Bloomberg Wants to Turn NYC Into Windy CityEver walked to work in the winter on the far West Side and battled that insane breeze off the Hudson? Soon enough, that wind could be working for you!
ByChris Rovzar
photo op
Lady Liberty Gets a BindiIn the last Jet Airways ad, the Statue of Liberty goes Gwen Stefani, circa 1996, on us.
it happened this week
Thinking Big
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s request to lay a wreath at ground zero was the unlikeliest wish in a week of ambitious schemes. Hillary Clinton took a second swing at universal health care, laying out a $110 billion program. Rudy Giuliani crossed the pond to London to rub shoulders with Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, and Gordon Brown, then suggested that Israel join nato. Dan Rather sued CBS for $70 million.
in other news
The British Are Coming! And They Expect to be Disappointed!
According to a poll of British people, the Statue of Liberty and Times Square are two of the most disappointing tourist attractions in the world. On a list of the top ten most boring spots, they fall behind the Eiffel Tower and the Mona Lisa, both in Paris. We imagine if they didn’t inherently hate the French so much, the English would have ranked the two New York gems at the top of the list. We have two responses: (1) You’re never getting a street named after you now and (2) ahem, Stonehenge?
Eiffel Tower Most Disappointing Tourist Spot [Daily Telegraph]
the morning line
The Thrilla in Albany
• The battle royale between Joe Bruno and Eliot Spitzer — and maybe, a little bit, the Albany Times Union — continues to heat up. Now the embattled State Senate majority leader says he’ll activate a senate committee to investigate the guv — and start issuing subpoenas. [NYP]
• Another week, another power outage: About 2,500 Upper East Siders lost their electricity again last night, this time after an underground fire. Blacking out 10021 twice in ten days can’t be good for business. [Reuters]
• Turns out that while he was preparing to decamp the GOP, Mike Bloomberg was privately bombarding the state Republicans with messages of support — including pledges to back some Dem-targeted senators’$2 2008 campaigns. Now that’s triangulation. [NYT]
• The new noise regulations have barely gone into effect, and already dozens of businesses have been busted — including a Mister Softee truck caught blasting the jingle in a residential area. [amNY]
• And the Statue of Liberty is increasingly unlikely to make it onto the modern “seven wonders of the world” list currently being compiled. As the massive poll draws to a close with over 90 million votes cast, the poor green thing is languishing at the bottom, with the likes of the Kremlin and Stonehenge. [NYDN]
