A man was killed inside of a no-tell motel yesterday in Queens, authorities said.
Joseph Benzinger, 54, was discovered by an employee of the Crown Motor Inn off Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst at 11:30 p.m. laying on the floor in one of the rooms, police said.
It was not immediately known how the Middle Village man died, police said.
The city’s medical examiner will determine the cause of death, cops said.
No arrests have been made.
REUTERS
A man operates a snow plow in New York on Saturday.
A massive winter storm dumped as much as 2½ feet of snow on Long Island overnight and left thousands there without power while New York City residents, despite a foot of snow, counted themselves lucky Saturday.
Police in Suffolk County, on the eastern end of the island, used snowmobiles to reach some motorists stranded on the Long Island Expressway. Ambulances, fire trucks, police vehicles and some snowplow trucks as well as passenger vehicles got stuck overnight throughout the area, said Vanessa Baird-Streeter, spokeswoman for Suffolk County.
HUNDREDS OF CARS STUCK ON LIE
POUGHKEEPSIE MAN STRUCK, KILLED AFTER DRIVER LOSES CONTROL ON SNOWY ROAD
FOLLOW @NYPMETRO ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST ON THE STORM
About 10,000 utility customers, most in eastern Suffolk, did not have electricity Saturday morning, said Wendy Ladd of the National Grid.
Ladd said those without power could be restored within a day if crews can get to them, but "access is an issue."
"We have plenty of crews available to do the restoration work, and if we can get to them, we're saying we can get them back in 24 hours," Ladd said. "But the issue is whether our big trucks can get to them if streets aren't plowed."
Suffolk County was hit harder than neighboring Nassau County, a relief for communities that were flooded during last October's Superstorm Sandy. The Weather Service said coastal flooding did not create major problems during the new storm.
Meteorologist David Stark said the community of Upton, where the weather service has a headquarters, had 30.3 inches of snow. Several other towns topped 2 feet: Setauket, Smithtown, Port Jefferson, Mount Sinai, Islip, Huntington and Commack.
In Nassau, by contrast, Wantagh reported 11 inches.
County Executive Ed Mangano said Nassau was coping well.
"For the most part, we're moving here in Nassau County, although we ask our residents not to take the roadways unless absolutely necessary," he said.
In New York City, the reading in Central Park was 11.4 inches and 12.1 at LaGuardia Airport. Stark said the city had a longer period of sleet rather than snow, which held town the totals.
But the city was spared the worst of the storm, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
He said more than 2,200 vehicles plowed streets overnight, clearing every major thoroughfare at least once and even most secondary streets. Traffic was flowing easily through most of the city's busiest streets.
"We're in great shape. We're lucky. ... We've dodged a bullet," Bloomberg told plow workers at a sanitation garage in Queens.
Bloomberg said all city streets will be cleared of snow by the end of Saturday and that all primary, most secondary and "60 percent" of tertiary streets have already been plowed.
Noting that areas to the north and east of the city got hit far worse, the mayor said he would make the city's equipment and manpower available if needed in Long Island, Connecticut and elsewhere.
"We want to make sure we provide whatever they need. When we were in trouble, the country came to our aid and we want to make sure we do the same," he said.
City residents didn't have too much trouble getting around.
"It's not that bad," said carpenter Kevin Byrne, as he dug his car out of its Manhattan parking spot. "It's not as bad as everybody said it was going to be."
But he said he left his shovel at home.
"I'm using a scraper to shovel out, which is not good," he said. "But was anybody prepared? The last two winters have been so mild."
Efrain Burgos, a native New Yorker, took no chances on driving.
"I took the subway for the first time in 10 years," said Burgos, who took the No. 2 train from his home in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx.
He said that while roads were well-plowed near the Upper West Side neighborhood where he works as a doorman, in the Bronx, "the roads are packed with ice."
On Father Capodanno Boulevard in Staten Island's Midland Beach, frigid gusts blew in from the water, but those residents who have moved back in to their houses said the wind wasn't as bad as feared even at the height of the storm. "Not like during Sandy, when the roof was flying away," said Dmitriy Pilguy.
He chuckled a bit at the pre-storm hype. "It's only snow," Pilguy said as he cleared his driveway. "I'm from Russia. I don't care."
Bloomberg said police have been checking on families from Superstorm Sandy who still have no heat but had encountered no problems so far.
Con Edison's Mike Clendenin said there were just 317 customers without power in the city on Saturday morning, mostly in Brooklyn. He said the number could increase as people wake up and discover they have no electricity.
But he said the low total "is certainly encouraging." There were no failures reported in Westchester County he said, although some villages there, including Scarsdale and Bronxville, reported more than 20 inches of snow.
Clendenin said there were about 3,000 power failures reported during the storm, "but we've been able to keep up and get them back."
Stark said winds had not been as strong as expected in the northern suburbs, with gusts remaining below 35 mph. In Suffolk, he said, they reached 50 mph.
The New York region's three major airports have also reopened after the snowstorm but flights are limited.
Port Authority spokesman Anthony Hayes says commercial flights started taking off from Kennedy and LaGuardia airports at around 9 a.m. Saturday. He said commercial flights should take off from Newark Liberty Airport at around 11 a.m.
Hayes says many flights have been canceled and passengers should check with their airline before heading to the airport.
New York City subways are running with scattered delays. City buses are running.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says hourly service on the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem and Hudson lines will resume after 11 a.m. The MTA says service on the New Haven line will remain suspended because of heavy snow accumulations.
Service is limited on the Long Island Rail Road.
New Jersey Transit resumed bus service north of Interstate 195 as of 7 a.m. Saturday, including service into New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal.
NJ Transit suspended all northern bus service Friday evening due to treacherous driving conditions.
Rail service on the Morris & Essex, Montclair-Boonton and Midtown Direct lines remains suspended from Friday but officials were taking steps to expedite the restoration of service once inspections were conducted.
Meanwhile, in New Jersey totals ranged from 5-15 inches, with the highest snowfalls spread across the northern part of the state while other areas were spared.
The National Weather Service reports River Vale in northern Bergen County got 15 inches. West Milford, Hillsdale and Scotch Plains all got more than a foot of snow. Cedar Grove residents woke up to about 10 inches of snow Saturday morning.
Newark had been projected to get up to a foot of snow or possibly more but received about 5 or 6 inches. About 5 inches fell on Jersey City and about 6 inches fell at Newark Airport.
More than 28 inches of snow had fallen on central Connecticut by early Saturday, and areas of southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire notched 2 feet or more of snow — with more falling.
REUTERS
A woman takes a photo of a snow man that was erected at the fountain at Lincoln Center during New York Fashion Week on Friday.
At least five deaths were being blamed on the storm, three in Canada and two in upstate New York. In southern Ontario, an 80-year-old woman collapsed while shoveling her driveway and two men were killed in car crashes. In New York, a 74-year-old man died after being struck by a car in Poughkeepsie; the driver said she lost control in the snowy conditions, police said.
A 23-year-old man in Germantown, NY has died after he went off the edge of a roadway while plowing his driveway with a farm tractor in Columbia County, state police said.
Troopers say the accident happened shortly after 9 p.m. Friday, about 35 miles south of Albany. The National Weather Service says about 7.5 inches of snow has accumulated in that area overnight. The tractor rolled down a 15-foot embankment.
The man was pronounced dead at Columbia Memorial Hospital. His name hasn't been released.
More than 650,000 people across the Northeast were without power this morning, with most of the outages occurring in New England.
New York City suffered surprisingly few power outages during the snowstorm.
Con Edison spokesman Mike Clendenin says the city has just 317 customers out, 206 in Brooklyn. No outages were reported in Westchester County.
In New Jersey, the state's two largest utilities were reporting minimal outages as of Saturday morning.
Public Service Electric & Gas says it had 16 customer outages as of 5:30 a.m. Saturday. At one point 2,200 customers in Elizabeth were affected, but PSE&G says they were restored Friday night. Jersey Central Power & Light, the state's second-largest utility, reports 16 outages at 7 a.m.
It's a far cry from the 2.7 million customers left in the dark after Superstorm Sandy last October, or a similar number affected by a snowstorm in October 2011.
Forecasters said wind gusts exceeding 75 mph could cause more widespread power outages and whip the snow into fearsome drifts.
On Saturday, Connecticut Gov. Malloy ordered all roads closed until further notice, saying that stalled or abandoned vehicles will only slow the recovery process. The storm dumped more than 2 feet of snow over much of the state.
State police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance says drivers and even some troopers have been getting stuck on the snow-covered highways. He said a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and killed Friday night in Prospect.
Vance said troopers are still out responding to calls but it's imperative that people stay off the roads.
In New York City, there will be delayed openings at public libraries in all five boroughs. Most will be open from noon until 5 p.m.
With Post Staff
DCPI
Officers recovered this weapon after a 13-year-old attempted to shoot a rival teen.
Cops busted a 13-year-old for attempted murder yesterday after officers spotted him shooting at another teen in an East Harlem Housing project.
The two kids, from rival housing project crews, were in a dispute at the Jefferson Houses on Second Avenue near East 115th Street at 3:10 p.m. when the boy fired an Interarms Star 9mm handgun at his 14-year-old foe, police said.
Officers Samantha Smith and Keith Roman, from the PSA 5 housing precinct, were patrolling the complex and witnessed the mayhem.
They ordered the child to drop the weapon, which he did, and they quickly placed the boy under arrest, cops said.
The victim was not injured, police said.
The suspect, whose name is being withheld because of his age, was slapped with a slew of charges including attempted murder, attempted gang assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment, police said.
DCPI
Officers Samantha Smith and Keith Roman
Major retailers including Macy's and Limited Brands are reporting strong sales in January as shoppers went back to the stores after the winter holidays to take advantage of clearance sales.
Twenty retailers reported on Thursday that revenue at stores opened at least a year — an indication of a store's health — rose an average of 5.1 percent, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.
That's above the mall trade group's 3 percent estimate and marks the highest reading since August 2012 when it rose 6 percent.
The worry, however, is whether shoppers, particularly budget-conscious consumers, will keep spending as they deal with rising gas prices and a payroll tax hike that took effect last month.
State Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos said today that New York City should be considered a prime destination for a full-fledged casino - and particularly noted the popular Aqueduct Resorts World gambling parlor could be converted into a resorts-type gaming complex.
Under current law, Aqueduct is only authorized to offer slot and electronic table games. But New Yorkers will vote in a referendum this fall on whether to legalize up to seven Vegas-style casinos in the state.
James Messerschmidt
Resorts World Casino in Ozone Park.
Gov. Cuomo wants the first three casinos to be built upstate to boost tourism.
But Skelos said the Big Apple should be part of the mix. "New York City should be considered," the Long Island lawmaker said following a Crain's breakfast. "Aqueduct should be considered."
SANFORD, Fla. — A judge in the case of a former neighborhood watch leader accused of shooting Florida teenager Trayvon Martin has denied a defense request to delay the trial.
George Zimmerman's attorneys presented a motion Tuesday asking Judge Debra Nelson to push the trial from mid-June back to November. They say the prosecutor has been slow in turning over needed evidence. The state attorney denied the accusation.
Judge Debra Nelson noted Zimmerman's lead attorney had been in the case nearly a year and says the problems he's having getting evidence are not insurmountable.
Splash News
Slain teen Trayvon Martin
Zimmerman is claiming he acted in self-defense in shooting Martin last year and has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.
Police released surveillance video of the heartless thugs who gunned down an Upper West Side man in Queens on Saturday.
The gunman is seen in the video raising his arm, gun in hand, and going after the victim. He then turns and flees with his accomplice.
Francisco Leal, 27, was leaving a liquor store on 21st Street and 41st Avenue in Astoria, when the two men approached him at 9:40 p.m., family members told The Post.
The gunman then shot him twice in the chest, police said.
Leal was rushed to Mt. Sinai Hospital in Queens, where he later died from his injuries, police said.
Ralph Peters
Violence in Allah’s name in northern Africa won’t end in my lifetime — and probably not in yours. The core question is: To what extent can the savagery be contained?
From the Atlantic coastline to the Suez Canal, struggling governments, impoverished populations and frankly backward societies struggle to find paths to modernization and to compete in a ruthless global economy. Religious fanatics for whom progress is a betrayal of faith hope to block development.
Still, if the only conflict was between Islamist terrorists and those who want civilized lives, the situation could be managed over time. But that struggle forms only one level in a layer cake of clashing visions and outright civil wars bedeviling a vast region. Much larger than Europe, the zone of contention encompasses the Maghreb, the countries touching the Mediterranean, and the Sahel, the bitterly poor states stretching down across desert wastes to the African savannah.
AFP/Getty Images
Figthers of the Islamic group Ansar Dine
The Sahel is the front line not only between the world of Islam and Christian-animist cultures in Africa’s heart, but between Arabs and light-skinned tribes in the north, and blacks to the south. No area in the world so explicitly illustrates the late, great Samuel Huntington’s concept of “the clash of civilizations.”
If racial and religious differences were not challenge enough, in the Maghreb the factions and interest groups are still more complicated. We view Egypt as locked in a contest between Islamists and “our guys,” Egyptians seeking new freedoms. But Egypt’s identity struggle is far more complex, involving social liberals, moderate Muslims, stern conservative Muslims (such as the Muslim Brotherhood) and outright fanatics. The military forms another constituency, while the business community defends its selfish interests. Then there are the supporters of the old Mubarak regime, the masses of educated-but-unemployed youth and the bitterly poor peasants.
Atop all that there’s the question of whether the values cherished by Arab societies can adapt to a globalized world.
The path to Egypt’s future will not be smooth — yet Egypt’s chances are better than those of many of its neighbors. Consider a few key countries in the region:
Mali
Viva la France! (Never thought I’d write that in The Post.) Contrary to a lot of media nonsense, the effective French intervention in Mali demonstrates that not every military response to Islamist terror has to become another Afghanistan: The French are welcome.
As extremists invariably do, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its allies rapidly alienated their fellow Muslims — after hijacking a local uprising. The local version of Islam is far more humane and tolerant than the Wahhabi cult imposed by Islamist fanatics. To the foreign extremists, the Malian love of Sufi mysticism, ancient shrines and their own centuries of religious scholarship are all hateful — as is the Malian genius for music that’s pleased listeners around the world.
Have a comment on this PostOpinion column? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!
An elderly man was struck and killed crossing the street near his home in Staten Island, police said.
Bujar Hasimja, 72, and a woman, 64, were walking across Jefferson Avenue near Mason Avenue in Dongan Hills when a gray Nissan Armada making a left turn hit them about 7:30 p.m. yesterday, cops said.
EMS rushed the two pedestrians to Staten Island University Hospital, but Hasimja did not survive, authorities said. The woman was listed in stable condition.
The driver stayed on the scene, and no criminality is suspected, police added.
Hasimja lived near the scene of the accident.
WireImage
Former Mayor Ed Koch celebrates during the 2009 New York Yankees World Series Victory Parade on November 6, 2009.
A look at some of the famous lines over the years from former New York City Mayor Ed Koch:
—"How'm I doing?"
—"I'm not the type to get ulcers. I give them."
—"You punch me, I punch back. I do not believe it's good for one's self-respect to be a punching bag."
—"If you agree with me on 9 out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist."
FORMER MAYOR ED KOCH DEAD AT 88
PHOTOS: ED KOCH, 1924-2013
—"Have you ever lived in the suburbs? It's sterile. It's nothing. It's wasting your life." On the prospect of living in Albany, during his failed 1982 race for governor.
—"Whether I am straight or gay or bisexual is nobody's business but mine."
—"If they want a parade, let them parade in front of the oil drums in Moonachie." After the New York Giants, who play in New Jersey, asked for a permit to hold a parade in the city after winning the Super Bowl in 1987.
—"I was defeated because of longevity, not because Yusuf Hawkins was murdered six weeks before the election, although that was a factor. People get tired of you. So they decided to throw me out." After losing the 1989 mayoral primary.
—"It's not soaring, beautiful, handsome, like the George Washington or the Verrazano. It's rugged, it's hard working — and that's me." On the 59th Street Bridge being renamed for him in 2011.
—"I don't want to leave Manhattan, even when I'm gone. This is my home. The thought of having to go to New Jersey was so distressing to me." After purchasing a burial plot in Manhattan's Trinity Cemetery in 2008.
—"I know that nothing happens here on this Earth that wasn't ordained by God. I know that. You know that. And therefore, while I know that it was the people who elected me, it was God who selected me."
In 1985, during an Easter Sunday worship in Harlem explaining why he thought he was selected by God to be mayor. The next day, Koch stressed that it did not necessarily mean he was endorsed by God.
"Not that I was given approval by the Deity, but I am delighted I was given the opportunity by the Deity."
The foster home of a teenager who was blown away by an off-duty detective during an alleged robbery wants to haul NYPD brass to court to learn more details about that deadly shooting.
The nonprofit agency Graham Windham, legal guardian of 17-year-old Antawin White, filed a lawsuit yesterday in Manhattan Supreme Court, demanding more answers about the teen’s death.
White and a 15-year-old friend approached the detective on Jan. 30 last year in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn and tried to rob him, police said.
White allegedly struck the cop in the face with a cane, while his accomplice simulated that he had a gun, officials said. That’s when the detective pulled his weapon and fatally shot White once in the chest, according to police.
Nonprofit Graham Windham said the NYPD has repeatedly ignored Freedom of Information Law requests for information, citing an "ongoing criminal investigation."
The agency is skeptical of the official NYPD account.
"This portrait of a violent menace did not comport with the Antawin White that Graham Windham knew,” according to the complaint. “And it stood in stark contrast to the Antawin White whom those who grew up with, taught and lived with him knew."
Cops can produce reports by blacking out names of witnesses, the agency said.
"Graham Windham respectfully requests that this court order the NYPD to produce appropriately redacted documents concerning Antawin White's death,” according to the complaint.
"In its capacity as legal guardian, and de facto parent, Graham Windham sought information about the shooting by way of FOIL request to the NYPD. It received no information in response to its FOIL request."
The agency said its staff was devastated by White's untimely death: "In the early morning hours of January 31, 2012 two Graham Windham employees identified his body at the coroner's office — a third employee was too overcome with grief to do so."
A lawyer for the NYPD or city could not be immediately reached for comment this morning.
Additional reporting by David K. Li
WASHINGTON — The US economy unexpectedly shrank from October through December for the first time since 2009, hurt by the biggest cut in defense spending in 40 years, fewer exports and sluggish growth in company stockpiles. The drop occurred despite stronger consumer spending and business investment.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter. That was a sharp slowdown from the 3.1 percent growth rate in the July-September quarter.
Economists said the drop in gross domestic product wasn't as bleak as it looked. The weakness was mainly the result of one-time factors. Government spending cuts and slower inventory growth, which can be volatile, subtracted a total of 2.6 percentage points from GDP.
But the fact that the economy shrank at all, combined with much lower consumer confidence reported Tuesday, may raise fears about the economy's durability in 2013. That's because deep automatic government spending cuts will cut into domestic and defense programs starting in March unless Congress reaches a deal to avert them.
And Americans are coming to grips with an increase in Social Security taxes that has begun to leave them with less take-home pay.
Still, the government spending cuts and slack inventory growth in the fourth quarter offset a 2.2 percent increase in consumer spending. And business spending on equipment and software rose after shrinking over the summer.
Consumer spending added 1.5 percentage points to GDP, and business investment added 1.1 points — both stronger contributions than in the third quarter.
"Frankly, this is the best-looking contraction in US GDP you'll ever see," Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients. "The drag from defense spending and inventories is a one-off. The rest of the report is all encouraging."
And for all of 2012, the economy expanded 2.2 percent, better than 2011's growth of 1.8 percent.
Exports fell by the most in nearly four years, a result of Europe's recession and slower growth in China and some other large developing countries.
Incomes, though, jumped last quarter as companies paid out special dividends and bonuses ahead of expected tax increases in 2013. Commerce estimated that businesses paid nearly $40 billion in early dividends. After-tax income, adjusted for inflation, rose 6.8 percent, the most in nearly four years.
Superstorm Sandy likely also dragged on growth by closing factories, disrupting shipping and shutting down retail stores. While the department did not specify its effects on GDP, it estimated that Sandy destroyed about $36 billion in buildings and other private property and $8.6 billion in government property.
Subpar growth has held back hiring. The economy has created about 150,000 jobs a month, on average, for the past two years. That's barely enough to reduce the unemployment rate, which has been 7.8 percent for the past two months.
Economists forecast that unemployment stayed at the still-high rate again this month. The government releases the January jobs report Friday.
The slower growth in stockpiles comes after a big jump in the third quarter. Companies frequently cut back on inventories if they anticipate a slowdown in sales. Slower inventory growth means factories likely produced less.
Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar, Inc. said this week that it reduced its inventories by $2 billion in the fourth quarter as global sales declined from a year earlier.
The biggest question going forward is how consumers react to the expiration of a Social Security tax cut. Congress and the White House allowed the temporary tax cut to expire in January, but reached a deal to keep income taxes from rising on most Americans.
The tax increase will lower take home pay this year by about 2 percent. That means a household earning $50,000 a year will have about $1,000 less to spend. A household with two high-paid workers will have up to $4,500 less.
Already, a key measure of consumer confidence plummeted this month after Americans noticed the reduction in their paychecks, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.
Shutterstock.com
This spring, as students at the University of Minnesota shed their winter coats, they'll have the chance to attend a $3,500 symposium, which promises to teach female students how to achieve multiple intense orgasms.
“Orgasm aficionados and beginners of all genders are welcome to come learn about everything from multiple orgasms to that mysterious G-spot,” reads the event's description on the school's official Web site.
“Whether you want to learn how to have your first orgasm, how to have better ones or how to help you girlfriend, Kate and Marshall cover it all…” it continues.
"Are you coming?" it asks.
Hosted by the University's Office of Diversity and Equity's Women's Center, the event is costing the university $3,406 and is open to everyone on campus, according to university spokeswoman Patricia Mattern who spoke to CampusReform.com.
It is not unusual for students at the University of Minnesota to enroll at the age of 17.
“This educational workshop is open to the full university community and participation is voluntary,” Mattern said. “As a research institution, we study, publish and educate on a vast range of topics, including human sexuality."
Taught by sex educators Marshall Miller and Kate Weinberg, the program uses "a mixture of interactive activities, lecture, discussion, multimedia, funny stories and question and answer.”
According to the pair's Web site, at a typical co-ed school like the University of Minnesota only a third of the audience is male.
Wear the snow boots and bring the umbrella!
Winter Storm Luna is expected to bring steady snow that will change over to mixed sleet and freezing rain today as temps rise following last week's bitter blast.
The city could see up to an inch of storm by this afternoon.
Temps are expected to be in the low- to mid-30s today but it will only feel like 22 in most parts of the area.
Motorists in New York and New Jersey could face slippery driving conditions Monday.
The National Weather Service is predicting light snow will fall over much of NJ late in the morning.
Getty Images
People play in the snow at the Winter Jam in Central Park over the weekend.
Forecasters say as much as an inch is possible before it changes into freezing rain and sleet. Forecasters say the precipitation should become all rain by the evening.
Ice on top of the snow could make driving difficult, especially on untreated roads.
Snow and ice are reported on roads in southwestern New York as the story expected to bring several inches of snow before tapering off with freezing drizzle during the evening.
Some schools are closed or delaying opening Monday morning ahead of the storm.
The National Weather Service says eastern and central New York can expect from 1 to 4 inches of snow topped with a thin coat of ice as the front moves from the southwest to northeast by late morning. Forecasters say snow totals could reach 3 to 6 inches in the Adirondacks.
Less than an inch of snow was expected in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area, with a couple of inches forecast for around Rochester and 3 to 5 inches east of Lake Ontario.
The family of a 33-year-old New York City woman says she has disappeared while traveling alone in Turkey.
Local media report that Sarai Sierra of Staten Island, a mother of two who enjoys photography, was looking forward to her trip and arrived in Istanbul on Jan. 7. She was supposed to return to New York on Jan. 21, the day her family last heard from her.
Her husband, Steven, says she was not on her flight home and has not been heard from since.
Sierra's passport and medical cards were still in her room in Turkey. Her worried family is launching a search with authorities to find her, and her husband and brother are headed to Turkey to look for her. U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm of New York said Saturday his office is working with officials in the U.S. and Istanbul to locate Sierra and bring her home safely.
Her brother David Jimenez says he and Sierra's husband, Steven, are planning to leave Sunday night for Istanbul. He says he doesn't want to come home without his sister.
Sierra's family says she visited Turkey to take photographs and had been in continual contact with them. On the day of her disappearance, she told them she was heading to the Galata Bridge, a well-known tourist destination that spans the Golden Horn waterway.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — 'Two Islamic militant groups clashed Saturday over control of a prized valley in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 24 people and wounding dozens more, officials said.
Arshad Khan of the Khyber tribal region said the fighting between the two Islamic militant groups began Friday in Tirah valley, near the Afghan border, when the militant group, Tehrik-e-Taliban, captured the base of another militant group, Ansarul Islam. Ansarul Islam tried to retake the base and fighting continued into Saturday.
The Pakistani military has been battling a stubborn insurgency in northwest Pakistan in rugged tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
The remote valley, tucked in mountainous terrain, is highly valued by militant groups as a base of operations. It's difficult for the Pakistani military to enter the area, which allows militants easy access to Afghanistan and other tribal areas of Pakistan.
Most of the dead were militants, but some local tribesmen also were killed, according to a Pakistani military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to disclose the information to the media.
In Baluchistan province in the south, government troops have been waging a longtime struggle against Baloch nationalists, who demand a greater share of income generated from mineral and gas resources there.
On Saturday, a large group of armed men attacked a post manned by pro-government tribal militia members in a remote area in southwestern Baluchistan, killing two tribesmen and abducting seven more. The post is 300 miles (500 kilometers) northeast of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but Baluch nationalists often target government forces and their supporters.
Local administrator Noor Illahi Bugti said dozens of armed men attacked the post, shot and killed two of the tribesmen and then forced the others to surrender. He said seven of the militia volunteers were then taken away by the armed group.
Bugti said security forces rushed to the area and were searching for the militia volunteers.
He invented the industry-shattering "Bloomberg Box," but young Mike Bloomberg was a flop when it came to putting up a single bookshelf.
The billionaire mayor, one of the wealthiest men in the US, got to reminiscing about his about his early days in New York in the '60s when the discussion on his weekly WOR radio show turned to the 55 "micro" apartments of 250 to 370 square feet that are planned near Bellevue Hospital.
"It's bigger than the apartment I lived in for 10 years, or roughly the same size," Bloomberg recalled, referring to a 325-square-foot fitted-out model at the Museum of the City of New York, where the micros were debuted.
Getty Images
Mayor Bloomberg
"I used to sleep on a couch sometimes, where you'd open the couch up and it was a pain to take the pillows off and everything and then open it up and make the bed."
The mayor said all his furniture came from the Door Store or Alexander's -- the East Side department store that closed in 1992 -- and when he tried his hand at self-made furnishings the results were laughable.
"I made my own shelves and then I stained them and then the shelves warped," Bloomberg said. "For 10 years, my books rocked back and forth. I was so annoyed with myself. I should have thought of that."
Records show Bloomberg, who made a king's fortune from Bloomberg terminals that provide financial data, now holds title to 11 homes around the world.
On another housing issue, the mayor said he sympathizes with homeowners in Sandy-damaged districts who have no heat and won't re-locate.
"If it were me, I might very well stay at home," he said. "Cold showers are not fun and living with lots of clothing is not fun. But, you know, it's your home. I don't know what I would do. I certainly would not rule out staying at home."
Manti Te'o remains doubtful that accused hoaxer Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was the voice he spent hours talking and listening to over the phone, according to a new preview of his interview with Katie Couric, which is set to air in full today.
Te'o reportedly had 1,000 calls with someone he thought was "Lennay Kekua," including one in which he claims to have heard her come out of her coma.
WATCH: TE'O 'HOAXER' IN AWKWARD HUG WITH GRIDDER AFTER USC GAME
Te'o told Couric that he heard breathing followed by her whispering his name.
Couric said Te'o told her, when asked whether he thought it could have been Tuiasosopo, or a man, on the phone, "It didn't sound like a man; it sounded like a woman. If he somehow made that voice, that's incredible. It's an incredible talent to do that, especially every day."
Couric, who's heard the voicemails, said the voice sounded like a woman to her, too.
For most folks on this side of the pond, the classic Inigo Montoya quote from "Princess Bride" is an unforgettable part of childhood.
Unfortunately for a flier on a New Zealand-bound flight, fellow passengers didn't feel the same way about his T-shirt featuring the movie's most famous quip.
Wynand Mullins was on a Sydney-to-Auckland trip Sunday when a flight attendant told him some passengers were intimidated by the Mandy Patinkin-line, according to stuff.co.nz.
The brown T-shirt, featuring a "Hello, my name is..." name tag graphic, continued with "Inigo Montoyo. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
"The flight attendant said to me: ‘Are you able to remove it because some of the passengers are quite intimidated by it'. I thought it was all a bit silly. The person next to me was laughing, because they knew the movie," Mullins told the site.
Mullins, who told the magazine he was hoping to snag a pilot's shirt as a swap, said the flight attendant never returned after making the initial inquiry.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they had someone watching me the whole time," he said. "The whole experience was a bit over the top, but also a bit comical."
A Qantas spokesman told the site the airline had no record of the incident.
"Qantas does have dress standards for passengers travelling on our aircraft . . . particularly for slogans which other passengers may find offensive or threatening."
REUTERS
A security official places signs to identify evidence after a shootout at the Empire State Building on August 24, 2012.
A University of North Carolina student wounded in last summer's shooting outside the Empire State Building is suing New York City police department.
Chenin Duclos and eight other bystanders were wounded by police gunfire, ricochets and fragments. Officers were engaged in a gunfight with a man suspected of gunning down a former co-worker.
Duclos alleges the officers were grossly negligent.
The lawsuit says police should have taken steps to avoid the confrontation. It suggests they should have waited until he moved away from bystanders.
The shooting happened as thousands were on the streets surrounding the landmark on a bright August morning.
There was no immediate comment from city officials.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. It was filed Tuesday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court.
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