Criminals steal the strangest things. For instance? There is apparently a national black market for Tide, of all things, to the point that one man was busted for stealing over $25,000 of the detergent over 15 months last year. And the criminals aren't stealing the soap to use as an ingredient to make meth—which was our first thought when we heard about this—though they are using it to buy meth and other drugs. more ›

A Brooklyn man pleaded guilty today to being part of a black market kidney ring stretching from Israel to NYC. Levy Itzhak Rosenbaum, 60, admitted that he bought kidneys for cheap in Israel then sold them to needy people in America for huge sums of money. "I am what you call a matchmaker...I've never had a failure," he was caught on tape telling an FBI informant posing as a potential client. more ›

A black market for homemade rice wine—those unmarked tubs of reddish liquid stacked up in the corner of your favorite dumpling shop?— is thriving in the depths of Chinatown, and authorities aren't quite sure what to do about it. more ›

This morning DNAinfo reported that Council member Margaret Chin was "backing down" on her bill to punish people who buy knockoff goods with up to a year in jail or a $1,000 fine. "We're definitely getting some pushback," her chief of staff Jake Itzkowitz reportedly said. "I think [the bill] may not stay in its current form. The year of jail time may change." But Chin asks us, "Why would I back down from a bill I just introduced yesterday." Her communications director just fired off this statement, "Council member Chin is in no way backing down from this bill..." more ›

Forget faux snakeskin Fendi bag knock-offs — you can allegedly procure your own canned cobra right on Canal Street! Last week a Queens man was busted for attempting to smuggle a suitcase of endangered fish to New York (that could have reportedly sold for up to $8K each in Chinatown), and now the NY Post looks at some of the other crazy critters being sold in the neighborhood. more ›

An additional $1.25-a-pack tax on cigarettes goes into effect Tuesday, meaning that a carton of name brand smokes will cost a staggering $85. If the average cost of a box of premium brand cigarettes rises to $8.50, 50% of that cost is directly related to taxes ($2.75 to the State, $1.50 to the City). more ›

Smokers, you'll need to save up or shell out or simply quit, as state officials have agreed to increase the tax on cigarettes by $1.25, which would give NY State the highest per-pack tax of $2.75. And in NYC, there's that $1.50 tax, so Big Apple residents will have to pay $4.25 in cigarette taxes. more ›

1994 was a big year for music. more ›