The NY Times' article about presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain's superclose relationship with a young, attractive female lobbyist (more about her here) has drawn a lot of criticism, especially from McCain himself. His campaign seized the moment to raise money for his campaign. Campaign manager Rick Davis' fundraising letter read, "With John McCain leading a number of general-election polls against Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, The New York Times knew the time to attack......

Foxy Brown, who last year found herself a resident of Rikers, is attempting to get released early. Not surprising considering she (falsely) declared pregnancy prior to sentencing. Her latest attempt for a "get out of jail free card" is based around her hearing problems. Now she's asking to serve rest of her sentence at home so she can receive "adequate treatment" for her ear and "have her cochlear implant reprogrammed and repaired or else face......

COMEDY: In November, shortly after the WGA strike sent SNL to reruns, the cast took the UCB Theater stage for an off-air show. If you missed that one, there's a chance to catch some of the cast doing stand-up at Comix tonight. The site says "sold out" but the people at the venue say they just added more tickets! So give a call and enjoy "An Evening with the Writers and Performers from Saturday Night......

What's today's salacious claim about Anthony Marshall, who was recently indicted for allegedly mishandling his mother Brooke Astor's estate? That he hated his mother's dear dogs so much, he wanted them dead! Rush & Molloy spoke to a source who claims Marshall "wanted to put them to sleep." "Them" being Astor's dachshunds Boysie and Girlsie. When Marshal's own son originally claimed his father was not properly caring for Astor, it was mentioned that Marshall wouldn't......

Controversial publisher Judith Regan dropped a 70-page lawsuit on her old bosses at Harper Collins and News Corp yesterday. The $100 million defamation suit claims she was the victim of a smear campaign in order to protect Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid (read: Rupert Murdoch's political agenda). She states they asked her to lie to federal investigators about her one-time lover and former police commish, Bernard Kerik (who at the time was working with Regan on......

This afternoon's rain will continue into the evening, as some areas are being warned about the storms. New Jersey is supposed to have heavy thunderstorms, a tornado warning was issued, then canceled, for Nassau County, and an urban flood warning was issued for Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens until 7PM! There was a "ground stop" on arriving flights at Newark and LaGuardia, and delays range from 3 to 4 hours at the three area airports.......

As a kid, apple juice was a daily enjoyment. As an adult, it’s been relegated to the few short weeks where the air gets a little cooler and the layers of clothes a little thicker. And soon enough memories of apple picking start to float in our heads. The craving hit us early Friday morning. We stopped off at the Green Market in Union Square on the way to work and picked up a little......

Rocket Science (directed by Jeffrey Blitz) You know what they say about master debaters—they really know their way around an argument. A hit at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Rocket Science is a Rushmore-esque comedy about a New Jersey high school debate team and their secret weapon, stuttering Hal (Reece Thompson). The film's director knows his way around a quirky suburban overachiever, Blitz previously directed the very charming documentary about the National Spelling Bee competition,......

The State Legislature's regular session is supposed to end today, but Governor Spitzer is trying to orchestrate a deal with something for everyone: Congestion pricing (which the State Senate seems to approve but the Assembly hates), campaign reform (Spitzer's pet project, which the Senate hates), and raises for lawmakers (which the Assembly and Senate love). The NY Times reports that despite Spitzer's attempts to seal a deal before this afternoon, "negotiations on a wide range......

If they're good enough for Rush Limbaugh, they're apparently good enough for our City's school kids. The Post reports today that there are twice as many NYC eighth graders illegally using painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin than there were five years ago. This surge has lead authorities to a crackdown on pushers, nabbing five NY State doctors who were peddling the stuff to kiddies. Both drugs are opioid derivatives similar to morphine (Vicodin also contains......

The nicer the weather gets, the busier we get across the Ist-A-Verse. But we like being busy. Here's a peek at what we've been up to since last week! Chicagoist had an interview with Audrey Niffenegger, whose popular book, The Time Traveler's Wife, was based in their fine city. They also had a heated discussion about Rush Limbaugh's controversial Barack Obama parody, talked about whether Uncle Julio's Hacienda is a good place to get......

Last Sunday, subway track inspector Marvin Franklin was struck and killed by a G train at Brooklyn's Hoyt-Schermerhorn station. He was buried yesterday in Queens after a service where family and friends remembered a generous friend with an artist's soul and a compassionate heart. His ex-wife was the minister who eulogized him. His current wife, three children, five sisters, and four brothers were all present. Michael Williams, a neighbor and co-worker who would drive to......

This picture makes it look like Corn Mo should be singing Love Reign O'Er Me. And if you've ever seen Corn Mo, you know that he can hit those notes as well as Roger Daltrey. You also know that Corn Mo is quite the story teller, and you'll get a few tasty Mo-resels in this interview. What does it mean to rock to you? To give it your all. Sometimes after a show I feel......

A horrible accident occurred on the West Side Highway yesterday afternoon. Police say that Michael Rush was speeding while intoxicated in the southbound lanes near West 92nd Street and rear-ended a SUV. The SUV crashed into the median and burst into flames, and joggers nearby helped pull the driver out of the burning car (the driver suffered a broken pelvis and leg). Then Rush's car crashed and flipped over, killing a woman in the backseat.......

THEATER: Pot-au-Noir (The Black Hole) is a retelling of the story of Cain & Abel "through the lens of the Great American Myth -- combining images of Hollywood Film Noir, the Gold Rush, the Dust Bowl, and Manifest Destiny with a story that is at the core of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and, therefore, America." Jake Hooker’s new production promises lyrical text, contemporary dance and live music to tell a story of lies, deceit, jealousy,......

Protest is alive and well at Columbia, though it's still a far cry from 1968. Yesterday evening, Jim Gilchrist, head of the Minutemen, the "citizens' vigilance operation" that patrols the Mexican border in California, was invited to speak at Columbia University. But pretty much as soon as he got on stage, a group of student got on stage and protested - and then all hell broke loose. The Bwog liveblogged the event, and here's......

Will Franken grew up in Missouri where he huffed Freon, took acid, and aspired to be famous. He came to New York, became disillusioned, and went to San Francisco to make a name for himself. He's been named "Best Comedian of 2005" by San Francisco Weekly and performed his one man show at the New York International Fringe Festival and The Comedy Central Stage in LA . Now he's coming to NYC. Tell me about......

We'll be keeping a running list of nominees for this year's most inappropriate morning coverage of the fifth anniversary of 9/11-- around noon we'll crown a winner. 1. In a devious bit of counter-programming, Gawker kicks off their day's coverage with a club-kid party crash, featuring a girl named "Baby Sinead" getting a vodka shower and showing some boob. Nice! 2. The Post decides that today is the perfect time to advertise its new......

Just what you've been waiting for: Our fair city has its newest sports franchise. The National Lacrosse League is brining a franchise to the Big Apple, and four of the games will be at Madison Square Garden. Mayor Bloomberg played intramural lacrosse at Johns Hopkins, and the NY Times writes that he "showed off his command of the sports esoterica":I know you all agree with me that there’s nothing quite like a middie clamping down......

Breakups are hard, but when animals are involved, fuhgeddaboutit. The Post reports that two good friends and roommates are now in the middle of a $4 million squabble that involves "$1 million in monetary damages and $3 million in punitive damages" - and the ownership of a West Highland terrier named Ollie Pablo. After two years of sharing a Tribeca apartment, Alexis Carroll and Michelle Clarity, both 26, went from being BFF to BEFN (Best......

This week the box office juggernaut that is the new X-Men sequel has scared away all of the competition from the new releases category. All save for one plucky little environmentalist otherwise known as our former Future President of the United States, Al Gore and his scary documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. However, if you're gonna be one of those people that's all "I'm anti-Brett Ratner and his tyrannical reign of self-aggrandizement" and you've already been......

Rush & Molloy theorize how the Yankees won against the Oakland A's the other weekend - it was because Athletics' players Nick Swisher and Joe Blanton (who wasn't pitching) went to Plumm in the Meatpacking district, ordering $1,000 of vodka (which means 2 bottles) and "helped close the bar." That's a new, subversive angle for the NYC Nightlife Association to bring to community boards - "We're here to souse visiting sports teams' players!" Then again,......

We were walking around the Upper West Side when we noticed that part of West 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue had been cordoned off by a film or TV production. Was it more Bruce-and-Halle filming? Or August Rush? Or Dedication? Or a Law & Order? But actually it was Reign O'er Me. Gothamist wracked our brain, because the name had sounded familiar... and then we found a production letter: It's the September 11-related movie with......

Gothamist can't help but notice a Rush & Molloy item about media couple, Amanda Hesser (everyone's favorite NY Times food writer/target) and Tad Friend (New Yorker writer):What did New York Times food critic Amanda Hesser do when she found out her husband, New Yorker contributor Tad Friend, had slept with four of his female friends before the two writers got together? She "zeroed in on my mattress as the Indian burial ground of my rootless......

Gothamist knew there was a reason why we loved Brian Williams so much. Besides being hilarious and loving pizza, the NBC Nightly News anchor apparently loves sexy TV, too. Rush and Molloy report that when stars of The L Word (think Sex and the City without the men and the New York, but with more ladies) were at Michael's, Williams said, "On Sundays in my house, it's all about the lesbians of 'The L Word.'"......

It's great to know what our Mayor thinks about some of toys that toy manufacturers hope will be big sellers this year. At a Toys for Tots fundraiser with a "mostly gay audience," here's what Rush & Molloy picked up: - On the G.I. Joe 40th Anniversary doll...no, action figure - "[Joe would get] freaky-weaky, but you've gotta get to know him first." Freaky weaky? Do they mean freaky deaky? - On Tickle Me Elmo......

Michelle Collins, Director and Spokeswoman, Votergasm.org...

This weekend begins the 42nd New York Film Festival presented by the Film Society at Lincoln Center and it's 17 days of international films, new pictures from old favorites and introductions to unsung artists. There's too many things playing over the next couple of weeks to mention in only one posting, even the first weekend alone is a packed schedule. The opening film this Friday will be French actress-director Agnès Jaoui's Look At Me, an......

Chris Rush Cohen keeps us informed about Battery Park events. First, there's Victor Matthews' installation, Beyond Metamorphosis, which has 3,000 umbrellas handpainted with butterflies, which represents the Monarch butterflies' 3,000 migration to Mexico. The installation will be there through this Sunday, June 20. Gothamist remembers when we grew Monarch butterflies in the third grade, setting them free, with only half of them actually flying away (the others were sickly, traumatizing many 8 year olds). You......

While in Coney Island to proclaim the NYC beach season (Memorial Day through Labor Day), Rush & Molloy report that Mayor Bloomberg ran into Rheingold Beer's Steven Chasen (head of sales). Last month, the mayor derided Rheingold's ads which made fun of Bloomberg's stricter quality of life rules (no smoking, no dancing, etc.). R&M detail their exchange:Chasen says to Hizzoner: "Hi, I just want to introduce myself. I am the head of sales for Rheingold......