New York Knicks Blame Lose to Oklahoma Thunder to Ghost in The Hotel

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Knicks were afraid, very afraid. And it had nothing to do with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

For two days, several players had trouble sleeping because they were convinced that their downtown hotel is haunted.

"I definitely believe it," Jared Jeffries said. "The place is haunted. It's scary."

Eddy Curry claims he slept for only two hours Sunday night because he couldn't stop thinking about ghosts roaming the hotel.

For years, guests staying at the Skirvin Hilton have reported ghost sightings and strange noises. Legend has it that sometime in the 1930s, a woman jumped to her death while holding her baby in her hands.

"They said it happened on the 10th floor and I'm the only one staying on the 10th floor," Curry said. "That's why I spent most of my time in (Nate Robinson's) room. I definitely believe there are ghosts in that hotel."

Assistant coach Herb Williams teased Jeffries and Curry for believing that the Skirvin is haunted, but Curry wasn't laughing.

"There are too many stories," Curry said. "Something is going on there."

Senate to meet New York governor over gridlocked

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Unsatisfied with New York senators' efforts to resolve their paralyzing power dispute, Gov. David Paterson is ordering a special session beginning Tuesday.

Paterson says his order could compel senators to stay in Albany every day, including weekends and the July 4 holiday, until they take up unfinished business.

Although a governor can order a special session and set the agenda of bills to be considered, lawmakers can't be forced to vote on or debate those bills.

The Democratic governor also offered senators two well-respected former politicians to act as mediators on Monday, but held out little hope that would avoid the need for a special session.

The leadership dispute has gridlocked the Senate since June 8.




by the associated press

Prince Harry going the Big Apple

NEW YORK (AP) — He's a 24-year-old Londoner whose grandmother offered to pay for his trip to New York.

On Friday, Prince Harry will start his first official visit to America, with plans including a stop at the World Trade Center site, meetings with wounded veterans and a polo match.

"Prince Harry is well known and respected in the United States for having deployed alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan," said Alan Collins, the British consul general in New York.

Third in line to the British throne, the red-haired prince is a much-watched member of the royal family on both sides of the Atlantic. His party-boy image, romantic escapades and brushes with scandal regularly make newspaper headlines. Several years ago, Harry had to apologize for wearing a Nazi swastika armband to a friend's costume party.

But the younger son of the late Princess Diana and Prince Charles plans, no doubt, to be on his best behavior representing his country's crown during his two-day New York visit.

His grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, is paying privately for Harry's travel and that of his staff, easing the young prince into his royal role. He's in line for the throne behind his older brother, William, and his father, Charles.

At midday Friday at the World Trade Center site, Harry is to meet with relatives of four people who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. They'll be joined by New York Gov. David Paterson and officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the agency that oversees development at ground zero.

"It's a testament to our loved ones that royalty from another country is coming and expressing interest," said Monica Iken, who lost her husband, Michael, a 37-year-old bond broker.

"When Harry goes to ground zero, he can see how much progress has been made at this construction site," said Iken, who founded September's Mission, a nonprofit organization devoted to building a positive legacy in the aftermath of Sept. 11.

Later Friday, the prince will formally name the British Garden in downtown Hanover Square to honor the 67 British victims of the terrorist attack.

Harry also will visit the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Manhattan, where he will tour the prosthetics facilities and a post-traumatic stress disorder clinic. He will be joined by Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.

A British soldier who lost both legs in an explosion in Afghanistan will accompany Harry on his American trip. Joe Townsend, 21, stepped on a Taliban anti-tank mine last year in Helmand Province, about the same time the prince was commanding troops nearby.

Harry is training to be an Army helicopter pilot and was the first member of the royal family to serve on the front line since his uncle, Prince Andrew, fought in the Falklands in 1982.

On Saturday, Harry is to participate in the only recreational event on his public schedule — the Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic on Governors Island in New York Harbor, where he'll face off against Argentinian polo player and heartthrob Nacho Figueras.

The match will benefit American Friends of Sentebale, a U.S.-based charity that supports impoverished children in Lesotho, Africa, where the prince has worked and produced the documentary film "The Forgotten Kingdom."

Earlier Saturday, Harry is to see the Harlem Children's Zone, a community organization that offers families social and educational services. The prince will be accompanied by Sentebale's co-founder, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho.


by the associated press

New York bans cars

NEW YORK — Opening now on Broadway: Pedestrian malls at Times Square and Herald Square.

As part of a Department of Transportation plan to make the city more livable, cars will be banned from stretches of Broadway at Times Square and at Herald Square.

The city believes the move will cut pollution, cut down on pedestrian accidents and help traffic flow more smoothly.

The Department of Transportation says the barriers would be fully in place by Sunday night.

A ceremony ushering in the new car-free era is planned for today.

Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan says her department will monitor the area during the adjustment period.



by the associated press