Does the man who once sat on Cloud 7 believe there's something to Building 7? On Howard Stern's radio show last night, Tony Bennett questioned who was really to blame for the September 11th attacks that killed 2,996 Americans. "They flew the plane in, but we caused it," Bennett said. "But who are the terrorists? Are we the terrorists or are they the terrorists?" Bennett was alluding to the imposing presence of the United States in the Middle East prior to the attacks, but the damage had already been done. Look for his new single, "Who Can I Turn To (When People Find My Views On 9/11 In Poor Taste)," this fall. more ›

Is Lindsay Lohan the Lenny Bruce of young Hollywood? According to Tony Bennett, she could be. Page Six says the crooner recently gave his two cents on the subject of Lohan's downward spiral, recalling, "Woody Allen's manager, Jack Rollins, used to handle Lenny Bruce, who was a brilliant comedian, but was hooked on heroin. He said something that changed my life. He said: 'He sinned against his talent.' It affected me so much that I just got rid of everything." Bruce was found dead at age 40 on his bathroom floor, with a syringe and other narcotics paraphernalia scattered about. The 85-year-old added, "these young stars should learn how to celebrate life, feel good about living, and do what they love... they won't end up doing something that will kill them." more ›

When Tony Bennett's non-profit helped found your school, you can bet the famous crooner will show up at graduation. Bennett sang at the commencement of the Frank Sinatra High School for the Arts in Astoria, Queens—his hometown (he grew up on 32nd Street by Ditmars)—and Bruce Willis was the commencement speaker, telling students, "I don't think you should listen to anybody else. Just be brave and go out there and do whatever you want." The ceremony was held at the high school's sleek new building, which Bennett visited with the NY Times recently. Bennett brought his sound man to make sure the acoustics of the school's concert hall were perfect and said of his Manhattan high school, the High School of Industrial Arts, "We went to lunch and the ceiling fell down on the desks. We would have been smashed — that’s how terrible the building was." The Times has a charming video of Bennett walking around Astoria, "I come back here and I like this better than any place I’ve ever lived." more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a fatal fire on Pennsylvania Ave. in Brooklyn, a train derailment on 41st St. and 1st Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting on East Gunhill Rd. in the Bronx.
• Anthony Marshall's––Brooke Astor's estranged son––lawyer pleaded not guilty to forgery in the sordid case of her will.
• BestWeekEver.tv's Michelle Collins manages to compliment Tony Bennett, fling a t-shirt at Nick Lachey, stump Josh Groban on the definition of "Cougars", covet Sean Kingston's 14K Crayolas, and be disappointed by Celine Dion, all in one 4-minute segment. That's jam-packed talent.
• Community spokesperson Al Sharpton and mayoral hopeful Council Speaker Christine Quinn fell over themselves denouncing hateful speech yesterday.
• Pimping your motor vehicle rides is for LA suckers. New Yorkers pimp their bikes with mega stereo systems––really.
• Managing Editor Choire Sicha is flying the coop from Gawker.com.
• A construction worker was rescued after being buried alive in Morningside Heights up to his chest.
• Ray Kelly flips Councilman Simcha Felder the bird, literally. He gave him a plastic pigeon in recognition of his somewhat controversial bid to rid NYC of what the councilman described as "flying rats".

I'm Not There Nails It We went into seeing I'm Not There yesterday afternoon kind of expecting to hate it, thinking it would be vague and pretentious and a chore to absorb. But boy were we wrong! The movie avoids many annoying biopic clichés, presenting 6 separate, yet surprisingly straightforward stories based on the life of Bob Dylan. While non-linear, the narratives are complete and engrossing. The film is shot beautifully, and needless to say... more ›

Last night the 59th Annual Emmy Awards took place on the left coast, but New Yorkers made out very well. New York productions/creative types that took home the gold: Late Night with Conan O'Brien (writing), The Daily Show (variety-comedy show series), 30 Rock (best comedy), and Dick Wolf (for producing Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee). In the would-have-been arena, America Ferrera won best actress in a comedy, Ugly Betty, which was originally supposed to shoot in the Big Apple but shoots in L.A. because it's cheaper. We'll also count Rob Marshall, who won for directing the Best Variety-Musical Special, Tony Bennett: An American Classic, since he has Broadway roots. more ›

A look at some noteworthy programs this week: more ›

A look at some noteworthy programs this week: more ›

Mick Stingley, Low-Rent Rock Critic more ›

From the musical stylings of the composer who brought us Dracula and Jekyll & Hyde, New York City now has a theme song. The city's tourism arm, NYC & Company, commissioned Frank Wildhorn to write a song about how wonderful New York City is, and now we have "New York: For the Time of Your Life." The NY Post says the song is a "splashy, big-band-style number belted out in a brassy, Sinatra-esque voice," and the song is supposed to be sung at a presentation to European tour operators and to promote various parts of New York City that are lesser promoted, like Shea Stadium and the Bronx Zoo. more ›

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