By Kaili Boyd
Special to amNewYork

Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron Thal is serious about his music – and his hot sauces.

With the long-awaited release of “Chinese Democracy” days away, Thal – known professionally as Bumblefoot – talked about his love of all things spicy and his contribution to Guns N’ Roses’ first album in 17 years.

“I was looking to bring something new to the songs that may not have been there before,” said Thal, who joined the band in 2006, after most of the “Chinese Democracy” songs had been written.

The 39-year-old New Jersey native tried to resurrect what he calls the “sleazy guitar rhythms” behind the Axl Rose vocals that give the new songs the classic Guns N’ Roses feel. But Thal’s loyal fans will recognize his trademark fretless guitar shredding, which lends his Bumblefoot touch to the album.

He’s not worried about inevitable comparisons to former GNR guitarist Slash.

“People will always compare one thing to another…,” Thal said. “My only concern is being better than I was yesterday, being the best I can be for the fans. They deserve the best.”

Continue reading "Guns N' Roses' Bumblefoot on his love of hot sauces (and, of course, 'Chinese Democracy') " »

If it's Thanksgiving, then it's time for Snoopy, even in can-sculpture form. (Photos: Ivonne Snavely)

By Ivonne Snavely
Special to amNewYork

A giant rat on a hunger strike picketed next to a full-bellied Snoopy. Just around the corner, Michael Phelps came up for air as he swam some laps.

Oh, and one more thing: All of these sculptures are made of cans full of food – 161,000 of them to be exact, painstakingly designed and stacked by 40 teams of engineers and architects competing in the annual pre-Thanksgiving “canstruction” competition at the Winter Garden in lower Manhattan.

The teams began work at dinnertime Wednesday and finished around dawn Thursday. Or at least most of them did. At midmorning, at least one straggler was still there, repairing a portion of a baseball-stadium sculpture that had toppled.

Leah Kaplan, who took part in the competition for 14 years and now helps to run it, stood in front of a model of Giant Stadium taller than she is.

“It is a lot of work, but I luckily didn’t have to stay here until the bitter end,” she said, laughing as she described the previous night’s construction frenzy. “There were teams everywhere, cans here and there and the last team didn’t leave until 5 o’clock this morning.”

Continue reading "'Canstruction' site puts focus on hunger in city" »

By Marlene Naanes

As early as June, riders could see a subway fare hike to $2.50 and harsh service cuts that would cram already crowded trains.

The grim future facing subway riders was part of the 2009 budget the MTA presented at its board meeting on Thursday, provoking fevered opposition from some in the audience.

“We cannot simply announce proposals today that says to people barely making it we’re going to sink you,” Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said in the public comment period.

Continue reading "This is gonna hurt: MTA unveils the budget pain, and no punch is pulled" »

People en Espanol shared with Urbanite this interesting human interest story. Read on ...

When Eduardo Rodríguez won People en Espanol's "Sexiest Man" contest a few weeks ago, he thought a door had opened to make his dreams come true about becoming a model and finding his father Eduardo Chaidez, who he hasn't seen since he was a boy. In fact, one of the reasons why the 24-year-old Mexican and Long Island City resident joined the contest was so that his father might be able to recognize him if he saw him in the magazine.

"What I most want in the world is to find him, to hug him and tell him that I love him, and that I've missed him. I don't have any resentments, and I don't need any explanations about why he left," says Rodríguez.

Continue reading "Far from his native Mexico, Queens resident seeks fame -- and lost father" »

New York City is legally obligated to shelter the homeless and officials have pledged to meet demands even if the weakened economy means a diminished budget. (RJ Mickelson/amNY)

By Ryan Chatelain

As record numbers of newly homeless families check into city shelters, a likely symptom of a weakening economy, observers are asking how much worse the problem might get.

While New Yorkers could see an increase in the number of homeless people sleeping on sidewalks in the coming months, residents shouldn’t expect their quality of life to suffer, said Heather Mac Donald, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute who studies homelessness.

First of all, because the city has a legal obligation to shelter the homeless, the number of people sleeping in public should remain minimal – although thousands still spend the night outside.

Continue reading "amNY series, day three: City braces for rise in homeless" »

Barbara Corcoran opened her real estate business in New York in 1973 and is now an author and real estate expert who appears regularly on NBC's "Today" show.

How bad you do remember the 1970s being?

In a nutshell, no one wanted to live in Manhattan. And if I had to, in a nutshell, talk about Manhattan today, I would say everyone wants to live here.

I remember traveling as a young broker (in the ’70s) to different conventions, as brokers do. When people would hear that I was a real estate broker in Manhattan, they, honest to God, looked at me like they were shocked I was alive and standing there and telling them.

I remember when Trump Tower was built in ’80, ’81. That was the clear bellwether change because I distinctly remember going to those same conventions and having an opposite response. People were saying, “Oh, it must be some glamorous.”

Continue reading "amNY series, day three: Q&A with Barbara Corcoran: Buyers, these are the 'good old days'" »

Yankees and Mets coffins cost $5,995 — about $1,000 more than a comparable traditional casket. (Photo by Tiffany L. Clark)

By Ryan Chatelain

Steven Galante is a die-hard Mets fan, and he has the casket to prove it.

Galante, 42, of Smithtown, Long Island, is the first known area resident to purchase one of the new coffins emblazoned with baseball team logos and colors.

“You wear your favorite hat when your team plays,” Galante said. “I guess, when you’re dead, why not go out in the best way that you want to?”

The first batch of the caskets is being distributed to funeral homes nationwide and cost $5,995 each — about $1,000 more than a traditional coffin made of similar materials.

Continue reading "Take me out with my ball team" »

By Emily Ngo

Before you take your love of New York baseball to the grave, you may first want to flaunt it down the aisle.

Manhattan designer Linda Bekye created an elaborate Yankees-themed wedding dress in 2003 that sold for $1,800. Full-length, pinstriped and bedecked with sequins, the satin gown was meant to match Bekye’s $350 Yankees tuxedo.

Canada-based Magic Mud also offers wedding cake toppers for $185 featuring a bride and groom sporting miniature Yankees caps.

If you want to be more discreet, wedding garter sets emblazoned with Mets or Yankees logos are available on eBay for about $30.

The holiday window display at Barneys New York has a hippie vibe, hoping shoppers will show some love this season. (Getty)

By Danielle Sonnenberg
Special to amNewYork

Attention city shoppers: There are unheard of bargains to be found this holiday season, even at super-luxe Fifth Avenue retailers.

The sales came sooner this year, weeks before “Black Friday” — the day after Thanksgiving — which is the traditional start to the holiday shopping season. Retailers depend on the holidays for a large piece of their yearly earnings — up to 40 percent, according to the National Retail Federation. This year, however, customers are having a harder time parting with their money than they’ve had in decades.

“Retailers are going to do whatever they can to get customers to spend money in their store,” said Rebecca Flach, director of public affairs at the Retail Council of New York State.

Continue reading ""Black Friday" looks bleak for Fifth Avenue and beyond" »

By Lucy Cohen Blatter
lucy.blatter@am-ny.com

David Bouley has heads spinning – and some neighbors fuming -- with the musical-chair moves among his TriBeCa eateries.

Continue reading "Bouley shuffle causes cheers and jeers in TriBeCa" »

Twenty five years ago tonight, New Yorkers who turned on Channel 7 were treated to one of the most-hyped media events of the 1980s: "The Day After." The TV movie depicted what millions of Americans grew up fearing: The terrifying transformation of the Cold War into a very hot, nuclear war, with the inevitable destruction of civilization as we know it.

It's difficult to convey today just how much hysteria surrounded this movie in the fall of 1983. The buildup and fallout was tremendous: News stories, think pieces in magazines, and worried school principals dispatching letters to parents urging them to take care in how they handled the viewing of the film.

As part of our weekly Throwback Thursday feature, we figured we'd take you there. Fuzzymemories on YouTube has posted every commercial break (Commodore 64 was a big sponsor!) from the historic airing of "The Day After," along with news briefs that give you some insight into the heated discussion surrounding the film. What's more, he has included a complete episode of ABC News' "Viewpoint," a live telecast shown after the movie with notables such as celebrity astronomer Carl Sagan and Vietnam War-era Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara discussing the Cold War and the film's implications with a studio audience. Not to be missed.

Embedded above is the actual attack segment. Click HERE to see the commercials and the episode of "Viewpoint."

To get in the spirit of the anniversary, we offer some words of warning: Parental discretion advised.

-- Rolando Pujol

By Marlene Naanes

MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot Sander at a news conference Thursday responded to three angry riders who aired their despair about fare hikes and service cuts in an amNewYork cover story. (Read it after the jump.)

The riders Tom, Kevin and Alex told the MTA that service cuts would mean reverting to the 1970s, and a fare hike is inevitable because the agency never listens to riders.

“Let me say to Kevin and to Tom and to Alex…these cuts and the hike are anathema to us,” Sander said. “It is not what we want to do.”

Sander spoke to the riders after he proposed a 23 percent fare hike next spring and “very severe” cuts in subway and bus service at an MTA board meeting. He noted the hike and cuts would be necessary to close a $1.2 billion gap in the agency’s budget unless proposals from the Ravitch Commission, a governor appointed body charged with finding funding for the MTA, were approved by Albany.

“I would urge Kevin, Tom and Alex to urge their elected officials…to implement the recommendations of the Ravitch Commission…so we can prevent these cuts and service hikes,” Sander said.

Continue reading "MTA chief reacts to amNewYork cover story" »

This guy should have brought more quarters. Trying a “flying jump tackle” on a snack machine is never a good idea.

Radio host Curtis Sliwa founded what became The Guardian Angels in 1979.

Just how bad were the bad old days?

It was like dawn of the dead. It was like zombies roaming around, dope fiends, drug dealers…vulturizing the city. The Bronx was burning. People were fleeing. We are nowhere near that situation. Back then you felt, particularly if you worked the graveyard shift, when the sun went down the thugs ruled everything on the ground. You felt like you were wearing pork chop pants going into a cage of Doberman pitchers.

What do you miss about that era in New York?

Absolutely nothing. Some people say, “Oh I wish we had the old Times Square.” I say if you want that, go to Camden, go to Detroit. You want some of that old time crime, sleaze and slime?

In what way, if any, do you see the city's quality of life eroding?

There are more homeless people. You have some squeegee posses out there. The subways are just a moving caravan of people trying to shake you down for money.

When the Wall Street crisis is over, how different a place will New York be?

It all depends on who’s the shot caller, who’s the mayor. If it’s a weak mayor…we’d be back to the old days in no time. You need somebody who understands public safety is do or die for the city. If you haven’t guaranteed public safety, the tourists aren’t going to come. If you have crime, they [Wall Street] abandon ship, and now they don’t need to be in the city…because the whole world is virtual now.

1978, 2008: Which year would you rather live in and why?

2008 without question. You can actually in 2008 close your eyes sometimes and not worry that your neck will be slit ear to ear. Whereas in 1978…arson...gang violence…you couldn’t close your eyes. At anytime people could come out of the woodwork. You don’t have that feeling now. It’s more relaxed.

-- Marlene Naanes

By Marlene Naanes

The writing may be literally on the walls.

Graffiti arrests and incidents are rising and many are concerned that this, and other quality-of-life crimes, will increase next year with fewer police on the streets.

“The officers we have are focused on serious crime … and as a result quality-of-life crimes are up,” said City Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Queens), chair of the council’s public safety committee.

Continue reading "amNY series, day two: Little things mean a lot" »

With the economy in free fall, amNewYork examines how the budget crisis might impact the city's quality of life. This is day two of a three-day series. Read the first-day installments: Preventing a 70s decline, Breslin Q&A, and Henican column.

By Marlene Naanes

Murder, rape, and robbery citywide are up slightly this year, and while it’s impossible to say what’s driving the increases, residents in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn have a theory: It’s the economy, stupid.

“This neighborhood has really gentrified really