Oh, organized crime and your clever ways to collect cash. Today brings word of another way those enterprising criminals have been raking in the dough for the decades: coffee. According to a recently flipped informant the Colombo family has been fleecing contract-mandated "coffee boys" at construction sites since the 80s, pulling in $250 per week per site. Insert obligatory Juan Valdez joke here. more ›

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- What's up with the emergency brakes in the subways? more ›

Last week, the The National Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers opened its second Juan Valdez coffee shop in Manhattan (the first opened in Washington, D.C. earlier in September). There are plans to open 300 of these shops worldwide in the next three years. more ›

AdAge was at the event and reported (registration required, but it's free):

Many icons were no-shows, including Ronald McDonald and the Jolly Green Giant. A rumor quickly circulated that the Energizer Bunny did not make an appearance because the marketer felt that it would be "off-message" for the drum-thumping rabbit to be seen in public being "wanded" at City Hall's security checkpoint.