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newyork
newyork
(softlad)
NY Lawmakers Want To Do Away With Anonymous Online Comments
By Chris Morran on May 23, 2012 11:23 AM
83 Comments
Anonymous hate-mongering,name-calling and venom-spitting has been around the Internet since before many of the people reading this post even had an e-mail address. While most of us have just come to accept that this is part of the cost of having an online community, state lawmakers in New York have drafted legislation that intends to do away with anonymous commenting. More »
(Scoboco)
Average Foreclosure In NYC Area Now Takes Longer Than 3 Years
By Chris Morran on April 27, 2012 2:30 PM
10 Comments
Aside from being the title of a totally rad Olsen Twins movie, the phrase "New York minute" implies that things move rapidly in the Big Apple. One exception is the home foreclosure process, which can drag out to more than 1,100 days in the NYC metro area. More »
Hero Or Scoundrel? 92-Year-Old Pirates DVDs To Send To Troops Stationed Overseas
By Chris Morran on April 27, 2012 1:00 PM
69 Comments
Making a copy of a new DVD to send to a loved one stationed overseas with the armed forces is something many people would consider just fine. Making thousands of copies of that same DVD for sale on street corners would likely earn some frowns from the public. But what about someone — especially an adorable nonagenarian World War II vet — who makes thousands of copies for the sole purpose of entertaining the troops? More »
Supreme Court Decides At Least Some NYC Apartments Will Remain Affordable
By Chris Morran on April 23, 2012 1:09 PM
67 Comments
For more than 40 years, finding a rent-stabilized apartment in New York City has been like winning the lottery. Earlier this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court shot down a challenge to the rent-stabilization regulations, meaning at least a million city residents will continue to pay rent that is only a fraction of what their neighbors pay More »
Water Bill Jumps From $62 To $1,400. Will Cost $180 To Have Meter Inspected
By Chris Morran on April 19, 2012 1:30 PM
49 Comments
When your quarterly water bill goes up a few thousand percent after the city installs a new meter at your house, you'd think the utilities folks would want to take a look at that meter because it's either broken or your house is about to float away. But not in New York City, where it will cost you $180 just for the privilege of having that meter inspected by a human being. More »
NY Attorney General Files $300 Million Lawsuit Against Sprint
By Chris Morran on April 19, 2012 12:20 PM
32 Comments
Earlier today, the Attorney General for the state of New York accused the folks at Sprint-Nextel Corp of deliberately failing to collect more than $100 million in sales tax from customers — and now he wants the nation's third-largest wireless provider to pay up. More »
Culinary Bill Shock: Beware The Secret $275 Truffle Pasta Special!
By Meg Marco on April 9, 2012 3:00 PM
107 Comments
There's a small, innocuous-looking cafe on Madison Ave that you may find yourself considering on your next meander through New York City. Watch out, says BoingBoing, whose Rob Beschizza wandered into the place on a lark, you're about to get socked with hidden charges. How bad could it be? Behold: More »
Report: More Than 200 Items A Day Stolen From Passengers At JFK Airport
By Chris Morran on March 27, 2012 12:45 PM
52 Comments
JFK International in NYC isn't just one of the busier airports in the country, it's also reportedly the place in the Big Apple for passengers to have stuff stolen out of their bags. More »
NYC Taxis To Finally Clear Up The Whole On/Off Duty Thing
By Chris Morran on February 29, 2012 12:31 PM
34 Comments
For years, people trying to hail a cab in New York City have been confused by trying to decode the many permutations of taxis' "Off Duty" lights. If those words are illuminated, the cab may still be available, but only if the medallion number light is also on — and if you happen to be heading in the direction the cab is driving. It's confusing enough to NYC residents, and downright confounding to most visitors. But that's all about to be cleared up. More »
NY To Require That Banks Send Decision-Makers, Not Mouthpieces, To Foreclosure Proceedings
By Chris Morran on February 22, 2012 4:15 PM
25 Comments
Like many states that are trying to both expedite judicial review of foreclosures and keep as many people in their homes as possible, New York has enacted new measures, like requiring that bank lawyers verify foreclosure paperwork and that all homeowners receive legal assistance. But a big problem keeps coming up that continues to cause delays — no one in the room actually has the authority to change a loan agreement. More »
Anti-SOPA Protests Planned Around The Country Today
By Chris Morran on January 18, 2012 4:06 AM
4 Comments
Even though the House Judiciary Committee has moved its planned hearing on the Stop Internet Piracy Act from today until February — perhaps hoping that we'll all be too hungover from Super Bowl beer and wings to care — that's not going to stop people who are peeved about SOPA and its Senate counterpart, the Protect IP Act, from taking to the streets to have their say. More »
Vodka Company To Take Down Billboard After Complaints Of Anti-Semitism
By Chris Morran on November 23, 2011 7:45 AM
63 Comments
Yesterday, we brought you the story of the Wodka (a brand of Vodka and not a typo) billboard that advertised "Christmas Quality" at "Hanukkah Pricing," which more than a few folks took as playing up the stereotype that Jewish people as cheap. After initially attempting to defend the ad by claiming that the idea was to say Hanukkah's eight nights of festivities are a better bargain than the one day of Christmas, the makers of Wodka announced last night that they will be taking the billboard down. More »
Foreclosure Mill That Mocked Homeless For Halloween Is Shutting Down, Blames NY Times
By Chris Morran on November 22, 2011 12:30 PM
110 Comments
Remember that foreclosure mill law firm in NY state that got caught mocking the homeless during Halloween? They subsequently apologized, but that couldn't keep the firm afloat, and last week it was announced that the company was closing. So whose fault is this? Well, the NY Times' fault, obviously. More »
(dougtone)
After Last Department Store Leaves, Town Decides To Start Its Own
By Ben Popken on November 14, 2011 12:00 PM
116 Comments
After the last department store in town went bankrupt in 2002, the townsfolk of Saranac Lake, NY, faced the daunting prospect of having to drive 50 miles away just to purchase underwear. Rather than give up or give into complaining, they pulled themselves up by their mud boots and decided to build their own store, and it just opened. More »
(Gene)
Protesters Get Boiler Fixed In Harlem
By Ben Popken on November 11, 2011 4:00 PM
58 Comments
Those good-for-nothing bums down at Zuccotti Park put down their free Ben & Jerry's ice cream for one minute and became quite good-for-something. Instead of occupying Wall Street, they occupied 142nd Street, and got a new boiler installed in a building where the heat and hot water has been spotty for years. More »
Illegal Urban Vegetable Gardener Gets Away With It
By Ben Popken on November 9, 2011 10:00 AM
46 Comments
The city needn't be a blighted blacktop jungle where the only thing that grows is broken dreams. Under the cover of night, Todd Bieber planted an urban vegetable garden in Brooklyn in an abandoned patch of ground next to a parking lot. The harvest he reaped was more than just the tomatos and squash: anonymous passers by added water to it on a regular basis, and neighborhood folks spontaneously donated seeds and tomato stands. Here's his story of how his garden grew, flourished, became salsa that he donated to the Armenian church that owned the patch, and then compost. More »
(katerha)
Phony Bedbug Exterminator Steals Jewels
By Ben Popken on November 3, 2011 5:00 PM
21 Comments
New York Police are warning Queens residents to be on the lookout for a jewel thief in bedbug exterminator's clothing. More »
Renter Sues To Keep Name Off List Of Renters Who Have Been Sued
By Chris Morran on November 3, 2011 11:30 AM
41 Comments
If you're sued for eviction by your landlord in New York state, whether you win or lose the case, your name goes on a list that then gets sold to other landlords looking to screen out potential nuisance renters. Wanting to keep his name and record clean, one Manhattan man has preemptively sued to bar his name from being added to the list. More »
Vegas Dismisses $896 Ticket They Gave Car Parked In New York
By Ben Popken on October 26, 2011 2:00 PM
51 Comments
Sometimes it just takes a little followup. That's what got a $896 ticket vaporized that the city of Las Vegas had erroneously slapped on Charlotte's car while it was 2,000 miles away in New York state. More »
Car Racks Up $896.80 Vegas Parking Ticket While Sitting In New York
By Ben Popken on October 25, 2011 3:00 PM
90 Comments
Charlotte is bewildered as to how her Camry somehow got a for $896.80 ticket for parking in a handicapped spot in Las Vegas while it was sitting happily in New York State. Had her car been secretly running out of town to go galavant around Sin City behind her back? More »
