Listeners to WBAI have been enjoying Al Jazeera English since last December, when the progressive radio station started broadcasting in NYC. But until today people getting their news from the channel had to rely on their imaginations to paint images of Arab Spring protests and Israeli-Palestinian skirmishes. (Or visit their website.) Now you can get Al Jazeera on the tee-vee 23 hours a day, on Time Warner Cable (Channel 92) and Verizon FiOS (Channel 466) in New York City. It's the channel's first distribution on any major cable or satellite system in the United States. more ›

When was the last time you got a raise? HAHA just kidding, you're probably not even employed! But if you happen to be an executive at one of 200 of the largest companies in the US (and are reading this to "keep up with the little people") your annual pay rose by 23% in 2010, to an average of $10.8 million. Meanwhile, us plebes were making an average of $752 a week, which with inflation is less than we made in 2009. Insider investment tip: the future is in guillotine manufacturers. more ›

With more and more customers fleeing, cable companies have claimed that customers are just reacting to the recession, not the growth of viewing opportunities on the Internet. But, next week, Time Warner Cable is launching a trial of a stripped-down, cheaper cable package, which the NY Times believes is "an apparent attempt to retain cable customers who are thinking of canceling, or to woo back people who have already canceled." more ›

Perhaps, in order to keep baseball-loving customers appeased, Cablevision has issued this statement regarding its transmission fee talks with News Corp.: “In the interest of Cablevision’s 3 million households and our mutual viewers, today we have made a new offer to News Corp. Simply put: we agree to pay the rate Fox charges Time Warner Cable for carriage of WNYW-Fox 5 New York and WTXF-Fox 29 Philadelphia for a period of one year. This is higher than the rate we pay any other New York broadcast station. This solution is in the best interest of not only baseball fans but of all Cablevision customers and Fox viewers. We look forward to a positive response.” more ›

A Time Warner cable employee allegedly got so frustrated while installing cable services in Queens that he whacked customer John Alexander in the head with a hammer. Alexander allegedly had the audacity to ask Arnold Brown to move some cords out of the way, which escalated into a fight that resulted in assault, menacing and harassment charges for Brown. Alexander plans to sue Time Warner for $1 million, and his lawyer said, "They definitely had words, but that doesn't condone hitting someone with a hammer in the head." more ›

Did you try to get your morning dose of Pat Kiernan before heading out the door this morning only to be met by the black screen of death? Time Warner Cable is down in Brooklyn, and parts of Queens, for at least a few hours. We called to find out more but their phone is busy, or off the hook, or something. more ›

There was great excitement in the cycling community last month when the DOT finally finished turning the treacherous Sands Street approach to the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn into an elegant, elevated bike lane. Transportation Alternatives even held an opening celebration, dubbing the Sands Street lane the "Budnick Bikeway," after Noah Budnick, a T.A. advocate who almost died riding his bike on Sands Street in 2005. more ›

Say goodbye to the Colbert Report, Spongebob Squarepants and yes, even The City (we hardly knew ye), Gawker is reporting that "From New York to Los Angeles, Viacom channels like Comedy Central are set to flicker off cable systems in the first minute of 2009." The two companies have been not-so-publicly negotiating for some time, and now the network is holding their channels hostage. more ›

Making good on a campaign promise, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (pictured) has put pressure on three major Internet service providers to shut down online groups that share child pornography. Verizon, Sprint and Time Warner have each agreed to cut off access to websites and bulletin boards disseminating the illicit images, with a special emphasis on Usenet, one of the oldest computer network communications systems that uses no central server. more ›

There's a new game coming to town for cable subscribers who have been yoked to Time-Warner Cable or Cablevision out of necessity. New York City has finally struck a deal with Verizon to provide competing cable services throughout the five boroughs. more ›

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is in charge of construction on the new 1 World Trade Center – AKA the Freedom Tower – is now seeking developers to design, build and operate a 34,000-square-foot restaurant on the 100th and 101st floors; whoever wins the bid may also win rights to operate the observation deck planned for the 102nd floor. The Authority is gazing into its crystal construction ball and seeing a Grand Opening in 2013. more ›

The last sentence uttered before all hell breaks loose is, “Forget about the rest of the world and hold onto the ones you care about.” Though probably unintentional, those words of brotherly advice – spoken to a lovesick young yuppie named Rob – perfectly sum up the prevalent attitude in fin de siècle New York: the world’s spinning into a cataclysm of total war and catastrophic climate change, but fuck it; let’s party and get ours. And in Cloverfield, the well-connected young Manhattanites at the story’s center do indeed get theirs, just not the way Gossip Girl said they would. more ›

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The Time Warner on-screen guide simply said "Tila Tequila" on MTV when the clock struck midnight last Monday, leading a casual observer to assume they were blowing through a marathon of her depressing reality show. But oh no! The oddly shaped, elfish face of the network apparently gets sole, top billing over the biggest night of the year as the host of MTV's annual New Years Eve party. She was mostly responsible for stumbling through some lines on her way to introducing the lineup of bands on tap, including the likes of Good Charlotte, Kid Rock and a somehow still relevant Wyclef. While those in attendance seemed to be having a fine time, it may pain music fans to see the network has no sign of changing their tune in the new year, rolling out the same rehashed schlock they've been shoveling for most of the decade. Cobra Starship summed it up best in their post-balldrop interview: "A lot of bands are trying to be credible...we wanna be in-credible in '08!" No word yet what role Gabe Saporta will play in "Shot of Love, Season 2." (pic via MTV) more ›

Earlier this week, the NY Times had an article about how Apple's retail stores were uncommonly successful. The Apple Stores contribute to 20% of revenue, unlike other big brands whose brick-and-mortar offerings tend to be more about brand presence than actual ringing of cash registers (example: the Samsung Experience store at the Time Warner Center doesn't actually sell Samsung products). more ›

NBC in addition to the NFL Network, WWOR and WCBV in Boston. more ›

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: more ›

October 11: Restaurant Reviewing in New York City more ›

The Michelin Guide announced selections today for its third New York Edition, which officially goes on sale Wednesday. more ›

In time for next week’s Columbus Day festivities, the Post’s Steve Cuozzo lets his Ital flag fly with two gushing columns on Italian cuisine. He points out that Italian restaurants outnumber all other kinds of restaurants in New York by a big margin (and that’s not because of the ever-metastasizing Olive Gardens.) He cites seven “marvelous” eateries – Del Posto, A Voce, Abbocatto, Insieme, Fiamma, L'Impero and Alto – that “establish Italian as the cuisine to beat.” Nobu can sleep with the fishes. more ›

OMG OPRAH! After weeks of anticipation - and insane craigslist listings - a few thousand lucky fans got to watch the season premiere of Oprah from the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden. The show featured David Letterman and a performance from Lisa Marie Presley. And, yes, Oprah Winfrey did start off the show with "Hellloooo, New York." more ›

Earlier this afternoon, we watched Scholastic transform Mercer Street between Prince and Spring Streets in "Harry Potter Place" in anticipation of the 12:01AM release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - early reviews be damned! Not only was the Whomping Willow ready, there were owls (stuffed), messages on the Muggle Message Board, and a copy of the book signed by JK Rowling. more ›

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to the new Landmarc in the Time Warner Center, awards the restaurant one star. “It’s three times the size of the original Landmarc in Tribeca,” he says, “whose menu and competent cooking it replicates but whose warmth it largely lacks.” He compares the food to what you’d find at a Midwestern Marriot, but says that perhaps it’s just what the overly self-conscious Time Warner Center needs. more ›

">Bruni goes to Gramercy Tavern, awards the restaurant--now helmed by chef Michael Anthony--three stars. It was last reviewed by William Grimes, when Tom Colicchio was cooking and when it also received three stars. Bruni says the restaurant delivers what diners want: “a kind of unstrained graciousness and unlabored sophistication.” Nearly everything he tasted was “exquisitely cooked,” and while the desserts aren’t the best ever, “there are some fine choices.” more ›

">Bruni two-stars Belgian Resto. Loves the beers, the fries and mussels, and the hint of Asian seasonings in some dishes: "Resto's version of Belgium is neither clichéd nor isolationist," he says. It’s not great for your arteries, either, he points out, but sometimes it's worth the health risk. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery at Victory Blvd. and Lester St. on Staten Island, a fall victim down a trench at Carlton and Park Aves. in Brooklyn, and a construction accident on West 30th St. and 10th Ave. in Manhattan.
• If you have Time Warner Digital Cable and are interested in transit issues, get NY1's In Transit on demand; the Daily News' Peter Donahue shared some interesting insights about the transit worker deaths with Bobby Cuza.
• Brooklyn photographer Spencer Tunick convinced 18,000 people to get naked in Mexico City's main square so he could photograph them. Yes, there is a slideshow after the link.
• Alerted by a foul smell coming from her daughter's closet, a Queens mother found the body of an infant stuffed into a bag. She took the infant to the hospital, but the child had been dead for approximately a week.
• A presumably former Mr. Chow waiter is suing the eponymous chain's owner for $5 million, after Chow allegedly kicked him and made him lie on the floor during a staff meeting as punishment for showing up late.
• The Bedford Police Dept. is following a trail of clues in the homicide of a homeless man found dead by the side of the road by impounding two police cars from neighboring Mt. Kisco in Westchester. The body of Guatemalan immigrant Rene Perez was found an hour after he had dialed 911 for the Mt. Kisco police. Responding Mt. Kisco officers said he did not have a police matter and left him, considering the incident closed.
• The NYPD is in the process of replacing Polaroid cameras with digital ones, in order to enhance the prosecution of domestic abuse cases by providing better images of victims' injuries.
• New York's Daily Intelligencer has early sketches of what might be in store for the Hudson Yards development on Manhattan's West Side.

Landmarc is the latest restaurant to open at the Time Warner Center, thankfully providing an affordable option to TWC visitors who want to sit down for a casual meal without waiting in line at the basement Whole Foods or the neighboring Bouchon Bakery. more ›

READINGS: Russell Simmons has written a self-help book and will be at Border's today promoting it (okay, now all of this recent noise he's making makes more sense)! It's called "Do You! 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success." None of the laws include any of these three words. more ›

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Esca, calls chef Dave Pasternack a "fish whisperer" (um, OK Frank) and awards the restaurant three stars. "In an era when too many restaurants try to be everything to everyone," he says, "Esca has a specific agenda: show what the sea can yield." The restaurant was previously awarded two stars by William Grimes in 2000. more ›