Many of you may remember comedian Mark Malkoff as the guy who raced — and beat — a New York City bus while riding a big wheel or the man who tested the limits of Apple Store employees’ hospitality using a goat and a Darth Vader costume. Recently, he hired a NYC taxi for 14 hours and offered to pay the fare of anyone who Tweeted him for a ride. [More]
NEW YORK
Fashion's Night Out: Dolce & Gabbana Made Kids Buy $35 Lipgloss To Get Bieber Autograph.
By 9.12.11
Shoppers have figured out that Fashion’s Night Out in New York is a great time to scoop up freebies, like tshirts, prizes and free champagne. But in a recessionary move, this year retailers are making attendees pay a price if they wanted the privilege of attending their promotions and getting celebrity autographs. At Dolce & Gabbana, kids were told that they could buy a $35 tube of lipgloss to get Justin Bieber’s autograph, but then he only popped down the stairs to sing one cover song. Then he sped back upstairs without signing anything. [More]
Walmart Shopper Borrows Electric Shopping Cart For 11 Days, Uses It Like A Car
By 9.6.11
You know those electric shopping carts you can use while shopping at Walmart? Then you likely also know that you’re supposed to return the cart when you are done shopping. You’re certainly not supposed to keep it for 11 days until you get ticketed by police for driving it down a public road. [More]
Staten Island Couple Tried To Evacuate Homes In Order To Rob Them
By 8.29.11
When you evacuate your home in advance of a hurricane, it’s bad enough you have to worry about coming home to find a new indoor swimming pool in your basement. You certainly shouldn’t have to be concerned that your stuff has floated away in the back of some thief’s truck — or that this thief is also the same person who knocked on your door to order you to evacuate. [More]
The Letter That Got My Homeowner's Insurance Company To Pay Up
By 8.17.11
Reader S finally got his homeowner’s insurance company to pay up for the rebuilding of the glass railings around his condo, thanks to a well-crafted and scary letter he wrote them. Here is his story, and his ass-kicking letter. [More]
Target Fires Employee Who Attempted To Unionize NY Store
By 8.16.11
Earlier this summer, employees at a Target store in the Long Island community of Valley Stream voted against forming a union, but the fallout from the push to unionize still lingers, as the employee behind the movement has recently been let go from her job at the store. [More]
Zabar's Admits Its "Lobster Salad" Was Really Crayfish
By 8.12.11
For twenty years the famous Zabar’s deli in Manhattan has been selling a delicious prepackaged “lobster salad.” It’s beloved by devotees and a tasty treat. The only problem is that there’s no lobster inside. It’s crayfish. [More]
NYC Says 50K Residents Weren't Counted In Census
By 8.11.11
New York City officials formally challenged the Census Bureau, contending 50,000 residents of four neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens were overlooked in the 2010 Census. The challenge is too late to affect Congressional district lines, but could result in more federal aid. [More]
NYC Welfare Worker Admits To Running $7 Million Food Stamp Scam
By 8.10.11
While the feds recently announced a spike in the number of Americans using food stamps, at least some of those 45.8 million people didn’t exist. A Brooklyn woman who worked for NYC’s Human Resources Administration has entered a guilty plea to charges of creating fake identities to scam the government out of millions in food stamp benefits. [More]
NYPD Forms New Unit To Monitor Facebook And Twitter For Signs Of Criminal Activity
By 8.10.11
Be careful the next time you’re planning a bank heist on Facebook or send out a Tweet that reads “there were only supposed to be two alarm systems wtf???” As we’ve already reported, cops around the country have begun using social media to track down criminals, and now comes the news that the New York City Police Department has actually created a unit that monitors Facebook updates, Twitter feeds and the like to detect the planning of, or bragging about, illegal goings-on. [More]
Woman & Carriage Driver Disagree About Horse's Ability To Pull Carriage
By 8.5.11
Imagine you’re visiting New York City and you decide to take your family on a ride through Central Park in a horse-drawn carriage. Now imagine that the horse pulling said carriage has a bit of a freak out and collapses mid-ride. What do you do when, moments later, you see that same horse and driver out on the street trying to pick up new passengers? [More]
"Rent Is Too Damn High" Guy Faces Eviction
By 8.5.11
The man whose failed bid for the New York governorship hinged on his one simple promise, “The rent is too damn high!” could be getting evicted. [More]
NYC Deputizes All Citizens As Secret Shoppers
By 7.28.11
Inspections by New York’s Department of Consumer Affairs found that two-thirds of the supermarkets they visited were overcharging customers at the checkout counter. That’s up from 1 in 3 last August. So now they’re turning all shoppers into “deputized inspectors” to report malefactors. [More]
Man Fined $2,000 For Not Watering His Beehive
By 7.20.11
While New York may be trying to raise revenue by cracking down on city beekeepers, this looks like one sting operation that got its stinger broken off in the wound: inspectors fined a Queens man $2,000 for “not watering his beehive.” [More]
Use Your Own Cup To Steal From This Popeyes Soda Fountain And They'll Take That Cup From You
By 7.19.11
While bringing in your own cup is fine and dandy (and will occasionally save you money) at places like Starbucks where the staff has to do all the filling and refilling, it’s not so cool to bring your own cup to an eatery with free refills just to score a beverage without paying for it. [More]
Exercise In The Urban Jungle For Free
By 7.8.11
If you’re looking to cut expenses, here’s an argument for cancelling that gym membership. NYT profiles one guy who does all of his exercising outside, at no cost, in the middle of Manhattan. The jungle gyms, trails, and tracks of East River Park give him all the workout he needs, five days a week, in all weather. His hands are calloused from doing pushups on the sidewalk and at 48, 5 ft 8, and 185 pounds, he’s in top shape. So why bother dealing with early termination fees and snooty mirror gazers when you can enjoy being outside, for free? [More]
Budget Cuts Force Coney Island To Ration Toilet Paper
By 7.5.11
Coney Island has removed the toilet paper from women’s stalls and is forcing patrons to form a line to get their ration of TP squares from a Park’s Department bathroom attendant. Pictured at left, is the queue. [More]
Whose $100 Million ATM Receipt Is This?
By 7.1.11
Speculation ran rampant this week after Dealbreaker posted an image of an ATM receipt found in the tony Hamptons showing the account holder had a $99,864,731.94 balance as to whose it could be. [More]
