Governor David Paterson yesterday continued to deal with what has been the defining issue of his administration thus far, making tough budget cuts in the face of a growing state deficit. The governor vetoed 49 pieces of legislation yesterday, including a bill that would have imposed a one-year moratorium on cuts to the medical benefits of retired public employees and one that would have made it easier for students to receive more state tuition assistance......

Photographs of Nas and other protesters outside the Fox News studios Hip-hop star Nas, along with other protesters, were at the Fox News Channel yesterday, delivering over 620,000 petition signatures and charging the cable network offered racist coverage. Nas said, "Fox poisons the country with racist propaganda and tries to call it news," pointing at how Fox personalities called Michelle Obama a "baby mama," and added, "But the Obamas aren't the only targets. Fox's......

Okay, the video of Governor Spitzer's short, vague apology is a classic addition to the apologetic politicians reel, but late night writers got to dissect the Hookergate. David Letterman offered up a Top Ten list that included references to Roy Scheider and Bubba (video, above; entire top ten list after the jump). Stephen Colbert savored the fact that Spitzer had appeared on his program the day before the alleged tryst (Spitzer touted his superdelegate......

Stephen Colbert continued his new feature on The Colbert Report program called "Nailed 'Em," in which the television host hopes to overcome the niceties of the legal system with skillful editing and generous amounts of innuendo. This week's subject was Brooklyn's own graffiti "punk," 6-year-old Natalie Shea. You may remember that Shea's chalk drawings - on her own front stoop - prompted a neighbor to complain to the Sanitation Department, which threatened the family with......

EVENT: For book lovers and the broken hearted, head over to the Knitting Factory after work for the book release party for "How Not to Date." The series of vignettes will make you feel better as they focus on nightmare dates, relationships and every sordid detail in between. Author Judy McGuire says, "There'll be snacks, a cash bar with happy hour prices, book giveaways, and some surprises (which may or may not include interpretive......

The presidential race has been a goldmine for talk shows (well, when the Writers' Guild strike isn't happening) and nowhere is that more apparent than on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. On last night's Colbert Report, on a riff about John McCain's Super Tuesday chances and taking credit for Mike Huckabee'e campaign, Stephen Colbert was joined by Jon Stewart, his Comedy Central crony, and then Conan O'Brien! This comes after O'Brien discussed......

Alex Ross has worked as the music critic of The New Yorker for over a decade. Somehow he still had time to churn out a book though, his first, The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, hit shelves late last year. The tome delves into the cultural history of music since 1900, and even has Björk touting: "Alex Ross's incredibly nourishing book will rekindle anyone's fire for music." Tonight he'll step away from......

As The Daily Show and Colbert Report are just moments away from filming their first shows in quite some time, picket lines are standing strong outside of their studios. WGA spokeswoman Sherry Goldman tells us, "These pickets will be against the media conglomerates – NBC and Viacom - and not the specific hosts who we understand were forced to return to the air without their writers who remain on the picket lines." Just because the......

Last week everyone from writers on the picket line to bored couch potatoes were abuzz with news that the late night heavyweights would be returning with all new shows. Last night was the big night (Letterman, O'Brien, Kimmel, Ferguson and Leno all returned), and both Conan O'Brien and David Letterman took the stage showing solidarity with strike beards intact. Letterman threatened to shave his later on Conan's show, saying that he'd probably be helping his......

CNBC's Money Honey Money Honey Says Mind the Gap Earlier this week, while in Grand Central Terminal we heard a familiar voice reminding us to “Mind the gap.” It turns out it was CNBC “Money Honey” Maria Bartiromo. Apparently Metro-North riders aren’t the only ones who are being reminded, as the Post reports that Long Island Rail Road commuters are getting similar reminders. The recorded messages were the brainchild of MTA board member Mitchell Palli.......

SHOP: Still looking for that perfect gift? The Brooklyn Historical Society is holding the 4th Annual NY Creates Craft Fair, and they may have just what you're looking for. Check it out today and tomorrow, and it will be back the 22nd and 23rd for the real last-minute shoppers. Friday and Saturday // Noon to 6pm // BHS [128 Pierrepont St, Brooklyn] ART: Too much is going on the First Friday of every month, so......

Wait a minute, didn't Brian Williams host Saturday NIght Live just two weeks ago, the one where Barack Obama appeared in the opening? Yes, but with the Writers Guild strike still on, Saturday Night Live decided to revisit the recent past, versus dig into old "Best of" clip shows. The unfortunate thing is that Page Six reports 90% of the SNL production staff was fired "until further notice" because of the strike. Other TV shows'......

Make sure you’re sitting down before reading further: Today TV bloggers formed a virtual picket line to support the Writers Guild strike. We’ve been refreshing Ramblings of a TV Whore all day, hoping for some blogging scab to post something! All this strike activity is becoming quite the trend; CBS News writers are expected to join their more gifted and talented “creative” colleagues who are entering week two of the strike. The CBS News scribes......

THEATER: Temporary Distortion’s Welcome to Nowhere (bullet hole road) juxtaposes lushly photographed cinema with hypnotic live performance. Positioned within a small but elaborately designed boxlike installation, the actors draw the audience into their blood-stained world with a stillness that approaches meditation. When fused with the rich film projection above their heads – which furthers the abstract plot of the road movie/love story – the show draws you into an intimate embrace, as if the characters......

Last week a group of parents in the West Village were up in arms about the S&M street festival hitting a street too close to home. Yesterday the fest, which was part of New York Leather Weekend, hit Weehawken Street -- or shall we say whipped? Those in attendance perused a plethora of whips, chains, blindfolds and other S&M garb. Those not in attendance were undoubtedly plotting a way to make sure their children......

FILM: BAM features the work of Al Santana tonight. The Brooklyn filmmaker "has been a fixture on the independent film and video scene for years and his work ranges from documentaries about the transatlantic slave trade to coping with 9/11." Santana will be on hand for a Q&A tonight as well. 7pm // BAM Rose Cinemas [30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn] // $11 THEATER: The New York Press deems “pastiche” performance artist Taylor Mac “one the......

The Colbert Report got a double dose of the Bloomberg administration yesterday. Not only was Schools Chancellor Joel Klein the interview guest, there was a short bit about Stephen Colbert "interrupting" a mayoral speech in Times Square to ask Mayor Bloomberg to sign his cast. The Bloomberg video is above and video of Klein's segment is below. During his appearance, Klein discussed the city's cash incentive pilot program for the poor where family members......

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein is many things. He's the head of the largest public school system in the country, he's a lawyer (he was a former Assistant Attorney General - biggest case: going after Microsoft) and he's a businessman (he was chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann). But who knew he was someone who should appear on The Colbert Report? The Daily News reports that the Department of Education's media relations department approached The Colbert......

Stephen Colbert (busy taking over the world) adds one more notch on the "celebrities are clumsy, too" bedpost. Before filming a recent episode the faux-news anchor broke his left wrist while running around the studio of The Colbert Report to pump up the audience before taping. He really does hate the left! This past week, he removed a giant foam hand to reveal the cast, saying "I didn't want to draw attention to it. I......

This week we'd like to congratulate the -ist network's Mother Hen, Gothamist's Jen Chung, who found herself a recipient of Wired Magazine's Wired Rave Award. If that doesn't sound terribly exciting, keep in mind another recipient was J.K. Rowling. Yep, that's right, the -ist network and Harry Potter now have something in common. Go us. Austinist has a chat with the ever-fashionable Golden Girl Rue McClanahan, and managed to catch some local fashionistas making......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: truck vs. building near the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn, stabbing at Coney Island Hospital, and a missing child in LES. Ronnell Wilson, the Staten Island man who killed two undercover cops, was formally sentenced to death today If you live in Fort Greene/Bed-Stuy, or points east, looks like the next five weekends are going to suck pretty hard: the A and C are both being shut down, and replaced......

In a recent NY Times article, Ben Sisario noted that, "In less than one square mile in Midtown, four weekday shows are taped in the afternoon: “Late Show With David Letterman,” “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report.” And “Saturday Night Live” broadcasts 20 new episodes each season." And they're all free, if you don't mind waiting in line. Possibly the most coveted of tickets is to......

Brian Stack is a writer and performer on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. You might know him as Frankenstein in the segment Frankenstein Wastes a Minute of Your Time or you might know him for his terrific work as Special Agent in Charge in the film Spaceman. Now you'll know all about Brian's childhood, how he got to where is today, and his limited run Improv show Let's Have A Ball, featuring writers and actors......

Got some downtime? You've got the rest of the day to work on an entry for The Decemberists video contest. They filmed themselves in front of a green screen and want the rest filled in, but we're sure you've heard about this already. Here's a timeline (with slightly unrelated topics added for drama!): • Chris Ott starts verbal slapping match with The Decemberists Colin Meloy. • Stephen Colbert calls Meloy a "thief". (Video above)......

Columbia-Minutemen fracas from a few weeks ago continues to simmer, as the Minutemen now want to sue the university and members of the Chicano Caucus. The Columbia Spectator reports (on what the Bwog mentioned last week) that the group wants to sue "for discrimination and defamation of character during the Minuteman events and protests at the beginning of this month and in subsequent public interviews." While the suit hasn't been filed just yet, the......

THEATER: Beastie Boy Adrock (who turns 40 next month!) was but a wee homey when his father, Israel Horovitz, penned his hit play “Line” 32 years ago. That dark comedy is the longest-running play in off-off-Broadway history. It’s about five people stuck on line and their shameless machinations to get to the front. The theater’s website boasts that the play has been performed in 25 countries and split the sides of 100,000 theatergoers. Who will......

After last year's mess of an awards show and this year's joke of nominations (where is love for Lauren Graham, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences?), we were going to swear off this year's Emmys. But then we realized Conan O'Brien was hosting, so we must watch and liveblog. And there's the hope of a good Steve Carrell bit, not to mention awkward reaction shots of Candy and Tori Spelling during the Aaron Spelling tribute.......

Sure, "citizen encyclopediaism" isn't a real term, but either was "citizen journalism" at some point, and with Wikipedia...anything can be fact, and anyone can author an encyclopedia entry. Sure the facts are sometimes...totally false, but c'mon, even the Encyclopedia Britannica got Stalin’s birth date and the birth name of Bill Clinton wrong. On Monday night's Colbert Report, the defender of truth himself praised Wikipedia for "wikiality", "the reality that exists if you make something......

Jewcy (a politics and culture webzine featuring "fierce and funny writing and artwork" with commentary in the Jewish world and beyond) will be relaunching this summer. Tonight, however, is the launch of their variety show-style reading series (you see, Jewcy produces offline too!) Hosted by comedian Chelsea Peretti and featuring author Hal Niedzviecki and his new book, Hello, I'm Special: How Individuality Became the New Conformity - the night will be filled with writers, divas,......

It's official: Jon Stewart will host this year's Oscars telecast. Which means the Academy of the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to go for crowd-pleasing ('specially in liberal Hollywood) political commentary, versus another year of cruel but insightful wisecracks from Chris Rock. Hmm, Gothamist likes Jon Stewart, though we downgraded him after the frat-party audience atmosphere of the Daily Show started to detract from the show, but he is better than Whoopi Goldberg again.......