Ah, summer in New York: hot-dog contests, fireworks, the beach, and, don't forget, a stolid steamy blanket of humidity that greets all who dare to step outside their freon fortresses. But summer in the city needn't be all about sweating through the wet-dog daze. more ›

- The increased risk that these unacceptable approval requirements could result in higher construction spending and annual operating costs, which would have a significant negative impact on the financial model for the speedway development.Even before this announcement, the racetrack proposal encountered stiff resistance and wasn't looking too good. more ›

Gothamist loves to hear about animals that can do crazy tricks. Gerbils that dance, cats that are potty trained and birds that can count in pig-latin are truly fabulous feats of talent. But last night, Gothamist heard of perhaps the greatest animal trick yet – a dog that can tell if the wine is good by sniffing the cork. Apparently if the wine is good, this brilliant Weimaraner will chew on the cork, but if is it bad, it will drop the cork on the floor. While we did not get to see the dog in person, our waiter who has witnessed the act on many occasions at the Della Femina Restaurant in East Hampton swears that the dog has 100% accuracy. more ›

One of the pleasant surprises in the Sackett Group’s production of Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer comes before you even enter the theater. The a/c in the Brooklyn Music School Playhouse is hugely noisy, so they don’t run it during the show, meaning that, well, the temperature gets ugly pretty fast. Fortunately, for the price of your seat you also get a little paper Chinese fan and a bottle of cold water. To Gothamist, this gesture summed up one difference between Broadway and off-off-Broadway pretty neatly: in the first, they charge you $4 for your water, in the second they give it to you for free, with a smile and a personal cooling system on the side to boot. Of course, in the plush, frigid Times Square theaters you wouldn’t need to cool off in the first place, but that’s besides the point. more ›

After an 0-32 slump earlier this year, Jeter is 5-45 in his most recent slump. Nobody is quite sure why he is hitting so poorly, but Jeter is well off his career average of .317. The Daily News reports talking to a scout that wonders if it could be Alex Rodriguez that is bothering Jeter, "It could be the guy alongside him. When you lose your kingpin status, it bothers you. I don't care what you do in life. But I don't know, I'm not him." In public comments, Jeter rejects this theory, "Why would that be? He's on the same team, I don't see how you can compete with someone on the same team, so, no." more ›