Since Best Buy is constantly looking to build on its existing culture of innovation and tailor its stores to the needs of local customers, the electronic retail powerhouse figures, "Heck, why not open a 24-hour spot down there in New York City's Union Square?" That's right, Best Buy's CEO Brian Dunn announced today that a 24-hour, 48,000 square-foot location (the old Circuit City) will open its doors at the corner of 14th Street and 4th Avenue, the heart of historic "please don't run into me with your skateboard" Union Square, on Nov. 13. more ›

The Virgin Megastore in Union Square has officially closed (get ready for Nordstrom). Yesterday was the last day the doors were open to bargain hunters, who only had about two tables of remaining merchandise to browse (allegedly stocked with plenty of Jonas Brothers memorabilia). The NY Times reports on what was "the last large-scale record store in New York City," saying that while the closure isn't surprising, it is dispiriting. One analyst told the paper, “The Titanic that is physical media started slowly sinking in 2000. Certainly this is a traumatic event for those who worked there, but it’s an expected product of the digital transition.” While there may not be any more larger chain record stores left in the city, there are some independents left, and come June 20th they'll be celebrating Vinyl Saturday, "which will feature specially produced records by artists like Wilco and Modest Mouse to draw customers." And those fancy digitized music files are nothing compared to the sound of a needle hitting vinyl. more ›

Those fearing a Wal-Mart might be moving to Union Square can breath a sigh of relief...for now. While the shuttered Times Square Virgin Megastore transitions into a Forever 21, WWD is reporting that the Nordstrom folks might be taking over the Virgin Megastore space. The real deal high price Nordstrom department store you've seen in the mall isn't looking to move in, however, it's their discount shop called The Rack that would be unpacking there. A spokeswoman for Nordstrom told WWD, “We looked at Union Square and would like to have a Rack in Manhattan. Nothing is signed yet. We are talking to them.” But word is the lease is "very, very close" to being signed. more ›

It's official, Virgin Megastores nationwide will cease to exist come this June. Billboard notes that while the store failed in its Times Square space, it may have stayed afloat in a smaller storefront in the area. Moving in to the Times Square address next is retailer Forever 21, a much less controversial announcement than the recent rumors of a Wal-Mart moving into the Union Square space, an idea that caused an uproar amongst some locals. However, the pro-Big Box set credit the big name Megastore for revitalizing the Union Square area, "which 10 years ago was filled with bargain stores and pot dealers." One of the head honchos at Virgin Entertainment asks, "What will happen there now with both us and Circuit City leaving at the same time?" Reverend Billy probably has some ideas. more ›

In 2006 Tower Records tumbled, only to be followed by rumors in 2007 of New York's Virgin Megastores being the next to close up shop. Originally the Union Square outpost was supposed to be closing by February of 2009, but now it's confirmed that the Times Square one will actually be shutting down first...or as the NY Post put is: "come April, there'll be one less Virgin in Manhattan." more ›

THEATER: Lisa Kron’s solo play 2.5 Minute Ride, which won an OBIE when it premiered at the Public Theater in 1999, is currently being revived with Nicole Golden as the autobiographical “Lisa.” The play concerns Lisa's attempts to make a documentary about the life of her father, a German Jew who survived the Holocaust but lost his parents at Auschwitz. 2.5 Minute Ride finds him, in his later years, a blind diabetic with a heart condition and a passion for roller coasters. Allison Taylor deems it as comical as it is intense; a “patchwork of anecdotes about Kron's family, including memories of her Midwestern mother; an annual trip with her embarrassing relatives to the Cedar Point amusement park; and her brother's Orthodox wedding… genuinely poignant and simultaneously funny.” - John Del Signore more ›

THEATER: Under the Radar, arguably New York’s most exciting theater festival, begins today at The Public Theater and a few other odd locations like the Whitehall Ferry terminal. (There are also a few shows at the Classic Theatre of Harlem, P.S. 122 and The Kitchen.) One of the most buzzed about site-specific shows is Etiquette by the London company Rotozaza. It was a surprise hit at last year’s Edinburgh Festival; here the experience takes place at the East Village Ukrainian restaurant Veselka and involves only two actors: you and a friend (or stranger). It’s described as “a private theatrical experience for two people in a public space; the participants take a seat across from each other at a small table (the stage), put on headphones and follow a recorded script, complete with stage directions taking them through a half-hour play, in which they are both performers and audience.” And after the show, you can get pirogies with the cast! – John Del Signore more ›

with illustrator Dan Goldman, which is "a spoof of the network news, the war in Iraq, and the burgeoning 'citizen journalism' movement set in the near future." Expect a lively discussion about all of the above! more ›

they'd just auction them off. more ›

Word on the street is that Union Square's mammoth Virgin Megastore is closing up shop sometime between now and February 2009. Billboard reports the space is "being offered by a real estate broker for 2009 availability. According to retail sources, New York-based Winick Realty is shopping the space and has sent out packages highlighting its features." more ›

EVENT: Tonight, as part of the recurring Upstairs at the Square event, Nellie McKay plays tunes from her latest, Obligatory Villager and host Katherine Lanpher talks with author and filmmaker Antonio Monda. Monda's new book Do You Believe? Conversations on God and Religion will hit shelves soon -- and tonight he'll relay the discussions he had about religion with folks like Spike Lee and David Lynch. 7pm // Barnes & Noble [33 E 17th St]... more ›

Earlier this year bootleg DVDs became even more illegal in New York, and now there's a new way "the man" is cracking down on the bootleggers: with puppies! Metro reports that:

“Dogs are used to sniff out bodies, bombs and drugs,” said Malcolm, who’s now the chief of worldwide anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association of America. “We just needed to see if they could be trained to smell the unique chemicals in DVDs. Lo and behold, they can.”

To drum up interest in Creative Suite 3, Adobe put up a new interactive billboard on 14th Street outside the Virgin MegaStore this morning. From NY Times:

As pedestrians walk past the wall, infrared sensors will lock on to the person closest to the wall, who will then be able to control a projected slider button at the bottom of the wall. more ›

EVENT: The New York Book Club at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum presents…"Breaking News: How the Associated Press Has Covered New York City". The panelists include "Hal Buell, longtime AP photo editor who put images of the Vietnam War in newspapers across America; Richard Drew, AP photographer who has covered New York events including 9/11; Edie Lederer, longtime UN correspondent and first woman to be the foreign chief of bureau; and Valerie Komor, corporate archives director of the AP." more ›

If you've ever wondered what the big deal is with fear-mongering over "big-box stores" and anonymous-looking architecture, The New York Sun directs your attention to Union Square. Once an aesthetically vibrant town point of commercial assembly, and it will probably always remain as such, the square is developing a severe style deficiency with all the warmth of a mall food court. James Gardner assesses the latest development around 14th Street:

The larger of the two, which is slightly less bad, is 8 Union Square South, which rises above what was once a four-story glass stair tower that Morris Lapidus designed for Crawford Clothes, a building whose survival was being debated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission even as the structure was undergoing demolition two years back. more ›

READINGS: Russell Simmons has written a self-help book and will be at Border's today promoting it (okay, now all of this recent noise he's making makes more sense)! It's called "Do You! 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success." None of the laws include any of these three words. more ›

EVENT: McSweeney's Presents an all-star benefit will feature an indie-rock supergroup made up of Dante Decaro and Hadji Bakara (of Wolf Parade), Nick Diamonds and Jamie Thompson (of Islands), Amber Webber (of Black Mountain) and Syd Butler (of Les Savy Fav). Authors Joshua Davis (Underdog), David Rakoff (Fraud) and Rodney Rothman (Early Bird) will also be on hand. And that's not all! Daily Show correspondent John Oliver will be on hand for some laughs. All proceeds benefit 826NYC and 826LA. more ›

, has a lot of explicit, "real" sex in it, but the real turn on for the filmmaker is obviously New York. As the camera swoops around the gorgeously constructed mini-Manhattan and Brooklyn models, you can't help but feel your heart soar with love for our crazy, dysfunctional, and beautiful city. more ›

If Justin Timberlake is being credited for bringing sexy back, then the Scissor Sisters can be credited for bringing disco, fun and colorful stage shows back. The (mostly) New Yorkers are back in town tomorrow night, taking the stage at MSG. Babydaddy recently took the time to answer some questions for us (he's the one in the pink pantsuit). more ›

DISCUSSION: Tonight Thurston Moore and Jim Jarmusch will have a little talk, titled "Transforming New York: Music and Film at Night". This is in conjunction with Doug Aitken's sleepwalkers, so Aitken will be there too, and the three discuss nighttime, just after the sun goes down. more ›

Yeah, I know what you mean. I think I’m like that certainly. I don’t really play vinyl, though I do collect all these records. But one of the reasons I like to put out these albums is because some of these things have never been available on CD, and once they are then disc jockeys can play them forever. They can’t fade away like the old 45 does that I’ve had in my drawer for 20 years, or 50 years. So basically that’s the main thing, trying to get these songs to a new audience. None of these songs would be played together at one time on the same CD. I’m sort of like curating an art show or something. Trying to show you different styles of music that are all extreme, but all unironic in real life and kind of beautiful. I don’t think any of them are so bad they’re good. more ›

THEATER: The Sisyphean life of an “emerging” playwright is often confined to a seemingly endless series of play readings, half-baked workshop productions, and audience-feedback bull sessions that often culminate not in a real production but more of the same. Tonight a group of theater people get together to bitch have an exchange about this now-entrenched play development process. The symposium is moderated by Time Out NY theater critic David Cote and features Richard Nelson, Playwright and Chair of the Department of Playwriting at the Yale University School of Drama, playwright/13P co-founder Madeleine George, and dramaturg/theatrical agent Morgan Jenness. - John Del Signore more ›

Things are starting to pick up around here. The weather was nice, people were out leaving the cave from the post-New Years hibernation and getting back on their feet. It's still coming around, but the rock scene is starting to show some life as well... more ›

READINGS: Brooklyn-based writer and publicist Jennifer Gilmore reads tonight at Coliseum from her buzzy debut novel, , which follows the intersecting lives of three Jewish American families from the 1920s through the 1960s. - Krissa Corbett Cavouras more ›

FILM: The Fusion Film Festival runs thoughout the weekend. The festival was founded in 2004 by NYU students and aims to "highlight the excellence of female filmmakers within the student body and the industry" as well as to inspire future filmmakers. The event is comprised of student screenplay readings, film screenings and in competition, a Master Class, Industry Screening, Retrospective, Industry Panel, and of course...the after party. more ›

Of course, after the storm of '06 hits we suggest snowball fights. Prior to the snowfall, however, we offer up the following... more ›

Perhaps concerned that the weekend would be slow, the media got itself wrapped up into a "Cyber Monday" frenzy, claiming that people would go wild on the Internets after maybe not going so wild at the mall. Gothamist loves us some online shopping, but what about when it's December 24 and you realize you're headed to a party where you need to offer up a gift with a value not exceeding $10? Then it's off to the "Previously Viewed" DVD bin at the Virgin Megastore! Or ten crisp singles. We didn't end up online shopping today, but we did think about updating our wishlist. more ›

-Finally, check back tomorrow for our coverage of the Mayoral debate (which you too can watch, or TiVo, at 9 A.M. on channel 7). more ›

Andrew and Evan, Glassblowers more ›

So it's almost time to go home for the holidays, and you as a New Yorker have to bring the best presents. You know that right? The rest of your non-New Yorker friends and family look to you for your urban hipness, don't let them down. more ›