The alarm bells started ringing last week in the rightmost corners of Republican Nation, when John McCain suggested to The Weekly Standard that the door was still open to the possibility of him naming Tom Ridge as his running mate. Ridge, the former governor of Pennsylvania and ex-head of the Department of Homeland Security, is a supporter of abortion rights — i.e., an enabler of mass-scale fetus slaughter in the eyes of the GOP’s ardent pro-life faction. McCain’s appearance Saturday night at Saddleback Church, where he declared himself a fervent pro-lifer and one who will govern as such, reduced the abortion-apostasy danger level from orange to yellow. But the threatometer began blinking red this morning, when word hit the Web that McCain officials have been calling up key Republican officials and donors, sounding them out about the scale of the fallout from a pro-choice V.P. pick.
8/19/08
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LinkLeitch: Federer Making His Final Stand at the U.S. Open
Photo: Getty Images
Bloomberg: Tired of McCain and Obama’s Energy ‘Pandering’
Photo: Getty Images
And we ought to be getting a real debate on our energy future from our major Presidential candidates. Instead, sadly, they're treating us to a political silly season, with one candidate calling for opening up the nation's strategic oil reserves and the other for giving the federal gasoline tax the summer off. For shame — the best that can be said about those ideas is that they're pandering. Far worse, they're distractions from the deadly serious business of creating a new national energy policy.
That's right: Bloomberg has hijacked the Straight Talk Express. Good thing no one is talking about him as a V.P. pick anymore.
A Peek Inside the New JetBlue Terminal at JFK: An Antidote to Air Rage?
Photo: Sophie Donelson
The cornucopia of fine-dining options at JetBlue's soon-to-open JFK terminal isn't for everyone — some of us are fine subsisting on $8 trail mix from the Grove and a pouch of Terra Blue chips, thank you. But the affable David Rockwell and architecture super-firm Gensler recently gave a hard-hat tour that proved $743 million can buy a little something exciting for everyone. Starting October 1, JFK's landmark Terminal 5 (originally designed by Eero Saarinen) will no longer stand abandoned beside the AirTrain — it will be alive with JetBlue passengers. Among the highlights:
• Playgroundlike springy rubber floors specially designed for post-security bare feet.
• A marketplace (ahem, retail and concessions) with grandstand-style seating and JetBlue-sanctioned buskers (Rockwell cites Union Square as his inspiration).
• Four words: Ron Jon Surf Shop.
• Twice the number of required toilets, including an extra-large WC labeled "Family Bathroom," which may deter awkward foot-tapping incidents.
• A handy time-warp passage. As soon as the last speck of asbestos is wiped clean from Saarinen's 1962 terminal, passengers can be dropped curbside to reenact their own TWA-era farewells, and then proceed through the restored "flight tubes" to the new terminal.
To prevent a total meltdown on October 1 (à la London Heathrow's Terminal 5 debacle), the airline is staging a mock opening day on Saturday. More than 1,000 frequent flyers, plus crew, family, and friends, will show up, be handed empty suitcases and script, and embark upon a simulated journey — sans planes. Let's hope no one else ever has to wait around for a flight to nowhere.
High Five for T5 [JetBlue]
Times Square Cyclist-Clobbering May Spur Paterson to Appoint Special Prosecutor
Remember the above video from this summer, in which police officer Patrick Pogan body-slammed a biker during a Critical Mass ride through Times Square? Well, Pogan was briefly suspended and the matter is under investigation by the district attorney's office. But some civil-rights advocates who have been agitating for more NYPD oversight have seized upon the incident. They're calling on David Paterson to consider the idea of a permanent special prosecutor to examine police misconduct. A spokeswoman for Paterson said he is indeed considering picking an independent official to look into the bicycle incident, and is considering making it a permanent role.
According to the Villager, Paterson has always been sensitive to police-abuse issues — he was arrested in 1999 (while he was a state senator), alongside NAACP president Kweise Mfume and a group of other protesters, for blocking the entrance to NYPD headquarters in protest of the shooting of Amadou Diallo. The last time a special prosecutor's office was created was in 1972, under Nelson Rockefeller. Its goal was to investigate police corruption, but it was disbanded by Mario Cuomo in 1990. Opponents of the idea say that District Attorney Robert Morgenthau — who has prosecuted over 200 cop-related crimes since 1975 — and the NYPD's own Internal Affairs department are more than enough to take care of the problem.
Murray Hill Graffiti — Touched (Inappropriately) By an Angel?
Brooklyn Heights: The gorgeous corner brownstone where Cher lived in the movie Moonstruck was finally sold, for $4 million. A family with young kids will live there, according to a nice old-lady neighbor who once was given a cup of coffee by Cher herself. [NYDN]
Chelsea: On Thursday, the Hotel Chelsea will honor Storme DeLarverie, a drag king who is a longtime resident and the only female member of the famous Jewel Box review. [Living With Legends]
Murray Hill: How often do graffiti artists specializing in phallic imagery quote Saint Teresa of Ávila? Also, how often are we truly reminded that, yes, death is a killer? Thanks, street artists, for always surprising us. [Newyorkshitty]
Jennifer Lopez Doesn’t Understand Why Everyone Is Talking About Michael Phelps and Not Her
"I'm ready for my Sports Illustrated cover!"Photo: Getty Images
Lopez … was overheard saying after the segment that she "couldn't understand why everyone is talking about that swimmer," according to a GMA source. "She couldn't come up with (eight-time gold-medal winner Michael) Phelps's name, and then she yammered on about how she was the one training for a triathlon just six months after giving birth, and how that was the big story right now, not 'the swimmer.'"
We know, we know. It's almost too easy. But, in her defense, there was a time when she could move large sectors of the American public to jump out of their seats, scream and weep. Don't pretend you don't remember Anaconda and El Cantante — like Phelps's last victory, those memories will be forever scalded onto your brain.
Phelps, schmelps! J.Lo’s also in training [MSNBC]
Earlier: Where Were You When Michael Phelps Won His Eighth Gold Medal?
John McDonald Never Goes to Bed Before Midnight
Photo: Jesse Harris
Age: 39.
Occupation: Serial entrepreneur. McDonald is the publisher of City magazine, creator of E*BOOST Energy Drink, and the man behind hit restaurants like Lever House, Lure Fishbar, Chinatown Brasserie, Brasserie 44, and MercBar, which is celebrating its 20th year this fall.
Neighborhood: Soho.
Who's your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
I just read the biography of John Jacob Astor and would have to put him at the top of the list. First of all, the guy lived to be older than 85, which in the 1700s was amazing — and he was the first true Manhattan real-estate developer. Not to mention his wealth by comparison easily dwarfed that of today’s billionaires. The man had his own railroad car that could take him anywhere as well … he would have had a Global Express today for sure.
What's the best meal you've eaten in New York?
High end it would be Jean-Georges, who I think understands how people want to eat better than anyone today. Or, much less fancy, Peter Luger's steak for two: rare, slab bacon, tomatoes/onions, and bottle of Bordeaux.
Jets Fans’ Great Shame
King, Favre share a meaningful look.Photo: Getty Images
I think I don't want to hear what great fans the Jets have. Not for a long time. That crowd Saturday night was a disgrace. At least half the stadium was empty for Favre's debut in a Jets' uniform. I expressed my amazement to a few fellow scribes Saturday night — emphasizing that N.Y. traded for an all-time-great quarterback, not a broken-down one — and they gave varying reasons for the poor turnout. Like it's the middle of vacation month for New Yorkers, and it's a preseason game. Horsefeathers. If you really love your team, and you have season tickets, you should have been at that game unless you were in Tibet. Ridiculous.
Anti-Feminist Sues Columbia Over Women’s Studies Program
LAW
• Manhattan lawyer Roy Den Hollander, who describes himself as an anti-feminist, is suing Columbia University for offering women's–studies courses. He feels the classes are discriminatory toward men. [City Room/NYT]
• Big Law libraries are shrinking — in fact, Milbank's Manhattan library space was cut from 10,000 to 3,200 square feet last year. But that doesn't mean this is the death knell for the law libraries — it's just the start of a more technologically advanced phase. [Law.com]
• A former senior attorney for the New York Fire Department has been suspended from practicing law for five years for not following the regulations of the state's mental hygiene laws. [Law.com]
Is Obama Planning a Veepstakes Shocker This Week?
Photo: Getty Images
Male Tandem Rhythmic Gymnastics With Al Roker and Matt Lauer
You know, we would tease the two Today show hosts for this ridiculous video, but the amazing level of focus and planning (and costume design!) that clearly went into their routine is actually pretty impressive. We're kind of in awe, especially of the Chinese audience they roped in to participate. Matt Lauer has interviewed the last three sitting presidents, and he still gets to act like he's in a high school talent competition every morning? He has the best job ever.
Matt and Al's Rhythm Routine [MSNBC]
Two-Headed Turtlenapping in Brooklyn!
Early yesterday, a brazen thief stole a two-headed turtle from a Brooklyn pet store. This is a dramatic reenactment:
Larry: Wow, since that newspaper article came out about us, there have been a lot more people in the pet store lately.
Rupert: I know. It's kind of annoying.
Larry: Don’t they realize we don't need to be petted? We have shells.
Rupert: Oh, look, what's this? Who is that?
Larry: Eeee! That tickles. Wait — stop!
Rupert: What's happening? Why are we being picked up! Help! HAAAAAAALP!
Larry: Dammit, the owner is flirting with some girl over here, just as we are getting turtle-napped.
Rupert: Ugh, figures. Oof! I hate it when they put us in their pockets. Your head picks up lint like the diaper of a Dumpster baby.
Larry: My head? You're the one who can't keep your mouth shut, Paris Hilton. How many times have I had to shit out those damn blue pebbles from our terrarium?
Rupert: Oh, shut up. Your head looks like a penis. Even more than mine! [Long silence.] Man, it's dark in here.
Larry: I wonder where we're going?
Rupert: Probably to Coney Island. Again.
Larry: At least there are two of us. We can use the first-person plural and make jokes to one another, even if no one is around to listen.
Rupert: I bet this is what it's like to be a blogger.
Alex Rodriguez Still Dating Cynthia Look-alikes
Photo: Getty Images
Video: The ‘Gossip Girl’ Season-Premiere Party — Plus, Blake Lively Gets Food in Her Teeth!
Daily Intel’s love of Gossip Girl, the most awesomely awesome show ever, is nothing if not devotional, and this weekend we trekked all the way to (horrors!) Bridgehampton for the show’s season-two launch party, hosted by Vitaminwater. Chace Crawford, Leighton Meester, and Penn Badgley, we’re happy to report, are still as flawless as ever (though Chace was wearing so much bronzer we were initially worried he’d just walked through a dust storm). Ed Westwick, on the other hand, seems to have realized he’s now famous enough that he can stop feigning humility. (The reporter in us found his one-word answers infuriating; the female in us found the bad-boy ‘tude more than a little hot.)
And then, of course, there’s Blake Lively. Blake, Blake, Blake. We really want to like the girl for the sake of Penn, whom she’s dating and whose taste we imagine to be impeccable, but after about a minute in her presence we totally understood where America Ferrera’s eye-rolling comes from.
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Edited by Chris Rovzar and Jessica Pressler
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