We haven't checked in on Gossip Girl since the show was filming around town and the producer touted New York as a main character in each episode. To summarize: the show is like a New York-based version of The OC (in fact it's another Josh Schwartz creation), except the rich kids don't act like kids, they act like their parents. Meanwhile, the omniscient, omnipresent, anonymous oggler Gossip Girl blogs about it all. more ›

Soft Ice Cream, by I'mJustSaying on Flickr. Tag yours with "Gothamist" if you want us to use them. more ›

amNew York reveals that the MTA will sign a construction contract for the Second Avenue Subway on March 29. We can't believe that the MTA is actually signing a contract - it's only been about four years since the first of the recent-Second-Avenue Subway public hearings! Heck, the Second Avenue Subway was a cover story for New York in 2004. more ›

The City Council passed the controversial trash plan that will create a new transfer station on the Upper East Side and a recycling center in the Meatpacking District as well as shift garbage disposal from trucks to barges. The plan, which was approved 44 to 5, was a hotbed of emotions and terms like "environmental racism." The outer boroughs (finally, Manhattan would have to deal with its own trash!) and environmentalists (garbage trucks have shorter routes, taking trash to four new transfer stations that will have barges taking the trash out) hailed the proposal while Upper East Siders hate the idea of a garbage transfer station being built near a park. Though there are environmental benefits to the plan, the Department of Sanitation commissioner said that the cost of removing trash will increase from $77 to $107 per town. Here's how the Mayor's press release describes the plan:

The Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) will fundamentally change the way the City transports waste. Currently, DSNY trucks and private tractor trailers export about 84 percent of the City’s residential garbage – which totals 12,000 tons a day. Under the new plan, Sanitation trucks will be used to export only 13 percent, while the use of long-haul tractor-trailer trucks will be eliminated entirely. Instead, the City will export almost 90 percent of the City’s residential waste by barge or rail. more ›

One summer when Gothamist was younger we worked at the Hospital for Special Surgery on 71st and York (don't worry, we were far away from the patients). Riding our bike to and from HSS we were often struck by the fact that there were so many medical institutions in such a dense area. HSS, Rockefeller University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering and the Weill Medical College of Cornell University)! "That's a lot of prestigious lifesavers a long walk from the 6 train" we often thought to ourselves. more ›

- The LES is the place for spelling bees. Gothamist will be moving shortly and we'll fit right in. more ›

The City Council decided not to override the Mayor's veto of their rejection of his garbage plan. The New York Times calls this a major political victory for the Mayor, as City Council Speaker and wannabe Mayor Gifford Miller was hoping to override the Mayor's veto, but was unable to gather up enough City Council votes. The Mayor's garbage plan has been in the works for years (here's a 2002 PowerPoint presentation about it), with an extensive plan to take garbage out of the city by barge and to construct waste transfer stations in different parts of the city - not to mention make each borough responsible for its own trash. What's interesting is that in this instance, it was the City Council members in poorer districts whose support of the trash plan meant the override would fail; the Mayor has talked up the fact that this plan equalizes trash disbursement constantly. Gothamist finds the Mayor's stance on trash interesting, since this is the man who eliminated recylcing because the city couldn't pay for it, but then brought it back. more ›

Hey, Upper East Siders, plan on waiting for the Second Avenue Subway a little longer! Because the MTA only received about $21 billion of the almost $28 billion they had requested from the state, construction plans for the Second Avenue Subway, downtown rail link to JFK, and LIRR link to Grand Central will be delayed, as will the planned uprades for various subway stations. The NY Times has the skinny on the stations:

The 12 stations where repairs would be delayed include Lawrence Street on the M and R lines in Brooklyn; 47th-50th Streets at Rockefeller Center on the B, D, F and V lines in Midtown Manhattan; 71st and Continental Avenues on the E, F, G, R and V lines in Forest Hills, Queens; and five stations along the N line in Brooklyn. more ›

Gothamist loves the idea of politicians putting garbage in their rivals' neighborhoods; there's something quaint, old school and refreshingly literal about that. more ›

The NY Times had a pro-Pale Male editorial and the Post has a conservationist explain that needing to build a new nest may affect Pale Male's breeding ability. Plus our readers debate the issue.
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Living in New York, inevitably you start to realize there's a pattern of horrible stories that happen every few months or years. One recurring theme are deliveryman murders, such yesterday's terrible Chinese food deliveryman murder, killed by two teenagers. Or taxi/livery cab murders - like the one last week where the passengers killed a driver because they didn't like the route he took. There stories are a part of our city's fabric, and New York is not perfect. But it doesn't mean Gothamist likes hearing those stories or ones about child abuse, neighborhood rapes, ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend murders, landlord-tenant disputes gone wrong, police brutality and its converse - disrespect for the men in blue, etc. Tension, crime, upheaval, yes, those are parts of our everyday and make us thankful for what we have. But we rather hear less of those stories, more ›