One thing that New Yorkers always look forward to during the holidays is the unveiling of their city's festive window displays. Brand boutiques and department stores alike get in on the action, offering window-shoppers superior eye candy for their morning strolls. City residents and visitors used to be the only ones with access to these visuals, but thanks to TurnHills.com, the world can now experience Manhattan's legendary windows from the comfort of their homes.

Long a resource for discerning hotel consumers, the Relais & Chateaux group is a collection of just over 500 hotels around the world that share a common “art de vivre.” They’ve just announced the addition of their only New York City hotel, the first Manhattan property in almost 20 years: The Surrey hotel, on the Upper East Side.

The Don Hill saga continues to get stickier. Rumors and innuendo have become accusations, as unpaid employees left unpaid are increasingly motivated to find a way get paid. I was told that the loot set aside to pay employees was being used to pay huge outstanding debts, like rent and purveyors, and that parties were taking money out of accounts faster than could be put in to pay staff.

Lady Gaga is coming to town, but before you participate in that HBO-documented debauchery, catch Ween and the Walkmen, new indie darling Darwin Deez, Interpol, and Crystal Stilts make their way to a music hall near you. Les Savy Fav, Lou Reed, and the Church round out this week's Gig Guide.

Amy Gunther’s birthday bash got me down to the still-purring-like-a-classic-car Motor City. Amy is the proprietor of Williamsburg’s KCDC Skateshop. She is a reverse cross-commuter living in the L.E.S. and working in BBURG. As Manhattan slowly loses its luster, and chains like Starbucks, Duane Reade, and other stores cater to the needs of its yuppie/NYU/condo set, more and more people have migrated to the hipster ghettos of Brooklyn. It's the only place to be for creatives. Still, L Train Brooklyn and its other enclaves no longer define it as the second city—that happened at the start of the decade. When I went apartment hunting in September, I found the rents in the East Village and Brooklyn comparable. Amy will soon be joined by many artistic/creative types who can’t - or don’t want - to work in the increasingly gentrified Manhattan, but find sleeping in rent-controlled or long-leased apartments in hipster oases like Chinatown and L.E.S. affordable. Amy, still stunningly beautiful after yet another birthday, had Shawn Regruto DJing and it was grand time for all.

Calling up your pals to investigate what they'll be wearing for the evening is so un-New York these days. Style is all about personal self expression, and a moment of weakness, a moment of slipping self confidence can ruin your whole "I really don't give a shit what people think" act. Amirite? Whatever. We all have moments of closet-damning slips of sartorial diffidence, and when those moments arise, it's only natural to check out what the kids have on these days—fashion inspiration, no? And since we've all walked into a black tie affair dressed in a ratty old T and felt that wave of nausea that comes with being totally inappropriately dressed (just me?) it feels good sometimes to have a cheat sheet on what the kids are wearing to NYC late night spots like Le Bain. Thanks to Nicky Digital for such a sheet.

For me, Dave Burkeman—DJ DB—has been around since Redzone, my almost-great joint up on west 54th street. Redzone was one of those mega-clubs back in the day, where a club social scene was balanced with great music from big DJs. Now it’s usually one or the other, as crowds are trained, and accept the same ol’ same ol’ track, spewed out by computers garnished from the internet. Music and clubs have become a means to escape from the troubles of the world, and rarely are culturally forward—at least, musically. The sounds of the future are only found in smaller venues. Even the mega-club Pacha offers only one superstar DJ per night, with the smaller Pachita room not getting famous for breaking any ground. It was important at one point to break ground musically. Now you can walk into a joint and hear good music which was ground breaking 20 years ago. Each DJ will put his own little twist to the track but rarely is there anything to shout about. DB is a DJ’s DJ. His well-earned musical chops have been breaking new sounds since vinyl was king.

There’s a quote that goes, “Old doormen never die, they just fade away.” Or something like that. That’s the way Irv Johnson slipped off my radar. I always stopped to chat with Irv when he worked Pink Elephant. My nightly rounds brought me over to the 27th Street corridor, and Irv and another doorman, Stefan, were a constant. Then it was only Stefan, and then nobody bothered with 27th Street, and Irv was reduced to a rumor. Facebook linked us together again. Club people, like hookers and strippers, need to have an exit strategy. Very few make enough loot to retire to a condo in Miami, or a ranch in Montana. For many, it’s just a roller coaster ride of loot, toot and booty. Many, like myself, one night find themselves too old and disinterested, and look to get out. Nightlife isn’t good for most resumes, and unless they have a plan, they have a problem. I managed to segue into design and writing, but many club people’s only skill sets have to deal with model wrangling, or slinging shots, and as time moves them away from the beat of the street, they become less effective. Irv is a pro. He had all the right tools to do the door right: a great memory for faces, style, knowledge of the business, and most importantly, a big heart—which got him through the most trying of nights. With a few notable exceptions, most great door people love people, and approach their gig as if all are equal, but they have a job to do.

There are carcinogens in baby shampoo. I'm serious. Cancer-causing materials were found in the ingredients, and under current law, the Food and Drug Administration can't require cosmetics companies to tell you so. When asked about the "probable human carcinogens" (that means they are "probably" going to cause cancer in humans), the companies said the materials were used so sparsely that it would be silly to list them in the ingredients. Come again? Yesterday, Democrats in congress proposed a bill that would force the FDA to ask cosmetic companies for transparency in their labeling procedures—as in, they'd have to list everything in that goes into products, including lead and mercury. In correlation with this proposal, The Story of Cosmetics was released yesterday, a film you could shelf in the Horror section, helping to educate the masses on just how toxic our bathrooms are. Video after the jump.

I’ve only met Lindsay Lohan a couple of times, introduced casually at affairs. The cops blocked off the street near my house once because she was shopping in a local boutique. We complained: why did she get to close down the hood? We took names of the cops, and got the street opened pretty fast. A fun teen movie, half a dozen years ago, was enough to start the tabloid fodder that has followed, and will keep us in stitches for decades. I watched her courtroom tears, the result of a 90-day jail sentence issued by a judge, with mixed feelings. The tears must have been real. I feel bad about my cold feelings, but my sympathy for devils wanes as I gracefully age. The F.U. fingernail she sported in court made my unchristian-like attitude easier to live with. Back in October, Lohan tweeted about Justin Timberlake, which reportedly cause her to be banned from Avenue. At the time, the NY Post reported that she claimed her Twitter was hacked. I believe her. But Lindsay Lohan’s trials and tribulations raise an ethical question for operators.