It Happened Last Week: The Buck Stops There

“I don’t have enough time to finger-point,” declared an uncharacteristically busy President Bush last week.

Why Kerik? Asks P.I. Friend of Pirro’s

Bo Dietl: I’m more qualified.

Jay-Z’s Return KOs Nas

Bring that beef back.

Strapped Sirio Bums Batali Bucks

Someone’s gotta pay the fare.

Jim Carrey, Penthouse Pet

Lincoln Center Renter.

Legal Victory for Flt. 800 Obsessives

(Are 9/11 conspiracists jealous?)

Stealing Harvard

Club crashers praise the best free workout in midtown (they dont check I.D.’s, SATs).

Gun Nuts

Can Bloomberg’s firearms initiatives hit their target? Turf wars, slander suits bedevil crusade.

Expecting Company

Being nine months pregnant won’t keep Heather Laws from doing Sondheim.

But Where Do You Sleep?

With real-estate prices through the roof, Murphy-bed sales are “off the hook.”

Girl Talk

Die-hard fan or no, $750 for a Barbra Streisand stadium seat is madness. Two alternatives from the next generation.

Smooth Operation

The Silk Road Ensemble, founded by Yo-Yo Ma, begins a weeklong residency at the gorgeous Rubin Museum of Art.

Three True Tales

Stranger Than Fiction, a triple bill by American playwright Norman Beim, includes three one- acts “based on fact.”

Image Is Everything

Writers? What writers? Visual talents dominate the week at the 92nd Street Y.

Scoundrel No More

John Lithgow loses his dirty rotten side.

Best Bets

A kaleidoscopic projector for kids and adults alike, the skinniest jeans around, and more.

Ask a Shop Clerk

Yvette Grant of McNally Robinson Booksellers.

Shop News

Phyto Universe opens on Lexington Avenue.

Look Book

A handlebar-mustached attorney on dressing to impress.

Underground Gourmet Review

Cobble Hill’s Bocca Lupo shows the panini-come-latelies how it’s done.

In Season

A Tanoreen chef’s eggplant musaka’a recipe.

Insatiable Critic

Chinese with an Indian flourish at I-Chin.

Restaurant Openings & Buzz

Week of October 9, 2006: La Lunetta, Noo Na, Metro Marché, and Pasita.

Danny Meyer Walks Into a Pub

The restaurateur on the art of hospitality.

Heavy Hitters

Why wait till it’s cold? Any drop in temperature is a good excuse to tuck into the hearty cooking you avoided all summer.

Travel

The trendoid-weary vacationer’s guide to Florida.

The Bottom Line

Don’t blame hedge funds for failing—blame sucker investors for believing it could never happen.

Man, Oh, Man

Ed Harris doesn’t have anything against smiling—it’s just that no one’s asking him to do it.

Movie Review

An admittedly thrilling Martin Scorsese crime epic that’s short on heart.

Three Steps: The New York Film Festival

A trio of tips for enjoying the best of the fest.

The Dictator’s M.D.: James McAvoy

At the Toronto Film Festival, the 27-year-old Scottish actor was touted as the next Ewan McGregor.

TV Review

Hey, more comedies about quirky neighbors and attractive twentysomethings!

Casanova

Who cares how many liberties teleplaywright Russell T. Davies took with the confabulations of Giovanni Giacomo Casanova?

Runaway

We’ve been here many times before, with a whole family on the run.

Heroes

This gang’s job, whether they know it or not, is to save the world from 9/11.

Art Review

At the Whitney: How Picasso helped American artists get their act together.

Show and Tell: Nikki S. Lee

If Cindy Sherman had turned her “Untitled Film Stills” into an actual film, the result might have been like a.k.a. Nikki S. Lee.

Pop Review

Sean Lennon’s influences, including Bambi, Dada, and whale meat for lunch.

Classical Music Review

The Met inaugurates the Gelb era with a cold Madama Butterfly.

Theater Review

Eric Bogosian’s portrait of suburban angst seems inconsequential these days.

The Approval Matrix

Our deliberately oversimplified guide to who falls where on our taste hierarchies.

Letters to the Editor