May 25, 1999
FUND FIRMS GEAR UP FOR SOCIAL SECURITY WINDFALL
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amTHE mutual fund industry is salivating over the prospect of getting a big fat piece of the tasty Social Security pie. Facing a period of slowing growth and the threat...
GRASSO GIVES NOD TO AFTER-HOURS TRADING
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThe race to launch after-hours trading of stocks is entering the final stretch. Dick Grasso, chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange, made a stunning run into first place...
NEW YORKER PENS PETE HAMILL FOR WRITING POST; EXCLUSIVE
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amVeteran newspaper man and best-selling author Pete Hamill has just signed on as a contributing writer for David Remnick at The New Yorker. "It gives me a chance to do...
DISNEY'S PROBLEMS CATCH BIG CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amMichael Eisner's feeling the heat. The Disney chairman's latest big embarrassment is the prospect of spending up to $250 million of Disney's cash to settle a pay dispute with his...
BILLION $ BOOK SALE - RIGGIOS CASH IN WITH B&N ONLINE IPO
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amLeonard Riggio stands to rake in over a billion dollars today, when barnesandnoble.com goes public. But the online bookseller's chairman won't be the only one rolling in dough. His brother...
N.Y. TIMES SPINNING OFF ALL NEWS FIT TO DOWNLOAD
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThe New York Times hopes to make a killing in Wall Street's Internet craze while the feeding frenzy still continues. The media company is bundling about 50 of its websites...
WHY MARRIAGE MAKES YOU FAT
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amExperts say that moderate weight gain - 5 to 10 pounds - is the truest sign of a secure marriage. HAS Sharon Stone stepped off her StairMaster now that she's...
TRAVELER'S UPDATE
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amFish tale Sea World Orlando just debuted its "Trainer for a Day" program. For $349, participants are side-by-side with real trainers, working with the animals and also getting involved in...
PURELY 'INSANE' GOOD FUN
May 25, 1999 | 4:00am*"The Amazing Jeckel Brothers" Insane Clown Posse Island Records Along with eating Devil Dogs, listening to Howard Stern, enjoying professional wrestling, reading Cracked magazine and dating people who are no...
TV TICKER
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amPlane truth Take a tour of Donald Trump's private, $20 million plane - all on tonight's ''Entertainment Tonight''! Cheer, gush and sigh as The Donald guides you and ''ET's'' Julie...
ENOUGH WITH STRAVINSKY, NOW BRING ON TCHAIKOVSKY
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amFOR tonight and throughout this week, Tchaikovsky and nothing but Tchaikovsky holds sway with New York City Ballet at the New York State Theater, where the company has just concluded...
CABLE CATCHES PEOPLE POWER - BIOGRAPHY CRAZE GETS HOTTER - AND A TAD TACKY
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amTO get on the rock-music bio series "VH1 Behind The Music," a trip to drug rehab could be a major advantage. Getting profiled on "E! True Hollywood Story" is a...
SPRINGER SMACKED - NERVOUS SYNDICATOR SWAPS HARDCORE SHOWS WITH SOFT
May 25, 1999 | 4:00am'If there are legal proceedings going on [Studios USA] might want to have the appearance that things on Jerry Springer may not be that bad' - media buyer Steve Sternberg...
BASEBALL TAKES NEW SWING AT ESPN
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amMAJOR League Baseball has thrown a high hard one at ESPN - countersuing the all-sports cable network in the latest legal round between the two corporate giants. MLB alleges that...
LEAVING 'HOME' IS EASY - ... SAYING GOODBYE IS THE TRICKY PART ON TV
May 25, 1999 | 4:00am"Home Improvement" Tonight at 8 on WABC/Ch.7 THE self-congratulatory finale is like a gun: a constitutionally sanctified rite that can blow up in the face of anyone not handling it...
TURNER: STOP BOMBING
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amCNN founder Ted Turner called for an immediate end to NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia. Among the reasons to halt the bombing, he said during a speech in Denver last weekend,...
THE CATWALK MODEL WITHOUT LEGS
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amLast Tuesday afternoon, model Aimee Mullins was photographed for Anne Klein's 'Significant Women'' campaign, along with actresses Mary McCormack, Lynn Whitfield and the Corrs and Ahn sisters. Last month, Mullins...
'MELROSE' ALL PARTIED OUT - SOAP REACHES END OF ITS TANGLED ROPE
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amAMANDA deserved better. Peter and Kyle and Jane and Ryan and Megan deserved better. Hell, even Michael, Lexi and Eve deserved better than the send-off they got from last night's...
BROADWAY'S '99 HITS & FLOPS - THIS SEASON'S BIGGEST BOX-OFFICE WINNERS AREN'T JAZZY MUSICALS - THEY'RE STRAIGHT PLAYS LIKE "THE BLUE ROOM"
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amTHE play is definitely the thing on Broadway right now, not only artistically but also financially. Of the 21 for-profit shows that opened this season, the four that have made...
ETAN PATZ'S FATE STILL A MYSTERY AFTER 20 YEARS
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amFresh-faced, 6-year-old Etan Patz vanished from a SoHo street 20 years ago today, launching one of the city's greatest unsolved mysteries and galvanizing public awareness of missing kids. Although no...
HILLARY'S MOVING HERE, 'NO MATTER WHAT'
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amFirst Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton last night said she loves New York so much that she plans to move to the Big Apple when her husband leaves the White House...
BY GEORGE, PATAKI COMES OUT FOR BUSH
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amGov. Pataki yesterday let go of his White House dreams and threw his presidential backing to a grateful Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Pataki's endorsement capped a week of runaway...
SOMETHING SEXIER NEXT TIME, GOV
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amTHAT'S it? It was a secret more protected than the riddles of the Sphinx, a mystery better guarded than the true color of Lt. Gov. Mary Donohue's hair. By the...
REEL CRIME HAS COPS ON 'WARS' PATH
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amA nationwide manhunt was on last night for the thieves who snatched a copy of the new "Star Wars" flick from the projection room of a Wisconsin movie theater. Officials...
EXPERTS: TRAGEDY NEEDN'T SCAR KIDS
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amKids won't be permanently scarred by witnessing the death of wrestler Owen Hart - just as they won't be hurt by watching violent pro wrestling - if parents take control...
A LOOK INTO THE EYES OF A SADIST WITH A STICK
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amSEEING Justin Volpe up close is unsettling. I looked into his eyes yesterday in a diner during the lunch break in his trial, about an hour before he decided to...
JORDAN KING: BARAK MUSTN'T STALL PEACE
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amJordan's King Abdullah yesterday said Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak's victory has revitalized the peace process - and warned that a failure to seize on the momentum could be disastrous....
ANOTHER SACRIFICIAL LAMB WILL TAKE HIS PLACE
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amVince McMahon has always had this mentality about treating wrestlers like circus animals ... When it's over, they sort of take you out back and put a slug in the...
MORE VICTIMS IN STUY HS ABUSE CASE?
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThe assistant principal accused of molesting a 15-year-old Stuyvesant HS student may have attacked other girls, school and law-enforcement sources said yesterday. Just days after one girl accused Richard Plass,...
SUDDENLY-SHY AMY FIRES FLACK
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amLong Island Lolita Amy Fisher loves her new life - but is so unhappy when she's recognized by strangers that she has fired her flack. "I love my job ......
200,000 KOSOVARS MAY BE MISSING
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amAs many as 200,000 Kosovar men may be missing as Serbian thugs continue their "ethnic cleansing" of the province, British officials said yesterday. The latest charges of Serbian atrocities came...
EXECS DRIVE A STAKE INTO FINAL 'BUFFY' - SHOW FEATURED TEENS WITH GUNS
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThe WB has yanked tonight's season finale of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" because it depicts heavily armed high-school kids at a graduation ceremony. Network officials said yesterday they were concerned...
COURT HITS STUDENT SEX HARASSMENT - RULES SCHOOLS CAN BE HELD LIABLE
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amSchools that don't try to keep students from sexually harassing each other can be forced to pay the victims, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The sharply split 5-4 decision...
WRESTLER'S; FATHER BLAMES WWF - SAYS CALL FOR DARING STUNTS KILLED HART
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThe father of the pro wrestler who plunged to his death in a trick gone awry blamed the horrifying accident on the World Wrestling Federation's increasing need for new and...
COURT RULING MAY ZAP COP-TV
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThe future of true-crime shows - a TV news and entertainment staple - is a little murkier after a Supreme Court decision that cops can be sued for letting the...
BOARD RIPPED FOR HIRING SERIAL-CRIME TEACHER
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThe Board of Education made an "absurd" decision in hiring a Queens teacher with a long criminal record - and keeping him although he did a lousy job, Special Schools...
SPY REPORT: CHINA STOLE NEUTRON-BOMB SECRETS
May 25, 1999 | 4:00am"Despite repeated thefts ... security ... does not meet even minimal standards." COX COMMITTEE REPORT WASHINGTON - Chinese spies made off with blueprints for seven of America's nuclear warheads -...
GOPERS: NOW, CAN WE END THIS SILLY FEUD?
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amANALYSIS Top New York Republicans are hoping Gov. Pataki's endorsement of Texas Gov. George W. Bush for president could be the first step toward ending the GOP civil war between...
IRON MIKE FREE - AND READY TO FIGHT AGAIN
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amMike Tyson walked out of a Maryland prison yesterday and took a big step toward returning to boxing. "I haven't seen any reason for him not to" fight this year,...
STAR'S STAGE SLAP WAS NO ACT, ACTRESS SAYS; EXCLUSIVE
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThe female lead of "Not About Nightingales" has complained to her union that her Tony-nominated co-star has terrorized her on stage, sources said yesterday. The actress, Sherri Parker Lee, refused...
VOLPE TO ADMIT TORTURING LOUIMA - GUILTY PLEA MAY AVOID LIFE SENTENCE: LAWYER
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amPolice Officer Justin Volpe will plead guilty today to the gruesome sex torture of Abner Louima in a desperate attempt to save himself from a possible life sentence, lawyers said...
'HE SHOULD GO TO JAIL FOR A LONG TIME'
May 25, 1999 | 4:00am"Volpe always struck me as an arrogant bastard and a disgrace to the [police] force." NANCY LANG There was no rejoicing, no expressions of surprise - and little sympathy -...
LEGAL EAGLES: MOVE PUTS OTHER COPS ON SPOT
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amJustin Volpe's planned guilty plea to torturing Abner Louima could seriously hurt the other accused cops, legal experts say - even though the jury won't be told about his admissions....
WRESTLER'S DAD SLAMS WWF'S STUNTS
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThe father of the pro wrestler who plunged to his death in a trick gone awry blamed the horrifying accident on the World Wrestling Federation's increasing need for new and...
NOW COMES 'MILLER' TIME FOR KNICKS - INDIANA'S REGGIE ON TAP AFTER SWEEP
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amHow sweep it is! The Knicks took their brooms to the Atlanta Hawks last night, beating the birds 79-66 at Madison Square Garden to win the second-round series four games...
CONCORDE IN JFK NEAR-MISS
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amA British Airways Concorde veered dangerously close to another passenger jet in skies south of Kennedy Airport yesterday, aviation officials said. The Concorde pilot is blamed for the incident, in...
'MENACE': $105M TAKE ANDSTILL A DISAPPOINTMENT
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amFIRST, let's be clear: "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" did astronomical business on its long opening weekend. So there's something more than a little bizarre about the...
OLD RX AS GOOD AS NEW ONE: DOC
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amNewer ain't necessarily better - at least when it comes to heart medications. A study shows a newer, more expensive beta blocker, called carvedilol, and a less-expensive, 21-year-old generic drug,...
WINNING DOESN'T MAKE SPREE HERO
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amFunny thing is, Sprewell has shown no signs of having changed anything but his shirt since that day in December 1997 when he tried to strangle P.J. Carlesimo. BY THE...
HAWKS SWOOP TO VG'S DEFENSE
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amChaos reigns with this NBA playoff team. As it tries to advance in the postseason, there's front-office turmoil and deception, chock full of corporate damage control and back-tracking from lies....
NEW ISLES PREZ WANTS ARENA TALKS
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amIslanders new president John Sanders asked Nassau County yesterday to let bygones be bygones and restart stalled talks with the club for a new Coliseum. "Regardless of what the county...
PACERS PULL TOGETHER IN POSTSEASON
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amPHILADELPHIA - During the dismal days of the lockout when some players went on donut diets and others got involved in negotiating labor pacts, breathlessly arguing the merits of escrow...
LEETCH HERE TO STAY - NO-TRADE CLAUSE KEY TO 4-YEAR, $35M DEAL
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThis was two years ago at 1997 Ranger training camp in Burlington, less than two months after Mark Messier's bitter public divorce from the organization. Dave Checketts, the MSG president,...
KNICKS PLAY WAITING FOR REGGIE
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThe Knicks hadn't even finished off Atlanta yet - but already their old nemesis, Reggie Miller, was on their minds. "I've seen a lot of games when he killed the...
YANKS NEED HISTORY LESSON
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amWHEN the team broke out 7-2, the talk was about actually outdoing the magic of the previous year. And even when stumbles followed and the Red Sox moved into first...
BIG HITTERS WORK TODAY
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThe Derby is over, but Churchill Downs will be in the spotlight again today when two, possibly three, big guns for the June 5 Belmont Stakes have morning workouts. Charismatic,...
NEWS ALL BAD FOR DIKEMBE
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amHawks center Dikembe Mutombo has scored a total of 15 points in Games 2 and 3 of the Knicks' rout. He's even allowed sub center Chris Dudley to outplay him,...
DEATH-ROW HAWKS DRAG OUT EXCUSES
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amOn the verge of being swept by the Knicks last night, the horrid Hawks had his message: don't judge us on this series. If the paper-thin Hawks had a white...
PAUL WON'T BAWL IF DROPPED IN ORDER
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amJoe Torre doesn't believe simply lifting a struggling Paul O'Neill out of the No. 3 hole is going to get the ultra-intense O'Neill to stop blaming himself for the Yankees'...
PEDRO SUCCESS NO FLUKE
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThe numbers don't jive. Pedro Martinez stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 170 pounds - the measurements of an average-sized man. But there is nothing average about the Boston Red Sox ace....
HAWK GM IS HIGH ON INDY
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amWhen pressed, Hawk GM Pete Babcock wouldn't predict the winner of the inevitable Pacer-Knick conference final. But he sure sounded like he's leaning toward Larry Bird's bunch. When asked if...
ROCKET TO FACE SOX THURSDAY
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES The heavy rain that forced last night's Red Sox-Yankees game to be postponed until Thursday night wasn't enough to stop Roger Clemens from staying on his rugged work...
KURT DOING DIRTY WORK VS. HAWKS
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amKurt Thomas says there always are issues with any team, and there certainly are issues with the Knicks. Even as they prepared last night to kill off the wounded Hawks...
SUPERSUB DUDLEY DOIN' RIGHT
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amEven after his Wilt Chamberlain-like performance Sunday, Chris Dudley knows he's still a work-in-progress, even in his 14th season in the NBA. The suddenly offensive-minded Dudley was the last Knick...
STRAWBERRY SET TO ENTER NOLO CONTENDRE PLEA
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amDarryl Strawberry will enter a plea of nolo contendre tomorrow in Tampa on charges stemming from his April 14 arrest for cocaine possession and soliciting an undercover female cop posing...
SHOULDER LANDS STRUGGLING JONES ON DL
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amMET NOTES PITTSBURGH - Although he felt he could come back sooner than two weeks, the Mets placed right-hander Bobby Jones on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with a strained...
JEFF IN CAMBY'S CORNER - KNICK COACH HEAPS PRAISE ON SUPERSUB
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amKNICK NOTES Jeff Van Gundy is becoming a Marcus Camby fan. "I think his defensive rebounding has improved," Van Gundy said before last night's Game 4 vs. the Hawks at...
WINNING DESPITE SINNING; IF TRUTH BE TOLD, KNICKS WIN DESPITE GARDEN LIES
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amI HAVE come to the inevitable conclusion after weeks of observation that the Knicks have made a success of themselves in spite of their front-office leadership. That is the only...
RED-FACED DAVE ADMITS HE LIED - DENIALS OVER JAX MEETING A LOAD OF BULL
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThe soap opera continues. Garden President Dave Checketts last night admitted to lying in regard to Phil-gate. He also refused again to say whether Jeff Van Gundy would return as...
GARDEN GURU DID JUST WHAT HE HAD TO
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amLIVING in New York for 55 years has fried my feelings. Just as being exposed to the barbarous business of professional sports for over three decades has anesthetized my senses....
DALY: I COULDN'T HANDLE THE LOSING ANOTHER DAY
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amTracked down in Orlando, a couple hours after he'd announced his retirement, Chuck Daly explained it this way: "Julius Erving knew when it was time to leave the floor, Pat...
CHECKETTS WOULD'VE BEEN WRONG NOT TO MEET WITH JACKSON; DAVE WAS DOING HIS JOB
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amLIVING in New York for 55 years has fried my feelings. Just as being exposed to the barbarous business of professional sports for over three decades has anesthetized my senses....
THIS PRESIDENT'S JUST LIKE CLINTON; PREZ' STORY DOESN'T CHECK OUT
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amDAVE CHECKETTS would like you all to forget his little, er, misstatement of fact that occurred, unfortunately for him, on the Sabbath just past. He would prefer for all of...
BELIEVE IT, KNICKS WILL WIN IT ALL!
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amWho says they can't? Come up with a reason why the resurgent Knicks can't finally capture their first NBA title since the 1972-73 season. Tell it to the frenzied Garden...
DIKEMBE CAN'T ROOT FOR PATRICK
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amHawks center Dikembe Mutombo was so disillusioned following the Knicks' four-game sweep last night that he barely could offer words of encouragement for his closest compadre Patrick Ewing against Indiana....
CHILDS LOWERS BOOM ON MUTOMBO
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amIt wasn't exactly an eye for an eye and it certainly wasn't a tooth for a tooth, but at least Chris Childs got a measure of payback on Dikembe Mutombo...
KNICK-KILLER MILLER NEXT HURDLE
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amIt's Reggie Miller time again. Maybe he can't pick on John Starks anymore, but the Indiana Knick-killer will have plenty of others to choose from when the Pacers and Knicks...
COLD HAWKS TAKE BRICKS AND GO HOME
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThe bricklayers from Atlanta leave us now with few memories - unless missing 17 straight shots in the second half of last night's 79-66 Game 4 disgrace inspired you. Forget...
PATRICK BACKS UP VAN - EWING PITCHES TO RETAIN JEFF
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amPatrick Ewing wants to have something in common with Phil Jackson: a championship with the Knicks. But Ewing has made it clear that he doesn't want to win his ring...
THE BEST OF TIMES FOR SPREE
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amThis time of year, the Knicks and the Pacers tangling late in the playoffs conjures up images that come flowing out of the memory bank. The John Starks head-butt of...
VG'S TROOPS DISPLAY IRON WILL DESPITE BIG PAIN IN THE BRASS
May 25, 1999 | 4:00am"THE FRONT OFFICE IS GOING TO DO WHATEVER IT WANTS TO DO ANYWAY. YOU CAN'T GET CAUGHT UP IN THAT." HERB WILLIAMS PROFESSIONAL athletes insist they are oblivious to what...
VG DAY ENDS WITH GARDEN SALUTE
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amJeff Van Gundy may coach for 20 more years and he will never, ever experience another day like yesterday. It started with his boss, Garden president Dave Checketts, apologizing to...
BUCS WELCOME BACK IZZY - TWO HOMERS SPOIL '99 DEBUT
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amPITTSBURGH - The first pitch went for a double and in the end he took the loss, but for Jason Isringhausen, last night was one of the happier times in...
SWEEP MUSIC: BRING ON INDY! - KNICKS FINISH OFF HAWKS, BRACE FOR PACERS
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amAfter a mutilated 50-game regular season, a death-battle with arch-enemy Miami and a walk in the park in the Eastern semifinals against the Hawks, the real season is about to...
CHILDS MANHANDLES MUTOMBO
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amIt wasn't exactly an eye for an eye and it certainly wasn't a tooth for a tooth, but at least Chris Childs got a measure of payback on Dikembe Mutombo...
SHOULDER LANDS JONES ON DL
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amMET NOTES PITTSBURGH - Although he felt he could come back sooner than two weeks, the Mets placed right-hander Bobby Jones on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with a strained...
VAN GUNDY: STOPPING INDY TOUGHER TASK
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amKNICK NOTES After playing two offensively challenged teams in the playoffs, the Knicks will have to guard a deep-deep Pacers unit in the Eastern Conference Finals. That fact was not...
LATRELL MAY BE TRUMP CARD VS. PACERS
May 25, 1999 | 4:00amWhen it comes to Knicks-Pacers, there is a substitute for winning. And that substitute just might be Latrell Sprewell, who could be the spark off the bench the Knicks need...