We have talked about door holding etiquette before, because let's be honest... it's weird when someone holds the door open for you when you're too far away. Maybe you aren't even going in to that door, or maybe you want to go at your own pace and not get your heart rate up, or maybe it's none of anyone's business and they just shouldn't be holding the door open at awkward distances! This practice in misguided chivalry is still happening out there, however, so it's time for a refresher course. Enter: these dudes from Utah (yes, we will import our etiquette teachings from Utah if need be). more ›

The Space Shuttle Enterprise made a grand entrance into New York City, its new home, on Friday. But if you didn't get a chance to see it with your own eyes, it seems as though the Shuttle is still mated to the 747 it piggybacked here on, over at JFK Airport. And you can see it from the road! We're trying to find out how long it will be there for, and will update when we hear back. more ›

The Titanic tragedy will turn 100 years old this week, and all of the media coverage surrounding the sad anniversary seems to have shocked some people who never knew the Titanic was anything more than a movie. Below, a few gems from real life humans who have somehow escaped all knowledge of the historic event until recently—prior to this month, they had no idea the ship was real, and that it sunk, like, IRL. Sigh x infinity! "My Sigh Will Go On!" ETC. more ›

In the past we've extensively documented the most exciting season of the year: ramps season. A look back at our unrelenting coverage tells us that we should start seeing what Dirt Candy's Amanda Cohen called "the most holy of all vegetables" any day now. And the warm weather we've been having means we may just be on the cusp of the best ramps season yet. more ›

In 1991 David Lynch created this public service announcement to draw attention to the city's rat problem (he does love to make ads). The director of photography for the PSA was Frederick Elmes, who also worked with Lynch on Blue Velvet, and together they put the city's rodent problem in simple (and somewhat creepy) black & white terms. The minute long ad focuses on littering New Yorkers, but wouldn't it be great if Lynch came back to create a new one that focused on subway eaters? It could feature Mr. Chompy. more ›

As with every year, the FDNY has sent out a friendly public service announcement, reminding folks that this weekend is Daylight Savings Time—specifically it starts at Sunday, March 11, 2012, 2:00am (you LOSE an hour, so you move your clocks ahead an hour, e.g. 1 a.m. is 2.a.m.)— and that everyone should change their smoke detector batteries. They will be setting up 20 different locations across the five boroughs to get free smoke detector batteries, listed here. more ›

Last month The Internet was smitten with Mr. Joey Thompson, who kinda sorta looks like Ryan Gosling and decided to make a PSA about how anyone can look like the actor. We talked to Thompson that day, as the video was going viral, and he promised more. Now he's back with his sequel, and because we feel it wouldn't be the worst if every man is this world channeled Gosling a little bit more, we're passing it along. more ›

Michael Douglas, for better or for worse, is best known as Gordon Gekko, the ruthless insider trader in Wall Street, whose lifestyle and power tempt an innocent named Bud Fox (played by Charlie Sheen). Gekko is, as Patton Oswalt pointed out, one of those characters who backfired, "Oliver Stone wrote Gordon Gekko to be the most ultimately evil guy, and then to his horror, everyone started going like, I’m gonna get my suspenders!" Now, Douglas is trying to right wrongs by doing a PSA about insider trading for the FBI: more ›

West Siders? It is almost your turn to curse the MTA for a few nights! That's right, the second round of the MTA's consecutive weeknight subway closures (a.k.a. FASTTRACK) is almost upon us—and this time the 1, 2 and 3 lines get the pleasure of shutting down below 34th Street, Monday through Friday from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. So if you were planning on taking the train back uptown after a nice romantic Village Valentine's dinner, well...be prepared to cab it home, because platforms are going to start closing before 10 p.m. But, hey! Progress! more ›

Tomorrow night is New Year's Eve and though the town seems empty now, New York City, and Times Square especially, will soon be filled with celebrating folks. So naturally, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly wants people to remember to please, not fire their firearms into the sky to celebrate 2012. "Obviously, we urge people not to do that. The bullets come down and hit people," he told reporters Thursday. Guns aren't firecrackers! more ›

Hands down, some of the best ramen in the city can be found on Fourth Avenue in Manhattan at the only American outpost of Japan's Ippudo chain. But to slurp down their noodles coated in that delicious, delicious porky broth diners often have to deal with an endless wait at a crowded bar that can stretch for well over an hour. There has to be another way, right? There is. more ›

Lately, more than ever, we've encountered the worst sort of subway etiquette offender: that jerk wearing a backpack on a crowded car. How, in 2011, is this still happening? To the people doing this: your backpack is so clearly in the way, taking up valuable space that human beings could fit in to. Here is a simple, and what we believed was a common sense solution to the problem: more ›

Although the brutal heat wave seems to have passed, there's still a long, sticky summer ahead, which can be legitimately dangerous for elderly and medically compromised people. To help beat the heat, the Sunset Park Redevelopment Committee, in partnership with Community Environmental Center, is offering free, energy efficient air conditioners to low-income, sick and elderly Brooklyn residents. more ›

This priceless piece of vintage video footage has resurfaced on YouTube, wherein the narrator aims to liberate the listener, declaring: "Garbage, you don't have to put up with it anymore!" As shown in the video, the best way to not put up with it anymore is to surround any litterbug you encounter on the subway and give him or her The Stinkeye. (Try to get your fellow straphangers to join you! See if one of them has a pocket knife in case things don't go your way!) Below, see this very effective method of putting the fear into someone. more ›

Gay Men's Health Crisis and Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation have teamed in an attempt to get a new anti-HIV ad from the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene pulled from the air. The ad is part of a campaign from the Health Department urging people to "Stay HIV Free. Always Use a Condom," and graphically warns of the risks of unprotected sex. But GMHC says the ad "could further stigmatize HIV/AIDS, as well as gay and bisexual men." more ›

The Health Department just won't stop nagging you about your soda consumption. In the spirit of last year’s hit "Pouring On the Pounds" campaign—which depicted a bottle of soda pouring out disgusting globs of fat—the new subway ad campaign forces straphangers to behold what goes into a large-size serving of sweetened soda: the equivalent of 26 packets of sugar. Is that considered excessive? more ›

Spotted on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, a public service announcement to women in the neighborhood looking for love. Apparently this guy moved himself and his daughter into this scorned woman's apartment when they were dating—she fed him, gave him money, and he paid her back by having "nasty sex" without a condom in her bed when she was at work (unsubstantiated!). Anyway, as Miss Heather says: "Damn." more ›

If Mayor Bloomberg or free can openers haven't made you send in your Census yet, maybe Karl Rove will? The former George W. Bush adviser filmed a PSA urging citizens to send in their Census forms, just like James Madison would have wanted. According to the Washington Post, Republicans are hoping the ad will encourage some normally right-voting Tea Partiers to stop boycotting the Census and risk having fewer Republican seats in Congress. Rove wrote that "current distrust of Washington should not discourage people from being counted." more ›

Brooklyn politician Eric Adams is hoping to fight the crack epidemic by urging Crown Heights youth to pull their pants up. To that end he’s spending $20,000 in campaign cash to erect six giant bill boards issuing the commandment “Stop the Sag!” There’s an accompanying Youtube video (below) in which Adams announces “If we raise our pants we raise our image,” and “We are better than this.” Supposedly the trend has its origins in prison culture, where inmates’ pants sag, because they aren’t permitted to wear belts. more ›

Next Tuesday night BAM will host the Biking Rules PSA Festival, which will be followed by after-party in the BAM lobby with free beer from Brooklyn Brewery. The event is part of Transportation Alternative's initiative to get scofflaw cyclists to follow certain rules, such as giving pedestrians the right of way and obeying traffic lights. (But what about biking with a belly full of free beer?) Earlier this year, the group solicited imaginative PSAs to help promote their Biking Rules, and received submissions from more than 80 artists and filmmakers. Here's one of our favorites: more ›

Just a few more days until the return to school comes for students across the city as medical experts anxiously await just how badly swine flu might affect the upcoming academic year. Already at Cornell University in Ithaca, 140 students have come down with flu-like illnesses in the two weeks since school has reconvened. more ›