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......

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. The Daily News reports that John Doran had been walking his 11-year-old dog Socha. When the dog stepped into a puddle, she "Socha let out a series of blood-curdling yelps - and collapsed near the curb." From the News:"I never heard a noise come out......

March 19 - March 30: Dine in Brooklyn Sample nearly 200 of the borough’s best at $21.12, honoring Brooklyn’s zip code, ‘112’, for three courses. Read more about it here. March 20: Waldemar and Nadia at Vin Noir Cheesemongers Waldemar and Nadia are pairing up with Vin Noir owner Todd Flatham for a night of cheese and wine pairings, with a beer thrown in for good measure. Offerings include a unique Austrian red, La Meule,......

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......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: pedestrian struck by vehicle on 34th Street and 11th Ave, a school hazmat condition at 103rd and CPW, and an all hands fire in Soho on Thompson Street. Soho residents and shoppers want to trade parking spaces for wider sidewalks. If you've ever been on Prince Street on a Saturday, you know why. Chase Bank has agreed to turn off those annoying sidewalk projection ads-- about two dozen branches......

October 21: Halloween Cupcake Decorating and Book Signing Come meet Elaine Cohen at Broadway Panhandler and learn how to decorate spooky halloween cupcake treats. While you're there, get a copy of her book, Super-Duper Cupcakes, signed. Free, 2 p.m., Broadway Panhandler at 65 East 8th Street, between Broadway and University. October 22: The Second Annual Vendy Awards You've read about the finalists, now come taste for yourselves. Each of the finalists will be serving food......

Now through the end of July: Summer Clam Bake at Savoy 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.......

June 1: Grand Gourmet It's the seventh annual Grand Gourmet, a tasting event to benefit and recognize the work of the Grand Central Neighborhood Social Services Corporation, the largest not-for-profit homeless social services provider in New York City. Over 30 midtown restaurants, bars and merchants, including Pampano, The Campbell Apartment, and Métrazur will be sampling their wares in Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal. 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm, East 42nd Street at Park Avenue,......

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......

April 22: Taste of Chinatown 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......

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......

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......

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......

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? Greg, East Village Chess in NYC, especially outdoor chess during the (few and far between) gorgeous weather seasons, abounds! Make a visit at Chess Forum on Thompson Street in the village,......

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......

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

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......

Off-beat Soho celebrity sighting- Federico Castelluccio standing on the corner of Thompson Street and Spring, outside Famous Ben's pizza. He was wearing a long black trenchcoat and looked like he was about six and half feet tall. Federico played Furio on the Sopranos. More on Federico Castelluccio and the The Sopranos. Surprisingly, Federico is also a painter: "Castelluccio's paintings are in private and public collections in the U.S., South America and Europe and he......