After Hillary Clinton's started airing a commercial in Wisconsin questioning why Barack Obama declined to appear in another debate, Obama came back with his own ad. The voiceover says:After eighteen debates, with two more coming, Hillary says Barack Obama is ducking debates? It's the same old politics, the phony charges, and false attacks. On health care, even Bill Clinton's own labor secretary [Robert Reich] even says Obama covers "more people" than Hillary and does......

Eight separate unions representing Amtrak workers are threatening to go on strike as early as January 30th if they are not presented with new contracts, which they've worked without for years. A strike would hurt more than people taking the Acela between Washington D.C. and Boston. If Amtrak workers strike, it would close Penn Station and hundreds off thousands of daily commuters on the Long Island Rail Road, NJ Transit, and Amtrak would be seriously......

A Brookings Institution study reveals that New York is a great place for walking, with 21 out of 21 walkable urban places. But Washington D.C. is the most walkable on a per capita basis while New York is ranked 10th, because New York is measured as the NYC metro area, including NJ, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The study's author, Christopher B. Leinberger, admits there are issues with the methodology, namely that walkable places are weighted the......

This summer, when Jeremy Blake walked into the Rockaway Beach surf, he left many with a lot of questions...and he left his life's work behind. His films, C-prints, drawings and paintings are now hanging in homage at his memorial exhibit at Kinz, Tillou, & Feigen. Opening last week and running through January 5th, the show will even include the incomplete piece he was still working on at the time of his death:His sixth solo exhibition......

When Governor Spitzer announced he was dropping his controversial plan to offer driver's licenses to illegal immigrants yesterday, he was praised by his fellow Democrats. The NY Times notes that the decision won Spitzer "the kind of wide acclaim from elected officials that he could not win for the proposal itself." And that's gotta sting a little. Spitzer had first introduced a broad plan to allow illegal immigrants to get licenses, which caused outcry from......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a two alarm fire at 80 Washington St in Lower Manhattan; an aircraft emergency at JFK this morning; two pedestrians struck on E. 53rd St.; and a "possible A.I. job" (whatever that is) in Woodhaven. The NYCLU objected yesterday to the number of cases the Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated. The board, which investigates police misconduct, only substantiated 5% of the cases, but that's actually higher than that of......

New York, we're disappointed. This fine city isn't number one - or even number two - in its addiction to e-mail. Actually, that's probably a good thing. A study by AOL found that New York is only the third most e-mail addicted city in the country, ranking below Washington D.C. and Atlanta. With the increased of e-mail capable phones like the BlackBerry, the iPhone, or even with people using their laptops at dinner, it's not......

Mayor Bloomberg headed to Washington D.C. to ask for more federal aid related to September 11 illnesses. The NY Times noted that Bloomberg was "surrounded at the hearing mostly by Democratic lawmakers from New York who have sought more aid for 9/11-related health problems" and "The two Republican senators present asked gentle questions." Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican and a physician, said he did not doubt that there were “a lot of pulmonary problems......

On March 13, 1967 Channel 5 launched the first prime time newscast in the tri-state area, just a few months after sister station WTTG in Washington D.C. became the first station in the United States with one. Since then, a lot has changed but there are still a few constants like the seemingly eternal question, “It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?” In 1967, channel 5, then called WNEW-TV, had been......

In Congressional testimony in Washington D.C. yesterday, deputy NYPD commish Richard Falkenrath told lawmakers that he wakes up every morning braced for another terrorist attack. The method of attack? Simultaneous detonation of satchel bombs. Falkenrath, who was testifying in front of the Homeland Security Committee on a mass transit bill, also told House members that there have been 22 bomb threats and 31 leads related to subway attack plots this year. The proposed bill......

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg announced plans to expand the city's response for World Trade Center-related health illnesses, after a panel found many things, such as many people didn't even know there's a WTC health program at Bellevue. Now the city plans to ask Washington D.C. for $150 million a year for programs; establishing new to keep everyone aware of what's going on; and, perhaps most importantly, reopening the Victim Compensation Fund and ending various legal disputes......

If there's one thing the revelation that Al Qaeda was planning a cyanide attack on NYC subways is good for, it's making New York City and State politicians foam at the mouth over the Department of Homeland Security's NYC anti-terror fund slashing. Al Qaeda did not end up attacking the subways because security was increased and there wouldn't be enough fatalities. Senator Charles Schumer said, "This is just more evidence that what Homeland Security......

- Orioles 6, Mets 3: For the Mets, their 8-game winning streak had to end sometime, and that sometime was last night against the Orioles in a rematch of the 1969 World Series. Alay Soler struggled at the start of the game, but it he pitched well enough to give the Mets a chance for their 9th straight victory. Aaron Heilman blew the save and the Mets chances at victory in the 7th inning......

Wow! Butterstick, the panda at the Washington D.C. zoo, is getting huge! When Jen gets back from Hawaii on Tuesday, she's absolutely going to flip out over these pictures. And if you are having a lazy Saturday, we recommend you sit back, throw on this slideshow of the full Butterstick Flickr stream-- 2800+ panda photos! Image above by Somesay on Flickr.......

Oh, Anthony Weiner, what's up with you pulling a Schumer and having a Sunday press conference? And a press conference for you to bitch about the MTA's lax trash can security, no less? For those of you not hanging on every word Mr. Weiner has to say, the gist of his conference was this: IN 2004, after the subway bombings in Madrid, a directive came down from the Department of Homeland Security telling the MTA......

Whew, it's not a nice day out. You might even say that it is cold, wet, and generally unpleasant. Luckily for you, Gothamist knows what you need: Cute, adorable little pandas. Specifically, Washington D.C.'s newest panda, Tai Shan (a.k.a. Butterstick) who is all set to meet his public on Decemeber 8. And what a public he's got. The National Zoo made some 13,000 timed-entry tickets available to the public on Monday only to have only......

Rick Burnley, Poet/Activist ...

Mayor Bloomberg goes to Berlin to forward the city's Olympic bid, and what happens? His "friend," former Senator and current New School President Bob Kerry tells the NY Times that he might just run for mayor. Kerrey is annoyed with the Mayor's lack of success in getting Washington D.C. to fork over substantial Homeland Security funds to secure NYC and the Mayor's reluctance to really tangle with the Republican-controlled Congress. Bloomberg had asked Kerrey to......

All attention is on Washington D.C. these few days, with President Bush's second Inauguration on deck. While the White House has its own information (yes, White House, America's Future does Rock - especially when Hillary Duff is performing!), but Gothamist highly recommends you check out DCist's Inauguration section, like how mylar balloons, if launched at the same time, could cause problems for the festivities. Newsday notices that all the big events this weekend are happening......

New York City Transit, the part of the MTA that oversees five-borough transport like subways and buses, revealed at a conference in Washington D.C. that the MTA New York Region > Because of Heavy Use of Discount Fares, M.T.A. Raised Less Than Expected in 2003" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/11/nyregion/11mta.html">made less than they thought they would after the 2003 fare hike. The NY Times writes that it was "because riders altered their buying habits more quickly and in......

As if sending a disproportionate amount of money to the Federal Government's coffers weren't enough, New Yorkers could get screwed again. That's if a proposed tax plan by the Bush Administration goes through. As much as $37 billion worth of deductions that New York residents take for local and state taxes would be eliminated under the plan. The New York Times reports that 38% of New Yorkers take some federal deduction for their state and......

Nancy Schafer, Tribeca Film Festival...

162 games after they began, the Mets have finally finished the season with a record of 71-91, good for 4th in the National League East. For what it's worth, the Mets improved from last year when they finished last in the NL East and with 5 less wins. The season ended with a win against the Montreal Expos, a team that moving to Washington D.C. and the retirement of Todd Zeile and possibly the......

The big protest march organized by United for Peace and Justice has its swelling mass of people heading around Madison Square Garden, where convention preparations are underway. Rabblerouser and USA Today guest columnist Michael Moore is marching near the front with Rev. Jesse Jackson and UPJ's Leslie Cagan, and CNN showed actor Danny Glover also in the crowd; Glover was arrested earlier this week during a protest in Washington D.C. about humanitarian efforts in Sudan.......

There are two words Gothamist has in our mind and they are "road trip" - what with the upcoming May 10th unveiling of the Washington D.C. public arts program, Panda Mania. Readers Eugene, Matt and corie let us know that the Washington Post glimpsed inside the artists' studios where many of the pandas are being painted, complete with slideshow of panda painting. Plus, one of the artists, Victoria Palley, gave us some more details......

Anthony of CityCynic points the way to the best marriage of Legos and television: The four-foot tall Lego Homer, by Sean Kenney, the brilliant mind behind the Lego'd New York, Brick Apple. Kenney details Lego Homer's construction for a Washington D.C. area client. Kenney is also offering a replica of this 3-D Homer for $4500 and, folks, Homer doubles as a beer holder. The Simpsons official site. A great Simpsons episode guide. For those without......

If you're headed to Washington D.C. in the next few months, go to the Smithsonian to check out the Splendor of Diamonds exhibit, which runs till mid-September. Six of the rarest diamonds in the world will be on display, including the 101.29 carat fancy yellow and the sixth largest colorless diamond ever found, the 203.04 carat DeBeers Millennium - composed purely of carbon atoms. CNN reports that while merchants refuse to put a price on......