There's no such thing as a free lunch, but at a handful of the city's restaurants, you can get a free snack if you play your cards right. We've rounded up some of the city's finest complimentary aperitivos and tapas for your grazing pleasure—note that all of the options do require the purchase of a drink, but let's face facts: you were going to throw a few back, anyway. more ›

Whether or not New York City's forthcoming bike sharing initiative will be a welcomed success or a network of mini-madrassas remains to be seen, but could it save your life some day? A study (an actual study, not an internet poll) conducted by our old friends at the British Medical Journal of Barcelona's bike-sharing program found that it contributed to 12 fewer deaths a year, not to mention a reduction of 9,000 tons of carbon dioxide pollution. more ›

Spain's 1-0 overtime victory over the Netherlands to win the 2010 World Cup meant celebration—and sadness—at bars and other gathering places in the city. Here are some photographs of the revelry from Gothamist readers. more ›

Paul the Psychic Octopus from Germany's Oberhausen Sea Life Aquarium correctly predicted that Germany would win its third-place World Cup match against Uruguay yesterday, making it his sixth correction prediction. As Der Spiegel explains, "He 'predicts' by choosing a mussel from one of two possible containers, both marked with national flags." However, Paul is not popular in his home country, with people threatening to grill him. Spain's environmental minister said Spain might offer asylum "so that the Germans don't eat him." After all, Paul did predict that Spain would beat the Netherlands in today's match (on ABC at 2:30 p.m.!); video of his prediction after the jump. Update: Spain defeated the Netherlands, 1-0. Long live, Paul! more ›

The U.S. stock markets fell this morning, due to ongoing concerns about the European debt crisis and the conflict between North Korea and South Korea. Bloomberg News reports, "Stocks plunged from Tokyo to London and New York, dragging the MSCI World Index to a nine-month low, and commodities slid as concern grew that Spain’s ailing banks signal a widening debt crisis and as tension mounted on the Korean peninsula... The MSCI gauge of 23 developed nations’ stocks fell 2.9 percent at 10:55 a.m. in New York to the lowest intraday level since August." more ›

The Dow Jones lost nearly 1,000 points (8+%) at one point during trading this afternoon, before recovering a little (the Dow is now down 510 points). CNBC reports, "One trader, on the condition of anonymity, said he heard fixed income desks in Europe shut down early because there was no liquidity — basically European banks are halting lending right now. 'This is similar to what took place pre-Lehman Brothers,' the trader said." The Wall Street Journal says, "Investors fled everything from stocks and risky bonds and poured money into safe assets such as U.S. Treasurys... 'It's getting pretty ugly out there very fast,' Guy Lebas, chief fixed income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. 'There are definitely some major concerns that are escalating this afternoon.'" more ›

Today wasn't a good day on Wall Street. Concerns about the domestic job market and debts facing foreign countries lead to drops of 2.61 percent on the Dow Jones, 2.99 percent on the NASDAQ, and 3.11 percent on the Standard & Poor's 500, "feeding anxiety about the health of the global recovery," the Times reports. The cost of insuring debt in Greece, Portugal and Spain surged on Thursday because growing deficits "could put them at risk for default." According to Uri Landesman, head of global growth at ING, investors must ask: "How big is this fire going to be? What is panic, and what is legitimate, we don't know at this point. These things tend to turn on a dime." Not helping the situation was the release of a "bleaker-than-expected" report on the US labor market. more ›

Hey kids, you can get kicked out of the library and IKEA now too! Meet Bebe Gloton, which translates to Greedy Baby, or more accurately: Creepy Breastfeeding Baby Doll. A Spanish toy company created the toy, which comes with a bra-like halter top featuring flowers where the milk would come from. Allegedly it's "latched on to the petals, where it emits a suckling sound, before it has to be burped to stop it from crying" (as demonstrated in this video). The View ladies discussed the controversial doll, which is currently only sold in Spain, and Elizabeth Hasselbeck admitted that her daughter imitated her breastfeeding. The creator said that they realized girls were, in fact, imitating the action, and the doll garnered a positive reaction amongst them; "Their faces of happiness said it all." Well, breastfeeding is linked to lowering cancer risks. And the world awaits the Park Slope Parents message board thread... more ›

Has the world gone mad? Gwyneth Paltrow, who once loved NYC (but lately has soured on America), is calling Spain her second home. In a recent interview she said, "Here in the United States an old building is about 17 (years old), and over there it's from 500 B.C. It's incredible." Celebs do tend to be anti-development. She also noted that people enjoy life more there, as opposed to New Yorkers, who run around too much punching the keys on their BlackBerries. Meanwhile, Miss Manhattan herself, Sarah Jessica Parker might be moving to Brooklyn! Rumor has it that her and the family may have purchased Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany's double-wide, 9-bedroom townhouse at 17 Prospect Park West (pictured). Don't worry Manhattan, you'll still have Madonna and her chickens. more ›