May the best chicken win

"New Yorkers are having less sex"

"NO sex and the city: latest annual health survey shows"

According to the latest Community Health Survey, New Yorkers are having less sex, with a surprising number of young adults abstaining.

Results of the survey were reported by the New York Post.

The annual study compiled by the city's Health Department shows that about one in three adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have not had sexual intercourse in 2014.

2014... Does it take that long to put the numbers together? and more to the point, what do you think is causing this apparent trend?

NYC Values

A Public Masturbation Booth Just For Men!

Gothamist: "The masturbatory marketing scheme was inspired by a Time Out NY survey which found that 39% of NY men questioned had masturbated at some point while at work. The out-of-service telephone booth has a black curtain, a folding chair, a laptop computer, and a Hot Octopuss ad along the side.

"Here's how Hot Octopuss co-founder Adam Lewis explained the booth in a press release. See how many "subtle" references to masturbation you can find!

There’s no denying that working a nine to five job can be stressful on both your mind and body, especially in a non-stop city like Manhattan. It’s really important for guys to look after themselves so that they can stay healthy and focus properly on the task in hand. We’re told time and time again how beneficial it is to have a break away from your desk. At Hot Octopuss we are all about looking for new solutions to improve everyday life and we feel we’ve done just that with the new GuyFi booth. We hope the city’s men enjoy using the space we’ve created in whatever way they want. It’s completely free of charge… all that we ask is they thank us when they get their promotion!

"...Public masturbation is an illegal and pernicious offense that has become an unfortunate regular part of many innocent straphangers' daily commutes. In December, it was reported that there had been 699 such incidents reported in the last five months of 2015 up from 593 in the same period in 2014...

"So will these booths siphon off some of our scummier subway masturbators and prove to be a reasonable outlet for men who can't control their impulses, or will they stand as a tone-deaf and distinctly gross marketing scheme that never should have made it past the brainstorming phase?

"EMT suspended for trying to save choking girl"

"Qwasi Reid, who works for Assist Ambulance, was transporting a nursing home patient last Wednesday with his partner when he said they were flagged down at a red light by a frantic man who told them that a student was choking. Reid said his partner, who was not reprimanded by the company, told the man they already had a patient and there was nothing they could do."

Reid, who has driven ambulances for four years, said he knew the choking girl took a priority over the transport, and against his partner's urging, jumped out of the ambulance's back door and administered first aid to the girl, who he said had already turned blue. No one at the school was rendering first aid, he said.

"I don't regret it," Reid, who said he is suspended without pay, told FoxNews.com. "I'd do it again. If I know there's a child choking, I'm going to do my best to help her."

Video at the link

"Guardian Angels return to New York's Central Park"

"[T]hey made a pointed return to New York's Central Park for the first time in more than two decades, citing a 26 per cent rise in crime there so far this year."

"We realise things are much better than they were" in the crime peak of the 1980s and early 90s, said Curtis Sliwa, the group's founder, but "we want it to stay that way."...

Onlookers' reactions ranged from thumbs up to raised eyebrows. "Time warp!" one passing jogger exclaimed.

"I didn't even know they were still in business," said Christine Adebiyi, a resident of Harlem, before adding: "It's great to see them here."

What does it take to get a NY City worker fired?

“How do you fire a man who is already dead? He deserves better. The agency itself should have known,” said Ted Willbright, who added that he considered Toliver as a brother.

“Some people he worked with were very supportive, so how did HRA the organization not know? He’s dead, and they’re saying he abandoned his job. He didn’t abandon his job, his job abandoned him. He was a good man. Truly, truly a good man.”

HRA officials said they sought to remove Toliver from his $38,000-a-year job after they couldn’t reach him for well over a year.

“We did everything we could to contact him and his family,” said HRA spokesman David Neustadt. “This employee was not paid when he wasn’t working, but we left his job open in case he recovered.

Well, at least he didn't die because a piss corroted city lamp post fell on him. It could have been worst.

Legislation: Single-Person Bathrooms Gender Neutral In NYC

“We must look to help trans-gender individuals who quite frankly, have fears,”

Aiming to curb gender bias and harassment in New York City, officials are readying a plan that would require businesses to convert one-person restrooms into gender-neutral facilities.

“This is a very important issue,” said New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, whose office is releasing a report Friday recommending the changes. “It’s time to help individuals who identify as transgender to use the bathroom without fear of consequence.”

“We’re not talking about constructing new bathrooms or spending any money, except basically purchasing a sign,” Stringer said. “Just putting a sign on an existing bathroom will go a long way to reducing discrimination.”...

“Being transgender, it’s not about the bathrooms. It’s that other people try to make it that way,” said Renfroe, a transgender man. “This step is simply just a way to make things more equal for everybody, to stop transgender people on a basis that doesn’t really exist.”

“I’ve been aware that it would not be safe for me to access the facilities appropriate for my gender,” he said. “So having a space where a basic necessity of the body, where we can actually go and do that without fear of being assaulted, is pretty important.”

"Liana Barrientos is charged with filing a fake instrument."

"A New York City woman is accused of marrying 10 times over an 11-year period without ever getting a divorce."

According to a criminal complaint, the 39-year-old woman allegedly obtained two of the marriage licenses in the Bronx. It says the others were obtained in Westchester County and Long Island. The first one allegedly was obtained in 1999.

Why get a divorce, if it's something so traumatic or whatever. I don't blame this woman for trying to avoid all that unnecessary unpleasantness ;)

Update: Liana Barrientos pleads not guilty in state court in the Bronx

"Massive brawl at NYC casino over daiquiris"

"A brawl involving dozens of people broke out inside the Resorts World casino at Aqueduct Race Track on Friday night, turning the opening night of a Fat Tuesday daiquiri bar into a fight night worthy of Las Vegas."

“They done tore up the #FatTuesdaysNYC on the first night! Can’t have nothing,” tweeted one irritated partygoer.

“Once y’all saw that dude in the 8 Ball jacket y’all should have known things about to go up,” tweeted another.

Another upset patron tweeted, “People always ask why we never get anything. Next time ask yourselves, “Why every time we get something, we destroy it.”

Via NY Post (videos)

Protesters in NYC target small business with "#BlackBrunchNYC"

Ebowling in New York

You just never want to start a sentence with "If I can put my fingers in the holes..." pic.twitter.com/Dt7K9IkDL2
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) October 26, 2014

"Doctor in New York City Tests Positive for Ebola"

"A doctor in New York City who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in Guinea tested positive for the Ebola virus Thursday, becoming the city’s first diagnosed case."

The doctor, Craig Spencer, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital Center on Thursday and placed in isolation while health care workers spread out across the city to trace anyone he might have come into contact with in recent days.

Dr. Spencer

“Our understanding is that very few people were in direct contact with him,” Mr. de Blasio said.

Dr. Spencer had been working with Doctors Without Borders in Guinea, treating Ebola patients, before returning to New York City on Oct. 14, according to a city official. (read more)

"NYC Ebola Patient Attended CMJ Venue, Events Canceled"

our @GoodnightRecord show at @thegutter canceled tonight because of an #ebola scare in #Williamsburg ..still @MercuryLoungeNY tonight @ 1am!
— HEAVEN (@heavenbandNYC) October 23, 2014

"Greens: Climate march shatters record"

"Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon joined a larger-than-expected throng of activists, scientists, students and elected officials who took to New York City’s streets Sunday for a massive march meant to sound the alarm about climate change."

Organizers initially estimated that the march had drawn 310,000 people, then raised that estimate to nearly 400,000 — far exceeding their projections of 100,000 attendees and making the procession through midtown Manhattan by far the largest climate-related protest in history. New York police did not offer their own crowd count.

“It shows we have power,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. “It’s a diverse coalition. It’s broad and it’s growing in strength and it’s growing in diversity. And it’s increasingly impatient at the rate of progress.”

Added...

“Looting Tourism”

"One looter who came out of a QuikTrip told The Washington Post that he was proud of what he was doing."

“I’m proud of us. We deserve this, and this is what’s supposed to happen when there’s injustice in your community,” DeAndre Smith told The Post. “St. Louis — not going to take this anymore.”

Meanwhile, in NYC...

Minnie Mouse and the Penguin from Batman huddled together, looking concerned. They were soon joined by Super Mario, Elmo, Hello Kitty and Goofy, who was carrying his big, plush head in his hands. After a few minutes of talking, they lined up in a row and began to clap and cheer: “Si se puede! Yes we can!”

 

“The city created a new Times Square for tourists, and when the tourists come, people come to do business here,” he said.

“Now that they’re here, the city doesn’t like them anymore. The city created a Disneyland here, and now they’re upset that it’s Disneyland.”

NYC Tonight

INCREDIBLE PHOTO: Tonight's storm over NYC. Via @bethalison89 pic.twitter.com/wDJTLRDldz
— PzFeed Top News (@PzFeed) July 3, 2014

"Underground gas explosion in East Harlem kills 2, injures 36 — up to 10 people feared missing: sources"

"They were picking through the wreckage and searching for survivors Wednesday after a thunderous gas blast in East Harlem levelled two buildings and sent “people flying.”

Two women were killed and three dozen other people were injured — many of them children, one of them critically.

The buildings collapsed with such force it registered two miles west on the seismic scale at Columbia University, which measures earthquake activity in and around New York City.

“It felt like the world shook,” said witness Mustafa Shohataa, 27, who was standing near the buildings at Park Ave. and East 116th St. READ MORE

NY Daily News (more pictures and video at the link)

‘Knockout Game’ Claims Another Victim

(CBSNewYork) – "Kyle Rogers woke up in an ambulance Sunday morning, completely unaware of the random attack that put him there."

The 23-year-old man and his parents then investigated, eventually tracking down surveillance video showing a man running up to Rogers and sucker-punching him before walking off.

Rogers, who broke his jaw and suffered facial lacerations, told CBS 2′s Jessica Schneider he’s positive he was a victim of a “knockout game” attack.

The attack had locals talking Thursday.

“It’s the middle of the city, there are crazy people running around everywhere, and when you’re walking around late at night, you just have to keep your head on a swivel and keep an eye on your surroundings,” said Jeff Wolinsky, of Sunnyside, Queens. read more

Click read more for video

"Morning Glory: Jogger Ticketed for Crack-of-Dawn Run Through Central Park"

"Runners have joined jaywalkers on the NYPD’s to-ticket list."

CEO Peter Shankman was issued a summons for running in Central Park too early in the morning, Gothamist reports.

Mr. Shankman, who is an “author, entrepreneur, speaker, and worldwide connector,” and founder of Help a Reporter Out, was stopped by cops around 4:30 a.m. on Thursday near 85th Street on the park’s East Side.

He said he was training for the Ironman Triathlon and getting his 10 miles in before his morning meeting, Mr. Shankman wrote on Facebook.

But apparently, Central Park is closed between 1am and 6am, making his early morning run a criminal act.

Mr. Shankman claims there were no signs, gates, or traffic cones indicating that the park was closed.

NY Observer. Tweeted ticket and comments at the link

Is Spike Lee upset that longtime residents, like Trooper, might be choosing to leave the neighborhood?

"Speaking Tuesday night in Brooklyn, blocks away from his company headquarters and his father’s apartment, Spike Lee went off on how the neighborhood has changed. The filmmaker, wearing a Knicks beanie, orange socks, blue Nikes, and "Defend Brooklyn" hoodie, was at Pratt Institute for a lecture in honor of African American History Month, surrounded by locals, when he was nearly asked a question about “the other side” of the gentrification debate."

Partial transcript link.

Here’s the full audio, including the man’s response and Lee’s rebuttal: