Billionaire facelift aficionado and casino magnate Steve Wynn is allegedly scaring the monocles off of Upper East Side residents who fear that his presence will draw the wrath of his scorned business partner, Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada. According to Page 6 Wynn is considering a $36 million penthouse on East 70th Street (Teddy Forstmann's old place), but residents are "unnerved by the situation, and fear there could be reprisals." A source adds, "The problem is…[the dispute] may not be settled in the courtroom." So look for the building's chandeliers to be studded with goat heads, the mysterious disappearance of the doorman every fortnight, and for residents' Picassos to be ripped. more ›

This is an odd pairing. CNN just announced today that it has teamed up with Vice. Yes, that Vice. What do the hipster handbook and the hard news network have in common? First off, VBS.TV is overseen by Spike Jonze — which may have intrigued the network, and secondly, they don't just focus on Williamsburg shenanigans. In fact, here's their Guide to Liberia. Owner Shane Smith says, "as our company began to evolve and cover stories around the globe, CNN was our first and only choice for a partner. In a world of hyper-partisan opinion-led 'news,' CNN's credibility and reach put it in a class by itself. We couldn't be more excited with a partner unless it was Jimi Hendrix joining our rock and roll band." We're guessing Wolf Blitzer is staying far away from this one. [via FreeWilliamsburg] more ›

We received our smiley-face laden wristbands so that we may gain entry to the Vice 15th Anniversary + Halloween party this past Saturday — but around 11 p.m. that night we were already hearing that the 1994-themed extravaganza was total mayhem, so we took our flannel elsewhere. more ›

Some Windsor Terrace residents say they're fed up with the NYPD's failure to do anything about the late night cacophony from skateboarders in Bartel-Pritchard Square, at the intersection of Prospect Park West and Prospect Park Southwest. So they reached out to City Councilmember Bill de Blasio, who held a community meeting last night in an attempt to resolve the age old problem of skateboarding, adolescence, and rowdiness. Local resident Jim Rallis tells YourNabe that on the night of June 13th, the teens were so obstreperous that he called the police. When they didn’t respond quickly enough, he says, "I went down there to tell them to be quiet and one of them pulled a box−cutter out and put it against my body." more ›

Is quaint City Island getting less nice and more vice? According to an alarmist article in today's Post, residents are shocked because cops busted four people on prostitution charges at a massage parlor—they were allegedly giving rub and tugs for $200 a pop. The bust happened last June, but rumors are swirling that the full release is back at Sun Spa parlor, which happens to be two doors down from the home of Adolfo Carrión Jr., who was Bronx borough president until Obama chose him as the White House urban affairs director. He tells the tabloid, "Everybody is hearing the rumors, and everyone is concerned." The article also explains that unnamed residents are troubled by "brazen, open-air drug sales and drug use by local teens." Local PTA dad Michael Shanley says, "It's an outrage. You feel like you're on our beautiful island with no police protection, and it's a free-for-all." Teens doing drugs!? Men hiring prostitutes!? What is this, the Bronx? Oh, right. Well, at least the NYPD is now increasing foot patrols on City Island, so perhaps this anecdotal crime story will have a happy ending after all. more ›

Last weekend some dayglo cardboard lightsabers smashed together in Washington Square, but did you know the real deal is over in Brooklyn? Leave it to Vice to find the New York Jedi Academy, and to bring Segways into the mix. That's right: Sabersegging. Maybe the Academy should pick this up as a permanent course, because it looks like business isn't going so well. more ›

It would be impossible to sum up the Observer's story on 22-year-old grifter Kari Ferrell, who recently conned her way into many New Yorker's hearts, beds and wallets. She even landed a job at Vice magazine—who are currently looking for a new administrative assistant, by the way. The young Miss Ferrell somehow managed to convince everyone, at least for a short period of time, that (amongst other things) she had lung cancer, was pregnant, worked for Coachella promoters GoldenVoice, and that she would, like, totally pay them back. Eventually they were all smart enough to Google her (hey amateurs, rule #1 in grifting: always change your name). more ›

Mayor Bloomberg, our city's tireless crusader against vice, whose victory against the artery-clogging forces of trans fat has drawn outrage from bakers and restaurateurs, was recently caught trans-handed in this Wired magazine photo. Or was he? amNY is absolutely one hundred percent certain that’s a Cheez-It in Hizzoner’s right hand (in the Wired photo, not the image here.) more ›

It's been quite some time since we hopped the virtual F train to the virtual Lower East Side (that's VLES, for those in the know), but it seems one NY Times scribe has been making some frequent visits to the online world. In fact, he may even prefer it to its real life counterpart.

There were no imperious bouncers or foul odors to contend with, and no fluids of any kind expectorated on my shoes. Except for a slightly choppy video feed, it was by my standards a pretty successful evening on the town. Despite knowing that its real-life inspiration exists right outside my door, I have spent the last few months making such visits to the Virtual Lower East Side (vles.com), a three-dimensional, Internet-based social network fastidiously modeled on a small but influential swath of Manhattan real estate.