Well, that's a shame! For weeks Stanford and Cornell were the presumed neck-and-neck frontrunners to build a high-tech applied science campus in the city. But today the left coast institution sent out a press release announcing that it was withdrawing from the process immediately. Why? Because the school suddenly feels that "it would not be in the best interests of the university to continue to pursue the opportunity." more ›

The weather outside is frightful, and cold foods are so delightful, but science says to let it go...long hot summers are the future. But not quite yet! A new study out of Stanford argues that starting in about twenty years in some areas today's absurdly high summer temperatures will be "the new normal." more ›

Last night, an unoccupied five-story hotel at 22 West 24th Street collapsed; no injuries were reported. The former La Semana Hotel "fell into itself leaving a giant, although relatively tidy, pile of rubble," according to the Post. Witnesses said the 8PM collapse sounded like a bomb explosion and that "floor by floor, the building simply gave in." A fire official told the NY Times, "If this happened during the daytime, during a workday when there are a lot of people on the street, I think we could have had a lot of injuries here." more ›

Chad Pennington gets all the attention, but the Jets' problems run deeper than the quarterback position. Eric Mangini said as much during an unusually open news conference following the latest Jets debacle, a 38-31 loss at Cincinnati on Sunday. Pennington looked fine in the first half, throwing two touchdowns to Lavaranues Coles. In the second half, the rest of the team's wheels fell off at once. Kenny Watson tore up the Jets' rush defense. When the Bengals did go to the air, Darrelle Revis, the rookie cornerback and a No. 1 draft pick, got called for two pass interference penalties. Nick Manigold, the center, botched a snap. On the last meaningful series, Pennington had an interception returned for a touchdown. more ›

Yesterday morning, Secretary of State Condolezza Rice visited Community School 154 in Harlem. Accompanied by Representative Charles Rangel, Rice, former Provost at Stanford, encouraged the students to dream big, “One thing that I want you to promise me is that you won't let anybody else tell you what it is you ought to be interested in. You'll find what you are interested in and you'll pursue it and you won't let anyone say 'Why would you want to be interested in that? You’re from Harlem.'" more ›

So much for taking advantage of an easy schedule. The Jets were handed a rookie quarterback, a banged up defense and an 0-3 opponent. They took one look at the pile under the Christmas tree, rewrapped the presents and gave them right back. But not before adding a bow to each of them. They now sit at 1-3 instead of 2-2. The season lost a lot of promise Sunday. more ›

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! more ›

The rain may be keeping people in, but by the looks of theNY Times Weddings announcements, many local weddings were yesterday. more ›

It's time go over this weekend's NY Times Weddings Announcements! more ›

Forget about the downtown hipsters, the real tastemakers (for the tourists, at least) are in Midtown. The concierges of the city make hundreds of recommendations a day, so it's only natural they get their own nights at restaurants like The Palm. more ›

The planned makeover of Washington Square Park inched closer to reality yesterday following a decision by the state appeals court. The new ruling lifts an injunction imposed last summer in response to allegations that the Parks Department had not sufficiently disclosed its renovation plans to Community Board 2, The Landmarks Preservation Commission, and the Art Commission. more ›

Have you gotten a call from your school's alumni office and wondered how they've tracked you down, even if this is the third illegal sublet you've been living in? The NY Times sheds some light on NYU's efforts, which have grown much more sophisticated in the past few years, especially now as they try to raise $2.5 billion for their endowment. NYU's $2.5 billion goal, breaks down to about $1 million a day and is not as big as the $4 billion endowment drives that Cornell, Stanford and Columbia are on, but it's pretty aggressive. Here's how NYU President John Sexton sells the school:

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A look at some noteworthy (and mainly regifted) programs this week: more ›

Two New Yorkers were awarded Rhodes Scholarships this past weekend. The Big Apple recipients are Jacob Lemieux, who is from the Upper East Side and attends Stanford, and Kevin Shenderov of Brooklyn who attends NYU. more ›

So what exactly is that a photo of? We're not really so sure (a Van Eyck reference?) but we can think we like it. In any event, it was certainly interesting enough to warrant us clicking on it when it popped into Contribute this morning. And now that we've clicked we're still a little confuzzed. It seems to be related to some sort of "Dueling Re-Enactments" event being put on by the Madagascar Institute, whose motto is "Fear is Never Boring." From their description:

On this Saturday, July 23rd at 3pm the Madagascar Institute will premiere Dueling Re-Enactments, presenting the wide and varied, and often complicated history of Washington Square Park in easy to follow, bite-sized nuggets. A cast of two dozen, marginally trained re-enactors, outfitted in period attire that is close enough to accurate, will travel throughout the park making history come alive. The broad range of Washington Square Park's history will be covered, including the pirate execution ground at the Hanging Tree, the Surrealist declaration of an independent republic in 1917, filthy,lazy 1950s Beatniks reciting poetry, the 1906 assassination of Stanford White, the marauding Dead Rabbit gang of the Gilded Age, and high school students from New Jersey drinking beer and getting sold fake pot in the summer of 1990. more ›

- Heidi Klum's accent is adorable. Sorry, Claudia Schiffer, Heidi is officially the German model of record in our consciousness. more ›

So maybe Bloomberg isn't running for President? Or is that just what he wants us to think? more ›

Cory Booker, who unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of Newark a few years ago in a bitter race against longtime mayor Sharpe James, was elected by a huge margin to lead the 64th biggest city in the country. His opponent, NJ State Senator Ronald Rice, (who was outspent and outmatched) conceded around 10PM; the Star-Ledger notes he didn't mention Booker by name. Booker will be only the third new Mayor of Newark in 36 years, and people are hoping for a big change. Booker, with degrees from Stanford, Oxford and Yale, has said he'll be more a "manager" of government (he has stated he models himself after Mayor Bloomberg) than a politician. more ›

. This makes the NYPL's collection of Bea-era materials the most comprehensive, since it already holds the Jack Kerouac archive. The NY Times story about the acquisition had the interesting sidenote about how Allen Ginsberg wanted the NYPL to buy his collection, but since he wanted to sell it quickly, the NYPL wasn't able to get the money together in time - the Ginsberg collection is at Stanford - but now the NYPL can say "This will be the place in the world to come to study the Beats." At any rate, we hope an exhibition of the work will be mounted soon - we'd love to see his letters to Kerouac, Timothy Leary, Ginsberg, and Terry Southern, among others. more ›

Before we present you with this weeks paltry wedding numbers, we were wondering if you've ever wanted to bet on how long marriages announced on wedding pages will last? In which case, might we introduce you to Wedding Betting? Think HotorNot... but with weddings. more ›

, slim week for Weddings at the Times, might we point you towards this nice article about the significance of marriages in the Year of the Dog? Bonus, you might recognize a name or two in there... more ›

Oh snap! Antique dealers, the Times reports, are in a huff over the fate of the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue and 66th Street. The Armory, which was built between 1877 and 1881, has rooms designed by Louis C. Tiffany and Stanford White and it's interiors have been described by the Landmarks Preservation Committee as "the single most important collection of 19th century interiors in one building." But in recent decades it has fallen into some disrepair. And so many were pleased when it was announced that the Armory will be transformed into an institution for the visual and performing arts after a multi-million dollar renovation. And that sounds like a good thing, right? Not exactly, a number of art and antique dealers are arguing. more ›

The beginning of the year just isn't the time for lots of weddings, apparently. Anywho, since you know you've been waiting for them, here they are are, this week's Weddings and Celebrations, by the numbers: more ›

Just a few weddings these past two weeks, what with New Year's and Christmas landing on the weekends. But here goes, this week's Weddings and Celebrations, by the numbers (a lot of numbers this weekend, huh...): more ›

Here they are, this weeks Weddings and Celebrations, by the numbers: more ›

Here are this weeks Weddings and Celebrations, by the numbers: more ›