People get tattoos of the darndest things, but still, this tat that New York Shitty recently spotted in the wild is worth noting! Yes, people, that is R2D2 stylized as the Virgin of Guadalupe being held up by C3PO. And yes, it is awesome. more ›

Here's some good news for all you offal lovers out there, specifically those with, ahem, a foot fetish. Hakata Tonton plans to reopen tomorrow. The West Village Japanese spot specializing in all things pig feet has been closed for a little over a week after recently failing a Department of Health inspection. The gal who picked up the phone at the restaurant today said the temple of trotters plans to open tomorrow. DOH gave them the go-ahead after they passed their inspection yesterday. more ›

Earlier this year one artist's chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ wasn't leaving a good taste with many, 41% of you calling it "sacrilege." However, 34% of you wanted one for Easter! Maybe Halloween will do, because it looks like it's been resurrected!

"My Sweet Lord," an anatomically correct milk chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ that infuriated Catholics before its April unveiling was canceled, returns Oct. 27 to a Chelsea art gallery, its creator said Tuesday. This time, artist Cosimo Cavallaro said he expects the public exhibit to proceed without a problem.

"We don't approve of the piece at all, but it's not something we're going to protest," said Kiera McCaffrey, the league's director of communications. "This is much less an in-your-face assault on Christians, and it's not happening during Holy Week."

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... more ›

It was a horrible day for coke fiends as police broke up two unrelated cocaine rings. In one sting, bricks of cocaine were smuggled from Mexico using tombstones with the Virgin Mary on them. The DEA arrested 12 people in connection with the ring, including one in Houston and three in Brooklyn. A DEA agent told the media, "Like grave robbers who have no respect for the dead, this drug organization used revered tombstones to smuggle millions of dollars worth of cocaine into New York City." Five of the eight tombstones found in Brooklyn had 20-25 kilos of cocaine each. All told, 194 kilos of coke were seized in Brooklyn with a street value of $8-12 million. more ›

The NY Press's editorial staff quit over the paper's decision not to publish the controversial Mohammed cartoon from the conservative Danish paper/tinderbox. The Politicker broke the news and printed editor-in-chief Harry Siegel's memo; here's part of it:

New York Press, like so many other publications, has suborned its own professed principles. For all the talk of freedom of speech, only the New York Sun locally and two other papers nationally have mustered the minimal courage needed to print simple and not especially offensive editorial cartoons that have been used as a pretext for great and greatly menacing violence directed against journalists, cartoonists, humanitarian aid workers, diplomats and others who represent the basic values and obligations of Western civilization. Having been ordered at the 11th hour to pull the now-infamous Danish cartoons from an issue dedicated to them, the editorial group—consisting of myself, managing editor Tim Marchman, arts editorJonathan Leaf and one-man city hall bureau Azi Paybarah, chose instead to resign our positions... more ›

Oh man, when was the last time we had a good artistic freedom vs. religion controversy? Hmm... maybe the Black Virgin Mary covered in poo back in 2000-- which itself was nothing compared to Serrano's Piss Christ back in 1989. Well, here's a new one! CBS reports on the National Black Fine Arts Show at the Puck Building: more ›

Have you ever been confused with your cuts of meat? Or what Brooklyn neighborhoods are where? Well, these two mysteries collide in this amazing shirt from Mister Chen's Outstanding Apparel. Gothamist wants one, as well as some Porterhouse steak, which is approximately at the Park Slope-Kensington border, according to this cuts of meat chart. [Here's the city's official map of New York City neighborhoods.] more ›

Not quite the same, but along similar lines: Illegal Art, where you can find illegal DVD-R's of Superstar, Todd Haynes's movie about Karen Carpenter. Meccapixel has some monkey photos (marmoset, colobus) and Gothamist likes us some monkeys.
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The Venice Biennale, which runs until November, has an art blog, Blogwork. Contributors post about events as well as artists at the Biennale, and it just makes Gothamist wish we were going to Venice some time soon. more ›

What goes around, comes around. Rudy Guiliani is being satirized in this painting by Zhou Tiehai that tips its head to Chris Ofili's paintings, by placing Rudy's portrait on balls of dung. Currently at the Whitney Museum, part of "The American Effect" exhibit, which opens today, it's one of many foreign artists' take on America. Giuliani famously showed his disdain for art when he tried to shut down the Brooklyn Museum's 1999 Sensation show because of Ofili's painting of the Virgin Mary that used elephant dung. Ah, the Whitney, trying to drum up their attendance with lightning rods. Gothamist is waiting for some hysterical coverage from the Post and Fox News. more ›