Given that NYC is currently embarking on an ambitious public toilet plan, this news from the Pacific Northwest is appropriate: After spending millions on installing self-cleaning, unisex high-tech public toilets in 2004, Seattle officials have decided to auction them off on eBay. Apparently the toilets attracted crime ("drug users and prostitutes") and became an embarrassing topic. There are no bids on the toilets so far, but if you have $89,000 and the right plumbing set......

How much would you pay for free Jon Bon Jovi tickets? This much? As the big Bon Jovi concert approaches tickets to the free show are going for as much as $1500/pair, The NY Post reports. The show is going down this Saturday on the Great Lawn in Central Park, and an additional lot of tickets will be released at the Javits Center this Friday (more details at MLB.com). Hardcore fans of Jon Bon......

This is way better than the Tony Soprano wardrobe auction, now you can be the proud owner of an authentic Cosby sweater! Just in time for Father's Day, too. USA Today reports:Cosby's daughter, Evin, said her mother and father were cleaning out a closet recently when they came across a batch of the sweaters her dad wore when he played Huxtable on NBC's The Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992. "I pounced on these sweaters,"......

Just how much are Sex and the City fans willing to pay for The Ultimate movie-going experience? The NY Post reports that one woman laid down $19,000 for a seat at tonight's premiere, only to find out she'd been scammed. Ella Sherman, who flew in from Singapore for the big night, will still get a seat at the premiere thanks to New Line Cinemas, but, you see, "It was the after-party that was the big......

The late artist Jim Flora, perhaps best recognized for his album cover art in the 1940s and '50s, was also known for his commercial art, illustrations, paintings, woodcuts and prints. The above is "a limited-edition, archival-quality fine art print of a 1954 Jim Flora hand-tinted woodcut entitled Manhattan." There were 5 of these prints selling on eBay (only 25 were made), but they sold out quick! Here's the seller's description of the coveted work:The......

On Friday, Gawker speculated that The Brooklyn Paper was in trouble after a tipster told them freelancers haven't been paid since last summer (a late freelancing check...unprecedented!) and perhaps more relevant, if true, that editor Gersh Kuntzman told staffers the "independent, family owned, locally-run" since 1978 paper is "undergoing some turmoil." We asked Kuntzman about the rumor, and here's what he had to say:"The Gawker story is a complete fabrication. The Brooklyn Paper, which just......

Demonstrating just how valuable free parking in New York City is, a rash of smash and grab thefts has struck areas in Washington Heights and the Bronx, where firefighters have had their car windows broken and parking placards stolen. Most of the thefts have occurred right outside of firehouses, usually when members are called out to a fire, according to the New York Post. The recent increase in placard jacking began shortly after Mayor Bloomberg......

Confetti, by Swifty at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a large fight at an election on Eldert Ln. in Brooklyn, a stolen DHL truck on Crown St. in Brooklyn, and a child stabbed on 220th St. and 133th Ave. in Queens. Brownstoner notes that the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce is looking for nominations for the best buildings in Brooklyn. Staten Island Assemblyman Michael Cusick wants 17-year-olds to have the right to vote in......

Lucifer Darkside, by lovebryan Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on 7th Ave. in Manhattan, a bank robbery on 3rd Ave. in Manhattan, and another bank robbery on 3rd Ave. in Manhattan. Save us Johnny Utah! Stuff embedded in asphalt; it's cooler than it initially sounds. Recreate the ambiance of Rob-from-Cloverfield's going-away party before things get crazy by downloading the jam's soundtrack. A state employee was arrested for stealing hundreds of historical......

timely, by jakedobkin at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an unconscious baby on Ralph Ave. in Brooklyn, a construction accident on Bedford Ave. and Crown St. in Brooklyn, and a found grenade at 54th Ave. and Junction Blvd. in Queens. Dave Chappelle made an unannounced appearance at a comedy club, where Radar learned he "took the stage at approximately 12:30 a.m. and didn't leave until club management turned off the lights at 4:20......

Pictured: Steve Trimboli and Goodbye Blue Monday. Via Drew Grant's Flickr. When we interviewed Goodbye Blue Monday's Steve Trimboli in 2006, it was already over a decade since his Scrap Bar closed down. He had just opened GBM in 2005, but the coffeehouse/venue/"stuff orphanage" was years in the making. Nearly everything in the unique, cluttered joint is for sale, it's sort of like being inside of eBay. In the interview, Trimboli reminds us of......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a train derailment at 86th St. and 20th Ave. in Brooklyn, an overturned crane at 100th St. and Rockaway Beach Blvd. in Queens, and an amputation on Hylan Blvd. on Staten Island. A guy who jumps off buildings for fun says that security guards caused him "severe emotional distress" when they prevented him from leaping off the Empire State Building, so he's suing the ESB's owners for $30 million.......

With all this talk about futuristic transportation, we have yet seen a new vehicle to fit in with the aerotropolis or belt train...until now! There's one day left on an eBay auction for "The last Concept Sky Commuter aircraft in Existence," and it can all be yours for $49,000 (though that price will likely go up as the bidding nears an end). The seller reports on a sad tale of a futuristic car that was......

A New Jersey man says he was burned by Christie’s and CBS Paramount when they knowingly dumped counterfeit Star Trek memorabilia at an auction in October ‘06. Diehard Trekkie Ted Moustakis has filed a $7 million dollar lawsuit against the auction house and the producers of Star Trek who supplied the disputed items, which included Data’s poker visor – made but never worn – in an episode of Star Trek: Next Generation, a “one of......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on 1st Ave. in Manhattan, a possible abduction at 183rd St. and Webster Ave. in the Bronx, and a homicide on Cedarcroft Rd. and Home St. in Queens. A student at Stony Brook University was arrested for falsely reporting to police that he had been robbed at knife point on the Suffolk County school's campus. The newborn found by skateboarding teens on a Queens dumpster has......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a construction accident on East 46th St. in Manhattan, a stabbing on Grand Concourse and Bedford Park Blvd. in the Bronx, and an industrial accident on Quentin Rd. in Brooklyn. New York jeweler Tiffany & Co. is accusing online auction site eBay of pawning off bogus baubles as the genuine item. Fark.com may have failed in its bid to re-name a Boston sports stadium UFIA Arena, but it did......

The Comedians of Comedy are performing at Irving Plaze on October 27th at 6 and 10:30 PM. Both shows will be hosted by Patton Oswalt, who will be joined by Brian Poshein, Maria Bamford, Eugene Mirman, John Mulaney, and some yet to be announced special guests. Last year's surprises included performances by David Cross, Nick Swardson, Jon Benjamin, and Jon Glaser. With such a line up, the event is certainly a night not to be......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a carjacking at Tompkins and School Rds. on Staten Island, a person was killed by a 5 train at Bowling Green station in Manhattan, and an armed robbery at 51st Ave. and Northern Blvd. in Queens. Bidding closed at $2,600 for the new owner of the Seinfeld ASSMAN license plate prop on eBay. Another Mister Softee driver was busted for selling drugs out of his ice cream truck, this......

Showing that there are no bounds to lawsuit insanity, a Queens resident is suing Apple for marking down the price of the iPhone - and she wants $1 million. Why? Because now she can't sell them for a profit on eBay! Damn you, Steve Jobs, and your possibly faltering precious product! Dongmei Li claims that Apple "violated price discrimination laws" when the prices of the 8GB iPhone were slashed from $599 to $399 and the......

There appears to be another license plate problem for New York, but unlike the problem of people and groups getting official license plates without being eligible, this situation wasn't created by the DMV. A Missouri-based charity that provides bicycle helmets to children and sells old license plates as a fund-raiser, the American Children’s Safety Network (ASCN), is selling what appears to be a new design of a New York optional license plate in both car......

There's a band looking for a frontman in Brooklyn...and they're bypassing Craigslist postings, MySpace bulletins and good 'ol fashion flyers to get the open position filled. They say "we like internet" and are therefore selling their frontman position on eBay in this Buy a Rock Band auction. The band currently has no name and consists of four members. The rhythm guitarist, Bill, is 25 and includes Fall Out Boy in his list of influences. The......

Freegans have been around for a while now, most recently The Times caught them dumpster diving in the NYU area just as school let out. A freegan goldmine! Now a blogger for Newsweek is getting knee deep in rubbish for a month in order to fully understand these "waste reclaimers". Raina Kelley is keeping a blog of her fairweather freeganism, and on her first day (Wednesday) she pondered, "Why would a eBay-loving, omnivorous, cigarette-smoking shopaholic......

Yesterday we mentioned London designer Anya Hindmarch's I'm Not A Plastic Bag was finally arriving at Whole Foods today. The canvas tote was made popular by a combination of things including celebrity and unavailability. Hindmarch told the NY Times “To create awareness you have to create scarcity by producing a limited edition. I hate the idea of making the environment trendy, but you need to make it cool and then it becomes a habit.” We're......

What's eBay good for if not finding a place to buy and sell things like...John Gotti's cufflinks? The Dapper Don's 14 karat gold cufflinks were given to the eBay seller's father, Jim Smith. Get ready for a 20 second history lessson: Jim Smith was the right hand man to Mickey Cohen, who was the right hand man to Ben "Bugsy" Siegel. When Bugsy was whacked, Cohen took over the West Coast "operations", and eventually wrote......

Print Magazine has an article on the man behind the Brillo boxes Andy Warhol took out of the retail world and put in to the art world. As it turns out artist James Harvey created the design you see to the right, and when he walked in to Warhol's exhibit at the Stable Gallery on April 21st, 1964 - he saw it being displayed as art. Harvey had designed the Brillo boxes when the company......

It appears that the iPhone day incident between a television news producer and a charity mascot seems to be more than that it appears. The mascot, from a group that calls itself Hungrr was involved in a verbal altercation with the producer and was then asked to move along by the police. Watch the video for yourself, here. Here is what we know: WNBC released a statement yesterday afternoon saying: "We looked into this serious......

Amidst all of the iPhone hoopla there was probably more than one incident of unkind words being exchanged around the long lines. Boing Boing points out one in which a mascot for a hunger-awareness campaign named Hungrr got assaulted by the NBC News crew! This happened outside the Apple store on 5th Avenue as the mascot was handing out pins for the organization. Hungrr was there buying an iPhone to sell on eBay to raise......

The Post has button fever as it notices Bloomberg for President pins on eBay already! (Their headline is "Bloomy Looks Cute As a Button" - is that an underhanded way of saying he's short?) Some of the offerings include the stylized portrait and a straight up photograph. And there's always the classic all-type "I Like Mike" style. We expect anti-Bloomberg pins to go up this week - you know, the ones that mention how......

NYMag reports on the hard times hitting McSweeney's after their distributer hit their financial bottom: "McSweeney's book distributor filed for bankruptcy six months ago, and the indie-cooler-than-thou publisher has now realized it's out some $130,000, which it kind of needs." McSweeney's says: As you may know, it's been tough going for many independent publishers, McSweeney's included, since our distributor filed for bankruptcy last December 29. We lost about $130,000—actual earnings that were simply erased. Due......

It's not just venues closing down these days, the latest real estate casualty is still music-related, however. AMNY reports that Sony BMG is closing its Hell's Kitchen studios. Not surprisingly, the company alluded to difficult times in the recording industry when internally annoucing the five-story brick building (which resides on West 54th St and 10th Ave) will be shutting its doors this August. Employees received the memo on June 8th, also letting them know all......