After his mother died from cancer, Dr. Robert Jackler of Stanford University worked through his grief by searching out print tobacco ads from the '20s through the '50s. Appearing in publications like Life and the Saturday Evening Post, the ads featured such cigarette-smoking luminaries as Rock Hudson, John Wayne, Joe DiMaggio, Ronald Reagan, and Santa Claus. And of course there were plenty of models hired to pose as doctors and dentists for ads with slogans......

A new photography exhibit examining the shifting views of public and private space, Eminent Domain, opens today at the New York Public Library. Five photographers' recent projects "deal with the life of the city in terms of passage (of seasons and time, people and place) and exchange (between individual and collective, interior and exterior)." Thomas Holton photographed one family in Chinatown for two years, (photographs taken by the children are also included). Bettina Johae......

This afternoon, not only can you take out a book on perfecting your tennis backhand, you can work on your Wii Tennis backhand at the New York Public Library's Humanities and Social Sciences Library (the big one on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street in Manhattan). The grand Astor Hall will be filled with Wii, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3 stations for its Game On @ The Library! program today at 4:00 p.m.--nothing like a......

Top photograph of the NYPL main branch's reading room by wallyg on Flickr; lower photograph of Schwarzman by Jori Klein In the late 1990s, a plan to name a Yale dining hall after Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman fell through. Oh well, now the Wall Street kingpin is getting a library named after him – and not just any library. Thanks to a $100 million donation, the main branch of the New York Public Library,......

Sure, you've seen TV shows or movies where someone receives caller from someone saying they have a bomb. But the nitty gritty of dealing with such a call can be boiled down to some handy forms. Reader animalvegetable took these photographs of forms (after the jump) from the New York Public Library that advise someone to (try to) classify the caller's voice, listen for background noises, and get the details.......

Slowpokes and procrastinators beware: Late fees from overdue library books in New York could be costing you points off your credit score. The New York Times has an article today that describes how the The New York Public Library and the Queens Public Library have been using a private company named Unique Management Services, which is a collections agency that library late fines are referred to when not paid by book borrowers. One rabbi in......

By 2011, our New York Public Library will have a new face. The building, which looms over Bryant Park and 5th Avenue, has been subject to urban pollution and a whole lot more in the past 96 years. From the press release:The Library announced that it is undertaking a three-year restoration of the facade of the historic building now formally known as the Humanities and Social Sciences Library. The project will include a complete......

We hope the human-scale snow globe in Bryant Park is well heated, because we'd hate to have to endure today's rain, snow, and ice, in a plastic bubble if it weren't. The installation in the park west of the New York Public Library's main branch in Manhattan is a promotion for tourism to Ontario, Canada. Above, one can see a Canadian practicing his hockey stick work to pass the time. Ice sculpting and Mounties......

An exhibit at the main branch of the New York Public Library is drawing outrage from Republicans because some of the work on display depicts former and current members of the Bush administration posing for fake mug shots. Each official in the visionary series, called “Line Up”, is seen holding a slate with a date of arrest corresponding to a date when the official said something about Iraq that was not “reality-based.” Matthew Walter,......

Recently we sent Katie Dickinson to an advanced screening of “The Kite Runner” hosted by the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Club. The screening was followed by a Q&A session featuring director Marc Forster, screenwriter David Benioff and author Khaled Hosseini. Here's what she reported back: Spanning two continents and three decades, the novel "The Kite Runner" tells the story of Amir, an immigrant from Afghanistan, and how a childhood friendship with his servant,......

Books, or at least book shelves, must be on this couple's wedding registry: The Post has a cute story about a couple whose engagement took place at the Strand Bookstore. Joshua Reich and Shianling King "always told friends they met at the Strand," but they actually met online - their first date was supposed to be at the Museum of Modern Art, but the lines were so long that they went to the Strand instead.......

Jack Kerouac. “Face of the Buddha.” Pencil on paper, 1956(?). NYPL, Berg Collection. Jack Kerouac. “Stella by Jack.” Pencil on paper, 1966(?). NYPL, Berg Collection. To help commemorate the 50th Anniversary of On the Road, the NYPL has put together a great exhibit titled Beatific Soul: Jack Kerouac on the Road. The exhibit explores the work and life of the Beat writer and showcases "the three extant typescript drafts of the novel, including the......

READING: We originally thought this was going down yesterday, but you still have a chance to see it! Not in a million years would we have thought we'd be listing a reading by former Guns n' Roses guitarist, Slash. But it turns out old rockers love to dish on their sordid lives, and this mysterious musician is no different. Tonight he'll read from his book, called Slash, which apparently "redefines sex, drugs, and rock 'n'......

MUSIC: It's CMJ, check out one of the zillions of bands playing. Since trying to pick just one show is tough, we'll suggest one for you. Head over to Brooklyn tonight for Dirty on Purpose, A Place to Bury Strangers, Sisters, Coin Under Tongue and Indian Scout. They'll be taking the stage at Death by Audio. Listen: Mind Blindness.mp3 - Dirty on Purpose 8pm // Death by Audio [49 South 2nd St, Williamsburg] And come......

Anthony Bourdain has repeatedly professed his undying affection for Fergus Henderson’s roasted marrow bones with parsley salad, and even considers the British chef to be his “favorite food person.” For eaters who willingly choose seared squab hearts over heart-healthy turkey burgers, Henderson’s offal-heavy cookbook The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating is considered a classic. It contains recipes such as Blood Cake with Fried Eggs, Tripe Gratin, and Crispy Pig’s Tail. Stuff like that. This......

A memorial to thousands of people buried in downtown Manhattan will open to the public Friday at 1 p.m., and there will be a candlelight procession at 8 p.m. from Battery Park to the monument at Duane and Elk Sts. The African Burial Ground National Monument is set to open 16 years after construction workers discovered human remains while doing foundation work on a downtown federal building. What they discovered were the remains of early......

While the literary set continues to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, the fashionistas are joining in on the fun. Neatly tucked in to every post-college kids backpacking across Europe adventure bag -- and most likely on your bookshelf -- the dharma bum bible just keeps on giving. Now it's giving the tres chic SoHo shop, Hogan, a new way to cash in on nostalgia. The store, an Italian leather company,......

The libraries of the borough of Queens were announced as being the most utilized in the entire country. The Public Library Statistical Report just announced that Queens public libraries loaned 20.2 million items to residents in 2006, and the borough's on track to retain the top spot after loaning 21 million items in 2007. According to the 2000 federal census, Queens had 2.2 million residents, so that means the average person in the borough is......

Brooke Astor's funeral was held yesterday afternoon in midtown Manhattan, at Saint Thomas Church on 5th Ave. and 53rd St. The lineage and personal generosity of Mrs. Astor and the array of famous attendees at her funeral made it a widely covered news event. The New York Times reported that officiants at the funeral requested that all cell phones be turned off at the beginning of the service, although a Gawker correspondent pointed out......

Brooke Astor's funeral service will be held tomorrow afternoon at Saint Thomas Church in Manhattan, but legal papers have already been filed contesting the doyenne of NYC philanthropy's will. Family and friends have been arguing about the legitimacy of Mrs. Astor's final will and testament for a while now, after major adjustments were made to the document in 2002 - a time when Astor was allegedly suffering from reduced competency - as well in the......

The city of New York is mourning the death of Brooke Astor. The philanthropist, who died yesterday at age 105, had channeled millions from her husband's fortune into a numbers of institutions and organizations - from Carnegie Hall to small community groups across all boroughs. The NY Times obituary makes a very good point about why the $195 million she donated through the Astor Foundation was so important: "Although the foundation was not large......

Brooke Astor passed away today. A gentleman should never ask a lady her age, but once Brooke Astor passed the century mark, she probably didn't care who knew how old she was. Brooke Astor was the wife of Vincent Astor, the only son of John Jacob Astor IV, who died in the sinking of the Titanic. The Astor family's roots stretch back almost as far as the history of New York City itself. The subway......

Though some people were running from the explosion, once things calmed down a little, it seems like many people were documenting what was happening. In turn, it gave those of us not on the scene a way to share the experience. Here are some striking photographs from readers: Photograph of people walking away, looking towards, the explosion by Horatio Baltz; see the full set Photograph the crowd on the steps of the New York Public......

The New York Public Library is closed today––it is a national holiday––but New Yorkers should be proud to hear that the main branch on 42nd St. and 5th Ave. has been entrusted with one of two surviving copies of the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson himself. The document is a handwritten duplicate of the document signed in Philadelphia 231 years ago, asserting the original thirteen colonies' indepedendence from England and starting the American......

In an interesting yet somewhat crass article, The New York Times jumps the gun on 105-year-old Brooke Astor's impending death and pores over her last will and testament, examining the document to see who is getting what. It is almost fortunate that Astor's sufferering from reduced mental competency at this point, because we imagine the doyenne of New York's philanthropic scene might be embarrassed at her final personal requests and bequests being publicized in the......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a possible grenade is noticed and reported on 33rd Ave. in Queens, an armed robbery on East 61st St. in Manhattan, and a carjacking on 133rd St. and Neptune Ave. in Brooklyn. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is employing the celebrity skills of Matt Dillon to help save St. Brigid's Church in the East Village. Eastbay is marketing Converse All-Star high tops that appear pre-worn and fairly dingy as......

The saga of the issuance of Official New York license plates to people, businesses, and groups that are not a part of the government continues. Yesterday, the Daily News followed up with a story about how the New York Public Library received several sets of the plates for its vehicles. In case you didn't know, the New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Borough Public Library are not a part of the city......

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's On the Road (you can see him reading from the novel on The Steve Allen Show, here). Of course, with the celebration comes some controversy. The NY Sun reports: The author of a noted Kerouac biography, Memory Babe, Gerald Nicosia, is holding a press conference in Manhattan today, where he will claim that Viking Penguin has been removing his name from books it publishes on......

SoHo, Lower East Side, Nolita, and other residents and workers, you'll want to make sure you have your library card, because today at 3PM, the New York Public Library opens its 87th branch in SoHo. The Mulberry Street library, located at Mulberry and Jersey Streets just south of Houston Street, is 12,000 square feet of books, DVDs, computers, WiFi access and more. We visited the branch last Friday when NYPL staffers were getting ready......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a slashing on East 156th St. and Union Ave. in the Bronx, a missing patient on East 135th St. and Lenox Ave. in Manhattan, and a person under a subway train at Lenox Ave. and Central Park North in Manhattan. Being a Jew-hating Nazi in Brooklyn must be neverending work. One miserable person in Park Slope keeps slogging away though. The New York Public Library is opening its first......