Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s request to lay a wreath at ground zero was the unlikeliest wish in a week of ambitious schemes. Hillary Clinton took a second swing at universal health care, laying out a $110 billion program. Rudy Giuliani crossed the pond to London to rub shoulders with Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, and Gordon Brown, then suggested that Israel join nato. Dan Rather sued CBS for $70 million.

Knicks coach Isiah Thomas hoped the jury in his sexual-harassment case would buy his explanation that it was okay for a black man to call a black woman bitch. President Bush hoped to avoid a confirmation crisis by nominating well-respected Bronx native (and Giuliani pal) Michael Mukasey to replace forgetful pincushion Alberto Gonzales as attorney general. The defendant in a Brooklyn gay-¬bashing murder claimed he was gay, too. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a half-point, recharging the stock market, though city economists estimated that 10,000 Wall Street jobs were still on the chopping block. Preservationists protested Donald Trump’s already-under-construction Trump Soho.

A cross-dressing bank robber got busted in Long Island when he forgot to shave his mustache. The MTA gave the thumbs-up to cell-phone service in subway stations (though not, mercifully, on trains). The National Park Service nixed any plans to reopen Lady Liberty’s crown. A Bronx soldier facing a second tour of duty admitted he’d paid someone $500 to shoot him in the leg. Sex and the City’s craft-service trucks once again clogged our sidewalks as a movie version started shooting. AOL announced it was moving from Virginia to the Kmart building in Astor Place. Competitive pooches soared through the air at a long-jump contest in Bryant Park. And a cow marked for death at a Queens butcher shop took a gamble on a late-night escape — and milked its media moment for a full pardon to an animal sanctuary upstate. —Mark Adams