December 15, 2001
MESSIER'S NEW DISH: VIVENDI SETS U.S. TABLE WITH ECHOSTAR DEAL
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amFrench media tycoon Jean-Marie Messier is accelerating his push into the U.S. entertainment market with a big satellite distribution deal. His giant Vivendi Universal struck a deal to acquire an...
GOOD DAY, BAD WEEK FOR MARTS
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amThe stock market eked out a small gain in yesterday's trading, but it wasn't enough to erase the bad news from earlier in the week. The technology-packed Nasdaq composite index...
PRADA STORE'S GOT STYLE BUT IS LOW ON SUBSTANCE
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amIt was a long coming, and almost didn't happen, but Prada's new 22,000-square-foot store in SoHo has arrived - and it's a doozy. The structure, designed by Rem Koolhaas and...
'ER' LOSES A DOCTOR AND PULLS THE PLUG ON 'C.S.I'
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amTHERE'S life in the old "ER" yet. TV's top-rated drama soundly thrashed up-and-comer "C.S.I." in the two shows' first-ever head-to-head battle on Thursday night. "ER" notched 28.9 million viewers from...
IT'S A JINGLE OUT THERE AND KID POP IS STILL KING
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amTHE question: What's the state of modern music?The answer: A New York City concert called the Jingle Ball presented annually by Z-100 radio station.The Jingle Ball is radio come to...
DINNER PARTY CHEAT SHEET
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amBurnt out on dinner parties? Quit. Leave. What do I care? I can always coach basketball. POUNCE ON THE BOUNCE * Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy resigned his post last...
BLAST FROM THE PAST
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amDespite our tough, hard-drinking reputation, the Bar Belles are real saps - especially when it comes to reminiscing about our high school party days. So tippling at the upstairs bar...
BAY RIDGE OR BUST! SHOPPERS: THIS BROOKLYN NABE'S GOT THE GOODS
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amWE have seen the 21st century of shopping - and it's in Brooklyn. Bay Ridge, to be precise - where downtown's designer discounter Century 21 decamped after Sept. 11. Here...
POACHING TALENT
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amSometimes even the simplest dishes can cause new cooks a little anxiety. Many people shy away from making poached eggs because they're perceived as tricky. But the brunch favorite is...
COOL DUDS FOR COLD DAYS: THESE ARE THE CLOTHES KIDS ACTUALLY WANT
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amNever mind what they've asked for. This holiday season - when Xboxes, two-way pagers and Harry Potter Lego sets are the rage - what do kids want in the way...
CUTTING CALORIES WHEN CANDY CANES BECKON
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amA waist is a terrible thing to mind, especially when you're a kid. But with gingerbread men and latkes lurking in every corner, how do you stop the binging? For...
OSAMA'S DEATH MAY SPUR NEW TERROR : 'MARTYRDOM' COULD BE FINAL, EVIL SIGNAL
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - U.S. policymakers are growing increasingly concerned that a major terrorist attack - possibly with some kind of weapon of mass destruction - could be triggered by Osama bin...
RUDY IN 'KEY' PITCH TO NEW YANK HERO
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amHe's made the trek to the Stadium. He popped up on David Letterman, reciting the famous "Top 10" list. But it wasn't until Jason Giambi made the obligatory visit to...
THE PEEPING PERV SIDE OF CONVICTED FBI MOLE
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Convicted FBI mole Robert Hanssen was also a creepy sex spy who secretly videotaped bedroom romps with his wife so that his best pal could watch, according to...
RETURNING DUO HAVE OLD PENSION PENCHANT
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amTWO former city officials - including incoming Police Commissioner Ray Kelly - have asked if they can collect their city pensions as well as their salaries when they take new...
EX-WORKER 'BOMBS' IN THREAT: FEDS
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amA disgruntled ex-bank employee who allegedly made a phony bomb threat to his former employer last month - forcing the evacuation of nearly 100 federal law-enforcement workers from the downtown...
WE'LL GET HIM DEAD OR ALIVE: PREZ
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday said it's OK with him if U.S. troops kill Osama bin Laden rather than take the terrorist alive. "I don't care - dead or alive,...
ROOKIE FIREFIGHTER DIED 'DOING WHAT HE LOVED'
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amJust six weeks after he proudly reported to Manhattan's Engine Co. 23 for his first day as a full-fledged fireman, James Pappageorge died in the blazing wreckage of the World...
MIKE PLANS 'COURTLY' INAUGURAL
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amMayor-elect Mike Bloomberg's plans for his inaugural ceremony include a private reception at the newly renovated Tweed Courthouse, sources said yesterday. Bloomberg is still ironing out some of the details...
CITY FACES LOADS OF WTC LAWSUITS
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amNotice of more than 135 potential lawsuits against the city have been filed stemming from the World Trade Center disaster - with hundreds more expected, officials told The Post yesterday....
SENATE HQ STILL SPORE POINT AFTER FUMIGATION
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amCall them the spores that wouldn't die. Trace amounts of anthrax were found yesterday in the Hart Senate Office Building, which was fumigated with chlorine dioxide gas two weeks ago....
BUSH SCOFFS AT CLAIMS THAT VIDEO WAS DOCTORED
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amPresident Bush yesterday denounced as "preposterous" claims that the Osama bin Laden videotape is a fake. "This is bin Laden, unedited," Bush insisted. "It is preposterous for anybody to think...
TEACH ADMITS SEX IN HS
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amA Manhattan high-school teacher pleaded guilty yesterday to charges she carried on sexual liaisons with two of her teenage students. Judith Esparza, 25, admitted in Manhattan Supreme Court that she...
N.Y. PENSION FUND TAKE$ A BATH
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amALBANY - After years of robust gains, the state's pension fund took a dive the past fiscal year, losing nearly $15 billion of its value, Comptroller Carl McCall announced yesterday....
WINONA'S LAME EXCUSE : SHOPLIFTING WAS MERELY 'RESEARCH' FOR A FLICK
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amWinona Ryder claimed her five-finger discount at a posh Beverly Hills department store was really just research for an upcoming movie role, sources told The Post yesterday. After security guards...
JOBLESS WOES REPLACE HOLIDAY HO-HO-HOS
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amAt least another 6,850 workers got pink slips yesterday to add more woes to the holiday season - including 400 unhappy souls at the doomed Excite@Home. The high-speed Internet access...
U.S. BRAINS, AFGHAN KNOW-HOW BEAT AL QAEDA
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - U.S. forces are using a combination of exotic 21st century technology and ancient Afghan mountain fighting tactics to rout Osama bin Laden's diehard army in the rugged snow-capped...
NOTABLES TO HONOR CHIEF RESCUE HERO
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amThe life of Chief Ray Downey, the most decorated firefighter in the land, will be celebrated today at a memorial service attended by top dignitaries and thousands of firefighters from...
CITY $$ JUST THE TICKET FOR AILING B'WAY
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amThe cash-crunched city is shelling out $2.5 million to bail out struggling Broadway shows with a massive ticket-buy in the post-Sept. 11 slump. "All the shows in these groups are...
ISRAELIS LAUNCH NEW RAIDS: NAB 50, KILL 8 IN ROUNDUP
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Israeli forces killed eight Palestinians in gun battles that erupted yesterday during the largest roundup of terrorist suspects of the 15-month-old Palestinian uprising. Israeli F-16 fighters blasted a...
BUFF-BOD BANDITA'S 'RUNAWAY' ROMANCE
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amA female bank robber-bodybuilder and her lawyer lover have been busted by the feds for conspiring to help her jump bail - and more arrests are likely, sources said yesterday....
PA FLIP-FLOP HALTS EXECS' PAY-RAISE GRAVY TRAIN
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amThe Port Authority beat a hasty retreat late yesterday from what appeared to be a sweeping set of newly authorized huge pay hikes for its top executives. After initially confirming...
GOTTI BOOKIE PLEADS GUILTY TO ART FRAUD
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amA reputed former bookmaker for John Gotti pleaded guilty mid-trial to art-fraud conspiracy charges yesterday - shortly after a federal judge ruled that jurors could see tapes of the defendant...
COPS GET TOP GUNS: 500 OF FINEST WILL PACK ELITE WEAPONS
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amAround 500 patrol cops citywide will soon be armed with new, high-powered guns previously available only to elite special-unit officers, The Post has learned. The proposal, aimed at improving the...
RUDY'S PARTING BLAST AT LEVY OVER SCHOOL-SPENDING DEAL
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amMayor Giuliani blasted the Board of Education yesterday for last-minute deal-making that reinstated $40 million for a controversial "Castle-on-the-Hill" school-repair project in The Bronx that has empty classroom seats. The...
THE $6 MILLION LIE NOTRE DAME COACH QUITS AFTER 5 DAYS
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amIt was a 21-year-old lie, but it came back to sack George O'Leary. Five days after signing a six-year contract paying $1.1 million annually, O'Leary resigned as Notre Dame's head...
ARAFAT ORDERED DIPLO SLAYINGS: EX-SPY
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Yasser Arafat personally ordered the execution of two American diplomats in 1973, a former U.S. intelligence officer says. James Walsh said he knew of a tape recording in...
NYPD AND FDNY BOSSES
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amHundreds of NYPD and FDNY bosses will be receiving Christmas bonuses from Uncle Sam this year as a reward for the overtime they worked in the two months after the...
HIZZONER BOOSTS BEEPS ON BOARD
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amMayor Giuliani yesterday contradicted his own lawyers and endorsed having borough presidents appoint themselves to the Board of Education. Giuliani's preference comes a day after a Corporation Counsel lawyer said...
'SHEIK' EYED AS 9/11 HELPER: OSAMA GUEST MAY HAVE HIRED HIJACKERS
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - U.S. officials are looking into whether the mystery dinner-guest sheik who lavishly praises Osama bin Laden in the notorious video might have recruited some of the Sept. 11...
BLANCHETT'S LATEST PREMIERE
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amHere's the first peek at award-winning actress Cate Blanchett's latest production! Tiny baby boy Dashiell John Upton was born to Blanchett and her writer husband, Andrew Upton, last week. In...
MARK'S STAFF SEES A LITTLE MORE GREEN
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amMark Green doled out hefty raises to his staff in the Public Advocate's office days after his narrow loss to Michael Bloomberg in the mayor's race, The Post has learned....
CORNERED RAT FIGHTING TO THE DEATH
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amOSAMA from Page 1 the al Qaeda force from three directions, with more than 300 U.S. and British commandos coordinating their activities and calling in round-the-clock airstrikes. The only way...
MOM'S RESCUE BID FAILS AS TOTS DIE IN BX. BLAZE
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amA smoky stove fire killed two young brothers yesterday as their mother, accidentally locked out, frantically tried to break down the front door of their Bronx trailer home to save...
BIAS-CRIME SUSPECT'S 9/11 PLEA
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amA paroled rapist charged with a Sept. 11 bias crime was really just a victim of the horrific World Trade Center attack, his lawyer claimed in winning his release on...
2 KIDS KILLED IN BX. TRAILER FIRE
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amA smoky stove fire killed two young brothers yesterday as their mother, accidentally locked out, frantically tried to break down the front door of their Bronx home to save her...
STAN VG EXPECTS BRO JEFF TO RETURN
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amMIAMI - Don't be stunned if somewhere down the road, you catch your local high school basketball team live and that intense coach barking instructions and sipping a diet cola...
SPREE: WE QUIT TOO EARLY LATRELL QUESTIONS CHANEY
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amWizards96Knicks80 WASHINGTON - It was apparent the Knicks had no legs last night following a nightmare charter flight from Detroit to Washington brought them into their D.C. hotel rooms at...
'CRYPTO' GOES WIDE TO WIN
December 15, 2001 | 5:00am1st RACE - Seayabyebye and Holmdel battled for the early lead but when entering the far turn, the field was gaining ground quickly on the pacesetters. K.O.'s Crypto was caught...
LOST SEASON HAUNTS JINTS PERSONAL SUCCESS NO MATCH FOR WINS
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amIt is the difficulty so many players must confront this time of year, and striking a delicate balance is never easy. The situation sounds like one of those best-selling self-help...
NOTRE DAME NOT GOLDEN ANYMORE
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amTHERE are two types of college football fans in this country - those that bleed Notre Dame blue and gold and those that like to see the Fighting Irish bleed....
JUAN FOR THE MONEY METS HAVE PLAN TO LAND GONZALEZ
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amWith each passing day, the chances are improving that Juan Gonzalez will be wearing a Mets uniform next season. The Mets feel they are moving in the right direction to...
WFAN'S IVEY DIES AT 39
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amMonteria Ivey, half of WFAN's weekend "Sports Funk" program, died suddenly Thursday night after suffering what the station termed "diabetic shock." Ivey was 39. The urban comedy team of Ivey...
POSADA AND RAMIRO NEXT YANK TARGETS
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amHaving stuffed Jason Giambi's pockets with $120 million, the Yankees are quietly at work trying to see if getting Jorge Posada and Ramiro Mendoza signed to long-term deals is possible....
MJ BURIES HATCHET WITH VAN
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Jeff Van Gundy was not one of Michael Jordan's favorite people. It stemmed partly from candid remarks Van Gundy made during his first full season as Knicks head...
JUSTICE TRADE TO OAKLAND SAVES PHILLIPS BIG BUCKS
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amThe David Justice era at Shea will be remembered for one thing. He saved the Mets $4 million, which helped result in Roberto Alomar, Roger Cedeno and maybe Juan Gonzalez....
KNICKS TAKE LONG ROAD TO D.C.
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Back-to-back games are tough enough without encountering major flight problems in between. Several Knicks went into last night's clash with the Wizards without so much as a couple...
STAN VG: JEFF WILL BE BACK . . . MAYBE
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amMIAMI - Don't be stunned if somewhere down the road, you catch your local high school basketball team live and that intense coach barking instructions and sipping a diet cola...
NETS' STICKY DEFENSE WILTS SLOPPY HEAT
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amNets95Heat86 MIAMI - All season, the Nets have been winning with defense, a defense that statistically is the best in the history of the franchise. So last night, they allowed...
HOLYFIELD JUST CAN'T WALK AWAY
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amIN his 17-year career, Evander Holyfield has given boxing some of its most inspiring, courageous and memorable moments. Now, he may be on the verge of providing one of its...
DEFENDING DILLON IS HIGH ON JETS' TO-DO LIST : TAILBACK A TOUGH BENGAL TO CORRAL
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amIf the Jets stop Corey Dillon, they should defeat the Bengals tomorrow. But if the Cincinnati running back tramples a Gang Green run defense ranked 27th in the NFL, the...
KILLER KLOUCEK MAY FIND HIMSELF SITTING
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amThe numbers don't lie. For the second straight season, the Rangers rank 29th overall in penalty- killing. These numbers don't lie, either: of the team's defensemen, Tomas Kloucek has been...
LAVIOLETTE, KEENAN TOGETHER AGAIN
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amPeter Laviolette knows Mike Keenan. Tonight, when the Panthers invade the Coliseum, they'll meet for the first time as opponents. Laviolette is an up-and-coming star behind the bench, while Keenan...
TALENT ISN'T ENOUGH ANYMORE: CARELESS DEVILS CAN'T CATCH UP
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amPanthers 3 Devils 2 When these Devils are without a grudge, without passion, they are no longer good enough. No longer good enough to beat weak teams on just their...
BRODEUR GETTING HIS ANSWER: GOALTENDER WILL LEARN TODAY WHETHER CANADA WANTS HIM
December 15, 2001 | 5:00amThe Devils' two recently-signed franchise players learn today if they're going to be Canada's Hopes. Martin Brodeur is expected to be selected, along with Toronto's Curtis Joseph and Phoenix's Sean...