I don't know what the Times is trying to do except try to make money, increase circulation, live down a well earned reputation for being biased and still have an obvious bias just from looking at their titles. Take a gander at their digital front page on which this story is a minor link, and compare it to the images of the city and national editions, respectively. Go figure.
(URL=http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/09/18/nytfrontpage/scan.jpg)
(URL=http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/09/18/nytfrontpage/scannat.jpg)