Normally, the Hollywood insider's baseball game is too convoluted and self-involved to bother paying attention to, but every once in a while, something juicy enough for the mainstream comes along. Today's gossip involves dry-as-chalk New Yorker critic David Denby breaking a press embargo on reviewing The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and the hoopla that's ensued as a result. more ›

Last year illustrator R. Crumb announced he would no longer be selling work to The New Yorker after the magazine rejected one of his covers without explanation. But no one knew what the cover depicted, until arts reporter Nadja Sayej discovered the cover on a bookmark she received at the Venice Biennale. It seems the magazine's cover editor suggested Crumb draw something on the topic of gay marriage in June 2009. Crumb did, but it was ultimately rejected—his first rejection from The New Yorker. Here's his explanation—transcribed from the back of the bookmark—for why he severed ties with the magazine: more ›

New Yorker columnist John Cassidy usually writes about economics, but he also drives a Jaguar around NYC, and the man is sick and tired of seeing bike lanes "poach on our territory." The phrase is telling, because it underscores Cassidy's unsustainable and ahistorical assumption that streets are for cars and cars alone (we remember when horses and bikes shared the roads). His smug, ill-informed essay applauds the anti-bike lane backlash, but not because Cassidy has anything against cyclists, mind you; he used to ride a bike himself, back when he was in college at Oxford and a dissolute East Villager in his 20s: more ›

Whenever we spot Elizabeth Kolbert's byline in The New Yorker's table of contents, we know what page we're turning to first. For over a decade, Kolbert has doggedly reported on the environment (among other things) for the magazine, and also written two books; the most recent is titled Field Notes from a Catastrophe. In recent years, she's chronicled in unsparing detail the causes and effects of global warming, America's role in its acceleration, and Washington's scandalous failure to do anything about it. In this week's issue, Kolbert ponders what a Republican-controlled House of Representatives means for the future of climate change legislation. Would you believe it's not a pretty picture? more ›

Foreign correspondents have been on the endangered species list in recent years, but Lawrence Wright isn't going anywhere. He won a Pulitzer for his book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, and a film adaptation of his first one-man stage production, My Trip to Al Queda, premiered this month on HBO. Wright cannot be regarded as simply a hold-out of a rapidly declining breed, but rather as a champion of some sort of journalistic natural selection. They've trimmed down the ranks, but Wright is still here, and with good reason. more ›

Remember that scene in the documentary Kurt & Courtney where one of her childhood friends reads a list of goals that a teenage Courtney Love supposedly wrote? They included meeting Michael Stipe and getting famous, and they all came true! She has occult power, and now she's using it to get published in the holy of holies for any writer, The New Yorker. more ›

Yesterday, Condé Nast sent a memo to its employees alerting them that it was negotiating a move from Times Square to the World Trade Center in 2014. One "insider" told the Post, "I don't think they would have sent the memo if it wasn't a done deal," and many staffers were upset enough to say things like, "It's just depressing. Everybody is pretty bummed out about it. Nobody wants to move down there," and "If I'm still here by then, just shoot me." more ›

The New Yorker finally announced the twelve winning entries in their annual Eustace Tilley cover contest, and this year both Bansky and the iPhone get some love! They have a gallery of all winners on their site, and say "a sample of the winning covers also appears in the February 9 and 16, 2009, issue of the magazine, which celebrates our eighty-fourth anniversary." more ›

Author, literary critic and (as the AP describes him) "prolific man of letters and erudite chronicler of sex and divorce, " John Updike died earlier today. The Pulitzer Prize winner was 76 when he lost his battle with lung cancer. Back in the '50s, upon graduating from Harvard, he was offered a position at The New Yorker from E.B. White. His contributions to the magazine are archived online and can be read here. For a time he lived in New York City, but departed for Massachusetts in 1957, saying the city was a "cultural hassle" and filled ith "agents and wisenheimers." The NY Times notes that after moving he said, ''The real America seemed to me 'out there,' too heterogeneous and electrified by now to pose much threat of the provinciality that people used to come to New York to escape.'' more ›

Looking for something to do over your holiday break? Bust out the thinking caps and put pen to paper for this year's Eustace Tilley contest! Last year saw an MTA subway map Tilley, and a Mr. Burns-Tilley; so far this year's entrants aren't on full display over at Flickr, but the mag does offer up this Barack Obama version of the iconic dandy. more ›

Has anyone else out there found their New Yorker subscription arriving later and later in the week? We're pitifully elated if it's in our mailbox before Thursday, and on more than one occasion it hasn’t even been delivered until the following week. Sure, there's content online, but you can't bring that on the subway! more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a missing child on Union St. in Brooklyn, a shooting on Wyatt St. in the Bronx, and a fatal car fire on the Long Island Expressway near College Point in Queens.
• Colombian immigrants celebrate their roots with rolling parties aboard buses known as chivas.
• Is the person doing Amazon.com product reviews for ski masks under the screen name "Ninja Thief" Staten Island's very own Ninja Burglar?
• New York Times critic Kelefa Sanneh is rumored to be heading to The New Yorker.
• A horse marching in the Queens St. Patrick's Day pararade yesterday bolted free from its handler and galloped into a crowd of spectators. Four people were injured.
• A woman with the unwieldy street name "Brooklyn's Reclusive Cat Woman Bank Robber" was arrested after returning most of the money she stole several years ago and attempting to apologize to the the bank.
• For the first time in its 31-year history, the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament was held in Brooklyn. First prize is $5,000 and a dictionary.
• Police arrested a man in the fatal stabbing of a Brooklyn woman that occurred Saturday night.

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The New Yorker has finally announced the winning entries in their Eustace Tilley contest. The winning dandies will appear in the February 11th-18th issue of the magazine, their 83rd anniversary issue. The magazine’s art editor, Françoise Mouly, talked with Matt Dellinger about the nearly three hundred submissions they received, as well as the history of Tilley -- listen here. more ›

In early 2007, The New Yorker writer George Packer published an enthralling article about the desperate plight of Iraqis who had assisted the American effort in their country and were being hunted down as a result, with little or no U.S. protection. Betrayed, Packer's first play, is based on interviews conducted while in Iraq for the sixth time to research his article; the fictionalized account concerns three young Iraqis – two men and a woman – whose willingness to risk their lives to help the Americans is rewarded with an indifference bordering on contempt. Following tonight’s performance, Pulitzer Prize winner (and My Trip to Al-Qaeda playwright) Lawrence Wright will join Packer for conversation about the war in Iraq. Betrayed continues through March 16th at Culture Project; ticket prices vary. more ›

, hit shelves late last year. The tome delves into the cultural history of music since 1900, and even has Björk touting: "Alex Ross's incredibly nourishing book will rekindle anyone's fire for music." Tonight he'll step away from the printed word and you can catch him chatting with Stephen on The Colbert Report. more ›

Put your pencils down, The New Yorker's Eustace Tilley contest is over! The magazine will be announcing the winner on February 4th, but their Flickr Pool is currently stocked with all of the entries. Check out the iconic dandy reinterpreted here, a few of our favorites are above and below. more ›

MOVIE: Every national election year reminds us of that part in The Dark Crystal where the hideous Skeksis systematically drain the Gelfling’s “essence” and drink it to increase their power. If you don’t know the scene we’re talking about, you need to go see it on the big screen tonight – a regular-sized TV monitor just doesn’t do Jim Henson’s creepy masterpiece justice. The one-night-only screening will be introduced by one of the film’s puppet makers, Cheryl Henson, daughter of Jim. She’ll be joined by Robbie Barnett, who operated some of the main Skeksis; the pair will sign merch after the screening. more ›

Last week we mentioned The New Yorker's invitation for one and all to draw their "mascot" and cover boy, Eustace Tilley. From iPods to Einsteins, there are plenty of submissions in their Flickr Pool already, check them out here. more ›

Bar Boulud: Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni recently lost his patience waiting on hold for 15 minutes to make a reservation, which should give you some sense of how feverish the excitement is for Daniel Boulud’s latest foray. The tony uptown wine bar, across the street from Lincoln Center, enjoyed the raging buzz of a sneak-preview opening on New Year’s Eve and now the 100 seat restaurant is open for real. Judging from the photos, the modern yet warm interior does look inviting; a long vaulted ceiling is intended to “invoke a classic wine cellar”, a backlit gravel wall echoes an old world vineyard, and three private “wine themed” dining rooms are available for the swells. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg may be finding that coy flirtation can be cute at first, but quickly becomes old and aggravating if carried on for too long. The New York Times has a story today describing a growing backlash against a Mayor who seems preoccupied with something big, but it's something big that he won't discuss, or even acknowledge. more ›

The New Yorker invites one and all to create a Eustace Tilley! The now iconic character first appeared in 1925 on the cover of the magazine's debut issue, and has returned every year for the anniversary. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an injured firefighter at Ave Y and Knapp St. in Brooklyn, serious trauma at the Bryant Park ice rink in Manhattan, and a stabbing at 169th St. and Linden Blvd. in Queens.
• The New Yorker collects quotes from striking writers and their supporters regarding the strike beard phenomena. Conan O'Brien, on perhaps the only physical feature that will ever help him resemble a lumberjack: "I’m the only guy chopping wood outside his Manhattan co-op.”
• Former Yankee Jim Leyritz was arrested on suspicion of DUI and DUI manslaughter after a crash in Florida last night (Leyritz's 44th birthday), which killed the driver of the car he struck.

Some time ago the New Yorker ran an amusing “Talk of the Town” feature on nightlife crusader Roy Den Hollander, who, unlike most nightclub scolds, isn’t fighting against excessive noise and loose morals – he’s out to put a stop to the scourge that is Ladies’ Night. And not because he disdains the ladies or the night, but because Den Hollander, attorney at law and self-styled pick-up artist, sees it as yet another way The Man tries to keep down the, er, man. more ›

THEATER: As Steve On Broadway notes, Chicago’s stellar Steppenwolf Theater Company, which launched the careers of Gary Sinise and Little Johnny Malkapee, is back on Broadway for the first time since 2001, when their production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest won the Tony for Best Revival. This time they’ve delivered playwright Tracy Letts’s August: Osage County, and after reading today’s rave reviews, you can count on more Tonys flying back to the Windy... more ›

The Todd Haynes Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There has gotten so much press for so long we kept forgetting it wasn't actually released until today! The high-concept Oscar contender, for those who haven’t heard a million times already, features six different actors portraying a Dylan-type character at different stages of his career. It opens today at select theaters but film buffs have been cultivating opinions about the polarizing film since it first screened... more ›

HEADS UP!: We love Daniel Kitson, it's been documented, so we wanted to give you a heads up that our favorite British comedian is coming back to the States! He has three shows in December at Union Hall (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th), and tickets are ON SALE NOW for two of those dates. It'll be the best $8+fees that you ever spent. ART: The Brothers Grimm fairytale Hansel and Gretel has taken over the... more ›

EVENTS: Both Open House NY and The New Yorker Festival are upon us. You can check out more of OHNY's event here, and The New Yorker Festival here. Some picks: more ›

Once again people will wonder about the decision-making of the folks in the Knicks organization: A jury has found Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden liable on six counts of sexual harassment. The charges were brought against Thomas and MSG by former marketing vice-president Anucha Browne Sanders, who alleged that Thomas acted inappropriately (swearing, making advances) and that management dismissed her complaints before firing her because of her complaints. The Thomas and the Knicks organization denied the hostile environment and said that Browne Sanders was fired because she was not competent. more ›

Historical ecologists and research cartographers are using historical pre-Revolution military maps produced by the British to create a 21st Century digital rendering of the topography of Manhattan in the 17th Century, before the arrival of European colonists. The New Yorker has a slideshow of a number of images that are attempts to show Manhattan as it was occupied solely by Lenape Indians. The basis for the topographical model was drawn from this 1782 map* drawn up by the British military to help defend the colony from George Washington and the Continental Army. The image above is a rendering of what a 17th Century Times Square looked like in comparison to West 42nd St. today. more ›