A Brooklyn dollar store is being slapped with some seriously steep fines for selling a plastic sheriff-themed toy set that includes one very plastic, retro-looking gun. The Department of Consumer Affairs is not kidding around with that whole "no fake guns" thing they've been harping about for years now, you guys! more ›

When local elections come around, so do candidates' posters attached to anything and everything. However, since it's illegal to post fliers to city property (think light poles and traffic lights), the city has been cracking down—2009 mayoral candidate Bill Thompson was hit with a $619,000+ fine, Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio got a $300,000+ bill and City Comptroller managed to get out of nearly $550,000 in fines, thanks to a loophole. Well, ladies and gentleman, we have news for you: Mayor Bloomberg thinks that if you do the crime, you pay the fine. more ›

The Kobe Bryant Apology Tour continued yesterday, after the N.B.A. star was fined $100,000 for mouthing an obscene homophobic slur at a referee earlier this week. Bryant made a public apology Wednesday, and also personally called the president of the Human Rights Campaign to apologize some more. But Bryant, who has some experience with handling bad PR, took a more forceful stance today, and vowed to eradicate the word from the english language: "It's about getting that message out there man, to kill that word. Just don't use it, just don't use it. And hopefully others can learn from the situation that occured and just knock that word out completely," he said on the Dan Patrick Show. more ›

Thirteen-time NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant was handed a hefty fine of $100,000 by the NBA after he was caught on camera mouthing an obscene homophobic slur at a referee this week. Bryant was given a technical foul midway through the Lakers-Spurs game on Tuesday night, and could be seen on camera angrily yelling at ref Bennie Adams; he seems to have called him a “f**king f****t.” Watch the video below: more ›

The NJ Nets have been fined $50,000 by the NBA for minority owner Jay-Z's ill-timed visit to the locker room of the Kentucky Wildcats. Jay-Z, newly minted lifestyle guru and chicken wing enthusiast, was videotaped March 31 in the locker room at Newark's Prudential Center with the Wildcats players, moments after they had beaten North Carolina to clinch a berth in the Final Four. more ›

There are a lot of reasons we don't go around chopping trees willy-nilly. To start, we aren't lumberjacks. But also? We don't want to run the risk of being fined by the city for our efforts. For example, in 2008 Staten Island developer Block 3066 went a removed some "unstable," "dead" and "dangerous" trees from five properties it was building up and now it has to pay more than $135,000 in fines. more ›

In the wake of Rex Ryan's FootGate situation (which just continues getting awkward), everyone's completely forgotten about TripGate from a couple weeks ago, an actual football-related scandal. Jets conditioning coach Sal Alosi admitted to intentionally tripping a Miami Dolphins player, and was fined $25,000 and suspended without pay for the rest of the season by the team. Now, the NFL has fined the Jets team $100,000 because of the incident. The fine takes into account special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff's public comments accusing other teams of employing similar tactics. So basically, the team got fined the equivalent of two Brett Favre penis photos. more ›

Forget about cabbie dress codes, let's talk about cabbie fines! The News reports that beyond worrying about the clothes on your hack's back, the TLC is now getting ready to raise the fines it levies on drivers who don't follow the rules. The problem is that although the TLC has many a rule governing driver behavior (they can't talk on cellphones, must display their license, etc.) the fines associated with breaking them, most falling between $25 and $350, are too low to be reasonable deterrents. Especially since most drivers never seem to get busted for them in the first place. The proposal for the new fines isn't done yet, but should go before public review in the coming months. We can't wait. more ›

The last summons written for litter in Prospect Park was allegedly over 20 months ago, according to the Brooklyn Paper (though, what about that epic trash pile left after last summer's Heatwave BBQ?). The paper reports that Park Enforcement Patrol officers have written zero tickets for litter since 2008, but have issued 147 tickets for dogs that were not on a leash. more ›

Today the NYPD is conducting another 24-hour ticketing blitz, targeting drivers talking or texting on their cell phones and expecting to hand out thousands of $130 fines. In terms of slow reaction times, a University of Utah study found that talking on the phone while driving is comparable to having a BAC of .08. But some New Yorkers find it hard to put down their phones. One city driver told NY1, "It's tempting, especially because my cell phone is my GPS." Wouldn't it be just as bad if he were looking at a map the whole time? more ›

Due to a licensing loophole in fine regulations, the Taxi & Limousine Commission has failed to collect on over $11 million in driver fines from the past six years. Of the $23.2 million in issued summonses since 2004, the TLC has collected just $11.9 million, and officials told the Post at least $5.75 million is owed by unlicensed drivers. However, the TLC doesn't have the authority to pursue payment once a driver turns in or loses their license. more ›

Even before the new restaurant grade rules were put into effect, DOH inspectors were out looking for dirt. According to the Daily News, the DOH shut down 1,758 restaurants in 2009, up 27% from the number of closures in 2008. Health officials say it's because they were able to check more restaurants than in previous years. Assistant Health Commissioner Daniel Kass said, "When you get to more, you are going to find more." more ›

Today, Hoboken is celebrating St. Patrick's Day early as usual with a parade and other festivities. But after previous years' antics —sex, public urination, pooping in apartment buildings' common areas— giving town officials and residents a headaches, Hoboken police are vowing "zero tolerance" for troublemakers, who will also be flirting with $2,000 fines for disorderly conduct (open containers of alcohol included!). more ›

As previously discussed, the City Council voted to raise the fine for idling cars from $5 to $250. The move was prompted by two horrible fatal accidents: "In Chinatown, two children were killed when an unattended idling van rolled backwards. And in Queens, a car left unattended and idling was stolen by an intoxicated person who ran down and killed two high school students." more ›

In March the NYPD conducted a 24-hour sting targeting drivers behind the wheel with their cell phones, issuing 9,016 tickets during the crackdown. By the end, New York motorists got the message and never used their cellphones while driving again. Kidding—of course it didn't make a damn bit of difference, though it did make some serious loot for the city government. So now it's back to the well, starting at midnight tonight, when cops will start slapping motormouth motorists with $130 fines—$10 more than last time! After 24 hours the crackdown will conclude, and everyone can go back to distractedly steering big hunks of metal through the street with one hand. more ›

They bought it! At a closed-door hearing yesterday in front of a committee comprised of union actors and producers' reps, Jeremy Piven was able to convince his fellow thespians that he had no choice but to quit Speed-the-Plow last December because of dangerously high mercury levels. The five actors on the panel all sided with the Runaway Jury star, while the five members of the Broadway league agreed with the show's producers, who say Piven faked mercury poisoning because he was bored and wanted to get back to sunny L.A. more ›

The owner of a home-based Staten Island travel agency could be in for a huge payday from Carnival Cruise lines. A Brooklyn federal court judge has ruled that Carnival violated the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which prohibits faxing unsolicited advertisements. Sherman Gottlieb, owner of SMG Travel, says the company has been bombarding him with fax ads since 2000, despite repeated cease-and-desist faxes and phone calls to Carnival. He pegs the number at 1,387 unsolicited fax ads, and since the TCPA sets fines at $500 per fax—with triple damages of $1,500 per fax if they're sent knowingly and willfully—Gottlieb could collect millions of dollars in damages! Carnival doesn't deny sending the faxes, but the company says they only sent maybe 540. According to the Staten Island Advance, a ruling on the amount of damages is pending; in the meantime, anybody got a cheap fax machine for sale? more ›

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a number of violations related to the March 15 crane collapse in Turtle Bay, which killed seven people. more ›

Traffic agents wrote nearly 700 summonses on Wednesday as part of the city's crackdown on drivers who block the intersection during heavy traffic. But despite the increased enforcement of the city's box-blocking law— which is now punishable by a $115 fine—New York's boxes are still all blocked up! The Post sent a reporter to hang out at the intersection of West 54th Street and Broadway yesterday, where traffic agents were not handing out tickets. There the reporter counted 29 cars blocking the box over the course of an hour. But box block at your own risk; over at West 36th Street and Ninth Avenue the NYPD says they handed out 20 summonses an hour to drivers with a penchant for box blocking. more ›

Forget about the arrests for pot possession going up, it's now being reported that ticketing for not using the pooper-scooper is at an all time high! more ›

A Queens man is suing the city for harassment after receiving $500 in fines for being “a public nuisance” by feeding pigeons in his back yard. 65-year-old Cecil Pitts lives off Social Security in the South Ozone Park house where he was raised as a boy. Now, since the death of his mother, his only companions are two elderly dogs and whatever pigeons descend for his twice-daily feedings. Got a box of tissues ready? Pitts tells the Times, “They are my whole life, because all my relatives are gone.” more ›

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed $464,600 in fines over two contractors' safety lapses at the Deutsche Bank building. Contractor Bovis Lend Lease, which had been retained by the state government, and its former subcontractor John Galt Corporation had been dismantling the building when a seven-alarm fire, caused by a worker's smoking, broke out last August. more ›

Slowpokes and procrastinators beware: Late fees from overdue library books in New York could be costing you points off your credit score. The New York Times has an article today that describes how the The New York Public Library and the Queens Public Library have been using a private company named Unique Management Services, which is a collections agency that library late fines are referred to when not paid by book borrowers. One rabbi in Far Rockaway found this out when he tried to apply for a mortgage! more ›

Cats in delis: they are ubiquitous, loved, objected to, necessary, and illegal. City inspectors are constantly on the prowl to ferret out deli felines, but deli owners say they are necessary fixtures to keep their businesses free of pests like mice, rats, and roaches. The New York Times has a story today on the ongoing battle between the city and the cats that are the sentinels of its delis--feline samurai who serve their masters in return for food, shelter, and the occasional scratch behind the ears.

To store owners, the services of cats are indispensable in a city where the rodent problem is serious enough to be documented in a still popular two-minute video clip on YouTube from late February (youtube.com/watch?v=su0U37w2tws) of rats running amok in a KFC/Taco Bell in Greenwich Village. Store-dwelling cats are so common that there is a Web site, workingclasscats.com, dedicated to telling their tales.