Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for three decades, has announced his retirement; he’ll be leaving as soon as a successor is found. The 71-year-old French born Harvard graduate called it a “wrenching” decision but finally concluded that “to stay much further would be to skirt decency.” During de Montebello’s tenure the Met has greatly expanded its proportions, adding elegant new wings while steadily refurbishing down-at-heel areas, acquired prize collections such......

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (directed by David Yates) In a funny reversal of the "movie's more important than the book" paradigm, the excitement surrounding the release of the fifth Harry Potter movie on Wednesday was but a preview to the real midnight mania next Friday. While the movies in this children's books franchise have been popular, they could almost be seen as publicity tools for the books, psyching up fans for......

The 29th Annual Museum Mile Festival is tomorrow, with more creativity than you can imagine concentrated in a festival on 5th Avenue (from 82nd Street to 105th Street). From the Met to El Museo del Barrio you'll be able to find waived museum admissions. Museo del Barrio director Julian Zugazagoitia tells NY1, “It's the greatest day because all of Fifth Avenue is closed, so that all of the museums can be visited free of charge,......

Claude Monet, forger of French impressionism - and artist of choice amongst college girls everywhere, will have over 60 of his masterpieces on view at the Wildenstein & Co. gallery starting tomorrow (and running through June 15th). According to AM New York, the paintings are on loan from approximately 20 different museums and 40 private collections - making this the largest retrospective of Monet's work in New York in over 30 years. Three works......

Absinthe, The Green Devil or as Ernest Hemingway described it – “that opaque, bitter, tongue-numbing, brain-warming, stomach-warming, idea-changing, liquid alchemy” – to this day has an air of mystery and danger surrounding it. Historical anecdotes, urban myths and its illegal status in a host of countries (including the US) make it all the more alluring. Tell us we can’t have something and suddenly we want it. Why is it really illegal here, we wondered? What......

Whoa-- that was quite a night. If, like us, you've just woken up with a pounding hangover and a foul sugar-coating covering your tongue, we sympathize. Here are some highlights to remind you of how you spent the night-- add yours in the comments if you want us to link to them. Parade: WhatISee, EyeinAstoria, InSunlight, Editrix, ImBrettJackson, AVC, BobbyLapointe, Rendomthoughts, *PhotobyMatt*, TunnelAngel, Gruban, Tozzer, Mercredis and the amazing phone costume, great Van Gogh......

During this week we were reminded of a few things: New York bars don't close for anyone's holidays, apples and honey go very well with Manhattans, and we should probably pick up some kosher wine in case family drops by. After moving recently, we realized we must have had this idea every year since, oh, 5761, because there were a half dozen not-exactly-empty bottles of Manischewitz. We've never even had good luck adding it to......

Inspired by Google's celebration of van Gogh's birthday, Gothamist encourages everyone to visit a Van Gogh painting in the next week or so. There are many in New York, such as: - Mountains at Saint-Remy at the Guggenheim - Starry Night at the Museum of Modern Art - And many at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including his self-portrait, La Berceuse, Irises, and Claude Monet's Sunflowers painting that Van Gogh reportedly preferred; there will also......

So if the heat gets to be too much for you this weekend, Gothamist suggests you escape to a nice air conditioned theater. There are plenty of options out there. Among those that are slightly below the radar but top on our list are: Riding Giants - Stacy Peralta's documentary about big wave surfing. The film does a great job at toplining the history of the sport and the wave footage is fierce. Metallica: Some......