According to CNN, some malls in the US rolled out a new technology on Black Friday that allows retailers to track customers' cell phone signals while they're shopping. The technology is already being used in Europe and Australia, and it was scheduled to be tried out in two malls in California and Virginia. That was until Senator Chuck Schumer put a stop to it. more ›

For those who enjoy tinkering with data, the Wall Street Journal has created an interactive chart using the MTA's numbers on the city's MetroCard usage by the areas closest to subway stops. You can compare whether people use 30-day unlimited cards, pay per-rides or senior discount cards, and look at which type of fare increased or decreased after December's fare hike (data on student card usage was released too late for the chart). Then look at the demographic data in the neighborhoods of each stop and generalize away! more ›

Mayor Bloomberg is a man who likes numbers. From three terms to whatever it reads on his bank account statement, the guy has always had love for digits and using them as a "professional manager." But according to the NY Times, the numbers that really count — performance statistics for city agencies — aren't showing any love back to Bloomberg. The mayor's own tracking method, called the Citywide Performance Reporting system, shows that a majority of agencies are slumping over the last fiscal year. more ›

As you may have heard, today Verizon is starting to charge new customers for data usage. Big Red has been planning this for a while now, following in the footsteps of AT&T and T Mobile (Sprint is now the only major provider to offer free unlimited data). Those who already have contracts with Verizon with unlimited data plans will have their unlimited status grandfathered in, but newcomers will be required to choose from a three-tiered pricing plan: $30 for 2GB of data, $50 for 5GB and $80 for 10GB. more ›

The City Council unanimously voted 51-0 today to pass a package of bills that will change the way the city handles cyclist and pedestrian traffic information. As you're probably aware, the changes come in the midst of a raging debate about the rules (and safety) of the roads. But although there's a growing perception in some circles that cyclists are nothing but a threat to pedestrians and all that is sacred and holy, there's little hard data to give us a clear picture of accidents between cyclists and pedestrians. And the city's stats on traffic accidents are vague overall. That's about to change. more ›

We have some painful, obvious news for all you single people out there: you're wasting your money. And your time, but mostly your money (as if you didn't already suspect this). Just find someone, pick anyone really, and you'll save thousands. That's what we've gleaned from a new analysis of spending habits of single people vs. married people in NYC, made by Bundle. more ›

Forget trying to figure out who has the best pizza in the city... new intel shows that New Yorkers have a favorite day to order up slices. According to the very important data collected by Delivery.com, the citizens of New York City love their pizza on Thursdays, late at night, likely after drinking enough to rationalize the decision to consume such a caloric snack before passing out. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] The city's bed bug epidemic has been getting pretty out of hand, with the critters crawling all the way into the Empire State Building to assert their control. But we can sleep easy (or maybe with just one eye open) with the knowledge that we're not actually the most infested city in America. That honor goes to Cincinnati. In fact, according to data from Orkin, Ohio seems to be the most infested state, with Cincinnati and Columbus taking the top two spots. Here are the top 10: more ›

Even though Foursquare may be dying thanks to the introduction of Facebook Places, it's still alive and kicking in New York. And now, it's being used to study something other than you and your friend's battle to become mayor of that bubble tea place.Urbagram used Foursquare check-in data to map the "social archipelagos" of New York, London and Paris. The cities were separated into 400x400 meter cells, and each cell's size represents the amount of Foursquare activity taking place in that area. Urbagram explains, "By this process we can see social centers emerge in each city." The data also shows the city's most popular check-in spots: more ›

A bill under consideration by the City Council yesterday would require the NYPD to post data about traffic crashes and moving violations online in a timely manner, broken down by precinct. At a rally before the hearing, Council Member Jessica Lappin, the bill's co-sponsor, said, "People are dying on our streets. Everyone knows anecdotally where the dangerous intersections are, but it’s nearly impossible toget the hard data. I want to change that. We are working to ensure that people have the information they need to advocate for their communities." If passed, the NYPD would be required to regularly publicize: more ›

According to Census data released yesterday, the population of Manhattan dropped by 2,545 people from 2008 to 2009. While the borough still shows an overall gain since 2000—from 1,540,373 to 1,629,054—it's the first time the population has dropped in the past ten years. more ›

In announcing his decision to make permanent a pilot program that transformed seven blocks of Broadway in Times Square and Herald Square into pedestrian oases, Mayor Bloomberg emphasized one favorable data set, culled from G.P.S. info from more than 1 million taxi trips, showing an overall seven percent increase in vehicle speeds. But another study, conducted by drivers the DOT hired to travel straight on a selection of streets, told quite a different story. more ›

The primary, official purpose of the Broadway Pedestrian Plazas—which last May banned cars from seven blocks along Broadway in Times Square and Herald Square—was to relieve traffic congestion, because Broadway disrupts traffic where it intersects with other streets. (As part of the changes, Seventh Avenue was widened from three to four lanes at 45th Street.) But the dramatic transformation, which received razzing from some and raves from others, was always intended as a temporary pilot program, pending a DOT study on the traffic impact. It's now being reported that the study was completed a month ago, and the results are not what Mayor Bloomberg and the DOT had hoped. more ›

It's not all doom-and-gloom for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The MTA has released its route and schedule information, potentially allowing developers to create apps with accurate subway, commuter train, and bus timetables without facing as much of a risk of legal action from the agency. more ›

The overall unemployment rate in NYC was 10.1 percent in the third quarter of 2009, but the jobless numbers vary greatly from neighborhood to neighborhood, according to a distressing, if unsurprising, new study by the Fiscal Policy Institute, a liberal research group. For example, overall unemployment was 5.1% on Manhattan's Upper East and West Sides, compared to 15.7% in Central Bronx and 19.2% in East New York. FPI also broke down the data by race, finding that blacks rank #1 in the jobless category in almost every part of NYC (except areas of Staten Island and Whitestone, Queens, where info on blacks was "not applicable.") more ›

Apparently all the noise about AT&T having major problems in NYC didn't curb their sales here enough, so they're taking action (ahem, now the holiday buying frenzy is over). Consumerist reports that the company's website has stopped selling the iPhone here; a customer service rep (read: online robot named "Daphne") confirmed, saying: "the phone is not offered to you because New York is not ready for the iPhone. You don't have enough towers to handle the phone." more ›

Following the NYPD shooting of Sean Bell in November 2006, the NYCLU filed a Freedom of Information request with the NYPD, asking for the NYPD’s annual statistical reports on police shootings from 1996 through 2006, as well as data about the race of civilians shot at by police. In response, the NYPD released some annual statistical reports, but it denied the NYCLU’s request for full racial data. A lawsuit ensued, and now a judge has ruled that the NYPD can't withhold the data, which will show the racial breakdown of people shot at but not struck by cops. more ›

There's bad news and slightly less bad news in the unemployment data for August, released yesterday at a grim press conference held by Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Paterson, and state labor commissioner M. Patricia Smith. First, the bad news, if you're the kind of person who likes prosperity and abundance: The city’s unemployment rate rose from 9.5 percent in July to 10.3 percent in August, its highest level since May 1993. NYC's unemployment rate is now well above the national rate of 9.7 percent, and more than 415,000 residents are jobless. Paterson told reporters that Ben Bernanke's recent Pollyannaish pronouncement about the national recession being over "doesn’t apply to us." more ›

In the wake of the the bird strike that caused Flight 1549's crash landing into the Hudson, the FAA now wants to keep its bird strike data private. The agency was about to turn over its database to the Associated Press, but then changed its mind, claiming the public might compare airports' or airlines' approaches to dealing with birds, "Inaccurate portrayals of airports and airlines could have a negative impact on their participation in reporting bird strikes." However, a former head of the NTSB said, "To have the government actually chill public access to safety information is a step backward. Public awareness is an essential part of any strong safety program," and Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) said, "Whether the public should worry is for the public to decide, not FAA." Wildlife biologist Steve Garber who worked on the database also told the Post that publicly available information is inadequate, "It's terrible... What I wanted was something where we could take all this data that was secret, and make it so people could analyze it and compare it." more ›

Data culled from new computerized systems installed in taxis reveals that despite the recession, the number of cab rides each day in NYC is on the rise. Cabs carried approximately 478,000 in February, an all-time high since the Taxi and Limousine Commission started using the electronic trip sheets. In recent years, the old-fashioned taxi meters had registered between 400,000 to 450,000 cab rides a day in New York. more ›