By Drew Grant 3/26 11:39am

Occupy Wall Street

Protesters in Union Square (Getty Images)

Union Square Loiterers Confused, Angered by Occupy Wall Street Protests

Over the weekend, 14 people were arrested during Occupy Wall Street protest in Union Square. The participants were demonstrating against Commissioner Ray Kelly and police brutality, and friends told us to avoid the area at all costs.

“The police are really jumpy today,” The Observer was advised.

But protesters had another group to contend with: the burnouts, skaters, and drug dealers who spend their days in the Square, and didn’t appreciate the extra heat OWS brought to their stomping grounds. Read More

By Foster Kamer 2/21 2:04pm

SUPPOSEDLY FUN THINGS WE'LL NEVER (GET TO) DO AGAIN

8 Photos

Other Things Charles Schumer Should Look Into Banning

A List of ‘Fun’ Things Sen. Charles Schumer Has Tried to Destroy (with Commentary)

Have you heard of inhalable caffeine? It’s a shot of caffeine, that one inhales. It’s pretty gross. It’s also about to get massively popular thanks to New York’s own Sen. Charles Schumer, and his crusade to get it investigated and consequently banned. This is not the first time he has taken on something like this. Read More

By Foster Kamer 1/20 1:25pm

MEDS OF MANHATTAN

adderall-addiction-help

Goodbye to Adderall That: One Writer’s Breakup with His Drug of Choice

DEAR ADDERALL,

I’ve been thinking…we need to talk. This has actually been brewing for awhile, but it came to a head the other day. An editor and I were having a little post-mortem outside of the office about the piece I’d published the night before. You know the one. Remember? A few weeks back, you kept me company during a particularly nasty stretch, when I only got four hours of sleep over, what was it, three days? Almost three days. I know, I know: Far from the first time you’ve saved my ass, especially as far as deadlines go. But this time, it was different. Read More

By Matt Chaban 1/19 10:41am

Unreal Estate

Screen Shot 2012-01-19 at 10.23.42 AM

Drugs Don’t Pay… the Rent: At Home With Mexican Drug Lords

We’ll be the first to admit that this story has very little to do with New York real estate, except that it appeared in The Times and perhaps some of the owners’ “product” may have wound up in the homes of some of our readers at some point. Regardless, today’s Home & Garden cover story is a striking departure from the typical fare—last week, it was stuffed pets—as the Gray Lady goes inside the homes of a few Mexican drug lords. The Observer is addicted. Read More

By Foster Kamer 11/23/11 4:11pm

MEDS OF MANHATTAN

adderall-addiction-help

The NYO Adderall Wire: Where You Can Fight The Drug Drought

Last May, The Observer chronicled a problem beginning to plague New York City: a shortage of Adderall, the amphetamine ostensibly used in conjunction with a diagnosis of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) or just plain old ADD, but is often employed as a totally legal way to do speed during the workday. As one can imagine, a shortage of the drug might affect New York City particularly hard, which—with the shortage now in full, national swing—it has. Read More

By Foster Kamer 11/16/11 9:00am

MEDS OF MANHATTAN

94819143

The Great Adderall Shortage of 2011 Rages On

Back in May, The Observer heard from a web programmer, Brian, who works in Manhattan. He was bemoaning what was beginning to look like a citywide shortage of Adderall, the prescription amphetamine ostensibly prescribed to combat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but which is commonly used by Manhattan professionals to supplement a diet of stimulants—legal or otherwise—that helps them power through the workday. “I had a horror of a time filling my last script. Duane Reade and CVS are both fucked citywide,” he explained.

It seems as if the problem is back. Read More

By Drew Grant 10/10/11 1:54pm

Occupy Wall Street

A Wall Street protester, definitely on drugs. (Image via Getty)

New York Post Declares Occupy Wall Street New “Druggy” Hangout

While The New York Times used its editorial power this weekend to come out in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement, not all of the city’s papers feel the same way.

“Squatters and Drug Addicts Invade Zuccotti Park” read the fear-mongering headline in this morning’s New York Post, citing as evidence the dirty people “occupying” the McDonald’s across the park. Said one source:
“The other day, there was a guy charging people $5 to use the McDonald’s bathroom. He was on LSD or high on something.”

(If the Post had done its research, it would know that the McDonald’s is where people go to get away from LSD-offerings.) Read More

By Rex Reed 9/21/11 12:14am

movies

Evans.

Puncture is in Vein

Having barely folded up his campy Captain America comic book costume in the box labeled “Burn This,” Chris Evans returns to prove he has enough kilowatts to shine in a script chosen for something besides money. In Puncture, he gets a real workout. It’s a harrowingly grim true story about a functioning Houston attorney named Mark Weiss Read More