MOVIE: After Marion Cotillard took home the gold for best actress in La Vie en Rose last Sunday, French cinema is sure to be all the rage. Today the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2008 series kicks off with a screening of Roman de gare (pictured). Buy tickets and get the schedule here. Friday// 6:30 and 9pm // Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts [70 Lincoln Center Plaza] // $12 (stand......

Photograph of sledders, inside Prospect Park on the long meadow Convince your boss to let you take an extra long lunch today: The Parks Department just sent out this press release: Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe invites New Yorkers to come out to a neighborhood park for some winter fun. White-capped hills around the city are open for sledding, snowman-making and more. Parks & Recreation will provide sleds and hot chocolate at selected......

Seems like even at a Central Park West apartment building in the West 70s, robbers can get in. A CPW apartment belonging to 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl and her family was "ransacked" by a thief last Friday morning. Apparently the thief, who stole over a $100,000 worth of items, managed to sneak into the penthouse by posing as a contractor - there are many projects at the building. The NY Press' sister publication, the......

What Lower Manhattan will look like after Silverstein's buildings are completed; the Woolworth Building with its ornate green roof is on the left, 99 Church is the tall building to it right (and to the left of what is an illuminated Church street); to the right is the WTC site, with Freedom Tower and the other three towers; image from dbox/Silverstein Properties Developer Larry Silverstein announced yesterday that he will build an 80-story building......

graffiti internet, by Rob Hoey at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an aircraft fire at JFK terminal 4 in Queens, a robbery on Central Park West in Manhattan, and a missing child on Pennsylvania Ave. in Brooklyn. Surf cams (permanently installed cameras monitoring surf conditions) are a great way to notify surfers of conditions, until one realizes that surfers don't want conditions notified for fear of crowds. No matter what you've ever seen......

On The Square, by Ade in New York at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: shots fired by police at Blake and Vermont in Brooklyn, an escaped prisoner at East 112th St. and Madison Ave. in Manhattan, and a person under a train at Central Park West and 60th St. in Manhattan. Hassan Askari was invited to the State of the Union Address as the guest of Queens Congressman Rep. Joseph Crowley. Askari came......

Manhattan real estate sales set a record in the fourth quarter of 2007, with residential sales averaging out to be $1.4 million (according to data from Prudential Douglas Elliman), an increase of 17.6% over 2006's fourth quarter. However impressive that statistic is, the growth was primarily driven by super high-end sales of at least $10 million. Apparently sales for condos at The Plaza and 15 Central Park West helped drive the average condo sale......

It's all in an Upper West Side day for the Material Girl! The tabloids have reported that Madonna is suing her co-op, claiming the board blocked her attempt to buy a neighbor's apartment. Madonna has a 6,000 square foot apartment at Harperley Hall at 41 Central Park West - a duplex with hair salon and gym. The summons filed in Manhattan Supreme Court accuses the board and Midboro Management of "breach of contract...and orders......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an unusual rescue on 68th St. and Central Park West in Manhattan, a confined space rescue at Lorimer and Meserole Sts. in Brooklyn, and a shooting on Carpenter Ave. and 221st St. in the Bronx. Columbia University is a-brimming with protests, against things like torture and apathy. A young man and his family are recovering from a freak accident involving a fallen tree branch in Riverside Park that put......

Yesterday's lovely weather made the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a big crowd pleaser. An estimated 3.5 million spectators watched as giant balloons, floats, and hundreds of parade performers sauntered from 77th and Central Park West to Herald Square. Some people waited since 4AM in hopes of catching a glimpse of their favorite performers, who included Dolly Parton, Wynonna, the cast of Legally Blonde, American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, Good Charlotte, Menudo (really!), the Rockettes......

Starting in the afternoon, the masses traveled to the Upper West Side yesterday to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons get inflated on West 77th and West 81st Streets between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. By 6PM, crowds were penned in for blocks - it took us about 30-40 minutes of shuffling and snaking around before we could get close to any balloons. We suspect the Broadway stagehands' strike as well as......

Tomorrow is one of our favorite days of the year: The annual Thanksgiving Eve inflation of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons! This year, there are twelve giant balloons: Dora the Explorer, Kermit the Frog, Healthy Mr. Potato Head (he's wearing a jogging suit), Scooby Doo, Ronald McDonald, Pikachu w/Poke-Ball, Energizer Bunny, Flying Ace Snoopy, and JoJo's Circus will be joined by new balloons Abby Cadabby, Shrek, and Super Cute Hello Kitty! As if Hello......

Every year the American Museum of Natural History unveils their unique take on holiday decor and their answer to the Rockefeller Center tree...the origami tree! Last year the tree had a safari theme, and this year it reflects the museum's current Mythic Creatures exhibit. This year there's also a three-headed dragon wrapped around it, like garland, which was made of 10,000 Interlocking pieces of paper! 16,000 members of OrigamiUSA made all of this happen, and......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an attempted bank robbery on East 23rd St. in Manhattan, a pedestrian struck on 82nd St. and Central Park West in Manhattan, and a homicide on Grand Ave. in Brooklyn. The politics of succession in the world of Masters of the Universe. Changing places, changing times, unsurpassable ambition. Sometimes the old is new: when a garbage hauling-controlling family tells you to do something, you do it, or they'll burn......

The Manhattan District Attorney's office announced that the Reverend David Ajemian was arrested on charges of stalking and threatening Conan O'Brien. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston placed Ajemian, a 46-year-old priest in Stoneham, Massachusetts, on leave. The DA's office says that Ajemian had sent letters (some on parish letterhead!) to O'Brien's offices at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and home, contacted his parents, and tried to attend tapings of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He was......

Democrats Senator Charles Schumer and Senator Dianne Feinstein joined nine Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and approved the nomination of Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey to go to the full Senate. The vote was 11-8, the eight opposing votes from the remaining Democrats on the committee. His confirmation is expected next week. Mukasey - and his supporters - has faced criticism after not declaring waterboarding illegal. Schumer has an op-ed in today's NY Times......

FILM: Ease in to Halloween with classic horror flick The Innocents, based on Henry James' novella The Turn Of The Screw. Evil and innocence, the strange and the everday, will mingle as you...enjoy complimentary vodka an tapas! 6pm // Mantra Lounge [986 2nd Ave] // Free, RSVP here EVENT: Neurologist Oliver Sacks explores "the complexities of human response to music and its powerful ability to move us physically and emotionally" tonight as he shares experiences......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck on 87th St. and Central Park West in Manhattan, a DOA in a tree off Woodhaven Blvd. in Queens, and a burn victim on 42nd St. and Vanderbilt Ave. in Manhattan. Sidewalk chalk outline artist Ellis G[allagher] was arrested by police and held overnight as he was being filmed by a PBS crew last week in Boerum Hill. Charges were dropped the next day and Gallagher......

BEER: This one is pretty simple...there will be lots (58!) of New York beers, and a few bands to soundtrack your drinking them, at the Seaport tonight. Go, imbibe, enjoy! Friday // 5 to 10pm // South Street Seaport // $55 THEATER: Paso Doble was a sold-out hit at the 60th anniversary Festival d’Avignon last summer; for one weekend only sculptor Miquel Barceló and dancer Josef Nadj have brought their messy spectacle to St. Ann’s......

READING: Check out today's interviewee, Peter Yarrow, tonight at Barnes and Noble where he'll be performing and signing the recently published Puff, the Magic Dragon book. C'mon, you know you've always wanted to hear that song live! 6pm // Barnes & Noble [Lincoln Center] // Free MUSIC: Daft Punk will be rocking Keyspan Park tonight, it's sold out but you can still get tickets on Craigslist. Elsewhere in Brooklyn The Hold Steady, The Big Sleep......

MOVIES: With another version of Hairspray hitting the big screen this summer, it seems to be a season of decades past and, of course, hair! Movies With a View brings back the musical tale of Central Park hippies, small town boys headed to Vietnam and the '60s as they show the film Hair tonight. Deejays at 6pm, Movie at Sundown // Empire Fulton State Park, Dumbo // Free It's the last night to catch Punk's......

An ambitious plan to plant one million trees in New York is actually going to rely heavily, or primarily, on the the actions and funding of individual residents. On Earth Day back in April, Mayor Bloomberg announced one of many bold initiatives to make New York a greener city: plant a million trees by 2030. Bloomberg even said that $250 million would be devoted to the project over the next ten years to get it......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: missing children on Lenox Rd. in Brooklyn, shots fired at Columbus Ave. and West 104th St. in Manhattan, and a water rescue at the Stepping Stone Lighthouse off City Island in the Bronx. The chief of a volunteer fire company in the Bronx is scrambling to explain how the firehouse is now broke, after receiving a half-million dollars in donations after 9/11/01. A pair of 15-year-olds will be tried......

There was a great story in the Post about a trio who managed to stop two teen muggers on Wednesday. And there was an equally great photo of two-thirds of the crimestoppers: Jan Garten and pit-bull mix Gee. On Wednesday afternoon, 84-year-old Garten was walking on Central Park West near 89th Street when she realized she was being followed by two young teens. "I noticed an African-American kid, about 14, walking behind me, holding a......

Seething over their many, ignored complaints about new construction at 808 Columbus Avenue, residents of Park West Village held a rally to demand an investigation. All 280 apartments at one Park West building, 784 Columbus, were evacuated when a retaining wall collapsed at the 808 site on Wednesday night. However, there were a number of calls to the Department of Buildings from 784 residents, complaining that the building was shaking as workers blasted in......

The Brooklyn Paper reports on an odd incident involving a bride in Park Slope. On Fourth Street (between Eighth Avenue and Prospect Park West) this past Sunday residents awoke to a woman in a wedding gown sleeping on a ledge of a brownstone. Police quickly arrived, but no one knew what to make of the mysterious woman...Cops carried the woman down from the ledge, and questioned her in Spanish and English. But witnesses said she......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Davidson Ave. in the Bronx, an armed robbery on Prospect Park West in Brooklyn, and a shooting at 40th Ave. and 10th St. in Queens. Bye-bye, birdie: Ziggy, the 6-week old red-tail hawk who fell and was saved in Midtown last week, was released into Central Park today. “When voters get confused, they vote no.” That almost seems like a sensible tack to take if you......

June 14-16: Food Film Festival, Part 1 This weekend is the official kickoff of the first annual NYC Food Film Festival at Water Taxi Beach. This weekend features regional american burgers and asparagus, with Hamburger America (for those of you who missed our QBQ Burger Bash last year), Asparagus! A Stalk-Umentary, and more, including your chance to taste the famed green chile cheeseburger. Drool. You can find the full schedule here. June 14, 19:......

Rocktavist Bono is battling a very local, personal cause...over fireplaces in his Manhattan apartment building (the San Remo). Apparently the smoke from other residents' fireplaces is ending up in his penthouse duplex, which he shares with his family (a wife and four children). The NY Times gets some inside info from the building on Central Park West: "Bono was so nice. He said, 'Listen, whatever I can do to get these things working, but it's......

On Tuesday, the New-York Historical Society scored a victory at the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), which unanimously approved a scaled-down plan to renovate the building's exterior. In spite of unrelenting criticism from local Community Board 7, the LPC panel affirmed the appropriateness of modifications such as:- A recessed glass entrance vestibule with two new portals adapted from current windows at the Central Park West entrance. - Wider main staircase and free-standing graphic kiosks......