Queens woman Doris Schmitt has left her life savings of a quarter-million dollars to Harold Camping's Christian media company Family Radio; yes, the man who predicted the world would end on May 21st (and otherwise a complete stranger to Schmitt). The 78-year-old woman, a widow, died alone in her Rosedale home a year prior to the doomsday date of May 21st. more ›

After weeks of ominous BQE billboards, caravans of catastrophe, and CDC Zombie Apocalypse guides, Judgment Day 2011: Go Rapture Or Go Home is finally here! Rapturist assistants are standing by with all your relevant questions on Twitter, and—oh, you're still skeptical? You're wondering why we haven't heard any reports of New Zealand's destruction, since it was 6 p.m. there hours ago? Well suck on this nonbelievers: there was an earthquake...near the South Sandwich Islands. more ›

"If the world does end tomorrow alternate side parking will be suspended. Although I think alternate side parking will take on a whole different meaning, actually," the mayor said today. more ›

What if you're a judge trying to maintain some semblance of order during the last fitful days of civilization's collapse? How do you decide who gets the last batches of life-saving medicine in the event of a contagious disease outbreak? Is it okay to permit warrantless searches of homes? Is it inappropriate to wear a respirator mask in court? Does Randall Flagg really have the authority to overturn your decisions? All those questions and more are answered in a new guidebook (below) issued by New York State to prepare courts and health officials for the task of pointlessly extending civil government's last gasps in the wake of a devastating terrorist attack or mass epidemic. And would you believe the NYCLU does not approve? more ›

At the start of 2011, the apocalypse officially got underway with a series of terrifying, inexplicable events, including thousands of birds falling from the sky, thousands of crabs washing ashore dead, and reports that sea levels are on the rise. Today, we may have a new addition to add to that web of doomsday tokens: a mysterious greenish-yellow goo fell from the sky onto the town of upstate Snyder, NY, leaving homes caked in the strange substance. And officials have yet to determine what caused it or where it came from. more ›

As soon as the new year hit, pretty much exactly at the stroke of midnight, dead birds started falling from the sky. This is either some sick marketing scheme for Angry Birds, or the apocalypse is upon us. While we haven't started seeing dead pigeons raining down on us here in New York (yet), the mass animal deaths are continuing around the world. It seemed to begin with hundreds of thousands of dead birds and fish in Arkansas, which is alarming enough on its own, but then Louisiana saw hundreds of dead blackbirds falling from the sky, and now the Daily News is reporting on the doomsday scenario... though they neglect to mention the thousands of doves that fell from the sky in Italy! More on that later. more ›

Man, the MTA never lets anyone else get in on the fun of driving people along predetermined routes. Joel Azumah's company TransportAzumah, which has been shuttling people along a few Doomsday affected bus routes, was shut down yesterday after Manhattan Supreme Court judge signed the Law Department's request for a temporary restraining order against the entrepreneur. The Law Department said in a statement, "The operator has been running an unauthorized bus line, and safety is the city's paramount priority." What about the priority of running public transportation successfully? more ›

So! How have you been "processing" the MTA's "doomsday" service changes, which were finally implemented yesterday? Taking it like a man non-gender specific human, or finally giving up on life? While most of us were grumbling along in the standard New Yorker "Unbelievable!" default position, police say one B6 bus rider, Jason Ferreira, 22, of Brooklyn, let his fists do the bitching. more ›

The W and V train cuts have been getting most of the MTA doomsday attention, so the Daily News decided to take a look at changes upsetting residents in Whitestone. The Q15A bus was created as an alternate route of the Q15 bus to help those stranded by the Q14 elimination. The bus goes down a residential stretch of 10th Avenue, and locals say the street isn't wide enough. One asked the Daily News, "A fire truck, usually the first response for a heart attack, how are they gonna get by?" more ›

The MTA has brought the pain today, as weekday commuters are getting their first taste of the new "Doomsday" service cuts. The W and V trains passed behind the curtain of eternity this weekend, making their final runs on Friday, accompanied by farewell parties. The Q is extending to Astoria to replace the W, while the new orange M train has replaced the V in Forest Hills and Manhattan before swinging into Brooklyn via the Williamsburg Bridge. All told, 15 subway lines will be affected, with the number of trains cut back, and as a result, three million people are expected to have to wait for a train for up to two extra minutes, the AP reports. Clearly, we're doomed. more ›

The MTA is bringing the pain this weekend, with the first of the dreaded doomsday service cuts. Both the V line and the W line will be sent to a nice farm upstate to happily live out the rest of their days. Tomorrow the very last W train will leave Ditmars at 10:17 p.m. and continue to Brooklyn; the MTA says it'll be "replaced" by the N, Q, and R in Manhattan and Queens, but could any train really replace our darling Dubya? And don't even get us started on the V—not here, not now! At least there'll be a farewell party on that last W run (to "commemorate the short, complicated and often pathetic life of our beloved W.") more ›

As part of its effort to cut back on overtime and sick time payouts, the MTA has been refusing to fill dozens of slots each day for bus operators who have called in sick or were on vacation (or both!), the Post reports. Since last month, buses without drivers have stayed in the depot instead of heading out with a substitute behind the wheel, causing delays of up to a half hour on some bus lines. more ›

Since Senate Dems passed a budget resolution replete with slashes yesterday, NYC officials are already preparing for the carnage. The exact sum of the cuts hasn't been named yet, but in January Budget Director Mark Page said the city could lose $1.3 billion in a "worst-case" scenario. In light of that estimate, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler warns that it is unlikely "head-count reductions wouldn't be part of the answer." more ›

Under Gov. Paterson's plan to rescue the MTA from a $400 million budget shortfall, New York City businesses would see a payroll tax increase by 59 percent, surging from .34 percent for every $100 of payroll to .54 percent. Meanwhile, the payroll tax in suburban areas would be cut in half. more ›

With the MTA facing a $400 million budget gap—even if it implements "Doomsday" service cuts and a 7.5 percent fare hike—Mayor Bloomberg warned straphangers yesterday that commuting will likely become more tedious, more expensive, or both. According to the Post, the Mayor said state legislators must "come up with some ways to fund the MTA, or the MTA is either going to have to raise rates dramatically or cut back service dramatically—or, what's more likely, some combination of the two," more ›

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has revised its proposed plan for "Doomsday" service cuts, potentially rescuing nighttime service on several crosstown buses, saving the Z train, and ensuring that trains run every 20 minutes, not every 30 minutes, late at night. The MTA's new proposed cuts no longer threaten the M79 and M96 buses, and nighttime service on Eighth Avenue's M10 bus would be preserved. The M train would still be cut, though the V train — which currently terminates in the Lower East Side — would extend into Brooklyn to cover its stops in Williamsburg and further east. Though the W train would still be eliminated, Q trains would extend into Queens and N trains would run local in Manhattan to cover its stops. more ›

Students: If you want to keep getting free MetroCards, it might be time to start planning a really big bake sale. Under the proposed "Doomsday" service cuts, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will eliminate free student MetroCards unless it can come up with $214 million, the Daily News reports. more ›

Following a Gothamist report yesterday on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's plan to eliminate the only bus that services the soon-to-open Brooklyn Bridge Park, the agency announced that it has taken the route off the chopping block. The MTA has adjusted its proposed "Doomsday" service cuts to spare the B25 route in Brooklyn, as well as the Bx34 in Woodlawn and the Bx10 in the Bronx, the Daily News reports. more ›

With the MTA's approval of service cuts for subway, bus, commuter railroad, and paratransit in order to make up for a $400+ million budget shortfull, everyone is angry. But who should be blamed? more ›

As expected, the full MTA board approved a new budget that includes service cuts on subways, buses, commuter railroads and paratransit— plus the controversial phase-out of student fares. The agency found it would be over $400 million short, after the State underestimated tax revenue, the State Legislature decided to eliminate some funding, and a judge ordered the MTA to pay transit union raises. more ›

No part of the MTA's planned service cuts has proven to be more controversial than the agency's proposal to get rid of free Metrocards for students. more ›

When fares rose to $2.25 and the state legislature bailed out the MTA in May, it was with the understanding that there would be no service cuts. But now the MTA's "doomsday" scenario has been revived in order to cover an unexpected financial shortfall of nearly $400 million. A budget plan under consideration by the authority’s Finance Committee today would slash the number of subway trains during the day, late nights and weekends. Free or discounted fares for students would be phased out, dozens of bus lines would be reduced or eliminated, the W and Z would be terminated, and service on the M and G lines cut back. And people are pissed. more ›

After the announcement that a state accounting miscalculation underestimated the revenue the MTA was supposed to receive by a whopping $200 million, which means that the MTA has a shortfall of $343 million, the transit agency is bringing back some Doomsday ideas, like cutting bus and subway service and closing some subway stations overnight! more ›

The MTA, which already has a $1.2 billion budget deficit (hence the doomsday fare hikes and service cuts), now says it's been hit with another $621 million shortfall. Why? Because of "the continuing decline in the real estate and dedicated taxes that support the MTA, all of which are economically sensitive." Oh, and also the "increasing unemployment and higher fares led the MTA to predict a 7.2% drop in usage of its facilities in 2009." All told, the re-forecast for 2008 says real estate taxes are down $336 million, fare/toll revenue is down $221 million and state dedicated taxes are down $113 million (there was a $49 million budget surplus). The MTA will have to find a way to make up this new shortfall as well, but MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger said, "This is terrible news for the MTA, our customers and the regional economy, and the MTA Board will do everything in our power to protect the transit network. Without assistance from Albany, however, it will be extremely painful for everyone who relies on MTA services." more ›

In yet another gem from Modern Mechanix, folks from 1932 ponder "How Much Longer Will Our Big Cities Last?" Photos of subway tunnels collapsing and apartment fires in New York set the apocalyptic tone for the piece which claims "scientific prophets" see the mammoth cities becoming obsolete. We're to pictured a cobweb-enshrouded Empire State Building and dandelions overtaking Wall Street after "exhaustive studies" concluded that we're pretty much, well, screwed.

According to such writers as Stuart Chase, when man built the city he built a Frankenstein monster which would eventually turn and try to destroy its creator. The city, Mr. Chase believes, has grown so intricate and unwieldy that it now dominates its helpless inhabitants, rather than being dominated by them. more ›