EXPLORE: Last call to visit the historic Governors Island this season! Free ferry rides depart hourly right next to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. Sitting 800 yards off the southern tip of Manhattan and about 400 from the Brooklyn waterfront, it isn't often you can get a view of the city and a house like that one to the right all from the same place. All Weekend // Governors Island // More info here READING:......

30 Years of Kino International Film Society of Lincoln Center In the creation of great cinema, a far-thinking and nurturing distributor is almost as important as the artists they're supporting. This year one of those historically important movie companies, Kino International turns 30 years old and in celebration of their fine work over the years the Film Society is showing two weeks worth of films all originally released by Kino. The movies featured in the......

Harry Houdini's funeral was held on November 4, 1926, in New York, with over two thousand mourners in attendance. He was buried at the Machpelah Cemetery in Queens where the crest of the Society of American Magicians is inscribed on his grave site. To this day, that Society holds their "Broken Wand" ceremony at the grave site on the anniversary of his death. With a new biography called “The Secret Life of Houdini” that came......

In 2004 we asked a bunch of New York bloggers to suggest sonic stocking stuffers. This year, we asked New York bloggers, bookers, musicians and more, what they'd give as a gift this holiday season. Here you go...commence shopping! Jack "Skippy" McFadden, Union Hall booker The Isles "Perfumed Lands" Ian Love's self-titled cd Wes Verhoeve, Cross Pollination / The Undisputed Heavyweights A Brief Smile - R.E.S.T. My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me The Workhorse Kevin......

ART: Local artist Jen Dunlap is having an art show tonight. It's called Yeep! Yeep!, so it's sure to be fun. Check out her work here, then head over there to see it all up close, while enjoying some free drinks! 7 to 10pm // Riverfawn [11 Harrison St #1] // Free THEATER: Anne Washburn’s The Internationalist begins previews tonight. Originally presented in 2004, it’s about a young American businessman assigned to an unspecified foreign......

So, it’s August and your shrink has split. Eleven months of listening to you has earned her a few weeks of rest, no? You, unfortunately, don’t get a break from your issues. All we have to offer by way of solace is a book that might make them seem minor by comparison to those of its subject: Dare Wright. The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll is Jean Nathan’s biography of Wright, an alarmingly......

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl (Penguin, 2005) "[W]hat is the taste of New York? To much of the world, it's cheesecake." When Gothamist read that line on page 20 of Ruth Reichl's newest memoir, Garlic and Sapphires, we knew that this was the recipe we wanted to prepare for this week's column. As tempting as some of her other recipes sounded--Roasted Rhubarb, Last-Minute Chocolate Cake, Risotto......