• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a police officer was struck at Varick and Grand Sts. in Manhattan, a pedestrian was struck at 49th St. and 12th Ave. in Brooklyn, and a person was down a hole on Farmers Blvd. in Queens.
• Al Sharpton is upset with gossip site TMZ.com for referring to Beyoncé Knowles outfit at an awards show as "roboho"; TMZ says they have called many white celebrities ho's.
• The life-size sculpture of an ironworker on a beam that was stolen six months ago was found wrapped in black plastic behind a church in Queens.
• An urban safari in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
• After ten years in operation, Magnolia Bakery was shut down by the Dept. of Health for operating without a sink. The owners of the fabled cupcake provisioner claim they didn't know they were required to have one.
• A blogger has collected nearly 3,200 online names on a petition to get the MTA to run an express service on the F train's line to and from Brooklyn.
• The section of Sara D. Roosevelt Park between Broome and Delancey Sts. on the Lower East Side will be closed at dark, instead of the usual 1 a.m. curfew.

Chinatown wakes up in the morning much the same as any other New York neighborhood—with a jolt of caffeine. Every block seems to have its own bakery where throngs perch at tiny tables to slurp hot tea or coffee before starting the day. But these are no Dunkin Donuts. The pastries everyone nibbles alongside their steaming cups are anything but ordinary—though some look familiar on the surface. What appears to be a custard doughnut is actually filled with sticky red bean paste. Don’t mistake that one for a cheese danish; what’s inside is chicken minced with scallions and spiked with hot Sichuan pepper. And is that a hot dog sticking out of that sweet bun? Why, yes, it is. (This may in fact represent your only chance to eat a wiener for breakfast respectably.) more ›

When we go to museums we find it hard not to touch the textured paintings and the smooth sculptures. So when an interactive art opportunity shows up in our 'hood we can't pass it up. Starting tomorrow a system of crowd control barriers becomes a geometric maze in the Lower East Side. Viewers are invited to reconfigure the maze by interchanging the retractable belts as they please. more ›