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Ethics board slams ‘harass’ pol Micah Kellner

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 31 Desember 2013 | 17.08

Ethics board slams 'harass' pol Micah Kellner | New York Post
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By Joe Tacopino

December 31, 2013 | 5:06am

Embattled Assemblyman Micah Kellner was blasted by the ethics committee Monday for allegedly harassing female staffers.

Kellner was admonished, stripped of committee chairmanships and barred from hiring interns after allegedly sending sexually suggestive e-mails to a female staffer.

His seat as chair of the Assembly Committee on Libraries has been stripped away.

Kellner has apologized for sending the e-mails

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After the party, snow and frigid temps for New York

After ringing in the new year with frigid temperatures and a possible dusting of snow, New Yorkers should brace themselves for an arctic low of 5 degrees Friday, forecasters say.

The year 2014 will also bring the possibility of up to a foot of snow starting Thursday before the arrival of a Canadian cold front, AccuWeather says.

Tuesday's forecast calls for dry and mostly clear conditions as Bronx native and US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor leads the countdown for the ball drop in Times Square.

But the mercury is expected to dip to 22 degrees with winds up to 20 mph, making it feel more like 8 to 14 degrees.

Meanwhile, two storms are set to converge over the Northeast Thursday and dump as much as six to 12 inches of snow on the city.

"The odds strongly favor snow in the city," said AccuWeather meteorologist Dave Dombek. "It's almost a given that we get an inch or two."

Even if the snow doesn't fall, a cold front will arrive from Canada Friday and send temps down to 5 degrees — or lower.

"This air mass has the potential to overachieve on the low side," Dombek said.

At the Eastern Mountain Sports store on the Upper West Side, British transplant Daisy Donald, 25, of Hell's Kitchen, was shopping for winter wear.

"Since it's my first winter here, I figured better safe than sorry," she said.

And in Brooklyn, Lillian Chico, 59, of Fort Greene, was buying thermal shirts at the Target in the Atlantic Terminal shopping mall.

"I was out around 12:30. It was already going down. You could feel it," she said.

"It's cold and getting colder."


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Harry Gross, Gotham’s hip hotel owner

Meet Harry Gross, the mystery man behind the just-opened, tallest hotel-only building in the US.

Gross, a youthful-looking 73, and his G-Holdings LLC developed and own the 68-story, 1717 Broadway at West 54th Street — home to 639 Marriott-flagged guest rooms and suites. Floors 6-33, with 378 rooms, are branded as Courtyard by Marriott; floors 37-68, with 261 suites, are branded as Residence Inn by Marriott.

The tower cost an estimated $319.5 million for site acquisition, construction and "soft costs." After years of land- and air-rights purchases and site preparation, the as-of-right project shot up in a mere 30 months.

But who's Harry Gross, who has long shunned interviews?

"I'm originally from Brooklyn," the polite, courtly mannered developer says. Then he adds with a laugh: "I arrived there in 1967, so I'm originally from Brooklyn."

Israeli-born Gross made enough money in the garment business to take the real-estate plunge. He develops and owns properties without partners, a style he calls "sweat equity."

Gross pioneered the mid-priced hotel model that's battened on the city's tourism and business-travel boom after 9/11. His properties are not budget brands like Sam Chang's Comfort Inns and Hilton Gardens, but pricier, franchised Marriotts.

Beginning in the 1990s, Gross built six of them ground-up starting with Courtyard by Marriott Times Square at 114 W. 40th St. — the first "select services," major-brand hotel of its kind at a center-city address.

But it nearly wasn't. Gross bought the land in the 1980s, "eight or nine years earlier," he said. "Originally, I planned to do a fashion showroom building. But literally on the way to a meeting with Citibank, I didn't feel the time was right to develop a fashion showroom building.

"I respectfully told the bankers I did not wish to go ahead with borrowing $25 million. I paid a $250,000 penalty not to build that building — it was one of the best deals I never made," he chuckled.

Gross started thinking about a hotel instead. His frequent business travel "focused me on a different way to approach guests. I learned what business travelers want — all the tools they need for work. They don't want to pay for amenities they don't use, like ballrooms."

He approached Marriott International and its then-head Bill Marriott about a "vertical concept" limited-services hotel. "It was a first in the city," Gross said. "All the other Courtyards were outside the center cities.

"In terms of room size, it was somewhat smaller than typical Courtyards. But with the reality of Manhattan costs, Marriott saw the need to accept what was not a brand standard."

The West 40th Street breakthrough was followed by a Courtyard at JFK Airport in 2001 and the 45-story Residence Inn on Sixth Avenue at 39th, among others.

My colleague Lois Weiss first reported in 2001 that Gross and Marriott had struck a deal to build a much larger project at 1717 Broadway. But it would take nearly a decade to crystallize as the country's first "double-decker" hotel — "two hotels under the same master brand but catering to different market segments," Gross said — in a slender, glassy structure designed by Nobutaka Ashihara.

Construction of the towering twin inns was overseen by his son, Ron Gross. (Another project of what Harry calls his "small family business," mixed-use 7 Queens Plaza North, is overseen by a second son, Etai.)

Janis Milham, senior VP of Modern Essentials and Extended Stay for Marriott International, called 1717 Broadway "a prime example of an ideal dual-branded hotel, combining two of our power brands under one roof." Both are managed by Interstate Hotels & Resorts, which operates many Marriott properties.

Opening rates start at $300 a night for Courtyard and $350 a night for the more extended stay-oriented Residence Inn.

A single lobby services both hotels. Colorful, graffiti-inspired art by William DeBilzan brings a hip touch to sleek public spaces and hallways. New Year's Eve guests on higher floors will be able to watch the Times Square ball drop from a rare vantage point — above.

The twins arrive in the midst of a tourism and business-travel boom.

Lodging Advisors' analyst/consultant Sean Hennessey reports average Manhattan occupancy for 2013 at a national-high 87 percent and average daily room rate of $290 — and forecasts the same occupancy for 2014 and rates rising to $306.

Gross isn't quite finished with 1717 Broadway. There's no restaurant yet — but 9,000 square feet of retail space on the second floor, to be leased, could be used for one. A fifth-floor bar will open soon.

There's also a 3,000 square-foot retail space at street level, small but precious in the thriving Broadway corridor that links Columbus Circle and Times Square.

Although blue lights already define the tower's three setbacks, more dramatic illumination is to come.

Strips of LED lighting allow programming effects by artists that will be visible from afar.

It will be a new skyline ornament in an under-lit part of Midtown. But "that's what keeps me kicking," Gross says with a smile — "the new."


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Roundabout Couture goes direct to 3rd store

Roundabout Couture has signed a lease for its third Manhattan store, this one at 1100 Madison Ave. between 82nd and 83rd streets.

The rent on the 1,040 square-foot space, which is currently occupied by Lumas, is $525 per square foot.

High-end consignment shop Roundabout calls itself the country's "leading purveyor of luxury resale and discount couture."

Douglas Elliman Retail Group's Faith Hope Consolo and Joseph A. Aquino brokered the deal.

Consolo, noting that Roundabout also has boutiques on Madison Avenue at 72nd Street and on Mercer Street in Soho, called the new location "an excellent placement for a retailer that specializes in such revered labels as Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Missoni."

The new Roundabout store will open in March, when Lumas is expected to move to a larger Madison Avenue location.


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Ray Kelly says farewell to his troops

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly sent out a final goodbye to New York's Finest in a message sent out to police personnel across the city on Monday night.

"As my time as police commissioner comes to an end, I want to thank you for the outstanding work you have done," Kelly said in the missive, "A Finest Message," sent out at about 11 p.m.

Noting that the NYPD has been on the "front lines" of the war against terror since 9/11, he said, "You did not give an inch against crime. It decreased more than 30 percent since 2001.

"I wish you nothing but the best in the future."


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Bloomberg’s last act: Ban e-cigs

Written By Unknown on Senin, 30 Desember 2013 | 17.08

Smokers, barred from lighting up in public places under Mayor Bloomberg, may be celebrating his exit from City Hall.

"We love to be rid of him. Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" said activist Audrey Silk, founder of NYC Citizens Against Smoker Harassment.

Hizzoner, who rammed through the Smoke Free Air Act, which bans smoking in public places, in 2003, will sign a measure into law on Monday, his next to last full day in office, that will ban the use of electronic cigarettes in public places such as bars and restaurants. In effect, it expands the Smoke Free Air Act to treat vapor from e-cigs (right) like tobacco smoke.

Silk and other e-cig proponents plan to light up at the bill signing.

Unlike tobacco smoking, the public prohibition of e-cigs has drawn some opposition in the medical community because there's evidence that "vaping" nicotine e-cigs has helped wean people off of regular cigarettes.

"With the addition of e-cigs to the Smoke Free Act, we have the most concrete proof that it's never been about the smoke. It's about hating someone else's choice and the imposition of Dear Leader's religion on everyone else," said Silk, who will testify against the bill at City Hall.

But city Health Commissioner Tom Farley said allowing electronic cigs in public places would make smoking socially acceptable again among youths and undermine gains in curbing tobacco use.

He said they look like regular cigarettes, mimic the action of smoking, and are popular with youths.

"Most of these devices contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance," Farley said.


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DA son of TV’s Judge Judy probed in forgery case: report

The controversial prosecutor whose mom is TV's Judge Judy is reportedly under investigation in a forgery case.

Adam Levy, the Putnam County district attorney, is being probed for his role in the prosecution of a county sheriff candidate who allegedly submitted phony signatures on his nomination petitions.

The state Attorney General's Office believes Levy's office ignored a complaint that a rival candidate did the same thing, according to The Journal News.

"There are strong inclinations that there may have been things done improperly," state investigator Paul Schneeloch told the paper.

Levy, the son of TV's "Judge Judy" Sheindlin, was already being probed in an unrelated case for allegedly leaking grand jury information in a child-rape prosecution that involved his former live-in personal trainer, Alex Hossu, an illegal immigrant from Romania. Levy is also accused of helping to finance the defense case and offering legal advice.

Hossu was busted earlier this year for allegedly choking and raping a 13-year-old girl.

Authorities said the attacks took place in 2010, when the victim was 13, and came to light when the girl, now 15, told a school counselor.

Levy has a daughter who is also 15. Authorities said she is not the victim.


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Cuomo pushing to block de Blasio speaker pick Mark-Viverito

Gov. Cuomo, in his first major battle with Bill de Blasio, is engaged in a last-ditch effort to block leftist Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito from becoming council speaker, Democratic insiders have told The Post.

Cuomo has been working behind the scenes with city Democratic leaders, including Assemblyman Carl Heastie, the Bronx party chair, and US Rep. Joseph Crowley, the Queens chair, to line up support for Councilman Dan Garodnick, the other candidate in the race, the insiders said.

"It's clear to many of us that Cuomo and his people are working to stop Melissa because it's not in his interest to have her in there," said a prominent Democrat involved in the speakership battle.

"It's certainly not in Cuomo's political interest to have another left-wing activist along with de Blasio running the city. The sense is that Cuomo wants to see de Blasio defeated on this one, so that he'll start off as mayor weaker and not stronger, relative to the governor."

Added a longtime political observer close to the speakership fight, "The governor, who wants to run for president, doesn't want to see the city turned into a People's Republic of New York at the same time he's trying to make the state at least look like it's business friendly."

Mayor-elect de Blasio, whose call for higher taxes on the wealthy already put him on a collision course with Cuomo — who wants tax cuts to boost his re-election — unexpectedly endorsed Mark-Viverito for speaker this month, angering Heastie, Crowley and other party leaders.

Cuomo, a Westchester resident, is publicly neutral in the council contest, expected to be decided Jan. 8.

Insiders say Cuomo, elected as an economic moderate pledged to reverse the state's hostile-to-business reputation, fears he's falling out of favor with the Democrats' left-wing voting blocs, which have enormous clout in primary elections.

"Cuomo's dilemma is that he wants New York City Democrats to like him, but they're all way to the left on economic issues, and at the same time, he wants suburban and upstate voters to like him, but they're moderate to conservative," said a longtime Democratic strategist.

While Cuomo has recently sought to win over the left with his own program of higher taxes on the wealthy, his re-election strategy for 2014 is to present himself again as an economic moderate — at variance with de Blasio's agenda.


When George Pataki became governor in 1995, he ordered the name of Mario Cuomo, the man he had just defeated, be removed from all highway signs — saying they shouldn't be used to promote a governor.

Now, Andrew Cuomo, in an unprecedented move, is doing just the opposite — putting his name on the state Capitol Building, the neighboring Empire State Plaza, and other state buildings in the Albany area.

Cuomo's aides claim it's part of his effort to recognize the state's significant buildings and said posting the governor's name is merely "protocol" for new signs, an obvious falsehood given Pataki's action.

"What this is about is the governor's ego growing even larger as he approaches re-election, and you have all these political flunkies tripping over themselves to try to show how they're working to promote his image,'' said a longtime Democrat who knows Cuomo well.


Upstate Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, who for months considered seeking the GOP nomination for governor, has concluded, "It's unlikely that I'm going to run."

McLaughlin, one of Cuomo's sharpest critics and a leader of the upstate opposition to his anti-gun SAFE Act, cited fund-raising difficulties as the main reason for his decision.

"In my heart of hearts, I do want to run, but my head tells me it's enormously difficult or impossible to raise the money,'' said the Rensselaer County-based McLaughlin.


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Mark-Viverito leads charter-halt suit

A group of public-school parents and politicians — led by council speaker front-runner Melissa Mark-Viverito — is suing to block Mayor Bloomberg's last-minute approval of dozens of charter-school locations.

The lawsuit — filed jointly in Manhattan Supreme Court by Mark-Viverito, Public Advocate-elect Letitia James and other activists — seeks to halt the placement, or "co-location," of 42 charter schools in public-school facilities, planned to begin in 2014.

"As public advocate, I intend to ensure the role of parents and teachers, the people closest to the ground, in the educational process," James said. "These lawsuits are one step in that direction. They will allow us to quickly annul Mayor Bloomberg's effort to set educational policy for years to come."

The Bloomberg administration made the approval in October. A proponent of charters, Bloomberg has made them a cornerstone of his educational policy.

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has called for a moratorium on placing charter schools in public buildings. He argues that charters cause overcrowding and create a two-class system.

He also wants to charge rent to large charter networks using public spaces.


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Spitzer & Lis overshadow de Blasio announcement

Bill de Blasio's choice for the city's top lawyer was overshadowed Sunday by his spokeswoman's affair with Eliot Spitzer and his daughter's history of drug abuse.

The mayor-elect said flack Lis Smith was "on vacation," to explain her absence during the run-up to his Wednesday inauguration. He refused to say whether she would have a job in his administration.

De Blasio also wouldn't say if daughter Chiara, 19, ever used anything harder than the alcohol and pot she confessed to in a Christmas Eve video.

"I think the video speaks for itself," he said.

"I think it's quite clear that exactly what she said is exactly what happened."

He said he and wife Chirlane McCray paid for the video but wouldn't provide the cost or any details of its production.

A de Blasio spokesman later confirmed political ad whiz John Del Cecato was behind it.

Del Cecato produced the memorable campaign ad featuring de Blasio's son, Dante.

At Sunday's Manhattan news conference (right), de Blasio introduced ex-Brooklyn US Attorney Zachary Carter as the city's next corporation counsel.

De Blasio reiterated his intent to drop the city's appeal of the court order imposing guidelines on the NYPD's stop-and-frisk tactics.

He also said the city will settle a suit brought by the Central Park Five, who were imprisoned for the rape of jogger Trisha Meili based on confessions made while teens.

De Blasio said "a huge injustice was done" in the case.

As US Attorney, Carter prosecuted the Abner Louima police-brutality case and "Wolf of Wall Street" Jordan Belfort.

"If anyone has worked to end the tale of two cities, that person is Zach Carter," the mayor-elect said.

Carter, 63, is a partner at Dorsey & Whitney, where his clients include state Sen. John Sampson (D-Brooklyn), accused of embezzling nearly $500,000.


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NYers trash bad memories ahead of 2014

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 29 Desember 2013 | 17.08

More than 100 people lined up in Midtown Saturday to toss, smash and shred tokens of their worst memories from 2013 at the seventh annual Good Riddance Day.

"New Yorkers are an intense group of people; they like an opportunity to physically destroy reminders of negative events," said Tim Tompkins, of the Times Square Alliance.

They took hammers to computers, tossed exes' clothes and shredded school papers on West 46th and Broadway — a cleanse before the start of the new year.

Amy Johnson, 30

What she dumped: Medical records.

Doctors discovered Johnson's 3-year-old son, Bodey, had kidney cancer this year — a sickness that forced the brave tot to undergo seven months of chemotherapy, she said.

Now that he's in remission, it's a huge relief to shred the medical papers that for months weighed heavy on her heart.

"I'm looking forward to Bodey being healthy and being able to have a normal childhood — and less doctors' appointments!" said the 30-year-old stay-at home mom, who lives in Hendersonvillle, NC.

"I couldn't think of a better way to start 2014. There had been a lot of low points this year," she said.

Pearl Chan, 39

Photo: FilmMagic

What she dumped: Photo of ex-boyfriend, bottle of wine.

Chan moved to North Carolina to care for a sick boyfriend — but once the jerk got better, he cheated on her, she said.

"I gave up my career and even did his disability papers for him. He cheated on me, and then he kicked me out," said Chan, a Queens anthropologist.

To help her start anew, she shredded a photo of the ex posing with his new girlfriend. She also tossed out a bottle of wine, which she shared with him on their first date.

On the photo, she wrote the words "evil exes," "burn in hell" and "cheating coward."

Robert Johnston, 40

What he dumped: A law-school award.

Johnston was thrilled to enroll in Hofstra University's law-school program — until the real world taught him he hated being a lawyer. "It's a horrible profession. I don't want to be near it. That was a terrible decision," the Queens resident said.

"It's just really depressing working with people who don't care about doing the right thing or don't care about the truth. It is just a paycheck to them," he said.

Johnston shredded the certificate for "outstanding student planning" he had been awarded in law school, saying he hopes it helps him forget the whole experience.

Maggie Boyle, 9

Photo: G.N. Miller

What she dumped: The name of her deceased cat penned on paper.

Boyle, a fourth-grader living upstate, lost her best pal — a curious cat named Buddy, who loved to cuddle, she said.

Her family bought the pet as a kitten five years ago. "He made me happy," she said.


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Call girl tell-all: Eliot Spitzer liked to choke me, was into ‘struggle’

He socked it to her.

Eliot Spitzer lusted after violence, a former hooker says in a new tell-all book — revealing in graphic detail how the love gov pinned her to a bed inside a posh, Murray Hill apartment and then gripped her by the neck until she feared for her safety.

The violence was scripted by Spitzer, who wanted his hooker to follow a role-play dialogue in which she would pretend she had just taken a self-defense class.

The kinky politician would then pretend to test her skills by announcing, "Well, then, let's see if you learned anything," and attacking her.

"The more struggle there was, the more he was into it," foxy blond escort Rebecca Woodard recalls of her sadistic tryst with Spitzer, whom she serviced for $1,500 at the behest of notorious hooker booker Kristin Davis.

"When he grabbed my throat, that was too much," Woodard says in her book, "Call Girl Confidential," written for Simon & Schuster under the nom-de-plume of Rebecca Kade.

Woodard would go on to work for Hockey Mom Madam Anna Gristina — eventually allowing her phone calls to be recorded to help prosecutors take down Gristina's far more upscale operation.

"He wasn't squeezing," she recalls of the governor's hands at her neck. "He was pushing down. I was on my back. I don't know if he was trying to really hurt me, but he was . . .

"I was nervous. I was worried. This is not OK, I thought . . .

"It got rough," she writes. "And then he put his hands around my throat, strangling me.

"He wasn't pretending to be a rapist. But he was like an attacker. I still had my lingerie on. He was naked. He was aroused," she writes.

"I thought, What do I do to get this part over with? What can I do? At some point, we have to get down to having sex and move on," according to the book, which The Post obtained at a New York City bookstore.

The assaultive role play went too far, Woodard reveals.

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Anna Gristina

Steven Hirsch

Former madam Kristin Davis leaving the Manhattan Federal Court in New York on Aug. 6.

Reuters/Eduardo Munoz

Spitzer opening the door for apparent girlfriend Lis Smith.

Robert Kalfus

Then-New York Governor Eliot Spitzer addresses the media with his wife Silda Wall Spitzer in March 2008. Former New York Governor Spitzer and his wife said on Dec. 24 they were ending their marriage.

Reuters//Shannon Stapleton

Slender, with self-professed "natural breasts and a slim waist," not to mention "naturally pale" hair down to her hips, Woodard, now 37, was catnip to the randy pol.

"He's a role-play kind of guy." Woodard says her then-boss, Davis, told her of the "important" and at first anonymous client, who had booked two or three days ahead of time.

"He didn't want mainstream intercourse," Davis told her.

"He definitely wanted a struggle," warned Davis — who was herself just months away from getting ensnared in the ever-widening FBI investigation into Spitzer's high-price hooker habit.

Briefed on the client's "script," Woodard waited for her mystery date at Davis' "in-call" cathouse, an apartment at the high-rise Corinthian on East 38th Street.

Coincidentally, the building was developed by Spitzer's billionaire father, Bernard.

It was the middle of the afternoon; the gov arrived wearing a shirt and tie — but had already ditched his jacket.

There's no word from Woodard as to the notorious, calf-length black dress socks, which he reportedly kept on during the hooker trysts that became his political downfall.

Spitzer allegedly told Woodard he didn't want to wear a condom, she says. She told him that was "not negotiable." And then her all-too-real "self-defense" demonstration began.

"He was like some of the guys who envision themselves in a porn movie," she said of the role-play's start.

"It was I who was taking control of him initially," she writes. "I felt really stupid at first. But then I got it. I'm pretty strong. I think he was gauging my strength."

Spitzer then wrested control.

"I didn't feel I was acting after a while," she recalls of starting to struggle for real.

"I remember holding his wrists, him pushing back, me trying to hold my stance, and then we moved to the bed. My clothes came off in the fray," she writes.

"It was all about restraint and holding me down until I was nearly helpless. He really put on a lot of pressure, pinning me to the bed," she writes.

"It takes a lot to scare me. I've been through a lot. But at this point I was starting to get worried . . .

There was no "safety code word," and Spitzer ignored her pleas that he stop, halting the attack only when he was sated, she said.

"He never said, 'I'm sorry, are you OK?' " she recalled. He did leave her a big, undisclosed tip.

Woodard had one more creepy recollection — Spitzer sweated profusely. So much so that she joked to a friend that she'd had a date with "Governor Shvitzer."

Woodard says in her book that she is a "Southern girl" and single mom who turned to prostitution to help finance a nasty custody battle against a "rock star."

She coyly doesn't name names in her tell-all, but Woodard's battle was in the news at the time, in 2005, when she took the rocker — Spin Doctors front man Chris Barron — to court for allegedly kidnapping their little girl.

The rocker attacked Woodard in court as a Vicodin-popping mental case who was shacking up with a convicted rapist while raising their then-6-year-old daughter.

Reached about the book Saturday night, Gristina graciously showed no ill will toward Woodard for flipping against her.

"She was worried about losing her kid," Gristina said.

Some of the book does appear a bit exaggerated, Gristina couldn't help but add.

"She was just one of my budget, all-American girls," Gristina said. "She only earned $400 an hour. She had no boobs."

Spitzer spokeswoman Lisa Linden said, "According to Eliot, this claim is absurd."


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Former Spitzer hooker details her clients in ‘Call Girl Confidential’

Former Spitzer hooker details her clients in 'Call Girl Confidential' | New York Post
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By Laura Italiano

December 29, 2013 | 4:17am

She slept with princes and pianists, Wall Street traders and moguls. And though Rebecca Woodard doesn't name any of her johns in her memoir, "Call Girl Confidential," except for Eliot Spitzer, she does provide a number of clues.

Can you name any of her clients?

  • An Orthodox Jewish client would search the room, checking under the bed and the closet to make sure no one knew he was there. Once, he spent the entire hour searching the apartment and they never had sex. "Best client ever to have," Woodard writes.
  • A "famous classical pianist" would call on her every time he played Carnegie Hall. Once, he asked for as many girls as possible to be sent to his hotel room. They were told to dress in bikinis and lie on blankets on the floor pretending to sunbathe. He wore only a towel and would swat their bottoms with another, chase them around and watch them jump up and down on the bed with their tops off. Finally, they had to chase him and take off his towel. "I suppose everyone has their own fantasy."
  • A Middle Eastern prince who stayed at The Plaza hotel was depressed because he wasn't in line for the throne. He did so much cocaine that he couldn't perform.
  •  "A major capitalist on a global scale" who "sits on several corporate boards" rented an apartment for her. Once, they flew on his private Gulfstream jet to Europe to look at a castle. "What do you think?" he asked. "Should I buy it?"
  • A "major financier" who bore some responsibility for the 2008 financial crash flew her to Tokyo so she could tie him to a headboard and put clothespins on his member. "The more aroused he got, the more I punished him." He paid Woodard $25,000. But after two years, he asked her, "Would you be able to get me a young boy?" She refused, told him to get help and wouldn't see him again.
  • The successful owner of a nightclub, "Steve," who rubbed elbows with celebs and athletes. In a luxury suite at a Knicks game, Woodard pretended to be a spoiled princess and asked for an autographed ball from a player. "Just as the third quarter began, in walked a team rep and handed me an autographed ball. Steve was sending me the message that I could have whatever I wanted."
  • A "well-known media executive" threw a party at the Waldorf Astoria because a number of the people there "were being inducted as ambassadors to the UN for something the next day and this was a mini celebration, without their wives and girlfriends." But no one had sex with her, so the exec refused to pay. Woodard said: "This is a business transaction. You have to pay us whether you have partaken or not." When he still refused, Woodard threatened to put pictures of the party online. The money was paid in full.

Woodard left Kristin Davis' call-girl ring for Anna Gristina's because Davis took more money — 50 percent, versus 40 percent — and the clients were worse. The last straw was "a major New York real-estate developer" who liked to wear women's underwear. He was so fat that when he answered the door wearing only a thong, "you couldn't see the thong at first." He asked her to use sex toys on him.

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17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

The surest way to prove progressives wrong? Let them rule awhile

This report on the State of Conservatism comes at the end of an annus mirabilis for conservatives. In 2013, they learned that they may have been wasting much time and effort.

Hitherto, they have thought that the most efficient way to evangelize the unconverted was to write and speak, exhorting those still shrouded in darkness to read conservatism's most light-shedding texts.

Now they know that a quicker, surer method is to have progressives wield power for a few years. This will validate the core conservative insight about the mischiefs that ensue when governments demonstrate their incapacity for supplanting with fiats the spontaneous order of a market society.

It is difficult to recall and hard to believe that just three months ago some conservatives, mirroring progressives' lack of respect for the public, considered it imperative to shut down the government in order to stop ObamaCare in its tracks. They feared that once Americans got a glimpse of the law's proffered subsidies, they would embrace it. Actually, once they glimpsed the law's details, they recoiled.

Counterfactual history can illuminate the present, so: Suppose in 2012, Barack Obama had told the truth about the ability of people to keep their health plans. Would he have been re-elected? Unlikely. Suppose in 2012, Chief Justice John Roberts, instead of rewriting the health-care law to save it, had been the fifth vote for overturning it. Would Obama be better off today? Probably.

Franklin Roosevelt, emboldened by winning a second term in 1936, attempted to pack, by expanding, the Supreme Court, to make it even more compliant toward his statism. He failed to win congressional compliance, and in 1938 he failed to purge Democrats who had opposed him. The voters' backlash against him was so powerful that there was no liberal legislating majority in Congress until after the 1964 election.

That year's landslide win by President Lyndon Johnson against Barry Goldwater, less than 12 months after a presidential assassination, left Democrats with 295 House and 68 Senate seats. Convinced that a merely sensible society would be a paltry aspiration, they vowed to build a Great Society by expanding legislation and regulation into every crevice of Americans' lives. They lost five of the next six and seven of the next 10 presidential elections.

In three years we shall see if progressive overreaching earns such a rebuke.

In 2013, the face of progressivism became Pajama Boy, the supercilious, semi-smirking, hot-chocolate-sipping faux-adult who embodies progressives' belief that life should be all politics, all the time — come on, everybody, spend your holidays talking about health care. He is who progressives are.

They are tone-deaf in expressing bottomless condescension toward the public and limitless faith in their own cleverness. Both attributes convinced them that Pajama Boy would be a potent persuader, getting young people to sign up for the hash that progressives are making of health care. As millions find themselves ending the year without insurance protection and/or experiencing sticker shock about the cost of policies the president tells them they ought to want, a question occurs: Have events ever so thoroughly and swiftly refuted a law's title? Remember, it is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

From Detroit's debris has come a judicial ruling that the pensions that government-employees unions, in collaboration with the political class, extort from taxpayers are not beyond the reach of what they bring about — bankruptcy proceedings. In Wisconsin, as a result of Gov. Scott Walker's emancipation legislation requiring annual recertification votes for government-workers' unions and ending government collection of union dues, more than 70 of 408 school district unions were rejected.

This year's debate about the National Security Agency demonstrated the impossibility of hermetically sealing distrust of government to one compartment of it. Worries about the NSA's collection of metadata occurred in a context of deepened suspicions about government because of this year's revelations that the administration has corrupted the Internal Revenue Service, the most intrusive and potentially the most punitive domestic institution. Conservatism is usually served by weariness of government.

The prophet Al Gore has given many hostages to fortune, and this year fortune shot another of them. In 2008, he predicted the North Polar ice cap would be gone "in five years."

Finally, a regularly recurring fever of progressive indignation about the name of Washington's professional football team again waned without success, which means Oklahoma will not have to change its name. "Oklahoma" is a compound of two Choctaw language words, "okla" meaning people, and "homma" meaning red.


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Attorney rips Bernard Kerik ‘bulls#!t’

High-powered defense lawyer Joseph Tacopina blasted former client Bernard Kerik on Saturday, denying the disgraced former police commissioner's recently-filed allegations of attorney wrongdoing.

"This is such bulls–t, reheated dog food," Tacopina said of Kerik accusing him of selling him out to the feds in 2007.

At the time, Kerik was under federal investigation for evading taxes and lying to the White House while under consideration for the post of Homeland Security chief — a rap that would earn him three years prison.

Kerik alleges that Tacopina, who represents Yankee star Alex Rodriguez in his steroid case, had secretly turned witness against him for prosecutors after being kicked off the federal case due to a conflict of interest.

Kerik also accuses Tacopina of illegally calling him in late 2007 despite being on the prosecution's witness list.

Tacopina denies knowing Kerik was on the witness list when he called, but does acknowledge speaking to prosecutors — with Kerik's blessing, so he could complain about being tossed off the case.

Tacopina questioned why Kerik never raised a complaint until now, even as he sat in prison filing repeated appeals.

The filing, with the Appellate Division in Manhattan, was described by a source close to Kerik. The ex-commish declined to comment through his lawyer, Raymond Tsimpedes.


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Iran pushing nuclear technology development in spite of treaty

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 28 Desember 2013 | 17.08

VIENNA — Iran is taking steps to improve its ability to speed up uranium enrichment, which could delay implementation of a nuclear deal with six world powers because Tehran's moves are opposed by the United States and its allies.

Iran's nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, said late Thursday that his country is building a new generation of centrifuges for uranium enrichment but they need further tests before they can be mass produced.

His comments appeared aimed at countering criticism from Iranian hard-liners by showing their country's nuclear program is moving ahead and has not been halted by the accord.

But two officials familiar with Iran's nuclear activities said Tehran has gone even further by interpreting a provision of the interim Geneva nuclear deal in a way rejected by many, if not all, of the six powers that sealed the Geneva deal with Iran.

They told The Associated Press Friday that Iranian technical experts told counterparts from the six powers last week that some of the cutting-edge machines have been installed at a research tract of one of Iran's enriching sites. They gave no numbers.


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Daily blotter

Queens

A Woodhaven resident got the scare of a lifetime when a would-be burglar stuck his head through her apartment window, police sources said.

The 38-year-old woman was in her apartment at about 11:30 a.m. Thursday when the window air conditioner suddenly started moving, the sources said.

The victim shrieked when it fell to the floor and a man popped his head in, the sources said.

He fled, and she dialed 911 and provided cops with a description of the suspect.

Kevin Young, 25, was ­arrested nearby.

He had two outstanding warrants for his arrest, for prior attempted burglary and multiple juvenile arrests that had been sealed, cops said.

Brooklyn

A man was shot multiple times in Canarsie, cops said.

The 29-year-old victim was walking to his vehicle on Avenue N near East 94th Street Friday at around 6:30 a.m. when he was shot three times, ­according to police.

The victim was rushed to Brookdale Hospital in stable condition with non-life-threatening wounds, cops said.

Cops are searching for two suspects last seen running west on ­Avenue N in black hoodies.


A Coney Island man was found shot dead in an apartment building, authorities said.

At 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Shawn White, 25, was found dead with gunshot wounds in a stairwell of an apartment building on West 27th Street near Surf Avenue, cops said.

He had sustained gunshot wounds to the head, torso and leg, according to police. No arrests have been made.


Authorities are investigating a Borough Park blaze that resulted in ­injury.

More than 60 firefighters responded to a blazing, two-story home on 18th Avenue near Cristoforo Colombo Blvd. at around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, the ­authorities said.

The victim was rushed to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening ­injuries.

The FDNY Bureau of Fire Investigations is probing the blaze, authorities said. The department had no immediate updates on the cause of the fire.

The Bronx

A Puerto Rican restaurant was burglarized in Soundview, police sources said.

A worker at La Lechonera Boriquen was opening the eatery at Westchester and Stratford Avenues at 6 a.m. on Dec 18 when she saw a ladder in the back of the store, the sources said, then discovered a hole in the roof.

The thieves had pocketed $200 in cash from the register, the sources said.

Investigators pulled video surveillance from the restaurant and are studying it to ascertain clues, cops said.

No arrests have been made at this time.

Staten Island

A livery-cab driver turned the tables on two thieves who tried to pass themselves off as police officers, according to a Criminal Court complaint.

The two crooks summoned a car-service vehicle to Van Buren Street near York Avenue and hopped in on last Saturday at 1:50 a.m., with one jumping into the front passenger seat.

Donavan Prescod, 19, refused to move to the back seat despite the driver asking him several times to do so.

Instead, Prescod insisted that the cabby just drive and then, claiming to be a cop, demanded that the driver show him identification.

"I'm a police officer and I need you to show your ID to my partner," Prescod ­allegedly barked at the ­victim.

Prescod also flashed a set of handcuffs, according to a Criminal Court complaint.

His buddy, Mark Melendez, 19, was sitting in the back seat. But the driver called his bluff and said he would gladly drive them to the 120th Precinct station house and show his ID to a ­uniformed officer.

As the savvy cabby proceeded to the station house, the pair jumped out at York Avenue and Richmond Terrace.

Police soon found the suspects, with Melendez allegedly in possession of a Ziploc bag of crack.

They were charged with theft of services, criminal impersonation and criminal possession of a controlled substance.


A drunken driver was practically begging to be cuffed when he slammed into another car in Tottenville, cops said.

Harold Jones, 65, was driving a Mercury sedan — bearing vanity license plates reading "HANCUF" — when he sideswiped a Hyundai at Butler and Craig avenues Tuesday at 7:18 p.m., officers said.

Jones fled the scene without leaving identification or insurance information with the victim.

The hit-run suspect then rear ended a Volkwagen in Annadale at Hylan Boulevard and Huguenot Avenue, cops said.

He allegedly fled from that smash, too.

The alleged drunken driver had bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred speech, and was unsteady on his feet, cops said.

When officers caught up with Jones, he refused to take a Breathalyzer at the scene.

He was charged with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting property damage, according to authorities.


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Escort service besmirched us: Hooters

Hooters of America, the restaurant chain known for its skimpily clad waitresses, is suing a Florida escort service it says tarnished Hooters' trademarks as it sought to hire away its employees.

The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, says that Nikki's Escort Service and its proprietor Nikki Swafford posted ads on the Tampa site of Craigslist.com stating: "Now Hiring Hooters Girls $100 Per Hour."

The ads were accompanied by a photo of women wearing the chain's official uniform.

Hooters argued that Nikki's tarnished its trademarks, including its signature owl logo, and engaged in deceptive trade practices for suggesting the restaurant chain is affiliated with the escort service.

"(Hooters) spends millions of dollars annually marketing their brands…and engaging in charitable activities throughout the United States," says the complaint, citing donations to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Special Olympics among other groups.

Atlanta-based Hooters is a privately held corporation with 375 locations in the United States, as well as in 28 countries, court papers said. The company has filed 13 lawsuits alleging trademark infringement and been involved in more than 127 federal lawsuits since 1991, according to court documents.

Hooters also named San Francisco-based Craigslist Inc as a defendant for failing to take down the ads after Hooters sent a notice of abuse to the website's operators.

Hooters said it sent a cease-and-desist letter to Nikki's and to Swafford. According to the complaint, Swafford responded in a "profane and unprofessional manner" to a telephone call from Hooters.

The chain's attorney, Andrew William Bray, was not immediately available for comment, nor was a spokesman for Craigslist.

A man who answered the phone at Nikki's and declined to identify himself, said the ads say "Kooters," not Hooters, before hanging up.

Hooters acknowledged in court papers that Nikki's had made that change in its Craigslist ads, but argues the use of the word "Kooters" is still trademark infringement because the ads feature a photo taken inside one of its restaurants and women featured in the ad are wearing the official Hooters Girl uniform.


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cops blast pistol-packing gunman in shootout

Three NYPD police officers shot it out with a violent gunman in Queens early Friday morning after the thug began firing at them, cops said.

The melee began just after midnight when William Bazemore, 19, was stopped by police on Beach Channel Drive and Nameoke Avenue in the Rockaways because they noticed an 'unusual bulge' in the front pocket of his hooded sweatshirt, cops said.

When the officers approached Bazemore he pulled out his gun and started blasting at them.

Bazemore sustained minor injuries to his nose when he was collared and was transported to Jamaica Hospital.

Cops found this handgun after the shootout in Queens.

There were no injuries from the gunfire, cops said.

Cops recovered a .22 caliber revolver at the scene.

Bazemore was charged with attempted murder of a police officer, attempted assault, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and reckless endangerment.


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

FDNY burned by fake air conditioner repairs

The owner of a New York air conditioner repair company has been charged with pocketing more than $149,000 from the FDNY in never completed work.

Just Cooling Corporation owner Justin Levy was arrested Friday. The 49-year-old Congers man and Just Cooling are charged with grand larceny and more than 300 counts of offering a false instrument for filing.

It wasn't immediately known if Levy had a lawyer. A woman who answered the phone for Just Cooling refused to comment.

Authorities say that in 2010, Levy falsified more than 300 labor and materials invoices for repairs at FDNY facilities.


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man claims ex-gal pal is smearing his fiancée online

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 27 Desember 2013 | 17.08

A Queens man who dumped his cyber-gal pal claims she then trashed his fiancée online as a drug-addicted tramp — by setting up sexually explicit profiles using pictures of her lifted from social-media sites.

Emmanuil Sadikov filed a $5 million lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court Thursday against the enraged woman and three alleged cohorts, saying they smeared his fiancée, Evelina Elterman, by setting up nasty sex- and dating-site profiles using her face and name and forwarding links to the couple's shocked friends and family.

The soon-to-be-married couple lives in Kew Gardens.

A source said Sadikov once had an online relationship with one of the alleged tormentors, but after he broke it off, she hijacked innocent online pics of Elterman from social media and created the ugly profiles on largely Russian networking pages.

Evelina EltermanPhoto: Facebook

The profiles melded Elterman's real photos with nude and explicit pics of unrelated women, the suit says.

The suit accuses Izabella and Khananiya Avshman, of Allen, Texas, and Florida and Semyon Fishkin, of Dallas, of cooking up the online character assassination.

None of the defendants could immediately be reached for comment.

The fake profiles also directly attacked Sadikov, labeling him a "dishonest person" who "is abusing Evelina Elterman and paying her for sex," the suit states.

The couple got some of the profiles taken down but the online campaign against them has continued, court papers state.

Izabella Avshman told them directly last month that the attacks won't stop until their reputations "completely ruined," the suit says.

Avshman did not return a call for comment.

The crew also sent "direct messages" to their relatives portraying the couple as drug addicts and derelicts, the suit claims. It does not specify what social-networking site was used to send those messages.

"The defendants attempted and succeeded in alienating Emmanuil Sadikov's friends and family," the papers state.

The nasty profiles and messages have destroyed Sadikov's personal life and his real-estate business, the suit claims.

"As a result of the defendant's actions, plaintiffs friends and family have stopped talking to Emmanuel Sadikov and Evelina Elterman and Emmanuel Sadikov's business associates have refused to conduct business with him," the suit says.

Sadikov declined to comment on the case or the exact nature of his relationship with the defendants.

His attorney, Stephen Dickerman, also declined to comment.


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

NY increasing minimum wage to $8 an hour in 2014

New York's minimum wage will increase to $8 an hour at the end of this year, 75 cents above the federal minimum and the old state rate.

It's the first of three incremental boosts that were approved by the Legislature and Gov. Cuomo when they passed the state budget in March. The minimum for most workers will increase at the end of 2014 to $8.75 an hour and to $9 an hour a year after that.

The minimums for workers in the restaurant industry who get tips may remain $5 an hour, with employers able to raise the maximum tip credits to $3 an hour the first year, $3.75 the second and $4 after that.

Advocates for New York's working poor want the Legislature to revisit the issue this year, saying the minimum should be $10 to $15 an hour and include workers who get tips.

Hunger Action Network called $8 "a sub-poverty wage" and noted recent US Conference of Mayors surveys from 25 cities show 43 percent of households using emergency food programs had someone employed.

"Historically, the minimum wage was for a single worker with two dependents at the poverty level," said Mark Dunlea, the network's executive director.


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

FDNY to firefighters: No taking pics at holiday parties

The FDNY's firefighters and EMS workers are such social-media misfits that they were banned from taking any photos or videos at their station holiday parties this year, The Post has learned.

The order targets on-duty members in their "quarters" around the city.

"Members of the department are prohibited from taking photographs, videotaping or recording audio while working unless authorized to do so by the [Office of Public Information]," the directive says.

The ban put a damper on annual firehouse holiday parties, which are attended by both on- and off-duty members and their families.

"So, if one of my kids wants to sit on Santa's lap in the firehouse — he's not going to get his Kodak moment," a source grumbled. "It's a shame that because of a few knuckleheads, the kids have to suffer."

Some on-duty firefighters and emergency medical technicians are "probably breaking the rules and taking photographs anyway," but they do it at their own peril, the source said.

"If they get caught and the department wants to enforce the rules, they're screwed."

The source blames a few bad eggs who "act like children and need to grow up."

"Some of these guys should not be on Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is the real problem. They lay out their entire lives on these social-media sites. Why do you have to do that?"

An FDNY spokesman declined comment.

Earlier this month, black probationary firefighter Trilain Smith was barred from his graduation ceremony because he used the N-word on Facebook to refer to his superiors and posted seminude selfies.

The 35-year-old ex-rapper ranted online, "These n- - -as try to kill you start to finish!" after listing the tests he had to pass to graduate.

In March, the son of city Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano resigned as an EMT following a series of hate-filled tweets.

"I like Jews as much as I like Hitler," Joseph Cassano, 23, wrote in one of his tweets.

Also, in March, The Post revealed that EMS Lt. Timothy Dluhos used an image of Hitler for his Twitter profile and "Bad Lieutenant" as his online name as he went on a verbal tirade.

Dluhos called Mayor Bloomberg "King Jew" and King Heeb" in one rant.


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Women comprise biggest opposition to ObamaCare

Remember Julia? That cute little cartoon the Obama folks created to illustrate how the president's policies would provide "health and economic security" for women at all of life's stages?

The real-life Julias aren't buying.

A CNN/ORC International poll out this week finds 60 percent of women opposing ObamaCare. This follows a Kaiser Health Tracking Poll that found half of American women holding an unfavorable view of the law — against only 32 percent in support. In fact, almost all of the increase in the overall unpopularity of ObamaCare can be attributed to the growing number of women rebelling against it.

No doubt this explains why First Lady Michelle Obama has just launched her own campaign to get young people to "ring in the New Year with new coverage." The White House knows it has a big problem with women.

We can't say we're surprised. We have always believed that, like everyone else, when women got a taste of what ObamaCare would mean for themselves and their families, they would not be happy. That helps explain how a year that started with the White House's claims about a GOP war on women is now drawing to an end with women declaring war on ObamaCare.

The CEO of the Independent Women's Forum, Heather Higgins, puts it well. "The members of the Obama administration," she told us, "have really been users and abusers of women, trading on their trust, plying them with false promises, offering them small benefits, while taking away the most important things: not only the plans they liked and counted on, but their personal relationships with the very doctors on whom so many rely."

The incredible thing here is not that American women are turning against President Obama because of his horrible health-care law. It's that the White House was condescending enough to think women wouldn't figure it out.


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Strong explosion shakes Lebanese capital

A powerful bombing rocked a central business district of central Beirut Friday, setting cars ablaze and killing five people, including a senior aide to former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, officials said.

The National News Agency said Mohammed Chatah and his driver were both killed in the explosion, which wounded more than 70 others.

Lebanon has seen a wave of bombings over the past months as tensions rise over Syria's civil war. Hariri heads the main, Western-backed coalition in Lebanon which is engaged in bitter feuding with the militant Hezbollah group, which is allied to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The blast was heard across the city and sent thick black smoke billowing in the downtown posh commercial district behind the government house and above the seafront of the Lebanese capital.

The army cordoned off the area to prevent people from getting close to the scene, where the twisted wreckage of several cars was still smoldering. The explosion appeared to be the result of the car bomb, but security officials said they had no immediate confirmation.

Footage broadcast on Lebanese TV showed medical workers rushing the wounded to ambulances. At least two bodies could be seen lying on the pavement.

The conflict next door has raised tensions in Lebanon's Sunni and Shiite communities as each side lines up in support of their brethren in the conflict next door.

That has fueled predictions that Lebanon, still recovering from its 15-year civil war that ended in 1990, is on the brink of descending into full-blown sectarian violence.

Chatah, a prominent economist and former ambassador to the U.S., was one of the closest aides to former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a truck bombing in Beirut in 2005, not far from Friday's explosion.

He later became finance minister when Hariri's son, Saad, took over the premiership, and stayed on as his senior adviser after he lost the post in early 2011.


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Water-hungry NYers not sweet on soda

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 26 Desember 2013 | 17.08

Perhaps the City's anti-soda and sugary juice campaigns are having an effect.

New Yorkers and their suburban neighbors are favoring bottled water and milk — and buying much less juice and soda, Metro New York City grocery-store sales data for the year ended Nov. 2 reveal.

Whether the result of Mayor Bloomberg's campaign against large, calorie-rich large sodas or a wider national trend away from sodas to more healthy drinks, bottled water was the only beverage category to show an uptick in volume sold, according to Nielsen's statistics, which look at the 25 best-selling brands.

Sales of the biggest water brands through grocery stores grew by 1 percent in the year versus the previous 12-month period, to 144.3 million gallons. The stats do not include sales through convenience stores, mass merchandisers and drug chains — although total sales by category generally mimic grocery sales.

Milk sales held pretty steady, falling by just 1.8 percent to 28.6 million gallons, while sales of soda, the No. 2 category at 88.1 million gallons purchased over the last year, dropped 6.8 percent. Juice sales totaled 46.5 million gallons, down 6.1 percent, and sports drinks and teas fell 5 percent, to 44.6 million gallons.

Poland Spring is the metro area's favorite drink and grew 4.5 percent, to 98 million gallons, the stats show. Nestle's Pure Life saw sales rise 4.7 percent, to 12.4 million gallons.

The decline in soda sales hit every major brand, with Coke's assorted brands falling 3 percent and a 14 percent decline for PepsiCo's line-up. Coke is increasing its market-share lead partially because it is dropping prices, while PepsiCo is slightly raising them.

PepsiCo's Tropicana is the top juice, with sales steady at about 25.2 million gallons. Coke's Minute Maid's sales fall 15 percent, to 8.4 million gallons.


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Bernanke’s rate ploy robs from middle class

Ben Bernanke said last week that he would keep interest rates low virtually forever. And he got the intended response — the stock market rallied nicely and continues to do so.

The problem is, Ben is lying. Or, if you want to be kind, he can be accused of not telling the whole truth.

Take a look at the chart to the right. It's the yield on the 10-year government bond going back a year. The 10-year is considered the benchmark for interest rates that matter.

The 10-year's interest rate as of Tuesday afternoon was 2.97 percent. And the next decent economic report — whether it is credible or not — will probably put the rate over 3 percent for the first time in years.

The 10-year bond was yielding just 1.9 percent back in May.

Let's do the math.

In May, 1.9 percent; now, 2.97 percent. Well, that was easy. It seems that interest rates have risen by 1.07 percentage points — or, in finance lingo, 107 basis points — on the bond that Washington a decade or so ago decided to make its most important financing tool.

If you look at the charts of the government's 30-year and 5-year securities, you'll see the same upward trend in rates.

So Washington has had to pay about 55 percent more to borrow money at each of these maturities now than it did seven months ago. And people who have been lending money to Washington during this time — the Chinese and OPEC, as well as American citizens — are receiving this added return.

(On the other hand, investors who bought US government securities before May — whether by buying the bonds themselves or by investing in them unknowingly through mutual funds — have taken a beating on the value of the principal. But that's another story.)

Back to my first story: So how can Bernanke, with that straight academic face of his, say he's going to keep interest rates low? And how can he say it over and over and over again without any of the journalists at the Federal Reserve's press conference or economists on Wall Street calling his bluff?

Because like everything else, this is all a matter of definition. In Washington, where insider trading isn't really insider trading, interest rates also have a vague meaning.

Bernanke, who is leaving his job next month, controls something called the Fed Funds Rate. That's the rate at which banks can lend each other money for a very short term, generally overnight. That rate is set by the Fed and has been stuck at a puny 0.25 percent for the last few years as the Fed tries to — well, I'm not really sure what the Fed has been trying to do.

As you can see from the way the 10-year — and the 5-year and 30-year bond too, trust me — have been defying the Fed's wishes, Bernanke really has little control over most of the interest rates that matter. One of the few rates he has been able to keep low is the yields on things like money-market and savings accounts.

The banks love him, since the less they pay out to depositors, the more money they earn.

I want to get off the main topic for a minute because we've just finished up a Christmas shopping season that didn't seem to go very well for retailers. And I think what I just wrote explains it.

The money Americans earn on things like savings accounts and money-market funds is liquid. If someone sees the balance in their bank account rising, they are more likely to take some of that extra money out and spend it.

Remember when we used to keep Christmas Club accounts in the bank? That was money we'd put away all year with the distinct purpose of it being spent on holiday gifts.

With interest income on bank accounts flat — and jobs and pay raises hard to come by — people didn't increase spending by much this Christmas. And if the same economic conditions exist when Christmas 2014 arrives, they will again disappoint retailers.

People who invest in the stock market, of course, have made lots of money thanks to Bernanke. But when was the last time you heard someone say that she was going to sell stock to buy Christmas presents?

That would involve calling a broker, having the broker try to talk you out of liquidating any money, then executing the trade, putting money aside to pay capital -gains taxes — all before you go to the store.

Money held in brokerage accounts is not liquid. It's not the equivalent to the old Christmas Club.

So Bernanke is like a gangster holding up US savers — robbing them of interest income. And that helps keep Christmas spending low.

And his promise to continue to keep short-term rates at historic bottoms dooms Christmases to come.

Meanwhile, the Fed announced two weeks ago that it will have its shills purchase only $75 billion in government bonds and mortgages per month beginning in January — down from $85 billion.

With the Fed easing up on its bond purchases, bond prices will fall and rates are likely to rise.

But the real problem will come when we get what all of us have been longing for — a true economic recovery in which people and companies start borrowing money vigorously. When demand for loans improves, Bernanke's successor as Fed chairman, Janet Yellen, won't be able to lie her way out of that situation.

If you don't believe Bernanke is lying to you, try this: Apply for a mortgage and compare the rate you'll get today with what you would have gotten in May. Then call the Fed and ask why its chairman keeps lying.


17.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bitter 2014 for tablets & phones

Smartphones and iPads are going out of style.

Well, not exactly — but shoppers' attitudes toward spending on technology overall are less enthusiastic this year, data show.

Even as Microsoft's Xbox One entertainment console is flying off store shelves, the expectation among shoppers that they will spend less on tech this December compared with last year will likely translate into fewer sales of tablets and smartphones in the coming months, experts said.

For December 2013, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) Index of Consumer Technology Expectations, which measures consumers' views about technology spending, dropped to 90.2 — its lowest level for the month since the dark days of 2009, when the US was just emerging from the Great Recession.

In 2012, December — a month when spending usually trends higher, thanks to Christmas — the index hit a high of 97.3.

But it's not just the December data that are cause for concern. Indeed, the index has sagged in nearly every month this year, except for October and November.

Shawn DuBravac, chief economist for the CEA, will be watching the tech-sentiment index closely in 2014 amid expectations that "key areas of growth — namely tablets and smartphones — will begin to slow."

The reason: oversaturation.

Indeed, some 43 percent of households now own either a tablet or an e-reader, up from 6 percent in 2010 — when Apple started selling the iPad.

Meanwhile, the number of smartphone users has jumped to 56 percent this year, up from 35 percent in 2011, according to data from the Pew Research Center.

"Some of this is just basic arithmetic," said DuBravac. "The categories are so big that the growth rates by definition are going to slow."


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It’s Dern’s turn: Veteran actor gets ‘Inside’ treatment

Bruce Dern has been out promoting his movie "Nebraska" for months now. The film opened in New York in November — but with awards season upon us, the campaign trail is fast and furious.

But Dern, the film's 77-year-old star, isn't sick of it.

Dern in "Coming Home" with Jane Fonda.

Bruce Dern in "Family Plot."

Bruce Dern in "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" with Teresa Wright.

Not just yet, anyway.

"I'm a good historian about myself, so it's not hard to wander through the 55, 56 years of my career," he tells The Post. "I'm not really tired from it. S- – t, I waited 50 years. You kidding me?"

The latest stop on Dern's path is sitting down with James Lipton for Bravo's "Inside the Actors Studio" Thursday at 7 p.m. alongside his famous daughter Laura Dern.

It's a feather in the cap for a guy who has appeared in more than 80 films, perhaps most notably in Hal Ashby's 1978 movie "Coming Home," for which Dern was nominated for an Oscar. Along the way, Dern has worked with some our most legendary filmmakers, including Elia Kazan, John Frankenheimer and Alfred Hitchcock, who directed him several times (and in whose TV show, "Alfred Hitchock Presents," Dern appeared).

"You're thrilled when Mr. Hitchock picked you out of anyone he could have in the world," says Dern of working with the late, great director on "Family Plot." "His frames — the setup of the shot — were the most restrictive frames I've ever worked with in my life. And yet within that setup, I had as much freedom with him as I've ever had with any director in my life.

"He simply thought that all the frames of the movie were perfect and had them drawn on the board in his office — 1,200 of them," says Dern. "But none of them were entertaining, he felt, therefore he put me there and Barbara Harris there — who was my partner in the movie — to entertain them and make the frames come alive."

But his latest director, Alexander Payne, had something even those fellas didn't, says Dern.

"He invades your privacy in a way that's acceptable to an audience, and that's something I hadn't bene involved in before," says Dern. "I mean, I've worked with brilliant directors, but none of them seemed to be able to deal with private issues in such a magnificent way."

In "Nebraska," Dern plays Woody Grant, an elderly man suffering from dementia who mistakenly believes he's won $1 million from a spam mailer and needs to go claim his prize.

Critics have been generous with the kudos for Dern's performance. It's not so much Oscar buzz as it is an Oscar roar — at this point, should he not be nominated for best actor, it would be a total shock.

"To be nominated for an Academy Award would be a treat. Anything that happens after that, at least you've been asked to go to dinner," he jokes.

It's a long way to come for a guy who's been called a "character actor" for decades.

"When people come up and they say, 'You're a character actor,' well, that's fine. I mean, Woody's a character. He's certainly not a conventional leading man," says Dern of his "Nebraska" alter-ego.

"You know and at the end of their careers, although Paul Newman and Steve McQueen were obviously leading-men movie stars, they went to doing more character stuff. When Paul Newman would start going out and being part of a movie instead of the whole movie, [he] took risks and chances to do things," Dern says.

"All actors want[ed] to be able to do that, but in the studio system, you couldn't do that. They wouldn't let you do that because they wanted you to promote the studio and its product. "

Now, half a century after he entered the game, Dern is finally getting that leading man respect.

"This is really disgusting to say but the phone has started to ring," says Dern of offers he's getting for work.

"It's rather pathetic at 77 years old, but it's true."


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Unexpected TV gifts from 2013

Terry Crews ("Brooklyn Nine-Nine") as Sgt. Jeffords

Out of all the so-so to abysmal comedies launched this season, the Andy Samberg police laugher improbably has managed to hang around Mama's DVR, and it struck gold with the high-strung but sweet detective whom Mama previously only knew as The Old Spice Guy. When he's not avoiding his bully brother-in-law, he's hilariously screaming about the dangers of SUVs ("They roll! THEY ROLL!"). He is the most unexpected comedy gift.

"The Good Wife" revival

Proof that you can't keep a good woman — or a quality network drama — down. The Julianna Margulies vehicle made us forget all about last season's forgettable real-estate struggles and instead blew up the dynamics of this lawyer drama in a fashion not seen since the uprising at McKenzie/Brackman on "L.A. Law."

I like cannibals?

If you had told Mama that a TV series about the 1990s movie icon Hannibal Lecter would be one of her favorites of 2013, she would have told you to swallow your own tongue. But thanks in large part to creepily delicious Mads Mikkelsen, Mama can't wait to sink her teeth into Season 2.

Tatiana Maslany of "Orphan Black"

The star of the BBC America series, which tells the story of loner Sarah discovering she's a clone with identical counterparts strewn across her city, was quite the find. Pulling off multiple characters — all with their own unique personalities and often accents — is a tall order, but this Canadian newcomer proved that she was more than up for the challenge.

"Dallas' " farewell to J.R. Ewing

It's unlikely the revival of the 1980s blockbuster family drama will ever measure up to the original, but the TNT series did produce a fitting farewell to the irascible J.R. Ewing, played by legend Larry Hagman, who died in November 2012. Besides the trip down memory lane with J.R.'s assorted exes and foes, the series used his death to launch a story that honored his legacy: Who really did shoot — and kill — J.R.?


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Cracker Barrel ‘Big’ mulls bid

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 25 Desember 2013 | 17.08

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store's top shareholder, Sardar Biglari, said he is considering a bid for the restaurant chain, the activist investor's latest attempt to take control of the company.

Sardar BiglariPhoto: Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

Biglari's investment firm Biglari Holdings has been pushing for change at Cracker Barrel for more than two years, saying the company's "earning power" was far too low under the current management.

Biglari Holdings, which holds a 19.9 percent stake in Cracker Barrel, said on Tuesday it was in talks with an investment bank to finance a deal.

Cracker Barrel's shares closed up 1.7 percent at $112.31.

Biglari's last attempt in November to win board seats was rebuffed by Cracker Barrel's shareholders. They also rejected his proposal for a $20-per-share special dividend.


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Target in line of fire

It doesn't matter if your last name is Cratchit and Mr. Scrooge has you crunching numbers for 18 hours in an unheated cubby. You're still having a better Christmas than Molly Snyder is.

Snyder is the Target spokeswoman who has had to reveal almost daily more bad news related to the stores' big security breach.

On Tuesday, it turned out that the hackers who compromised up to 40 million credit cards and debit cards also managed to steal encrypted PIN numbers, a senior payments executive familiar with the situation told Reuters.

One major bank fears that the thieves would be able to crack the encryption code and make fraudulent withdrawals from consumer bank accounts, said the executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Snyder responded, "No unencrypted PIN data was accessed" and there was no evidence that PIN data has been "compromised." She confirmed that some "encrypted data" was stolen, but declined to say if that included encrypted PINs.

Target also faces almost two dozen lawsuits over the breach, and Snyder said the company has learned of incidents of scam emails related to the data spill.

Unsurprisingly, brokerage Cowen and Co. cut its earnings forecast for Target, saying the breach was likely to drive away customers and impact margins as the retailer increases discounts.

Target's is the second-largest data breach in retail history. The Secret Service and the Justice Department are investigating. Officials with both agencies have declined to comment.

How Molly Snyder must envy them.


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Giants rookie renting out his condo for the Super Bowl

A New York Giant has figured out a way to get a Super Bowl check, even though his team blew its chance to make the big game.

Blue Blue rookie Cooper Taylor is renting out his New Jersey condo with roof-deck views of MetLife Stadium — because it will be too depressing to stick around for the madness, he told The Post.

The couple hopes to make $9,000 during Super Bowl week.Photo: Gabriella Bass

The strapping defensive back and his girlfriend, real-estate broker Susan Carlson, are offering up their 2 bedroom, 2 bath Rutherford apartment for $9,000 during Super Bowl week.

"We thought it would be the best time to get out of the city and go on vacation because that week will be a madhouse," said Taylor, 22. "I am definitely disappointed that we are not playing in it. It would make it a lot more fun."

The couple opted not to mention Taylor's high-profile career in their Craigslist and AirBnB ads — but did drop some subtle hints.

"We are big fans of a local team here and unfortunately will not be attending this year," they wrote in a Craigslist pitch for the space.

The 1,000-square-foot apartment is outfitted with a 70-inch TV, a pair of comfortable couches, and a pile of freshly washed NFL-player-used linens — all within one mile of MetLife Stadium.

Cooper Taylor and Susan Carlson started dating in college.

Carlson, a former collegiate volleyball player who met Taylor during their time at Georgia Tech, said they plan to watch the showdown with family in Texas or with Giant teammates in Manhattan.

Successfully renting out their Rutherford digs would more than finance a mini-vacation, she said.

The couple rent their furnished apartment month-to-month for $2,700.

"We rented it with furniture included because, with such a volatile lifestyle, we didn't want to have to worry about transporting furniture in case we had to move cross-country," she said.

A late-round draft pick who was unsure if he would even make the team this year, Taylor pulls in a relatively modest $450,000 annually and could use a quick Super Bowl cash infusion.

Carlson, a broker with Kleier Residential, has been dating Taylor for four years and moved to New York with him as his NFL dream slowly began to materialize. They had three days to find an apartment after Taylor impressed the coaches enough to make the cut.

"We were looking for enough space to entertain and host family on the weekends the Giants played at home, but not break the bank and be unreasonable," Carlson said.

"The next thing was location and proximity to the stadium, as Cooper receives fines for being tardy or missing practices."


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App shows NYC Times Square countdown

The breathless drama of the Times Square New Year's Eve countdown has gone miniature with an app showing the live drop of the celebration's famed ball.

The new version of the app, available on both Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating system, is simpler to use and more interactive than predecessors that emerged first at the close of 2010, said Jeffrey Straus, executive producer of Times Square New Year's Eve.

"I would like to eventually see the whole world counting down together," he said Tuesday, his wish discounting time zones. "We can do that through mobile devices."

Straus said about 469,000 people in 184 countries signed up for the app over the past four years, but he expects a significant bump in signups with the retooled app and its greater emphasis on interaction, including tweets between users and someone acting as the voice of the ball.

"The ball is a man of few words," he joked, though he quickly added: "It really is a conversation that goes on."

The free app shows the broadcast of the celebration and lets users customize to time zones.

The greater emphasis on electronics is a natural progression for the Times Square ball, Straus said. Fireworks at Times Square New Year's Eve celebrations beginning around 1904 dropped burning embers on revelers, leading the gathering's organizers to embrace electricity in 1907 in the form of a lighted ball, he said.

Now, the nearly 6-ton ball has grown in diameter to 12 feet and contains more than 32,000 light bulbs. Its 70-foot drop lasts a minute, famously counted out loud.

Straus said more people will be counting thanks to the app, wherever they are.

"It gets back to the heart of what Times Square New Year's eve is: truly a global celebration."


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Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Air offer the ‘worst’ airline food

Passengers planning to use these two airlines have every reason to be airsick.

Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air fared worst in a survey that compares the chow served to economy-class passengers taking domestic flights.

"Not too much in terms of healthy options," at Spirit Airlines, said Charles Platkin of DietDetective.com, which asks major carriers to hand over nutritional data for their onboard fare, and then rates the airlines' choices.

"Watch out for the Nuggets & Nuts at 600 calories, and all the muffins are at least 400 calories — not the best choice unless you split one," he said. "Bringing your own food is the best option."

Both Spirit and Allegiant scored measly grades of 1¹/₂ out of five stars, bringing up the rear among the dozen airlines surveyed.

"The snack boxes are not great in terms of health — and not just calorie-wise," he said of Allegiant. "Overall, the turkey sandwich without cheese is a good choice for the West Coast.

"On the East Coast, go with the hummus, but you'll probably want to make sure you bring a sandwich for yourself."

Snacks include 3.4 ounces of Peanut M&M's, which run 490 calories.

Virgin America and Air Canada finished tied for top marks, with 4¹/₂ out of five stars.


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Congressman presses Kerry over Medicaid diplo ‘scams’

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 24 Desember 2013 | 17.08

WASHINGTON — A powerful lawmaker is demanding the Obama administration hand over information about foreign diplomats who may be illegally cashing in on US benefits, after the stunning indictment last month of 25 Russian diplomats in a massive Medicaid scam.

"What are the medical programs for which foreign diplomats may be eligible? What are the eligibility criteria? How many foreign diplomats have used these programs?" asked Rep. Ed Royce, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Royce (R-Calif.) peppered Secretary of State John Kerry with questions about the alleged scheme to bilk the government out of $1.5 million in US benefits.

The case was brought by Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara.

Royce, who said he was "deeply troubled" by reports of the $1.5 million rip-off, also asked whether various benefit agencies have checked their rolls for foreign diplomats — raising the possibility that the fraud could extend beyond Russian representatives.

He inquired about how many diplomats have applied for welfare and other US government programs over the last decade, and wants to know whether the United States will declare 11 indicted Russians "persona non grata" and kick them out of the country despite their diplomatic status.


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Dogs getting zapped by Con Ed manholes

Con Edison set up cones and caution tape around several East Village manholes, tree pits and garden gates — but never bothered telling anyone it was because of stray voltage that has been zapping neighborhood pooches.

Dog owner Leslie Steven told The Post her beloved borzoi, Atticus Finch, was jolted twice on Sunday before she realized what was happening.

Leslie Steven's beloved borzoi, Atticus Finch

"He yelped and screamed in pain, and his heart was racing, and he was totally traumatized," said Steven.

The neighborhood blog EV Grieve first reported that dogs walking with their owners along East Seventh Street between Avenues C and D were coming into painful, violent contact with electrified pavement and fixtures.

Caution tape and traffic cones went up last week on that block and on East Second Street between Avenues A and C, but the utility company didn't leave any explanation for blocking them off.

"The thing I find the most unconscionable is that there was absolutely no signage," Steven said. "I understand that Con Ed regularly has to deal with electrical leaks. What isn't understandable is they totally did not inform the residents."

She added that a site safety contractor just sat in his parked car and never engaged with or spoke to residents.

It took calls to 311, 911 and, finally, a visit from the NYPD before a Con Ed repair crew arrived, she said. And while cops were talking to the safety manager, a passing pit bull got jolted.

"The yellow tape is out there to keep people away from the energized objects," Con Ed spokesman Allan Drury told The Post on Monday.

Con Ed workers discovered the problem early Friday but had limited access to the area because of tightly parked cars, he said.

Repairs were completed on East Seventh Street late Sunday, he said.

Another neighborhood dog, a black standard poodle named Maybelline, was zapped so violently on Sunday that her heart stopped temporarily, said the dog's owner, Catherine Kord.

In 2004, Jodie Lane died while walking her two dogs in the East Village after stepping on a metal plate electrified by faulty wiring.

Drury wrote that such incidents have declined since Con Ed instituted new safety procedures in 2004.

Additional reporting by Amanda Lozada


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