Yesterday, McDonald's announced that its second quarter profit for 2011 was up 19%, thanks to not only its usual McNuggets and Big Mac on the menu but its McCafe beverage drinks (which are high-margin items) as well as...Fruit and Maple Oatmeal. Yes, apparently America is looking for healthy items at McDonald's. more ›

Last year as the Friends of the High Line prepared to open the old elevated tracks as a park, it became clear that the graffiti that had long adorned the area wasn't going to be a part of the new luxury landscape. As such, the mayor's office began painting over what they deemed eyesores last April, a project that has continued as street art fanboys wearily kept an eye on the Revs/Cost mural on 23rd Street. Last year, Gothamist publisher Jake Dobkin declared: "if they touch the Revs/Cost Mural... it's war." Which may explain why he's not in the office yet... over the weekend, that mural was erased. more ›

As the first section of the High Line park was poised to open last April, the mayor's office began painting over the graffiti next to the elevated tracks. And workers are still busy trying to make sure every last vestige of urban character and uniqueness is removed from sight! Last year the city identified about 20 buildings along the entire High Line as candidates for graffiti removal, and 18 owners are permitting the city to scrub them clean. Last year, Gothamist's resident graffiti expert Jake Dobkin vowed war if the city buffed the Revs/Cost mural at 23rd Street (seen here). So is Dobkin headed to the barricades with other street art aficionados? more ›

Forget about street furniture -- as far as sidewalk finds go, finding a metal wheel is the new finding a mid-century armchair! Restless spotted this gem in Greenpoint and reports that it's gone unclaimed for months. It's likely too heavy to throw over ones shoulder, but apparently metal is the hot commodity of sidewalk scavenging these days (he reports that people are often seen "walking from Long Island City across the Pulaski Bridge early in the morning with strange metal articles"). more ›