The Statue of Liberty | blog

Paul McCartney came to Citi Field on Friday night to bring a new ballpark one thing that can’t be built in: memories. No one was better qualified.

As a 23-year-old Beatle, Mr. McCartney introduced rock to a stadium audience on Aug. 15, 1965, when the Beatles played a 34-minute set at Shea Stadium, which Citi Field replaced. The Beatles returned to Shea in 1966 on what would be their last tour.

Mr. McCartney was also at the final concert at Shea Stadium, joining the headliner, Billy Joel, on stage last year. Mr. Joel returned the favor on Friday night, singing, whooping and splashing piano chords in “I Saw Her Standing There.” In case the Mets weren’t enough, now Citi Field has musical continuity.

On Friday night, in the first of three shows at the stadium, Mr. McCartney reminisced about 1965, imitating the muffled and distorted sound the Beatles got through the old stadium’s P.A. system, which by all accounts was drowned out by screaming girls. (Nearly 44 years later, somewhat older women seized their cue to scream.)

By: nytimes.com      Read more >>

Dozens of big-name performers and actors gathered at a major charity concert in New York to pay tribute to iconic anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela on his 91st birthday.

Gloria Gaynor kicked off the gala at the majestic Radio City Music Hall, in the heart of Manhattan, with a rousing performance of her 1978 disco hit “I Will Survive.”

Celebrities on the performance list included Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and the first lady of France, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, as well as Queen Latifah, Wyclef Jean, Lil’ Kim, Gloria Gaynor, the Soweto Gospel Choir and African artists Angelique Kidjo, Baaba Maal and Sipho Mabuse.

Hollywood stars that support the Mandela Foundation charity at the event included actors Forest Whitaker, Morgan Freeman, Whoopi Goldberg, and Matt Damon.

The “Mandela Day” gala crowns a week of celebrations honoring the legendary rights activist, who battled apartheid in South Africa before becoming the country’s first black president from 1994 to 1999.

But the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize winner, whose health is increasingly fragile, is not attending.

Organizers hope that “Mandela Day” will become an event observed around the world paying tribute to the South African leader’s accomplishments.

By: AFP      Read more >>

IN the United States, politicians woo soccer moms. In Canada, they go after “Tim Hortons voters,” the folks who steer clear of lattes and start their day with a cruller and a double double (two creams, two sugars, one coffee) from the doughnut chain that’s come to represent no-frills value.

Timmies, as Canadians affectionately refer to it, is more than just a company to those who live north of the 49th parallel. It has a backstory — having been founded by Mr. Horton, a Hall of Fame hockey player, and Ron Joyce, a police officer. There’s even a sense of redemption, now that it’s once again a Canada-based company (Wendy’s owned it for years).

Oh, and it has coffee and doughnuts, which may not be quite the same here — a handful of Tim Hortons opened Monday in New York City — as they are farther north, and not exactly what they once were there, either.

By: nytimes.com      Read more >>

Robert De Niro and former tennis champion John McEnroe are among victims of a multi-million pound New York art scam, according to the US authorities.

Lawrence Salander, the owner of Manhattan’s Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, is accused of selling art belonging to other people and keeping the proceeds, selling the same piece of art more than once, and luring wealthy investors into bogus or non-existent investment opportunities.

According to the authorities, he used the proceeds of his fraud to fund an opulent lifestyle of private jet trips, a lavish party for his wife and the purchase of a 66-acre (26-hectare) country estate, as well as in a failed effort to corner the Renaissance art market.

By: telegraph.co.uk     Read more >>

A federal bankruptcy judge has cleared the way for a sale of the bulk of General Motors Corp.’s assets to a new entity, opening the door for the troubled automaker to emerge from Chapter 11 early this week.

The decision, handed down by Judge Robert E. Gerber in New York late Sunday night, came over the objections of some 850 parties.
They argued in court last week that the sale would shortchange creditors, dealers, car owners and others.

GM countered by saying that the plan to emerge from bankruptcy in this manner was the best for all parties, and that delaying such a sale could jeopardize the automaker’s chances of receiving further aid from the federal government, potentially forcing a complete breakup of the company.

Indeed, last Harry Wilson, a member of the Treasury Department’s autos task force, testified last week that the government had no intentions of funding GM after July 10.

Judge Gerber, in his decision, clearly agreed with that opinion.

By: latimes.com      Read more >>