Results tagged “prank”

Remember that free building in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens? Unsurprisingly, the whole thing was a prank. Reportedly a local resident was fed up with the rundown building (located at 205 Parkside Avenue) and decided to put up a sign and a Craigslist ad advertising it for free. The prankster told the Daily News: "We want to see something positive happening with the building [not just a] festering rathole on what could be a lively thriving commercial strip."

       

Yesterday the Improv Everywhere gang took 2,000 dogs for a walk in the Cobble Hill area of Brooklyn. Invisible dogs, that is. You remember those old invisible dog toys, right? Turns out the circa-1970s toy was manufactured in a Brooklyn factory, which now contains the Invisible Dog art space! The space loaned the pranksters the vintage dog leashes for their afternoon of good clean fun; and if you want one yourself they still seem to be for sale online. More photos from Katie Sokoler, here.

Those pranksters at Improv Everywhere took their shenanigans underground and set up a photo studio in a subway car yesterday. They told everyone they had to take their portraits for the annual subway yearbook. Oh New York, so gullible sometimes.

At least this underground sign makes more sense than the "Brodaway" tiling spotted on the G platform. The Examiner spotted this one in the Fulton Street station (on the 2/3 platform) pointing towards a train headed to Downtown Breuckelen. This isn't a typo, it's just old-timey! As they point out, "the sign refers to the original Dutch name for Brooklyn. Named after a town in The Netherlands, the Village of Breuckelen was one of the first municipalities in New York State and was founded by the Dutch West India Company in the 1640s."

Yesterday's sighting of a DOT warning that "New York is Dying" apparently had less to do with the city's decaying infrastructure and was more likely the handiwork of hacker(s) who had their way with road signs in Manhattan yesterday. Commenters yesterday pointed us to a January posting on iHacked that gave simple instructions on how to manipulate the roadside messages as well as the fact that the Diggnation founders had just mentioned it (and even gave out the signs' default password!) this past week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

A reader sent us in this picture taken at East 4th Street and Broadway in front of the French Connection, claiming that "all sorts of signs (were) taken over" today. Apparently another sign at the corner of Houston and Chrystie Streets read "Party at Julie's." Who is behind this DOTomfoolery? Has Poster Boy gone digital?? Does anyone have directions to Julie's???

When Drew Thurlow wanted to thank his good friend Bobby Lattis for being a dedicated and loyal friend throughout the years, he decided to think outside the box. The imaginary box that mimes make, that is: Drew organized a mime to Bobby on his way to work this past Wednesday. Here are the thorough instructions to the mime, after getting into Bobby's apartment building (helped by another friend):

From there, the Mime will exit the building with a very confused Bobby and follow him to the train three blocks away. The Mime will ride the subway with Bobby, mimicking him all the way to his stop in Manhattan (the train may be crowded so the Mime should take caution not to lose his target). After they get off the train, the Mime follows Bobby to his office building a half block away. The Mime will try and enter Bobby's office building, but will get stopped by security. He waves a sad goodbye.

Bad idea pubic hair: The Daily News got word of 18-year-old Matt Connor's recent Scientology prank involving Vaseline, toe nail clippings, and yes, pubes. After getting all slathered up, Connor (a member of Anonymous, an anti-Scientology group, who told cops his name was Mahoud Samed Almahadin) headed to the West 46th Street Scientology center and "tossed a number of books around, then smeared the petroleum jelly on a TV set, shelves." Words don't really do the scenario justice—just watch the video below (though be warned: it's not for the weak of heart, or stomach).

            

Over 1200 folks showed up for the 8th annual No Pants Ride yesterday. The group split up and took over four separate train lines, where they terrified children, delighted perverts, shocked prudes, and brought some humor underground. If you think the troupe was warm, however, check out the photos—those pants didn't come on above ground, in the freezing snowy weather! Did you spot the knickerless masses yesterday?

The elaborate fake New York Times stunt may have cost up to $250,000. Though the group claiming responsibility for printing and distributing over one million copies of a July 4, 2009 edition says their costs were $100,000, the NY Post's experts believe that printing a 14-page, 4-color paper are closer to a quarter million for that many copies.

     

Update III: Here's a second video of the Fake NY Times (aka "New York Times Special Edition") being handed out:

A pigeon painted purple picked up on a playground may not pull through what appears to be a pitiless prank. The four month-old bird remains flightless in Animal Care and Control after being rescued Thursday in Long Island City. Animal lover Joe Mora picked up the pigeon and tried feeding it while asking the group that had gathered around the strangely-colored bird if anyone knew how to clean paint from its beak and feathers. The dye job appears to be intentional, but no one yet knows for certain how the paint got there.

The latest happening from the pranksters at Improv Everywhere – masters at getting weird looks from people as they plug in big desktop computers at Starbucks, flood Abercrombie & Fitch with shirtless average Joes, and (the best) freeze in Grand Central – is all about twins. Organizers recruited nine sets of identical twins in matching outfits to ride the 6 train uptown, sit across from each other and mirror each other's gestures. It's not The Shining, but bemused looks ensue.

Two weeks ago Eater reported that 34 Avenue A, the space that held Mo Pitkin's -- which closed earlier this year, is now in contract. Since there's a transferable liquor license which goes along with the keys to the joint (described as a perfect multi-use space), it will likely become another bar/venue/club...but one prankster is suggesting otherwise.

More on that student prank gone horribly wrong: The Daily News has it that seniors at the Brooklyn School for Global Studies who served their teachers cake laced with laxatives got the idea from watching MTV’s prank-reenactment show High School Stories. Two teachers ended up in the emergency room last week after eating the tainted cake, which was prepared by a straight-A student and her two friends, and ultimately sickened a grand total of two crossing guards, a social worker and three teachers.

Teachers at the Brooklyn School for Global Studies in Boerum Hill were on the receiving end of a student prank that resulted in arrests and hospitalizations last week. When three seniors at the high school offered their teachers some slices of homemade cake, nobody suspected the students, which included a straight-A student, of filling the baked goods with laxatives as a zany end-of-the-year gag.

Improv Everywhere was at it again recently. Three agents represented this time around, bringing IE's latest mission to Starbucks, where they managed to confuse fellow patrons by bringing in their old, clunky desktop computers (complete with WIndows 95!). The trio hooked up their time machines and got to work, one even able to surf the World Wide Web. For those who didn't think Starbucks had set up a computer lab as a service to their customers, it was a baffling scene.

Improv Everywhere was back recently causing a commotion (or more appropriately: a standstill) at Grand Central. For this prank the troupe had 207 "agents" in place that all froze on cue for five minutes. (We'd love to see this go down in Times Square.) The below footage shows the latest stunt:

Last October, a fire was started outside the Engine 34/Ladder 21 firehouse on West 38th Street. The fire was put out, but upon investigation, it turned out the ones who set it were firefighters from different firehouses! A surveillance cameras actually captured Michael Izzo and Richard Capece purchasing the gasoline at a gas station and later splashing the stationhouse's garage door and igniting it, setting off what was described as a fireball.

Yesterday was No Pants Day 2008, the 7th Annual Improv Everywhere event that includes hundreds of people riding the subway with no pants on. According to IE's initial report, yesterday's event drew 900 participants, requiring that the group split up onto three different lines--the 6, the R, and the 2 trains, which they rode from downtown Manhattan to Union Square.

“So which is the real Bernie Kerik? Is it the one who pleads not guilty before or is it the one who pleads guilty after he cuts a deal that he’s comfortable with?” - NY1 caller Dalton, from the Upper East Side, to "The Call" Those were the questions that cost NY1 reporter Gary Anthony Ramsay his job, after calling into his own station under a false name. The station deemed it an exceptionally poor...