If you were planning on picking up a sturdy switchblade or gravity knife from one of the Home Depots in NYC for your next home improvement project, or because you wanted to stab someone, you should note that they’re no longer available. That’s because last week, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office persuaded that store and 13 other retailers to stop selling such knives. They’re generally illegal in New York, and the retailers have agreed to surrender their inventory and forfeit any profits they made from illegal knife sales over the past four years. [More]
NEW YORK
New York Proposes Nation's Highest Cigarette Taxes
By 6.19.10
Cigarettes may cost more than $10 per pack in New York under the state’s latest plan to close a $9 billion budget gap. In New York City, the tax alone on a pack of cigarettes would rise to $5.85. And cigarettes aren’t the only carcinogens set for a tax bump under the proposal. [More]
Do New Stadiums Really Give Back All They Get From Taxpayers?
By 6.15.10
Are new stadiums, like Citi Field, the new Yankees stadium, and the proposed new Nets stadium/Atlantic Yards project, really worth the oodles of public dollars, tax breaks, and the hundreds of residents displaced, their land seized under eminent domain? Stadium Status is an awesome new 20 min documentary by the Internets Celebrites that examines the issue and has come to a firm “Nahhhh” as its conclusion. [More]
Cablevision Acquires Smallish Cable Company Called Bresnan
By 6.14.10
Cablevision, a small but deeply hated cable company in New York City, has shelled out $1.4B for an even smaller company that owns systems in Colorado, Utah, Montana and Wyoming. Analysts studying the deal were described as “cautious” because it appears to make no sense. [More]
Dating Site For Cheaters Offers $25 Million For Naming Rights To New Giants/Jets Stadium
By 6.11.10
My hatred for the sports teams of New York City is part of my DNA, but I still have always felt a bit sorry for the New York Jets for having to play in Giants Stadium. Things seemed to be looking up on that front when it was announced that the spankin’ new arena set to open shortly would be simply be called “New Meadowlands Stadium.” But the owners of a dating website for cheaters want to make it so that both teams are shamed by the name of their new digs. [More]
Sexy Banker: Chase Told Me To Shut Up About Citibank Lawsuit
By 6.7.10
You remember last week’s story of the former Citibank employee who claimed she was fired for being too sexy? Of course you do. Now she’s claiming that her current employer, JP Morgan Chase, has asked her to stop her public campaign against a fellow banking giant. [More]
Shopping For An iPad? Bring Some Rubber Gloves
By 6.6.10
Even though I’m not quite sure why someone would want to spend so much money on one, it is a fact that millions of people want to get their hands on an iPad, if only just to test it out. And that appears to be the problem, with a new NY Daily News investigation turning up some icky results from swab tests on the handheld devices. [More]
NYC School Kids Drank Antifreeze-Laced Water Because It Tasted Sweet
By 6.2.10
Almost 75 elementary school students in Queens had to be hospitalized earlier this week after they got sick by drinking contaminated water from a school water fountain, even after they noticed that the water had a decidedly pink color. [More]
Kansas, You Are The Smartest Drivers, NY, The Dumbest
By 5.30.10
Every year GMAC ranks the average scores of their national driver’s test by state — and this year Kansas had the smartest drivers and New York the dumbest. Here are the top 5 and bottom 5 from the ranking: [More]
Costumed Sea Creatures Occupy NYC BP Station
By 5.28.10
A gaggle of costumed sea creatures plan to occupy the SoHo BP station in NYC tonight at 6pm to protest the company’s response to the oil spill. However, while the threat of makeshift sea turtles descending on Houston and Lafeyette is wonderful to contemplate, because BP stations are independently-owned, only the local business owner will be harmed by the disruption in commerce. Media points against BP will be harder to score. This particular station is a mecca for taxi cab drivers in the area, who will most likely find any difficulties in getting gas on a busy holiday weekend night to be less than hilarious. UPDATE: Local news coverage: [More]
The 100-Layer Lasagna
By 5.19.10
This is Garfield’s version of heaven on earth, New York restaurant Del Posto’s 100-layer lasagna. It’s 50 sheets of pasta with 50 layers of sauce, requires three kitchen stations, and is served with a unique spatula. To try it you’ll have to order their $500 Collezione grand tasting menu, but then the chef comes and carves it at your table. Yes, carves the lasagna.After all, if we’re going to have an obesity epidemic, the least we can do is be creative about it. (See the monstrosity for real here)
Behind the Menu: Deconstructing the Hundred-Layer Lasagne [New York via thekitchn]
What Happens When You Eject A NY Times Reporter From Your Restaurant
By 5.12.10
Ron Leiber writes the “Your Money” column for the New York Times. On Saturday, he, along with his party, was ejected from a restaurant by the chef. Mr. Leiber wrote about it on the Times food blog and now the restaurant is getting crank calls according to Gothamist. [More]
This Is Why No One Trusts The Postal Service
By 5.7.10
A postal worker from Brooklyn is in hot water after he was found with three full sacks of undelivered mail in the trunk of his car. [More]
Man Sells $500,000 In Raffle Tickets For House, Doesn't Hold Raffle
By 4.28.10
Last August, a homeowner in Massapequa, NY — the town that gave us the Baldwin brothers, Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Guttenberg, Marvin Hamlisch and Joey Buttafuoco — began selling raffle tickets at $50 a pop for a chance to win his 5-bedroom, 4-bath house. Eight months and 10,000 raffle tickets later, he still hasn’t given the house away. [More]
Walmart Trying Again To Break Into New York City
By 4.26.10
While Walmart has managed to install outlets in just about every major city in the country, the retail behemoth has never been able to crack the shell of New York City’s five boroughs, though it has tried on two recent occasions. A new report claims that Walmart is hoping the third time is the charm, as they look into a spot for a new store in Brooklyn. [More]
Pretending To Sell Kids On Craigslist Not Considered Funny By Police
By 4.25.10
The New York State Police do not think it is funny when you place a listing for your two sons on Craigslist. [More]
JetBlue Pilot Says Someone Aimed Laser Into His Cockpit
By 4.19.10
The pilot of a JetBlue flight heading from Portland, Maine, to JFK Airport in NYC on Saturday night says that a yet-unexplained green laser penetrated the window of the plane’s cockpit as he prepared to land. [More]
Duo Busted For $80,000 Target Gift Card Scam
By 4.19.10
We at Consumerist have always warned of the downside to buying gift cards, but we never thought to tell you not to buy gift cards with stolen credit cards and then use those gift cards to buy $80,000 worth of electronics at Target. Because that’s exactly what a pair of gentlemen stand accused of doing at Target stores in Long Island. [More]
