When meat maven Josh Ozersky, aka Mr. Cutlets, talks bacon, many a New York City carnivore listens. And Gothamist is no exception. Despite Monday's dreary weather, we trudged over to East Village gastropub Jimmy's No.43, for what our favorite meathead was billing as a night of bacon, beer and pickles, a combination sure to brighten any rainy day. Some 25 pounds of cured pork belly were cooked up that night in the subterranean space. Five......

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too - two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the......

Valentine's Day is only a few days away, and we here across the Gothamist network wanted to express would like to tell you, in the spirit of the holiday, just how much we love you, our readers. Don't let it get to your heads, though. There are plenty of things we love, you included. Just be glad you're not amongst the things we hate. SFist saw their beloved mayor enter rehab, and they loved......

Calling all Idiotarod enthusiasts and people who work in Midtown who might want a lunchtime spectacle. The Carts of Brooklyn Racing Association, aka COBRA, will be holding a press conference at 1PM today outside CBS's headquarters. The group, which is organizing this year's Idiotarod, will be protesting tonight's episode of CSI:NY and its "depiction of shopping cart racing," as the CSI spin-off has been using the Idiotarod name in marketing materials (in the show,......

We were looking at some photographs and noticed this one by NYCViaRachel on Flickr. It's apparently the fourth cat on a leash she's seen, and she wondered, "Seriously what the f*** people?" And Gothamist has to concur. We understand that cats enjoy new smells and sights just as much as their big cat relatives, walking a cat on a city street is very puzzling. Do their owners wipe their paws when they get home?......

If you missed Saturday Night Live this weekend, you're in luck. The best part about the show was the cold opening - a plea from Borat Sagdiyev to visit Kazakhstan and to see his film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - and the video is available on NBC.com. There are also some other skits from Saturday's episode: A requisite Halloween skit - is it us or has......

Everyone loves a secret bar, but what happens when the bouncers might be too...bouncery? Someone who tried to take a picture of the secret bar La Esquina claims he and his girlfriend were assaulted and threatened by the bouncers. One bouncer even yelled, "I will take you around the corner and rape you!" He said this right before coming out and slapping me several times on the sidewalk and knocking the camera from my hands......

With the release of more census data yesterday, a few other trends for NYC emerged: - NYC has the second highest median age - 35.8 years old, after SF's 39.4 years - and the third highest number of people over age 65 years, with 11.9% of the population clocking in over 65 (SF was first, followed by Philly) - New Yorkers wait a long time before getting married - And we have the third highest......

A while back, we noted how many of the NY Times "Hunt" columns by Joyce Cohen happened to feature real estate hunts by cat owners. And one of the stories we loved was the one about a Brooklynite who needed a subletter to not only take care of her apartment, but her cat Boris as well. Cohen, who blogs at Hunt Grunt, let us know that two years after the column appeared, Boris may have......

Oh, it's New York City's best friend, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, writing a NY Times op-ed piece to tell us "New York, You're Still No. 1." Well, that's the headline the Times copy crew designated for the article, which is Chertoff's way fo explaining why NYC got shafted in funding allocation for the Urban Areas Security Initiative. We outline his points:- NY still gets the most funding; in fact, its $124 million......

We may have to contemplate many of a cliffhanger this summer, but we are grateful for the return of the NYC fire department black comedy (or is that drama with mordant wit) Rescue Me. Last season, we followed the escapades of firefighter/ alcoholic/ pill-addict/ cheating husband Tommy Gavin to the point of being emotionally wrecked by the season finale where his son was killed by a drunk driver and a violent revenge is planned. Also,......

The Moleskine folks are determined to make sure we don't forget about good ol' pen and paper, as they have just launched City Notebooks. The notebook will come with maps, blank pages, "translucent sticky sheets" and more where you get to mark things up and note interesting things. There are only European cities available now, with American City Notebooks (NYC, DC, Boston, LA and San Francisco) coming in 2007, but it could be a nice......

In the heart of what is supposed to be a big hurricane season, the New York City is going to test its hurrivane evacuation plans in the Rockaways this July. Sadly, the public cannot sign up for the drill, which will instead involve "500-700 emergency workers and civilian workers," according to Newsday. The drill will take place at a school, so it's not like the Office of Emergency Management is testing gridlock or routing -......

Love the Williamsburgh Savings Bank but don't think you can afford the condos (thanks, conversion!)? Well, you're in luck, because for the next eight days, someone on eBay is auctioning a cool "Williamsburg Brooklyn Ceramic Savings Bank "! his item up for bid is a 7" high ceramic piggy bank depicting the bank, a really fantastic item. Slot for coins, twist-off reservoir, brass attachment for chained pen (not included). This bank is circa 1960's, and......

With the Department of Education forcing students to give up their cell phones (which makes the students and especially their parents crazy), it seems that kids have been working out ways to keep their cell phones close by during the school day. And Gothamist wants to give them an "A" for ingenuity, as they are resorting to hiding them in trash cans, paying $1 for bodega owners to watch 'em, and even putting them in......

So, we all now that David Blaine did not come close to breaking the world record for holding one's breath underwater. Here's a funny quote from one spectator to the NY Sun that sums it up, "This is not magic. If it were magic, he would have pulled it off easily." Kirk Krack, the breathing coach that dispatched the divers to rescue Blaine, said the street magician was having convulsions when rescued, so people should......

Increasing the drama conveneintly before tonight's live re-entry into the air and terra firma, David Blaine is reportedly in "bad shape" while in his little 8-foot aquarium. It's the kind of bad shape that has his team recommending he stay in his sphere to be wrapped in chains, versus coming out, smelling that sweet NYC air and having chains put on him, and then being re-plunged into the sphere (there's something about a "shock......

The Mayor will hold a press conference today at noon about the Roosevelt Tram incident, as he and Governor Pataki want to know what exactly happened last night to strand 69 commuters in two tram cars. We don't know what happened, but we do know it was like a local media dream: Human interest drama (kids, babies, old lady, Hasidim), iconic and curious NYC vehicle, and a happy ending, albeit it one in the......

While dog might be man's best friend, it's clear what the importance of a cat who can catch mice is, as the search for Molly, the mouser at British specialty foods store Myers of Keswick who is trapped in a wall, continues to draw interest. Peter Myers, the store's owner, told the NY Times, "She's a mouser, and we want to get her back to work as soon as possible," and speculated to CNN that......

Today, between 3PM and 7PM, many people are planning to attend an immigration rally at City Hall. There are a couple different plans (the Daily News says some are marching over the Brooklyn Bridge again while others will start at Washington Square Park), with students, taxi drivers and other service workers will walk out or leave work in order to attend the rally. Yesterday's rally in Dallas had hundreds of thousands of people. For......

While the September 11 movie Flight 93 may be opening the Tribeca Film Festival in just a matter of weeks, the film's trailer has been playing. And some viewers are not exactly ready - the Lincoln Square Loews actually pulled the trailer and some NYC moviegoers covered their eyes when it came on. The trailer is effectively chilling, reminding us of how it was just a beautiful September day that turned into scary chaos. Director......

Reader David writes to us: It looks like the entire inventory is on the sidewalk outside in front of the store. Man, what kind of damage was done this weekend? The boxes have nearly taken over the entire sidewalk, with a very narrow path for people to walk by. Does anyone have photos of this carnage? Is Trader Joe's restocking after a bang-up weekend or are they making sure there are boxes outside to house......

After reading our umpteenth post dreaming about pandas in our own backyard, a reader who was at the National Zoo sent us some exciting news:Just thought you'd like to know, that when I was there, one of the pandakeepers said the Bronx Zoo had already filled out its paperwork for "borrowing" some pandas from China. So pandas might be closer to NY than you think. Of course the NY Times article on how pandas don't......

Yesterday afternoon there was the fear of anthrax in the air. But it turned out not to be the weaponized kind mailed to newscasters or politicians - it was actually seemed to naturally occuring anthrax in animal hides that a Manhattan dancer/drum-maker. There are conflicting reports about the case, such as as to whether or not Vado Diomande brought the hides back to NYC from Africa (it's illegal) or if he bought them from a......

A reader wrote us to ask if we noticed "an upswing in tap water stink of late," saying that he noticed a chlorine smell in his "Brooklyn apartment, Queens workplace, and various spots betwixt the two," with a " markedly stronger chemical/chlorine 'bouquet'." And Gothamist actually has - while we wait for our humidifier tank to fill, the water has been smelling rather chemically/bleachy. Does anyone know what's happening with the tap water? Did something......

The best Valentine's Day related story we've seen yet must be this one from the Columbia Spectator, which looks at the Anachronistic Gentleman Rental Society. Now, while the men are actually free of charge, they can be dressed in period clothing. No joke - Columbia sophmore Genevieve Yang told the Spec why she founded the service: “One day last year I was thinking, what if instead of a one-night stand, you had a one-night-walk-in-the-park-hand-holding?” Other......

Last November, Gothamist marveled that part of 6th Avenue near 13th Street had been paved over, but today, the Washington Square News tackles construction woes on West 13th Street. Some students are complaining about the noise and congestion outisde the Thirteenth Street dorm. New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority began the project in April 2002 to improve the ventilation on the F, V, L, 1, 2 and 3 subway lines near the 14th Street station was......

And all along we thought W meant "Whenever Train"! The Straphanger Campaign released a survey of subway car announcements and found that the W train was the worst when it came to announcements, deteriorating having 69% adequate announcements in 2004 to only 58% last year. While the subway system overall seemed to improve (from 73% to 77% in 2005), there are still problems, like this: In 65% of delays and disruptions experienced by our raters,......

It was a brilliant idea (though first used in Baltimore) for Mayor Bloomberg to bring to the city: 311 would be a resource for NYC residents to learn more about government doings, that the noises outside were actually fireworks and perhaps wonder where to protest a ticket. However, State Supreme Court Justice Doris Ling Cohan (who ruled that gay marriage should be constitutional) just ruled that a call to 311 can mean the a person......

The Transport Workers' Union executive leadership is trying to get the new contract passed by the membership - the deadline is Friday. What does that mean? TWU President Roger Toussaint launched an offensive of, as NY1 puts it, "radio ads, phone calls and threats to convince his members to approve the deal." Yes, threats! Going from threatening the city and state politicians (okay, they need threatening) and the bus and subway riders of NYC......