In New York we get to enjoy the snow for about five minutes before it's turned into a dirt slushee. After that, layers of yellow are added by the city's canines (and sometimes humans), along with street grime, and other little treats (rocks, needles, whatever). What we're saying is, our snow is dirty and depressing enough that the least we could do is pick the dog shit out of it. So this little pet etiquette reminder is for you, dog owners. more ›

So far this year we're doing terribly in the etiquette department. That guy with the phone at the philharmonic, those teenaged seat hogs, and a shocking 42% of you are upstreamers! Well here comes our latest offender: a tiny dog (at least it wasn't an opossum?). more ›

Earlier this week we became huge fans of New York Philharmonic music director Alan Gilbert when he stopped a performance of Mahler's Ninth Symphony just before the end to shame an audience member whose iPhone wouldn't stop marimba-ing. And we weren't the only ones—the internet quickly filled with praise for Gilbert's agressive actions. But what of the offending iPhone owner? How's he doing? Well, now we have his side of the story. And the answer is not well! more ›

Henry Alford, who has written for the New York Times and Vanity Fair, has just released his book on etiquette, titled, Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That: A Modern Guide to Manners... and the New Yorker has some tips for his fellow urban dwellers. Over at Thirteen, he got in to one of the most despicable actions one often witnesses on the streets of New York: upstreaming. You know, when you are trying to hail a cab and another person, or group of people, walk just ahead of you to hail one first (teenagers probably do this a lot). more ›

The issue of children and dining out is a bit of a hot topic these days (baby tax, anyone?), but until now, few have dared to explore the question of children and...dining in. Leave it to the highfalutin gourmands over at Gourmet to tackle the issue, advising dinner party hosts on how to ban kiddies from the table in a polite way. Sort of. more ›

Lately, more than ever, we've encountered the worst sort of subway etiquette offender: that jerk wearing a backpack on a crowded car. How, in 2011, is this still happening? To the people doing this: your backpack is so clearly in the way, taking up valuable space that human beings could fit in to. Here is a simple, and what we believed was a common sense solution to the problem: more ›

He was a drug dealer who killed a lot of people, but a Jamaican druglord also gave back to his community! more ›

A new sign has popped up from the Metropolitan Etiquette Authority (aka artist Jayshells), according to Vanishing NY. Last time the artist tackled subway etiquette (you can now buy those signs over at Etsy), and this time around he's targeting texting zombies. Some of the worst sidewalk etiquette criminals around! more ›

With the 10th anniversary of 9/11 fast approaching, it's important to solemnly remember the things that really matter: the heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice, the way New Yorkers came together to get through the ordeal, and, most of all, the poor politicians who've been tragically denied a speaking role at this year's memorial service. Governor Chis Christie never forgets—according to an unsourced report in the NY Post, the distinguished-looking gentleman from the Garden State is fuming about Mayor Bloomberg's 9/11 Day guest speaker list. more ›

We were well aware that Yankees caps were disproportionately popular with suspected criminals, but who knew they were popular with "uncouth" British lasses? That at least was our takeaway when we read the amazing admonishment one English woman e-mailed her daughter-in-law to-be recently, an e-mail which promptly went viral. more ›

There's a lot of etiquette that New Yorkers ignore day to day: from the subway, to the sidewalks (to the spitting on sidewalks), to how to act in a museum, to properly using the office bathroom. There are a lot of manners to be kept in check at every turn of the corner, but one that we could do without is holding the door open. Inevitably it just leads to the third scenario in the below cartoon. So New York, we beg of you: please don't hold the door. more ›

Some kids at Hawthorne Country Day School, which is dedicated to educating children with disabilities, have picked up on the subway etiquette movement and incorporated it into their latest hit: "Get Your Foot Off My Foot." We can all relate! HuffPo notes their inspiration was rooted in frustration, specifically, they "got tired of straphangers scuffing their shoes." Though is it really subway-specific? Videogum boiled it down dealing with the broader issue that "we have all faced at one point or another in our lives, when someone has their foot on your foot, and you want them to get their foot off of your foot. STORIES FROM THE STREETS!" more ›

We could use a handout like this underground; the Bold Italic has created an etiquette guide for the people of the San Francisco Muni... and it's easily translatable to our own mass transit system. They write, "People get bitch slapped on the bus everyday. To keep things relatively amicable, we've come up with an etiquette guide for all Muni riders. May the force be with you on your future commutes." They seem to have included it all: no fast food, no peeing on the seats, no nail clipping... no tickling. What did they miss? [via Laughing Squid] more ›

Sure, there are some common sense rules when walking on the sidewalks of New York City, but did you know this rule? A Park Slope parent was recently "accosted by a silver-haired woman and her cone-wearing dog" for talking on her iPhone while standing on the sidewalk and leaning against a brownstone. The older woman informed her: more ›

Yesterday, NJ Transit rolled out its Quiet Commute pilot program, outfitting the first and last cars of 29 express trains between Trenton to New York City (14 in the morning, 15 in the afternoon) with the Quiet Cars. One rider, traveling to Penn Station, enthused to the Post, "I took the 8:56 quiet train this morning and I slept for the first time -- I've never been able to do that before! I've been annoyed by people talking on their phones. I love the quietness, and I will take the quiet car every day." more ›

Grub Street recently got an advance copy of tip jar advocate Steve Dublanica's new book "Keep the Change: A Clueless Tipper’s Quest to Become the Guru of the Gratuity," which is chock full of rules for how to tip. Besides splitting tips for sushi chefs and tipping on buffets, Dublanica takes a look barista tipping trends. At Starbucks, one barista says a 50 cent tip is "really generous," while at Portland’s Ristretto, baristas expect to be tipped $1 a drink like a bartender. Unless they sneak Irish Coffee into that carboard cup, we'll stick to leaving our extra change. more ›

Now here are some subway signs we support! Artist jayshells surveyed people on their top (non-MTA related) pet-peeves while riding the subway, and instead of taking the complaints to the internet, he's addressing them offline. more ›

Sometimes it can be really annoying if someone holds the door for you when you are still like 20 feet away, but are New Yorkers equally annoyed when a door isn't held for them? NY1's Pat Kiernan points to an article on door etiquette, which explains how to handle two door-holding scenarios. You know, in case you needed help with that. more ›

The rules keep coming in. Bartender and restaurant manager Patrick Maguire already published his list of 64 things restaurant patrons must never do (in response to restaurateur Bruce Buschel's list of 100 things servers should never do), but now Endless Simmer is starting their own list of customer no-nos. They back up Maguire's assertion that "Gimme" is not the proper way to start an order (pardon us), but have some new rules too: more ›