December 29, 2013

Eagles top Dallas to win division crown

ARLINGTON, Texas — It turns out the Cowboys can lose elimination games in agonizing fashion without Tony Romo, too. A Romo-esque interception thrown by replacement Kyle Orton sealed another playoff-less...

Islanders rally to beat Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Kyle Okposo scored twice midway through the third period, and the Islanders overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Wild 5-4 on Sunday night.John Tavares, Cal Clutterbuck...

Cabby saves Christmas for family who left gifts in taxi

A Bronx family who left bags of gifts in a livery car got a Christmas Day gift when the cabby returned all of their wrapped presents. “There are still good...

Sag Harbor losing longtime sandwich shop

The new year will bring more changes to once sleepy Sag Harbor in the Hamptons. With high prices pushing out many of the last mom and pop shops that made...

Chiara de Blasio: I’m not on social media

Although Bill de Blasio has tweeted more than 4,000 times and scored nearly 30,000 Facebook “likes,” his teenage daughter wouldn’t know — she’s not on social media. “I think technology...

The top women’s mags for New Year’s resolutions

January is the month of new beginnings, and whether that means losing weight, saving money or just trying to be happier … the women’s magazines are on the case. Redbook...

How Dolan's five-year plan for Knicks went bust

Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri sat in the press room at Air Canada Centre minutes before tipoff Saturday night, dining on pasta and pizza. Ujiri may as well have been...

Eli Manning will return with a vengeance in 2014

The one given during this season of torture for the Giants was that Eli Manning would show up. Despite how bad things were going personally and for the team, Manning...

Lundqvist, back in for Talbot, leads Rangers past Lightning

TAMPA — It was far from perfect, or inspiring or anything more than just what it was — a win. Yet in the visitors’ dressing room at the Tampa Bay...

Pension portfolios take a paddling

Pension funds in 2013 continued to get clipped by their “hedges.”Retirement funds, including those for firefighters, cops and teachers, poured $80 billion into hedge funds through Oct. 31, only to...

Geno Smith finally begins making believers of Jets

MIAMI — Geno Smith wears a thick pink rubber bracelet on his left wrist that has the word “BELIEVE’’ inscribed on it in black letters. He wears it every game,...

Hedge fund titan to pocket $3B for 2013

It could be one heckuva New Year’s Eve party for hedge fund titan David Tepper — again. The founder of Appaloosa Management, with more than $20 billion under management, is...

Carmelo latest example of Dolan's commitment to incompetence

With this month’s passing of Harold Camping, the televangelist who went a Francesa-like oh-for-four on end-of-the-world touts — thank God he wasn’t one-for-four! — TV’s longest-running wise man is now...

Entering the waiting game in Tanaka sweepstakes

The Masahiro Tanaka sweepstakes officially began last week and those involved don’t expect him to find a landing spot quickly. Tanaka became the most coveted free-agent pitcher on the market...

Stay or go, Justin Tuck always embraced New York

From the start Justin Tuck always understood that it’s different here, both the possibilities and the responsibilities. Even early on, still feeling his way as a professional and as a...

Coughlin: 'Don't ask me that' on return next season

There really is no controversy whether Tom Coughlin wants to be back or will be back as head coach of the Giants in 2014, but he opted not to address...

Bill de Blasio's council coup

There’s a joke going around among the city’s political reporters: Despite concerns that  Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has moved too slowly to form his administration, the fact is, he’s already...

Chargers bolt down No. 6 seed after Chiefs miss field goal

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Chargers' three-year playoff drought is over, thanks to another epic, heart-stopping win against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chargers have needed help for weeks,...

Rodgers hurls Packers into playoffs with last-minute TD

CHICAGO — Aaron Rodgers and Randall Cobb came back just in time to lift the Green Bay Packers to the NFC North championship. Rodgers fired a 48-yard touchdown pass to...

Go to Greg: Tips for making reachable 2014 career goals

Every year at this time I think about my career, and I make all of these promises to myself about making some changes. But then the grind starts all over...

Sagging Nets need more from Deron Williams

SAN ANTONIO — Following all of the headline-grabbing moves this summer, from hiring Jason Kidd to trading for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to signing Andrei Kirilenko, everything kept coming...

Jets report card: Some of season's best ball

OFFENSE There were moments when this unit was playing its best football of this season. It totaled 374 yards and had a nice balance of passing (220 yards) and rushing...

The best celebrity quotes of 2013

Suprisingly, Kanye West isn't the only celebrity to deliver some pretty memorable quotes this year. From models to singers to talk show hosts, the stars of the entertainment world have...

Giants report card: Defense finishes with a flourish

OFFENSE It has come to this: Where would the Giants have been the past few weeks without Jerrel Jernigan? He caught a 24-yard TD pass and ran for a 49-yard...

How to keep Gotham growing

For 12 years, soon-to-be-former Mayor Mike Bloomberg had a fiscal and economic philosophy: He couldn’t cut the costs that were ballooning the city budget. But he would try to grow...

Peyton Manning sets single-season passing record

OAKLAND, Calif. — Peyton Manning set the NFL single-season yards record and threw four touchdown passes to clinch the top seed in the AFC playoffs for the Denver Broncos with...

Why Lis Smith loses the ladies

You can mark 2013 as the year feminism officially lost all meaning. “The least feminist thing one can do is savage another woman based on [her] personal romantic choices.” That...

Top 5 Giants storylines of 2013

Pardon the Giants if they opt to ring in the New Year by making a resolution to never, ever speak of 2013 again. Everything that could go wrong did go...

Legal pot: Colorado's bad 'medicine'

With days to go before recreational pot use becomes legal in Colorado, those of us who live in Boulder are wondering what will change. Marijuana use is already ubiquitous. Open...

New year a fiscal test for NY's GOP

For those who wonder if New York will ever get a viable Republican Party, the answer is: not until Republicans start pushing an agenda that directly challenges business-as-usual in Albany....

Praying for hostage Warren Weinstein’s freedom

Add Warren Weinstein’s name to the list of Americans languishing in the hands of our enemies after being taken captive while working in a dangerous place in the service of...

Bloomberg revamping Times Square -- again

New York, the saying goes, will be a great place if they ever finish it.And it’s worth keeping in mind as we behold the new makeover for Times Square that...

Woman nearly raped, then robbed in plain sight

A woman was nearly raped while walking through Washington Heights, authorities said. The 52-year-old victim was walking near the corner of W. 175th Street and Haven Avenue at around 6...

Playoff puzzle: Chargers in charge after Ravens, Dolphins flop

The defending NFL champion Baltimore Ravens will be at home for the playoffs. So will the Miami Dolphins, putting the Pittsburgh Steelers in position to sneak off with the final...

Sotomayor to lead Times Square NYE countdown

It will be a unanimous 1-0 ruling on Tuesday night when 2013 is officially declared history. US Supreme Court Justice — and Bronx native — Sonia Sotomayor will lead the 60-second...

Jets announce they're keeping Rex Ryan after jubilant win

MIAMI — The mood around the Jets on Sunday was pure Rextasy. The Jets announced they are bringing head coach Rex Ryan back for at least one more season after...

Texans drop 14th straight, on clock with No. 1 pick

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Chris Johnson ran for 127 yards and a touchdown in what might be his last game with the Titans, who beat the Houston Texans 16-10 Sunday for...

3 city workers arrested within 3 hours in unrelated incidents

Three off-duty city workers were arrested in separate incidents in fewer than three hours Sunday morning, authorities said. Teacher Judith Fernandez, 42, was busted for driving while intoxicated on the...

Mystery man in Duchess of Argyll sex scandal ID'd

An American airline executive was the mystery man involved in a salacious, extramarital affair that rocked proper British circles five decade ago. The divorce of socialite Margaret Campbell -- known...

Eli Manning sprains ankle as Giants close with a victory

Perhaps there was no fitting way for the Giants to close down 2013 because rarely did anything fit neatly into anything all season. Sure, it was raining and dreary at...

Dodgers 'disappointed' after Yasiel Puig driving arrest

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers have told outfielder Yasiel Puig the organization is "very disappointed" with his behavior in the wake of his second arrest this year for reckless driving....

$243M lotto winner drives into sunset with new lover

She nailed the lottery and then drove off with a new lover! A British woman -- and $243 million jackpot winner -- split from her husband and hooked up with...

Bloomberg: It's been an 'honor and privilege'

Mayor Bloomberg said on Sunday that serving New Yorkers as mayor for 12 years has been an “honor and privilege.” With his tenure set to finish on Wednesday, Bloomberg has...

Former NSA, CIA boss: Snowden is a 'traitor'

WASHINGTON – Former National Security Agency and CIA head Michael Hayden said Sunday that his opinion of spy-secrets leaker Edward Snowden had sunk to a new low. "I used to...

Players’ love for Ryan makes keeping him the obvious choice

MIAMI — This is what Joy in Jetville looks and sounds like on the day they all learned Rex Ryan would be their coach in 2014: Woody Johnson stands before...

De Blasio announces city's new top lawyer

Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio has appointed former Brooklyn US Attorney Zachary Carter to become the city’s top lawyer. The incoming mayor said that as the head of the city’s Law...

Gunmen barge into home, tie up sisters and ransack place

Three gunmen burst into a Kips Bay apartment and tied up two sisters — including a 14-year-old — before ransacking the place, authorities said. The thugs were caught on surveillance...

F1 champ Schumacher in coma after ski accident

PARIS — Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher was in critical condition after undergoing brain surgery following a skiing accident in the French Alps on Sunday, doctors said. The Grenoble...

Rockets fired from Lebanon hit Israel

Rockets from Lebanon struck northern Israel on Sunday, causing no injuries but sparking an Israeli reprisal shelling in a rare flare-up between the two countries. Residents of the northern Israel...

House leaders attack new Benghazi report

WASHINGTON – House Intelligence Committee leaders from both parties Sunday slammed a New York Times article that concluded al Qaeda wasn’t behind the deadly 2012 attack on the US diplomatic...

Central Park mugger rejects flip phone

Picky, picky, picky. A gun-toting mugger in Central Park was so disappointed by his victim’s cheap flip phone that he handed it back. “Once he saw my phone, he looked...

Nets rewind: Loss to Indy proves Paul Pierce needs to start

INDIANAPOLIS – Here are three thoughts from the Nets’ 105-91 loss to the Pacers in Indianapolis Saturday night: 1. Perhaps Paul Pierce had a point. The veteran small forward publicly...

More decapitated bodies found in Mexico

MEXICO CITY — Prosecutors found five decapitated bodies in western Mexico on Saturday, with a hand-lettered sign linking the killings to a drug cartel. The bodies were found in two...

Shopper rams cart into pit bull to save tot under attack

A 3-year-old girl was injured in a terrifying attack by a pit bull that “came out of nowhere’’ outside a Queens supermarket on Saturday, witnesses and police told The Post....

Ryan Seacrest's rockin role on New Year's Eve

If it’s live TV, expect “American Idol’s” Ryan Seacrest and “The Voice’s” Carson Daly to be there. That’s certainly true on NewYear’s Eve, when Seacrest has taken over where Dick...

Flash approach in year of the undead

What I’ll miss about 2013: The day the music died. When the tragic series “Treme” takes its final bow Sunday at 9 p.m., Mama isn’t expecting a lot of happy...

Giants hope to end lost year with win vs. Redskins

It is, in coach Tom Coughlin’s estimation, a “huge, incredible difference’’ if the Giants beat the Redskins Sunday to finish 7-9, rather than lose and bow out of 2013 with...

Woman claims sexual abuse at New York Chinese School

A Brooklyn woman whose teacher was convicted of sexually abusing her seven years ago is suing the New York Chinese School, according to court papers. The woman was 13 when...

Dangerous curves ahead for dieting daters

Jen Blackford, a consumer insights director, is usually vigilant about watching her diet. She cooks with whole grains, chooses low-fat cheese and skips the fried stuff. But when she’s on...

Rebooted 'Community' college troupe returns to NBC schedule

The most recent season of the NBC comedy “Community,” its fourth, was a major disappointment for most of its fans. Creator/showrunner Dan Harmon had been fired after season three, the...

Sandra Bernhard's takes on the year in pop culture

The year 2013 had its high notes and its twerks — and Sandra Bernhard dishes about them all in “Sandyland,” her year-in-review revue at Joe’s Pub. Backed by her band,...

Have a bigger-than-it-looks ball on New Year's Eve

Each year, a lot of work and engineering is poured into the New Year’s Eve ball, officially titled — including branding — the Waterford Crystal Times Square New Year’s Eve...

Reel good films to watch on TV this week

Zombieland (2009) Sunday, 8 p.m., FXM Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Woody Harrelson (right) blast their way through a zombie-infested America in this 2009 comedy, which features an unforgettable Bill...

Don't miss: A preview of the week's top shows

Gibbs Gets Lucky, NCIS Tuesday, 8 p.m., CBS When a stolen drone is linked to the elusive terrorist Parsa, the NCIS team partners with the Department of Defense, including Gibbs’ former...

This week's couple: Southern comfort

Sometimes all it takes is one simple gesture to win someone over. Such was the case for Rachael, 26, and Zach, 27, when they met for dinner at Lavo in...

Flight attendant looking for the guy who will go the extra mile

Allison, 24 She spends most of her hours in the sky — but when she’s off the clock, she’d like to find a man with his feet on the ground...

Daily Blotter

Manhattan Port Authority cops grabbed a knife-wielding mugger who wounded a New Jersey commuter at the PA Bus Terminal on Eighth Avenue, agency sources said. At about 8 p.m. Friday,...

A regular at the opera, meet NYC's most cultured dog

You’d have a hard time finding a more cultured New Yorker than Ven. He’s a regular at the Met, Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall. He’s game for Baroque opera...

The Fab Faux is the ultimate Beatles cover band

Who knew Paul McCartney was still in competition with John Lennon? Back in 2000, at a Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony, the music legend joined an all-star line-up — including...

Uncorking the myth behind the cult of Champagne

Did a French monk named Dom Pérignon invent Champagne? Is it true that the bowl-shaped Champagne coupe was modeled after Marie Antoinette’s breast? Did Marilyn Monroe really say that she...

Gambler rewards man who returned $300K left in cab

A poker player who left $300,000 in the back seat of a Las Vegas taxi made good on his promise this week, handing over a $10,000 reward to the honest...

Syrian rebels say government airstrike on market killed 21

A Syrian government airstrike hit a crowded vegetable market in a rebel-held neighborhood of the northern city of Aleppo on Saturday, killing at least 21 people, activists said.For nearly two...

Party boy Andrew W.K.'s tips for rocking out

It’s often said New Year’s Eve is amateur night. So if the thought of partying with lightweights and flakes puts you off celebrating on Tuesday, then the simple solution is...

Claim: I was fired by anti-Semitic boss

He wouldn’t fire his Jewish co-worker, and then he got the ax himself. Thomas Greco, a 51-year-old father of five from Mickleton, NJ, claims he got his walking papers after...

Rice alums power teams in Brooklyn

Rice High School closed its doors more than two years ago, but the legendary Harlem school’s basketball program is still making its mark in New York. Returning home for the...

Woodson: Anthony might miss games during Texas trip

Carmelo Anthony missed Christmas, missed Canada and now Knicks coach Mike Woodson won’t guarantee Texas. After getting swept in their home-and-home against the Raptors following Saturday’s embarrassing 115-100 loss at...

Packers will cover with return of Aaron Rodgers

Packers (-3) over BEARS: Aaron Rodgers is back in business, thus home dogs must fear the worst in this divisional winner-take-all. Expect Packers running back Eddie Lacy to be out...

AAC to withhold Rutgers’ Pinstripe money amid dispute

Rutgers may have played in the Pinstripe Bowl for free Saturday afternoon. At least, that could be the case if the American Athletic Conference has its way, according a report....

Suicide bomber kills at least 15 in Russia

Warning: Graphic Images A suicide bomber killed at least 15 people at a packed train station in Russia on Sunday, raising the specter of grisly terror attacks when the country...

Mohegan tribe eyes casino expansion

Mitch Etess runs the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, which owns the Mohegan Sun, but his bloodlines run through the borscht belt. The Tribal Gaming Authority hopes to be part of...

Good news for markets as oil prices set to keep falling

Want to know where stock and bond prices are headed in 2014? Well, a good bet is to look no further than the oil pits in lower Manhattan, where they...

ObamaCare performance way below 1 percent on first day

They’re the .0002 percent! That’s the minuscule number of visitors to healthcare.gov who actually signed up for coverage — just six people out of more than 3 million — on...

'Miracle' pup survives being dumped in trash

A Long Island pup who was found cruelly tossed into a trash bin is getting a new lease on life — while an animal-shelter employee who allegedly committed the heartless...

De Blasio camp promises sweet gigs for support of Mark-Viverito

Bill de Blasio’s surrogates are promising plum City Council assignments, along with plumper paychecks, to council members in return for supporting Melissa Mark-Viverito for council speaker, four council sources revealed....

Pol blasts report that al Qaeda not behind Benghazi

A top congressional Republican is blasting a new report concluding that al Qaeda and other terrorist groups had nothing to do with the 2012 attack on the US diplomatic compound in...

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,”...

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...

Former Spitzer hooker details her clients in 'Call Girl Confidential'

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...

Call girl: Eliot Spitzer liked to choke me

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...

NYers trash bad memories ahead of 2014

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...

The mob murder at Rao’s that was sparked by a song

The crowd was three deep at the bar at Rao’s that night. The East Harlem red-sauce joint, famous for its lemon chicken, celebrity clientele, and the impossibility of securing a...

East Villagers bash new Halal food cart

A neighborhood once besieged by drugs and violence has a new scourge — the falafel guy. East Villagers are up in arms over a Halal food cart stationed on Avenue...

Parking garage put $42,000 'scratch' on my Bentley

A Manhattan man whose beloved Bentley took a beating at an Upper East Side garage says the parking facility refuses to compensate him for the damage to the $150,000-plus vehicle,...

Brooklyn Torah Animal World flat broke, will close

Lions and tigers and bears — oy vey! The city’s weirdest museum will soon be closing its doors and making an exodus from Brooklyn with a menagerie of 350 stuffed...

City bulldozes community garden in dead of night

What the cluck? A developer bulldozed a beloved community garden in ­Coney Island on Saturday to make way for an amphitheater — uprooting 20 chickens on a decades-old plot that...

Silva snaps leg in gruesome UFC injury

The career of the greatest MMA fighter ever is likely over after one of the most gruesome scenes in UFC history. Anderson Silva broke his left leg during the second...

Teacher: Prober said sex would get me off hook

A Department of Education detective tried to have sex with a Brooklyn teacher he was probing in exchange for letting her keep her job, she charges. Investigator Lawrence Scott, 40,...

NYE playlists that are surefire floor-burners

As we say goodbye to 2013, pay tribute one more time to the best songs of the year: We’ve put together the ultimate set of year-end playlists for any New...

Jeff Daniels: Dumb like a fox

In 1976, a 21-year-old Jeff Daniels moved from Michigan to New York, determined to make it as an actor. Aware that this endeavor would include “sitting by the phone, waiting...

Nets' Lopez to have his foot surgery next week

INDIANAPOLIS — The Nets announced Saturday evening before their 105-91 loss to the Pacers that Brook Lopez will have surgery to repair the fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot...

Injury-riddled Knicks could re-sign big man Jeremy Tyler

TORONTO — The Knicks are plotting an entrance strategy for 6-foot-10 big man Jeremy Tyler, hoping he can give them a youthful spark. Knicks brass has seriously discussed re-signing Tyler...

RBs McCoy, Murray could decide Eagles-Cowboys showdown

ARLINGTON, Texas — It’s being billed as the battle of the backup quarterbacks, but the NFC East could well be decided Sunday night by two of the NFL’s best running...

How political correctness took down Navy SEALs

The night of Sept. 1, 2009, Echo Platoon of Navy SEAL Team 10 headed out into the Fallujah night. Their goal: concluding a five-year search for the al Qaeda killer...

Sick, alone & lost in India, with no idea who you are . . .

David Stuart MacLean woke up one day in October 2002 in a disturbing manner, as he suddenly came to consciousness standing on a train platform in India. “It wasn’t a...