Stephen Nessen

The double sided sheet of paper with lyrics to "A Day in the Life" (Photo by Emmanuel Dunard /AFP/Getty Images)

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The political pundit/contrarian/outspoken intellectual Christopher Hitchens appeared on the Leonard Lopate Show on Friday to talk about his new memoir, Hitch 22. During the interview, the conversation turned to Margaret Thatcher and Sarah Palin.

You may have noticed something different, a little nostalgic, on the streets recently. Since April 1, the Department of Motor Vehicles has begun issuing what they call 'Empire Gold' license plates.

The plates are a stripped down version of the current blue and ...

Today is the 127th anniversary of the opening of that iconic bridge that first connected Brooklyn to Manhattan.

President Barack Obama is coming to the city this evening for a closed fundraising event after his tour of small businesses in Buffalo this afternoon.

For city commuters that means major subway and bus delays. The MTA says to expect delays or detours between 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. ...

When the landlord won't turn on the heat or the bar downstairs won't turn down the bass, 311 is there. This weekend the city's information hotline took its 100 millionth call. Mayor Michael Bloomberg was at a call center Monday to honor the lucky ...

Kagan would the first person in decades to join the Court without first becoming a judge.

New York, NY —

President Barack Obama has nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Kagan, who was born and raised in New York, would replace the retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.

Kagan, 50, grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and graduated from Hunter ...

New York, NY —

President Barack Obama will nominate Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court on Monday, according to multiple reports. Kagan, who was born and raised in New York, would replace the retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.

Kagan, 50, grew up on the Upper West Side ...

Former New York State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno has been sentenced to two years in prison.

New York, NY —

Former New York State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno has been sentenced to two years in prison. Bruno was convicted on two counts of felony federal corruption charges last December. He has also agreed to pay $280,000 in restitution. Prosecutors had been seeking an eight-year ...

Captain Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger sits in the ...

As millions descend on Shanghai for the opening of the world's fair this weekend, we take a look back at New York's 1939 World's Fair, which opened on this date 71 years ago.

St. Patrick\'s Cathedral April 28, 2010 (Photo by Stephen Nessen)

Thousands of construction workers, union contractors and families filed into St. Patrick's Cathedral Wednesday in remembrance of the 11 construction workers who ...

On April 8, 1935, Congress approved President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration.

Tomorrow is the 75th anniversary of the passage of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Work Progress Administration. In addition to putting 8.5 million Americans to work, the WPA was instrumental in creating public art across the country. Much of it has ...

RFK tribute to MLK.

It was no April Fool's Day joke in 1970 when President Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act.

While the state has cut funding for public libraries around the city and many have been scaling back their hours and cutting services, it's not all grim news for the New York Public Library system. Today, a new branch is opening at Battery Park City.

Many critics say we are living in a soundbite culture, and they blame everything from the 24-hour news cycle to the cavalcade of emails we receive daily to Google. But any student of Marshall McLuhan knows that the medium has been shaping the message ...