ART: The Met opens its doors on a Monday for a special Christmas Eve event. They suggest stopping by for the 18th-century Neapolitan Nativity scene Christmas tree, along with some of their special exhibits -- the Age of Rembrandt, Abstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works and their fashion exhibit will stock your stuffing with eye candy. 9:30am to 5:30pm // The Metropolitan Museum of Art [1000 Fifth Ave] // Pay what you want MOVIE: The......

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......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a police officer was struck on Richmond and Wilson Aves. on Staten Island, there was a large fight on Franklin Ave. and Empire Blvd. in Brooklyn, and a double homicide on Furman Ave. and East 237th St. in the Bronx. The US Postal Service is expecting to process one billion individual pieces of mail today, three times the daily average. The busiest day of the year is expected to......

ART: Art, fashion and blogs meet tonight at the Met. In an exhibition entitled blog.mode: addressing fashion, viewers will be able to comment on what they see. It's "the first in a series of shows designed to promote critical and creative dialogues about fashion. The exhibition presents some forty costumes and accessories dating from the eighteenth century to the present." Visitors are then encouraged to share their reactions online or from a "blogbar" of computer......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a stabbing on Knickerbocker Ave. in Brooklyn, a shooting on East 166th St. and College Ave. in the Bronx, and a chain saw accident at Crystal Ave. and Wade St. on Staten Island Neighbors in Forest Hills, Queens banded together in order to save four black and white kittens, as the alley the animals called home flooded in this week's torrential downpour. The accompanying photo is priceless. While his......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: person under a bus at Park Ave. South and East 24th St., a shooting on Church Ave. in Brooklyn, and shots fired on East 169th St. and Tinton Ave. in the Bronx. As part of its 20th anniversary weekend, WFAN 660-AM will be airing four hours of old Imus shows, which used to be the morning anchor of the station. Queens and Brooklyn residents team up to protest eminent......

We're getting reports of a blackout on the Upper East Side, from the East 60s up to Harlem, on Third Avenue (mostly about transit blackouts) and York Avenue in the 80s. Subway service is affected - the 4/5/6 line is down. A reader whose friend was at Randalls Island says a Con Ed station exploded. UPDATE: 4PM WNBC reports that the outages are all along the East Side. OEM says "transformer explosions caused at......

Anna Wintour, Balenciaga's Nicolas Ghesquière, and Cate Blanchett hosted last night's annual Costume Institute gala, which was a celebration of Paul Poiret, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Poirot was the pioneer in modern fashion, and freed women from petticoats and corsets - though many, even those in attendance last night, aren't familiar with him. Everyone did their best to dress "in the spirit of" the King of Fashion however, including: Mick Jagger, David......

It's a holiday weekend for the NY Times Weddings Announcements! Total Number of Weddings: 9 (including Vows column) Total Number of Same-Sex Weddings: 0 Youngest Bride: 25 Oldest Bride: 51 Youngest Groom: 28 (two grooms) Oldest Groom:52 Biggest Age Difference: 17 years Number of Couples Where Bride and Groom Are the Same Age: 0 Number of University of Arizona Graduates Married: 2 (to each other) Number of Dartmouth Graduates: 1 Number of Yale Graduates......

Not that anyone should ever need an additional good reason to visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art, located on 5th Ave. and edging into Central Park, but The Met is opening 30,000 square feet of new exhibition space in 11 new galleries. The space will be used to expand the museum's display of Greek and Roman antiquities. The New York Sun described that the "new series of 11 exhibition spaces continues the sequence of eight......

After last month's breastfeeding confrontation at Toys R Us (which was followed by a Times Squre nurse in), the Daily News decided to send a reporter undercover. Well, sort of. Tracy Connor, who we really liked while watching Bravo's Tabloid Wars, and her three month old daughter Charlie went on a breastfeeding odyssey in "humble and posh locations" all around town to see "who is hip to NIP" (that's Nurse In Public). Connor and baby......

Today marks the 28th annual Museum Mile Festival, aka: the world's largest block party. Just show up, here's what you'll get: Free access to all the museums along the mile (9 of them! See the list here) 23 car-free blocks (5th Avenue between 82nd & 105th) Live bands and entertainment Art-in-the street activities for kids Our favorite part: "follow the mile with street muralist De La Vega – grab a piece of chalk and......

- AMNY is reporting that a Manhattan-bound L train derailed from the yards in Carnarsie (there were no passengers; the conductor and motorman are uninjured), disrupting service between Rockaway and Broadway... it's unclear how this will affect the evening commute - Wannabe Republican senator nominee John Spencer says the other possible nominee, KT MacFarland, is a pawn of Hillary Clinton's - Cingular service seemed to be down for a while today for New Yorkers......

- The police released a sketch of a serial rapist that has been terrorizing Williamsburg - The Metropolitan Museum of Art is returning a disputed vase to Italy - will more artifacts leave the museum? - A doctor who police initially thought killed himself by jumping from his Lower East Side apartment was actually pushed by his son - Boy George was in Manhattan court yesterday for his drug charge - Marlon Legere was......

FASHION: This is the last weekend to catch Rara Avis: Selections from the Iris Barrel Apfel Collection at the Met. The exhibit has been up since September and captures one of the most vivacious personalities in the worlds of fashion, textiles, and interior design. Check it out and gear up for fashion week, which is on it's way whether you like it or not. All Weekend // The Metropolitan Museum [1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd......

- Horrible accident in Harlem: An SUV crushed a three-year old in a stroller - Cops with crew cuts and balding heads "are being forced to hand over chest hair, leg hair and in some cases pubic hair to labs conducting NYPD drug tests"... say it with us: EW! [Daily News] - This is so going on our Fall Reading List: A book about meat in NYC, Meat Me In Manhattan [via Gridskipper] - Chad......

The Gates have finished their popular run in Central Park, delighting visitors from around the world as well as around the corner. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose roof was open to the public to see The Gates, was reportedly overwhelmed with visitors (even more so than the holidays!) and there was spillover into other museums and neighborhoods in the city, leading vendors and store owners, whose businesses were up anywhere from 50-100%, to......

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be opening its newly renovated $30 million cafeteria on June 17. The Times notes that it's like the Conde Nast cafeteria in its price tag, use of metal and glass (laminated, thought), and the chef who formerly headed up the 4TS Conde Nast cafeteria, but the main difference is that the Met cafeteria is open to the public, not underfed fashionistas, although Gothamist would like to see a......