Where, like last year, we recap the biggest stories from the New York music scene of the year. Album of the Year: The National - Boxer What this album did better than any other coming out of New York all year was create images. It tells stories worth listening to. The opener, "Fake Empire," sets the tone for the rest of the record...slow and moody, yet brash and almost apologetic. Every song sounds like it......

Another over-the-top Coney Island development proposal is in the works. Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a plan today to build the nation's biggest urban amusement park there, including 4,500 residential units (20 percent are set-asides for low- and middle-income housing) and some retail establishments. The proposal basically spells doom for Thor Equities' $1.5 million Vegas-style entertainment complex that can only get built if the city provides zoning for it. Don't worry, the Cyclone isn't going anywhere.......

Blue Jays 2, Yankees 1: Ian Kennedy would have signed up for one hit allowed in seven innings. The hit was a run-scoring double -- on a ball that Melky Cabrera should have caught.Too bad A.J. Burnett looked just as sharp while holding the Yankees to only a Johnny Damon solo homer. Then Chris Britton allowed a a run-scoring single in the ninth, and a seven-game winning streak went up in smoke. With Phil Hughes......

According to Carousel News, "The New York City Economic Development Corporation (“NYCEDC”) is seeking a consultant or consultant team for restoration and reconstruction of the historic B&B Carousell." Of the many wooden carousels that adorned Coney Island, this is the last remaining one -- and was purchased by the city for $1.8 million two years ago. When it was last operational, it stood near the old entrance to Luna Park, surrounded by furniture shops. To......

THEATER: With his zany imagination and distinctive bass-baritone voice, Joseph Keckler (myspace) has been generating buzz throughout the gooey honeycomb of the downtown performance art cabaret scene. Tonight he sprinkles his particular blend of whimsical catnip at Dixon Place with Cat Lady, in which a man re-enacts an ordinary day with his mother, who runs a community theater with cat actors out of her home. “Past lives are recalled, songs are sung, and finally a......

Did you excel at yo-yo and rock, scissor, paper as a kid? Well, this past weekend was the 1st ever New York State Yo-Yo Contest at the South Street Seaport. From what we hear, excelling in yo-yo is the way to get all the ladies (they dig the finger dexterity and creativity with the yo-yo). It's not just the kids that are throwing the yo-yo around either. Downtown Express tells us that Riad Nasr, the......

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READING: Check out today's interviewee, Peter Yarrow, tonight at Barnes and Noble where he'll be performing and signing the recently published Puff, the Magic Dragon book. C'mon, you know you've always wanted to hear that song live! 6pm // Barnes & Noble [Lincoln Center] // Free MUSIC: Daft Punk will be rocking Keyspan Park tonight, it's sold out but you can still get tickets on Craigslist. Elsewhere in Brooklyn The Hold Steady, The Big Sleep......

After the Daily News broke news that the city was unhappy with developer Thor Equities' $1.5 billion plan to revitalize Coney Island (an anonymous city official calling the plan "dead in the water"), the Post gets its own tidbit. Apparently Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff is offering to swap some land with Thor to keep Thor in the general Coney Island mix, but not right on Stillwell Avenue. Under Doctoroff's compromise, Sitt would give the city......

Mets 1, As 0: It may have taken three weeks, but the Mets have finally won a series in June. In dramatic fashion last night, the Mets defeated the A's on a 9th inning double by David Wright. It was also the first time the Mets have won back-to-back games in 22 games. Both starting pitchers pitched magnificently, with Joe Blanton pitching 8 innings of scoreless ball for the A's and Orlando Hernandez going 7......

White Stripes Shred Irving It seems that every time The White Stripes fade away for a year or two, people seem to forget exactly how amazing they can be live. Perhaps it takes a show like the one at Irving Plaza last Tuesday...filled with hardcore, line-waiting fans and eager and excited members of the media to really drive home just how good a show Jack White puts on, and exactly how impressive Meg is to......

Hold on, hold on. After yesterday's reports that City Councilman Domenic Recchia was working on a deal to keep Coney Island's Astroland amusement park in place for the 2008 season, it turns out that the negotiations may have hit a snag. AM New York reports that Astroland has not received a lease extension. Owner Carol Albert said, "Of course, if Thor Equities wishes to provide a lease, under reasonable terms, Astroland would be very......

If you like your Astroland, there's some good news. The Post is reporting that the Coney Island amusement park will be open for another summer. Apparently, Councilman Domenic Recchia Jr. is brokering a deal to keep the park open through the 2008 season. Astroland's operators are working out details of the deal, including compensation, with Thor Equities As you know, Thor has grand plans for the Astroland site. After purchasing it for $30 million......

The season series between the Mets and Yankees may be over, but the Brooklyn Cyclones and the Staten Island Yankees are just getting started. The two Class A Short-Season affiliates of the Mets and Yankees open their seasons today at Keyspan Park in Coney Island. While both teams were in the New York-Penn League playoffs last year, the Yankees had the best regular season record and they won the league championship last. The two......

Black Lips Trash Bowery One of the nice things about being a music fan in New York City is that you rarely have to wait very long to see a band you're recently missed. The Black Lips famously played about 6,000 shows at SXSW this year, yet despite our interest in checking them out, we managed to catch them exactly zero times (with our final chance being cut short by that whole collapsing balcony thing.)......

Bright Eyes Twangs Out Bowery Remember those tense hours a few months back when nobody could get Bright Eyes tickets? The chance to see the folk-emo megastar at an intimate club like the Bowery Ballroom was a dream come true for hardcore fans looking to get a first listen at material off the upcoming album. This last Friday and Saturday were the days these kids have been waiting for, and Conor and Friends did......

If you were a 17-year old looking to meet Mike Piazza, your childhood idol and favorite baseball player, what would you do? If you're Ryan Leli, you make some fake press credentials, sneak into Shea Stadium, participate in some Q&A with Piazza, and then pose for pictures. That's what Leli, from Head of the Harbor, did last August when Piazza was visiting with the San Diego Padres. Padres officials became suspicious of Leli when he......

The New York-Penn League season may be over, but there was a great baseball story in Coney Island on Sunday at Keyspan Park. Army major, and Bensonhurst native, Doug LeVien Jr. organized a baseball game between Xavier High School alumni against current players from Xavier's baseball team. The reason for the game? A celebration of LeVien's safe return from Iraq. LeVien retuned home from Iraq on September 11th and earned a Bronze Star for......

A couple of years ago Phish played one of their last shows, at Coney Island's Keyspan Park. Regretably we missed the shows. Thanks to YouTube we can now see a pretty good video of the band perform with Jay-Z. While Pitchfork only gave the performance 1.5 stars, we still think it's pretty amazing. If Phish were to come back they'd probably pair up with Gnarls Barkley and play "Crazy".......

- Sunday at Keyspan Park, baseball loving ladies can participate in the Ladies Clinic the Cyclones are holding from 9 a.m. - noon. The players themselves will be conducting personal and group instruction on baseball fundamentals like hitting, pitching, and fielding. For $35, participants will get a t-shirt, lunch, and two tickets to the game later that evening. While registration ended on 7/31, there are still spaces available. - Thrillist reminds us that FC......

- Yankees 5, Cyclones 2: The Staten Island Yankees beat the Cyclones for the 3rd game in a row to open the season. The game, played at Keyspan Park, was much closer than Tuesday's 18-0 shutout by the Yankees. On the plus side, the Cyclones did score their first runs at home all season. - Mets 6, Reds 2: Pedro Martinez pitched a 2-hitter but allowed 5 walks in his 7th win of the......

Holy home run. Or is that holy Star Jones-style chutzpah? A couple has managed to land about $80,000 worth of sponsorships for their wedding at a Brooklyn Cyclones home game. Flowers are covered by 1800Flowers, cake by Grandma's Secrets in Harlem, Diageo will create a special wedding drink, and more. Caroline Fisher, a radio station sales manager marrying marketing consultant Dave Kerpen, told Ad Age, "It was an idea that both met our needs......

Gothamist returned to Coney Island on Saturday for the second time in two weekends to take in a show at Keyspan Park. While both had stellar bands playing, the mood this week was far different from the energetic evening the White Stripes gave us . Seven acts were set to take the stage between 1:30 and 10:00 this weekend: Nine Black Alps, Mando Diao, Death From Above 1979, Rilo Kiley, Built to Spill, Gang of......

Yesterday, the city announced that the funding for the Coney Island Strategic Plan is now $83 million, in order to make America's Playground the glittering weekend destination is used to be. The city added $50 million to the funds, plus $7 million from Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and $3.2 million from Congressman Jerrold Nadler, in hopes of adding new attractions and improving the infrastructure; here are some of the major points:- The transformation......

A baseball All-Star game was played in Brooklyn Tuesday night for the first time since 1949 and while it wasn’t major leaguers playing; the Class A players of the Mets and Yankees did quite well on their own. Over 9,000 fans, the second most ever to attend a game at Keyspan Park, saw the National Legue defeat the American League 5-4. Local teams were well represented, sending seven players to the game and the manager......

Growing up in New York, Gothamist was limited to only two baseball options, the Yankees and the Mets, but in recent years, baseball has bloomed in the big city. Two more options are available for baseball fans in the single A affiliates of the Yankees and the Mets - the Staten Island Yankees and the Brooklyn Cyclones. The Cyclones returned baseball to Brooklyn in 2001 after a 44-year absence when the Dodgers moved to......

Yesterday afternoon, a sightseeing single-engine Cessna crashed onto the beach at Coney Island, killing the pilot and three passengers. The pilot, Endrew Allen of Jamaica, Queens, and the three tourists, Courtney Block, his daughter Danielle Block and the daughter's friend Jo-Beth Marie Gross, all of West Virginia, had started their trip from Linden, NJ. The NY Post reports that the three passengers were originally the daughter, her friend, and another friend, but the second friend......

In yet another story about how NYC is safer today than it was 10 years ago, the Post looked at how Coney Island has gotten safer. Crime has dropped significantly, thanks to the quality-of-life crackdown during the Giuliani administration, plus the new Stillwell Avenue subway station and Keyspan Park, where the Brooklyn Cyclones play, Coney Island have contributed to the rebirth. [Dick Zigun from the community group, Coney Island USA, told the Post, "It used......

Tonight, the Brooklyn Cyclones take the field at Keyspan Park for their home opener in the New York-Penn League. The Cyclones (2-2) started the season on Friday night, playing the Williamsport Crosscutters. Tonight, they play the Hudson Valley Renegades. Can you tell that Gothamist can't get enough of these minor league team names? This is the fourth season for the Cyclones, who are a Class A minor league affiliate of the Mets. Players on......

Friday was a big music night last week: Cult favorite Phish at Keyspan Park in Coney Island and indie scene darling Franz Ferdinand at Volume. We hear that hipsters were close to passing out at Volume, since it was so hot, humid, and crowded (stereogum has a comments thread to complain about concert - except the music), which makes Gothamist glad we are not so hip and just watched broad comedies in an air-conditioned......