A recent study found that Manhattan was far thinner than the rest of the nation, so the Times sent someone out to ask the locals what they thought about it all and happened to run into an old Gawker pal.

Despite all charges being dropped in the case, people are still talking about the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, so we thought it might be interesting to share some insight we received from a veteran cop on the matter.

Tracy Morgan brought his own unique brand of lunacy to Letterman's show last night, where he spoke at length on what he plans to do to avoid the "Whitney Houston syndrome" in the event he wins an Emmy this year.

Yesterday we noticed that Fox News was hyping a Bill O'Reilly "investigation" into the naked Erin Andrews peephole video incident, prompting us to wonder, "Will the ole smut-merchant show the video on the air?" Well, of course he would, duh!

Today's shameless press release of the day: Star Magazine issued a statement tonight merrily touting the fact that one of their reporters, Kate Major, is getting boned by douche-y octodad Jon Gosselin. Yeah.

Did you watch Barack Obama's big health care press conference tonight? We did! Did you learn anything new from it? Because we sure didn't!

John Michael Higgins isn't a household name, but you've probably seen him acting in Christopher Guest films and/or as Wayne Jarvis on Arrested Development. He also portrayed Letterman in The Late Shift, something he says Letterman still hates him for.

New York's restaurant advice rubbed Make's editor the wrong way; Kurt Andersen's praise rubbed Alex Balk the wrong way; and Cablevision's insults rubbed Jeff Jarvis precisely as intended.

Welcome back, folks. Before we get started tonight, I'd like to take a moment to fondly remember Erica (a k a The Viceroy of Value), who recently departed the airwaves, perhaps never to return.

• The Barneys display featuring mannequins being attacked and blood spatter on the windows has been dismantled. Barneys creative director Simon Doonan says they had been put up while he was out of town, but they "clearly crossed the line," and so he ordered them taken down. [NYDN]
• Fashion Week kicks off in just seven weeks. The good news is that it probably won't be quite as gloomy this time around. [Cut, WWD]
• Anna Wintour didn't produce or direct The September Issue, the new documentary about Vogue. But that doesn't seem to be stopping her from being "completely controlling" about publicity for the movie. [NYDN]
• Breaking! Michelle Obama unveiled a totally new hairdo today. [Cut]

Our last shred of hope that the Hamptons are full of fabulous people doing wonderful things that we just can't afford has been dashed. It's confirmed that these two fratboy fameballs have been palling around in Southhampton.

Did you ever get the sense that the people who run Politico are arrogant tools? Us too. Founders Jim VandeHei, John Harris, Robert Allbritton, and reporter Ben Smith were on Charlie Rose last night and they OWNED THE SEGMENT.

[That's Times Square's fame-hungry Naked Cowboy holding a press conference to announce his candidacy for New York City mayor; image via AP]

Here, via David Weigel, is a video that very succinctly describes who The Birthers are. They are crazy people wandering around Washington handing out make-believe "indictments."

Oh, Wall Street Journal. Somebody there has poor reading comprehension skills. Or hates PR people. [Thanks, P!]

If Project Runway is fashion's World Series, then Lifetime's new special, that pits eight of the show's alums against each other for a $100,000 prize, is the sewing All-Star Game. The winner shouldn't be too hard to guess.

After Yoo mentions the Constitution during his lecture, and asks the students if they have any questions, an Australian comedian from the show Chaser's War on Everything is seen wearing a black-hooded robe and standing on top of his desk with his arms outstretched, recalling one of the most iconic images of U.S. torture captured in the now-infamous Abu Ghraib photos.

Amazon.com bought Zappos, the beloved online retailer of shoes, for $920 million, mostly in stock. Amazon's announcement was as direct as its business model; while reporters were calling the company in vain, CEO Jeff Bezos was dishing via YouTube.

• Rumor has it Thomas Keller is planning to open another restaurant to NYC in "one of the new high-rise buildings in Chelsea." Keller's denying it. [TFB, GS]
• The day in reviews: Frank Bruni is a little disappointed with Locanda Verde; the Post's Steve Cuozzo totally digs SHO Shaun Hergatt; Danyelle Freeman of the Daily News thinks Marea rivals Le Bernardin but is way too expensive; and GQ's Alan Richman and Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton both tackle DBGB.
• Andrew Silverman's City Lobster & Steak is now bankrupt. [Crain's]
• The NYPD is cracking down on narcotics sales involving club promoters. [BB]
• A man was indicted today for allegedly raping a woman at Marquee. [NYP]
• Momofuku may jump into the food cart fray. We'll second TFB's sentiments: "This gourmet cart/truck business is getting out of control." [Eater, TFB]

[via Adfreak]