Later today ABC will join together Barack Obama with the ladies of The View. While they tell us the main focus of their interview segment is on the "controversial remarks of Reverend Jeremiah Wright" (something that Elizabeth Hasselbeck has slammed him for in the past), one of the clips shows Barbara Walters telling Obama he is, "very sexy looking." At which point the presidential candidate needs to fan himself from the 78-year-old news legend's......

Kimya Mania In a matter of weeks, Kimya Dawson has gone from nice, unassuming local anti-folk artist to a bona fide national breakout star, thanks to the success of the movie Juno and her contributions to the soundtrack. This week the soundtrack hit #3 on the Billboard album chart, and Kimya's been busy basking in the much deserved success. Aside from speaking with us earlier this week, the former Moldy Peach played a handful of......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck on East 112th St. and 3rd Ave. in Manhattan, shots fired at 132nd St. and Madison Ave. in Manhattan, and a commercial burglary on 4th Ave. and 90th St. in Brooklyn. Page Six lists its top ten scoops of the year. #1 is about Rosie O'Donnell's writer being escorted from The View offices for drawing magic marker mustaches on pictures of Elizabeth Hasselbeck, and rumors that......

Some of you looking outside this morning might have had a double take, as fog has rolled in some parts of the city. Janelle sent us this photograph of fog seen over the East River from Dumbo (the Brooklyn Bridge is hidden on the left), but we hear that the view is clear and beautiful looking from Midtown East. As for what kind of fog it is, we're not sure, but it sure is......

Barry Manilow, who is out promoting his Greatest Songs of the Seventies, has refused to share a stage with Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who was barely walking in the 70s. The crooner left a little message on his website yesterday for his fans letting them know he wouldn't be on The View today, saying "I had made a request that I be interviewed by Joy, Barbara or Whoopi, but not Elisabeth Hasselback. Unfortunately, the show was not......

A report being released tomorrow by the Industrial Assistance Corporation (IAC) titled "Buried Treasure: New York's Hidden Tech Sector" asserts that New York City rivals cities like Seattle and areas like Silicon Valley as the largest technology center in the country. The study counted the number of tech workers in the city, at branches of corporations like IBM, Microsoft, Google, and the research and development departments of medical centers in the city. The IAC report......

After the outcry from families of September 11 victims as well as other members of the public, WABC 7 reversed its decision not to air the reading of 2,749 September 11 victims' names by yesterday afternoon and will now air the ceremony in its entirety. WABC 7 news director Kenny Plotnick had originally explained that the move would have given its audience a choice - and that the entire reading could be seen on the......

Has WABC Changed for the Worse? We are starting to think that Bill Beutel, Roger Grimsby, or Tom Snyder would not recognize their former station if they came back to life. Sure the station is dominant in the ratings but has the quality of the news product gone down? We think it has, especially given the recent and thankfully reversed (albeit after much public outcry and pressure) decision to relegate the bulk of the 9/11......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Fox Fall Preview 2007 (Sunday, 7:00 p.m., WNYW 5) A pre-season look at the Fox fall line up. Saturday Night Live in the '80s: Lost and Found (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., WNBC 4) A look at SNL in the 80s with clips and interviews. The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon 2007 (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., WWOR 9) The long running telethon marks twenty years on WWOR who picked up the......

In 2005 Barbara Walters mentioned her distaste for public breastfeeding on The View and was met at the show's studio with "lactivists" protesting her statement. The NY Press reported that the "lactivists" (the New York City Breastfeeding Promotion and BABE - the Brooklyn Alliance for Breastfeeding Empowerment) were back Friday packed in to a southbound A train at noon. The groups carried signs that read “La leche materna es el mejor alimento” and “Breast milk......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a possible abduction at 39th St. and 4th Ave. in Brooklyn, falling debris from 820 Columbus Ave. in Manhattan, and a stabbing on East 214th St. in the Bronx. Queens Councilman James Gennaro was fined $2,000 after admitting to the Conflict of Interest Board that he asked a staffer to volunteer on his campaign, although he says he has no recollection of the 2003 incident MTA CEO Elliot Sander......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Wide Angle: Dishing Democracy (Tuesday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13) Imagine "The View" in Arabic being beamed via satellite television throughout the Middle East. This documentary gets behind the scenes of the show, "Kalam Nawaem" which just may bring about some revolution. P.O.V.: Following Sean (Tuesday, 10:00 p.m., WNET 13) At the height of the hippie movement in San Francisco, filmmaker Ralph Arlyck was a graduate film student......

Designer Michael Bierut has details over at the Pentagram blog on how he and his team created the recently installed sign at The New York Times Building, the 52-story tower designed by Renzo Piano and FXFowle. At 110 feet, the sign, located on the building's Eighth Ave. facade, is a 10,116-point version of the paper’s Fraktur font. It is comprised of 1,000 custom-designed pieces, each a painted extruded aluminum sleeve a little more than......

Barbara Walters may not have the controversy-ratings dervish Rosie O'Donnell on the roster of The View anymore, but what she does have is her reputation as the go-to interview for many celebrities. Last week, it was announced that Paris Hilton would be giving her first post-jailhouse interviewed with Babs. One release and re-jailing later, Hilton called Walters collect. Hilton told Walters, "I used to act dumb. That act is no longer cute. Now, I would......

Rosie O'Donnell made an appearance at BEA this past weekend, though her involvement with the expo was toned down significantly after The View fued. Variety reports: Rosie O'Donnell was rushed in and out of a scheduled appearance at book confab BookExpo America this weekend even as fellow celebs like Stephen Colbert brought a touch of Hollywood glitz to the annual lit gathering. Insiders said that O'Donnell decided at the last-minute to overhaul plans for her......

Google Maps has upped its considerable offering to include "Street View," which offers views of the certain locations at the street-level imagery. The areas where you can see images are noted by blue lines on the map (click the "Street View" button). Manhattan is pretty covered and downtown Brooklyn is covered, but the Bronx, Queens and State Island views are pretty much limited by major roads. Below is 1 Centre Street; you can't get......

After Wednesday's blow-up with Elizabeth Hasselbeck, Rosie O'Donnell made today's show her last day on The View. Originally, O'Donnell's exit was planned for June 20, but it seems like she wanted out early. Here are some statements via ABC News:Brian Frons, the president of Disney-ABC's Daytime Television Group, said, "We had hoped that Rosie would be with us until the end of her contract three weeks from now, but Rosie has informed us that she......

A couple of years ago, Bryan Devendorf (drummer for The National) documented the band's trip to SXSW for us. We enjoyed it so much, we asked him to do it again! This time he documented their recent shows with Arcade Fire right here in New York, and even addresses those security guards at Radio City. Related: NYT's article "Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog" Fake Empire.mp3 (from The National's upcoming release, Boxer.) I wake to......

We always thought that to drink right under the Brooklyn Bridge you had to either go low and sip homemade concoctions discreetly through straws in constant fear of the cops, or plop down large sums to cover a bill for two at the River Cafe. While nothing is particularly wrong with either, we were happy to find another option. It began as a search for the closest bar to Grimaldi’s in Dumbo. What was the......

The search is already on to replace Rosie O'Donnell on The View. Rumors are that Rosanne Barr may be first choice to fill the seat. Though Barr was on "Larry King Live" recently and said that she was "not looking for the job," on KVVU-TV in Las Vegas Monday, she seemed to have a change of heart. She told the station, "I'd love it. Yeah, definitely. I think I would do a real good job,"......

After the hearing the crazy voicemail Alec Baldwin left for his daughter, it's nice to hear some refreshing news about him. In a taped segment for tomorrow's episode of 'The View', Baldwin says that he asked NBC to let him out of his contract for '30 Rock' so he could spend his time working on "parental alienation" and that if he "never acted again I couldn't care less." On the show, Baldwin plays a meddling......

It looks like Rosie O'Donnell is leaving daytime television yet again. No, it's not because of her attempts to speak Chinese, but because of contract issues. How mundane. TMZ first reported last night that O'Donnell, the co-host and moderator of ABC's morning talk-show, was set to announce her departure from the show. This morning, ABC News confirms the story in an "exclusive" (side note - shouldn't ABC break news about its own show before TMZ?).......

If it happens, prepare your eyes. Joan Rivers says that she's training to run for the 2007 New York City Marathon. The septuagenarian said on The View that she's running for about an hour a day right now and that she may have to wear a special brace to protect all her face lifts. And here we thought the only marathons Joan could do involved an awards show or plastic surgery. On her blog, Rivers......

Wired's science blog tells us that "only two dozen people have seen our planet in its entirety from space" (most have been low orbit views where the entire planet isn't visible). The AP asked them all to describe that view for Earth Day. The first full view of Earth was from Apollo 8 in 1968. Astronaut Bill Anders took the photos during that mission that ended up on posters and pins for the first......

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Esca, calls chef Dave Pasternack a "fish whisperer" (um, OK Frank) and awards the restaurant three stars. "In an era when too many restaurants try to be everything to everyone," he says, "Esca has a specific agenda: show what the sea can yield." The restaurant was previously awarded two stars by William Grimes in 2000. In $25 and Under, Peter Meehan checks out the cafes at the......

You're in town for the weekend. You've seen the Statue of Liberty, eaten pizza at Lombardi's, and taken in the view from the Empire State Building? What else is there do to in New York? Why, see the KFC/Taco Bell rats of course! What could be a better Big Apple experience? In a story that just keeps giving, the Times reports on how the rat-infested Sixth Avenue fast-food joint is drawing onlookers from near......

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico. Bostonist was happy they finally found an Anna Nicole Smith connection to their fair city and that an Apple Store was opening up. They were less happy that new rules have been established limiting underage shows and that their Governor spending a lot......

The controversial proposal to turn the UPS lot on Spring Street and West Street into a place for 106 Sanitation trucks may align Donald Trump with critics of his planned Trump Soho Hotel. The Donald takes a break from blabbing about ladies of The View and tells the Post, "I don't like trucks, the fumes, the traffic from the standpoint of the community... If the community wanted help, I would certainly help." Still the Trump......

This is traditionally a pretty slow time for music. Everyone is getting their feet back under them from the holidays, there aren't many bands putting out albums, and even less are ready to get back out and start touring. The news cycle in general is still pretty weak, and music has it no different. Nonetheless, we're starting a new feature this week recapping the biggest stories in rock around this town every Friday. So... New......

Drivers who take the George Washington Bridge, you'll soon have a little green gecko in your sights every day! The Port Authority has agreed to allow Geico advertise on the George Washington Bridge for $3.2 million over two years. While that doesn't mean affixing geckos to the bridge itself, it does mean Geico billboards on the toll plaza, Geico signs on tollbooths, and having Geico's name appear on various Port Authority collateral and the......