Toby Young's tome on Graydon Carter and life at Vanity Fair, How To Lose Friends & Alienate People, is hitting the big screen just like its female counterpart The Devil Wears Prada. more ›

The MTA has embraced Internet technology once again to offer the public streaming webcasts of public meetings at its midtown Manhattan headquarters. Thanks to Governor Spitzer's "Executive Order 3," which requires all public agencies to broadcast meetings by July 1, the MTA is investing just over a hundred thousand dollars to set up and maintain the technology. MTA executive director and CEO Elliot Sander said, "The MTA shares Governor Spitzer’s focus on transparency and access, and we are thrilled to be able to offer this service before the mandated deadline." Of course, Sander is a Spitzer appointee. more ›

Yesterday, the MTA lowered the first of many parts of the Tunnel Boring Machine into the lower level of the 63rd Street tunnel as part of the MTA’s East Side Access project. The lowering itself could have been dismissed by passersby as just some sort of generic routine construction work, but it was much more than just moving a boring machine. When finally assembled in about two months, the 600-ton automated Spanish-owned and Italian-made machine will dig its way beneath the streets of Manhattan the tunnel that will finally bring the Long Island Rail Road into Grand Central Terminal. more ›

We can't possibly choose only one music event for the weekend, so check out OhMyRockness for the jam packed weekend listings. We will say, however, that one of the openers for Snowden at Maxwell's tonight...is We Are Scientists, trying out some new tunes. Though closer to home are The Clientele and Beach House at Bowery Ballroom. Listen: Apple Orchard.mp3 - Beach House more ›

Nice guys may not finish first, but it helps with voters. The NY Times' Michael Powell looks at Rudy Giuliani's evolution from mayor to presidential candidate and the shift in style he's had to take. For instance, more smiling, less snarling! more ›

If you were watching WABC 7 last night, you noticed that it suddenly went black - and stayed that way until around 1AM. The studio needed to be evacuated after a smoky fire started near the set of Live with Regis & Kelly at its Columbus Avenue and 66th Street location. According to the NY Times, a "light bulb had set a curtain on fire." Here's what WABC 7 said during their segment about the fire:

The fire broke out on Channel 7's main studio before the 11:00 p.m. Newscast, an electrical malfunction set fire to a large stage. more ›

Baxter is the Cutest, by Pixietart. [Editor's note: the cutest dog, perhaps.] more ›

This week, Sarah Michelle Gellar is back for more creepy girls hiding in her hair in the new sequel, out this weekend in the hopes that it will bolster rumors of a Stewart/Colbert ticket in '08. more ›

That guy was screaming at the top of his lungs. Then he wants me to shake his hand. I said, “You’re drunk. I’m not gonna shake your hand.” But he kept pressing the issue, so I told the owner, “If he touches me, I’m gonna punch him in his fuckin’ mouth.” So the waiters tossed him out. He was really, really out of control—some big fuckin’ obnoxious fag. more ›

Sam Champion, the WABC 7 meteorologist weathercaster (thanks for correcting, Toby) (not the band), will be the new Good Morning America weathercaster. Crain's reports that since Champion has been at WABC for 18 years, "his imminent departure could hurt the station as it competes with WNBC and WCBS." Gothamist would have to agree - Sam Champion is a cornerstone of the local NYC weather. The only current city weathercasters we know off the top of our head is Janice Huff. (Sure, we know Dr. Frank Field - and his son Storm - and Mr. G, but that's from their days on WCBS and WNBC.) We suppose Sam is eyeing the Al Roker transition (remember when he was the WNBC 4 weatherman?) but we'll miss seeing him on Columbus Avenue before and after his tapings. more ›

Hard N Phirm is comedians Chris Hardwick and Mike Phirman. In this interview they discuss patriotic dinosaurs, My Dinner with Andre, and Cop Rock. more ›

EVENT: Even if the Freegans have a photo of a pale vegan going through the dumpster for food on the front page of their website, this is actually a really amazing group of people that we could all learn a lot from. Tonight, for example, they will teach you how to build bikes using abandoned parts found around the city. Tools and know-how supplied. more ›

See, this is why angry mobs aren't really a good idea. They're just too quick to judge. For example, yesterday afternoon in East Flatbush a livery driver seemingly lost control of his vehicle and swerved into an 8-year-old riding a bike. When the hack finally stopped crashed his cab into a wall a "group of dozens of bystanders confronted and attacked him." more ›

We're not sure New York Christians could have asked for nicer Easter weather. The sun was shining, flowers were blooming and when we were out people just seemed to be in good cheer. more ›

we knew, we just knew, that if we stuck with it long enough eventually Denton would notice and maybe give us some blog-company to play with on the weekend (no offense to you, our fair readers, but it can get very lonely here on the weekend web). But we had no. Fucking. Idea. more ›

With obvious glee today's Times and Daily News went to task covering the Page Six payola scandal in greater detail. more ›

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Never one to be outdone by the New York Times, Murdoch's kids today unveiled a new look. For flagship FOX station WNYW FOX 5. Check out the screenshots provided by Gothamist tipper, the ever-vigilant Toby: more ›

When we look at the medal totals for the Winter Olympics, we sometimes wonder what the United States would do if snowboarding wasn't included...but out of the men's mogul's competition, comes the inspirational story of Toby Dawson, who was abandoned as a child in South Korea, is searching for his birth-parents, and won the bronze medal. Dawson has been searching for his birth parents and hopes that appearing - and now winning - will help jog someone's memories in South Korea. Aspiring football player, Jeremy Bloom finished 6th and will be at the NFL combine in a little more than a week. The winner of the competition is a former Canadian, who moved to Australia and is a self-made millionaire, that seems to specialize in spam. more ›

A reader writes:

Within 24 hours, I've been effected by two manhole fires, with the first killing my power on Flatbush in Park Slope yesterday, and the second blocking my lunch route on Rector St today. Has anyone else reported any, is there something going on?

Comedy Legends Live: The inimitable Carl Reiner speaks with Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Susie Essman. Reiner—comedian, actor, novelist and director— was a creator, writer and producer for The Dick Van Dyke Show. In 1999, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the Kennedy Center and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Come check out a legend. more ›

Toby at Random Observations captured this great moment in local TV news: Sue Simmons doing her best groundhog impression during the Live at Five broadcast, writing, "It is something that I always look forward to every year." When Gothamist caught the 11PM broadcast, Chuck Scarborough created quite a fanfare for Simmons to repeat the impression. And suddenly we realized that while WNBC mentioned Punxsutawny Phil, they neglected to mention another Chuck - Staten Island Chuck who predicts an early spring. At any rate, this is why we love local news. more ›

2:04 AM - The media is being told they have to wait a while before the TWU will talk. So with that, Gothamist is going to bed to get ready in case there is a strike - we're going attempt to check out the Brooklyn Bridge in the morning, which is supposed to be really cold tomorrow morning. Dress warm and dream of the strike being resolved by the time you wake up. Thanks for waiting with us - we'll be all over this in a few hours as well! more ›

Toby spotted this great lego firetruck on Brickshelf a few minutes ago-- the same artist also did a pretty good ambulance. We also tracked down some Lego taxis, an NYC streetscape, and this rather amazing NYC mini-city. And what the hell-- here's a cute little NYPD police cruiser. You can never have too many Lego creations! Never! more ›

Now that the snow is a slushy, disgusting mess, Gothamist has distance from this morning's troublesome commute (note to self: Wear wading boots and carry snow boots). But Toby at Random Observations has amazing analysis of the local news' weather coverage. Crazy graphics? Check. Maps of snowfall? Check. School closing alerts? Check. Not only did CBS take honors for being in "Weather Orgasm mode," "Dave Price made an appearance making a fool out of himself and a CBS producer in Central Park" (which is a little redundant anyway!). more ›

As expected, many people took the opportunity to call the Mayor yesterday, after he bragged how he took calls from constituents at home on his listed-in-the-phonebook number. The NY Times reports that the Mayor's communications director said Bloomberg's townhouse received "more calls than we can count" while the Post was able to fix the uncountable number as "more than 100 calls." A Post reporter tried calling a few times, but only got a busy signal or Bloomberg's voicemail. However the Times found a woman who thinks she got through to the mayor but he claimed he wasn't. Toby Cohen thinks the Mayor is dodging her housing complaint, as she's even tried to hand deliver a letter. She said, "A man answered the phone and insisted he was not the mayor. But I'm quite sure it was him because I recognized his voice." Yeah, who could mistake that sorta nasal whine...that lulling monotone that's better than Ambien. Anyway, Gothamist was surprised to hear that the Mayor would answer the phone himself, because we imagine he'd be too busy swimming in his Scrooge McDuck vault of money. If he really wanted to make himself available to his people, we'd have his cellphone number! more ›

Toby Speaks, Author more ›

Toby Leah Bochan, About.com Editor more ›