Eric wrote to us this week with a tale of such epic dysfunction while trying to purchase air conditioners from Sears that there’s not much we can add to it. Inside: Imaginary deliveries, super-secret New York City surcharges, and the hazards of daring to order anything over the phone.
new york city
IKEA Sends Mother And Infant To Bathroom To Breastfeed
By 7.23.09
The IKEA in Red Hook, Brooklyn is the latest retail establishment that needs reminding: Yes, women have the right to breastfeed their infants in public. No, you cannot banish them to the restroom. Yes, people will get angry when word gets out.
Mobile Bakery Has A Sticky Time Finding A Sweet Spot To Park In Midtown Manhattan
By 6.30.09
There’s a new kid on the block — and the old folks are mad as hell.
Attn. New Yorkers: How To Research Apartments Before Signing A Lease
By 6.30.09
Looking for an apartment? If you live in New York City, there’s an easy way to avoid buildings with lousy track records (peeling lead paint, chronic rodent problems, fixtures that never get fixed, and the like).
Investments Are Down – Won't You Hire A Poor Trust-Funder?
By 6.8.09
It’s the end of an era. The parentally-subsidized idle urbanites of New York aren’t getting the fundage they used to, and they have to get paying jobs now. Or move in with their parents. (Here I thought living with my parents after college was too much parental subsidy.) While Gawker’s coverage of this story is not to be missed, let’s look at it through a Consumerist lens, shall we?
New York Mayor Says Luxury Homeless Shelter Residents Shouldn't Get Too Cozy
By 6.8.09
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the Daily News that the residents of the swanky failed-condo-turned-homeless-shelter shouldn’t get too comfortable. They’ll need to move on.
New York City Converts Luxury Condo Into Homeless Shelter
By 6.4.09
Could this be the nicest homeless shelter in America? The Daily News is reporting that the city is paying $90 a night per apartment for the use of a failed luxury condo development — which features granite countertops, marble bathrooms and walk-in closets. (The $90 a night figure includes social services, housing help and job counseling designed to get families back on their feet.) Local residents, some of them interested in renting an apartment in the building, are pretty ticked off.
Costco Now Accepting Food Stamps, Sort Of
By 5.27.09
Finally following the lead of its competitors, Costco will accept food stamp cards. For core food items, not other merchandise. Two New York City stores, in Astoria, Queens, and in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, will serve as test sites because of the high numbers of food stamp recipients nearby. If the program is successful, Costco will expand it to all other New York City stores, but there are no plans to expand the program to other cities or states.
Continental's "General Vibe" Doesn't Include Black People
By 5.26.09
Laney went out for drinks after work with some co-workers. He changed out of his uniform, but they wore theirs. Soon after the group entered, Laney was asked to leave, ostensibly due to a dress code violation…but it became clear his outfit wasn’t the problem.
Angry Bees Attack New York GameStop
By 5.24.09
A swarm of bees gathered yesterday outside the GameStop in Union Square, possibly to demand a higher trade-in value for their games. Store employees were trapped inside for hours and eventually hung a sign reading: “Look! … closed due to bee infestation.”
New York ATM Skimmer Crooks Stole $1.8 Million
By 5.12.09
Four Romanian nationals in Florida have been charged in a series of ATM skimmer frauds that targeted banks in New York City, Cicero (near Syracuse), NY, and Rochester, NY. They are charged with, among other things, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit credit card fraud. According to the Syracuse office of the Secret Service, they stole $1.8 million overall.
Art Vigilantes Paint Over 120 Illegal Billboards In NYC
By 5.1.09
Last Saturday, ads-in-public-spaces activist Jordan Seiler spearheaded NYSAT, or New York Street Advertising Takeover, where teams of artists, videographers and activists replaced 120 unregistered billboard advertisements throughout the city with original art installations.
Yankees Cut Premium Ticket Prices From "Exorbitant" To "Expensive"
By 4.30.09
For some reason, the New York Yankees are having trouble selling the most expensive seats in the new Yankee Stadium. Especially the ones in the front rows that are noticeably empty on TV. The New York Times has a rundown of the pricing changes.
Tenants Sue After Landlord Charges Bogus Fines Reaching $8,000
By 4.4.09
440 residents of an East Harlem apartment have sued international real estate conglomerate Dawnay Day for neglecting building repairs, charging for appliances that were never purchased, and issuing fines reaching $8,000 for improperly using those imaginary appliances. New York’s State’s housing laws apparently don’t protect tenants from bogus fines, so the group instead relied on consumer laws to file their suit.
By 2.1.09
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Need work? The New Museum in New York is looking to pay $10 per hour to women aged 18-40 who are willing to spend six hours sleeping as part of an exhibit. [WDSU]
Flight 1549 Passengers Get $5K Checks For Drowned Baggage
By 1.20.09
Turns out they won’t have to file written requests after all, each passenger of US Airways Flight 1549 that downed in the Hudson River last week got a $5k check from the airline to compensate them for lost baggage.
U.S. Airways Flight Makes Surprise Landing In The Hudson
By 1.15.09
So, that plane floating in the Hudson near the Intrepid, it’s U.S. Airways flight 1549. Nobody is really sure why the plane is floating in the Hudson, but CBS speculates that “a bird strike may have caused the plane to go down, meaning a bird may have entered the engine, causing a malfunction.” The flight carrying 148 passengers and 5 crew members was destined for Charlotte, North Carolina. Everyone is reported to have survived, and a photo uploaded to Twitter shows people evacuating the A320 onto the plane’s wings and inflatable rafts. The AP reports that New York City firefighters are on the way to pluck the passengers out of the river.
By 1.2.09
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New York City doesn’t publicize it in any way, but they offer a guaranteed reduction on parking ticket fines if you challenge the ticket in person, online, or via mail.[New York Times]
