Several people have written, wondering what happened to the “Jerry Barmash” byline. Well, to make a long story short, my wife and I were among the millions affected by Superstorm Sandy. For the last five weeks, our lives have been turned upside down from just a few inches of water. We lived in one hotel after another until this past weekend when we moved into a rental, ahead of the major renovations to our home. Although it took time, and still not on regular basis, the show must, and thankfully, will go on! My thanks to co-editor Chris O’Shea for keeping FishbowlNY readers informed on a daily basis. My sincere gratitude to the Mediabistro editorial director Chris Ariens, who was extremely patient while I dealt with the enormity of this once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) situation.

Not to sound like I just won an Oscar, but that segues nicely to this post.

Winners have been announced in the New York Film Critics Circle, an early Oscar indicator.

Zero Dark Thirty took home the big prize, Best Picture, at the 78th annual event yesterday. The critics needed a five-hour marathon session to settle on the victors. Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow netted her second Best Director win. She previously won for The Hurt Locker, a feat she followed up historically at the Academy Awards.

Daniel Day-Lewis, a four-time NYFCC winner, made it number five with the Best Actor nod, and vaulted to the front of the Oscar race for his tour de force as Lincoln.

Additionally, Sally Field was selected as Best Supporting Actress for portraying Lewis’ better half Mary Todd Lincoln in the Steven Spielberg epic.

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Thanks to Anne Hathaway being arguably the most boring person on the planet and James Franco being (shockingly!) not as smart as the media would like him to be, the Academy Awards were largely unwatchable this year.

However, according to the latest from min, all was not lost. Magazine websites, particularly Entertainment Weekly’s, saw huge traffic boosts from the ceremony:

Its +12.60% February-versus-January differential (unique visitors were fractionally down) peaked on February 28, when 12.6 million PVs were measured as the Oscar recap was posted. Sum was +85% versus post-Oscars 2010 (March 8, 2010), but it was the social echoes that really paid off. Over 15,000 comments were posted on a blog that proved to be the most popular live coverage ever for EW, even beating its famous Lost finale coverage (May 23, 2010). Further, EW Oscar stories were shared over 10,000 times on Facebook, and the post-Oscar wave even hit the magazine’s mobile site, which hit a daily record with over half a million page views.

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The 92nd Street Y in Tribeca is ready to roll out the red carpet for the 83rd Academy Awards Sunday night.  

Like several other venues, as we reported yesterday, the lower Manhattan cultural and community center is hosting an Oscar Party.

The 92YTribeca’s second foray at entertaining during Hollywood’s biggest night includes comedians comedians Sara Benincasa and Jon Friedman.

The doors open at 7 p.m. with tickets $10.

Along with the usual Oscar viewing fare, this party offers themed drinks (For example, “The Royal Stammer” and “The Rooster” ).

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As Hollywood makes final preparations for Sunday’s Oscars, many New Yorkers are solidifying their plans for the big night as well.

If an Oscar party is your idea of fun, but don’t have one to attend, consider yourself invited.

Comic Murray Hill hosts a full Oscar night celebration, complete with the ubiquitous ballots and prizes. Separating this party, which starts at 7 p.m., from the Oscar party “home edition” are several guest comedians. It takes place at Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette Street between East 4th Street and Astor Place. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door.

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The Road to the Oscars went through Manhattan over the weekend. New York-based National Society of Film Critics chose The Social Network, the movie that chronicles the genesis of Facebook, as best picture.  

The assembled 61 critics from across the country met at Sardi’s Restaurant for their 45th annual meeting.

The group “liked” The Social Network enough to give best actor honors to Jesse Eisenberg (above). He played the emotionless Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The motion picture was also handed directing (David Fincher) and screenplay (Aaron Sorkin) accolades.

Italian actress Giovanna Mezzogiorno won as best actress for her role as Mussolini’s secret lover in the little known (at least in the U.S.) Vincere.

Named as supporting actor, Geoffrey Rush was honored for his turn as a speech therapist in The King’s Speech, while Olivia Williams was victorious as supporting actress for The Ghost Writer.  

True Grit was named best cinematography.