December 4, 2002
PECKER SAYS WEIDER GROUP IS HERE TO STAY
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amNOW that David Pecker's American Media has landed the Weider publications - Shape, Flex, Men's Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, et al. - he has no intention of busting up the...
TYCO'S SWARTZ TO SELL ANOTHER CONDO
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amAnother Tyco-owned luxury apartment is about to be sold, The Post has learned. The ornately furnished luxury condominium - which was apparently used exclusively by the company's former chief financial...
OLD NAVY FLEECING NY CAB PASSENGERS
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amTaxi riders can say good-bye to cold icy seats. Some New Yorkers will be getting a warm fuzzy feeling when they climb into cabs - thanks to cushy fleece seat...
OFFICE TOWERS STILL GET SKY-HIGH PRICES
December 4, 2002 | 5:00am"OFFICE prices continue to defy reality on the ground," says Peter Hauspurg, chairman of Eastern Consolidated Properties. Hauspurg was reacting to the pact signed by Boston Properties to sell 875...
RETAILERS HOPE SALES STAY STRONG
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amThe news was good, but might not hold up. Retailers rang up healthy sales last week - enough to boost sales 4 percent from the same week a year ago,...
BAGGING A COPYCAT - CELINE SUES ENZO OVER ALLEGED KNOCKOFF PURSE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amEnzo Angiolini is a purse snatcher. LVMH's Celine is suing Enzo, a division of Jones Apparel Group, over its signature handbag, called the "Boogie Bag." In a suit filed in...
BEARISH REPORTS FROM FORD, AOL HIT STOCKS
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amBulls pulled in their horns again yesterday after negative reports from Ford Motor and AOL Time Warner slapped the market down. Merrill Lynch's top U.S. strategist, Richard Bernstein, said the...
UNITED'S MILES WILL STILL COUNT
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amEven if United Airlines files for bankruptcy, your frequent-flier miles are safe. The struggling airline yesterday said it took another step to avert a bankruptcy filing by firing 352 more...
AOL FALLS 14% ON AD WARNING
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amJonathan Miller spoke and investors called their brokers to sell. Shares in AOL Time Warner plunged yesterday as Miller, who became CEO of the company's beleaguered online division in August,...
MERRILL CUTS TOP AXMAN
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amMerrill Lynch's Stan O'Neal consolidated the firm's vast brokerage forces into a single unit, sending former international retail chief and fixed-income star G. Kelly Martin out the door. The hard-nosed...
MUSIC MUSEUM SEEKS NEW HOME
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amThe ARChive for Contemporary Music is seeking a new place to spin, store, catalog and show off its extensive 1.6 million piece recorded music collection. The accumulation of work from...
SEC PROBES MOUSE - BOARD NEPOTISM TARGETED; EARNINGS OFF
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amMichael Eisner has dropped a double bombshell on Walt Disney's shares by announcing a federal probe of its boardroom and a surprise earnings reversal. The company last night said profits...
STARR REPORT
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amStuart checks in for 'Hospital' visit Oscar-nominated "Titanic" star Gloria Stuart, 91, will pay a one-day visit to ABC's "General Hospital" on New Year's Eve (Tuesday, Dec. 31). Stuart, who's...
MARTHA'S BACK TO MAKING A 'LIVING'
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amMARTHA Stewart has won an 11th season out of "Martha Stewart Living" despite her ongoing legal woes. The domestic diva's daily syndicated show will return to the air next year...
TUDOR TREASURE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amL'IMPERO [ 1/2] 45 TUDOR CITY PLACE (ABOVE 42ND STREET) (212) 599-5045 ------ IF you laugh at the idea of dining well in Tudor City, get over it. Until two...
IT'S BOX-OFFICE SUICIDE - GRIM FLICKS IN THE HOLIDAY MIX
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amWarning: This story contains plot spoilers. 'TIS the season when suicide-prevention hotlines are burning up with calls from depressed people - so what does Hollywood serve up for holiday escape?...
I'LL BE HERE IN A YEAR
December 4, 2002 | 5:00am'60 Minutes" chief Don Hewitt expects to remain at CBS - but he isn't ruling out going elsewhere if he's pushed out the door. "I still intend to die at...
FANCY HOTEL HAS HIDDEN BURGER PLEASURE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amTHE BURGER JOINT AT LE PARKER MERIDIEN [] 119 W. 56TH ST. (BETWEEN SIXTH & SEVENTH AVENUES) (212) 245-5000 ------ PSST! Look for the neon hamburger. It's the sole sign...
STRIKING PORTRAIT OF LEGENDARY AFGHAN WARLORD
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amMASSOUD, THE AFGHAN [] Riveting visits with a slain Afghan hero.In French and Pashtu with English subtitles. Running time: 98 minutes. Not rated. At the Film Forum, 209 W. Houston...
SOMETHING TO CROWE ABOUT: []
December 4, 2002 | 5:00am"THE INTERROGATION OF MICHAEL CROWE" [ ] Tonight at 8 p.m. on Court TV ----- BEFORE it was a made-for-TV movie, "The Interrogation of Michael Crowe" was an award-winning documentary...
HOT CHEF IS BACK IN TOWN
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amFORMER Le Cirque 2000 executive chef Sottha Khunn is coming back to New York. Sources say he has signed a lease to open a place uptown. Khunn left the famed...
CHAPEAU SHOW: NOW HAT'S ENTERTAINMENT
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amCROWNSAt Second Stage Theatre, 307 W. 43rd St. Call (212) 246-4422. ----- A fashion show that becomes a faith show, "Crowns" is a celebratory survey - complete with gospel music...
MEXICAN ROCKERS MUY BIEN
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amJAGUARES ----- WHEN Saul Hernandez, the leader of the Latin rock outfit Jaguares, finds his groove, he's part Aztec priest, part Bruce Springsteen. At Town Hall Monday, in front of...
DREAM COMES TRUE - 'IMPOSSIBLE' SONG HIS IMPROBABLE HIT
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amIT'S the most famous song from "Man of La Mancha" and arguably one of the most famous ever written. It's earned a few million in royalties, and has been recorded...
COIN TOSS: NEW YORKERS SAY 'LETTUCE PAY' TO WALLET-CHOMPING SALAD BARS
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amIF you're trying to save some money this season -consider passing by the tossed salad bars all over town. While even freezing weather can't chill some New Yorkers' midday zeal...
TWO FACED - SAUDIS HALT TERROR CASH - BUT BLAME JEWS FOR 9/11; SHIFTY SAUDIS HALT TERROR CASH, BLAME JEWS
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Saudi Arabia's split personality was laid bare to the world yesterday, as a Saudi official in Washington vowed to crack down on terror funding - while another in...
PRISON FOR 9/11 PHONY
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amA Brooklyn man who posed as a Sept. 11 victim and tried to cash a $3,000 American Red Cross check was sentenced yesterday to 1 ½ to three years behind...
$500M GOES BEGGING
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amAlbany and Washington are sitting on a $500 million jackpot - but they can't get people here to take it. The cash horde is unclaimed Earned Income Tax Credits, accumulated...
KENYA DENIES IGNORING EARLY BOMB WARNINGS
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amKenyan officials denied yesterday that they failed to act on four warnings this year of terrorist activity leading up to last week's attacks on an Israeli-owned hotel and a chartered...
SAUDIS: 400G WAS FOR OFFICE FURNITURE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The Saudi Arabian Embassy claimed yesterday it donated $400,000 to a controversial Islamic charity that has been shut down by the Bush administration for terror links so that...
FATAH BIG: BOOT ARAFAT
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - A fiery Palestinian leader, in prison in Israel, issued an appeal yesterday for the ouster of Yasser Arafat. "It is time for many of the Palestinian leaders and...
HOW ISRAEL LEARNED TO LOVE SHARON
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amIN less than two months, Israelis will cast their votes and almost cer tainly re-elect an incumbent prime minister for the first time since 1988. Indeed, by all the polls,...
STUY TOWN 'SNIPER' FIT FOR TRIAL
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amA former cop who allegedly unleashed a barrage of bullets from his Stuyvesant Town apartment window was found mentally fit to stand trial yesterday. After reviewing reports and recommendations from...
LOW PAY HAS COPS QUITTING AT ALARMING RATE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amBEFORE Mike Bloomberg decided he wanted to be Prince of the City, he knew he didn't become a mogul on his lonesome. In part, like most brilliant company chiefs, he...
BETTER DIG OUT THOSE SNOW BOOTS
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amSnow doubt it - Old Man Winter's getting ready to nail us. Forecasters say the city will be hit with up to four inches of snow tomorrow - and this...
LUCKY POST READER 'BAGS' HOME THEATER
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amChristmas came early yesterday for Post reader James Dulworth, who won a red-hot Panasonic plasma-screen/DVD home-theater system in our Million Dollar Bag contest. "I'm so excited! I've never won anything...
PREZ: DON'T LIE TO ME, HUSSEIN
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Iraqi officials said Saddam Hussein will claim the country is free of weapons of mass destruction when he hands over the U.N.-required weapons list in a few days...
QUACK BACK IN BUTT BIZ
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amA phony doctor facing trial for maiming and injuring clients in a Queens plastic-surgery clinic has resurfaced in South America, where he's hung up a shingle and started performing medical...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amMANHATTAN * A 68-year-old man who was bludgeoned on a Harlem street was clinging to life yesterday. Around 7:30 p.m. Monday, William Butler was beaten over the head with a...
NEW TAX HIKE LOOMS - NOW IT'S INCOME LEVY IN MILLER'S SIGHTS
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amCity Council Speaker Gifford Miller said yesterday the city income tax may need to be hiked if he and Mayor Bloomberg cannot get state lawmakers to approve a commuter tax...
SAFRA 'KILLED' NURSE: LAWSUIT
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amHis caretaker was found guilty of the killing, but the children of Vivian Torrente say in a $100 million lawsuit that slain billionaire Edmond Safra was the one responsible for...
COPS POST REWARD IN PARK RAPE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amCops yesterday upped the stakes in their effort to track down the five men who savagely raped a 23-year-old woman in a public restroom of a Brooklyn park - announcing...
HOUSTON'S PROBLEM - FESSES UP TO BOOZE, DRUG WOES
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amBooze, pot, cocaine, pills - Whitney Houston's done 'em all. After years of speculation about her erratic behavior and stick-like figure, Houston will finally admit to a life of drug-...
BAYOU BUSH IN LA. PUSH
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amPresident Bush hit the campaign trail for an overtime 2002 race yesterday, to urge Louisiana to give him a bonus win by ditching a Democrat so Republicans can back him...
FIRST LOOK AT ROSIE'S PRECIOUS PATOOTIE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amHere's the very first peek at Rosie O'Donnell's brand-new bundle of joy. Her name is Vivienne Rose, and she weighs in at a healthy 6 pounds, 8 ounces and measures...
HIS CHILDISH ANTICS AREN'T KID STUFF ANYMORE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amSAVE the children this holiday season. Remove Michael Jackson's progeny from his ivory fingers - before it's too late. Officials in California have done legal back flips to justify their...
UNION PLAN TO AVOID FARE HIKE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amFastter buses, fiscal accountability and using transit workers to perform jobs now contracted outside could save the MTA more than $600 million and avert a fare hike, the Transport Workers...
CYBERSEX SHOCK: FIEND'S LAWYER SAYS HE'S GUILTY
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amThe lawyer for accused cybersex torture master James Warren told a Long Island jury yesterday it should find his client guilty of raping and sodomizing a 15-year-old girl last summer....
JOGGER PROBER SLAMS MORGY
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amOne of the lead detectives in the Central Park jogger case blasted the Manhattan District Attorney's Office yesterday for failing to interview him in its new probe of the horrific...
'WEB' FOOT JACKO - SPIDER BIT ME, POP STAR SAYS
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amHe's been a child star, the King of Pop and a baby-dangling psycho - but now Michael Jackson has a new persona: Spider-Man. Wacko Jacko's surgically enhanced body has apparently...
HILL RIPS BUSH ON $CHOOL CUTS
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amSen. Hillary Clinton blasted the Bush administration yesterday for drafting a plan to scrap more than $20 million in vocational education funds to city public high schools and community colleges....
BILL: 'MIA' DEMS ARE WEAK ON WAR ISSUE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amFormer President Bill Clinton yesterday broke his silence on this year's Democratic disaster on Election Day, saying Democrats lost because they were "missing in action on national security" and looked...
JEWISH SURVIVOR AND SAVIOR REUNITE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amA New Jersey grandmother and the courageous Polish woman who hid her and her family from the Nazis during World War II hugged and wept for joy yesterday when they...
WINONA WAS A WALKING PHARMACY, SAYS DA
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amPixie pilferer Winona Ryder had eight different painkillers and tranquilizers on her when she was busted for shoplifting more than $5,500 worth of designer duds from a posh Beverly Hills...
COP-SHOOTER GETS 20 YEARS
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amA man was sentenced to 20 years in prison yesterday for opening fire on four officers at the door of his Bronx apartment last summer. José Torres, 38, of Bronx...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amLife is tough in San Francisco this week - the strippers at the Lusty Lady Club have gone on strike. Wearing pink T-shirts that read, "Bad girls like good contracts,"...
CUNY'S 'OPEN' POLICY MAY SHUT
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amState Education Commissioner Richard Mills wants to make the City University's strict admissions standards permanent - finally putting an end to the controversial policy of open enrollment, The Post has...
POSTAL CRASH HORROR - CAR HITS BUILDING, KILLING BX. WOMAN, 82
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amA driver mistakenly stepped on the gas instead of the brake, and plowed her car into a busy Bronx post office yesterday, killing an 82-year-old great-grandmother, cops said. Three other...
TUNNEL IS SUNK - WEST STREET NOW EYED AS PEDESTRIAN PARADISE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amBalking at a $3 billion price tag and the years of construction it would take to bury West Street, downtown planners are now focusing on lower cost options for remaking...
PILL MAN'S HARD-TO-SWALLOW TERROR PLOY
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amALBANY - A Buffalo telemarketer - who used phony warnings of a "dirty bomb" attack - was shut down yesterday for trying to frighten consumers into buying terrorism "crisis kits,"...
ROCKEFELLER TREE-FFIC JAM
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amRockefeller Center becomes a winter wonderland - and neighboring streets a traffic no-man's land - with tonight's lighting of the 76-foot Christmas tree. Starting at 4 p.m., vehicles will be...
DAMNING CHURCH FILES OPENED
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amBoston church officials clearly knew some priests were regularly committing shocking sins - ranging from raping boys to having sex with girlfriends - yet still let them serve as clergymen,...
MOB RAT SQUEALS IN CASE VS. COP
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amA Mafia rat yesterday told a jury how the cousin of an NYPD cop helped hatch a plot to kill a wheelchair-bound mobster. Mob stoolie Anthony Capo described how hulking...
GUILTY PLEA RECANTED IN BEAU SLAY
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amA Brooklyn woman who last month admitted she shot her boyfriend to death was allowed by a judge to withdraw her guilty plea yesterday, and now faces trial on murder...
CUNY ON THE HIGH ROAD - STATE BIDS TO SHUT 'OPEN ADMISSIONS' POLICY
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amState Education Commissioner Richard Mills wants to make the City University of New York's strict admissions standards permanent - finally putting an end to the controversial policy of open enrollment,...
GRANNY DIES AS CAR RAMS P.O.
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amA driver mistakenly stepped on the gas instead of the brakes and plowed her car into a busy Bronx post office yesterday, killing an 82-year-old grandmother, cops said. Three other...
TRANSIT UNION OFFERS PLAN TO AVOID HIKE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amFaster buses, fiscal accountability and using transit workers to perform jobs now contracted outside could save the MTA more than $600 million and avert a fare hike, the Transport Workers...
BURE'S TRICK A RANGER TREAT
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amRangers 5 - Jackets 3 Oops, he did it again. And again. And again. Yet the Rangers managed to win, anyway, even with Pavel Bure registering a Garden hat trick...
JEFFERSON ANSWERS THE CALL
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amNET NOTES Before last night's win over Atlanta, before the Nets found out that center Dikembe Mutombo is about to miss three to four months, coach Byron Scott challenged forwards...
MEET THE NEW 'KID'
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amEven since future Hall-of-Fame jockey Steve "The Kid" Cauthen, then a fresh-faced bug boy of 16, rode out of Ohio and Kentucky in the late 1970's to take New York...
WHAT AN EARLY SEASON FEAST!
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amIF you are a skier, you spent the previous Thanksgiving holiday enjoying a meal and being surrounded by family and friends. This year, no doubt, you spent it on some...
USE SOME 'INNER' STRENGTH
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amToday, racing at Aqueduct switches to the winterized inner dirt track, where it will remain until mid-March. All sprints over the IDT will be run at six furlongs, with races...
NOT QUITE THERE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amJET REPORT CARD QUARTERBACKS: C+ Despite a slow start sparking the offense, Chad Pennington (22-34, 265, 2 TDs, 1 INT) had another worthy game. RUNNING BACKS: F Curtis Martin (11-for-26...
JONES PLAYING THE HEAVY
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amOne guy is the first and only Hispanic heavyweight champion and the other has more belts than pants. Yet they're both talking about wanting respect. At a press conference held...
JETS HANGIN' ON - EDWARDS KNOWS THEY CAN'T AFFORD A LOSS
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amAfter trudging home from the West Coast at 6-6, Herman Edwards knows his Jets not only left behind a chance to move into a tie for first in AFC East,...
SPREE SEES TOUGH MATCHUP
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES Latrell Sprewell is often matched against the top opposing perimeter player, so he gets a close-up view of many of the league's best players. Even given that, Tracy...
JEFFERSON NOT READY FOR 2 SPOT
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amNET NOTES Despite Kerry Kittles' injury and Lucious Harris having to fill in, Byron Scott says he doesn't plan to give small forward Richard Jefferson many minutes at shooting guard....
GRIESE, SHARPE TO PLAY?
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amJET NOTES Reports out of Denver indicate that Broncos quarterback Brian Griese and tight end Shannon Sharpe will be ready to play Sunday at the Jets. "That doesn't surprise me,"...
MATSUI IS TURNING TO TELLEM
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amJust because Hideki Matsui has agreed to be represented by Arn Tellem doesn't mean the Yankees' chances of landing the Japanese free agent have diminished. When Matsui didn't initially hire...
GIANTS PAY THE PRICE - SALARY-CAP WOES SHOULDN'T COST FASSEL JOB
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amTHE Giants all knew it was going to be a tough season, every one of them, and anyone who says otherwise is delusional or lying. From John Mara to Ernie...
CAN KNICKS KEEP COMPETITIVE EDGE?
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amThe Knicks have won three straight games and four of seven since Latrell Sprewell's return. Apparently, the Knicks brought him back from suspension for being a distraction at just the...
DEVILS SEE RISE IN GIONTA STOCK
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amOdd how things happen. There were two scouts for Atlanta, already almost out of the playoffs with upcoming unrestricteds Slava Kozlov and Shawn McEachern burning up the league and thereby...
RAM DUO HAS TEAM ON TARGET
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amFordham coach Bob Hill realized early last season that serious changes had to be made if the Rams basketball program was to gain respectability. A lack of leadership on the...
BOMBERS, ROBIN GETTING CLOSER
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amThe first sign that the Yankees' brass is doing more than listening to George Steinbrenner rant during meetings in Tampa surfaced yesterday when the club and Robin Ventura made progress...
BERTUZZI MAKES ISLES FEEL 'GILL'
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amClark Gillies was at the Coliseum last night to be honored for his recent induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame as one of the elite power forwards of the...
TRUTH, DECENCY ARE ASSAULTED AT ST. JOHN'S
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amMIKE Jarvis, David Wegrzyn and the Rev. Donald J. Harrington may wish to take a few seconds out of their hectic schedules sometime very soon and cozy up to a...
RANGERS MAY MAKE MOVE ON CZERKAWSKI
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amThe Rangers sent chief player personnel man Gilles Leger to scout Montreal's Mariusz Czerkawski twice at the beginning of last month, but now that the winger has been placed on...
SURGERY FOR MUTOMBO?
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amWhatever good fortune the Nets enjoyed health-wise last year clearly has worn off. After that injury-free, Eastern-championship campaign, this season's bad news keeps getting worse. Kerry Kittles went on the...
BRAVES REJOIN GLAVINE HUNT
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amThe Tom Glavine clock is ticking and the Mets' worst fears may soon be realized. It appears the Braves are getting back into the Glavine free-agent business and want to...
AGENT- LOU HAS A GRUDGE
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amAfter the Devils suspended Mike Danton yesterday for failing to report to Albany, agent David Frost defended his client, chalking the punishment up to a personal grudge between Danton and...
SJU VICTIM SPEAKS OUT
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amRachel Seager, the St. John's coed who allegedly was assaulted and harassed by St. John's forward Grady Reynolds, told The Post last night that her dreams of college life have...
YAS, SIR! ISLES CASH IN
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amIslanders 2 - Canucks 1 If the Islanders are to make a run, there's no better time to do it than this month. The schedule is more than a quarter...
DIKEMBE OUT 3-4 MONTHS - WRIST NEEDS SURGERY
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amNets 87 - Hawks 72 The Nets won a game last night but lost their center. The Nets beat Atlanta 87-72, but the palpable aura was one of loss after...
JASPERS THROTTLE FORDHAM
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amManhattan 85 - Fordham 57 Last night's Fordham-Manhattan College basketball matchup was dubbed "The Battle of the Bronx." Only problem was, Fordham left its weapons holstered, and got smoked 85-57...
MELEE STOPS ROBESON-B & G
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amWhenever Robeson and Boys & Girls play, it's usually a matchup of two of the best teams in the PSAL that results in a fierce battle. But with Robeson suffering...
A GARDEN OF MEMORIES
December 4, 2002 | 5:00amOnce upon a time, before every gym had a TV camera and legends were heard before being seen, The Holiday Festival was the cotillion of college basketball. "Even when UCLA...