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 ›

As the annual Idiotarod approaches, last year's "Best in Show" winners, Team Danger Zone, have a Public Service Announcement aimed at this year's participants. Their message: "We all love running Idiotarod, but the people whose neighborhoods we run through hate us. Let's change that without being any less awesome." Which is all a long way of saying: "Don't Litter, Thetans!" more ›

As any cyclist will tell you, one of the biggest dangers of riding a bike is getting "doored," when someone inside a car abruptly pops open a door to exit the vehicle. The potentially deadly situation is often caused by taxi riders who open a door without looking or who try to get out on the traffic side, as opposed to the sidewalk side. Now cyclist and graphic designer Marko Bon is urging the Taxi and Limousine Commission to add a logo like the one seen here to the TV screens in cabs. According to Streetsblog, the commission has shown interest in the design, and Transportation Alternatives has also been pushing for the use of video PSAs to remind cab passengers to open their doors carefully. Last year 66-year-old David Smith was killed on Sixth Avenue when an abruptly opened door knocked him off his bike into the path of a truck. more ›

As some remind us of the possibility of a New York City underwater, Charity:Water asks us to imagine a New York City with dry taps. Not only that, but imagine Brooklynite and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Connelly having to walk to Central Park to gather dirty water for her family (though Prospect Park would have been a lot closer to her house). Where is Paul Bettany during all of this? more ›