Courtney Love wished us all a belated Merry Christmas today via her MySpace blog (which we don't normally check in on, but thankfully Curbed was on the ball). What did Santa bring her? An apartment in the West Village! So really, it's like a present for us all. She stated, in perfectly readable English:i think/hope we foundteh PERFECT plaCE, its a w village 4 floor house 2 floors are being rented by the owners, itllcost......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an explosion at Linden Blvd. and 220th St. in Queens, a homicide on Sedgewick Ave. in the Bronx, and a water main break on Prospect Place in Brooklyn Santa may have to bypass coalition troops stationed around the world today, but holiday presents will be appreciated even if they do arrive a few weeks into 2008. Newsday has a nice piece on gift-giving to troops and how to do......

Hassan Askari, the Muslim college student who intervened in a violent subway attack against a group of Jewish riders, was honored at City Hall yesterday. The fight allegedly started when some thugs boarded a Q train yelling "Merry Christmas", prompting one of the Jewish riders to respond with a "Happy Hanukkah." Fisticuffs ensued, with one of the non-Jewish attackers shouting, "Happy Hanukkah, that's when the Jews killed Jesus!" One of the goons is also said......

Oops! WNBC's Mistake Causes Problems for St. Louis TV Station WNBC issued an apology for putting on their website a list of baseball players who were expected to be mentioned in the Mitchell Report. The apology was also given on air by Jonathan Dienst, who did mention they received the names from two sources. The Fox owned and operated television station in St. Louis, KTVI, picked up on the erroneous list and lead their 11.......

The story around the possible hate crime attack on a Q train the other night seems to be made for the season. Not only does it come while subway violence is a big topic, it also involves a group of Jewish subway riders being called "dirty Jews" and "Jew bitches" and attacked by people who cried, "Happy Hanukkah, that's when the Jews killed Jesus." And here's the kicker: The only person who stepped in......

It's hard to believe Run DMC's "Christmas in Hollis" came out almost 20 years ago. The song was included on the 1987 A Very Special Christmas album, the first in a series of compilations to benefit the Special Olympics. Also on that cd (which included cover art by Keith Haring): Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band singing "Merry Christmas Baby". Happy Holidays!......

It wasn't an anti-Muslim hate group that bombed a 24 hour deli owned by Pakistani immigrants in Staten Island after September 11 - it was the mob! The NYPD says that Edward "The Irishman" Fisher firebombed My deli & Grocery because it competed with a mob-protected bagel business nearby (it happens to be owned by a Pakistani immigrant as well). Fisher is supposedly a Gambino family associate, and other crime families were involved as well:......

Right about now, both Christians and Jews are each celebrating their respective holidays. Apparently, this is only the fourth time the two holiday have converged in 100 years. Gothamist's only question is what is this doing to the Chinese restaurant industry tonight? At any rate, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa Eve. Merry Mazeltov card from Chrismukkah.com......

- Pirro might not keep her Senate campaign money after all... - Say hello to the newest Jesus Christ. - Nice haircut. - Did the subway seem especially full on Friday? Because it didn't even come close to the record. - Businesses are beginning to tally the money they lost to the strike. - Did you know that NYU had a planning director? We didn't... - The over-saturation of the Baker's Dozen SNL skit......

It only seems right that when the NY Post puts your home's unusual Christmas display on the front cover that the nuts come out. On East 18th Street, the Krupnik-Castellanos family had created a "anti-commercialization of Christmas" display, involving a knife-wiedling Santa holding a bloodied severed doll head, plus many naked Barbies and other doll heads on entwined in Christmas lights on the trees, much to the disgust and delight of neighbors and people walking......

Gothamist wishes everyone a Merry Christmas as well as a Happy Last Saturday in December if you don't happen to celebrate Christmas. We loved this Reuters photo by Chip East which celebrates two of our favorite things: Gus the polar bear in Central Park and holiday gift giving. Here, he has just received "trout with peanut butter and chocolate sauce, topped with whipped cream in a large cardboard barrel decorated with drawings of a......

It's Gothamist's second favorite Times Arts & Leisure feature of the year (after the Fall Preview, which, even though "Fall" is less of an event in film and TV, just seems to be an exciting way to ring in the best season), when all the critics give their favorites and hateds of the year. The film critics list their best, with Elvis Mitchell calling Pirates of the Caribbean his top movie (Merry Christmas, Jerry......