ART: This past Friday The NY Times dubbed the new MoMA exhibit Design and the Elastic Mind "exhilarating". Now opened, as of yesterday, we highly recommend stepping inside and delving into the world of flying cars, future software and 200 examples of "successful translation of disruptive innovation, examples based on ongoing research, as well as reflections on the future responsibilities of design." You can also check it all out online. 10:30am to 5:30pm //......

Eldridge St. Synagogue, by AllWaysNY at flickrToday on the Gothamist Newsmap: an overturned bulldozer on 65th St. and Metropolitan Ave. in Queens, vandalism to an NYPD vehicle at Newkirk Ave. and 31st St. in Brooklyn, and an armed robbery on 47th St. and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan. NYU is opening a foreign annex school in Abu Dhabi in a bid to expand intercultural awareness. No gays, Jews, or anyone who's visited Israel allowed, please.......

Entrance and Exit Only, by coifmo66 at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a serious trauma at East 16th St. and Moore Pl. in Brooklyn, a water search at Kosciusko Bridge in Brooklyn, and a bank robbery on Lexington Ave. in Manhattan, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who popularized transcendentalism in the West with the support of The Beatles, died yesterday at an undetermined age. Postmodern reality at its best: Silvercup Studios, where "Gossip Girl," is......

Sad use of our flag. [cropped], by S.D. at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting at 104th Ave. and Remington St. in Queens, a bank robbery on Lexington Ave. and 45th St. in Manhattan, and a gas main break on Van Siclen Ave. in Brooklyn.Midtown Lunch considers why it was left off the positive press clippings wall of the new Goodburger.New York Shitty wonders about these Bed-Stuy guard dogs - they only......

Padre Figlio: In Italian, the name means father and son, so it’s no surprise that this new Italian steakhouse is run by Mario and Antonio Cerra, the father and son team behind Da Antonio. After ten years, they’ve sold that establishment and are joining forces again to focus on high-end Italian meats, such as rib eye and a porterhouse of Piemontese beef for two. Exotic meats include New Zealand venison, buffalo, ostrich and boar. There’s......

At the Ethnic Market highlights international specialty foods and ingredients that you're very unlikely to find at your local Gristedes. What you see before is bag of dried hibiscus flowers, or karkade, as these dried little blossoms are known in Egypt. You can boil them up to make a wonderfully red-hued tea that's packed with plenty of vitamin C. As you can probably guess from the image on the packaging it's sometimes served hot......

COMEDY: In November, shortly after the WGA strike sent SNL to reruns, the cast took the UCB Theater stage for an off-air show. If you missed that one, there's a chance to catch some of the cast doing stand-up at Comix tonight. The site says "sold out" but the people at the venue say they just added more tickets! So give a call and enjoy "An Evening with the Writers and Performers from Saturday Night......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: person under a train at 71st St. and 16th Ave. in Brooklyn, a stabbing on 112th St. and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan, and a bank robbery at Ave. of the Americas and West 18th St. in Manhattan. The Times wonders if people will be hoarding pre-rate-increase Metrocards the way token buyers used to stock up before a fare hike. A 17-year-old from Mt. Vernon was being held at Rikers......

Go! Go! Curry: This Japanese fast food hot spot had lines down the block when they opened in the Garment District last spring; now they’re building on the buzz and branching out in the East Village. We’ve become addicted to their belt-busting Grand Slam (pictured), “a monster platter that comes with fried chicken, pork sausages and a hard-boiled egg, among other things. The thick, sweet sauce has a tiny kick of heat and is served......

Now that you've torn through your presents and are making room for new gifts and purchases -- why not give a little back? Green Brooklyn reminds us that we have until December 31st to make tax-deductible donations (to claim on 2007 income taxes). They were particularly moved by the amount of work Habitat for Humanity has been doing for Brooklyn, they just completed their 9th home in the area -- all "constructed using state-of-the-art, eco-friendly......

A new report from Con Ed reveals that "a tiny clump of leak-sealing epoxy" caused the blast in a Midtown steam pipe earlier this year. The pipe, at Lexington and 41st Street, ruptured on July 18, causing millions in damage; one person died of a heart attack while two people in a tow truck above the pipe and subjected to 400-degree steam were critically burned. Con Ed, as well as the city, is facing......

New York City's Conflict of Interest Board ruled that there was no problem in Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff continuing to work with real estate developers on multi-billion dollar real estate projects while a city employee, even though he'll be shortly negotiating with these same developers as a private citizen and President of Bloomberg LP, the Mayor's media corporation. According to the New York Post, the board cited "extraordinary circumstances" and said that Doctoroff's negotiations on......

The last recipe in Niloufer Ichaporia King's new Parsi cookbook, My Bombay Kitchen, is a light dessert drink hat's supposed to be served on March 21st, the Parsi New Year. It is certainly delicious enough to have year round, though, or perhaps on our own New Year's Eve in a few weeks. It's a cinch to throw together. Soak some basil seeds in water (just a teaspoon or so will be enough for several......

MOVIE: BAM pays homage to the late Barbara Stanwyck tonight with a screening of Forbidden. The 1932 Frank Capra-directed film (which tells the tale of a librarian who has fallen for an unobtainable/married man) was supposedly influenced by his real-life affair with the leading lady. Critic and historian Elliott Stein will discuss the film after the 6:50 screening. 4:30, 6:50 and 915pm // BAM Rose Cinemas [30 Lafayette Ave., Fort Greene] // $11 Meanwhile, the......

At the Ethnic Market highlights international specialty foods and ingredients that you're very unlikely to find at your local Gristedes. Many of you out there remember snacking on pistachio nuts whose shells had been dyed red. Heck, as kids half the fun was watching your hands change color. The other day we found some pistachios that are just as fun to eat, but decidely more grown-up. While browsing among the dried nuts and fruits at......

MOVIE: MoMA's Modern Mondays series explores innovation on the big screen, and tonight they dedicate an evening to Kevin Jerome Everson. "His films look for the art in everyday life, revealing people's relationship to their crafts and focusing on the conditions, tasks, gestures, and materials in communities. Much of Everson's recent work is inspired by found footage. He manipulates news and sports footage, old films, still photographs, and image files in various ways, subtly repositioning......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a white powder incident at 25 Beaver St. in Manhattan, report of a large crowd gathered at the center of the south side of the George Washington Bridge's upper level, and an explosion in the basement of a building at 77th St. and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan. Dedicated bike paths and fences separating them from traffic can only do so much when a cab driver really wants to take......

If you've ever struggled to figure out which direction you're facing when you step out of a subway station (and there are no landmarks or sun to guide you), you won't have those problems at four subway stations in Midtown anymore. That's because the Department of Transportation and the Grand Central Partnership are placing temporary directional compass decals outside them. DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan explained, "Not a single person, native New Yorker or visitor, can......

Over the weekend The Arcade Fire played a big show on Randall's Island, far far away from the Knitting Factory and Mercury Lounge (some of the first venues they ever played here). For those who made the trip to see them, the post-show transportation made for quite the afterparty. One concert goer wrote in: "10,000 people trying to get on express buses does not work - we ended up walking the Triborough back to Queens."......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an armed robbery on East 91st St. in Brooklyn, a confined space rescue at JFK Airport in Queens, and a pedestrian was struck at East 23rd St. and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan. A dump truck jack-knifed and rolled over, crushing the car next to it and killing the car's two occupants in Brooklyn. Jay Leno is auctioning off the set of The Tonight Show and donating the proceeds to......

THEATER: The National Asian American Theatre Company is known for creating adventurous theater with an all-Asian American performing plays that often have little to do with Asian Americans. Their newest production is Blind Mouth Singing by Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas; it uses a watery set and live music to tell a story of an “overly strict matriarch; her young son Reiderico who sneaks out of the house to visit his best friend who lives at the......

EVENT: Join Chief Jim Riches, 9/11 families, rescue and recovery workers in an effort to Tell Rudy Giuliani to "Stop Politicizing 9/11". Rudy will be at a fundraiser at the Waldorf later today, and will be greeted by those who believe he's no hero. Why? They say: "He failed the FDNY & uniformed & civilian victims. He gave us incompetent commissioners ( FD,PD, OEM). No integrated command. He abandoned us on 9/11. He gave the......

Tenants of the office building at 370 Lexington Ave. and East 41st St. are alleging that while they were barred from the building for more than a month during clean-up and decontamination of the area following July's midtown steampipe explosion, their offices were looted of cash, cellphones, electronics, and other portable valuables. The New York Post talked to the president of a graphic-arts company located in the building, who found that approximately $45,000 in items......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a double shooting on Webster Ave. in the Bronx, fatal person under a 4 train at 125th St. and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan, and a pedestrian struck at East 17th St. and Ave. I in Brooklyn. Conspiracy theorist/media activist Alex Jones was arrested Saturday night while addressing a crowd with a bullhorn in front of the Fox News studio in Manhattan. Jones is the head of a group who......

TIP: Starting tomorrow Opera-For_all begins the first of three nights of performances. For cheap! The New York City Opera is selling tickets to every seat in the house for just $25. Over the course of "opera season" 50 or more seats in the front orchestra will be priced at just $25 as well. As for this week, here's the sched: Thursday, September 6the OPERA FOR ALL Concert, with party to follow (this will showcase the......

Centro Vinoteca: The owners of Gusto have teamed up with Chef Anne Burrell in this two story corner spot in the West Village. Burell's experience as Batali's Sous Chef on Iron Chef America shines through in her Italian menu. 74 Seventh Avenue South, at Barrow Street, 212-367-7470. Omido: Designed by Avroko (who did Public, among others), this high-end sushi restaurant brings a bit of luxury to midtown West with touches like foie gras and gold......

MOVIE: By now you've all seen, memorized and lived your own version of neurotic New York love story Annie Hall, the classic Woody Allen film that's stood the test of time. But have you seen it under the open night sky? Didn't think so. Get there early for a seat. Get there even earlier for knitting lessons! In an unrelated event earlier in the day, the folks from Knit New York will be teaching those......

HAPPY HOUR: You read the Onion, and you probably drink whiskey...so why not combine the two tonight? The Onion crew enjoys the simple pleasures of life in WIlliamsburg with some free Jameson Irish Whiskey in the name of alcohol preservation. 7 to 9pm // Live at Rose [345 Grand St, Williamsburg] // Free, RSVP nypromo (a) theonion.com EVENT: Mikhail Baryshnikov, ballet superstar, has joined forces with illustrator Vladimir Radunsky in creating Because..., a children's book.......

We can't possibly choose only one music event for the weekend, so check out OhMyRockness for the jam packed weekend listings. We will say, however, that one of the openers for Snowden at Maxwell's tonight...is We Are Scientists, trying out some new tunes. Though closer to home are The Clientele and Beach House at Bowery Ballroom. Listen: Apple Orchard.mp3 - Beach House THEATER: A mysterious little two-actor, umpteen character play called The Eaten Heart concludes......

Starting tomorrow Ortega's Obelisco Transportable, a variation on the traditional form of an obelisk, will be on view in Central Park. What's an obelisk, you ask? Think: Washington Monument. Ortega's "stands on a grassy platform on wheels, as though it has been uprooted from a previous location and made portable." As such, the "mobile landmark" can move to commemorate any occasion in any location and offers a "pragmatic yet wryly playful approach to a global......