Consumerist
expedia
Posts Tagged “
NYC
”
expedia
ghoulish
NYC 'Bodies' Exhibit Must Refund Tickets For Using Undocumented Corpses
If you've seen the "Bodies" exhibit at the South Street Seaport in New York City, you're entitled to a refund (click here for info) according to a new agreement between New York's Attorney General's office and Premier Exhibitions, Inc. When "Bodies" first opened here over two years ago, some opponents questioned whether the Chinese cadavers were legally obtained—or whether they were Chinese political prisoners who hadn't consented to being plastinated, flayed, and displayed by a private for-profit company. At the time, Premier Exhibitions' president said all the bodies were documented: "Although he said he was not allowed to keep copies of documents, officials at Dalian University in northern China showed him papers attesting to the origin of the remains," wrote the New York Times in 2005. Then ABC's news show "20/20" aired an investigative report this past February that showed otherwise. More »
public health
There Are Bed Bugs On The Subway Benches. Yes, Really.
Bedbugs are usually thought of as something that only hotel guests have to worry about, but apparently New Yorkers who like to sit on benches while they wait for the subway should be concerned about the bloodsuckers as well. More »
heroic
Chase Refuses To Shut Down Broken ATM Until You Threaten To Report Them To The FDIC
Reader Keith tried to get $120 from a downtown NYC Chase ATM, but the money door never opened. When he went inside to report the malfunction, the teller told him to go outside and wait. Keith thought he was waiting for someone to come fix the ATM or take his personal information. It turns out that he was just being ignored. More »
fast food
Blimpie, Please Put Your Nutritional Info Back Online
The new caloric information law in New York City has begun to show itself in restaurants—yesterday we decided against a fudge brownie at Starbucks because it was over 400 calories. A reader named Spoon wrote in to let us know that Blimpie, however, still hasn't bothered to put its nutritional information back on its website. They took it down last summer in a failed attempt to skirt the NYC law before it was rewritten. Now, ten months later, they're still keeping consumers in the dark and incorrectly blaming it on New York City. More »
rectal exams
Jury Says 'Up Yours' To Rectal Exam Lawsuit
Remember Brian Persaud, the Brooklyn construction worker who tried to sue a New York hospital for performing a by-the-books rectal exam on him in 2003? On Monday, a Manhattan jury tossed his lawsuit, claiming he failed to show he suffered assault and battery. This means we'll never get to hear both sides splitting hairs about what constitutes a full "rectal examination"—Persaud says the doctor did it, and the doctor says she didn't.More »
menugate
Judge: Calories To Be Posted On Fast Food Menus In NYC!
The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog informs us that a federal judge has given the go ahead to NYC's new (rewritten) menu labeling law, thus ending (until the inevitable appeal) a fierce and sometimes weird battle between the fast food industry and NYC's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. More »
data theft
Data On Over 40,000 Patients Stolen From NYC Hospital
The New York Times is reporting this morning that an unnamed employee stole personal data on over 40,000 patients from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The theft "occurred over the past several years and included patients' names, phone numbers and Social Security numbers." As we've come to grimly expect in these cases, the hospital was made aware of the theft in January, and announced it publicly on Friday after an internal audit. "We obviously deeply regret that this has happened," said the hospital's spokeswoman, Ms. Manners. She also said that investigators are "looking into the possibility that the theft could be part of a larger criminal scheme." More »
corrections
Customers Will Get FiOS Optical All The Way To Their Apartments, Verizon Plans
The AP made a major correction to a Verizon FiOS story we posted about yesterday. In that story, Verizon's head of FiOS stuff for apartments said that Verizon wouldn't be able to run optical cable up to all the apartments in two Manhattan apartment complexes and would use coaxial for the last leg. Verizon said not all apartments have the specs needed to install a necessary wall-mounted box. After the story came out, Verizon now says that it does plan to run optical to all the way up apartments that order FiOS. You may have to give up your medicine cabinent, but hey, you're blazing with the speed of FiOS, baby!
Correction: Verizon-FiOS Story [AP]
(Photo: Dana Spiegel)
fios
Not All Verizon FiOS Customers Will Get 100% Fiber
CORRECTION: Customers Will Get FiOS Optical All The Way To Their Apartments, Verizon Plans
Interesting news for apartment dwellers everywhere: Verizon is slowly creeping into Manhattan, but the difficulties of bringing FiOS to apartments will mean that some subscribers won't get 100% fiber.
More »
Wondering where the tax money you pay into the NYC public school system is going? Well, part of it goes to pay the salaries of about 700 teachers who are forced to sit in special rooms that are located all over the city. All day. And do nothing. Sometimes for years at a time. [Rubber Room via BuzzFeed]
Manhattan rents are driving away Burger King! Franchise owners say they were forced to close their restaurants because they couldn't afford to offer the mandatory 99-cent menu. They were paying between $9,000 -$18,000 per location. [Gothamist]
fake
NYC Cracks Down On Stores That Sell Fake Luxury Items
Like fake designer handbags and watches? We have bad news. More »
economy
Stores In NYC Start Accepting Euros
The dollar just isn't what it used to be, ya know? "Euros accepted" signs are popping up all over NYC as shopkeepers (for one) welcome our new tourist overlords:"We had decided that money is money and we'll take it and just do the exchange whenever we can with our bank," Robert Chu, owner of East Village Wines, told Reuters television.More »
...
"We didn't realize we would take so much in and there were that many people traveling or having euros to bring in. But some days, you'd be surprised at how many euros you get," Chu said.
The notoriously easy to hack NYC taxi credit card machines are now slightly more secure. [Gothamist]
rude
Woman Says NY Cabbie Punched Her In The Face Because She Wanted Pay With A Credit Card
Tamara Perez caught a cab to her Manhattan home Tuesday, when she noticed that she didn't have enough cash. The cab had a credit card machine, so she decided to pay with credit. More »
renting
Answers To NYC Renters' Questions
How do you get your landlord to require the upstairs neighbors to put down carpets? A lawyer who "has practiced in the landlord-tenant arena for more than two decades" has been answering these sorts of questions on the New York Times' "City Room" blog. The advice he gives, while helpful and specific, is mostly based on what we imagine are NYC-specific problems and cites New York statutes, but it still might be helpful for renters elsewhere with similar problems. More »
tourism
