iPad and iPhone thefts are up by 44% from last year, but what if the Transit Gods want to make your day and bestow an iPad upon you, to make up for the fact that your goddamn MetroCard de-magnetized for the third time in a week? Alas, that would actually be the work of teenagers, who have got to stop ruining everything for everyone. more ›

As if the NYPD's ongoing Operation "Lucky Bag" weren't headache enough, the city has recently run a variation on the theme against East Village deliverymen. The Times reports that last month undercover officers in the neighborhood went around offering to sell delivery guys stolen bikes for $40 bucks. Those that took the bait, got busted. more ›

Hey, people who leave their bags unattended in Central Park—the cops are looking out for you! According to the NYPD, Operation Lucky Bag has resulted in 34 arrests in Central Park since the beginning of March. "Lucky Bag" is an NYPD practice of leaving an unattended bag full of valuables in a public place, with the hopes that it will tempt criminals into stealing the items. Police wait to see if someone grabs the bag and attempts to take the cash or whatever else is stashed inside, and if they do, they arrest the person and charge them with petit larceny. more ›

Police stings are great because they're easy to set up (just stand by a subway emergency exit!), guaranteed to work, and almost always nab New York's hardest psychopaths. But state assemblywoman Grace Meng is tired of fielding complaints from her criminal constituents and is trying to ban one sting in particular: Operation Lucky Bag. "This practice by the NYPD just discourages people from seeing something and saying something. It also discourages people from being Good Samaritans," Meng tells the Daily News. more ›

Operation Lucky Bag, the NYPD program that threatened to ensnare good Samaritans along with subway thieves, is making a comeback after being effectively shut down earlier this year. Initially, the program involved cops leaving bags of merchandise, wallets, or purses on subway benches. When someone picked them up and didn't immediately turn them over to the police or subway personnel, he or she was arrested. According to the police, Operation Lucky Bag netted 101 arrests... more ›

The MTA is refreshing its campaign to remind mass transit riders to "See Something, Say Something" with some new print and television spots. The work acknowledges that the MTA and/or the police received 1,944 tips in 2006 (a total of 9,000 calls were made to 888-NYC-SAFE). MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot G. Sander said, "We are proud that our customers play such an active role in keeping the system safe, and I am not surprised that the campaign has been copied around the world, from Chicago to Amsterdam. Keeping our customers safe remains the MTA's top priority." more ›

Earlier this week, some Pratt art students decided to leave a duffel bags and backpacks full crap (the Post, comic books) in various subway and cars stations in what the Daily News described as a "bid to show the ineptitude of the MTA and NYPD." And inside the packages? The MTA security saying, "See Something, Say Something." Well, it was an ultimately unsuccessful bid, as Robert Barrett and Jamie Davis were arrested and charged with planting fake bombs within five hours. The Daily News reports that the packages, which were left on the G, L, 5 and 1 trains and at the Union Square station, were found by passengers and MTA employees. And the police said that materials in the packages led them back to Barrett and Davis. Hilarious - they probably left junk mail in there! Either that or an art school enemy turned them in. more ›

The subway system has hit a new milestone of sorts: Having the lowest amount of crime in 37 years. The Daily News explains there are an average of seven felonies a day these days, whereas in 1990, there were 49 daily (of course, these felonies are the reported ones). And crime is down 18% from last year. more ›

Last February, the NYPD announced that it was conducting "Operation Lucky Bag" to suss out criminals. The police leave a shopping cart, purse or bag on a subway platform to tempt thieves, and then arrest crooks who try to steal the items! Of course, lawyers are concerned about entrapment, and Gothaimst had wondered what if someone, trying to be a good samaritan, attempted to take the bags to the lost and found. Well, someone did - and she was arrested! The Downtown Express reports that 52 year old Helen Calthorpe was arrested after picking up a shopping bag at the Columbus Circle 1 platform.

Calthorpe, an actress who was going to her day job at about 1 p.m. on June 14, saw the Verizon shopping bag, looked in and saw a box for a cell phone and an iPod beside it and picked up the bag. She was immediately surrounded by four police officers, one in uniform and the others in plainclothes. 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 ›