Beware bespectacled and sunglassed folks on the Upper West Side, one of your own had his glasses knocked off by a mean man near Columbus and 94th Street over the weekend. He has posted flyers around the neighborhood, which warn: "This kid knocked my sunglasses out of my hand and stepped on them breaking the lens and frame—costing $150.00! And did not apologize! Be careful, this is not a nice man!" more ›

The sign hanging outside a Red Hook home and demanding, "Where Is Osama Bin Laden?"—complete with a counter of how many years and days had passed since 9/11— was taken down yesterday. Cheryl Stewart told the Brooklyn Paper, "I’m elated. To me, this is a criminal justice issue. This man is a mass murderer, and I am always happy when someone flouting the law has been brought to justice." more ›

Last night we ran into Amy Poehler—and her influence—at a party (where her friend Craig Wedren was performing an intimate set) in the East Village. The very same East Village that recently demanded the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater take down their scandalous "Hot Chicks Room" sign (inspired by this UCB skit). Now that Poehler has banished the sign to Governors Island as an act of goodwill towards the neighbors (very Leslie Knope of her!), what does she have to say about the whole debacle? Here's what she told us last night: more ›

The Upright Citizens Brigade have been settling in to a new space on Avenue A at 3rd Street, and the welcoming committee has already forced them to take down some signage. Welcome to the East Village circa 2011! EV Grieve has had total coverage of the events, from CB3/SLA meeting to a petition going around to the eventual agreement to get rid of the sign all together. That sign, by the way, says "Hot Chicks Room"—which one local believes made it sound like a 1970s Times Square peep show (for comparison). more ›

Libraries are sticklers for their rules—and they have a lot of rules—but check out the latest one at the Yonkers Public Library: NO BALLOONS. While bringing a balloon to the library doesn't seem to be a trend here in the city, it was apparently a thing in Yonkers if enough people were bringing balloons to necessitate this sign. We've contacted the New York Public Library to see if balloons are banned in their branches, or if they'd consider such a ban, and have asked for a list of all banned items from the main branch on 5th and 42nd (if a previous visit there taught us anything, this list will probably include croissants). Stay tuned! [via Scouting NY] more ›

We were going to ignore this story, but desperate times call for... blogging. And desperate times are upon us. Has the rest of the internet familiarized you with JJ yet? The young lad, dressed as an anime Inspector Gadget, met some girl whose name is probably Kristy, or something, on the L train on Halloween night. She was dressed as Lydia from Beetlejuice. They talked, allegedly hit it off, and she gave him her number as she got off at the Lorimer stop. Problem is: JJ (pictured) didn't hit save after typing it into his phone. more ›

Acknowledging they are a hotbed of criminal activity, Trader Joe's has put up a chalkboard message warning customers to keep an eye on their things. (Whatever happened to the sign targeted at the actual criminals?) Anyway, do you think if this sign doesn't work then those guys in Hawaiian shirts will start a 21 Jump Street-esque undercover squad in their spare time, to bust up the band of bandits ruining their "it's all good" vibe at the store? Because that would be awesome. more ›

A unicorn has gone missing near Central Park and West 72nd Street! There's a reward—and probably some good karma—if you can lead to the retrieval of the magical creature. We called the number where a friendly sounding woman has left a recording asking for any information that could lead to the return of her horned pet. Let's just hope it doesn't turn up in Prospect Park or pulling a carriage. more ›

The MTA recently made some changes to the M15 bus route, which means new signs, which means new typos! A Bowery Boogie tipster notes that "this embarrassing poster was spotted on the payphone booth outside Mars Bar on Second Avenue. It displays the most egregious of grammatical errors. In this instance, the copyeditors obviously intended to evoke the possessive adjective its, and not the contraction it’s." Still, not as bad as some of these, and our personal favorite is still Brodaway. more ›

You still can't smoke or litter on the subway, but now you can be in love, or find love, or give love, or target love? So long as it's not the kind your mother warned you about, or this kind. more ›

The G train may just be a mere puppet under the control of the MTA, but this is probably what it would say to you if its transit Svengali could figure out how to stick a hand up its caboose and make it talk. Straphangers, the G train will now "show up if and when we feel like it." (Oh and P.S., the transit overlords are still raising fares.) [via @rcwellington] more ›

About 33 years ago, the Welcome To Brooklyn sign that adorned the Verrazano Bridge ramp—the same sign that was made famous in the opening credits of Welcome Back Kotter—was stolen. According to the Daily News, however, it's coming back home—a replica of the original will be installed in the lobby of Brooklyn Borough Hall today. more ›

A network of thieves is banking on someone caring enough about the now-shuttered Beatrice Inn that they'll actually pay real money to retrieve its stolen sign. The Imaginary Socialite received the above image last night via a text from a blocked phone number—it shows the sign has been removed from the old Beatrice, and now resides in someone's apartment. more ›

An internet meme has met the MTA, albeit briefly. When new changes to the transit system led to new signs marking some stations, the agency was forced to put the letters F, M, and L together at 14th Street and 6th Avenue. Surely, this wasn't the first time the letters FML met the letters MTA—though until now they've likely only come together in straphanger's heads or transmitted through Twitter feeds—but the agency doesn't seem to want it so, you know, in your face. And with that, NYCT's Charles Seaton told CityRoom, “As soon as we became aware of it, we were going to change it. We thought there was a certain population out there who might recognize it, even though we didn’t, obviously.” more ›

Can we get a Facebook group going around this, akin to the one that got Betty White launched into the hosting spotlight on SNL? Because it would be amazing to see Bill Murray in something called "Jurassic Park Slope"—a film which, yes, promises to combine both the Brooklyn neighborhood and dinosaurs. While Miss Heather spotted this flyer at Urban Rustic in Williamsburg, we're hoping the people behind it also hit up Roebling Tea Room (where Murray's son is the chef), and just for good measure, some Brooklyn house parties. more ›

The BP sign that was vandalized at the gas station at Houston and Lafayette last week isn't the only one to get splattered with dark brown paint. At least half a dozen BP stations around the city have also been tagged, and the BP franchise owners feel that they're being unfairly targeted. "What are they trying to prove? They're just stupid!" Mark Sapozhnikov, manager of the BP station on Kent Ave in Brooklyn tells the Daily News. He claims it took him $1,500 and three days to clean his sign. "People need to realize that by vandalizing private businesses, they're not helping the oil spill." more ›

The Trustocorp crew—who when last we checked in were filling stores with fake products like Banko$ (eat the rich) cereal—are back with a new public service sign. It reads: Don't Feed The Hipsters, and is appropriately placed in McCarren Park, where kickball season just began. But let's presuppose someone ignored this warning and did feed the hipsters, what do you think they like to eat? (Asking for a friend.) more ›

With so many changes happening in the system, NYC Transit is replacing 3,000 signs and 25,000 maps by a June 28th deadline, the same day trains like the V and W will become extinct. John Montemarano, director of the station signage division, told the NY Times, “We make sure our customers can wake up on June 28 and figure out how the hell to get around.” more ›

The Williamsburg Satmars rec center bathroom signs seem to have gotten an upgrade, suggesting their bathrooms are only for men with payots and women with lots of children. Though the woman's skirt seems way too short for Satmar standards, the paper cutout additions are pretty spot on. So what other neighborhoods could use bathroom makeovers? Bike helmets in Greenpoint? Bermuda shorts and fanny packs in Times Square? Photoshop contest! [Via Village Voice] more ›

Spotted on the Upper East Side: a young boy traumatized by one person's inability to clean up after their dog. He'll never wear sandals again! He'll spend his twenties in therapy wondering why he can't date a girl who wears open-toed shoes! Life: ruined! Also, it's sandal season already? more ›

Graphic designers hoping to score a gig making MTA pictograms are out of luck. Because of the administration's extreme budget crunch it's decided to recycle old instructional images rather than creating new ones. Among the pictograms planned as part of a citywide overhaul were icons telling commuters to keep their feet off the seats and graphic instructions to silence their cell phone chats, reports the Post. But with a $750 million deficit on its hands, the MTA will instead spend a considerably smaller sum refreshing the classics. more ›

This is a relatively minor oopsy in the vast canon of MTA typos, but worth noting if only because it's fun to point out other people's typos sometimes, right guys? A tipster recently sent us this photo, taken on a platform at Columbus Circle. As you can see, the B is blue and the C is orange, which is not as the Authority intended. What's next, cats and dogs living together on the Q? Or maybe we just need to put on our 3-D glasses and it will all make sense. In response to our inquiry, Paul Fleuranges at NYC Transit sent us this statement: more ›

Is Chuck E. Cheese a hotbed of criminal activity? Andrew Fine took his young daughter to their outpost in Harlem recently and did a double-take when he saw the list of rules posted at the front door. They include: No gang style apparel—including hats, buckles, bandanas, towels. And of course, "No gang-type conduct... verbal slogans or hand signs" and absolutely "no weapons, or tools whatsoever, including knives, chains, screwdrivers, glass cutters." What happened at the Harlem Chuck E. Cheese to warrant the placement of such a sign! We've contacted the company to find out if the place "where a kid can be a kid" has a problem with violence; in the past this one in Wisconsin has been called out for being a stage for adult bad behavior. more ›

Citi Field is falling apart, starting with the first letter of its name. On January 25th, sources say the 15-foot-long, 35-pound "C" on the stadium's marquee came crashing down. "Once it hit the ground, it shattered into a bunch of pieces," a team insider told The Post. Seeking to soften the announcement which will be added to a pile of complaints about the facility, officials put it more delicately, saying the letter "fluttered to the ground." more ›

All State Senator Pedro Espada wanted to do today was announce his proposal to finance a rent freeze on some rent-regulated apartments by helping landlords get out of rent regulation. But as you can see, some protesters had to come along and steal his thunder! Activists from the Tenants & Neighbors group and other critics say Espada's proposal is actually more of a sweetheart deal for property owners than for tenants. One protester managed to get behind Espada at City Hall, holding this sign as TV cameras were rolling, and WNYC describes what happened next: more ›