CONTEST ALERT: Tomorrow night the indie-elite will gather at Terminal 5 for The Plug Awards -- featuring Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, St. Vincent, José Gonzalez, Dizzee Rascal, The Forms, DiVinci and more. Tickets are sold out, so you can either watch the show here, or you can win tickets from us! We're giving away 5 pairs, starting now. Just email GothamistContest@gmail.com and tell us why you want to go. MUSIC: White Williams,......

Photo of peacock, by gmpicket at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a missing child on Union St. in Brooklyn, a shooting on Wyatt St. in the Bronx, and a fatal car fire on the Long Island Expressway near College Point in Queens. Colombian immigrants celebrate their roots with rolling parties aboard buses known as chivas. Is the person doing Amazon.com product reviews for ski masks under the screen name "Ninja Thief" Staten Island's......

EVENT: The Greenwich Village Antiquarian Book Sale is going on all weekend, so now is the time to go searching for that first edition you've been wanting on your bookshelf. You'll also find out of print books, maps and much more! Friday through Sunday // P.S. 3 [490 Hudson St] // Three-day pass $12 ART: Monday's interviewee, James Top, shows off his work tonight at the opening of his first solo NYC show, titled......

LEARN: It's that special time again when hipsters gather round to discuss home-buying. The informational event clues in those looking for new digs about the logistics of purchasing their very own pad. Learn from Licensed Real Estate agents, Mortgage Brokers and Real Estate Attorneys whilst you sip on a cocktail or two. 6:30pm // Huckleberry Bar [588 Grand St, Williamsburg] // Free EVENT: It's like a never-ending President's Day this week; tonight enjoy a......

MUSIC: Of course we're going to recommend you come hang out with us tonight at our 5 year anniversary show. Come on by and check out Pattern is Movement and The Forms, along with a special guest band at midnight. On top of all that, you'll get Craig Wedren deejaying between sets. What more could you ask for? Buy tickets here. Friday // 9pm // Union Hall [702 Union St, Park Slope] // $10......

MUSIC: Come enjoy the Whitney after dark tonight as the museum's live showcase series invites Dan Deacon (pictured) to the stage. If you haven't seen Deacon before, get ready for some Casio keyboard electro-rock compositions and an art dance party. Friday // 7pm // Whitney Museum [945 Madison Ave] // Pay what you want EVENT: The Moth Story Shop presents “The One that Got Away: Stories from South Street Seaport” tonight. The following storytellers will......

READING: Jeff Garigliano, Condé Nast Portfolio senior-editor turned author, will be reading from his debut novel titled Dogface. The story follows a rebellious 14-year-old boy who, like so many before him, gets sent off to a camp that specializes in "whipping mixed-up teens back into shape". 7:30pm // Barnes & Noble [396 Sixth Ave] // Free EVENT: The Secret Science Club is back tonight with the President of New York’s Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Dr.......

ART: The Bronx Museum of Art is getting on board the First Friday bandwagon. They'll be opening their doors every first Friday of the month for free, and add a little something extra each time. Tonight their theme is “Say it Loud! I’m Black & I’m Proud” in celebration of Black History Month. There will be a tribute to the late James Brown, and a showcase of independent artists paying tribute to black music. Friday......

THEATER: We saw Fiona Shaw in Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days on Saturday and highly recommend it. Shaw is mesmerizing in her performance as Winnie, crystallizing in her 90-minute virtuoso performance all the desperation, self-delusion and absurdity of an entire lifetime. (Her little-seen costar Tim Potter is also a hoot as Willie.) The production is as bitterly funny as it is affecting, and, as a metaphor, the blasted landscape that devours Winnie is as potent as......

MUSIC: Merkin Concert Hall is reopening, and to help celebrate some of the piano greats will be on hand for a free, six hour concert. Philip Glass and John Medeski will be amongst those who will perform. Get more details here. 2 to 8pm // Merkin Concert Hall [129 W 67th St] // Free We had a chance to catch Marla Hansen (pictured) last year, and the Brooklynite silenced the room with her hushed compositions.......

FOOD: Drinking With the Professor: a Look at Jerry Thomas and His Liquid Legacy: Join cocktail maestro Dave Wondrich as he shares recipes from his latest book, Imbibe! plus a few that were cut in the editing process. Wondrich has an in-depth knowledge of nineteenth-century classic cocktails, so step up and taste the benefits. - Laren Spirer Friday // 6:30pm // Astor Culinary Center [399 Lafayette St] // $75, tickets available online THEATER: As you......

FOOD: Trestle on Tenth, the “homey joins hearty” Swiss-inflected restaurant that takes its name from its proximity to the High Line and the avenue where it’s found, kicks off a special five-night series called “metzgete.” The Swiss tradition loosely translates to “butchers affair” and arises from the practice of salvaging every scrap of pig after the winter slaughter – “especially those parts that would or could not be dried, smoked or pickled for later consumption.”......

LECTURE: NYU and the Department of Sanitation present a trash talk tonight, titled: Gotham and its Garbage: A History of the Department of Sanitation. The illustrated lecture will include an exhibition tour and status report on the DSNY Museum-in-the-Making (which we wrote about last year). Robin Nagle, Ph.D., DSNY Anthropologist-in-Residence, and Haidy Geismar, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology, NYU will both be there to lead the discussion. 6pm (also this Sunday at 6pm) // 136 W......

THEATER: Under the Radar, arguably New York’s most exciting theater festival, begins today at The Public Theater and a few other odd locations like the Whitehall Ferry terminal. (There are also a few shows at the Classic Theatre of Harlem, P.S. 122 and The Kitchen.) One of the most buzzed about site-specific shows is Etiquette by the London company Rotozaza. It was a surprise hit at last year’s Edinburgh Festival; here the experience takes place......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a ceiling collapse at Franklin Ave. and Union St. in Brooklyn, a pedestrian was fatally struck on Queens Blvd. in Woodhaven, Queens, and an unusual rescue on the south bound tower of the Throgs Neck Bridge in Queens. An undercover cop forgot to turn off the wire he was wearing while discussing 11 bags of cocaine he seized in a Brooklyn bust that were never turned in. He was......

THEATER: As Steve On Broadway notes, Chicago’s stellar Steppenwolf Theater Company, which launched the careers of Gary Sinise and Little Johnny Malkapee, is back on Broadway for the first time since 2001, when their production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest won the Tony for Best Revival. This time they’ve delivered playwright Tracy Letts’s August: Osage County, and after reading today’s rave reviews, you can count on more Tonys flying back to the Windy......

READING: Dave Eggers has delivered two (out of three) great novels, and tonight he reads from last one (which is just out on paperback), What is the What. He'll be at the Strand discussing the book and he'll also give a slideshow presentation from a recent trip he took to Sudan. More info here. Friday // 7pm // Strand Bookstore [828 Broadway] // Free EVENT: We love a good pillow fight, and tonight there's a......

EVENT: Tonight, as part of the recurring Upstairs at the Square event, Nellie McKay plays tunes from her latest, Obligatory Villager and host Katherine Lanpher talks with author and filmmaker Antonio Monda. Monda's new book Do You Believe? Conversations on God and Religion will hit shelves soon -- and tonight he'll relay the discussions he had about religion with folks like Spike Lee and David Lynch. 7pm // Barnes & Noble [33 E 17th St]......

FAIR: Attention vinyl junkies! WFMU is hosting their Record Fair starting this eve and running throughout the weekend. "Hundreds of dealers specializing in the out sounds that WFMU is adored for delivering year round will gather for three days of merciless hawking o' the wax, and thousands of area music geeks are already trembling with nervous anticipation!" There will also be live performances this year, check out more details here. Friday, 7pm to 10pm and......

SECRET MEETING: Drambuie, the honey and herb-flavoured scotch whisky with a golden hue, will be poured tonight. Into your glass. For free! The catch is that you have to RSVP to find out the details that will lead you to the correct location. Mysterious! Time TBA // Location TBA // RSVP here READING: Legends of the Chelsea Hotel has hit the bookshelves and is telling all from the inside of the legendary building. You may......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a commercial robbery on Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn, a suspicious fire on Renwick St. in Manhattan, and an "air-mail incident" at Union St. and Franklin Ave in Brooklyn. We can't wait to hear what that possibly means. Six men were murdered Saturday morning in New York City. Separately! The Times reports that patrons of the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden don't know what they're enthusiastically drinking to at a......

READING: Our interviewee from yesterday, Adrian Tomine, will be reading tonight at Book Court. The graphic novelist not only has his work in some of the more prestigious rags, he's also got a full length graphic novel, titled Shortcomings. 7pm // Book Court [163 Court St, Cobble Hill] // Free At a very different reading in Manhattan, Chris Matthews will be promoting his new political memoir Life's a Campaign: What Politics Has Taught Me About......

RALLY: Barack is back! This time he's hitting up Manhattan with an evening rally in Washington Square Park. It's gonna be a big one, so get there early! At least this time there won't be any unhappy paying customers, because it's free! Check out his video invite: 5pm // Washington Square Park [W 4th St and Fifth Ave] // Free, RSVP here EVENT: Tonight the Fall 2007 season at NYPL is in full effect as......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck on York Ave. and Richmond Terr. on Staten Island, another pedestrian struck on 37th Ave. and Union St. in Queens, and a missing child on 12th Ave. in Brooklyn. Three teenagers were hospitalized after being stabbed immediately after school let out in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn yesterday afternoon. Two of the injured were also slashed in the face. The City is introducing a new public awareness campaign......

THEATER: We like our comedy like we like our women: black and absurd. So it’s promising that the press release for a new play by Kevin Mandel uses those two irresistible words to describe A New Television Arrives, Finally. The strange story concerns “an American couple visited by a charismatic man presenting himself as a television set. Is the handsome stranger a charlatan or a guru?” Emmy award-winning actor Tom Pelphrey [Guiding Light] leads the......

TIP: Starting tomorrow Opera-For_all begins the first of three nights of performances. For cheap! The New York City Opera is selling tickets to every seat in the house for just $25. Over the course of "opera season" 50 or more seats in the front orchestra will be priced at just $25 as well. As for this week, here's the sched: Thursday, September 6the OPERA FOR ALL Concert, with party to follow (this will showcase the......

EXPLORE: Last call to visit the historic Governors Island this season! Free ferry rides depart hourly right next to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. Sitting 800 yards off the southern tip of Manhattan and about 400 from the Brooklyn waterfront, it isn't often you can get a view of the city and a house like that one to the right all from the same place. All Weekend // Governors Island // More info here READING:......

MUSIC: Scottish indie sensations Camera Obscura bring their pop and their rock to the Seaport tonight. They're joined by The Last Town Chorus. After that, there's only one more show down there this season! Friday // 7pm // South Street Seaport, Pier 17 // Free MOVIE: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is playing tonight, and you've got a golden ticket! Stock up on sweets and enjoy the 1971 classic down by the river. Friday......

MOVIE: The 2006 Clark Kent hit the big screen in Superman Returns. Tonight catch the superhero do his thing all over again at the River Flicks outdoor film series. Free popcorn, free film and a nice cold summer breeze. Bring a blanket! Sunset // Hudson River Park, Pier 54 // Free MUSIC:The XYZ Affair has pretty much pounded their new song into our heads via a video starring old Nickelodeon "stars" we don't recognize. Tonight,......

SHOP: We don't normally talk about shopping here, but today marks the beginning of that Barney's Warehouse Sale we always hear so much about. Get your comfy heels on and get ready to fight for your fashion! Through September 3rd, 8amto 9pm // 255 W 17th St Meanwhile, shoes we adore but can never afford are also on sale at Hollywould. Expect dresses, bags and omg the most cutest ballerina flats ever! All from $65......