A life of crime does not discriminate, but we're guessing if you're missing a leg you should probably change careers. Police caught a one-legged man who came into a Boerum Hill laundromat on crutches and stole a woman's cell phone. The victim told police, "You can't miss them - one has both legs the other just doesn't." more ›

Hell's Kitchen continues to be a highly desirable neighborhood for many New Yorkers, but living in the HeKi (our coinage&msash;you're welcome Corcoran) isn't without sacrifice. Local residents who don't have washer/dryers in their buildings are finding it increasingly annoying to get their laundry done! One of the neighborhood's last laundromats, on 53rd Street and Ninth Avenue, recently closed, leaving behind, the Post reports, "a mile-long, laundry-less desert between Eighth and Tenth Avenues." This heavy news comes on the heels of Second Wave Laundry, the largest Laundromat in the neighborhood on 55th Street and Ninth Avenue, closing because the landlord threatened to raise the rent from $14,000 to $20,000 a month and demanded an $80,000 security deposit. more ›

More Staten Island stealing, and this job's pretty simple: A man wearing an International Brotherhood of Teamsters jacket drives his SUV into the front doors of a closed laundromat, steals the register, and rolls away. BAM: In and out in 14 seconds with a big laundromat score. He's probably sitting on a beach right now earning twenty percent. The caper went down on December 26th, but police just released this surveillance tape now. Watch it below: It's high speed, so for your viewing pleasure we've also embedded "Yakety Sax" (the Benny Hill Show "theme). Press the Benny Hill video first, count to three, then hit the surveillance tape—so freaky how they sync up like Wizard of Oz and Dark Side of the Moon: more ›

Employees at a laundromat in Morningside Heights found a four-feet-long, nine-pound boa constrictor curled up between bags of clothes this morning. Animal Care and Control officials say the snake was safely removed by police and taken to its offices in East Harlem for a checkup. Jose Ortiz of Animal Care and Control tells NY1, "It's a very timid snake, not an aggressive snake at all." Yeah, that's probably because it was napping while digesting Snuggle. Animal Care and Control says the boa will be sent to a reptile sanctuary upstate and will eventually be released back into the wild. The incident is only the latest in a long line of surprise snake discoveries in the city; in June a Bronx woman discovered a five-foot long, tan-colored snake under her dining room table; in February two boys found a boa between the couch cushions in their Bensonhurst apartment, and who could forget the python in the toilet? Not us; that's why we're sleeping on our office desks in diapers and hand-washing our clothes! more ›

38-year-old Samuel Rivera was arrested yesterday for raping a woman who was working inside a laundromat Tuesday morning. A security camera caught the brutal attack of the victim struggling and screaming after she was forced into a back room of the Second Avenue laundromat. Rivera has no previous charges of sexual assault, but has a prior conviction for dealing drugs. Cops received a tip on Friday that led them to discover Rivera in the home of relatives in the Bronx. He was also charged with second degree robbery for grabbing a handful of cash from the register. East Harlem neighbors of his seemed surprised to hear the news, telling reporters, "He lives in the neighborhood and you never know" and "He seemed very nice; I don't know what happened." more ›

The police have released video of a man who raped and robbed a woman who works at an East Harlem laundromat. The 38-year-old woman was opening the Second Avenue business around 7 a.m. on Tuesday when a man, pretending to be a customer, entered. According to the AP, the suspect "grabbed the woman and forced her into a back room," where he "forcibly raped and sodomized her," fleeing after stealing cash. The Daily News, which reports that the suspect first "stalked" her before following her to the laundromat, spoke to worried residents; one woman said, "It makes me nervous to hear something like that. I hope they catch the person ... it scares me to think they have a rapist running around over here." The police describe the suspect as a Hispanic man, in his 30s, about 6'3" and 200 pounds, and "wearing a black/blue leather jacket with white stripes running along the sides and the back of the jacket, a white hoodie, a blue shirt under the hoodie, a gray baseball cap, blue jeans and black sneakers." Call CrimeStoppers (800-577-TIPS/8477) or text TIPS to 274637(CRIMES), then enter TIP577, with information. more ›