The Beat

Strange to say, but the hottest place for a Hollywood celebrity or a sports star to be seen these days is ground zero. Everyone from Muhammad Ali to Elizabeth Taylor has visited the site of the World Trade Center disaster, ostensibly to help raise the spirits of rescue workers. The celeb traffic has gotten so heavy that city officials have sent out a plea requesting that famous faces keep away. Says Richard Sheirer, director of the New York City Mayor's Office of Emergency Management, "They think they're helping, but in some instances you should not be distracting these people." That hasn't stopped stars from pulling whatever strings they can to get a close-up view of the devastation. Lance Armstrong arrived via helicopter with Bill Clinton. Don King somehow gained access and took a tour. Reggie Jackson was at first stymied in his attempts to visit, but a quick call to New York governor George Pataki's office fixed that. Then again, not everyone could muster enough pull to get downtown: The Amazing Kreskin was turned away.... At a benefit roast of Washington Post sportswriter Tony Kornheiser last week, the columnist turned to Hillary Clinton and gushed about his feelings for her. "I've had a crush on Senator Clinton (above) for a long time," said Kornheiser. "She's smart and sexy." For her part, Clinton recalled that when she was asked to participate in the roast, which raised $400,000 for spina bifida research, her initial response was, "Who the heck is Tony Kornheiser?"... New York Giants center Dusty Zeigler is a popular guy these days, and it has nothing to do with his play. His cousin April Zeigler, a senior at Georgia, appears in the October issue of Playboy in the "Girls of the SEC" feature. ("April, a health promotion major, enjoys skiing on water or snow.") Says Dusty, "I'm big-time now. All [my teammates] want to come to my family reunion—even the married ones."