Jen, a New Jersey-born New Yorker, edits Gothamist when not working at a NY advertising agency. She likes learning about the subway system's intricacies and how engineers design skyscrapers. She also hopes that one day a NYC zoo will have pandas.

Jake was born in Brooklyn and lives in Lower Manhattan. He attended PS321, JHS51, Stuyvesant, Columbia, and NYU, where he recently got an MBA. He claims to have never been away from New York City for more than ten weeks in the last thirty years. Surprisingly, his mortal enemy is... milk. You can learn more about Jake at jakedobkin.com.

Neil Epstein is a graphic designer with his hands in cookie jars around the city. He is left brain by day, right brain by night and no brain by the early morning hours. Neil is a New Yorker gone native who enjoys films, scuba diving, useless knowledge, shows about talking cars, and going feral in Prospect Park.

Tien Mao, a New York native, formed his sports allegiances in the mid-80's and will watch almost any sport on TV. For some strange reason, Tien owns more than 40 pairs of sneakers while only wearing about 3 pairs. When not taking pictures of himself eating, Tien is either updating his blog, swimming in stacks of The Times, watching a Netflix movie, chasing his cats around, or chilling in his Greenpoint apartment with a slice of pizza. Simply put, Tien needs to get out more.

Dave Hogarty is alternately a charming raconteur and tiresome pedant, depending on who you're asking and the hour. When not at his desk filling out baseball scorecards, he spends his free time walking NYC's streets asking questions about people and situations that are absolutely none of his business. His current great aspiration is to win The New Yorker Caption Contest. He is also left-handed and color blind.

By day Sam is an art director at a very important advertising agency on Madison Avenue. By night, he is the alcoholic partner of a kickass t-shirt shop, tiny factory. According to an article in a recent issue of Esquire, one needs a nemesis and an archenemy--two very distinct mortal enemies--to succeed in life. Sam has both. But Sam already knew he'd be a success when he got his TIVO.

Ever since her parents set her loose from the woodlands of Connecticut, Jennifer Carlson has been absorbing the New York music and arts scene. Now, over 10 years later, her appetite for the cultural wealth of the city remains wonderfully insatiable. Jennifer breathes in the stuff that makes New York unique, and gladly lets the best of it out for you to read on the Gothamist Arts+Events section. You can also find her take on all things pertinent on her website, Daily Refill.

John Del Signore first appeared on the world stage in the capital of our glorious Empire State, where he was destined to win a junior-high essay contest and be installed as Mayor for one brief, avaricious day. (Though he still won't stop talking about his 'political legacy', it's pretty much been all downhill from there.) Albany in ruins, he surfaced in the provincial backwater that is New York some twelve years ago and has participated in theater as a writer, performer, stage-hand, 'subway stationary artist' and usher.

Toby von Meistersinger watches a lot of television and knows a lot about the history of it, too. When not watching television, Toby enjoys photographing The Greater New York on foot or by bicycle in order to document things before, during and after they change along with the odd and interesting.Toby hopes to one day finish The Power Broker by Robert Caro.

Karen Wilson is a film writer and editor living in the East Village of Manhattan. She is an equal opportunity movie consumer, counting Contempt, Movern Callar and the Muppets Take Manhattan as some of her favorites. She is also known, in certain circles, as the Cinecultist.

Christina Piluso works full time as a print designer, and spends most of her days struggling to stay awake. At night she struggles to stay asleep. Born crafty, she loves to make stuff – including that of the edible variety. She’s a runner who is always hungry and she fully believes she has a tapeworm. His name is Gulliver.

Margaret Harper is taller than you. After earning a degree in Biological Anthropology at NYU (genes, forensics, and primates...oh my!), and doing a stint as a third and second grade teacher in East New York, she is currently home raising one naughty baby. She's a fan of the 'trial and error' method of parenting and is not afraid to share her results with the world.

Kelly Loudenberg is a freelance video journalist. She likes to shoot artists, actors, and activists who hijack corporate campaigns for their own. Many of her subjects are "culture jammers". Kelly once dreamed of being a CNN reporter before interning there. She studied broadcast news at NYU and wonders how she will ever pay those loans back. She posts all of her stories on her website.

Laren Spirer is yet another lawyer (albeit a non-practicing one) obsessed with food. In her ten years living in Greenwich Village, she has managed to eat well despite wildly vacillating changes in budget ranging from student to private practice to non-profit. When she is not cooking, eating out, drinking wine, or talking about food, she can be found teaching self-defense, cycling, or writing in her personal blog, Sweet Blog o' Mine.

Intrepid eater Joe DiStefano has lived in Queens for more than a decade. While he lives to savor hand-pulled noodles, Mexican goat blood sausage, Northern Chinese lamb shank, among other delicacies in his home borough, he's been known to enjoy a sake (or two or three) at some of Manhattan's finest izakayas. He's also been sighted eating and cooking barbecue in the guise of his meat and smoke-loving alter ego, Joey Deckle.

Beth is currently studying for a pastry diploma at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris. She'll be returning to New York in June. The foods she longs for most: pizza (oh, for a New York pizza!), burgers and bagels.

Mid-West expat and Woody Allen devotee, Nick was trained to scrimp during a semester in London, where there wasn't a bus he wouldn't take or a sit down meal he could afford. He survived on weekly doses of ramen, rice, potatoes, and bread sauteed in butter because he didn't have a toaster. With culinary ambitions now a tad higher, he tries to spend as little as possible on the most elaborate meals he can think of and writes about these discrepancies at the Paupered Chef. Most of his free time is spent reading cookbooks and thinking of a good excuse to stop working and drink wine. He currently lives with his girlfriend in what realtors call Carroll Gardens West, historians consider South Brooklyn, and which the local burger joint Schnack refers to as the "Gateway to Red Hook". Officially, he lives by Scnhack.

Tamara Lover, a self-professed wino, is an advertising executive by day and lush by night. Who are we kidding - she's trying to bring back the 3-martini lunch. Tamara has earned the Advance Certificate degree from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust of London and is currently a D.W.S. (diploma of wine and spirits) candidate. When not drinking, talking or writing about wine, she can be found watching the Family Guy box set, rocking out to old school hits and exploring the restaurants of this fabulous city.

Hugh Merwin is a writer living in Kensington, Brooklyn. He is currently writing his first novel.

Youngna hails from Niskayuna, NY, a town whose name means "Field of Corn." There are no cornfields there to her knowledge, but people are really good at soccer. She now lives in the East Village and likes to both eat and take photos with lots of enthusiasm. She also enjoys: chefs, puns, superlatives, and projects. Her photos can be found on her website.

Having spent the last decade ping ponging across the Hudson for college, med school and, finally, residency, Kapil is in the midst of learning how to read x-rays and forgetting how to read much else. When not sitting in the dark at work, he sits in the dark at home, writing an occasional Gothamist entry or catching up on re-runs or sleep - usually more of the former.

Jill Priluck is a writer and lawyer who for a time worked at a dictionary where "stoop ball" is an entry. She wears jeans whenever possible, makes her own vinaigrette and likes taking extra long walks (except during heat waves and when she's in a hurry). Her work has appeared in ARTnews, The New York Times, Salon and Wired News, among others, and in several anthologies.

Gideon used to be all about the word, but now he's all about the word plus image. He works as a writer, researcher and photoshop hand for a New York architectural design firm, and contributes writing to several publications. A native Brooklynite, Gideon returned to the most populous borough after growing up in Cincinnati and studying urban history at Columbia.

Rachel Kramer Bussel has edited several books including Up All Night: Adventures in Lesbian Sex and her latest, Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z. She writes the Lusty Lady column for The Village Voice and has also written for AVN, Blacktable.com, Bust, Oxygen.com, Penthouse, Playgirl, Punk Planet, Rockrgrl, The San Francisco Chronicle and others. Her erotic stories have been published in over 40 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004. She's lived in New York since 1996, and eats cupcakes every chance she gets. Visit her website and blog.

Ben Kharakh is the creator of the humor magazine One Trick Pony. His list of "Sexual Euphemisms That Won't Catch On" appears in Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans: The Best of McSweeney's Humor Category alongside a piece by Michael Ian Black, which means Ben is practically in the film Wet Hot American Summer.

Tien Mao, a New York native, formed his sports allegiances in the mid-80's and will watch almost any sport on TV. For some strange reason, Tien owns more than 40 pairs of sneakers while only wearing about 3 pairs. When not taking pictures of himself eating, Tien is either updating his blog, swimming in stacks of The Times, watching a Netflix movie, chasing his cats around, or chilling in his Greenpoint apartment with a slice of pizza. Simply put, Tien needs to get out more.

Tom Boorstein grew up in East Norwich -- that's on Long Island -- but adopted the Yankees as his first love. His hobbies, though some would call them obsessions, include running and watching too much baseball. He's an editor at WCSN.com by day or by night, depending on when events in weird sports are taking place.

Growing up in NYC, Peter spent an inordinate amount of time following sports in general and the Yankees in particular. Living in Boston for ten years required him to subdue this passion and become an embedded Yankee fan. Now that he is back in friendlier territory he is happy to openly root for the Bombers and all of the other New York teams. He can usually be found reading every sports section in town or watching too much baseball.

Joe Schumacher grew up in lake effect snow country in upstate New York. Joe liked the snow so much he majored in meteorology at college. When not enjoying the weather, Joe is busy blogging, eating Mexican food, and buying more CDs than is financially prudent.

Josh Reznick, Justin Case, Michael Barrish, Garth Johnston, Matt Kingston, Willa Pashkin, and Hilton Marcus.

Josh Abraham, Janine Annett, Liz Black, Mindy Bond, Branwen Buckley, Martha Burzynski, Chris Carlson, Krissa Corbett Cavouras, Ben Chappel, Joe DeSalazar, Aaron Dobbs, Raphie Frank, Jeremy Frost, Doug Gordon, Kyle Gustafson, Janelle Gunther, David Hirschman, Catherine Hopkinson, Mallory Jensen, Andrew Krucoff, Michael Malice, Nichelle Newsletter, Erin O'Brien, Lily Oei, Jay Parkinson, Kevin Porterfield, Rina Raphael, Jordana Rothman, Chris Steighner, Tom Thornton, Vittles Vamp, Brooklyn Vegan.