August 2008 - The hotelier who is going to open the new Thompson LES Hotel, Jason Pomeranc was quoted this week as saying this of the day his hotel opens: "going to be a moment in time that will be remembered as kind of when the Lower East Side came of age." Tell that to the folks at the Mercury Lounge, Katz' Deli and WD50, all of whom might beg to differ!

October 2008 - After selling out New York's Madison Square Garden for four straight nights, pop diva Madonna appeared at the premiere of her very own film in mid October. Madonna went to her own movie premiere. Held at the Sunshine Cinema on the Lower East Side, Madonna, the new director complained about the few empty seats in the auditorium ("I'm used to much bigger crowds than this, that's all I have to say," she said). She was here on the lower east side to show off her first film, "Filth and Wisdom." Seen in the crowd there and at the after party were Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Alba, Marc Jacobs, Steven Klein, Ingrid Sischy, Bruce Weber and Jason Lewis of Sex and the City fame. filed under: Madonna on the Lower East Side.