February 12, 2003
PEPSI CUTS ARTS DEAL TO $ETTLE SIMMONS BEEF
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amRussell Simmons has called off the dogs. The hip-hop impresario reached a settlement with Pepsi yesterday in a dispute over the beverage giant's treatment of rap stars, avoiding a planned...
EAST 90S GET APT. TOWER & MARRIOTT
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amTHE city's building boom has now doomed Eastside Car Wash & Beyond, an neighborhood institution that serves cappuccino to its customers. To the distress of its fanatic patrons, the car...
FULLER CONTRACT COUNTDOWN - US WEEKLY EDITOR SEEKS 3-YEAR, MULTIMILLION-$$ DEAL
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amNegotiations between Us Weekly editor-in-chief Bonnie "Long Neck" Fuller and Wenner Media chairman Jann Wenner are going down to the wire. Fuller is pushing for a new three-year, multimillion-dollar deal....
HARVEY'S A STAR - MIRAMAX BOSS SETS OSCAR-NOMINATION RECORD
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amHarvey Weinstein can at last lay claim to being king of Hollywood - except that he's a hard-core New Yorker. The head of Miramax is celebrating a movie industry record...
THINGS GO BETTER WITH PEPSI: RIESE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amCoke is getting kicked out of New York's biggest bunch of restaurants, which are switching to Pepsi for the first time in 63 years. The Riese organization - whose 113...
HARVEY'S A STAR: MIRAMAX BOSS SETS OSCAR-NOMINATION RECORD
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amHarvey Weinstein can at last lay claim to being king of Hollywood - except that he's a hard-core New Yorker. The head of Miramax is celebrating a movie industry record...
STARR REPORT
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amBenatar, Geraldo: 'Charmed,' they're sure Rocker Pat Benatar and her husband, Neil Geraldo, will guest star on the April 6 episode of "Charmed" (8 p.m./Ch. 11) - playing themselves and...
ANOTHER TRIUMPH, BY JOVI
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amBON JOVI ---- SEEING Bon Jovi play the Meadowlands in front of a home-grown Jersey crowd is like relishing a Nathan's hot dog at Coney Island: The place suits the...
GAY MAKEOVER, BAD DRIVERS: STAY TUNED
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amBAD drivers may soon find a home in the reality TV genre. The producers of "Britain's Worst Driver" are looking to bring their reality hit to America - hoping to...
LAMBS HOOKED ON FRESH FISH
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amIT'S hard to imagine that Jack and Grace Lamb would (or could) open anything smaller than Jewel Bako - their 31-seat, impossible-to-get-into sushi restaurant in the East Village. But the...
SEA OF LOVE, ITALIAN STYLE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amACQUA PAZZA [ 1/2] 36 W. 52ND ST. (212) 582-6900 ----- I'M crazy about Acqua Pazza. The name means "crazy water," a traditional southern Italian style of baking fish in...
HOWSER MEETS HITLER
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amCABARET []Roundabout Theater Company at Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St. , between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. (212) 239-6200. ----- YOU can take the boy out of "Doogie Howser" -...
WHEN TV WANTED A BIG NAME.... IT HAD TO BE YAO
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amSUDDENLY, everybody knows Yao. Standing 7-foot, six- inches tall, the Chinese- born basketball star sprang out of nowhere to become one of the most familiar faces on TV. In a...
ROBBINS' REPS OBJECT TO FIDDLIN' WITH 'ROOF'
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amFOR a dead guy, Jerome Robbins sure wields a lot of power on Broadway. The legendary director-choreographer, via his representatives here on earth, has nearly scuttled the upcoming revival of...
SHOOTING BEGINS ON 'OSBOURNES' FINALE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amDON'T tell anyone, but "The Osbournes" ended its second season last night. Surprisingly, "The Osbournes" went out quietly - without much of the frenzy and media madness that accompanied last...
THIS PIE DOESN'T FLY - GREAT BATALI'S PROBLEM PIZZA
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amOTTO ENOTECA PIZZERIA [ 1/2] ONE FIFTH AVE. (AT EIGHTH STREET) (212) 995-9559 ----- THE front room at Otto Enoteca Pizzeria is patterned after an Italian train station, and it's...
ARE FOOD FAVES COMPATIBLE WITH YOUR SWEETHEART'S?
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amYou're a potsticker and he's a cheeseburger - is there any hope for this romance? This Valentine's Day, forget the horoscopes and have a look at your date's dinner plate....
MAKE BOOK ON THIS ONE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amSTONE READER ½ Don't miss this one. Running time: 127 minutes. Not rated (nothing objectionable). At Film Forum, Houston and Varick streets. MARK Moskowitz's "Stone Reader" is a remarkable accomplishment,...
WINDY CITY HOT AIR: TOO MANY NODS FOR CLUMSY 'CHICAGO' REHASH
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amBOB Fosse must be turning over in his grave. Rob Marshall's mediocre film adaptation of the late musical directing genius' 1975 stage hit, "Chicago," looks like a fait accompli for...
'CHICAGO' SINGS: HIT MUSICAL DAZZLES WITH 13 OSCAR NOMINATIONS
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amHO-hum. Sleepy-eyed celebs wakened at the crack of dawn in L.A. weren't the only ones yawning when the oh-so-predictable list of Oscar nominations was announced early yesterday. As expected, "Chicago"...
SEAN PENN: IRAQ STANCE COST ME ROLE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amBad-boy actor Sean Penn says his opposition to a war in Iraq cost him a lucrative movie role - but the film's producer, Steve Bing, calls the claim "extortion." The...
TRAGIC TWIST OF FATE - TOT WHO DIED IN TRUCK CRASH HAD LIFESAVING TRANSPLANT
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amToddler Sheilla Koyombo was just starting to enjoy being a normal, healthy little girl after undergoing lifesaving kidney transplant surgery when a tractor-trailer load of construction debris buried her family's...
LET'S BOYCOTT OUR INGRATE 'ALLIES'
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amPARIS - Why doesn't Jacques Chirac, president of the whine and cheese club, just give his buddy Saddam Hussein an apartment on the Place Vendome? And make Baghdad an honorary...
MIKE: CALL ME 007
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amMike Bloomberg told a Manhattan jury yesterday how he played out his own James Bond adventure, joining federal agents for a trans-Atlantic undercover operation to nab a Russian-speaking computer hacker...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amThe governor of Georgia has installed scales at the state Capitol in a bid to get staffers to lose weight. Gov. Sonny Perdue launched the dieting program by holding a...
SADDAM'S SICK PLOT TO SCORCH IRAQI OIL FIELDS
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Iraqi military units have been moving large amounts of explosives into Iraq's oil fields as part of a "scorched earth" plan by Saddam Hussein to thwart a U.S....
PLAN IN WORKS TO PINPOINT 911 CELL CALLS
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amThe NYPD is experimenting with a system for 911 operators to pinpoint the exact locations of cell-phone callers in the wake of the presumed drowning of four teenagers near City...
FED JUDGE SET TO UNSHACKLE NYPD ANTI-TERROR SPIES
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amNew York's Finest will be armed with wider spy powers to infiltrate suspected terror networks after a federal judge said yesterday he intends to lift an 18-year order that limits...
JAIL-BRIBE BIGS SET TO TESTIFY
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amALBANY - Top officials of a bribery-linked Florida company will be interviewed under oath next week by the state Lobbying Commission, it was revealed yesterday. Commission Executive Director David Grandeau...
PROBE: RUDY'S PAL A PERV PRIEST
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amA childhood pal of Rudy Giuliani is a predator priest who sexually abused four young men - even making advances to one of them at his father's wake - a...
THE FEDS WILL SET ASIDE $90 MILLION TO PAY FOR HEALTH SCREENING
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The feds will set aside $90 million to pay for health screening for hundreds of firefighters and other heroes who rushed to Ground Zero after 9/11, officials said...
EVIL JOEL: DON'T MAKE ME PAY
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amJoel Steinberg says he shouldn't have to pay anything to the natural mother of the little girl he killed. During closing arguments in Manhattan Supreme Court yesterday, Steinberg lawyer Darnay...
WTC LEASEHOLDER'S LOW OPINION OF 'HIGH' PLANS
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amWorld Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein yesterday criticized the signature elements of the two remaining Ground Zero site plans. "I don't understand those latticework towers, how they would be utilized,"...
HILLARY JOINS WAR OVER JUDGE PICK
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Senate Democrats yesterday vowed an all-out war to stop President Bush from appointing a controversial Hispanic Republican to the federal bench as Sen. Hillary Clinton blasted the president...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amMANHATTAN * A man was shot and critically injured yesterday on an East Harlem street, law-enforcement sources said. About 4 p.m., someone approached the 20-year-old man on East 116th Street,...
CUNY CHIEF: POOR BEING PRICED OUT OF COLLEGE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amALBANY - City University Chancellor Matthew Goldstein yesterday warned that Gov. Pataki's proposed $1,200 tuition hike and other higher-education plans will make it harder for the city's poor to attend...
LOW-KEY BLOOMBERG DITCHES RUDY ENTOURAGE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amIf Mayor Bloomberg has one thing in common with James Bond, it's that he likes to travel light - especially compared to his predecessor, Rudy Giuliani. Bloomberg's appearance as a...
ISRAELI SLAIN BY W. BANK SNIPER
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - A Palestinian sniper killed an Israeli near Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity yesterday, triggering a new clampdown there. Witnesses said the sniper fired at a jeep making a...
QUINTUPLETS FIND A PLACE TO CALL HOME
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amFive "homeless" quintuplets and their Nigerian mother, who were facing relocation to a shelter, have found a home. The five babies were born in November at Kings County Hospital to...
TEMPLE-BOMB APPEAL LOOMS
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amLawyers for a Yonkers man convicted of tossing two homemade firebombs at a Riverdale synagogue said they will file a motion to set aside the verdict because they believe one...
POL HIT$ MAYOR WHERE HE LIVES
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg was fuming yesterday over a City Council candidate's use of a picture of the mayor's multimillion-dollar Upper East Side townhouse in an anti-tax-hike mailing. The campaign mailing -...
DAY-CARE STRIKE CHAOS
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amParents of about 50,000 children who attend city-funded day-care centers scrambled to find alternatives today as teachers and directors at 360 centers scheduled a one-day strike to demand a raise....
BEWARE THE BRIEFCASE BOMB
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amHere's a chilling look inside an explosives-rigged briefcase - just like the kind city cops are on the lookout for under the latest terror alert. This photo of the weapons...
COURTNEY BRANDED PLANE CRAZY
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amVirgin Airlines tycoon Richard Branson described air-rage rocker Courtney Love as "disturbed" and said he never should have let her fly on his airline. "We shouldn't have let her on...
PELOSI IN PRISON - L.I. MILLIONAIRE LOSES APPEAL TO STAY WITH CANCER-STRICKEN WIFE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amDanny Pelosi, husband of the former Generosa Ammon, began an eight-month stint in jail for DWI yesterday - despite a plea to delay his sentencing because his wife is dying...
HOLLYWOOD ACTION ZERO STARS IN COURTROOM 'CREEPSHOW'
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amYOU can learn a lot about a man from his hair. Aging B-movie tough guy Steven Seagal lumbered into Brooklyn federal court yesterday sporting a prim ponytail above a brown...
SURPRISE STARS GRAB SPOTLIGHT - ALL FOCUS ON DAY'S DAZZLING DESIGNS
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amFROM the cool downtown looks at Marc by Marc Jacobs to the supreme uptown chic at Bill Blass, there was something for everyone at Fashion Week yesterday. Well, almost everyone:...
CALIF. DEM TELLS KID: DON'T TAKE SUBWAY
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee has told her daughter to stay off the New York subways. But Rep. Jane Harmon of California insisted that she...
OSAMA REVEALS HIS IRAQI LINK: HIS THUGS WILL FIGHT FOR BAGHDAD: TAPE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - In a chilling new audiotape, Osama bin Laden yesterday urged suicide attacks against Americans if there's a war with Iraq - and said his network of fanatics will...
COPS SAVE MAN FROM BLAZE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amTwo cops rescued an elderly man from a raging fire that engulfed his Midtown apartment, police said yesterday. Around midnight Monday, a passer-by alerted two cops outside the Midtown North...
STAR'S MOB ORDEAL: I WAS WARNED I'D BE WHACKED: SEAGAL
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amMartial-arts actor Steven Seagal yesterday testified that a group of wiseguys tried to muscle their way into the film industry by extorting him - saying it was his movies or...
PREZ CANDIDATE KERRY HAS PROSTATE CANCER
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Presidential contender Sen. John Kerry yesterday revealed he has prostate cancer and will have surgery today. Kerry (D-Mass.) also admitted he didn't tell the truth when a reporter...
HOT DIGGITY DOG! TERRIER WINS BEST IN SHOW HONORS
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amMick rocked the Garden last night. No, not Mick Jagger - but Mick the Kerry blue terrier, who was awarded Best in Show last night at the 127th Westminster Kennel...
HERO COP BRAVES MIDTOWN INFERNO TO SAVE ELDERLY MAN
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amA cop pulled an elderly man to safety from a raging fire that engulfed his Midtown apartment, police said yesterday. Around midnight Monday, a passer-by alerted two cops outside the...
SAD TWIST OF FATE FOR TRUCK TOT: HAD LIFESAVING TRANSPLANT
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amToddler Sheilla Koyombo was just starting to enjoy being a normal, healthy little girl after undergoing lifesaving kidney transplant surgery when a tractor-trailer load of construction debris buried her family's...
OSAMA VOWS TO AVENGE SADDAM: TAPE THREATENS NEW ATTACKS AGAINST U.S.
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - In a chilling new audiotape, Osama bin Laden yesterday urged suicide attacks against Americans if there's a war with Iraq - and said his network of fanatics will...
'THIS IS INSANE!' SEAGAL LOSES COOL UNDER CROSS-EXAM
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amAction-movie hero Steven Seagal wasn't keen on the venue, but the aging martial arts master showed he could still rumble when he testified yesterday against two reputed mobsters who allegedly...
BUSH REJECTS CALL FOR MORE INSPECTORS
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush's spokesman yesterday bluntly rejected as a "nonstarter" the call by France and Germany for more U.N. inspectors instead of war with Saddam Hussein - amid an...
JINT PRESEASON SKED RELEASED
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amFigure the Giants will show even less than usual in their preseason games this summer, as they will face three of the four teams again during the regular season. The...
MAGIC EYE ON DAYTONA 500 PIT ROW
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amRemember when stock car racing was as high-tech as a turkey sandwich? Now there are cameras in the car, on the front of the car, on the rear bumper and...
HERE'S TICKET TO SANTA JACKPOT
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amNow that New Yorkers are finally able to play the Pick 6 at Santa Anita (races 3-8) on a daily basis, it will be interesting to see how much money...
MATES GIVE ALEXEI WARM WELCOME
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amSUNRISE, Fla.- Chemistry 101 as taught by Professor Eric Lindros: "Getting Alex [Kovalev] changes the dynamic of the team immensely," No. 88 said without prompting following yesterday's practice at which...
DON'T DISCOUNT ME - K-MART VOWS FOES TO PAY HIGH PRICE FOR ALL-STAR SNUB
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amORLANDO - There's more to come, Kenyon Martin promised. And seeing the pre-game All-Star ceremonies merely strengthened his resolve. Martin, the Nets All-Star caliber (nice word, that "caliber") forward, was...
GRANT FIGHTS UP-HILL BATTLE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amORLANDO - Three surgeries in three years and a possible fourth upcoming. The master plan of a franchise is on never-ending hold. Still, Orlando's Grant Hill insists he is "excited...
GOING TO BAT FOR JETER - TORRE DEFENDS DEREK AGAINST GEORGE'S GRIPES
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amTAMPA - George Steinbrenner can question Derek Jeter's lifestyle, and Jeter's detractors can say he isn't among baseball's top three shortstops, but Joe Torre knows The Boss wouldn't have his...
KAREEM TELLS LEBRON: BE WARY OF FAME
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amMake LeBron James six inches taller, go back 37 years - before there were cable networks airing high-school hoop games, before sneaker salesmen came running with million-dollar gifts for teen-agers...
RICE TURNS UP BACKUP POWER
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amCHSAA HOOPS: Rice 56 - Xaverian 54 Before yesterday's game against Xaverian, Rice coach Maurice Hicks decided that he needed to take drastic measures to get his team ready for...
SATHER: SAFETY FIRST
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amSUNRISE, Fla. - So, Glen Sather, tell us how you feel about hearing that you're stubborn in trying to win with the Rangers the same way you won in Edmonton...
JAMES' HS SNUBS ESPN
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amLeBron James' high school has rejected ESPN's request to televise the superstar's game this weekend - apparently because of perceived network criticism against the school. "They're blaming everything on us...
TED LEFT AT ALTAR - SF SNUBS COTTRELL, NAMES ERICKSON
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amTed Cottrell's dream of becoming an NFL head coach died a seventh death in three years yesterday when the 49ers opted to hire Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson to replace...
FILIS (27) SPARKS TOTTENVILLE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amPSAL PLAYOFFS: Tottenville 88 - Automotive 72 The Tottenville Pirates invaded Automotive's Brooklyn gym and tore through the Pistons en route to an 88-72 PSAL first-round victory. But as soon...
ZIMMER LAUGHS OFF CRITICISM
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amYANKEE NOTES TAMPA - When George Steinbrenner said there was more to being a Yankees coach than being Joe Torre's friend and that Torre's coaches needed to work harder, it...
SPREE'S TALKING LIKE END IS NEAR
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amIt sounded like his farewell address. "I just want to be known that I played hard, did what I had to do to help the team win," Latrell Sprewell said...
ALLAN AND HOWARD BOTH HURTING
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES The Knicks could be without their starting backcourt tonight at the Garden when they open their post-All-Star-break schedule vs. Golden State. Allan Houston flew to Houston on Monday...
YANKS GET A FEEL FOR MEDIA MATSUI-MANIA
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amTAMPA - In his third round of batting practice late yesterday afternoon, Hideki Matsui finally launched a ball over the rightfield fence. A few of the 60 or so Japanese...
TIGER CAN'T WAIT TO PLAY CATCH-UP
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amLA JOLLA, Calif. - The setting, while miserable for most, was perfect for Tiger Woods. Treating this much the way he treats the majors in terms of his practice schedule,...
BOSS' BARBS HAVE POINT
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amTAMPA - In decorum and decency, George Steinbrenner - as usual - handled himself all wrong this offseason when he criticized Derek Jeter and Joe Torre. With the rings and...
NINERS' COACHING SEARCH A DISGRACEFUL SHAM
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amTHE 49ers should be ashamed of themselves, and the NFL should be embarrassed by the sham its minority head-coaching hiring process has become. What transpired yesterday when the 49ers ended...
RUIZ READY TO RUMBLE WITH JONES
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amPerhaps John Ruiz is being coy about his strategy against Roy Jones when the two meet for the WBA heavyweight championship on March 1 in Las Vegas. Or maybe, he's...
ISLES ZAP LIGHTNING
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amIslanders 6 - Lightning 2 Who needs Ziggy Palffy when you've got Dave Scatchard? The Islanders, with their socks in a bind over the Rangers getting Alexei Kovalev on Monday,...
WHEW! RED STORM KEEP SEASON ALIVE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amSt. John's 52 - Villanova 50 PHILADELPHIA - The lifeblood of the St. John's season was running out on the First Union Center court. Whatever confidence, resilience and hope the...
A TON OF BRICKS - COLD-SHOOTING NETS FIZZLE VERSUS MAGIC
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amMagic 92 - Nets 83 ORLANDO - A 12-point deficit now stood at four and Jason Kidd found himself open for a 3-pointer with the game clock just north of...
KENYON: DECLERCQ'S ELBOW NO ACCIDENT
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amNET NOTES ORLANDO - You might want to mark Feb. 23 on the calendar. That's when Kenyon Martin sees the Orlando Magic again. Specifically, he'll see Andrew DeClercq again. Martin,...
ANOTHER ROCKY MOUNTAIN LOW FOR DEVILS
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amAvalanche 3 - Devils 1 DENVER - The hangover lingers from the Devils' Colorado Choke. They still haven't beaten the Avs or Patrick Roy since they gagged away the 2001...
RED-HOT DEVILS WARY OF SURGING AVALANCHE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amDENVER - The coincidence is remarkable. About one year after the 2000 Stanley Cup champion Devils fired Larry Robinson to rocket to 20-8-2-1 under Kevin Constantine, the 2001 Cup-winning Avalanche...
MILBURY MAD THAT RANGERS COULD CASH IN
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amIslanders GM Mike Milbury was hopping mad yesterday in the wake of the obvious salary dump that put Alexei Kovalev on the Rangers. The Islanders, with their wealth of young...
ST. JOHN'S FEELS 'NOVA'S PAYBACK
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amVillanova's intimate, 6,500-seat Pavilion is a prime example of what an on-campus arena should be. Constructed with acoustics in mind, the Pavilion was built to be a sound machine. It's...
KEMP'S PROBLEMS CONTINUE
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amORLANDO - Already suffering from the three-year, in-and-out saga of Grant Hill, the Magic received another distraction and potentially destructive hit yesterday when Shawn Kemp was suspended without pay for...
COLLINS SHRUGS OFF BUMPS & BRUISES
February 12, 2003 | 5:00amNET NOTES ORLANDO - With a support on his left knee and an ankle brace on the same side, Jason Collins walked into the Nets' locker room, moving with all...