February 23, 2002

RALLY CAN'T HIDE LOSING STREAK

Stocks made a rebound yesterday, erasing losses in the Dow, but modest gains in tech stocks couldn't battle back from a four week losing streak. The market's dizzy dancing -...

LVMH UNLOADS HALF ITS STAKE IN FINANCIAL NEWS PROVIDER

Another day, another divestiture. Luxury king Bernard Arnault's LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton has sold another piece of its conglomerate. The company has sold part of its stake in Fininfo...

CA TUMBLES 15% TO NEW LOW AFTER CREDIT OUTLOOK CUT

It got a lot worse yesterday for Charles Wang and his bruised Computer Associates as the bottom began falling out of its stock. Shares of the shaky software company skidded...

GOING UNDER OATH ; SENATE TO INVESTIGATE BANKS' ENRON RATINGS

The pack of top Wall Street analysts cited in a special Post report - which showed how they hyped Enron stock as it was crashing - are being hauled before...

GOLDMAN CUTS CEO'S PAY 15%

Another big shot took one in the wallet when Goldman Sachs Group cut chairman and chief exec Henry "Hank" Paulson's compensation by 15 percent. The 55 year old CEO's salary...

PURIM FOR ALL

As Jewish holidays go, it's hard to find one merrier than Purim - a grand celebration with a royal cast of characters, beginning with Queen Esther, whose bravery saved the...

THE MARG, THE MERRIER

For a great margarita, the Bar Belles will travel to the ends of the earth. Happily, in the case of El Parador Cafe's 'ritas, we only had to schlep to...

DINNER PARTY CHEAT SHEET

You may know which spoon to use, but unless you're up-to-date, you'll end up - gasp! - a ghastly dinner-party bore. Here are the current events to study to show...

THE OTHER VILLAGE PEOPLE

Catch a glimpse of a once-thriving folk scene in Greenwich Village tonight at the Bottom Line. We're not talking about the early '60s and Dylan, but the '80s and '90s...

SPIN CYCLE: IT'S LITERALLY YOUR TURN AT THESE FREE DEEJAY CLASSES

Some of the world's best-known deejays are putting a new spin on their craft. Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay, D-Stray, Jahi Sundance, Gerald Webb and Mista Sinista are launching a downtown...

SOUR CREAM'S FRAICHE PRINCE

Creme fraiche sounds more elegant than commercial sour cream, and it is. Not only that, it has the benefit of not curdling when heated in sauces. You can buy an...

VIOLENCE HAS BEEN A LIFELONG TEAMMATE

Jayson Williams has gone from the tough streets of Brooklyn to NBA superstar to the biggest trouble of his life. Williams, 34, has freely admitted to past mistakes - "a...

HIS KILLERS UNDERSTAND NOTHING BUT HATRED

DANIEL Pearl was murdered for two reasons: He was an American. And he was a Jew. Do not let those who despise America tell you otherwise. For that would be...

CHICKEN VENDOR RETURNS TO ROOST

David has triumphed over Goliath! Food vendor John Dragonas, booted from his Madison Avenue plot last week by mighty JPMorgan Chase Bank, has won his battle and will be back...

NOT QUITE READY TO CHECK OUT

Two Manhattan construction workers laughed in the face of danger yesterday - escaping without a scratch after the scaffold they were working on at the Helmsley Hotel partially collapsed, leaving...

BLOOMY PUTS 'CONTRACT' ON ED. BOARD

Mayor Bloomberg wants to reach a contract with teachers before school's out in June - but only if Albany gives him control of the Board of Education. "Our goal is...

WOMAN RAPED IN UPTOWN OFFICE

A 35-year-old woman was raped and robbed by a knife-wielding fiend in an Upper West Side building where she went to ask about piano lessons for her teenage son, police...

SLAY RAP FOR JAYSON

Former Nets star Jayson Williams is expected to turn himself in Monday to face a manslaughter charge in the shooting death of a limo driver at his sprawling New Jersey...

JURY HEARS OF 'THREATS' TO LANDLORD

"I'm going to get you, baby!" That's one of the "threats" Louis Hubrecht said elderly tenant Barbara Kenna made to him before the millionaire landlord shot her dead, his former...

L.I. TEEN KILLED, ANOTHER HURT IN DRIVE-BY SHOOTING

A Long Island high school student was killed and another wounded in a drive-by shooting following an argument at a party, cops said yesterday. David Buna, 17, and Juan Gonzalez,...

ANOTHER JUDGE GONE IN SHAKEUP OF B'KLYN BENCH

Another Supreme Court judge has been reassigned as part of the ongoing shakeup of the Brooklyn court system, sources said. Justice Edward Rappaport, 69, will be transferred from civil to...

NEW KID-SEX CLIP NIPPING AT R. KELLY

CHIGAGO - The probe of singer R. Kelly heated up yesterday as another video clip surfaced purporting to show the R&B star engaging in sex acts with an underage girl....

COMPLAINING 'CHIN' UP IN WESTCHESTER FOR HEART CHECK

Vincent "Chin" Gigante - known for his Greenwich Village "crazy act" - is in a Westchester hospital where doctors are running tests on his problem heart, lawyers said in court...

RUDY'S 'HOUSE' IN FLA. IS ALL HOAX

A Florida developer admitted last night he made up a story about Rudy Giuliani buying a $3.5 million home. Builder Michael Friend came clean after the former mayor threatened legal...

'GHOST TRAIN' MARVEL ; GROUND ZERO CREWS DIG UP UNSCATHED PATH CAR

Like an eerie time capsule recalling America's most tragic day, a car from the PATH ghost train rose from the rubble of the World Trade Center yesterday. Workers used a...

S.I. MOM IN KID-PORN RAP

A Staten Island woman was busted on a child-porn charge after she took sexually explicit photos of eight children, ages 8 to 15, to be developed at a drugstore, cops...

NEW FLAME RIGHT UP FICKLE FORD'S 'ALLY'

Aging action star Harrison Ford is stepping out with a new "friend" - reed-thin "Ally McBeal" star Calista Flockhart. The couple, both bundled in winter jackets and wearing blue jeans...

1ST WTC MEMORIAL MAY BE 'DOME' DEAL

A temporary memorial park honoring the victims of Sept. 11 may include a glass structure etched with the names of everyone who perished, sources said yesterday. Sources said the idea,...

FOR SALE, CHEAP: BROOKLYN BRIDGE

It may sound like the oldest joke in the book, but the city wants to sell the Brooklyn Bridge. Really. Mayor Bloomberg disclosed this week that he's considering a plan...

I'M A FREEDOM FIGHTER, SAYS 'SCREWY' AL

A calmer - but no less nasty - Al Goldstein said he was crazy for the First Amendment yesterday as he tried to justify a courtroom tirade he threw Thursday...

GOP UPROAR AS DASCHLE ADMITS HIS PREZ HOPES

WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle has fessed up that he is indeed eyeing a presidential race in 2004 - and Republicans are quickly jumping all over him for...

JAYSON HAS BLOOD ON HIS HANDS: VICTIM'S SIS

Jayson Williams turned 34 yesterday as the sister of a limo driver slain in the hoopster's New Jersey mansion charged that her brother would be alive if the ex-Nets star...

FROM RUSSIA, WITH WHINE: GIVE US A GOLD, TOO

SALT LAKE CITY - The Russian boycott crisis deepened yesterday when officials attempted to taint Sarah Hughes' sparkling victory by lodging a bitter protest and demanding a second gold medal...

STAR SARAH SHOWS HER 'MEDAL' : HOW TOUGH TEEN SKATED TO THE TOP

Sarah Hughes has earned her skates. The lithe Long Islander with the blue-gray eyes first took to the ice at 3½. She was lacing her own boots by age 4....

STAR SARAH SHOWS HER 'MEDAL': L.I. DARLING IS THE TALK OF HER TOWN

She's as good as gold - both on and off the ice. That's what delirious fans in Sarah Hughes' Great Neck, L.I., hometown were saying yesterday about the 16-year-old ice...

STAR SARAH SHOWS HER 'MEDAL' : TAKES TO ICE AGAIN IN TOUCHING 9/11 TRIBUTE

SALT LAKE CITY - Skating's new wunderkind, Sarah Hughes, declared herself "a proud New Yorker" and last night dedicated her first appearance since her gold-medal triumph to the innocent lives...

STAR SARAH SHOWS HER 'MEDAL' AND NBC STRIKES RATINGS GOLD

Olympic champ Sarah Hughes won more than America's hearts Thursday night - the gold-plated ratings for NBC's coverage of the women's figure-skating finals were one of the best so far...

RUSSIANS, S. KOREANS NIX BOYCOTTS

SALT LAKE CITY - The threat of a Russian boycott of the Olympics ended last night, almost 24 hours after Sarah Hughes' sparkling skating victory sparked a bitter protest and...

BORDER WAR COMING: U.S. HANGS ON TO GAIN FINAL VS. CANADA

USA 3 Russia 2 SALT LAKE CITY - It can't be 22 years since a U.S. Olympic hockey team played in a gold-medal game. The third period that put them...

BEST TURN ON TAP AT AQUEDUCT

Horses shipping back to New York from Florida won't start flooding in until Aqueduct's main track opens March 13, but already runners from Gulfstream Park are trickling north earlier than...

U.S.: DON'T BE-LEAF CANADA FLAG STORIES

OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK SALT LAKE CITY - Initially, members of the U.S. women's hockey team thought it was a joke. Then they were flabbergasted. Finally, they were enraged. Several members of...

BOSS NOT ABOUT TO FIRE DOC

TAMPA - George Steinbrenner isn't going to fire Dwight Gooden over the ex-pitcher getting busted for DUI Tuesday night. However, it's not known when Gooden will return to camp, where...

MCEWING'S VERSATILITY KEY FOR METS

PORT ST. LUCIE - As a native of greater Philadelphia, Joe McEwing follows the 76ers carefully. He watched with pride last summer when Allen Iverson's bunch gave Shaq and Kobe...

JINTS WAIVE MONTGOMERY

The brief and unfulfilling Giant career of Joe Montgomery came to a predictable end yesterday when the oft-injured RB was waived by the team that used a second-round pick on...

CANADA, IN A PUSHOVER: NOW A NATION PRAYS FOR GOLD

CANADA 7 BELARUS 1 WEST PARK CITY, Utah - It has been 50 years in hockey purgatory for Canada. Fifty years of doubt. Fifty years of blame. Fifty years of...

MACCULLOCH WILL MISS FIVE GAMES

The mood was light around Todd MacCulloch. There was talk about him not having enough suits to cover a five-game stay on the injured list. Teammate Jason Kidd passed and...

RICHTER HAS IT IN THE CLUTCH TO ZAP RUSSIA

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah - Goalie Mike Richter knew that like the bitter cold winters that sweep down from Siberia, the Russians would come at him in waves. And they...

NETS PROVE WHO'S NO. 1 ; TEAM EFFORT TOPS KNICKS' TOTAL FLOP

Nets 115Knicks 93 Hey, cheer up Knicks fans. Someday, your team might get good just like the Nets. But the Knicks will have to go through years of being wretched...

HURTING CAMBY SEEKS SECOND OPINION

Marcus Camby wants a second opinion. The Knicks center, who survived Thursday's trading deadline despite being shopped vigorously by GM Scott Layden, will be re-examined by team Dr. Norman Scott...

U.S. ON GOLD COAST: TOPPLES RUSSIA; CANADA UP NEXT FOR MEDAL

U.S. 3 Russia 2 SALT LAKE CITY - The United States is within one victory of its third Olympic hockey gold medal in its history. After two periods of dominance,...

NETS HAVE KNICKS' NUMBER: KIDD & COMPANY 2ND-BEST NO MORE

Back in mid-November, when the Nets were still testing their legs and when "Knicks" and "playoffs" could be mentioned, if not in the same sentence, at least the same book,...