*Everyday Chatter

Good read: "New York? The whole damn place has been turned into a suburb," sneered David Harvey, startling a roomful of New Yorkers who prided themselves on the same things he derided: the makeover of the city's parks; the new network of bike lanes; the pedestrian malls along Broadway. [FastCo.]

NBC Feast outlines tonight's Fedora debate. [Feast]

On a hot summer day, take a walk through the cool and fragrant gardens of the Flower District, before it's nothing but hotels:


32-year-old Ennio & Michael forced out by NYU rent increase. [Eater]

General Toe's Chicken and other fun misspellings from Goggla. [TGL]

The offices of Hachette Book Group overcome by bedbugs. And the hits keep coming. [RS]

Looking at Crustypunks. [EVG]

LES actually stands for "Lotsa Expensive Stores." [BB]

"Vanishing City" the film is finally complete--check out the trailer.

What are you doing to make the city a better place? "If I notice a distracted cellphone user peering at my ankles -- using me as a guide through sidewalk traffic so they can update their Facebook page or argue with a Customer Service representative while on the move -- I try to lure them into vehicle traffic to get run over." [Restless]

Outside the Ace Hotel, a couple demonstrates face-to-face "conversation" in 2010: