A Reddit poster put up a PSA on the site, simply stating: "Got a $75 ticket for walking between subway cars." Yep, them's the rules (it's in violation to "move between end doors of a subway car whether or not train is in motion, except in an emergency or when directed by police officer or conductor"). And those doors are often left unlocked... making it so very tempting to the subway scofflaw. more ›

Feld Entertainment, the company that runs Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, has just been slapped with a $270,000 fine for allegations that they violated federal animal welfare laws—this is the largest fine ever doled out under the Animal Welfare Act. Naturally, PETA, who released video of Ringling elephants being abused back in 2009, is celebrating the news. A spokesperson there said, "The government has taken a first step, and now it must confiscate the elephants. What remains to be done is for the public to be made aware of this history of abuse so that people will know to keep their children away from the circus.” more ›

CBS 2's "political correspondent" Marcia Kramer isn't resting on her laurels after blowing the terrorist bike lane story wide open; this week we find her in Douglaston, Queens, where she finds a guy who was fined $2,000 for not watering his bees. To put this in perspective, that's $1,500 more than an unlicensed driver was fined this week for fatally running over a woman on the Upper East Side. For Kramer, it's the perfect opportunity to make some "bee-autiful" puns. more ›

Poor Bill Thompson. The former City Comptroller lost the 2009 mayoral election by a smaller-than-expected margin, raising the suggestion that if there was more support for him, he could have toppled Mayor Bloomberg. And now he's been hit with a $619,125 for his illegal campaign posters. more ›

Last year, New Yorkers contested 3.2 million parking tickets, about 15% more than in 2009. But when one of those wrong tickets belongs to Jackson Heights Assemblyman Michael DenDekker's mother, it's time to take action. Yesterday, DenDekker introduced a revision to a bill he introduced last year that would require all municipalities in the state to pay a $100 fine to motorists who were wrongly ticketed, like his mother was when she got a ticket for violating alternate side parking rules on a Thursday when the rule was only in effect on Wednesdays. more ›

Neighbors of people with loud, annoying pups may get a little more respect in Bronxville. WCBS reports the village is considering toughening a current animal noise ordinance, which would fine owners $250 if their dog is barking for over 10 minutes during the day and 5 minutes after 10 p.m. But some dog owners think the law would be too much. One said, “Ten minutes is not a lot I don’t think for excessive barking. Ten minutes is not excessive, if it stops." Replace "excessive barking" with "a car alarm" and see if you feel the same way. more ›

When it comes to fines, the Prospect Park Enforcement Patrol officers are slack on summonsing litterbugs, but have no problem ticketing an unleashed pup. And now according to the Brooklyn Paper, they turn a blind eye to law-breaking fishermen as well. more ›

The first batch of cab drivers found charging passengers out-of-town rates within city limits have been punished. Six of the worst offenders were fined $850 on Monday and had their licenses revoked. However, this doesn't quite seem like a fitting punishment; guilty drivers cheated passengers out of $1.1 million over 286,000 trips. The worst was Michael John, who ripped off riders 570 times over two years. more ›

Did you know it's illegal to pick up discarded items on the sidewalk if you're driving a vehicle at the time? Paul Lawrence was recently fined $2,000 for picking up an air conditioner on a sidewalk in Middle Village, Queens—turns out that even though he was told he could take it from a woman at the building, the item was officially city property once it was set on the ground. more ›

It is sort of nice to get a blast of cool air while schlepping your way through the steamy sidewalks, but it's also wrong—very, very wrong. It's like enjoying a free hit of crack, basically. Despite that relatively new bill (passed in 2008) that fines air-conditioned establishments $200 per door/window left open, some companies are still risking it to lure in customers with their sweet manufactured breeze. (To clarify, under the legislation any business that's 4,000 square feet or larger, or part of a chain with five or more stores in the city, must keep their doors shut when the air conditioning is on.) more ›

City Council members Jessica Lappin (from the UES) and Karen Koslowitz (from Queens) have introduced a new bill that would, according to Midtown Lunch, "give the Department of Health authority to suspend any vending permit issued to a truck with two parking tickets (i.e. feeding the meter or idling) in a 12 month period, and revoke the permit of a truck that receives three parking tickets in a 12 month period." The Council members say their constituents are fed up with food trucks idling all day and occupying precious parking spots, but food truck owners insist the bill would put them out of business. more ›

Yesterday, a judge ordered the Bloomberg administration to compensate the families of two workers killed in 2008's Upper East Side crane collapse $5,000. The families of workers Donald C. Leo and Ramadan Kurtaj filed a lawsuit against the crane company and the Buildings Department, accusing them of negligence and corruption in the building project, but the city repeatedly ignored requests and court orders for documents and information regarding the safety of the equipment used on the collapse site. Mr Kurtaj's family lawyer, Susan Karten, told the Times, "It behooves the mayor to ask the city’s lawyers to stop this kind of obfuscation and to turn over crucial documents in this case." more ›

The longest runway at JFK Airport is officially closed for four months, and airlines are rallying against the new rule banning 3+ hour tarmac delays during the runway's rehab. JetBlue, Delta and American Airlines are asking that the rule, part of a new airline passengers' bill of rights, be lifted until construction is complete; as of April 29th they could face fines up to $27,500 per passenger if they keep the plane on the tarmac for too long. more ›

The owners of the Sony Building at 550 Madison Avenue were fined $25,000—for failure to maintain the building— after glass panels in its atrium fell during a Saturday night Purim party. Fifteen people suffered minor injuries and workers were seen trying to repair the roof yesterday. According to the NY Times, "ice fell from the 32nd floor of the 37-floor high-rise... striking two three-feet by five-feet glass panels at about midnight." The Daily News says the glass panels then fell 80 feet. more ›

Under what circumstances should a cabbie stop their meter? This past Wednesday night a 29-year-old Park Slope man threw up in the back of a cab while traveling down 4th Avenue in Brooklyn. He told the cabbie he'd clean up his sickly mess, at which point the driver pulled the car over on 14th Street so his passenger could presumably throw up some more, outside of the vehicle. more ›

A former deputy chief of staff to Council Speaker Christine Quinn has been fined for soliciting campaign contributions for Quinn while working for her City Hall office. City laws bar Council staffers or anyone with "substantial policy discretion" from working on their bosses campaigns, but a board found that Maura Keaney solicited contributions from union representatives for Quinn's re-election campaign in 2007. According to the Times, Keaney—who last year took a gig with Mayor Bloomberg's re-election campaign and landed a $150,000 bonus—was fined $2,500. Just hours after the city's Conflicts of Interest Board ruled against her, Bloomberg's school's chancellor Joel Klein announced that Keaney had been appointed as the Department of Education's executive director of external affairs for $143,000 per year. more ›

Yesterday's new statewide crackdown on cell phone use among taxi drivers had city cabs very very quiet. The expensive new penalty for use of a mobile phone (even with a hands-free attachment) or other personal electronic gadget including a gaming device and music player is $200. Most weren’t willing to risk it; by Friday afternoon traffic cops had dispensed just 13 summonses and passengers were pleased about the quiet new riding environment. But city cabbies were saying it was a bad call. more ›

The League of Humane Voters of New York City, who have long been lobbying to ban carriage horses from Central Park, has just suffered a bit of an upset. The animal-rights group has just been handed a $104,290 fine for not filing lobbying reports with the city clerk. more ›

If you get caught red-handed with your feet up on the subway seats, you have less than a one-in-five chance at winning your case in a hearing. more ›

We're guessing NYC Transit can't really afford to be fined right now... but they just were, by a Brooklyn judge. The Daily News reports that the agency has sat on a request to turn over info regarding a fatal subway accident for three years. more ›

You know what doesn't help out Newtown Creek's reputation right now, while being considered for Superfunding? The Greenpoint commercial building owner who has been dumping sewage into the body of water. Reportedly Jose Torres, the owner of the properties at 251, 257 and 259 North Henry Street, was charged in an 81-count indictment this week. "Authorities said that instead of being hooked up to the sewer system, the commercial buildings had their toilets and sinks connected directly to a storm-water drainage system underground." Torres faces a fine of nearly $2 million. more ›

Last year, small business Susan Hager was fined after taping an envelope filled with 15 of her business cards to a lamppost on Court Street. Them's the breaks... but the problem here is that she was charged a fine for each card; so instead of facing a $75 fine for the envelope and its contents, she faced closer to a $3,000 fine. The Brooklyn Paper now reports that after her hearing, her fine was knocked down to just $75. This could be seen as a small coup for small business owners facing Bloomberg's quality of life ticketing spree. A pet-groomer, also in Brooklyn, is currently fighting over $8,000 in fines for posters he put up to advertise his shop... which he may now have to close. more ›

A small business owner in Brooklyn Heights took to the streets in April and taped an envelope filled with 15 business cards onto a Court Street lamppost. That is, of course, not legal... but it also doesn't seem quite right that the sanitation worker who fined her wrote out a separate summons for each card in the envelope! Now Susan Hager is fighting the fines, and she told the Brooklyn Paper, “It said I’ll be paying a minimum of $75 for each card, and I could ultimately pay up to $3,000 for the whole deal. I don’t mind paying $75, but $3,000?” more ›

The AP reports, "Serena Williams was fined a record $82,500 for her U.S. Open tirade and could be suspended from that tournament if she has another 'major offense' at any Grand Slam in the next two years." During the semi-finals against Kim Clijsters, Williams had yelled at a line judge, "I swear to God, I'm f*ckin' takin' this ball and shovin' it in(?) your f*ckin' throat… I swear to God." She was initially fined $10,000 but Grand Slam administrator Bill Babcock found Williams "violated the 'major offense' rule for 'aggravated behavior.'" Update: The NY Times says Williams was fined "a hefty $175,000," which will be reduced to $82,500 if she stays out of trouble for two years. more ›

Spotted on Mott between Spring and Prince: a passive-aggressive note to a mysterious anti-pooper scooper! We just can't help but think this note could have been written better, though. It currently reads: "To person whose dog has taken a shit twice this week and you didn't pick it up. I'll be watching. If I catch you it won't go well for you." The threatening tone is there, but it doesn't seem to have that certain... je ne sais quoi. Next time maybe just try to sick the Sanitation Department on the Pooper-trator. more ›

The crane accident that went down at 775 Columbus Avenue yesterday afternoon is going to cost a pretty penny for some involved. The Real Deal reports that "the general contractor, crane owner and operator at Columbus Square face fines of up to $25,000 after a piece of a crane crushed a sidewalk covering." more ›

If you're pregnant, and your baby daddy is being deployed to Afghanistan, and besides, you were totally going to pick up your dog's poop in a minute... should you still be fined $250 for not doing so quickly enough? The Daily News reports that 19-year-old, 9-days-overdue Alicia Fernbacker of Maspeth was slapped with such a fine last week by a sanitation department agent. more ›

Serena Williams will return to Arthur Ashe Stadium this afternoon for the US Open Women's Doubles finals, less than 48 hours after the outburst that eliminated her from the singles draw and gave a whole new meaning to the Kanye West line "an ass like Serena." The USTA gave Williams a slap on the wrist yesterday—a $10,500 fine for misconduct—but said they are still reviewing tapes to see if a stiffer penalty will ensue. Some were calling for Williams to be kept out of today's match or at the very least stripped of her $350,000 singles prize money. more ›

Back in July 21-year-old singer Rihanna was spotted inking up some others at East Side Ink tattoo parlor in the East Village. The problem is that's not so legal when you aren't licensed, so now the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has cited the shop for "operating with an unlicensed tattoo artist on site." Her longtime tattoo artist, BangBang, was the first to get marked by the singer, getting an "R" on his leg. Two other resident artists got the same; the owner says, "She hadn't done that before. We had a blast. It was so funny and cute." The fine could go up to around $2,000—but we're guessing that's pocket change for the singer, and maybe she'll help out her friends—though with all this publicity she's probably already done her part. more ›