Results tagged “theb”

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a scaffolding collapse on 127th St. and Morningside Ave. in Manhattan, a stabbing at East 96th St. and Rutland Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting on Guy R. Blvd. in Queens.
• That huge fire visible across the Hudson last night was a blaze that consumed a sailboat docked in Weehawken, NJ.
• A cyclist was hit by several different cars while on the Manhattan Bridge this week.
• Rev. Al Sharpton marched in DC this week to call for widespread racial justice.
• Muddy paths and trails through the woods may not be NYC's strong suit, but NYU has a nationally ranked cross-country track team.
• The B Train only scored a "C-" in the MTA's most recent survey of riders.
• First Lady Laura Bush visited the city to honor an elementary school teacher.
• Almost 15,000 families stand to lose their homes in the ongoing credit-crunch sub-prime mortgage meltdown.

Jens Lekman is one of our favorite songwriters, so any opportunity to see the funnyman crooner play is a treat, no matter the circumstances. The set at Webster Hall was generally excellent. Bordering on Magical, in fact, a perfect mix of his old and new -- mixing in Swedish deadpan quips and stories the whole time through. The only knock we had came from the venue, which we usually enjoy. The sound was fine, the site lines were good, the bands came out on time, but on this night, they started opening up the night club a little bit earlier. Around 30 minutes into his set, the thumping dance beats could be felt through the floor loud and strong enough that you could actually make out the song at times. It was distracting, to say the least, especially during the quieter songs. It even forced a puzzled Jens to ask what was going on during his encore, before attempting to play along to the beat. Webster Hall has taken giant strides over the last few years to become a perfectly good rock venue, but an extra layer of soundproofing would go a long way to remove the cheesy dance club stigma for the concert attendees. (pic via Ryan Dombal's flickr)

It's that time again! The Straphangers Campaign has released its annual State of the Subways report, and this year, the 1 train topped all other lines. This is amazing news for the 1 train - it was only in 2005 when the Straphangers found the 1/9 to be the schmutz-iest! The 1 train got high marks for "frequently scheduled service, arriving with more regularity, fewer dirty cars, and better announcements," but it did perform "below average on: a chance of getting a seat during rush hours, and delays caused by mechanical breakdowns."

There may be March Madness in the air, but East Village Idiot has the cure for New Yorkers who can't get behind the NCAA: March Radness, which take 64 disparate NYC moments/ people/ objects/ stores/ trends/ nonsense and sees who will reign supreme.

Figuring out how to get where you are going, without driving, in a city with as many options as our own can be a chore. After very little time in the city your average New Yorker (imported or native) normally has a pretty good grasp of their basic routes but beyond that things can quickly get hazy. Enter the internet. Just like Mapquest and Google Maps simplified driving directions, the past two years has seen a cottage industry of municipal directions services pop up. The Times today takes a look at three of them, two of which we'd, tellingly, never heard of: HopStop, Trips123 and PublicRoutes.

The Daily News has a subway exclusive: