Courtesy Milton Glaser

Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Milton Glaser, the 82-year-old graphic designer behind, to name just a few, the "I Love New York" logo, the DC Comics "DC bullet" logo, the famous Bob Dylan poster, and, of course, New York Magazine, which he founded with Clay Felker in 1968, for my article in this week's issue of the Voice, "How to Be a New Yorker."

Glaser spoke of the early years of New York Magazine and revealed his amazement over the success of his "I Love New York" logo, which he did for free in 1977. (Hilariously or not, the state came after him for copyright violation when he did "I Love New York More Than Ever" after 9/11.) He also shared what he thinks it means to be a New Yorker -- and why this is the only place for "real New Yorkers" to live.

Our interview, after the jump.

More »

DorothyParker.com

Sad news today for the old(er) New York includes Cooper Union denying St. Mark's Bookshop a lower rent to help keep them in business. And in other news of historic import, Dorothy Parker's childhood home, a 1890s limestone row house at 214 West 72nd Street, is slated for possible tear-down, with a 12-story luxury apartment complex to be put in its place. Kevin Fitzpatrick, president of the Dorothy Parker Society, is fighting the demolition with a letter-writing campaign to Community Board 7. He asks all fans of Parker to join him in writing a letter, or an email.

More »

You know how one of the signs that separates the tourists from the locals is an inherent understanding of how to hail a cab? For example, in New York, you know that if the off duty light is on, the cab is off duty. And therefore, you do not hail it, although you will tell the guy where you're going, and hope he says yes, if he stops to ask you. And then you will feel oddly rejected if he says no and drives off without you, and you will think to yourself, What an asshole. This is just how we do things. However, there are signs that the Taxi and Limousine Commission is at least considering maybe doing things differently down the road. Today we received a survey asking for input on the taxi roof light. Do we feel confused about it? Do we like it? Do we understand its varied uses and protocols? Would we hate it if the taxi roof light system changed?

More »

Williamsburg's Nighthawk Cinema, by Ty Cole

Open House New York, a yearly opportunity for you to creep into the secret, often forbidden or under-acknowledged corners of the city, a/k/a, a celebration of the city's architecture and design, is being held this year on October 15 and 16. With the support of home owners, architects, cultural institutions, volunteers, and the public, the ninth year of the event brings access to hundreds of sites, plus tours, talks, performances, and family and kids activities. Some you have to reserve and pay a nominal ($5) fee for; others (including all the family/kids events) are free.

More »

Here is a lovely little video from animator, illustrator, and designer Tom Chitty. He created it for a collaborative project commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11; animation artists from 30 countries participated. He writes of his contribution, "It depicts a kind of storybook New York City, from fond memories as much as anything."

More »

A few weeks ago, we posted on comedian Mark Malkoff and his attempt to give out free cab rides to New Yorkers. Malkoff ended up driving around in that cab for 14 hours, and he filmed the entire day. "You can imagine how long of a shower I needed," he said. In addition to regular old cab rides (one of which lasted for over an hour), Malkoff managed to sunbathe along the West Side Highway, dress people up in dinosaur outfits, fill a cab with popcorn, and stop for some Shake Shack. Runnin' Scared talked to Malkoff to see how the experiment went.More »

Courtesy of SPiN NYC

When we saw reports of Susan Sarandon hanging out at the opening of the High Line roller skating rink this summer, we immediately wanted to do two things. First, we wanted to go check out the rink -- which we did (hey, celebrity endorsements work!). The second? Chat with the 64-year-old Sarandon, a Chelsea resident who prefers downtown to uptown, and is an outspoken devotee of the city. So, how did the High Line relationship happen?

"I just loved when they approached me about supporting the High Line," she told us by phone last week, in a conversation ranging from her Jackson Heights childhood to cycling in the city and parks, ping-pong, and her dogs. "I love finding ways to use things that have been around for a while. Maybe that's something you develop as you get older and you yourself want to keep being used."

That's not something we think Sarandon has to worry about. Highlights from our chat, after the jump.

More »

The New York Post is reporting today that in the past month, approximately 1,400 same-sex couples, or about 25% overall, have gotten married in New York City.

Shockingly, the Post is reporting this without snark!

We had been very curious about how many couples getting married these days were LGBT ourselves, but had somewhat dismissed being able to figure it out. After all, since the Marriage Equality Act passed two months ago and same-sex marriages started a month ago, the new forms do not ask for "husband" or "wife" anymore but simply for "spouses."

More »

Goodbye to this graphic, retiring today. We'll miss you! (Not really.)

Happy Same-Sex Sunday! As of this moment, same-sex marriage is legal in New York State. Right about now Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd just said "I do!" in front of Niagara Falls. In the next 24 hours, the City of New York expects to break the record for weddings in a single day, planning to join over 800 couples in civil marriage. If you're still reading this, Armageddon has not yet befallen the Empire State, even though Westboro Baptist Church warned that, "For their defiance of their Lord, New Yorkers will suffer the wrath of God being poured out on them from the sky." (As our favorite commentor of the week put it, we "cant wait for wrath to pour from the sky in the form of cold air. It's frickin' hot!!!!")

To mark this historic occasion, your Village Voice - Runnin' Scared team will be covering the scenes from all five boroughs, where Marriage Bureaus will be open. For the latest on both protests and marital bliss, follow Rosie Gray, Jen Doll, Harry Siegel, Esther Zuckerman, Zoe So and yours truly on Twitter. There's been a lot of sad news this weekend. But despite any haters, we're looking forward to a great deal of good news and happiness we can report on today for a change, right here from New York City, the greatest city in the greatest state in the world.

Stay tuned!

Update: Kitty and Cheryle have officially been named wife and wife by the State of New York.

sthrasher@villagevoice.com | @steven_thrasher

823 couples just won a different kind of New York Lottery

Well, 59 extra couples are going to be very happy this Sunday!

When New York City recently received a whopping 2,600 marriage license requests, with over half of those indicating they wanted to wed this Sunday (the first day of legal same-sex marriage) they started a lottery to determine who would be one of the 764 couples they could accomodate. The lottery was open from noon Tuesday until noon today, and 823 couples applied. This evening, the city said they're going to accomodate the extra 59 couples and wed each and every one, according to The Advocate.

More »