December 5, 2001
HOT STUFF: WARM WEATHER COOLS RETAIL SALES
It's bad enough that retailers' sales are lagging as a result of the weak economy and the Sept. 11 attacks. Now they have to contend with the weather. Temperatures in...
STOCKS TAKE OFF AFTER BUSH LAYS DOWN LAW ON TERRORISM
U.S. stocks rallied yesterday, pushing the technology-packed Nasdaq composite index to its highest close since August. After trading only slightly higher most of the day, stocks moved up strongly in...
IN THE CROSSHAIRS - ENRON EXECS & DIRECTORS EYED IN COLLAPSE
Investigators and angry investors are aiming their gunsights at more than two dozen executives and directors at the helm of scandal-wrecked Enron. Included in the cross-hairs is Wendy Gramm, a...
BIG BATTLE OF THE BOURSES
The NYSE's Dick Grasso and the Amex's Sal Sodano are at it again. After having buried the hatchet in the wake of the Sept. 11 tragedy, the rival exchanges are...
MANY OPTIONS FOR CON ED SITE
WE love cocktail parties and elevators because people always talk as if we aren't there. But even if we aren't, our spies are. Last week, developer Sheldon Solow, a partner...
GQ EDITOR SLAMS NYT 'PLAGIARISM' OF DR. KING STORY
GQ EDITOR-in-Chief Art Cooper is infuriated with a recent op-ed piece in the New York Times on the squandered legacy of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King. He feels...
ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATIONS PROBED
Analysts (surprise, surprise) completely missed the boat on Enron - and now they're coming under some added scrutiny. Congress is looking at how the analysts managed to miss making "sell"...
NEXT, ON COURT TV - PAX SUES NBC OVER TELEMUNDO DEAL
Pax - the namesake of peace - is at war with partner NBC. Bud Paxon, founder of the Pax network, launched a legal action yesterday against the bigger network for...
STARR REPORT
'Who' by #s: Monday 'Millionaire' strong Are we all being too premature in writing the obituary for "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (at least a prime-time version hosted by...
FOR STAY-AT-HOME SHOPPERS, A TAKEOUT JOINT THAT'S ALL OVER TOWN
Cosi [ 1/2] 1633 Broadway (at 51st Street) and many other locations (212) 397-2674 ------ SEARCHING the Web for online delectable gifts is apt to activate the appetite of any...
LANE A 'MOONER IN MOVIE
AND awaaaaay we go! Nathan Lane, who won a Tony for Broadway's "The Producers," has been picked to play Jackie Gleason in "To the Moon," a movie about the rotund...
ONE-SIDED 'B-52' DOESN'T REALLY FLY
B-52 [] Long, intermittently fascinating documentary about the 50-year-old bomber.Running time: 108 minutes. Not rated (nothing objectionable). At Film Forum, Houston Street, between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street. ------- 'B-52"...
CANTEEN COUPLE SPLITS
THE co-owners of SoHo's Canteen restaurant, Matthew Kenney and John McDonald, have ended their professional partnership after opening the trendy subterranean eatery two years ago. While McDonald insists his buyout...
THAT'S IT! 'GMA' FINDS A WAY TO ROLL OVER 'TODAY'
'GOOD Morning America" nearly beat the "Today" show Monday - thanks to an exclusive look at IT. That's the name given to the revolutionary scooter inventor Dean Kamen unveiled for...
NEW RULES FOR NEW ITALIANS
AS wine regions go, Italy's Sant'Antimo denominazione hasn't had much time in the bottle. Formed just five years ago, it overlaps the older and more famous Tuscan region of Montalcino,...
IT'S PATRUINED - ONCE-GLAM POSH PIT DUMBED DOWN
PATROON [] 160 E. 46TH ST. (212) 883-7373 ------ 'HAVE you noticed what a male enterprise Midtown lunch is?" my colleague observes at recently reopened Patroon. She's onto something, and...
HOLIDAY BYTES - TRUFFLES AND LOBSTERS ARE JUST A WEB AWAY
You can score almost any food you want in New York, but if you do your ordering over the Web or by phone, you don't even have to change out...
U2 CAN SING AT SUPER BOWL
IRISH mega-rockers U2 will be the centerpiece of what is expected to be the most patriotic-themed Super Bowl halftime show ever. The game, Super Bowl XXXVI, will be played on...
'CHICAGO' AIN'T HIS KIND OF TOWN
SOME people are famous for being famous. A few are even famous for being both famous and tanned. I had always suspected that George Hamilton was possibly among those very...
OLD AND BOLD - WHY THESE TWO RICH GUYS GO OFF TO WAR
HOW gung-ho can you get? Dan Rather turned 70 on Halloween and yet on Monday night, he didn't seem like a man five years past retirement age as he stood...
THE ROSENBERG RAT
60 Minutes II [ ] Tonight at 8 on WCBS/Ch. 2 --------- YOU can't grow up in the United States without having learned in history class about spies Ethel and...
ACTION! JACKSON - HOW UNKNOWN DIRECTOR BEAT IMPOSSIBLE ODDS TO MAKE BIG FLICK
AT one point while filming the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, its 40-year-old director found himself commanding seven different camera crews. That unheard-of feat encapsulates the 274 days he spent...
BUCKS OVER B'WAY
IN his one-man show "Sexaholix," John Leguizamo points out all the things he and his girlfriend have in common. "She comes from money," he says. "I do, too. Now." No...
TRIO HAPPY TO PICK UP THE 'CHECK'
Checks at the swanky '21' Club can run high, but yesterday, they ran into the millions. Fortunately, for Edwin and Rosanna Berrios and Robert Andreas, the massive checks - $9.6...
WHO'LL FOOT THE TERROR BILL?
HERE'S a question that must be resolved, and quickly, if the economy is to keep ticking post-9/11: Who pays when terrorists strike? Until Congress settles who'll pay - and, potentially,...
BERMUDA BLOOMY: MIND YOUR BUSINESS
Mayor-elect Mike Bloomberg insisted yesterday it's nobody's business that he jetted off to Bermuda for a weekend getaway - although an aide had claimed he was hard at work on...
5 INJURED IN JERUSALEM TERROR BLAST
JERUSALEM - Five people were slightly injured in an apparent Palestinian suicide bomb blast this morning in central Jerusalem. The bomber was crossing a street and may have been preparing...
HORMONE RX MAY AID THIN, FAT FOLKS
New treatments for obesity and anorexia came one step closer to reality this week as scientists identified a hormone that regulates appetite. Researchers at Imperial College in London found that...
TOT'S STORY MAY LEAD TO KILLERS: COPS
Cops yesterday interviewed a 3-year-old East Harlem girl who could help them solve the murders of her grandmother and the woman's beau - hinting that the crime may have been...
BUSH SHOWS NO CHARITY TO LOCAL TERROR HELPERS
President Bush said yesterday he was shutting down a U.S.-based charity that finances the anti-Israel terror group Hamas, which claims responsibility for the latest rash of Middle East bombings. The...
SUSPECT OUTLIVES SLAY RAP
It's back to Pennsylvania for Joseph Scudiero - the fresh-off-the-hook fugitive from a 30-year-old Greenwich Village murder that now may never be solved. Scudiero was allowed to walk out of...
PATAKI'S SMOKE SIGNALS - HE MAY RAISE CIG TAX TO HELP CASH CRUNCH
ALBANY - Two years after the state doubled its tax on cigarettes, Gov. Pataki is considering another hike to fill a budget hole created by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks....
TAUBMAN MAY BE TOUGH, BUT HE'S NOT A CRIMINAL
THE speech would shock the tweed off their precious jackets and singe their leather elbow patches. "You are talented, but you are also the rudest bunch of bastards walking the...
SOME BIZMEN LIKE IT HOT
Mother Nature has banned Old Man Winter from visiting the Big Apple for yet another week - and that's both good news and bad news for business. The warm weather...
CATHOLIC SCHOOL TURMOIL
Labor strife spread through the Catholic school system yesterday, with angry elementary school teachers waging a "sickout" while high-school teachers continued their strike against the archdiocese. "Teachers are sick of...
BABY-SLAY PROM MOM GOES OUT AND ABOUT
Ex-con prom mom Melissa Drexler ventured out of her suburban New Jersey home yesterday for a quick cup of coffee. After a week of freedom, Drexler still looked haggard as...
JUST CALL HIM BY HIS RIGHTFUL NAME: TRAITOR
WHY is it so hard for our leaders to call the snake who is John Walker what he so obviously is - a despicable traitor? A despicable traitor who deserves...
E. SIDE BUSINESSES FUME AT PROTECTION FOR PLO
AS THE Middle East erupts, another do-or-die war against the Palestinian government is being waged on a Manhattan street. A handful of businesses are being financially bombed because the cops...
STUYVESANT TRADITION CANCELED
Stuyvesant HS alumni are feeling blue over the school's new Grinch-like security measures that bar them from visiting their alma mater on the last school day before Christmas vacation. "Due...
NEW CLUES IN CASE OF THE 'KILLER' NANNY
The Connecticut nanny accused of murdering the owner of a placement agency went ballistic because she believed she was being "blackballed" - and threatened to extract revenge a week before...
'POOR FELLOW' OR TRAITOR? LOOKS LIKE A RAT, TALKS LIKE A RAT, SMELLS LIKE A RAT, HIDES LIKE A RAT - IT IS A RAT
President Bush described the American turncoat who fought for the Taliban as a "poor fellow" yesterday - but former U.S. military chiefs and war veterans want him tried for treason....
NYPD HONORS ITS HEROES AT TEARY MEDAL CEREMONY
The Police Department yesterday saluted the 23 officers who died in the World Trade Center disaster, giving them the Medal of Honor - its highest award - at a ceremony...
SEX-SLAY TEEN'S FINAL NIGHTMARE
The terrified teen victim of a sadistic ex-teacher dubbed New York's own "Hannibal Lecter" begged for mercy before being castrated, but his attacker coolly retorted, "I can't stop now -...
PAINT MISBEHAVING - PATRIOT NABBED IN 'BRUSH' WITH 'NO PLEDGE' SCHOOL BOARD
As debate raged over the fate of American Taliban fighter John Walker, a patriotic shock artist was handcuffed for painting the American flag on an Upper West Side school building...
SONDHEIM STRIKES GOLD! - JUDGE BARS RUDIN FROM INTERFERING WITH NEW MUSICAL
The show can go on for legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim. A Manhattan judge yesterday barred big-time producer Scott Rudin from interfering with or claiming exclusive rights to the "West...
CITY SERVICES FEEL $QUEEZE
Mayor Giuliani last night offered the first details of how his $766 million in budget cuts would impact services, ranging from garbage collection to infant-mortality programs. Giuliani had insisted on...
AUTO-INSURANCE FRAUD RING SMASHED
A massive car-insurance fraud ring was busted in Brooklyn and Queens last night - as authorities began hauling in doctors, lawyers and others suspected in the multimillion-dollar scheme. Those targeted...
MIKE, RUDY, GOV HEAD TO ISRAEL
Mayor-elect Mike Bloomberg announced yesterday he is headed overseas for a quick trip to Israel with Gov. Pataki and Jewish leaders. Mayor Giuliani also will be joining the mission, his...
HERE WE COME, OSAMA! - BATTLE AT HIS CAVE FORTRESS HAS BEGUN
WASHINGTON - Skirmishes broke out yesterday as a vanguard of 2,000 anti-Taliban fighters advanced on terror master Osama bin Laden's underground mountain citadel - and the pivotal battle of the...
COPS TO HELP FEDS QUIZ IMMIGRANTS
New York cops are set to begin interviewing 86 city residents on a controversial Justice Department list of immigrants who may have information helpful to the terror probe. The New...
DURST'S WIFE IN $2M BID
The day before real-estate scion Robert Durst was to be arraigned in Texas on murder charges, his wife tried to withdraw all $1.8 million in cash from his Manhattan bank...
EX-MONTANA GOV WILL CHAIR GOP
WASHINGTON - President Bush is tapping a trusted friend, ex-Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, as the Republican Party's new national chairman, GOP sources said last night. He'll replace Virginia Gov. Jim...
YASSER DODGES ISRAELI 'BULLET' - ROCKET HITS JUST 50 FEET FROM HIM IN W. BANK RAID
Israel continued its pointed offensive against the Palestinian Authority yesterday, smashing targets identified with Yasser Arafat - including his limos. Attack helicopters blasted eight Palestinian security offices in the West...
RUDY OUT TO MAKE IT HIS FUND
Mayor Giuliani is moving to convert the city's Twin Towers Fund into a private charity he'll control even after leaving office, sources told The Post yesterday. Mayoral aides have asked...
BOMBS INJURE BIN LADEN'S NO. 2
WASHINGTON - Terror master Osama bin Laden's right-hand man was seriously injured in a U.S. airstrike on a mountain cave complex in eastern Afghanistan, opposition officials said yesterday. Ayman al-Zawahiri,...
SHAKEUP AT NYPD
Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik has ordered a major shakeup of NYPD brass, reassigning 15 top commanders amid the city's recent crime wave. The transfers, which take effect at midnight tomorrow,...
SAUDI SUIT: SMOKING IS TERRORISM
Saudi Arabia's top cancer hospital has filed a $3 billion lawsuit against 10 international tobacco firms. Lawyers for the King Faisal Specialist Hospital said the legal action is necessary because...
MEN SEEM BORN TO BE STRESSED
Men may be naturally more inclined than women to suffer from stress, a new study has revealed. Researchers at Cambridge University in England found that males release more of the...
YASSER DODGES ISRAELI 'BULLET': HE'S RUSHED TO BUNKER IN WEST BANK ROCKET ATTACK
JERUSALEM - Israel launched its sharpest offensive in 14 months against the Palestinian Authority yesterday, smashing targets identified with Yasser Arafat - including his limousines. Attack helicopters blasted eight Palestinian...
MEGATRUCK GOBBLES LETHAL GAS
A huge tanker truck yesterday began sucking some 8,000 pounds of potentially lethal freon gas from the ruins of the World Trade Center. "It can suffocate you. Freon is heavier...
JEWS SUPPORT ALASKA DRILLING
WASHINGTON - In an unusual move, several Jewish organizations have aligned with Republicans to embrace drilling for oil in Alaska. Jewish groups are pressing Democrats to rally around a GOP...
HERE WE COME, OSAMA! BATTLE AT HIS CAVE FORTRESS HAS BEGUN
WASHINGTON - Skirmishes broke out yesterday as a vanguard of 2,000 anti-Taliban fighters advanced on terror master Osama bin Laden's underground mountain citadel yesterday and the pivotal battle of the...
KNICKS EYED MASE ENCORE
KNICK NOTES MILWAUKEE - If the Knicks had gotten the $4.5 million injury exception after Larry Johnson retired, they would have made a pitch for Queens native Anthony Mason. Mason,...
THE EXCUSE IS GETTING TIRED - RANGERS GET RUN DOWN
Capitals 5 - Rangers 2 WASHINGTON - They've sure talked often enough lately about feeling fatigue as a byproduct of the condensed Olympic-year schedule. Problem for the Rangers is, they've...
RANGERS JUST SAY NO TO BLACKBURN
HOCKEY NOTES It isn't that the Rangers wouldn't allow Dan Blackburn to compete for Canada in the World Junior Tournament, it's that they wouldn't allow him to compete for a...
HAPPY HOMECOMING - MILWAUKEE NATIVE SPREE BLOWS AWAY BUCKS
MILWAUKEE - If these Bucks are considered Eastern Conference powers, then what exactly are Marcus Camby's Knicks becoming? Fast on the rise, that's what. Certainly, Buck All-Star Ray Allen may...
HOJO TO MANAGE CYCLONES
A Howard Johnson's has sprung up in Brooklyn. The Cyclones announced two changes in their All-Star coaching staff yesterday, the most notable being that Johnson will take over the managing...
U.S. OUTLOOK NOT GOLDEN BUT BRIGHT
WHILE Americans did not take home the gold in any of the seven races that took place on this side of the big pond, the outlook for the U.S. Ski...
GIVE UP ON VINNY? NO WAY!
ON the Jets' final chance to capture their eighth win of the season late Sunday afternoon the ball floated - like a wobbling Frisbee on a windy day - tantalizingly...
NOT JUST ANOTHER GAME - MARBURY'S RETURN HAS NETS JACKED
Nets coach Byron Scott's smile said it all. Despite his - and his team's - efforts to downplay Stephon Marbury's return this evening, you could easily decode their true feelings....
SCOTT'S SCRAPPERS NEED TO MAKE STATEMENT
GIVE Stephon Marbury credit. He's done nearly the impossible. He's made people care about a Nets game. Maybe more than 5,000 warm bodies will show up tonight at the Meadowlands...
GIANTS MUST FOCUS ON FUZZY PLAYOFF PICTURE
The sky above Giants Stadium lately has been a bright blue, and Jim Fassel is certain it isn't falling. Of course, his team has not lost in 10 days, so...
GM'S AIDE NAMED
The Yankees have hired Jean Afterman to replace Kim Ng as GM Brian Cashman's assistant, The Post has learned. Afterman, 41, comes to the Yankees with impressive credentials. She has...
[[BD+ YANKS KEEP AT IT - JASON'S IN SIGHT; KARSAY SIGNED
The Yankees have officially made an offer to free-agent slugger Jason Giambi. Meanwhile, they will introduce native New York pitcher Steve Karsay today. Karsay, a right-handed reliever, has been in...
MOISES A TARGET; JUSTICE MAY GO
Yankee officials have promised George Steinbrenner that, if they sign Moises Alou, they will free up salary by trading David Justice no later than the end of spring training. Under...
BORAS TO METS - LET'S TALK
Scott Boras to the Mets' rescue? Boras, the agent for Barry Bonds, Johnny Damon and Chan Ho Park, said last night that he would be willing to structure a contract...
MOLLOY BACK AFTER TRAGEDY
Molloy 70 - Holy Trin. 26 For the Archbishop Molloy boys basketball team, last night took a long time to arrive. "I didn't think it ever get here," said junior...
DEVILS STILL HOPING TO LAND LECAVALIER
OVERTIME: Devils 1 - Lightning 1 While they may be losing out on Tony Amonte, the Devils appear ever closer to acquiring Vincent Lecavalier. Tampa Bay's franchise 21-year-old left the...
ISLES IN COLD SNAP
Flyers 3 - Islanders 2 Nobody asks about refs and penalties and being outshot when a team is winning. So the floor was open for all of the above last...
HERE'S THE DIRT ON INNER TRACK
Racing shifts today to Aqueduct's winterized inner dirt track, where it will remain until early spring 2002. Besides the fact there's no more grass racing from mid-December to April, the...
SPREE BACK IN SWING - LATRELL WAS READY TO PUNCH THOMAS
MILWAUKEE - Of all the disturbing elements from Monday's 89-86 squeaker over the reeling Rockets, the worst one was Latrell Sprewell nearly having a Carlesimo-moment. With his right fist cocked,...
KVASHA HOPING FOR CALL - ISLES' WINGER WANTS TO REPRESENT RUSSIA AT GAMES
Growing up in Moscow, Oleg Kvasha always dreamed of representing his country. "Yeah, my first dream was to play for Red Army," said Kvasha, a member of two Russian World...
MASE: NO PLACE LIKE HOME
KNICK NOTES MILWAUKEE - If the Knicks had gotten the $4.5 million injury exception after Larry Johnson retired, they would have made a pitch for Queens native Anthony Mason. Mason,...
DAN'S NOT GOING ANYWHERE - RANGERS WON'T LET BLACKBURN LEAVE
WASHINGTON - It isn't that the Rangers wouldn't allow Dan Blackburn to compete for Canada in the World Junior Tournament, it's that they wouldn't allow him to compete for a...
DEVILS MIGHT HAVE TO MOVE QUICKLY ON AMONTE TRADE
While the Devils wait for the hammer to come down on the auction for potential superstar Vincent Lecavalier, they may be missing out on the scoring winger they need now....