How will Lifetime transition from "woman in distress seeks revenge" movies to "hot tranny mess" is beyond us, but The NY Times reports that NBC Universal, Bravo's parent company, has lost their precious “Project Runway" to the "femme-centric" (per Variety) network. NBC Universal filed a lawsuit in Manhattan today, accusing the show's owner, the Weinstein Company, of violating rights by pairing up with Lifetime, which offered $150 million. From the Times:The suit asserts Harvey Weinstein,......

Photo by Raymond Haddad, at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck on Broadway and 231st St. in the Bronx, an aircraft alert at JFK at Queens, and a person fatally struck by a train at 57th St. and 8th Ave. in Manhattan. Entries for the NYC Half-Marathon will start being accepted at 11:59pm on May 29th. Details. And the Design Trust for Public Space is accepting submissions for its Grand Army......

Even though there wasn't a "villain" along the lines of Santino Rice or a favorite like Michael Knight, the fourth season of Project Runway has been pretty captivating with some very lovely work. Tonight, the three remaining designers' Bryant Park Fashion Week face-off will be shown and a winner announced. Designers Christian Siriano, Jillian Lewis, and Rami Kashou have had some high and low points this season (the denim challenge kinda sucked, as did......

FOOD: Drinking With the Professor: a Look at Jerry Thomas and His Liquid Legacy: Join cocktail maestro Dave Wondrich as he shares recipes from his latest book, Imbibe! plus a few that were cut in the editing process. Wondrich has an in-depth knowledge of nineteenth-century classic cocktails, so step up and taste the benefits. - Laren Spirer Friday // 6:30pm // Astor Culinary Center [399 Lafayette St] // $75, tickets available online THEATER: As you......

The Secret Science Club may be the best kept secret in New York. Forget your typical night of drinks, music or being parked in front of your tv for the latest Project Runway episode. Head over to Union Hall for some science! Each event brings out the inner-nerd in all of us, and recently we asked the founders a few questions about their brainchild. The next event is December 5th, which gives you a week......

In Los Angeles, LAist most definitely celebrated Thanksgiving like no other. After all, one has to keep up all the energy to keep on walking the line at the Writers Strike and fighting the unfortunate return of the wildfires in Malibu, which single handedly destroyed over fifty homes within the first 24 hours. National outlets may be covering the fires, but CNN also found it is easier to buy a gun than fruit and......

The gasps you heard in front of certain American television sets Wednesday were because Project Runway's second episode packed a wallop. After American icon challenges during season 2 and 3, the fourteen remaining designers speculated this year's fashion icon could be Madonna, Britney ("she needs help," according to the severely coiffed Christian, who interned at Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen) or Snow White, it's possible that the actual icon was better than their dreams:......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Art in the Twenty-First Century (Sunday, 10:00 p.m., WNET 13) Four artists - Robert Adams, Mark Dion , Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle Ursula von Rydingsvard – who explore the intersection between nature and culture. Billy Crystal: The Mark Twain Prize (Monday & Thursday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13; Saturday, 7:30 p.m. WLIW 21) Billy Crystal receives the tenth annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in......

It sounds like a Project Runway challenge: create a look Princess Grace would have worn. However, the six gowns that are currently being displayed in the windows of Saks Fifth Avenue were created by some of the top designers -- each being paired with a specific look to be reinterpreted in a modern way. To help mark the 25th anniversary of her death, and to raise money for the Princess Grace Foundation USA (which......

MUSIC: Last week Craig Finn made a solo appearance amongst the books at Barnes & Noble, tonight he's with his rock band, The Hold Steady, playing another free show. Joining them are the Old 97’s, and newer band, Illinois. A triple-threat lineup with a can't-be-beat pricetag. 5:30pm // 7 World Trade Center [250 Greenwich St] // Free READING: Possibly known more for her role on Project Runway than her fashion direction with ELLE magazine, Nina......

If you watch the reality shows, you probably wonder at the random, more boring, points of your day: Whatever happened to so-and-so from Project whatchamacallit? Or more likely, you don't. NY Mag examines the sad, "near-fame experience" of being a Bravo reality star. Somewhere right below the D-list is the space the not-quite almost-famous Bravo TV stars occupy. Though the Bravo competition reality shows generally rely on actual skills, the article's first cautionary tale is......

Chung chung! NBC and producer Dick Wolf have hashed out a deal to keep Law & Order on the air for the next four years. Variety reports (subscription only) that as part of the deal, Law & Order: Criminal Intent will be moving to USA. Yes, USA (which NBC owns) will now have the first run episodes of Detective Robert Goren's histrionics, and then NBC will air repeats of L&O;:CI. Interesting! NBC Universal head......

Blogging Project Runway doesn't stop just because the show isn't airing right now. They have some reports in from the auditions for Season 4, and also point to a clip at MTV. They took the picture at right of Jason (who also auditioned for Season 3) - with one of his creations that he hopes will get him on the show. Did he make it work? We'd have to see it on that crazy model......

Air Guitar Nation (directed by Alexandra Lipsitz): Sure, you can jam like Jimi Hendrix returned from the dead alone in your bedroom, but can you wail with your invisible guitar on stage in front of thousands of people? The quest for the lofty title "world air guitar champion" is the story of the documentary, Air Guitar Nation, which begins a theatrical run in New York this weekend at the Angelika. Inspired by a Wall Street......

We were reading New York Magazine's Fashion Week Food Diaries where models, a show producer, and a fashion editor submitted three days of their eating habits. The fashion editor is Elle's fashion news director, Anne Slowey, who we remember very well from Project Runway's season 2 ice skating outfit challenge. And the diary seems to clear up some things. Over the course of three days, Slowey's diet consists mostly of water, an intense vitamin regimen,......

Some of Gothamist's favorite stories in the city were about the animals of New York City. Here's how animals ruled the Big Apple in 2006: - A whippet went missing at JFK Airport after appearing at the Westminster Dog Show; a loyal group people have still been looking for Vivi since February. - A star was born when Fred the cat helped nabbed a bogus vet. He was made a (honorary) detective by Brooklyn......

West Chelsea can do no right, as now Miss USA Tara Conner is getting raked over the coals over her partying. Yesterday, TMZ reported pageant officials and NBC met to discuss Conner's status as Miss USA, given "alleged incidents of her inappropriate behavior, including her conduct at New York City bars." And by inappropriate, they mean underaging drinking at clubs downtown, alleged substance abuse, and missing Miss USA appearances, as Conner is only 20 years......

May the television gods hear our and others' pleas! Last month, the Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan broke the news that Tim Gunn was not signed for a fourth season of Project Runway:Will he be back? Ever the modest one, he would only say he "makes no assumptions," but he would come back "in a heartbeat" if asked. There's no official word, by the way, that there will be a fourth season, but it seems more......

Last night's Project Runway finale had it all. A hint of scandal. Crying. Bad accounting. Very little sleep. Family. Past Project Runway designers. B-list celebrities. "Gather round." Some very lovely dresses and some that almost defy description. While we think most anyone interested in Project Runway has seen the finale already, we're putting our thoughts about the finale after the jump.......

The countdown is on: Tomorrow night is the season finale of Project Runway. We've had six days and a couple repeat viewings to think about last week's episode: - Visit with Michael: Michael is a great braceface. His collection was barely there, but it was definitely the beginning of what have been spied already and we don't like it in that way. On the upside, he seems to have a great, supportive family -......

Our one quibble with last night's Project Runway Reunion was that it was too short. This should have been a two-hour special. - Keith Michael is ridiculously adorable, but his personality is extremely off-putting - Malan Breton was heartbreaking - he may be weird, he may be from Taiwan, he may be like a Tim Burton character, but it was very moving - We understand every single word that Tim Gunn used except "faux bois"......

Tonight is the reunion episode for season 3 of Project Runway, but we must relive last week's episode first. - Model "stealing" - Fair is fair, so we can't really fault Uli for choosing Nazri as her model (after all, she took her after winning the dog challenge). We're just surprised Michael didn't choose Amanda (we find Clarissa a little cross-eyed). Then again, maybe Michael didn't want to hear about Amanda's boyfriend not buying her......

-- Ixtayul visits David Island in the Long Island Sound-- apparently it used to host anti-nuclear missles. -- Diana Eng might have lost Project Runway, but she won the top prize at Yahoo Hack Day. Nerd! -- Amusing pictures sent to us today: Please no Pee Pee, Penis. -- Stuyvesant alumni are asking for federal funding to provide health care for students exposed to chemicals in the aftermath of September 11th. -- "Jewish Conscience"......

-- Public Storage has been forced to remove their "Finally, a good reason to leave Manhattan" campaign from the subways. Apparently it offended people in the outer boroughs. Startling! -- Apparently loads of buff-associate professors are roaming the tunnels under Columbia! -- A short list of things Naomi Campbell does not enjoy: uppity assistants, non-violent expressions of anger, and showing up for court dates. -- Bad news for streetart fans: 11 Spring Street is......

The last new Project Runway was practically two weeks ago, but thanks to Bravo rerunning it, we could relive it many times. It was full of twists: Two previously kicked-off winners got to reappear and fight for a place in the final four (well, besides Keith) and the outfit would have to be black-and-white and all the material had to be used - even scraps! It's debatable which spooked people more - Angela's "sad eyes,"......

Yesterday afternoon, a crowd of people excitedly waited on a line along Elizabeth Street. No, they had not missed the San Gennaro Festival - they were there for fashion. Emmett McCarthy, a season 2 designer from Project Runway, was having an event at his store, EMc2, featuring clothing and appearances from Project Runway designers like Chloe Dao, Kara Janx, Alison Kelly, Nick Verreos, and Emmett himself....plus Tim Gunn! We settled into the line at 1PM,......

Ahhhh! It's Olympus Fashion Week and today, the designers from Project Runway showed their collections! Now, as we all know, all four designers from the Final Four - Jeffrey, Laura, Michael and Uli - get to present at Fashion Week, but one of the shows is a decoy, in order for people not to know who the true Final Three are. (Last year, Kara Janx presented at Fashion Week, though Daniel V., Chloe and......

While last week's Project Runway couture challenge itself wasn't satisfying, the outcome was well worth it. To see Vincent "Everything I do turns me on" Libretti leave has been, well, liberating, because we don't have to worry about him walking around in his boxers on TV ever again. Unless they make him do it on the reunion show. Anyway, here are our thoughts on the episode: - France is the land of accordion music; the......

Just when we were wondering what party to start our new Gothamist Nights column out with... Given a last minute heads up Saturday night, we headed down to Bowery hotspot Capitale with the lovely Miss Modernage to check out the Yellow Fever/Clandestine Industries runway show. Clandestine is the label of Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, and he gathered together a handful of pretty people to wear his selection of colorful hoodies and printed t-shirts.......

Fashion Week is upon us once again, and even outside of Bryant Park it's hard to not notice. Coinciding with Fashion Week, the Museum at FIT opens a new show, Love and War: The Weaponized Woman. Starting today, and featuring about eighty contemporary garments by designer royalty, this exhibit examines the influence of armor and other military styles on high fashion. The “hard body” concept is also central to the exhibition, "both because hardness is......