Manhattan

Mount St. Mary's bolted to a 17-point halftime lead and then cruised to a 73-46 victory last night over Manhattan at Knott Arena.The Mountaineers (4-5) used a 15-4 run to take a nine-point lead early in the first half, and then went on a 16-0 run that extended into the second half, to take a 36-19 lead.Pittsburgh 88, UMES 58: Ricardo Greer and Isaac Hawkins each scored 17 points to lead the host Panthers to victory.WomenBowie State 78, St. Paul's College 52: Rashida Brooks scored a game-high 18 points as the host Bulldogs (9-1)

When Loyola College junior guard Gerald Brown's 25-foot jumper caromed off the back of the iron as time expired last night, leaving the Greyhounds to digest a 70-68 loss to Manhattan before 2,011 at Reitz Arena, an evening full of frustration was complete. This had been a chance for Loyola (11-8, 7-2) to validate its place atop the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference standings. But the Greyhounds, sporting a seven-game league winning streak and off to their best start in conference play since joining the MAAC in 1989, could not close the deal against one of the league's perennial powers.

NEW YORK -- Drug dealers used to ply their trade openly there. And homeless people took up residence. But thanks to a police crackdown, those problems have abated.Still, Madison Square Park, 6.2 acres between 23rd and 26th streets, stretching from Madison Avenue to Broadway in Manhattan, is a far cry from the verdant gem it was in the 19th century.Its asphalt is cracked. Its irrigation is poor. There are missing benches, broken fences and poor landscaping.There's more dirt than green even in the warmer seasons.

The struggling Loyola Greyhounds made it interesting early and late last night at Reitz Arena, but class told at the finish.After being within six points with 1:30 to go, the Greyhounds finally submitted to a foul-shooting spree by Manhattan and lost to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference leader, 77-62.It was a gritty performance by Loyola (2-14, 1-6), which has lost 11 of its past 12 games and has not won a MAAC contest on its home court.The Greyhounds managed to stay competitive despite shooting 35.2 percent from the field and losing the rebounding battle, 41-28.

ALBANY, N.Y. - The final decision on a $460 million plan to dredge the Hudson River of toxic PCBs will be delayed by at least two weeks, making it impossible for state and federal officials to reach a conclusion on the river's cleanup by the end of September. Part of the reason is that the recent disastrous events forced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency out of its Manhattan offices and with officials there assisting in the World Trade Center cleanup, dredging has been put on the back burner.

NEW YORK - The mysterious sign in Inwood Park warned visitors away. "Area Closed," it read, conspicuously guarding a fenced-off portion of the thickly wooded park in northern Manhattan. "Endangered species. Property under 24-hour surveillance." There was a cluster of Parks and Recreation Department trucks along the perimeter, and a stone-faced officer stood guard, keeping any wayward joggers clear. The parks workers were protecting a delicate operation to return a long-vanished resident to Manhattan's only remaining swath of virgin forest.

Fares, times and other things you should know about our four ways to get to Manhattan:PLANES ... What: One-hour Southwest Airlines "no-frills" shuttle from BWI to MacArthur Airport in Islip, Long Island, then a train into Manhattan. Cost: $102 round-trip if returning the same day. If you stay overnight, the fare is $88. Fares include taxes. (By comparison, TWA flies from BWI to LaGuardia for $188; Delta flies from Washington National to LaGuardia for $170.) Conditions: $102 fare requires 14-day advance purchase; $88 fare requires seven-day advance purchase.

At 5 feet 8, Kenny Minor is a ball-handling whiz for Manhattan College, and he carefully weighs every shot he takes as the Jaspers' starting point guard. That is why the former Dunbar standout was shooting 61.9 percent from the field and had hit eight of 12 three-pointers, not to mention being a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line, entering last night's game on the road against 14th-ranked Arizona, a 105-75 loss to the Wildcats. Minor, a junior, averaged 7.0 points, 2.1 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.8 rebounds through his Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference team's first six games.

NEW YORK -- Newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst wanted to make a splash with his New York headquarters in 1926, so he hired Joseph Urban, an Austrian emigre with a flair for the theatrical. The veteran set designer had worked for the Metropolitan Opera, the Ziegfeld Follies and Hearst's Cosmopolitan Productions movie studio. The result was the International Magazine Building, an imposing limestone box on 8th Avenue that might have been mistaken for a bank save for the telltale sculptures representing tragedy, industry, music and printing - and gigantic, bedpost-like columns rising from the sixth story.

NEW YORK - The island of Manhattan has 32 miles of shoreline, but set out for a summer swim and you will find not a single beach from which to dip a toe in the surrounding waters. Add to that the legendary filth of New York Harbor, the miles of chain-linked shoreline marked "No Trespassing," and the rusty skeletons of long-abandoned piers. These are the symptoms of what is roundly regarded among the greatest civic failures in the nation's greatest port: a shoreline neglected, undeveloped and underused for generations.