Art and commerce are now communing in nature: The Zaha Hadid-designed Chanel Mobile Art is now open in Central Park. Situated in Rumsey Playfield, the 7,500-square foot orb is filled with art inspired by elements of the famous quilted Chanel bag and visitors can also listen to an audio guide, narrated by Jeanne Moreau (the NY Times described the audio as "discussing everything from sex and love to the secrets at the bottom of a woman’s handbag"). Chanel, which has previously displayed the orb in other cities around the world, donated a low seven-figure sum to Central Park, plus will pay a $400,000 use fee to the city. more ›

Speaking of Moonstruck, this week the Central Park Film Festival is screening movies highlighting the different boroughs of the city. Tomorrow night's kickoff film is Working Girl, starring Melanie Griffith as a plucky secretary from Staten Island trying to make it in the business world. The rest of the films: 8/20, The French Connection (a Bronx candy store under surveillance); 8/21, Strangers on a Train (the Alfred Hitchcock thriller); 8/22, Moonstruck (with an introduction by Academy Award winner screenwriter John Patrick Shanley); and 8/23, August Rush (with a performance by the film's Academy Award nominated choir, IMPACT) more ›

The latest art project to be plopped into a public space is Zaha Hadid's Chanel Pavilion, a 7,500-square-foot temporary, traveling art gallery that has a number of stamps on its passport already. The spaceship-esque pod will land in Rumsey Playfield in Central Park by October 20th, and be open through November 9th -- housing artwork (including a piece by Yoko Ono) inspired by the Chanel handbag, of course. more ›

READING: Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Presidential candidate John Edwards, will have the spotlight on her for the night as she reads from her memoir, Saving Graces. The tale of her teenage son's death and her current battle with cancer may have you grabbing for a box of tissues (and voting for her hubby?). more ›

READING: It's New York Murder Mystery Night with novelists Jed Rubenfeld, Joel Rose, and historian Ben Feldman. The trio will be discussing New York’s famous 19th-century murders, including the bizarre events behind Butchery on Bond Street. more ›

THEATER: Gertrude Stein is regarded as an avant-garde intellectual whose adventurous prose has long overshadowed her plays – despite her Broadway hit Four Saints in Three Acts. (Who could forget?) A crack team of downtown experimental theater types are now hoisting six of Stein’s one-acts out of obscurity with a production in the East Village. The evening, irresistibly dubbed Steinese Takeout, boldly embraces Stein’s radicalism and runs with it. How radical are these plays? “How about no plot, no setting, and no pre-defined characters. Cryptic? Definitely. Absurd? Perhaps. Balderdash? Not at all.” – John Del Signore more ›

COMEDY: The Del Close Marathon is happening this weekend, the full schedule is here. more ›

MUSIC: Propect Park. TV on the Radio. Matt Pond PA. Voxtrot. Free. Need we say more? Bring a blanket. more ›

We probably should have mentioned this to you before, but with all of the arts going on around town (Fringe to the left of us, Howl to the right!) it just slipped our minds. So here goes. We know you love free movies outdoors (who doesn't?) but most of the time the movies shown in series are of the 'oldie-but-goodie' variety, not that we're complaining considering the recent crop of movies. That is not the case, however, with the final night of the 3rd Annual Central Park Film Festival. What makes this series different from all those other series? All of the movies shown include scenes shot in the "most filmed public park in the world." And tonight the fest closes out with the New York premiere of "Little Manhattan." more ›

PARTY: Neighborhoodies is having a dance party at Rififi this Saturday. Wear that clever t-shirt you made and get ready to dance, dance, dance. Click on the flyer to the right for more info. more ›

Help me settle an argument. My friend claims there are no statues of women in Central Park. I swear I've seen a couple. Am I wrong? She could list a bunch of statues of men like Alexander Hamilton and Hans Christian Andersen, but I was having trouble coming up with even one female statue. more ›