Since a police officer got into a deadly shootout with a Times Square CD peddler, cops have been issuing more tickets to the over-eager salesman. In fact, they've given out 45 misdemeanor charges for "aggressive solicitation" in the past six weeks. As a result, CD sellers have nearly been wiped clean from the city's central hub, but is the eradication fair or legal? more ›

Ten of the world's most competitive eaters faced off in Times Square yesterday for the Famous Famiglia pizza-eating contest, and Joey Chestnut, the reigning hot dog-eating champion, emerged victorious by consuming a record-shattering 45 slices in 10 minutes. Chicago's Patrick Bertoletti, who held the previous record at 22 slices in 10 minutes, placed second yesterday with 43 slices. To win the $5,000 prize, Chestnut ate nothing but protein supplements for two days and drank a gallon of water to stretch his stomach muscles before the contest, during which he took in an estimated 11,700 calories and 450 grams of fat. The Daily News was on the scene and reports that "he never appeared to chew." Contestant Adam Gertler hailed Chestnut as "truly a god among eaters. He could probably put an entire work boot in his mouth." more ›

At the Nokia Theater in Time Square last night, Microsoft officially launched Vista and Office 2007 to the US masses. It was here in New York City, twenty-four years ago, that the software behemoth first announced their commitment to a GUI interface. Last night, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer rattled off stats and spiel in a setting where even the escalator bolts were Vista branded! more ›

Publicity stunts are way cooler when Jack Bauer is somehow involved. more ›

Just two weeks ago we were telling our friend to have his birthday party at Dave & Buster's. "There is no Dave & Buster's in the city," he said. Since we had never thought to go to the place, we didn't know...we just assumed this city would have one. more ›

Phil at Make Zine tracked down this great 1939 article on the workings of a Time Square sign. Apparently this sign was the first programmable one-- the designs were punched on to a giant roll of paper, and the sign would display the pictures as they rolled passed a detector. God-- sign designers today have it sooooo easy! more ›

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The MTA's newfound riches of $833 million (from unexpected tax revenues) met a chorus of different ideas, from no fare hike in 2007, more security, improving reliability. The Daily News say Mayor Bloomberg would like the MTA not to hike fares in 2007, however Newsday says that City Council Speaker Gifford Miller explicitly said 2007 fare hikes should be avoided and Mayor Bloomberg "stopped short" of saying the MTA shouldn't raise 2007 fares. Okay, we get it - the pols want to earn voters' good will by keeping fares down. Gothamist wondered why the money couldn't defray the planned 2006 fare hike as well (and the NY Times says the MTA could do that "if it chose to" even with its plans to spend money on other areas), but given that the MTA has serious fiscal problems, we'd just be getting higher fares in a couple years. If only they could sell railyards for cash every year! more ›

The NYPD did issue protest permits to 14 other groups, including the Christian Defense Coalition, Planned Parenthood, Vietnam Veterans of America and the Hip Hop Summit Action Network. The NY Times has an interesting article about how the protest issue is affecting the Bloomberg administration: "Mr. Bloomberg cannot afford to create the impression that the city is stifling protest, nor does he want the considerable ire that many peaceful protesters feel toward President Bush to be turned onto him instead." more ›

This is a pretty cool marketing stunt, although a more NY-geared game that would really bring in the crowds would be "navigate the city streets during snowstorms, times of day when trucks are unloading goods, or a protest." And if anyone plays this, let Gothamist know. more ›

Gothamist on pandamonium. more ›

The mystery is over! After seeing stereogum's post about the panda costumed person walking Times Square, and then seeing rion's stunning photographs of the panda people roaming the streets and interacting with passersby, all Gothamist could do was wonder if pandas would turn up on our street corner or if we'd see them running to the bodega for a 40, too. But then JW told us that the pandas were amongst us for a New York State Lottery commercial shoot. Apparently, the NYSL's new for New York State Lottery's new Panda-Money-um. Hmm. If one wins a panda and a lifetime supply of bamboo, we're in. more ›

Is Crayola's Bittersweet a deeper shade of Orange? Gothamist wonders this because the Post says New York's increased security measure in a time of orange means NYC is at Orange+. But not even Super Orange can deter NYers from getting their Christmas shopping done: One shopper tells the Daily News, "I just healed from an aneurysm, so nothing is going to stop me. I'm not going to live in fear. Our time is our time." more ›

- What NYC high school teenagers do when not studying: Cross dress and rob johns more ›

So, I've arried in Hong Kong, where the Christmas festivities are in full swing. Think Las Vegas/Time Square type decorations and that's what you have in Hong Kong, all over the place. Chinese New Year is much crazier. more ›