Market Table -- Mike Price, formerly of the Mermaid Inn has partnered with the Little Owl's Joey Campanaro and Gabriel Stulman, moved into the former Shopsins space and created a market/restaurant where, among other things, they'll be selling the kick-ass pork chops served at the Little Owl so you can attempt to re-create them at home. The market portion is in the soft-opening stage, and the restaurant is due to open the week of September 11. 54 Carmine at Bedford Street. (212) 255-2100. more ›

Getting shocked by an electrified manhole isn't just for the winter: Yesterday morning, a Labrador retriever suffered a jolt when he stepped onto a wet manhole cover on Thompson Street. more ›

March 19 - March 30: Dine in Brooklyn more ›

Vesuvio Playground is located across the street from Gothamist HQ, on the corner of Spring and Thompson Street. Back in May, we reported that the entire half-block long playground had been entirely shut down for renovation, with reopening set for January 2007. Why it would take seven months to repave a playground was beyond us-- until we noticed that there were never more than three guys working on the site at once, and for days at a time the entire site was completely deserted. People in the neighborhood told us that the Parks Department routinely awards projects to whoever submits the lowest bid, even if they're a tiny company with no ability to finish a job on time. That appears to be the case here-- as the "updated" sign above shows, the reopening has been pushed back to May, and progress seems to be going as slow as ever. more ›

Third Avenue, by Joe Holmes. more ›

October 21: Halloween Cupcake Decorating and Book Signing more ›

Savoy is bringing the beach to the city with their three course Summer Clam Bake. Enjoy littleneck clams on the half shell, a traditional boil with lobster, mussels, kielbasa, potatoes, and corn, and finish off with dessert, a peach and blueberry crumble topped with house made buttermilk ice cream. $40 per person, or an extra $15 will give you a bottomless glass of rose. Every evening during the month of July; 70 Prince Street, at Crosby, 212-219-8570. more ›

June 1: Grand Gourmet more ›

The kids in the Edward R. Murrow High School chess team won the national championship of the United Chess Federation in Milwaukee this past weekend. The team won the city and state championships earlier this year, but it was a half-point that pushed them to the top place. Last year, Murrow was tied for first (they've won first a total of six times), so this year's celebration at Chuck E. Cheese must have felt extra sweet. more ›

Rain or shine, For merely a few dollars per plate you can explore many of the dishes offered by Chinatown's best restaurants. Taste local favorites like the pork fried dumplings from Fried Dumpling, summer rolls from Pho Viet Huong, Malaysian Curry Noodles from Jaya, and bubble tea from Ten Ren. And don't forget the fortune cookie writing contest. On Baxter, Bayard, Doyers, Mosco, Mott, Mulberry and Pell Sts. 1–6pm. Call 212-868-1368 or visit explorechinatown.com for more information. more ›

For the last five years or so, we've been passing by this sushi place on Thompson Street north of Bleecker and admiring their set of Mel Gibson portraits taped in the window. We love that they haven't bothered to repair the pictures as they've slowly faded to a wonderful shade of blue-- and we love the expression on Mel Gibson's face. It's like "hey, I'm just trying to eat some sushi, don't make me go all Braveheart on your ass." There are actually three pictures taped in the window, and you sort of see Mel's expression go from nice, to sort of annoyed, to "damn, this is just like what those Jews did to Christ." We hope the sushi place never takes them down-- in a couple of years they'll probably be completely unreadable, but we love them-- in our eyes, these pictures are priceless. more ›

According to this handy foliage map provided by I Love NY, the city is at the very pinnacle of autumnal color. What are you still doing inside? [For those of you too lazy to go, here's Central Park's official Autumn photogallery. And for those of you who do go to the park, here's a handy database of all the different tree types in the park. We expect to see a lot of autumn leaves on Flickr come Monday morning. Or take a look at these leaves that we grabbed on Thompson Street.
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Gothamist spotted this sign the other day while walking down Thompson Street between West 3rd and Bleecker. Now you may remember that, a while back, Pluck U. served up its buffalo wings around the corner on West 3rd, in addition to its other two locations: 3rd Avenue between 10th & 11th and 124 Nassau Street between Beekman & Ann. Granted, we haven't eaten at Pluck U. since those days, but it's likely that we may stop by for a wing fix once it opens up. We will admit that we rarely eat wings anymore, having OD'd on them in college, and tend to prefer slightly funkier versions than the buffalo-style standby, like those highlighted in NY Magazine's Super Bowl wrapup or the ones they described at Tebaya. more ›

I moved to NYC recently and am an avid chess player. I'm looking to find some stores, games, fellow players, forums, anything and everything that might be available to me in the city. I see listings around, but many are for children only. Advice? more ›

This week we have been working out of the Gothamist downtown office, and grabbing lunch at the M&O deli on Prince and Thompson Street. Looking across the street, we noticed a commotion in front of Vesuvio Bakery. When we walked over we were sad to discover all the flowers were there because the owner had died the day before. Apparently they are going to reopen the bakery in his honor pretty soon (it's been closed for renovations). more ›

In SoHo, the dogs wear cool shoes. This is Cutie, on Thompson Street. more ›

According to the Times, 60 Thom is stirring up beef with its neighbors on Thompson Street between Spring and Broome. I live one block up, and often pass by while various black limos are disgourging the rich and famous (and their scurrying assistants) in front of the hotel. The neighbors are saying that the hotel is destroying the quality of life in the neighborhood, which, defying all the laws of physics, had until now defied the gentrification and putrification that has affected the rest of SoHo. All the usual complaints are alleged- noise, rats, construction violations. I'd like to add a few of my own: more ›

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