December 9, 2002
DILLER TUSSLING DILLER'S USAI BATTLING VIVENDI FOR $620M PAYOUT
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amA new and potentially serious rift is developing between Barry Diller and his corporate patrons at Vivendi Universal. Diller's e-commerce company, USA Interactive, has charged that Vivendi Universal Entertainment is...
INSIDE FAVORITE: TREASURY PICK: MAIN ST. CRED, BELTWAY SAVVY
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amHe may have what the White House is calling "Main Street experience," but the man who will likely head the Treasury Department is a consummate Washington insider. And John Snow,...
STARR REPORT
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amDaly opts for the great outdoors Carson Daly will take his late-night show, "Last Call," outside tomorrow for the first time - taping two shows, one with Robin Williams. Both...
YES, VIRGINIA, THERE USED TO BE MORE XMAS SHOWS
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amTHE lavish holiday specials that were so popular years ago have joined the Ghost of Christmas Past. The Christmas-themed variety shows - once some of the most popular specials of...
BRAVO 'BOHEME'!LUHRMANN GIVES NEW LIFE TO OPERA ON B'WAY
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amLA BOHEME 1/2The Broadway Theatre, Broadway and 53rd Street. (212) 239-6200. OPERA on Broadway? Italian Opera? I mean classic Opera in Italian? Is someone crazy around here? Not exactly.Giacomo Puccini's...
'DANCE' PROMPTS PSHAWS
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amA LAST DANCEFOR SYBILSt. Clement's, 423 W. 46 St. Call Ticket Central, (212) 279-4200. Through Dec. 15. SHAVIAN political comedy tends to put one incongruous, surprising element - a Roman...
FROM FAB TO FRUGAL: PERFECT PRESENT FOR YOUR FAVORITE FASHIONISTA NEEDN'T COST A FORTUNE
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amMONEY may be tighter than usual, but that doesn't mean you can't please the fashionistas on your list this holiday season. There are plenty of great clothes and accessories in...
IRAQ ADMITS IT'S ON THE BRINK OF CREATING NUKES
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amA top adviser to Saddam Hussein admitted yesterday that Iraq is on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. "We have the complete documentation, from design to all the other things,"...
JOGGER CASE: VICTIMS ALL
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amFORGET the technicalities. Forget for a moment that no one who cleared five suspects last week in the Central Park jogger case got the red ink out and stamped "innocent"...
DEATH-PLOT BRIDE - STRIPPER WILL MARRY TARGET OF HER SCAM
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amThe Swiss stripper who schemed up a bizarre murder-for-hire plot against her sugar-daddy lover's wife plans to marry him - a year after trying to frame him for the crime....
ICY CAB RIDE OF PASSAGE
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amTHERE are no days off for cabdrivers. So last Thursday, Amin Mohammad was, as always, behind the wheel of his taxi, trying to make a living. Except there was one...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amA nodding Jesus and weeping Santa have been named as the world's tackiest Christmas gifts. The Web site shipoffools.com says the 8-inch hand-painted "Jesus Bobble Head" and 5-inch porcelain Santa...
MOM & SON KILLED AS INFERNO RIPS THROUGH THEIR QNS. HOME
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amA 34-year-old mother and her 7-year-old son died yesterday in a raging early morning blaze that left their Queens home a charred shell. Deomettie Subreieh, a single mother, had moved...
SEX GOD? YOU DON'T KNOW JACK
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amJack Nicholson says his legendary libido is languishing - and that he now prefers sleeping alone. The Hollywood legend, 65, made the remarkable confession to Newsweek in a wide-ranging interview...
ALL THEY NEED IS LOVE: FANS HONOR JOHN
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amJohn Lennon may be gone, but he'll never be forgotten, as hundreds of Beatle fans proved in Central Park yesterday, the 22nd anniversary of his death. They lit candles and...
A YEMEN-BORN BUSINESSMAN JAILED ON CHARGES HE ILLEGALLY FUNNELED MONEY OVERSEAS CLAIMS THE FEDS WRONGLY TARGETED HIM
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amA Yemen-born businessman jailed on charges he illegally funneled money overseas claims the feds wrongly targeted him because they think he has ties to terrorists. Mohamed Ali Alriany's defense lawyer,...
POLS PUSH VID-GAME CRACKDOWN
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amRetailers around the city are routinely selling video games unsuitable for children - many of them violent and sexually explicit - by completely disregarding the ratings system, two City Council...
APPLE KEPT ON ROLLING DURING LAST SHUTDOWN
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amTake a bike or take a hike. That's what hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers did during the 11-day transit strike in 1980. The strike began at 2:10 a.m. on...
MIKE: PROS WILL WEIGH SHUTTERING FIREHOUSES
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg yesterday said the decision to close firehouses is inevitable - and defended the blue-ribbon commission charged with identifying which will be eliminated. "It [the commission] is anything but...
MARROW DONORS HAVE HEROISM IN THEIR BONES
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amThe National Marrow Donor Program - which has been storing the blood of dead World Trade Center firefighters - gives others the chance to live longer lives. Established in 1987,...
ON THE BRINK OF TRANSIT CHAOS - UNION TALKS LOOK GRIM AS $100M-A-DAY LOSSES LOOM
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amIt's nearly high noon for commuters - with a threatened Sunday transit strike that could shut down the city's buses and subways for the first time in 22 years. With...
PAPA TONY PLAYS REAL-LIFE SNOWMAN
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amTony Soprano has gone from whacking wiseguys to building snowmen. The gentle side of TV's favorite crime boss emerged yesterday as actor James Gandolfini showed his 3-year-old son, Michael, how...
BLOOD BROTHERS - VIALS GIVE FDNY KIN SOMETHING FOR BURIAL
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amSome families of missing 9/11 firefighters could move closer to closure because tiny vials of blood - drawn while their loved ones were alive - sit frozen in one of...
STRIKE FORCE - GUARDSMEN READY FOR CITY TRANSIT CHAOS; 'GUARD' RAIL: GOV SET TO SEND TROOPS
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amALBANY - Gov. Pataki is poised to call out the National Guard and send state troopers to New York City if the transit union strikes next weekend, sources said yesterday....
COPS LOOK FOR TERROR TRICKS
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amNew York beat cops have been socked with a blizzard of terrorism alerts in recent months, warning them about everything from exploding light bulbs to flashlights that shoot bullets. A...
P.A. BIG'S LEGAL ME$$ - CANDIDATE FOR TOP JOB DIVERTED FIRM'S CASH TO POLS: SUIT
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amA real-estate developer tapped to be the next chairman of the Port Authority is accused of manipulating his own company's records so he could funnel funds into the pockets of...
BLAST HURTS TWO ISRAELI SOLDIERS
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Two Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded when their jeep hit a nest of explosives on the dangerously tense Lebanon border yesterday. Israeli officials - wary that the Lebanon-backed...
INDIAN CASINOS A LOUSY DEAL
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amIndian casinos are a bad bet for Native American tribes but have proven to be a sure thing for non-Indian investors, according to a report in today's Time magazine. The...
HIT'S FINALE MISSES - 'SOPRANOS' ENDS WEAK SEASON ON A LOW NOTE
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amSO WHAT happened to "The Sopranos?" If you've been watching this season, the answer is easy. Not much. And if you were watching last night's finale (and you know you...
TOUGH LEADERS ON COURSE FOR HEAD-ON COLLISION
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amThe battle between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its subway and bus workers pits two leaders who couldn't be more different. On the union side is Roger Toussaint, 46, the...
GAY CABALLERO - COMIC COWBOY IS HOMOSEXUAL
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amHe may be the fastest gun in the West, but one longtime Marvel Comics character is no straight shooter. The Rawhide Kid, who made his comics debut in the 1950s,...
DONOR WEB SITE IS A 'CLASS' ACT
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amWith a few clicks of a mouse, frustrated city schoolteachers can seek money for classroom projects through an Internet charity. They bypass the cash-strapped education bureaucracy through Donorschoose.org, which displays...
CITY TEACHERS WILL BE MOSTLY NEWBIES NEXT SCHOOL YEAR
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amFor the first time in a half-century, a majority of teachers in city public schools will be mostly inexperienced rookies or newcomers to the system, The Post has learned. Nearly...
LAW AT VATICAN AMID WORD HE WANTS OUT
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amBoston's besieged Bernard Cardinal Law - after four days of wracking soul-searching - abruptly flew to Rome yesterday to put his fate in the Vatican's hands, it was reported today....
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amBROOKLYN * Cops armed with a search warrant arrested two men yesterday on a charge of criminal possession of a weapon. Corey Marcano, 21, and Rowan Grant, 16, were busted...
EMINEM SHOCKER: BACK WITH EX HE RAPPED ABOUT KILLING: GRANDMA
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amRaunchy rapper Eminem and his ex-wife, Kim - whom he's sung about killing - are a duet again, according to the singer's grandmother. Betty Kresin told The Post from her...
CHEAP CAR PARTS RAISE INJURY RISK
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amGet a mechanic to replace an auto part, and you could end up getting a more dangerous car, an expert warns. Perry Zucker, a New York accident-reconstruction engineer, said he...
'GREEN' CHRISTMAS : SHOPPERS SHUNNING CREDIT FOR HARD CASH
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amHoliday shoppers will spend more money this year than last - but likely won't max out the "drastic plastic" to do so, experts say. "Consumers will shop sensibly this year....
CHEAP CHRISTMAS FLIGHT? EVEN SANTA CAN'T HELP
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amIf you're thinking of making last-minute plans to fly off somewhere for the holidays at a bargain rate, think again. You'll either have to be incredibly flexible about your schedule...
BLOOMBERG WILL GIVE S.I. PARKS A $PRUCE-UP
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amThe city is about to embark on a $17 million refurbishment of two parks on Staten Island's south shore, Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday. Twenty-two acres of parkland are going to...
DEM LEADER WANTS COMMITTEE AUDIT
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amState Senate Minority Leader-elect David Paterson of Manhattan has ordered an audit of the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, which is nearly $1 million in debt. Prompting the audit was last...
ESCAPED TRICKSTER CAPTURED
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amPolice yesterday caught up with a wily Queens man who walked away from court after tricking authorities into believing he had been released without bail, cops said. Christopher Howard was...
ROOKIES GO TO HEAD OF THE CLASS
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amEXCLUSIVE For the first time in a half-century, a majority of teachers in city public schools will be mostly inexperienced rookies or newcomers to the system, The Post has learned....
FORBES RIPS SPITZER ATTACK ON WALL ST.
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amDemocratic circles are abuzz with talk of the extraordinarily tough pounding state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer takes in the current issue of Forbes, which portrays him as an overly ambitious...
RANGER LOSSES PILING UP RAPIDLY
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amBruins 4Rangers 1 So it will be at least a few days before the Rangers know for sure whether Pavel Bure will miss the remainder of the season with the...
PAT'S GOTTA JUMP-START NIEU
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amPAT Burns had best act now and find out one way or the other. His crisis, as much as there can be one on a 15-7-1-2 team, is the state...
TRACHS HAPPY TO BE BACK
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amAt 12:45 yesterday morning Steve Phillips was on a conference call talking about the value of pitching. He had just come to an agreement with Steve Trachsel, giving the Mets...
STANTON LANDS ON MET RADAR
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amMike Stanton may not have to leave New York after all. Two days after the Yankees gave Stanton 15 minutes to accept a two-year, $5 million deal that he didn't...
WHAT'S NEXT? EIGHTH-GRADERS? ESPN JUMPS ON LEBRON BANDWAGON
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amTV almost always has a way of turning good into bad, bad into worse. Look, for example, what ABC and ESPN have done with the Little League World Series. Radar...
TALK'S TURNED FROM PUTRID TO PLAYOFFS
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amNext! The Islanders' bandwagon is getting crowded again after three straight wins have propelled them back into thinking about making the playoffs rather than worry about saving a season that...
ROCKET'S RETURN STILL UP IN THE AIR
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amThere will be more thought put into it than flipping a coin, but the odds Roger Clemens will remain a Yankee are the same as a quarter flipped into the...
SOUTHERN COUPLE HAS NETS MESHING
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amNo one dares to say he is comparable at this point, but Nets rookie Tamar Slay, with graceful athleticism, dependable shot and long, gangling frame is conjuring images of one...
HURRICANES' COKER DOES WHIRLWIND JOB
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amMIAMI - The last of the 70,108 fans were leaving the Orange Bowl when sporadically, small groups of Miami players began returning to the field. Larry Coker met each of...
SPREE PLEADS FOR THE BALL
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amIt was less than a "Give-me-the-damn-ball" edict to Don Chaney. But Latrell Sprewell clearly is lobbying for more shots and plays called for him. And he even questioned whether Chaney's...
MAY BE TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amLANDOVER, Md. - When looking back on how Jim Fassel lived to coach another season with the Giants, when considering how the Giants may have staved off an ugly free-fall,...
UNLIKELY HEROES GIVE BOOST TO ST. RAY'S, RICE
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amSt. Ray's 93Lincoln 72Rice 64St. Mary's63 Ricky Torres and Jerrell Mills were virtual unknowns before yesterday. Not anymore. The two sophomores led their respective teams to victory, as St. Raymond's...
GRADY RIDING HIGH AFTER BIG WIN
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amGrady 52Xaverian 49 Grady High's basketball program worked around the lack of practice time during the week and no bus to bring it to Fordham University yesterday. But other problems,...
IT'S NO CAN DREW; BLEDSOE & BILLS FALL FLAT IN FOXBORO
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amPatriots 27Bills 17 FOXBORO, Mass. - The last time Drew Bledsoe played in Foxboro he was in a Patriots uniform, writhing on the ground from the chest injury that ultimately...
DEFENSE TURNS OVER NEW LOOK
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amLANDOVER, Md. - During the week, Jim Fassel named names. He challenged Ralph Brown, a third-year cornerback, and other backups, players Fassel knew would have to assume greater roles. You...
CHANEY: I CAN EXPLAIN 25-56
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES In defending his honor, Don Chaney yesterday brushed off accusations the Knicks plummeted as a result of a coaching change one year ago yesterday. Chaney said the team's...
ROOT FOR CASEY
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amLA QUINTA, Calif. - The sixth round of Q-school can be compared to the 12th round in boxing, the final lap of the Daytona 500 and the last mile of...
FINALLY, BIG BLUE COME THROUGH
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amLANDOVER - This just in. Charles Stackhouse got in. From first-and-goal at the one, insurmountable odds for these Giants, it took three runs, two completions, and consecutive pro-and-con pass interference...
SEETHING STRAHAN MIFFED BY REDSKIN 'IDIOT'
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES LANDOVER, Md. - Wilbert Brown is a second-year guard. Michael Strahan is a Pro Bowl defensive end. Strahan says he doesn't know Brown's name, but that doesn't prevent...
BOWL TRADITION TAKES A BEATING
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amThe next time someone wearing one of those yellow, orange, green or tangerine eyesore blazers begins waxing nostalgic about the integrity and tradition of the bowl system, hand me a...
EMOTIONAL COMEBACK FOR SZOTT
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amJET NOTES The most exciting moment of this long journey back from a blown-out right knee came as Dave Szott, making his first start in Jets' green, helped blow open...
'RAINBOW' WINS AT BIG A
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amThe bettors decided that yesterday's $75,000 East View Stakes, which drew a field of six New York-bred 2-year-old fillies at the Big A, was a three-horse race between Beautiful America,...
CALL HIM 'BAILED-OUT BECHT'
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amAnthony Becht can thank his teammates for getting him off the hook yesterday. The Jet tight end very nearly earned the wrath of an entire nation of Gang Green fans...
MARTIN RUNS TO MILESTONE
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amIt was symbolic that Curtis Martin, one of the game's most unassuming stars, would surpass an historic personal milestone yesterday as the first quarter was bleeding into the second and...
BRONCOS KICKING THEMSELVES
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amThree dropped interceptions, two missed field goals, one goal-line pick. It would be an understatement to say the Broncos had their chances yesterday. And as a result of missing them,...
JETS' PLAYOFF SHIP STAYS AFLOAT ; GANG GREEN HOLDS OFF BRONCS, STILL ONE BACK
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amJets 19Broncos 13 The Jets are not dead yet. Like a pack of cockroaches in a tenement building, you can't kill them. The Broncos tried in vain to step on...
BRONCOS PAY THE FIDDLER
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amJETS 19 BRONCOS 13 OF course it took the fiddler to save them. Why not? Of all the surreal twists and hairpin turns that have turned this Jets' season into...
NEW KEY TO VICTORY
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amCHAD Pennington lofted the ball, and the season, into the gusty December night, and Laveranues Coles dove and caught it. On the team with the highest payroll in the NFL,...
MARTIN JOINS ELITE CLUB
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amJET NOTES It didn't take Curtis Martin long before making history yesterday. Martin became only the 16th player in NFL history to eclipse 10,000 rushing yards in a career. He...
BRONC RB RIDING HIGH
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amCurtis Martin eclipsed 10,000 career rushing yards and scored his 70th career touchdown yesterday. By halftime, he didn't even look like the best back on his own field. Meet Clinton...
NEVER-SAY-DIE JETS KEEP DREAM ALIVE: RIDE HERD ON BRONCOS TO STAY ONE GAME BACK
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amJets 19 Broncos 13 Call the Jets what you want this season. Call them underachieving or slow-developing, which they were early in the season. Call them dynamic and thrill-seeking, which...
BRONCS TAKE PAGE FROM JETS' BOOK
December 9, 2002 | 5:00amIN the end, it was appropriate that the end should come on a terrible pass from a quarterback who had looked so terrific. The Broncos have been impossible to predict,...