Coney Island's 150-foot-tall spinning mistress, the Wonder Wheel, turns 88 today. One and all are invited to join in on the celebration at Deno's--some events are planned for the anniversary that should be lasting throughout the day and night. As for the history of the Wheel, it's been up and running since 1920 and each year the 400,000-lb. ride is overhauled and painted. Fun fact: "The only stoppage in the history of the Wonder Wheel......

On the humid night of August 6th, 1988, long-simmering resentments over East Village gentrification boiled over into the now-infamous Tompkins Square Park riot. Hundreds of people had gathered at the park to protest the imposition of a 1 a.m. curfew. At some point, the protest turned violent; bottles were thrown at the police, who retaliated with beatings and arrests throughout the night. According to the Times, forty-four people were injured, including 13 cops. In time......

The 20th Anniversary of the Tompkins Square Park riots was celebrated over the weekend with two days of punk rock, pot smoking, rabble rousing and slam dancing. (Potty-mouth video.) According to Neither More Nor Less, they “slammed with a physical intensity that TSP has not seen in many years. Someone threw $1000 in dollar bills to the crowd and this crowd of celebrants burned the dollar bills. The celebrants also burned a flag; being polyester......

On June 15, 1948, WPIX signed on as the second independent television station in the city from studios in the Daily News Building on 42nd Street. (The first, WATV signed on a month earlier and eventually became WNET in 1961.) Like stations in many other cities, it was owned by a newspaper, in this case the Daily News and its then corporate parent the Tribune Company (the paper was sold off in 1991). The call......

John Bachman’s lithograph of Olmsted and Vaux’s design via Racontours. 150 years ago today the Board of Commissioners of Central Park chose the “Greensward plan” submitted by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux for the design of America’s first major urban public park. Except for the rock outcrops, the park is almost entirely man-made; the meadows were swamps until the designers had them drained and dumped tens of thousands of cartloads of soil to fill......

Melissa Gould It was 96 years ago today, in 1912, that the unsinkable Titanic sank in the Atlantic near Newfoundland. The Bowery Boys recap New Yorkers who were lost with ship, well -- the rich ones.John Jacob Astor IV had run to Europe with his mistress Madeleine Talmage Force to avert attention from the fact that Ms. Force, a native Brooklynite, was 18 years old. Mining million Benjamin Guggenheim approached his impending death like......

You didn’t forget about New York Magazine’s 40th Anniversary did you? Quick, it’s not too late to make it up to them by buying their hefty, back-slapping issue and acting like you give a shit. Nestled among the ads for shoes, perfume, and luxury handbags you'll find descriptions of the most “unmistakably New Yorky” cultural events since 1968, as determined by the magazine’s critics, who’ve gone so far as to declare this The New York......

As we mentioned last week, Gothamist is turning 5 years old next month! Come celebrate with us at a special show at Union Hall. Here are the details: Movable Hype 12.0 and Gothamist Turns 5! Friday, February 15th, 9pm Union Hall (702 Union Street, Park Slope) Featuring: The Forms, Pattern is Movement and Special Midnight Guests! Deejay Craig Wedren You can buy tickets here for $10. We're also giving a pair away, so if you......

Gothamist is turning 5 years old next month, and to celebrate, we're throwing a little party at Union Hall! We wanted to give you plenty of time to think of creative cakes you can bake us (pictured is one a reader whipped up for us on our 3rd birthday). Here are the details: Movable Hype 12.0 and Gothamist Turns 5! Friday, February 15th, 9pm Union Hall (702 Union Street, Park Slope) Featuring: The Forms, Pattern......