So Thanksgiving is next week. If you still haven't decided whether you’re going to cook, leave town, or stay in bed, you might as well just face facts and make your dinner reservation now. For $40 or less, here are a few spots that are either offering traditional dinners at low prices like the $10 deal from A Piece of Chicken, or are featuring otherwise interesting menus, like the Lebanese-themed Thanksgiving dinner at Al Diwan. ... [continue]

Americans all over the country are heading to their polling places to cast their votes for President as well as a number of other races. Polls opened at 6 a.m. in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and they close at 8 p.m. in NJ and CT and at 9 p.m. in NY. Based on anecdotes, the predictions of high voter turnout are coming true. Overall, we're hearing that lines were forming early in the... [continue]

Check out our list of Halloween picks from yesterday, but here's a last minute suggestion for anyone dressing up as Sarah Palin tonight: head to Union Square at 10 p.m., it's going to be scary! If you aren't feeling in a dress-up kind of mood, here are some more suggestions on how to spend the weekend (and more music suggestions for tonight coming up in our Week in Rock post). Photo via MGChan's Flickr. EVENT:... [continue]

Photo courtesy Alaina B. You'll recall that the new exhibit at the Guggenheim features Carsten Höller's Revolving Hotel Room, which the museum has been renting out to guests who pay $549 and up to sleep in an installation comprised of three glass discs mounted onto a fourth disc "that all turn harmoniously at a very slow speed." Guests are also free to spend the night wandering all six floors of the Frank Lloyd Wright rotunda.... [continue]

Food world celebrities gathered at the Astor Center last night for a lively discussion on the phenomenon of celebrity chefs. Andrew Carmellini, Gwen Hyman, David Chang, Gail Simmons of Top Chef, and Mitchell Davis of The James Beard Foundation all weighed in on the celebrity craze, which has infiltrated kitchens everywhere like roaches. Only recently, some argued, has the idea of the celebrity chef become a prominent force in American culinary culture. Customers take... [continue]

Photo courtesy Blondie and Brownie. Cupcakes in ice cream cones? Has the whole world gone crazy? It does appear to be the case; blogger Blondie and Brownie spotted the innovation (or perversion, depending where you stand on dessert segregation) on sale at the Treats Truck at the end of last month. Of course, to a seasoned sweet connoisseur like Brownie, this is hardly revolutionary: I haven't had a conecake since, um, my mom made them... [continue]

There'll be an opening reception tomorrow night (at 7:55 p.m.) for photographer Miru Kim's Naked City Spleen show at Gestarc Gallery in Red Hook. The work is part of Kim's ongoing series of photographs that depict her nakedly exploring abandoned subway stations, tunnels, sewers, and even the now-demolished sugar refinery in Red Hook. Now all she needs is a shot of herself in the IKEA cafeteria. Also on view is a film and video installation... [continue]

The air at Coney Island is charged as the annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest will be underway in moments. Contributor Billy Parker is on the scene and tells us the Nathan's "Franksters" (hot dog mascots) had a dance "to the death": "The old Frankster had serious moves, while a newer Frank was booed." Tien Mao, hot dog enthusiast, and I will also be chiming in. This year, the contest will be for... [continue]

One upside to yesterday's torrential downpour: A few people captured photographs of rainbows around the city. Here's hoping anyone caught after today's rains see rainbows, too.... [continue]

Police believe that a 20-year-old woman committed suicide by jumping out of her Water Street apartment's balcony around 2:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon. The woman was identified as Kazhakstan model Ruslana Korshunova. Newsday reported, "It appeared she fell from the balcony of her ninth-floor apartment, police said, where a large hole was visible in construction netting hanging on the front of the 12-story building." A Con Ed worker, who had been talking to a cop... [continue]

Brooklyn Bridge Waterfall from jakedobkin on Vimeo. Olafur Eliasson's hyper-anticipated Waterfalls began flowing this morning at 7am, under a dreary, overcast sky. They'll be from 7am to 10pm every day until October 13th, except on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when they'll be turned on at 9am. For a list of good viewing spots, click here. We'll be reporting live on the falls throughout the day. In the early afternoon, we'll have photos from the first... [continue]

Back in 1985, when the meatpacking district nightlife was all about gay clubs like the Manhole and, as John Waters puts it, not getting mugged after a night of “watching men pay good money to get pissed on,” Frenchman Florent Morellet opened a bistro in an old greasy spoon called the R&L. Open 24/7, the place soon became a magnet for all sorts of soulful misfits drawn by the open-minded spirit cultivated by Florent himself.... [continue]

Two months ago, Con Ed admitted that the former power plant on Kent Avenue would be demolished (when asked earlier about all the activity at the site, the utility claimed it was just "spring cleaning"), and now it looks like the beautiful, century-old building's final days are here. Photographer Nathan Kensinger, who currently has an exhibit at the Brooklyn Public Library documenting Brooklyn's fading waterfront, took these exclusive photographs of the Powerhouse. From the looks... [continue]

(Le) Poisson Rouge somewhat quietly opened the doors to 158 Bleecker Street a little over a week ago. The renovated space is still undergoing some final touches before their grand opening in September, but they are currently partially open and hosting shows (view the calendar here). The venue has a pretty legendary history, from the press release:"The Village Gate operated at 158 Bleecker Street from the late '50s until 1993, and played host to icons... [continue]

Everyone’s a curator at the Brooklyn Museum’s Click! exhibition. Last March, the museum invited photographers to submit one photo that addressed the theme of "Changing Faces of Brooklyn." Inspired by James Surowiecki’s book The Wisdom of Crowds, organizers uploaded the 389 responses to the museum’s website for the general public to evaluate. Each photograph was displayed without artist attribution and at random for each evaluator, and artists were unable to forward links of individual submissions... [continue]

Red Hook seemed eerily quiet on Saturday, as we checked out the traffic flow on Columbia and Van Brunt Streets on the West Side of the neighborhood. Any prediction of overwhelming weekend gridlock seemed not to be panning out-- except for one Ikea bus ferrying people from Boro Hall, the scene seemed as quiet and bucolic as any summer weekend in years past. Indeed, maybe even quieter, as people who'd normally be out at... [continue]

Savitri D., normally acting as director of the Church of Stop Shopping, became a mermaid this past weekend. After marching in the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island as Queen, and attending the Ball later that night, she began a hunger strike. She now sits in a storefront on Coney Island, fasting until a scoping meeting tomorrow regarding the fate of the area. You can see her on a livecam that's been set up; she talked... [continue]

Photo, by joe holmes at flickr By all accounts, it seems like Saturday's Mermaid Parade was a great deal of fun, enjoying perfect weather and drawing large crowds. One can only hope that the Coney Island tradition dating back to 1903 remains as popular in coming years. Thanks to everyone who tagged and/or submitted their photos "gothamist." Update: We've added more pictures to the gallery!... [continue]

We have wondered why people put their cats on leashes and it seems the only answer is "Why not?" Today, the NY Times' City Section confirms that answer, with a charming article about Corcoran broker Court Hassinger whose Abyssinian Radar enjoys constitutionals around the Upper West Side. In spite of Radar's previous escapes and in spite of people asking, "Is that a rat there on the end of that leash?”, Hassinger takes Radar (who he... [continue]

And then there were four. A tipster just sent us this shot of Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson's Brooklyn Bridge waterfall, being tested this afternoon. This completes the teaser set for all the NYC Waterfall aficionados out there. Also seen below are the Governors Island test, the Pier 35 test in Manhattan, and the other Brooklyn waterfall between Piers 4 and 5. The NYC Waterfalls – which are not being paid for with city money, but... [continue]