After all that fuss, Earl didn't really do much of anything in New York. Parts of Long Island suffered some street flooding and beach erosion, but the city escaped the rain and wind we'd been gearing up for all week. However, the hurricane did give us a beautiful sunset last night! The sky was lit up in pinks and oranges last night, and some of our readers captures beautiful images. If you have any photos of last night's sunset, email them to us at photos[at]gothamist[dot]com, or tag them "gothamist" on Flickr. more ›

Did you know that the sky is blue today for the same reason the sunset was orange on Wednesday? As mentioned by a commenter in yesterday's sunset photo extravaganza post it is Rayleigh scattering that produces the clear sky colors. Lord Rayleigh, co-discoverer of argon, figured out that light gets preferentially scattered (warning: nerdy pdf with calculus) when it runs into tiny objects like the molecules of nitrogen and oxygen that make up most of the atmosphere. Shorter wavelength blue light gets scattered more than longer wavelength red and orange. During the day the scattered blue light dominates in the sky away from the sun's direct rays. more ›

The sunset last night was so gorgeous that we knew there would be plenty of photos taken—and here are some more! What's better, here's a timelapse of the sun setting from Queens: more ›

So, how about that sunset! If you managed to capture the glowing sky with your camera, send us your photos or tag them "Gothamist" on Flickr. There have also been reports of rainbows! Including a double rainbow that popped up over Jones Beach (at the Phish show, of course). more ›

Besides, the fun of being spooked by dark, looming clouds overhead—and taking photographs of said apocalyptic clouds—another advantage to storms is that they often bring lovely sunsets afterwards. Here are some photographs of last night's sun sayonaras. more ›

You know the old saying about how sausage is delicious but you don't want to see how it is made? The same could be said about this week's weather. Behind the scenes there's all sorts of goings on about back door cold fronts, high pressure systems, ridges and troughs and the like. The end result should be unseasonably warm conditions through Wednesday. Today's high in the city will be in the upper 70s. Tomorrow's high could be anywhere in the 70s, depending on how far east the back door cold front moves. Skies should gradually clear through Wednesday, when the high will again reach the mid 70s. more ›

Today is going to be a very, very pleasant summer day. Sunny, dry and mild with a high right around the normal of 84. A few clouds may move in this evening, which would be a shame as it's time for the second Manhattanhenge of the year. Well, Manhattanhenge proper isn't until tomorrow night, but tonight will be almost as good! The full ball of the sun will be on the horizon at 8:24 this evening at an azimuth of 300 degrees, which is parallel to the street grids of Manhattan. For the last 10-15 minutes of daylight every east-west street on the Manhattan grid will be fully bathed in sunlight. Tomorrow night, which should also be clear, will be the true Manhattanhenge, when half the sun's disk will be parallel to the streets as it sets. Can't make it either night? There's a Nova ScienceNOW video with Neil deGrasse Tyson explaining Manhattanhenge to a somewhat startled bystander. more ›

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Glowing eyes peering down from trees and from behind gravestones, the night creatures are disrupting the eternal sleep of the dead and driving the living to distraction. Raccoons have proliferated at the famous Green-Wood Cemetery, digging up the grass over graves, eating the flowers left by mourners, and even invading crypts to scavenge for food. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on 120th St. and 3rd Ave. in Manhattan, a stabbing on West 31st St. in Brooklyn, and a fall victim at MoMA in Manhattan.
• The New York Yankees took first place in franchise spending, with a total payroll of $218.3 million last year. The World Series-winning Boston Red Sox payroll totalled $155.4 million to finish a distant second.
• The New York Water Taxi is terminating its South Brooklyn service between Sunset Park, Red Hook, and Wall St. at the end of this month.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on 31st St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan, an attempted sexual assault at Broadway and Gates Ave. in Brooklyn, and an aircraft incident at Laguardia in Queens.
• The Yankees Double-A farm team in Trenton has a mascot named Chase, who catches frisbees, brings water to umpires, and serves as a canine batboy. In his off hours, he managed to knock up the other team mascot, Cynderella, and they're expecting a litter soon. Congratulations to the both of them.
• Gov. Spitzer's budget, released today, is about $100 million shy of what educators were hoping for.

You'll have to excuse Gothamist if we seem a little disoriented this morning. No, we didn't mistake last night for New Year's Eve, it's just that the weather forecast has been changing back and forth so rapidly the past few days that we've gotten a little dizzy. The forecast have finally settled down and 2007's weather should end on an uneventful note. Clear skies for the rest of the day and a high in the mid- to upper-40s. If you're foolish enough to be in Times Square at midnight it should be clear and around 40 degrees. more ›

Sigh. Blocks from where a man was killed in a hit-and-run on Friday, a 65-year-old Brooklyn woman was fatally struck by a livery cab yesterday morning. The Daily News reports that Barbara Tjornhom had been headed home from church when a driver, making a right at 6th Avenue and 52nd Street in Sunset Park, hit her. Tjornhom died at Lutheran Medical Center. more ›

Two hit and run drivers were arrested late this week; one through the actions of a horrified but brave bystander and the other through a successful effort by the Brooklyn Accident Investigation squad. Cops arrived at Sergey Satyr's Mill Basin home Thursday to arrest the 20-year-old for the hit-and-run death of 71-year-old Grace Smith of Sheepshead Bay. The Brooklyn Accident Investigation squad used debris from Satyr's Nissan and a partial license plate number to track the suspect down. Satyr allegedly ran down Smith December 21st on Ocean Parkway near Avenue X. more ›

In 1988, the Jackie Gleason Bus Depot was renamed in memory of the Brooklyn native whose most famous role was acerbic bus driver Ralph Kramden on the classic television show The Honeymooners. In fact the logo for the depot is based on the title sequence for the show. The depot takes up several blocks on 5th Avenue in Sunset Park, across 36th Street from Green-Wood Cemetery. It is one of five that serves Brooklyn... more ›

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Harry Cipriani in the Sherry-Netherland Hotel, awards the restaurant no stars. Finds “service so confused and food so undistinguished it wouldn’t pass muster at half the cost.” Says prices at the restaurant ridiculous. The restaurant was last reviewed in 1991, when Bryan Miller gave it two stars. The one positive? “The people-watching is nonpareil." Peter Meehan visits Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, for tacos. Likes Epocas... more ›

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THEATER: Noah Diamond has worked as a licensed tour guide on all the major double decker bus lines in town, presenting his spoken word elucidation of New York in a near-continuous loop – ten hours a day for seven years. But when he finally quit the business, he found he could not stop guiding: “You wake up screaming, I'm not a tour guide! Then you do ten minutes on the General Slocum and go back to sleep.” He’s now found a way to recover, by performing a one man multimedia virtual tour of New York. 400 Years in Manhattan is a theatrical journey that takes not just one loop around town but rolls through four centuries of city history. - John Del Signore more ›

Drivers living on exceptionally clean streets could earn a respite from the burden of alternate-side-of-the-street parking. Residents of Red Hook, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Park Slope were granted a stay of parking execution by the Dept. of Sanitation yesterday. Because the area has consistently received scores of 90% or higher for street cleanliness over the last few months, residents will no longer have to move their cars to comply with street cleaning requirements. According to WCBS, the above neighborhoods are the only ones who have qualified for the exemption, but Windsor Terrace and Sunset Park have expressed interest in opting out of the city requirement. Exempted residents will no longer have to move their cars on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Saturdays. more ›

In 2006, at age 19, musician Zach Condon and his band Beirut exploded onto the indie-rock scene with a dramatic collection of Balkan-inspired arrangements for horn, ukulele, keyboards and strings. The bloggers raved, the venues got bigger, the haters left comments. But less than a year later, the teen’s too-sudden indie-rock apotheosis landed him in the hospital for “extreme exhaustion” and forced the cancellation of a tour that included sold-out dates at Bowery Ballroom. Condon has since rallied back and, in addition to a new album coming out next month, has picked up his touring pace again. more ›

Cops seized 160,000 pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes from six locations in Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island after conducting a multi-year investigation to disrupt pirated merchandise. The New York Sun reports that it was one of the largest busts of counterfeit goods in US history and one of four recent successful operations that targeted purveyors of fake Microsoft, Motorola, and Nike products. The haul of bogus shoes was reportedly worth $7.1 million. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: An unstable building in Murray Hill; a "serious trauma" not far from Shea Stadium in Queens; a bank robbery at Avenue A and 4th Street; and at 777 6th Ave there was a barricaded EDP (emotionally disturbed person).
• Remember those chemicals found at the United Nations? It turns out that they were probably just cleaning supplies. Hopefully these aren't the same tests the organization uses for biological weapons.
• If you're shopping for your prostitutes on Craigslist, be careful. The fuzz might be setting you up for a sting as they're busting more and more people (John's and pros) who use the service.
• A tipster tells Streetsblog that Bill Clinton agrees that "cycling is good citizenship," but we're betting that Bubba was getting into his towncar/SUV as he was agreeing.
• There are at least 5 nostalgic ConEd customers who are angry with the utility today. ConEd won permission from the state yesterday to stop delivering direct current (DC) power. Looks like Nikola Tesla wins this one.
• Queens residents who were affected by storms on August 8th are getting their own FEMA flood relief center today. Hopefully the Flushing location will do a better job than some of FEMA's other work.
• What's going to happen with Brooke Astor's Briarcliff Manor retreat. The bucolic property called Holly Hill is 65 acres and has a 9,000 square foot house. Her son Anthony D. Marshall will likely inherit the house, but people are unsure what he'll do with it.
• If Mike Bloomberg became President, could he still be a majority owner of Bloomberg LP? Some experts say no due to the conflicts that Bloomberg News would cause. Mayor Bloomberg currently owns 68% of Bloomberg LP and has denied his interest in the White House several times.

The weather has gotten into the Labor Day spirit and decided not to work this week. Tomorrow will be a near-repeat of today. A weak cold front will cool us down slightly midweek. Highs on Wednesday and Thursday will be in the upper-70s. It should be warmer by the end of the week when the center of a high pressure system sits to our east. The National Weather Service says it will warm up to 90 on Friday and Saturday. Gothamist has no idea why they think it will get that warm. The Weather Channel's low-80s by Friday prediction seems more realistic to us. All in all an excellent week for the U.S. Open. more ›

With unseasonable weather descending upon much of North America, schools getting ready to reconvene, and sports seasons getting exciting, it's a busy time of year for us here in the Ist-A-Verse. Luckily, even with all the things we have to do, we still managed to get together to let you know what we've all been up to. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a missing child on Church Ave. in Brooklyn, a fatal person struck by a train at Jerome Ave. and East Fordham Rd. in the Bronx, and an escaped prisoner at Church and Albany Aves. in Brooklyn.
• The trailer for Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones concert documentary "Shine a Light" has been released and can be seen here.
• Arts group ABC No Rio has abandoned plans for a gut renovation of its LES building that it acquired for $1. Architectural and budget constraints mean that the building will have to be rebuilt from the ground up.
• One million New Yorkers, or 17% of the adults in the city lack health insurance.
• Mayor Bloomberg's got game: golf game. Even Phil Mickelson said he was impressed with the mayor's game after they played recently.
• A man being questioned in a homicide investigation is on the loose this evening after jumping out of a third story window at the 103rd Precinct station house in Jamaica, Queens.
• Disabled transit riders lauded NYC Transit head Howard Roberts for recent improvements made to the subway system, like posting notices of elevator and escalator outages online in a timely manner.
• With plans in the works to examine rezoning Sunset Park, Brownstoner asks residents what they think of tall buildings in the nabe ("If you want high buildings, you can go to Manhattan.").

MOVIE: The 2006 Clark Kent hit the big screen in Superman Returns. Tonight catch the superhero do his thing all over again at the River Flicks outdoor film series. Free popcorn, free film and a nice cold summer breeze. Bring a blanket! more ›