"Today all New Yorkers, including the more than 100,000 who can trace their heritage to Pakistan, are saddened to learn about the assassination of Pakistan's Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Hers was a voice for democracy, and the silencing of it - by such brutal means - is a shock to us all. Ms. Bhutto's death - and the deaths of the many other Pakistanis who were killed today simply for expressing their views - is a great loss for friends of democracy and for everyone who is united in the fight against terror. It's also a grim reminder that many people consider the freedoms we cherish a threat. The perpetrators of this violent act must be brought to justice, and it is my hope that President Musharraf will follow through on free and fair elections in January as a testament to Ms. Bhutto's legacy."

In a city where you can get just about anything delivered to your door — groceries, dry cleaning, Chinese food — pot smokers are increasingly ordering takeout marijuana from drug rings that operate with remarkable corporate-style attention to customer satisfaction.

The New York City Board of Health voted unanimously yesterday to move forward with plans to prohibit the city's 20,000 restaurants from serving food that contains more than a minute amount of artificial trans fats, the chemically modified ingredients considered by doctors and nutritionists to increase the risk of heart disease.

-- At 22, Sarah Patterson has spent several years in the working world, but she has yet to report her income to the government.

For one thing, Patterson, of Manhattan, works in a cash business, with no withholding tax. But she is also worried about how to list her profession on a 1040 form: she is a foot-fetish model.

"What I do is not commonly considered work," explained Patterson, who said she earns more than $100 an hour for letting men ogle or stroke her shapely feet. "When they ask for your occupation, I can't imagine there would be a little box to check describing my job." She can take home up to $400 for working a foot-fetish party where clients take turns enjoying her feet, she said. Private sessions can be even more lucrative. --

-- Everyone knows the porn universe begins and ends at either end of the Ventura Freeway that spans L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. Here in New York, the question isn't how much porn is made here, but rather, is there a porn scene at all? I was asking myself that question the other night when I attended a party for the release of a new adult film entitled "House of Ass." (What? You were expecting "A Long Day's Journey Into Night"?) A porn film release party in New York? I thought. This I have to see. --