Afternoon Wrap

Rising food prices are prompting some serious penny-pinching at restaurants across the country. Gramercy Tavern has replaced its caviar-topped hamachi appetizer with a beet-garnished tuna tartar, and Isabella's on the West Side has eradicated sirloin from pasta dishes. On the upside, maybe the culinary cutbacks will prompt New York's diet-conscious diners to do a little belt-tightening of their own.  read more »

Governor Spitzer makes plans to save Moynihan Station... and possibly his reputation. [City Room]

The Park Slope mommy brigade debates the neighborhood's equivalent in Baghdad. [Gowanus Lounge]

Brooklyn's own version of Restaurant Week, Brooklyn Eats, begins April 30. [Grub Street]  read more »

Will a personal nuclear reactor be the latest luxury home amenity?  read more »

Forbes includes Lombardi's, Zero Otto, and Naples 45 in its list of the best pizzerias in America. [Forbes]

A Brooklyn bike enthusiast tries to move all her possessions to her new apartment by bike. [Biking Toronto via City Room]  read more »

The bassist of indie rock band Team Robespierre gives a guided tour of his semi-legal, grungy East Village pad. [Village Voice]

First, the Upper West Side gets a Magnolia Bakery; now a Shake Shack. Danny Meyer will open an indoor branch of his much-loved burger joint on 77th and Columbus. [NY Post]  read more »

The proprietor of Manhattan's see-and-be-seen nightspot Beatrice Inn is tasked with transforming the home of a Howard Johnson's hotel and a Holiday Inn in Atlantic City into a boutique hotel. [NY Times]

J.C. Penny buys Manhattan's only bona-fide food court (also home to its only Arby's) in Herald Square.  read more »

Did you know that New York's Ginkgo biloba trees are very interesting? Also, the gender differentiation of Ginkgo biloba ("the females produce fruit with a foul smelling fleshy cover") provides an odd metaphor for gender relations in Manhattan. [NYT City Room]

Horrifyingly, Manhattan's eerie maple syrup smell is back and better than ever. [NY1]  read more »

Racked's new Like/Likely feature takes a look at all the mixed-use developments on the horizon in Williamsburg and weighs in on the future retail landscape. [Racked]

The School of Visual Arts is buying the Chelsea West Cinema building on West 23rd Street. [Media Bistro]  read more »

Now that Mercato 55 has piqued New Yorkers' taste for African cuisine, Time Out has some suggestions for some off-the-beaten track (and cheaper) spots. [Time Out New York]

Opponents of the Trump Soho hope advertisements boasting "owner's closets" might be the smoking gun that brings the hotel-condo tower down, literally and metaphorically. [Curbed]  read more »

The Plaza Hotel re-opens this Saturday, welcoming the first official guests since its renovation, and charging $715 a night. [NewYorkology]

The author of The Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City on the best outdoor excursions for all you nature-starved urbanites. [City Room]  read more »

The Daily News and the Post both ran profiles of a bitter, bigoted Bay Ridge super who likes to write his (predominately Arab) tenants abusive notes with racial slurs. Creepier still, he has a doggie named Pretty Girl. [Gawker]

Some photos of the future Gowanus Whole Foods. [Gowanus Lounge]  read more »

Even the shameless campaign to brand a neighborhood "So-Ya" is not going to make Yonkers cool. [Jeramiah's Vanishing New York]

Will a two-acre vineyard in Staten Island transform New York's most blue-collar borough? [NYDN]  read more »

A New York-based nonprofit created a video game called ICED to teach students about immigration laws.  read more »

A legendary Bronx subway graffiti artist (aka Jee 2) goes legit (sort of) with a train mural class beginning Friday. [Gothamist]

The best bike shops in New York. [Gridskipper]

The world's first self-proclaimed vegan stripclub opens in Portland. [Buzz Feed]  read more »

Since the penthouse of Julian Schnabel's Palazzo was not "Chupiriffic" enough for Bono, the artist has listed the $27 million penthouse in the New York Times. [Curbed]

Madonna justifies snubbing a Chupi condo in her old friend Julian's building. [Daily Intelligencer]  read more »

Here are renderings of another plan to expand the Brooklyn prison on Atlantic and Smith by turning it into a "Jail with Retail" and condos. This one was rejected by the Department of Corrections before investors even had time to scoff. [Curbed]

An aspiring writer managed to grab a piece of the city's meager subsidized housing stock, plunking down $14,000 for a Mitchell Lama co-op on the Upper East Side, just a stone's throw from Elaine's.  read more »

Even the progeny of the nation's largest homebuilder is reeling in the current housing market. The daughter of Toll Brothers' founder Bruce Toll skipped out on her contract to purchase a $2.47 million home. [Reuters]

Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights gets a makeover to become Brooklyn's newest restaurant row. [Time Out New York]  read more »

Say what? The New Yorker's architecture critic, Paul Goldberger, is "fascinated by the extent to which provincial places in the country are willing to take more risks than cities like New York and LA." [BusinessWeek]  read more »

Two famous blondes tussle over the same Chelsea pad. Cameron was there first though. [NY Post]

Mario Batali invites bloggers who don't like the beef-cheek ravioli served at Babbo to "suck his..." You get the picture. [Gawker]  read more »

What recession?  read more »

One of the finalists in the Disaster Design Competition, Cloud City, proposed adding a layer of (floating) provisional housing above disaster areas to allow residents to "remain an active part of the rebuilding of their community" and "foster a sense of security." Because nothing says security like being suspended in a bubble in midair above the rubble of your former home. [Curbed]

Blowback from the subprime mortgage crisis continues.  read more »

The New York City Condo blog published a list of the top 100 condos in the city based on location, layout, interior finish, amenities, and investment potential. Surprise, surprise: 15 Central Park West and the Plaza ranked first and second. [NY CondoBlog via Curbed]

A visiting video artist and teacher says she was harassed by a Forest City Ratner heavy while shooting "blurry, arty" footage of the Atlantic Yards site.  read more »

The city proved it still knows how to celebrate today at New York's 165th ticker-tape parade. [City Room]

The Best Cities for (unmarried) Couples: New York ranked 25 out of the 40 metropolitan areas surveyed by Forbes. It scored worst in the affordable housing category (36), but shockingly had the lowest divorce rate in the bunch. [Forbes]  read more »

Plans for the redesigned, iconic McCarren Pool in Williamsburg will be unveiled tonight. [Curbed]

The recession brings bargains to some New York City neighborhoods and relief to apartment hunters. [NY Magazine]  read more »

The first day of Fashion Week was blighted by bad weather and a gloomy economic forecast. In keeping with the overall theme, next fall's signature color will be grey. [Reuters]

"If you build it, they will toddle": The national fertility rate in 2006 rose to its highest level in 35 years--thanks to easy credit and the housing boom, claim some social scientists. [NY Times]  read more »

Noted debtor Harry Macklowe strikes a tentative deal with creditor Deutsche Bank over the seven Manhattan office buildings he bought last year. [WSJ]

There are few things more annoying to New Yorkers than fanny-pack-wielding tourists, but the recent request from Bleecker Street residents that Grey Line tour buses observe five minutes of silence while passing through the block might just be one of them.  read more »

To placate critics of its 6 million-square-foot expansion plan, NYU met with Greenwich Village community groups Wednesday and pledged (among other things) to "emphasize contextual development." Will Columbia follow suit? [Curbed]

And NYU wants to build a campus on Governors Island. [TRD]  read more »

Carroll Gardens residents held rally to "downzone" the neighborhood and stop it from "becoming the next Williamsburg." [Curbed]

Architects to compete in model-building duel in Williamsburg. [Gridskipper]

Le Cirque to offer Restaurant Week menu for another month. [Zagat]  read more »

Chinatown's "rougue taxidermist" unveils his masterwork, A.D.A.M. (A Dead Animal Man), a human figure constructed from restaurant refuse and animal parts... And, yes, it's for sale. [Grub Street]

Brokers worry that the international buyers credited with propping up New York's housing market last year may be starting to pull back. [NY Magazine]  read more »

New York restauranteur Morimoto, aka Iron Chef, shafted his business partner, the state supreme court ruled today. [Grub Street]

A property lawyer takes questions about tenant/landlord issues. [City Room]  read more »

A few wimps opted for Kobe beef, but New York's sushi restaurants remained packed yesterday despite warnings about high mercury levels. [NY Times]

New Williamsburg car service allows you to text in a cab request. [Grub Street]  read more »

A look into the 2008 presidential candidates' cribs... Not a man (nor woman) of the people in sight. [Political Nanny]

Etiquette on how to tip your super. [Curbed]  read more »

A City Councilman faulted the mass evacuation at 475 Kent Street, calling the "policy of making homeless citizens of loft residents" very dangerous. [Curbed]

Activists rant and rap against Washington Square Park's rehabilitation. [You Tube via Curbed]  read more »

Dispatches from the frigid, mass eviction this weekend at the Williamsburg building with illegal matzo factory. [Gowanus Lounge]

New Magnolia Bakery on Upper West Side ran out of some cupcake varieties during opening weekend. [Gothamist]

Back when dolls were really Bratz: In 1939, New York had a laundry specifically for dolls clothes. [Modern Mechanics via Jezebel]  read more »

A deli cashier wins $10,000 a week for life in the biggest lottery scratch win ever. [Gothamist]

The best perogies in the city. [Gridskipper]

For all those who've been dying to know exactly what has gone on in New York's first public pay toilet. [City Room]  read more »

Former New York City DEA agents sue NBC Universal over American Gangster's depiction of them as "villains." [Gothamist]

The Caledonia in Chelsea is now accepting applications from the "poor, huddled masses" for its 59 affordable housing units. [Curbed]  read more »

Even the companies bidding to manage Mayor Bloomberg's congestion-pricing scheme are skeptical about the proposal. [Village Voice]

Neo-gothic church struggles in the wake of the downtown Brooklyn construction boom. [Brooklyn Eagle]  read more »

The Gossip Girl's guide to New York. [Gridskipper]

Upstairs, Downstairs at 15 Central Park West: A peek into the $2.24 million servants' quarters at the star-studded condo. [Bloomberg]

Photos from Trump SoHo the day after the fatal construction accident. [Curbed]  read more »

Eyewitness photos of the accident at Trump SoHo today. [Curbed]

Volunteer at a local soup kitchen this weekend in the New York City Coalition Against Hunger’s MLK “Serve-A-Thon." [Gridskipper]

East Village wine bar accepts Euros. [The Villager]  read more »

The most disturbing price hike since Grey's Papaya hot dogs went to $1.25. [Grub Street]

"A selective and unscientific lexicon of memorable words, phrases, and quotes regarding (Atlantic Yards)." [The Atlantic Yards Report]  read more »

"Pimp my Moshiac Mobile": A caddy memorializing the Rebbe, known as Menachem Mendel Schneerson, does the rounds of Crown Heights. [Curbed]

Catch the "kitschy, interactive" burlesque show, C'est Duckie, running at PS 122 until Jan. 19. [Gridskipper]

Arelene's Grocery hosts an amateur female mudwrestling competion on Sunday... ick. [New York Going]  read more »

College grads priced so far out of Manhattan, they are forced to live on a houseboat. [NY Times]

Christmas ends late in Dyker Heights, land of the 20-foot snowman. [NY Times]

Before they were chains: the Lost City blog looks at some of the historic buildings that are now home to Starbucks. [Lost City]  read more »

Donuts join truffle infused mac 'n' cheese as the latest "working-class" food trend in New York haute cuisine. [Gridskipper]

Moscow circus troupe comes to city's biggest Russian enclave. [NYDN]  read more »

"The churches of the divine sneaker": A guide to the city's best sneaker shops. [NY Magazine]

Children of immigrants in New York City are five times as likely as other children to suffer from lead poisoning, report says. [NYC Deptartment of Health via Gotham Gazette]  read more »

DUMBO historic disctrict designation report. [Dumbonyc.com]

"Got tree, make mulch." [City Room]

Mooning bikers on the Brooklyn Bridge. [Streets Blog]

Tom Ford's Madison Avenue store voted best-looking in the world. [Fashion Week Daily]  read more »

Netflix publishes a list of most popular rentals in Brooklyn. [Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn]

Moby puts "mobylicious" $7.5 million El Dorado apartment back on the market. [Curbed]  read more »

Flower taxi art project ends this week, but organizers are having trouble unloading the 13,000 decals that never made it on to taxis. [City Room]

Construction crew building the midair park in the meatpacking district brave freezing weather and falling debris from nearby developments in this footage from the Times. [NY Times]  read more »

Wierdest Houses of 2007. [BuzzFeed]

Report criticizes low levels of state funding in 2007 for youth smoking prevention programs in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. [NY Times]

The Republican mayor of Brookyn (Iowa that is), plans to vote for Obama at Thursday's caucuses. [The Brooklyn Paper]  read more »

Barnes and Noble at Astor Place closes today to make way for David Barton Gym. [Jeramiah's Vanishing New York]

Rats take refuge under the hoods of cars at New York garages. [NY Times]  read more »

Coney Island Polar Bears (the human kind who jump in ice-cold water in the dead of winter) sell their souls to a developer. [The Brooklyn Paper]

How many Italian-Americans does it take to screw in a lightbulb ... on the Brooklyn Bridge? [NY Times]  read more »