The NY Times' Styles section describes the lonely existence of new residents of the Plaza Hotel condos. Why lonely? Well, if you can afford the pricey digs ($6,400 per square foot!; an owner interviewed paid $5.8 million for a two bedroom), your neighbors are also rich people who probably have other residences and don't live there very often. In other words, does the Times seriously expect us to feel sorry for these people? Maybe......

A poignant week for LAist as they lose their trusted and amazing editor Tony Pierce to the LA Times, but what a blast his last week was. He shared his 25 Favorite CDs of 2007 and wrote a great review of just a good movie, No Country For Old Men. At UCLA, thousands of students celebrated the end of their quarter by running around campus in their undies (lots of photos in a two-part......

What with Paris Hilton's release earlier this week and the upcoming celebration of American Independence (sorry, Londonist!), we've been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom to vote, freedom to choose, and most importantly, freedom to blog. Here are a few things we're happy we've been free to blog about this week. Being the nation's capital, DCist felt especially proud to let freedom ring this week by exposing the really important issues, like how sad they......

Spring is when we get busy here in the Ist-A-Verse. Very busy. But, after staying bundled-up indoors all winter, it's nice for us to be out, about, and collecting things to write about for you. Here's a glimpse at what's been keeping your favorite citybloggers busily away from home and out of bed. For LAist, strong winds attacked LA on the same day the Feds raided the Crips. Not to fear, though: the Japanese version......

Local teams may have been shut out of the NCAA tournament's Final Four, but New York is not without representation in Atlanta. Florida phenom Joakim Noah calls NYC home, as does Georgetown's Jesse Sapp. Neither played high school basketball in New York: Noah played for The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey and Sapp attended National Christian Academy in Maryland. Ohio State and UCLA are sadly New York City-free teams. Is your team still in the......

It seems like, all across the network, folks were up to no good. Maybe it was all the green beer from last weekend... Gothamist spent the week writing about New Yorkers behaving badly: at the post office, at the Garden, and at the fertility clinic. Calvin Klein may not be misbehaving, but he's just a little dirty, and in a completely different way than some NYC kitchens. SFist had its share of misbehave-rs, too, like......

This was not a very happy week for the -ist network as one of our own, Phillyist co-editor Star C. Foster, passed away early in the week. Her wit, intelligence, and good nature shone through the site, making Phillyist an immensely fun read. She was loved by many and will be missed by all. Phillyist paid tribute to her this week with a heartfelt letter to her and an obituary. And now, the awkward......

If you’re hiking, consider charging up your iPod, as Seattlest finds out that a man lost during a hike was found by the glow of his iPod. That cleverness seems to be devoid in cops who were using police cruiser instant messaging clients - although we imagine IMs “so are you nakie” to be included in cop shows, just for realism. If only the cops were busting the Hummer-driving jerk who made a poor......

Twenty-nine workers died in construction accidents in New York during the 12 months ending September 30, marking a 61% increase over the previous year and a 5-year high, according to OSHA and the NYC Dept. of Buildings. Over half of the victims fell to their death, while falling material was the second most fatal cause. Non-union, immigrant workers employed by small contractors suffered worst. The Manhattan director for OSHA decried the lax safety enforcement......

Let's look back at a week in which no site in the -ist network adopted anyone from Africa... -Austinist reveled in the dumb antics of some U.T. law students and posted some great audio from former New Orleans natives who've decided to stay in Austin. But the best news for Austinist? They were voted Best Local Entertainment Web Site by the local Austin alt-weekly. Congrats, Austinist. -DCist gloried in being told their musical tastes made......

Bronx High School of Science, one of the city's top magnet schools, is suddently in a pickle (or is that kimchee?) with Korean parents. The NY Sun reports that parents have raised more than $100,000 to start a promisd Korean language program at the school, but the school has only offered an elective since. There are lots of questions, like why did the school accept checks from parents while the Department of Education denies any......

Gothamist knew this Final Four had the potential to be a dud following the first two weeks leading up to the tournament. That said, we didn't think it would be this bad. Florida romped through UCLA 73-57 in Monday's championship game, giving the Gators their first national title and preventing the Bruins from collecting their twelfth. Florida played like a well-coached, athletic team that made a normally stingy UCLA team look lost on defense and......

We know, we failed you last week and didn't put the wedding numbers up (we still have them and we will post them, eventually). To make it up to you, we've added two new stats for us to track each week: The total number of previous weddings that ended in death and divorce. Anywho, since we know you've been waiting patiently for them, here they are are, this week's Weddings and Celebrations, by the......

A slick Coney Island? Gothamist cannot compute! The city showed off a new plan for the development of New York's own boardwalk retreat that, as the Daily News describes it, is "a cross between Las Vegas and Disneyland," turning the "the fading honky-tonk amusement area into a flashy year-round entertainment destination." City officials are behind the effort to bring more business (spas! restaurants! movie theatres! arcades!) to the area, but some worry that the worn-out,......

This week, Gothamist chatted via the telephone with director Niels Mueller about his first feature film now in theaters, The Assassination of Richard Nixon. With his film an official selection at Cannes this year and starring Sean Penn, Mueller gave us insight into the connections between the fictional story and the real man, his Midwest roots and how much indie directors really know about high fashion. Basics I was born during the Kennedy administration, in......

With the bowl picture set, how did your team do? Do you think they got robbed by the BCS? Are lucky to be in anything at all, or are just right where they are. Better yet, are you making the trip to watch your team in points south or west? 1. Auburn – They may be #3 in the BCS but we think they would beat either USC or Oklahoma on a neutral field. 2.......

Well, we didn't get alot right, but at least we called Sebastian Telfair to the Blazers at 13. Gothamist spent the last week looking up florists in Portland, Orgeon so we could send Blazers GM John Nash a big bouquet of flowers. Because Telfair went early, high school stud Al Jefferson fell to Boston at 15, providing the Celtics with the bruising PF they so desperately needed. Unfortunately, draft night didn't become the trading......

The suicide of NYU student Diana Chien continues to upset the NYU administration and students. The Post, which uses an image of Chien falling from a building for its cover today, talks to students about the NYC factor of NYU. One student says, "At other schools, you have to adjust to school. The added burden of coming here is that you also have to adjust to New York City." A senior adds, "At NYU, it's......

A new study supposedly shatters the 'geek' image of Internet users. CNN reports, "The typical Internet user -- far from being a geek -- shuns television and actively socializes with friends, a study on surfing habits said on Wednesday." This is a problem: Gothamist had been trying to fit in the stereotype of the supposed "loner geek," trapped in a world of role-playing and hyperlinking till dawn, shedding acquaitances and connections to the real world,......

University of Florida researchers say that high internet use may be harmful to your health and emotional state, as well as may be an indicator of mental problems. Tell Gothamist something we don't already know. "Web surfing, e-mailing, instant messaging, gaming, shopping, downloading music and visiting chat rooms become troublesome when they interfere with someone's job or social life" according to the CNN article that we'll be forwarding to our friends and colleagues as Exhibit......

I was reading this article on China in the Times, and I started thinking about how many cities there are in China. According to this list that I found at UCLA, there are over 99 cities in China with populations of more that a million people. Most of these cities I've never heard of- Tianjin, Qingdao, Shenyang, and Guangzhou all have more than three million people. According to this table at Travelgis, there are only......