Frank Bruni, the Times’s top restaurant critic, awards the new 2nd Avenue Deli one star today, which isn’t bad considering it is, despite all the history, still a deli. We popped in there for food and photos just before it reopened at its East 33rd Street location and found the sandwiches (pictured) as monumental as ever; a second visit turned up no sign of the free bowl of gribenes (chicken skin fried in chicken fat)......

The Lost Beach, by vanshnookenraggen at fark Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: Falling debris at East 11th St. and Ave. C in Manhattan, a propane truck explosion in the area of 172nd St. and Townsend Ave. in the Bronx, and a water rescue at 96th St. and the FDR Drive off Manhattan (brrr!). The Javits Center is only 21 years old, but it leaks like a sieve. So in addition to the expansion of......

There are a number of restaurants opening in 2008 that we've been eagerly awaiting and we thought we'd highlight some that particularly piqued our interest and have us drooling in anticipation. John Dory -- this new meatpacking seafood spot comes from Spotted Pig owner Ken Friedman and Partner/Executive Chef April Bloomfield. Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich are also partners, not to mention neighbors. Sara Ochs will serve as the Chef de Cuisine. It is designed......

Queens Councilman Tony Avella has introduced a bill that would ban the existence of carriage horses in NYC. Another Queens Councilman, James Gennaro, is looking to preserve the practice of equine cabbies that populate the streets of and around Central Park. Manhattan council members are perhaps showing some political horse sense from bowing out of this particular fight. While wanting to preserve the tradition of the horse-drawn carriage trade, Gennaro is also suggesting a......

If you've been paying for Wifi at coffee shops between 42nd Street and Central Park South and between 8th and 6th Avenues, you can start saving up for more grande mocha lattes. CBS will be creating a "CBS Mobile Zone" with free wifi in midtown. In turn, CBS will lead users to an ad-supported homepage. CenterNetworks says that Citi and Salesgenie.com have already signed up. CBS, which owns CBS Outdoor, will wire billbards, MTA displays......

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Alex Ureña’s Pamploma, gives the restaurant two stars. “Pamplona is Ureña [the chef’s former restaurant] with an attitude adjustment,” he says. “His best dishes are more than memorable enough to redeem Pamplona’s shortcomings.” In the Post, Cuozzo goes to BLT Market, where he finds “Tourondel’s first fully-composed dishes since Cello.” Says the restaurant revives the corner of Sixth Ave and Central Park South, and “What BLT Market......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a baby was struck on 120th St. in Queens, an auto extrication on Wilson Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting on Sherman Ave. in Manhattan. Forgetting the name of the 13-year-old boy injured in a game of Quiet last week, his middle school principal just referred to him as "spleen boy" during a faculty meeting. A former concierge at a Central Park South residential building is suing building owner......

A 12-year-old carriage horse named Smoothie died after frightened on Central Park South yesterday afternoon. The Daily News reports that a breakdancing troupe cracked a snare drum, which made Smoothie rear up in fear. A witness said Smoothie was "in full gallop,", and the NY Times has a description of the terrified horse's reaction: According to witnesses, a man walked past the horses while beating a small drum, which caused a brown horse that was......

As history tells it, in the early 1900s "the presence of 120,000 horses in New York City was declared 'an economic burden, an affront to cleanliness, and a terrible tax upon human life.'" Today the horses are fewer (there are 221 licensed horses, 293 drivers and 68 licensed carriages), and a bit more popular -- albeit amongst the tourist set. The NY Times has a piece on the New York City comptroller finally (for the......

It's been too long since we've checked in with Roger Stone, the GOP operative who is suspected of making a threatening call to Governor Spitzer's father. The Sun reports that Stone, who was asked to resign his $20,000/month gig consulting for NY State Republicans, has apologized to Dale Hemmerdinger, the owner of his apartment building and friend of Spitzer. Spitzer's father's lawyers say that a call (which included the invective, "You will be compelled by......

Bruni goes to Franny’s in Brooklyn, rates it a top pick, awards it two stars, and calls himself a newly converted “besotted Franny’s believer.” Says Franny’s simplicity—they serve crostini, cured meats, pasta and pizza (along with a few other items)—“is deceptive. The restaurant finds transcendence in dishes and genres that wouldn’t seem to yield so readily to invention or open the door to so much pleasure.” And Cuozzo says Little Italy is “drawing unaccustomed buzz”......

Reach out and touch someone - and get fired for it, possibly even if you didn't do the reaching out and touching. The nutty voicemail message left for Bernard Spitzer, father of Governor Spitzer, is reassuring everyone that it's just politics as usual in Albany. The elder Spitzer's lawyers believe that the call was made by GOP consultant Roger Stone, who was recently hired at $20,000/month by NY State Republican (he was consulting with Spitzer's......

Okay, we give up. The whole Governor Spitzer-Senate Republican animosity thing has become totally and utterly insane. Someone left a crazy message for Spitzer's father, the wealthy (and 83-year-old) real estate developer Bernard Spitzer. And call has been traced to the apartment of a GOP adviser to State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno! This is a message for Bernard Spitzer. You will be subpoenaed to testify in front of the Senate committee on investigation on......

Flatiron Joe's: In the former home of the short-lived Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, Jay Shaffer, who owns Shaffer City Oyster Bar and Grill down the block, has created a casual spot where, for the time being, he's serving up bar snacks like sliders and nachos. He plans on serving lunch and dinner starting in October. 29 West 21st Street, (212) 414-3139. 8th Street Wine Cellar: This long awaited cozy wine bar is a welcome addition......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian was struck at East 51st St. and Linden Blvd. in Brooklyn, a fatality as a person was struck by a train at West Houston St., and a baby water rescue on Bodine St. on Staten Island. In response to an overabundance of animals at city shelters, Broadway stars gathered to promote pet adoption this weekend at Broadway Barks. Little Leaguers played tee-ball on the South Lawn of......

Recently Rolling Stone took a 60-second tour of The Beatles' New York, with a little help from Google’s Street Maps feature. First up on their tour: John and Yoko’s first NYC apartment at 105 Bank Street (where they lived during the release of this album). Here's a closer look at the property, which is also shown at right. In 1971, after a long stay at the St. Regis Hotel, John Lennon and Yoko Ono moved......

Governor Spitzer nominated H. Dale Hemmerdinger to be Peter Kalikow's replacement as MTA Chairman. Hemmerdinger is a real estate developer with long and varied ties to New York City. He is the president of ATCO Properties and Management, which owns and manages two million square feet of residential, commercial, industrial, and retail space. A longtime backer of Democratic politians, Hemmerdinger's wife donated $40,000 to Spitzer's campaigns since 2000, and Mrs. Spitzer hosted a fundraiser at......

Fascinating legal ruling concerning a gay marriage split. Couple Steven Green and David Gonzalez were married in Massachusetts on Valentine's Day 2005, after four years of living together. Then a few months after the marriage, they separated and started their courtship with the law. From the NY Times:...Mr. Green’s lawyer drafted a separation agreement, which both parties signed in September 2005, the court papers said. Under that agreement, Mr. Gonzalez transferred title of his ski......

We've heard of hotel staffs doing anything for their guests, but providing them with drugs and guns goes a bit too far. The Post revels in news that some employees at the Helmsley Park Lane hotel on Central Park South were arrested for selling six guns and half a pound in cocaine to undercover police officers, because that means they can run unflattering photos of the Queen of Mean. Police found out about the drug......

The Daily News reveals the extent of Eliot Spitzer's real estate portfolio. And it's quite impressive. Thanks to his father, developer Bernard Spitzer, the Attorney General and gubernatorial frontrunner earned almost $1 million on rents from a variety Madison Avenue properties. Hello, Attorney General Big Pockets! And that doesn't even the money he's probably saved, by living in properties owned by his father - Spitzer, his wife, and three kids currently live at 985 Fifth......

Ooh - the Observer looks at how New York City will convince the Democratic National Committee to hold the 2008 Convention here. We pieced together their itinerary from the article, and clearly, the mayor misses having the International Olympic Committee to woo. :Today - Check into Ritz Carlton (Central Park South, we assume) tongiht - Hansom cab ride through Central Park - Dinner at Mayor Bloomberg's townhouse Thursday - Breakfast at Gracie Mansion - Tour......

If there is one good thing about the paparazzi, it might be their rabid attempts to document the life of Britney Spears. Because that's what might save little Sean Preston Federline. After two photographed of incidents of baby-in-car negligence, plus reports that California child welfare workers went to her house to check up on her (after a helper dropped the baby on the head or something close to that), the NY Post plasters a picture......

Want to knock down your building and build a new one? You'll get to kick out your tenants, if you do! There are two interesting stories about apartment building owners using a loophole in order to evict their tenants who rent below market rates. In Tribeca, residents at 131 Duane Street claim their landlord is falsely claiming he will demolish the building in order to evict them. In NYC real estate, owners can evict even......

Latvian woman Prokopcuka just won the NYC Marathon with a time of 2:24:40. Second-place finisher was the Kenyan runner Chepkemai (14s behind), who was leading until she began throwing up (mostly gatorade, see picture above) during the descent down Central Park West. Prokopcuka pulled away on the run up Central Park South. Men's results expected soon. Update: Ramaala, Tergat (Kenyan-- fastest marathoner in the world), Meb Keflezighi (USA) coming down mile 24. Time 2:03:56......

Finally, the first big, non-graffiti The Gates accident that isn't some art lover accidentally walking into one: A cab crashed into one of the frames yesterday morning after hitting a patch of ice at 8:30AM. The Post reported that one of the frames at Central Park South and Sixth Avenue was mangled; however, these kinds of incidents were anticipated and the frame was replaced by 9AM. The cabby said, "I don't want to be famous......