Graphic explaining trend of train delays from the MTA's capital plan presentation The MTA unveiled its 2008-2013 Capital Plan, which explained almost $30 billion will be needed to improve mass transit and complete projects like the Second Avenue Subway, the East Side Access plan and more by 2030 (many of those projects will also be delayed). Though the current MTA capital plan doesn't expire until next year, the MTA presented this plan because the......

Bronx legend Clive Campbell, who as DJ Kool Herc is widely credited as one of hip-hop’s founding fathers, is not suing Jay-Z, developer Bruce Ratner and Barclays bank, as previously reported by the Observer online. The $5 billion lawsuit is being brought by a much less famous Brooklyn activist also named Clive Campbell, and the mix-up is probably a big publicity boon for his lawsuit, as it echoed far and wide across the internets before......

MUSIC: Come enjoy the Whitney after dark tonight as the museum's live showcase series invites Dan Deacon (pictured) to the stage. If you haven't seen Deacon before, get ready for some Casio keyboard electro-rock compositions and an art dance party. Friday // 7pm // Whitney Museum [945 Madison Ave] // Pay what you want EVENT: The Moth Story Shop presents “The One that Got Away: Stories from South Street Seaport” tonight. The following storytellers will......

Oh, MTA - you and your outlandish idea of putting a glorious glass dome at the renovated Fulton Street Transit Center! The proposed design, unveiled in 2004, seemed an inspiring idea for the agency. But, after years of attempts to start construction, costs have risen to $1.15 billion, from the initially estimated $750 million, causing MTA executive director Eliot Sander to say, "I am sad to say that we cannot build the transit center......

THEATER: We saw Fiona Shaw in Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days on Saturday and highly recommend it. Shaw is mesmerizing in her performance as Winnie, crystallizing in her 90-minute virtuoso performance all the desperation, self-delusion and absurdity of an entire lifetime. (Her little-seen costar Tim Potter is also a hoot as Willie.) The production is as bitterly funny as it is affecting, and, as a metaphor, the blasted landscape that devours Winnie is as potent as......

We don't know whether to laugh or cry. Last year, the MTA said that Fulton Street Transit Center would be completed by the end of 2008, leading Gothamist to write "that really means the end of 2009." Now the MTA goes beyond our forecasting and says that the project probably won't be done until 2010. Sucks to continue to be you, downtown commuters. The project, which caused a lot excitement for its linking of......

Success made Orlando Taylor greedy - and an jailed man for robbing two Brooklyn banks a total of four times in just three days. He was arrested when spotted outside one of the two banks, apparently casing it out for another robbery. The first robbery occurred on Friday morning at the HSBC bank at 342 Fulton Street, taking $450 dollars. Taylor then robbed a Bank of America branch at 350 Fulton Street on Saturday morning,......

Yesterday morning, two men riding bicycles were killed in separate accidents. Both occurred in Brooklyn. Around 4AM, the a 26-year-old at Union Avenue and Ten Eyck Street in East Williamsburg was hit by an oil truck. WABC reported that he was cycling in the wrong direction. The cyclist, identified as Craig Murphy [sic] who is a member of RightRides, died at the scene. The truck driver was not charged. Then, in Bedford Stuyvesant, around 6AM,......

Currently the top story on the front page of The Brooklyn Eagle's website contains a graphic photo of a murdered man hanging out of a car. The headline reads: "Grisly Murder on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn", and we were sort of shocked to find an actual photo of the "grisly murder" right there below those words. The story simply reads:The body of 22-year-old Jamal Oughterson (right) hangs out of the back seat a car on......

READING: Our interviewee from yesterday, Adrian Tomine, will be reading tonight at Book Court. The graphic novelist not only has his work in some of the more prestigious rags, he's also got a full length graphic novel, titled Shortcomings. 7pm // Book Court [163 Court St, Cobble Hill] // Free At a very different reading in Manhattan, Chris Matthews will be promoting his new political memoir Life's a Campaign: What Politics Has Taught Me About......

Five days before the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, developer Larry Silverstein released yet another round of renderings of the three Greenwich St. towers that will rise along the eastern edge of the 16-acre World Trade Center site. The final designs were unveiled yesterday at 7 World Trade Center. The buildings are scheduled to begin construction in January. The three towers’ new designs, described in a press release as “refined and more detailed......

Did you hear about the new arts and music venue opening in Fort Greene? Well, chances are that all of the blood, sweat, tears and money (over $1M) that went into it may have been for nothing. Amber Art and Music Space was being built out of an old liquor store at Fulton Street and Ashland Place by three friends who are now being told they can no longer develop the space. At the end......

As the MTA considers ways to save money as it faces billion-dollar deficits, the Daily News suggests the "Sick Customer Response Program" could be on the chopping block. Apparently the MTA would be able to save $250,000 if the program, which has EMTs stationed at seven busy stations, were eliminated in 2009, but we think it would be a mistake to end it. First of all, it would be a PR nightmare, what with passengers......

HEADS UP: Last year we had Daniel Kitson join our Laughable Hype comedy show, and we've been eagerly awaiting his return to the states since then. Good news...he's back! We strongly urge you to buy tickets right now so you can catch the special performance on Monday at Mo Pitkins. These will go fast Sold out! But this just in...Kitson will also be performing at Union Hall this Sunday at 9pm (first come first served).......

What does the future of the Fulton Street Mall look like? If the Bloomberg administration and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership have their way, it'll look less gritty and more like Herald Square and Bryant Park in Manhattan. The Post has details on the city's $18 million investment to re-make the Fulton Street and Albee Square mall areas nicer. The Fulton Street mall will get the new bus shelters and benches, with more "lighting and trees," while......

Bruni one-stars E.U., finds the restaurant with the tortured history "eclectic not only in terms of its national influences but also in the quality of different dishes." He loves some of the food, as well as the design and the wine list, but dislikes the desserts. Says "you're taking a chance every time you walk in." Also in the Times, in $25 and Under, Peter Meehan goes to Nomad for Algerian. He's crazy about the......

As Thor Equities gets closer to sinking its teeth into developing/redeveloping there, Astroland will open up again for its last season this weekend. Astroland owners sold the property to Thor last fall and Carol Hill Albert said back in November, "It's not something we're happy about; it's sad. It was the only logical alternative to going out of business altogether." Now, Albert tells the NY Sun, "I think [Thor Equities founder] Joe Sitt has......

Police approached 16 or 17 year old Trace Boyd near his school because he matched the description of a robbery suspect. Boyd happened to be sitting across the street from his school, Boys and Girls High on Fulton Street. But when the cops asked him what he was doing, it got crazy. Boyd ended up attacking a cop, throwing him to the ground, grabbing his gun, and firing. No one was hit during the incident,......

News flash: The way to get stuff done at the MTA is to play MTA types against each other. There NY Times summarizes the fate of the Fulton Street Transit Hub with the headline: Planners Clash Over Transit Hub, and Riders Win. Forgetting the construction delays, last November, the MTA said that the massive project that was supposed to be about connecting most of the downtown subways might not be able to connect the......

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, because it gets your body going, and the MTA definitely wants you to have your breakfast. Some interesting news just in time for New Year's resolutions. amNew York finds out that women fainting from their crash diets are a leading cause of subway delays. Really. While things like the flu and hangovers describe some sick passengers that the MTA's Sick Customer Response Team tends to,......

December 1 & 2: Warm Up with Mulled Wine Stop by The Greene Grape and learn how to make this toasty winter warmer from the authors of DRINKOLOGY EATS: A Guide to Bar Food and Cocktail Party Fare. Using a recipe from their new book, James Waller and Ramona Ponce will share their expertise in making this festive drink, and they will be happy to sign a copy of any of their DRINKOLOGY books as......

First rule of Fulton Street Transit Center: Nothing will go as planned. Back in 2004, the MTA unveiled designs for the new Fulton Street Transit Center, which would have included a towering steel-and-glass dome (the "oculus") AND connections between many different trains lines, providing easier transfers for subway riders. But in 2005, the MTA said the project would be delayed and scaled back (smaller dome, shorter hallways between lines) and then earlier this year,......

The ING New York City Marathon is just five days away, and many people are probably thinking about their viewing strategies. The marathon website has different suggestions for watching the professional marathoners and friends and family. If you're cheering someone on, the ING NYC marathon suggests:Mile 8 in Brooklyn , where the three starts converge, is a great place to catch runners looking fresh for photographs. A variety of subways can get you there:......

In New York, “fresh peas” means the green kind—English, sugar snap, or snow—for which the prime season is spring. But down South, summer brings a whole other crop of legumes that are also called fresh peas (or shell peas). There are whippoorwills, zippers, and crowders; cream peas, butter peas, and lady peas (also known as purple-hull peas). Unlike other Southern specialties like grits and okra, these delicacies have yet to be discovered by chefs in......

EVENT: Fat Baby is turning in to Craft Baby tonight, with a Make Workshop event that will teach you to reconstruct your boring 'ol clothes. You can als how to embroider, knit and crochet...your grams would be so proud of you. And don't forget to stop by the silk screen and iron-on station (byo-witticisms). Friday // 5 to 8pm // Fat Baby [122 Rivington St] // Free READING: Jennifer Egan, Curtis Sittenfeld, Elizabeth Merrick, and......

Everyone loves that old summer classic: corn on the cob. But too many years of the sub-par supermarket variety, simply boiled, can ruin your taste for it. Enter the new corn on the cob, in its gussied-up Mexican incarnation, elotes. Also called esquites, this is guaranteed to renew your passion. Most important, in this version, the corn is grilled, preferably over charcoal. Then it’s rolled in a good coating of crumbled cotija cheese (grated Parmesan......

Just weeks before the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the agency created to manage the rebuilding process, has announced it has ended its "mission" and will close soon. The NY Times' David Dunlap explains that the mission included "selecting a master plan and a memorial design for the trade center site; allocating more than $2.7 billion in federal grants, including support for downtown residents and businesses; financing park......

Thanks to everyone for coming out to our show last night. We had a great time and enjoyed bringing the focus back on New York bands, something we'll most likely continue to do in the future. We'll have some photos from the night posted by tomorrow, but for now we just wanted to say thank you to the bands! Project Jenny/Project Jan, Takka Takka, Goes Cube and Femme Generation were all amazing. And the latter......

Late last week, the body of a teenaged girl was found in a trash bag on a Brooklyn sidewalk. Her mother had reported Chanel Petro-Nixon missing on Monday June 19, after Chanel left her Bed-Stuy house on Sunday and never returned. The police said that the straight-A student at Boys and Girls High School was strangled, but not sexually assaulted. Her family and friends had differing ideas of where she might have gone - some......

Politics is definitely a weird thing when Peter Kalikow gets another term as MTA Chairman. Stupid State Senate, for reconfirming him! Kalikow wants to see some big projects finished (the 7 line extension, LIRR connection to Grand Central, South Ferry station's rebulid, the Fulton Street Transit Center, and the Second Avenue subway), and told the State Senate:I work for the people of the State of New York. That's who I believe are my bosses -......