Now that former mayor Rudy Giuliani is getting ready to officially throw in the presidential nomination race towel after his third place finish in the Florida primary, Giuliani watchers seem to be enjoying the chance to analyze his campaign's stunning collapse. more ›

...FOR DOING THEIR JOBS. The NY State Assembly has passed a budget on time for the first time in 20 years. This is big news, because these politicians have been called the most dyfunctional in the nation, which is no small task. The NY Post calls it a miracle, but Governor Pataki will be trying to renegotiate the budget because he thinks it spends too much (and, as many people have noted, it does not include $300 million that the state is supposed to put aside for a Jets Stadium). Some things for NYC: An additional $325 million for public schools; an increase of .125% in the sales tax (for a sales tax of 8.5%) to supplement mass transit; and $17.9 billion for the MTA. more ›

With rain postponing yesterday's Game 4 of the Yankees-Red Sox ALCS, the Yankees and Red Sox mull the nutty antics from Saturday, as fines were levied against Yankees Karim Garcia and Don Zimmer and Red Sox Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez. Both front offices of the teams did their share of fingerpointing. Even Mayor Bloomberg got into the act, saying Martinez should have been arrested for pushing Zimmer: "." more ›

The Times' Michael Cooper looks at how Mayor Bloomberg is becoming less awkward and more polished as a city politician, namely by getting out and meeting with his constituents. Which is not to say he's a smooth operator by any means: more ›