The Empire State Building and most of Manhattan around me joins Earth Hour. From EarthHour.org:

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

One more :  read more »

Things are really bad when you have the artist who painted the famous Veselka mural (actually, it's all canvas), selling it to the highest bidder.

Damn.

The lights will go out on Broadway at 8:00pm for one minute in memory of Natasha Richardson.

Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson were one of my all time favorite Hollywood couples. I briefly met Liam Neeson some eons ago and even though I never met Natasha I knew people who had worked for her and they said pretty much the same thing everybody is saying about her: that she was one of the most down to earth people you could ever meet. As a couple, they were not just nice, they really enjoyed being normal.

Yet what really impressed me of these two was that they really, truly seemed in love --even after all these years. I remember the "scandal" around them when they starred in Anna Christie. The photograph that was most circulated about these two was the one in which Liam is on his knees, holding on to a barely clothed Natasha as a drowning man would hold onto a rock in the middle of the ocean. It was touching, erotic and romantic all at the same time. A true Broadway love affair and romance.

Her death is such a tragedy. She died at 45 leaving behind two boys about the age of my kids. I can't imagine the pain and the anguish. What most breaks my heart is that she was known to be such a no nonsense person that her effort not to inconvenience others might had killed her.

It wasn't just that she had an accident skiing without a helmet. The worse thing is that she turned away an ambulance an EMT personnel because she insisted that she was fine.

Within the hour she was gone.

RIP Natasha Richardon.

My heart goes out to Liam and the family.  read more »

The power of the "little bits interaction aggregated" that is so representative of web 2.0 and put to good use in Flickr with its sea of professional and avocational photojournalists.

Enjoy!

From last week's batch of emails :

Hello Daily Gotham!

Hope you all had an amazing holiday!

Over the next month, Dunkin' Donuts is making the morning commute a little brighter for New Yorkers by providing free subway rides at four of Manhattan's busiest subway stations.

The giveaway is a component of Dunkin's newly launched "You Kin Do It!" campaign to encourage everyday workers to keep America running during these tough times.

Dunkin' Donuts representatives will hand out free Metrocards between 6:30 am- 9:30 am on the following dates, outside these stations:

· Monday, January 12th- Lexington Ave/ 53rd Street
· Tuesday, January 20th- 14th Street/ Union Square Station
· Monday, January 26th- Grand Central Station
· Monday, February 2nd- Times Square/42nd Street  read more »