File this one under: should have seen it coming. Robert Burck, better known as The Naked Cowboy, has landed his very own reality television series. The busker who has made his way up to a tourist attraction, donning underwear and a guitar in Times Square, will host an American Idol-type show, The NY Post reports. He'll judge other buskers in an attempt to find the world's greatest street musician (ahem, besides himself, naturally). Burck said,......

The Naked Cowboy has been temporarily shaking his tighty-whiteys over on the west coast, and The NY Post reports that he got arrested for doing so! Reportedly he was busted in San Fransisco's Union Square for being in a restricted area. Who knew San Francisco would be so opposed to a nearly naked man, especially on the day of the Up Your Alley Fair? The arresting officers didn't realize this was the Naked Cowboy at......

Remember when the Naked Cowboy http://gothamist.com/2008/02/13/naked_cowboy_to.php">sued M&M;'s maker Mars Inc. for $6 million, claiming a commercial showing a blue M&M; in a cowboy hat, boots, and white underwear and holding a guitar in Times Square infringed on his trademark look? Well, a federal judge sent most of the lawsuit to pasture, but is allowing the Naked Cowboy's claim that it seems like he's endorsing M&M;'s to stand.......

Times Square fixture The Naked Cowboy (Robert Burck) is singing a litigious song these days against Mars Inc., maker of M&M; candies. He is claiming that the company is infringing on his trademark, i.e. singing in tighty-whities, cowboy boots and a Stetson, with a six string slung on his shoulder. Burck wants $6 million after the company started broadcasting a film on a billboard screen in Times Square showing anthropomorphic M&Ms; re-enacting famous scenes, structures,......

We checked in with some folks recently for a little end of '07 "exit interview" before we enter a new year. Next up is Nick Kroll, actor, caveman and one of our favorite comedians of '07...and probably '08. What did you do last New Years Eve? What will you do this year? Last year i listened to a cab driver complain about how a girl pee'd in his cab. I don't know why i would......

Just weeks after the New York Post milked a week's worth of coverage out of a 26-year-old's nude romp in the middle of the afternoon through Times Square, the paper heads back to the bare-naked well with yet another mentally disturbed male who wanted to lap the Square sans clothing. 44-year-old Antonia Alicata caught a Metro North train down to the city Thursday and then rode the subway to Times Square. Somewhere along the way,......

Need a last minute costume idea and in a New York state of mind? Here are a few NYC-themed ideas for your Halloween fête... R.I.P.ped from the Headlines • Thor Equities Need: Winged Thor helmet and hammer, brochures or maps (which can be printed out) of Coney Island -- and something to destroy them with. • The Staten Island Ninja Burglar Need: Ninja outfit, complete with nunchucks. Fake stab wound to the chest. Map......

A 26-year-old Yale graduate and Greenpoint resident got a lot of attention in Times Square yesterday - and the NY Post's cover today - by walking around naked. The Post reports that Josh Drimmer was walking in his birthday suit for "several minutes" around 11AM along Seventh Avenue between West 47th and 48th Streets. Reporter Jennifer Fermino overheard one witness calling a friend on his cellphone and saying, "Yo, homeboy's got full-frontal nudity right here!"......

Ever wonder what keeps the street musicians that play for change going back to the subway and sidewalk everyday? Well, it's not the music. In fact, when we asked the Naked Cowboy "Who do you 'owe it all to' and is it all about the music?" He replied, "I owe it all to myself, and it's all about me!" Whether or not it's to hone their craft, some of these folks are pulling in some......

-- Kenneth Cole deserves an honorable mention in our Most Inappropriate 9/11 Competition: "...It's not only important what you wear, but it's also important to be aware." -- David Berkowitz is back, but this time, he's taking instructions from Jesus, instead of a dog possessed by the devil. Phew. -- 3-bedroom apartment in Madonna's old building in the East Village: $568. -- "An MIT-educated former investment banker who fell into a spiral of mental......

Taking time out of his usual schedule running NYC and counting his money, Mayor Bloomberg appeared on MTV in (a taped segment) to hype the MTV Video Music Awards, which are back in NYC this year. Yup, that's why it's messy around Radio City Music Hall and that's why all these celebrities and "celebrities" (LC from The Hills, we're talking to you) are in town. Famous New Yorkers are asked who they think will win......

- Luckily no one was seriously hurt when a school bus toppled over on the Major Deegan Expressway; authorties say that the kids' seatbelts might have saved them - check out this picture from Newsday - The high school teacher accused of raping a student (a "consensual sexual affair" started when she was 14 - he was 43) was found dead, of an apparent suicide - More details on the ipodsubwaymaps's cease-and-desist orderes from the......

Besides the Calvin Klein live perfume ad, there's some interesting action in Times Square today: FDNY firefighters will be at Duffy Square (the TKTS island) between 11AM-3PM autographing copies of the new 2006 Calendar of Heroes! There are apparently some firefighter models in their 40s in the calendar (hey, George Clooney, Johnny Depp, and Brad Pitt are all in their 40s) for the calendar to have a broader appeal. Sigh, we guess we'll get......

Times Square, the crossroads of the world, wants to be a little less roady and more of a place for pedestrians to cross. The Times Square Alliance has a ten point plan to further improve Times Square, namely to make it look more beautiful and for pedestrians to have an easier time of it. Times Square Alliance president Tim Tompkins said, "While Times Square is gorgeous from the neck up, it needs a makeover from......

Gothamist loves regional humor, but we also know that references to, say, the Naked Cowboy can get lost in translation...or transportation for that matter, if made anywhere else. Massholia, the theatrereflective's latest production which is showing now at the Flamboyan Theater at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center on the Lower East Side, is a clever musical that may rely a little too heavily on Bay State related humor for it to be......

Since last week, Brian Berg has been building a replica New York City skyline at ABC's Good Morning America set using 178,000 playing cards, no glue and no tape. Gothamist went to check out the installation last night in Times Square (yeah, we're not happy about going to Times Square). Thankfully, no Naked Cowboy in sight. While it's difficult to make out the buildings from the street, we could see that there was a......

Lauren Antler, Comedian...

Robert John Burck, Naked Cowboy...

stereogum has possibly the biggest scoop of the year...well, maybe only to Gothamist, but still: A panda crosses the street in Times Square. While documenting the rise of the adorable black-and-white furry mammal's buzz, stereogum writes: I saw a panda hail a cab in Times Square this afternoon. Thank god I have a camera phone otherwise you wouldn't believe me. The panda was holding a briefcase. I think he works at Conde Nast. Well, if......