There was a smorgasbord of inter-borough hamburger love last night at the chandelier-bedazzled Astoria World Manor in Queens for the inaugural Burger Battle of the Boroughs. Representing good taste in general at event sponsor Pat LaFrieda Meats's table, Seymour Burton chef de cuisine (and non-competitor) Josh Shuffman cooked the restaurant’s signature burger for spectators while the event was judged. At the judges’ table, author Arthur Schwartz seemed to have a beef (sorry) with Grub Street......

Imagine that final beach scene in Planet of the Apes, but substitute every small patch of sand for a chain restaurant and that’ll give you an idea of where the NY restaurant scene might be heading – all blown up, with Charlton Heston eventually smashing his fists into a huge pile of thermal cardboard coffee cup sleeves instead of foamy surf. Just a few weeks after Heston’s 2nd birthday in 1926, the very first White......

Santa came early and dumped some carnivorous coal down the throats of vegetarians in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood this weekend. The NY Press has reported that the beloved Veggie Castle – so named because it was converted from an old White Castle fast food restaurant – has abruptly closed. The Veggie Castle was as famous for repurposing the White Castle as it was for its vegetarian twist on Caribbean classics, offering such delicacies as jerk tofu,......

EVENT: White Castle is sponsoring an "over the top" (heh) event today at Port Authority...it's the 30th Annual White Castle Empire State Golden Arm Tournament of Champions. Over 100 ladies and gents will face off to become the arm wrestling champ! The event starts at 12:30 and the finals begin at 3:30pm. More info here. 12:30 and 3:30pm // Port Authority Bus Terminal [North Wing/Main Concourse at 625 8th Ave] // Free MUSIC: The Scotland......

It was reported last week that the 71 year-old Hartsdale, Westchester Carvel -- the very first outpost of the ice cream shop -- will likely be demolished at the end of next summer to make room for businesses that presumably make more money. Yes, the 68% milkfat solid, sidereal softy known as Cookie Puss is crying tiny crunchy tears as we speak; Flying Saucers are slowing down for their final approach. While the building’s current......

In the masses of offerings at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, there's quite a few strong New York-centric selections both in and out of competition to seek out. Granted at $25-$14 per, tickets for the festival don't come cheap, so if you're going to see something at the fest make it a local joint. Our favorite film so far at the festival has been West 32nd, a thriller directed by NYU alum Michael Kang (The......

They don't make "downtown It girls" like Edie Sedgwick any more, which is why it's fortunate that Andy Warhol spent so much time capturing her on camera during the height of their artistic collaboration. The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens is devoting a retrospective to these films starting this weekend and running through Apr. 8. Featuring 15 16 mm movies, many loaned by the Museum of Modern Art, the series also includes footage......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A carbon monoxide incident in Queens, a fatal jumper down in Manhattan, and number of stabbings in the Bronx Congratulations to the same-sex couples who are planning civil unions right after midnight tonight in NJ. Gowanus Lounge calls Ikea's public attitude about the destruction of historical records from the Todd Shipyard in Red Hook "nothing short of disdain and matter-of-fact dismissal" Another look at the White Castle's special Valentine's......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: aircraft emergency at JFK, manhole fires in Brooklyn, and a pedestrian struck at 40th and 7th. Squatting in Bushwick ain't all it's cracked up to be: "for a bathroom, Dan and Nate have two buckets, emptied daily — one in the common area and a somewhat more offensive one on the roof, forcing them to make haste with their business on increasingly cold winter days. The “pee bucket” froze......

Hopefully you’ve got your party stocked and ready to go for the game tonight. We’re getting ready to fake some real enthusiasm here, and we hope you can muster it, too. But if you really couldn’t care less about the game, hopefully you can put all that spirit into the food. If the holy trinity of chips, guacamole, and hot wings bores you, try fixing some more city specific dishes to help you and you're......

In the wake of a judge dismissing charges daredevil Jeb Corliss for his attempted jump off the Empire State Building, Mayor Bloomberg is very upset. "If I understand the ruling, just from reading the headlines, the judge said the guy did nothing wrong and should be able to jump off buildings with a single bound or whatever - I don't know where the judge is coming from. Whether it's legal, that's up to the court......

- The Village Voice has a good cover story on people living where the Atlantic Yards will be built - State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's granddaughter was found in Manhattan after she was missing for a couple of days - and the police have arrested a man in connection to what might be a kidnapping - Jennifer Moore had a chance to escape from her killer - The families of the defendents in......

The defense attorney of one of the men accused of beating up an off-duty police officer says his client will be cleared. Police Officer Eric Hernandez so badly injured when a group of men beat him at a White Castle that he was seemingly unable to hear an on-duty police officer's request for him to lower his gun, only the other officer to shoot him. The Bronx DA released footage of an interview with the......

Jay Smooth caught this quintessentially cheesy moment at Joe's on Bleecker Street on Sunday. Improbably, Adam Kuban from SliceNY did not get an invitation to the event. Related: White Castle wedding, McDonalds wedding.......

- Bizarre Kenneth Cole ads get the work over from Animal magazine - Howard Stern says he's staying on satellite radio which means his Sirius contract must be really ironclad - The Village Voice on the Worldwide Marijuana March: "We're here, we're high, get used to it!" the stoners shouted at baffled shoppers. "What do we want? Pot! When do we want it? Now!" - A new tape of the White Castle cop beating......

The boys at A Hamburger Today have let us know that May is National Hamburger Month. This month-long celebration is being sponsored by White Castle (we hear they know a thing or two about burgers, having been in the burger biz for 85 years). If you feel like commemorating the occasion, you can always send someone an e-card, but we recommend celebrating the right way -- by diving right in to a big, juicy burger......

Sure, you might think of Christopher Meloni as the always angry Detective Eliot Stabler on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but he's also had some indelible roles in The Runaway Bride, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Wet Hot American Summer and, of course, Oz. We were perusing the official Christopher Meloni website when we found this great speech that Oz (and Homicide) creator Tom Fontana gave for him at a Human Rights......

The mother of police officer Eric Hernandez who died from shots fired by another officer is filing a lawsuit for $50 million in damages. Hernandez, who was off-duty when he visited a Bronx White Castle, had been beaten by a group of men and was crawling outside, with his gun in hand, when police officer Alfredo Toro responded to the scene. Toro, not realizing Hernandez was a fellow officer, shot him in the legs and......

- Be careful outside - there are 50-60 MPH winds out there! (And bundle up - it's getting colder.) - Uh oh: A four year old dies after choking on a "large" herbal pill that his mother told him to take - It turns out off-duty police officer Eric Hernandez died from gunshot wounds (from another cop who didn't know Hernandez was also a cop), not the beating from a group of men at a......

Yesterday, the Daily News revealed that Colin Farrell attended the funeral for police officer Eric Hernandez, the rookie cop who died from gunshot injuries (on-duty cop shot the off-duty and armed Hernandez, who had been roughed up by some men at a Bronx White Castle, in a sad case of mistaken identity). The story stated Hernandez, a star on the NYPD football team, had been among the players asked to appear as an extra in......

When we first saw that White Castle was having a special Valentine's Day at their locations, Gothamist hoped that someone would go. Thankfully, we have some friends that decided to (our better half hates White Castle). As promised, there were tablecloths, candles, and a host. As a bonus, diners wWe're told that the manager/greeter at the Metropolitan Ave White Castle even spoke French. White Castle? Nay, Le Chateau Blanc. There was even a crystal-like......

- The NY Sun and NY Times have editorials on the World Trade Center development - More World Trader Center-related controversy: Feds fund post-September 11 film that the government has no rights to - and the final film had naked people in it - The police officer shot outside White Castle was laid to rest today - Can it be? Producer Dick Wolf will produce a show with continuing plots - Nicole Richie will......

Eric Hernandez, the off-duty police officer who was taunted and beaten by a group of men at a Bronx White Castle last month, only to be shot multiple times by another police officer who thought he may have been a troublemaker as well, died yesterday after his family took him off life support. Hernandez had been in a coma for over a week, undergoing many surgeries including the partial amputation of a leg; tests showed......

- The off-duty cop who was beaten at White Castle and then shot by a responding officer died today when his family took him off life support - Blacklisted renters may not be as blacklisted anymore! - We feel bad for this NYC public school student who was somehow thrown from the bathroom of a field trip charter bus and landed on the shoulder of the Thruway - If Courtney Love is doing well......

Police Officer Eric Hernandez, the star of the NYPD football team, had part of his right leg amputated as his injured leg's condition worsened. Hernandez's right and left legs, as well as stomach, were shot when a fellow police officer, Alfredo Toro, appeared on the scene of a brawl at a Bronx White Castle. Hernandez had been beaten by a group inside the fast food joint, and was trying to leave when Toro came. It......

Three men suspected of beating off-duty police officer Eric Hernandez (pictured) at a White Castle in the Bronx were arrested. Edwin Rivera, Nelson Rodriguez, and Daryl Massey apparently knew Hernandez was a cop before beating him repeatedly; the White Castle surveillance tape released by the police led to tips about them. While battered, Hernandez had crawled outside, only to be shot by another police officer, Alfredo Toro, who thought he was one of the gang......

More news about the wild shooting of the off-duty police officer Eric Hernandez by another cop at a Bronx White Castle during massive confusion (there was a gang present): First of all, it looks like Hernandez was drunk, as his blood alcohol was twice the legal limit when he was admitted to the hospital for the multiple gunshots. And police officers are not supposed to draw their guns when they are drunk; at the time......

What says romance more than a tiny little hamburger? White Castle is offering special Valentine's Day reservations at their locations. The Daily News says there will be a hostess to greet diners, and that there are even "cloth-covered, candlelit table as romantic music is piped in." This is the first time the Valentine's Day special is being offered in NYC, so if you want to make February 14 really memorable and you weren't quick enough......

Hmm, maybe there is something to the broken-windows theory about crime, you know, that stopping small crimes can lead to stopping bigger ones. Because two police officers pulled over a Dodge Caravan that ran a stop sign in Brooklyn last night, only to discover over 500 pounds of pot. And $25,000 cash. According to reports, the driver tried to run away, but the police apprehended him and the bounty. Marcus King of Florida was arrested......

Wither the McDonald's fries and black and white cookies? The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene want to Take the Trans Fat Out of New York! It's a big initiative to prevent cardiovascular disease, and the goal is lofty: To get NYC food establishments from restaurants to supermarkets to stop using or selling partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Yes, we're talking trans fats which makes foods shelf stable (think the bag of Oreos or bag......