On the stairway leading out of the Fulton Street station, in the financial heart of the richest nation in the world, a tiny woman lay under a heap of blankets.

My husband and I walked past her with our 7-year-old son, Ivan.

"Maybe she's dead," Ivan said calmly.

Something about her motionless form, and the incomprehensible stillness of a body lying in such an uncomfortable position... » more

Like any fashionable actress, Lindsay Lohan likes to shop around — and she’s got her eye on a new rehab center, according to TMZ.

Lohan arrived at The Betty Ford Center on May 2, but now she wants to switch facilities because doctors have cut off her supply of Adderall.

But TMZ reports prosecutors aren’t heeding her complaints, saying that last week the facility was filling Lohan’s prescription... » more

I remember the first street fair I ever went to. I had just moved to Manhattan and it appeared one morning on a closed-down stretch of Broadway across from my building. I thought it was fantastic. There was a ton of food, music and a bunch of vendors selling everything from tweezers to glass beads to those retro-looking tin signs praising coffee.

I remember the second street fair I ever went... » more

I love being a sidewalk gardener in Manhattan. Whenever I'm tending the large planter box outside my West Village building, people smile, stop to chat, and thank me for making the block look beautiful. Like dogs or babies, colorful flowers inspire people to drop their guard and be friendly.

To the tourists, I'm a source of information, an ambassador of good will. To the locals, I'm that obsessive... » more

NBA player Jason Collins will receive the "Courage Award" from the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network on Monday night at Manhattan's Gotham Hall.

Collins, 34,who finished the season with the Washington Wizards, came out as gay in the May 6 issue of Sports Illustrated, making him the first active pro athlete to declare his homosexuality while playing for a major U.S. sports... » more

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has warned the feds that four Brooklyn hospitals will have to shut down unless the state gets immediate permission to use money from expected Medicaid savings to keep them open. In all, he wants more than $1 billion for hospitals in poor communities.

Let's start with the easy stuff first.

Federal Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius should say yes immediately.

Whatever... » more

Well, that sucks.

“Vampire Diaries” co-stars and off-screen lovebirds Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder have broken up after three years together, Us Weekly reported Thursday.

Dobrev, 24, and her hunky co-star, 34, are “consummate professionals” who will keep up their working relationship — and their friendship — a source told the magazine.

“[They] will continue to work together... » more

Jessica Alba’s ideal Mother’s Day would consist of some relaxing, some pampering and spending time with her family.

“A nice breakfast with my kiddos and a little mommy pampering during their nap, like a massage or mani/pedi with my mom, and an early bedtime is my dream Mother’s Day,” the actress told us in an email about Sunday’s upcoming holiday.

“Weirdly, though, every day with my... » more

Attention fashionistas!

Designer Phillip Lim is slated to debut a collection at Target this September, the mass retailer announced Thursday.

The fall collection will contain more than 100 pieces of men’s and women’s apparel and accessories — including bags, shoes and travel accessories. Prices range from $19.99 to $299.99 for clothing and $19.99 to $59.99 for accessories. Items hit stores... » more

Water Street urgently needs a post-Sandy face-lift.

It was once part of a lower Manhattan neighborhood that had a "certain elegant dinginess," as philanthropist and businessman David Rockefeller has noted -- a place, he recalled, where bankers and longshoremen regularly rubbed elbows "because all of us were in the same business: trade." That world vanished in the 1960s.

Century-old... » more