July 8, 2002

DOWNTOWN EXODUS - SMALL FIRMS MAY FOLLOW BIG COMPANIES' MOVE

A second wave of Downtown office dislocations might be on its way. That's what a new report from Tenantwise.com worries. The report issued last week found half of the square...

ANALYSTS DEBATE WHO WILL BEAT THE STREET

Corporate earnings season is shaping up to be quite a horse race. And though analysts claim that the second quarter will end the five-quarters long earnings drought -the longest and...

RICHARD THOMPSON'S A 'POPULAR' GUY AT PUB

RICHARD Thompson, the legendary folk singer and guitar virtuoso from the U.K., will glide through "1,000 Years of Popular Music," at Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette St., at Astor Place; [212]...

ONE FOR THE BOOKS - EX-PUBLISHER, 70, BEGINS A NEW CHAPTER AS PLAYWRIGHT

'EX-PUBLISHER reveals putrid underbelly of 'occupation for gentlemen.' " That, insisted Tom McCormack - longtime CEO of St. Martin's Press-turned-playwright - is precisely the headline he doesn't want to see...

'BLACK' MAGIC - SEQUEL'S $90M AT BOX OFFICE A RECORD

'MEN in Black II" set off box-office fireworks, with the extraterrestrial spoof breaking records - if barely so - with a $90 million haul over the long five-day July 4...

STARR REPORT

Gored Vidal: 'B&B' star, Alba make the list "Dark Angel" star Jessica Alba made the list, but so did "Bold & The Beautiful" star Sandra Vidal - for all the...

GARBO SPEAKS - LETTERMAN'S FIRST TV INTERVIEW IN FIVE YEARS. CAN HE TOP THESE WHOPPERS FROM LAST TIME?

TONIGHT, ABC finally gets David Letterman onto its late-night schedule. But while ABC suits were willing to sacrifice "Nightline" newsman Ted Koppel for the honor last year, it is Koppel...

ICED-COFFEE $CAM DUPES JOE SCHMOES

A FRIEND and I needed a mid-afternoon coffee break the other day. I got a large coffee. He got a large iced coffee. Mine came in a 20-ounce paper cup....

DWARFS BLAST TV AD AS LOW BLOW

Panasonic is using a screaming dwarf to promote its new line of ultra-small video products - and little people are up in arms, saying the campaign is one big insult...

GEORGE FACES 'JEWISH' PROBLEM

INDEPENDENT gubernatorial candidate Thomas Golisano plans a major effort linking Gov. Pataki to the anti-Jewish ravings of leftist activist Lenora Fulani. "The question is: Does the governor repudiate her anti-Semitic...

VEGANS SCORN HONEY FROM 'OPPRESSED' BEES

Talk about your fruits and nuts! Radical vegans - who avoid any product that comes from animals - are now buzzing about the evils of honey. They claim its production...

SLEEP CAN BE A BIG YAWN

As strange as it sounds, sleeping less may actually help people feel less tired. New research reveals that some people can wake up fully refreshed and ready for an active...

COMPLAINTS BUILD VS. SCHOOL CONTRACTORS

City school construction projects prompted 208 complaints over the last school year - from the theft of student penny jars and classroom snacks to contractors bringing booze to the job...

AGING WHO BASSIST'S LAST HURRAH KILLED HIM

Tragic rocker John Entwistle is solely to blame for his own death, because he completely ignored doctors who feared that another tour with The Who would kill him. The beloved...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A Georgia daredevil fell 200 feet into 4 feet of water - and lived to tell about it! Mark Waters, locked out of his condo, decided to go to the...

SUSPECTED RINGLEADER OF AL QAEDA

The suspected ringleader of al Qaeda's European network is being tucked away for safekeeping in northern England, a new report says. Abu Qatada, who is described as the terror group's...

'VITAMIN PILLS A WASTE OF TIME,' FIVE-YEAR STUDY CONCLUDES

People who pop vitamins to protect against disease are just wasting their money, a new study claims. Researchers at the University of Oxford say those who take daily doses of...

POLS: JAIL EXECU-THIEVES - URGE ACTION TO BOOST INVESTOR CONFIDENCE AS W. HEADS TO WALL ST.

There were rising calls to send CEO crooks directly to jail - and fast - yesterday as President Bush got ready to come to Wall Street and read the riot...

PHONE BLITZ FOR SUMMER CLASSES

Schools Chancellor Harold Levy and his staff spent a lovely Sunday afternoon on the phone - calling thousands of parents to promote summer-school attendance. Some 170,000 students are mandated to...

LAX KILLER LINKED TO OSAMA'S DEPUTY

The Egyptian gunman who went on a July 4th rampage at Los Angeles International Airport may have met with a top Osama bin Laden deputy - in the United States,...

MCCALL: GOV GOT HISPANIC TV TO PULL ADS

State Comptroller Carl McCall yesterday accused Gov. Pataki yesterday of using his office to get the media to drop ads critical of him. "If hypocrisy were an Olympic sport, George...

IT'S BOTTOMS UP - STREAKER DISRUPTS WIMBLEDON MEN'S FINAL

A streaker's antics were ruled out of bounds after his raunchy run enlivened the men's finals at Wimbledon yesterday. Mark Roberts - a 37-year-old father of three from Liverpool -...

THE NEW YORK SPORTS CLUB

The New York Sports Club is using Martha Stewart's home-economics problem to pump up business. Ads promoting the club's reduced sign-up rates read, "Psst, Martha. Our summer sale is about...

JACKO GOT OFF-TRACKO, REV. AL SAYS

The Rev. Al Sharpton yesterday said Wacko Jacko's bizarre attack on Tommy Mottola was unfair and unfounded, and called the Sony honcho a staunch supporter of black artists. "I have...

WRONG-WAY FIRETRUCK PUTS B'KLYN BOY IN HOSP

A 7-year-old Brooklyn boy was seriously injured when he ran off the sidewalk and into the side of a firetruck driving the wrong way down a one-way street, officials said...

TROOPS GRAB PALESTINIANS IN ISRAELI CAMOUFLAGE

JERUSALEM - Two Palestinians dressed as Israeli cops and packing guns and grenades under their uniforms were nabbed trying to slip into Israel through a hole in a fence in...

COPS TARGET CONSTRUCTION-SITE GOON GANGS

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has beefed up a department task force that focuses on the kind of minority construction-worker coalitions that were involved in a recent bloody brawl on the...

UNCLE STRUCK BABY NIECE IN HEAD: COPS

A Queens man was charged with punching his infant niece in the head while baby-sitting her, police said yesterday. Terrance Crawford, 28, hit 6-week-old Tikiya Crawford at her family's Rockaway...

S.I. MAN GROPED POOL TEEN: COPS

A Staten Island man was arrested yesterday for groping a 14-year-old girl in a public pool yesterday, police said. Roberto Martinez, 21, was busted at the Faber Park pool in...

CO-STAR BARES HIS MARILYN MON-WOE

Marilyn Monroe may have been heaven to look at, but she was a devil to work with, one veteran actor said today. Richard Widmark, 87, who appeared with the troubled...

FATHER & SON REUNION - TEEN TRACKS DOWN DAD JAILED FOR ABDUCTING HIM AS A BABY IN 1984

After spending time in prison and serving probation, a Bronx father has joyfully reunited with the son he abducted 18 years ago from his mother. Leonard Cammalleri took his baby...

BILLS ON 9/11 GET MIRED IN POLITICS

WASHINGTON - Dozens of bills aimed at helping 9/11 survivors are gummed up in Congress, the victims of turf battles, petty squabbling and apathy. The bills run the gamut -...

JAIL GUARD SHOT IN BROOKLYN

An off-duty correction officer was shot last night in front of a crowd of 200 horrified spectators at a soccer field in Brooklyn. The officer, whose name was withheld pending...

JURORS' DOUBT DOESN'T MAKE SCHWARZ INNOCENT

CONGRATULATIONS, Chuck Schwarz. You win. Whether convicted or cleared of violating Abner Louima's civil rights, your five-year quest to obstruct justice is a smashing success. Thanks to you and your...

JERSEY TOWN STILL RECOVERING FROM COP'S BERSERK RAMPAGE

To visit Toms River, N.J., you'd never know that three months ago, one of its own - a trusted cop and longtime resident - went berserk and shot dead five...

HIV MAN: MINISTER ASKED ME FOR SEX

An HIV-positive Manhattan man has filed suit against a prominent Episcopal minister and AIDS counselor who he claims propositioned him for sex. Gregory Harris, 43, a former stockbroker and playwright,...

FISH DIET IS SCALE-FRIENDLY

A new study suggests that eating lots of fish may help you shed pounds. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota looked at two African tribes, each with a different...

COPS EYE HARD-HAT HOODLUMS

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has beefed up a department task force that focuses on the kind of minority construction-worker coalitions that were involved in a recent bloody brawl on the...

AIRPORT GUNMAN'S VICTIMS LAID TO REST

The two victims of Los Angeles airport gunman Hesham Mohamed Hedayet were mourned at heavily guarded funerals yesterday. More than 1,000 people packed the Yad Avraham Synagogue in North Hollywood...

EL AL DUO MOURNED AMID HIGH SECURITY

The two victims of Los Angeles airport gunman Hesham Mohamed Hedayet were mourned at heavily guarded funerals yesterday. Victoria Hen, a 25-year-old El Al ticket agent who was due to...

'INSPIRATIONAL' NEIGHBORHOOD ACTIVIST A 'BUDDY' TO BROOKLYN COMMUNITY

Salvatore Scotto is a troublemaker - and he's proud of it. He's been the noisy voice for community activism in Brooklyn since the early 1960s and shows no sign of...

SHEA STADIUM WAITER A REAL TEAM PLAYER

Harold Bill de Long might be 81, but don't call him an old man. For the past 36 years, de Long has been a waiter at Shea Stadium's Diamond Club,...

BRAVE ENGINEER DROVE LAST 9/11 TRAIN TO SAFETY

When Emely Vulcain first met her chatty PATH engineer four years ago, she had no idea she'd be forming a friendship with a certified hero. While most New Yorkers had...

DOCTOR INSPIRES HOPE

When Kristina Hartnett was told she had malignant brain cancer three years ago, the doting young mother of two baby daughters was eager to fight for every day of life...

SORE BACK PUTS PIAZZA ON BENCH

MET NOTES MIAMI - A half-hour before yesterday's first pitch, Mike Piazza was scratched from the starting lineup with a stiff lower back. Piazza started 13 straight games beginning June...

AMAZIN' LACK OF ANSWERS - WET WIN OVER MARLINS CAN'T ERASE MET FAILURES

MIAMI - Yesterday afternoon from the chair of the visiting manager's office, Bobby Valentine put the blame of the disappointing 2002 season on his shoulders. Sort of. "Sure. I always...

SUMMER NETS WILL THINK BIG

The Nets are completing the roster for their summer league team, due to report Thursday and start play in Boston next week, with an apparent eye on size and backup...

LIBS HEAD BACK RESTED & READY

Vacation's over, and so for the Liberty it's back to work today. Like many dragging their briefcases through the summer swelter back to the office this morning, the Liberty end...

DJ'S A RELUCTANT DH - . . . BUT YANKEE SHORTSTOP STARS IN ROLE

He may have had success doing it, but Derek Jeter hopes that yesterday was his last game as a designated hitter. "I didn't like it at all," said Jeter, who...

JASON NO LONGER CHASIN' AFTER CHEERS

After the Yankees signed Jason Giambi to his huge contract during the offseason, many people wondered if there would be an adjustment period as the slugger grew accustomed to the...

YANKEES MAKE JEFF A BE-WEAVER - RIGHTY GETS WIN AS BOMBER BATS ERASE 2 DEFICITS

Yankees 10 - Blue Jays 6 They are the Yankees. They are pre-ordained to have the best record in the American League at the All-Star break, and that is exactly...

GYGISTAR WINS DWYER

Jockey John Velazquez, after posting a pair of minor upsets Saturday in the Suburban Handicap on E Dubai and the Prioress aboard Carson Hollow, yesterday completed a sweep of the...

'W' TO REMEMBER

UNTIL George Steinbrenner can find a way to make cryogenics work for his Yankees - "Attention ladies and gentlemen, now playing right field, Babe Ruth II" - pitching is the...

SIX-PACK OF STARTERS TOO MUCH FOR TORRE

YANKEE NOTES It looks as if Joe Torre is waiting for a trade or an injury to make the decision on his rotation for him. With six legitimate starters for...

AMAZIN' LACK OF ANSWERS - VALENTINE, PHILLIPS CAN'T FIGURE MET FAILURE

MIAMI - Yesterday afternoon, from the chair of the visiting manager's office, Bobby Valentine put the blame for the disappointing 2002 season on his shoulders. Sort of. "Sure. I always...

BACK TROUBLE FORCES PIAZZA TO THE BENCH

MET NOTES MIAMI - About a half-hour before yesterday's first pitch against the Marlins, general manager Steve Phillips was summoned from a gathering with reporters into the trainer's room. A...