Photo: Tony Perrottet/Ambient Images
As Indian summer continued its extended run last week, some of the most popular kids in town found themselves getting the cold shoulder. A federal lawsuit charged Bloomberg LP discriminates against pregnant women, and BMOC Mike Bloomberg promptly reminded us that he no longer runs his namesake company. (Later in the week, a little red in the face, he admitted he regularly talks to senior executives there.) Onetime Most Likely to Succeed Barack Obama fell 33 points behind Hillary Clinton in the latest presidential poll.
The City Council picked up some goodwill as $400 property-tax rebates began appearing in mailboxes, but that was diluted by talk of another double-digit water-bill hike. President Bush managed to make himself even more of a local pariah by vetoing a child health-insurance extension that would have brought nearly $900 million in aid to the five boroughs. Super-sincere Knicks coach Isiah Thomas continued to swear his innocence after a jury found him and his Madison Square Garden bosses guilty of sexual harassment. Mets manager Willie Randolph shaved his mustache in penance for his team’s jaw-dropping collapse. (The Mets asked him back for 2008 anyway.)
The bizarre death of Carol Gotbaum — stepdaughter-in-law of the city’s public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum — while in Arizona police custody grew more mysterious by the day. Tory Burch and Lance Armstrong called it quits. E. coli bacteria invaded Staten Island; the Gowanus Canal picked up a case of gonorrhea. The Plaza Hotel celebrated its double golden anniversary. Thieves in the diamond district sledgehammered a shop window and grabbed $200,000 worth of ice. Slim-waisted bargain hunters scooped up piles of Nan Kempner hand-me-downs.
The elegantly nipped-and-tucked face of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank clock reappeared for the first time in a year. And A-Rod, the MVP shoo-in that Yankees fans hate to love, briefly basked in the glow of baby love by announcing that he and C-Rod are expecting their second child, around Opening Day 2008. —Mark Adams
