Looks like all that bribery actually worked! Despite having a much lower participation average than the country, New York City's census response rate went up to 59%, two percentage points higher than in 2000. That's especially encouraging since the national average dropped a percentage point since 2000. Regional census director Lester Farthing said, “Imagine what would have happened if we did not do all this promotional and advertising stuff." more ›

Over 800 people showed up at Trump Tower yesterday, hoping to get cast on "The Apprentice," and maybe fare better than Sinbad. Instead of celebrities, the new season will feature 14 "normal" people looking for jobs. Many of the show's hopefuls had been recently laid off and saw this as an opportunity to get their careers back on track. One laid off software designer told the Daily News, "I wanted to make a statement and show Mr. Trump how important this is to me." more ›

The Rihanna and Chris Brown saga has wormed its way into the Big Apple. Eyebrows are being raised after the pair both checked into the Trump International Hotel & Tower this weekend—separately of course. As far as everyone knows, the two stayed separate, something that Brown needs to do to keep his nose clean after a judge ordered him to stay 50 yards away from the onetime "Song of the Summer" queen. Still the Post tries its best to drum up intrigue about the possibility of the two crossing paths around the Columbus Circle lodge, noting the extraordinary effort they both put forth to throw off paparazzi with decoy vehicles. That didn't stop the paper from putting together a loose timeline for their time spent here, as well as postulating, "Could they be making sweet music again?" Brown, who just last week finally apologized for the violent attack of his ex back in February, is due in court next week to receive sentencing for the plea deal he struck with prosecutors. After spending the weekend going to the movies and visiting a childhood friend in Harlem, a member of his entourage told the Post he checked out of the hotel once he realized "that she checked in." more ›

Femme Generation is a hard band to describe. Indie-pop-rock-synth dance music is what we would say upon listening to their song "Semper Fi Little Guy". It's more complex than even that however, with listens to their entire catalog. With harmonies, chants and noises we don't even recognize, the music never stays at the same tempo or pace. They can slow it down just as fast as they speed it up. One thing is for sure though, their live performance is an amazing one. We've heard reports from the front lines of past shows, and you better be ready to dance when they close out our Movable Hype show tomorrow night. more ›

NYPD Gran Fury from 1998, by Triborough on Flickr. more ›

Who knew petsitting could be fraught with million dollar lawsuits? A Manhattan family is suing a family friend's friend for failing to return their dog. Martin Klein says that Ted Kohl was supposed to watch their Yorkshire terrier Hershe while the family was on vacation, starting November 20. However, Kohl gave the dog to his friend Gayle Fisher Worth when he was sentenced to prison on November 28. Yes - Kohl, a contractor, had pleaded guilty to grand larceny in October, after stealing millions during a renovation at the Trump Tower Asprey store. The Klein family says that Hershe, given to their daughter Michele by Kohl during her bout with cancer, was left with Kohl because it would be the last time Kohl would see him for a while. Well, of course. more ›

That closet-size studio you looked at last week isn’t the only outrageously priced real estate in New York. more ›

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With Martha Stewart's new morning show debut this morning, as well as her version of The Apprentice - with more fresh flowers! - next Wednesday, Gothamist has been thinking about how her offices at the Starrett-Lehigh Building on West 26th Street (the massive brick and windowed structure that takes up a block at West 26th Street and Eleventh Avenue) have been transformed into television heaven. Because it's not just the studio for the show, but also where the Apprentice contestants are living! In the current issue of In Touch (uh, yes, we're ashamed), there are pictures of how the warehouse space has been converted for reality living; it all seems very tasteful and Martha, though the sleeping areas might not have windows (but we can't totally tell). We remember the Starrett-Lehigh Building when it was a hotbed of dot-com activity, most notably Inside.com, and the jobs offers were flying out of there...but Gothamist still wasn't convinced that the late-night shuttle van would really be that effective in pre-Crobar 2000. We're partial to the SLB, but what would you pick, living on West 26th and 11th Avenue or at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue? more ›

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/310833p-265945c.html">took some time in a press conference that was conveniently the day before the season finale of The Apprentice to call Freedom Tower a piece of "crap architecture," and offered up Harry Belton and Ken Gardner's design as the best alternative. Of course, Trump can't actually build at Ground Zero, as the rights belong to his "good friend" Larry Silverstein, so his words can be taken as one part person hates the building, fifty parts showman, and zero part of the actual process. Gothamist appreciated this quote from Thomas Roger, who heads up a victims' family organization and whose daughter died as a flight attendant on September 11, to the NY Times: "If he has such grand ideas and imaginative thoughts, where was he three years ago when the master planning was going on?" Exactly. more ›

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City Review on Trump Tower and Curbed on Apprentice contest Jennifer C.'s firing. And speaking of television, some picks for the new season: Veronica Mars, Kevin Hill, and RW/RR Battles of the Sexes 2 (Chicagoist's Margaret Lyons points out Aneesa's bio: ) Plus Aaron at Out of Focus has been blogging the new season.
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New York takes 6th in the world after Sydney, Rome, Florence, Bangkok and Cape Town. Gothamist does enjoy the graphic from Travel & Leisure for their whole World's Best section. more ›