December 17, 2002
NOW, ABOUT THAT DEFICIT. . . TREASURY SEC'Y SNOW'S GOT THE RIGHT STUFF, & IT'S NOT TAX CUTS
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amDEPARTING Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill was repeatedly criticized in Washington for being loose-lipped. Outspoken is the nice way of putting it. A big mouth is the other. Even though he...
HIGHFIELDS UPS STAKE TO DERAIL JANUS PLAN
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amGadfly shareholder Highfields Capital Management upped its stake in Stilwell Financial to 8 percent, as the firm continues to push the fund giant to rethink its restructuring plans for the...
UNITED PAC'S FUNDS DWINDLE TO 15 GRAND
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amAs United Airlines parent UAL Corp. goes, so may go its political action committee. Just weeks after UAL filed for bankruptcy protection, the United Airlines PAC admitted that it has...
CAPITAL SPENDING BOOSTS STOCKS; FOREIGN INVESTMENT ALSO PUSHES DOW UP 193, NASDAQ UP 37
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amStocks rallied on reports that foreigners were buying more U.S. shares, on strong economic news and on relief that New York City's transit workers did not go on strike. The...
LIFE IN SUBURBIA ; INSURANCE GIANT TO SHIP 1,000 JOBS OUT OF TOWN
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amThe New York Life Insurance Co. plans to move about 1,000 employees, or one-quarter of its Manhattan work force, out of the city, The Post has learned. The move would...
GAME OVER AT BAR CODE
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amBar Code, the would-be upscale Times Square video game club that has been the scene of several gang altercations, is turning off the juice after New Year's Eve. Sources said...
GROUND ZERO PLANS WATCHED FOR TRANSIT, LAYOUT ASPECTS
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amTOMORROW'S the big day when the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. will unveil new and improved design proposals for Ground Zero from seven teams of architects. And it comes less than...
GOOD RETAIL NOS. MAY NOT BE ENOUGH
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amRetail sales showed improvement in the past week, increasing 12.2 percent over the prior week. But it may be too little, too late. ShopperTrak RCT's National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE)...
CAPELLAS GETS OK ON WORLDCOM PAY PACKAGE
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amTwo federal judges OK'd a revised $50 million pay plan for Michael Capellas, the new CEO of bankrupt WorldCom. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff and Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Martinez gave...
EQUINOX SHOWING MANHATTAN MUSCLE
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amUpscale muscle palace Equinox is pumping up its presence in Manhattan and beyond. Due to open in Manhattan next year will be a 31,000-square-foot facility at the AOL Time Warner...
E-MAILS AGAIN HIT QUATTRONE, THIS TIME OVER EARTHLINK
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amA new set of e-mails appears to again finger Credit Suisse First Boston star banker Frank Quattrone as the man behind shifts in analyst coverage made to placate client company...
DEBT RATERS ALSO SCAM, CLAIMS RIVAL
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amScandals spurred by conflicts of interest among Wall Street stock analysts may spread to include the big three credit-rating agencies if an upstart rival has its way. So far, the...
JOURNAL, HEAL THYSELF ; REPORTERS ATTACK DOW JONES' COZY CORPORATE SUITE
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amJournalists at the Wall Street Journal say the newspaper should clean up its own boardroom before trashing other companies for weak ethics. In a growing revolt against management practices at...
WHAT IF...
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amQ: I'd like to take a boat trip on the Mississippi River that either begins or ends in New Orleans. A: How about a steamboat trip that begins and ends...
INNCOGNITO
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amHotel Lucia 400 SW Broadway, Portland, Ore. 128 rooms. Doubles from $115; (877) 225-1717, hotellucia.com ANYONE who remembers Portland's Imperial Hotel as a rough and tumble cowboy hangout will be...
THIRD TIME'S A CHARM
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amTYRESE "I Wanna Go There" J Records Tyrese Gibson does it all: He models, he acts - and yes, he sings. His third album flows with smooth groove vocals set...
GOLDENGOLLUM: HE COUGHS UP RIPE 'RINGS' ROLE
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amWHEN actor Andy Serkis had to come up with a voice for Gollum - Frodo's slithering sidekick in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," he turned to his...
CIRCLE IN 'HEAVEN'
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amTODD Haynes' "Far From Heaven" was the big winner yesterday when the New York Film Critics Circle announced its prizes for the best of 2002. The homage to 1950s tearjerkers...
'THRIFT' GAL IN 'BLOOM'
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amYOU might guess country music was Laura Cantrell's lifelong obsession. After all, she grew up in Music City - Nashville. But the singer/songwriter, who just moved to Queens from Brooklyn,...
MEET MRS. HITLER:CBS MARCHES ON WITH CASTING FOR FUHRER MINISERIES
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amIT could be springtime for Hitler on CBS now that a cast has been named for the network's controversial miniseries on the life of the German dictator. No airdate has...
GREAT TV CHARACTER, PITY ABOUT THE TITLE
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amNBC is in bed with "The Town Slut." That's the unofficial title of a new sitcom the network is developing for next season about a single mom who's raising three...
WHO'S WHO IN MIDDLE-EARTH
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amHERE are some of the new characters introduced in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers":* Treebeard: He looks like a tree, but is actually an Ent - a...
DON'T HATE ME BECAUSE I LOVE THIS RUBBISH...
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amHI - I'm Linda and I'm a Jerry Springer fan. And I'm not a recovering one either. Is it a sickness? An obsessive/compulsive behavior for which we need a 12-step...
HOT NEW CAST FIRES UP 'BURN THIS'
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amBURN THISUnion Square Theatre, 100 E. 17th St. (212) 505-0700 or TicketMaster, (212) 307-4100. LANFORD Wilson's "Burn This" is crackling on with two fresh stars replacing Edward Norton and Catherine...
RING IN THE OLD: STUDY THIS BEFORE SEEING 'TWO TOWERS'
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amKNOW your Sauron from your Saruman? Ever mix up Gimli and Gollum, or an Orc and an Uruk-hai? Read this cheat sheet before you see "The Lord of the Rings:...
PAL GUILTY IN SYNAGOGUE FIREBOMB
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amA second man was convicted yesterday of trying to burn down a Riverdale synagogue on the eve of Yom Kippur two years ago. Mohammed Alfaqih, 20, was convicted of criminal...
CONDIT SUES DUNNE FOR $11M
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amGary Condit slapped Dominick Dunne with an $11 million slander lawsuit yesterday, accusing the Vanity Fair writer of falsely claiming he was involved in intern Chandra Levy's disappearance and murder....
WEIRD BUT TRUE
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amWheelchairs users beware: You could be ticketed -- or, worse, expelled -- for speeding at Valley College in Los Angeles. Campus officials recently set a speed limit of 4mph for...
ELECTION BOARD BOSS RETIRING
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amDanny DeFrancesco, veteran director of the city Board of Elections, is expected to announce today that he's retiring after a 35-year career. Sources said that Republican leaders are pushing to...
INSPECTORS TAKE 'NUKE' TRACES FROM IRAQ PLANT
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Weapons inspectors intensified their hunt for Saddam Hussein's nuclear arsenal yesterday, returning to a former bomb complex and sending the first possible radioactive samples to U.N. labs in...
ISRAELIS KILL WOULD-BE 'ATTACKERS'
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Soldiers in the Gaza Strip yesterday shot and killed four Palestinians they say were attempting to attack Israelis. In the last incident, a Palestinian blew himself up with...
POLS BALK AT UNRULY PARENTS
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amOut-of-control parents at youth sporting events could get the boot under a City Council bill, but the Bloomberg administration fears the measure could be a liability nightmare. The legislation would...
AL IN '08 ? THINK NIXON
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amTHE explanation is simple enough: Al Gore isn't going to run for president in 2004 because he doesn't want to lose. And defeat would be the most likely outcome of...
W'CHESTER PROBE FINDS DEADBEAT MA
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amLaw-enforcement officials in Westchester County cast a wide net for parents behind on their child-support payments and ended up catching one fish they'd never before encountered - the county's first...
APPLE EYES WTC INSURERS' BILLIONS
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amCity officials looking to pay for Mayor Bloomberg's vision of a revamped downtown are considering a plan that - within a year - could give them control of the billions...
'PIZZA SLAY' KID: 'I SPAZZED'
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amJurors in the trial of a man accused of heading a group that murdered a pizza deliveryman watched the alleged hood squirm on videotape as he denied any role in...
CITY TACKLES 'HOOKY' TEEN'S HS DILEMMA
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg's office yesterday launched a bid to get a 14-year-old Brooklyn girl - who is missing an entire year of classes because her defiant mom deems Lafayette HS unsafe...
STRIP CLUBS BARE ARGUMENT
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amWhat a tease! The city's porn palaces laid out their arguments yesterday as to why new regulations that could shut them down are unconstitutional, but Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Louis...
'THAT'S MY BROTHER': PARAMEDIC'S NIGHTMARE AT DRAG-RACE DEATH SITE
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amA Nassau County paramedic, responding to an apparent drag-racing crash yesterday, discovered to his horror that his younger brother had been critically injured and a family friend killed, rescuers said....
ARAB BEATS UP JEWISH GIRL AT B'KLYN SCHOOL
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amReligious tensions erupted yesterday after authorities confirmed that an Arab girl beat up a Jewish girl at a Brooklyn middle school. The Arab teen was arrested and suspended for the...
TIME'S UP, SADDAM: BUSH: HE'S USED UP LAST CHANCE TO COME CLEAN
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The White House alerted Saddam Hussein yesterday that his chance to list his weapons has come and gone - and pushed again for U.N. inspectors to interview Iraqi...
'TALIBAN' BUS DRIVER A 'LOST' CAUSE
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amThe Greyhound bus driver who joked that he was taking his passengers "to the Taliban" after taking a wrong route got lost again yesterday - on the way to his...
BRUNO'S 'LYNCHING' DEFENSE BACKFIRES
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amState Senate Republican leader Joe Bruno yesterday tried to lend a hand to embattled Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, but ended up making racially tinged remarks himself - with a sarcastic...
MAY TRIAL FOR 'KILLER' DURST
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amCross-dressing millionaire Robert Durst will go on trial May 12 on charges of beheading and dismembering an elderly man in Galveston, Texas. The presiding judge, Susan Criss, set the date...
MELLOW AL SURE HE MADE RIGHT DECISION
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - A day after nixing a 2004 White House race, Al Gore - the man who lost the presidency by a whisker - said he's "completely at peace" with...
PROTESTERS RAIL AT MTA 'CROOKS'
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amCity transit workers took to the streets last night, marching across the Brooklyn Bridge and rallying at City Hall to show their support for union negotiators cobbling together a new...
2 DEAD IN L.I. CAR CRASH
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amTwo people died and a third was critically injured yesterday when a driver hit a van and then apparently lost control of his car, slamming head-on into an oncoming vehicle...
PRESIDENT RAISES KEAN TO TAKE OVER 9/11 PANEL
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday named former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean to replace Henry Kissinger as chairman of the new 9/11 commission. "Tom Kean is a leader respected for...
TRENT CASTS HIS LOTT: PLEADS HIS CASE ON BET
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said last night on Black Entertainment Television that he wants to keep his job so he can promote a legislative agenda that's helpful...
SUBWAY ARTIST: NOTHING TO 'FEAR'
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amA city art student yesterday insisted he's no terrorist - just a misunderstood artist - after he placed ominous black boxes bearing the word "FEAR" in the Union Square subway...
STRIKE TALK WAS HOLLOW THREAT, SAYS NEGOTIATOR
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amAlthough it threatened to leave millions of New Yorkers without a way to get around town, the Transport Workers Union never played the "strike card" at the bargaining table, a...
ALMOST-FREE CON'S NEW RAPE RAP
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amA 41-year-old robber was to be freed today after five years behind bars - until a last-minute DNA test linked him to a 1993 rape in a Midtown office building....
COMMUTERS RIDING HIGH WITH RELIEF
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amFrom Battery Park City to The Bronx, New Yorkers breathed a collective sigh of relief last night, knowing the subways and buses will keep on rolling. Many had back-up transportation...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amTHE BRONX A teenager was arrested on attempted-murder charges yesterday for shooting two men in front of a Longwood apartment building, a police source said. Peter Rivera, 18, was also...
COP'S 'MOB' PAST: DETECTIVE ALSO HID GUN IN '94 MAFIA SLAY, FEDS CHARGE
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amProsecutors dropped a bombshell yesterday at a cop's trial on charges of concealing mob-hit evidence, suggesting he tampered with evidence in another Mafia murder and tipped off a mobster about...
DEAL KEEPS NYERS ROLLING : TRANSIT WORKERS AVOID WALKOUT
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amIt's over! Instead of walking off their jobs, bus and subway workers last night struck a deal with transportation officials, saving New York from its first transit stoppage in 22...
DEAL KEEPS NYERS ROLLING: TRANSIT WORKERS AVOID WALKOUT
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amIt's over! Bus and subway workers last night struck a deal with transportation officials, sparing New York from its first transit strike in 22 years and preventing a commuting mess...
OTHER UNIONS FLEX MUSCLES
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amALBANY - The transit strike may have been averted, but bigger labor battles are just around the corner. The state's major unions, whose four-year contracts expire March 31, say they...
SCAMMER TARGETS EATERIES
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amSeveral tony restaurants in the Hamptons say a Manhattan woman cooked up a scam to take them to the cleaners by claiming a clumsy waiter spilled food on her clothes....
BLAKE LAWYER WANTS TO BRING IN BRANDO
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amActor and accused murderer Robert Blake is trying to force reclusive screen legend Marlon Brando to testify in a lawsuit over his wife's murder, according to court documents. Defending a...
CITY BURNS THROUGH $3M IN STRIKE-PREP POLICE COSTS
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amThe city spent up to $3 million on NYPD overtime and police preparations for a possible transit strike as cops were placed on 12-hour tours in the readiness for a...
LONGTIME ELECT BD. BOSS QUITS
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amDanny DeFrancesco, veteran director of the city Board of Elections, is expected to announce today that he's retiring after a 35-year career. Sources said that Republican leaders are pushing to...
CHAD VOWS CHANGES: SAYS JETS WILL SHED 'HEARTBREAKER' LABEL
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amChad Pennington said yesterday he's "concerned" about the losing "perception" surrounding the Jets' organization. He said he plans to be a leader in changing the perception the Jets have as...
JET REPORT CARD: UNBEARABLE AGONY
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amQUARTERBACKSChad Pennington (22-of-33, 207 yards, 1 TD) had his first game of inconsistency. He was uncharacteristically errant on some throws early when the Jets needed a spark.RUNNING BACKSCurtis Martin (21-127...
GIANTS REPORT CARD: SEASON'S BEST
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amQUARTERBACKSCrisp early work for Kerry Collins (13 of 27, 190 yards), who did as he pleased and then actually took a seat, giving way to Jesse Palmer (3 of 4,...
RIGHT TIME TO ROLL ; GIANTS PEAKING FOR PLAYOFF PUSH
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amLost in a commotion of who has to beat who in order for the Giants to slip and slide and squeeze their way into the playoffs is one notable observation...
AGENT MAY RAT OUT CAP CHEATS
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amHAVEN'T thrown a blind item out there in many years, but this one is so scandalously juicy, it clamors to be at least partially publicized, if not entirely exposed. OK,...
LOOKS LIKE 2000 II
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amIN A perfect football world, of course, the Giants would be chasing the Jets for this last elusive playoff spot. As we know, as we have always known, there has...
HAMILTON H.S. STAR HIGH ON W.VA.
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amMike Meggett hasn't taken his visit to West Virginia yet, but he thinks he already knows enough about the Mountaineers. "I've pretty much made up my mind," the Fort Hamilton...
METS FINALLY ON SAME PAGE
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amNASHVILLE - This is indeed a new era for the Mets. The GM and manager actually worked together on making the deal to sign Mike Stanton to a three-year contract...
1B PRESSLEY 2ND PLAYER IN REY DEAL
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amNASHVILLE - The Mets announced the other player in the Rey Ordonez dump to the Devil Rays yesterday. He is minor league first baseman Josh Pressley, who comes over with...
JIMMY V SPARKS CLASSIC MEMORIES
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amThe thought was zig-zagging through Jim Valvano's head as he did a disbelieving whirly-bird victory dance across the University of New Mexico court.Where was Dereck Whittenburg? Valvano and his senior...
IT'S OVER EXPOSURE; YANKS & METS STILL FOCUSED ON MONTREAL
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amNASHVILLE - Both New York teams persisted in discussions to land Expos as the Winter Meetings concluded yesterday with the Yankees playing hardball in discussions for Bartolo Colon or Javier...
VINNY'S PLANNING ON COMING BACK AS THE BACKUP
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amVinny Testaverde, who's been somewhat vague about his plans since losing his starting role, yesterday revealed his intentions for 2003: He plans to stay with the Jets as Chad Pennington's...
CHAD VOWS CHANGES ; SAYS JETS WILL SHED 'HEARTBREAKER' LABEL
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amChad Pennington said yesterday he's "concerned" about the losing "perception" surrounding the Jets' organization. He said he plans to be a leader in changing the perception the Jets have as...
BIG BLUE'S WILL WILL BE READY
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES The plan for the Giants was to have cornerback Will Peterson shadow Cowboys receiver Joey Galloway all over the field, a plan that was wrecked when Peterson was...
ISLES HOPING THEIR PLAYOFF PUSH TAKES WING
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amTonight's Islander game against the Red Wings isn't nearly as emotional it was last year for Chris Osgood. A year ago, it was the Coliseum home opener, it was Osgood's...
JERSEY STATE OF MIND
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amLucious Harris was shopping last week when a store worker approached him, unannounced, uninvited, unexpected. "The guy told me, 'I'm a Knicks fan still. No matter what.' I didn't even...
FREE-SPIRITED FOES ARE GETTING UNDER CHANEY'S SKIN
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amKNICKNOTES It's one thing to lose to the Nets. It's another to be blown out as Kenyon Martin and Co. dunk mercilessly and then gyrate as they run down the...
KNICKS ADMIT CONFIDENT NETS HAVE UPPER HAND
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amMaybe if the Knicks were a little better, Byron Scott scoffed, then we'd have a rivalry. Strong words, right? Surely the Knicks must have some kind of fierce rebuttal, right?...
BURE FORECAST: 1 MONTH- MEANWHILE, RANGERSSIGN SEX OFFENDER
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amOVERTIMERangers 2Sharks 1 So Pavel Bure will be sidelined for only another month or so and not the remainder of the season. This is what qualifies as wonderful news these...
BURE'S RETURN A MONTH AWAY
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amSo Pavel Bure will be sidelined for only another month or so and not the remainder of the season. This is what qualifies as wonderful news these days for the...
AMAZIN'S NEAR DEAL OF BURNITZ FOR NEAGLE
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amNASHVILLE - Then there were two - teams. The Mets and Rockies continued to tango in their discussions to move Jeromy Burnitz to Colorado for left-hander Denny Neagle, two players...
BLUESHIRTS GRIND IT OUT ; DUNHAM DEBUT HELPS RANGERS SNAP SLIDE
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amOVERTIME Rangers 2 Sharks 1 There was a difference in the Rangers last night: a difference in personnel, a difference in approach, a difference in execution and, when it was...
METS CLOSE TO DEALING OF BURNITZ FOR NEAGLE
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amNASHVILLE - Then there were two - teams. The Mets and Rockies continued to tango in their discussions to move Jeromy Burnitz to Colorado for left-hander Denny Neagle, two players...
SPLITTERS GET BACK ON TRACK
December 17, 2002 | 5:00amLincoln 102 Grady 73 The Lincoln Railsplitters were humbled. Sure, they had already begun to dominate the PSAL, but they were supposed to do that. But a loss to St....