It’s now trendy for tourists visiting Rio de Janeiro to eschew the nice hotels in favor of a full immersion in the city’s sprawling shantytowns, or “favelas”. But for those who can’t make the trip to Brazil, a new restaurant will soon bring a taste of that scene to Williamsburg. Called Favela, the establishment is described as a "Brazilian Botequim", a simple place for the neighborhood to gather for drinks, food and watching soccer. (Favela’s business card has Pelé on the back.) more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a ceiling collapse at Franklin Ave. and Union St. in Brooklyn, a pedestrian was fatally struck on Queens Blvd. in Woodhaven, Queens, and an unusual rescue on the south bound tower of the Throgs Neck Bridge in Queens.
• An undercover cop forgot to turn off the wire he was wearing while discussing 11 bags of cocaine he seized in a Brooklyn bust that were never turned in. He was also sure to repeatedly refer to black people using the "N-word." [No link yet, but we saw the story on NY1.]
• The mother of an escaped convict is telling him through the press to keep running, and knows some day he'll be exonerated of his crime. We foresee either a one-armed man eventually brought to justice or subsequent imprisonment in a South American jail.
• Civil disobedience on 5th Avenue. We did not realize this, but the city has offered free vendor licenses to military veterans since the Civil War. Dan Rossi is protesting the curtailment of the practice by parking his hot dog cart right in front of The Metropolitan Museum.
• There's an interesting installation at the Gavin Brown Enterprise on Greenwich St. created by artist Urs Fischer, who's dug a hole in the ground. It is an absolutely enormous hole in the ground.
• Michael Douglas is the new announcer for the NBC Nightly News. Anderson Cooper responds that he would also consider a celebrity announcer, like Fran Drescher, Clint Eastwood, Paul Reubens, or Cher.
• Macy's is going to stay open 24 hours a day until Christmas Eve. Those are going to be some tired elves.
• A siamese cat named Yoda was bludgeoned to death in an Upper East Side doorman building. Sarah Favorite, the girlfriend of Yoda's owner, was arrested and is being charged with aggravated animal cruelty.

For some reason we've had a thing about Antarctic expeditions and libations lately. It all started with an evening of Antarctic cuisine at the Explorer's Club last week sponsored by Redwood Creek Wines. more ›

Dad, Broadway and 44th, by Mexican Pictures. more ›

For the first time since Tegla Laroupe in 1994 and 1995, the New York City Marathon has a repeat winner. Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia repeated her victory last year with a time of 2:25:05. Prokopcuka was so far ahead of 2nd place women's finisher Tatiana Hladyr that she was blowing kisses to the throngs of spectators as she approached the finish line in Central Park. Prokopcuka finished a full minute ahead of Hladyr. Deena Kastor, who was trying to become the first American winner since 1977 and was one of the pre-race favorites, finished 6th. more ›

Jelena Prokopcuka won her second ING NYC Marathon in a row, finishing at 2:25:05, while Marilson Gomes Dos Santos of Brazil won the men's race with a time of 2:09:58. more ›

You know it's the fall movie season because it's all about actors and their performances. In the noir-lite period film, prequel, and now he's trying his hand at horror targeted towards the myspace demographic. Should be chilling, but not really in a good way. more ›

SFist commeters pose for before and aftershocks when the mayor commemorates a 1906 earthquake...at 4:30 in the morning. A hot tip on the Chronicle vending machines comes in and the SFist war correspondent risks life and limb to post this dispatch from the frontlines. more ›

Some of the injustices employees are claiming is that they were criticized for speaking Spanish to a South American customer and for speaking Spanish to each other during breaks, though managers spoke in other languages to their relatives on the phone and in French to stockboys. Sephora says they encourage employees to speak customers' native languages, but feels that speaking in non-English language can seem offputting. more ›

Andres du Bouchet’s regular gig is that of Boliviguayan Entertainer of the Year Francisco Guglioni, MC of Giant Tuesday Night of Amazing Inventions and Also There is a Game!!! at Rififi. But beneath that vague mask of South American there is a real person. A man. With stories to tell. In the form of a one-man show. more ›

Gothamist has a long list of things that fascinate us and one of the odder things on said list is the peek into the human psyche provided by security checkpoints (specifically the items they turn up). Luckily we're not the only ones. Sometimes it seems a week doesn't go by without a look at things turning up in airports or train stations showing up in one paper or another. But normally those stories focus on drugs or weapons, so it was with happy interest that we found this article in the Times today. more ›

When the British authorities released photographs of the suspected bombers from Thursday's incident, one could make out that one of the men was wearing a New York t-shirt. Oh boy. Police later found the shirt "discarded in a street in Brixton." The AP report pointed out that NY was a former terror target, but Gothamist suspects that the t-shirt was simply coincidental, as New York may be the world's second home (even if not in 2012), simply a way for people to blend in. But if another suspect were wearing a Madrid t-shirt, along with a Bali one, then we'd rethink it. more ›

First it was Australia, then it was New Zealand . . . now the next New World wine region to capture the hearts and taste buds of New Yorkers is South America. What makes this region so spectacular for easy to drink, plush, fruity wines is the perfect climate. Grapes get to bask in the warm Latin sun – enjoying a particularly long ripening season. Kind of like the holiday we wish we could take. Rain and frost are non-issues and with plenty water from irrigation those lucky grapes are more spoiled then the tenants of 927 Fifth Avenue. more ›

Okay, so you couldn't shell out the cash for the Grand Tasting, but you still want to taste and learn about wines. We're right there with you, so we've found a few wine events that are more reasonably priced: more ›