Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck at 186th St. and Amsterdam in Manhattan, a child was struck and killed by a car on 130th Ave. and Springfield Blvd. in Queens, and a pedestrian was struck by a Bobcat (motorized work vehicle) on Monroe St. and Catherine Slip in Manhattan. Ironic Sans examines the new animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and finds specific references to it taking place in NYC, but a......

The Simpsons Movie (directed by David Silverman) This weekend marks the move of America's favorite dysfunctional family the Simpsons from the suburbs of television to the urban center of the big screen. After all of the viral marketing of Simpson-ified magazine editors, real life Kwik-E-Marts and ticket giveaways, is it too much to hope that there's still fresh material to be mined from the long-running animated sitcom? According to the critics, the movie is just......

Who doesn't love the ice cream man? Not many people. Which is why Matt Allen is pretty popular, since he is, after all, THE Ice Cream Man. Allen drives around the country handing out free frozen treats - so far his travels have taken him (and his '69 Chevy ice cream truck affectionately named Bessie) from St. Jude Children's Hospital to Bonnaroo to McCarren Park Pool (where he'll be this Sunday). Recently, we asked him......

We were glad to see The New York Times giving front-page treatment (of the Metro section anyway) to a group of city employees who probably don't get as much recognition as they deserve. The Times' Ellen Barry was on hand for the 20th Annual Operators' Challenge yesterday, where six teams competed to determine who was the best of the best among city sewer workers. The OC is run by the Dept. of Environmental Protection's Bureau......

Air Guitar Nation (directed by Alexandra Lipsitz): Sure, you can jam like Jimi Hendrix returned from the dead alone in your bedroom, but can you wail with your invisible guitar on stage in front of thousands of people? The quest for the lofty title "world air guitar champion" is the story of the documentary, Air Guitar Nation, which begins a theatrical run in New York this weekend at the Angelika. Inspired by a Wall Street......

Testimony in the trial of Paul Cortez, accused of murdering ex-girlfriend Catherine Woods, was completed yesterday after the prosecution questioned Cortez. The prosecution tried to prove that Cortez was jealous of Woods' ex-boyfriend David Haughn, who still lived with Woods even while they were broken up and Woods was dating Cortez. Assistant DA Peter Casolaro said, "Your competition was an inarticulate, uneducated, slow, not-much-to-look-at rube from Ohio, right?" after saying that Cortez was "physically fit,......

Happy Friday the 13th! Get out there and tempt fate this weekend... MUSIC: Songs of Rebellion brings musicians and artists together to invoke songs and images of rebellion. Some come out and get stirred up! Participants include Lenny Kaye, Invert, Kenny Wollesen, Marc Ribot, Rebecca Moore, Bonfire Madigan, Hanifa Walidah, John Frazier, Jeff Lewis, Seth Tobocman (slides and music with Eric Blitz, Steve Wishnia and Emilio (zef) China), and filmmaker Jem Cohen. Little know fact:......