A Long Island babysitter has been arrested after ignoring the warnings on a generic brand of Benadryl and giving the allergy medicine to a 4-month-old in her care. But there's something to be said for paranoia, because Anneliese Brucato was caught by the girl's mother on one of four hidden cameras placed around their home. Nassau County Detective Lt. Kevin Smith said Brucato gave the child the medicine, which isn't supposed to be administered to anyone under the age of four, "in order to cause the child to become drowsy, to make her more manageable and to perhaps make her job easier." more ›

Police are looking for a man who apparently tried to abduct a little boy from his nanny on East 6th Street between Avenues A and B in the East Village yesterday morning. Video shows a man grabbing the 4-year-old and trying to walk away with him, but his nanny screamed and took the boy back. The suspect fled west on East 6th; the principal of PS 64 right down the street says police told her about the incident. The suspect is described as a black male "between 45 and 55 years old... about 5-foot-7 with a slim build... wearing a brown hooded sweatshirt and faded black jeans." Contact NYPD Crime Stoppers with information. more ›

A Manhattan male nanny was charged yesterday with sexually assaulting a 5-year-old boy left in his care. The 23-year-old Richard Figueroa was busted after the boy, whom Figueroa had been looking after for three years, asked his mom why "Richie always wants to kiss me on the lips," after which she called the cops. more ›

More than 85 percent of Park Slope families pay their the domestic help under the table. According to the Brooklyn Paper and a Park Slope Parents study [PDF], 58 percent of parents who pay their nannies off the books say they think that nannies prefer it that way. But nanny Deborah Manwaring claims that's not necessarily the case: "I don't bring up taxes because they might fire me. With the economy the way it is, I don't want to be unemployed, so I have no choice." more ›

Last Thursday night, a fake UPS deliveryman bound a nanny and robbed a West Village brownstone. The Post reports that a 50-something white male, pretending to be a UPS worker, first asked the nanny to sign for a fake package and then placed a sharp object against the back of her head, forcing her into the apartment. He tied her up (but not the 3-year-old charge) and took a MacBook, Apple TV, cable modem, camera and $40. When leaving, he told the nanny she could untie herself in 10 minutes. Police are investigating whether this home invasion is connected to an earlier break-in at an apartment on 9th near 5th Avenue. more ›

The nanny search can be tough (just check out all the desperate Craigslist ads), but as we all learned in The Nanny Diaries, the nanny job is even tougher. One Upper East Side mother, Rebecca Land Soodak, recently spelled that fact out when she took her search to Craigslist, a move that has now landed her in the NY Times. more ›

Scarlett Johansson may have portrayed an UES nanny in The Nanny Diaries, but Lisa Ramirez is bringing her real-deal Brooklyn nanny experiences to the stage. Her one-woman show called "Exit Cuckoo" will give a "glimpse into the world of alcohol-soaked mommies and hardworking caregivers," The Daily News reports. The 90-minute show is playing at the Midtown International Theater Festival, and Ramirez says it isn't a sensationalized account, like the aforementioned film, but rather a way to give the "invisible women" a voice. Let's hope they worked Tea Lounge (R.I.P.) into the set design! more ›

Long Island police continue to investigate the death of a nanny who jumped into pool to save one of her charges in Syosset, Nassau County. Ana Maria Montano de Gimenez could not swim and appeared to die of a heart attack; her employer, Rubian Saunders, had heard her screams but could only manage to pull out her 3-year-old son, who was revived and is being monitored at a hospital. Still, Gimenez's family and friends want answers. Yesterday, an 8-year-old boy drowned in a relative's pool in Queens; the American Academy of Pediatrics has a list of pool safety tips for children. more ›

A nanny in Syosset, Long Island died after jumping into a backyard pool when her 3-year-old charge was struggling in the water. Nassau police spokesman Det. Sgt. Anthony Repalone said the boy had been wearing a life vest, but "It's possible that the 3-year-old child removed his jacket and got into the pool." more ›

Cops have recently arrested a suspect in the January knife-point rape of a 34-year-old woman in an East Harlem building's elevator. The alleged perpetrator is 21-year-old Kevin Rios, who police believe followed the victim from the subway to the building on 105th St. between 1st and 2nd Aves. Ironically, the woman held the elevator for Rios, who then put a knife to her throat and sexually assaulted her. more ›