NEW YORK [NY1] — New Yorkers are now paying a little extra at the cash register.
The city sales tax hike went into effect Saturday, bumping the burden up half a percentage point, to 8.875 percent.
You’ve heard of Alphabet City — now meet Alphabet State.
Using Google aerial maps, a British researcher has selected Empire State images that make up all 26 letters of the alphabet.
ALBANY, NY — The New York State Senate passed legislation to make texting while driving illegal across the state.
This comes after a series of fatal crashes involving teenagers in New York.
NEW YORK, NY — Mayor Michael Bloomberg is trying to make it easier for property owners to deal with graffiti. The Mayor and the City Council are working on new legislation that would place the graffiti removal process with the city.
This new legislation would allow the city to remove graffiti on a property without permission from the owner, unless the owner specifically says otherwise.
NEW YORK, NY — These bums are costing you a fortune.
Ricky Alardo, a homeless alcoholic nicknamed Ricky Ricardo, swigs cheap vodka by day at his favorite corner in Washington Heights, then calls an ambulance to chauffeur him to the hospital for a free meal and a warm place to sleep, courtesy of taxpayers who fund his Medicaid benefits.
NEW YORK, NY — Drivers in the New York area wasted nearly 380 million hours stuck in rush-hour traffic in 2007 – second only to those in Los Angeles – according to a traffic study released Wednesday.
The average motorist in the New York area lost 44 hours in 2007 because of rush-hour traffic congestion, according to the Urban Mobility Report conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute.
BROOKLYN, NY — Motor scooters — those cool Vespa-like mini-Harleys that put the buzz in so many European cities — aren’t just convenient, they’re also Zen.
“When you’re driving a scooter, you’re at one with Brooklyn,” said Chaim Seewald, owner of the new Downtown scooter store, ScootNY.
Say what?!
Noise from screeching brakes and roaring trains on subway platforms is so harsh on the ears that it can cause “permanent, irreversible, noise-induced hearing loss,” a new study in a top medical journal found.
Researchers said that sound levels in some stations can reach up to 102.1 decibels — that’s at least 23 points above what human ears should safely endure, the American Journal of Public Health’s study said.
NEW YORK, NY — The Health Department has identified 11 cases of measles in Brooklyn during the past two months, and is urging doctors to be vigilant and promptly report suspected cases to the agency. Nearly all the known cases have occurred in children who went unvaccinated, leaving them unprotected against the disease. Measles is not common in New York City, but it is highly contagious.
BROOKLYN, NY [CHI] — Firefighters were on the scene of a building that collapsed in Brooklyn.
The four-story building on Myrtle Avenue in the Fort Greene section housed several apartments but luckily, no one was home.
NEW YORK, NY — Council Members James Vacca (D-Bronx) and Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) will hold hearings today in City Council Chambers at 11:00 AM to advocate for a bill that would require traffic enforcement agents to photograph parking violations and attach a copy of the photograph to the each ticket. The bill, Intro 886-A, is intended to end the he-said-she-said battles that clog our traffic courts and waste motorists’ time. It is one of four bills under consideration at a hearing of the Transportation Committee, chaired by Council Member John Liu, at Council Chambers.
BROOKLYN, NY — Whoa, babies!
As maternity wards in hospitals across Brooklyn have closed their doors, those in the borough that haven’t are scrambling to keep up with a big influx of births.
NEW YORK, NY — New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn agreed on a plan to raise $887 million by increasing the city sales tax rate and repealing an exemption for clothing purchases of less than $110.
The proposals, requiring Legislature approval, would boost the sales tax to 8.875 percent from 8.375 percent. The plan also would apply the charge to electricity and natural gas purchases from non-utility companies, according to Bloomberg.
NEW YORK, NY — The taxman cometh for livery car riders as well.
A little-noticed provision in the state budget adopted by the Legislature in April imposes a sales tax on livery car, limousine and corporate black-car trips.
NEW YORK, NY [May 29 AP] — A plainclothes policeman who drew his gun while chasing someone he had found rummaging through his car was shot and killed by a fellow officer who was driving by and saw the pursuit, the police commissioner said.
Commissioner Raymond Kelly said 25-year-old Omar J. Edwards died after being shot late Thursday within blocks of the Harlem police station where he worked.
NEW YORK, NY — A bottomless campaign chest, healthy approval ratings, the power of incumbency – how can Mayor Bloomberg lose?
There’s no one answer, but plenty of guesses.
NEW YORK, NY [CNN] — A second New York City resident has died after contracting swine flu, the city’s Health Department reported Sunday. WHO says more than 12,000 cases of swine flu have been confirmed worldwide.
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