We were in Detroit for the weekend, and the most frequently asked questions about Boston were "What happened in the Super Bowl?" and "Is that Big Dig thing finally finished?" The latter is easier to answer: No. The Globe reports today--months after the official ending--that there are some 2,000 tasks of varying importance that have yet to be completed by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority's contractors. The MTA says that while the Big Dig is functional......

While sitting in traffic on your way to work, the last thing you'd expect to see as you look out your car window is a bigger-than-life basket of pears, grapes the size of your car tires, and... a giant bundle of asparagus? That is, of course, unless you live in Brighton and are on your way into Cambridge by way of Parsons Street: Then, friends, you are looking at history. Commissioned in 2005 by......

The Big Dig began in 1991. 14.8 billion dollars, hundreds of besmirched reputations, and one casualty later, the Big Dig is finally wrapped up. Well, at least officially. We'll be feeling the repercussions for a long time. To borrow a phrase from Rob Corddry's visit to Boston, we've earned our merit badge for corruption. The AP has provided a full timeline of the Big Dig. Bostonist was born in 2005, but we have our fair......

A viral video posted by our brothers and sisters at Gothamist shows some women who pole danced in a train car on a dare from darejunkies.com, much to the chagrin of the MTA. The video is something to behold, although, after seeing all the crotch-grinding and the dubious looks of some of the men enjoying themselves, we wouldn't want to touch anything in that car after the women finished. Here's the video: Given that this......

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King and appreciated their beautiful skyline. Chicagoist knows what it's like to like the Cubs. But naming your kid Wrigley Fields? At least they can breathe a little easier now that Grossman's out and......

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt,......

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti......

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried......

This week we'd like to congratulate the -ist network's Mother Hen, Gothamist's Jen Chung, who found herself a recipient of Wired Magazine's Wired Rave Award. If that doesn't sound terribly exciting, keep in mind another recipient was J.K. Rowling. Yep, that's right, the -ist network and Harry Potter now have something in common. Go us. Austinist has a chat with the ever-fashionable Golden Girl Rue McClanahan, and managed to catch some local fashionistas making......

Spring is when we get busy here in the Ist-A-Verse. Very busy. But, after staying bundled-up indoors all winter, it's nice for us to be out, about, and collecting things to write about for you. Here's a glimpse at what's been keeping your favorite citybloggers busily away from home and out of bed. For LAist, strong winds attacked LA on the same day the Feds raided the Crips. Not to fear, though: the Japanese version......

The big news in this mornings papers and airwaves was that a report from the Transportation Finance Commission has released a report that pretty much every state transit authority (including the MBTA, DCR, Turnpike Authority, and Highway Department) is in deficit spending and working to just keep up what they've got going. The deficit spending will result in a projected $19 billion deficit over the next 20 years according to the report. That's just for......

We can't make fun of Senate President Robert Travaglini, lovingly known as "T-Vag," anymore. T-Vag (not to be confused with "T-Weed" of I Love New York fame) has announced that he's leaving that he is leaving the guv'mint for a higher-paying job. $90,000 dollars a year wasn't enough for him, so he's moving on to bigger and better things. The Globe says T-Vag will launch "a lobbying company that would help clients navigate the political......

Grant Stoddard will read from Working Stiff at Harvard Book Store, 6:30 pm, Wednesday, February 7. A few days ago, we talked about Vendela Vida's day jobs as an editor and writing teacher. But Grant Stoddard has a day job worth talking about. He has sex all day. That's pretty much it. Then he writes about it. Grant Stoddard has done everything you can think of, and probably a few things you haven't thought of.......

This morning Ramp L, also known as Exit 20, has reopened. Yesterday Mass Turnpike Authority officials opened the carpool lane just north of the ramp, and this morning the ramp was opened to traffic. The ramp, closed since the incident last July, will allow the estimated 22,000 drivers to connect from I-93 N to I-90 E towards Logan. A carpool portion of the eastbound ramp does remain closed for repairs, and is expected to open......

Breaking news out of the tunnels today is that the inevitable legal action is now official. The family of Milena Del Valle, the Jamaica Plain resident killed when ceiling tiles in the I-90 connector tunnel crushed her in July, are suing in a wrongful death case. The legal action names the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, and eight other companies who worked on the project as responsible for the death of Del Valle. There was......

Breaking the law, breaking the law We -ist folks love us some crime, and no misdemeanor is too petty for a post on any of our sites. This week, join us for a rogues' gallery of miscreants major, minor, and alleged. Gothamist gets us started with "Law & Order", muppet style. Oh, you know what isn't a crime? Taking pictures on the MTA. So, why are cops stopping photographers? In other Gotham crime, a......

Matthew Amorello tendered his resignation this morning. Just about an hour before a hearing scheduled to remove Amorello from his post as the MTA Chairman. After the Supreme Judicial Court ruled yesterday that the hearing could go ahead (a ruling against Amorello's assertion that Romney was inventing powers) the negotiations began regarding the terms of the resignation. Before what promises to be a day of press conferences and statements released to the press, we know......

Oh MBTA, why are you so, so, so wrong all the time? We read in Brian McGrory's column today in the Globe that the T is unveiling a new "courtesy campaign" to address employee and customer rudeness. Now, we know about rudeness (both receiving and dispensing), and more good feelings on public transportation would surely be a good thing. But when the state's secretary of transportation says, "The public isn't going to ride if......

Last month, fundraising for the Boston Museum Project reached the $4 million mark, a milestone for them, but still just a fraction of the $70 million projected total cost. The goal of the Boston Museum Project (BMP) is to construct a new museum showcasing Boston’s past, present, and future on parcel 12 of the soon-to-be created Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. Bostonist doesn’t mean to sound overly critical, but our first reaction to seeing the......

The MTA, the one of New York City fame, not of Scollay Under and JP-nickel-exit-fare fame, isn’t running today. Gothamist is liveblogging it. Today they’re all strike, strike, "how'd you get to work?", and more strike. The transit strike in NYC has stolen the headline spot for all national news outlets. Now NYC seems to be trying to cheat Boston out of our nickname “The Walking City” with Mayor Bloomberg himself walking across to Brooklyn......

OK, we're a little behind the curve on this one, but better late than never. Some enterprising fellow in New York has created a site where you can download T maps for your iPod photo for free. Bostonist thinks this is awesome, although we'd urge discrete use: carrying an iPod on the train has already been shown to be a good way to get said iPod stolen. Add to that the fact that using a......

Well, as if Bostonians haven't gone through enough with this whole Big Dig fiasco, another story has been outed by the Boston Globe today about how I-93 tunnels are now being called unsafe. Jack Lemley, who has been the big engineering honcho specifically dealing with the new tunnels, released a letter on March 9, revealing that he now feels that maybe they aren't that safe after all. (This is the same man who went......

Afraid that Boston would succumb to the C line controversy that’s rocked Gothamist commuters the Boston Fire Department told NSTAR to cut power to a couple thousand Bostonians for a short time yesterday evening. MBTA power substation near JFK/UMass Station blew up when gas had leaked into the area where a generator started up to create the power to run trains on the Red Line. MBTA has told commuters that they should expect fewer......

Well, we all know about the Big Dig. Lots of constructions, lots of money (14.7 billion dollars to be exact), and lots of complaining. Just when the Mass Turnpike Authority (MTA) was looking at the light at the end of the tunnel, a leak sprung up in their plans, literally. The leak in the I-93 tunnel was only the start to the troubles of the biggest civil project in U.S. history. Since then, investigators......