It Happened Last Week

Seize the Day

By Mark Adams
Published Jun 1, 2008

In a week in which another construction crane fell on the East Side, killing at least two, everyone seemed to be living like it was their last day on Earth. Governor Paterson approved recognition of gay marriages performed in other states. Harsh attacks on the Bush administration in former spokesman Scott McClellan’s memoir hit the news waves (helping PublicAffairs publisher Peter Osnos lock up the wonk beach-reader market). Representative Anthony Weiner took a holiday from his “no comment” policy on his personal life to reveal he was dating Hillary Clinton’s “body woman,” Huma Abedin. Mayor Bloomberg admitted that he was upset because his big scene had been cut from Sex and the City, which was swarmed by roving packs of wild estrogen on its opening weekend. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo called out the MTA for handing out free lifetime E-Z Passes and MetroCards to board members. Animal-rights activists protested the Port Authority’s proposed final solution to a feral-kitty infestation near JFK airport. Gunfire at a Memorial Day barbecue in Harlem left several teens wounded. Martial artists convened in Union Square to voluntarily beat each other senseless. A married NYPD captain was busted for allegedly flashing something other than his badge to a gentleman aboard a Queens subway. Katie Couric returned briefly to Today (joined by anchor pals Charles Gibson and Brian Williams) to promote cancer research. A Fox newshound claimed she’d suffered post-traumatic stress from bedbug attacks at the network. Cops busted up an East Hampton gallery opening for photographer Steven Klein and hauled away owner Ruth Vered in cuffs for allegedly serving Champagne without a license. And a group of Suffolk County teens ventured to Fire Island and attempted to steal Michael Kors’s TV but were busted trying to lug their loot home on the ferry back to the mainland.