Features

The Place to Be

In the movable party that is New York, there are always new iterations of the glamour spot—from pleasure palace to literary watering hole—where the rich and the prominent, the beautiful and the talented, flock for fun, and everyone else flocks to see (and gossip about) them. We take you back to where it all began, at Delmonico’s, where Mark Twain held forth and Diamond Jim Brady consumed enough to kill a lesser man. From there, we drop in on a century of New Yorkers kicking back in the hottest place to be—at just the moment they were there.

Departments

Letters

Readers sound off on the beef between Ja Rule and 50 Cent, John Simon's review of Anna in the Tropics, and more.

Help Desk

The holiday tipping point; kissing and not telling; the etiquette of hiring a stripper

Smart City

Best of New York

At Kidding Around, you’ll find handmade toys, beautiful and built to last, that you and your kids (and maybe even their kids) will love

Best Bets

A MoMA glass-ball wreath, a steel cocktail set, and Coach winterwear for babies

Shop Talk

Hand-picked vintage shoes for girls who love them.

Sales & Bargains

Deal of the Week: Quirky handmade notebooks

This Week's Sale Listings: Sales at Oscar De La Renta, Jill Stuart, and Olive & Bette

Ask New York

Where can I find last-minute hostess gifts?

Intelligencer

Intelligencer

Lara Flynn Boyle's boastful ways. Plus, Time the sitcom?

New York Minute

Tolkien might disapprove, but Elijah Wood couldn't be happier about his new life in New York.

Nominee Apparent

Gore’s onboard, but can Dean beat Bush?

Sob Story

Book parties without free books make the book world very sad indeed.

Hot Gifts for Teacher

Today’s Xmas lesson: Tipping is not a city in China.

Hidden Gems

Who knew diamonds were healing?

Radical Take

Two former Weathermen cut through the new documentary The Fog of War.

She's With the Band

A rock-and-roll photographer shows—and tells.

Columnists

This Media Life

Forget balance. What’s missing from the moderate media—and in ample abundance on cable—is rudeness.

The City Politic

Howard Dean’s electoral ace in the hole: New York

The Culture Business

Beyond Neil Simon’s nasty falling-out with Mary Tyler Moore is the tale of a prolific playwright stuck in (another) time

Critics

Movies

In Cold Mountain, war is hellish (but picturesque); Lord of the Rings reaches its triumphant conclusion

Theater

Nothing But the Truth takes post-apartheid South Africa very seriously

Architecture

Frank Gehry’s megaproject—including a basketball arena—for Brooklyn; the New Museum’s new home

Classical Music

Benvenuto Cellini collapses under its own weight at the Met

Dance

The year’s best dance books

Pop Music

An arty Talking Heads box set; Kelis remains endearingly tacky

Restaurants

The decidedly uptown Hearth hits the East Village

The Week

Restaurant Openings & Buzz

Bemelmans Bar offers a heady gift idea: For a (none too modest) fee, master mixologist Audrey Saunders will custom-blend your very own cocktail recipe.

And the Winner Is...

For award-grubbers and wannabe movie blockbusters, late December is the last (and most crowded) battlefield. Below, a handicapper's guide.