Can you believe this is still happening? For the 26th year in a row, the April Fools' Day Committee has announced their parade, which will not take place on April 1st, or ever, because it is a joke. They tell us the parade will start at 5th Avenue and 59th Street at noon on the 1st (rain or shine!) and end in Washington Square Park. Once the little 2.6 mile walk is done, a King and Queen of Fools will be crowned (our money is on parade participants Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan!). more ›

The California blonde accused of fraud was in New York City yesterday pleading not guilty to charges. She allegedly conspired with David Birnbaum (of Brooklyn) and Vladimir Zuravel (of Queens) by posing as a member of the Guggenheim family and attempting to hawk fake investments. more ›

A few years ago artist John Chamberlain and former Warhol assistant Gerard Malanga were battling it out, both claiming they owned a work of art called 315 Johns (a series of images of Chamberlain). The former had just sold the piece, as a Warhol original, for $5 million; he had it in his possession because (Malanga claims) it was being stored at his apartment. Now the NY Times reports that the case is finally going to trial. more ›

Forget those mint-scented garbage bags that keep away rats, those aren't going to let your neighbors know how ridiculously wealthy you are—what will, are these Louis Vuitton garbage bags. They're not new to the market (Kanye was all over this ish back in February), but they did land on Curbed today in a designer-branded product post—meaning they're still around, meaning there's a market for these things (and yes, they've been spotted in NYC). more ›

Stained glass, mosaics, tiled penguins... there's a lot going on underground (in fact, here's an entire guide to all the subway art you can find throughout the system). But this piece, well, wins. What a simple yet accurate reflection on the current state of city agencies and their budget woes. Sure, it's a minimalist approach, but it says so much. Just look at the edges—dirty and peeling, staring back at straphangers, as if mocking them for paying $89/month for this. For giant, fake, peeling tiles. more ›

For twelve hours tomorrow, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., a mock bank robbery will be staged for the filming of a movie. So if you see some hold-up action happening over on Reade Street between Centre Street and Broadway in Manhattan, it's probably not real. The notification we received states: "Included in the simulated activity will be law enforcement and emergency response vehicles and actors dressed as law enforcement. NYPD will be on site." Seems like a good time to revisit this scene. more ›

Fulton Mall shelves may be bare this summer since in Baltimore feds have seized 120,000 pairs of fake Nikes, along with counterfeit Coach and Gucci-brand stuff, Cartier watches and Viagra pills bound for Brooklyn. For smuggling and money laundering they've charged three U.S. citizens along with four partners from China and two from Malaysia, where the goods were manufactured. The AP says that, to avoid paying import duties, the smuggling ring had merchandise delivered to New York and New Jersey, transacting in cash and wiring money to Asia. Officials also seized fake Ugg, Adidas, Versace and Ralph Lauren items. Undercover officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who've been working on the case since 2008, infiltrated the operation and made their arrests last week. more ›

Fake cops in Ft. Greene pulled their victim over, cuffed him, then mugged him on Feb. 21. The victim was driving Sunday morning around 4 a.m. when he noticed a gray minivan hot on his tail, reports the Brooklyn Paper. While he was stopped at the corner of Fulton Street and Carlton Avenue, two men hopped from the car bearing fake badges, then began berating him for not stopping earlier. They cuffed the duped man and took him back to their vehicle, then spun him around neighborhood. It wasn't until they released him that the victim realized he'd been taken for a ride: the unofficial officers had stolen all of his money. more ›

For an NYPD officer, losing your shield is a major headache, leading to lots of annoying paperwork and a penalty that can cost up to 10 days’ pay. So it's an open secret that many officers keep their actual badge at a safe at home, and buy a fake "dupe" badge for everyday use. The Times has an interesting article on the practice, and gets a choice quote from former chief of department, Louis Anemone, who explains that many officers use dupes because they're afraid of losing their real badges at a bar: "You’re going to go get boxed on a Friday or Saturday night. You don’t want to say you lost your shield when you were out drinking, so you carry a dupe." more ›

Escolar, a fish famous for causing diarrhea and anal leakage, has been found masquerading as tuna at sushi restaurants, according to a DNA research study recently published by a group of scientists. The escolar was found five times during the brief research project, which included visits to 31 sushi restaurants in NYC and beyond. The study also found that some restaurants are also selling endangered southern bluefin tuna. more ›

A Yankees fan from New Jersey is filing a $5 million class action suit over some seats from the old Yankee stadium he bought as a souvenir. John Lefkus spent the best 23 seasons of his life rooting for the Yankees from section M11, Row A, seats one and two, and after the Team moved to a new stadium, Lefkus decided to buy his old seats for $2,000. But what he actually purchased would shock him. more ›

One day in June 2007, maintenance man Robert Lopez was taking out the trash at the Cadman Towers in Brooklyn Heights when he found some fake dynamite sticks attached to a clock. "I thought it was cool," he tells the Times, and so he took it home to make a piggy bank out of it. That idea landed him in Riker's Island (where inmates called him the "Mad Bomber") and an indictment on charges of "placing a false bomb or hazardous substance," a felony that carries up to four years in prison. A transit worker had spotted him carrying the fake dynamite and called police, who arrested him outside his Fort Greene apartment. Which he no longer rents; he lost his job and he's been homeless for a month. Sometimes he cleans a McDonald's in Brooklyn. Sad enough yet? In a teary interview with the Times, he explains, "On 9/11, from my roof of my building I could see the top of the towers smoking... I’m not a terrorist. I wouldn’t hurt nobody like that. Never." The Brooklyn D.A. isn't convinced, and Lopez is due back in court on Wednesday. more ›

This fake advisory was spotted at the Metropolitan G stop recently, and even though it's not real... it's all too realistic. Though perhaps there are more quirky subway incidents that could be added... what other MTA troubles are missing from this passive-aggressive masterpiece? more ›

On last week's 30 Rock we learned a little bit about Liz Lemon's past life where she pursued acting and starred in (at least one) phone sex commercial that aired in the "Greater Chicagoland" area. NBC has finally offered up the full commercial online—if you had 70 cents for the first minute and 6 cents each additional minute, would you call 1-900-OK-FACE? more ›

Remember how last month we all had fun hating that "support group" Dating a Banker Anonymous [DABA], created by and for materialistic ladies freaking out about their suddenly penurious boyfriends? And then, after a NY Times article about the women led to an immediate book deal for the DABA co-founders—swiftly followed by talk of a movie and TV deal—we all gagged on our own bile? Well, as previously suspected, the whole thing was just a satirical put-on—there never was any support group, just a blog—and the Paper of Record has just issued a mea culpa, almost four weeks after the article was originally published:

An article on Jan. 28 about women who commiserated over dating Wall Street bankers caught in the financial crisis described a group they had formed, Dating a Banker Anonymous, as a support group. That is the name of their blog. Its creators originally told The Times that about 30 women had participated, but since publication, they have said that all involved were friends. Laney Crowell, one of the women who started the blog, said in the article that it was “very tongue in cheek;” she has since described it as a satire that embellishes true experiences for effect. Had the nature of the blog been made clear at the outset, the article would have described it accordingly, not as a support group.

As part of their long-running campaign to ban foie gras, PETA has launched their "Fine Faux Foie Gras Challenge." The animal rights group hopes top chefs will join their effort to ban the force-feeding of geese, and to sweeten the deal, they're offering a $10,000 prize for the best vegetarian faux foie gras that's "comparable in taste and texture to the real glob of prized bird fat." Sarah DiGregorio at the Voice nominates the portobello mousse at chef Amanda Cohen's Dirt Candy (friend of Gothamist). The critic cautions that while Cohen's mousse is not as delicious as actual livers from force-fed ducks, "it's awfully tasty, and inventive too." But what to call the stuff? Grub Street fears "Tofoie," or "Champignon Gras" lack the cachet demanded by a delicacy derived from ducks and geese with painfully engorged livers. (Detect any bias on this one?) more ›

Like other classy gentlemen, 39-year-old Luis Lora-Martinez liked to impress the erotic dancers at AJ's Lounge in Secaucus by tipping them with 20 dollar bills. But Lora-Martinez's tips were actually forgeries, according to Secret Service agents who arrested him after employees at the strip club called the police. It seems Lora-Martinez never watched a little movie called To Live and Die in L.A.—which shows how labor-intensive the counterfeiting process actually is—because his fake bills were produced on a computer printer on regular paper. But according to The Jersey Journal, his funny money was good enough to fool the dancers for a little while, at least. When they wised up, they directed investigators to his motel room, where they found $5,000 in fake $20s and $50s stashed away. He now faces up to ten years in prison, and will only be released on bail if he can prove he has $60,000 in non-computer printer bills. more ›

After a ten month investigation, cops have busted a Suffolk County mail courier who they say forged dozens of realistic-looking deputy sheriff's badges and gave them out to acquaintances. But 54-year-old Peter Mistretta says it's all a big misunderstanding because he runs a male stripper business on the side and the badges were simply part of his employees' costumes. According to police—the real kind you generally don't want to see in G-strings—five shields and ID cards had the shield numbers of active-duty officers. And in July a driver pulled over in Vermont showed the trooper a fake Suffolk sheriff's ID, which was traced to Mistretta. Newsday reports that Mistretta is also in trouble over the five grams of cocaine in his possession when he was arrested—but surely that was just a prop for the Scarface stripper routine. more ›

more ›

Newsday and Gawker, the first sources to publish the two original photos of the Montauk Monster, are now a little suspect of the ongoing "buzz" this creature is maintaining. As such, they did a little digging and end up back at one of the first theories: could it be a viral marketing scheme? Their dissection of the creature results in more confusion--albeit organized, bullet-pointed confusion--and raises points for each case (it's real, and it's fake). In the end, there are some "untied loose ends" in the hoax theory...but there's also this Splinterheads movie site. Oh, and that shifty-eyed girl behind the first photo, who may or may not be related to the filmmaker. UPDATE: The movie site has taken down the photo--see their original posting here. more ›

In a clever ploy to undermine the city’s controversial proposal to lease out the 78-year-old Union Square Pavilion as a year-round restaurant, a group of activists sent a fake press release Monday that claimed to be from the Union Square Partnership Business Improvement District (BID). The release announced the BID’s decision to drop its push for “privatization of the famous park after overwhelming feedback from citizens across New York City.” (NewsBlaze still has the release on their website.) more ›

The police raided a Flushing warehouse and found $4.5 million worth of counterfeit goods. NY1 reported there were 50,000 pairs of sneakers, about 40,000 fake purses, and thousands of articles of clothing. more ›

About a year ago, Village Voice restaurant critic Robert Sietsema attended a taping of Iron Chef America at the Food Network's Chelsea studios. Thanks to a friend's invite, the Food Network had no idea he was watching and waiting to blow the cover off the whole phony operation once the episode finally aired. Now Sietsema is here to report that the series is “more bogus than even I had imagined.” more ›

Last year, the federal authorities had been looking for Esther Elizabeth Reed, a woman who faked her way into attending Harvard, Cal State and most recently Columbia University, by using a dead woman's identity. Reed was on the lam, but this past weekend's murders at a mall outside Chicago led the police to Reed, who had been living in the very same town the killings occurred. more ›

Earlier this year the law started cracking down on illegal bootleggers of all kinds, so those looking for more inexpensive gifts like Prada bags or not-yet-released DVDs on the city sidewalks may be barking up the wrong Christmas tree. The NY Post reports that cops are paying extra-special attention to the counterfeiters this year, leading to a big decline in sales for the sidewalk entrepreneurs and aiming the consumers to (gasp!) legit storefronts.That's great news... more ›