Odd, strange, or bizarre news stories from the Empire State!

Performance artist Sarah Cameron Sunde (wearing red, center right) is joined by residents and supporters in the fourth hour of her performance piece. She will stand on the shores of the East River at Hallet’s Cove for a full tidal cycle.

There are 1,000 keys that unlock this one vehicle – which is rumored to be a Chrysler PT Cruiser, though unconfirmed. An untold number of people already have this key. You can purchase one yourself online for $19, then receive tips about the car’s location through a hotline (337-539-4255). Beyond that, the Keys4All concept is simple* enough to anyone who’s ever played "Grand Theft Auto":

“If you find the car, it is yours. But if you want to enjoy the fruits of your victory and drive, then you must accept the risk of taking the car out in the world – that another driver-errant may snatch the vehicle out from under you.”

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – At first it appeared loud music from “boom parties” keeping Staten Islanders up all night was coming from Elizabeth, N.J., but now it appears the music is also emanating closer to home.

Sick of having to wait several minutes for a big chain pharmacy attendant to unlock your deodorant? Blame the sophisticated "gangs" of people roaming Manhattan, who leave retailers no choice but to protect their merch under lock and key.

This was the upshot of an Economist story published last month about "organized retail crime" (ORC) and its proliferation across New York and the country. The short un-bylined piece came with the subhed "Orc nation" (get it?), quoted a rep from a retail trade organization, and a criminal justice professor who used to be a grocery store executive, the latter of whom advocated for the creation of a kind of national gang database for ORC offenders.

Hell Gate asked all five of the city's district attorneys if ORC was a problem they were seeing. Reps from Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx responded in the negative. Queens and Staten Island did not respond to our requests.

​​"We do have a lot of cases involving recidivists who have committed numerous thefts at Target, Burlington, and smaller stores, but operating as individuals, not in groups," Patrice O'Shaughnessy, a spokesperson for Bronx DA Darcel Clark, wrote in an email.

One New Yorker tried to file a noise complaint about their refrigerator. Another wanted to know how to boil a live chicken. Others asked if they could claim their pets as dependents on their tax returns, or what to do when a live goat was chained inside their apartment stairwell.

Kinnelon’s tree removal ordinance requires anyone who illegally removes a tree to replace it with “another of like or superior species.” In the Twitter post, user Sam Glickman said he’d been told Haber had been quoted a $1.5 million cost to have a service build a road built to allow access for tree replacements, then plant the new trees and water them for two years. Municipal officials, however, haven’t confirmed that figure.

Violations of the ordinance also carry a fine of up to $1,000 per tree.