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By Tom Acitelli 2:07pm

office space

Those were the days. And they still are!

Ctrl-C Everlasting: Tech Firms Keep Moving to Silicon Alley, We Keep Writing About It

God bless the Silicon Alley trend piece. We've done one (and then another about a colony of the alley); and, incidentally, we cover the industry regularly every day here. No matter how much ink is proverbially spilled in deference to the tech industry's growth, we as New York reporters can't seem to get enough of the nerds-are-among-us-and-they-need-space-to-work angle.

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By Dan Duray 1:43pm

Art

christian-marclay

MFA Boston Rolls Back Premiere Fees For The Clock

The Museum of Fine Arts Boston has abandoned its original plan to charge $200 for its debut viewing of Christian Marclay's The Clock, following outrage from Bostonians and a displeased statement from Mr. Marclay himself. Instead, the 24-hour video installation will now be shown a day earlier for free, with the $200 viewing party going ahead Read More

By Matt Chaban 1:29pm

The Coming Storm

Crap. I can see my house from here. (Gotham Gazette)

Come On, Irene, I Swear, Don’t Flood My Apartment: Are You Living in a Hurricane Danger Zone?

It's started raining, and it's not about to stop until Monday—Brooklyn is Portland!—thanks to the arrival of Hurricane Irene off the East Coast. Hopefully, like Tuesday's Earthquake, New York won't be getting it too bad, but just in case, the Bloomberg administration has been preparing the city for possible problems, the greatest of which would be flooding. The mayor's office just released a map of hurricane zones, to keep New Yorkers aware of where things could be bad.

Not surprisingly, Battery Park City, the Lower East Side, Redhook and Coney Island are all flashpoints, but so too are large swathes of Staten Island and the Upper East Side. The mayor took time out to put the city's mind at ease with a few jokes in today's announcement of the preparations: Read More

By Matt Chaban 12:49pm

Dizzying Designs

6 Photos

A new parking garage is being built at the New York Botanical Garden.

Another Pretty Parking Lot For New York, This Time in the Bronx

Back in June, The Observer marveled at a parking lot the city was rehabilitating on the Lower East Side. Yes, we marveled at a parking lot. That is because the city's Public Design Excellence program was hard at work showing utilitarian structures need not be unsightly ones. And, lo, the pretty parking lot has struck again, this time in the Bronx, at the New York Botanical Garden. Read More

By Thornton McEnery 12:33pm

House Porn Hamptons

18 Photos

The approach...

Are Your Design Skills Worthy of This East Hampton Classic?

According to the listing maintained (quite proprietorially, it seems) by Corcoran SVP Elaine Stimmel, this Georgica Road six-bedroom, 6.5-bath has been put on the market by "a successful duo in the world of interior design."

And while the photos clearly show a home that is a "feast for the eyes," indeed, The Observer has to wonder if this listing isn't also a bit of an HGTV-style decorating challenge for any potential buyer. A challenge which would cost that new owner $5 million for the privilege (we'll round up $5K on the asking price to make it a cool $5 million). Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 10:51am

The Third Degree

cole

Author of New 4Chan Book Talks About Moot, the Memesphere, and What Happens When They Find Your Apartment Number

When Betabeat first met Cole Stryker on the roof of the Barbarian Group this summer, the very tall, very blonde young man was recounting the story of how he and ex-Valleywager Nick Douglas used to try to out-gross each other with images from 4chan’s /b/ board. But it wasn't just for the lulz, Mr. Stryker's fixation with 4chan and Anonymous also carried into the workplace, where he amassed a collection of posts on the community's mayhem and malwebolence for Urlesque.

The publishing world took note and next week, the 27-year-old Mr. Stryker will release his first book: Epic Win for Anonymous: How 4chan’s Army Conquered the Web. Naturally Betabeat wanted to know more. But before we could ask him a question, Mr. Stryker had something to report ...

"They found out where I live. He tweeted me my apartment number!"

Are you serious?

I’m like freeeeeeeaking out. [laughs] Read More

By David Freedlander 10:49am

The AG

National Progressive Groups Urge Fed Gov’t, State AG’s to Follow Schneiderman’s Lead

A number of labor, social justice and good government groups have sent out a letter to attorneys general across the country and the federal government urging them not to settle with the big banks that contributed to the foreclosure crisis.

"As settlement discussions between the Attorneys General, the federal agencies, and the mortgage servicers continue, we want to reiterate our view that pressure for an immediate settlement must not outweigh the more important need for a settlement appropriate to the vast scale of the laws broken and the harm done," they write. "We understand that industry is pressing to limit relief and for overly broad releases; they must not be allowed to succeed. To the extent that institutions or individuals committed illegal acts, there have to be consequences for breaking the law that are in proportion to the seriousness of the violations." Read More