With the U.N. General Assembly in session, the city has been hopping with dignitaries. On Wednesday, Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein were praised by President Bush at P.S. 76 in the Bronx. The President noted, "The city tackled the challenges of underperforming schools in such a way that it's become a model for urban schools. This achievement is a hopeful sign for other school districts across America. New York City can do......

This morning, President Bush is addressing the 62nd United Nations General Assembly. He is expected to discuss "global fight against terrorism, tyranny and poverty," as well as sanctions against Myanmar in support of the protest organized by Buddhist monks. However, he will only mention Iran briefly, and will opt to cover "broad themes." A White House spokesman said, "The president wanted this speech to focus on many other issues that are facing the world......

Last night, President Bush addressed the country, and the world, with a speech that said American troops in Iraq could be start to be withdrawn gradually: "The principle guiding my decisions on troop levels in Iraq is 'return on success' -- the more successful we are, the more American troops can return home." In other words, there is no, as the NY Sun puts it, "no dramatic change in course." Bush also asked the......

President Bush visited New York City yesterday to encourage Congress to reauthorize his No Child Left Behind program. Bush gave a speech at the Harlem Village Academy school and praised its founder, faculty and students and emphasized the importance of the NCLB Act. Bush made it a point to visit all eight classrooms and shake every student's hand, prompting one student to tell the Sun, "I think it was the best day of my......

One of the first Carnegie Hall shows we went to, years ago, was the Tibet House Benefit. The President of Tibet House is none other then Uma's dad, Robert A.F. Thurman. The annual show he has help put on is now in its 17th year, and this time around will take place on February 26th. The lineup has been confirmed (why the press release is giving Ben Harper top billing is beyond us) and some......

Ceasar Borja Jr., the 21 year old son of a cop who volunteered at Ground Zero and died last week, met with President Bush yesterday to discuss funding for September 11's first responders. With Bush in town for a State of Economy address - and having just announced $25 million in additional funding for WTC-related illness - the President had a 15-private meeting with Borja, his mother, brother and sister. Borja wrote about the experience......

That look on the faces of former Mayors David Dinkins and Ed Koch comes "Listening to President Bush Speak." The President is in NYC today, speaking at Federal Hall downtown, giving a "State of the Economy" speech, and you can read about it here at the White House website. We'll update later with more of his specific remarks. President Bush is also scheduled to meet with Ceasar Borja, whose police officer father died last......

While people downtown thought they would be able to breathe easy once I Am Legend finishes shooting at the Brooklyn Bridge (they are expected to wrap at 4AM tomorrow), they'll have to think again. Because President Bush is coming to the city tomorrow. Bush will be in town to give a "State of the Economy" type speech at Wall Street. The President will probably discuss the country's economic health and drop a "what happened a......

You may remember Christopher X. Brodeur from his unexpectedly successful run for mayor, or from his spectacularly unsuccessful fight against aggravated harassment charges that landed him in the clink for six months last year. Well, he's back, and he's taking the fight to a new enemy: the Con Edison bill printing department! From an email he sent us this morning: Have you seen the new, larger Con Ed bills, which of course waste more......

Though canvassing is still being done in Virginia in the Senate race between Republican incumbent George Allen and Democrat challenger Jim Webb, the AP and other news organizations named Webb the winner, with his narrow margin of 7,000 votes over Allen. And the Democrats seized that news excitedly. The NY Times reports Senator Charles Schumer, who headed the Democratic campaign to take back Senate seats, as saying,"It is virtually 100 percent that Webb is......

We haven't been listening to Sirius radio much, mostly (only) because we don't subscribe to it. Earlier this morning, however, one of the stations blogger/deejays, Jason Productshop NYC, posted a set of mp3's from the first of the acoustic in-studios on his Sirius show. Listening to Will Sheff sing "The President's Dead" at 1:30am, we felt for a second like we were in "Pump Up the Volume". Some sort of pirate radio station airing a......

You won't have to hear us babble on about the New York Film Festival anymore as another edition has come and gone. Some of the films that played are already in theaters -- Good Night, and Good Luck, The Squid and the Whale, Capote -- and others will be coming out in the coming weeks and months including the fantastic Korean political assassination satire, The President's Last Bang. As usual, New Yorkers are treated to......

This is it. The last weekend of the 43rd New York Film Festival, and in our humble opinion, this year's program has, for the most part, lived up to its grand expectations. From big name films like Good Night, and Good Luck (which opens citywide today) to promising indie fare like The Squid and the Whale (also opening this week) to lesser-known foreign gems like Who's Camus Anyway? and The President's Last Bang (to name......

It's the beginning of the second and final full week for the New York Film Festival, and don't let the lack of major American or even better-known international names stop you. The hardcore cinephile will certainly have heard of Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien, but unless you follow Asian cinema, you may be unfamiliar with Mitsuo Yanagimachi or Im Sang-soo. Now would be as good a chance as any to introduce yourself to these great talents......

It's less than 20 hours until the 2012 Olympics city is selected - 7:30PM in Singapore, which means 7:30AM tomorrow morning for us. And the NYC 2012 team has been doing its thing all over the world, having Mayor Bloomberg stump one last time, along with athletes like Muhammed Ali, Nadia Comaneci and Ian Thorpe, helping out. Gothamist loves the idea of Mayor Bloomberg giving "I Love NY" t-shirts to anyone and everyone he meets.......

The New York City Transit Riders Council will be having a President's Forum meeting tonight at 6PM. The President's Foum "focuses on subway issues and is attended by the NYC Transit President and senior subway division staff." In other words, this is your chance to give some constructive criticism to NYCT President Larry Reuter. You can see what was discussed at last year's meeting and what President Reuter said in this PDF. [Via reader Allison;......

Just in time for the election: Getting Through To The President is available on DVD. Made by our friends at Off Center Productions, Getting Through... shows what happens when New Yorkers are given enough quarters to call the White House comment line from a payphone in Washington Square Park to give the President a piece of their mind [see the trailer]. There are very few things Gothamist loves more using the phone AND voicing our......

At this point, most Midtowners have seen at least five police cars, sirens and lights ablazing, for either President Bush or Senator Kerry as they stump around town. The NY Times New York Region > Bush and Kerry Share City, if Not Much Else" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/21/nyregion/21prez.html">had two examples of the candidates pandering to cityfolk:- Mr. Kerry, a Red Sox fan, told the crowd at the New York Hilton last night that if they "really wanted to......

This time next week, the Republican National Convention will have started and the 250,000 protesters will have protested not in Central Park but on the West Side Highway. Mayor Bloomberg brilliantly said that if a West Side Jets stadium were built, then protesters could go there! Clever - now can we see your time machine, Bloomby? We know you have one some where. Here are a few more Convention related links: - New Yorkers keep......

When reading this Times article about the role of Condoleeza Rice in the Bush administration, this quote from the President about Rice stood out: "I like lighthearted people, not people who take themselves so seriously." Besides, he said, "She's really smart!" It is ever so reminiscent of the All The President's Mnemonics from the Modern Humorist whose book about George W. Bush, My First Presidentiary, might give more insight into how Bush works than......