Even though there wasn't a "villain" along the lines of Santino Rice or a favorite like Michael Knight, the fourth season of Project Runway has been pretty captivating with some very lovely work. Tonight, the three remaining designers' Bryant Park Fashion Week face-off will be shown and a winner announced. more ›

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In 2003, Sopranos star Michael Imperioli opened the intimate Studio Dante theater with his wife Victoria, who designed the elegantly formal space. In his capacity as director, producer and actor, Imperioli has been busy turning the theater into a well-regarded hotspot for new plays. The current production is a solo show by Glasgow native Russell Barr entitled Sisters, Such Devoted Sisters. In the largely autobiographical play, Barr plays Bernice, a drag queen who herself portrays over a dozen characters to tell her sordid, harsh and hilarious story of Glasgow’s nightlife underworld. Reviewing the play for the Times, Jason Zinoman called it “crudely effective... Imperioli stages the play at Studio Dante with an unsentimental intensity, and at times it reminded me of the sudden shocks of violence in that much missed HBO series.” The production continues through February 16th; tickets cost $35. more ›

Luxury cruise line Cunard has many ships, but last night was the first time that its Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth 2, and new Queen Victoria ships were in the "same port at the same time." And the port was the NewYork Harbor, under fireworks and gaze of the Statue of Liberty. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a homicide on Boyland St. in Brooklyn, a person under a train at 116th St. and Douglass Blvd. in Manhattan, and a body found on West 91st St. in Manhattan.
• Martha Stewart is still mad over the public spat she had with Donald Trump in 2005 over her The Apprentice spin-off series. We bet she prepares a wonderful cold revenge dish.
• Police are searching for a man who attacked a 17-year-old woman in Jamaica, Queens, forcing her at knife point to a secluded area where he sexually assaulted her. The attacker may be the same man responsible for four other similar assaults recently.

Could Apple be planting a seed on a location near Lincoln Center? The Meatpacking district Apple store still has that new-store smell as Apple fever extends north. According to the Post, Apple is looking to take over space at the northwest corner of Broadway and West 67th, where there's currently a two-story Victoria's Secret store. more ›

The Taxi and Limousine Commission has made it official: Cabs purchased after October 1, 2008 must get at least 25 miles per gallon. Then, after fall of 2009, newly purchased cabs must get at least 30 miles per gallon. As the AP puts it, this means "taxi fleet owners, who must replace their cabs every three to five years, will probably be forced to buy fuel-efficient hybrids, which run partly on electricity." The Taxicab Board... more ›

A novel twist on the bar-neighbor dispute: A Tribeca bar claims the upstairs resident has prevented them from doing business. A lawsuit filed by Smith and Mills, a bar that opened on N. Moore Street back in May, reveals that Victoria Hillstron apparently: - Called the police and Department of Buildings to report "false" building code violations. - "stood in front of plaintiff's establishment to prevent construction from taking place" - Told "patrons not to... more ›

Ha! Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa wants to take John Gotti Jr. on his offer. Gotti Jr., who was unsucccessfully tried three times for allegedly shooting and kidnapping Sliwa, told reporters on Tuesday that he'd take a polygraph test "on national TV" if the FBI agent who spread rumors that Gotti was becoming a government informant was charged. Last night, Sliwa said on NY1's Inside City Hall - holding a bunch of cash, "John Gotti,... more ›

Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire investor who New York called an "International Moneyman of Mystery" back in 2002, may be set to plead guilty to having sex with underage girls in Florida, but now there are claims that he was preying on the young in the Big Apple. Maximilia Cordero is suing Epstein for "repeatedly" luring her to his East Side townhouse for sex back in 2000. more ›

The ice rink at Rockefeller Center opened yesterday, even though the weather was more 4th of July than 6th of October. The temperature reached 83 degrees in Central Park yesterday and we imagine it was even a few degrees hotter in midtown. Nonetheless, the seasonal mainstay that is up there with elaborate window displays in recognizability opened despite the heat. The Daily News features a cute article that visits both the rink and the beach at Coney Island on the same afternoon. Rink guard Manny Bedigan could have been a life guard, as he joked that he brought a swim suit to work with him just in case. 10-year-old Victoria Vortman was already nostalgic for summer vacation as she ran through the surf at Coney Island. "It feels like summer - I don't want to go to school." more ›

EVENT: All week long Lower Manhattan has become a stage. Today, "watching from behind a window overlooking the site, viewers observe Bill Shannon and crew engage with the public space and pedestrian traffic in their freestyle performance that taps into the hip-hop/skateboard tradition of street improvisation. The distance between audience and performers is mitigated by holographic screens and live audio and video mixing by special guests." DJ Excess will be on hand for some live audio mixing. More info here. more ›

Since the spring, the Post’s Page Six gossip column has for some reason been following the strange saga of the love life of Long Island native and Philadelphia television anchor Alycia Lane, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Liz Cho. It has, of course but it has provided some strange entertainment since May when the tabloid revealed that she had sent e-mails containing private photos of herself to NFL Network anchor Rich Eisen that were discovered by his wife, ABC Sports reporter Suzy Shuster. more ›

British tabloid mainstay, fashion icon, and fabled footballer David Beckham will make his first appearance in New York City today since the former captain of England's national team started playing with the Los Angeles Galaxy. He is spending the afternoon in Harlem coaching the 33 teenage members of the FC Harlem Lions, intending to highlight the need for more soccer fields in the neighborhood. more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

Willie Randolph shouldn't panic quite yet. His team has run into talented teams when it's not playing its best. Too bad the schedule doesn't get any easier. The Dodgers represent just the second of six playoff teams the Mets play in successive series. A road set against the Yankees plus a homestand against Minnesota, Oakland and St. Louis await. The string ends when the Mets visit Philadelphia, the club responsible for starting this New York slide. more ›

EVENT: FreeNYC reports on a new happening at Pete Wentz's Angels and Kings (aka: AK-47). It's Nerdnite! Tonight, "Matthew King presents a stunningly creepy visual account of the state of mental hospitals in the Northeast, and lawyerly nerd Brendan Kehoe discuss lawsuits that threaten Google and YouTube, and therefore, all of our spare time at work." more ›

On the Gothamist Newsmap, one of the incidents is "Pedestrian Struck | West 51 Btw 9th & 10th Ave I/f/o Club Posh Manhattan, NY | 5/9/2007 2:14 a.m." It turns out that the pedestrian isn't any ol' pedestrian -- it happens to be Steve Green, millionaire real-estate developer, onetime member of the "worst landlords of the city" club, and high-profile gay divorcee. more ›

Earth Day may have passed, but there are many ways you can be eco-conscious. Take fashion, for instance. Videographer Kelly Loudenberg gives us a look a few eco-fashion approaches:

Last week, the Emerging Green Builders of New York presented the “Project Earth Day” fashion show, an eco-friendly fashion event celebrating Earth Day. Designs ranged from re-worked used clothing to new clothing made from organic or recycled fibers. Runway designer Amber Nelson said, “We tried to create as little waste as possible. We used old shipping pallets to support the stage which is a 100% recycled surface made out of coke bottles and milk jugs.” more ›

"Our taxicabs will be getting a makeover with graphics that communicate passenger information in a better and more uniform way," Taxi and Limousine Commission Chairman Matthew Daus said. more ›

THEATER: Theodora Skipitares is a Greek-American playwright, director and puppeteer who uses near life-size puppets and Greek tragedies to look at our current situation in Iraq. (Her rendition of the Iliad and the Odyssey was a sold-out hit at La MaMa last year.) Her new show, which features puppetry and video, is The Exiles, an adaptation of the Orestes/Electra myth. “In this particular story of betrayal and vengeance, these puppets are an eerie construction of facade and public display, while their operators are a shadow of primal, often raw emotions and personal desires.” (Read last month's Times profile of Skipitares here.) - John Del Signore more ›

ART: Running through March 7th at Gavin Brown's enterprise at Passerby is "Radical Living Papers". Some of the passionate writers of forty years ago will have their words become a part of this exhibit, which serves as a snapshot of the Vietnam War era and a history of counter-culture and alt press. Publications (all from the 60s and 70s) include Rolling Stone, The Black Panther, Freep, The Seed and the Los Angeles Free Press. more ›

The NY Times looks at how Astoria's Steinway Street has evolved into a magnet for big chain. The accompanying graphic shows a one block stretch complete with Gap, GapKids, Starbucks, Bath & Body Works, and Victoria's Secret - and four banks, natch! According to the Real Estate Board of NY's retail committee chairwoman Robin Abrams, the shift is occurring because chains are have either "saturated" or are "priced out" of Manhattan, and they are finding the "can do business in the boroughs." And having a big chain as a tenant is probably less of a hassle than an unknown entity for outer-boroughs landlords (not to mention a reason for them to charge more). more ›

British light artist Jason Bruges unveiled his new, interactive installation at the Center for Architecture last night. Titled "Visual Echo," the installation translates the colors of viewers' clothing into a luminous LED river of light that winds a course around the floor and walls. Paired with free martinis, this meant big fun for all. more ›

Food for thought: The Sun says that Brooklyn Heights restaurant Palmira's has closed at the end of 2006, making it the seventh restaurant to fail at the 41 Clark Street space since 1982. That a 3.43 year life span for restaurants, but apparently Palmira's had been literally struck by lightning in 2003, "forcing the restaurant to spend its first two years hidden beneath scaffolding." Ouch. more ›

A look at some noteworthy programs this week: more ›

Did you see CBS 2 Investigates: Too Good For Gridlock? The too-good-for-gridlock offender is Isaac Heschel, a diamond dealer who is also a rabbi and volunteers time as a chaplain to the MTA and Port Authority Police. Heschel frequently uses sirens and lights in his Crown Victoria, but neither agency gave him sirens or lights, meaning that Heschel pimped the car out for emergency fun himself. more ›

Dunh dunh DUNH! It's the most insane shopping day of the year, thanks to most people being off and feeling that the day after Thanksgiving is an acceptable beginning to the Christmas shopping season. However, some stores were actually open yesterday, giving turkey and football some competition. Some stores opened at 5AM today, others at 6AM. In fact, some people have been flying in from overseas, perhaps to take advantage of the exchange rate! more ›

THEATER: The Pearl Theatre Company, known for their deft handling of classic plays, has revived Molière's satire School for Wives. The play deliciously skewers the aristocrat Arnolphe, who so fears he’ll marry an unfaithful woman that he locks a little girl in a convent for 13 years, keeping her utterly isolated until she comes of age. The hi-jinks begin when he’s finally ready to fulfill his master marriage plan and finds himself outmaneuvered by a cunning young rival, bumbling servants and the bride-to-be herself. The Times says it’s “quite funny.” - John Del Signore more ›

The official Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes wedding photograph has been released. First thoughts: more ›