Actor Gbenga Akinnagbe is reaching for new artistic heights after completing his role as assassin Chris Partlow in HBO’s acclaimed drama “The Wire.”
But life for him wasn’t always pleasant.
As he starred in the recent Off-Broadway show, “Lower Ninth,” Akinnagbe talked about his life before and after “The Wire.”
The city is giving the concrete jungle a makeover: Some 1,000,000 trees are slated to be planted across the five boroughs over the next nine years.
Officials say the Million Tree NYC campaign will boost the number of trees in the city by 20%. The city has raised some $600 million in seed money to fund the greening effort.
Residents along Pennsylvania Ave. in East New York have long contended with speeding vehicles and damage to parked cars that lose sideview mirrors, thanks to reckless drivers.
Now the city wants to reduce parking on the strip. But that’s infuriated local car owners who have proposed their own solution: adding bike lanes.
Cheslea residents are fighting to landmark a townhouse that newly discovered evidence indicates may have been a stop on the Underground Railroad.
The W. 29th Street home was once owned by Abigail and James Gibbons, two prominent 19th Century abolitionists with ties to Harriet Tubman’s famed escape route for slaves.
Construction on a penthouse addition to the building has been ordered stopped by the city as the Landmarks Preservation Commission considers whether to declare the townhouse a landmark.
For months, Christopher Zambakari has watched online as the U.S. dollar’s value declined – especially its relation to the Ugandan shilling.
A 22-year-old foreign student living in Manhattan, Zambakari and his mother regularly wire money to Uganda to support 15 relatives there.
And while his classmates at the European School of Economics in Midtown rejoice at the strength of the Euro or the British pound, the dollar’s weakness means trouble for the MBA student’s family in Africa.
In January 2006, Medicare Part D went into effect, subsidizing the cost of prescription drugs for the elderly.
The federal government touts the program as an effective way to offer senior citizens choice and flexibility. But many seniors, including those at the Elmhurst-Jackson Heights Senior Center, say that Part D has left them confused and frustrated.
Staten Island may soon be as well known for its sushi as its pizza.
The number of Japanese restaurants in the borough have tripled in the last four years, by one observer’s estimate. And some of the new eateries, like the Fushimi Restaurant and Lounge, aren’t even Japanese owned.
“It’s really a big trend now,” Joey Tse, Fushimi’s Chinese owner, said of the sushi boom.
Women’s boxing has gained popularity through movies like “Million Dollar Baby,” and professional fighters like Laila Ali, daughter of Muhammad Ali.
But the gender gap hasn’t closed much when it comes to money. Jill Emery, a 37-year-old former Golden Gloves champ, has found that making as much cash as the male boxers who train beside her at Gleason’s Gym is her toughest fight yet.
The organic food market is a small but fast-growing segment of the food industry with sales up more than 20 percent last year, despite rising costs.
Some Fairway shoppers said it was well worth budgeting the extra bucks to keep organic foods on the table.
The economy may be down, but it’s no time to cry in your beer.
That’s the philosophy of Erik Ness, owner of The Bullpen, a new Upper East Side bar. He’s hoping his establishment will survive the tough times by offering customers reasonable prices, good food and a “neighborhood feeling.”
He’s got a big challenge ahead as the city’s $10 billion restaurant and bar industry braces for a decline. And with alcohol costs rising and a hops shortage pushing beer prices up, bars could be taking a double hit.
