Ryan Frankel, 29, is the founder of VerbalizeIt, a phone application that provides a human language translator. Originally from Baltimore, Frankel now lives in the Union Square area. He was formerly an investor at Goldman Sachs.

Why the career switch? I spent the first four years of my post-college career investing in small and medium-sized businesses. I was really fortunate to learn from... » more

Motown: The Musical 2 stars

Instead of having to endure perhaps a dozen different jukebox musicals based on various Motown icons in future years, “Motown: The Musical” allows us to get it all over with in one shot.

It’s an unwieldy and unfocused attempt to package dozens of hit songs from all the trailblazing Motown performers of the 1960s and 1970s into a single sugarcoated, sanitized... » more

Get your taste buds ready — the inaugural New York City Hot Sauce Expo is almost here! On April 20 and 21, head to East River State Park for more than 50 vendors, the First Annual Screaming Mi Mi Awards, food and drink contests and live music.

The awards will be dolled out to the winners of the recent hot sauce tasting competition, which amNewYork was lucky enough to attend. Celebrity judges... » more

The city will put Bronx hotspots in the spotlight as part of a plan to get tourists to the outer boroughs.

Starting Wednesday, NYC & Company, the city's tourism wing, will promote the Grand Concourse, Melrose and Mott Haven communities as part of its Neighborhood x Neighborhood campaign.

George Fertitta, the CEO of NYC & Co, said that save for Yankee Stadium, tourists rarely... » more

David Arnold turns the spigot on the enormous tank of liquid nitrogen that sits at the entrance of Booker & Dax. He is immediately engulfed in a vapor cloud, as if he had stepped over a steaming manhole cover on a city street. The tank hisses and sputters angrily as he fills his pitcher. He will use the liquid nitrogen to chill the inside of a glass by adding a small measure of the liquified... » more

Theo Kogan is the founder and creator of the lip gloss company Armor Beauty. A New York native, she was originally the lead singer of the all-girl punk band Lunachicks.

Why did you switch careers?We did Lunachicks, that kind of ended in around 2000/2001 and I started another band, Theo and the Skyscrapers, we went until about 2008. After that ... I was in the middle of a different show and... » more

One of the city's oldest and most active police station houses reopened Tuesday with a 21st century makeover.

The NYPD's Central Park Precinct now boasts modern offices, new computers and a design that honors the landmarked building's history. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the five-year project reflected the hard work the NYPD has done over the last decade to keep the park's 40 million annual... » more

Chef Todd Gray grew up Episcopalian but married a Jewish woman. In their new cookbook, Gray and his wife, Ellen Kassoff Gray, weave tales of family and tradition with contemporary recipes.

Was there a moment when you knew you needed to cook Jewish cuisine? What was it? When I had my first taste (and look) at gefilte fish in a jar a la Ellen. Also when I saw her father, Ed, cook latkes for... » more

Asian food, once relegated to takeout, has fast become the cuisine of the moment. While New York magazine heralded 2012 as the “Year of Asian Hipster Cuisine,” the trend continues to spread across the city like hot chilies in your nasal passages.

In the past year, two of the most raved (and tweeted) about spots in the city served Asian cuisine: Mission Chinese Food and PokPok NY. Both are... » more

To mark the New Year, Bijan's Brooklyn, an American restaurant with Persian accents, has added a special dish to its menu, Ash-e-Reshteh. Served Thursday-Sunday, the traditional soup/entree is a mix of chickpeas, lentils, spinach and noodles. This soup is always served for the Iranian/Persian New Year, also called Nowruz. Noodles are believed to bring good fortune, and it is customary to serve Ash-e... » more