Besides killing Mom ‘n’ Pop stores and displacing low-income residents, the rapid gentrification seen in some New York neighborhoods may be flushing the city’s famous working class dialect down the terlet. A group of linguists interviewed by amNY say while predicting the future is impossible, there has been a dilution of that classic working class accent familiar to the world through movies and TV shows (here’s a good example of Archie Bunker’s New York speech......

Members of the Writers Guild of America have been striking in Los Angeles and New York this past week over details of a basic contract between writers and producers - one of the biggest sticking points is the amount of residuals writers get from DVD and new media distribution. The NY Times op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd asked Seth Meyers (who we spoke to on Tuesday) to give her a weekend update about the strike:......

Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a new campaign, Just Ask The Locals, "the City's first-ever five-borough marketing and advertising campaign to make visitors feel more welcome, thank them for visiting, and help them navigate New York City." The Mayor made the announcement at the new American Airlines terminal at JFK and said, "New Yorkers have always been welcoming and friendly, but not enough people around the world know it. So now we're going the extra mile......

Coffee Shop was closed for a few days when the Department of Health tallied up 102 points of violations - 28 or more requires a closure - at the restaurant, finding "Cooked or prepared food is cross-contaminated" and issues with plumbing among the concerns. The Union Square eatery posted a snippy sign explaining the closing, and owner Charles Milite went to the NY Times and said Coffee Shop was "caught in the cross hairs of......

A memorial service for Robert Altman, who passed away in November will be held on Tuesday. The service is open to the public and will take place tomorrow at noon at the Majestic Theater (247 West 44th Street). The Times reports that Julianne Moore, Tim Robbins, Bob Balaban, Harry Belafonte, E. L. Doctorow, Kevin Kline, Alan Rudolph, Joan Tewkesbury, Lily Tomlin and Garry Trudeau are all expected to speak. Tomorrow there will also be a......

Only a few more days until the end of the year (and the cut off for the 2006 Oscar season), so of course the movie theaters are glutted with choice new releases. If you have your copy of Bridget Jones' Diary always near the DVD player for easy access, might we suggest checking out Renée Zellweger in Miss Potter. Sort of like a Sex in the City but set during the Victorian era, Zellwegs plays......

-- A Brooklyn marine - who was a NY State trooper - was killed in a Baghdad firefight last week; a Queens-born soldier was mortally wounded in the same fight -- Gawker hates itself and wants to die. And they hate fruit! Those bastards. -- Newark Mayor Cory Booker didn't waste any time: His spokesman says that debit and credit card records for former Mayor Sharpe James have been subpoenaed. -- According to Forgotten-NY,......

The Guardian is reporting that Cate Blanchett is one of the actors playing the role of Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes's biopic. This wouldn't, of course, be the first time that a woman has played a man, or vice versa. The Australian actress and the Duluth musician don't have that much physically in common, but that's no matter. There will also be a lot of other actors playing Dylan. The film, I'm Not There,......

Well, the big day has come and gone, but not without leaving us with some impressive stats (feel free to help us out in the comments with better stats and info!): Number of people who attended: Tens of thousands (our guess) Number of people who won a new Macbook: 15 out of a possible 24 Number of people who didn't: Tens of thousands minus 15 Number of Auctions on eBay selling commemorative t-shirt: Four......

Today is an exciting day for anybody under the age of five...well, and for some of us bigger people too. Today, Sesame Street launched its 35th season with the first of 26 brand new episodes! Gothamist is stoked. For more than three decades, Sesame Street has been teaching kids letters, numbers and important life lessons. Like just the other day, Sesame Street taught us that even someone as big as Snuffy can do ballet...a......

With the vice president shooting people in the face and everyone still getting over their chocolate hang over from Valentine's Day, this week it's hard not to feel a general malaise and slight discomfort about the new releases line up. However as always, New York's repertory film scene comes through in the clinch keeping Gothamist inspired when it comes to movie viewing. The bad news first, ie new wide releases out this week: Our former......

Buboo Kakati, Filmmaker...

The bright lights and craft services tables have worn out their welcome in DUMBO. The Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting have put a moratorium on production in the neighborhood. Current productions are allowed to finish. Driven by its "gritty urban realism, old factory buildings and sweeping views of Manhattan and the East River," DUMBO has been the go-to NY location for many production companies, but its popularity brings the conundrum of simultaneously wanting......

According to Michael Fleming in Variety, former Warner Bros. head Lorenzo DiBonaventura is going to be pitching a live-action movie based on G.I. Joe. Yes, the Real American Hero! Gothamist wonders who will play Cobra Commander, because based on some analysis maybe it'd be great to see Alan Cumming in the role. Other thoughts: Vin Diesel as Destro, Julianne Moore or Alicia Witt as Scarlett, maybe Paul Walker as Duke, Catherine Zeta-Jones as the Baroness.......

Oscar Commentary
Oscar is celebrating its 75th anniversary, I'm celebrating my 25th anniversary of watching Oscar....

If the Oscars do go on tonight, I'll be glad because then everyone can shut up about it. It may seem strange for me to say this, given my love for movies and the Oscars and how I generally live for movies and love the day the Oscar nominations come out...but there's no Best Picture film I'm really behind this year...the only category I'm interested in Original Screenplay, and it's highly doubtful Almodovar or......

As a hopeless cinephile, I feel that the year I spend watching movies is like having a crush on some unattainable person. It makes me feel alive, with all the planning and dreaming and effort I put into it, and somehow, even when I see a bad movie, it’s okay, because it’s one of the knocks I take in wishing that maybe this in time, after paying $10+ for a movie, it might reward my......

This is actor Dennis Haysbert, President Palmer on the Fox TV show 24 and in the upcoming "Far From Heaven" with Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid. He has some resemblance to Chief Moose. http://us.imdb.com/Name?Haysbert,+Dennis......