Given the state of the Knicks and Rangers, the Garden hasn't heard cheers as resounding as it did last night during the Westminster Kennel Club Best in Show ceremony for some time. But a Beagle named Uno brought the house down, becoming the first ever of his breed to win Best in Show. The last time a beagle even made it to the final round was in 1939.
Results tagged “jasondecrow”
Britain's Paula Radcliffe made a stunning race to the wire to win the 2007 ING NYC Marathon in 2:23:09. Australia's Kurt Fearnley repeated as the champion in the men's wheelchair division. Kenya's Martin Lel won the men's division, finishing today's race in 2:09:04 with a 12 second margin of victory. We'll have more results as they become available. If you have any photos of Gothamist readers competing in today's event, please tag them "gothamist"...
New York City is in the middle of Fashion Week, and last night was Ralph Lauren's 40th anniversary as a designer. And, as Style.com reports, he "staged an extraordinarily lavish runway show and black-tie after-party in the Central Park Conservancy" last night. It was such a big deal that Mayor Bloomberg and his lady friend Diana Taylor stepped out! New York magazine's Show & Talk blog wrote this:
Ralph himself seemed blasé. Standing by an unruly, high-spurting fountain (it was spraying guests), he dismissed the idea that he picks special models as openers: His entire shows, he told us, are filled with “the most beautiful models in the world.” Would he be seeing any other shows this week? “No. No one invited me.” (Good thing he threw a party for himself.) But no one beat Matthew Broderick in the “oh-whatever” department: “I don’t know anything about this stuff,” he said, going on to say that even so, he saw the Valentino show in Italy during his summer vacation. How did it compare Mr. Lauren's event? Valentino “was by the Coliseum, which is pretty exciting. This is Central Park.” Touché.Lauren was born in the Bronx. Along with Charles Rangel, he's one of DeWitt Clinton High School's most famous alums. And Rizzoli is releasing Ralph by Ralph Lauren, a $135 coffee table book, next month.
The best part about the end of summer? Maybe that's the U.S. Open, which starts Monday in Flushing. The tennis season's final Grand Slam provides the players with a grueling test to cap what feels like a condensed hard-court season.
The Giants ended the draft with some solid picks, but some surprising news. The team is moving defensive end Mathias “finish your tackle” Kiwanuka to outside linebacker. It’s an interesting decision, because despite one highly publicized mistake, Kiwanuka had a great year at DE. But, the Giants need linebackers and they only drafted one, so necessity forces their hand.
The Yankees begin their quest for the elusive 27th championship today when Carl Pavano takes the hill against the Devil Rays.
after finishing the final day of her 5-day community service sentence after throwing her bejeweled cellphone at a housekeeper. Much to the delight of the paparazzi and residents in a neighboring apartment complex, a glamorous looking Campbell posed for photographs as she walked to a Rolls Royce.
Mamadou Somare, the Malian immigrant cab driver whose wife and four children were killed after last week's devastating Bronx fire, will be able to bury his family in Mali and return to the U.S. Soumare's status was unclear: Though an illegal immigrant, he had applied for asylum many years ago; earlier reports suggested he either missed a court date or did not file the necessary paperwork.
Yesterday, thousands of people said goodbye to the Bronx fire victims. A procession of eight hearses carrying one woman and nine children was escorted by the police to the Islamic Cultural Centre, and many in the crowd, including police officers, were crying. People had waited all morning to pay their respects, and loudspeakers were set up so people outside could hear.
Mayor Bloomberg has been leading the city for over five years, but the way he handles dealing with the public during crises - no matter how big or how small - remains curious. As some people think he should have stayed in NYC after Wednesday's brutal Bronx fire - and not gone to Miami, some people ascribe his cool "delegate issues to underlings" and "move onto the next thing" attitude to his business management experience.
Today, Mayor Bloomberg met with the Bronx fire victims' families and later held a press conference about the tragedy, which is the deadliest fire (aside from September 11) since 1990 . The Mayor has been under fire for leaving the city yesterday - after a Thursday press conference about the fire - for a scheduled appearance in Miami, where he made jokes about "Mayors Gone Wild" in South Beach.
Last night, a horrific fire raged through a four-story home in the Highbridge section of the Bronx and claimed the lives of nine people. Children were thrown out of the windows and one woman jumped to escape the three-alarm fire. Fire officials say the fire started in the basement and fire floor, quickly spreading throughout the building. A witness told the NY Times, "It was an inferno. Smoke everywhere."
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.
State Comptroller Alan Hevesi pleaded guilty to charges and resigned from office today. From the AP:
The plea ends an investigation by Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who had been presenting evidence against the Queens Democrat to a grand jury. Hevesi will serve no jail time, but will pay a $5,000 fine and agreed not to file any appeal. He also agreed not to take office on Jan. 1. Friday's agreement also heads off a process that could have ended in the Legislature removing Hevesi from office."Using state employees as drivers and companions for his wife" is a minor felony. Hevesi told the press, "I want to apologize to the people of New York state who have given me the opportunity to serve them. I want to apologize to the 2,400 professionals who work in the comptroller's office and I want to apologize to my family who have been so strong and loving during this process."
If at first you don't succeed... dig a big trench and wait for the next high tide. Bill White, president of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum announced yesterday that the Intrepid aircraft carrier is scheduled to be moved to Bayonne next Tuesday. The first attempt to move the ship on November 6th ended after only a few feet of movement as the 36,000 ton carrier's propellers got stuck in the mud.
Angel Parades was the first person to buy the Playstation 3 at the Sony Store in Midtown (apparently Charlie Murphy was on the scene!) while Sergio Rodriguez bought the first one at the Union Square Circuit City. Rodriquez said, "This is the best game ever. It's so worth the wait. Some people may call me crazy, but I really love to play."
Hilarious: The NY Times' election blog, The Empire Zone, reports that Chelsea Clinton's name wasn't found in the book of registered voters at the West 20th Street polling place: "The book containing her name was apparently forwarded to the wrong district, denying her the ability to enter a polling booth." D'oh! So she - and probably the other people in that book - had to fill out an "affidavit vote," ensuring that she would be able to participate in the democratic process. The Daily Politics found out that some Manhattan voters got old 2005 affidavit ballots - one for last year's Mayoral race. There's nothing like voting day in NYC! But at least potential voters aren't being threatened with arrest.
The poor Intrepid. Months of planning (not to mention $250,000) were put into planning yesterday's move from Pier 86 on the West Side of Manhattan to Bayonne, NJ, where the aircraft carrier would be repaired and repainted. Former Navy officers who originally served on the Intrepid, as well as Senator Hillary Clinton and former Mayor Ed Koch and David Dinkins, were invited for the farewell ceremony. But the Intrepid only moved 15 feet before the tugboats gave up trying to pull her (one operator said, “I can’t think of anything else, except maybe dynamite").
The NY Times had an very nice graphic showing how the U.S.S. Intrepid aircraft carrier would be moved from Pier 86 off the West Side in Manhattan, towed down the Hudson, and then docked in Bayonne for repairs. Sadly, the Intrepid's move was canceled because the six tugboats ("combined 21,790 horsepower") can't move the huge vessel!
Sigh, the Mets cleaned out their lockers at Shea yesterday. We imagine that the hurt has just set in for Mets fans after last night's disappointing end to the season. (Our head is still spinning. ) Everyone is talking about the lack of offensive power, and it's so true. But since there will be many recriminations, let's savor Endy Chavez's beautiful catch for now with this clip.
The Jets appeared ahead of schedule during the first three weeks of this season. They jumped out to an early lead and hung on to win, rallied valiantly to make a perennial contender sweat and answered early blows only to rally and win. In their fourth game, a 31-28 loss to the Colts on Sunday, they made the game's best quarterback look vulnerable and unsettled but still came up short in a house-money game.
Yesterday, President Bush arrived in New York City for September 11 anniversary rites. He and First Lady Laura Bush went to Ground Zero to lay memorial wreaths at the reflecting pools in the World Trade Center's footprints. They also visited a firehouse near Ground Zero and attended a memorial service at St. Paul's Chapel. Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Pataki, and former Mayor Giuliani, who all accompanied the Bushes to Ground Zero, were also at the memorial, as were Senators Schumer and Clinton. The Bushes will be visiting a firehouse on Pitt Street this morning in the city and will later travel to Shanksville, Pennsylvania where United Flight 93 crashed. Then, at 9PM, the President will be in the White Houes and will address the country at 9PM.
The one positive you could say about Isiah was that he was always pretty good in the draft. Whether it was Channing Frye, Marcus Camby or Tracy McGrady, Isiah seemed to do pretty well in the draft. Apparently he now wants to ruin the last positive part of his reputation because how else can you explain drafting Renaldo Balkman with the 20th pick?
Are any photobloggers planning on heading up to Central Park to check out the installation? Here's the city's website about Christo and Jeanne-Claude's The Gates, and here's Christo and Jeanne-Claude's own website about it.


