Frank Nardi, Jr. (pictured), who appeared as a surprise guest on Fox reality show Moment of Truth to ask his married ex-girlfriend Lauren Cleari if she believes she should have married him instead, has come forward to tell the New York Post that he “really just wants all of this to be over.” The Post’s weekly circulation is usually in the neighborhood of 650,000. Cleari, an aspiring actress who works part-time at a hair salon,......

THEATER: Hemingway’s play The Fifth Column takes its now-familiar name from the Spanish Civil War, when General Emilio Mola, advancing on Madrid with four columns of troops, boasted of a hidden “fifth column” of fascist sympathizers waiting within the city. Hemingway, of course, was there for the action as a newspaper correspondent and dashed off the play while fascists bombarded his hotel. His rarely produced drama tells the “surprisingly funny story of the private......

Forget about Missed Connections on the Craigslist, the only way to find love this Valentine's Day is by hailing Ahmed Ibrahim's cab. The Daily News reports on the cabbie with cupid tendencies, saying he's spent years playing matchmaker to his patrons. His record is pretty impressive, he's organized 70 "real dates," 19 of which turned into relationships that lasted over a year. The numbers could be higher but Ibrahim is selective on who he sets......

Seattle 86 Knicks 85: Make it a clean sweep, for their opponents that is. The Knicks lost all five games on their west coast swing blowing four second half leads along the way. Nate Robinson had a chance for a game-winning shot with time running out, but he missed and the Knicks will take a long flight home and have only a little time to prepare for Monday’s game with the Clippers. Atlanta 104 Nets......

Nets 87, Bucks 80: For one night at least, Jason Kidd did his best to help the Nets get maximum value in a trade. The Nets also proved that even they couldn't find a way to lose a weak team playing without its best player (Michael Redd). The fans cheered loudly for Kidd before the game, so they either want him gone -- and are cheering his efforts to leave -- or love him so......

Geez, the weather this winter has been uneventful. There's no letup of dull weather in sight, at least in New York. We took a gander at LAist this morning only to see that Los Angeles has more snow than Gotham City. The massive west coast storm has dropped up to eighteen inches of snow at higher elevations in Los Angeles County. Today is sunny, slightly cool and windy. Tomorrow: Clouds, slightly less cool and not......

Last week we were tipped off to a new, nearby festival temporarily dubbed Coachella East, because of it's relation to the mammoth west coast fest and their shared event producer. Now we learn the proper name, All Points West, and some more details from the press release:The three-day event is set for August 8, 9 and 10, 2008 at Liberty State Park in New Jersey. This historic location offers panoramic views of the Statue of......

Photo of a house in Victorian Flatbush via mercurialn's Flickr. Brooklynometry has a heartwarming tale from the days of old New York. The story is of one anonymous Brooklynite's family home in Victorian Flatbush which was about to be lost during the Depression when a west coast well-wisher stepped in and purchased it for $1 (plus taxes). The catch was that she promised to leave it to the family in her will.Thankfully she was......

Goldenvoice concerts, the people who bring the West Coast Coachella each year, are now planning a similar concert for us East Coasters. And it's set to be right in our very own backyard. Sort of. We're told the event will happen at an outdoor space that we are not allowed to disclose at this time, but we will say it's in Sopranos territory (and not Vineland). We hear you may just be able to reach......

Are you ready to meet the Real Housewives of New York City? Bravo is spinning off their Orange County-based reality show with a look into the lives of some select East Coast ladies. The show will air March 4th, and The Daily News reports that the "stars" will be Bethenny Frankel, LuAnn de Lesseps (that's Countess, to you), Ramona Singer and Jill Zarin of the Upper East Side and Alex McCord of Cobble Hill.......

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." The 58,000 square-foot space is being offered together or subdivided and may become another retail space or (wait for......

After Letterman announced his show's comeback with new episodes, writers' strike or no writers' strike, the leaders of late night all followed suit. Conan O'Brien, who has been growing a "strike beard" and paying his non-writer employees out of pocket, will return on January 2nd -- and his West Coast network-mate, Jay Leno, will do the same. Yesterday the WGA released the following statement regarding this move.“The AMPTP walked away from the bargaining table on......

Last week Gothamist was in San Francisco for the third time this year. It was sunny and warm and we took an odd pleasure in watching the natives hustle about wearing wool hats and gloves. In our three trips to the west coast we managed to avoid the Valentine's Day snow storm, the April nor'easter and resultant flooding, and last week's snowy/icy/rainy pair of storms. We will leave it to our readers to decide......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., HBO) A look at America's favorite insult comic and last surviving member of the “Rat Pack”, the octogenarian Don Rickles from director John Landis. Everyone from Chris Rock to Bob Newhart to Clint Eastwood to Sidney Poitier talk about the comic. 1968 (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., History Channel) 1968 was a turbulent and tragic year and Tom Brokaw not......

Barack may have Oprah, but the stagehands' and writers' union have John Edwards! The former senator, currently in third place after Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the hunt for the Democratic presidential nomination, voiced his support of Local One, the Broadway stagehands union that has been on strike since November 9 over a new contract. Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said, "To interfere with the power of the Broadway community is not......

Stars 3, Rangers 2: What good is outshooting the opponent 41-18 if it doesn't lead to a win? That's what the Rangers have to ask themselves after Sunday's disappointing loss to the Stars. No matter how this game is measured -- except for the score that is -- the Rangers appeared to outplay the Stars. Mike Smith repeatedly stifled the Blueshirts' attack, however, and goals from Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan didn't end up as......

Why Brendan Keefe Left WCBS Last week we mentioned that Brendan Keefe, late of WCBS, is now and anchor at the ABC affiliate in Cincinnati, WCPO. He started this week and he revealed to the Cincinnati Post some of his reasons for leaving New York for Ohio. He told the paper, "We wanted a place to raise a family that we could call home for a long time." He also gave a slight dig to......

After reading this, you may think twice about having a seat in Union Square. The website peeped some peeping toms in the area, visually depicted above (they added a "red carpet" to illustrate the "peeper zone"). They also tell us that a "peeper live zone" can contain up to two dozen pervs at one time and can extend up to 30 feet. We wonder what they do when summer skirt season comes to an......

What's eBay good for if not finding a place to buy and sell things like...John Gotti's cufflinks? The Dapper Don's 14 karat gold cufflinks were given to the eBay seller's father, Jim Smith. Get ready for a 20 second history lessson: Jim Smith was the right hand man to Mickey Cohen, who was the right hand man to Ben "Bugsy" Siegel. When Bugsy was whacked, Cohen took over the West Coast "operations", and eventually wrote......

Jerry Stahl, author of the critically lauded Permanent Midnight and I, Fatty, returns to New York to read selections from his latest release Love Without, a collection of short stories that's humorous, disturbing, poignant, and a must read for any lover of great fiction. In Love Without, you write about a young boy having a sexual encounter with an older woman. Did you have any similar encounters growing up? I wish. Though if I had,......

Mayor Bloomberg has been an independent all of a couple days, but there is tons of ink being devoted to his chances. The most interesting story is from the NY Sun, which offers various scenarios where Bloomberg could win the 2008 presidential election (not that he wants to run for president). For instance, he'd need the Northeast, West Coast, Florida, and Heartland states like Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, etc. And if "extreme" candidates run in......

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti......

It's been more than 30 years since David Berkowitz began his drawn out killing spree that paralyzed New York City with fear. Perhhaps roused by the release of the movie "Zodiac" in March, which details the pursuit of an infamous west coast serial killer who was never caught, Berkowitz is desirous of some public attention. He sat down with a reporter for WCBS news for an extensive interview in a program that will air in......

The special US Postal Service-Star Wars R2D2 mailboxes have arrived, just in time to get acquainted with NYC-style slush. WNBC has a slideshow of a mailbox in Midtown, and we suppose the horrible sleet kept some fans away, lest they sully their Jedi robes. Some readers noted that there were R2D2 mailboxes outside the Kaufman Studios in Astoria as well as on Mott and Bayard in Chinatown, in addition to Manhattan locations of 43rd and......

Metro reports that the city’s ban on dancing in bars, restaurants and certain clubs is legal, according to the state appeals court. The law was enacted in the prohibition era. The Gotham West Coast Swing Club filed a lawsuit regarding the city’s 80-year-old Cabaret Law stating it illegally infringed on their right of free expression. The appeals court stated that “recreational dancing is not a form of expression protected by the federal or state constitutions.”......

While you’re touring New York’s Beat Generation landmarks, drop by the Grey Art Gallery to find out what the “community of disaffiliates” were doing out in San Francisco. You’ll discover through Semina Culture that they were hanging out with Wallace Berman. Instead of cutting up and rearranging his own writing like William S. Burroughs was doing, Berman published a cut-and-paste-style arts journal called Semina that showcased his friends’ talent alongside found objects. “Semina was sent......

Busy, busy day in the Gothamist weather center. First, yesterday's temperatures were exactly normal. Our high of 38 and low of 26 were precisely equal to the average high and low for January 11th. Thus Central Park's streak of above normal temperatures ends at 32 days. However, our streak of no below normal temperatures continues into its 34th day today. That streak is likely to end next week as major changes are taking place......

Knicks 99, Blazers 81: When the Knicks win, they can usually thank Eddy Curry. The big man took congratulations again for leading the Knicks to a victory in Portland, their first on this five-game West Coast swing. After seeing his team drop games to the Suns, Clippers and Kings, Curry helped his team stop the bleeding by dumping 27. Jamal Crawford -- who, behind Curry, might be the most consistent Knick -- had 25. Knicks......

If it weren't for this morning's lingering fog, we'd be warming up to near sixty degrees this afternoon. Instead temperatures will probably only reach the mid-50s. Still, that's at least ten degrees above normal. Another weak cold front moves through town this evening. The front's passage will clear out the skies and bring in slightly cooler air tomorrow. That particular burst of "cool" air, it will still reach the low-50s on Saturday, won't last long.......

December 1 & 2: Warm Up with Mulled Wine Stop by The Greene Grape and learn how to make this toasty winter warmer from the authors of DRINKOLOGY EATS: A Guide to Bar Food and Cocktail Party Fare. Using a recipe from their new book, James Waller and Ramona Ponce will share their expertise in making this festive drink, and they will be happy to sign a copy of any of their DRINKOLOGY books as......