The Knicks clinched a losing record for the season with their 100-88 defeat Monday, but what happened off the court was much more interesting. Stephon Marbury, the pariah point guard who was reportedly banned from MSG, was supposed to show up tonight. At the morning shootaround Isiah told reporters, “We expect him here tonight,” when discussing Marbury. And, true to form, Marbury made his coach look bad again by not showing up at all. While......

Photograph of Uno, a 15-inch beagle who won the Best in Group, by Seth Wenig/AP It's that time of year again - the Westminster Kennel Club will be naming the Best in Show dog tonight. Today is day two (of two) of the Westminster Kennel Club's 132nd Dog show, and the best in group for the sporting, working and toy groups will be determined. Those dogs will face off against the winners of the......

A sparkling new 700-pound ball, tons of confetti, and over a million people helped ring in the New Year from Times Square last night/early today. Mayor Bloomberg and police Police Academy valedictorian Karolina Wierzchowska, who also served in the Iraq War, hit the switch that brought the famous Times Square New Year's ball down. The Daily News called it a "shimmering pole dance," and it was the 100th time Times Square has had a......

As violence continues in Pakistan in the wake of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination, New York City's Pakistani population was shocked by the news, watching news coverage and holding vigils. One woman said to the Daily News, "For us, this is like losing [President John] Kennedy. She wanted peace. She wanted democracy. And she lost her life for these things." And a man told the NY Times, “I think there will be......

Isiah Thomas may want two weeks to save his job, but for most fans have had enough. A group of fans delivered an eight-foot-high pink slip to the steps of Madison Square Garden yesterday calling on Jim Dolan to fire Thomas. And, the “Fire Isiah” chants were heard inside the building last night, despite the team winning easily over the Cavaliers. Even Steve Mills, President of MSG and the man responsible for hiring Isiah,......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a person under a train at East Fordham Rd. and Jerome Ave. in the Bronx, a shooting on Henry and West 9th Sts. in Brooklyn, and a homicide on Roosevelt Ave. in Queens. New Yorkers found guilty of repeated incidents of ignoring recycling laws may be required to throw out their trash in see-through bags for easy inspection. Ads soliciting the perfect ass might not make it onto city......

Coyotes 5, Rangers 1: Wayne Gretzky returned to Madison Square Garden, the site of his final game as a player, to coach his Phoenix club to an easy win over the Rangers. His voice was hoarse because of a flu and laryngitis. Similar symptoms sidelined New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist, and Steve Valiquette wasn't up to the challenge of facing the worst offense in the Western Conference. Thanks to the wonders of the unbalanced......

Knicks 113 Utah 109: Now we get it. The plan was to flash some early success and then create more headlines with manufactured drama and a big losing streak. Then, the Knicks would rise off the mat, run of a huge winning streak and make the playoffs. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. Yes, the Knicks are now on a winning-streak with their victory Monday, but that is more a function of bad Utah defense......

Islanders 2, Rangers 1: For all the success the Rangers have had against the rest of the league, they still can't solve the Islanders. Five-game winning streak? Poof! Rick DiPietro made 18 saves and the Islanders won for the third time in three games between the two clubs. Ruslan Fedotenko and Josef Vasicek each scored in the second period, and Michal Rozsival scored a short-handed goal for the Rangers. He now has seven goals......

Rangers 2 Philadelphia 0: These teams really do not like each other and it was evident early on Monday night. The gloves came off just 54 seconds into the game and another fight broke out seven minutes in. That ended the boxing portion of the evening, but both teams continued to hit hard and often in a physical contest at MSG. The Rangers dominated the first period, but would have had nothing to show......

With considerably less fanfare than Diddy or Lance Armstrong, Katie Holmes ran the NYC Marathon in 5 hours, 29 minutes, and 58 seconds. She wore an FDNY baseball cap, black pants and a purple tank top - and was possibly surrounded by a security detail who might have been running alongside her. Mega-star husband Tom Cruise and child Suri Cruise, as well as her parents and mother-in-law, were on hand to give the former......

The Fire Department is investigating whether standpipes failed to bring firefighters water to help fight a seven-alarm fire that broke out on the 17th floor of the Deutsche Bank building on Saturday. The cause of the fire, which spread between the 14th and 26th floors of the lower Manhattan building, is also unclear, though the FDNY suspects it may have been caused by a cigarette or a faulty electrical panel. FDNY officials suspect that......

Smoke is once again drifting across the skyline of downtown Manhattan near the World Trade Center site as the Deutsche Bank building on Liberty St. has caught fire. Initial reports said that scaffolding was falling from the building, which is under deconstruction. The fire was recently upgraded to 5 alarms 7 alarms and multiple firefighters have been injured. Two firefighters were triaged and designated in need of immediate care with a life-threatening condition and at......

Quick, call the locksmith! Before Thursday's Yankees-Tigers game, Mayor Bloomberg gave away yet another key to the city. Just last week, Bloomberg gave a ceremonial key to Mets pitcher Tom Glavine for winning his 300th career game. Thursday's key was for Alex Rodriguez hitting his 500th career home run. Rodriguez said that the key "will be something I hold dear to me for the rest of my life." In addition to receiving the key......

Mets 8 Pittsburgh 4: It’s funny to think now about how much criticism Omar Minaya took for the John Maine trade. In fairness, it was never called that, it was all about Kris Benson and Jorge Julio with Maine considered a minor part of the deal, but what a deal that has become for the Mets. Maine improved to 11-4 Tuesday with seven solid innings of pitching and a home run while batting. Lastings Milledge......

During the Wednesday-night rush hour, a steam pipe at 41st Street and Lexington Avenue exploded, sending steam, mud, and pieces of the street hundreds of feet into the air. One person died and at least 20 people were injured. Initially, many people's first reactions were that it was a terrorist attack, what with the loud, thunder-like rumbling that shook buildings and the cloud of smoke and steam. People ran from the area of the......

The hot dogs were barely digested when Takeru Kobayashi threw down the proverbial gauntlet for next year's Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. After being handed defeat by Joey Chestnut in this year's contest, Kobayashi looked at Chestnut, pointed and yelled, "I will definitely beat him next year." Chestnut broke his own world record and Kobayashi's Coney Island record yesterday by eating 66 HDB (hot dogs and buns) and brought the Mustard Belt back......

Mets 2, Cardinals 1 (11 innings): No matter how many times the Mets beat the Cardinals in the regular season, the sting from last year's loss in the National League Championship Series won't disappear until New York takes a pennant. Going 4-0 in their first four games against the Cardinals this season doesn't hurt, though. Shawn Green hit a 3-2 pitch off the scoreboard in right field to give the Mets a walk-off win.......

Oh no! Could it be? Is the rematch between Takeru 'Tsunami' Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut in doubt? Last year at the Nathan's annual 4th of July Hot Eating Contest, Kobayashi narrowly defeated Chestnut to win the Mustard Belt for the sixth year in a row. Defending his title next week may not be possible for Kobayashi. First, his mother passed away in March, causing the Tsunami to take a sabbatical from training. Now, news......

Law enforcement officials held a press conference Saturday to outline the details of the thwarted terror plot directed against JFK airport. The group of four men, three of whom were arrested yesterday, were planning on exploding the pipeline that carries aviation fuel to JFK. Their hope was that it would set off a chain reaction along the length of the pipeline, which is 40 miles long and runs through several residential neighborhoods, in a......

First Lady Laura Bush visited a school on the Lower East Side with Mayor Bloomberg and other city officials yesterday. The first lady, a former school librarian, announced a $1.3 million grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for school libraries across the country to update their book collections. Twenty-eight schools in the city will get grants up to $5,000, including the the Island School on East Houston. The Post reports that the Island School's......

The skies cleared Sunday in time for instructors at the Upper West Side's Claremont Riding Academy to take horses out for a final ride through Central Park's bridle trails. It marked the end of an upsetting week for many riders and horse lovers, after Claremont's owner quickly announced his decision to close the oldest continuously operated stable in the United States. The New York Sun describes a sentimental and somewhat melancholy scene:Scores of New Yorkers......

Yesterday was Good Friday, and Christians in the city remembered the day that Jesus Christ was crucified. One group, Communion and Liberation, carried a cross across the Brooklyn Bridge to St. Peter's Church on Barclay as part of the Way of the Cross reenactment. One of the Christian organization's members told NY1, "It always has a special significance that we commemorate that day also as part of Good Friday, because it's the idea of......

A true sign that spring is here: Inspectors from the Department of Buildings were at Astroland Amusement Park in Coney Island yesterday, checking rides (like the Water Flume), before this weekend's opening. Opening day is April 1, and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will be there at 11:30AM to perform the ceremonial christening with a bottle of chocolate egg cream. Astroland is getting ready for its final season, as Thor Equities works on its......

Apparently, putting a wall in the middle of your home because you hate your spouse so much isn't enough to convince a jury you should be granted a divorce. A jury told Chana and Simon Taub, a Borough Park couple who were squabbling over a separation and divorce to the point where Simon Taub, who refused to move out of their plush home, built a wall in the middle in the December, they couldn't separate.......

Orlando 94 Knicks 89: It’s the simple things that the Knicks seem incapable of doing and it cost them again Monday. In this case, it was a simple defensive decision, to switch or not to switch. Mardy Collins and Nate Robinson didn’t communicate and the result was a wide-open three-pointer by Jameer Nelson that erased a lead and led to their downfall. Yes, it appeared that Dwight Howard committed a goaltending violation on Stephon Marbury’s......

Rangers 5, Flyers 0: This game needed 21 seconds to have a fight that ended up with Flyers forward Todd Fedoruk leaving the ice on a stretcher and headed to St. Vincent. While that may do it for some hockey fans, would the game be better if players limited the violence to the legal and clean collisions allowed in the contact sport? No one wants to see someone leave the ice like that. Looking......

Mayor Bloomberg has been denying that he will run for President in 2008, steadfastly maintaining that he will be Mayor for two full terms. Except yesterday, the billionaire mayor told Fox News "You never know", which instantly sprinkled fuel on the "Is he or isn't he running?" fire. To accompany its Rudy Giuliani cover story, Newsweek has an article about Bloomberg's potential in 2008. His fortune is cited as a reason it'll be possible for......

After yesterday's "shocking" revelation that his ancestors were slaves owned by ancestors of Senator Strom Thurmond, the Reverend Al Sharpton held a press conference to discuss the news. It turns out that a Daily News reporter asked Sharpton if he'd like research his family history with genealogy website Ancestry.com - the NY Times reports that Ancestry.com "approached the Daily News seeking to publicize its African-American ancestry database" and the ball got rolling from there.......

The odds were with Dandie Dinmont Harry, but James is truly the top dog. For the fifth time in 100 years, an English Springer Spaniel won “Best in Show” beating out a number of beautiful dogs. While Harry stole the hearts of fans on Monday, it was the Pettit Basset Griffon Verdeen (PBGV) named Fairchild who seemed to have the support of the crowd Tuesday night. Fairchild received a lot of vocal support from......