Pizza brinkmanship is nothing new. But the Times' latest update from the front lines shows just how nasty the battle has become between three pizza joints located around Sixth Avenue and 39th Street. In lowering their prices to $0.75 a slice—with promises to go lower—the pizza slingers prove that the war isn't about profit, but crushing the competition. The story is complicated, involves family dynasties and espionage—and it's time for David Simon to ditch The Big Easy and set up shop in Midtown. Marinara is thicker than water, and the cheese stands alone. more ›

Over a year ago, the NYPD announced that it would soon begin videotaping interrogations, despite the reluctance of many cops. Now, after an eight-month survey, that pilot program has finally begun: on Wednesday, interrogations started being videotaped in the 48th Precinct, which covers East Tremont and Fordham in the Bronx, and in the 67th Precinct, which covers East Flatbush, Brooklyn. more ›

It seems that rival drug crews are not only sharing lookouts and customers (perhaps in homage to Stringer and Prop Joe's Utopian vision of criminal enterprising)—they're sharing weapons too! Police believe that they've noticed a new trend amongst gangs in NYC, with rivals sharing guns rather than heading out of state to restock their illegal firearms. more ›

Rap artist RZA, who is a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, has an interesting sideline occupation: recreational chess champion. RZA (pronounced RIZ-a) sat down with New York Times chess man Dylan McClain to talk about his love of the game. At the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the duo played a game and discussed how RZA became involved with chess and what it means to him. more ›

, his first novel in five years, was described by Times critic Michiko Kakutani as “a visceral, heart-thumping portrait of New York City... no one writes better dialogue than Richard Price.” more ›

Uh oh - there's definitely a little drama for five well-known performers as the Albany DA's office continues its probe into steroid trafficking. The Times Union reported yesterday that Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, Timbaland, Wyclef Jean and Tyler Perry were "among the thousands of customers of the pharmacies" DA David Soares' office has investigated. more ›

THEATER: The salty, electric dynamo that is Elaine Stritch shows no sign of waning – about to turn 83-years-young, the show biz legend has kicked off 2008 with a reprise of her Tony-winning cabaret show. Backed by a six-piece band and performed in two acts for a dining audience at the newly restored Café Carlyle, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, co-written with the New Yorker’s John Lahr, is a hilarious, old-fashioned ride through star-studded post-war Broadway, bursting with stories from her roles in such legendary productions as Company, Bus Stop, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Times raves: “Every story in her arsenal of seamlessly stitched personal anecdotes is illustrated with body language that erupts like lightning out of words spoken in the gravelly voice of a tough old dame with a tender heart. Because she has the gift of gab, this loudmouthed life of the party could go on forever.” It’s an expensive night, but worth it. Dining reservations are almost booked through the end of the run on Jan 19th, but they do accept walk-ins for the bar seating. – John Del Signore more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a person struck by a train at 14th St. and 8th Ave. in Manhattan, a shooting on Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting on Houston St. in Manhattan.
• Yet another reason to celebrate: today is the 110th anniversary of Richmond County joining us as the 5th borough of NYC. The Staten Island Advance features a picture of a general store with a wooden Indian in front of it to remind readers what the county was like at the time.
• Queens Crap hands out its annual overdevelopment award. Crappy New Year Councilman John Liu!

• 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 also sure to repeatedly refer to black people using the "N-word." [No link yet, but we saw the story on NY1.]
• The mother of an escaped convict is telling him through the press to keep running, and knows some day he'll be exonerated of his crime. We foresee either a one-armed man eventually brought to justice or subsequent imprisonment in a South American jail.
• Civil disobedience on 5th Avenue. We did not realize this, but the city has offered free vendor licenses to military veterans since the Civil War. Dan Rossi is protesting the curtailment of the practice by parking his hot dog cart right in front of The Metropolitan Museum.
• There's an interesting installation at the Gavin Brown Enterprise on Greenwich St. created by artist Urs Fischer, who's dug a hole in the ground. It is an absolutely enormous hole in the ground.
• Michael Douglas is the new announcer for the NBC Nightly News. Anderson Cooper responds that he would also consider a celebrity announcer, like Fran Drescher, Clint Eastwood, Paul Reubens, or Cher.
• Macy's is going to stay open 24 hours a day until Christmas Eve. Those are going to be some tired elves.
• A siamese cat named Yoda was bludgeoned to death in an Upper East Side doorman building. Sarah Favorite, the girlfriend of Yoda's owner, was arrested and is being charged with aggravated animal cruelty.

Britain's Paula Radcliffe made a stunning race to the wire to win the 2007 ING NYC Marathon in 2:23:09. Australia's Kurt Fearnley repeated as the champion in the men's wheelchair division. Kenya's Martin Lel won the men's division, finishing today's race in 2:09:04 with a 12 second margin of victory. We'll have more results as they become available. If you have any photos of Gothamist readers competing in today's event, please tag them "gothamist"... more ›

There's an excellent Vows column in this week's NY Times Weddings & Celebrations. It's the one for Fran Boyd and Donnie Andrews, two Baltimore residents whose difficult lives were the basis for the HBO dramas The Corner and The Wire. Boyd and Andrews were featured in a page one story in the Times last week, and the Vows column explains more of how they met and how they supported each other during prison sentences, while overcoming addiction, and as they tried to put their lives back together. more ›

We all knew the real estate bubble was causing insanity, but we should have known it's encouraged people to divorce. There's a NY Times Styles section article about some who wait until the market's at its peak to divorce - that way, they can benefit from an even bigger profit when selling their homes. more ›

-Devil Rays 11, Yankees 4: Manager Joe Torre's history makes clear that he doesn't care too much about home-field advantage in the playoffs. Last year, he started a second-class lineup against Boston when a win would have given the Yankees the edge in their first-round series against the Angels. This year, his team will go down to the wire battling the Tigers for the American League's best record, but Torre's lineups won't reflect it. Mike Mussina hurt his glove hand in the loss, but it shouldn't be serious. more ›

On Sundays, Gothamist publishes essays about topics relevant to life in New York. The one below is by our favorite poet historian, Matt Levy-- master of the extended metaphor: more ›

You know the baseball season is coming down to the wire when the Post and the News can't be bothered to come up with different headlines. In any event, the A.L. East title really is coming down to this weekends games. Today's is on at 1:15 on Channel 5 while tomorrow's game is on at 2:05 on YES. more ›

Blame not The Wire's creators, as they were just basing it on existing techniques used by criminals (and police). And The Wire is one of the best dramas out there now; it's a sick hope that this story might draw some attention to the show. Please, help Save the Wire. more ›

The NIH's information page on heroin. And New Jersey does have some great produce - take a look at its pick-you-own farms. more ›

Gothamist is also very proud of the New Yorkers who went to swing states to rally voters. There's also a NYT piece on Democrats eying the State Senate. The NY State Assembly and Senate are pretty ineffective, so Gothamist is guessing that the NYT will advocate for voting for the challenger again. more ›

The NYPD says that bomb sniffing dogs were brought to the scene. Bomb sniffing dogs are some of Gothamist's favorite kind of dogs; it's a shame that the police officers won't let us pet them, for fear we're contaminate their sensitive olfactory nerves. more ›

Like a lot of people, I'm conflicted about the war in Iraq. I marched against it, but now that we're there I feel we have to do what it takes to fix the situation before leaving. In the meantime, I feel terrible about servicepeople who are on extended tours, risking life and limb for what I feel is is an unnecessary war. Is there anything I can do for our troops? more ›

Mike Williams, The Wire " more ›

It's all about Baltimore lately. If it's not the Times' Bryan Miller looking at Baltimore area restaurants, then it's another critical rave (and query: Why aren't more people watching?) for HBO's Baltimore-set drama, The Wire. Or it's the Yankees sweeping the Orioles (George Vecsey gives a little Baltimore local color in his piece about how Yankees fans worry and worry and worry). Gothamist knows one Baltimore blogger, and that's eebmore, who has noticed that even the stoop sales in Baltimore are suspiciously New York-like: Residents are trying to flog their wares Brooklyn style. more ›