Ah, some details about the robbery that prompted the 4/5/6 subway lines to be essentially shut down during rush hour. Yesterday, we heard that an armed robbery suspected was in the tunnel between 116th And 125th Street along the Lexington Avenue sign, so NYC Transit shut down power to the line so the police could purse the thief. The Post reports that a "thug robbed a street-cart food vendor on 116th Street and Lexington Avenue......

If you've ever struggled to figure out which direction you're facing when you step out of a subway station (and there are no landmarks or sun to guide you), you won't have those problems at four subway stations in Midtown anymore. That's because the Department of Transportation and the Grand Central Partnership are placing temporary directional compass decals outside them. DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan explained, "Not a single person, native New Yorker or visitor, can......

The intersection of Lexington Avenue and East 41st Street has reopened after two months of clean-up and repair work. In July 18, an over-100 years old steam pipe exploded, killing one person and seriously injuring two others, while causing millions in damages. Described by the Mayor as a failure of infrastructure, Con Ed has been under criticism for failing to recognize a problem could occur. The utility said last month that an investigation could......

For many people, stopping at a Starbucks is a natural instinct, but don't bother doing that in the face of a disaster. After the steam pipe exploded on Lexington Avenue in July, one woman turned to Starbucks to escape the chaos and find safety. Unfortunately for her, she was denied entrance to the Starbucks on 42nd and 6th, which reportedly turned people away with locked doors due to a company policy. The woman said......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: America at a Crossroads: Anti-Americans (A Hate/Love Relationship) (Monday, 10:00 P.M., WNET 13) A look at the Europeans love/hate relationship with the United States. Live From New York: The First 5 Years of Saturday Night Live (Tuesday, 8:00 P.M., WNBC 4) Two hours of classic SNL sketches and interviews with the performers who created them in this rebroadcast of this retrospective. Wide Angle: The Dying Fields (Tuesday,......

New York artist Elizabeth Murray (who split her time between Tribeca and Washington County, NY) died yesterday after a battle with cancer at the age of 66. Her husband (with whom she had several children), Bob Holman, is the founder of the Bowery Poetry Club. Moving to New York in 1967, she was inspired by work of many artists including Richard Serra. By 1973 she had her first solo show at the Paula Cooper......

Yesterday, Con Edison removed the tow truck sitting in the crater where a steam pipe explosion ripped a 15' by 25' hole in 41st Street and Lexington Avenue. The utility will investigate the damage in hopes of getting a better idea of what caused the Wednesday night explosion. Other clean up crews were working on other parts of the damaged area. One contractor who will be washing the facade of a building told WNBC,......

The red tow truck sitting in a crater at 41st Street and Lexington Avenue, right where an 83-year-old steam pipe exploded Wednesday evening, will be towed out today. The Daily News reports that Con Ed is preparing to remove the truck, and because there are live electrical cables in the hole, the "crews may use nylon wire, which won't act as a conductor, to hoist the vehicle from the pit." After the truck is......

The city continued clean-up at the site of Wednesday's Midtown steam pipe explosion at East 41st and Lexington Avenue. Vanderbilt Avenue has been reopened, and Third Avenue was scheduled to be reopened today. Clean up of 42nd Street between Third and Park should be done by Monday, while clean up of Lexington between 42nd and 43rd should be done by the end of the weekend. Here's what the city said about the asbestos samples:The......

Though some people were running from the explosion, once things calmed down a little, it seems like many people were documenting what was happening. In turn, it gave those of us not on the scene a way to share the experience. Here are some striking photographs from readers: Photograph of people walking away, looking towards, the explosion by Horatio Baltz; see the full set Photograph the crowd on the steps of the New York Public......

During the Wednesday-night rush hour, a steam pipe at 41st Street and Lexington Avenue exploded, sending steam, mud, and pieces of the street hundreds of feet into the air. One person died and at least 20 people were injured. Initially, many people's first reactions were that it was a terrorist attack, what with the loud, thunder-like rumbling that shook buildings and the cloud of smoke and steam. People ran from the area of the......

More updates below, but here's a summary so far (8:20PM): A steam explosion occurred on East 41st and Lexington Avenue (41st between Lex and Third) just before 6PM - right during the evening rush hour. The NYPD does not think it was a terrorist attack. It appears that there is a hole about 25' in diameter with a red tow truck in the center. One person has died (possibly from cardiac arrest) and there......

Yesterday, the MTA lowered the first of many parts of the Tunnel Boring Machine into the lower level of the 63rd Street tunnel as part of the MTA’s East Side Access project. The lowering itself could have been dismissed by passersby as just some sort of generic routine construction work, but it was much more than just moving a boring machine. When finally assembled in about two months, the 600-ton automated Spanish-owned and Italian-made......

May 26 - 27 Barbecue at Flatbush Farm The gang at Flatbush Farm hosts a barbecue the last weekend of every month, including this one. Feast on grilled clams, barbecued chicken legs and ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, veggie chili and more. 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 76 Saint Marks Avenue, Brooklyn. Call 718-622-3276 for details. May 29: Is New York Dining Really Better Than Ever? Ask the experts! Mike Colamenico will moderate a panel discussion......

A midtown hotel got an earful from the Catholic Church this week when the contents of a planned art exhibit became public. Artist Cosimo Cavallaro was scheduled to display his piece "My Sweet Lord" at the Roger Smith Hotel on 47th St. and Lexington Avenue before New York's archbishop objected. The sculpture was a six-foot-tall representation of a naked Jesus, made out of chocolate. The Catholic League's President, Bill Donohue, is not a fan of......

A six-foot tall chocolate sculpture of Jesus which will be displayed at a Midtown hotel next week is stirring up controversy. Catholics are calling Cosimo Cavallaro's "My Sweet Lord" an "all-out war on Christianity." The sculpture is supposed to be installed in a window at the Roger Smith Hotel's gallery, The Lab, on East 47th Street and Lexington Avenue. Cavallaro claims that the Easter-timing was a coincidence, and besides, this isn't his first chocolate......

Around 11:30AM, part of a building at 1863 Lexington Avenue, near 115th Street, collapsed with 12 construction workers inside. All workers were accounted for, and one worker was taken to a hospital for injuries. The building was being prepared for demolition, but now the building is considered unstable and neighboring buildings were evacuated. WNBC points out that right before the collapse, someone complained to the Department of Buildings that there was shaking and vibrating at......

March 22: World Water Day As we've mentioned before, today is World Water Day. Over 290 local restaurants are participating in the Tap Project -- just fork up $1 for the tap water that's usually gratis and UNICEF will donate that money to help provide clean drinking water to children around the world. March 24: Spring Cooking Class Join Executive Chef Franck Deletrain from Café Centro to learn how to prepare a menu focusing on......

February 17-18: Year of the Pig at The Spotted Pig The good folks at The Spotted Pig are ringing in the Year of the Pig with, you guessed it, a pig roast. 314 W. 11th Street at Greenwich. Call 212-620-0393 for details. Feburary 18: Year of the Pig at LeNell's LeNell's brings on the swine with free tastings of pork-related booze, including Wild Hog pinot noir and Pig Nose Scotch. 416 Van Brunt St between......

A dispatch from the field - the Ditmars Boulevard field, that is - from Dan Dickinson, who says that there is no N service into Manhattan from Queens. Why? A broken rail at Lexington! Now the MTA's service advisory is up, and it's a doozy:Due to a rail condition at the Lexington Avenue-59th Street Station: There is no service on the W train between the Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard Station and the Whitehall Street-South Ferry Station.......

January 19: Fondue Night at Riverdale Garden It may be cold outside, but it's perfect fondue weather. Riverdale Garden will be serving up classic cheese, hearty herb flavored oil with beef and chicken and, of course, bittersweet chocolate. Complete dinner is $29 including house wine and draft beer, or just drinks and music for $15. Dinner starting at 7PM, music at 8:30PM. Reservations are recommended and can be made on Open Table or by calling......

Sometimes you have to leave the city to realize how impatient we can be. Don’t have your breakfast order at the tip of your tongue? Expect to be passed over. Fumbling for your Metrocard at the turnstile with a train approaching, you’ll get dirty looks. Walking three-abreast at leisurely pace down Lexington Avenue during rush hour might get you stabbed. Our little conveniences of efficiency have led us to expect things quickly. It’s not......

At 12:01AM, taxi meters were reset to reflect the new fare increases. Waiting time now costs 40 cents per minute while going under 12 MPH (versus the old 20 cents per minute while going under 6 MPH). The new waiting time increase translates into an approximate 11% increase in average fares (new fare: $9.60; old fare: $8.65), which drivers say will help go towards the rising fuel prices. Just make sure you have an......

Yesterday, there was a sprawling editorial (literally sprawling too - it covered two pages) in the NY Times Week in Review by Tom Wolfe. And in it, he ripped the Landmarks Preservation Commission, most of its commissioners, and Mayors Koch, Giuliani and Bloomberg a couple new ones. The essay, The (Naked) City and the Undead, begins with the debate over 980 Madison Avenue and developer Aby Rosen's proposed Norman Foster addition to it. (Which......

Gothamist reader Sean of Philly2Hoboken sent us an update about the new Goodburger on Second Avenue (the one we were excited about in September, after seeing it begin to emerge). Goodburger on Lexington Avenue opened this week, and delivery is expected by Monday. They have about 25 seats available to sit down, and it seemed the majority of people were there for takeout on Wednesday. Tried the cheeseburger and have the following mini-review: I......

In its 14th year, Canstruction, hailed as the most unique food drive in the world, challenges 42 top New York City architecture and design firms to turn donated cans into creations. On display through Wednesday, November 22nd at The New York Design Center (200 Lexington Avenue at 32nd), cans are meticulously stacked and color coordinated into creative designs. Where else can you pretend to play a Canned Piano, courtesy of ads Engineers? Take Cansportation......

It's been three months since the MTA and Mastercard unveiled the contactless payment system that is mostly along the Lexington Avenue line. The system has been in trial, and now they have unveiled the next part: The NYC Mobile Trial. If you have a Citbank Mastercard with Paypass - and a Cingular account - you may be able to sign up and use your cellphone to pay your fare.Tap your NFC enabled mobile phone......

Sidewalks aren't only for pedestrians - they seem to be made for cars after they are hit by other out of control cars. Yesterday afternoon, an out of control Lexus hit two parked cars after spinning across two lanes on Lexington Avenue near East 62nd Street. The parked cars then hit a pedestrian on the sidewalk. The NY Post says the victim, a Venezulan tourist, was "slumped across the trunk of the car, her legs......

Yesterday morning's car accident involving a man suspected of stabbing someone in Rhode Island is profoundly crazy. Joel Noonan was trying to drive away from MTA police on Lexington Avenue when his Jeep Cherokee crashed into Nissan Pathfinder near 63rd Street, hitting pedestrians, with the Pathfinder ultimately crashing into a travel office window. One woman, Eve Maria Boisbel, was hit so hard that she, as Newsday reports, was "wedged inside a black metal garbage can......

Take one knife-wielding SUV driver, suspected of stabbing someone to death in Rhode Island. Take the MTA police, chasing the suspect on Lexington Avenue. Take Monday morning rush hour traffic around 63rd Street. While being chased at around 9AM, the SUV driver crashed into another SUV on East 63rd and hit pedestrians, before driving into a travel office, pinning one of them against a store. The driver got out and a witness told WABC 7,......