A couple renting an apartment at the legendary Ansonia building on the Upper West Side filed a lawsuit claiming their apartment is "completely uninhabitable" due to cockroach infestation. The lawsuit from lawyers Alan Arkin (no relation to the actor) and Suzanne Bagert details these nightmare-inducing incidents:They crawl across the floor, on the walls, on the ceilings, on the curtains and even in the bed...Perhaps most disgustingly, cockroaches have crawled in their food and coffee maker.......

French megachef Daniel Boulud has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit that alleges he discriminated against nonwhite employees at his restaurant Daniel, according to an article in today's Times. In addition to an undisclosed financial settlement, Boulud will institute a promotion policy that will be overseen by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the state attorney general’s office. Busboys and runners will receive 8 percent raises. Daniel's managers will get training in racial sensitivity.......

It's pretty funny when a story about over a dozen rats scurrying around a West Village Taco Bell-KFC location is the leading story on the local news (okay, there was a mention of an off-duty police officer shooting a neighbor, too). The footage (see here at WNBC), while totally repelling, is also amazing. And that rat dangling from the chair? No wonder everyone is swarming to 6th Avenue and West 4th Street to catch......

Last year, after suffering through a painful prix fixe at a shall-remain-nameless eatery on the Upper West Side, Gothamist was felled by a distinctly unromantic case of Valentine’s Day food poisoning. The year before, after preparing a feast fit for Saint Valentine himself, we suffered the indignity of being dumped while the bourguignon over which we had so tragically labored scalded our Le Creuset. But this year, things will be different. We’ve got a......

This week, Heartland Brewery introduced another speciality beer to their New York locations. Like their well known apricot, pumpkin and holiday ales, this one fits the season--it is light, fruity (we tasted pomegranate, pear and ginger on top of the red raspberry puree the beer is made with, not unlike Lambic), and very, very easy to drink a bit of the bubbly implied by it's name. The beer is served in a glass more well......

Check it out: The Health Department says that one in four New York City households has had mice or rats - and that 30% of households have roaches. Blech! The DoH's big point is that many residents are using various pesticides and repellants that may be illegal and may contaminate other surfaces - such as cooking areas - which may lead poisonings. Unsurprisingly, residents with lower incomes report higher rates of infestation, probably because their......

Oh if only we could go back to the days when "don't let the bedbugs bite" was just something you said. But, as the Times really tries to hammer home today, that just doesn't seem to be possible anymore. In the past two years, and especially in the past six months, New York has become a bedbug mecca (Seriously, "Last year the city logged 377 bedbug violations, up from just 2 in 2002 and......

As a matter of fact, Gothamist goes by the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of restaurant cleanliness: We're only freak out if we see a cockroach on the table, dirt on plates and flatware, or hair in the food (or else we'd never eat at half the places in the city). But upon reading this Page Six item about our favorite Italian restaurateur Mario Batali and how four employees werefired because they had an orgy......

This morning as I was getting ready for work I found myself looking into the beady eyes of a humungous cockroach. After some squealing and donning of rubber yellow gloves I managed to kill the roach with a hammer. There must be a better and cleaner way to exterminate roaches. What options do I have? Also, what is an acceptable level of cohabitation with these buggers? Is it realistic to believe that if the right......

We just moved to a new apt. and have been here for 15 days and absolutely hate the place. Is there any way to get out of the lease considering that it has only been two weeks? When we were looking for apts. this place looked great but there are many things that are wrong with this apt. We were told by the agent that showed us the place internet access was available and called......

Why do cochroaches always die on their backs? Or do they flip over while dying?   CSM Actually, C, cockroaches don't always die on their backs, it's just that a majority of the dead ones we New Yorkers see wind up that way. But why? There are a couple of reasons. A simple one is that if a cockroach accidentally falls or flips over, it will have a hard time righting itself on your......

For some reason, turkeys are in New York at full force. And by full force, we mean "There are turkeys in New York, period." The Post and NY Times both devote stories to turkeys in the area, especially given this tryptophan loaded week: The Post reports that the Urban Park Rangers are trying to reintroduce (introduce?) turkeys to different city parks; of course, the Post makes its reporter dress as a Pilgrim and chase......

Dirty bathrooms, a few crumbs here and there, spacey staff, these are things Gothamist can forgive if the food is good. But stories about cockroaches and unapologetic staff - those are turnoffs. Our friend Tamara reports on her visit to East Village Thai restaurant, Elephant: Living in NY you understand that roaches do live among us, however it is NOT something you want to see crawl across your table, your friend's shirt and up the......

Newsday reports that 71 establishments (of a possible 20,000) had been cited for violated the smoking ban - and most for having ashtrays out and not having dinstinct signs saying "No Smoking Allowed" - and some restaurant owners claim the smoking ban has affected business by 20%. Gothamist started to wonder if the smoking ban violations were recorded yet, and we stumbled onto the Department of Health's searchable database of restaurant inspections, which is where......