Having been on welfare and living on the streets since the '70s, Jan Stein-Sapir now wants her affluent ex-husband Leonard Stein-Sapir to increase his monthly payments, which have been $100 a month for nearly the past four decades. And it wasn't just a normal request for an allowance increase—she's asking for an apartment AND $100,000 for medical and dental reasons. A Manhattan Supreme Court Justice disagreed, despite the fact that Jan is homeless and suffers from a mental disability, saying, "No matter how great the ex-wife's difficulties may be, her life is not the ex-husband's cross to bear. There is no reason why he should shoulder any greater responsibility for her than he already has." The couple was married back in 1967, but split after only a year in order to pursue completely different career paths. Leonard went on to bank big in the food and restaurant industry, while Jan, who moved to New York in 1971, "made no efforts to gain employment," the ruling said (the couple finalized their divorce in 1974). While $100K is a lot to ask for, at least she wasn't attacked with scalding hot water or didn't demand a kidney. more ›

All he wanted to do was bring grinders and grinding together under one roof. But it seems that Anthony "Cousin Vinny" Agnello's inspired idea to turn a former Subway sandwich spot into a hybrid Gentleman's Sub Club was just too visionary for these litigious times, and now he's probably ruined. You'll recall that last summer Agnello sparked outrage from the local community for opening up the "all-nude private club 'Cousin Vinny's Little Secret'" in a disenfranchised Subway on East Tremont Avenue in the Bronx. The Subway fast food chain was also rubbed the wrong way, because Agnello was still using Subway brand wrappers and menus for the venture, which served sandwiches by day and lap dances by night. Now a federal magistrate has recommended that Agnello pay the fast-food giant's corporate parent $90,000, plus another $7,900 for its legal fees. Which leaves Agnello no choice but to make the entire payment in crumpled singles. more ›

Administrators at Flushing Hospital looked the other way as a doctor sexually harassed a nurse for years, culminating in a pair of violent attacks in 2001. Nurse Janet Bianco, 55, says Dr. Matthew Miller began groping and propositioning her soon after she started working at the hospital in 1993. She tells the Daily News that the 61-year-old physician, who is married, was "very bold, aggressive, he didn't even try to hide it. Patient rooms, hallways, it didn't matter. Wherever he was, it occurred. And I wasn't the only one." more ›

An East Islip man with cerebral palsy is suing the Long Island Railroad because a conductor repeatedly announced over a public address system that he was in a wheelchair. The incident occurred last August when 22-year-old Anthony Faggiani (be mature; he's handicapped) was on his way home from a Yankees game with his father. more ›

A lawsuit filed in Brooklyn Federal Court accuses NYPD officers of disregarding a man's weakened condition and medication needs after they arrested him for driving with a license that had been suspended for unpaid parking tickets. 50-year-old Glenn Seldon of Queens was battling colon cancer when police arrested him in May 2007; his wife says that when she tracked him down to the 108th Precinct station house, she found him handcuffed to a chair and sitting in his own waste. From there Seldon was taken to Central Booking, and when he was finally released from jail four days later, he was "gaunt from dehydration, incontinent, and weeping uncontrollably." Not only that, his infection had worsened and his blood platelet level was dangerously low. Seldon died days later of a cardiac arrest, but his wife tells the Daily News she "believes the stress and the trauma accelerated his death." more ›

Celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, owner of Craft, Craftbar and Craftsteak, and a familiar face to millions for Top Chef, is being sued in Federal court by a former waitress who accuses his company of denying employees a portion of their tips and distributing the earnings among supervisors. Nessa Rapone, a Brooklyn resident who worked at Craftbar from March to May 2007, says the company also "failed to pay proper overtime compensation," and illegally retaliated by firing her when she objected to the policies. According to City Room, Rapone's lawyers say they hope other Craft employees will come forward so the can certify the lawsuit as a nationwide class action. (There are Craft restaurants in Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Ledyard, Connecticut.) Colicchio has not yet released a statement. more ›

A 19-year-old male model flew into a rage yesterday after a Daily News cover story sparked a media frenzy outside the Ozone Park home he shares with his 37-year-old lover, a former teacher who is suing the city for firing her over the affair. WCBS has video of the teen tantrum, which features Hugo Boss model Joshua Walter charging from the house in slippers, clapping his hands and yelling "Leave! Get the f--- outta here! Find someplace else to take pictures." more ›

A tenured second grade school teacher in Queens is suing to win her job back after being fired because her boyfriend/baby daddy was a high school student at one point in their relationship. more ›

If you've been following along with the allegations of sexual harassment and general depravity at The Box—the nightclub where guests pay over $1,000 so that performers like transvestite Miss Rose Wood can pull a Jameson's bottle out of his ass, take a swig and then spit on them—you may be interested in NY Mag's lengthy profile on owner Simon Hammerstein, "The Impresario of Smut." He strongly denies the most scandalous accusations, but unnamed sources say auditions for Simon sometimes climax back at his apartment. Miss Rose Wood has perhaps the best Hammerstein horror story: "Then Simon said to me, ‘So, can you pull a string of Christmas lights out of your ass?’ I said to him, ‘Well, you know, I’m Jewish. And so before the Christmas lights come out, I’ve got to dislodge the menorah.’" That's professionalism, people! more ›

Staten Island's Danielle Masseria (MySpace) says her "whole life changed" in June 2007 while working at an Ecko Unlimited outlet store in the Jersey Gardens mall in Elizabeth. In a sexual harassment lawsuit filed last week against the company, she says that she was humiliated by store manager Kirk Rummer, who sneaked up behind her and allegedly stuck his hands into the back of her pants. The suit says, "He then grabbed and pulled her panties and jeans away from her body and threw a fistful of coins down into the crack of her buttocks." Masseria's co-worker allegedly chimed in by shouting, "Jackpot! Jackpot!" Now Masseria says, "I don't trust anyone." Speaking to the Post—which went with the headline GAL TAKES A CRACK AT SUING OVER 'COINS DOWN BUTT'—the coworker says, "The way it's portrayed in the complaint is completely untrue." Maybe you had to be there? more ›

The $150 million reconstruction project on the two mile esplanade between East River park and Battery Park was supposed to be done last year, but you know the drill. Two thirds of the promenade still have a long way to go, and last year the state Department of Environmental Conservation fined the city and contractor Pile Foundation Construction Company $200,000 because workers were allowing the shoreline to erode into the water. Now a DEC spokesman says the company hasn't fixed the problem and the agency wants to revoke the work permit. When asked by the Villager when the project is now expected to be completed, the foreman laughed and said he didn’t know: "New York City isn’t exactly the fastest people in the world." more ›

Scandal has once again ensnared The Box, that decadent burlesque nightclub where the elite gather to enjoy diversions like ''toss a ring on rods stuck up the lady’s orifices." Yesterday self-described "fetish-burlesque" performers Amber and Heather Langley, a.k.a. the Porcelain Twinz (pictured), posted a long, 5,085 word jeremiad on their MySpace blog condemning club owner Simon Hammerstein for sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions, debauched drug use, and leaving his Labrador behind to defecate "all over" the filthy, rat-infested green room. (He allegedly blamed that one on one of the performers.) more ›

The Gristede’s supermarket chain could be forced to pay $25 million to more than 400 current and former managers who've successfully sued the company for refusing to pay overtime. Last week a federal judge sided with the employees, dismissing Gristede's argument that they were "salaried executives who, under federal and state law, are generally exempt from receiving time-and-a-half pay for overtime," the Times reports. In his decision, Judge Paul Crotty wrote that “Gristede’s clearly sought to treat workers as ‘hourly’ for some purposes, (i.e., docking them for hours not worked during the workweek), but ‘salaried’ for other purposes (i.e., not paying them overtime for hours worked in excess of the workweek).” Naturally, Gristede's plans to appeal, since billionaire owner John Catsimaditis (pictured) is going to need every cent to run for mayor. more ›

Four former employees of pretentious Chelsea nightclub 1OAK (the name stands for 'one of a kind') filed a lawsuit against club owners Thursday in Manhattan Federal court, the Daily News reports. Lawyers say the four minority workers – three female waitresses and one male bartender – were terminated because club owner Scott Sartiano only wanted "white girls he could f---" serving drinks, or so they were told by a manager, who allegedly elaborated, "Scott has a thing about Asians, he wants all white girls." In June, 1OAK owners denied trying to hush up a gay-bashing incident that allegedly transpired in the club bathroom, and it's also where Lindsay Lohan goes to steal clothes. In this latest bit of bad press, the club's lawyer explains that "these disgruntled employees were fired for their poor work performance in addition to four other Caucasian employees that were fired that same week." (For not putting out.) more ›

According to its website, Murray Hill's Tonic East “is the most well rounded sports bar in the area, with an attractive scene of locals.” But it seems black was not deemed beautiful by the management: they recently agreed to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to the tune of $35,000. more ›