPD has made sure to step up patrols. Daily News says no buildings have been boarded up so......

This week, the film festival that Bobby De Niro and Jane Rosenthal built after September 11th has taken over most of downtown New York and some of uptown with its eclectic programming line-up. But there's more to do in town, movie-watching wise than just at Tribeca. So get out your TFF schedules, some snacks and some comfortable shoes to walk between screening spaces, there's movies to be seen this weekend. United 93, the narrative retelling......

Via Kottke: AssembleMe put together a nice set of NYC population graphs for the NYC Demographics page on Wikipedia. What impressed us what how dominant Brooklyn has been in population for the last 90 years-- although it looks like Queens is closing in, having passed Manhattan in the late 1960s. Even Staten Island is closing in on Manhattan-- maybe it's the rent prices! Another interesting data set from the Wikipedia page: "The racial makeup......

Lisa Whiteman, Photographer...

The dirty secrets of the detective's squad room are being revealed during hearings for a lawsuit a retired detective has brought against the city. Joann Karmel claims that she was sexually harassed by fellow detectives, with her lawyer contending that Karmel went from "full functioning" to "not being fit for duty" after the ribbing. Or as the Daily News puts it:At 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, Karmel was dubbed Big Bird by fellow detectives. But that......

This year more than any we remember from recent past, theater companies are gearing up to bring you Halloween-related shows. It’s appropriate, when you think about it – actors are all about dressing up as people/things other than themselves, so they should lead the way when the rest of the world decides to masquerade. In any case, options abound citywide. Psycho Clan, for instance, has an interactive haunted house program called Nightmare going, which looks......

Franklin Crowe, Street Vendor / Chess Player...

While the accusations that two police officers groped a woman didn't pan out, it turns out that they were, in fact, drunk on the job near the Puerto Rican Day Parade. The police union says the woman had wanted to cross a police barrier, but wasn't allowed to do so...so it seems like she complained that they were drunk and groping her. Well, 1 out of 2 ain't bad. The NY Times says the police......

Yesterday's Puerto Rican Day Parade shimmered along Fifth Avenue, although there were some problems. In a nutshell, a police officer was slashed, gang members tried to crash the parade, three people were stabbed - 175 arrests all told. Oh, and two on-duty police officers were accused of groping women! The Daily News says that many men "wearing black-and-gold Latin Kings shirts" wanted to march, but the police claimed they found a gun and knives on......

With the 10th Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade around the corner on Sunday, the Mayor is asking businesses along Fifth Avenue not to board up. In past years, violent incidents have caused damage to some stores and apartment buildings, making some owners think it's better to play it safe during the parade, which has had some controversy, most infamously the 2000 wildings in Central Park. For instance, the Post reports that metal fences are being......

Justina Mejias, Proud Puerto Rican...

Some downtown residents mourned the loss of a two year old rooster who made friends with the Chinese and Puerto Ricans in the neighborhood (he was crushed by his "owner"'s car - accidentally). The NY Times New York Region > The City > Lower East Side: Rooster, 2, Is Killed by Car; Held Ludlow Street in Thrall" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/nyregion/thecity/27roos.html?">said the rooster held "Ludlow Street in thrall". Gothamist found an exchange about what to do with the......