FIPS Broken News: Brooklyn Postal Workers Charged For Redirecting Pot Packages

Police arrested 8 United States Postal Service workers, including two Brooklynites, in connection with a marijuana racket at the Bethpage, Long Island post office. The workers would flag suspicious packages but not for the authorities. Instead they would redirect those packages to themselves.

“Abusing their positions of trust as postal employees, the defendants allegedly stole hundreds of packages to further their drug dealing efforts,” United States Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement. The agents seized 12 packages totally 129 pounds of wacky tobaccky. That's $100,000 - $930,000 in street value, which seems like an absurd range but I guess it depends on how good that shit turns out to be. 

The arrested workers are looking at mail theft and drug conspiracy charges. No word on whether there will be additional charges for the overall shitty USPS service we're all subjected to.

Santa Con Not Welcome in Bushwick After All

Remember how we told you yesterday that Santa Con would be moving from the East Village to Bushwick this year? JK! LOLZ! Turns out, the people of Bushwick were having none of that:

"Our community's growing and changing, but we still have a lot of young children here," CB 4 District Manager Nadine Whitted pointed out. "To have them witness the image of Santa Claus, to see that image being destroyed with whatever this group is going to bring, I think is something that couldn't come here."

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FIPS Broken News: SantaCon is Coming to Brooklyn

Everyone’s favorite/most hated Christmas NYC event is making its new home in Brooklyn, after 16 years in the East Village. That’s right, SantaCon is coming to Bushwick. For all three of you who don’t know, SantaCon is essentially a bar crawl but with thousands of people dressed in Santa Claus costumes. And, yes, it does devolve into exactly what you would expect.

The news was broken via an email sent to Bushwick bar owners, asking for their participation. “SantaCon 2014 is coming to Bushwick on December 13th from 10am till 2pm. We would like to list your venue as one of our participating locations,” wrote the organizers, in a not-at-all-desperate ask for support. Perhaps this is just another sign that Bushwick is the new East Village, or perhaps it’s a sign that the East Village just kicked them out.

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Ridgewood, Queens is The New Brooklyn, For Now

Image via Google Street ViewThe hipsters have spoken and the Ridgewood, Queens is the new, new Brooklyn (this week). According to the New York Times’ Fashion & Style Section, the Queens neighborhood has started to exhibit signs of early onset Brooklyn-style gentrification. They’re seeing broke artists, trendy ethnic food, vegan options and the next generation of “bohemians” (which is NYT code for hipsters).

Geographically, Ridgewood is northeast of Bushwick, making it highly susceptible to infection by hipsters and other artsy-types who may accidentally stumble across the border. It is served by both the L and M trains at Myrtle-Wyckoff station, which is quite a few stops out from the city, as evidenced by the fact that the new residents are calling it a “quiet neighborhood.” But rents are cheap, up to 20% less per square foot than Bushwick. This makes the remote but accessible neighborhood extremely appealing to those dirty hippies. Some are even going as far as to call it “Quooklyn” or “Ridgewick,” desperately trying to convince their peers that, yes, this really is the new Brooklyn, for real this time.

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One Less Cab App in New York. Thanks, Uber.

You’ve heard of Uber and Lyft but you maybe haven’t heard of Hailo, which is why this third-string cab-hailing app is shutting down in New York. For all three of you who used it, we’re sorry.

"We have… decided to end our operations in North America, where the astronomical marketing spend required to compete is making profitability for any one player almost impossible," said Hailo’s co-CEO and president, Tom Barr.

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