The rumor mill's in motion and word is that The Knitting Factory will be moving out of its long time home on Leonard Street. The news doesn't come as a surprise as last April brought word that the building the venue is housed in would be sold. This will be the third location for the club, which started off at 48 East Houston Street some 20 years ago (it's been on Leonard Street for 14......

As the ones who first reported on the mysterious tall bench on the median of East Houston Street, we feel some responsibility in bringing closure to the story. (fYI amNY: Link.) Contrary to some of the comments in our original post claiming that the bench was just an amateurish photoshop gag, it turns out the surreal furniture was real, quite real. And now it is quite gone. We spoke to Ted Timbers at the DOT......

A Gothamist tipster emailed us this photo of a prohibitively tall bench on the median of East Houston Street near Suffolk. Is this guerrilla art or city-sanctioned furniture? The new cool “Bench Club” for East Village scenesters? A lawsuit in-waiting from the city’s more vertically challenged residents? A prototype anti-homeless bench? A photoshop hoax? Lots and lots of phone calls to the City Council representative, the Community Board, the Parks Department and D.O.T. have......

The holidays are upon us, which means that it's busy season, and you probably have little time to do the grocery shopping, let alone cook yourself a hot dinner. Gothamist opted for one solution at the Whole Foods Market on Bowery, the megalith of a grocery store that you either love for its fromagerie, Ciao Bella gelateria, and free wi-fi upstairs--or hate for being so enormous you find it impossible to find anything--which offers......

Next Tuesday night, Whole Foods Market Bowery and Gothamist will be holding a singles event, Check Out. Attendees will rock to the sounds of Terry Diabolik and DJ Never Forget of Finger on the Pulse while they taste hot, spicy, and sultry foods from Chocolove, Rick’s Picks, 5 Boroughs Ice Cream, Coffee Lab Roasters and many more. Plus there's a raffle, scavenger hunt and much mingling! Register here (if you've already signed up, no need......

Does your summer seem to be winding down without a fling? Stop by the Whole Foods Market Bowery for Whole Foods Market & Gothamist's Check Out, a singles event on August 28th. The event will offer plenty of mingling time, as well as activities, raffles, music and refreshments (we'll be updating with more details later). It's also free, and you can register here: (Your email address will only be used to confirm your attendance.)......

It seems every day we get an email from CMJ urging us to tell our musical readers that there is "only one day left to apply!" followed by an email two days later saying there's an extended deadline. Well, bands, apply here if you want to be a part of the festivities because apparently the clock is ticking. The countdown prompted us to start working on our own CMJ-week event a bit early this......

With brick and mortar sales declining, and the future of the music industry uncertain - at least live shows are always dependable. Sure, there are a lot of venues closing, but how about the ones thriving? The NY Times reports on some of the big players in the New York venue scene. In New York heated competition among concert promoters has driven a building spree of small and midsize spaces over the last two years.......

It seems a week doesn't go by without more news of venues closing. This week The Real Deal reports that the 27,000-square-foot building that houses the roughly 11,000 square foot Knitting Factory, is up for sale. The sale, which includes the venue and 18 decontrolled residential loft apartments, is expected to go for $15 million or more. With last years announcement of Knitting Factories opening up all over the country (maybe even Boise, Idaho!),......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: Bldg Collapse | Maulberry [sic] St & East Houston Street Manhattan, NY | 3/31/2007 4:37 p.m., Construction Accident | W 60th St & Amsterdam Ave Manhattan, NY | 3/31/2007 12:06 p.m., and Ballistics Search | 2750 W 33rd St Brooklyn, NY | 3/31/2007 10:58 a.m. (In other words, heads up.) Long live Photoshop: Did you see today's Nancy Pelosi cover? They'll leave the light on: hotel at 6 Columbus......

Tribesmen and women city-wide are frantically polishing off the last crumbs of their chametz and stockpiling matzo in preparation for Passover. April 2-10 is a torturous time for many and, though crispy potato kugels and nutty bowlfuls of charoset may soften the blow, there’s still a grim specter that hovers over Gothamist’s Passover table. We’re referring of course to gefilte fish, that jellied quenelle-like bitch of a dish whose nuances are often lost on the......

We here at Gothamist have been working long and hard to put together something very special this year for CMJ. The annual music marathon that takes over the hipper parts of our city every Autumn is right around the corner, and we've got some very exciting news to share. This year, from Thursday, November 2nd through Saturday the 4th, we will be hosting a series of unofficial day parties at The White Rabbit on......

May 13: Brooklyn Brewery's Pigfest Rain or shine, there will be cold beer, live music, and Niman Ranch pork and chicken slow-cooked by the Waterfront Alehouse's own Sam Barbieri, Steve Harkavy, Bon Soir Caterers' Jeff Reilly, and Rob Richter of Big Island Barbeque. Proceeds from this year's event go to the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy. Beer and Food are included with admission. Advance tickets $75. At the door $85. 1PM-6PM at the Tobacco Warehouse in......

When we go to museums we find it hard not to touch the textured paintings and the smooth sculptures. So when an interactive art opportunity shows up in our 'hood we can't pass it up. Starting tomorrow a system of crowd control barriers becomes a geometric maze in the Lower East Side. Viewers are invited to reconfigure the maze by interchanging the retractable belts as they please. Elaine Gan is the visual artist behind Crowd......

- The two teenage girls who died on East Houston Street a week and a half ago died of heroin-and-cocaine overdoses - Goldman Sachs may be leasing at Ground Zero, but they won't paying any rent until the NYPD agrees on security - The missing grandmother with Alzheimer's had actually been at a hospital for two days...but no one contacted her family even though she had a medical ID bracelet - The stealing-from-celebrities housekeeper claims......

The police have arrested Alfredo Morales, one of the men with the two 18 year-olds who died of a drug overdose on East Houston Street last week, was arrested for drug possession in the East Village yesterday. The other man, Roberto Martinez, had been arrested earlier parole violations. But the police may be using the arrests to get more information from him about the deaths of Mellie Carballo and Maria Pesantez. Their overdoses seem to......

The Department of Health (and Mental Hygiene) and NYPD are considering the possibility that the same heroin may have killed six New Yorkers over the past week and a half. The deaths have been concentrated in downtown Manhattan, with people discovering overdose victims since last week:Wednesday (8/10): 24 year-old man in his Avenue B apartment Friday: Two 18 year-old girls on East Houston Street (pictured) Friday: 25 year-old man on roof of East 7th Street......

Two 18 year-old women collapsed and later died while partying at an East Houston Street apartment. So far, it seems that Mellie Nicole Carballo and Maria Pesantez may have died of overdoses. The Daily News says the two men they were with were ex-cons (with drug offenses) who deny they had given the girls drugs. The NY Times says that the girls' families were "two immigrant families who had worked hard to give the girls......

As we mourn the passing of the Times Square Howard Johnson, at least we can gain some comfort knowing that it's spirit lives on at the LoSide Diner (pictured at left during construction), scheduled to open this weekend. Brian Crawford, former executive chef at Dean & DeLuca, calls the new Lower East Side comfort food joint "an ode to HoJo's," despite the fact that it's not painted orange and turquoise. 157 East Houston Street between......

Who knew that Whole Foods was a den of illegal alchoolic beverage sales? Well, NY State, for one. The wine store at the Whole Foods at Columbus Circle's Time Warner Center/Mall has shuttered because it did not have a separate entrance. Wine shops are supposed to have a separate entrance, and the Whole Foods management were probably saying, "Damnit! We should have known there was something wrong with this basement setup!" to themselves. The wine......

Gothamist loves movies (especially those by any "Anderson" director). That's why each Friday, we'll highlight the best and worst in both indie and blockbuster movies as well as the latest in trailers (because admit it, they're the best part of the movie-going experience). We will try our hardest to refrain from such overused phrases as "a non-stop laugh riot", "high octane fun" and "so funny I pished myself!" But no promises. Opening this weekend: •Romantic-comedy......

City Rag, lately reporting all sorts of downtown institution closings, has photographs of Meow Mix's now permanently closed doors. The Lower East Side lesbian bar shut down its East Houston Street venue due to too much tangling with the city (random fines and closing) and flooding, as well as the smoking ban, but its owners will announce their new space at the end of the month on their website. Look for Meow Mix to return......

Maggie Dubris, Writer/Hypnotist/Ex-paramedic...