Dorian Corey was the articulate elder stateswoman of the New York City ball scene featured in the 1990 documentary Paris is Burning. When she died in 1993, police found the body of a murdered man 15 years mummified in her apartment. [more inside]
posted by nosila on Aug 10, 2009 - 46 comments

Murder: New York City. A map pinpointing murders in the five boroughs of NYC from 2003-09. Broken down by time of day, weapon used, age, sex and ethnicity of both victim and perpetrator. Not surprisingly, in the heat of summer the body count rises. [more inside]
posted by crossoverman on Jul 21, 2009 - 48 comments

Tim Hortons, the perennially popular Canadian donut chain, is coming to New York, taking over 13 Dunkin Donuts locations in what some are calling the Doughnut Wars. There seems to be some controversy over the precise reason for the change. Want to know where to get a Double Double in the Big Apple? There's a Google Map! And, Monday morning, FREE COFFEE.
posted by 235w103 on Jul 10, 2009 - 131 comments

Aerial Virtual Tour of New York City -- navigate with your arrow keys (or the embedded controls). Change views on the lower left. [via Gothamist]
posted by ericb on May 7, 2009 - 22 comments

Soul! New York City PBS affiliate WNET have digitized 9 episodes of Soul!, a early 1970's live music program, providing a groovy video interface with chapters to break down each hour long episode. [more inside]
posted by myopicman on Apr 23, 2009 - 20 comments

TripAdvisor's 2009 Top Ten Dirtiest Hotels in the USA, Asia Pacific, UK, and elsewhere. Topping the list: the Hotel Carter, Times Square. [The Carter recently mentioned here.]
posted by milquetoast on Jan 29, 2009 - 57 comments

Contents of the beloved/historic/deceased Mondo Kim's video store in New York City purchased by the town of Salemi, Italy. The village intends to project the videos as part of a neverending film festival open to the public. Roadtrip, anyone?
posted by unknowncommand on Dec 30, 2008 - 21 comments

Radar magazine: Secrets of a hipster hooker.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Sep 7, 2008 - 168 comments

Rich people's rooftops in NYC offers a fun birds-eye view into a few sky-high secret decks and gardens. Roofs are the new frontier for innovative urban architects, but they aren't exclusive to the wealthy. All kinds of people and organizations are starting rooftop gardens. See the impressive results that two Chicago denizens had growing heirloom vegetables on their roofs (2). [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive on Aug 9, 2008 - 39 comments

I am Jimmy Justice and your days running around this city like a cowboy are over! [video | 2:45]. "He calls himself 'Jimmy Justice,' a self-styled 'cop-arazzi,' armed only with a video camera as he prowls the streets of New York looking for law enforcement officers who are breaking the law. His targets are illegally parked city government vehicles -- particularly cars of traffic cops blocking bus stops, sitting in 'no parking' zones or double-parked. Cop cars blocking fire hydrants make him particularly incensed....He posts his best videos on YouTube and sends regular e-mail to the union representing the city's traffic enforcement agents, pointing out the most egregious parking offenses. And he has gotten results, he said, with some parking enforcers being fined because of his videos. "^* [more inside]
posted by ericb on Aug 3, 2008 - 91 comments

Mexican and Latin Immmigrants as Superheroes [ via guanabee ]
posted by Stynxno on Jul 3, 2008 - 37 comments

New York City in (mostly) black and white. A huge collection of photos starting in the 1880s—some beautiful, all fascinating. Previously.
posted by cerebus19 on Jun 19, 2008 - 18 comments

Why do New Yorkers seem rude? A quirky and interesting article about the culture of New Yorkers.
posted by SeizeTheDay on May 20, 2008 - 163 comments

Hugh Ferriss: Delineator of Gotham. Through his charcoal renderings of dramatic, imaginary skyscrapers in early 1900s New York City, Ferriss influenced the aesthetics of numerous architects with his bold compositions.
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Jan 6, 2008 - 12 comments

Louis Stettner: Atmospheric black and white photos of Paris and New York by Brooklyn-born photographer who now lives in France. Some are sexy, some amusing, some poignant. A series on Penn station in the 1950s is especially nice, and a big contrast to the candy colored Mad Men palette. Beware mispelled main url. via.
posted by CunningLinguist on Dec 7, 2007 - 9 comments

Find He-man! SEPTEMBER 14 - SARAH saw He-Man slicking his hair back, using the fountain water at Madison Square Park. The once dull, dirty, water is now a sparkling lush blue, and is filled with rare tropical fish.
posted by Stynxno on Oct 21, 2007 - 26 comments

"New York City 1968-1972" Some very compelling black and white street photography by Paul McDonough. via
posted by CunningLinguist on Oct 18, 2007 - 49 comments

Anatomy of an Authentic Skateboarder
1. Upturned sun visor.
2. scruffy, gnashing teeth, beedy-eyed mug that only Aphex Twin could love.
3. Lots and lots of chest hair.

Meet the Amazing Strangers of Union Square, photographed and commented on by Normal Bob Smith. [previously]
posted by Stynxno on Oct 17, 2007 - 22 comments

The Wedding of Amy and Jewels [more inside]
posted by Stynxno on Oct 11, 2007 - 40 comments

Live Loud Acts: archives and playlists for The Pat Duncan Show on WFMU. Hour upon hour of expertly curated punk rock radio. Pat's Myspace page has more info. [more inside]
posted by milquetoast on Sep 26, 2007 - 9 comments

Why New Yorkers Last Longer. Interestingly, urban theorists believe it is not just the tightly packed nature of the city but also its social and economic density that has life-giving properties. When you’re jammed, sardinelike, up against your neighbors, it’s not hard to find a community of people who support you—friends or ethnic peers—and this strongly correlates with better health and a longer life. [New York Magazine article]
posted by nickyskye on Aug 15, 2007 - 75 comments

On a summer afternoon in 2006, New York photographer Gerard Maynard captured his neighborhood from a rooftop at 7th Avenue and 110th Street. The resulting 2,045 photographs, stitched together, comprise a 13-gigapixel panorama of Harlem's skyline. Best viewed with HDView option (MS Internet Explorer only).
posted by LinusMines on Jul 18, 2007 - 32 comments

Peter B. Kaplan is a New York Photographer who made his name by climbing to high locations and taking amazing super-wide angle shots since the 70's -- most notably, the Statue of Liberty restoration project. He recently had to stop after 40 years because he started suffering from vertigo. After laying off ginkgo biloba, Kaplan’s vertigo and fear of heights has apparently disappeared.
posted by Dave Faris on Jun 25, 2007 - 4 comments

Hear our demands: give us back New York. Just think of the possibilities! Join the struggle. Or else.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Apr 1, 2007 - 35 comments

Grand Theft Auto IV (video, SFW despite age verification and Philip Glass) is coming. Even six months before its release, it is promoting rage and anger (...in NYC politicians). Fansite and Wikipedia article.
posted by ztdavis on Apr 1, 2007 - 131 comments

Like old cheese and vomit, mixed with dog food ... Halitosis and aged cabbage ... Rank Swiss cheese ... Sour milk ... Pee in the air every day ... Like an open corpse ... Like a musty homeless person decomposing in musky homeless person urine ... Caramel with a slight undertone of mildly rank underarm ... Rodenticide. It's Gawker's New York City Subway Smell Map.
posted by Urban Hermit on Sep 26, 2006 - 17 comments

New York City Water Tunnel No. 3 has been under construction since 1970 and completion is expected in 2020. (Be sure to click the sidebars.) City Water Tunnels Nos. 1 and 2 have been operating continuously since 1917 and 1936, and currently cannot be shut down for repair without disrupting the city's water supply. Popular Mechanics and BLDBLOG have articles, Newsday has photos, and 60 Minutes has an article with video. Local paper The Villager covers the construction of one of the many shafts that connect to the tunnel. It has inspired a one-woman show. The Sandhog Project covers the workers, called "Sandhogs," with photos, sound, and video. Over twenty sandhogs died building the tunnel.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim on Jul 29, 2006 - 11 comments

A hate crime in Harlem? Some say it is, some say it isn't. Some are reminded of an incident at Howard Beach in 1986.
posted by anjamu on Apr 10, 2006 - 46 comments

Some 30 billion pounds of steam every year flow beneath the streets of Manhattan from the Battery to 96th Street. While it is unknown to most New Yorkers, Con Edison's subterranean steam system is the biggest steam district in the world, larger than the next four largest U.S. steam systems combined... And it's got a robot. [MI]
posted by ursus_comiter on Jan 4, 2006 - 45 comments

Canstruction is a very cool exhibit at the New York Design Center. Take a look at some of these very well done sculptures made using just cans.
posted by riffola on Nov 11, 2005 - 9 comments

Spots Before His Eyes? At last, the Paper of Record publishes a story about something I've known and experienced for years. This retired math professor believes that New York is "...a parking paradise." Want a free parking spot, just believe you'll find one, and you will. When I lived in the SF area and had to go to The City for business, I would visualize parking and something always turned up. How about you? How do you conjure the parking Goddess?
posted by dbmcd on Jun 17, 2005 - 38 comments

The New York City Draft Riots: "As a hot and muggy Monday morning dawned on July 13, 1863, a large crowd of New York working people moved uptown, gathering workers from workshops and factories along the way... They banded together to express their collective outrage at the new draft law. Once they reached the Provost Marshall's office on 46th Street and Third Avenue, the scene of Saturday's first draft lottery, the crowd attacked the building, setting it on fire."
Maps, commentary, history. The main site is pretty cool too: Virtual New York City. Previously in the blue: a primary account from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle archives.
posted by OmieWise on Jun 6, 2005 - 10 comments

Thomas Shine, a former Yale student, is suing David Childs for copyright infringement Mr. Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for copyright infringement over the design of the Freedom Tower located at Ground Zero. Shine alleges in his lawsuit that the proposed Freedom Tower was "strikingly similar" to his "Olympic Tower" design for the proposed 2012 Olympic Games in New York.
posted by plemeljr on Nov 10, 2004 - 21 comments

A long-lost treasure too toxic to touch: Construction at New York City's Harlem Community Justice Center recently revealed a room piled high with records documenting the building's former life as an early 20th century prison. They offer a peek into the street life of ca. 1900 NYC and scholars are already interested - there's only one problem: the room also contains decades worth of toxic pigeon droppings. (NY Times - registration required). Photos (click on the "records rescue" link at the bottom) of the room are available at the great correctionhistory.org which also offers histories and photos of other out-of-the-way corners of NYC like the Hart Island Potter's Field.
posted by ryanshepard on Nov 5, 2004 - 9 comments

ADD, Esq. In browsing part-time jobs in NYC, I came across this gem. It would blow my mind to watch this dude in the courtroom... if he doesn't get sidetracked along the way.
posted by adamms222 on Nov 4, 2004 - 3 comments

The inimitable Coney Island Mermaid Parade. OK, it was a month ago, but these photo galleries make for some fun browsing. Planning your costume for next year? Our resident mermaidologist offers some inspiration. (some nudity - it's mermaids after all!)
posted by madamjujujive on Jul 25, 2004 - 11 comments

Love on the Quiet. One breezy evening a few months ago, 19-year-old Joseph Briggs did something he had never before dared to do growing up gay in New York: he held hands with and kissed his boyfriend in his own neighborhood... While New York is legendary as a place where gays and lesbians can live openly and free from prejudice, Mr. Briggs's story reveals a great deal about what might be called the other gay New York. Life in this New York unfolds far from the chiseled Chelsea boys, funky Village bars and relatively gay-friendly neighborhoods like the Upper West Side and Park Slope, Brooklyn, that represent the public image of gay life in the city. In the farther reaches of the boroughs outside Manhattan, gay life is often harder and nearly always more complicated. In these neighborhoods, the national debate over gay marriage can be much less important than the search for a doctor who does not squirm when talking about homosexual sex.    And here is your NYC Gay And Lesbian Population Distribution--a handy, color-coded map in pdf format, which comes from The Gay And Lesbian Atlas to provide more snapshots of life as lived, block by block, butterfly wing by butterfly wing, hometown and homeboy, in a time of more cultural evolution than, say, revolution.
posted by y2karl on Jul 18, 2004 - 22 comments

Undercity reveals Gotham's secrets as uncovered by a guerrilla historian. [via Anil Dash]
posted by riffola on Jun 26, 2004 - 9 comments

Pac-Manhattan is a large-scale urban game that utilizes the New York City grid to recreate the 1980's video game sensation Pac-Man. Oh yes folks, and it's a NYU grad school project.
posted by archimago on May 3, 2004 - 7 comments

Li'l G n' R - the first ever Guns N' Roses Kids Tribute Band. Check the audition video here (quicktime). They're playing CBGB's in a couple of weeks. Only $5, c'mon NYC MeFi'ers....one of you has to go and report.
posted by Ufez Jones on Feb 4, 2004 - 20 comments

Abandoned Bicycles of New York. Most seem to have been abandoned after thieves stripped unlocked components. Because of modern strong steel U-locks, many abandoned bikes aren't going anywhere soon. After reviewing these photos, you may want to review your bike-locking technique.
posted by profwhat on Jan 12, 2004 - 19 comments

I've become addicted to Satan's Laundromat -- a photoblog based out of Brooklyn that shows NYC daily in all its weird and wonderful glory.
posted by anastasiav on Dec 22, 2003 - 16 comments

The Brick Apple - New York City in LEGO®
posted by riffola on Dec 3, 2003 - 8 comments

More Magnificent Obsessions - 14to42.net - "This site intends to survey all of the signs in New York City from 14th Street to 42nd Street." Great photos of Ghost Signs, signs painted on buildings, signs attached to buildings, window signs, modern signs, graffiti signs, and even some pretty creepy signs, along with some surprisingly complete histories of the businesses the signs were made to advertise.
posted by anastasiav on Nov 11, 2003 - 14 comments

Celluloid Skyline. New York City as a dream constructed by the movies, with reference photographs and production drawings from Hollywood.
posted by liam on Oct 15, 2003 - 8 comments

Help NYC break the record for world's largest picnic... Local NYC cable access freaks The Unbelievable Show will be hosting an attempt at the Guinness-certified world's largest picnic in Bryant Park on Sunday, August 3rd. Hulabilly, a Hawaiian/Western Swing/Hot Jazz band will be there and donations will be accepted for City Harvest. Wherever you are, back away from the glow and enjoy the summer while you still can...
posted by adamholz on Jul 29, 2003 - 4 comments

100 Years of New York City. A New York Times special, originally published in 1998. 'The following articles offer a glimpse into the past 100 years of New York City -- a decade at a time. Each decade includes a full time line prepared by the staff at The New York Times, photos from The Times archives, headline clippings from archive copies of The Times, and essays by noted authors and Times staff writers. '
The new born city, seen from above - a panorama from 1902.
posted by plep on Jul 28, 2003 - 7 comments

GangRule - the history of organized crime in New York City. A growing database of photos, biographies, newspaper clippings and family trees from 1890 on. And for the godfather trackers among us, there's also Boston Mafia, which includes the history of a notorious contemporary fugitive, lately in the news via testimony from his brother, Billy Bulger.
posted by madamjujujive on Jun 24, 2003 - 8 comments

A Love of Monsters: Gargoyles & Architectural Details in NYC. 'They crouch in the corners and lurk under windows. They curl around drainpipes and blend into doorways. They're so clever at hiding most folks won't see them at all. '
'But I know where the monsters live. I see them all the time. If your heart is understanding and your eyes remember wonder, then take a quiet stroll with me and see what you can find.'
Self-guided walks, too.
posted by plep on Mar 17, 2003 - 17 comments

The Corporate Siege on the people of New York City. The corporate siege on the people of the United States of America.
posted by crasspastor on Mar 8, 2003 - 7 comments