Last year, the Health Department unveiled its free NYC Condoms on Valentine's Day. For this year's Valentine's Day, not only will volunteers from the Health Department be distributing condoms again, there's a new packaging and a new ad campaign with the tag "Get Some." Don't worry - the condom is the same lubricated Lifestyles latex condom as before. The Health Department gave out 36 million NYC Condoms last year and Assistant Commissioner for HIV......

This week in the Times, Bruni two-stars Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill (the new one, at Columbus Circle). After a few rocky meals immediately after the opening, “the food has been consistently first-rate,” says Bruni. “Much of it also reflects the [owners’, Eric and Bruce] Bromberg’s winning playfulness.” He also says that while the sushi isn't the best in town, the fried chicken may be. In Dining Briefs, Bruni visits Cooper’s Tavern (pictured) in......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an explosion at Linden Blvd. and 220th St. in Queens, a homicide on Sedgewick Ave. in the Bronx, and a water main break on Prospect Place in Brooklyn Santa may have to bypass coalition troops stationed around the world today, but holiday presents will be appreciated even if they do arrive a few weeks into 2008. Newsday has a nice piece on gift-giving to troops and how to do......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Austin Rd. in Queens, another bank robbery on Church Ave. in Brooklyn, and a police car vs. scaffolding in Manhattan; the scaffolding has been compromised. A Queens high school was locked down this afternoon for two hours after a student's 'To Do' list was found listing seven students "To kill today." The projected cost of restoring the separate homes that constitute Admiral's Row at the......

October 11: Restaurant Reviewing in New York City In light of Michelin's release this week, this panel discussion at Borders in the Time Warner Center, which happens to be the home of three-star Per Se, two-star Masa and one-star Cafe Gray, focuses on the reviewing scene in one of the best food cities in the world. Panelists include Jean-Luc Naret, director of the Michelin Guide; Jay Cheshes, former restaurant critic at Gourmet; and food-blogger/restaurant critic......

Starting at noon, pedicab owners began a protest down Broadway to voice their opposition to a new city law that started today. Pedicab owners sued the city yesterday in state Supreme Court, claiming the Department of Consumer Affairs distrusted licenses for pedicabs unlawfully. A law passed earlier this year, which pedicab drivers protested, limits the number of pedicab licenses to 325 and preference was supposed to be given to existing pedicab owners before any......

Via the Gothamist Newsmap, we noticed an "Unusual Incident" on 60th Street at Columbus Circle yesterday afternoon. Thanks to reader Ade in New York, we found out what it was: Someone, in Rollerblades no less, had climbed on top of the globe outside the Trump International. The Post had some more details: The man, 57-year-old Richard Fredette "tossed handfuls of fliers promoting a rock concert" and then ate an orange. Fredette was charged with......

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......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a child was found at 115th St. and Nicholas Ave. in Manhattan, an unusual incident at Columbus Circle in Manhattan with a man atop the globe in front of the Trump International, and a double shooting on Hegeman Ave. in Brooklyn. A worker fired from her job at the substance-abuse outreach organization Odyssey House said that her former supervisor would talk of his sexual exploits constantly. One of the......

James Williams, the drummer who was accompanying the break-dancing group Two Steps Away at the southeast corner of Central Park yesterday, denies that he deliberately spooked Smoothie, the carriage horse who apparently bolted at the loud noise of a snare drum and eventually died from shock after ramming into a tree. The drummer denied doing anything malicious and said that intentionally spooking a horse could have results more dire than even Friday's tragedy. The New......

Two groups of teenagers on an northbound 1 train got into a fight that ended up with two teen slashed. The fight started around the 59th Street/Columbus Circle stop or the 96th Street stop, and then it spilled out onto the platform at 110th Street/Cathedral Parkway. Two were slashed with a knife and another teen was beaten with a cane; all were treated at St. Luke's Roosevelt. A witness told WABC 7, "I was in......

The NY Sun takes a look at the impact of graphic design firm Pentagram on the city’s arts institutions. The article focuses mostly on partner Paula Scher, who has created identities for the Public Theater, the Metropolitan Opera, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, the High Line, the Asia Society and a host of others. Scher, who designed the original “Boston” album in 1976, is now designing for the Park Avenue Armory and Drill Hall,......

The MTA says all service is running normally now, but, earlier, a switch problem at 59th Street/Columbus Circle caused delays with the A, B, C, and D lines. The trains were diverted, with the C going express between Canal and Columbus Circle and the B and D running local between West 4th and Columbus Circle... we even heard that the B and D were running on the northbound N/R line. Because these delays affected the......

If Public Law 19 takes effect on its scheduled date of September 20, the number of New York City pedicabs will soon be capped at 325. Half of the pedicab drivers will lose their jobs, pedicabs will be banned from bridges and bike lanes, and small electric-assist motors will also be banned. The lottery to determine who in the industry will survive and who will be shut down is scheduled for this month. Earlier......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Clarkson Ave. in Brooklyn, another shooting on Madison Ave. in Manhattan, and a pedestrian fatally struck on Cross Bay Blvd. in Queens. 1010 WINS conducted an online poll asking "If a hurricane were to hit NYC, do you think the city would be ready?" 84% of respondents answered "Oh heck no -- look what happened Wednesday." Chicago police arrested the four men who allegedly bound and......

The NYC Transit Authority issued a report about separate incidents that led to two track worker fatalities in April. According to the NY Times, much of the blame is placed on an "organizational culture" where "critical safety rules were not practiced in day-to-day operations." On April 24, Daniel Boggs was hit by a southbound 3 train at the Columbus Circle station when he was in the down express tracks of the 1/2/3 line. The 3......

Earlier this afternoon, we watched Scholastic transform Mercer Street between Prince and Spring Streets in "Harry Potter Place" in anticipation of the 12:01AM release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - early reviews be damned! Not only was the Whomping Willow ready, there were owls (stuffed), messages on the Muggle Message Board, and a copy of the book signed by JK Rowling. There were also already people on line to buy the book.......

Yesterday we mentioned London designer Anya Hindmarch's I'm Not A Plastic Bag was finally arriving at Whole Foods today. The canvas tote was made popular by a combination of things including celebrity and unavailability. Hindmarch told the NY Times “To create awareness you have to create scarcity by producing a limited edition. I hate the idea of making the environment trendy, but you need to make it cool and then it becomes a habit.” We're......

The National Trust for Historic Preservation released its 20th annual list of the 11 Most Endangered Places in the United States and Brooklyn's Industrial Waterfront topped the 2007 list of sites. The organization describes the industrial waterfront's history:For more than a century, the New York City region was one of this country’s dominant manufacturing hubs. Due to its location on the East River and the New York Harbor, Brooklyn was the city’s industrial center......

The NY Times takes a careful, detailed look at the rising Museum of Arts and Design building at 2 Columbus Circle more than two years after preservationists failed to stop plans to radically alter the 1964 Edward Durell Stone building. Yale School of Architecture dean Robert AM Stern was one of the better-known critics (after novelist Tom Wolfe, of course), arguing that the original structure was an important Modernist landmark. The fight helped paved the......

We'd like to use this space to say that our thoughts are with the friends and family of John Pike (pictured). The 23-year old drummer of Syracuse band Ra Ra Riot was found dead yesterday in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Here are some things happening around town tonight... FILM: The Staten Island Film Festival is coming up later this month. A preview to one of the films that will be screening there, When Broom Sticks Were King,......

Did you happen to read the NY Times City Section essay, Under the Scaffold, a No-Fight Club? The author Allan Ripp writes about a confrontation between some youngsters hanging out under the scaffolding of a building near Columbus Circle. Apparently the teens have been loitering around there regularly during the day, and one day, one of the kids gets shoved into Ripp's way while he's walking. Ripp decides to say something:“You guys are always......

READINGS: Papermag points out an interesting reading tonight for "Queens of the Kingdom: The Ultimate Gay and Lesbian Guide to the Disney Theme Parks." Authors Jeffrey Epstein and Eddie Shapiro explain how to have a gay ol’ time in Disney World. Their guide (now in its second edition) features “fairy facts,” culinary suggestions and where to find the “gay goodies” like Ellen Degeneres’s Ellen's Energy Adventure ride. Tonight’s reading is hosted by Michael Musto and......

What makes the death of two subway track workers in as many weeks so stunning, especially to those who work for the subway, is the relative rarity of such events and increased safety of their jobs in recent history. Transit worker Daniel Boggs was killed by an express train while working on the tracks at Columbus Circle's station on April 24th. Just a few days later, Marvin Franklin was killed by a G train at......

After two transit-worker deaths in five days, NYC Transit Authority President Howard Roberts wrote what the NY Times called an "emotional letter" to the thousands of transit workers. Referring to his 20-year career in the United States Army, the transit president, Howard H. Roberts Jr., recalled the time he served as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division, where staying alive was a matter of following safety rules. “The only difference between being a paratrooper......

The NYC Transit Authority continued its investigation of Sunday's fatal accident involving a track worker and an oncoming G train. "Non-essential" track work has been suspended as the agency looks at its safety protocol. NYC Transit Authority president Howard Roberts suggested work should have been suspended earlier, given that another transit worker was killed last week, "If I had any idea we would be here this afternoon on this subject, clearly we would have......

A subway transit worker was killed and another was seriously injured when a G train hit them at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Station yesterday afternoon. It seems that Marvin Franklin, a 22-year-veteran, was fatally hit when he and 37-year-old Jeffrey Hill went to pick up a dolly on another track. The G train's operator did see the men, but could not brake in time; Franklin was dragged by the train, while Hill was hit but is......

Update: The Gothamist Newsmap has identified the two people struck by a train at Hoyt-Schermerhorn station as transit workers. The commenter below points out that it looks like at least one death at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station with someone trapped between the platform and a train. A transit worker was killed earlier this week at the Columbus Circle station. Something bad is happening on the G train. Service has been suspended in both directions between the......

The NY Times reports that a stalled train may have indirectly caused an MTA transit worker to be fatally struck by a train at the Columbus Circle station Tuesday night. Veteran worker Daniel Boggs had been in the downtown express tracks when a 3 train hit him, and some sources say the 3 train was diverted to the express tracks because another train uptown was stalled on the local tracks. From the Times:If not for......

Last night around 11:30PM, a 14-year veteran transit worker was killed by a train entering the Columbus Circle station. Daniel Boggs had been setting up stop lights for late-night track work when a southbound 3 train hit him. Workers suggested that the train was running late and Boggs may have thought that trains had finished running on the 3 line. Fellow workers were devastated, remembering Boggs as a "really good guy." Ron Hall told the......