Woody Allen on Allen Street via Susan NYC's Flickr. Last year Woody Allen kicked off the scantily clad teen models usually draped over American Apparel billboards, and seemingly made himself the new face of Dov Charney's clothing empire. In both LA and NYC, his image (taken from Annie Hall) hung above city streets along with Yiddish writing paired up with their logo. Now it's being reported that Allen (despite his fondness of young ladies)......

Hotelier Jason Pomeranc is creating posh microcosms of gentility all over the city. Since his luxury boutique hotel brand launched seven years ago with the opening of 60 Thompson, Pomeranc has opened two more New York properties, 6 Columbus and Gild Hall. Now, everybody's wondering when his next venture, Thompson LES, at 200 Allen Street will swing open its doors to what The Observer says has become "a no-man’s land of rats, dirty streets and......

"spot on" by ShhPeKo on flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a baby in cardiac arrest on West 96th St. in Manhattan, a shooting on Church and Flatbush Aves. in Brooklyn, and a found grenade on East 196th St. and Bainbridge Ave. in the Bronx. More hand-sifted material has been transported to Fresh Kills, Staten Island. The material does not contain any human remains and is not located on a site that contains landfill.......

It's time for the Lunar New Year, which starts February 7th and lasts for 14 days, and this year is the Year of the Rat, 4706. Sure, there are plenty of things to do to celebrate the holiday, but to us, it means one thing -- a new year banquet. We've found a few places that are offering banquets in honor of the Year of the Rat, including variations of traditional Chinese Lunar New Year......

Late Wednesday night, an 82-year-old woman crossing Delancey Street at Allen was fatally hit by an SUV driver. The driver, who was traveling west on Delancey, stayed on the scene was not charged with a crime. The Daily News says the woman, Josephine LaPlaca, was known as the "Queen of Delancey Street," because, as one person put it, "She knew everybody and everything about the neighborhood. It's going to be weird without her." Relatives said......

On a frigid night this week, Gothamist and two friends decided to duck out of the cold and pop into Mole, a twenty-five seat Mexican spot on Allen Street owned by the husband-wife team of Nick Cervera and Lupe Elizalde, also proprietors of Taco Taco in Yorkville. Strung with lights out front, and decorated inside with colorful Mexican tiles and exposed brick, Mole is cozy, but has an extensive menu with specials changing nightly.......

Last month, we mentioned that some Lower East Side and East Village residents were upset with the American Apparel billboard on Allen Street showing a topless woman's backside and legging-clad gams. Now GammaBlog took this picture of the now-defaced billboard. Not only is it splashed with some neon green paint (le retour de The Splasher?), someone wrote, "Gee, I wonder why women get raped." GammaBlog believes that someone(s) "must have rappelled over the side......

We were recently asked about recommendations for good first date spots: "she's allergic to shellfish, I hate TexMex - any thoughts?" We have plenty of thoughts. The first is that a first date, depending on how well you know the person, should be limited to drinks or coffee. This way, if things become clear that you don't want to stick around, you can leave politely without having to suffer through appetizers, an entree, and possibly......

A bus headed from Chicago to NYC's Chinatown crashed early Sunday morning in Pennsylvania. Thirty-six people were on board as the bus was going eastbound on I-80 near Clearfield, Pennsylvania; the AP reports the bus "ran off the right side of the two-lane highway before veering left across the roadway, running up an embankment and flipping onto its side in a grassy area." Because many of the passengers did not speak English, the AP said......

Gothamist had the chance to get a sneak peek at the new Whole Foods on the Bowery. Although it's scheduled to open to the public tomorrow there was a pre-opening party last night. Yes - that's right, folks: A party to celebrate the opening of a grocery store which already has a few NYC locations. But, to be fair, it is the largest Whole Foods in the city, measuring in at a whopping 71,000......

Streetsblog summarizes Bloomberg's ten point plan for New York's future-- more housing, more parks, more mass transit, more water, better infrastructure, more environmentalism, more access to waterways. Amy went to the annual New York Public Library open house, and took some freaky Ghostbusters-style pix in the stacks. Ronell Wilson, the suspect in the double cop-killing on Staten Island, is also an aspiring rapper. Sample lyric: "You better have that vast and dat Golock /......

Today is "Day Without An Immigrant" day, as immigrants across the county will choose various ways to protest the country's possible immigration policy shift. While some are not going to work at all, in New York, workers are going to link their arms at 12:16PM for about 20 minutes. From the New York Immigration Coalition:At exactly 12:16pm on May 1st, immigrant workers, business owners, and community members at several locations can take a few minutes......

A woman was arrested after she stole a flatbed truck and then led the police on a chase throughout downtown Manhattan. When a sanitation truck called the police about a hit and run at 3AM, police went into pursuit mode for 30 minutes, chasing the runaway flatbed truck on "West Street through the streets of Greenwich Village and back south on Greenwich Street until [the driver] was finally stopped at the corner of State and......

We're not going to lie - we thought this bar was a typo. Not the Living Room, formerly of Allen Street, now on Ludlow, not another Tea Lounge in Park Slope, the newest bar within spitting distance of the cemetery is actually called the Living Room Lounge. A newly refurbished sweatshop still rough around the edges has a loft-like feel, especially with mismatched couches crowding the center of the room and chandeliers of varied......

Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai,
Def Poet & Spoken Word Artist...

A 28 year-old actress-playwright, Nicole duFresne, died from gunshot wounds during a robbery on Clinton Street near Delancey early Thursday morning. The Brooklyn resident had left Max Fish with her fiance, Jeffrey Sparks, and two friends at 3:15AM when they were approached by two teenagers, demanding their money. Sparks pushed past one of them, who hit him in the face with a gun. Then, according to the police, it seems that the would-be robbers demanded......

The New York Daily News reports that The Dumpling Man is now open on St. Mark's Place, serving seared and steamed dumplings in the classic northern Asian style. That means fillings - including pork, chicken and calamari - are blended with herbal juices to boost moistness and flavor. Wrappers are rolled out individually so they're pillowy, not doughy. About $3.50-$4.50 for six pieces. The casual specialty spot also serves miso soup, salad and red bean......

Damn you, Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld, editors of New York magazine's Restaurants Openings and Buzz: Now all Gothamist can think about is trying the roasted lemonade at Dish on Allen Street. If it weren't so hot, we'd be tempted to emulate chef Cheryl Perry's recipe ("roasting halved lemons with fresh vanilla bean and sugar in a shallow pan of water...caramelize...blends the lemons, skins and all, with the water they’ve been roasted in, then strains......