January 2, 2003

REHNQUIST: COURTS DROWNING IN CHAP. 11 CASES

The tough economic times have taken a toll in court. With corporate bankruptcies on the rise, bankruptcy courts are overtaxed, reports Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. In his annual...

CAR BUYERS PROFIT AS LUXE TAX ROLLS AWAY

There's more than one way to get a deal on a luxury car. Zero-percent financing, rebates and year-end sales have given consumers big breaks. And with the first of the...

WITH LEASES SLUMPING, OWNERS GET 7-YEAR ITCH

U.S. investment bankers aren't exactly extending good will and cheer this year, even though globally, a lot of money is looking for a home. But now, impatient entities like Lehman...

RADAR CATCHES FUCHS - BUT AMERICAN MEDIA'S PECKER BAILS OUT OF ROSHAN DEAL

FORMER HBO titan Michael Fuchs is finally in on the ground floor of Maer Roshan's new Radar magazine, but talks to reel in David Pecker's American Media as a partner...

FASTEN SEAT BELTS - MARKETS LOOK AHEAD TO A TURBULENT JANUARY

Battered investors, coming off a third year of bear market losses, are looking straight down the barrel of what could be another difficult year for stocks. Right off the bat,...

PRESSURE HOOKS CONSCIENCE DEAL

THE infamous Conscience Point nightclub is expected to be sold to the town of Southampton within the next few months for reinvention as a community resource. But town officials admit...

TO MARKET, TO MARKET - AND NOW, THE AWARDS FOR PRODUCT PLACEMENT

PRODUCT placement has come a long way since E.T. got his long, skinny fingers on Reeses Pieces. Firms vie to peddle their goods not only in movies and TV shows,...

STARR REPORT

Applicants need apply: Hickland's roots show You might not know that "One Life to Live" star Catherine Hickland made her entree into show-biz as a makeup artist. Hickland, 46, who...

STOP THIS MAN IN THE BAD RUG BEFORE HE TRIES TO SING AGAIN

CAPTAIN Kirk is going try to cut another album. William Shatner, the sly actor with nine lives, is heading back into the recording studio for the first time in more...

IN FULL BLOOM - ROGER BART GETS STARRING PART AS THE NEWEST 'PRODUCER'

WHEN Matthew Broderick came onstage, they went wild. When Steven Weber took over, they clapped. Now, when the latest Leo Bloom appears at Max Bialystock's door, there's . . ....

SUNDAY'S CONTROVERSIAL TV MOVIE IS ABOUT HOW EASY IT WAS TO GET CAUGHT UP IN... BUYING THE ENRON DREAM

"The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron" [ 1/2] Sunday night at 9 on CBS/Ch. 2 ------ CBS's Enron movie might be uneven, but it's far from bankrupt. Credit...

BEAUTIFUL 'TIDES' A WORK OF ART

RIVERS AND TIDES () Portrait of an artist. Running time: 90 minutes. Not rated (nothing objectional). At the Film Forum, Houston Street, west of Sixth Avenue. ----- MOST art is...

BOYCOTT GIRL GETS A NEW HS

A 14-year-old Brooklyn girl who missed the entire fall term because her mom said troubled Lafayette HS was too dangerous has won a transfer to another high school. Freshman Alexandra...

PENTHOUSE PAUPERS - SCHOOLS DROP $2M FOR SWANKY CONSULTANT OFFICES

The school system is spending more than $2 million a year to rent swanky offices for private consultants - even as it prepares to hand out pink slips to 380...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A Michigan man's future wife may be only window dressing. Steve Horowitz, 53, of Grand Rapids has dated nearly 60 women since placing a large "Wife Wanted" sign in the...

JETS' QUIET HUNK CHAD PROVES THAT NICE GUYS FINISH FIRST

Gotham's latest gridiron golden boy - New York Jet quarterback Chad Pennington - is no Broadway Joe. The legendary Joe Namath, who led the Jets to their only Super Bowl...

CHARITY NIXES 100G LOTTO DONATION

Take your Lotto money and shove it! The Salvation Army won't redeem a Florida man's $100,000 donation check because it's money he won playing the lottery. "Everybody has a right...

BROOKE EXPECTS BLESSED EVENT

FORMER "Suddenly Susan" star Brooke Shields is suddenly pregnant. The beauty revealed she and hunky writer hubby Chris Henchy are expecting their first child in early May - after desperately...

HOLIDAY HORROR - SCREAMING B'KLYN TEEN SLAIN AT MOM'S DOOR; TEEN SLAIN CRYING FOR HIS MOM

A Brooklyn teen was shot to death early New Year's Day by gun-wielding thugs who caught up to him as he desperately pounded on the locked door of his home...

ALLIED JETS BLAST SADDAM'S RADAR SITES AGAIN

WASHINGTON - American and British jets hit Iraqi radar in the no-fly zone yesterday, while U.N. weapons inspectors searched four suspicious sites in Iraq. The jets used precision-guided weapons on...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * A man died yesterday after being shot twice outside a Sheepshead Bay apartment building. The violence erupted around 12:30 p.m. in front of the building on Batchelder Street...

N. KOREA SUDDENLY WOOS SOUTH

WASHINGTON - North Korea tried to take advantage of anti-American sentiment in South Korea by proclaiming yesterday that the United States is the opponent of all Koreans. The latest provocative...

GOV'S PLEDGE TO N.Y. - STARTS 3RD TERM WITH A VOW TO[[ BEAT CRI$IS

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki vowed at his inauguration yesterday to bring a "firm resolve" to the "historic, grave and daunting" problems facing New York. Pataki, a Republican who in November...

CITY BAWL AS MAYOR MEETS 1ST '03 BABY

The mom who delivered the first city baby of the New Year expressed her amazement yesterday about giving birth when most people were exchanging kisses, tossing streamers and clinking champagne...

OOPS, WRONG 'TERRORIST' - FBI 'BORDER SNEAK' HAS NEVER BEEN TO U.S.

One of the men pictured on an FBI wanted list of suspects believed to have illegally entered the United States on a possible terror mission has been located selling jewelry...

BLAZE GUTS VACATIONING FAMILY'S HOME

New Year's Day left one Forest Hills family with little to celebrate - a raging fire gutted their home while they were on vacation. Theodore and Randy St. Germain and...

BAGHDAD OR BUST - LET PYONGYANG RUST

THE madness of a rabid dog and the dementia of a ter minal syphilitic require different responses. You kill the first, but isolate the latter. Our treatment of the diseased...

HEAT'S ON POLAR BEAR SWIMMERS

B-r-r-r-ing on the cold! The Polar Bear Club marked its 100th annual New Year's Day plunge at Coney Island yesterday-but hard-core members lamented the "balmy" Atlantic temperatures. While onlookers shivered...

BLOODY FIRST NIGHT - 2 KILLED, 2 WOUNDED IN NEW YEAR SHOOTOUTS

Just a few miles east of the hyper-secure New Year's celebration in Times Square, a Brooklyn neighborhood erupted in gunfire and violence as cops were involved in three shootouts before...

THUG USES CAR AS DEATH WEAPON

An 18-year-old was killed in Queens yesterday after a man with whom he'd been arguing got into a car and mowed him down, police said. Sidney Guerrero was crossing the...

ISRAEL IN SECRET STATEHOOD TALKS

JERUSALEM - Israel is secretly negotiating with Yasser Arafat's top deputy - and has discussed the creation of a Palestinian state on most of the West Bank, it was reported...

TEEN GRILLED IN STRAY-BULLET SLAY

A teen suspected in the slaying of a Brooklyn mom hit by a stray bullet Saturday turned himself in last night. Kenneth Albritton, 18, who lives in the Tompkins Houses...

THE FIRST BABY OF 2003 BORN IN THE WASHINGTON D.C. AREA IS UNIQUE FOR ANOTHER REASON - SHE HAS TWO MOMMIES

The first baby of 2003 born in the Washington D.C. area is unique for another reason - she has two mommies, it was reported yesterday. The 5-pound, 2-ounce girl was...

ALL BAGGAGE SCREENED

U.S. airports were checking every piece of luggage for explosives by yesterday - and the tough new procedures are not causing travel delays, say federal security officials. New Year's Day...

JARVIS SAYS LOSSES ARE A BLESSING

While some might look at St. John's current three-game losing streak in a negative light, Mike Jarvis doesn't. In fact, the head coach thinks it's a good thing for his...

MUTOMBO-LESS NETS PICKING UP THE SLACK

For the first 16 games this season, the Nets essentially were flying Air Deke on defense. The Nets admit they grew far too comfortable knowing Dikembe Mutombo was behind them,...

LOVE YA, MESS ... NOW SIT

NO one around here has greater regard for Mark Messier or what he has meant to the Rangers than I. It's well documented that I believe his management-orchestrated 1997 exit...

IT'S A WHOLE NEW BLUE! - GIANTS: REMATCH WILL BE DIFFERENT

Amani Toomer can run down the lineup, so don't start correcting him when he goes into his spiel about how THIS Giants offense is not anything like THAT Giants offense...

SHANDON RIDING KNICK SEE-SAW

Shandon Anderson truly is the epitome of Don Chaney's Knicks. Big, long-term contract. Great one minute, ghastly the next. And Monday night's exhilarating win over San Antonio at the raucous...

FASSEL TEPID ABOUT TUNA'S RETURN

GIANT NOTES The question was rather obvious. What did Jim Fassel think about Bill Parcells returning to coaching? "I assume that's in Dallas, right?" Fassel said, breaking into a smile....

FRIENDLY FOES - MORE THAN JUST GAME FOR EDWARDS, DUNGY

Depending on how you view it, Saturday's AFC playoff game between the Jets and Colts will be either a win-win for Herman Edwards and Tony Dungy or a lose-lose. Each...

TRAINER MOSCHERA RETIRING TO FLORIDA

After two decades of ruling the roost as the "claiming king" of New York, only to see his business drop off the past few years, trainer Gasper Moschera has said...

HEISMAN SNUB IRKS DORSEY - BUT NOW HE EYES BIGGER PRIZE

TEMPE - There were moments this season when Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey had had enough. "I remember the Temple game," Dorsey said of a 44-21 win in which he completed...

COLES GETS FIRED UP - JETS WR PROVING HE'S ONE OF BEST

Sam Garnes remembers coming to the Jets and cautiously checking out the young receiver who would become one of his most significant teammates, Laveranues Coles. "Oh man, I remember when...

PANTHERS POP MARTY

Panthers 2 - Devils 1 The old Rangers had the Goal-A-Game line. The Devils have the Goal-A-Game lineup. Not quite the same thing. For the third straight game, the Devils...

GIANTS' SHORT HAS 53 REASONS

EVERY time former Giants linebacker Harry Carson crosses paths with current Giants linebacker Brandon Short, their exchange usually goes something like this: Carson: "There's the impostor." Short: "Impostor?" Carson: "The...

TOOMER'S PROMISE: REMATCH WILL BE DIFFERENT

Amani Toomer can run down the lineup, so don't start correcting him when he goes into his spiel about how THIS Giants offense is not anything like THAT Giants offense...

THE BAY AREA BIG MOUTHS - NINER LINEBACKER HURLS CHEAP SHOTS AT TIKI, SHOCKEY

Tiki Barber can't control the ball and Jeremy Shockey can't control his emotions. Yes sir, Julian Peterson, the 49ers' best linebacker, yesterday pulled quite a double-team. Mixed in with praise...

JETS PLAN TO MAKE COLTS QB PEY PRICE

JET NOTES There's a feeling among some Jet defensive players that Colt quarterback Peyton Manning can be rattled off his game by a few good hits. "I'll tell you this...

CENTER MOCKS FASSEL EFFORT TO FAN FIRE

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - San Francisco center Jeremy Newberry upped the bulletin board stakes yesterday, mocking Giants coach Jim Fassel. The blunt-spoken 49er said he doesn't care if the Giants...

REVIVED KNICKS KEEP ON ROLLING

Knicks 95 - Raptors 75 With 2:30 remaining in the game last night and the Knicks rolling to an easy victory over the Raptors, a Garden fan behind the Toronto...

MCDYESS EYES EARLIER RETURN

KNICK NOTES Antonio McDyess believes he can make it back this season. "If I'm 100 percent, why not play?" said McDyess, who had been ruled out for the season by...

KURT: LEAGUE TOUGHER ON US

KNICK NOTES When the NBA metes out punishment for on-court altercations, the New York-based league office never seems to take it easy on the Knicks. Clarence Weatherspoon's one-game suspension -...