The Drudge Report says Senator John McCain submitted an op-ed to the NY Times, hoping for some equal time as Senator Barack Obama's "Plan for Iraq" was published last week, but the Times turned it down. Apparently NYT Op-Ed editor David Shipley emailed the McCain campaign, "It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece. I'm not going to be able to accept this piece as currently written."......

Newspapers all over the country are paying close attention to the stunning news that Governor Eliot Spitzer paid for a prostitute - and was apparently a regular client - to "visit" him from NY to DC. Our local papers all take a shot at the former crusading Attorney General who rode into the Governor's Mansion on a promise of reforming Albany. The Post calls him "NY's NAKED EMPEROR" and demands he should resign. After......

The 20-member New York Times editorial board nearly endorsed Barack Obama for president, but ultimately Times chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. pushed through a Clinton endorsement, anonymous sources have told The New Republic. The behind-the-scenes article echoes conjecture from New York Magazine that Sulzberger’s BFF gym buddy Steven Rattner, a major Clinton donor and former Times reporter, may have been the deciding factor. An unnamed Times staffer regrets the error: “We're on the wrong......

The NY Times' editorial board has made its endorsements for the upcoming primaries. While the Times' selection of Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama is interesting (the Times cites experience), we're very taken with the editorial about the Republican candidates. The Times thinks John McCain is the best Republican candidate and notes some problems with him. But the heart of the editorial is an evisceration of former mayor Rudy Giuliani:Why, as a New York-based paper, are......

Mayor Bloomberg may be finding that coy flirtation can be cute at first, but quickly becomes old and aggravating if carried on for too long. The New York Times has a story today describing a growing backlash against a Mayor who seems preoccupied with something big, but it's something big that he won't discuss, or even acknowledge. With the City on the verge of a fiscal meltdown and several controversial proposals like congestion pricing in......

Yesterday, East Harlem residents protested "greedy landlords" to raise concerns about gentrification. One resident, Otoniel Santiago, told amNew York that his $1,100 rent for his family's two-bedroom has zoomed up to $3,000 because of extra charges his landlord has added, "They said I had to pay or they would take legal action. I think they want us to get tired and move out, then they will bring in people who will pay $1,700 a......

Governor Eliot Spitzer's "ChopperGate" has more of a stink today: It turns out that two of his senior aides refused to speak with the Attorney General's office during the investigation. While the investigation ultimately found that Spitzer aides didn't technically break the law when they were trying to use State Police records to discredit State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, it makes it hard to believe Spitzer's assertion that his aides had cooperated fully with......

Adam Moss, editor-in-chief of New York magazine may have one of the most dangerous-looking offices in publishing this morning, as it is probably crowded with a number of large sharp-edged and -angled Ellies, or National Magazine Awards. New York was nominated for seven awards and its capture of five of them added an air of upset to the proceedings. MediaBistro's FishbowlNY live-blogged the event last night from Lincoln Center:9:16PM: The magic night for Adam ("I'm......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: "loose horses" in Queens, a stabbing in Soho, and a fatal person struck by train at 86th on the 4/5/6. No surprise: the richer a neighborhood is, the more landmarks get designated within it. Here's a pretty video of a Williamsburg Brooklyn Sunrise, from Youtube. Joseph Guzman, the survivor of the Sean Bell shooting in Queens, was released from the hospital today, nearly two months after the attack. Birds......

- The man who killed his girlfriend and abandoned her young daughter on a Queens street got 32 years in jail - MTA says no transit contract revote - what does this mean...what does this mean? - Fashion designers want to prevent you from buying the knockoffs of their designs at H&M and Zara - The National Magazine Award finalists are announced - Third brush fire in Staten Island in four days - The......

Since it's obviously National Hangover Week and no one does hangovers better than New York artists, it's a rather slow week (again!) in readings and literary events. Next week looks like it's picking up a fair bit, though, and we're excited about several events, so tune in next Tuesday. For you science fiction fans, tonight the New York Review of Science Fiction hosts its first reading of the year, at the South Street Seaport Museum's......

Fighting words from Fernando Ferrer. He tells the Daily News Editorial Board that he would scale down the Brooklyn Nets arena plan "dramatically," noting that there were "apparent abuses of eminent domain." Mayor Bloomberg's campaign says that the Brooklyn Yards plan will bring more jobs and housing to the community, but even Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz says the plan should be scaled back, because that's what the community wants. Interesting! And in a speech......

Mayor Bloomberg wasn't kidding about wanting a bigger role in the redevelopment of Ground Zero: He made sure the Daily News could tell World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein that Bloomberg wanted him to "Butt out, Larry". Gotta love the tabs and how they cut to the chase. Bloomberg told the Daily News Editorial Board, "It would be in the city's interest to get Silverstein out, [but] nobody can figure out how to do it......

We've developed another survey to get our readers' opinions. We're trying to make sure we're doing the best, sp this time the survey asks questions about Gothamist's Editorial and other blog-reading habits. If you have a few minutes (it's very short), we'd appreciate it if you could answer. Click here to take the Gothamist Survey - and thanks in advance for taking the time!......

The debate about whether or not a Fifth Avenue co-op should have removed the nest of red-tailed hawks, which are protected species, rages on. Co-op board members, including Paula Zahn and her husband Richard Cohen whose the president (list of co-op board members from Curbed), were faced with protesters across from the apartment building, some holding signs saying "Ebenezer Zahn." Many tenants refuse to comment about the situation that has booted out beloved hawk Pale......

As I mentioned earlier, Gothamist is rolling out some new features. Today, we're launching the beta version of the Gothamist Events feed, a listing of concerts, shows, happenings, pow-wows, drunken posses, and other occurances that we feel may interest you, our surly, panda-obsessed readership. The events listing is being edited by a new member of the Gothamist family - Mindy Bond, of late a contributor to Flavorpill and a fully qualified expert about things going......