'Comrade Bloomy' hailed at Red Hook Fairway reopening

Paul MartinkaTHANKS?Mayor Bloomberg inspects a portrait held by Fairway CEO Howard Glickberg yesterday at the reopening of the chain’s Brooklyn store.At least there weren’t bread lines. Mayor Bloomberg celebrated the reopening of Red Hook’s Fairway supermarket yesterday — and was presented with a spray-painted portrait that made him look more like a Soviet...

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100-foot sinkhole swallows man inside bedroom

A large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of a house near Tampa, trapping a 36-year-old man in the rubble.The home collapsed late Thursday in a Seffner neighborhood. By early Friday, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue officials determined the home had become too unstable to continue rescue efforts."Right now, the potential for a collapse is very, very high," Jessica Damico, a Hillsborough Fire and Rescue...

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Former Martha Stewart CEO Susan Lyne to run AOL's brands

AOL has hired one of its board members, former Martha Stewart Living CEO Susan Lyne, to run the AOL portfolio of brands.The Internet company said Thursday that as CEO of its Brand Group, Lyne will be responsible for increasing traffic across its properties, bringing top talent on board and maximizing partnerships with advertisers and publishers.Lyne takes...

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Chuck Hagel takes helm at Pentagon after bitter fight

WASHINGTON — Chuck Hagel took charge Wednesday of the Defense Department with deep budget cuts looming and Republican opponents still doubtful that he's up to the job.He took the oath of office as Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon and was expected to address civilian and uniformed employees of the department later Wednesday morning.The bitter, seven-week...

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Dennis Rodman worms his way into North Korea

APFlamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman is surrounded by journalists upon arrival at Pyongyang Airport in North Korea today.PYONGYANG, North Korea — Former NBA star Dennis Rodman brought his basketball skills and flamboyant style — neon-bleached hair, tattoos, nose studs and all — on Tuesday to the isolated Communist country with possibly the world's...

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Israel, US successfully test anti-missile system

JERUSALEM — Israel and the US on Monday carried out a successful test of the next-generation Arrow 3 missile defense system, for the first time sending an interceptor into outer space, where it could destroy missiles fired from Iran.The Arrow 3 is part of a multilayered system that Israel is developing to protect against a range of missile threats, from...

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Queens man dead in suspicious fire

A suspicious fire left a Queens man dead early this morning, police said.The fatal inferno began on the second floor of the building at 115-18 95th Avenue around 2:30 a.m., authorities said.When firefighters extinguished the blaze they found a 43-year-old man dead inside his home, cops said.The victim's name has not been released because his family has...

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North Korea warns US commander in South Korea of 'miserable destruction' if US goes ahead with drills

PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea warned the top American commander in South Korea on Saturday of "miserable destruction" if the U.S. military presses ahead with routine joint drills with South Korea set to begin next month.Pak Rim Su, chief of North Korea's military delegation to the truce village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone, sent the...

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New York-Newark is fourth worst area for traffic congestion; DC takes top spot: report

The grass, it seems, is always greener on the other side of the highway median. Ask any US driver about his commute, and you’ll likely get a lengthy tirade about the abysmal traffic conditions on his daily drive.Whether you live in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Spokane, New York or even Orlando, chances are that you dread the daily commute and believe that traffic...

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Water in LA hotel tasted funny for weeks, decomposed body found in cistern

LOS ANGELES — British tourist Michael Baugh and his wife said water had only trickled for days as they brushed their teeth, showered and drank from the taps at the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, but they could not have imagined the disturbing reason.The body of a Canadian woman was later discovered at the bottom of one of four cisterns on the roof...

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Some problems as NYC school bus drivers return to work

New York City school bus drivers who serve tens of thousands of children were back at work Wednesday after a monthlong strike that forced students — many of them disabled — to take taxis, public transportation or car services to school."We're happy to be back," said driver Philip Pan, 57, whose dashboard was adorned with a hand-drawn "Welcome back" card,...

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Hackers in office next to Chinese military base accused of plundering US gov't

BEIJING — Cyberattacks that stole massive amounts of information from military contractors, energy companies and other key industries in the U.S. and elsewhere have been traced to the doorstep of a Chinese military unit, a U.S. security firm alleged Tuesday.China's Foreign Ministry dismissed the report as "groundless," and the Defense Ministry denied any...

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Alec fast & slur-ious

Actor Alec Baldwin allegedly called a black Post photographer a racial epithet, a "crackhead" and a "drug dealer" during a confrontation on an East Village street yesterday morning, prompting police to intervene.Baldwin had first been approached by a Post reporter while walking his dogs outside his East 10th Street pad at around 10:50 a.m. He was...

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'I've killed my baba,' Pistorius sobbed to friend moments after girlfriend shot

Oscar Pistorius sobbed to his best friend: “My baba, I’ve killed my baba — God take me away” moments after his girlfriend was shot, it emerged last night. The panicking 26-year-old Blade Runner called pal Justin Divaris before alerting emergency services to the early hours shooting of model Reeva Steenkamp, it was claimed. Justin told how he sped to Pistorius’s luxury home and said the star sobbed...

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Pope Benedict said in August strength was diminishing; Vatican says conclave to elect next pope might start before March 15

BERLIN — Pope Benedict XVI said last August that his strength was diminishing and "not much more" could be expected from him as pontiff, according to a German journalist who interviewed him for a 2010 book in which Benedict said popes should in some circumstances consider resigning.Journalist Peter Seewald recalled in an article for German weekly Focus...

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Man who helped created 'Underdog' cartoon dies

BOSTON — William Watts Biggers, co-creator of the cartoon "Underdog," the mild-mannered shoeshine boy who turned into a caped superhero to rescue his girlfriend, Sweet Polly Purebred, has died. He was 85.Family friend Derek Tague says Biggers, who went by "Buck," died unexpectedly at his Plymouth home on Sunday.The native of Avondale Estates, Ga., worked...

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Distinguished desk jockeys: New medal created for drone pilots and cyber warriors

WASHINGTON — They fight the war from computer consoles and video screens.But the troops who launch the drone strikes and direct the cyberattacks that can kill or disable an enemy may never set foot in the combat zone. Now their battlefield contributions may be recognized with the first new combat-related medal to be created in decades.Defense Secretary...

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Coast Guard Academy workers busted for sex on the job

Officials at the US Coast Guard Academy say a service member and five civilian employees were disciplined for misusing the school's computers and engaging in sex acts during the workday.Academy spokesman David Santos told The Day of New London on Tuesday that the six people used government computers to send sexually explicit and other inappropriate content,...

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Obama to stress jobs in State of the Union speech; audience's message is guns

WASHINGTON — The American public will get a competing mix of rhetoric and imagery in President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday, a speech that offers a heavy dose on the economy even as it plays out against a visual backdrop dominated by the current national debate over guns.With the economy still trying to find its footing and with millions still...

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1 dead after blaze rips through Harlem apartment building

A deadly fire swept through a Harlem housing project -- killing one, authorities said.The blaze broke out on the second floor of a building in the Taft Houses on Fifth Avenue and West 115th Street at 4:15 a.m., the FDNY said.Rescue workers pulled a 30-year-old man from the apartment in cardiac arrest, police said. The victim was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital,...

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