May 14, 2002
U.S. TREASURY WEB SITE REVEALS $ HALF-TRILLION DEFICIT
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amHARDLY anyone noticed but the Federal budget deficit rose to more than a half-trillion dollars last year. That's not a typo. My typing is just fine. And that incredible figure...
EARNINGS ON MEND - TECH-WRECK LARGE-CAPS SEE Q2 RETURNS TAKING OFF
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amHalfway through the second quarter, earnings are on track to end the longest and deepest earnings recession since World War II. The big surprise is who's leading the pack as...
MARKETS SURGE ON JOB DATA, PROFIT HINTS
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amStocks started the week with a big rally, reflecting renewed optimism about the state of the economy and corporate profits. The Dow Jones industrial average soared 169.74 to 10,109.66. The...
CHATS WITH MONEY HONEY HAUNT CRAMER
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amPrivate telephone chats between CNBC reporter Maria "Money Honey" Bartiromo and Wall Street gadfly Jim Cramer could raise red flags with securities investigators, experts say. Cramer, a successful hedge fund...
TEACHERS' UNION HQ TO GET CONDO UNITS
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amFROM schoolhouse to dream house. The United Federation of Teachers' antiquated former headquarters in the Flatiron District will soon graduate to a more glamorous life as luxury residential condos, The...
RELIANT ADMITS IT WAS ANYTHING BUT
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amBig energy trader Reliant Resources admitted yesterday it used the same dirty tricks that seedy bucket shops use to hype worthless penny stocks. Reliant CEO Steve Letbetter stunned Wall Street...
SEARS ON A TEAR - GETS LANDS' END FOR $1.9B, MARTHA DEAL
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amSears had its biggest day yesterday in what has turned out to be a spectacular year. Alan Lacy, chairman of the once-dowdy retailer whose stock has rocketed 74 percent in...
PITT'S SPITZ-ING MAD AT RIVAL - SEC CHIEF, AG BATTLE OVER TURF
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amEliot Spitzer and Harvey Pitt are at each others' throats. In an ugly and growing rift between the two, Spitzer has implied that the SEC chairman with deep ties to...
ANDERSEN'S DUNCAN: I BROKE LAW
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amA top official of indicted auditor Arthur Andersen took the stand yesterday to admit for the first time he shredded tons of smoking-gun documents to cover scams of renegade energy...
FEST EVENTS TO CROW ABOUT DOWNTOWN
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amIt's time to go back downtown. The just-announced Downtown NYC River to River Festival 2002 - another effort to revitalize lower Manhattan - will feature nearly 500 free arts, music...
TRAVELER'S UPDATE
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amEstate sale The coming of spring heralds burgeoning blossoms, bare midriffs and the annual convergence of hundreds of craftspeople on the Lyndhurst estate in Tarrytown, N.Y. On hand will be...
FASHIONABLE FLIX PICKS
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amFashion and film go together like popcorn and Goobers. That's why Esquire magazine launches its fashionable film series "Celluloid Style" tonight. Each Tuesday, a major New York designer will host...
NBC GOES TO MEXICO TO MATCH HBO'S MOB BOSS; VIVA THE SOPRANOS; NETWORKS HAVE BEEN SCRAMBLING TO MATCH THE SHOW'S BUZZ
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amTONY Soprano, meet Miguel Cadena."Kingpin," a "Sopranos" knockoff and easily NBC's most buzzworthy show, won't debut until at least next winter, but already has tongues wagging. NBC is describing the...
'SOUND' LAUGHTER FOR 'LONG'-LOST COWARD
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amLONG ISLAND SOUNDAt the American Theatre of Actors, 314 W. 54 St. Through May 25. Tickets: $50. Call (212) 645-8228. --------------- THE "world premiere" of a Noel Coward comedy? Apparently...
JON SPENCER IS HAVIN' A BLAST WITH THE BLUES
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amJON Spencer Blues Explosion brings its fierce brand of rock to Irving Plaza this weekend, lighting the house on fire with powerful, guitar-ripping songs from the band's eighth album "Plastic...
YOU TALKING 'BOUT ME? - BOOK THAT MADE DE NIRO WINCE
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amNOT many would dare to dish dirt about Robert De Niro. But after 20 years trying to get movies made in Hollywood, producer Art Linson isn't afraid of much. De...
CALL ME A DEAD HEAD, BUT I WANT STIFFS, NOT SEX, ON SIX FEET UNDER
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amI'M very nervous. In fact, if the current trend continues, I may end up on anti-anxiety drugs. What is causing my distress? Are you on another planet? Haven't you noticed...
STARR REPORT
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amRemini's got the right Stuff for mag sales "King of Queens" star Leah Remini has the right Stuff - especially when it comes to selling magazines. Remini, who posed for...
NETS SPEND, SPEND, SPEND
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amMONEY may not buy happiness - but the "Big Four" networks are betting money will buy them viewers. Frustrated by the ratings success of low-budget cable hits like "The Osbournes"...
WHALE AWAY THE DAY - KIDS AND MAMMALS MAKE WAVES AT DISCOVERY COVE IN ORLANDO, FLA.
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amSMACK in the middle of Orlando's theme park madness is an oasis of soft sand, lazy rivers and gracious dolphins that provides a welcome respite from the frenzy. The sanctuary...
DIDDY OF INVENTION
May 14, 2002 | 4:00am* P. DIDDY "We Invented the Remix" [ 1/2] Bad Boy/Arista Records There are plenty who will contest Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' title claim "We Invented the Remix," but few...
OH, CURSES! $100,000 OZZY ADS
May 14, 2002 | 4:00am'THE Osbournes" have shown MTV the money. TV's favorite family snagged the most expensive advertising rates for an entertainment show in the history of cable TV for the show's March...
READY TO BLOOM : BRODERICK'S 'PRODUCERS' REPLACEMENT TRIES TO NIP DOUBTS IN THE BUD
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amTHE ticket lines are no longer halfway down the block and the critics were underwhelmed (The Post's Clive Barnes missed the "queasy, collapsible innocence" of Matthew Broderick) - but Steven...
EX-BEAU 'MEANS' BUSINESS WITH $10M SUIT AGAINST LEONA
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amLeona Helmsley's allegedly gay former paramour is trying to get some more of the "Queen of Mean's" green. Patrick Ward - who sources close to Helmsley claimed led her on...
RENEGADE RATTLES ISRAELI NUKE PROGRAM
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - A rare court appearance by Israeli whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu yesterday rekindled the worldwide debate over Israel's secret nuclear-weapons program, at a time of heightened tension in the Middle...
BATTLE BY BIBI SETS OFF ALARMS
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amJERUSALEM - Benjamin Netanyahu's challenge to Ariel Sharon over a Palestinian state sent shock waves from the West Bank to Washington yesterday, but didn't endanger the prime minister's grip on...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amTwo Milwaukee teens gave an unexpected Mother's Day gift to a panicked duck: They rescued her 12 ducklings from under a sewer grate. Adrian Crawford, 14, and his pal Adam...
DOWNPOUR JUST A DROP IN BUCKET
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amDon't take those longer showers just yet. Two days of steady rains have improved the city's water situation, but the drought emergency remains in effect because upstate reservoirs are still...
BAMBINA MAKES LUCIANO A PROUD GRANDPAPA-ROTTI
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amLuciano Pavarotti became a grandfather last week, but it wasn't enough to make the fat man sing. While the tubby tenor was holed up in a Manhattan apartment apparently fighting...
CITY WEB SITE OFFERS DEALS FOR SENIORS
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amMayor Bloomberg launched a new Web site yesterday offering one-stop shopping for seniors to check if they are eligible for as many as 11 cash-saving programs. The QuickCheck system, at...
VOTERS TODAY SETTLE NASTY NEWARK RACE
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amOld meets new in Newark today in a clash of generations as voters head to the polls to elect a mayor for a city that has gone from being a...
MOTHER'S DAY HORROR - BRONX WOMAN SEES SON, 12, DIE IN ROOF PLUNGE
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amA mom's worst nightmare came true on Mother's Day when her oldest child plunged to his death from a Bronx rooftop. The tragedy happened as 12-year-old Sucre Baez played with...
WIFE-SLAY HOUSE TO BE SEALED OFF
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amThe lawyer for a Long Island man charged with killing his wife said yesterday he fears evidence-"looting" if cops allow any family members into the house where she was shot...
HATEFEST BY THE BAY
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amTHE San Francisco Bay area is the new France - and that's not a compliment. There's been a great deal of attention paid in recent weeks to the horrifying outbreak...
CUTTING CLASSES: LEVY TO SPLIT UP BRONX SCHOOLS
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amBreaking up failing Bronx schools isn't hard to do, according to Schools Chancellor Harold Levy. Levy announced that Theodore Roosevelt HS will be busted up into four smaller schools in...
GOV TAPS LATINA FOR ATT'Y GEN. RUN
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amALBANY - Gov. Pataki has selected a Puerto Rico-born judge from Manhattan as the Republican candidate for attorney general, sources told The Post last night. The sources said Court of...
ARAFAT SNUBS JENIN - SKIPS WAR-TORN CAMP ON WEST BANK TOUR
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amJERUSALEM - Yasser Arafat toured West Bank cities for the first time in five months yesterday - but canceled a visit to the Jenin refugee camp where angry Palestinians charge...
$10M SUIT RAPS NEIGHBORS FOR COLLAPSE OF JAY-Z APT. SALE
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amThere's some hard-knock strife in a posh TriBeCa apartment building where one resident is suing two neighbors for bullying rap star Jay-Z out of a deal to buy her penthouse...
EX-COP SUES OVER 'BAD ARREST' INJURY
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amAn ex-cop and retired customs agent who unwittingly found himself on the wrong side of a police raid at his sons' house has lobbed a $45 million lawsuit at the...
THE COAST GUARD HAS ISSUED AN URGENT WARNING
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amThe Coast Guard has issued an urgent warning to law enforcement agencies that as many as 25 terrorists linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network have sneaked into the...
DISTRICT PLAN PUTS HEAT ON 4 SEATS
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amA federally appointed special master yesterday offered a new map for New York state's congressional districts yesterday that would spark two fights for survival among upstate congressmen. The plan, designed...
PARENTS SPLIT ON MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amTHEY sit one row apart, yet worlds away. In the front row of the Manhattan courtroom is Philip King, a father who wants death for the men who murdered his...
KELLY: CUTS COULD DRIVE COP NUMBERS TO PRE-RUDY LEVELS
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amPolice Commissioner Ray Kelly warned yesterday that if $76 million in emergency budget cuts are approved, the number of cops will plummet to its lowest level since 1993. "The 'contingency...
VILLAGE COP WARDS OFF 'BLOWTORCH' ATTACKER
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amA cop avoided a face full of flaming chemicals as he fought off an attacker in Washington Square Park, police said yesterday. Rookie officer Mike Bonanno was assaulted Sunday night...
CONFESS MESS AT SKAKEL TRIAL - WITNESS RECANTS TALE OF EX-HUBBY AS 'REAL KILLER'
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amThe Michael Skakel murder trial was thrown into turmoil yesterday as the defense tried to paint the Skakels' former tutor as a Kennedy-obsessed suspect in the case who once admitted,...
STEPMOM DROPS SUIT AGAINST LIZA
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amLOS ANGELES - Liza Minnelli's stepmother dropped her lawsuit against the veteran entertainer yesterday, proclaiming to a judge: "I can't sue Liza." A phone call from Minnelli - and a...
LEMRICK TRIAL ON HOLD FOR SUPREMES
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amFor the first time since his conviction was overturned, alleged Crown Heights riot stabber Lemrick Nelson Jr. appeared in federal court yesterday only to have a judge put off setting...
WIFE SUIT: BISHOP WAS 'UNFAITHFUL'
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amA New York Episcopal bishop, ensnared in an unholy legal mess with a female priest, is now being sued by his estranged wife, who claims he was a philandering husband....
RISE FROM THE ASHES - NEW WTC BLDG. COULD STAND UP TO PLANE CRASH
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amThe first new building to rise at the World Trade Center site will be an airy, glass-skinned structure designed to withstand an act of terrorism like the Sept. 11 attack,...
NIGHTMARE AT THE DELI: CARNEGIE COURT HORROR OVER GRISLY TESTIMONY
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amShrieks and sobs filled a Manhattan courtroom yesterday as the triple-homicide and robbery known as the Carnegie Deli Massacre was described in wrenching detail. On Day One of testimony against...
PATAKI WILL PUT VICTIM'S DAD ON REBUILDING BOARD
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amGov. Pataki today will make his last appointee to the board of the city-state downtown rebuilding agency - the father of a victim. Thomas Johnson, the chief executive officer of...
LEVY HAS A $6M PLAN TO 'ANALYZE' SCHOOLS
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amSchools Chancellor Harold Levy plans to spend $6 million on private firms the next three years to determine whether the Board of Ed's math and reading programs are working. "We...
SACK THIS HANDBAG: GRIEVING KIN
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amAn Australian fashion chain has begun selling a handbag adorned with a needlepoint-and-bead depiction of planes slamming into the Twin Towers - infuriating at least one local resident, a man...
MAN, 80, STRUCK AND KILLED BY GARBAGE TRUCK IN CHINATOWN
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amAn 80-year-old Chinatown man was run over and killed by a garbage truck yesterday in an apparent accident, cops said. Mee Sun Jung was walking down Chrystie Street, just five...
DEAD HERO MAY GIVE HER GIFT OF LIFE
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amThe grief-stricken widow of a hero firefighter killed Sept. 11 has miraculously discovered she still may be able to give her husband a legacy he always wanted: a son. Gary...
YOUNG LOVERS IN AMTRAK SUICIDE
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amIn an apparent suicide love pact, a young couple yesterday hugged tightly, left identification on the platform and then walked hand-in-hand into the path of an oncoming train, authorities said....
LEVY: 'AD' BIZ BUCKS TO SCHOOLS
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amLafayette HS in Brooklyn might be boasting about its new "Nike" gymnasium. Seward Park HS on the Lower East Side could get an "Old Navy" scoreboard. Corporate sponsorships in schools...
U.S.-RUSSIA NUKE PACT'S A WALLOP
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush announced yesterday the Americans and Russians have struck a deal to drastically cut the number of nukes the two sides have aimed at each other. "The...
ARAFAT SNUBS JENIN SKIPS WAR-TORN CAMP ON WEST BANK TOUR
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amJERUSALEM - Yasser Arafat toured West Bank cities for the first time in five months yesterday - but canceled a visit to the Jenin refugee camp where angry Palestinians charge...
PAVAROTTI DAUGHTER'S BABY GRAND
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amLuciano Pavarotti became a grandfather last week, but it wasn't enough to make the fat man sing. While the tubby tenor was holed up in a Manhattan apartment apparently fighting...
WIFE'S LAWSUIT: I WAS PAWN IN BISHOP'S GAME
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amA New York Episcopal bishop, ensnared in an unholy legal mess with a female priest, is now being sued by his estranged wife, who claims he was a philandering husband....
GARBAGE TRUCK KILLS MAN, 80, IN CHINATOWN
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amAn 80-year-old Chinatown man was run over and killed by a garbage truck yesterday in an apparent accident, cops said. Mee Sun Jung was walking down Chrystie Street, just five...
LEMRICK TRIAL ON HOLD UNTIL HIGH COURT HEARING
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amFor the first time since his conviction was overturned, alleged Crown Heights riot stabber Lemrick Nelson Jr. appeared in federal court yesterday, only to have a judge put off setting...
PHILLIPS' PICKUPS FAIL TO PRODUCE
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amLOS ANGELES - When Steve Phillips decided, last Saturday morning, to address the team he had constructed in the offseason, he was in essence admitting his own culpability for this...
FRANCO OPTS FOR ELBOW SURGERY
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amLOS ANGELES - Since finding out the devastating news about his left elbow last Wednesday, John Franco has received the same advice from a number of sources. Franco's 2002 comeback...
ZITO: NO ONE WILL STEAL THIS RACE
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amBALTIMORE - The bloodied, the bowed and the bewildered have begun tumbling into Pimlico seeking redemption - and cash - in Saturday's Preakness after their horror trip in the Kentucky...
KIDD WILL FIND A WAY
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amWITH the possible exception of waiting for Rony Seikaly to come off the training table or Sam Cassell to finish answering a question about himself, the longest minutes in sports...
P.J. SAYS EX-MATES ARE BEASTS OF EAST
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amCHARLOTTE - If the Nets get by the Hornets, Charlotte forward P.J. Brown believes his former club will reach the NBA Finals. Respect is finally coming the Nets' way. The...
HOPE TO APPLY FINISHING TOUCH TO CHARLOTTE
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amYup, it's trite. It's cliché. But in this case, it's true. The Nets are saving their best for last in the playoffs. At least in their victories. In winning Game...
RANGERS TALK TO KINGS AIDE
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amThe Hitch in Philadelphia yesterday did not throw the slightest hitch into Glen Sather's patient approach to hiring a head coach for the Rangers. Indeed, as Ken Hitchcock went through...
SUNDAY BREAK HAS EYES ON BELMONT
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amFollowing the path he took 10 years ago with Horse of the Year A.P. Indy, trainer Neil Drysdale will skip the Preakness with his late-developing colt Sunday Break and instead...
GM: ANDY NOT AS BAD AS RUMORS SUGGEST
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Brian Cashman has no idea where the whispers are coming from, he only knows those who say Andy Pettitte's left elbow problem is more than tendinitis don't know...
NOT HAVING MASH BEGINS TO STING
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amHORNET NOTES CHARLOTTE - The reality of not having star swingman Jamal Mashburn for the playoffs finally has hit home with Hornets coach Paul Silas. Mashburn's absence due to vertigo...
FLAP OVER REFEREE MAY KO LEWIS-TYSON BOUT
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amTHERE is a storm brewing in Memphis, one that threatens to compromise whatever integrity the June 8 Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson heavyweight title bout would have been able to preserve. It...
JORDAN'S BECOMING HOT ITEM
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amYou win, you get noticed. Players get honors, assistants get job offers. Eddie Jordan, who has helped devise and initiate the Nets offensive schemes, figures to be one of the...
MOLLOY'S LALLY GETS LIFT FROM FORD'S ADVICE
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amJames Lally didn't think he was good enough to pitch for Archbishop Molloy. "I knew how strong the team was and that they had a lot of good pitchers," Lally...
BERNIE GETTING HOT
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amGeorge Steinbrenner never describes him as a warrior. His aloofness tortured Buck Showalter. Teammates have turned angry when he is late. Yet Bernie Williams is a proud man. Proud of...
U.S. BOOTERS LOSE ARMAS
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amThe U.S. soccer team's World Cup campaign took a serious hit yesterday when midfielder Chris Armas was lost for the competition with a torn ACL in his right knee. The...
AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR ... VECSEY'S (VERY EARLY) GLANCE AT CONFERENCE FINALS
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amWITH nary a trace of a pulsation among the electorate in Charlotte, Detroit, San Antonio and Dallas - which, in all likelihood, was wrenched off life-support before this epistle even...
GIANTS TAP PATRIOT AS PERSONNEL AIDE
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amThe Giants reached into the scouting department of the Pats yesterday when they hired Ken Sternfeld as assistant director of pro personnel. Sternfeld replaces Jerry Reese, recently promoted to director...
METS PUT DAVIS ON 15-DAY DL
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amMET NOTES LOS ANGELES - Since he returned from the last road trip, Kane Davis has had trouble getting loose. You wouldn't know it by the radar guns that still...
FRANCO WON'T QUIT ; MET RELIEVER OPTS FOR ELBOW SURGERY
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amLOS ANGELES - Since finding out the devastating news about his left elbow last Wednesday, John Franco has received the same advice from a number of sources. Franco's 2002 comeback...
ESTES CAN'T MATCH UP TO HIS 1997 SELF
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amMET NOTES LOS ANGELES - In throwing a baseball for the Mets, Shawn Estes has done little to chuck his old reputation. Estes himself admits some Giants officials in San...
DEAD WOOD DOGS METS PHILLIPS' PICKUPS MIRED IN MEDIOCRITY
May 14, 2002 | 4:00amLOS ANGELES - When Steve Phillips decided, last Saturday morning, to address the team he had constructed in the offseason, he was in essence admitting his own culpability for this...