Last night (on what would have been his 68th birthday), the Openhouse Gallery in SoHo opened their exhibit "Imagine Peace," displaying over 100 of John Lennon's drawings. The installation will be around through the weekend, and it'll cost you $2 to get in, with the money going towards City Meals-on-Wheels. Featuring "Lennon’s characteristic drawings in hand-signed pieces and limited edition prints, as well as serigraphs, lithographs, copper etchings and aqua tints," some of the collection......

Following yesterday's news of Mark David Chapman's latest chance for parole coming up this week, The Daily News chimes in with some more from Yoko Ono. She has, naturally, long been against her husband's killer being released, for her family's safety, but has also stated that: "It's dangerous for him to come out. Not only for us, but for himself. There are so many people out there who dislike him. It's safer for him to......

The Daily News takes a look at Mark David Chapman's time behind bars at New York's Attica Correctional Facility; the man who killed John Lennon is up for parole for a fifth time this week. In 2000, Yoko Ono wrote a letter to the parole board, referring to Chapman only as "the subject" and asking that he not be released because "With his one act of violence in those few seconds, [he] managed to change......

Yoko Ono is not going to be too pleased with this: it turns out John Lennon was quite happy during his infamous "Lost Weekend" period. The "weekend," which lasted 18 months (during 1973-75), was a separation from Ono, where he spent nearly two years with the couple's one-time employee May Pang (in both LA and NYC). It has long been said that he was depressed during this time, but if Pang's new book of photographs,......

After news spread that Upper West Side institution Cafe La Fortuna would close today, many people came by to bid farewell. The restaurant was packed last night and this morning and afternoon, as people enjoyed the sandwiches, Italian coffee drinks and opera music one last time, lamenting the closing of another standby. One woman arrived with a bouquet of flowers and a card for the staff. Owner Vincent Urwand explained that the West 71st......

It would a bit too simplistic to blame the impending closure of La Fortuna, the Upper West Side café that first opened in 1976, entirely on the skyrocketing rents of a turbo-gentrifying neighborhood. While the ever rising rental tide was certainly a factor – the building was taken over by a real-estate group after the previous landlord died – three years still remained on the lease. According to amNY, the closure has more to do......

Yoko Ono isn't showing an ounce of compassion for heavy metal musician (and Suicide Girl) Lennon Murphy, who was named after the late Beatle by her mother. Ono is now suing the musician for "tarnishment" of John Lennon's name, "fraudulently" registering the name as a trademark and intentionally exploiting it. Lennon has been using her first name professionally since 1997, and in 2000 (when signed with Arista Records) she cleared the use of the name......

Last year two biopics about John Lennon's assassination made the festival rounds, and are now poised to hit theaters in 2008. One, titled Chapter 27, stars Jared Leto as Mark David Chapman and an actor named Mark Lindsay Chapman portraying John Lennon. While it may be an accurate casting to have Leto playing someone who kills music, his involvement in the film will likely have us choosing the second biopic, The Killing of John Lennon......

For the second year running, the Food Bank for New York City and the Lunchbox Fund of South Africa have enlisted over 100 celebrities in their holiday fundraiser. Boldface names like Kanye West, Elton John, Cameron Diaz, Mike Meyers, William Wegman and, um, Urban Outfitters, have created personalized, autographed lunchboxes that are now onsale via online auction. At Thursday night's kick-off event at Saatchi & Saatchi, a lunchbox by Michael Stipe was snatched up......

Sure, September 8th may seem like it's ages away as we slowly sweat our way through the summer, but the Deitch Art Parade is just around the corner. Even though it's taking place on the aforementioned date, the deadline for submissions is July 20th. If you'd like to adorn West Broadway as a part of the parade, the Deitch site explains that "following the success of the past two Art Parades, artists, performers and designers......

Recently Rolling Stone took a 60-second tour of The Beatles' New York, with a little help from Google’s Street Maps feature. First up on their tour: John and Yoko’s first NYC apartment at 105 Bank Street (where they lived during the release of this album). Here's a closer look at the property, which is also shown at right. In 1971, after a long stay at the St. Regis Hotel, John Lennon and Yoko Ono moved......

MOVIE: By now you've all seen, memorized and lived your own version of neurotic New York love story Annie Hall, the classic Woody Allen film that's stood the test of time. But have you seen it under the open night sky? Didn't think so. Get there early for a seat. Get there even earlier for knitting lessons! In an unrelated event earlier in the day, the folks from Knit New York will be teaching those......

TRIVIA: Think you know a lot about New York? Come "challenge your knowledge of New York places, faces, dates and facts at the New York Book Club’s first trivia night. Special guests Steve Zeitlin and Marci Reaven, authors of Hidden New York and directors of City Lore, will be on hand to explain and educate." They warn you to bone up on your trivia at www.citylore.org and www.placematters.net beforehand. Tonight's MC is none other than......

"Some Time in New York City" was released in 1972 as John Lennon's third post-Beatles album (and his fifth with Yoko Ono). Critically and commercially the album didn't do well, especially compared to Lennon's previous albums. "Imagine" had just come out in the 1971, and comparatively this one was brash, loud and more reflective of his political and new geographical surroundings at the time, in Greenwich Village. As documented in The US vs John......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Family Guy (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., WNYW 5) Peter helps Bill Clinton fix a flat tire and wackiness ensues. Live at Five/News 4 You (Monday, 4:57 p.m./5:30 p.m., WNBC 4) The post Sue Simmons era of Live at Five begins Monday when David Ushery and Lynda Baquero anchor the 5p.m. newscast and Perri Peltz anchors the new features and consumer news based News 4 You at 5:30 p.m.......

In the ongoing story of Yoko Ono and her driver, Koral Karsan has pleaded guilty to third-degree attempted grand larceny after originally claiming he did not try to blackmail Ono. More specifically, he admitted to the letter he wrote to her threatening to release embarrassing recordings and photos if she did not pay him "more than $3,000." The amount is the minimum he could confess to while pleading guilty to that charge. The original charge......

The Times reports that "Yoko Ono’s chauffeur was so stressed by his job that eight of his teeth fell out because he was grinding them at night." This is what Karsan told Ono's lawyer during a recorded conversation. Karsan’s lawyer said outside of the court yesterday, after another bail hearing, that he has seen the videotape in which his client says he will embarrass, humiliate and possibly have Ono killed unless she pays him $2......

The two page blackmail letter that Yoko Ono's driver, Koral Karsan, wrote in hopes of receiving $2M from her, was released yesterday. Karsan's lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, filed it with Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Daniel FitzGerald. In the letter, Karsan accused Ono of sexually harrassing him, and vowed to call Sean Lennon (along with his ex, Bijou Phillips), "Paul", and Rolling Stone's Jann Wenner to testify on his behalf. He also wrote down that Sean Lennon......

25-year-old Jennifer Shahade knows how to shake up the world of chess. Not content to simply play the game she's loved since she was a child, the writer, poker player, and 2004 U.S. Women's Chess Champion authored Chess Bitch: Women in the Ultimate Intellectual Sport (Siles Press), which scored a blurb from Yoko Ono and set off debate within the chess world about the need for gender segregation. In the book, which features Shahade clad......

The man accused of extorting his employer, Yoko Ono, for $2 million managed to raise money for his $250,000 bail, but is still in jail. Friends of Koral Karsan, who the Manhattan DA's office says threatened the lives of Ono and her son Sean Lennon as well as reveal Ono's personal details, put up the money, but the prosecutors are reviewing where the money comes from. While Karsan's lawyer says the money is from friends......

Yesterday news came out that Yoko Ono's driver, Koral Karsan (pictured), tried to extort $2M from her. Today the story unfolds, as he was brought in for questioning. Apparently Karsan (who has been her driver for six years) dropped off a letter and a photograph of Ono in nightclothes (Ono says "lingerie" and the Daily News says "pajamas") to her New York apartment. In the note he claimed to have secretly photographed her and made......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a professor at Brooklyn Law was killed by a garbage truck this morning in Brooklyn Heights and an "all hands" fire broke out on Ludlow and Delancey Street in Manhattan. A Westchester teen got busted by the SPCA after collecting more than 150 animals, and forcing them to live in squalid conditions. The animals included "bearded dragon lizards, rabbits, guinea pigs, turtles, ferrets, chameleons, South American squirrels, cats, hamsters,......

Today many will gather at Strawberry Fields in Central Park to hold vigil on the anniversary of the death of John Lennon, which took place 26 years ago today. The NYCLU has asked the city to lift the ban on music at Strawberry Fields for every day of the year, not just twice a year for Lennon vigils. Yoko Ono, who says she is still struggling to forgive the Mark Chapman, recently made a call......

With visions of sugar plum fairies dancing through their heads, the -Ists began to get into that holiday mood. Well, some did. Austinist wasn't as the NY Times dissed them and a local Tex-Mex institution sold out. Making them feel better was music, sweet music and the local theater getting name checked on "Heroes" Chicagoist tried to wrap their heads around a religious movie being banned from a Christmas themed park. To wash that......

Yoko Ono has taken out a full page ad that is running in today's New York Times, which you can find in the back of the Week in Review section. The ad (above) asks that December 8th, the day that John Lennon was killed, become a day of healing and helping others. She writes: "Every year, let's make December 8th the day to ask for forgiveness from those who suffered the insufferable. Let's wish......

The divergent fates of two historic stable buildings on the Upper West Side crystallized yesterday, following votes by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The former New York Cab Company Stable on Amsterdam and West 75th Street (pictured, right) will survive as a designated historic landmark, while the former Dakota Stable, just up the street at West 77th and Amsterdam (pictured left), will be demolished to make way for a new condominium building to be designed......

Since the new movie just came out, John Lennon is on the mind. We found this clip from August 30th, 1972. On that date John Lennon and Yoko Ono (backed by the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band) performed at Madison Square Garden for a benefit concert. This was their last performance together.......

The US vs John Lennon hits theaters tomorrow (click link to view trailer). This will be one of those films we see within a week of it opening - even though it's sure to deliver more of what we've already seen in random clips and documentaries over the years. Since John Lennon and Yoko Ono documented much of their daily life, there is plenty of footage - and Lennon becomes the narrator of his......

Julia Levy was on the scene for yesterday's Art Parade and filed this report: Even though it is September, it looked more like the Halloween Day Parade arrived early, but in Soho instead of the Village. The marchers down West Broadway from Houston to Grand Street were a part of the 2nd Annual Deitch Art Parade produced by Deitch Projects, Creative Time and PAPER magazine. Showcasing 75 "acts," the parade included artists, performers, designers,......

The great scourge of city trees, the Asian Longhorned Beetle, is making Congressman Anthony Weiner very angry. In fact, angry enough to say that President Bush has been "standing with the bugs"! The federal government gave $80 million to Chicago for their Asian longhorned beetle problem, but has ignored NYC's cries, which might mean a hefty bill for the eventual fighting and re-planting of trees. AM New York reports Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe as saying,......