Results tagged “idiots”

The Hershey candy company is under fire for producing a breath mint candy that police say is hard to distinguish from an illegal drug. Philadelphia cops are complaining that a new iteration of Hershey's Ice Breakers product looks a lot like crack cocaine. When we initially read a quote from a local Philadelphia news station––"Even veteran narcotics officers acknowledged that they could not tell the difference between a package of crack cocaine and the breath...

The person who hung a noose on the doorknob of a professor at Columbia's Teachers College the other week seems to have been a catalyst for NY metro idiots, who have been been copy-cating or otherwise emulating public displays of hateful symbols. Most recently, Parks Dept. employees were appalled to find 10" nooses wrapped around the necks of their clothes when they opened their work lockers in Queens Saturday morning.

You may or may not have noticed that it's Fashion Week -- either way, style is saturating the city right now more than ever, and we've asked Faran Krentcil to help us figure the whole thing out. She who holds down the fort at Fashionista.com fills us in on The Tents, the trends and the tricks.

Even Oprah is bringing out the creepy Craigslist posters. This one is offering his NYC tickets to "ladies only," as long as the lady is willing to send a photo, a trade offer and an email showing what she's got. Oh, and no "rude haters or idiots" please.

Many people are abuzz about New York band A Brief Smile's recent interview on 92.3's morning show. The band went on the "JV and Elvis Show" to do an interview and have their song played. Instead they got called "gay" in every way possible, over and over again, and eventually the "pansy" bassist got kicked out of the on-air room. From the band's MySpace blog:

Thursday April 5th at 10:30 on MTV, the world will say, "Hello," to Human Giant, but the people who go to Crash Test at the UCB every week are going to be saying, "Hey," to the familiar faces of Aziz Ansari, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel, and Jason Woliner. The foursome have been screening selections from their show for months now and the reaction is always the same: uproarious laughter. Thanks to the Internet and to MTV, Human Giant is going to bring alternative comedy to a mainstream audience, but first Gothamist brings you this Q and A with Human Giant. (Bonus: Trailer for the show after the interview, and get the first episode on iTunes for free!)

7:06PM First thoughts: Gael Garcia Bernal is so cute. Ryan Seacrest is an idiot, as are Joan and Melissa Rivers. But we want to know what Jennifer Lopez is wearing! (It turns out to be Marchesa.)

Calling Law & Order: Parent Company Embezzlement Team, because the former treasurer for NBC Universal was arrested yesterday. The feds say Victor Jung stole $800,0000 from his employer, using it on trips, a Hamptons summer home, and private planes. And how did he do this? He created a dummy corporation, NBCU Media Productions, and funneled the money in there.

We're at the home stretch! Sunday was a bit of a quieter day for us, but by no means did the music disappoint. The plan was to make it a short day and get back to civilization that night, but due to some travel miscalculations we ended up sticking around till they kicked us out. Very glad we did.

- The Daily News' Pascale LeDraoulec thought velvet ropes were so yesterday...but he went to Buddakan and realized he was wrong

It seems appropriate that the Yankees and Red Sox enter tonight’s showdown tied for first. After all, these teams have played seventy-one games over the past three years and the Red Sox have won 36 and the Yankees 35.

Idiots really need to be told not to talk to the press.

Critical Mass was an odd one last night. the cops were in full form, helicopters, mad-dash pursuits, lying in wait, the usual shenanigans. except this time they weren't arresting people (although i did hear of a couple). this time they were handing out $200 summonses, plus 1 point against your license. mostly for running red lights, although apparently they would give you one even if you didn't, it just depended on whether or not they could catch you. it is definitely a sign of de-escalation, but perhaps a double-sided one. you no longer have to go spend your friday evening and saturday morning in the tombs. . . but now you're saddled with a $200 fine and marks against your driving record. and that's just on a first offense, next time you ride and get a ticket the fine is much larger. sort of making Critical Mass something only the very wealthy can afford. and i could be wrong, but that doesn't really seem to be the ecomonic bracket most riders are coming from.

There are a lot of hit-and-run incidents in the city, but it seems like there are have been a lot more than normal. Could it be holiday traffic? Darker evenings? Or people are just more careless? A Brooklyn man was killed in Clinton Hill, leaving a restaurant where he watched soccer (the NY Times reports that Lucino Galindo had said if he died, he would want a soccer ball in his coffin). But there are also seem to be a number of careless pedestrian accidents. In the same NY Times article, a seemindly drunk man was hit while walking in the middle of Hylan Boulevard; a witness said the SUV didn't seem to be at fault even though the man was hit like "a rag doll," but the police arrested the driver for drunk driving. And then a man was hit by a car in Chelsea, at Seventh and 17th Street. The driver wasn't charged because the man was talking on his cellphone and crossing against the light; the Post adds that the car "that hit him had swerved to avoid a woman who was also crossing against the light." People! In a perfect world, those idiots on the road would heed by our angry looks, but they don't. Look both ways and don't cross against the light - you never know about those crazy drivers who barrel down the sidestreet and make sharp turns. Be careful! As the DoT says, "Cars Hurt - Stay Alert."

Getting in or out of your car on the traffic side of the street is a terrible idea. But to do so, while double parked might be even worse: An SUV ran into a man getting into his double parked car in Brooklyn yesterday. The victim got an estimate for new tires on 20th Street and Third Avenue before being hit, and a worker at Rapid Tire Service Shop said, "I heard something like a thump. When I turned around, I saw his head cracked open. Once the blood started coming out his ears, I couldn't look anymore." The Post reports that some witnesses say the SUV driver was talking on a cellphone (earpiece? or handheld?); the driver says he didn't see the victim and wasn't charged. The victim is in critical condition.

- New Yorkers have more diseased hearts than we should. Is it the stress, dirty water dogs, and sloth-like existence or are doctors misattributing the problem.

Dave Rubin, Comedian

The MTA says there's gold, or at least green, in those used Metrocards: Millions of dollars on expired Metrocards with values of less than a full fare have been tossed because owners haven't realized they can transfer the balance to a new card. The MTA's financial reports list money from "forfeited fares," which was over $20 million last year. Newsday called the MTA's policy where you can mail in your expired Metrocard to the MTA to be transferred to a new one "little-known," perhaps in hopes to rile people up, but the Straphangers' Gene Russianoff suspects forfeited fares mostly generated by tourists. He adds, "I have a typical New York attitude toward tourists: They're on the their own. The more they help the system out the better, and I don't stay up late at night worrying about them." Seriously: Gothamist was slightly confused by this story, because the first time we read it, we thought people didn't realize they could add money to non-expired cards, which made us think other people out there were idiots. The only New Yorkers we could imagine forfeiting fares on expired cards are the people who let "emergency" cards in their wallets go unused for a while.

- WHEREAS, any members of the House of Representatives or the Senate of the Legislature of the State of Idaho who choose to vote "Nay" on this concurrent resolution are "FREAKIN' IDIOTS!" and run the risk of having the "Worst Day of Their Lives!"Gothamist wonders if the children of the various legislative members lobbied their parents to put this bill into action. Anyway, Napoleon Dynamite is on DVD. Jon Heder, aka Napoleon (unrecognizable in real life with his fashionably shaggy haircut), was Punk'd - can no one stop Ashton? And while Idaho is great, NYC was voted the best city for indie filmmaking.

It's been over a week, and the Fire Department still doesn't know what caused the signal room fire at the Chambers Street station two Sundays ago. The FDNY says there's no conclusive information at this time, and the police say there's no evidence that backs up the initial "it was a homeless person with a shopping cart full of kindling" theory (although that theory hasn't been ruled out); officials were able to say that sparks from the third rail did not start the fire. Newsday points out that of over 4000 fires in 2003, only 40 have been ruled "not ascertained," the way the Chambers Street subway fire is currently. Therefore, there is nothing to do except salute the Best-in-Show-winning shopping cart from the Idiotarod, which was a cart decorated as the C-train. Jose has pictures of his cart at left-field lengua, making sure to say, "Please note, prior to several attacks, there was no duct tape on the outside of our cart. Our ship was tight!" Spoken as if he were an MTA rep!

Gothamist on NYC after the election.

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Of course Amy is denying all: "This claim is absolutely false and is so ridiculous it really does not warrant a response. I think Katrina is a beautiful, smart young woman and I'm sorry to see her use such a ploy as a PR measure." People say that had there been any hanky-panky, it would have ended up on the show, which Gothamist can believe, since Mark Burnett is such a ratings whore. That's why we think the "sleeping" probably happened in some alley, elevator, or taxicab. But, jeez, all the people on The Apprentice are such idiots. Except for Carolyn and George. Gothamist loved Carolyn Kepcher's interview with the Times yesterday. And Troy - we hated you less than Nick and Amy, so we'll miss you - just not your hat.

The Post actually devotes a fair amount of ink to the ban's anniversary, with an e-mail interview with Mayor Bloomberg ("Besides cleaner air, healthier waiters and bartenders and a growing hospitality industry, New York is the same culturally and financially vibrant city it has always been.") plus talks to a bar owner who says the ban has caused a downturn in his businesses, a patron who likes the ban, and a bartender who is happy not to breathe in secondhand smoke but misses her tips. Gothamist knows of one good thing the ban has brought: A reason to leave the table and talk behind your non-smoking friends' backs.

The Smoking Gun has the trademark applications for "You're Fired." Judges allowed Trump to trademark it for clothing, but not for games or his casinos. Gothamist worries when HR gives us a box and inside it's the "You're Fired" t-shirt that does their job for them. And the Post reports on the Apprentice tryouts. One applicant says, "Trump is the Madonna of the business world." We can't wait to see Trump at the Kabbalah Centre on East 48th!

Move over, Soup Nazi Ali "Al" Yeganeh, there's a new perfectionist who doles out stern ministrations to guests, Masa Takayama. Takayama, who has just opened the city's most expensive sushi restaurant, Masa, and smaller bar, Bar Masa, at the Time Warner Center, is profiled by Alex Witchel and it seems Takayama's "my way or the highway" approach to food is just what sniveling foodies in New York need. Takayama describes some of the early interest in Masa:

The next installment, Average Joe: Adam Returns, feature Average Joe Adam picking a gal; Gothamist would have liked "Revenge of Adam" but doubts that NBC would have okayed that - Fox would have, though. Gothamist on Adam's rejection/blessing in disguise in the first Average Joe.

The Sun has a hilarious comparison of Madonna, provacateur (or is that provacateuse?) who is adding "children's book author" to her repertoire, and Enid Blyton, beloved British author of countless children's books: