At a press conference today Mayor Bloomberg showed a surprising command of Jay-Z's music. The pair were on hand to discuss the start of the vehicle-free "Summer Streets" program, per the Observer's Azi Paybarah someone noted how one of the hip-hop mogul's song "describes how his mother taught him to ride a bike at a young age." Bloomberg cut in, "This is from, 'Mother I Made It?'" surprising even Jay-Z, who confirmed the Mayor was......

The Pool Parties have Begun! Last Sunday marked the first of many epic Sundays this summer at McCarren Pool. Despite some crazy weather all afternoon, with beautiful sunny stretches interrupted by apocalyptic monsoons, the skies stayed clear for the Hold Steady's headlining set. While there are persistent rumors about an eventual pool renovation, which would relocate these free parties, this summer will go off as planned. Upcoming shows include sets from The Breeders, MGMT, Liars,......

Jay-Z's Manhattan nightclub 40/40 is under scrutiny for screwing over the little guy. The NY Post reports that a Manhattan judge has ordered the club's management turn over records of all employees in the past three years, for a class-action lawsuit filed by former waitress Celeste Williams. She claims that workers never received overtime or minimum wage, and now could have hundreds of others joining in on the suit (which already has around 20 bartenders......

What happened to Panic(!) at the Disco? It wasn't very long ago...like last year? Panic! at the Disco was an over-stylized, super-popular circus/emo band who, believe it or not, had some pretty great songs under their young white belts. Not satisfied with their remarkable success, however, they decided to take things in a completely different direction in 2008. The exclamation point and the Moulin Rouge antics have been dropped, and their new record sounds more......

Fans of Phish, the Clinton-era jam band road hogs, had high hopes for a reunion last night when the band appeared at the Theater at Madison Square Garden to accept a Lifetime Achievement award at the 7th annual Jammy Awards. But instead the four members gave polite acceptance speeches and walked off without so much as an a cappella “Freebird.” The event was guitarist Trey Anastasio’s first public appearance in New York since entering a......

As David Letterman joked to Jay-Z about getting married on his show last night (previously recorded), in real-time the rapper was partying in Tribeca, possibly in celebration of his wedding. While there's no confirmation, all signs point to he and Beyoncé finally tying the knot -- something that has been speculated they would do all week. People points out that the alleged bride, Beyoncé Knowles, told Cosmo in 2006, "I never pictured myself as a......

Unless Ashton Kutcher is punking the media again, it appears Jay-Z and Beyoncé may be getting married after all. The Daily News is reporting a celebration is planned at the couple's NYC apartment tonight; either Jay-Z is celebrating his $150 million deal with Live Nation, or the two are finally tying the knot. While sources are mum, word is that Diddy was invited over to the apartment along with some other close friends tonight; Beyoncé's......

Is a big May wedding just around the corner? People is reporting that Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z have taken out a marriage license in Scarsdale, New York this morning. The happy couple hasn't commented on the incident, but since the document is only valid for 60 days, time will tell. According to the City Clerk's office, getting married in New York City requires requires the couple to apply "in person for a marriage license at......

This advertisement for an Urban Outfitters store opening tomorrow among the antique shops and Middle Eastern markets of Atlantic Avenue, in Brooklyn, is rather befuddling. The mystifying amalgam of images, placed in some sort of elementary collage layout is presumably a representation of the borough. Many of the images look like they were cut out of a TV Guide circa 1984, and others, like the shot of Jay-Z has us wondering about legal repercussions. Or......

Team Obama can breathe a sigh of relief, they officially got the Russell Simmons endorsement. From a letter sent out this weekend, Simmons declared:Today I am announcing my personal endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States. During the last nine months, I have closely observed the presidential campaigns, analyzed the issues and platforms of the major candidates, and have had substantive discussions with Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. From the sidelines......

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......

Be Your Own Pet Smacks Around Mercury Lounge There’s usually not much mystery to a Be Your Own Pet show. You get about a half-hour of nonstop, rapid-fire post-adolescent punk, with lots of shouting and shimmying from Jemina Pearl. There are far worse ways to spend an early evening in February. This Wednesday, however, things went down a bit different. About halfway through the set, some older creep started talking back to the charismatic young......

MUSIC: Merkin Concert Hall is reopening, and to help celebrate some of the piano greats will be on hand for a free, six hour concert. Philip Glass and John Medeski will be amongst those who will perform. Get more details here. 2 to 8pm // Merkin Concert Hall [129 W 67th St] // Free We had a chance to catch Marla Hansen (pictured) last year, and the Brooklynite silenced the room with her hushed compositions.......

Earlier this month, Sarah Lewitinn (Ultragrrrl) brought her label, Stolen Transmission, back to the bedroom after leaving Island/Def Jam. This was just one of many things that signaled more changes for the major, and now it turns out that the president of Def Jam, Jay-Z, is stepping down from his position. The NY Times reports:Jay-Z made the announcement with Def Jam’s parent, Universal Music Group, as his employment contract was expiring. Under a separate long-term......

In November, Charlie Rose sat down with rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z. The musician is originally from Brooklyn and late in the interview Rose queries about the expected success of the Nets once they move to Kings County. Jay-Z is very enthusiastic about the potential of the team and the virtues of the borough, as he prefaces every statement about Brooklyn with the words "we" and "ours." It is unintentionally comedic then when Rose immediately......

Jay-Z Around Town With a new, critically acclaimed album out and a refocused approach to his craft, Jay-Z took the stage twice this week in the Big Apple. For the relatively intimate events at Hammerstein and The Apollo, there was no shortage of friends and guests out to show support for Hov's return to form. Diddy, Nas, Lil Wayne and...Lebron James (?!?) all made appearances between the two shows. Lebron skipped a game to attend......

This weekend Kanye West's mother (and manager), Dr. Donda West, died after surgery - which the BBC is reporting was cosmetic (UPDATE: she was warned prior to getting the surgery). West was very close with his 58-year-old mother, often speaking publicly about their bond and even writing a song for her. Just this summer the two were at Borders to promote her new book, Raising Kanye. Kanye was in London when told of the death,......

Two movies set in New York are coming out today, and both are getting a lot of press, promo and opined upon. American Gangster is set in 1960-70s New York and stars Russell Crowe as a detective working to take down a real-life heroin kingpin, Frank Lucas (played by Denzel Washington). Lucas claimed to gross $1M a day on 116th Street dealing drugs, which he got to the States by smuggling in the coffins of......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a fall victim on Davoe Terrace in the Bronx, a bank robbery on 2nd Ave. in Manhattan between 62nd and 63rd Sts., and a missing person on 180th St. and Clinton Ave. in the Bronx. Jay-Z is a significant partner interested in moving the Nets to Brooklyn, but the rapper apparently is also interested in the naming rights to the team's current Meadowland arena. Insurance broker Noel Lauria pleaded......

High School Musical Takeover Despite the fact that the most common response we've been hearing is "What the hell is High School Musical?", it appears that Rolling Stone coverboy Zac Efron and his overly theatrical buddies are the toast of the town. Topping the Billboard chart, breaking cable TV records and zombifying tweens everywhere (you've probably bumped into a few already this week on the sidewalk with their faces buried in the lyric book). Even......

Like Jay-Z's 40/40 Club before them, the NY Post reports that two more Manhattan clubs are now being drawn into a lawsuit for playing music they didn’t have a license to play. With the music industry in an increasingly sad state, you would think getting the tunes out to the public (not for downloading or stealing but for the pure enjoyment of listening) would be a good thing. However bars are finding they have to......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a motorcycle jacking at 230th Place and 148th Ave. in Queens, shots fired at police at Gates and Nostrand Aves. in Brooklyn, and multiple pedestrians struck at Coney Island and Ditmas Aves. in Brooklyn. State and city politicians broke ground in the Bronx yesterday on a new Metro-North station stop at the under-construction Yankee Stadium. It's hoped that the transit option will cut down on auto traffic from upstate......

We're just going to get this out of the way: Justin Timberlake is bringing deep-fried pickle-sicles back. The modern day song and dance man has gone and opened his very own restaurant called Southern Hospitality (at 1460 2nd Ave and 76th St). It opened last night to a crowd of A-listers people you may have heard of, hankering for some barbecue. Amongst the items offered are deviled eggs, pulled pork, mac-n-cheese, fried catfish, and yes...the......

Distributer of royalties, BMI, filed a federal lawsuit against Jay-Z's 40/40 Club yesterday. The performing right organization holds the licensing rights to 6.5 million songs, and apparently plenty of them are being played at the club, the lawsuit cites "unauthorized public performance of musical compositions." In other words, Jay-Z has been holding out and skimping on royalties owed to fellow musicians! The Post reports that Michael Jackson, R. Kelly and over a dozen music publishers......

Forbes has put out their list of the Top 100 Most Powerful Celebrities, something to bicker about at the water cooler, no doubt. Here are some of the top-ranked New Yorker's and their earnings: Jay-Z at #9 with $83M David Letterman at #17 with $40M Donald Trump at #19 with $32M Sean Combs at #43 with $23M Derek Jeter at #50 with $28M Bill Clinton at #55 with $7M Regis Philbin at #64 with $21M......

Last year, rapper Jayceon Taylor, aka The Game, was arrested for impersonating a police officer while "in a hurry" to get to the Westin Hotel for a meeting with Jay-Z. Just yesterday he told his side of the story while appearing in Manhattan Supreme Court, where prosecutors offered him a plea deal with time served. But like Busta before him, The Game turned it down. A quick recap: The Game apparently told a cabbie he......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Lenox Ave. in Manhattan, a shooting on Farragut Rd. in Brooklyn, and a home invasion robbery on 84th St. in Queens. The City honored Jay-Z's mom, Gloria Carter, today for her work overseeing the Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund, a college-oriented educational charity that helps disadvantaged and non-traditional students. A Queens man, already under arrest for threatening a police officer with a gun in front of......

Last night at the Waldorf Astoria, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - the first hip-hop act to receive the honor! The South Bronx group pioneered the genre, being the first to incorporate deejaying and emceeing. Melle Mel told AllHipHop.com: “We are going in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to represent exactly who we are and what we did. Nas saying that......

Yesterday, officials welcomed Barclays as the winner in the $400 million naming rights derby for Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project. The NY Times reports that the Nets looked at various entities to pitch the idea of becoming lucky one to pay lots of money to have its name on the Frank Gehry-designed arena and decided Barclays Bank "needed a game changer, that they don’t have as big a presence or brand recognition here as......

Would-be Yankee pitcher Kei Igawa took a visit to Yankee Stadium last night as the Yankees and the 27 year-old lefty close in on contract negotiations. Reports say that the two parties have agreed in principle on a five-year, $20 million contract. The Yankees bid $26 million just for the right to negotiate with Igawa after failing to bid enough to negotiate with Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. While in town, Igawa was traipsing around......