Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn have announced a plan to issue 1,500 new permits to vendors who commit to selling fresh fruits and vegetables from carts in low-income neighborhoods. The “Green Cart” plan, expected to be approved by the City Council, comes on the heels of a Health Department study comparing Harlem to the Upper East Side; it determined that supermarkets in Harlem are 30% less common than the UES, and that only 3% of Harlem bodegas carry leafy green vegetables, compared to 20% on the UES. The UES also has better sushi, but that disparity remains unacknowledged in Bloomberg's plan. more ›

After the NY Times reported the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene wanted to encourage adult men at risk for HIV/AIDS to get circumcised, Mayor Bloomberg distanced himself a bit from such a program. According to today's NY Times, Bloomberg officials "cautioned that [a campaign to promote circumcision] was still in its infancy and not yet something the administration had decided to pursue."

Asked about the approach at a news conference, Mr. Bloomberg expressed support for seeking new ways to combat the disease, but suggested that he was unconvinced that government should be involved in promoting or providing circumcisions. more ›

Gothamist now officially cannot wait for 2007: The Fire Department has released its new New York City Firefighters Calendar! Yes, it's another new edition of firefighters posing shirtless in neighborhoods and in front of landmarks, with proceeds going to the The Children's Storefront, a tuition-free school in Harlem, and the Thomas R. Elsasser Fund, which raises money for firefighters' families. You can buy the calendar online from the NYFirestore ($14.99), but we recommend heading to the Firestore's new 17 Greenwich Avenue location on Thursday, where the FDNY hunks will be signing calendars at 5-8PM. more ›