Last week, two Norwegian journalists were arrested outside of Astor Courts, the 50-acre estate rumored to be the location of Chelsea Clinton's wedding to Marc Mezvinsky this Saturday. According to the AP, "Thomas Bjorn Nilsson, 43, of New York, and Kjerste Sortland, 41, of Snorova, Norway, were charged with a [trespassing] violation after they were stopped around 2 p.m. Wednesday on the" sprawling estate's ground. The journalists' editor said the fine will be paid, but the police were overreacting and that they were not trespassing, "We did not realize it was forbidden to take the picture of the gate of the house where the Clinton wedding is to be." Never underestimate the importance of a Clinton-connected gate. more ›

The Village Voice's Sarah DiGregorio has made no secret of her fondness for foie gras, so we approached her exposé on America's largest foie gras farm with a bit of skepticism. But the expansive cover story about her visit to Hudson Valley Foie Gras, one of just four in the U.S., brings some clarity to the impassioned debate. According to her observations, the short lives of ducks at Hudson Valley are seemingly torture-free, all things considered. Of course, it's possible she was "witnessing an elaborate cover-up," as one New York Humane Society rep predicted, but DiGregorio insists the owners allowed her untrammeled access to the farm, where 4,000 to 6,000 ducks are "processed" a week, and—unlike in Europe—live their 15-week lives in a cage-free environment. While there, she witnessed the entire process, noting only one dead duck, zero duck vomit, and concluded, "The fact that some industrial farms elsewhere are making foie gras in inhumane ways doesn't mean that all foie gras production is inhumane. You can buy humanely raised chicken, or you can buy chicken that's had a nasty, brutal life. The same goes for foie gras." more ›

As reported in the Times last month, the cheese is a side project of Lunetta sous chef Betsy Devine and curd cohort Rachel Mark. The duo makes the ricotta with milk supplied from Hudson Valley Fresh, a non-profit collective of upstate farmers. Salvatore Ricotta is served at Lunetta’s Manhattan and Brooklyn locations, but it can also be purchased retail at Saxelby Cheesemongers (seen here), Marlow & Sons, and Stinky Brooklyn. more ›

Our snowless, warm January is being followed by a very wet start to February. Expect rain and sleet throughout the day today. It's the dreaded wintry mix! We may even have a bit of thunder this afternoon. Actually, the weather freezing rain north of the city is making conditions dangerous from Connecticut through the lower Hudson Valley into northern New Jersey. Further upstate there's an ice storm warning in effect through 5 p.m. Within the city the ground isn't frozen so freezing rain won't happen here. Showers should continue until midnight or so. more ›

Truck driver Alan Nelson of Colorado is used to making long hauls, but not without his best friend riding shotgun, a 23-pound reddish-colored Shiba inu named Sato. Nelson and Sato were reunited last Friday afternoon, after their separation became a news story and galvanized volunteers to search for the dog who ran off from a lower Hudson Valley rest stop. more ›

A widespread pool of chilly air descended upon the area yesterday following nearly 1.5 inches of rain on Saturday. This morning's low of 38 in Central Park was the coldest it has been in the city in more than six months. Elsewhere, Northern New Jersey, the Hudson Valley and Southern Connecticut all saw frost this morning. Good-bye fresh, local tomatoes until next spring! more ›

The Mets don't get a reprieve as they travel to Atlanta for a weekend series. In the span of four days, they managed to let the Phillies right back in the division race. September doesn't look as fun as it did on Sunday. more ›

• Tigers 8 Yankees 5: Detroit is a great offensive team and the question the Yankees have to answer is, can their pitching stand up to a great offensive team? In the first of eight games against Detroit, the answer was a resounding no. more ›

• Yankees 5 Toronto 4: There are 50 games left in the season and the Yankees have come back from the dead. 38-41 on July 1st, they have gone 24-9 to move 12-games over .500 and wipeout an 8-1/2 game deficit in the wild card standings. more ›

• Mets 8, Cubs 3: The pitcher's win is among the most overrated stat in baseball. When you pick up 300 of them, however, you probably don't stink. Surefire Hall-of-Famer Tom Glavine fits that description, though he was a legend long before he reached an arbitrary cutoff point. He went 6 1/3 innings to pick up his 300th career win in Chicago as the Mets took two of three from the Cubs. The veteran lefty was economical and showed good control until he tired in the seventh. Then he watched the bullpen hold the lead. A three-game showdown with the Braves looms.
• Yankees 8, Royals 5: With all due respect to Hideki Matsui and his 100th career homer, the only milestone the Yankees care about is being a half-game out of a playoff spot. Not bad for a team that has been written off time and time again this season. They haven't accomplished anything yet, of course, but their chances seem good considering how wild-card foes Detroit and Cleveland have looked of late. Mike Mussina's improvement has been a major part of the Yankees'. He controlled the Royals' sometimes-dangerous lineup to pick up the win.
• Staten Island 13, Hudson Valley 8: What can make you feel better an 8-0 lead in the final three innings? Scoring five in the top of the 10th to avoid the embarrassing loss. They cost Jason Stephens the win, but in the end, they'll breathe a sigh of relief and move on.

• Yankees 8, Twins 0: On a night where the Yankees shut out the Twins, perhaps the best news on the evening was that Alex Rodriguez played. A day after straining his hamstring against the Twins, A-Rod returned to the lineup and went 0-4, but also started a double play in the 4th inning to help keep the Twins off the scoreboard. Chien-Ming Wang didn't have his best stuff, but he was still good enough to shutout the Twins over the 7 innings he pitched. Wang only allowed 4 hits in his first win in three starts.
• Rockies 11, Mets 3: What is it with New York baseball teams playing in Denver? The Yankees couldn't win there and so far this series, neither can the Mets. Mets pitchers set out to give the fans at the game a good show on fireworks night at Coors Field. After chasing triple A call-up Jason Vargas out of the game in the fourth inning, Ryan Spilborghs hit a grand slam off of Joe Smith. Colorado had two other home runs in the game as well. All told, Colorado managed 18 hits in the game. After staring their road trip with three straight wins, the Mets have now lost three in a row. Adding insult to injury, former Met shortstop/second baseman Kaz Matsui had a big night, going 5-5 at the plate. Some good news for the Mets though - Pedro Martinez looked good in a simulated start and could be back in August.
• Cyclones 2, Ironbirds 1: The Cyclones scored a run in the 8th inning to break a 1-1 tie and come away with the win.

• Yankees 5 Minnesota 1: It should have been a great night at the ballpark. Roger Clemens became only the 8th pitcher to win 350 games and Bobby Abreu hit a monster home run, into the middle of the upper-deck in right, but it was all overshadowed by A-Rod. more ›

• Oakland 7 Yankees 0: Not only did the Yankees lose on Saturday, but they managed only a single hit in the game, Johnny Damon’s single to center in the sixth. Apart from that, they were totally embarrassed, giving a half-assed performance in another utterly forgettable game in an utterly forgettable season. more ›

• Baltimore 3 Yankees 2: From the multiple camera shots of a glum Joe Torre shown on YES, it was obvious he was in the ballpark tonight, but was he paying attention? After all, what other conclusion can you come to when Torre let Scott Proctor load the bases with one out in the ninth and still let him pitch with the game on the line and Mariano in the bullpen? more ›

• Mets 2, Cardinals 1 (11 innings): No matter how many times the Mets beat the Cardinals in the regular season, the sting from last year's loss in the National League Championship Series won't disappear until New York takes a pennant. Going 4-0 in their first four games against the Cardinals this season doesn't hurt, though. Shawn Green hit a 3-2 pitch off the scoreboard in right field to give the Mets a walk-off win. The Cardinals won the World Series last year, but the Mets can take solace in not hitting someone like Scott Spiezio in the cleanup spot. Jorge Sosa and the Mets bullpen combined to shut down the Cardinals lineup, which consisted of Albert Pujols and not much else.
• Staten Island 7, Hudson Valley 3: Luis Nunez went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and the Baby Bombers scored in every inning from the second through the sixth.
• Brooklyn 5, Aberdeen 4: Down a run entering the eighth, the Cyclones rallied when Will Vogl singled in the tying run and scored the go-ahead one at home. David Koons threw three innings of one-run ball for the win in relief.

Shawn Green had a big night at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and home run, while driving in three. The two Carlos’s both got two hits and the Mets finally got to enjoy an easy night at the ballpark. more ›

Queens Assemblyman Michael Gianaris accused Con Ed of placing its own PR needs above basic needs of customers. Gianaris says that the utility spent over a half million dollars to shore up its image after last summer's Queens blackout. He argues that money should have gone towards increasing reimbursements to businesses, whose reimbursements were capped at $7,000. more ›

-Aberdeen 7, Staten Island 2: No harm, no foul for the Class A Yankees, who still lead their division by five games over the Cyclones. more ›

-Phillies 4, Mets 3: Philadelphia's Ryan Howard helped snap the Mets' 11-game winning streak at home and seven-game winning streak. Mets starter Brian Bannister had a rough start, but he settled down after allowing all four Philadelphia runs. With the Phillies playing for the wild card, the Mets can laugh these losses off, but Bannister knows he won't find himself on a postseason roster without catching manager Willie Randolph's eye. more ›

-Mets 8 Cardinals 7: It is a very real possibility that these two teams will be facing off in October with a trip to the World Series on the line. If that does happen, the Mets took a huge psychological advantage with their win tonight. Down 7-1, Carlos Delgado hit a grand slam; his second home run of the game and Carlos Beltran sent them home happy in the ninth with a two-run blast off of Jason Isringhausen. All the runs overcame two homers and seven RBI’s by the amazing Albert Pujols. more ›

Both the Mets and the Yankees were resting Monday night after a busy day for both teams. Their New York-Penn League teams did play though. more ›

-Pirates 11 Mets 1: This one was just embarrassing. Sure, the Mets were forced to start John Maine because Pedro’s hip is bothering him (uh-oh), but Pittsburgh is the worst team in the National League and New York is the best. On Monday it looked like the roles had been reversed as every Pirate position player had a hit and Jason Bay drove in three runs. more ›

-Yankees 16 Mets 7: You can cross “A-Rod never gets a big hit against the Mets” off your list of reasons to boo him. Sunday night A-Rod delivered two huge hits, a grand slam and a three-run homer as the Yankees drew a split in the Subway Series. more ›

-Yankees 2 Mets 0: Are the Mets simply picking the wrong time to slump, or is the American League just that much better than the National League? It’s a legitimate question after the Yankees held the Mets to only one hit and increased their losing streak to four games. While Mets’ fans have been eager to draw parallels to 1986 this year, they should remember that winning the World Series requires beating the team from the American League. more ›

- Cliff Floyd has come back to New York and is playing baseball. He's just playing in Brooklyn and not Queens. The Mets right fielder is making a rehab start for the Cyclones tonight in Coney Island. Maybe the presence of a Major Leaguer will help the Cyclones win their 2nd game of the season. The Mets' single-A affiliate finally broke through last night in a 4-0 win against the Hudson Valley Renegades. Tickets are still available for the 7 p.m. game. more ›