Photo courtesy Todd Hells Kitchen. File this one under unsurprising: The shiny new TKTS booth in Times Square that's supposed to finally open this month over 18 months late is also way over budget, the Post reports. The ambitious new discount theater ticket outlet, which features an all-glass skin with an amphitheater-style roof (pictured) and "a shimmering and floating carpet of color and light," has cost 100 percent more than its original $8 million estimate.......

Remember the plans for that fancy new TKTS theater ticket booth in Times Square that were unveiled back in Aught Six? Producer Ken Davenport (Altar Boyz) does, and the other day he was just wondering, you know, why the hell it’s not ready yet, since they originally said it would be open for business in just six short months. (The Times Square TKTS has been operating at the Marriot Marquis in the meantime.) So Davenport......

For the first time since November 8th, Local One, the stagehands’ union, is meeting with the Broadway producers’ league to talk it out. (Local One has been on strike since last Saturday over proposed changes to their contracts.) Insiders are expressing guarded optimism about the talks because they’re proceeding with the help of Disney’s senior V.P. of labor relations, Robert W. Johnson. Disney is not a member of the producers' league and thus not directly......

We're less than a week away from the Times Square Kiss-In! Every year on the anniversary marking the end of World War II, the Times Square Alliance invites couples (though strangers would be more appropriate) to come make out in the same spot this nameless couple did just 62 years ago. The nurse eventually outed herself in the '80s, once she was a safe distance from the more "dignified" times. That day there were 750,000......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: falling debris this afternoon on West 46th St. and 8th Ave. in Manhattan, an unstable building on Troutman St. in Brooklyn, and a dead body in the water off Manhattan's Battery. Reasoning it's not far and not hard to reach by water, Mayor Bloomberg thinks commuters will be happy to hitch a ride to Rockaway Beach on a ferry service from downtown Manhattan. A report from the Times Square......

Open House New York opens the doors to many New York spaces that you wouldn't likely ever see. Past tours have included 7 World Trade Center and the Lost City Hall Subway. Each October these tours are free, and throughout the year the series costs money. The Spring tours will include: • From Working Seaport to Living City Saturday, April 28, 2007, 10 am & 1 pm Please join urban studies and preservation educator Elizabeth......

The Times Square Alliance is getting ready for New Year's celebrations. They have been testing confetti for "airworthiness" - an especially important step since there will be 7,000 pounds of confetti dropped onto revelers. The 3 tons of confetti is actually much more than what is usually thrown on New Year's Eve - the Times Square NYE FAQ says that usually 1 ton is dropped. And this year, the confetti will have messages. The Daily......

Starting on November 3 Times Square is going to be doing a shuffle. In an attempt to clean up the mess of tourists, cars, vendors, cowboys and other obstacles the Department of Transportation and the Times Square Alliance are going to run a six-month test of a new traffic pattern. The biggest change in the new plan is the shutting down of the traffic lane which allows cars to stay on Seventh Avenue at......

With the mercury rising to high for the city's liking, Mayor Bloomberg held a press conference at the Office of Emergency Operations in Brooklyn to emphasize what the city is doing during the heat wave. We suspect he's trying to be extra visible and genially authoritative (check out the plaid shirt!) in order to salvage public opinion after the Queens blackout, but his words are important:“The heat wave affects New Yorkers in all five boroughs,......

Yes, the TKTS booth is moving from Duffy Square to the Marriott Marquis until December of this year while the new TKTS booth that looks like a huge red staircase (the ticket counters are under the stairs) is being constructed. But why did it take so long? Because the Times Square Alliance decided to spiff up Duffy Square, that sliver of land between Broadway and Seventh Avenues, between 47th and 46th Streets, in a......

The city is starting to brace itself for New Year's, with sanitation crews and the police at the ready. The weather is expected to break 50 degrees on Saturday, which means it won't be a New Year's Freezing Eve for once. Which also means insane crowds. (There is rain in the forecast, but that's supposed to clear up but hte evening). Have you rushed to the store to buy champagne, noisemakers, and low-fat food (for......

Times Square, the crossroads of the world, wants to be a little less roady and more of a place for pedestrians to cross. The Times Square Alliance has a ten point plan to further improve Times Square, namely to make it look more beautiful and for pedestrians to have an easier time of it. Times Square Alliance president Tim Tompkins said, "While Times Square is gorgeous from the neck up, it needs a makeover from......

In today's NY Times article about New York Region > Lots of Neon, Yes, But Try to Buy a Table Lamp" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/07/nyregion/07square.html">improving Times Square for residents, there is an incredible quote from Times Square Alliance director Tim Tompkins (left):"We used to focus on fewer whores. Now we are focused on more stores."Now that is a slogan, though not necessarily one that will bring in more business of a certain kind. The Times Square Alliance is......

As we're suckers for anything that involves silly jokes with government officials, Gothamist loves knowing that departing Secretary of State Colin Powell will drop the Times Square New Year's ball with Mayor Bloomberg. Mayor Bloomberg said, "Colin Powell is the American dream come true. He's done everything his country has ever asked." We have a feeling that when Powell pushes the button that will drop the 1000 pound Waterford crystal ball, he might be thinking,......

Sure, there are things more exciting than the prospect of public bathrooms in the Times Square subway station, but are they more practical? Gothamist really took a shine to the NY Times New York Region > A Toilet Stop in Times Sq.? Just Ask to Be Buzzed In" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/22/nyregion/22restrooms.html">look at the day-to-day running of the bathrooms, and really loved one of the employees who lets people into the bathrooms (there are for bathrooms, and you......