As you've probably noticed from all the stories this year, there has been a serious rise in subway crime this year. Specifically the theft of high-end electronics like iPhones. But a new report out of the NYPD shows that it isn't just underground where thieves are targeting pricey gadgets, it is everywhere. Half of the nearly 16,000 robberies in the city between January and October involved electronics, mostly cell phones. That "makes electronics the single most stolen property type, surpassing even hard currency" according to the report. more ›

Did you purchase an iPhone 4 during Tenebrous Friday or CyberSad Monday? Are you prepared to endure a metaphor for a paroxysm of global debt? A man's iPhone 4 (not the schmancier 4s) began "emitting a significant amount of dense smoke, accompanied by a red glow" on an Australian flight last Friday. According to ABC, everyone was fine, and the "red glow was extinguished successfully." It was only a matter of time before Siri got sick of answering our questions and took the easy way out. more ›

Proving the maxim that "rumors are always true," the MTA has announced that Grand Central Station will indeed get a 23,000-square-foot Apple store, so weary travelers can gum up the display iPads with their greasy Shake Shack fingers and yell at nerds who have the power to void their service warranties. According to the Post, the store will be Apple's largest in the world, and takes the place of the Métrazur in the terminal's north and northeast balconies. Fans of the restaurant should take heart that the Chirping Chicken is going nowhere. more ›

Well here's an important study. Apparently some company did some sort of scientific purse study and found out that purses are getting lighter, down to almost 3 lbs from a whopping 8 lbs just two years ago. This may have to do with lighter gadgets — it would be interesting to find out how much purses weighed when we were all carrying around Zack Morris phones and walkmans! more ›

Earlier this week, a Staten Island woman was arrested after she stabbed a 19-year-old suspected of stealing her son's iPod. A study released by the Urban Institute links a rise in violent crime between 2005 and 2006 to the proliferation of iPods. Though violent crime had been dropping up until 2004, iPod-envy started to spread. more ›

That's an awful, awful pun and we do apologize. These mini headlines aren't easy! The Pool Parties are officially in full swing, and we took a trip out to McCarren this weekend for the diverse lineup of OCDJ, Dan Deacon, Erase Errata and The Octopus Project. While all four bands put on a solid show, the standout was clearly Deacon, who set up his gadgets and widgets on a fold-out table at the base of the stage on the pool surface. The massive crowd (probably the largest he's performed for yet) all huddled around the table, as per usual, jumping and dancing and cheering along. There will be a constant adjustment period for Dan Deacon over the next year or so as he copes with playing intimate basement music to an ever expanding fan base. If Sunday's show was any indication, there may be some rough patches, but he'll always figure out a way to make it work. (pic via occipital lobe's flickr) more ›

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The police made middle schoolers cry! The NY Times has a great article about the mother lode of electronic gadgets that the cellphone police seized during a visit to Middle School 54 on the Upper West Side. While the police were probably more interested in weapons, since public schools prohibits cellphones and other electronic devices, the NYPD came up big.

The Police Department was there to carry out a random sweep for prohibited items, requiring all 900-plus students at the school to walk through metal detectors before entering. more ›

The large dust-bunny, incredulously staring back at us this morning, reminded us that it was time for some spring-cleaning. The worst part of the job is taking that first step to begin. But you can only procrastinate for so long before you have to come to terms with the dust creatures taking residence under your bed. Sure, there are many good reasons to do an intensive, full-weekend cleaning session, but perhaps the best motivation, is to throw out the old crap to make room for the new things that you just have to have (new crap). Truth be told, we just want to make room for these cool new wine gadgets. more ›

Uh oh, wait till State Senator Carl Kruger hears about this! A Polish tourist was rescued from an icy patch at the "brink of Niagara Falls" on Saturday. The AP reports that 29-year-old Waldek Kubicki "slid down a hill as he tried to retrieve a dropped cell phone." Kubicki had been stranded on an "iced-over rock formation" for almost an hour. The photograph at top shows Kubicki stranded; in the photograph at left, Kubicki is behind pulled by the rope with State Parks officer behind him. Kubicki and a friend were visited Niagara Falls for the day; Kubicki has been in Lancaster, PA to study English on a six-month program. more ›

Valentine's Day is only a few days away, and we here across the Gothamist network wanted to express would like to tell you, in the spirit of the holiday, just how much we love you, our readers. Don't let it get to your heads, though. There are plenty of things we love, you included. Just be glad you're not amongst the things we hate. more ›

writer and performer, popping up on stages at parties and bars across town to rattle off his unique musical blend into the mic. Whether reporting on Comic-Con, waxing lyrical about Alan Moore, performing with Kochie Banton, auditionining for Gizmodo's theme song competition, or throwing wild parties, he puts 100% of himself into the task at hand, and has a wonderful time doing so. more ›

We really can't beat this roundup of food gift roundups, courtesy of The Food Section. They've culled together gift suggestions from the likes of the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, Food & Wine, Epicurious, Time Out New York, Cravings, and Chow. Whether you're looking for cookbooks or food-related reads, kitchen gadgets, edible gifts, or something a little boozy, you're bound to find it here. more ›

Last week, it became clear that MP3 manufacturer BenQ used an arresting image of a disaffected youth wearing its Dog Tag MP3 player for its Chinese site, with the tagline "Even if the world is destroyed to dust, I still believe in music." Oddly enough, the dust the youth is standing in front of are the World Trade Center ruins! That kid can still believe in music, but he also still have the toxic 9/11 illness! more ›

The Nintendo Wii went on sale last night, providing a second, if slightly anti-climactic, game console release of the week. There didn't seem to be any reports of violence around the Wii, perhaps because it is $351 cheaper than the PlayStation 3, but people were still enthusiastic. Gizmodo said about 1,000 people were waiting on line last night, but with reports of 5,000 Wii consoles available, who knows if the wait was worth it? more ›

If you haven't showered in a few days, there is a good chance that you're probably waiting on a line trying desperately to score one of the new next generation console releases from Sony and Nintendo. more ›

Well, you can't blame City Councilman Leroy Comrie for lack of optimism. Comrie, who represents the 27th District, had considered introducing a bill that would have banned cellphones in restaurants. Seriously. However, the NY Sun now reports that bill will probably not be presented at all, after Comrie heard complaints from the restaurant industry.

"I was surprised at the feedback from the restaurant owners, that they didn't like it," Mr. Comrie, a Democrat of Queens, said. The idea for the law came out of discussions with his staff, as well as the annoying experiences of having restaurant meals disrupted by rude cell phones users, including one, he recalled, in which a patron appeared to be conducting play-by-play of a baseball game over the phone. more ›

While the Department of Homeland Security is enforcing a no-carry-on-liquids ban for the safety of airline passengers, some desperate people are thinking of ways around it. Namely women who cannot lie without their cosmetics. CNN reported that a woman embarking on an 18 hour flight sneaked her lip balm on her plane via a candy bar wrapper. And to that, we just shake our heads. The NY Post interviews female travelers who wish they could have their beauty aids but generally understand they have to do without creams, facial sprays, and make-up if they want to get on their flights. At least travelers in the US get to bring their laptops, iPods, and other gadgets on flights - in Britiain, you can't even bring a newspaper on the plane! (They can be checked in, natch - let's hope that the TSA workers don't take anything.) Certainly, this screws things up for duty-free retailers, but it's probably a boon for book sellers and local convenience stores near airports for people to stock back up on their liquid necessities. But while we love our lip balm, hand lotion (planes are so drying - even three hour flights) and bottled water, we'll buck up and pack less. Will you? more ›

As we appreciate the fact that last week's heat wave was last week, the NY Times' Sewell Chan has an article about that the little-known fact that turned-off appliances that are still plugged-in still draw electricity. We mentioned the "standby mode" issue last week, noting that is why Con Ed asks people to actually unplug TVs, printers, computers, and the like when the power demand is high. (It probably isn't a bad idea to unplug them at other times, too.) Many people interviewed were surprised, saying they would have unplugged their various gadget chargers or shut down their computers, with one woman commenting, "The laptop is always connected to the source. I didn’t know that made a difference.” Well, it makes some difference - the Consumer Electronics Association spokesman says that gadgets don't compare to the electricity air-conditioining or lighting sucks out of the system. Which makes us wonder if you've changed your electrical consumption habits? Gothamist thinks we're going to be a little more cautious these days - we know that our little home might not represent much, but if other people unplug one more appliance or use a fan instead of AC during milder hot days, who knows what can happen? more ›

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Mayor Bloomberg called the Department of Homeland Security "short-sighted" and "dysfunctional" while testifying to the House Committee on Homeland Security yesterday about the Department of Homeland Security anti-terror funding cuts to NYC. Bloomberg, joined by Police Commissioner Kelly, emphasized the importance of "human intelligence" in stopping potential terrorist attacks. He even had to say, "The world is not what you see on 'CSI.' The real ways that you stop the bad guys is by having well-motivated, highly trained people." (He was explaining that gadgets won't do the leg work of stopping terrorists.) Now, we realize it's the most-watched drama these days, but that just seems, well, bizarre, because CSI isn't even about pre-emptively "stopping bad guys." Anyway. more ›

Did SNL's Bill Hader get some free gear? more ›

With the Department of Education forcing students to give up their cell phones (which makes the students and especially their parents crazy), it seems that kids have been working out ways to keep their cell phones close by during the school day. And Gothamist wants to give them an "A" for ingenuity, as they are resorting to hiding them in trash cans, paying $1 for bodega owners to watch 'em, and even putting them in the gutter for safekeeping! The Daily News speaks to students at Grady High School in Brighton Beach, who say "mostly eveybody" is hiding their cellphones near school, from gutters to apartment building laundry rooms, even window ledges, so they don't have to wait at school to pick them up if they've been confiscated. The Department of Ed's "no cell phones in school" policy has been enforced more strictly with the introduction of scanners that rotate from school to school (the guards confiscate the cell phones, which used to fly by under more of a "don't ask, don't tell" era). One Brighton Beach resident says he's even seen kids picking up their phones from his backyard! It's like the best Easter Egg hunt ever! One bodega stopped babysitting the phones for $1 a pop, since the kids were dropping off all their electronic gadgets since it was a huge pain in the neck. more ›

Just as there's word that subway crime is down versus that same period last year (318 felonies versus 2005's 510), it turns out that the police are nabbing crooks by setting up shopping carts and purses on subway platforms to tempt thieves in the past few weeks. The NYPD calls it "Operation Lucky Bag," and the NY Post has an amusing picture of a folding grocery cart set up. The police love how they've been able to arrest people with extensive criminal records, but some lawyers say it's entrapment. Yeah, like, what if someone is taking the shopping cart or purse away because they are going to bring them to the station agent for the MTA Lost and Found? One police source tells the Post the operation is a way for the Transit Chief to boost his number of arrests. Aha! That, and giving out summons left and right for anything. more ›

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was delivered to the building today and workers started to get it ready for the holidays. The 74-foot tree comes from Wayne, NJ (yes, where the Fountains of got their name from), and the Post has a touching story about the man who donated the tree: His late wife "loved the damn thing. She did a lot of fertilizing and it grew to a nice size and a nice shape." It is seriously yooge - the flatbed truck hauling it practically took up the whole street! We must say, we prefer putting the tree with the trunk down, versus that craziness about upside-down trees so there's more room for presents; our secret theory is that one should just use Christmas stockings for gifts: Think tiny gadgets and gift certificates! more ›

AppleInsider reports that Apple is building a giant glass structure reminiscent of the discontinued G4 Cube as the entrance to its new store at the GM building: more ›

Gothamist loves fun facts, but when we hear that yesterday's sweltering weather set new Con Ed records for power usage, we're not sure if we should be proud or slightly nervous of brownouts. The Post says that 12,361 megawatts of electricity were chruned out yesterday, besting its August 9, 2001 record of 12,207. Con Ed says the East 14th Street power station is helping to meet the demand; of course, there have been some problems at that station in the past. With the growth of the city, and explosion of electrical gadgets, Gothamist wonders will Con Ed be able to keep up? At any rate, the best quote about the weather comes from Strand Bookstore owner Fred Bass; Bass bought air conditioning for the store and says, "My employees are smiling for the first time ever." more ›

...Also known as, "What I Tried To Do For My Summer Vacation." more ›

The NY Times's Sewell Chan follows up the Campbell Robertson story about subway riders not being that fazed by subway by the robberies (the one that got a Fader employee fired) noting that none of the iPod-toting commuters would stop using them on the subway and that during the early 90s, gold chain snatchings were the big subway crime of the day. There's also this great quote from MIT's Henry Jenkins about why iPods and other gadgets, like cellphones, are targetted:

The participation gap creates techno-envy, where the kids who are locked out of participation in the culture covet those tools and devices that are considered essential to being a young person.

The NYPD stressed that while subway felonies are up 14% versus one year ago, the subways are still safer than than were in the 1995-2000 period. Still, all of you who got your Playstation Portables at midnight last week and are whiling away subway waits with them: BEWARE. more ›