General Motors pleads for $18 billion, saying it may crumble in weeks if federal assistance isn’t provided. [NY Times] Whatever excitement originally greeted El-Ad’s plan to turn the Plaza into the most sought-after condo in the city has been drowned out in a sea of lawsuits and tenant complaints. [Vanity Fair] Madonna and A-Rod looking “discreetly” for a ...

8:30 a.m. Bill Thompson speaks on the Wall Street crisis at a breakfast hosted by Citizens Union and N.Y.U. at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, Puck Building, 295 Lafayette St., 2nd Floor, corner of Houston Street. 9 a.m. State Senator Malcolm Smith attends ribbon-cutting for the Rockaway charter school; 155 Beach ...

8 a.m. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly speaks at FBI and TSA terrorism and transportation conference; Sheraton Hotel, 811 Seventh Ave. 10 a.m. Natural Resources Defense Council releases annual beach water report; Water Taxi Beach, 2-03 Borden Ave., Long Island City. 10:30 a.m. The NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign releases annual subway report; Union Square East and East 15th ...