It seems that somebody in Chelsea is not loving the insane popularity of the High Line. So much so, in fact, that they've gone and put up signs reminding "High Line Tourists" that "West Chelsea is not Times Square. It is not a tourist attraction." Really? Because it IS attracting tourists! more ›

The Staten Island ferry is one of the top tourist destinations in the city—as well as being a popular date location—but the buck stops there. Despite our valiant efforts to tell people of the fun things in the borough beyond, lots of folks won't step a foot past the ferry terminal (unless maybe for a Steve Martin concert). Which is why the borough is now looking for a few good volunteers. more ›

A deaf 5-year-old boy visiting NYC was hit by a cab in Brooklyn Saturday afternoon—and it happened right in front of his also deaf parents. Timothy Keith and his parents, who were visiting from DC, were going to see the Brooklyn Bridge when Timothy darted between parked cars onto Hicks Street in Cobble Hill, and a yellow SUV cab hit him. “I was with my son. The(n) he walk to road. I say NO to him,” wrote mother Eva Keith in an interview with the Daily News. “I saw taxi yellow so fast. Driver hit my son but my son can’t hear.” more ›

Early yesterday morning, it was reported that an NYPD officer accidentally shot a woman in the downstairs Brooklyn apartment where a drug raid had been going on. It turns out that plainclothes narcotics Officer Mosquera Washington had accidentally grazed a 25-year-old Japanese tourist who was sleeping on a couch in the apartment below. “I heard a bang and jumped up. She didn’t say anything. She was kind of nervous and shocked,” the tourist's friend, Marcus, told the Post. “The only thing I know is that there’s a bullet hole in my ceiling.” This never would have happened if she were sleeping in a Farbman. more ›

It seems the genius of Karl Pilkington has swept through Texas: in the videos below, a Texan man films his "little Texan abroad" Karen as she gives her undiluted critique of NYC from Times Square. And it's without a doubt that Karen is the Tocqueville of her generation: "I'm afraid to talk out loud, it's kind of crappy here. I feel like an ant in an ant hill. They have a bunch of TVs all over the place, I could be sitting at home in my living room watching TV...It's just a bunch of crap." At least there's one thing she likes: "They got a cute pigeon. I saw a cute pigeon." more ›

Panamanian tourists were spared the indignity of a livery cab scam when the family's 17-year-old son grabbed the wheel of a Lincoln Town Car and crashed it into a guardrail. more ›

After spotting a struggling future tourist on Yelp, who was receiving very bad information on what to do when they visited New York City, we were compelled to help. After all, those tourist dollars are precious to our economy. So, we reached out to some of our favorite locals—like, ones with Verified Twitter accounts—for their more knowledgeable recommendations. Behold, future tourists, your new tour guides: more ›

A tourist from Texas reportedly experienced a New York nightmare last weekend. While visiting the city the 19-year-old says she was sexually assaulted in her midtown W Hotel room. Since the assault, the NYPD have arrested two Swedish tourists they say were involved in the crime. more ›

Recently a Yelper asked, "I am going to NYC for the first time and don't know what to do up there. There seems to be a lot. What is your favorite things in New York City?" So far, the suggestions he's getting are a bit lacking, and coming mostly from other tourists. For example, the first commenter suggests mostly spots found in the movie Serendipity: "Serendipity (the original! We sat next to the table Kate Beckinsale & John Cusack sat in, in the movie!!), Waldorf hotel (where movie Serendipity was shot—elevator scene!!)," etc. more ›

Woe is the Wall Street Bull, who just can't catch a break these days: he's been on police-enforced lockdown since October thanks to Occupy Wall Street protestors, who've been known to paint his balls with anarchy symbols, amongst other things. Now, lower Manhattan community members are complaining that business is down because the tourists are being scared off by the bull's barricade. How long until Shepherd Fairy screens a limited-edition "Free The Bull" poster? more ›

According to the city's official tourism arm, NYC & Company, an estimated 50 million tourists will have visited NYC by the year's end, making NYC the number one domestic and overseas destination for tourist spending in the United States. But Orlando begs to differ on the domestic front: "Orlando is the No. 1 destination" in the USA, Visit Orlando corporate communications director Brian Martin told USA Today. Oh, isn't that the city whose major superstar loves it so much, he requested a trade to beautiful New Jersey? more ›

NYC & Company expects the City to attract a record-breaking 10.1 million international visitors in 2011, up 4 percent over 2010. The City also expects to attract a record-breaking 40.1 million domestic visitors, up 2.9 percent over last year. All of these warm bodies on holiday add up to a major engine of the economy: $32 billion in visitor spending last year, creating approximately 320,000 jobs across the five boroughs. Now, if only we can teach them to stay in their lanes and tipping is customary! more ›

Hey, con artists, you don't need a bag with a broken bottle or broken glasses anymore—all you need is to ask some of NYC's 50 million tourists for their credit cards and they'll give them to you. One man managed to pull a scam outside a midtown hotel where he asked tourists to "borrow" their credit cards. more ›

Humans aren't the only ones who are pushed beyond their physical and mental limits to feverishly "enjoy" the holidays: it's the busiest time of the year for New York City's carriage horses. Yesterday afternoon a carriage horse apparently collapsed at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue. Though a spokesperson for the Carriage Association of New York told the Daily News, "No horse collapsed," the video below, submitted to Win Animal Rights, clearly shows a horse on the ground and its handlers struggling to help it stand up. more ›

Next week will mark the second full month that Occupy Wall Street protesters have been encamped in Zuccotti Park. And ever since an aborted attempt to clean the park in early October, there hasn't been much movement to remove them from there. But it seems part of the reason for that may be because neither Mayor Bloomberg nor Brookfield Properties, who own the publicly-owned private space, want to take responsibility over enforcing the so-called park rules: "The city of New York enforces all the laws. It's not our business to enforce the laws. We have regulations for the site. That's a different thing. But as far as the laws are concerned, they enforce the laws," Brookfield chief John Zuccotti told the Post. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg performed a bit of verbal jujitsu this morning on his weekly radio broadcast—he called the Occupy Wall Street protests down in Zuccotti Park "a tourist attraction." Just two weeks ago, Bloomberg said on the same program that protesters were "trying to take away the tax base we have, because none of this is good for tourism"—despite the fact that tourists have been flocking to the park to see it in person (or join in). more ›

Seeing as there are no actual jobs available any more, New Yorkers have turned to the tried and true method of enriching themselves using the sheer brilliance of the city: real estate. Specifically, renting out their apartments as illegal hotels to tourists. "I'm an entrepreneur, and I saw this as another opportunity," a woman who rents out her Brooklyn apartment for $100/night tells the Post. "I've been booked for the past month and a half, save for a few nights." We'd like to take this opportunity to announce that a lovely broom closet in the Lower East Side that is available for $30/hour. more ›

Things are looking up for Coney Island—tourists are coming back, jobs are opening, and heck, reality TV is just around the corner! But the Brooklyn Paper tells us otherwise: their take on the whole situation is "Coney job growth is strong—but not for carnies." Intrigued by the prospect of freaks losing their jobs, we dug a little deeper. more ›

Overwhelmed by her endless throngs of visitors, Lady Liberty is indeed closing down this fall for renovations, right on schedule with the announcement made last year. more ›

As Archbishop Dolan once eloquently said: "Last time I consulted an atlas, it is clear we are living in New York, in the United States of America—not in China, or North Korea." This means that people are free to lick their shoes on the subway or dress up in costumes of popular TV and movie characters, roaming Times Square for lucrative photo opportunities with hapless tourists. But are these freedom-loving entrepreneurs breaking the law and diluting the brands of these fine american companies? more ›

This past week, Time Out London published their newest list of 'Lies to Tell Tourists', a backhanded love letter from residents to visitors, filled with misdirection and miseducation. And while we mostly try to play nice with tourists, even when they ask us where Central Perk is, we can't help but have some fun now and again, like with the Tourist Lane. In that spirit, what are some lies that you tell tourists? Here are our favorites: more ›