PARADE FOR GIANTS: Tuesday at 11 AM

NEW YORK (AP/1010 WINS)
-- New York City plans to honor the Super Bowl champion New York Giants
with a ticker-tape parade that will end with a ceremony at City Hall
Plaza.



The parade is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Tuesday on Broadway at
Battery Place and is expected to follow a route north to Chambers Stree

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Giants Stun Patriots in Super Bowl XLII

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Giants
were not even supposed to be here this week, taking an unlikely playoff
path through the behemoths of their conference and regarded, once they
alighted on Super Bowl XLII, as little more than charming foils for the New England Patriots’s assault on immortality. But with their defense battering the National Football League’s most valuable player, Tom Brady, and Giants quarterback Eli Manning
playing more like Brady than Brady himself, the Giants, seemingly
enlivened for the postseason by a 3-point loss to these same Patriots
in the regular-season finale, crafted one of the greatest upsets in
Super Bowl history, beating the Patriots, 17-14.
It was the first championship for the Giants since the 1991 Super Bowl. Back then, Bill Belichick
was the Giants’ defensive coordinator. On Sunday, he was the
coach who had led the Patriots to the brink of an historic perfect
season, had survived a spying scandal that cost him money and his team
a first-round draft pick, had weathered whispers in recent days that a
previous title might be tainted, too, only to watch it all collapse
under the weight of the Giants’ ferocious pass rush. For another
year, the 1972 Miami Dolphins will stand alone with the only perfect season in N.F.L. history.

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SANTANA DEAL A HUGHES RELIEF

February 1, 2008 -- TAMPA - Phil Hughes Phil Hughes can relax. With Johan Santana headed to the Mets New York Mets , Hughes will remain with the Yankees New York Yankees .

"That's kind of been my goal the whole time, and to finally know that
it's somewhat intact, it's a good feeling," the 21-year-old
right-hander said yesterday at the Yankees' minor league complex.

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Commission's Pricing Plan is Approved

The commission in charge of finding a solution for the chronic
gridlock that plagues New York City made its final recommendations
Thursday, approving a scaled-down version of the original plan that
still charges cars $8 to enter the most traffic-choked parts of
Manhattan.

The plan follows the lead of other cities around the globe that
started similar "congestion pricing'' systems and would make New York
the first city in the nation to embark on such an effort. The
commission's recommendations must now be approved by the City Council
and Legislature before taking effect.

The goal behind the fees is to get more people to take mass transit,
thus improving the notorious gridlock and pollution issues in the city.

Mass transit advocate Gene Russianoff said the commission
desperately needed to take action. "The city is drowning in traffic,''
he said.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's original plan called for $8 fees for cars
to enter Manhattan anywhere below 86th street, along with charging
drivers a $4 fee to travel within the so-called congestion zone. The
new plan eliminates the $4 charge to drive within the zone.
Instead, taxis would be hit with a $1 surcharge for trips that start
and/or end in the zone. Parking meter rates in the zone would increase
as well.

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Congestion Pricing Panel To Endorse A Plan

The commission studying ways to reduce traffic is expected to endorse a plan Thursday afternoon.



The Congestion Pricing Commission is expected to pass a proposal
that calls for an $8 fee for anyone driving in Manhattan south of 60th
Street.



The committee was formed after Albany legilsators agreed that
traffic problems had to be addressed, but couldn't agree on the
details.



Sources say the plan also calls for taxi fares to include a $1
surcharge and for some residents to lose an exemption from parking
garage taxes.


A controversial plan to put tolls on the East River bridges has
been scrapped for now, though motorists will still be hit once they
enter Manhattan.



A traffic reduction plan must be legally approved by March 31st for
the city to qualify for $354 million in federal transportation funding.

Technorati Tags: congestion pricing plan, tonylimo, news, nyc

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Traffic Congestion plan for NYC

Tony will tell the city what to do....

Gotta get moving..NYC Conjestion Pricing

Two huge deadlines face our deadline-averse lawmakers in Albany over
the next two months. One is the April 1 start of the new fiscal year,
the traditional date for passing the budget. The other is March 31, the
last day they can adopt a plan to cut New York traffic congestion
without risking loss of $354 million in federal funds. They can't
afford to miss it.


Last year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg came up with a plan to ease the
traffic that is hurting city residents, suburban commuters and
businesses. His congestion pricing plan would charge an $8 fee to cars
entering or leaving Manhattan below 86th Street on weekdays between 6
a.m. and 6 p.m. Though congestion pricing has helped such cities as
London, his idea drew a lot of fire.

Typical of Albany, the
solution was to appoint a study commission. It's due to finish its
report tomorrow. A draft shows that it has done solid research on the
mayor's plan, on an alternative that makes 60th Street the northern
boundary, and on other plans, such as one that involves East River
tolls and one that uses license plate numbers to ration who can drive
into the congestion zone.
Our point here is not to endorse any one proposal, but to remind
lawmakers that they now have the data they need to make a smart
decision - and soon. They have to pick a plan that uses congestion
pricing as its core, or the federal funds won't flow. That money would
beef up mass transit before the program begins, to carry the extra
riders that it's expected to discourage from driving. It's crucial. So
is the $400 to $500 million in annual revenue expected from the fees.

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METS TRADE FOR JOHAN SANTANA

January 29, 2008 -- The Mets today completed a trade with the Twins
for Johan Santana for four prospects. The deal is pending a contract
extension for the ace left-hander, who also must pass a physical.

By being persistent and hanging around while the Yankees New York Yankees
dropped out and the Red Sox grew more tepid in their interest, the Mets
landed the biggest trade prize of a busy trade season. That is if they
can sign Santana.

The lefty has the right to veto any trade and has indicated he
wants a six- or seven-year contract for as much as $25 million a
season.

The Mets have said they will not go beyond five years in any package.

But there is probably middle ground if the Mets are willing to
add option years that are easily obtainable. That the Mets have a
strong relationship with Santana's agent, Peter Greenberg, who also
represents Jose Reyes Jose Reyes , also is beneficial.

The Mets will surrender Carlos Gomez Carlos Gomez , Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey and Phil Humber. The Twins initially told the Mets there would be no trade without Reyes.

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Led Zeppelin coming to an arena near you?

TOKYO - Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page said Monday he was ready to take the iconic band on a world tour after burning up the stage at last month's reunion concert in London. But it probably won't be before September.

"The amount of work we put into O2 was what you would normally put into a world tour anyway," Page, 64, said of the intense rehearsing the band did for the Dec. 10 concert at London's O2 Arena.

The band's three surviving members — Page, singer Robert Plant and bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones — were joined at the sold-out benefit show by the late John Bonham's son Jason on drums.

Page, who was in Japan to promote the new Zeppelin release, "Mothership," said the two-hour-plus concert was proof that Led Zeppelin can still perform at its best.

He said the band, which formed in 1968, was ready musically to get back together and take it out on a wider run, but it was not clear when it would go on tour as the singer had other plans.Robert Plant has a parallel project and he is busy with that until September," Page said.

Plant and bluegrass star Alison Krauss will begin their world tour with a run of shows in the southern U.S. this spring. The two released an album in October called "Raising Sand" that debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard chart in the U.S. The duo will tour Europe in May before returning for North American shows still to be announced for June and July.

Page said the band set their standards very high before agreeing to do the reunion, their first in 20 years. Led Zeppelin broke up in 1980 after the elder Bonham's death.

Page said they rehearsed for weeks, apprehensive that the cohesion they had in the 1970s when they were at their peak might be hard to rediscover.

Technorati Tags: tonylimo, led zeppelin, NYC

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Giuliani seeks one more 'I told you so' in Florida primary

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -- Rudy Giuliani loves to prove people wrong. He's trying to do it again in Florida.

Polls
show the former New York mayor, last year's national front-runner,
trailing badly in the state where he has bet almost everything in his
pursuit of the Republican presidential nomination. If he wins on
Tuesday, he will have earned the biggest, brashest "I told you so" of
his political career.

Lose, and Giuliani may be uttering his final words of the campaign.

"Wednesday morning, we'll make a decision," he told reporters between campaign appearances.

"In
the past, I've done the impossible - things that people thought were
impossible," he told supporters at a rally Monday. He was talking about
immigration policy, but he might as well have been discussing how to
resuscitate his presidential campaign.

Technorati Tags: tonylimo, Rudy Giuliani

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Caroline Kennedy Endorses Obama, Ted Likely Next

NEW YORK (AP) -- The daughter of President John F. Kennedy endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama
, saying he could inspire Americans in the same way her father once did."I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them," Caroline Kennedy wrote in
an op-ed posted Saturday on the Web site of The New York Times. "But
for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that
president, not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."

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NYC'S...Fees Likely for Traffic Plan

Nearly half the members of a commission studying ways to tame city
traffic said the panel would likely recommend imposing fees for driving
into the most congested part of Manhattan, a newspaper reported Friday.



The commission's choice will likely be a less ambitious version of
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to charge cars $8 and trucks $21 to
drive into Manhattan below 86th Street on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6
p.m., The New York Times reported.



Eight of the 17 Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission members said
they expected the group would emerge with a modified take on
Bloomberg's plan, the newspaper said. A leading possibility, according
to the Times: making the cutoff for entry at 60th Street, and not
charging drivers for trips within the fee zone.



An estimated nearly $500 million a year in proceeds would pay for mass transit improvements.

Technorati Tags: TONYLIMO, NYC, TRAFFIC

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Giants Stun Packers and Head to the Super Bowl

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Under a full moon, a black sky and a crisp and cruel blanket of cold, the Giants stood on the frozen sideline of Lambeau Field, waiting for a rush of warmth.

With one errant toss from a legendary quarterback, and one kick from
the right foot of Lawrence Tynes, the Giants sent themselves from the
northern prairie and into the southwestern desert, all the way to the Super Bowl.

Tynes’s
47-yard field goal 2 minutes 35 seconds into overtime gave the Giants a
23-20 victory in the National Football Conference championship game.
The Giants will next head to Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Ariz., where
they will be two-touchdown underdogs to the undefeated New England Patriots on Feb. 3.

The Patriots defeated the San Diego Chargers, 21-12, in the American Football Conference title game.

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NYC Cabbies' Group Plans Strike, Bloomberg Plays Down Threat

NEW YORK (AP) -- A group of New York City taxi drivers is threatening to go on strike Wednesday over new rules requiring all cabs to have GPS and touch-screen monitors that will let passengers pay by credit card.

Read: City's Taxi Strike Contingency Plan

While playing down the likelihood of widespread disruption, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans Tuesday to institute group rides to and from LaGuardia and Kennedy airports if cabbies strike. Currently, drivers are allowed to pick up only one fare at a time.

"Our expectation at the moment is that there will be very few, if any, taxi drivers striking tomorrow and the next day,'' Bloomberg said at a news conference. "I think cooler heads will prevail.''

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance is calling for drivers to go on strike for 48 hours beginning at 5 a.m. Wednesday to protest a requirement that the city's more than 13,000 cabs have the high-tech equipment when they come up for inspection, starting Oct. 1. The alliance claims to represent about one-fifth of the Taxi & Limousine Commission's 44,000 licensed drivers.

Some cabbies fear the video systems could be used to track drivers' movements and that drivers would get stuck paying hefty fees for credit card processing.

Fatal Shooting at Queens Subway Station in Astoria

Police are looking for a group of four or five men seen running from the Broadway train station in Astoria, Queens where a 19-year-old man was shot in the head and killed.

Police say the shooting was reported at 1:15 this morning.

Police are questioning a number of people who were at the train station - because they were coming from the bars and clubs in the neighborhood.

No names have been released.

iphone for sale by teen.

this is the ebay site for the teen.

Man Jumps from Police Stationhouse Window

NEW YORK -- Police were searching Friday for a man who jumped out a third-floor stationhouse window to escape questioning about a deadly shooting.

The 27-year-old man had been handcuffed and the window closed, but he managed somehow to slip out the window onto an adjacent building Thursday afternoon and ran off, police said.

Police dashed out of the 103rd Precinct station in Queens and charged up a fire escape to the roof to look for the man, said witness Stephanie Ortiz, 21. She said she asked an officer what had happened and was told, "You don't want to know. Something really bad.''

Despite a vigorous search, the man was still at large early Friday, police said.

Officers were questioning him about the death of Darnell Angevine, 25, of Amityville, who was fatally shot in the chest during a July 28 dispute on a Queens street.

Cabbies Turning Up Strike Talk Over Technology

Taxi drivers who oppose having global positioning systems in their cabs have set a strike date. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which has more than 8,400 members, will call for drivers to strike on September 5th and 6th if city leaders don't drop plans for a GPS system that the group fears could be used to track drivers' movements.

All 13,000 city cabs will be required by the Taxi and Limousine Commission to install touch-screen and global positioning systems. The commission initially called for the technology while approving a 26 percent fare increase in 2004. Starting on October 1, as taxis come up for inspection, they will be required to have the technology.

The touch-screen monitors will let passengers pay by credit card, check on news stories, map their taxi's current location and look up restaurant and entertainment information.

The Taxi Workers Alliance opposes the GPS system -- saying it is an invasion of drivers' privacy.

Swimmer Circling Manhattan to Help Sick Kids

Dominican world-record swimmer Marcos Diaz, who fought childhood asthma by exercising in the Caribbean waters, faced a new challenge on Saturday: a nonstop, 20-hour swim around Manhattan.

His aim is to raise money for poor Dominican children with cancer, and to start a program for youngsters with asthma.

`I started to swim when I was 6, to improve my lungs and my breathing,'' said Diaz, 32, who plunged into the water Saturday evening, at the point where the Hudson River joins the East River.

New York Yankees Slugger A-Rod Gets Key to City for 500th Homer

New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez was presented on Thursday with a key to the city in honor of his 500th home run.

A-Rod, who just turned 32, hit the milestone homer against the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 4, becoming the 22nd and youngest player to reach the mark.

He received a key to the city from Mayor Michael Bloomberg at Yankee Stadium before a game against the Detroit Tigers while his teammates and manager, Joe Torre, looked on.

"It will be something I hold dear to me for the rest of my life,'' Rodriguez said.

The Yankees paid tribute to A-Rod on Monday before their game against the Baltimore Orioles, presenting him with home plate, a silver tray with an inscription from team owner George Steinbrenner, two portraits and a sculpture.

Keys to the city are presented to distinguished people for outstanding civic contributions. Last week, the mayor presented a key to New York Mets pitcher Tom Glavine in honor of his 300th career win.