Some dogs traveling to the U.S. from Iraq weren't dogs of war or trained to sniff explosives. Instead, they provided a little comfort and unconditional love to soldiers stuck in a war zone. With the help of the International SPCA's Baghdad Pups program, two dogs named Liberty and K-Pot have been adopted by soldiers' families. Because the military doesn't allow units to take adopted dogs with them when they move, soldiers either had to turn......

Photograph of kicker Lawrence Tynes after the game-winning field goal by David J. Phillip/AP The Giants won the NFC Championship in overtime, beating the Green Bay Packers 23-20 in overtime and overcome the frigid, below-zero conditions. They are now headed to the Super Bowl where they will meet the New England Patriots, who beat the San Diego Chargers 21-12. Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes missed a field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter,......

"Sleight of hand," "litany of needless fights," "ugly racial polarization" - just some of the phrases in this week's New York magazine's cover story about Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor turned presidential candidate. Chris Smith's article serves as both refresher to New Yorkers about Giuliani's reign as mayor with some fun tidbits (did you realize that then-Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik commissioned 30 miniature busts of himself?) as well as a cautionary tale to non-New Yorkers.......

When it comes to driving routes for a JFK airport pickup, George Costanza advocates taking the Grand Central to the Van Wyck, deriding Kramer’s L.I.E. route as a “suicide mission.” In the current New York Magazine cover story, “How to Escape Airport Hell”, the editors invited chauffeur Kevin Sullivan to weigh in. While he comes down squarely on Costanza’s side, he also shares some invaluable alternative routes to all three airports in the unlikely......

Want to complain about your terrible neighbor to someone other than 311? Or want to know a little more about a neighborhood you're thinking of moving to? The website Rotten Neighbor aims to do both: Educate newcomers to neighborhoods and collect information about neighborhoods from the veterans. From their site:Our goal is to be an exceptionally smart assistant when you are looking to move into a new neighborhood. We hope that you will be......

Mets 13, Marlins 0: For once, optimism abounds. John Maine struck out 14 and took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning -- he lost it on a bleeder up the third-base line -- to guide the Mets back into a tie for first place. For once, the Mets roughed up a pitcher they needed to rough up. If they hadn't gotten to Chris Seddon, they probably didn't deserve to make the playoffs. Even though......

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market......

In what could be his biggest personal accomplishment ever, Mr. Met is going to the Mascot Hall of Fame. Yesterday, the Mascot Hall of Fame named Mr. Met a member of its 2007 class along with the San Antonio Coyote. The Post, which is thumping its chest with the news, talked to Mets spokesman Jay Horowitz, "We're thrilled at what he does. He does a lot of good charity work, the kids love him, and......

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness - we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. After the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Bostonist did a little research and found that Massachusetts......

Yankees 16, Royals 8: It was bound to happen and it took a little while, but Alex Rodriguez became the 22nd player in Major League history to hit 500 career home runs and the youngest player to reach that mark. A-Rod got it done early in the game, hitting a three-run shot in the 1st inning of yesterday's win against the Royals, which is the same team he hit #499 off of on July......

Add this to the list of instances when blocks of cheese can be considered suspicious: When they are found in your carry-on luggage by the Transportation Security Administration. NBC Nightly News found an advisory warning airport screeners to be on the lookout as terrorists may be conducting dry runs. There have been four seizures since September that have aroused suspicion. At San Diego, Milwaukee, Houston and Baltimore airports, TSA screeners have been finding more "wires,......

Yankees 12, Angels 0: While the Yankees take three days off, they'll have pleasant thoughts about a rare laugher against the nemesis Angels. Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano all hit three-run homers off Ervin Santana, one player involved in last winter's trade rumors surrounding Rodriguez. Despite winning five of seven, the Yanks enter the break under .500 for the first time since 1995. The good news? They made the playoffs as the wild-card......

Holy Cow! We actually didn't even know that VitaminWater was made in Queens until Coca-Cola decided to buy the company for $4 billion. The Queens-based owners weren't the only people getting a fat pay-out from the purchase. David Wright, the Mets third baseman who endorses the product, accepted a small slice of equity in the company in lieu of payment last year. Now Wright's small stake in the company is worth $20 million.Days after inking......

Who could forget the bloody sock of Curt Schilling during game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series? Certainly not Red Sox fans and maybe not Yankee fans. To refresh - Schilling had ankle surgery after game 1 of the ALCS to stabilize a tendon in his right ankle. He returned in game 6, winning that game. Boston won the series and went on to win its first World Series in 86 years. On......

The wedding season is in full swing: Second week in a row where there are over 30 weddings in the NY Times Weddings & Celebrations section. Here we go: Total Number of Weddings: 32 (including Vows column) Total Number of Same-Sex Weddings: 2 Youngest Bride: 24 Oldest Bride: 47 Youngest Groom: 24 Oldest Groom: 62 Biggest Age Difference: 17 years Number of Couples Where Bride and Groom Are the Same Age: 2 (24, 38) Number......

We don't know about where you are, but it seems like spring can't decide whether or not to happen. Some days are warm, some days are cold, and sometimes you aren't sure which. Baseball may have started up (and soccer/football winding down) but it still seems cold out there. Unless it's not. Anyways, onto the -ists. Austinist happily anticipated fall's Austin City Limits, even though they're not fully recovered from South By Southwest. In......

It's time go over this weekend's NY Times Weddings Announcements! Total Number of Weddings: 24 (including Vows column) Total Number of Same-Sex Weddings: 0 (but the Styles section had a feature about "Dinah Shore Weekend," aka "The L World") Youngest Bride: 22 Oldest Bride: 38 Youngest Groom: 23 Oldest Groom: 42 Biggest Age Difference: 11 years Number of Couples Where Bride and Groom Are the Same Age: 3 (25, 32, and 35) Number of Columbia......

Twenty-nine-year-old playwright and actress Courtney McLean has done her share of day jobs: as a former wedding and party DJ, she DJed an afterparty for N'Sync at the San Diego Sports Arena, and her brushes with celebrity include discussing bikini waxes with Jessica Biel. After studying theater at UC San Diego, the California native headed to New York five years ago, and currently waitresses at Penelope, among other gigs. But her true love is theater,......

It's not surprising news, but it's a reminder why people don't live in New York City. A report from the Independent Budget Office showed that New York City has the biggest tax burden than eight other big cities. In fact, NYC's tax burden is practically 50% higher than the average of cities like Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Houston, Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix and San Diego. (We don't know where San Francisco, Boston, or Seattle......

JetBlue will cancel another quarter of its flights tomorrow in hopes that it can recover from hundreds of canceled flights since Wednesday's snow and ice storm. A fourth of yesterday's flights were canceled, as were a fourth of today's flights. The airline hopes it'll be back and running at its usual level by Tuesday. Since the storm, at least 861 JetBlue flights have been canceled out of JFK Airport, and its spokesperson said, “It......

Today, there's a fascinating Op-Ed by Robert Sullivan about the state of NYC streets. Titled, "The City That Never Walks," Sullivan describes how NYC has "lost [its] golden pedestrian touch." ...yet, here in New York, we even have the debate over bicycle traffic backwards. We focus on drivers’ complaints about the bicycle commuter who races through red lights, rather than on the concerns of the mother biking her child around organic-food delivery trucks that......

If you were a 17-year old looking to meet Mike Piazza, your childhood idol and favorite baseball player, what would you do? If you're Ryan Leli, you make some fake press credentials, sneak into Shea Stadium, participate in some Q&A with Piazza, and then pose for pictures. That's what Leli, from Head of the Harbor, did last August when Piazza was visiting with the San Diego Padres. Padres officials became suspicious of Leli when he......

In keeping with our lists of events from 2006, here are some of the sports stories that Gothamist found compelling in the past year. It ranges from the playoff disappointment from the Mets and the Yankees to the welcome performances of last season's Rangers, this season's Jets and Rutgers. Mickelson Chokes at Winged Foot: Everyone knew the Winged Foot course in Mamaroneck, N.Y., was a tough place to play, but no one found it crueler......

Neal Pollack, author of Never Mind the Pollacks and The Neal Pollack Anthology of Literature discusses his latest book, Alternadad, his childhood, and his foray into the world of screen writing. What are some of your earliest memories of seeing or hearing things that made you laugh? I have a very vivid memory of watching Mel Brooks's Silent Movie with my dad. I must have been eight years old or even younger. I remember sitting......

Paul Lo Duca, Shawn Green and Guillermo Mota all hurt their former team and led the Mets to a 9-5 win over Los Angeles as the Mets swept the National League Division Series. Lo Duca had two RBIs, Green had three hits, and Mota threw two innings of scoreless relief. The win gives the Mets three off-days before they host the winner of the St. Louis-San Diego matchup in the NL Championship Series on......

-Blue Jays 7, Yankees 5: No one cared about the score, but Derek Jeter's 1-for-5 performance cost him a chance at the American League batting crown. Minnesota's Joe Mauer took it home. As overrated a baseball statistic as batting average is -- on-base percentage is a better indicator of a player's value -- Jeter surely wanted the title. This has been the best season of his career -- in large part because of his on-base......

Youthful chutzpah, laminating arrogance, or plain stupid? The Queens DA's office has pressed charges against an 18 year old who used fake credentials to gain access to the NY Mets during home games. Ryan Leli made a fake NBC Universal employee ID card on his computer, and managed to get into the August 10 game between the Mets and the San Diego Padres. Mets officials seemed to be tipped off that something was wrong because,......

-Yankees 7, White Sox 6: Randy Johnson threw six no-hit innings, and the Yankees didn't blow a six-run lead to take the second game from Chicago. Bobby Abreu hit a homer, and, besides Kyle Farnsworth's allowing four runs, Johnny Damon's leaving the game with a groin injury was the Yankees' only bad news. Boston lost again to Kansas City, so the Yanks are up by three over the Red Sox. If they can carry that......

- Tonight at Shea Stadium (assuming these apocalyptic thunderstorms stop), Good Morning America Weekend Edition anchor Kate Snow will be selling cotton candy to the masses as the Mets face the Astros. Her stint as a vendor is part of GMA's Summer Dream Jobs segment (or something like that) where anchors do various jobs unrelated to reading stuff off a teleprompter. Could they not give her a slightly harder job? When you sell cotton......

This might be the best summer ever. The producers of Project Runway recognized that we need some more Tim Gunn in our life and have moved up the third season to premiere on July 12. The designers who have been filming the third season have been announced and four of them are from NYC - Long Island City represents! And don't worry, Daniel Franco isn't back for a third try. Bradley Baumkirchner, 32, Los Angeles,......