It's been about three years since the colorful Hell, Yes! sign first appeared on the side of the New Museum. Since then, it's been overlooking the East Village like a less judgmental version of Dr. Eckleburg's eyes, urging the neighborhood to party on, or something. Well, hope you didn't get attached, because Ugo Rondinone’s sign may come down as early as November, according to reports. In its place will be a million dollar, 30-foot steel and lacquer Rose sculpture by Isa Genzken. [via Animal] more ›

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Times health writer Tara Parker-Pope got some unexpected thrills during last night’s performance of Gypsy, which stars Patti Lupone at Broadway’s St. James Theater:

Toward the end of the show, as Ms. LuPone’s Mama Rose was about to launch into her show-stopping number, there was a crash in the balcony. A huge metal plate, about 30 inches in diameter and used to cover a diffuser, came crashing down from the ceiling. It hit a young woman in the head and ricocheted into the back of my friend’s neck before rolling into my seat.

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The Chrysler Building. The Seagram Building. The Apple Store Soho? The Center for Architecture's executive director Rick Bell made a list of 10 great buildings to see in New York City (presumably for tourists) and spoke to the AP about it. The list spans two boroughs, a classic skyscraper, a beloved transportation hub, and retail stores, and some landmarks are deliberately left off (like the Empire State Building which everyone knows about):
• Conde Nast Building, for its "environmentally correct" design by Fox & Fowle.
• Brooklyn Museum, for the modern entry pavilion and plaza, designed by James Polshek, against its Beaux Arts facade; the AP writes the addition makes makes the museum "inviting and accessible, a suitable centerpiece for Brooklyn's burgeoning hipster art scene."
• Prada New York in Soho, designed by Rem Koolhaas, for the way it "displays the merchandise, it doesn't sell it."

Roses or chocolate or, credit card be damned, both? Since time immemorial, men have spent February 14th scrambling to buy the right things without paying through the nose. But now there's a way to get both classic gifts in one package, and have some of the proceeds go to a good cause, thanks to Rhonda Kave of Roni-Sue’s Chocolates. more ›

Nigel Dawes got the Rangers on the board near the end of the third period as he converted a power play chance. Scott Gomez who assisted on the first goal followed with a goal of his own, setup by a great screen from Chris Drury at 3:53 of the second. Then the fights started, a linesman took a skate to the face but the Rangers and Valiquette kept their focus and got the win. more ›

LECTURE SERIES: The Nation forges on with their series of Tuesday evening lectures tonight. Nation columnist and Columbia Law professor Patricia J. Williams will be on hand to discuss her montly "Diary of a Mad Law Professor" column. Expect to examine the law in whole new light. more ›

Rose Morat, the 101-year-old victim of a vicious mugging caught on surveillance tape last year, testified at a special videotaped hearing in a Queens courtroom yesterday. Morat will turn 102 next month and Queens prosecutors thought it would be prudent to make sure her testimony was recorded, as the actual case probably won't go to trial for another year. Morat didn't seem to take the precaution personally. more ›

A 17-year-old student at Massapequa High School died of bacterial meningitis yesterday. Michael Gruber had gone to bed with flu-like symptoms on Wednesday and on Thursday morning his parents were unable to wake him up. He died at New Island Hospital. more ›

Yesterday afternoon the world learned of Heath Ledger's untimely death. Both old and new media gossiped, rumor-mongered, and pitched their circus tents outside of his building on Broome Street the moment word spread. Sadly, most of his close friends and relatives, including his parents, heard about the tragedy through the newswire. more ›

THEATER: Wolf Lane Productions presents Victims of the Zeitgeist (The Tragedy of Martin Luther King, Jr.), written & directed by Ellwoodson Williams. The production "offers an exciting and telling insight into just who Martin Luther King, Jr., was as leader and simply as a sensitive and intelligent human being who loved life and who had a sense of humor, a deep understanding of the human condition - its strengths and weaknesses - and a profound belief in justice." more ›

Last night, Savoy chef and local foods champion Peter Hoffman gave a presentation at the Museum of Natural History on the role of water in sustainable farming, in conjunction with the ongoing Water: H2O = Life exhibit (now through May 25). We missed it too, but found some similar upcoming events. Call it the Mr. Wizard meets Escoffier edition- these food happenings deal with the intersections of ingredients, science, and art. more ›

Arthur Emil, the man behind the late Windows on the World and The Rainbow Room, has won the coveted contract to operate the famous Oak Room and Oak Bar (pictured) in the Plaza Hotel, which is near the end of a three-year, $400 million makeover. The 18 story landmark building opened in 1907 and operated as a hotel until 2005, after being sold for $675 million. After delays blamed on “red tape”, the Plaza is expected to open by the end of March as an upscale condominium with retail space and a smaller hotel. more ›

Due to the Writer's Guild of America strike, Hollywood's party, the Golden Globes Awards were transformed from a boozy, fun dinner party to a press conference where presenters from entertainment programs like Extra! and E! News got to announce the winners. Yes, it was as painful as it sounded (Giuliana Rancic, it's not about you); many said they couldn't believe they were announcing the winners but said they would prefer it with the stars. Inside Edition's Jim Moret struck a classy note when he acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Association (the organization that doles out the Golden Globes) President Jorge Camara. more ›

The Lakers cruised to a 70-45 lead and then had to hang on against a Knicks’ rally that happened with the unit of Nate Robinson, David Lee, Malik Rose, Jared Jeffries and Jamal Crawford playing most of the minutes. What changes are coming? It’s hard to say, but a good start would be splitting Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph up. Let’s just hope Isiah doesn’t start making trades. more ›

In November, Charlie Rose sat down with rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z. The musician is originally from Brooklyn and late in the interview Rose queries about the expected success of the Nets once they move to Kings County. Jay-Z is very enthusiastic about the potential of the team and the virtues of the borough, as he prefaces every statement about Brooklyn with the words "we" and "ours." It is unintentionally comedic then when Rose immediately follows up with the question "And where do you live now?" The answer is a terse "In Manhattan, uh." The exchange begins around 48 minutes and 45 seconds into the interview and a quick transcript is available at the Atlantic Yards Report site here. It reminded us of the first time that we heard that director Spike Lee had moved to the Upper East Side. more ›

Yesterday's Knicks practice was cancelled so that the entire team could attend the funeral for Don Marbury, father of Knicks captain Stephon Marbury. Don Marbury died during the Knicks' Sunday night game. Despite being a team often criticized for lacking chemistry, they all stood together at the Coney Island Gospel Assembly on Neptune Ave. to support their point guard during his difficult time. Malik Rose spoke on behalf of the team to the 600-plus... more ›

MOVIE: BAM pays homage to the late Barbara Stanwyck tonight with a screening of Forbidden. The 1932 Frank Capra-directed film (which tells the tale of a librarian who has fallen for an unobtainable/married man) was supposedly influenced by his real-life affair with the leading lady. Critic and historian Elliott Stein will discuss the film after the 6:50 screening. 4:30, 6:50 and 915pm // BAM Rose Cinemas [30 Lafayette Ave., Fort Greene] // $11 Meanwhile, the... more ›

While everyone knows that the proposals five development teams have offered up for the MTA's West Side rail yards are likely to change, the NY Times' architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff made it clear that he hopes they do, with a withering review of the five plans. Noting the great opportunity that developers have, Ouroussoff says the designs "are not just a disappointment for their lack of imagination, they are also a grim referendum on... more ›

MOVIE: The Brooklyn Independent Cinemas series (which takes place the first and third Monday of every month) delivers two shorts tonight. First up is Nevel is the Devil, where "a supervisor at a consumer product testing lab interrogates two suspects of a devilish prank." The second is The Last Romantic, which follows Calvin Wizzig, a poet, around New York in hopes of getting published. Watch the trailer here. 7pm // Barbes [376 9th St, Park... more ›

It appears the rumors of autumn's demise have been greatly exaggerated and you're going to have to start wearing a jacket outside after all. But the change of seasons is not without its perks; there are those hot winter drinks to look forward to, and a number of bars around town offer the perfect accompaniment for your hot toddy: a crackling fireplace. Below are some of New York's best places to chill out on a... more ›

News of Norman Mailer’s hospitalization broke today; the cantankerous and influential author is suffering from severe respiratory problems following a collapsed lung. His children have been keeping a bedside vigil in the critical-care unit of Mt. Sinai Hospital, where Mailer is reportedly still in fighting spirits, thumb-wrestling and cracking jokes. (The Post has more, while New York Magazine looks at the illness in the context of his recent ruminations on spirituality in a new book, On God.) more ›

FILM: BAM features the work of Al Santana tonight. The Brooklyn filmmaker "has been a fixture on the independent film and video scene for years and his work ranges from documentaries about the transatlantic slave trade to coping with 9/11." Santana will be on hand for a Q&A tonight as well. more ›

Earlier this week, a Staten Island woman was arrested after she stabbed a 19-year-old suspected of stealing her son's iPod. A study released by the Urban Institute links a rise in violent crime between 2005 and 2006 to the proliferation of iPods. Though violent crime had been dropping up until 2004, iPod-envy started to spread. more ›

This morning, President Bush is addressing the 62nd United Nations General Assembly. He is expected to discuss "global fight against terrorism, tyranny and poverty," as well as sanctions against Myanmar in support of the protest organized by Buddhist monks. However, he will only mention Iran briefly, and will opt to cover "broad themes." A White House spokesman said, "The president wanted this speech to focus on many other issues that are facing the world -- issues that people in Sudan and Zimbabwe and Burma and countless other countries are dealing with," referring to the United Nations' mission to ensuring freedom. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an unusual trauma at Pennsylvania and Flatlands Aves. in Brooklyn, a church robbery on West 31st St. in Manhattan, and a found DOA on Furman St. at the piers in Brooklyn.
• State officials are now thinking that the best way to reincarnate the glory days of the old Penn Station is not to build two office towers on top of the Farley Post Office building.
• They've arrested the man who allegedly beat and robbed 101-year-old Rose Morat, but cops are now searching for another man who did the same to a 79-year-old grandmother in the elevator of her apartment building in Queens.
• Since the rack rate of the average hotel room in NYC is now about $350 a night, perhaps it was inevitable that we would see the proliferation of illegal hotels.
• The Atlantic City Sands Casino will be imploded Vegas-style next month, with accompanying fireworks by Grucci and a laser light show.
• Staring down a projected $3.6 billion budget deficit, Gov. Spitzer is pledging to not increase state spending by more than 5.3% or so next year.
• Mayors Bloomberg and Giuliani are both out of New York, remotely tugging over the mantle of 9/11 as their political legacy. Perhaps our next mayor will oversee the construction of something at the site of the World Trade Center.
• The number of New Yorkers on the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans rose from 45 to 64, as that group's wealth jumped 370% from last year, to $224 billion. The city still has almost two million people living below the poverty line, however, so don't let the Forbes thing go to your head.

The Willamette Meteorite may have landed in Oregon in 1902, but the 15.5-ton rock has resided in NYC for the past 101 years. The American Museum of Natural History acquired it in 1906 and it's been on display there ever since. more ›