A penny here, a penny there, pretty soon it adds up to driving right by a gas station because they've crossed a psychological barrier of asking more than four bucks for a gallon of gas. Area stations are trying hard to hold the line at $3.99 a gallon to keep from scaring the bejeezus out of drivers with the facts, which is that gasoline is the most expensive it's been since the invention of the......

Last week Governor Paterson signed off on a new tax law requiring out-of-state retailers to collect sales tax from consumers in New York State. Like other states, New York requires residents to pay tax on out-of-state purchases for which sales tax wasn’t collected. The big argument is over who’s responsible for collecting; the new law puts that onus vendors like Amazon, which is now fighting the bill in State Supreme Court. What’s interesting is that......

A member of the House Committee on Homeland Security will be releasing a report that alleges cigarettes sold on Indian reservations ultimately help fund Hamas and Hezbollah. The report, "Tobacco and Terror," from the staff of Republican Representative Peter King, illustrates how bootleggers could buy tons of cigarettes from Indian reservations, where cigarettes are not taxed. Here's a sample sentence from the report: “A motivated terrorist cell could generate sufficient funds to carry out another......

Photograph of last minute-filers from the Municipal Art Society's New Penn Station website April 15 is finally here and if you haven't filed your tax returns (or for an extension), you better hustle. The James Farley Post Office at 421 Eighth Avenue and 31st Street, just west of Madison Square Garden, is where the procrastinators tend to congregate, because it is the city's only 24-hour postal facility. In fact, free Pretzel Crisps will be......

New Yorkers are supposed to be honest at tax time and indicate how much they've purchased from online retailers--like Amazon.com--that don't charge NY State sales tax. Now the NY State tax department wants online retailers to charge sales tax, or else be subject to audits going "back as far" as tax officials want. Currently, retailers who have a physical presence in New York are required to pay state and local taxes, not ones who just......

Gov. Paterson publicly addressed the state of New York's budget and described it as "too big and too bloated." Belt tightening is the prescribed solution according to the Governor, with state spending to be cut by 5-10% in the latest fiscal year. That is a pretty dramatic reduction, but Paterson was quick to reassure that it was equally important that the state not raise taxes either, noting that many residents were decamping to lower-tax states......

Mayor Bloomberg stood up for rich New Yorkers when he advised against the state raising income taxes on the wealthy. Why? He said, "I think at this point, where we're in competition with other cities around the world for entrepreneurs and the best and the brightest, it's not the time to be raising taxes." Assembly Democrats suggest raising the tax rate for incomes of $1 million+, which would mean a $1.5 billion in additional revenue.......

The abrupt elevation of Lieutenant Governor David Paterson to the top seat in NY State government should mix things up a bit in Albany and NYC. First up is the state budget, and with a grim economic outlook and behind-the-scenes transitions, he said yesterday, “We cannot afford to waste another second. We have a budget that is due and a deadline to meet.” Paterson added he would attempt to govern by consensus, rather than take......

Sure Mongolia is a sparsely populated nation with a GDP just over 25% of what Wall St. alone pays out in bonuses, but this is New York City; and you gotta pay what you owe. So said a U.S. District Court judge Friday, when he ruled that India, Mongolia, and the Phillipines owed New York City tens of millions of dollars in back taxes. Generally consulates, missions, and embassies operate under the convention that they......

The Independent Budget Office of the City of New York released a five page report [pdf] yesterday projecting that beginning next year, the City will face a serious fiscal crisis when it runs a deficit of $3.1 billion. By 2011, that budget shortfall could more than double, to $6.3 billion. The projections merely take into account current trends in New York City and don't factor in the possibility of a widespread national recession. The title......

Last week we learned that all New York taxis will soon be held to higher fuel efficiency standards; starting next October new cabs must get at least 25 miles per gallon. But the cab changes don’t stop there – in addition to upcoming GPS and touch-screen video technology, the Taxi and Limousine Commission is considering selling an unlimited card for cab riders, which may feature “fare integration” with buses and subways. Over half the city’s......

New York City is getting safer and safer. Well, at least Manhattan is. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau told reporters yesterday that there have only been 65 murders in the borough this year, down 40% from last year. When Morgenthau took office in 1975, the borough had 648 murders, accounting for almost 40% of the city's total. The 65 homicides this year account for just 14% of the city total. The 88-year-old DA attributed the......

A couple of real estate agents are seriously deluded and declaring Montclair, NJ as "Park Slope West" (something The NY Times covered two years ago). They stand by their claim and the town's "urban-suburban setting" which boasts a theater, a museum, shops and even a "great commute". Suckers Prospective buyers are brought to the suburbs in a limo, and are wined and dined at the “Park Slope-style” restaurant, Raymond’s. Recently a curious Brooklynite and a......

John Gotti Jr. interrupted his lawyer and spoke with reporters after appearing at Federal Court in White Plains yesterday. Gotti, reacting to a 2006 story in the NY Post which claimed he was becoming a government informant, became angry and said that his family was scared of a possible mob hit:My family lives in fear as a result of this. What happens next? Tell me, what happens next? Does it make it all better if......

Barack may have Oprah, but the stagehands' and writers' union have John Edwards! The former senator, currently in third place after Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the hunt for the Democratic presidential nomination, voiced his support of Local One, the Broadway stagehands union that has been on strike since November 9 over a new contract. Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said, "To interfere with the power of the Broadway community is not......

Last week, a CNN/WMUR poll with "likely Republican voters in New Hampshire" gave a snapshot of what they were thinking and Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign got the bad news that not only had his poll numbers slid from 24% to 16%, he was now in third place after former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (33%, up from 25%) and Arizona Senator John McCain (18%). Third after McCain! So, Giuliani hustled to New Hampshire to make......

Governor Spitzer's sudden Tuesday announcement that he would ask the MTA to keep the base subway and bus fare at $2 continues to draw skeptics of all kinds. Since the MTA just found an extra $220 million on their balance sheets, though additional revenues, real estate taxes, underspending and debt service costs, Spitzer said that the additional funds could be used to avert a base fare hike. Hurrah? Well, yes, but... ...the cost of unlimited......

Dunh dunh DUNH! Governor Spitzer has announced that he is asking the MTA to hold off raising subway and bus fares! Spitzer, who has been smarting from widely hated policy proposals and low approval ratings, made a pre-Thanksgiving bid to show he's listening to his public and said, during a specially planned 9AM press conference, via CityRoom: As the M.T.A. budget forecasts, their balance sheets yielded another $220 million. Based on the current economic......

Derek Jeter isn't alone when it comes to accusations of dodging taxes. The New York Post features a rundown of other famous New Yorkers who are on the hook for taxes owed. Near the top of the list is rap mogul Damon Dash, who allegedly owes the state $2 million.Dash, 36, is one of almost 225,000 city debtors who together have shortchanged the city and state more than $1 billion in income taxes, penalties and......

Derek Jeter's mom is claiming that her son wouldn't cheat on his taxes, days after the NY State Dept. of Taxation and Finance claimed that the Yankees captain owed the state hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in back taxes. Jeter says that his primary residence is in Florida, which doesn't have a state income tax. He does, however, live in the Trump World Plaza building on 1st Ave., across from the United......

The NY State Department of Taxation and Finance is pretty sneaky. After years of observing the Yankee captain's comments, lawyers are saying that DJ owes hundreds of thousands in back taxes. Though Jeter's Yankees salary is partially taxed by NY State, he has claimed that his primary residence is in Florida, which has no state tax. The argument from tax officials is that Jeter has made statements "professing his love for New York" and that......

Governor Eliot Spitzer had a busy week. Not only was he working himself up to admit his driver's license plan would not pass, Spitzer suggested instituting the state's 8.375% sales tax on Internet goods - just in time for holiday shopping! But only hours after the NY Sun reported on the plan, Spitzer changed his mind, deciding to wait until the new year to implement taxes on Internet purchases. Currently, online retailers who don't have......

Earlier today, the Reverend Pat Robertson endorsed Rudy Giuliani for president, showing that the former mayor was able to win over an influential Christian conservative leader. Robertson explained,"To me, the overriding issue before the American people is the defense of our population from the bloodlust of Islamic terrorists.... We need a leader with a bold vision who is not afraid to tackle the challenges ahead." And he acknowledged Rudy's NYC history, "Rudy Giuliani took a......

Yeah, it was too much to hope that the two of the most powerful men in Albany could put aside their differences and, uh, govern. Now, Governor Spitzer's aides are suggesting that State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno should pay income taxes on his many flights on state aircraft. The Republicans got a hold of a letter drafted by State Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith's aides that asked the IRS to look into the matter.......

Not only is there no sex in the champagne room, apparently tips from the champagne room aren't all going to strippers! A former bartender at Scores is suing the pleasure palace chain, claiming that management stiffed employees of their rightful tips. Siri Diaz claims that when Scores customers use "Diamond Dollars," the club's payment plan, to pay for dances and drinks as well as tips for strippers, servers, and bartenders, management wouldn't give the workers......

EVENT: We're sponsoring, and our publisher is hosting, the NYC Photobloggers event tonight. Come over to the Apple Store to see a dazzling display of digital images and the faces behind the photos: Eliot Shepard, Jay Parkinson (yes, that Jay Parkinson) and a whole lot more will be on hand. There will also be a special presentation by Jen Bekman of 20x200, Hey Hot Shot, and the Jen Bekman Gallery and an after party at......

Isn't the Internet wonderful? It lets baseball fans vote in an All-Star game player and now it lets people around the world decide what to do with a historic ball. After purchasing the ball that Barry Bonds hit to break baseball's all-time home run record, fashion designer Marc Ecko has decided to give the public a vote on what to do with the ball. On the website Vote756.com, Ecko gives voters three choices, "Bestow......

While no one is questioning the fiscal stability of New York City the way they were during the 1970s, municipal spending has nonetheless exploded during Mayor Bloomberg's five years in office, far in excess of anything his predecessors accomplished over the last three decades. Thanks to swelling city revenues from the booming stock and real estate markets, New York remains on firm budgetary footing. The New York Times reports, however, that Mayor Bloomberg has overseen......

The MTA announced today that it has formed a Sustainability Commission to create a "sustainability master plan" by Earth Day of next year. MTA Executive Director Elliot Sander said, "The MTA’s public transportation network makes the entire New York region sustainable, but in the era of climate change we have a responsibility to go even further. The commission will build on the exciting green initiatives we’ve already completed to make sustainability a permanent part of......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: Airmail in Brooklyn, truck vs train overpass in 31st St & 20th Ave in Queens, an amputation at Grant St & St Pauls Ave in Staten Island and a bomb scare at Broadway and Mercer (NYU) in Manhattan. A former deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani is now an "ambassador" for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. But it's not that shocking, since Fran Reiter had lead the Liberal Party before joining......