Real estate agents say cemeteries can be an easy sell to renters who want quiet neighbors and an unobstructed view. And New Yorkers themselves say they’d often prefer a graveyard than noisy neighbors.

Amy Bethard, 33, a television producer walking her dog yesterday near Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, said she loves how no skyscrapers block the scenery.

“I like that it’s quiet and open, and there aren’t a lot of buildings,” she said. “It’s pretty.”

An Upper West Side mom told Metro she is moving from a cramped apartment and considering trading in Central Park. “A cemetery can function much like a park,” she said.

City cemeteries are even amping up their efforts to attract visitors, according to a recent Crain’s article, which can also attract residents. Green-Wood, in Sunset Park, attracted 40,000 visitors in 2011, 10 times the amount that came a decade earlier, Crain’s reported. And in the Bronx, Woodlawn Cemetery’s 2011 attendance was 3,000, six times the amount ten years ago, according to Crain’s.

“My sales pitch is that your neighbors don’t make any noise,” said Steve Castellon, 30, an agent at Sunset Park Rapid Realty. “People that are looking for the peace and tranquility will go for it, knowing that it’s not going to be wild, it’s not going to be loud.”

Added Bond New York agent Kelly Killian, “Either they find it a bit odd, or they don’t care at all.”

Still, gravestones don’t attract everyone.

“People feel like it would not be the best way to start their day, when they walk out the door and see plots of dead people,” Citi Habitats broker Anthony DelleCave said.

Perks of eternal neighbors

A cemetery as neighbor can also knock the rent down, Castellon said. In Sunset Park, a one-bedroom apartment can start around $1,200, he said. “Right by the cemetery we’ll have a little more leverage to negotiated the landlord. … We can tell them, your apartment is $1,200, but you’re right across the street from the cemetery, and we’ll knock it down $100.” He added, “On both sides it can be a selling point, because it’s quiet, and it can be a negotiating tool.”

Eternal appeal

Cemeteries like Green-Wood and Woodlawn offer tours of the grounds – and gravestones from people like Joseph Pulitzer and Horace Greeley. But the type of cemetery can make a different – a big, leafy open space where residents roller blade or stroll, for example, is more likely to attract neighbors than packed-in gravestones, Killian said.

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @AlisonatMetro

The post More New Yorkers are moving next to cemeteries appeared first on Metro.us.

Andreades leads The Village Church, which, up until yesterday, met weekly at PS 3 in the West Village.

His church is one of about 160 religious congregations citywide that regularly met in public schools on the weekends, often paying a small fee to use classrooms and auditoriums sitting vacant of students. But the Department of Education gave them until Sunday, Feb. 12, to stop using the schools, after an ongoing legal battle between the city and the religious groups.

Churches argue it’s their right to use the empty space, comparing themselves to sports teams and community boards, which also meet in schools during off hours. But others, like the New York Civil Liberties Union, protested that the arrangement violates the separation of church and state. In June, a U.S. appeals court sided with the city, confirming the DOE’s right to prohibit the worship services.
A bill in Albany could allow the religious groups to return to schools, if it’s passed. But in the meantime, pastors are forced to hit the streets to find new real estate.

Kerrick Thomas, the pastor at The Journey Church, said public schools were an affordable option when his group first began meeting in Manhattan 10 years ago.

“If you need a certain size meeting space, or say you’re starting a new church, property in Manhattan is astronomical,” he said. “It narrows it down pretty quickly.”

The Journey used to host three services in schools. Now, at double the rent, he points out, he’s moved his Upper West Side service from Louis D. Brandeis High School to the Directors Guild Theater. In Queens, instead of meeting at Forest Hills High School, his members will now gather at the nearby United Artists Midway movie theater.

It’s not just Christian groups that used the schools. Rabbi Steven Burton told Metro his Shaarei Shalom congregation in the Bronx will stop holding their High Holy Day celebrations at PS 24 after five years of doing so.

“We always knew it was an issue that could be decided one way or the other,” he said, of the DOE’s decision to evict religious groups. “It is not, I think, a black-and-white issue.”

Parents have mixed feelings

When asked what they think about religious services being held at schools on the weekends, public school parents were split on the issue:
   
“I’m actually not at all religious in any way, and it doesn’t bother me,” said Park Slope mom Heidi Flanagan. “It’s a great way for schools to make extra money.”
    
But her husband, Peter Kendall, disagreed. “I think there would always be some sense of approval of that particular denomination, whatever it might be. And unfortunately, along with a hint of approval, you get a hint of disapproval.”
    
Kate Harrison, a mom of a 10-year-old at PS 3, where The Village Church meets, said she thinks church should be separate. “I don’t want my particular tax dollars supporting religion.”

Searching for a new space

After meeting at PS 3 in the Village for two years, Rev. Sam Andreades has yet to confirm a spot for next Sunday.

“It’s probably going to be an off-Broadway theater or rehearsal space,” he said, adding that he estimates the cost could be $400, twice the $200 they paid to use the school.

Kerrick Thomas, a pastor at The Journey Church, said his Sunday night service in the Village also still needs a space. “It’s been interesting,” he said. “We had about a month to find three brand-new meeting locations.”

Many members say they prefer to stay in schools

Celina Durgin, 18, attends Apostles Church, which is moving its services to a private school on the Upper East Side. She said she wouldn’t mind if other religious groups — for example, a Muslim prayer group — met in public schools.

“I think the government doesn’t really have a right to do what it’s doing,” she said.

Salley Whitman, 36, attends Lower Manhattan Community Church, which, up until yesterday, met at PS 89 in Battery Park City. Her children attend school there during the week. “When a building is sitting empty on the weekends, and they have a way of earning revenue, I do think it helps the schools,” she said. 

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @AlisonatMetro

The post Religious groups now searching for the right place to pray appeared first on Metro.us.

“Everyone’s got money on the Giants, all the boys,” said Andy Hawlett, 29, who lives in the Financial District and works as a broker.

His plans are the same, if the Giants win or lose.

“If they lose, stay here, get drunk and have a hangover,” said Hawlett. “And if they win still stay here, get drunk and have a hangover.”

“They’re not going to lose, it’s impossible,” said Ivonne Smith, a 28-year-old healthcare worker from Jersey City. “I supported the Giants when they were in the Super Bowl in 2008. They won then and they are going to win in 2012. I can’t wait for the ticker tape parade.”

The post New York Giants at the Super Bowl: Fans in Chelsea alternate between nervous and confident in second half (PHOTOS) appeared first on Metro.us.

Fort Greene photographer Andrew Piccone’s show “Faces of Occupy Wall Street” opens at the Frontrunner gallery in TriBeCa tonight.

The portraits of some 26 protesters will be sold for $200 a print, but Piccone, 24, said he hasn’t spoken to a single one of his subjects.

“I didn’t interact with them or tell them what I was going to do with the photos,” Piccone said. “I liked my role as a voyeur.”

Some Occupiers say they feel violated. Eric Cartar, 30, from New Orleans, called Piccone’s exhibit “disingenuous.”

“All the energy in this park is against being commodified,” said Carter. “He’s just missing the point.”

Protesters told Metro that they understand they are occupying a public park, but wish Piccone would have been more transparent about his intentions.

“It’s his first amendment right” Camille Raneem, 21, a Hunter student, said. “I don’t think it’s morally right.”

Raneem said she’s been photographed hundreds of times since the occupation began and finds the barrage of cameras “harassing.”

“They photograph you while you’re waking up,” she said. “You feel like an animal in a zoo.”

Piccone’s say

Piccone says that he doesn’t identify with the Occupy protesters.
   
“I would not consider myself a participant in the protest,” he said to Metro. “There are certain things I agree with, and certain things I might not.”
   
“Faces of Occupy Wall Street” is the budding photographer’s first show.
   
When told of protesters’ fury over his exhibit, Piccone said he now plans to donate “a portion of the profits” to the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Follow Emily Anne Epstein on Twitter @EmilyatMetro.

The post Hawking Occupy Wall Street images appeared first on Metro.us.

Those are some of the ways New York might look differently in 2050, according to Dr. Ulrich Eberl, author of “Life in 2050” and director of innovation communications at Siemens.

In the New York of the future, Staten Island ferries might dodge wind farms, like the kind Mayor Michael Bloomberg already suggested putting in Long Island waters.

The skyline will also look different, with towers sprouted at the World Trade Center and 10 different subway trains zooming below in the Fulton Street Transit Center.

Getting into Manhattan will be much easier, said Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the Center for an Urban Future.

“I’m not suggesting flying taxis for sure,” Bowles told Metro, “but I think improvements in transit will be made, whether it’s really fast buses or much faster subways.”

You might not need to commute at all — many will telework, Eberl said, in apartments smart enough to recognize weather or even faces.

And piles of smelly garbage? By then, Bowles said, the city might have figured out a way to profit from turning garbage into energy.

 “No other city has more garbage, and I think maybe by 2050, we’ll finally figure out how to turn it from an albatross into an asset,” he said.

And the new New Yorkers will live in the few undeveloped places, like the rail yards in Sunnyside or industrial areas of Long Island City.

“There are very few places close to Manhattan where you could still see some kind of large-scale development occurring,” Bowles said.

What to expect

By 2050, Eberl envisions:
   
Floating green islands for farming and trees on rooftops.
Solar power plants and wind turbines high up between skyscrapers.
Thousands of surveillance cameras on skyscrapers will be checked by mini-robots. “Robotic assistants will be increasingly accepted in the home,” Eberl added, saying they might provide everything from reading out loud to cleaning dishes.
Cars that communicate with traffic lights, signs and other cars.

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @AlisonatMetro.

The post New New York: What the near future will bring (PHOTOS) appeared first on Metro.us.

But MMA lured more than 100 people this past Saturday night to a downtown Manhattan gym. They came to watch men slug it out in a secret mixed martial arts cage fight.

The rules are simple: No biting. No kicks to the groin. The fighters wear no pads, no helmets and only wrap their hands in thin, four-ounce gloves to protect against broken fingers — caused by brutal hits to the face and head. The goal is to punch and kick your opponent into submission. Yes, chokeholds are permitted.

New York is the only state in the nation where MMA fighting remains illegal. But that hasn’t stopped promoters from organizing about six underground MMA fights a year throughout the metropolitan region, according to Jim Genia, who chronicles the underground world of MMA in his book “Raw Combat.”

The fights are often held in the outer boroughs — at a boxing gym in Brooklyn, or warehouses in the Bronx and once even at a mosque.

Every year New York state legislators mull the idea of sanctioning the sport, possibly as a lucrative source of tax revenue. But many in Albany continue to dismiss MMA as too violent.

“The politicians are idiots,” said Josh James, a New Yorker who took in Saturday night’s fight. “It’s a sport. If it wasn’t, you’d just watch a couple guys go fight behind a bar.”

Fans like James defend MMA as far safer than boxing. Fighters can “tap out” if they feel defeated, as one did Saturday night, or a referee can call the fight if a fighter is badly injured.

The next fight is in December and you’re welcome to watch — if you can find out where.

Boxing, the real danger?

“When I talk to someone who’s been boxing for a long time, sometimes they can’t really talk — they’re always getting hit in the head,” said fighter Jonathan Figueroa, who won his match Saturday night. “But in MMA, I could get hit in the arm, the legs. It’s much less dangerous.”

MSG the goal

Peter Storm has been promoting underground MMA fights in New York since 2003. “Hopefully what I do gives people the courage to step up and say to Albany, “‘This should be going on at Madison Square Garden,’” Storm said Saturday.  metro/cb 

All photos by Emily Anne Epstein/Metro

The post Saturday night’s alright for secret MMA fight club (PHOTOS) appeared first on Metro.us.

Captain Jay Pierce, a Continental pilot for 23 years, said pilots are upset their contracts are still not finalized one year after the merger. Pilots are asking for better pay, he said, and want management to address issues such as not getting enough rest in between flights. Instead, he said, management’s focus has been on minor details.

“We were seeing a lot of attention paid to painting airplanes,” he said, “and cute cocktail napkins.”

Pilots from both airlines, as well as Delta, gathered on Broad Street. Some held signs that read “What’s a pilot worth?” depicting an image of the “Miracle on the Hudson.”

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @AlisonatMetro.
 

The post Pilots protest Continental-United merger appeared first on Metro.us.

1: Taylor Lautner and Lily Collins — who recently broke up — must still touch each other while on the red carpet for the U.K. premiere of “Abduction” at BFI IMAX on Monday in London, England.

2: Stephen Malkmus and Joanna Bolme of Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks performed at Webster Hall on Sunday in New York City.

3: Elizabeth Moss and Christina Hendricks attended The Rape Treatment Center’s Annual Brunch Hosted By The Cast Of ‘Mad Men’ on Sunday in Los Angeles.

4: Courtney Love attended the Roberto Cavalli Spring/Summer 2012 fashion show as part Milan Womenswear Fashion Week on Wednesday in Milan, Italy.

5: Mario Batali attended the Mario Batali Foundation’s Rock & Wine event at City Winery on Sunday in New York City.

6: Katie Price attended the U.K. premiere of “The Lion King 3D” at The BFI IMAX Waterloo on Sunday in London.

The post Photos: Awkward red carpet moments and more appeared first on Metro.us.

1. Heidi Klum attended amfAR MILANO 2011 on Friday in Milan, Italy.

2. Rihanna performed on stage during the Rock in Rio Festival on Friday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

3. Susan Sarandon and Jennifer Aniston attended the Artists for Haiti dinner to benefit the Stiller Foundation at Almond on Friday in New York City. Aniston bought a painting there for $450,000.

4. Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas appeared with her wax figure after it was unveiled at Madame Tussauds Las Vegas at The Venetian on Thursday in Las Vegas.

5. Paris Hilton launched Paris Hilton Handbags & Accessories in India at Hotel JW Mariott on Saturday in Mumbai.

6. Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi visited The Pool at Harrah’s Resort on Saturday in Atlantic City, N.J.

7. Shakira performed at the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday in Singapore.

The post Photos: Ladies rock the weekend appeared first on Metro.us.

1: Gerard Butler and Michelle Monaghan arrived at the “Machine Gun Preacher” Los Angeles premiere at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences on Wednesday in Beverly Hills.

2: Beyonce attended the launch of her new fragrance PULSE at Dream Downtown on Wednesday in New York City.

3: Maggie Gyllenhaal posed for a photo during the unveiling for her ‘got milk?’ ad at City Bakery on Thursday in New York City.

4: Levi Johnston visited Dave & Buster’s Times Square on Wednesday in New York City.

5: Toni Morrison spoke at Lisner Auditorium at The George Washington University on Wednesday in Washington, DC.

6: Eva Longoria attended the “Desperate Housewives” Final Season Kick-Off Party at Universal Studios on Wednesday in Universal City, California.

7: Cookie Monster and Elmo visited “The Morning Mash Up” on SiriusXM Hits 1 at the SiriusXM Studios on Wednesday in New York City.

The post Photos: A few furry monsters and non-monsters for you appeared first on Metro.us.

1: Model/actress/tall-person Rosie Huntington-Whiteley attended the Moet & Chandon Etoile award ceremony at Park Lane Hotel on Monday in London.

2: Just when the ladies of the world felt like Jon Hamm couldn’t get cooler, it turns out he’s a  “South Park” lover! Here he is at the “South Park” 15th Anniversary Celebration on Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif.

3: Demi Lovato visited “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” at Rockefeller Center on Tuesday in New York.

4: Kendra Wilkinson promoted her new book “Being Kendra” at Bookends Bookstore yesterday in Ridgewood, N.J.

5: Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson (new haircut?) attended the “Every Woman, Every Child” MDG Reception at the Grand Hyatt on Tuesday in New York.

6: Director Pedro Almodovar, actress Elena Anaya and actor Antonio Banderas attended the premiere of their new film, “The Skin I Live In,” on Tuesday in Rome.

7: Actress Jane Lynch visited “Mark Says Hi!” on the Raw Dog Comedy SiriusXM Studio on Tuesday in New York.

The post Photos: Two blondes promote their books and more appeared first on Metro.us.

1: Heidi Klum at the Heathrow Airport yesterday in London.

2: Brad Pitt (looking a lot like a younger Jack Nicholson) walked the red carpet at the premiere of his new film, “Moneyball”on Monday in Oakland, Calif..

3: Actress Anna Faris attended the “What’s Your Number?” Los Angeles Premiere on Monday in Westwood, Calif.

4: Tyra Banks greeted fans and signed copies of her book “Modelland” at Neiman Marcus on Monday in Miami.

5: Actors Ashton Kutcher, Jon Cryer (ugh, that suit!) and Angus T. Jones posed during the ceremony for Cryer’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday.

6: Ted Danson arrived for the “Late Show With David Letterman” at the Ed Sullivan Theater on Monday in New York City.

The post Photos: ‘Two Men’ and a Danson appeared first on Metro.us.

The several hundred protesters who have gathered in Lower Manhattan as part of the Occupy Wall Street campaign have set up camp in Zuccotti Park across the street from the World Trade Center.
“Roze,” 25, came down from Connecticut for the protest and vowed he’s not leaving until Oct. 6.
“This has to be done. We can’t stop protesting,” he told Metro. “The world’s coming to the point where it’s fully close to destroying itself.”

The hundred or so protesters indefinitely camped out in the park — far less than the 20,000 organizers originally hoped for — have come to rail against corporate excess and the lack of jobs.

College undergrad Tess Danielson, 21, came from Gainesville, Fla. She said she’s frustrated with the weak economy.

“I just don’t like the whole situation, where I have to stay at a horrible job that I hate,” said Danielson.
But others say their message is deliberately muddled. “We don’t have a plan right now,” said Christopher Albert, 23. “The idea with all of this is talking to people and figuring out what people’s differences are.”?

Wall Street on lockdown

Security will remain tight around Wall Street all week.

The J train skipped Broad Street yesterday and will likely do so again today, as long as the protesters remain, police told Metro. Police said yesterday that seven people have been arrested since Saturday for things like jumping police barriers.

But to one man who works in the Financial District, the protesters are simply annoying.

“I think it’s a little ridiculous,” said Jamel Wright. “If they’re trying to achieve annoying the people who actually get up in the morning and are not walking around with picket signs …  they’ve achieved that.”

Follow Cassandra Garrison on Twitter @CassieatMetro.

The post Occupy Wall Street protest: They’ll be there for the long haul appeared first on Metro.us.

1: First things first: What in the world did Alec Baldwin do to his hair? Here is the newly coiffed actor at Tony Bennett’s 85th Birthday Gala Benefit for Exploring the Arts at The Metropolitan Opera House on Sunday in New York City.

2:  Here is one of the more terrifying photos we’ve ever published: Illusionists (and plastic surgery aficionados) Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn were photographed during a keg-tapping celebration at the kickoff of Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas’ eighth annual Oktoberfest on Saturday in Las Vegas. Ah!

3: Chris Brown performed during his F.A.M.E. tour at the Verizon Center on Saturday in Washington, D.C.

4: Christina Hendricks and her extreme cleavage attended the HP Touchsmart Gift Lounge backstage at the Nokia Theatre, in celebration of the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday in L.A.

5: Actress Helen Mirren attended “The Debt” (that’s “Eine offene Rechnung” in German, just FYI) screening on Sunday in Berlin.

The post Celebrity photos: Someone got a hair cut and other observations appeared first on Metro.us.

1: We don’t say this often — probably because we rarely think it — but Ashlee Simpson looked great on the BAFTA red carpet in L.A. on Saturday night. As for her date, Vincent Piazza? Not as cute as her pixie cut, but we approve.

2: Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and Usher were snapped backstage at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards on Saturday.

3: There was some serious dirty hair in L.A. on Thursday night. Ke$ha and Alice Cooper were onstage together for reasons we’re not entirely sure of, but are nonetheless grateful for.

4: Kind of hungry, kind of annoyed: Do Fashion Week front-row buddies Kate Moss and Kristen Stewart know no other expression?

5: Also spotted looking cute at BAFTA: “Modern Family” star Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

6: One more BAFTA photo, because we can kind of see Kathy Griffin getting annoyed that we didn’t note how good she’s been looking lately. Noted.

The post Photos: This weekend on the stage and red carpet appeared first on Metro.us.

1: The bottom of this dress is a big old mess, so we’ll just let you enjoy
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s cute little smile at the Toronto International Film
Festival. But trust us: big old mess.

2: Stylish birthday boy Nas celebrated his 38th on Wednesday night in New York with Zoe Saldana and Jay-Z.

 
3: We don’t know what Tyra Banks was doing on the set of “Extra” this week.  We are, however, glad we weren’t anywhere near it.

4: Italian actress — and more notably, George Clooney ex — Elisabetta Canalis unveiled her “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign for PETA in Beverly Hills. Score one for the bunnies/California!

5: Covergirl Christina Ricci was at the Nylon magazine release party earlier this week. Good to see her, but next time, we demand pants.  

6: We love Questlove’s outfit for Us Weekly’s “25 Most Stylish New Yorkers” party on Wednesday.

The post Photos: Great clothes, questionable clothes, and no clothes appeared first on Metro.us.

1: Hello, hips! Christina Hendricks and Jennifer Hudson were at Self magazine’s “Women Doing Good” awards on Tuesday.

2: OK, fine, let’s hear it for the boys: Adam Brody and Chace Crawford cleaned up exceptionally nice for TIFF.

3: Every time we remember that Charlie and The Waitress are happily married (and expecting!) in real life, we smile. Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Charlie Day were supercute at the Season 7 premiere of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

4: Jennifer Garner was pretty in pink in Toronto. (Why do we feel like she was in a movie with this title? Five or so years ago? Anyone?)

5: Lily Cole, let’s talk about the dress you wore at the Toronto International Film Festival on Tuesday: We love it. We’re a little afraid of it (and you), but we love it.

6: Now, Olivia Wilde’s TIFF dress? This is one we could have done without.

The post Photos: Great hips, hip gowns and the unexpected appeared first on Metro.us.

1: Madonna spoke onstage at the ‘W.E.’ premiere at TIFF Bell Lightbox during the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival on Monday in Toronto, Canada.

2: Uh-oh. Is this going to be a new collaboration? Lenny Kravitz and Gwyneth Paltrow hugged at an after-party following Kravitz’s gig with Absolute Radio, which launched his new album “Black and White America” in London on Monday.

3: Coco and Ice-T attended The Paley Center For Media Presents “Planet Rock: The Story of Hip-Hop & the Crack Generation” at The Paley Center for Media on Monday in New York City.

4: Actress Vanessa Paradis (aka Johnny Depp’s baby mama) attended the “Cafe De Flore” premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival on Monday. 

5: Lea Michele glammed it up at the FOX Fall-Eco Casino Party (the name of that party makes no sense) on Monday in Culver City, Calif.

6: Jenna Dewan-Tatum and Justin Long attended the “Ten Year” premiere at Ryerson Theatre during the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival on Monday in Toronto.

7: Hugh Jackman (Hahahaha! Look at that little bike!) is seen riding away from an interview at BBC Radio One yesterday in London.

The post Photos from TIFF and a little bit of Coco appeared first on Metro.us.

Jelena Watkins, her husband, her parents and her two young children were the first guests to enter.
They were greeted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

“It was a huge relief to see that it’s actually beautiful,” Watkins said to a pool reporter. “It’s the right feel. It’s just so right. It’s so spacious.”

This was Watkins’s second day visiting the memorial. She attended Sunday’s ceremony to honor her brother, Vladimir Tomasevic, who died 10 years ago in the attacks.

After Watkins, nearly 7,000 visitors had tickets for the memorial. Each was thoroughly screened by security after waiting for as long as 30 minutes.

Some reported they found the sound of the rushing water comforting, and others ran their hands across the bronze names of the victims.

Jim Brown, who lost his cousin in the attacks, said the memorial helped him find peace.

“I felt better now that I’ve seen their names and taken a rubbing,” he said to a pool reporter, referring to the pencil-and-paper rubbings over the names many family members made. “His spirit will always be here in this part of Manhattan.”

Others said that finally being able to view the tower’s “footprints” helped blot out a decade of visions of war, violence and the sight of people fleeing for their lives.

“When we walked in, those images were popping in my head from 10 years ago,” Las Vegas researcher Laura Pajar, 23, told a pool reporter. “But when I saw the memorial, all of that went away.”

Follow Emily Anne Epstein on Twitter @EmilyatMetro.

The post Tears, crowds flow as 9/11 memorial opens appeared first on Metro.us.

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The post Fly without leaving the ground appeared first on Metro.us.

Tonight, dogs from across New York City will compete in DUMBO in the first-ever Hipster Puppy Pageant.

The event was inspired by the Tumblr blog and book of the same name.  “Hipster Puppies,” created by Greenpoint resident Chris Weingarten, features puppies with sour, disaffected faces and sardonic attire. Witty captions naturally follow.

Weingarten came up with the idea last February and the blog quickly caught on, with more than 5,000 submissions to date.

“I take cuteness very seriously,” said Weingarten, 31, who works as a music journalist. “The gaze is what really defines them. It’s in their eyes. How smug is this pug?”

Weingarten will be on hand tonight to sign copies of his book as well as to help choose a contest winner — the most ironic and indifferent dog. It will really come down to the fashion sense of their owners, however, Weingarten said.

“Animals lack the cognitive capacity to be ‘hip,’” he pointed out.

There will be free Pabst Blue Ribbon for the owners and gift certificates to PS9 Pets for the dogs.

Follow Emily Anne Epstein on Twitter @EmilyatMetro.

The post Hipster puppies: Smug pugs to strut their stuff appeared first on Metro.us.

A handful of “fangsmiths” make their living fashioning wearable vampire teeth for New Yorkers.

Queens resident Ali Fangsmith, 40, has been creating pointy incisors for more than a decade. His clients range from fang aficionados to grandmas hunting for the latest denture accessories.

“I keep my prices reasonable to keep the fang society going,” he said. The vanity biters sell for $50 a pair.

Fangsmith uses a host of dental equipment — like polishes, buffers and “a lot of drill bits” — to create the custom canines. No license is required for the work. 

“I worked in dental labs briefly,” he explained, though his true inspiration came from watching other fangsmiths in action.

The fangs, which take less than an hour to make, are molded to teeth using dental acrylic and slip on and off with no pain. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be used to cause pain.

“They are sharp enough to break skin,” Fangsmith warned. “I don’t recommend eating or sleeping with them.”

In fact, a bite from someone wearing the fangs would require a trip to the emergency room, explained East Village resident and master fangsmith Father Sebastiaan, 30.

“Human saliva is filthier than dog saliva,” he said. “Legally, I can’t advise people to drink blood.”

The popularity of movies like “Twilight” and shows like “True Blood” hinders rather than helps business, Sebastiaan said.

“Few ‘Twilight’ fans know vampires even have fangs,” he said. “The fangs in ‘True Blood’ are silly-looking. It hurts business.”

Movies like “Blade” and “Interview with the Vampire,” however, create more clients: People come in and request Brad Pitt- or Wesley Snipes-inspired canines, Sebastiaan said.

Ali Fangsmith said work is steady. Just last week, he fit a 65-year-old’s dentures for her birthday.

“There will always be new blood,” he said.

A real sucker for blood

Manhattan resident and vampire Seregon O’Dassey, 30, says she started drinking blood as a little girl.

“I would suck on a wound to help heal it,” she told Metro. “I liked the taste of it.”

Now she sucks droplets of blood from the pierce of a lancet designed for diabetics.

Her boyfriend is her main blood donor, volunteering his finger for the prick.

“Men have a much stronger taste,” she explained. “It tastes almost dirty.”

But she warned that choosing a donor is like choosing a sexual partner. “You should be safe,” she said. “It’s like sex.” 

Follow Emily Anne Epstein on Twitter @EmilyatMetro.

The post Vampire dentistry: A business with bite appeared first on Metro.us.

Four New York City high school students spent their summer experimenting with roaches at Cooper Union, teaching New York’s most hated insect to “dance” to popular music.

Under the tutelage of neuroscience professor Rob Uglesich, the students used remote controls to send electric signals to the bugs’ antennae. To make the roach go right, the students stimulate the left antenna.

The roach perceives the electric currents as some sort of obstacle — say, a wall — and scurries the other way.

The students performed surgery on the roaches, knocking them out with anesthesia before inserting electric receptors into their antennae, as well as their bodies.

Unfortunately, simple electric pulses became ineffective after about 10 minutes. The solution? Music.
“The roaches learn to ignore the same sequence of signals,” said Uglesich. “Music has more variation to it, so it keeps them moving. A house drum beat would bore them very quickly.”

The students altered devices on the roaches to connect to their iPods or computers, letting the insects directly tune in to top hits.

“To get the best results, we have to use a strong bass,” said student Dumichel Harley, 15. “They liked it.”

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