December 13, 2001
VIVENDI, ORACLE HONCHOS LAND AT NEW RITZ
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amAPARTMENT buyers at the new Ritz-Carlton on Central Park South are apparently unaware of a recession. Eight of the 11 ultra-priced condos nearing completion in the city's most expensive condominium...
HERE'S HOW TO CASH IN ON R.J. REYNOLDS' PROBLEM
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amWE should all have this kind of problem: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings has too much cash, and its board is getting nervous. Here's how this unfortunate situation came about. A...
AMEX SLASHING ANOTHER 6,500
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amAmerican Express is firing 6,500 employees in its third round of layoffs this year as it suffers the after-effects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the weakening U.S. economy....
'WALL STREET' STAR'S CHARITY LOST $1 MILLION
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amMichael Douglas is no Gordon Gekko. The movie star's foundation, "The Michael Douglas Foundation," accumulated losses of nearly $1 million through ill-advised stock trades during its fiscal year, which ended...
OH BOIES, THIS IS BAD - EX-ENRON CFO HIRES TOP DEFENSE LAWYER
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amFormer Enron CFO Andrew Fastow has hired top flight legal eagle David Boies to represent him as the noose around the necks of Enron execs begins to tighten. Fastow, 39,...
SOTHEBY'S ON BLOCK - BOARD WANTS TAUBMAN TO GIVE UP CONTROL
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amSotheby's is turning up the pressure to force convicted price-fixer Alfred Taubman to sell his control of the embattled auction house. Among billionaires who've shown interest in buying Sotheby's is...
AD GIANT OMNICOM TAKES CRACK AT SECURITY BIZ
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amBesides shooting McDonald's and Pepsi commercials, ad giant Omnicom is getting into the cloak and dagger business. Omnicom is bankrolling a private-eye and security firm being launched by former New...
TOGA, TOGA!
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amTHOSE toga-partying, road-tripping funsters of National Lampoon are coming back. Nearly 25 years after "Animal House" brought down the house, Artisan Pictures has announced it is making "National Lampoon's Van...
SHE'S AN A&E STOWE STOPPER
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amACTRESS Madeleine Stowe is slamming A&E's upcoming remake of Orson Welles' "The Magnificent Ambersons" - describing the shoot as "12 weeks of agony." "It was the best screenplay I have...
'AMAZING RACE' ENDS IN QUEENS WITH A ... FISHY FINISH
December 13, 2001 | 5:00am"The Amazing Race" [ ] Tonight at 9 on CBS -------- HOW can they do this? CBS sent me tonight's final episode of "The Amazing Race" - maybe the most...
BRATT'S ALL, FOLKS
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amPI-ERO [ 1/2] The Latino icon's rise and fall, sort of. Running time: 103 minutes. Rated R (sex, drugs, profanity). At the Union Square, E. 13th St. and Broadway. -----...
TALE OF AL-JAZEERA TAPE IRKS CNN
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amCNN may sever its ties to the al-Jazeera satellite network in a flap over the Arab news organization's surpressed interview with Osama bin Laden. CNN sources say officials there are...
STARR REPORT
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amNo couching it: A 'Sopranos' rap session Lorraine Bracco, who plays psychoanalyst Dr. Melfi on "The Sopranos," will be among those participating in the "Psychotherapy in The Sopranos" Symposium sponsored...
WELL LOOK AT ME - LITTLE KATIE COURIC, QUEEN OF TV
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amHOW can I say no to an offer like this? All that money, my own show, my own production company - I can't turn this down without looking like an...
WIZARDLY TURN
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amGANDALF himself - aka Sir Ian McKellen - will introduce one of the first public showings of "The Lord of the Rings." The sold-out performance is at midnight Tuesday at...
IN LIKE A MOUSE
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amMIRAMAX Films is playing Scrooge - scheduling the only critics' screenings for its movie "Imposter" on Christmas Eve. The sci-fi adventure with Gary Sinise and Madeline Stowe, opening Christmas Day,...
PATAKI'S POPULARITY SOARING
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amALBANY - Gov. Pataki enjoys an all-time-high 65 percent job-approval rating and would easily beat either of his likely Democratic opponents, a new poll shows. The Marist College survey of...
FEDS GRILLING RAT ON BIOTERROR CLAIM
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amFBI agents are visiting John Walker's rat box to quiz the turncoat about his Taliban war crusade after he claimed that Osama bin Laden is plotting a biological attack against...
FEDS ADMIT THEY BLEW CHANCE TO STOP 9/11 TERROR
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Zacarias Moussaoui had terrorist written all over him. But although the peculiar-acting French Muslim was in federal custody, it took the attacks of Sept. 11 for the feds...
9/11 DETAINEE FACES CREDIT-CARD RAP
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amAn Indian immigrant caught carrying boxcutters, hair dye and thousands of dollars on a train right after the Sept. 11 attacks will be in Manhattan federal court today on credit-card...
N.Y.'S POLS BRACE FOR DELAY OF AID
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The rise of Rep. Tom DeLay, a frequent and ferocious critic of New York, is bad news for the state and could slow rebuilding efforts, say local lawmakers....
GEORGE PATAKI, WAR PROFITEER?
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amU.S. Sen. Larry Craig, an Idaho Republican with a lot to say about how Washington spends your money, dropped by this week. So, naturally, we wondered out loud as to...
MONEY FOR NOTHING - BIZ-WIZ KID COPS A PLEA IN $50M FRAUD
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amA 24-year-old financial fraudster who blew millions on a lavish lifestyle and a Playboy pin-up girlfriend pleaded guilty yesterday to security violations. As part of his plea deal, Mark Yagalla...
'WEAKEST LINK' JUDGE SLAMMED
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amALBANY - A Manhattan judge who ran her courtroom like "Weakest Link" meanie Ann Robinson was censured yesterday for improper conduct. Criminal Court Judge Donna Recant's censuring - the toughest...
STATE RIPS $$ 'SCAM' AT CARE FACILITY
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amALBANY - State officials yesterday accused the owner of a Far Rockaway adult home of siphoning off millions of dollars in public funds for himself and his family. The Health...
GUY RAPS BLOOMY FOR ALL-DEM PICKS
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amOne of Mike Bloomberg's biggest Republican boosters yesterday blasted the mayor-elect for tapping only Democrats for his inner circle. Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari, the first GOP leader to...
GREEN HAILS FORMER FOE BLOOMBERG
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amA month after attacking Michael Bloomberg as unqualified to run the city, failed mayoral candidate Mark Green yesterday repeatedly praised his former foe, saying he's "done well" as mayor-elect. In...
COPS BUST DRUG GANG FORMED IN STATE JAIL
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amA vicious gang of drug-dealing Bloods - who forged their union behind state prison walls - was arrested yesterday by the NYPD following the unsealing of a sweeping indictment by...
MCGREEVEY PROMISES NOT TO 'POACH' N.Y. BIZ
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amNew Jersey Gov.-elect Jim McGreevey pledged yesterday he won't try to lure battle-scarred Manhattan businesses to the other side of the river. "Poaching is wrong, whenever it's done," McGreevey said...
DELI MAN HURT IN BIAS ATTACK
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amA Long Island delicatessen owner was savagely beaten and robbed and his store torched in what cops believe is a hate crime related to the war in Afghanistan. Police said...
BAIL LIKELY FOR STUDENT WITH LINK TO HIJACKER
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amA San Diego college student accused of lying about his relationship with a Sept. 11 hijacker will be released on bail today barring any last-minute legal reversals, his lawyer told...
POLICE PROBE BIZARRE DEATH OF TEEN GIRL IN DANCE CLASS
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amAuthorities are investigating the mysterious death of a talented young dancer - the 16-year-old daughter of a Staten Island cop - who collapsed during a performance at a Brooklyn studio....
MAN MURDERS HIS MOM: COPS
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amA man was arrested on charges that he stabbed his mother to death yesterday morning after a fight erupted in their Harlem home, police said. Frederick Robinson, 45, allegedly got...
DEM FEMS DENY DUBYA HIS DUE
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amAFGHAN women are being liberated by America's might - but the feminist movement is sharply split on whether to give President Bush any credit. The Taliban's defeat means women can...
BEAU CAN'T PICTURE GAL IN PLOT TO FRAME HIM
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amThe Manhattan lawyer who was a target in a murder-for-hire and frame-up scheme is dead sure his girlfriend, a former stripper accused of hatching the plot, is just another victim...
HOLIDAYS CAN BE HELL FOR VICTIMS' KIN
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amIt's supposed to bring comfort and joy, but for those who lost loved ones in the World Trade Center, this holiday season may highlight their profound loss and pain. "If...
OIL GIANT TO PAY FOR POLLUTING S.I.
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amExxonMobil is reportedly ready to cut its losses and shell out $8.2 million in fines for breaking laws on handling toxic waste at a heavily polluted Staten Island storage facility....
LEVY WANTS TO NIX FIX OF SCHOOLS
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amSchools Chancellor Harold Levy yesterday proposed shelving construction of a dozen school facilities containing 7,800 additional seats - including the controversial $73 million "Castle-on-the-Hill" in The Bronx - to close...
WTC WIDOW KILLS SELF - WORRIED NEIGHBORS HID GUN FROM HER
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amThe inconsolable widow of a bond broker killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center took her own life almost exactly three months after her husband was lost in...
MAILMAN IS STABBED IN JEALOUS FIT
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amA postal worker was stabbed in neck yesterday by an angry Bronx husband who suspected the employee was having an affair with his wife, police said. Joseph Jermain, 39, was...
VIDEO A SMOKING GUN - AIMED AT OSAMA
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - A smirking, gloating Osama bin Laden names Mohamed Atta as the ringleader of the 9/11 suicide hijackings on the "smoking gun" video, officials told The Post last night....
BIG BREAK IN '82 EAST SIDE MODEL'S SLAY
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amAfter nearly two decades of dead ends and cold trails, police believe they know who killed a stunning fashion model in her East Side walkup two decades ago: her soap-opera-star...
UNITED WAY 9/11 FUND SET TO GIVE $75M
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amThe September 11th Fund will distribute $75 million by the end of the year to those who lost loved ones, jobs or homes in the terror attacks, the charity announced...
COMMANDOS HOT ON OSAMA'S TAIL - U.S. THINKS HE'S HIDING IN CAVES NEAR BORDER
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amThe Pentagon has increased the number of U.S. Special Forces commandos in the remote mountains of Tora Bora - believing they're close to bringing in terror leader Osama bin Laden...
RUBY'S SEX-FIEND KILLER GUILTY
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amManhattan jurors last night convicted a Harlem man of raping, strangling and robbing an 81-year-old woman, rejecting what prosecutors had called his "ludicrous and obscene" consensual-sex defense. "I didn't buy...
BUS SURVIVORS RELIVE 'HORROR' - ARAFAT WAS ASKED TO BUST GUNMEN THREE YEARS AGO
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Two wanted Palestinian radicals whose names were on a "must-arrest" list given to Yasser Arafat were among the terrorists who carried out the bloodiest attack on Jewish settlers...
DURST'S JAILHOUSE HUG - LOYAL MISSUS VISITS MILLIONAIRE SLAY SUSPECT
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amAs guards looked on, millionaire murder suspect Robert Durst hugged and kissed his new wife last night when she visited him in an eastern Pennsylvania prison. Durst, 58, and wife...
BIN LADEN ESCAPED TO PAKISTAN: ALLY
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Elusive terror leader Osama bin Laden may have sneaked into Pakistan 10 days ago, hidden in a group of Pashtun tribesmen who accompanied him from his mountain hideout...
L.I. JURY NAILS CRYBABY BIGOT
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amTears streamed down the face of an immigrant-hating bigot after a Long Island jury convicted him of beating two Mexican day laborers in a vicious race attack. Ryan Wagner, 20,...
TAG-ALONG DAD AVOIDS CHARGES AS SON FACES BANK-ROBBERY RAP
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amAn elderly Queens man walked free from jail and won't face criminal charges for tagging along with his bank-robbing son during an attempted heist, authorities said yesterday. There's no evidence...
DURST FRISCO LINK EYED - FOUND WITH CASH IN CALIF. BANK ENVELOPES
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amCops following the money trail are investigating the possibility that millionaire murder suspect Robert Durst holed up in San Francisco during his seven weeks on the run. After Durst was...
L.I. JURY NAILS RACE-ATTACK CRYBABY BIGOT
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amTears streamed down the face of an immigrant-hating bigot after a Long Island jury convicted him yesterday of beating two Mexican day laborers in a vicious race attack. Ryan Wagner,...
N.Y.'S POLS BRACING FOR DELAY OF AID
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The rise of Rep. Tom DeLay, a frequent and ferocious critic of New York, is bad news for the state and could slow rebuilding efforts, say local lawmakers....
AL QAEDA GETS AL QLOBBERED - NONSTOP BOMBING IS PRICE OF NO SURRENDER
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amU.S. warplanes pulverized what officials say is Osama bin Laden's last remaining mountain lair with nonstop bombing raids yesterday after his diehard al Qaeda fighters refused to surrender. U.S. B-52...
WHY FEDS MISSED MOUSSAOUI CLUES
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Zacarias Moussaoui had terrorist written all over him. But although the peculiar-acting French Muslim was in federal custody, it took the attacks of Sept. 11 for the feds...
BORDER BASTARDS LET THUGS ESCAPE
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Corrupt and sympathetic border cops in Pakistan and Iran have helped scores of al Qaeda fighters and Taliban leaders - possibly including Osama bin Laden - escape Afghanistan,...
RIDERS WERE SITTING DUCKS - HANUKKAH TRIP TURNS TO 'SCENE OF HORROR'
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Bus 189 was making its usual 45-minute trip from Tel Aviv, taking Orthodox Jews to the West Bank settlement of Emmanuel to light the fourth Hanukkah candle last...
DEVILS' EXTRA EFFORT PAYS OFF - NIEDERMAYER KOS ISLES IN OT
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amThe reversals of fortune have been dramatic, the defending Atlantic Division champs mired in the cellar and the current leaders sprung from the bottom. Last night, the Devils served notice...
ANGRY ISLES: ZZZZEBRAS BADLY NEED WAKE-UP
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amIslander coach Peter Laviolette had two words for referees Blaine Angus and Dan Marouelli: "No comment." Scott Niedermeyer's winner 1:25 into overtime enraged the Islanders not so much because it...
NETS COACH COMES TO RILEY'S DEFENSE
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amSure, there were practices that began when the paint was fresh and ended when it began to crack and peel. There were philosophical discourses that had Aristotle scratching his head....
NO YOUTH MOVEMENT ON OL
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES Two young offensive linemen, Chris Bober and Jason Whittle, received extra work during yesterday's practice. Do not, repeat, do not read anything into that, says Jim Fassel. There...
MEET THE NEW MICK - GIAMBI WILL PARTY HARD AND CARRY A BIG STICK
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amThe Mick would love Jason Giambi. Not only for Giambi's hitting ability, but also for his attitude about life. Mickey Mantle first heard about Giambi nine years ago at the...
A'S SAY HE'S THE PERFECT TEAMMATE
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amTerrence Long worships him. Johnny Damon insists he is the best teammate a player can ask for. Ken Macha reports in the last three years, he has had maybe three...
DAYNE SEES NO GAIN ON FASSEL'S BENCH
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amConsider this a Dayne-ism, directly from the mouth of a player who, despite rumors to the contrary, remains on the roster of the New York Giants. "If you ain't doing...
WHITE IS RIGHT FOR LEFT FIELD
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amRondell White's childhood dream of playing in pinstripes is a reality. White and the Yankees have agreed on a two-year deal worth $10 million that will become official when White...
COLES SHOWING WARRICK HOW - JET WR'S OUT-DOING EX-FSU TEAMMATE
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amAt some point Sunday afternoon inside Giants Stadium, they'll cross paths. Whether Laveranues Coles and Peter Warrick embrace, pat each other's behind, shake hands or simply ignore each other isn't...
JUAN GONE ITCHIN' TO BECOME A MET
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amBOSTON - The personal trainer answered his cell phone, listened to a man's attempt to ask in Spanish for his client, and understood him well enough to pass the phone...
JOHNNIES NEED OLD SWAGGER
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amTHERE are some college basketball teams you just don't want to mess with. They may not look like much on paper, but then you watch them strut through the pregame...
YANKS FINALLY GET THEIR MAN - GIAMBI BRINGS BICEPS TO BRONX
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amTheir lust for Jason Giambi began in May. Seven months later, the Yankees today will introduce the muscular first baseman at an over-the-top Yankee Stadium press conference. All it took...
SPREWELL'S FIRE LIGHTS UP KNICKS
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amLatrell Sprewell felt more "mentally drained" than he did physically after his career-high 49 points went to waste Tuesday night. Sprewell ran a gamut of emotions Tuesday, surging through the...
DUMARS: DON'S IN RIGHT SPOT
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES Pistons president Joe Dumars called them the worst two seasons of his NBA career - the two years Don Chaney coached Detroit. Chaney, who returns to the Palace...
JASON: I'M EXCITED
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amJust after noon yesterday, Jason Giambi checked into a five-star Park Avenue hotel with his fiancee, Kristian Rice, and two high-ranking team officials looking every bit a Yankee. Giambi, looking...
BARNABY TO B'WAY AS BLUESHIRTS DEAL CIGER
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amA Ranger team that's been undermined all season by its proclivity for taking bad penalties approached the problem in an unusual manner - to say the least - by acquiring...
SPIKES: BENGALS WANT TO BE SPOILERS
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amJET NOTES Cincinnati linebacker Takeo Spikes, seemingly playing right into Herman Edwards' motivational playbook, issued this stern warning to the Jets yesterday: Don't take us lightly because we want to...
'NEW' YANKS ON THE SPOT
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amBOSTON - We know what they will look like now, these post-dynasty Yankees, and on first examination they appear more brittle in body and we will have to see how...
WEATHERS IN FORECAST FOR METS
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amBOSTON - With their slugger options shriveling, the Mets yesterday looked to solve another area of need with the likely signing of set-up man David Weathers. The Mets were negotiating...
ERIC HURT AS RANGERS LOSE AGAIN
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amPredators 4 Rangers 2 The pall that's been cast over the Rangers has nothing to do with a losing streak that reached five games last night with a 4-2 Garden...
KANSAS JUST TOO TOUGH FOR TIGERS
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amKansas 78 - Princeton 62 PRINCETON - After Kansas' 78-62 beating of Princeton at Jadwin Gym last night, both coaches were left with questions. Roy Williams is still trying to...
BOSOX DUMP EVERETT FOR RANGERS' OLIVER
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amBOSTON - John Hart, the same man who, as general manager of the Rockies, traded for John Rocker, brought troubled Carl Everett to the Rangers from the Red Sox early...
'NEW' BOMBERS MUST PROVE THEY CAN THRIVE ON BIG STAGE
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amBOSTON - We know what they will look like now, these post-dynasty Yankees, and on first examination they appear more brittle in body and we will have to see how...
TOUGH SCHEDULE HAUNTS PRINCETON
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amPRINCETON - Coach John Thompson, Jr., thinks his Tigers might be getting too much of a good thing. The son of the former Georgetown coach has always believed in tough...
DANEYKO INJURY IS ROTATOR CUFF
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amThe all-time Devil says the shoulder injury that has landed him on the injured reserve list is an aggravation of a longtime rotator-cuff problem. "It's been strained. We don't know...
M'S JOIN ROLEN CHASE
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amBOSTON - The Mariners, dangling talented right-hander Joel Pineiro and less impressive Jose Paniagua, had not surrendered hope in trying to land Phillies third sacker Scott Rolen, but were running...
ISLANDERS LOOKING TO FIX THEIR SPLIT PERSONALITY
December 13, 2001 | 5:00amThe Islanders have a lot of growing up to do. Still learning how to carry themselves as a team that can make some noise among the NHL elite, the Islanders...