The High Line in NYC is a former railroad line that has been converted into a park, but visitors are getting a little more of a view than they bargained for. The Standard Hotel overlooks the park and according to the New York Post, they’ve been marketing themselves as a good venue for exhibitionists to expose themselves to hapless park-goers.
nyc
Homeless? If You Can Prove There's A Relative Who'll Take You In, NYC Will Pay Your Way
By 7.29.09
NYC wants to have less homeless people — even if that means buying them a one way ticket out of town. The NYT says that the Bloomberg administration has paid for 550 homeless people to leave the city — including flying people to “Paris ($6,332), Orlando ($858.40), Johannesburg ($2,550.70), or most frequently, San Juan ($484.20).”
WaMu/Chase Doesn't Believe Your Card Was Stolen, Despite The Fact That The Thief Was Arrested
By 7.24.09
Reader Stephen says that a NYC Taxi driver tricked him into using an ATM skimmer-like-device instead of the normal credit card machine and made off with his card and PIN. The NYPD made an arrest, but Stephen says he’s still battling with Chase/WaMu.
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.
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.
Pepsi Yankees Promotion Leads To Fans Chanting "Pepsi Sucks!"
By 4.20.09
It’s probably never a good idea to offer Yankees fans free tickets for showing up and forming a crowd, because then you’ve got a crowd of Yankees fans with nothing to do, and that’s not going to end well. In this case, after the fans found out that Pepsi over-promised the number of free tickets it was giving out, they turned hostile.
Ride For Free On Jet Blue (If You Can Get Yourself "Trapped" In The Cargo Hold)
By 4.2.09
A Jet Blue employee hitched a free flight from JFK Airport in NYC to Logan Airport in Boston this past weekend, after getting trapped in the cargo hold before takeoff. Police aren’t charging him with a crime, but they told the Boston Globe that, “Even after talking to him, we were a little uncertain as to how it happened.” He apparently called the company from the cargo hold once the plane was in the air—which is exactly what we would do to deflect suspicion in a scheme like this. Tokyo, here we come via new part-time job as a baggage handler!
By 3.13.09
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The MTA will be the first entity to refuse to refer to the new Mets stadium as “Citi Field.” The subway authority refuses to spend its own money rebranding the station with a corporate name — so it’ll be known as “Mets/Willets Point.” Hey, that’s better than “Bailout Park.” [Gothamist]
Store Accidentally Sells Peppers Stuffed With Cocaine
By 3.9.09
We love chile rellenos, but this is just silly. A store in NYC sold peppers stuffed with cocaine to three different customers, none of whom knew they were getting a little something extra in their produce.
NYC Police Commish Says TD Bank Is Too Easy To Rob
By 3.6.09
The NYC police commissioner, Ray Kelly, is super annoyed at TD Bank because he says they’re just too easy to rob. In one example of this phenomenon, a robber was thwarted by three Chase branches before successfully robbing a TD Bank. And get this, 17% of this New York City’s bank robberies occurred at TD Bank branches.
NYC Mayor Wants To Spend $45 Million Retraining Investment Bankers
By 2.18.09
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to spend $45 million in government money retraining investment bankers, brokers and others who have lost jobs on Wall Street, says the New York Times.
NYC Restaurants Caught Sneaking A Tip On To Your Bill
By 2.9.09
Sneaky! The New York Post caught several restaurants in NYC sneaking a gratuity on to the bills of unsuspecting customers. Tsk, tsk. That’s not allowed.
Subway Launches Text Message Ordering In NYC
By 1.29.09
Subway has launched a pilot program called SubwayNow where New York City residents (Manhattan only at the moment, it looks like) can register to place pick-up orders via text message. According to IntoMobile, after registering with your address and providing payment info, which they keep on file, you set up a list of sandwich orders that are saved as a personal menu. When you’re ready to use the service, you text “menu” to the Subway shortcode, and Subway sends back your pre-set menu. Then you text back the menu item you want, and Subway responds with a pick-up time.
NYC Baker Sells 'Drunken Negro Head' Cookies, Doesn't See The Problem
By 1.23.09
Ted Kefalinos, the proprietor of a bakery in Greenwich Village (a neighborhood in New York City), can’t understand why the media is having such a field day over his Drunken Negro Head cookies. They’re fun! Nobody complained about his dead geese cookies last week! He’s got a Cuban brother-in-law! We’d be more willing to believe it was just a bad marketing decision if it weren’t for the follow-up comments a customer alleged he made.
Police Make You Give Your iPod To A Cab Driver As Payment
By 1.23.09
We’re not like, positive or anything, but we doubt there’s a law that says you have to give your iPod to a cab driver if your credit card is declined. The New York Post says that a woman was forced, by JFK Airport Police, to hand over her iPod or be “taken downtown.”
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]
By 10.9.08
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Delta is selling airline tickets from New York City to Chicago for $79 each way. You must depart October 11th and return between October 13-14th. [TravelZoo via their Twitter feed]
Our National Debt Has Outgrown The 'National Debt Clock' In NYC
By 10.8.08
Now that we’ve hit double-digit trillions, the “National Debt” clock that’s been running constantly since 1989 in New York City’s midtown can no longer properly display the total. Brian Williams says they’ve had to temporarily adjust the display while they build a new one, slated to go up next year. We’re not sure anyone should be spending money on a fancy new hi-tech clock right now—maybe they should just hang a big chalk board, and hire an unemployed investment banker to write the new debt each day. See the video below.
