February 15, 2000
0'NEAL'S STAR RISES AT MERRILL
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amMerrill Lynch has a new heir apparent. Stanley O'Neal was promoted to head the bank's U.S. brokerage unit -- setting him up as a leading candidate to succced current CEO...
S&P RATINGS SORT OUT SMALL-CAP FUNDS
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amMUTUAL fund investors are putting themselves on a diet. After years of gorging themselves on funds focusing on large-cap holdings, shareholders are now turning their attention to small-cap funds. But...
TRUMP TAKES LUMPS:ZONING FOES HAVE PUT WORLD TOWER IN CROSS HAIRS
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amZONING-REFORM zealots furious at Donald Trump over his 90-story Trump World Tower have decided to put him to mischievous use in their crusade. They're depicting Trump as the wizard of...
MAGS GO MANO A MANO; BRITS BRING FHM UP AGAINST MAXIM, STUFF
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amThe U.K.'s FHM officially hits U.S. newsstands today -- making the bloody battle of the men's magazines even more intense. "I think murderous waters always bring out the survival instinct...
ONLINE DISSING MATCH ; SALON, SLATE HONCHOS' SNIPING GETS PERSONAL
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amBeing modern online publishers isn't stopping rivals Salon.com and Slate.com from old-fashioned gutter fighting. In a throwback to the days of yellow journalism, the two editors of the online 'zines...
DEAL TALK GOOSES ANN TAYLOR STOCK ; BOAST FUELED BY TAKEOVER RUMORS BACKS OFF
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amAnn Taylor's stock cooled off yesterday after Friday's jump following reports the company was ripe for a takeover. The New York City-based clothing chain's stock fell $1.44 to close at...
PERRY ELLIS COMEBACK: OWNER SUPREME INTERNATIONAL HAS MAJOR RELAUNCH IN WORKS
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amPerry Ellis America is hitting Las Vegas this week, betting on a comeback. Company executives are pushing the relaunched sportswear line to store buyers at M.A.G.I.C., a big apparel industry...
TALK IS QUITE CHEAP
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amMichael Colton, who skewered Talk last summer, received a Valentine's Day present from Talk's President Ron Galotti. But it wasn't a box of chocolates -- it was a check. Colton...
HE JUST KEEPS ON ROLLINS
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amGET SOME GO AGAIN Rollins Band ½ DreamWorks Records Henry Rollins -- the thick-necked thrash rocker whose face and musical musings are frozen in pain -- today releases "Get Some...
SINGER HAS WORLD AT HIS BECK & CALL
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amBeck Hansen - just Beck to his fans - has been tangled in the sounds of the '70s for years. There were hints of it on his 1994 "On Mellow...
PENTHOUSE PET BARES PAIN NUDE MODEL BATTLING DEVASTATING LIVER CANCER -- & WINNING
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amPENTHOUSE Pet, stripper and cancer patient Leslie Glass revels in defying expectations. Sixteen months after being told she had advanced liver cancer and just weeks to live, she's voguing for...
BECK IS GREAT FOR STARTERS, BUT . . .
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amSkinny Beck Hansen -- the kid nobody thought would ever go the distance when he broke five years ago -- has not only proved all the naysayers wrong, he has...
TRAVELER'S UPDATE
February 15, 2000 | 5:00am'Under' priced Air New Zealand wants to tempt you west with great fares. You can fly nonstop from Los Angeles to Fiji for $599, Auckland for $699 and Sydney for...
HERE THEY COME, FOLKS... 50 BRIDES WITH NO SHAME
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amshameIt's the end of civilization as we know it," said Jammin' 105 morning drive guy/actor/marriage broker Jay Thomas about the show he hosts tonight, "Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire?"...
DOG DAYS AT THE GARDEN
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amIT has all the makings of becoming a poodle coronation. The 124th annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show -- the dog world's World Series, Super Bowl and Stanley Cup all...
EXPOSING HIS SHORTS ON 'NET
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amTHE booming short-film market could help Long Island film-school graduate Stuart Acher get his Bar Mitzvah money back. Since selling his self-funded, 20-minute film, "Bobby Loves Mangos" to HBO, United...
THE STARR REPORT
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amThe great 'Beyond' Fans of "Batman Beyond" can relax -- the series isn't being canned by Warner Bros., despite various rumors being bandied about. "It's definitely on the schedule next...
HAVE A VINE TIME - DISCOVERING CALIFORNIA'S OTHER WINE COUNTRY: LIVERMORE VALLEY
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amIMAGINE if someone advised you 25 years ago to buy Apple stock or real estate in SoHo. Well, there are some travel secrets out there waiting to be discovered, such...
DRIVER FINDS DEAD MAN ABOARD BUS
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amA 61-year-old Brooklyn man was found dead on a city bus yesterday only after the driver reached the end of his route and tried to awaken what he thought was...
REV. AL LEANS TOWARD BRADLEY :BUT STILL SEES VEEP AS FAVORITE
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amThe Rev. Al Sharpton said yesterday he's thinking of endorsing Bill Bradley for the Democratic presidential nomination - even though it might be better politics to go with Al Gore....
NEWLYWEDS OTHERWISE ENGAGED FOR 12 YEARS
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amWhen Marisol Montanez almost swallowed her engagement ring as she sipped champagne at her engagement party, she had no idea it would be a dozen years before her love gave...
CAN MCCAIN REALLY WIN? ; YES -- AND IT'S NO CONSPIRACY
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amLAST Friday, I predicted that John McCain would be the Republican nominee for president of the United States -- and judging from the dozens of e-mails I received from my...
LATEST REPORT ON IRA WEAPONS FUELS RENEWED HOPE FOR PEACE
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amOptimism about peace in Northern Ireland rose yesterday after the province's British governor said the IRA might be serious about disarming, and Ireland's foreign minister said home rule could be...
22 DIE, 100 HURT IN DIXIE TWISTERS
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amKiller tornadoes tore through southwest Georgia early yesterday, killing at least 22 people and injuring more than 100. The twisters destroyed dozens of mobile homes, uprooted trees, closed roads and...
WHY THIS PRIEST WANTS TO BE A WOMAN - REVEALS SEX-CHANGE PLAN IN LETTER TO FLOCK
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amROTTERDAM JUNCTION, N.Y. WHEN Father Dennis Brennan, the longtime pastor of St. Margaret of Cortona Roman Catholic Church, goes on his weekly trip to the grocery store, he looks, well,...
ART GAVE MET TOUR GUIDE A TRUE PICTURE OF SLAVERY
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amThere are few halls in this world more storied than those at the Metropolitan Museum of Art -- and Hazel Rodriguez knows not only the halls but the detailed history...
IT WASN'T PUBLICITY STUMP: TRUMP
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amWASHINGTON -- The Donald yesterday denied his non-run for president was all trumped up -- and said he might try again in 2004. "For those who suggest that this has...
TAKE HEART: LETTERMAN'S BACK MONDAY
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amDavid Letterman is feeling heart-y enough to return to work. Just five weeks after undergoing open-heart surgery, the fast-healing host of CBS's "Late Show" will be back onstage at the...
RUDY: W WAS WRONG TO TALK AT BIGOT U.
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amMayor Giuliani said yesterday that GOP presidential hopeful George W. Bush "made a mistake" by speaking at controversial Bob Jones University in South Carolina. "How big a mistake it was,...
COP IN SUICIDE DIVE
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amA Queens police lieutenant distraught over a troubled marriage jumped to his death from the Throgs Neck Bridge early yesterday, police said. Lt. Paul Swirsky, 35, a 12-year veteran from...
SHARPTON SPELLS DISASTER FOR DESPERATE POLS
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amA WEEK ago, it didn't seem possible. But Vice President Al Gore, whose name seems as entwined with the word "vice" as George W. Bush's, has me pining for Donald...
HERO WEATHERING BLIZZARD OF NEGATIVITY
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amCOLUMBIA, S.C.JOHN McCAIN has dropped his guard here, saying he won't run another negative ad in this bitterly-fought GOP primary contest. You don't realize what a high-risk move this is...
PATAKI REBUFFS BRUNO'S BID TO KISS & MAKE UP
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amALBANY -- Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno sent a Valentine's Day kiss to Gov. Pataki yesterday -- but his fellow Republican seemed to be fickle in return. "Valentine's Day is...
QUEENS WOMAN REVEALS CHINA-JAIL HUMILIATION
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amFalun Gong member Tracy Zhao yesterday said the worst moment of her nine-day ordeal in a Chinese jail was when she was forced to strip naked outside her cell. The...
TEENS' FAST-FOOD GUN SLAYINGS LEAVE COLUMBINE REELING
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amTwo Columbine HS sweethearts were brutally murdered in a sandwich shop that's just blocks away from the site of last year's massacre. Stephanie Hart, 16, and Nicholas Kunselman, 15, were...
CRACKS ABOUT HILLARY DRIVE PREZ 'NUTS'
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amPresident Clinton said yesterday it "drives me nuts" to hear his wife Hillary attacked in her Senate race -- and wishes he could slug it out with her critics. "If...
RUSSIA PLOTS FINAL PUSH - REBELS TRAPPED IN CHECHEN HILLS
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amRussian forces are preparing to wage a massive offensive against Islamic rebels in Chechnya with an all-out assault on their mountain hideouts, top military officials said last night. A huge...
FANS GAG ON JERRY'S GIBE - STUNS ASPEN CROWD WITH SWIPE AT WOMEN COMICS
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amJerry Lewis stopped the laughter at an Aspen comedy fest when he mercilessly tore into women comics -- saying he viewed them only as baby-making machines. The veteran funnyman --...
'SECRET' LOUIMA WITNESS SLAMMED
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amA defense lawyer in the second Abner Louima trial yesterday urged the judge to bar a potential prosecution witness, claiming his testimony would be nothing but "hearsay." The mystery witness...
EXPERTS: COLLEGE NOT A SMART MOVE
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amLittle Justin Chapman may be a brainiac, but if he's not put in school with other 6-year-olds, he could suffer emotionally for the rest of his life, some child psychologists...
NOBODY BELIEVES IN PROSECUTION'S ANTI-COP CASE
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amALBANY.ON THE witness stand, Officer Sean Carroll gave up on controlling his tears yesterday -- and his beautiful wife sobbed inside as if Niagara had invaded. But somehow Fionnuala Carroll...
IQ-UTE KID LEADS HEADY LIFE - PASSING COLLEGE CLASSES AT AGE 6
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amA 6-year-old upstate boy is New York's littlest Big Man on Campus. Brainy Justin Chapman, who began reading at 2, and whose hero is Einstein, has only one problem with...
VA. FAMILY'S $13M LAWSUIT ADDS TO BETH ISRAEL'S WOES
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amA Virginia family has slapped embattled Beth Israel Hospital with a $13 million lawsuit for failing to tell them of a brother's death -- and then burying the man in...
JUDGE SETS $1M BOND FOR NFL STAR
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amA judge yesterday set $1 million bond for football star Ray Lewis after a parade of NFL figures vouched for the alleged double murderer. The star Baltimore Ravens linebacker has...
WHERE IS ANDREI BABITSKY? - REPORTER'S TALE SMACKS OF OLD USSR
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amThe image of missing 36-year-old war reporter Andrei Babitsky flickered across the TV screens at the Moscow bureau of Radio Liberty -- a U.S.-government-owned station. It made his colleagues shudder....
COPS: WALLET FOOLED US - TELL DIALLO JURY THEY MISTOOK IT FOR A GUN
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amThe two cops who fired most at Amadou Diallo gave nearly lockstep accounts yesterday of mistaking the unarmed man's wallet for a gun -- one officer sobbing uncontrollably as he...
DA: GREED MOTIVATED KIMES CRIME - MOM & SON'S SOCIALITE-SLAY TRIAL OPENS
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amTheir scheme was complex, but mother and son grifters Sante and Kenneth Kimes' motive for murdering East Side socialite Irene Silverman "was a simple one -- greed," a prosecutor charged...
BUSH: DEMS BACKING MCCAIN - SAYS THEY KNOW HE'D BE LOSER IN NOVEMBER
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amSALUDA, S.C. -- Republican George W. Bush yesterday seized on a black state lawmaker's remarks to claim Democrats prefer his GOP rival, John McCain, because they think he'd be easier...
ABORT GROUP BACKING GORE - GETS NOD IN SPITE OF RECORD IN HOUSE
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amA powerful abortion-rights group today will endorse Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore -- even though the organization has said he had an "anti-choice" voting record in the House. "After two...
RANKED HALL TAKES MISSTEP ON WAY TO DANCE
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amNow we know how long it takes to go from run-of-the-mill to nationally ranked. One year after Seton Hall finished 15-15, the Pirates yesterday cracked the Top 25 for the...
THIS TIME, THE HOOLIGANS ARE ON THE FIELD
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amLONDON -- Let's play brawl! As a wise old fellow once counseled in the old "Kung Fu" TV series: "Two can be a coincidence, three cannot." It all has to...
METS PEDDLING HENDERSON
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE -- The first workout for pitchers and catchers is tomorrow, and position players do not have to report until the 20th. But the work behind the scenes...
WILSON MAKING MAJOR STRIDES
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE -- Cameras whir every time Kerry Wood pops a catcher's mitt in Arizona at the Cubs' spring-training camp. Wood, the man who matched Roger Clemens with a...
BISHOP DOING FINE AFTER SUPER SCARE
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amWith 130 million pairs of eyes watching him on TV during Super Bowl XXXIV, Titans safety Blaine Bishop stayed on the ground for 10 minutes. While on the turf, he...
COLEMAN MAKES IT OFFICIAL
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amThe Jets yesterday finally made official what has been common knowledge since last month: cornerback Marcus Coleman has re-signed with the club. Coleman agreed to a five-year, $20 million contract...
GIANTS INTERESTED IN SHANE
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amThe search for a backup quarterback could take the Giants to a player who has started only seven games in his six NFL seasons, but a player who has experience...
MARIANO, BOMBERS HEADED FOR $HOWDOWN
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amYANKEE NOTES TAMPA -- Less than 24 hours after being named the MVP of the World Series, Mariano Rivera stood in a parking lot across from Yankee Stadium and spoke...
ALLAN'S GIMPY ANKLE A PAIN TO VAN GUNDY
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES TORONTO -- The charter flight carrying Allan Houston and Jeff Van Gundy touched down in Westchester at 5 a.m. yesterday morning. They were returning from Sunday's All-Star Game...
DEREK LOOKIN' BUFF & TOUGH
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amTAMPA -- Whether he plays for $10 million this season or eventually signs a seven-year deal for a stunning $118M, Derek Jeter's salary will swell considerably over last year's $5...
CANARSIE CHOKES OFF WADLEIGH COMEBACK
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amPSAL A PLAYOFFS Canarsie 76 Wadleigh 65 The scenario had been played out several times before during this season. Wadleigh falls behind, playing terribly, only to strike back late in...
UPBEAT NETS TARGET GOALS
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amATLANTA -- The math is simple for the post All-Star Break Nets. Win two of every three games, finish at .500, then hope it's good enough to make the playoffs....
THE AIR APPARENT ; CARTER MORE THAN FILLING MICHAEL'S SHOES ; CARTER EASING NBA ADJUSTMENT TO LIFE AFTER
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amSAN FRANCISCO -- Forget about how damaging Vince Carter's violation against gravity was to Michael Jordan's self-esteem (Baby Carter is a punk if he doesn't accept the celestial challenge at...
CAGE CASUALTY AS JERSEY EYES NEW BLOOD
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amNET NOTES ATLANTA -- If the Nets intend to bring in any new blood to help them make a playoff push over the final 2½ months of the season, they...
TIPSTER IGNITED JOHNNIE PROBE
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amErick Barkley is back playing basketball, but the scars of the NCAA's recent actions won't soon be forgotten at St. John's. Sources told The Post that the NCAA received an...
SPREE COME LATELY ; TARDY LATRELL DRAWS FINE AS WELL AS TOUGH ASSIGNMENT VS. VINCE
February 15, 2000 | 5:00amTORONTO -- Latrell Sprewell better not be late for this "Air Canada" flight. When the Knicks face the Raptors tonight to kick off the season's unofficial second half in Toronto,...