June 22, 2000
PARK AVE. FACE LIFT - SWISSOTEL TO UPGRADE DRAKE, BUY MORE
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amThe once-dowdy Drake Hotel is getting a multimillion-dollar, top-to-bottom facelift, while its Swissotel owners consider buying another New York hotel as part of a worldwide expansion, The Post has learned....
DESIGNER TO THE STARS - RUSSIANS ASK VERSACE TO SUIT UP MIR'S COSMONAUTS
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amItalian fashion icon Donatella Versace may soon go to space. In spirit, at least. The racy designer has been approached by the Space Flight Control Centre (SCSC) of Star City...
SURPRISE RULING BOOSTS M'SOFT REUTERS
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amShares of Microsoft popped like champagne corks yesterday in response to Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's surprise decision to delay sanctions against the company while appeals are pending. The company's stock...
SHOE DROPS BUT MADDEN STAYS
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amBeleaguered shoe king Steve Madden will keep his job as chief executive of his company - but he will "temporarily" give the chairmanship to board member Charles Koppelman. Madden was...
HANDSPRING LEAPS 35% ON FIRST DAY
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amIt was just like the good old days. High-tech company Handspring's initial public offering jumped 35 percent yesterday, making its founders very rich - on paper. Handspring shares were priced...
MAGAZINE FIRE SALE - STRUGGLING INDIVIDUAL INVESTOR GOES ON BLOCK
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amThe Steinberg family's fire sale continues. Financially battered Individual Investor Group, which has seen its stock plummet 56 percent in the last year, officially went on the block yesterday. Jonathan...
HANG-UP FOR EBBERS - HE WOULD DUMP ASSETS FOR SPRINT
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amTelecom mogul Bernie Ebbers is furiously backpedaling to save his wireless dream. WorldCom's CEO intends to sell as much as $45 billion worth of the Internet and long-distance assets he...
BAKER QUITS AS USA NETWORKS PREZ
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amBarry Baker, Barry Diller's No. 2 at USA Networks, resigned suddenly yesterday after a year and half on the job. Baker, the president and COO of USA, had left the...
FORD'S TOP-RANKING FEMALE EXEC
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amEVEN though women purchase slightly more than half the vehicles on US roads, and influence husbands, sons and significant others on the purchase of nearly all the rest, you could...
CLUB KING B.B. GETS AN A
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amASK anyone to name the most famous bluesman on the planet and the answer you'll likely hear is B.B. King. The 74-year-old blues legend, one of our national treasures, has...
NEW 'TAP' RAP IN 'SPINAL' COLUMN
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amBREAK out the earplugs and hide the children, Spinal Tap - the loudest rock group of all time - is back. With the DVD release of "This is Spinal Tap"...
HAMPTON HOUSE SECRET SHARERS YANKED OFF 'NET
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amTHE town of Southampton has helped kill a "real world"-type Internet series about a summer share in the Hamptons.The producers of HamptonsTV.com's "27 East" shut down the cyberseries after the...
RENEE WON'T WALK AWAY - ZELLWEGER WEATHERS ANY STORM
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amRENÉE Zellweger, the elfin actress who looks as if a jagged glance could shatter her, is tougher than she seems. In her latest movie, "Me, Myself & Irene," out tomorrow,...
TV TALE FOR 'GILLIGAN'?
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amJUST in time to milk the "Survivor" craze, ABC is talking to Sherwood Schwartz about developing a TV movie about the backstage antics on "Gilligan's Island," TV Guide says. Schwartz...
THE STARR REPORT
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amAll in the family "Everything's Relative" in television - and now on the big screen. Eric Schaeffer, Jeffrey "Hey Now!" Tambor and Jill Clayburgh - who starred last year in...
UNIONS CALL SHAQ'S AD MICKEY MOUSE
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amSHAQUILLE O'Neal is the latest superstar athlete to cross the striking Screen Actor's Guild picket line. The towering L.A. Lakers basketball hero - who was named MVP of this year's...
NYC'S BEST FOOD FIGHT; 'IRON CHEF' HITS TOWN TO CARVE UP LOCAL HERO
June 22, 2000 | 4:00am"Iron Chef,New York Battle" Sunday at 9 p.m. on the Food Network IN case you are so uncool that you don't know/don't care/have never seen "Iron Chef" - the Food...
REEL-LIFE LADY CAPT. RULES HIGH SEAS - MAKES WAVES IN MAN'S WORLD OF SWORDFISHING
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amHOOK-AND-BAIT swordfishing is an elite specialty - a job as macho and dangerous as they come. For 30 days at a time, these fishermen are 1,000 miles from shore, fighting...
HARLEM TO GET CANCER CENTER
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amOne of the nation's most prominent cancer hospitals is opening a treatment center in Harlem. Officials announced yesterday that many of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's doctors will help oversee development...
MORGUE WORKERS ROBBED CORPSE: COPS
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amTwo morgue workers, sent to a Brooklyn home to pick up a corpse yesterday, were busted after a cop caught them stuffing some of the man's valuables into the body...
5 JERSEY COPS INDICTED IN SLAY OF WRONG MAN
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amA federal grand jury yesterday indicted five New Jersey cops in connection with the death of a suspected cop killer - who turned out to be innocent. Authorities have said...
FUR COULD BE FLYING AT FIRST LADY'S FUND-RAISER
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amAnimal-rights protesters are barking at Hillary Rodham Clinton's upcoming Senate fund-raiser because it's being hosted by one of the city's biggest fur designers, The Post has learned. Furrier to the...
CHEAP GAS ON THE INFO SUPERHIGHWAY
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amDrivers facing the highest fuel prices in years can get some relief by gassing up in cyberspace. Customers of Priceline.com can bid on gasoline and save 20 cents a gallon...
OPEC'S PUMPING UP THE OIL VOLUME, BUT TOO LATE FOR SUMMER
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amOPEC will start pumping 3 percent more oil - but not in time to bring down gasoline prices for the summer vacation season. The move by OPEC, which was under...
THREE MORE QUIT BARAK CABINET FOR PEACE'S SAKE
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amJERUSALEM - Israel's political crisis took a new twist yesterday when three more cabinet ministers quit - in a bid to save Prime Minister Ehud Barak's government and the Mideast...
DEVIL DIGGERS RIP OFF 'PSYCHO' KILLER'S GRAVE
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amSatan-worshipers may have snatched the headstone marking the grave of Ed Gein - the serial killer who inspired the movie shockers "Psycho," "Silence of the Lambs" and "The Texas Chainsaw...
ALL-BOOKED-UP WILLS SNUBS HIS BIRTHDAY BASH
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amCramming for tests was a royal pain for Prince William yesterday - the young heartthrob skipped his big birthday bash, claiming he had to study for finals. But there were...
SAMMY 'BULL' PLOTTED HIT ON LAWYER: ARIZ. OFFICIAL
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amMob turncoat Sammy "Bull" Gravano put out a hit on lawyer Ron Kuby for organizing a legal campaign against him, the Arizona attorney general's office revealed yesterday. Gravano recruited Philip...
METEOR MEDIATION MIGHT YIELD PACT
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amThe dispute involving a 10,000-year-old, 15-ton meteorite - now featured at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in the American Museum of Natural History- may finally be settled. Representatives...
NO-BRAINER: HE SHOULD BE TRIED AS AN ADULT
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amTHE curious case of Michael Skakel is turning on a vexing question that's as much philosophical as it is legal. To wit: should a middle-aged man be tried as an...
SKAKEL FINGERED BY ANOTHER PAL - ADMITTED BEING AT MOXLEY SCENE, WITNESS TESTIFIES
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amSTAMFORD, Conn. - A close childhood friend of Michael Skakel - the Kennedy cousin charged with killing Martha Moxley - testified yesterday that Skakel admitted he was at the scene...
LOUIMA COVER-UP COP FOUND GUILTY
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amA jury yesterday convicted a cop of lying to the feds when he denied seeing a half-naked Abner Louima being walked to a station-house cell after the infamous stick sodomy....
SWITCH EYED IN DERAILMENT
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amThe subway derailment that turned a Brooklyn B train into a tangled mess and left 95 passengers injured may have been caused by a defective switch, Mayor Giuliani said yesterday....
RICHARDSON 'NUKED' IN FLAP OVER N-SECRETS
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - Energy Secretary Bill Richardson took heat from angry senators yesterday, even as he tried to reassure them there is "no evidence" that spies swiped nuclear secrets from Los...
BUSH DEAD CERTAIN ON EXECUTIONS
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - George W. Bush yesterday said he's sure no innocent person has been executed since he became Texas governor, as activists pressed him to spare convicted killer Gary Graham...
KUBY RISING RADICAL STAR - FOLLOWING KUNSTLER'S FOOTSTEPS
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amTHE JURY is still out on Ron Kuby. At 43, Kuby, the lawyer and radio talk-show host, still has years to prove he's the equal of his legendary mentor, civil-rights...
KIDS MAKE THE GRADE AT FIRST CHARTER SCHOOL
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amThe state's first charter school heralded the completion of its first year with a "diploma" ceremony for its kindergarten class in Harlem yesterday. Parents whose kids attend kindergarten through second...
NYPD SPARKS FLAP OVER CENTRAL PARK 911 CALLS
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amCop brass have tried to shift some blame for last week's wildings on to a lack of 911 calls - but operators fielded eight such calls from horrified good Samaritans,...
IT CAN BE 7TH HEAVEN FOR SUBWAY RIDERS
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amWho says the No. 7 line is boring? For starters, it's the only subway line where can you see the studio where Woody Allen made two films, the courthouse where...
PATAKI PANEL FLUNKS ED BOARD ON SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amGov. Pataki's probers dropped a bomb on the Board of Education yesterday, charging its mismanagement of school construction has jeopardized student safety and squandered taxpayer dollars. A Pataki-appointed state commission...
WE'RE PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS: RUDY - MAYOR HAS ADVICE & A PLAN FOR PITCHER
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amMayor Giuliani yesterday revealed World Series-style security plans for the upcoming Mets-Braves series - and made a strong pitch for reviled reliever John Rocker not to ride the No. 7...
LAZIO CATCHES HILL FOR DECIDING TO SKIP GAY-PRIDE MARCH
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amHillary Rodham Clinton last night ripped her Senate foe, Rick Lazio, for his decision to skip Sunday's Gay Pride Parade in Manhattan. "I want to be sure we are an...
BRUCE SHOWS TICKET SCALPERS WHO'S BOSS
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amWhen it comes to ticket scalpers, Bruce Springsteen and his E-Street band have hearts of stone. Thirteen scalpers were ticketed on charges of ticket speculation after learning the hard way...
EGAN: I'LL SPEAK MY MIND
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amBOLTON LANDING, N.Y. - New York's new archbishop, Edward Egan, last night vowed to "speak out clearly and completely" on social issues. "I won't be speaking out on every social...
ENERGY CHIEF MUST ENVY HIS 'TEFLON' BOSS
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amPOOR Bill Richardson. Here we are in the Clinton era, when you can usually wiggle out of just about anything - sex, lies or videotape - by claiming the dog...
SHARPTON RIPS BRONX DA AS AN UNCLE TOM
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amThe Rev. Al Sharpton publicly called Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson an "Uncle Tom" last night after a heated private argument over Johnson's handling of the Amadou Diallo case. Johnson...
WINSLET GETS 'NET THREAT
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amSexy "Titanic" star Kate Winslet has been hit with chilling e-mail threats from a female stalker who says she wants to "rape her, kill her and just hit her." The...
LOUIMA FAMILY SHOUTS OUT AGAINST SILENT COPS
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amRELATIVES of police torture victim Abner Louima don't want a federal judge to throw the book at the three cops who were found guilty of conspiring to cover-up the sodomy...
VACCINE COULD SCRATCH CHICKENPOX
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amA painful rite of childhood may be on the wane. The first community-wide study of the chickenpox vaccine indicates the number of cases of the disease decreased by 80 percent...
WINSLET GETS DEADLY 'NET THREAT
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amSexy "Titanic" star Kate Winslet has been hit with chilling e-mail threats from a female stalker who says she wants to "rape her, kill her and just hit her." Authorities...
GORBY: PUTIN UNFAIRLY PUT UPON
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amFormer Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev came to the defense of Russia's new president yesterday, saying it was "foolish" to accuse Vladimir Putin of being a dictator. Putin has been harshly...
FRAGILE PEACE THREATENED BY BELFAST BLAST
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amA bomb rocked a Catholic area of Belfast yesterday, sending a father and son to the hospital with serious head injuries. The blast came a day after the Ulster Freedom...
APPLES MIGHT PARE CANCER RISK
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amAn apple a day helps keep cancer away, new research shows. Cornell University researchers told Nature magazine that apples pack a powerful anti-oxidant punch. Anti-oxidants are thought to prevent cancer...
FOR RUSSIAN DUO, 22G JUST ISN'T FARE
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amOrganized-crime investigators were interrogating a Russian husband and wife who were carrying $22,600 when they were stopped late yesterday for alleged fare evasion in Brooklyn, sources said. The sources also...
LAZIO GETS LAVENDER LASHING FOR SKIPPING GAY-PRIDE MARCH
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amTwo major gay-rights groups and a slew of Democratic officials slammed Senate candidate Rick Lazio yesterday for deciding to skip Sunday's Gay Pride Parade. "We're disappointed, but not surprised, that...
ADWATCH
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amTITLES: "Trust Me" and "I Love New York" -- both featuring former Mayor Ed Koch. RUNNING TIME: 30 seconds each WHERE SHOWN: New York City, suburbs. PRODUCED BY: "Team Hillary,"...
FLIP GERMANY, ENGLAND ON SCRAP HEAP
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amLONDON - Those two old juggernauts Germany and England have finally come chugging to an undignified halt, crashing out of Euro 2000 with steam billowing out of their respective engines...
TYSON CIRCUS LOSING LUSTER ; SCOTS NOT HOT FOR SAVARESE BOUT
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amGLASGOW - This is not Manchester. Six months after he descended upon the UK like the second coming of Winston Churchill, Mike Tyson Mania has gone as cool as the...
ERSATZAL DIES AT FINISH
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amThe first race at Belmont Park yesterday ended on a tragic note as Ersatzal, part of the favored entry with Onerous, collapsed at the finish line after being pulled up...
STARKS TALKS UNDER WAY
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amThe Knicks last week had a preliminary contract discussion with one of John Starks' agents, Dave Dunn, The Post has learned. Although negotiations with free agents are supposed to begin...
KNICKS LIKE LOOK OF GATOR GRABBER
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amKnicks GM Scott Layden just may give Jeff Van Gundy his wish at Wednesday's NBA Draft - a power forward who can rip down rebounds. "There are a lot of...
SENIOR STAR STILL OUTCAST: DOYLE'S STORY: TITLES, SNUBS
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amAllen Doyle might as well be working weekends at his driving range in LaGrange, Ga. - that's how little attention he gets on the Senior PGA Tour. All Doyle did...
TESTAVERDE AND WATSON IN GRID TALK
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amSENIOR PGA NOTES Jet QB Vinny Testaverde, who played with Tom Watson in yesterday's Cadillac/NFL Golf Classic pro-am and shot a sterling 79, was asked by Watson about the Jets....
HERITAGE OF GOLD WORKS OUT
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amHeritage of Gold, currently the leader of the older filly and mare division, tuned up for an expected showdown with 1999 older filly and mare champion Beautiful Pleasure with a...
TRACK PROMO TO PONY UP $1M PRIZE
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amWho wants to be a millionaire? The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, an industry-wide coalition formed two years ago to promote the sport, is putting its money where its mouth is...
NETS' BOSS GIVES THUMB'S UP FOR NASH, MARTIN
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amRod Thorn, still in his first month on the job as Nets' president, yesterday addressed a multitude of topics, ranging from draft prospects to the status of the coaching search...
EL DUQUE INJURY IS JUST A SPRAIN
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amBOSTON - The Yankees let out a sigh of relief yesterday when the news coming out of Dr. James Andrews' office in Birmingham, Ala., confirmed that Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez...
YANKS SCOUTING LOAIZA
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amBOSTON - Knowing that the Texas Rangers will move Esteban Loaiza, the Yankees sent organizational roving pitching instructor Greg Pavlick to Arlington last night to scout the erratic right-hander against...
BAD BREAK ENDS REY'S YEAR: SHORTSTOP'S FOREARM NOT HEALING CORRECTLY
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amWhen people fracture the ulna bone in their forearm, 95 percent heal properly. Rey Ordonez is a member of the five percent. Since this is the case, the three-time Gold...
JOE IN MENDOZA'S CORNER ; TORRE AGAINST INCLUDING RAMIRO IN DEAL
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amBOSTON - The Yankees' organization is nothing if not a constant struggle to gain access to George Steinbrenner's ear. No one's voice resonates with Steinbrenner quite the way Joe Torre's...
LIBERTY SUFFER SHOCKING LOSS
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amShock 67 Liberty 63 They changed the words, but their message was no different from Micheal Ray Richardson's famous line in this same building over 20 years ago: The ship...
VOID'S HARD TO MEASURE
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amTHIS is hardly the kind of news one had better take sitting down. In the 23 days since Rey Ordonez left the Mets' lineup, it's not as if Keith Olbermann's...
7TH HELL FOR YANKS: 'PEN MELTDOWN LETS BOSOX WIN - IN A WALK
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amRed Sox 9 Yankees 7 BOSTON - Even George Steinbrenner couldn't get into a lather over a rare putrid outing by his bullpen last night that cost David Cone and...
IT'S NOT EASY FOR LEYRITZ TO SAY GOODBYE
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amBOSTON - Jim Leyritz discovered that one thing had changed with the Yankee organization during his second tour of duty - a tour that lasted less than a year but...
ROCKER'S WILDNESS IRKS ATLANTA'S GM
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amATLANTA - After watching John Rocker self-destruct again last night, Braves GM John Schuerholz said he was feeling stressed out. "It's been very tiring," Schuerholz told The Post after he...
HAMILTON'S PLANNING TO ROAM CENTER STAGE
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amMET NOTES After Darryl Hamilton does his minor-league rehabilitation, he expects to play center upon his return to Shea. Hamilton - who's been out since April 7 with a sprained...
POISEN PEN KILLS METS IN THE 9TH
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amPhillies 10 Mets 5 After walking in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning, John Franco fired the resin bag down in disgust. Then came the boos....
TRADE WINDS STILL SWIRL
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES BOSTON - If the Yankees are interested in acquiring Astro right-hander Jose Lima, they can save themselves the cost of a phone call. Houston's not selling. And despite...
BURRELL TURNS ON THE POWER
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amThis is Pat Burrell's first trip to New York as a big-league ballplayer. It's shaping up to be one he'll never forget. Chances are the Mets will remember him for...
IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE :TORRE'S SHAKEUP JUST THE BEGINNING
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amBOSTON - Finally, the Yankees have shifted out of complacency mode and are taking steps to reshape a team that had been flatter than a headless beer before arriving at...
FENWAY FLIP-FLOP: KNOBBY GETS NIGHT AT DH WITH VIZ AT 2ND
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amBOSTON - Chuck Knoblauch was atop the lineup but not at second base. Jorge Posada was batting fifth but not catching. Tino Martinez was on the bench but there was...
7TH HELL FOR YANKS: 'PEN MELTDOWN LETS BOSOX WIN IN A WALK
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amRed Sox 9 Yankees 7 BOSTON - The main reason the Yankees entered last night's action at Fenway Park atop the AL East was the potency of their bullpen. While...
HOT PIAZZA TAKING STREAK IN STRIDE
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amMike Piazza, in another one of his red-hot streaks, understands people are going to want to know the secret of his success. But the catcher doesn't have an easy explanation...
MIKE 'REAL DUMB' AND REALLY HOT
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amMet slugger Mike Piazza has always been a streaky player, and right now he's riding one of his classic red-hot tears. For the second straight night, he smacked a two-run...
WITH ORDONEZ OUT, WILL METS BE DOWN?
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amTHIS is not exactly the kind of news you have to take sitting down. It's not like in the 23 days since Rey Ordonez left the Mets' lineup Keith Olbermann's...
LIBERTY CENTER DRAWING RAVES
June 22, 2000 | 4:00amOn a recent scouting mission to Italy, Liberty coach Richie Adubato found the center he needed. It was at the Italian League's final four, and Tari Phillips was having a...