We've all had our fair share of less-than-stellar nights at the bar, but it's always good to avoid making a few simple mistakes: don't try to get high in the bathroom, don't start a fight with the bartender, don't call 911 on yourself, and definitely don't lie down on the pool table. Because if you do, you might very well end up in the newspaper. more ›

We received an email alert from the Sylvia Rivera Law Project about a clash between the SRLP and police officers last night in the East Village. Here is an excerpt of the SRLP's account:

On the night of Wednesday, September 26, officers from the 9th Precinct of the New York Police Department attacked without provocation members of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and of its community. Two of our community members were violently arrested, and others were pepper sprayed in the face without warning or cause. more ›

THEATER: Playwright Tina Howe delivers the first play of Atlantic Theater’s fall season: “Birth and After Birth”. Though originally conceived in 1972, the comedy has yet to break water in New York City. It details the clash between Sandy and Bill, who were up all night preparing a birthday party for their four year-old son, and their guests Jeffrey and Mia, childless anthropologists who study primitive children in remote cultures. Be sure to capitalize on the theater’s laudable “Play for the Price of a Movie" initiative: 29 seats at every performance are available for $10 each and may be reserved in advance by calling (646) 216-1119 or bought at the box office (336 W. 20th Street) two hours prior to curtain. If these tickets are sold out, regular price tickets may be purchased at TeleCharge. - John Del Signore more ›

This past weekend marked the opening of the new Tasting Room in the old M&R Bar space on Elizabeth just south of Houston. The bar is open for business to all comers, but it was mostly friends & family, and the food will be at least 10 days behind the booze. Speaking of old spaces, with this opening, the previous Tasting Room space on First Street is now closed until late summer when it will re-emerge as an all day spot open for coffee, baked goods, wine, and small plates. more ›

writer Jeff Whitty among them at one point) an old favorite bar and dining room is now reborn. When Michael Howett and Richard Bach first opened the place on Elizabeth Street, it was the first bar and dining room there and those who knew it remember the nude paintings, eccentricities, ancient wine bottles and tchotchkes well. So well that customers asked after them for years -- til now, when all the nude paintings you could be missing are rightfully rehung, this time in the basement. The dining angle is mostly tapas and some main courses, from all over, well complimented by wine and a bar that focuses heavily on the whiskey. As much as thouse nudes may remind you of figure study classes, the whiskey will bring you back even quicker. For those missing The Slide, the gay, gay, gay space M & R took over, we'd recommend the awesome Mr. Black's, just a few blocks away (Tricia Romano looks at the bar's main attraction to NSFW results). more ›

Yes, yes, we know. Everyone else wrote about it already. But Gothamist was at the opening night party at Plate NYC too, so we wanted to throw in our two cents, and let you know that it's open for business. Unfortunately, we only had time for a quick stop-by, but the tease we got was enough to make us want to come back for a real visit very soon. more ›