A Gramercy Park co-op board is suing the residents of one of the building's units for dressing up their interior door with holiday decorations. Richard Belza and his roommate Andrew Meehan have been decorating their apartment door for holidays like the 4th of July, Halloween, Christmas Valentine's Day, and Easter. Belza is a floral designer and has a knack for decorating, so he doesn't understand why he is being sued. He told the New York......

Shake Shack – that object of obsession for so many burger lovers within a 10-mile radius of Madison Square Park – reopens today for their first winter season. Gothamist commenter MaiaW articulated the passion and excitement best when we first reported the year-round Shaction last month: “OMG, OMG. Now I have absolutely NO excuse not to eat there once a week (calories shmalories). Woo hooooo!!” With typically disheartening lines stretching almost out of the......

However you are spending Christmas Day, we hope you have a happy and safe holiday. Please take the time to think of others: If you get new clothes, make room in your closet and consider donating your gently worn ones to charities Donate food to City Harvest or the Food Bank. Here are more giving opportunities via the City of New York. Government offices are closed today, as are public schools (which have recess......

One of the ten suspects arrested in the Q train beating of a Jewish man during Hanukkah is saying that hate crime charges are completely uncalled for because he himself is Jewish. Joseph Jirovec Jr. was arrested two weeks ago after a group of Hanukkah revelers was beaten while on a the Q train after wishing happy holidays to other riders. Members of a crowd on the train took objection to the Jewish greetings and......

Hey, did you get your year end bonus yet? The bros at Goldman Sachs sure did, to the tune of $600K per employee, on average. Yep, $600,000 dollars, a number that stands out in a year when most Wall Street bonuses, though still obscene, are either diminished or staying even with previous years. In fact, 600K is double the average bonus paid at other firms, according to Reuters. Other banks may be wilting under fourth......

It’s that time of year again when New Yorkers debate how much to tip the – deep breath – doorman, super, handyman, locker room attendant, trainer, baby sitter, dog walker, beauty salon, cleaning person, day care center, garbage collector, mail carrier, paperboy and parking attendant(s). Sewell Chan, the Times’s Man on the Web, has tied himself to the tipping post with a 1,780 word monograph on the subject, largely sourced from Doorman, a book by......

PARTY: Haven't gotten your fill of holiday office party fun this season? Metro Metro reminds all of its faux-ployees that their office party is tonight! "This is a reminder going out to all fake employees about the Metro Metro Holiday Office Party. Please join us in celebrating the holidays by assuming a fake job title and hobnobbing with fake co-workers over genuine drinks. Need inspiration for potential job titles, such as Associate with the Bad......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: three pedestrians struck on 65th St. and 7th Ave. in Brooklyn, a tourist bus vs. building incident on 51st St. and Broadway in Manhattan, and a train derailment on East 239th St. in the Bronx. 47 years ago, two planes bound for Laguardia and JFK collided over Miller Field on Staten Island in mid-air. As body parts, Christmas presents, and debris rained from the sky over Staten Island, 132......

Oops! WNBC's Mistake Causes Problems for St. Louis TV Station WNBC issued an apology for putting on their website a list of baseball players who were expected to be mentioned in the Mitchell Report. The apology was also given on air by Jonathan Dienst, who did mention they received the names from two sources. The Fox owned and operated television station in St. Louis, KTVI, picked up on the erroneous list and lead their 11.......

During the holidays, we are all bombarded with requests for charitable giving. Sure, it's a great way to do something good and squeeze in one more tax deduction before year's end, but given the number of requests, making a choice about how to spend your charity dollars can be somewhat daunting. The Times focused this week on the dizzying number of food-related charities making year-end requests. Alongside the more traditional hunger-related organizations, "[c]haritable groups dedicated......

'Tis the season to be aware of fire safety during the holidays. Christmas lights caused a fire that left 26 people injured last night. The fire started around 6:20PM in an 8th floor apartment of a Bronxdale building. A woman who lived in the apartment told the Daily News, "My daughter said there's a fire in her room from the Christmas decorations. I called 911, grabbed the kids and ran out." Twenty-five irefighters and civilians......

Brooklyn postal worker Michael Olivio was arrested by feds last week for stealing mail he was supposed to deliver when he suspected that cards contained cash or checks. After residents on his postal route began to complain that they were not receiving certain expected pieces of mail, postal inspectors began an elaborate investigation. First they mailed decoy greeting cards to establish that mail was indeed disappearing along Olivio's route. They followed that up by mailing......

What do you get for the person who has everything this season? Central Park! The green grass may be covered in white and the autumn leaves have come and gone, but the Conservancy wants you to know it's "lovely in the winter!" So don't go hibernating just yet. The press release mentions something about giving the gift of a coffee set to take along with you on a stroll, but what really caught our attention......

EVENT: Into anime? It's your lucky weekend, the New York Anime Festival is in town! There will be previews, screenings and panels galore. Check out their website for more details. All Weekend // Jacob Javits Convention Center [655 W 34th St] // $30 day pass, $55 weekend pass SHOP: FIT and the Design Mavens come together for a 3 day shopstravaganza. Tons of designers we're not cool enough to have ever heard of will be......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Gothamist. Dewars Repeal Day, celebrating our freedom to drink as we please. Go Eight, bringing us a blowout Hannukah Party on Saturday Night. The Whitney Museum, host of Kara Walker's amazing "My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love" show. Rubin Museum of Art, the best spot for Himalayan art. Sony Card, perfect for funding your holiday purchases. Love is a Mix......

It's been snowing out lately, and thanks to The World's Largest Snow Globe, it's going to be snowing indoors soon as well. Standing at over twenty feet tall, the monstrosity of holiday cheer will be arriving at The Pond at Bryant Park next week (December 14th to 18th). Throughout the week, the snow globe will feature live models in cheery winter scenes, not unlike an Old Navy ad. Why? Good question. In typical holiday fashion,......

Freaked out about the explosions in your neighborhood, only to find out via 311 that it's just fireworks? Or wondering about the fire around the corner? Well, the city actually does want you to know about what's going on in your neighborhoods and announced the pilot program launch of Notify NYC, which will deliver "emergency public information by email, text messages and reverse-911 alerts in four City community districts." The four districts are Lower Manhattan,......

Last year we "oohed" and "ahhed" at Prospect Park in Lights, and as of last night -- the seasonal luminescence is back. And this year, even the pink lights are "green":Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg tonight flipped the switch on a holiday lighting installation at Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Park. LEDs, energy-efficient and long-lasting lights that are environmentally friendly, are being used to illuminate the Bailey Fountain and a tree underneath the Sailors and......

There are people in this city who literally go into mourning each year when the Shake Shack closes for the winter. Seriously. But this year, things are different. The Shack is staying open through the winter, and has added some heat lamps to the seating area to keep you warm and cozy. And as an added bonus, starting today they'll be accepting phone orders for pick up only (at a separate pick-up window) through March......

...and a thousand Photoshop files were launched! Diane Sawyer may be a veteran journalist and may seem totally unflappable, but even she has totally embarrassing moments. This morning, during a segment unveiling Good Morning America's new holiday windows from the New York Botanical Gardens, she called Mayor Bloomberg a "munchkin." Really: “As a little munchkin, did you come to New York?” To be fair, she was asking Bloomberg whether he visited New York during......

The fatal shooting outside Radio Perfecto restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue between 118th and 119th Streets was prompted by a bar fight. Twenty-three year-old Delquan Kearns was shot in the head while his brother Stephan Jones, 27, was shot in the arm after they argued with another group of men over a drink around 3AM on Sunday. Their mother told the Post, "My sons said they were at the bar and that some guy grabbed one......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Gothamist. Dewars Repeal Day, because you shouldn't take the right to have a drink for granted. Go Eight, a Hanukkah party on December 8th at Webster Hall. The Whitney Museum, currently featuring an exhibition of Kara Walker's work. Rubin Museum of Art, where you can start your holidays in the Himalayas. Sony Card, because you'll get $250 off a personal communicator if......

The tree is lit, and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular is another tradition back for a 75th season. The well-seasoned Rockettes steal the show from Santa every year, and have quite a history -- they were originally called The Roxyettes and originated in...Missouri:The group was started by Russell Markert in 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri as the "Missouri Rockets". In 1927, Samuel Roxy Rothafel discovered them and brought them to New York City. They......

EVENT: Julian Schnabel will be screening clips from his latest flick, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly tonight. Lou Reed, who Schnabel recently documented in Lou Reed’s Berlin, will also be on hand. 7pm // Apple Store [103 Prince St] // Free READING: The Desk Set's "Drinks with an Author" series continues tonight at Greenpoint's WORD. This evening chat with Kara Jesella and Marisa Meltzer, authors of How Sassy Changed My Life: A Love Letter......

After news of the Ninja Burglar's robberies at two homes in one night this past weekend, Staten Island residents are upset. One resident whose parents live near one of the recent victims told the Staten Island Advance that the two months in between robberies may have caused "people [to] let their guard down a little bit." The most recent victims, on Ocean Terrace, elderly couple Jean and John Interlandi, spoke out. Their house was robbed......

Tomorrow, more than normal, you should look both ways before you cross the street on the way to work. Why? Because NASCAR is in town celebrating the end of their season with Champions Week, which includes a "victory lap" in Manhattan. The street closing event is quickly becoming an annual tradition. So if you work on Broadway, 42nd St, 53rd St, or Madison Ave., be on the lookout. The league's top-10 drivers, decked out......

Two weeks ago, Lord & Taylor unveiled its holiday windows theme "Christmas is the Moment," based on the the five senses and the wonderful things people enjoy during the holidays. The country's oldest department store and also the first retailer to move to Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor was also the first to create Christmas windows for "pure delight." The flagship store at Fifth Avenue and 38th Street has a hydraulic lift system that......

Just in time for the holidays - and holiday presents - the Ninja Burglar has returned! The nefarious nighttime nuisance that had Staten Island residents on their toes after hitting sixteen homes (some with homeowners in them) robbed two homes in the Todt Hill neighborhood over the weekend. The Advance reported that the "elusive serial bandit" first robbed a mansion on Louisa Lane. He entered through a second floor terrace door - while the......

Last week the Origami Tree went up in all its folded glory, and pretty soon all eyes will be on the "most famous tree in the world" when the Rockefeller Center's spruce gets lit up (with LEDs!). amNewYork spoke to David Murbach, the gardens manager at Rockefeller Center, who drives the back roads of the Northeast looking for trees each year prior to doing an aerial survey in the winter months to see which evergreens......

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......