The NY Times has an article this weekend that focuses on the overused and so over H word. Hipsters! They're still here, in all their b&w print glory. This time they're settling down in Staten Island to make babies. The new slow-growing hipster mecca has been a nearly silent Siren for a few years, drawing the hipster crowd over from Brooklyn -- the Times even tells us that at least one resident there wears "black......

The pseudonymous Lux Nightmare burst onto the alt porn scene as a college student at Columbia where she launched the naked-guy-and-girl site That Strange Girl, featuring stills and video of herself and numerous other models who looked like they could be her fellow classmates. At a time when Suicide Girls and Burning Angel were coming to prominence, That Strange Girl (who, full disclosure, this interviewer posed for) was a homegrown, indie entry in the genre.......

It was inevitable that indie rock and Playboy merge, we suppose. Next week at SXSW, the two will come together for one big party, and we want to get you in on the action. Playmates? Check: Jennifer Walcott (Miss August 2001) Pilar Lastra (Miss August 2004) Courtney Culkin (Miss April 2005) Qiana Chase (Miss July 2005) Bands? Check: Ghostland Observatory Monsters are Waiting Illinois Stars Align The party is next Thursday at 11pm. So if......

The NY Times has a good article about the second trial of Steven Johnson, who unleashed his anger by shooting people and taking others hostage in an East Village bar almost five years ago. Johnson, who has AIDS, was unemployed at the time and was allegedly looking for "happy people" to "avenge the oppression of black people like himself," according the Times. We remember the incident very clearly. It was a nice June night and......

The Observer has an article that, upon reading it, appears to have been written two years ago. "Blog Ghetto" scratches the surface of a scene that's been around for quite a while, and uncovers things such as: bloggers sometimes hang out with each other...and drink...at The Magician (and other "Hell Square" watering holes). The profile on the scene makes it seem very 90210-esque, even calling The Magician "Blogger High's Peach Pit" and picking out......

The Daily Reel introduces us to "Bodega". "The first video in a new series about life in the Bronx, “Bodega” is a humorous yet searing commentary about the choices confronting people who live in “the poorest urban county in the country.” Casimir Nozkowski and the creative team of Dallas Penn and Rafi Kam, who most recently collaborated on the video “Ghetto Big Mac”...created the video." Check it out. It's kind of like The Burg but......

What an embrace of Long Island City! The city announced that it will buy waterfront property in Long Island City to build up to 5,000 units of affordable housing for families. The city is paying the Port Authority a total of $146 million for the 24 acres - $100 million for the property and $46 million for "remaining obligations" to the site. From the press relase: Mayor Bloomberg: "Middle-income families are facing housing affordability......

Here we go: Rapper Fabolous now says that he had nothing to do with the unlicensed guns (or car, for that matter) in the car that took him to the hospital. Fabolous had been shot in the leg after an evening at Justin's, and three friends drove him to Bellevue, only to run a red light and have the police stop them, search the car, and find two unlicensed guns in a secret compartment. So......

Call it a ghetto latte, call it bootleg latte - the real question is whether or not ordering a cheaper Starbucks item and then jazzing it up at the condiment station is right. The topic has been debated on Starbucks Gossip, after a reader noted that a customer managed to turn her iced grande and venti Americanos with shots into an "Iced Quad Venti Breve Latte and an Iced Triple Grande Breve Latte," saving almost......

MUSIC: Tonight head down to the Pier 17 for another Seaport Music Festival show. Lineup: 7pm Mike Wexler, 7:45pm Juana Molina, 8:45pm White Magic Friday // 7pm // Pier 17 // Free COMEDY: We just happened to check out the UCB site and found out that God's Pottery is playing tonight! We saw these guys months ago and they made us laugh quite a bit. Go check them out! To give you an idea of......

Before the City Council approved a $52.9 billion budget yesterday, they got their desert, aka Schedule C. Also known as the Fiscal Year 2007 Adopted Expense Budget Adjustments Summary[PDF], Schedule C is the list of all the Council's pet items that successfully were restored or added to the budget. And what a crazy list of pet items got through! It's going to take a bit of time to find the goodies in the 70-odd......

Shelley Winters, the actress who typically played blowsy and loud women, died today in California. She suffered heart failure while at a nursing center. Her career started in New York theater, had a long run as the sexpot in film, then later drunken shrew, and the later part of her career, comedians would make fun of her weight. The NY Times obituary included this quote of hers that "[described her life as a] rocky road......

In our head, we can see a Venn diagram with two circles: subway nerds and sneaker nerds. In the center, there's a very small intersection of subway sneaker nerds. Finally, a pair of shoes has come along celebrating this rare species of hipster. These custom AirForceOnes are made by AirWearNYC, and come in half-sizes from 7 to 13. We know Tien is going to be ordering some! Bonus-- the AirWear guys also do custom......

The NY Times was able to interview Allan Cameron, the main suspect in the killing of police officer Dillon Stewart, with Cameron saying that the police actually fired the shot that killed Stewart. The NYPD immediately told the Times that the interview was "self-serving" and that police back-up only came after the shooting, which happened when officer Stewart and his partner stopped Cameron's car in Flatbush. Cameron, for his part, claimed many things:- That he......

Almost two years ago, Mark Fisher's body was found on Argyle Road, "wrapped in a blanket, shot five times in the torso and dumped near the curb," after an evening of partying. It was a mysterious incident, a white college student from the NJ suburbs and a Connecticut college found murdered in Brooklyn, but now a trial has begun and it seems that Fisher was killed for a number of reasons: Sitting on someone's table......

Lindsey Caldwell, Hustler/DJ...

It may have been John Edwards' night, but Gothamist was heartened by Al Sharpton's fabulous speech. Sharpton apparently departef from his prepared text, which had been "scrubbed by John Kerry," (Sharpton said Kerry's people knew he'd veer off speech, though not how much) and Gothamist thinks all the better - it was totally rousing and full of great imagery, like "As I ran for president, I hoped that one child would come out of the......

USA Today has a look at Meet the Fockers, the sequel to Meet the Parents, which feature not only Robert DeNiro, Ben Stiller, Teri Polo, and Blythe Danner returning, but Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand as the parents of the situation-challenged male nurse groom played by Stiller (honestly, he may get paid a lot, but Ben Stiller is caught in the ghetto of playing characters who horrible things happen to). It seems that Streisand's character......

Marci Hom, Lifelong Bay Ridger...

Wendy Mitchell, indieWIRE...

Candice Holmes, Recent Grad...

Gothamist was there for the Death of the Q Diamond Party, celebrating the elimination of the Q Diamond from the NYC subway map. As the last train pulled into the station, it was mayhem at the back of the Union Square platform. Positioning ourselves in back of an attractive photographer from the New York Times, we managed to squeeze into the last car of the train before the doors closed. For the next thirty......

Black clergy in Philadelphia, upset over a new board game called Ghettopoly, had threatened retailer Urban Outfitters with a boycott if it continued to carry the game. And as of Thursday evening, Urban Outfitter is no longer selling the game. According the AP, game creator, David Chang, says "It draws on stereotypes not as a means to degrade, but as a medium to bring together in laughter. If we can't laugh at ourselves .........

The evening is over, while Gothamist will be following up with extensive commentary about the actual Oscar telecast, here are the winners and some post-game analysis: Best Picture: Chicago - Marty Richards Not a huge surprise given the momentum Chicago's had since the Golden Globes, but there was an outside chance of a Pianist upset with The Pianist's acting, directing, and screenplay awards. But in the end, Harvey got his best picture. Best Actor in......

Not that it's new news, but I'm obviously crazy because I arranged to have my new wall unit delivered this weekend - the very weekend I'll be recovering from wisdom teeth extraction. Tonight, I decided I had to move my old Ikea wall unit out of the living room so I wouldn't have to worry about it. This involved disconnecting the various entertainment peripherals, moving the 27" TV out, moving the wall unit, and re-connecting......

The New York Times implies that Daniel Liebeskind's personality will need to drive the project to achieve the emotional connection initially proposed. This recognizes that there has not been a forceful personality in the city's ultimate plan since loved-and-hated but undeniably powerful Robert Moses, whose vision shaped the city for better and worse in the 5-s and 60s. Robert Caro's book about Moses, Power Broker. Among his infamous decisions, shepherding Lincoln Center, legacy of......