A tour bus from Canada headed to New York City crashed into a tractor trailer in Waterloo, NY, about 270 miles from the city. The two vehicles crashed on I-90 around 1:30 a.m. in the morning and burst into flames; both vehicles were destroyed by fire. The tractor trailer's driver died while 30 of the bus's 52 passengers were injured. more ›

This morning, a tour bus from Kentucky headed to New York City rear-ended a flatbed truck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The bus driver was killed, while dozens of passengers and the truck's driver were injured. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "The bus crashed into the back of the flatbed trailer the truck was pulling, pushing the truck halfway onto the highway berm. A skid mark at least 100 feet long was visible in the climbing lane." more ›

A tour bus driver was charged with a DWI and arrested yesterday after he fatally ran over a pedestrian in Hell's Kitchen. Fifty-seven-year-old driver Steve Drappel hit the 29-year-old victim as he was walking eastbound across Ninth Avenue at 47th street just before 10 p.m. last night, and witnesses say the victim was pinned under the bus' wheel, and dragged for half a block: “I saw him lying under the back wheel and he was moving, but then the cops made the bus driver move the bus back and then he died. They put a sheet over him...It was horrible. I’m visiting New York City. This is my fourth day here and this is the second death I’ve seen,̶ eyewitness Ashley Fishner told CBS. more ›

Yesterday, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver held a multi-agency meeting to discuss the potential tour bus "problem" lower Manhattan will face when the 9/11 Memorial opens in September. However, don't think that this will turn downtown into some no-tourists-allowed haven. One proposal suggests having drop-off points in New Jersey and Brooklyn, so tourists can take the PATH or ferries to Ground Zero. As state Senator Daniel Squadron said, "The more you bring in visitors by means other than tour buses, the more time—and money—they spend downtown." more ›

A tour bus operated by a NJ company "rolled over an embankment" in New Hampshire last night. The bus, which was going from Quebec to Boston, had around 25 passengers, and 17 were hurt. A NH State Police lieutenant said, "The vehicle went off the left side of the roadway. Unknown reason -- we're looking at that at this time. At that point it rolled over on to its side." more ›

During a surprise checkpoint in Manhattan 14 tour buses were inspected on Friday night and none of them passed. According to the AP, "Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the operation at DOT checkpoints as part of his order to investigate the Bronx crash of the tour bus, which was serving casino customers, while stepping up enforcement of all tour buses statewide." State DOT spokeswoman Deb Rausch said of the 14 failed inspections, "This is quite extraordinary." more ›

A tour bus overturned on the southbound New England Thruway in the Bronx, right at the Westchester County line, killing 13 people aboard. At least six others were critically injured and while many others suffered other injuries. The bus, which held 31 people plus a driver, was headed from Mohegan Sun to NYC. more ›

This isn't your grandmother's tour bus! A new interactive theatrical bus tour has arrived; it's officially hitting the streets next month, but it's being unveiled for preview this Thursday. It's called "The Ride" and it's kind of like the Michael Bay of city tourism. more ›

The residents and neighbors of the famous Dakota building on the Upper West Side are sick of seeing tour buses filled with folks who want to see where John Lennon lived and died. A long time resident told the NY Post that, “They are an inconvenience and a nuisance. When the tourists get out, they block the entire sidewalk and you can’t get back into your building. It’s dangerous because many times, the buses block the intersection. They block the vision of the pedestrian walking across. I’ve seen people nearly killed.” According to West Side Independent, who broke the story, the buses aren't always city buses—councilwoman Gale Brewer told them, “Both I and my staff have visited the intersections on weekend mornings and have learned that the majority of the tour buses come from out-of-state and Canada." more ›

The cacophony of New York City will no longer include the noise of tour guides on open-air tour buses, if city officials have their way. The City Council has proposed that open-air tour buses should outfit their tourists with individual headsets instead of blaring tidbits like "This is where John Lennon was shot!" via a public address speakers. According to the Post, yesterday's hearing was "heated," pitting "New Yorkers living in the city's toniest neighborhoods" versus the tour operators. more ›

As you may have heard by now, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo was injured in a tour bus accident in New York early yesterday morning, and the band has now canceled their remaining shows. They've updated their blog with new details, including photos from the accident. They wrote:

"At 7:18 AM EST, about 40 miles West of Albany on I-90, the Weezer tour bus carrying Rivers and his family and assistants lost control as it hit a patch of black ice. The driver employed every ounce of skill he had in fighting to keep the bus upright, as the vehicle violently fishtailed over the highway. more ›

The Bronx street where police fired 41 shots at an unarmed black man in 1999 has become an unlikely tourist attraction, according to the Daily News. more ›

A New York bus tour turned grisly yesterday morning as a Gray Line double-decker bus struck a woman outside of the United Nations. Lolaa Alrashied was crossing 42nd St and was struck by the bus and pinned underneath. She is currently listed in serious condition, with leg fractures and trauma, at Bellevue Hospital. more ›

As Jimmy Fallon prepares for his Late Night close-up, house band The Roots are frantically writing hundreds of original songs to play on the show because NBC is refusing to pay music licensing fees. The group has 12 days til they take over the airwaves, and drummer ?uestlove told Rolling Stone that of the 200 songs they are attempting to pen, "we've written about 55 so far." In the same interview he tells the magazine that the entire band is "commuting via tour bus every morning at 8 am" from Philly. So it's safe to assume none of their 200 new jingles have to do with leaving a giant carbon footprint on the environment. Unless they use a biodiesel tour bus? more ›

Lil Wayne was in Manhattan court yesterday trying to prove his tour bus is pot-free. Too bad his star witness was...his "assistant" and pot dealer! The NY Post reports that "testifying at a suppression hearing for Lil Wayne's Manhattan gun-possession case, Terry Bourgeois told the judge that nobody was smoking pot on the 30-foot tour bus when it was pulled over one night last summer near Columbus Circle" after a Beacon Theater concert. Bourgeois did admit that there was some partying on the way to the venue, and that he "probably brought it on." He also noted that the cops could likely smell the remnants of it later, but he couldn't because "I'm a smoker. I'm used to it." As for the firearm, he claims to have never seen Wayne with a gun. If convicted, he could go to jail for over 3 years. Get your "Free Weezy!" signs ready, folks. more ›

A tour trying to turn left onto Broome Street from Bowery struck a 76-year-old woman yesterday morning. The bus, operated by Skyliner, was on its way to Atlantic City. The woman had been walking south on Bowery with her son when the bus hit her. Witnesses said the woman was hit hard by the bus, flying 15 feet. One witness told the Daily News, "I guess she wasn't paying attention." Maybe - but buses (one... more ›