The snow and salt from the past few weeks likely corroded underground wires, causing the explosion. (We heard about something similar happening last week on 72nd Street and Columbus.) ABC News has video of the manhole fire below. Let us know if you live nearby and have seen or heard anything.

Uncle Rock
NYC’s Legendary “Uncle Rock” Performs Live in a Concert to Benefit The Greenhouse Project at Manhattan School for Children – Music Lovers of all ages and from all schools welcome! Tickets available at the door. In the Manhattan School for Children auditorium, at 154 West 93rd Street. 2 p.m. $10 for adults, $5 for children.

Riverside Park: Before the Ides of March
Join the Urban Park Rangers for a late winter walk through the Park. A cloud of gloom hangs over the Ides of March. Let’s take this opportunity to take a spooky walk through the Park after dark. At the Hippo Playground at 91st Street. 5 p.m. FREE.

New York International Children’s Film Festival
NYICFF was founded in 1997 to promote intelligent, passionate, provocative cinematic works for ages 3-18 and to help define a more compelling film for kids. At Symphony Space. Check schedule for showtimes. $10-12 adults.

Views from the Past Tour
As you promenade through the heart of Central Park, imagine yourself living in 19th-century New York City. Learn about the Park’s history and hear how its designers, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, struggled to make their vision our reality. Meet outside the Central Park Dairy Gift Shop, mid-Park at 65th Street. 12 p.m. FREE.

Amble Through the Ramble Tour
Pass over streams, under arches, through the woods along a maze of pathways in this secluded 38-acre woodland respite. Meet at Belvedere Castle, mid-Park at 79th Street. 2 p.m. FREE.

R & R Saturdays at JCC
R & R: Shabbat at the JCC is an antidote to our 24/7 life style. A day to step out of the frantic pace of everyday life. A day off. From 2 to 5 pm. Location: The JCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St. 2 p.m. FREE.

All prices quoted are for non-member adults.

By Katie Barry
“You’re flexible for a fat girl,” my mom told me once, while I was standing on my hands against the kitchen wall while she cooked dinner. I called her cruel. She kept cutting onions. “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, you’re just not lean. It’s just, you don’t have the body of a ballerina.”

I’ve long since known this. I dropped out of gymnastics partially because my polyester bike-shorts-wearing instructor Gary groped me and partially because I hit puberty. Bulky sports bras don’t look cute under pink leotards, and my blossomed bosoms felt funny on the vault and whipping around on the parallel bars.

Bikram Yoga is in the neighborhood (72nd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues), and parlays into a New Years’ Resolution: try new workouts. My sister joined a pole-dancing class at S Factor and my brother was starting rock-climbing. “C’mon Katie, you like saunas…you like challenges…” Kristy had tried it with a guy friend, and raved about it every time we passed by.

I don’t subsist on a raw foods diet, meditate to pass anger, or practice a religion unless football counts. I exercise by wrestling or playing airplane, sleep an average four hours a night, and deem gratuitous candy at my sister’s bar an acceptable dinner.

I’m friendly to everyone I meet, say “bless you” to strangers who sneeze, step aside for strollers, and give up my seat for the elderly. But no good deed goes unpunished. Isn’t that law of the land? I didn’t think I belonged in this zen establishment that required you to jettison your shoes before signing in; a place where people spoke in soft, happy hums and had Stretch Armstrong bodies.

We get our rental mats, towels, and Smart Water bottles. Heading to the studio, the last class is wrapping up. Red-faced and depleted, I want to be them. Decked out in Lululemon, Dri-Fit gear, and compression shorts, the limber-jacks of the class position their mats in the front row, getting an uninterrupted view of themselves. They stretch and exchange pleasantries. I take up residence under the clock so I could monitor it. Make sure the batteries didn’t die.

The balance poses come naturally, and the flexibility poses leave me conjuring up sex positions. I begin thinking this would be a great hobby. Pose after pose, I feel the burn and buckets of sweat draining from my pores.

But I start to taste other peoples’ misty sweat, lingering in the air. A Speedo-clad man in front of me lets out four long, wet farts before I bolt to the door with a mouth full of vomit. Perhaps he thinks they were related, but they weren’t. It is extreme nausea, and to the teacher, wouldn’t be the reason I quit. “Don’t give up!” she urges, as sounds of me hurling can be heard from the hallway. All I had eaten that day was corn, and nature returned it. The instructor fans the room with the door, despite my wishes that she’d let me puke in private. “If you want to come back, we’ll have you…with ooooopen arms…” she cooes.

I re-enter the room to 25 sweaty-faced souls sitting on their feet, golf-clapping. “You’re so courageous,” a woman whispers. “So brave,” another old man says. I’m not that courageous. I want to lie down and have icy cold water bottle, except an hour in, my drink tastes like pond water. My friend Ren slaps his stomach once, rolls his eyes twice, and mutters “Quitter.” I am miserable. There’s a scene from “Arrested Development” where Lucielle Blueth is in the conjugal trailer about to sleep with the prison warden when her son Michael lovingly urges her not to do it. She stares coldly and says, “I’d cry but I can’t afford to lose the moisture.” That is me. I couldn’t spare the tears.

Amidst my suffering, Ren flexes his muscles to show he’s better than me at something. I retaliate by puking in his washcloth. I need something to do it in. I didn’t want to leave the room and get the clapping again. I think about telling Ren, but wait and watch. It was similar to the time he tried to save my phone after it took a fatal fall from my cleavage to the toilet bowl. I neglected to tell him I peed before the phone fell in, and appreciated his eagerness.

Ren, my sister, and I finish, leaving with sweat-logged clothes and a headache the size of Wyoming. My pee is warm and my spirits are low. My friend used to call me a “dizzy broad” in mocking my dead-end waitressing job. I was that. A dizzy broad, in need of a shower. I also need to get my money’s worth. These do-gooder hippies weren’t running away with all my cash. I go back two days later. My hamstrings are tight and my Achilles tendons are tender. We go to Utopia Diner around the corner and drink a pitcher of water- about what we lost in the class.

By the third and last class, I don’t want the teacher’s feedback. When asked for my name, I say, “Lucy.” There happens to be a Katie in the class who is awesome and nationals-bound. I take her compliments and kick Lucy to the curb.

The trial period ends, and I have better posture, limber legs, and a respect for anyone who does it long-term. It’s not easy or cut out for me. I need competitive sports and not relaxing mental challenges on a mat. But if you’re curious about Bikram yoga, I would definitely experience it-especially if you can’t touch your toes or have a back like Quasimodo. A physical spring cleaning!

One Step Beyond Party
Launch your weekend with drinks and dancing at the most explosive party this side of the Milky Way. See and be seen under the stars as live bands, DJs, and VJs present the hottest music and project dynamic visuals at the Rose Center for Earth and Space. Cocktails keep the party going. At the American Museum of Natural History.9 p.m. $20 in advance, $25 at the door.

Jesse Ventura
In this explosive account of wrongful acts and on-going cover-ups, Jesse Ventura takes a systematic look at the wide gap between what the American government knows and what it reveals to the American people. At Borders Columbus Circle. 7 p.m. FREE.

Whole Foods Jazz Legends
Join Whole Foods for the Jazz Legend Winter Series which highlights the heritage of our neighborhood and honors the great musicians that played at Mikell’s Jazz Club, the former resident of 97th Street and Columbus Avenue. Tonight: The Mike Camoia Quartet. At Columbus Square Whole Foods. 5-7 p.m. FREE.

The Miracle Worker
Please join us for a fascinating discussion of the new Broadway production of this classic American play The Miracle Worker, with director Kate Whoriskey and stars Abigail Breslin and Alison Pill. At Lincoln Square Barnes and Noble. 5 p.m. FREE.

Family Friday
Come out of the cold in Central Park for Family Fridays. Jump-start your weekend with nature-inspired art and craft activities that are guaranteed to be fun for the whole family! Programs are ongoing between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm; drop in anytime before 3:30 pm to participate. At the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center in Central Park (Located inside the Park on 110th Street between Fifth and Lenox Avenues). 2 p.m. FREE.

All prices quoted are for non-member adults.

Belzer was waiting in line at the store when an employee approached him and asked if he needed help. What happened next is in dispute.

The employee, a petite dancer, says Belzer shook her and choked her and said “I need help!” The Daily News reported. (The News had three reporters on this story!)

Belzer told celebrity gossip site TMZ that “Perhaps I shouldn’t have invaded her space, but it was clearly non-threatening.”

Although cops determined no crime was committed, the woman filed a harassment report against Belzer, which she could take up in civil court. Witnesses told the News that Belzer paced up and down the block and walked into and out of the store three times after the incident. (flickr photo of Belzer by Jay Tamboli)

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Artists of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center give an encore performance of Niels Gade’s scintillating String Sextet. Although little known today, this composer, conductor, violinist, and organist was the most important Danish musician of his time, and took over the position of chief conductor at the Gewandhaus Orchestra upon Mendelssohn’s death. This music carries the memory of Mendelssohn in sweet, light-footed virtuosity and deeply-felt melodies. At the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, on Broadway between 62nd and 63rd Streets. 8:30 p.m. FREE.

Ira Resnick, Starstruck: Vintage Movie Posters from Classic Hollywood
Ira Resnick began as a professional photographer who later founded the Motion Picture Arts Gallery. He joins us tonight to discuss this lively, firsthand account of the evolution of a world-class collection of vintage film posters and stills. At Lincoln Square Barnes and Noble. 7:30 p.m. FREE.

Birds of Prey
Encounter hawks, owls, falcons or other species up close as we explore the adaptations of these winged wonders! Touch raptor artifacts. A lucky volunteer may get to help with some of the demonstrations. Presented by the New Canaan Nature Center. For all ages. At St. Agnes Library. 4 p.m. FREE.

St. Patrick’s Day Crafts
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with Chess & Checkers House staff. Color pictures, make decorations, and more. All ages. Limited space; no groups or strollers inside the building, please. No advance registration. At Chess & Checkers House (Located inside the Park at 64th Street. 2-4 p.m. FREE.

David Shenk: Genius in All of Us
In Genius in All of Us, science writer David Shenk provides startling new research to show that greatness is a reachable goal for everyone. At 82nd Street Barnes and Noble. 7 p.m. FREE.

Community Board 7 Parks Committee
At Community Board offices, 250 West 87th Street. 6:30 p.m. FREE

All prices quoted are for non-member adults.

The old Martin Luther King, Jr. school was closed in 2005, but six new schools now occupy the space. Right now, the plaza (left) is filled with a forlorn collection of benches and seats. Staff and students at the high school want to make it more inviting, adding a green hydroponic wall similar to the one at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center and new benches. Other ideas include retractable bleachers, glass bricks symbolizing each school in the complex, a message board, and lockers near the door for cell phones.

No changes are planned for the iconic metal cube honoring Dr. King at the corner of the plaza, other than possibly adding more lighting to it. Councilwoman Gale Brewer has been spearheading the effort to upgrade the plaza.

Students from the Hunter High School of Science, located on the Martin Luther King campus, proposed new designs for the space, and a few were selected to present to the School Construction Authority. The design pictured at top was one of the winning proposals. Check out some more of the winning designs below, and a picture of the winners with Gale Brewer. (photos courtesy of Nicholas Kozak)

But Judge Miriam Goldman Cederbaum said the name has been associated with a restaurant in Central Park since 1934, and therefore belongs to the city. The city was already floating a new name (”Tavern on the Park”) for the space, which is now in the hands of Boathouse owner Dean Poll. It’s still unclear when the iconic eatery will reopen.

Curbed has the first pictures up, and they’re quite sumptuous. Among the amenities at “The Corner”: a rooftop deck with an open-air fireplace and a “misting wall.” The building also has a gym and “Corner Club” where you can watch the big game with other rich people. And the foyer has a chandelier with 1,750 LED crystals. The building is attempting to get LEED-Silver certification. No word yet on what the apartments will rent for.

As for the retail spaces, it looks like Trader Joe’s (a 20,000 square foot store)  will mostly be underground. And Bank of America is going in next to Trader Joe’s on the corner of the block. But there is still space available on the ground level and the second and third floors. Check out all our 200 West coverage here. (photo by Avi)