Last night, an unoccupied five-story hotel at 22 West 24th Street collapsed; no injuries were reported. The former La Semana Hotel "fell into itself leaving a giant, although relatively tidy, pile of rubble," according to the Post. Witnesses said the 8PM collapse sounded like a bomb explosion and that "floor by floor, the building simply gave in." A fire official told the NY Times, "If this happened during the daytime, during a workday when......

Chad Pennington gets all the attention, but the Jets' problems run deeper than the quarterback position. Eric Mangini said as much during an unusually open news conference following the latest Jets debacle, a 38-31 loss at Cincinnati on Sunday. Pennington looked fine in the first half, throwing two touchdowns to Lavaranues Coles. In the second half, the rest of the team's wheels fell off at once. Kenny Watson tore up the Jets' rush defense. When......

Yesterday morning, Secretary of State Condolezza Rice visited Community School 154 in Harlem. Accompanied by Representative Charles Rangel, Rice, former Provost at Stanford, encouraged the students to dream big, “One thing that I want you to promise me is that you won't let anybody else tell you what it is you ought to be interested in. You'll find what you are interested in and you'll pursue it and you won't let anyone say 'Why......

So much for taking advantage of an easy schedule. The Jets were handed a rookie quarterback, a banged up defense and an 0-3 opponent. They took one look at the pile under the Christmas tree, rewrapped the presents and gave them right back. But not before adding a bow to each of them. They now sit at 1-3 instead of 2-2. The season lost a lot of promise Sunday. How could the Jets allow Trent......

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried......

The rain may be keeping people in, but by the looks of theNY Times Weddings announcements, many local weddings were yesterday. otal Number of Weddings: 32 (including Vows column) Total Number of Same-Sex Weddings: 0 Youngest Bride: 25 Oldest Bride: 54 Youngest Groom: 22 Oldest Groom: 54 Biggest Age Difference: 14 years Number of Couples Where Bride and Groom Are the Same Age: 3 (two couples are all 25, one is 29 ) Number of......

It's time go over this weekend's NY Times Weddings Announcements! Total Number of Weddings: 24 (including Vows column) Total Number of Same-Sex Weddings: 0 (but the Styles section had a feature about "Dinah Shore Weekend," aka "The L World") Youngest Bride: 22 Oldest Bride: 38 Youngest Groom: 23 Oldest Groom: 42 Biggest Age Difference: 11 years Number of Couples Where Bride and Groom Are the Same Age: 3 (25, 32, and 35) Number of Columbia......

Forget about the downtown hipsters, the real tastemakers (for the tourists, at least) are in Midtown. The concierges of the city make hundreds of recommendations a day, so it's only natural they get their own nights at restaurants like The Palm. The NY Times looked at the world of concierges when they are being courted: A dinner at the Palm after a matinee of "Hairspray". Earlier in the week they saw “The Pirate Queen,” enjoyed......

The planned makeover of Washington Square Park inched closer to reality yesterday following a decision by the state appeals court. The new ruling lifts an injunction imposed last summer in response to allegations that the Parks Department had not sufficiently disclosed its renovation plans to Community Board 2, The Landmarks Preservation Commission, and the Art Commission. The Sun says the plaintiffs will appeal the decision, but The Times says they're not so sure. Two other......

Have you gotten a call from your school's alumni office and wondered how they've tracked you down, even if this is the third illegal sublet you've been living in? The NY Times sheds some light on NYU's efforts, which have grown much more sophisticated in the past few years, especially now as they try to raise $2.5 billion for their endowment. NYU's $2.5 billion goal, breaks down to about $1 million a day and is......

A look at some noteworthy (and mainly regifted) programs this week: Yule Log (WPIX 11, Monday, 9:00 a.m.) The classic Yule log returns another year on WPIX. This being the 40th Anniversary of the log, channel 11 offers up a one hour special on history at noon, right after this year's showing. If you don't want to wait, they even offer a portable Yule Log for your iPod and The Yule Log.com fan site has......

Two New Yorkers were awarded Rhodes Scholarships this past weekend. The Big Apple recipients are Jacob Lemieux, who is from the Upper East Side and attends Stanford, and Kevin Shenderov of Brooklyn who attends NYU. The NY Times has a feature about Shenderov, not just because he's a hometown boy who attends a hometown school: His brother Eugene, who went to Brooklyn College, was a Rhodes scholar two years ago. The Shenderov family moved to......

So what exactly is that a photo of? We're not really so sure (a Van Eyck reference?) but we can think we like it. In any event, it was certainly interesting enough to warrant us clicking on it when it popped into Contribute this morning. And now that we've clicked we're still a little confuzzed. It seems to be related to some sort of "Dueling Re-Enactments" event being put on by the Madagascar Institute,......

Before we jump into talking about episode 1 of Season Three, Gothamist would like to take a few moments to discuss the Auditions show (aka Road to the Runway): - We still love all the Season 3 designers - Chloe, Daniel, Santino, Nick - who appeared on the show. We love that Santino couldn't bear to see the guy in the skintight outfit, we love that Chloe really liked Season 3 candidate Michael's work......

So maybe Bloomberg isn't running for President? Or is that just what he wants us to think? Either way, Hizzoner is reportedly about to buy an historic townhouse on 78th and Madison to house his philanthropic ambitions. The property, designed by Stanford White for old New York biggie Stuyvesant Fish (son of NY Governor, Senator and US Secretary of State Hamilton Fish) in 1897, is going for $50M according to the listing on Sotheby's......

Cory Booker, who unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of Newark a few years ago in a bitter race against longtime mayor Sharpe James, was elected by a huge margin to lead the 64th biggest city in the country. His opponent, NJ State Senator Ronald Rice, (who was outspent and outmatched) conceded around 10PM; the Star-Ledger notes he didn't mention Booker by name. Booker will be only the third new Mayor of Newark in 36 years, and......

The New York Public Library announced that it bought the archive of writer William S. Burroughs, including his letters and drafts of Naked Lunch. This makes the NYPL's collection of Bea-era materials the most comprehensive, since it already holds the Jack Kerouac archive. The NY Times story about the acquisition had the interesting sidenote about how Allen Ginsberg wanted the NYPL to buy his collection, but since he wanted to sell it quickly, the NYPL......

Before we present you with this weeks paltry wedding numbers, we were wondering if you've ever wanted to bet on how long marriages announced on wedding pages will last? In which case, might we introduce you to Wedding Betting? Think HotorNot... but with weddings. And with that, let's get to this weeks Weddings and Celebrations, by the Numbers: Total Number of weddings: 7 Total Number of Same-Sex Weddings: 1 Average Age of Brides: 32.16......

It's that time again! But since this week was a very, very, slim week for Weddings at the Times, might we point you towards this nice article about the significance of marriages in the Year of the Dog? Bonus, you might recognize a name or two in there... Anyways, as you've been waiting patiently, here they are are, all seven of 'em, this week's Weddings and Celebrations, by the numbers: Total Number of Weddings:......

Oh snap! Antique dealers, the Times reports, are in a huff over the fate of the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue and 66th Street. The Armory, which was built between 1877 and 1881, has rooms designed by Louis C. Tiffany and Stanford White and it's interiors have been described by the Landmarks Preservation Committee as "the single most important collection of 19th century interiors in one building." But in recent decades it has fallen......

The beginning of the year just isn't the time for lots of weddings, apparently. Anywho, since you know you've been waiting for them, here they are are, this week's Weddings and Celebrations, by the numbers: Total Number of Weddings: 10.5 (11 couples, 10 ceremonies) Number of Same-Sex Weddings: 0 Average Age of Brides: 36.3 Average Age of Grooms: 38.8 Oldest Bride: 84 Oldest Groom: 82 Youngest Bride: 24 Youngest Groom: 26 Average Age Difference:......

Just a few weddings these past two weeks, what with New Year's and Christmas landing on the weekends. But here goes, this week's Weddings and Celebrations, by the numbers (a lot of numbers this weekend, huh...): Total Number of Weddings: 11 Number of Same-Sex Weddings*: 0 Average Age of Brides: 30.6 Average Age of Grooms: 30.7 Oldest Bride: 40 Oldest Groom: 40 Youngest Bride: 25 Youngest Groom: 25 Average Age Difference: 1.9 years Biggest......

Here they are, this weeks Weddings and Celebrations, by the numbers: Total Number of Weddings: 26 Total Number of Weddings Between Two Heterosexuals: 24 total Number of Weddings Between Two Homosexuals: 2 Average Age of Brides: 33 Average Age of Grooms: 33 Oldest Bride: 53 Oldest Groom: 45 Youngest Bride: 24 Youngest Groom: 25 Average Age Difference: 2.8 years Biggest Age Difference: 7 years* Number of Older Brides: 8 Number of Older Grooms: 15 Number......

Here are this weeks Weddings and Celebrations, by the numbers: Total Number of Weddings: 35 Number of Heterosexual Weddings: 35 Average Age of Brides: 31 Average Age of Grooms: 32 Oldest Bride: 44 Oldest Groom: 41 Youngest Bride: 26 Youngest Groom: 27 Average Age Difference: 2.5 years Biggest Age Difference: 8 years Number of Older Brides: 6 Number of Older Grooms: 23 Number of Same-Age Couples: 5 Number of Ageless Couples: 1 Number of......

Are you a vacation snob? The ever, uhm, enlightening Times Sunday Styles wants you to know what the deal is with people loudly proclaiming their allegiance to various summer spots with bumper stickers, zip code tote bags and T-shirts. The short answer is that people like to show off. The longer answer comes half-way into the article: Robert Sapolsky, a professor of neuroscience at Stanford University who has studied primate behavior, said bumper sticker......

Francesca Kaplan, Artist/Designer/Stylist...

Sasha Eden & Victoria Pettibone, WET (Women's Expressive Theater)...

Finally some good news to talk about for NYU spokespeople: A Princetown Review says that high school kids' top dream college is NYU, beating schools like Harvard, Stanford, Yale and Princeton. Parents, though, chose Stanford as their top choice as to where to send their children and many, many dollars. Princeton Review says that NYC's crime reductions and situation in the best city in the world (okay, the best city in the world part we......

Another undefeated team loses this week in Wisconsin, and tumbles way down the rankings from last week. Utah moves up to #5, but Boise State is nowhere to be seen after a shootout against San Jose State. Will another undefeated fall this week, or will championship week be a deciding factor for Auburn and Oklahoma? USC plays Notre Dame, OU plays Baylor, Utah faces BYU, Boise State plays Louisiana Tech and Auburn faces Alabama in......

Loyal Gothamist readers will notice that there is little change in our rankings this week - there simply weren't many upsets or games involving top 25 teams last week. That will certainly change this weekend with several top matchups including LSU vs. UGA, Aub vs. Tenn, and Purdue vs ND. It will be a great weekend for college football junkies/coach potatoes! Naturally Gothamist will be watching every televised game from Noon until 2 am in......