It might be convenient to summon a cleaning service with the tap of your smartphone, but police in New York City are warning that convenience could lead to theft after dozens of customers using the house-cleaning app Handy reported being burgled. [More]
NYPD
New York Lawmakers Call For Legalizing “Hoverboards” As One Explodes In Brooklyn Apartment
By 12.30.15
So-called “hoverboards,” which don’t actually hover, are illegal to use on the streets of New York City. Two lawmakers are trying to change that, but their timing couldn’t be worse, as one of the self-balancing scooters caught fire in a Brooklyn apartment Tuesday. [More]
NYPD Catches Up To Hot Dog Vendor Accused Of Ripping Off Tourists
By 5.21.15
It seems the news travels fast, and in New York, the police are definitely paying attention: After a report that a hot dog vendor near Ground Zero had been caught charging customers $30 for a hot dog and overcharging on other items like pretzels, water and soda, the NYPD announced they’ve served the wiener peddler with three fines for not posting prices on his cart. [More]
Mom Claims NYPD Cops Accused Her Of Jumping Subway Fare & Pepper Sprayed Her Kids
By 4.2.13
The mom of three kids, including a two-year-old and a five-month old, has headed to court leveling some pretty serious accusations against NYPD officers. She and her family claim officers first accused her of jumping a subway fare and then pepper-sprayed her children. She’s suing the city, the NYPD and three officers in Federal Court. [More]
NYPD Planning To Bait Prescription Pill Thieves With Bottles Containing GPS Trackers
By 1.15.13
The New York City Police Department is planning a classic bait and switch in an attempt to nab thieves seeking painkillers and other addictive prescription medicines. In this plan, the bait is the pill bottle but the switch comes when lo and behold, those aren’t the pills you’re looking for — and the bottle is outfitted with a GPS tracker. [More]
Cop Claims He Was Only Issuing Tickets To Dead People To Keep Up With Nonexistent Quotas
By 9.7.12
As my grandma used to say, honesty is the best policy. But you know what else is a pretty good policy? Giving traffic tickets only to people who are actually alive. The cop fired by the New York Police Department says he was issuing summonses to deceased people, but only because he had to fill monthly quotas the NYPD says don’t exist. [More]
Bronx DA Seeks To Indict 17 Cops In Massive Ticket Fixing Scandal
By 9.20.11
A two-year investigation into ticket fixing, where cops agree to make tickets disappear in exchange for bribes, gifts and favors, is expected to result in the indictment of 17 NYPD cops. [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]
How A Police Barricade Becomes A DIY Bench
By 7.30.10
For a city with so many people, New York has a severe shortage of comfortable places to sit and enjoy the outdoors for free. That’s why this man in Spanish Harlem took matters into his own hands, transforming a police barricade into a public bench. [More]
NYPD Officer Says He Has Arrest, Ticket Quota
By 3.3.10
The arrest and ticket quota is supposed to be an urban myth, but one NYPD officer told ABCNews that it is anything but. He works in the Bronx and says he’s “not going to keep arresting innocent people.” [More]
Been Burgled? Check Craigslist
By 2.10.10
Here’s a little tip if you’ve ever had your house or car broken into — Check out Craigslist to see if the thieves are stupid enough to attempt to sell it back to you. It sounds like something out of a sitcom, but it worked for a driver from Brooklyn who recently recovered his stolen wheels and put the bad guy behind bars. [More]
Fight At Delta JFK Among Passengers, Not Directed At Airline?
By 12.30.09
Remember that passenger fight at Delta JFK last week? According to an airport employee who witnessed the fight, it wasn’t passengers venting on airport employees. Rather, the travelers (described as “the entire nation of Haiti”), who, yes, had been waiting for their flight to Haiti for four days, started to “brawl” amongst themselves. When a few TSA employees tried to break it up, “they got thrown around.” [More]
Delta Responds To JFK Clusterfracas
By 12.22.09
Reached for comment about the big mess I and others observed at their JFK terminal today, Delta said they are working hard to add capacity and find flights home for the stranded passengers whose outpouring of anger at yet further delays required police intervention: [More]
JFK Delta Terminal A Living Hellhole, Cops Called To Quell Crowds
By 12.22.09
Around 9:30 this morning, NYPD descended on the JFK Delta Terminal to calm an unruly mob of holiday travelers. I myself escaped the same terminal 2 hours earlier, and I could already tell at that point that something was going to go terribly wrong. [More]
Bank CEO Uses NYPD As Personal Thugs
By 5.29.07
NYC citizen Jeff Boyle called the CEO of Valley National Bank at home to complain about some illegal construction noise. The CEO Gerald “Don’t You Know Who I Am” Lipkin, rather than apologizing for the racket, “flipped out.”
Dial M for Murder
By 5.18.06
If you’ve ever wanted to kill someone for yakking on their cellphone, watch out. They may be packing heat.
