With less than two weeks to go until the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Kenya's Catherine "The Great" Ndereba came into today's NYC Half Marathon for a final tuneup. She walked away with her 2nd victory in the three-year event, (she was 2nd in 2007) finishing in a time of 1:10:18. 20-year-old Tadesse Tola of Ethiopia won the men's race in a time of 1:00:58, saying afterwards that it was his "best performance ever." Dathan Ritzenhein,......

Just because Mayor Bloomberg has denied running for governor in 2010 doesn't mean it has to be true! The Sun's Davidson Goldin thinks that for Bloomberg, "Running for governor is likely, and becoming more so." Why? Well, though the mayor and Governor Spitzer have tried to be cooperative, Albany is involved in many plans the Mayor has a stake in, such as congestion pricing, OTB, and the Javits Center, not to mention Moynihan Station and......

Photograph of Running of the Brides participants by Mark Lennihan/AP Early this morning brides-to-be lined 14th Street in hopes of finding their dream dress at a discount price. The annual wedding dress sale at Filene's Basement, dubbed The Running of the Brides, included around 2500 gowns (of which reportedly zero are left). And every lady wants to find the designer dress with an off-the-rack pricetag, which can be akin to finding a needle in......

Ending months of speculation, Mayor Michael Bloomberg confirmed he will not run for president in the 2008 election. And he did it with an op-ed in the NY Times, titled, "I'm Not Running for President, but..." The op-ed starts out with Bloomberg calling all the current candidates "smart" but believes "the candidates seem afraid to level with" the American public, because the candidates aren't offering "innovative ideas, bold action and courageous leadership" on issues like......

ART: This past Friday The NY Times dubbed the new MoMA exhibit Design and the Elastic Mind "exhilarating". Now opened, as of yesterday, we highly recommend stepping inside and delving into the world of flying cars, future software and 200 examples of "successful translation of disruptive innovation, examples based on ongoing research, as well as reflections on the future responsibilities of design." You can also check it all out online. 10:30am to 5:30pm //......

On Sunday, the worldwide running community lost an institution: Vic Navarra, a FDNY lieutenant who organized the NYC Marathon's start for 26 years, died at his home in Staten Island. He was 55 and had been battling sinus cancer. Navarra, a lifelong runner, fell into the job of organizing the NYC Marathon's start when he couldn't run (a rib injury from responding to a fire) in 1980, when he wanted to help out and he......

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......

New York City is getting safer and safer. Well, at least Manhattan is. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau told reporters yesterday that there have only been 65 murders in the borough this year, down 40% from last year. When Morgenthau took office in 1975, the borough had 648 murders, accounting for almost 40% of the city's total. The 65 homicides this year account for just 14% of the city total. The 88-year-old DA attributed the......

What is Rudy Giuliani getting for the new year? It looks like he's in for some campaign tactics from families representing firefighters that died on 9/11 that The Post is calling "Swift Boat" like. James Riches, a deputy fire chief who's son James Jr., a firefighter who died at Ground Zero, is organizing the campaign against the former mayor. Riches told The Post that things should be "up and running" for January 1st and......

A poignant week for LAist as they lose their trusted and amazing editor Tony Pierce to the LA Times, but what a blast his last week was. He shared his 25 Favorite CDs of 2007 and wrote a great review of just a good movie, No Country For Old Men. At UCLA, thousands of students celebrated the end of their quarter by running around campus in their undies (lots of photos in a two-part......

The spread opened at 27 points. It's recently settled at 24 1/2 points, which, if held, would be the largest ever for an NFL game. More went into that spread than a terrible team playing an unbeaten one on the road. The Patriots have been running up the score on opponents all year, and everyone thinks they're doing it to teach the league a lesson after it was exposed -- on the word of jets......

With Christmas less than two weeks away, the annual holiday light display is raging through the nights in Dyker Heights, home of TV’s Scott Baio. Every year tens of thousands of people from around the world flock to the outer-borough Brooklyn neighborhood to gawk at the private homes decked out with millions of dazzling lights. It’s an epic spectacle that has to be seen to be believed, and it doesn’t stop at the lights......

SHOP: Still looking for that perfect gift? The Brooklyn Historical Society is holding the 4th Annual NY Creates Craft Fair, and they may have just what you're looking for. Check it out today and tomorrow, and it will be back the 22nd and 23rd for the real last-minute shoppers. Friday and Saturday // Noon to 6pm // BHS [128 Pierrepont St, Brooklyn] ART: Too much is going on the First Friday of every month, so......

Just because the 2009 elections are over 22 months away doesn't mean some interesting moves can't happen. Adolfo Carrion Jr. (pictured, on left), the Bronx Borough President, has decided to run for City Comptroller in 2009, making it a tough field and shedding light on the mayoral contest. Carrion, born in Lower Manhattan and a former city planner, Community Board district manager, and City Council member (here's his bio), was seen as a likely candidate......

Ted Corbitt passed away yesterday, costing NYC one of its own icons of long distance running. The 88-year-old died from a respiratory condition related to separate cancers that outdistanced his life as a pioneer of racing. Ted Corbitt was a former and founding president of the NYC Road Runners Club, an Olympian, and a champion of ultra-marathon running. While the NYC Marathon is regularly won by Kenyans and other African runners, Corbitt established himself all......

Robert Morgenthau's stranglehold on the position of Manhattan District Attorney has lasted 33 years but today's Post tittered that he was mulling an "early exit." Page Six reported that a "well-connected legal source" said the 88-year-old DA was orchestrating a retirement to have Cyrus Vance Jr. installed for a few years. Apparently Morgenthau wants Vance Jr., once an assistant DA, in place to block his former protegee and 2005 Democratic primary opponent Leslie Crocker Snyder,......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: shots fired on 166th St. and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, a pedestrian struck at Berry St. and Division Ave. in Brooklyn, and a found body on Richmond Valley and Arthur Kill on Staten Island. Still searching for the Staten Island ninja burglar, police questioned New York Post photographer Ron Romano because of his ninja-like ability to tightrope walk. A huge hole in the middle of Brooklyn's Pacific......

It’s your fault. You may have thought that forking over a huge amount of money for a ticket gave you the right to boo the Knicks, but the coach disagrees. In a season that takes one bizarre turn after another, the latest tops them all, Isiah told the fans that the Knicks are losing because they boo. "We're missing layups because you're booing,” Isiah told some fans during last night’s loss. Right! Perhaps fans are......

Mavericks 99, Knicks 89: Are James Dolan and Isiah Thomas watching the same team the fans are? More boos were heard in Madison Square Garden during the latest Knicks debacle. But James Dolan and Isiah Thomas don't seem to hear them -- or feel the "Fire Isiah" chants are justified. What more evidence do they need? A loss to the Mavericks, the team that finished with the best record in the NBA last season, wouldn't......

Nine months. That's about how long pregnancies take and that's about how long it took for various agencies to coordinate bringing Manhattan its first new public bathroom. Community Board 5 approved a new, sleek glass-and-silver bathroom from Cemusa to be placed in Madison Square Park back in March and Promediacorp witnessed it being installed this morning. Of course, back in March, the NY Times reported it would be up and running by the summer,......

For the second year running, the Food Bank for New York City and the Lunchbox Fund of South Africa have enlisted over 100 celebrities in their holiday fundraiser. Boldface names like Kanye West, Elton John, Cameron Diaz, Mike Meyers, William Wegman and, um, Urban Outfitters, have created personalized, autographed lunchboxes that are now onsale via online auction. At Thursday night's kick-off event at Saatchi & Saatchi, a lunchbox by Michael Stipe was snatched up......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a power outage on Country Club Rd. in the Bronx, an abduction on 89th St. and Amsterdam Ave. in Manhattan, and a stabbing on Decatur St. in Brooklyn. A buyer spent $54,000 to purchase a bottle of 60-year-old Macallan scotch at auction, bottled in 1926. Police responding to an accident call in Washington Heights were themselves the victims of a hit-and-run, when rear-ended by a speeding sedan. The driver......

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: Spike TV's Video Game Awards 2007 (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., Spike TV) It is the fifth annual outing for this awards show for video games. Live From Lincoln Center: Red Hot Holiday Stomp (Monday, 8:00 p.m., WNET 13) Jazz at Lincoln Center is highlighted with this special hosted by Glenn Close. There will be a program of holiday music and jazz, plus it also features the broadcast......

The Giants head into Week 14 with a remote chance to clinch a playoff spot, but a win over their hated-rivals would be reward enough at this point. Coming off of a great win against Chicago, Eli Manning will hopefully show some confidence and the defense, while unsure if they can duplicate their previous effort, dominated the Eagles the last time they met. Beating Philadelphia means containing Brian Westbrook. Westbrook didn’t play the first time......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a scaffolding collapse on 5th Ave. and 115th St. in Manhattan, a stabbing on Franklin Ave. in Queens, and a homicide at 83rd St. and 4th Ave. in Brooklyn. The new Kaleidoscope Light Show is now on display at Grand Central Terminal's main hall. The Toshiba company returns to Times Square after being absent for several decades. The company signed a 10-year lease to capture the top sign spot......

The fatal shooting outside Radio Perfecto restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue between 118th and 119th Streets was prompted by a bar fight. Twenty-three year-old Delquan Kearns was shot in the head while his brother Stephan Jones, 27, was shot in the arm after they argued with another group of men over a drink around 3AM on Sunday. Their mother told the Post, "My sons said they were at the bar and that some guy grabbed one......

A reader wrote on Gothamist Contribute:Tonight, (Sunday, Dec 2) at 3am, there was a fight at 119th & amsterdam, in front of a bar. I was walking on the other side of the avenue, and it was clear that things were escalating. All of a sudden, I heard two gunshots -- like a 'pop', except louder, like a tire bursting -- and I saw everyone scatter; everyone walking down my side of the avenue......

Senator Barack Obama might be back in Iowa on the campaign trail, but New Yorkers are still buzzing over his coffee - and bacon and eggs and toast - klatsch with Mayor Bloomberg on Friday morning. The meeting was supposedly caught Senator Hillary Clinton off guard - and not just because it was two blocks away from her midtown offices. Bloomberg's press secretary Stu Loeser said Bloomberg wanted to talk national policy with Obama,......

With the MTA's vote whether to raise subway and bus fares coming in less than three weeks, speculation is running high about what will happen. Even though Governor Spitzer said that the base subway and bus fare will remain $2, unlimited Metrocard fares - which 85% of riders use - will rise. The MTA has insisted the fare hikes are necessary, given projected deficits and upcoming capital construction, but many elected officials believe that the......

Neither the Jets nor the Dolphins have enjoyed their seasons too much. One half of the Jets' wins came on Sept. 23 when they edged the Dolphins 31-28 at home. Now they travel to Miami. They're 0-5 on the road, but Miami has lost 14 straight. Ironically, the Jets stand to gain the most if they lose and somehow pass the Dolphins in the NFL draft pecking order. But shhh! No one's thinking about that.......