Urbanite

Just one of Blair Waldorf's many headbands in the first three episodes of "Gossip Girl"

Last season on The CW’s “Gossip Girl,” Upper East Side stylista Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) sported headband after headband after headband.

Apparently show costume designer Eric Daman hasn’t gotten sick of these preppy accessories. He’s even gone a bit overboard in the band department.

We got a sneak peek of the first three episodes (sorry, we know you're jealous), and in every single scene Blair wears a different headband! Repeat: There's not ONE headbandless moment of Queen B screen-time.

Thick, thin, bows, pearls, satin, flowers — even a piece of fabric tying her hair back before bed.

But don’t worry — we won’t reveal what having all that hair out of her face
affords Miss Waldorf the opportunity to do.

Check out our review of the season premiere of "Gossip Girl."

And, for your own little peek, check out the first five minutes of the season premiere here.

— Julie Gordon

The overall neighborhood of Kew Gardens is not protected. (Photo by Phil S. Kropoth)

Despite its historic significance, Kew Gardens lacks landmark protection -- an issue that frustrates local residents and preservationists.

"Kew Gardens is definitely one of the planned communities in Queens that is very significant and hasn't gotten its due in terms of preservation," says Frampton Tolbert, deputy director of the Historic Districts Council, which has Kew Gardens on its endangered list. "Only in recent years do people have a better appreciation for these neighborhoods.

By that time it might be too late. Residents have on eye on Richmond Hill, Kew Gardens' sister neighborhood, and fear that the insensitive development there might soon encroach upon their turf. Requests for rulings before the Landmark Preservation Commission have gone unheeded, but civic leaders aren't ready to give up.

"It's the attrition battle--who's going to give in first," says Crawford. "We're not going to give in. This is really an important neighborhood, a real demonstration of smart community development. I think we have to understand rational development.

"In the meantime, you just do your local battle to prevent as much damage as possible."

-- Lana Bortolot

Read more about life in Kew Gardens here.

Beware a new USTA policy. Apparently fearing for plastic explosives stuffed into the tubes of bicycles, U.S. Open officials are working with NYC Parks Department in Flushing Meadows to remove all bikes locked in the vicinity of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
I have this from an NYPD officer who told me this as I unlocked my bike to ride back to the amNewYork office yesterday afternoon.
The officer said had I come 30 minutes later, I would have found that my locks had been clipped, a summons issued and a $50 storage fee levied.
Today, on that officer's advice, I parked and locked my bike near the bike rentals trailer about 500 feet from the USTA East Gate. No incidents.
But be careful where you anchor your wheels if bike to the U.S. Open you do.

— Max

Looks like Angelina Jolie might have some compeition on her hands.

George Clooney and poppa Brad Pitt were seen getting a little um, close at the recent premiere of their movie 'Burn after Reading.'

Check out 36 pictures of the Pitt/Clooney lovefest here.

Also, check out over 50 pictures of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt over the years.

I just caught Heidi Montag's music video for Overdosin', and it is probably one of the worst things I've ever seen caught on tape in my life. This is not for the faint of heart, as it contains a great deal of big hair, fake ta-tas, and spandex. Allegedly, boyfriend and fellow publicity whore Spencer Pratt did her hair for the shoot. There's about a billion jokes in there, but I'll leave it up to you to come up with them.

For more gratutitous Heidi and Spencer goodness, check out our photos of Speidi

Find out what its like to be Heidi Montag for a day with more Heidi pix than you can handle.

Here's a bunch of photos from guilty pleasure MTV show 'The Hills'

Heidi and Spencer pix. Do they tip off the paparazzi?

Anti-war protesters gather in Grant Park outside the Conrad Hilton, base of the Democratic National Committee. (Photo by Jefferson Siegel)

It was 40 years ago today that another Democratic National Convention began. In 1968, with the country torn apart by the Vietnam War and the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. earlier in the year, the Democrats gathered in Chicago for a convention that would come to be known as a "police riot."

Demonstrators had arrived en masse to protest the war policies of President Lyndon B. Johnson. His vice president, Hubert Humphrey, was a candidate, as was the anti-war candidate, Sen. Eugene McCarthy. Humphrey would win the nomination, only to lose to Richard M. Nixon in the general election. The war would continue for several more years, eventually claiming the lives of 58,000 U.S. troops.

In this photo, anti-war demonstrators gather in Grant Park, across the street from the Conrad Hilton, the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. As people in the hotel turned their room lights on and off in a show of support for the protesters, the crowd cheered back.

* Click to see 12 more photos from the demonstrations

-- Jefferson Siegel

Composite photo of Anna Wintour, Martha Stewart, Paula Abdul, Maria Sharapova, and Roger Federer at the U.S. Open tennis tournament made from AP and Getty Images.

It was a fashion throw-down last night out in Flushing at the U.S. Open tennis tournament, as tennis royalty were joined by Hollywood and fashion celebrities like Anna Wintour, Martha Stewart, Paula Abdul and others

The confluence of stars made it feel a little like some sporty version of Fashion Week (okay, maybe if you squint real hard).

The celebs and former U.S. Open champs were back in the house not so much for some first round action, but for the opening gala of the U.S. Open tennis tournament.

As for a comparison of outfits between the two groups... well, check out the evidence yourself.

* Click here to see about 20 photos of the tennis and entertainment celebrities at the gala

* Click here to highlights from the tennis matches

* Click here to see 90 photos of Roger Federer winning, losing, and at play through the years

Composite photo of Boris Becker, John McEnroe, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles back at the U.S. Open tennis tournament made from AP and Getty Images.

Grammy-nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi has joined "American Idol" as a fourth
judge, alongside Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. Her clients include David Cook, David Archuleta, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Clay Aiken. AP File Photo/Chris Pizzello

American Idol is shaking up its new season, adding a fourth judge--New Yorker and Grammy-nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi--to sit alongside Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.

Cause everyone's main complaint about American Idol is that we want more airtime for the judges....

Sheesh. As an avid Idol fan, I think this is a bad move. The ratings are dropping, so a panicking FOX is scrambling to do something.

Nevertheless, our own Kara (Warner) was on the conference call for the first interview the new American Idol judge did, during which she called herself "a very lucky girl," and answered whether she was going to be the female Simon Cowell.

DioGuardi's website scrolls a long list of people she's worked with--Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin, Jonas Brothers--that includes a lot of ex-Idols: Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken, Bo Bice, David Cook, David Archuleta.....

So she definitely knows what an American Idol winner sounds like.

And her Wikipedia entry says in addition to her singing and songwriting talents, she also worked in the publishing and marketing departments of Billboard Magazine.

So there's no question she's qualified--but I don't know, I feel like the judges and all their drama are too big a part of the show as it is, what's the point of adding yet another one?

It reminds me a bit of the Yankees, who go crazy making trades and shelling out big bucks after yet another season without a World Series title, as if more more more is the answer.

When really, what Idol needs to do is get back to its roots--a showcase for undiscovered, surprising and interesting talented young singers.

I'd rather see American Idol incorporate more reality show-type angles, and show us who's rooming with who, what the contestants are doing in their time off, and other behind-the-scenes stuff.

But instead, FOX seems intent on loading down the show with more features, more glitz, and now, more judges.

* Photos: Click here for Simon Cowell: A life in pictures

* Photos of American Idol Season 8 auditions

* Click here to see photos of David Archuleta and David Cook touring

* Here are photos of what all the American Idol stars have been up to this summer

* And relive the Season 7 finale here

* Here's our am/fm blog, which checks out new bands/music in NYC

Newly engaged Joan Holloway helps out Don's latest secretery -- The New Girl" of the episode's name -- on her first day on the job. The boys are soon all over her. (Via AMC).

Welcome to our second edition of Mad Men and the City, Urbanite's weekly look at AMC's "Mad Men" as seen through the prism of New York and American history and culture. As always, spoilers lurk below, so proceed with care. And please share your observations in the comments:

* Lenox Hill -- As Pete Campbell and his wife, Trudy, discuss with a doctor their inability to have a child, Trudy enthusiastically mentions the wonders of Lenox Hill Hospital. Her theory that Pete is the reason there are no little ones running around their posh Upper East Side apartment is deflated later in the episode, when a test finds his sperm to be quite motile. (Of course, the viewer -- and Peggy -- know this already!) As you might imagine, their fragile relationship takes a blow, and Pete unsurprisingly is remarkably insensitive to Trudy's pain. As he lashes out at her, she's the one running around saying I'm sorry. (Sorry Pete, taking her out to dinner won't quite make things right.) Our take: Smart, casually inserted mention of Lenox Hill, a New York institution which celebrated its 150th anniversary last year.

* Sardi's -- Bobbie Barrett telephones Don Draper from Theater District institution Sardi's, and asks him to come over and celebrate. The pilot for "Grin and Barrett," which she pitched in last week's episode, has been sold. As usual, Bobbie gets what Bobbie wants, and Don is soon at Sardi's, where she orders him an Old Fashioned and suggests a trip out to her place on Long Island. Don, of course, obliges. Our take: Sardi's is one of our favorite places in the city, largely for its history and its ties to a vanishing world, which "Mad Men" is very much a part of. While nothing would replace actually shooting at Sardi's, the scene is well handled. The camera captures just enough of the Sardi's-style celebrity caricatures that paper the restaurant's walls to establish that we are indeed at Sardi's. And that's enough for us.Whenever we go to Sardi's before a Broadway show, we amuse ourselves with a game of decipher the celebrity caricature (or more often than not, figure out who this once-famous person was.) The scene there was nicely handled.

Continue reading "Mad Men and the City: The New Girl" »

5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tennis stars and celebrities celebrate start of U.S. Open, President’s Gate, USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing, Queens.

Doors open at 5:30, film starts after 7:30 David Lynch's cult classic Blue Velvet at Summerscreen, McCarren Park Pool (Lorimer St between Driggs and Bayard Ave) in Williamsburg; RSVP to summerscreen@thelmagazine.com. See our conversation with David Lynch by clicking here.

7:00 p.m. DNC convention watch party, The Tank at DCTV (87 Lafayette Street at White St). See photos of the convention stage and events by clicking here.

Roger Federer and Serena Williams at the U.S. Open tennis tournament Wilson Party at Mansion in New York City photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images

With the Olympics over, New York City is turning its attention to the U.S. Open tennis tournament. We have tons of coverage over on our sister GameFace blog, beginning with:

-Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Novak Djokovic, Jonas Bjorkman, Jelena Yankovic, Tracey Austin, Mary Joe Fernandez, and even Virginia Wade at parties around town

-Quick profiles of the five men and five women favorites

-Sports Editor Max Dickstein's breakdown of the men's field

-Quick profiles of the five men and five women favorites

-90 photos of Roger Federer over the years (with special appearances by one Rafael Nadal)

We're traveling through the Adirondacks this weekend, and came across three curious things that might pique your interest, too, should you be looking for a regional getaway for the upcoming Labor Day weekend:

1.) Snow in August

This "Miracle on Ice" can be found outside the Olympic Center, home of the 1932 and 1980 Olympic games, and piled high just off the sidewalk on Main Street. Snow ball fights under bright sunshine and 80-degree weather? You can't go wrong, and it gears you up for the excellent museum of the winter games that awaits inside.

2.) Leaf-peeping in August

A few trees are already coming alive with color, prompting a double-take not only from us, but from the local paper, the Lake Placid News, which headlined a photo about the leaves "It's Too Soon." The photo here is at Main and School streets in Lake Placid.

3.) Breakfast at Howard Johnson's in Lake Placid

This is one of three remaining Howard Johnson's restaurants, all that's left of a chain that once numbered more than 1,000. Earlier this summer, we blogged our visit to the HoJo's in Lake George Village. This just leaves us with a requisite visit to the HoJo's in Bangor, Maine, which is reportedly on the block. We'll have more on our visit to the Lake Placid HoJos, along with plenty of pics, in a future post.

-- Rolando Pujol

Crazy creative "Talking Heads" front man David Byrne created nine bike racks for the city - and we spotted this guitar-shaped piece in action on .... Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, at N. 6th St. Thanks for beautifying the block Byrne.

Yoda, the smoke-colored feline with four ears, has become a celebrity. (Fame Pictures)

Since it's Friday, take a break and check out this story from our sister paper the Chicago Tribune about Yoda, the four-eared cat who's the latest star of the London tabloids.

He now has his own talent agent, and is coming soon to a TV talk show near you.

It sure beats his old life:

Ted and Valerie Rock found Yoda in 2006 while watching a Bears game at a Blue Island bar with fellow volunteers from the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Patrons were passing the 8-week-old kitten around, mocking his appearance and calling him names such as "Devil Cat" and "Beelzebub."

The Rocks took pity on the kitty and offered to adopt him. The establishment's owner, who kept the cat in a cage atop the bar to amuse patrons, agreed.

-126 photos of super-cute animals

-63 photos of odd-looking animals

You could see crazy cheese sculptures like these at the New York State Fair this weekend.

FRIDAY:

6:30 p.m. Top-ranked high school basketball players compete in Boost
Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rucker_Park ">Rucker Park, 155th Street and Eighth Avenue.

8 p.m. James Blake, Serena Williams and Venus Williams host US Open
USTA/Heineken Premium Light Official Players Party; The Empire
Hotel Rooftop, 44 W. 63rd St.

8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Fundraiser for jazz musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina; Creole Restaurant & Music Supper Club, 2167 Third Ave., at 118th Street.

Fringe Festival: It closes on Saturday, so go catch a show. Click [HERE] for details.

SATURDAY If you're in the mood for a day trip ...

State Fair Cheese Celeb Cheese Carver: Sarah “The Cheese Lady" sculpts New York’s “LegonDairy” Heroes at New York State Fair. WHERE: The Great New York State Fair; New York State Fairgrounds; 581 State Fair Blvd.; Syracuse, 800-475-FAIR

3 p.m.: Street Wars Killer: In the mood to cool off with a fierce water gun fight? Head to Union Square Saturday. Details [HERE]

Feral cats have been found burned and beaten over the last several weeks in the Bronx, said authorities who are looking to track down the perpetrators.

“It’s vicious, sadistic cruelty, and it should be stopped,” said Councilman Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx).

On July 30, Woodlawn residents alerted animal rescuers to a stray cat roaming the neighborhood whose tail had been burned to little more than a scorched stub and whose gums were burnt, likely due to an effort on the feline’s part to extinguish the fire.

“Naturally, the cat didn’t put himself on fire, so we are investigating how this came to be,” said Joe Pantangelo, an assistant director with the ASPCA.

Reports have flooded in since of cats with broken bones and lacerations, according to Koppell’s office.

Woodlawn, in the northwest section of the Bronx, is home to several colonies of feral cats who hide out in the area’s abundant parkland and who are fed by area residents.

-- David Freedlander

(Photo by Getty Images)

Astroland’s co-owner says she won’t put the storied Coney Island amusement park’s rides up for sale just yet, despite issuing an ultimatum that she would do so if she was not offered a lease for 2009 by Friday.

“I’m just kind of in this holding pattern,” Carol Hill Albert told amNewYork on Thursday. “I think I’m going day by day. I really just don’t know.”

Last week, Albert said she was inching closer to accepting the fact that Astroland would close forever on Sept. 7. The park’s lease with developer Thor Equities expires Jan. 31. Thor and City Hall have separate plans for the waterfront property, but construction before the end of next summer is unlikely.

Albert said Thor officials have not contacted her in the past two weeks. She declined to provide a new deadline for making a decision but said the process of selling and removing the rides will take months.

Albert briefly put Astroland’s rides up for sale last year before pulling them off the market. Thor eventually gave the park an 11th-hour lease extension for this year. While the rhetoric from Albert might seem familiar, she says the circumstances are different.

“Last year, every time my rides were to go on sale, I got a call from a city official asking me to pull the rides back, that they thought I was going to get a lease,” she said.

Albert said that city officials have expressed interest in having Astroland return next year but added that she has “not had the same confidence that I had last year.”

Previous article:
Time running out on Astroland's 2009 hopes

-Click here for photos of Astroland

Mad Men's first season takes place in 1960, and this ad for Chevrolet was filmed in Manhattan that very same year. During this two-minute spot, follow the red, convertible Chevy Impala as it wends its way through Gotham's streets. Highlights include Times Square (with a shot of the original Ripley's Believe It or Not), Park Avenue, blocks that appear to be straight out of Helen Levitt photos, and even Washington Square Park, where the driver saunters through without notice. (The park used to be open to cars, although by 1960, cars had been banned.)

And if you want some insight into the Greenwich Village of Midge Daniels -- Don Draper's art illustrator girlfriend whose heart really belongs to an unctuous beatnik/proto-hippie -- check out this most glorious of films, "Village Sunday." It preserves 12 precious minutes of the neighborhood when it was really "The Village."

-- Rolando Pujol

Ricky Martin is the Daddy of new twins, and Amanda Beard stupidly denies rumors of dating Michael Phelps.

So it was rumored on the Internets earlier in the week that American Golden boy Michael Phelps was dating Olympic swimmer turned Playboy Playmate Amanda Beard. However, when asked about the rumors on a recent radio interview, Beard said, "EW! I have taste," and was not linked with the 8-time gold medalist hottie. Come on Amanda, there's at least a million girls who'd kill to be linked with Phelps, and since your career has digressed to stripping off your skivies for everyone from Hugh Hefner to PETA, it might have done you some good to think about spending some time with Phelps.

Also, based on these photographs, Phelps doesn't need any assistance in the hooking young hotties department. Also, it appears he's found a new BFF in Brady Quinn.

The trend of men with questionable sexualities having babies with surrogate mothers continues. Michael Jackson started this over a decade ago, Clay Aiken continued the trend earlier this summer having a child with a 49-year old friend, and finally, it was announced earlier this week that Ricky Martin had twins with a surrogate mother. Congrats are in order to all the new daddies!

Is Phelps hot? Judge for yourself with 107 of the hottest Olympic athletes.

He is hot? Thought so. Check out our smoking hot Michael Phelps gallery.

See our photos of Ricky Martin through the years.

Also, check out the 18 celebrity tot royalty photos that Martin's twins will no doubt soon be joining.

--Lizzy

Hundreds of New Yorkers are planning to head out of town the hard way this Saturday as part of an organized walk-out sponsored by the Sanctuary of Hope, an off beat performance space in Ridgewood, Queens.

The group is meeting at Union Square on Saturday and planning to head up Broadway, spending the night in Van Cortlandt Park, before ultimately, two days later, ending up in Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson.

The idea began with three friends making weekend plans.

"We all have lived in New York for such a long-ass time and we were trying to get out of it," said Matthew Blair, 26, who is organizing the event and who runs Sanctuary of Hope.

He added that this is an apolitical walkout--"it's a demonstration, not a protest," he said--and that folks are invited to peel off after a few miles or even a few blocks.

Blair also said that he hoped that more would join along the way, Forrest Gump-style.

There they hope to make their way back to the city courtesy of Swoon and her merry mob on Swimming Cities and Switchback Sea

--David Freedlander