SNL is back! Not sure if the exclamation point is necessary, but their 33rd season kicked off this past weekend with some good stuff. LeBron James was host and Kanye West was the musical guest -- West actually showed up in a good sketch, though oddly enough not this musical one. The below is a ballad to the President of Iran called "Iran So Far" delivered by Andy Samberg and Maroon 5's Adam Levine. "You......

The Russian bathhouse on East 10th Street gets a very bad rap from a former employee who claims all sorts of nonsense was going on there. Susan Shellogg, a massage therapist/aesthetician/reflexologist, filed a lawsuit against the Russian and Turkish Baths; the Sun reports Shellogg says she was fired "because of her gender and her refusal to consent to clients' sexual demands, and in retaliation for complaints about sexual harassment and a hostile work environment......

The following post is from our advertiser CNN.com. Gays for Giuliani: CNN's Jeanne Moos reports on the latest satirical endorsements. Popcorn emissions? CNN's Carol Costello reports on a microwave popcorn maker that's removing a controversial chemical from its product. NYC school a 'madrassa'? CNN's Richard Roth reports on the controversy surrounding a Brooklyn school that is teaching Arabic culture. Goatsucking devil in disguise? A Texas rancher may have the head of the mythical chupacabra that......

Start sharpening your spurs, gays and gals, because Jake Gyllenhaal is coming to Broadway! If director Mike Nichols has his way, you’ll soon have your chance to stalk the sensitive heartthrob as he flees through the stage door of Farragut North, a new play about presidential campaign hardball penned by a former Howard Dean staffer. According to today’s Post, Gyllenhaal (who made his stage debut in a Maggie Gyllenhaal-directed production of Cats in their parents’......

The firing of Don Imus has caused many to take a look at language in not only media, but music. As previously mentioned, Al Sharpton is one looking to clean up what we hear, and yesterday he led a march against racist and sexist lyrics, targeting the major labels. Around 400 others joined him in a march around midtown, outside companies like Universal Music Group. The topic reportedly carried over to a private gathering at......

Millions of people marched in and watched the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on Fifth Avenue yesterday. Another part of the St. Patrick's Day tradition is to protest. Whether it's gays or lesbians who are upset they aren't allowed to march or firefighters who are angry they are pushed to the middle of the pack, there's always a little unrest. Our videographer Kelly Loudenberg checked out a very different set of protesters - the......

At 11AM tomorrow, the Saint Patrick's Day Parade will start at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue and will travel up Fifth Avenue to 86th Street. And, keeping with the grand tradition of controversy regarding who does or doesn't march in the parade, parade organizer John Dunleavy has ruffled more than a few FDNY feathers by moving the FDNY from the front of the parade (behind the NYPD) to the middle of the pack; if......

The MTA released some St. Patrick's Day rules for the Long Island Railroad: "In an effort to maintain orderly travel for our customers attending the St. Patrick's Day Parade, alcoholic beverages will not be permitted." Newsday reports that alcohol will be banned all Saturday (March 17) and early Sunday and that any alcoholic beverages will be confiscated. Given that there doesn't seem to be a fine or penalty attached to having alcoholic beverages, we bet......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: pedestrian struck by vehicle on 34th Street and 11th Ave, a school hazmat condition at 103rd and CPW, and an all hands fire in Soho on Thompson Street. Soho residents and shoppers want to trade parking spaces for wider sidewalks. If you've ever been on Prince Street on a Saturday, you know why. Chase Bank has agreed to turn off those annoying sidewalk projection ads-- about two dozen branches......

On Wednesday, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standard, which guides the Conservative Judaism movement, voted to allow gay rabbis and gay unions. While the move was hailed by some and denounced by others, the other mechanics of how this ruling will work. From the NY Times: But in a reflection of the divisions in the movement, the 25 rabbis on the law committee passed three conflicting legal opinions — one in favor of gay......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a homicide on 48th and 9th Avenue, barricaded EDPs in Queens and the Bronx, and a jumper down in Chelsea. The Flight 587 memorial was unveiled today in Belle Harbor, Queens; some families complained that the memorial is 15 blocks from the actual crash site, which is in a predominantly white neighborhood (many of the victims were of Dominican extraction.) The Times has a long feature on Hart Island's......

With the NJ Supreme Court decision that gay couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples just one day old, it's still unclear whether or not New York will accept a NJ same-sex civil union or marriage, though it has with other states. Mayor Bloomberg said, "New York City has a policy of accepting bona-fide marriages from other jurisdictions. I've always believed it's not the government's business whom you marry." And City Council Speaker......

Andrew Friedman is co-director of Make the Road by Walking, a Brooklyn-based community-based organization founded in 1997 on the belief that the center of leadership must be within the community. Since then, the organization has grown dramatically and now includes over 600 members, a member-elected board composed of low-income community residents, and a staff of twelve. Over the past 5 years, MRBW has achieved many improvements to the lives of Bushwick residents. They pushed New......

After last year's mess of an awards show and this year's joke of nominations (where is love for Lauren Graham, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences?), we were going to swear off this year's Emmys. But then we realized Conan O'Brien was hosting, so we must watch and liveblog. And there's the hope of a good Steve Carrell bit, not to mention awkward reaction shots of Candy and Tori Spelling during the Aaron Spelling tribute.......

The big real estate news of the day is that the empty lot on the southeastern corner of West 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue - right near the movie theater on the south side of 42nd Street - will finally get developed. The NY TImes' coverage of the deal starts off with:A New Jersey developer plans to build a $1 billion office tower on the last parcel in the 13-acre Times Square redevelopment district,......

San Francisco is proud host of a new reality show called "How to Get the Guy" that's unfortunately not a descendant of Will and Grace, Queer Eye, The L Word, American Idol etc. Also a biodefence lab is coming to the East Bay and SFist teaches wine pairing. Getting on the wrong train sucks. Getting on the wrong train and becoming the victim of what will later be described as a "stabbing spree" really sucks.......

Linda Simpson, Media Queen...

Next Friday will be a big one for the new City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. It's St. Patrick's Day, and the Speaker usually marches in the parade, alongside the Mayor and other city officials. But Quinn is in the process of deciding whether she will attend, because of the parade does not allow gay groups to march. Quinn was arrested in 1999 for trying to march in the Bronx St. Patrick's Day parade, and has......

Dude-- we were in LA for five days and when we returned everything was different! The temperature dropped like 50 degrees, and according to this poster we saw outside the Prince Street N/R station, the Catholic church is now cool with BOTH gay sex and condoms. Way to go guys-- keep reaching for that rainbow! UPDATE: apparently the campaign isn't being sponsored by the Catholic Church! How could we be so stupid? It's being......

There's an absolutely brilliant Observer article by Choire Sicha about the new world order of gay cruising and hook-ups in New York City. Places that were once good for trysts are now being overrun by everyone, which is just like the straight people to appropriate what the gay love! The article looks at the intersection of the city's public planning with the evolution of the city's gay male population - it's like Cruising meets The......

Or at least Connecticut will recognize civil unions of gay couples. Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell signed the bill into law yesterday, without court pressure. Even though some lawmakers are upset that a bill approving gay marriage wasn't passed (which is what Massachusetts has), still many gay rights advocates are pleased with the bill. And of course there's opposition who is planning protests and vowing that lawmakers that voted for the bill will face challenges when......

Possibly sounding even more of a death knell in Brooklyn than the invasion of hipsters or an Ikea, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz has invited Cracker Barrel representatives to look at the biggest borough as a possible venue for a new restaurant. Of course, the Southern chain's history of discriminating against, oh, blacks, women, gays and lesbians, has some city politicians up in arms: City Councilman Charles Barron tells the Daily News (who points out......

The NY State Supreme Court judge's ruling that gay marriage was okay is proving to be a huge problem for Mayor Bloomberg. After announcing that the city would appeal the decision, the Mayor opened himself to attack from all corners: From liberals who noted that he has supported rights for gays before; from conservatives who think he's too liberal; from potential mayoral opponents, who say he's flip-flopping; from the gay and lesbian community, who think......

If it isn't enough that the world has issues with America over our foreign policies, Vice President Dick Cheney has made sure the world hates our fashion choices as well. When traveling to Poland for a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Cheney made the decision to wear an "olive-drab parka, hiking boots and knit ski cap," truly enforcing the ugly American stereotype. The Washington Post's Robin Givhan points out that......

NJ Governor James McGreevey resigned yesterday, three months after he announced he was a gay American and was stepping down. Interestingly, he spoke alone, without his wife, Dina, or parents by his side as they had been during his announcement in August; instead, his backdrop were just huge blow-ups of photographs of him being governor, including one of him with Christopher Reeve. McGreevey, who gave America a new catch phrase ("I am a gay American"),......

Yesterday's Gay Pride Parade couldn't have asked for a better day: The sun was shining, everyone looked beautiful, politicians went out to show they support gays but are mum about gays marrying...good times, good times. Mayor Bloomberg said, "Each of us are different in our own ways, and we should all be proud of who we are, and I don't think anybody should try to be something they're not." But he stopped short of agreeing......

A cartoon making fun of the Holocaust that appeared in a Rutgers student newspaper is causing unrest at the school. The Times describes the cartoon as such: The publication, The Medium - a journal of news and opinion that features humor, cultural items and sexual and scatological references - ran a cartoon depicting a bearded man wearing a hat and sitting on the edge of an open kitchen stove in a carnival setting. Under the......

The St. Patrick's Day Parade is starting its slushy journey up Fifth Avenue (without gays), but most people are thinking about how the day is a free ticket to drink at 10AM. Gawker has suggestions on what to do this drinky holiday ("Most important: don't even go near McSorley's on 7th Street between 2nd and 3rd. Definitely avoid the lecherous leprechauns on parade up Fifth Avenue."). Gothamist might be sticking with the boring yet shoe-grateful......

Mayor Bloomberg's latest dilemma is whether or not to allow gay marriage in the city, prompted by New Paltz's decision to offer gay marriage. City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, who is trying to win the Democratic ticket to run against the Mayor in 2005, started the offense, saying, "It is past time that Mayor Bloomberg give the civil rights - the basic fundamental civil right of marriage - to same-sex couples." Gothamist totally supports gay......

There's nothing Gothamist likes more than supporting gay rights and city economies, so per Planet Gordon's suggestion, we called Mariner & Company Flowers to deliver some flowers to a newlywed same-sex couple. Mariner & Company is offering a $50 wedding bouquet and we added a card reading, "Congratulations and best wishes. - Jen & Jake from Gothamist.com." The owner, a Manhattan transplant, said, "That's nice, maybe they'll write you a note." "That would be awesome,"......