When restaurants charge larger parties an automatic service fee – usually 20% – it’s generally understood that the money goes to the servers as a gratuity. But some restaurants have been keeping the lion’s share of the fee and passing along just a small fraction to the staff. Now a state appeals court has ruled that the practice is as illegal as it is outrageous. It took a lawsuit brought by the employees of World......

COMEDY: This weekend marks the 9th Annual Del Close Marathon. Del Close, if you don't know by now, "was the driving force behind improvisational comedy in Chicago for over 30 years influencing Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Mike Myers, John Belushi, Chris Farley and the Upright Citizens Brigade to name a few." The annual weekend began after Del's passing in 1999. All Weekend // Various Times // UCB Theater [307 W 26th St] // $10 shows,......

Deacon Rules the Pool That's an awful, awful pun and we do apologize. These mini headlines aren't easy! The Pool Parties are officially in full swing, and we took a trip out to McCarren this weekend for the diverse lineup of OCDJ, Dan Deacon, Erase Errata and The Octopus Project. While all four bands put on a solid show, the standout was clearly Deacon, who set up his gadgets and widgets on a fold-out table......

Thousands of people line McCarren Pool on Sundays, standing in place of where water used to be. This summer JellyNYC's Sunday Pool Parties are continuing, in what has become an instant summer tradition. We headed over there for the first time this season on Sunday to see Man Man, Illinois, Dengue Fever and enjoy some ice cream. We chatted with some of the folks involved, too. Check it out. And be sure to check......

It's a big outdoor weekend, so good thing there are 51 outdoor pools opening up for the season around the city today (here's a "best of" list). If you prefer to stay dry, here are some options... EVENT: The Afro Punk series begins at BAMcafé tonight. The series kicks off with a spotlight on the Black Panthers, including "an Opening Night discussion with Black Panther co-Founder Bobby Seale, Gloria Rolando’s Eyes of the Rainbow (1997),......

White Stripes Shred Irving It seems that every time The White Stripes fade away for a year or two, people seem to forget exactly how amazing they can be live. Perhaps it takes a show like the one at Irving Plaza last Tuesday...filled with hardcore, line-waiting fans and eager and excited members of the media to really drive home just how good a show Jack White puts on, and exactly how impressive Meg is to......

Sonic Youth are performing their 1988 album "Daydream Nation" in its entirety this summer at McCarren Park Pool. Don't want to spend $34 + fees for a ticket? Don't worry, we have you covered. The show is part of the All Tomorrow’s Parties “Don’t Look Back” concert series and takes place on July 28th. To get the pair of tix, email GothamistContest (a) gmail dot com, and answer us this: the lyrics to lead......

Here's a heads up on sunny summertime shows. Sure, after the first week we'll be complaining about the heat, the smell of the city as it melts, and the lack of shade...but it's always nice to have some music to look forward to. So stock up on the SPF for the following shows: Celebrate Brooklyn picks (full schedule here, always the most diverse lineup) • June 16th Joan Osborne, The Jazz Passengers: The Supremes Project......

Black Lips Trash Bowery One of the nice things about being a music fan in New York City is that you rarely have to wait very long to see a band you're recently missed. The Black Lips famously played about 6,000 shows at SXSW this year, yet despite our interest in checking them out, we managed to catch them exactly zero times (with our final chance being cut short by that whole collapsing balcony thing.)......

(AKA The It doesn't feel like Friday and we're still hungover from SXSW edition) NY indie institutions hold it down @ SXSW Last weekend wrapped up South By Southwest, and the final day of festivities focused around the NY2LON day party, which was the collaboration of +1 Management, Brooklyn Vegan and Le Tigre. The stacked lineup was unfortunately without top draw Amy Winehouse, who had to pull out of several recent performances, but featured sets......

Pela Rocks the Merc, V-Mars Last Friday night, after snagging a standby ticket to the Arcade Fire proved impossible, the second best place to be was at the Mercury Lounge for the sold out headlining set by one of the most promising local bands we've got in this here town, Pela. We got in right before the band started up and are pleased to say that they continue to live up to every expectation......

If things have seemed quiet at the usual New York haunts of movie folks like Film Forum or Grey Dog Coffee this last week, it's because practically the whole community is in Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. The annual launching pad of many subsequently huge independent features (see this year's Best Picture Oscar nom and last year's festival break out, Little Miss Sunshine), Sundance is a crazy week. Parties, swag, deal-making and......

In 2004 we asked a bunch of New York bloggers to suggest sonic stocking stuffers. This year, we asked New York bloggers, bookers, musicians and more, what they'd give as a gift this holiday season. Here you go...commence shopping! Jack "Skippy" McFadden, Union Hall booker The Isles "Perfumed Lands" Ian Love's self-titled cd Wes Verhoeve, Cross Pollination / The Undisputed Heavyweights A Brief Smile - R.E.S.T. My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me The Workhorse Kevin......

Jagshemash! Borat is a hit. It's getting rave reviews, grossing millions, and definitely the most quotable thing we've seen in ages. But Borat seems to have missed most of the -ist cities, and we were all wondering how the film would have been different if he'd made his way around the world on the -ist tour. In Shanghai, Borat would be observing Inane Learnings of Penis Photos for Make Benefit Glorious Flat World of......

Whoa-- that was quite a night. If, like us, you've just woken up with a pounding hangover and a foul sugar-coating covering your tongue, we sympathize. Here are some highlights to remind you of how you spent the night-- add yours in the comments if you want us to link to them. Parade: WhatISee, EyeinAstoria, InSunlight, Editrix, ImBrettJackson, AVC, BobbyLapointe, Rendomthoughts, *PhotobyMatt*, TunnelAngel, Gruban, Tozzer, Mercredis and the amazing phone costume, great Van Gogh......

Many of us have been enjoying McCarren Park Pool this summer. The Sunday afternoon Pool Parties are free and the music and dodgeball are reason alone to head out there, L or no L. This weekend we went to our first non-free event at the pool, the Mew/Secret Machines/Bloc Party show. We went for the two openers and left prior to Bloc Party. We've been waiting for the Danish band, Mew, to come to town......

PARTY: ABC No Rio is the 26 year old LES center for art and activism that has JUST received the title to their building. "Envisioned for the site is a multi-use community arts center with darkroom, silk-screen printing facility, small press resource center, computer center, expanded space for art, music, performance, educational and community activities, and meeting and office space." Come cheers to their big win tonight as they celebrate with cheap drinks, free snacks,......

Yesterday was one of the first shows of the summer at McCarren Park Pool. We headed over there to check out the venue, and of course the show. We'll have a review up of Les Savy Fav later on, for now we wanted to give you a look at what the venue is like incase you didn't get over there. The venue was huge. Housing a dodgeball court, a slip and slide, a stage, an......

This weekend starts the first in the series of free (and not-so-free) concerts at McCarren Park Pool. For those who didn't want to spend 50-something dollars on Bloc Party, JellyNYC has come to the rescue with some great shows. Each one of The Pool Parties has been "curated" by different groups of people, the first by our friends over at Stereogum.com along with IceCreamMan.com. If you don't know, the latter actually has an ice cream......

One of our readers left us a link to the picture above on our Contribute page, along with this comment: Can you start a campaign encouraging coke whores like these to leave the homeless alone? Or at least call out these stupid girls like peter bruanstein or the subway flasher. Your wish is answered: we are calling these girls out to explain themselves. And come on-- to the nice people behind Last Night's Parties,......

Note: a few people were uncomfortable with the picture of Lindsay that we used on this post, so we took it down. We got the warning label from this fun site. Peace and love, y'all! Brian Van and other downtown stalkeratzi take note: Lindsayism has got your number, and you are going down! Cameras are ruining everything. Everything. I think I first realized this a few months ago, when I was getting ready to......

When you offer people 5 cent pizzas, you need to set some ground rules. Here's the sign hanging outside of Lombardi's today, during its 5-cent-pizza-pie promotion for its 100th birthday: - One Pizza Per Table - Dine In Only - Toppings, Salad and Drinks at Regular Price - Parties of 5 or More Will Be Split into Multiple Tables - 45 Minute Limit Per Table - First Come, First Served, No Reservations - Cash Only......

Hot on the heels of last week's LA Times piece about the Cobra Snake, the New York Times Sunday Styles section gives us a two-pager on Merlin Bronques, the wigged-out dude behind Last Night's Parties. Just in case you don't follow the hipster party scene, here's a basic summary: Merlin goes out to parties each night, snaps some hotties (preferably showing some nipple), and posts them on his website. Same goes for the Cobra......

There's an obituary for Judge Constance Baker Motley in the NY Times today. Motley died at age 84, and she truly led an amazing life. Not only was she a dynamic figure in the civil rights movement and the first black woman to be appointed a federal judge (by LBJ in 1966), she was the first black, female NY State Senator in 1964 and was the first female - and first black - Manhattan Borough......

Daniel's Dish: Entertaining at Home With a Four-Star Chef by Daniel Boulud (Filipacchi Publishing, 2003) Ah, the holidays. Parties to go to, drinks to drink. Gothamist's friends always have great potlucks where we get to eat all kinds of different foods, all lovingly prepared by our friends. But there's only so much time in the day, especially around the holidays, so multitasking is key. In this case, multitasking takes the form of making a pound......

Gothamist's little brother Eric is rocking out at school, and the band's name is Caligyne. One of the kids takes Latin, and apparently caligyne-phobia is the fear of beautiful woman, so the band's name means "Beautiful Women." Uh huh. Another telling thing is that Eric and his friends have LAN Parties - they hook up all their computers and they play computer games. Or something, Gothamist was just trying to remember how nerdy we were......