The Downstairs Gays
Social media makes it easy to virtually tour our neighbors’ homes—and really, their entire lives. The hard part: finding the clear divide between entertainment and cyberstalking.
New York, New York
A collection of 135 issues
Cities Don’t ♥ Us
Our urban future is upon us, city planners tell us, but residents’ on-again, off-again relationship with their surroundings makes them want to say goodbye to all that.
New York Fashion Week at My House
A visit to the New York studio/living room of a family’s style director who has a week’s worth of laundry ahead of her.
Dharma Dog
A blind woman and her guide dog share a symbiosis that can become a spiritual bond for both.
Outside
Outsider artists draw outsider patrons, some who smell like horses. Not even the art gallery world’s aura of intimidation will keep them away.
Wrestling With Andy Kaufman
The hoax at the Andy Kaufman Award show led to speculation the notorious comic faked his death—a joke that wouldn’t have been out of character. When a fresh-faced Glamour editor mingled with him the year before he died, Andy talked about disappearing.
The Cyclist’s Dilemma
Afternoons in the big city are terrible. Sunsets are horrifying, nights are long and anxious. Other people have choices, but not you. Then suddenly, a bicycle.
Cool Colors
This summer in Manhattan, it was important to wait in line for an hour to see light designed by James Turrell. Many bought the hype. Many were angry afterward.
Token Anxiety
As New York City changes, so do its trains; our worries about life above and below ground move hand in hand. So which came first, the jitters or the subway?
Flood-Tide Below Me
Seeking respite from a life lived in war zones—too many rebel factions, too many gunshots, too many backfiring motorcycles that sounded like gunshots—a family discovers temporary shelter in the outer edges of New York City. And then, the deluge.
The Boulevard of Broken Bones
Even through the prism of life in the tumultuous Middle East, the U.S. in an election year looks divided, fractious, frustrating. But there’s still a ray of hope—in Queens.
The City of Right Angles
When your daily commute to the office means speeding on two wheels up busy avenues, a meeting with a crosstown taxi cab can change your life. But sometimes being a New Yorker requires taking the city head on.
Here Is Everything I Learned in New York City
Five years in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Several violent attacks—in other cities. A daily attempt to be the best, which is never a good idea. Nine lessons from a mini-lifetime in the Big Apple.
From the Mixed-Up Files of the New York Public Library
As some Christians prepared for the Apocalypse, 500 questers spent Friday night locked inside the New York Public Library with game designer Jane McGonigal.
Watching for the Buffleheads
New Yorkers may think they are surrounded by skyscrapers, but what’s really around is ducks. Identifying the waterbirds of Manhattan.
About Ready to Hang It Up
Three years into World War II, people thought they’d seen it all, including neighbors with concentration camp tattoos.
Still a Terrifically Bad Idea
A morning, a bicycle, a macchiato. Or five? This time, a sensible coffee shop tour. But in the end, it still may be described in only one way.
What Lies (Horribly) Beneath
It's no surprise people are afraid of the ocean. Some are scared their ships will wreck; others are terrified of the wreckage. To confront his phobia of shipwrecks, our correspondent borrows a rowboat to face New York's dreadnoughts.
Sunshine for a Brother
Musician Elliott Smith died seven years ago today in Los Angeles. Though he's remembered mythically in the East Village, it was in Brooklyn where Smith was happy.
And While It Lasted, It Was Wonderful
For nearly a century, a summer enclave on the edge of Staten Island offered restoration to a small group of city-weary New Yorkers. A look back after last summer’s close of Cedar Grove.
The Broccoli That Fell From the Sky
October’s bounty includes apples, blackberries, and something half brain, half vegetable. On a New York City sidewalk, discovering a fruit for a mastodon.
Going Postal
This summer, record highs turned the city into a pressure cooker—and its inhabitants didn’t suffer it mildly. Braving the brimstone to mail a package.
American Peril
An ode to drunk shopping in New York City, regretted investments, and the transformative powers of faux-snakeskin leggings.
Bus Bus Riddim
Bus lines across New York are being rerouted this summer, if not cancelled--and where buses go, so goes the city.
Remember the General Slocum
The morning of June 15, 1904, promised a day of fun for more than a thousand residents of the Lower East Side. In an instant, it turned deadly.
Losing Paradise
For centuries, New Yorkers have looked for relief to the trees of Governors Island--nearby, but a forbidden world away. A new plan to make it more accessible won't make them feel any better.
At the Night Market
On a moonlit street in Brooklyn, merchants open the doors of their trucks and welcome an audience armed with curiosity and cupcakes.
Meeting Joe Franklin
Joe Franklin is a New York institution, having interviewed untold celebrities and been (jokingly) accused of rape by Sarah Silverman.
Get Hyphenated
Branding a Brooklyn subway station is greater than a typographic concern. Weaving a brief history of the dash in America, the Czech Republic, and John Wayne's poetry.
Persephone in the Park
Spring is popping up all around New York City, but those crocuses have a dark history. Explaining the Pagan past of what's growing on 87th Street.
The Higher Line
When the new High Line Park opened last summer, New Yorkers lined up to be disappointed. A recent transplant finds it full of miracles.
Hello to All That
Joan Didion once called New York "a city only for the very young." Moving back to the city at age 33, our writer considers her complaints and comes up optimistic.
Field Notes From 89th Street
Native New Yorkers live a traditional village life: of multiple generations, friends from kindergarten, and ghosts. Taking a naturalist’s eye to a corner of the city.
Happy Challah-days
For its holiday promotion, a retailer enlisted hundreds of dancers to dress up like elves in Union Square. A break dancer and former Orthodox Jew was among their ranks.
Joan Didion Crosses the Street
For a generation of young writers, Joan Didion is more than an icon: She tells them how the world was when their parents were young.
Window Shopping
Never mind all that gloomy talk of falling real-estate prices. For many renters, even a heavily mortgaged apartment is the stuff of daydreams.
Goodbye to All Them
The life of a poet in New York means recognizing the important appellations and knowing when to take the (grant) money and run.
Still a Moron After All These Years
New York City schools operate in a ferocious caste system. What’s to be done when your school is viewed as subpar, and you along with it?
A Terrifically Bad Idea
The plan: 10 cafés, 10 macchiatos, one morning, by bike. Embarking on an adventure that can be described in only one way.
Out of the Old Hotel
As the New York Times kills its City section this month, New York loses a fine way of knowing itself. Paying tribute to all the Joseph Mitchells and Joe Goulds.
An Evening With the Twelve Colonies
On Tuesday, post-apocalyptic refugees from Battlestar Galactica--which airs its final episode tonight--spent an evening at the U.N. swapping war stories with rights activists. It was a convincing trailer, even for the uninitiated.
Gandhi’s Return
Last week at a Manhattan auction house, five of Mahatma Gandhi’s personal items were on the block when second thoughts crept in. From the back offices, observing an auction in suspense.
The Out-of-Towners
They arrive on airplanes, in cars with colorful license plates, bearing camera equipment and unseasonable clothing. Welcoming our friends beyond the Hudson.
The Night New York Avoided a Riot
In the days following Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, more than 100 cities experienced significant civil disturbance. In New York, everyone expected riots. What happened next.
My Killer Apartment
Stories of slammed doors and sad spirits aside, the man who committed suicide in your apartment probably isn’t there anymore. Probably.
The 11:11 to Penn Station, or Exodus
The Long Island Railroad is New York’s lifeline in the summer—a fleet of rescue vehicles destined for the beach. For some, though, it’s also a means to find freedom. Reporting from every station down the line.
My Man Mac
When the talking heads won't stop drubbing McCain for his supposed crimes against conservative principles, what's a supporter supposed to do?
Known for Her Crumb Cake
Staten Islanders are an insular crowd; but once the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge connected them to the rest of New York, everything changed. Well, maybe not everything.
Dog Crazy
Ogling New Yorkers cavorting with their dogs, a new resident longs for the creep-targeted, mother-terrifying, media-maligned best friend she left behind.
The Rules
The laws of the playground aren't just for children. New York City parents have to keep an eye out for garbage, syringes, and disturbed men bearing toys.
The Talented Dr. Rosnick
At the New York State Psychiatric Institute, a darkened room of psychologists gaze upon Matt Damon—trying to decide when a bust is really a penis. Watching the analysis unfold.
Walking Nicole Kidman
Meeting celebrities is easy—you just need a lure. An Upper East Sider and her retired racing greyhound pad around, spotting stars wherever they go.
My Apartment
Not enough square footage and too little privacy are the trademarks of New York dwelling. Learning new ways to be neighborly as the woman across the hall moans on her deathbed.
Canine to Five
Every dog has its day, but as the first to join New York’s elite National Arts Club, Tillie the artistic Jack Russell terrier seems to be having quite a few.
I'll Be Home for Christmas
The joy of having interns is dreaming up ludicrous projects for them to complete. We dispatched our own New-York newcomer to visit every possible holiday event he could find in the city and report back.
Metro Crisis
Mike Bloomberg has been kidnapped and the rest of the city is threatened--by the cutest gang of lovable forest-sprite fairy thugs to ever take New York hostage.
Elephant in the Room
Republicans are hard to come by in New York, so is it any shock the city’s voting machines prefer Democrats? A true tale of election-day partisan mechanics.
What We Said
Amid the chaos of Sept. 11, 2001, we sought human contact--to speak and to listen. Five years later, we remember what we said.
Kitchen Existential
What does your kitchen say about you? Worse, what does it say about your relationship? Our food writer opens his Manhattan galley to an expert on tiny kitchens--and the domestic squabbles that can explode inside them.
Here Is 47th Street
New York City’s diamond district is a zone of secret laws, hidden shops, and real-estate chicanery. Watching as one-block buff and guide Stephen Kilnisan pulls back the curtain.
One Day in New York City
June 1 dawned humid and hot. The forecast: a high of 84 degrees and possible late-day thunderstorms west of town. But forecasts--for the temperature or for a busy day of work and play--aren't all they're cracked up to be.
For Love of the Fame
Summer softball is every American’s right—unless you live in New York City where the fields are stocked with former pros. An insider’s story from the city’s elite leagues.
Match Day
Thousands of med students lose their lunch each year over whether they’ll be matched up with the residency of their dreams—or end up washing dishes for minimal wage. This year’s class at NYU was no different.
Raise the Woof
While Super Bowl XL was being beamed into taverns across Manhattan, bars showing Puppy Bowl II were a lot harder to come by.
The Big Apple's Nametag
Though it was dark for over 30 years, the neon sign above the New Yorker Hotel, for many of its former residents, never truly dimmed. Attending the hotel's anniversary celebration, the night the lights switched back on in Midtown.
The Hyperbole Towers
New York is constantly building chic apartments for its wealthiest citizens, and what luxury highrise is complete without a fatuous selling pamphlet?
If I Can Make It There
You've got clean streets, reasonable rent, and plenty of elbow room. So why, oh why, are you moving to New York? Eight million stories, plus one.
Trick or Truffles
In New York, Halloween often sees parents guiding their kids on ransacking missions through enormous co-ops. Our food writer decides it's time for childless adults to tip the tables and get their due.
Battle of the Giants
One has the world’s best culture; the other, perfect weather. Both are dirty, defined by expensive rents, and full of citizens who say their city’s the best. A fair and balanced guide to choosing between New York and San Francisco.
A Moving Story
Moving is backbreaking work that's best done by somebody else, by professionals--or at least by people you can trust. If all else fails, hire movers.
For the Music
For 30 years John Zorn has been influencing the downtown music culture, and with the opening of his new venue he's doing something few club owners would think--or want--to do: Making music to make music, not money.
No Yellow Jerseys Here
The thighs may be as thick, the spandex just as tight, the stench of grease and melting energy bars just as rank—but the 2005 Cycle Messenger World Championships is a far cry from the Tour de France. A story and photo gallery from the race.
The Barbers of New York
The Big Apple may have a million fancy restaurants and roped-off snobby clubs, but the barbershops are where the real schmoozing happens. A tour of New York’s salons.
Demonstrating Value
When you know your band is the greatest that’s ever rocked, how do you convince the rest of the world? Are nine songs enough to change nine billion minds?
Your Books and Neighbors
A used-book store stocks its customers' tastes and perversions, and then sells them to their neighbors. A Brooklyn shop find life after New York's Book Row heyday by providing a service computers can't beat.
Can You Believe It’s Christmas in Brooklyn?
Why do otherwise sane people spend thousands to turn their homes into electric Christmas acid tests? Writer Todd Levin and photographer Lisa Whiteman visit Brooklyn’s Dyker Heights, home to one of America’s greatest décor bonanzas.
Benchley Athletic
Ruts can happen to anyone, even 23-year-olds, and the best response is a brand-new gym membership—and a new girlfriend?
Grand Old Partying
Where’s the best party in town? Not here, apparently. After corralling an invitation to the Sunday night shindig thrown by the Bush twins, our good-intentioned correspondent learns how the other half lives and plays.
The Morning News Guide to the Republican National Convention
With New York overrun by delegates and helicopters, dragon-burning anarchists and the president's twin daughters, we present a mid-week survival guide for Republicans confused by the city that never sleeps or says thank you.
To Nap, Perchance to Rest
When 37 percent of adults say they're so tired it interferes with their work, shouldn't smart employers bring back rest time? Visiting a new professional napping center in the Empire State Building.
Withering Heights
Great buildings deserve strong guardians and even stronger PR, and so do bad buildings apparently, as shown in the case of 2 Columbus Circle.
Cloaks and Daggers
When half of the world's Hasidim live within a subway ride of each other, the disappearance of two teenage girls is big news, especially when they've run away to escape.
People in My Neighborhood
Live in a neighborhood long enough, you get to know everyone by face, if not by name. But who are these people, really, and what do they do? Rosecrans Baldwin describes a few local characters from Brooklyn, and Danny Gregory draws blind.
All the King's Men
The king of Albania always has a seat at Sam's Place on 39th Street, which is more than he can say for his home country.
Diamonds Aren't Forever
New York City's Q Diamond train was retired from service this weekend, and a merry group of mourners held a party for its last ride.
Motherless Stadium
There's a good chance the New Jersey Nets soon will be playing ball in Brooklyn. There's also a good chance a lot of local residents will lose their houses to make way for Frank Gehry's dome.
The Bohemian Index
How do you measure “bohemian-ness” in New York City? A method of calculation—with maps.
87 Votes and Counting
The Democrats have a tight grip on the nation's attention, especially when no Republican has a chance of beating George Bush for the party's nomination. But that doesn't mean some aren't trying.
Too Little, Too Soon
The plan for the Sept. 11 memorial at the World Trade Center site is nearly finished, but what good is a design competition when we're still trying to decipher the meaning of the event?
Talking Dirty With the Gray Lady
We all knew she was smart and provocative, but can she be sexy? Learning a thing or two about vernacular and innuendo on a steamy night out with the paper of record.
Big Districts, Small Blocks
Our lives can seem awfully small in the giant city, especially when they’re lived from one petty but direly significant moment to the next.
French Film, French Film
A New York filled with memories. A New York filled with Mallomars. Mallomars filled with, er, you get the picture.
The Great Pupkin
Pets can provide companionship, protection, and in some cases, an excuse to play dress-up. Writer Todd Levin and photographer Geoffrey Badner report on dogs in Brooklyn wearing clothes.
New York Do's and Don'ts
With budget crises, unemployment, and wild animals on the loose, New York can be a difficult place to navigate. Luckily, we have some tips on how to make contemporary Gotham life more bearable.
Ronald Reagan and Reading Proust
In a town of A-list-worship and ever younger, hotter scribblers, the New Yorker Festival is a two-day freak-out for all things scribed. Our reporter braved the lit-sters for every reading he could schmooze his way into, including the now-infamous Wolfowitz riots.
The Knickerbocker
Of all the classic New York hotels, one of its finest, the Knickerbocker, has fallen into almost-total obscurity.
Recipes for a Blackout
The Blackout of 2003 will certainly cost the country loads of money, but the condiment industry couldn't be happier. What to do with all those eggs when the lights go out.
Mus on the Loose
Man and mouse are old neighbors in New York City, though it’s rare that a relationship is forged between them.
It Must've Been Something I Hate
New Yorkers judge each other every day, but some days they get to do it in court! The dating pool of voir dire and the other joys of jury duty.
The Complicated Art of Chelsea
New York's art world is made of fanatics, freaks, and the ultra-rich. In a quest to convert a rich friend to patronage, we begin to doubt the faith.
New York Inventions
Life in Gotham becomes so insular occasionally, we wonder why scientists aren't working on special inventions to make our lives easier. Luckily, the TMN engineers are on the case.
An Extremely Incomplete Taxonomy of Cinematic New Yorks
New York has faced the apocalypse many times. Unfortunately, it's usually Bruce Willis who saves us. A report on the many versions of the five boroughs produced in film, and why Nora Ephron lives alone.
Designer Kidnappings
New York has a service for every customer, even those who want to be kidnapped.
Defending My Wall
In a world controlled by fear and terror, unemployment, and 24-hour news channels, it is not entirely unlikely that one Brooklyn resident could be attacked by al Qaeda.
Tunnel Visions
There may be a thousand art exhibits in the city at any time, but few are housed in an abandoned subway tunnel buried under Brooklyn.
The Pigeons Are Illuminated
No one in New York sleeps easily on Sunday night, so where better to share the collective isolation than at the top of the Empire State Building?
8 Million Stories in a New York Minute
New York has enough eccentrics to make the normals seem crazy. Excerpts from a pint-sized book.
The Opposite of Sex and the City
There is a city that belongs to Sarah Jessica Parker. Rather than let it slowly creep into your head, it's sometimes nicer to imagine HBO's hit series as a Beckett play.
Hart Island
New York City is a collection of islands, and one, Hart Island, is completely inaccessible, possibly because it's reserved for the dead. A report on the home of potter's field and an abandoned missile base.
The Church of the Open Mic
New York has Broadway, Off-Broadway, even Off-Off-Broadway. It also has Open Mic night, and the rules are a little different.
From Here to There
Stalking may not be in right now, but don't let that deter you. Spend a day following people around New York.
Running From High Blood Pressure
Death knocks. Your doctor tells you it’s time to start exercising or, well, it’s all over.
Crooks and Longarms
Barring Times Square, nighttime New York is awash in a warm glow. Who do we thank for this? Why, our streetlamps! Investigating the rich history of light in the city.
Little Indignities: A Beginner’s Guide to New York
The American calendar starts in September with back-to-school specials and football games. For everyone new to New York this fall, a big, hearty welcome and a few tips for survival.
My Move to Brooklyn
In case you haven’t heard, everyone is moving to Brooklyn. Not everyone, though, has an SUV. Departing the Lower East Side for quiet living, with the aid of Russian warlords.
New York's Real Skyscrapers
The proposed designs for downtown Manhattan are roundly disappointing, particularly for their lack of imagination. How about some tulip poplars?
A Wrench the Size of Delaware
Toleration is necessary for living in an apartment building, even if your neighbor isn't of sound mind and humor. How a neighbor's problems can swiftly become your own.
Prison on the Park
Central Park is a lot of things: the pastoral center of New York City, a relaxing stroll on a Saturday afternoon, a patch of grass lined with horse manure. It's also home to a minimum-security prison.
News of a Ratproofing
New Yorkers, like everyone else, are constantly under attack by illness, anxiety, bad air, and cell phones—but only one is haunted by a giant rat. Tales of transformation, staple gun included.
The Nights of Malta
It's an acquired taste. It's a strange delicacy. It's a "non-alcoholic cereal beverage."
Hotel Bars in the City
New Yorkers treat drinking like exercise: done frequently, in the company of friends, and one's life becomes better. But where to go when you're tired of the neighborhood dive? We seek out the best of the best: old hotels in Manhattan.
My Guys
Life in New York is easier with money: someone's ready to do your bidding, for the right price. But finding the right someone is difficult. The currency required in hiring a good mover, painter, or manicurist.
Looking for LeRoy
New York's fashionably-lit are always looking for the next hot thing in plastic glasses. With the days of Dave Eggers now frozen, and Franzen quickly fading, could writer J.T. LeRoy be it?
Heart of Greenness
New Yorkers, as a rule, fear rats. You see them in the rivers, in your bedroom, sometimes drinking coffee on the subway. A boat ride on the Gowanus.
Typography in the Sun
When people applaud or boo the newly risen New York Sun, it’s usually for political or editorial reasons. Rarely does anyone mention the paper’s design, a noteworthy if nostalgic broadsheet on the newsrack.
New York Stub Scene
If you happen to leave early from a show at the Philharmonic, be prepared to be asked for your ticket. No, not by an usher, but by a young would-be concert goer who'll either take your seat or talk trash behind your back.
Guide to New York Jargon
You're probably familiar with "Fugget about it," "Assa matta pa you," or the timeless "Fuck Off." But we felt it was time to update New York's jargon, and have compiled a list for the contemporary dweller.
The Cursed, the Blessed, and the Inept
There are a variety of reasons why our beloved New York/New Jersey sports teams lose: lack of ability, poor management, or long-standing hexes or curses. The lowdown on which teams are under the watchful gaze of a cloven-hooved beast.
Nothing Like the Sun
New York's new daily paper The New York Sun was launched two weeks ago with great expectations, brio, and fanfare. So far we've seen a lot of wire stories, copy errors, and sloppy writing.
New York Solitaire
New York is a filthy place, through and through. So how have we convinced ourselves that it’s such a beautiful city? A game to sort through the trash and find a better life.
Visitors in Brooklyn
Your apartment's never smaller than when guests arrive. New Yorkers find solutions (couches, floors, friendly neighbors) but until we all snag that classic six, our entertaining's best left to public spaces.
The Morning News Guide to Urban Etiquette: New York City
You'd be surprised at what you'll see people do in New York. Or maybe you wouldn't. But maybe you should. A guide to everyone who lives in New York, whether there for an hour or for a lifetime.
Oof
This past summer Oof visited New York City from Osaka. Having never been here before, she spent her days exploring, camera in hand, recording a personal log of New York City with an eye to the everyday (but hardly ordinary) people and things that surround us.
The Day After The World Trade Center Was Attacked
There is a palpable sadness in Brooklyn today, seen in how people walk, then stop, as if they've just forgotten something, how they gather on street corners to talk, in those who cry on the sidewalk and the faces of the old people in the neighborhood who look up when the roar of jet planes starts ag
The Morning News Guide to New York
Summer is tourist season in New York City and maybe you're one of them, on a visit to the city, unsure of where to go. Maybe you have recommendations from friends, maybe relatives have ideas for where to go; don't trust them. Trust us.