Upstate New York

State Settles With Five Illegal Payday Lenders for Less Than $310K Combined

Payday loans--short-term, high-interest cash advances that often target low-income communities--are illegal in New York state. A 1976 law made it a felony to charge borrowers an interest rate above 25 percent. Because payday loans operate on quick lending cycles--usually two weeks--the annual intere ... More >>

The Gorgeous Landscapes and Drab Narrative of Copperhead

Faux-Art House Horror Flick Kiss of the Damned At Least Has Hot Sex Scenes

The Vandal

The Ranging Gaze of Deborah Stratman's Experimental Films

First Cantaloupes in Farmers' Markets

The first and only melons so far to hit the farmers' markets this year are cantaloupes, very sweet, orange-fleshed, and dripping with juices. About a month earlier than expected, cantaloupes made an appearance in the farmers' markets this weekend in limited supply. These are very juicy and weigh a ... More >>

Junior's Black and White Cookie Turns Red and White for Valentine's Day

Behold, the Valentine's black-and-white. Long-running downtown Brooklyn deli Junior's has an always-active bakery carryout operation right inside the front door, where the most popular pastries are plain cheesecake, cheesecake with canned cherries, cheesecake with canned pineapple, cheesecake with ... More >>

"Mindful Eating" Is The Hot New Thing For Your Mouth

​ Today's New York Times has an interesting article about a trend called "mindful eating," which is based on Buddhist principles and which will teach your taste buds a thing or two while making you less of a slurping hog. It's about savoring your food, thinking about it, taking your time with ... More >>

What You Can Learn About Rick Perry From His Interview in Parade Magazine

​Rick Perry gave an interview to Parade Magazine (this week's issue was, yet again, almost completely devoid of any coverage on parades or the parade-attending lifestyle) and people are needling him for comments he made about Barack Obama's birth certificate. He told the interviewer that he ha ... More >>

Terroir Aims for Wine Bar Domination; A Look at Cider Week

​An upstate New York small business owner is trying to break into the breakfast market with his product, Muesli Fusion, now available in health-food stores in four states. [NPR] With its third location in Murray Hill, the Terroir wine bar mini-empire is announcing its plans for domination, wh ... More >>

Happy First Day of Fall Flood Watch!

​Today is the first day of fall, or "the autumnal equinox," if you're fancy. Maybe that means something to you, like cozy sweaters and football games in the out-of-doors and the rosy-cheeked drinking of apple cider among friends, or maybe it means that it's going to rain and be horribly sticky ... More >>

Do Mexicans Hate Puerto Ricans?

Fast-Food Chains Try to Get In on the Food Stamp Game; Marcus Samuelsson to Debut Pop-up

​Health advocates are worried about fast-food chains trying to get in on the food stamp program. Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut are all lobbying to get involved. [USA Today] More on the effects of Tropical Storm Irene on farms in upstate New York, New Jersey, and Vermont: Greenmarkets are abou ... More >>

The Vastly Transformed Sidewalk Café Will Re-Open This Month

High Steel Heels/FlickrThe Sidewalk Café, several years ago​ Things have been quiet at the Sidewalk Café since March, when it closed for renovations. Long a haven for anti-folkies and fans of alfresco boozing, it had been an Avenue A institution since opening in 1985. We now hear ... More >>

New York Stops Calling Lakes the N-Word

​Upstate New York is a wilderness we usually try to ignore. Apparently, it's not just us because no one noticed that environmental conservation laws refer to remote bodies of water up there by the n-word. "It was a shock to us. The term is very offensive," said a scientist from Department of E ... More >>

Pharrell Williams Peddles Qream Liqueur; Cupcake Vodka Wins Best in Show

​Aube, once an area that simply supplied grapes to the more important production regions in Champagne, is coming to be known for its own independent winemakers. [NY Times] Hip-hop artist Pharrell Williams is launching a new dessert liqueur with Diageo called Qream, which will target "women wh ... More >>

I've Been Declared A "Queen Bear"

​Or more specifically, "the grandmother of the Queen Bear movement". Here's an excerpt from a christwire article on twinks vs. bears, the two groups waging a bitter internal struggle to determine the future of the gay movement, especially with regard to hair design: "Bears tend to live in sm ... More >>

Planes Collide in Upstate New York, Killing Two

​According to reports from various news outlets, two small, single-engine planes collided this afternoon above a wooded area in upstate New York approximately 70 miles north of New York City. Two people were killed and one is critically injured -- identities of the three have not been confirme ... More >>

Beautiful Darling: A Too Shallow Look at the Far More Than Skin-Deep Warhol Superstar

JAM WITH THE BISCUITS

Philly eccentrics crash at Terminal 5

Prince William/Kate Middleton Nuptials May Be Broadcast in 3-D

​Chelsea Clinton, eat your heart out. For the Royal Wedding of the century -- the just plain wedding of the century -- the media won't be camping out in any upstate New York hamlet and bullying shopkeepers into answering questions. No, the wedding of the century will be in on the joke. Like, w ... More >>

A Profile of John DeLucie: Media Whore; Bad Food on Planes Now Blamed on White Noise

​John DeLucie is one of the hottest chefs of the moment in New York. But is he just a media whore? [NY Post] Cayuga Pure Organics in upstate New York grows all the trendiest exotic grains and legumes, like freekeh, polenta, and navy beans. [NY Times] A harsh look at the health department tri ... More >>

Law Student Pens Most Heartbreaking Letter Ever

​In a nation (city? office?) of the largely apathetic and weary, there are those who remind us, sometimes, what we are supposed to stand for, if only we could ever muster up the energy. Such is one of our dear readers, an eager voter-to-be and first-year law student who moved to New York City ... More >>

The Limits of Ripping Off Terrence Malick on Display in The Afterlight

Posts of the Week

As we launch into a blessedly long holiday weekend, here's a look back at some highlights from the week that was ... We ranked Our 10 Best Food-Centric Day Trips. Ssäm Bar and PDT's John deBary talked forthcoming fall menus, the Star Trek bartender, and dodging the law school bullet. Here ar ... More >>

What's Happening This Week: a Beer and Ice Cream Social, an Upstate Farm Tour

As you may know, our weekly dining and drinking newsletter features all the coolest epicurean events in the city. Sign up for it here! Bent Spoon and Beer Table Ice Cream Social Beer Table Monday, August 16 at 7 p.m. Beer and ice cream, together at last. Gabrielle Carbone from Bent Spoon ice cream ... More >>

Typhoid Outbreak Linked to Smoothies; More on Foraging Chefs

​A rare outbreak of typhoid fever has been linked to smoothies made with frozen mamey fruit pulp made by Goya. [AP] Molecular chefs in Scandinavia and elsewhere focus on terroir and local ingredients, often gathered by teams of foragers, rather than flavors made in a lab. [Wall Street Journal ... More >>

Hardcore Homemakers Make Locavorism a Feminist Cause

Femivorism: homemaking for the hardcore.​Has Michael Pollan given women a way to be feminists and stay-at-home moms at the same time? A movement described as "femivorism" involves women who stay at home -- not only to care for their families, but also to grow their own produce, can their prese ... More >>

This Week's Voice: Yeasayer, Gil Scott-Heron, Sade, Hot Chip, Speak Onion, and More

Yeasayer' Chris Keating, looking sharp. Photo by Santiago Felipe.​In this week's Village Voice, Rob Harvilla recounts the charms of Odd Blood, Yeasayer's latest fretless-bass campfire dance party, Stacey Anderson watches Obama's State of the Union with Gil Scott-Heron, Drew Hinshaw on the retu ... More >>

Phantogram

2009 Darwin Awards: Crime Down? Criminal Stupidity is Up.

Crime is reportedly down, so does that mean there are fewer criminals? Maybe criminals are just getting more stupid. Two co-winners of the just-announced 2009 Darwin Awards — "Honoring those who improve the species . . . by accidentally removing themselves from it!" — are evidence. U ... More >>

Cablevision Drops Food Network; Quarter Pounder Inventor Dies

​Celebrity chef Bobby Flay is up in arms about Cablevision dropping HGTV and Food Network. He recently twittered: "Bang away at Cablevision... can't believe there [sic] not showing Food Network," after the channels were dropped in a fee dispute with owner Scripps Network. [NY Post] An upstate ... More >>

SNOW DAY

Get psyched for winter

Tonight! The Jesus Lizard, Neko Case, And Kinky Friedman

Those of you not cool enough to attend the last upstate New York All Tomorrow's Parties jam or that Vice Halloween party clusterfuck have thus probably been denied the violent, visceral, vitriolic pleasures of the Jesus Lizard reunion, and this is no way to be, going through life without David Yow ... More >>

Forget Swine Flu: Horse Virus Kills Man Upstate

​As if swine flu weren't enough to worry about, a man in upstate New York has died of Eastern equine encephalitis. This brain virus is rare at present and spread by mosquitoes to horses, humans and other animals; no cure is known for the human cases. Officials in other states have had their ey ... More >>

Man Beaten in Village, Critically Injured (Updated)

Our intrepid legman and Voice food critic Robert Sietsema writes to tell us, "There's a smear of bright red blood on the pavement, a few blood-soaked rags, some police tape connected to trash cans, and a Channel 7 Eyewitness News truck at the corner of West 10th and 7th Avenue South." From this morn ... More >>

Naked Chef Coming to a Fat City Near You; Snake Head Found in TGI Friday's Meal

A diner at a T.G.I. Friday's in upstate New York found a severed snake head in his vegetables. The head was the size of a thumb, with part of the spine still attached. The restaurant comped him and his companion the meal. [AP via Google] With shoppers trading down from brand names to store brands, ... More >>

Upstate New York Wallaroo Video!

The escaped wallaroo that has been terrorizing upstate New York has been caught on video by Morriville State student Rebekah Janson. She saw the beast and told her friends about it; when they remained "skeptical," she hauled out her camera and shot this footage, The Syracuse Post-Standard posted t ... More >>

Cheek, in Review: 7 Days of Runnin' Scared

Well, some cowboy's Goin' Galt in Brooklyn Heights, anyway. Photo (c) Charles D Rightbloggers decided President Obama is a fascist. Despite this, and the aid and comfort he gives to pirates, the voters like him anyway -- which figures, since many of them are apparently socialists. Which may be wh ... More >>

Sonny Landreth

New York Schools Surprisingly Non-Polluted

More of The Most Overrated Destinations on the Planet!

Frozen River Lays It On Thick

Melissa Leo nails her role as a struggling mom.

BRIGHT IDEA

A new space for film and art comes to Brooklyn

The Frying Game

Extending the deep-fat frontiers on Carmine Street

Wham, Bam, Thank You Glam

Fancy-pants glitter bands from Detroit, Canada, and upstate remember their forefathers

Hotel Hard-On

Why sex in a paid-for room gives our intrepid reporter so much pleasure

Getting Hooked

A bistro lands in Brooklyn's most obscure neighborhood

A Smaller Stick

Terrorism Investigators Risk Scaring Off Their Best Helpers

Theater