A 30-year-old man lost his life last night after locking himself out of his apartment. Sometime between 8:15 p.m. and 8:40 p.m., Paul Reilly fell five stories, landing on his back in the courtyard behind the building where he lived on 65th St. and 1st Ave. in Manhattan. Reilly, who had apparently gained entrance to the building but was locked out of his apartment, attempted to climb out a hallway window, over to a window......

Georgia's been on a lot of people's minds since news of her disappearance became public in January, but she is now safe at home. The black cat escaped owner Ashley Phillips' pet carrier while they were waiting on the platform at 59th St. for a 6 train, on their way home from the Humane Society where Georgia had just been spayed. She survived 25 days in the subway tunnels before being found and rescued. The......

Craig Wedren is the former front man for the sorely missed D.C. band Shudder to Think, a group that seemed to intuitively grasp all the overlooked possibilities of the late-80s/early 90s post-punk landscape and render them into a sound that was at once startling, bizarre and irresistibly catchy. Since the band’s end ten years ago, Wedren has made a career as composer of soundtracks for movies such as Wet Hot American Summer and The Baxter,......

Earlier this year, the city's new noise code went into effect, and the city has definitely been enforcing it on Staten Island's Kinborn Street. The Department of Environmental Protection has fined Lucie Liebman $1,000 for a noisy ice truck jingle. The thing is, Liebman doesn't have an ice cream truck! A Lickety Split truck had parked outside Liebman's house and sounded its jingle. The DEP sent two summonses to Liebman, before dropping off the hefty......

The Grey Dog's Coffee has been open in its Carmine Street location since 1996, and has been a neighborhood favorite for years. David Ethan, who co-owns The Grey Dog with his brother, Peter Adrian, recently opened a second location on University Place. We caught up with David over a cup of coffee (naturally). So, tell us about the birth of the newest Grey Dog. Life got too expensive, to be honest. I had a full......

"I find people who read to be sexy. And I find people who have bought my book to be even sexier." Drinking, drugging, casual sex, and living at a group home. For fifteen-year-old Janice Erlbaum , this was everyday life. But if you want to make conversation with her now, you better be a fan of reality TV or an avid reader. "If a person does't feel a great need for reading, then it's just......

If you ever thought wedding planners were a waste of money and a huge headache, you'll love this NY Times article about them. Sure, there are good ones out there (if you have any suggestions, feel free to list them in the comments), but there are many horror stories, like a couple who went through two "planzillas" (including one whose planning was turning their wedding into a million-dollar affair) until finding one they could tolerate.......

If you're looking for a good way to mimic the great NYC outdoors, check out the NY Times article about police car sirens - the Times even has a separate page with MP3s of all the different sounds. While demonstrating the different siren sounds to Times reporter Cara Buckley, Officer Spiros Komis made his work sound like he's a DJ when trying to get someone to stop speeding:“I go through the whole mode,” he......

"To make a long story shot, you can't be a successful writer AND run a business as a hooker at the same time. Something's gotta give." Author Tracy Quan had been a call girl since her early teens and its this first hand experience that provided her with the content for her writing. Starting as a bi-weekly serial on Salon.com, Nancy Chan: Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl led to two novels translated into 13......

No, this isn't our attempt to write a letter on behalf of a city school, it's an actual letter, rife with misspellings and mistakes, sent by a Staten Island teacher to students. A Health Academy dean at Markham Intermediate, Michael Levy, sent off a furious letter after a few eighth graders engaged in a food fight. Of course, little did he know that the letter would make him a laughingstock. From the Staten Island......

Ronald "Tinard" Washington has been named as a suspect in the killing of Jason Mizell (aka Jam Master Jay). Though an arrest in the case isn't expected anytime soon, this is the first publicly announced suspect to be made in this case - something Jay's family members are happy about. Washington has been on the investigators radar since the October 2002 shooting which took place inside Jay's Queens recording studio. At that time, he told......

For someone who graduated from college just last year, Ohio native, Soho-transplant Jill Donenfeld has really made a quick study of the New York food scene. As the founder of The Dish’s Dishes, Donenfeld oversees a team of kitchen ninjas she calls Culinistas™ (she also holds the word’s trademark)- who prepare meals en masse and in-house for clients using raw materials from greenmarkets, organic bakeries, and the subterranean caves of Murray’s Cheese, among other......

When I think of the word clown, I think of Krusty, not a small theater in West Chelsea, but that's exactly where one of the premiere clowns of our time, Eric Davis , works as a teacher at The PIT . Davis, who was recently hired by Cirque Du Soleil, discussed what clowning means to him, how he became the clown he is today, and what he expects of clowning in the future. What does......

Peter Marinello works for NARC (National Advertising Review Council). His job is to watch infomercials and review the accuracy of their claims. So if anyone knows if Beano works or if Xantax is for real, it's him. How did you get involved with NARC? I graduated as a Radio/TV major at NYU back in 1985 and worked at NBC Sports as a research analyst before going to St. John's Law School. So the plan was......

25-year-old Jennifer Shahade knows how to shake up the world of chess. Not content to simply play the game she's loved since she was a child, the writer, poker player, and 2004 U.S. Women's Chess Champion authored Chess Bitch: Women in the Ultimate Intellectual Sport (Siles Press), which scored a blurb from Yoko Ono and set off debate within the chess world about the need for gender segregation. In the book, which features Shahade clad......

I first came across Spoon in 2002 when I found a copy of Kill the Moonlight at my library. Being ignorant of music at the time, I didn't know that it was one of the best-reviewed albums of the year. I did know, though, that I liked it. And, since then, Spoon has remained one of my favorite bands, so I jumped on the chance to speak with Britt Daniel to promote Spoon's December 30th......

"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed - Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, 'It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be......

The Undisputed Heavyweights have got themselves quite a name to live up to, and check out that URL: Better Than Elvis?! This we've got to see. They've got some pretty crazy stage antics mixed with beautiful lyrics and talent all around to back it up. It's a heartfelt lounge act, if you can imagine such a thing. If you can't...go check them out at Joe's Pub TONIGHT! Listen: Money.mp3 Let's get this out of the......

"Can you feel me? Can you motherfuckin' feel me?" Adira Amram belts out on her song "Wanna Make Out," which she sings while dressed in leotards, a Betsey Johnson push-up bra and suit jacket, or other attention-getting garb while pounding away on a keyboard or piano. Amram, the daughter of composer David Amram, started out as an actress but has taken to performing her hilarious “keyboard fantasy” songs at local comedy gigs. The 25-year-old performer......

Last night, a man was crossing Queens Boulevard at 67th Avenue when a silver SUV hit him without stopping. The 59 year old man had been returning home from Yom Kippur services, and Queens DA Richard Brown said, "I'm troubled. I went to temple myself today. It's the most important day of the Jewish calendar, and apparently he was on his way home from temple after observing the holiday, and to have this happen to......

I first came across Danielson when I was reading the Wikipedia article about outsider music. What intrigued me even more was that he was from New Jersey and went to Rutgers. I'm from New Jersey and know people going to Rutgers. Daniel Smith is opening for the Flaming Lips and I will be seeing the Flaming Lips. Then I realized something: you never see me and Daniel Smith in the same room at the same......

A group of three teenaged boys stabbed a 15 year old boy while on a D train in Brooklyn. The Post suggests the attack could have been gang-related, as witnesses said all three teens - ages 13, 14, and 16 - were "each wearing a white shirt with black stripes and a red do-rag." The trio had been arguing with the victim, and then stabbed him. The police were able to apprehend the teens, who......

Maria Bamford is in town to tape her second Comedy Central Presents special. She discusses her years doing mall openings as a Star Trek character, her forthcoming CD and DVD, and putting on comedy shows in her house. What sort of place is Duluth, Minnesota? It's like Canada, but without the metric system. What sort of role did comedy play in your life growing up? My dad, sister, and I used to listen to Steve......

Andrew WK discusses his newly released album, his forthcoming television show, rumored conspiracies, his childhood, and art, amongst other things. Tell me about the news you currently have on the front page of your website. For starters, about two weeks ago, July 6th, and a week ago, July 12th, we released a new album in Asia called Close Calls With Brick Walls. It's part of a series of three albums that will be released......

There is a lot to be said about Warren Buffett's announcement that most of his billions-of-dollars fortune will be given to charities, with particular focus on giving about $31 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. And we hope his actions, as well as those of the Gateses, reverbate through billionaire and millionaire circles, because giving back to the world that made them rich makes sense - tax incentives or no. For instance,......

The Beantown connection in Tuesday's and Wednesday's stabbing spree: A Boston judge allowed Kenny Alexis to be released of his own recognizance thought prosecutors wanted him held on $300 bail. From the NY Times:The charges against Mr. Alexis in both of the Massachusetts cases were less severe than those he faces in New York. And in fairness to the judge, Mr. Alexis had shown up for two other court appearances, said David Procopio, a spokesman......

We can only hope that we'll be as tough as Elisabeth Rubin when we're 86. Rubin managed to frustrate a potential purse snatcher on West 34th Street and 7th Avenue - even as he attacked her. The Post reports that Rubin, was on her way to a doctor's appointment when shee stopped to look at a store window. Then she noticed "a middle-aged, mustached man walking up behind her, menacingly holding a wooden sign post."......

Ali Farahnakian, Comedian...

Walker Fee, Tape Artist Extraordinaire ...

Alexander Zalben, People's Improv Theater...