February 27, 2002
INVESTORS IN BAD MOOD OVER FEBRUARY DATA
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amConsumer confidence plunged in February amidst accounting scandals, 401(k) fears and general Enronitis. The Conference Board's gauge of consumer sentiment dropped to 94.1 this month, down from 97.8 in January....
TALK ABOUT AN OFFICE: TINA'S DIGS ON MARKET
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amFOR rent: chic downtown office space formerly occupied by Tina Brown, the rest of Talk magazine, some designer chairs and a couple of curious mice. Miramax has finally listed the...
MAYBE THEY'LL TO FIND JOBS
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amOlympics advertiser Monster.com, the quirky job-search Web site that encourages users to "think of your next job as a long term life enhancement upgrade," is losing staffers as parent TMP...
A HALF-BAKED IDEA . . . FRENCH FRIES TO BE SOLD IN VENDING MACHINES
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amAmericans love their French fries. But do they love them enough to buy them out of vending machines? Tasty Fries, Inc. and SilverLeaf, a marketing company, are placing a big...
DREXLER IS SORRY, AGAIN, AFTER REPORTING $34M LOSS
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amThe Gap is plotting its return on women's stretch pants, khakis and men's twill shirts. So said the company's president and CEO, Mickey Drexler, on a conference call discussing the...
CITI PAYS $7.75M; IS DISMISSED FROM SUIT
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amCitigroup's CEO Sandy Weill agreed to pay $7.75 million to settle allegations that a broker from its investment bank mishandled San Bernardino County, Calif.'s investments. San Bernardino, East of Los...
US WEEKLY GETTING FULLER
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amBONNIE Fuller, the ex-editor of Glamour and Cosmopolitan, is expected to accept the editor-in-chief job at Us Weekly, according to industry sources. Jann Wenner has been searching for a top...
RAM DASS, THEN AND NOW
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amRAM DASS FIERCE GRACE Portrait of the hippie guru. Running time: 93 minutes. Not rated (nothing objectional). At Film Forum, Houston Street, between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street. Through March...
NO TO MODA
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amMODA ½ 135 W. 52ND ST. (212) 887-9880 'YOU can use that bowl for the seeds," the waiter snipes at us on my third and least fun visit to Moda,...
TORTELLINI SPOT IS BELLY GOOD
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amVIA EMILIA 240 PARK AVE. SO. (BETWEEN 19TH AND 20TH STREETS) (212) 505-3072 THE menu at Via Emilia begins with a tortellini tale. It was invented long ago, we're told,...
MARK MORRIS WORKS MAGIC AT BAM
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amMARK MORRIS DANCE GROUPBrooklyn Academy of Music, Howard Gilman Opera House, 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn. (718) 636-4100. Through Sunday. THERE was a palpable sense of occasion at the opera house...
SORKIN SORRY FOR BEING SILLY
February 27, 2002 | 5:00am'WEST Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin has apologized to NBC stablemate Tom Brokaw for saying Brokaw's "Inside the Real West Wing" special was "a valentine" to President Bush. "Aaron and Tom...
STARR REPORT
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amChung makes her 'official' CNN debutConnie Chung made her CNN debut last night, reporting on "Newsnight with Aaron Brown," where she reported live from Karachi, Pakistan on the investigation into...
ON THE SIDE ; FEATHER IN HIS C-CAP
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amFOR decades, food has been restaurateur Ken Aretsky's livelihood - but his passion for Cuban cigars nearly choked his career. In 1998, the former '21' manager faced five to 10...
FOX NEWS TOPS CNN AGAIN
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amFOX News Channel is cable's top-rated news network for the second month in a row - topping CNN again. FNC was the No. 1 rated news network in both total-day...
GOSSETT GONZO ; MYSTERY OVER 'CHICAGO' CHANGE
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amOSCAR-winner Lou Gossett Jr. is making a quick exit from "Chicago" after giving what several sources described as "harrowing" performances during which he froze on stage, forgot whole pages of...
THIS IS SICK STUFF; 'SURVIVOR'
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amBARELY a minute goes by in tomorrow night's opening episode of the new "Survivor" before a castaway is seen vomiting into a bucket. Later, another castaway - the 45-year-old owner...
AWARD SHOWS ARE MAD TO THE BONE
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amWhen it comes to the Grammys, it's not always about who wins. It's about who causes the most controversy. Last year, bad-boy rapper Eminem created a stir when he did...
PICK A WINNER: SEE HOW YOUR GRAMMY PREDICTIONS STACK UP AGAINST OURS
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amWill U2 sweep the Grammys? Which neo-soul sisters - India.Arie or Alicia Keys - will walk away with the gold? We'll find out tonight, when the 44th annual Grammy Awards...
SWEEP SENSATION: WHY U2 WILL WIN SEVEN GRAMMY AWARDS TONIGHT
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amGRAMMYVILLE, brace yourself. Because tonight, an 800-pound, broom-toting gorilla named U2 is out of its cage, and it's gonna sweep all seven of the awards it's up for. That's right....
ISRAELI POLICE FOIL MASS-SLAY PLAN AS PEACE PUSH CONTINUES
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Israeli police yesterday foiled a Palestinian gunman's plans to attack Purim celebrants on a packed street - while diplomats pushed a Saudi initiative designed to finally bring peace...
PERV'S TEACH BID NIXED
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amA "boy-loving" former physics teacher who was fired for his outspoken advocacy of sex with kids lost his bid to get his job back yesterday when a judge dismissed his...
SWEET CHARITY: RUDY TO QUICKLY PAY $100M FROM WTC FUND
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amALBANY - Former Mayor Giuliani has pledged to dole out a whopping $100 million from his Twin Towers Fund within 60 days following an emotional meeting with the families of...
POLS RIP SLICK EXECS: SENATORS FIND ENRON EXCUSES UNBELIEVABLE
February 27, 2002 | 5:00am"There is a plausibility gap," a frustrated Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) charged yesterday as Congress held the latest in its ongoing series of Enron hearings. Snowe's remark reflected the open...
CHEERS! BLOOMBERG TURNS GLASS OVER ON PLANS TO RAISE BOOZE TAXES
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amIt's time to raise one for Mayor Mike. Aides to Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday he won't support a proposed hike in taxes on wine, beer and liquor even though the...
BLOOMBERG RIPS SUBURBS AS SUB PAR
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - In a behind-closed-doors speech, Mayor Bloomberg dissed the suburbs as the home of second-raters and said "the best and the brightest" only want to live in the city,...
SARAH'S ICE PARADE HAS FAMILIAR RINK
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amSarah Hughes' hometown is planning to honor its Olympic golden girl with a parade that will culminate in a celebration at the community rink where she first took to the...
MCCALL'S WEST BANK VISIT IS NOW 'IN FLUX'
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amState Comptroller Carl McCall yesterday was reassessing whether he will visit two controversial Israeli settlements on the West Bank during his trip to Israel next week. A day after The...
DAVE'S TOP TEN LIST DUMPS ON DOWDY DEPUTY MAYOR
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amLaughs off put-downs. At least Deputy Mayor Marc Shaw didn't have to do any stupid pet tricks. Late-night talk-show host David Letterman had a field day with a Post photo...
HILLARY'S CASH MACHINE BACK IN GEAR
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said yesterday she's cranking up her fund-raising operation - including a gathering last night for the Iowa governor - hoping to aid fellow Democrats...
BACK IN SADDLE ; N.Y. COWBOY REUNITED WITH HORSE-NAPPED PAL
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amWhoa, Nellie! There's a horse rustler in this here town! In a throwback to the Wild West, a coldhearted wrangler made off with a horse in Queens and went that-a-way...
TV NETS GOT BURNED IN TALE OF THE TAPE
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amCBS and NBC were fuming yesterday about an insider deal that allowed ABC's "Good Morning America" to air an interview with the widow of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel...
THIS RAT DIDN'T 'FIND GOD' SOON ENOUGH
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amUNQUESTIONABLY, one of the most gratifying religious experiences is when a lying, cheating, thieving crook finds God. Robert Noyer said he's had an epiphany. It came after he pleaded guilty...
TOPLESS WOMAN 'SPOTTED' IN TIMES SQ.
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amThese two city cops were all eyes yesterday when they caught sight of a topless animal-rights activist in Times Square. The sign-carrying woman - wearing nothing but yellow body paint,...
'93 WTC VICTIMS MOURNED
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amFriends, family and officers gathered yesterday at a Ground Zero church to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the 1993 terror attack on the World Trade Center. The Feb. 26, 1993,...
EXHIBITING INSENSITIVITY
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amTHE Jewish Museum wants Holocaust survivors to lighten up. Maybe the city's leading Jewish cultural institution should just call its new exhibit - a whimsical art show inspired by the...
EDISON SCHOOLS BACK IN HARLEM
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amControversial Edison Schools Inc. got the green light yesterday to build its national headquarters, including a taxpayer-funded elementary school, in Harlem - just a year after being run out of...
LANDLORD INSULTED IN OWN DEFENSE
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amThe millionaire landlord who shot his rent-controlled tenant six times in the chest had a rough day at his murder trial yesterday - listening to two doctors testify about everything...
CITY RESISTS DRIVE TO LIFT A.M. BAN ON 'SINGLE' CARS
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amThe Bloomberg administration yesterday said it plans to ban single-rider cars during the morning rush hour until June - despite garage owners and elected officials charging the rule is costing...
SPORTS NET BRINGING IN METS FOR LONG RELIEF
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amMSG Network yesterday said YES to 50 Met games a year and 24-hour programming - but it remains to be seen where the Yankees fit into Cablevision's plans. After losing...
THESE HUMBLE CIVIL SERVANTS SURE OWNED SOME PRETTY UN-REAL ESTATE
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amThey earn a comfortable salary for city assessors, each with more than 25 years as public servants. But would Joseph Iovino and John Coppa - making $62,717 and $66,980 respectively...
'AXIS' EXIT AT WHITE HOUSE: SPEECHWRITER LEAVES AMID FLAP OVER WIFE'S BOAST
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Bush speechwriter David Frum, credited with coining the dramatic phrase "axis of evil," has exited the White House, sparking a weird little flap about why. CNN commentator Bob...
TROUBLE'S BREWIN': MSG LIMITS BEER AT NYPD-FDNY HOCKEY GAME
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amEXCLUSIVE Fearing that booze-fueled brawls may break out, Madison Square Garden is limiting the sale of beer at the charity hockey match between cops and firefighters on Saturday night. The...
MOM KILLS SON IN TRAGIC ACCIDENT
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amAn 88-year old Brooklyn mother's act of kindness ended up killing her son, cops said yesterday. The elderly woman tried to ease her son's pain by removing a catheter inserted...
SCHOOL POOL FIGHTERS BACK IN SWIM
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amThe Board of Education yesterday reinstated three Fort Hamilton HS staffers suspended for fighting over use of the school's swimming pool - but one is still in hot water. "I...
DRUG COP'S BIG $CORE: MULLED SECOND RIP-OFF: CRONY
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amThe NYPD captain on trial for faking a 1996 drug arrest with a fellow cop so they could steal $60,000 from the dealer was mulling whether to rip off another...
TRESPASS BUST NABS FUGITIVE
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amA cop who busted a trespasser during a "quality of life" sweep at a Harlem apartment building last week got a surprise yesterday - the suspect he nabbed was wanted...
A BUSH PUSH FOR REFORM
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday called for new welfare reforms to make more people work - and work longer - for their benefits. "We ended welfare as we've known it,...
BRUTAL SLAY IN BROOKLYN REPAIR SHOP
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amA 59-year-old man was stabbed and beaten to death in his Brooklyn television-repair shop during a robbery attempt, cops said yesterday. When Ding-Hao Peng didn't show up at his Elmhurst,...
BUCK SHOT: SLAY RISKS JAYSON'S $34M; NBC AXES HIM FROM SHOW
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amBenched by NBC Sports yesterday, ex-Net star Jayson Williams also risks losing more than $34 million in NBA contract payouts if he's convicted of killing a limo driver, The Post...
'WRENCHING CHANGE$' AT ED. BD., LEVY WARNS
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amSchools Chancellor Harold Levy yesterday said the Board of Education's central bureaucracy will be slashed dramatically and will have to make do during the city's budget crisis. "Changes at central...
TRIO BUSTED IN RAPE OF 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amThree men were charged yesterday in the weekend gang-rape of a 14-year-old New Jersey girl at their Washington Heights apartment, police said yesterday. The victim came to the city with...
BLOOMY ESTENDS A.M. RUSH CAR BAN
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amThe Bloomberg administration yesterday said it plans to ban single-rider cars during the morning rush hour until June - despite garage owners and elected officials charging the rule is costing...
JERSEY KO'D IN STAMP ACT
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amHey, what's that place between New York and Pennsylvania? New Jersey just got dissed by the U.S. Postal Service, which forgot the "Garden State" when it issued its catalog for...
MOM DITCHED BABY AT GRANNY'S: COPS
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amCops are hunting for a Bronx mom who left her 7-month-old daughter outside the apartment of the baby's grandmother early yesterday. Police said Charlotte Kain, 29, first asked Madeline Hendricks,...
'BOGUS' BROADWAY APPRAISAL SHOWS LESS CAN BE MORE
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amLocated two blocks from the World Trade Center, 52 Broadway is just one of the hundreds of buildings federal prosecutors say won a hefty tax break courtesy of corrupt city...
STALLED FOR YEARS: PROBERS TOLD NOT TO FIRE ASSESSORS
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amCity investigators have been trying to nail corrupt tax assessors for at least eight years - but it wasn't until March 2000 that the nation's biggest municipal rip-off began to...
TROUBLE BREWIN' : MSG LIMITS BEER AT NYPD-FDNY HOCKEY GAME
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amFearing that booze-fueled brawls may break out, Madison Square Garden is limiting the sale of beer at the charity hockey match between cops and firefighters on Saturday night. The Garden...
TOPLESS WOMAN 'SPOTTED' IN TIMES SQUARE
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amThese two city cops were all eyes yesterday when they caught sight of a topless animal-rights activist in Times Square. The sign-carrying woman - wearing nothing but yellow body paint,...
PUBLISHER PAYS $4M FOR COBAIN'S NOTES
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amSmells like $4 million. That's the sum Riverhead Books is paying to publish the notebooks of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, who led the grunge rock movement of the early '90s. "The...
PALS AND KIN COMMEMORATE '93 BOMBING
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amFriends, family and officers gathered yesterday at a Ground Zero church to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the 1993 attempt to blow up the World Trade Center. The Feb. 26,...
MIKE: DON'T RUSH PLANS TO REBUILD 7 WTC
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg yesterday called on developer Larry Silverstein to put the brakes on rebuilding 7 World Trade Center until there's an overall plan for the entire Ground Zero site. "I...
CLASSROOM EXTRA: PIONEERING PEOPLE
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amABSTRACT: This week, Classroom Extra concludes its celebration of Black History Month with a look at three more unsung heroes in the African-American community. Isaac Murphy : The original horse...
RILEY: KNICKS AIN'T DEAD
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amMIAMI - All the way from south Florida, Pat Riley gave his former team one of his famous motivational pep talks. Or it least it sounded that way. Riley, whose...
THIS YEAR SPENCER MUST GET IT RIGHT
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amTAMPA - Ruben Rivera juiced a baseball over the fence in left-center during yesterday's intrasquad game at sunny Legends Field. He does that six springs ago and the presses stop...
GIAMBI'S HAMSTRING IS ON THE UPSWING
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amYANKEE NOTES TAMPA - While Rondell White went down with a rib cage injury yesterday, Jason Giambi reported his balky left hamstring was improving. "It feels a lot better," said...
METS' PEN-NANT HOPES HINGE ON FRANCO
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - John Franco felt the onset of an ache in his surgically repaired elbow Monday night. So when he did his daily arm check in the shower...
JONES, BURTON ARE JETS CAP VICTIMS
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amThe Jets yesterday released linebacker Marvin Jones in a salary-cap move and they also parted ways with defensive tackle Shane Burton. The Jets, too, renegotiated the contract of free safety...
JEFFERSON IS SERVING GALLANTLY IN RESERVES
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amWhen the season began for the Nets, Byron Scott felt his reserves would be adequate when called upon. Quality minutes seemed reasonable. But now when Scott looks down the bench...
PAYTON'S GOT THAT SWING
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - When the pitch left Satoru Komiyama's hand, Jay Payton's muscle memory kicked into high gear. Payton had spent the entire winter in Atlanta training for moments...
CAMBY: DON'T STICK A FORK INTO ME YET
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amHis words were delivered softly, quietly and without much conviction. "I still think I can come back despite what they say," Marcus Camby nearly whispered yesterday after his Knicks teammates...
METS TOUCH UP KOMIYAMA
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amMET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE - Before and after his first intrasquad outing, Satoru Komiyama was a little confused. When the 36-year-old Japanese right-hander entered the bottom of the third...
GARDEN BIG TWO-FACED ON TYSON
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amSETH ABRAHAM, president of Madison Square Garden, says a heavyweight title fight between Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis is not fit for Broadway. He says its appeal has less to...
WHITE HURT ALREADY: RIB PUTS OUTFIELDER ON SHELF
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amTAMPA - Rondell White's goal of staying out of the trainer's room crashed hard into an X-ray machine yesterday when the Yankees' left fielder suffered a left rib-cage injury during...
IN THE END, BET CLASS DROPS
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amWhenever the end of a race meeting approaches, it's a good time to pay especially close attention to horses dropping in class. That holds true now at Aqueduct, where the...
RAILSPLITTERS ROUT ROOSEVELT
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amLincoln 68Roosevelt 54 The strange, roller-coaster season continued for Lincoln head coach Dwayne Morton yesterday. Morton, who has been suspended twice this season, returned to the sideline last night for...
ARMSTEAD MAY HEAD SOUTH
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amThere's a new head coach in Carolina named John Fox who knows what Jessie Armstead brings to a defense. There's a showy owner in Dallas named Jerry Jones who may...
RED STORM MUST REBOUND VS. IRISH
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amNo, Mike Jarvis isn't seeing Jason Williams and Mike Dunleavy in his sleep. But he isn't exactly erasing Duke's 42-point rout from his memory either. Three days after St. John's...
ROBINSON LIKES BEING FIRST AIDE
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amAfter his first game back, Larry Robinson told The Post he thinks he actually prefers his new duties to being the head honcho. "Yeah, probably, only because it allows me...
IM-PECA-BLE POINT
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amIsles 3Bruins 3 Against second-seeded Boston and backup goalie Andrew Raycroft, the Isles got thrown up against the wall early after two quick Bruins goals to open the game, but...
THEO THROWS ANOTHER SNIT
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amDevils 4Rangers 3 Given a mandate by Ron Low to control his emotions for the remaining 23 games of the season, Theo Fleury came up only 22 games short. For...
KNIGHTS FALL ON HALL
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amOvertime Pittsburgh 73 Seton Hall 66 Pittsburgh was on the road last night, but Brandin Knight was right at home. Knight, who graduated from Seton Hall Prep, took over at...
ISLES' KVASHA NEEDS SURGERY ON WOUNDED KNEE
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amThe United States' bid for a gold medal was not the only casualty of last week's Olympic hockey extravaganza. Islanders left wing Oleg Kvasha will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery today...
DEVILS' CALLING BACK SURPRISED ROBINSON
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amEven Larry Robinson wondered. "I said, 'Why?' too," Robinson admitted after rejoining the Devils as an assistant coach yesterday. "I don't even know if I was convinced. That's the strange...
PIRATES NEAR END OF PLANK
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amWhen Eddie Griffin and Samuel Dalembert left for the NBA and Tommy Amaker jetted for Michigan, they took with them Seton Hall's chances of being a top team this year....
NOW THEY'RE BACK TO BEING RANGERS
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amCountries blended into colors as early as Monday when the five Rangers who had competed a day earlier for the Olympic gold medal flew home together from Salt Lake on...
COACH'S RETURN ECLIPSES GAMES
February 27, 2002 | 5:00amThe strange, roller-coaster season continued for Lincoln head coach Dwayne Morton yesterday. Morton, who has been suspended twice this season, returned to the sideline last night for second-seeded Lincoln's second...