So far this year we're doing terribly in the etiquette department. That guy with the phone at the philharmonic, those teenaged seat hogs, and a shocking 42% of you are upstreamers! Well here comes our latest offender: a tiny dog (at least it wasn't an opossum?).
Dog Spotted Hogging Seat On Crowded Subway
Say Goodbye To Wooden Subway Benches?
Just one day after we took a look at the disappearing iconic wooden benches of New York City's streets, amNewYork warns that the benches underground may be on their way out as well. Sitting in the city will never be the same!
Seatless Subways: Definitely Not Happening
Last week we spotted the "seatless subway"—furnished with seats that easily flip-up during busy rush hour commutes to create room for more straphangers. You know, so we can work our way towards being more like Japan. At the time, Deputy Director of Public Affairs, Deirdre Parker, told us that they were brought in for a test, but the "seats are locked in the down position and will remain that way. There is no plan at this point to run those cars in the up position." So there we have it, human cattle cars are not in our future.
Checking In On The Seatless Subway
Forget the days of colorful, clunky seating filling up the subway cars—the future is here, straphangers, and it looks mighty uncomfortable.
The new flip-up seats arrived late last year, and we finally spotted them this morning on the E train (as you can see, the perfect line to test the rush hour seats on!), so we thought we'd check in with the MTA on their fleet of ten testing cars. Deirdre Parker, Deputy Director of Public Affairs, tells us they were brought in for "a test to see if it would add capacity on crowded lines during rush hour. Those seats are locked in the down position and will remain that way. There is no plan at this point to run those cars in the up position." Parker wouldn't answer why the seats were remaining locked, or if they would ever be unlocked, so for now we'll just assume they had some extra cash burning a hole in their pockets.
Man Hired To Stop Shea Stadium Looters Is Guilty Of Looting
A man hired to prevent looters from ransacking Shea Stadium while it was being demolished has pleaded guilty to looting the ballpark. So long as he pays $842.50 in restitution, Gerald Tacopino, 44, will only be fined $500 for heisting memorabilia from the stadium that he was supposed to protect as a security guard, according to 1010WINS. Investigators recovered Mets security jackets, shirts, and seat bottoms and backs from his Brooklyn apartment. He was also ordered to stay away from the Mets new stadium, Citi Field, for one year. In 2008, two men were arrested when they tried to steal a seat from Shea Stadium on opening day.
Fan Sues Yankees For $5 million Over Inauthentic Stadium Seat
A Yankees fan from New Jersey is filing a $5 million class action suit over some seats from the old Yankee stadium he bought as a souvenir. John Lefkus spent the best 23 seasons of his life rooting for the Yankees from section M11, Row A, seats one and two, and after the Team moved to a new stadium, Lefkus decided to buy his old seats for $2,000. But what he actually purchased would shock him.
Not Everyone "Stands Up for People with Disabilities"
Passive-aggressive blogging is the new passive-aggressive note-leaving. The crutches-bound blogger behind the People Who Sit In The Disability Seats When I’m Standing On My Crutches website documents able-bodied straphangers who won't give up their seat for the disabled. He says he doesn't take pictures of anyone "if there's an open seat within sight. I also don't take pictures of elderly people, visibly pregnant women, or anyone who looks like they might have a disability." But even those getting some subway shut-eye could land on the site. Do you get up from your seat if someone clearly needs it? Seems not everyone pays attention to the “Stand Up for People with Disabilities” campaign.
Slow Population Growth Will Cost NY in Congress
A negative byproduct of the disparities between New York and the rest of the country is that after every Census, Congressional seats are reapportioned based on population. Each state will always have two Senators, but New York is likely to lose at least one seat in the House of Representatives.

