A woman blogs that she found herself locked out of her apartment because her keys were getting stuck and the lock wasn’t working. So she called an emergency locksmith who arrived 15 minutes later, drilled off the cylinder, replaced it, and presented her with a bill for $613. When she refused to pay, the locksmith called (what were presumably) the cops. When they arrived the said, “Pay the man now or you’re under arrest.” [More]
NEW YORK
Caption This Picture Of Four Shoppers
By 1.19.11
A group of young women, with purchases in tow, gather together on Broadway in Soho and ponder their move. Which store will the hone their collective shopping energies on next? [More]
Duane Reade Infilitrates Williamsburg By Adding A Beer Bar
By 1.14.11
When Duane Reade announced it wanted to open a store in the hip poseur enclave neighborhood of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, it faced stiff opposition from locals and bloggers who feared it would destroy the area’s charm and drive a nearby local pharmacy out of business. So the pharmacy chain bought over the natives with beer. [More]
Dine And Dashers On The Rise, Wearing Ties
By 1.12.11
In the last year the NYPD says there was a 20% increase in the number of “chew and screwers” – customers who run up a restaurant or bar tab and then duck out before paying it. And it’s not just the usual “live fast die young crowd,” entire families and guys with Monopoly mustaches are getting in on the action. [More]
NY Regulates Tipping For First Time
By 1.3.11
The New York Department of Labor has issued rules on what until now has walked a gray line between custom and law: the tip. [More]
Judge: NYC Can't Make Cigarette Sellers Post Anti-Smoking Ads
By 12.30.10
While the FDA prepares to roll out graphic warning labels for cigarette packages, the city of New York had been hoping to get a head start on the agency by requiring stores that sell cigarettes to put up anti-smoking posters. However, a judge in U.S. District Court has ruled that the city doesn’t have the authority to enact such a regulation. [More]
Woman Breaks Ankle, Waits 30 Hours For Ambulance In NYC Blizzard
By 12.29.10
A Brooklyn woman who slipped and broke her ankle on Sunday had to wait 30 hours for the ambulance to show up after she called 911. The blizzard, and the city’s sub-optimal response to clearing it up, left cars and even emergency service vehicles stranded in the snow. [More]
NYC Mayor: City Should Pay For Vehicle Crunched By Tow Truck
By 12.29.10
Here’s an update to yesterday’s story about that New York City tow truck caught on camera repeatedly smashing into a snowbound Ford Explorer. [More]
NYC Sanitation Dept. Doesn't Care About Destroying Your Car
By 12.28.10
I don’t think we’ve ever had a municipal service division make it into the Worst Company In America tournament, but New York City’s Sanitation Department seems to be gunning for a wild card slot this year. First, they tried to fine someone thousands of dollars for picking up a discarded air-conditioner from the curb, then there was the to-do over the woman ticketed $100 for throwing out a small bag of garbage in a public trash can. Now, as millions of New Yorkers attempt to dig out from one of the biggest blizzards to ever hit the city, the Sanitation folks have been caught on camera destroying a snowbound car. [More]
Con Ed Reverses Employee's Decision, Allows Gay Couple To Change Name On Electric Bill
By 12.20.10
On Friday, we brought you the story of John, who had recently married another man in Vermont and who had no trouble having his last name changed on his bank statement, his phone bill, his driver’s license — everything except his Con Ed electric bill. [More]
Con Ed Won't Change The Name On My Electric Bill Because I'm Gay
By 12.17.10
UPDATE: John tells us Con Ed has resolved the problem. [More]
TRON Preview Screening Marred By Line-Jumpers, Mean Staff
By 12.15.10
Tavie shares her first-person experience of waiting for hours in 20 degree weather to see the new TRON screening, and her run-ins with the professional line-jumpers and surly event staff. [More]
FDNY To Begin Charging Motorists In Car Crashes
By 12.10.10
The Fire Department in New York City thinks the taxpayers should no longer be the only ones paying when firefighters are called to the scene of a car crash. Starting next summer, the FDNY will begin billing their time to the motorists involved in the incidents. [More]
Tossing That Newspaper In A Trash Can Could Cost You $100
By 12.8.10
What one elderly woman in NYC thought was a good deed was actually a violation worthy of a $100 ticket from the Dept. of Sanitation. [More]
Erstwhile Bride-To-Be Transforms Canceled Reception Into Charity Fundraiser
By 12.3.10
Here’s a pretty good example of someone turning lemons into lemonade. A college professor in NYC has taken what could have been a heartbreaking situation and transformed it into a heartwarming one, using the deposits for her canceled wedding reception and unprinted invitations to host a fundraiser for a local soup kitchen. [More]
Time To Make An Offer They Can't Refuse On ''Godfather' House
By 12.2.10
Forget that Amityville Horror house they were selling out on Long Island. If you want to really live out scenes from a 1970s hit movie, there’s a much cooler (and less creepy) house up for sale — the Corleone estate from The Godfather. [More]
Keeping Brooklyn's Bees Out Of The Red Dye No. 40
By 12.1.10
Remember those bees in Brooklyn that were pumping out a bright red honey thanks to the presence of a nearby maraschino cherry factory (and its vast amounts of super-sweet HFCS colored with Red Dye No. 40)? Well that factory is now working with bee experts to figure out a way to keep the buzzers out of the syrup without calling the exterminator. [More]
Dentist Left Instruments In Patients' Teeth
By 12.1.10
A New York dentist has been ordered back to school after being accused of leaving instruments behind in patients’ mouths during root canals. [More]
