February 24, 2003
GE TO UNPLUG UNIT; SUITORS SOUGHT FOR LOW-RETURNS INSURANCE ARM
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amGeneral Electric Co. is talking to possible buyers about its financial guarantor unit, one of several slower-growth businesses the company is considering unloading as part of GE Chief Executive Jeffrey...
RONALD ASADORIAN/SPLASH NEWS; GARFUNKEL SINGING AS ARTFUL AS EVER
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amART GARFUNKEL AT the start of his Town Hall gig Friday, Art Garfunkel hinted at his lifelong predicament of having to walk into the future while shackled to the past....
WHY '24' IS PURE TORTURE; ANOTHER TWO-DEK HED GOES HERE GOES HERE
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amIF broadcast television has been looking for a series to match the intensity and violence of "The Sopranos," then that show has been found. It's "24," which has gone farther...
BRITS GIVE 'PIANIST' KEY WINS ; BEST PIC, DIRECTOR; 'CHICAGO' SHOCKED
February 24, 2003 | 5:00am'THE Pianist," fugi tive director Roman Polanski's Holocaust drama, sounded a sour note for Oscar frontrunner "Chicago" yesterday, scoring an upset win for best picture at the British academy awards....
POST CONTEST WINNERS ARE LUCKY STARS
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amJamie Morris (left) and Stephanie Lowenthal show off their new looks at last night's Grammys.Rockers for a day Jamie Morris (left) and Stephanie Lowenthal.JamieMorris(left) iswearing asheer topfrom RedHot ($215), black...
A SHOW TO BEAT : GRAMMYS DARE TO BE FUN
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amWHETHER it was just a case of dumb luck or the best production values an awards show has ever been nailed together with, for the first time the Grammy Awards...
STARR REPORT
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amParks Dept: Christophers tonight at Time-Life CBS, Cinemax, TNT, ABC, PBS and HBO are among the winners of the 54th Annual Christopher Awards, which will be presented tonight at the...
THEY'RE LUCKY STARS: POST CONTEST WINNERS ARE MADE OVER & ROCKIN'
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amGrowing up across the street from each other in Jamaica Estates,Stephanie Lowenthal and Jamie Morris always fantasized about becoming famous singers. So when Stephanie saw an ad for The Post's...
BUY NOW, BUY LATER: THE SMART SHOPPER'S GUIDE TO SPRING TRENDS
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amNeon brights. Forties and Fifties chic. Looks inspired by Asia, Greek goddesses and the military. Clothes inspired by the gym. The abundance of spring fashion trends is mind-boggling - especially...
COVETED PURSES ARE HARD TO BAG
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amDESPERATE for the colorful Louis Vuitton handbag Eve carried at Fashion Week? Get in line. The fashion world's been obsessing over the multicolored monogrammed purses designed by Japanese artist Takashi...
DA PUTS FOCUS ON 'RIDE' POLS
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amALBANY District Attorney Paul Clyne will widen his criminal probe of state lawmakers to include the failure to report "in kind" contributions from a bribery-linked company, The Post has learned....
HUNT AND KILL: U.S. PLANS QUICK STRIKE ON SADDAM - AND HIS SONS
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Special "hunter-killer" teams and aircraft would target Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein - and his two evil sons - within 48 hours of the launch of any military campaign,...
TAX FACES VOTER WRATH IN COUNCIL SPECIAL ELECTION
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg should be glad his name isn't on the ballot in tomorrow's special election for a Brooklyn City Council seat. All five candidates in the race - including the...
LIBERAL PARTY SHUTTERS HQ
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amThe party's really over for New York Liberals. After a disastrous election last November, the 58-year-old Liberal Party of New York state has officially closed its Eighth Avenue office and...
TERROR-WARY POL PUSHES TO BAN FAKE COP BADGES
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amFake police badges are being peddled over the Internet for as little as $30 - a serious security breach that could be putting lives at risk, a local congressman said...
TONYA OUTWEIRDS TYSON AT THE FISTICUFFS FREAK SHOW
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amWHY don't we just be done with it? I'm talking about the big heavyweight fights. We'd be better off if we put racing cockroaches on the card, dancing bears or...
WHITE HOUSE TWIST IN 'TERROR PROF' CASE
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amA suspected terrorist was allowed to visit the White House in 2001 for a briefing by President Bush's political director despite a warning about him by the Secret Service, a...
DIVERS TO INSPECT S.I. BLAST DAMAGE
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amDivers are expected to go underwater today to look at the wreckage of a gasoline barge that exploded in Staten Island, as investigators continue probing what led to the blast...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amDon't know what to study in college? How about suicide? Students at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, can now enroll to become a "Master of Suicidology." The two-year degree offers...
HILL DELIVER$ A HUGE PACKAGE TO HERSELF
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is a PAC rat who spent most of her massive HILLPAC political-action committee's cash stash on herself rather than to help other Democrats, a...
WINNERS SING 'DOUGH'-RE-MI ; STATUES MEAN BIG CD SALES, FILM DEALS
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amGood as gold.The winners of last night's Grammy Awards are walking away with more than just gold gramophones - they're poised to rake in millions of dollars in increased record...
DEADLY 1ST DATE ; ROMANTIC EVE TURNED INTO HAMPTONS HIT-RUN HORROR
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amAn aspiring Long Island novelist said his casual first date at a Hamptons literary gathering turned into the date from hell - ending with the tragic hit-run death of a...
NIGHTMARE BLUNDER DESTROYED WOMAN'S LIFE: LAWSUIT
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amIt's been 2½ years since something went disastrously wrong for Helen Brathwaite, a 53-year-old patient of Dr. Israel Jacobowitz - and her husband still has no answers. Brathwaite is severely...
TRIBUTES FOR DANIEL PEARL
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amSlain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was remembered yesterday as a "bridge builder" who tried to bring together people of different faiths and backgrounds. At a Brooklyn memorial service...
NO. 1? BEN THERE, DONE THAT
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amTopless girls proved no match for a superhero as "Daredevil" whipped "Old School" at the box office. Ben Affleck's action hit was the No. 1 movie for the second straight...
KIDS HEAR DAD KILL MOM: COPS
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amA New Jersey man was arrested for gunning down his estranged wife in her bedroom while the couple's children were downstairs, the Bergen County prosecutor said yesterday. Gjelosh "Jerry" Docaj,...
$HABBY OPERATION ; HOSP STILL PAYING DEATH DOC
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amA heart surgeon who had New York's second-highest death rate while at Brooklyn's Downstate Hospital remains on the state payroll, cashing in at least $400,000 of his $1.2 million annual...
CYBERSEX-SLAY TWIST
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amFacing a manslaughter trial on charges he sexually assaulted and strangled a Connecticut schoolgirl he met on the Internet, Saul Dos Reis is making more trouble for himself - by...
TIME FOR U.N. TO CHOOSE OR LOSE ; IRAQ RESOLUTION MAY COME TODAY
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The United States is set to introduce - as early as today - a new Security Council resolution saying that Saddam Hussein has not complied with the United...
TANKS ROLL IN GAZA AS LATEST WAVE OF VIOLENCE LEAVES 10 DEAD
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amNine Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed yesterday as Israel intensified its week-old offensive against Islamic militants in the Gaza Strip. The violence erupted as Israel's Labor Party pulled...
VICTIMS' KIN MOURN AT SITE WHERE 97 DIED
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amVictims of the deadly inferno at The Station nightclub were mourned yesterday, as another body was found in the charred remains of the club. A large wooden cross greeted victims'...
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE 'GANGS OF NEW YORK'
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amWhen the Civil War riots, depicted in Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York," exploded 150 years ago, black New Yorkers caught the brunt of it. For four days in July...
WEATHER TURNS CITY INTO AN APPLE SLUSHY
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amMother Nature smashed the metropolitan area with a tortuous weekend of heavy rains, battering winds and pea-soup fog - and she isn't through yet. Forecasters are calling for a chance...
NO. 7 CONDUCTOR A CHEW-CHEW CHAMP
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amFOR the uninitiated, sure, it was a hell of a performance: Eric "Badlands" Booker downed 112 chicken wings - 3 pounds, 8 ounces of bone-ripping carnage - to win the...
FAREWELL TO VICTIM OF SPECTOR SHOOTING
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amLOS ANGELES - More than 200 friends and loved ones of slain actress Lana Clarkson wore leopard-print ribbons as their fitting tribute to the B-movie queen yesterday. The stunning, 40-year-old...
DEMS FACE BACKLASH
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The White House warned yesterday that Hispanic voters may punish Democrats in the next election if they continue their Senate filibuster against Miguel Estrada's appointment as a federal...
UNBORN KID SAVED HER DADDY
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amWEST WARWICK, R.I. - An expectant father owes his life to his unborn child. Jason Lund left The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., seconds before it erupted into an...
$1M ARMORED CAR STOLEN AT JFK
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amA daring thief stole an armored car last night at Kennedy Airport - and a police source said it might have contained as much as $1 million in cash. The...
HITS AND MISSES OF THE RED CARPET
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amHAVE the grungy Grammys cleaned up their act? Last night, there were more do's than don'ts on the red carpet at Madison Square Garden. Of course, not everyone passed muster....
CARDOZO'S KHALEEL INJURED
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amCardozo's PSAL championship hopes were dealt a serious blow earlier this month when Vic Morris was declared ineligible before the playoffs. Now, the Judges' odds are even longer. Skyler Khaleel,...
IT'S NORAH, NORAH, NORAH ; NEW YORK NEWCOMER SWEEPS UP AT AWARDS
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amThey just couldn't keep up with the Jones at last night's Grammy Awards. New York newcomer Norah Jones, a classically trained jazz musician who got her start playing brunches downtown,...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amQueens Cops suspect foul play in the case of a 51-year-old woman who disappeared from her South Jamaica home on Feb. 19, a police source said yesterday. Maria Rogers was...
N.J. TO CHARGE 'BULL' GRAVANO
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amBergen County prosecutors will formally charge Sammy "The Bull" Gravano with providing the weapon that mob hitman Richard Kuklinski used to kill an NYPD officer in a 1980 hit in...
BIRTH IS A REBIRTH ; ISRAELI BOMB MOM REBUILDS HER FAMILY
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - In a matter of minutes last July, Ayelet Shilon lost her husband, mother and infant daughter and was severely wounded herself during a terrorist attack on a West...
SCHOOLS 'PROMOTE' FAILURE
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amAbout 95 percent of the city's elementary- and middle-school students last year were promoted to the next grade - even though a majority of them flunked standardized exams. The kids...
BILL COULD BE GOOD 'SIGN' FOR MUSICIANS
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amNew York must set an example for the nation by freeing musicians from record-company servitude, state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said yesterday. "Individual young artists enter into contracts that bind...
BILLY BOB WHO? ANGELINA ERASES EX - JUST LIKE TAT
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amAngelina Jolie is so over Billy Bob Thornton, she's even had the tattoo of his name removed from her arm. Fans who wondered what she would do about her love...
VICTIMS KIN GATHER AT TRAGIC CLUB
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amVictims of Thursday's deadly inferno at The Station nightclub were remembered yesterday as another body was found in the charred remains of the club. A large wooden cross greeted victims'...
FALSE ALARM SAVES FATHER
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amWEST WARWICK, R.I. - A false alarm at home saved an expectant father from the nightclub inferno. As the band Great White took to the stage Thursday night, Jason Lund's...
FRANKEL PACKING 1-2 PUNCH
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amTrainer Charlie Whittingham was 73 when he won his first Kentucky Derby. Fellow Hall-of-Famer Mack Miller was 71. D. Wayne Lukas sent out 12 Derby losers before finally winning in...
BIG A CANCELS AFTER 5 RACES
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amAqueduct took the unusual course of canceling the remainder of yesterday's card after five of the nine races were run "because of deteriorating track conditions due to heavy rainfall in...
KNICKS PLAN DREAM NIGHT
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amSACRAMENTO - Not only were most of Patrick Ewing's prominent Knick teammates, his past Knick coaches and Knick GMs invited for his jersey retirement ceremony Friday night, but so were...
SLASH AND BURN AT MSG ; GARDEN WORKFORCE SET TO TAKE MASSIVE HIT
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amFOR the sins of their Cablevision fathers, Madison Square Garden employees are about to take a big hit. McKinsey & Co., a management consulting firm that specializes in down-sizing (grim-reaping),...
ISLES RUE POINT THAT GOT AWAY
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amIsles 4Bruins 4 There was no satisfaction or elation yesterday as the Islanders played a rare Sunday matinee at the Coliseum, but there was a touch of something they've shown...
RETURN FROM OBLIVION ; TYSON'S BACK, BUT NEXT STEP IS CRUCIAL
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amMEMPHIS - With Team Tyson back in business, Mike Tyson's advisor, Shelly Finkel, boarded a flight to Newark yesterday, contemplating his fighter's next venture into the ring. There was a...
GETTING DEFENSIVE ; FOES' SCORING HAS KNICKS ON EDGE
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amSACRAMENTO - Shandon Anderson doesn't believe the Knicks are playing great defense, but he also doesn't think the spate of 100-point games by their opponents is cause for panic either....
LOW-KEY FLOYD HAPPY ABOUT FRESH START
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - When Cliff Floyd reported to the Red Sox late last summer, chaos greeted him. His first day, Aug. 1, summed up his entire 2002 season. The...
THE PLIGHT OF SPRING; WILLIAMS' SHOULDER ACTING UP
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amTAMPA - Those mountains of ice attached to Bernie Williams' shoulders that were a common sight last year haven't been strapped on by trainer Gene Monahan yet. But Williams understands...
JOHNSON TO GET CLOSER LOOK AT WRIST
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amTAMPA - With an MRI taken last week showing no structural damage, Nick Johnson will undergo a bone scan today on his left wrist. Johnson, who hasn't taken BP since...
THE YANKEE CLUBHOUSE NOW AN EXCESS STORY
February 24, 2003 | 5:00am"We have Jon Lieber?"TODD ZEILE TAMPA - Let's begin at the far end of the Yankee clubhouse for our tour of excess, and we promise our journey will not include...
CONE, PIAZZA IN REMATCH
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amMET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE - David Cone came out of his second live batting practice session yesterday as confident as ever, but then he made a hasty retreat out...
NIEU'S MILESTONE HAS DEVILS FEELING GRAND
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amDevils 4 Penguins3 PITTSBURGH - This milestone was also a lifeline. Coming just when the Devils needed offense by order, Joe Nieuwendyk's 1,000th point - his 507th career goal -...
BOMBERS SET TO SEND HITCHCOCK PACKING
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amTAMPA - Before spring training ends, the Yankees are determined to trade Sterling Hitchcock even if they must eat much of his contract, and believe they also may deal a...
MIKE CENTER OF STORM
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amSTORRS, Conn. - St. John's coach Mike Jarvis can be contentious, compassionate, contradictory and composed, sometimes all in the same post-game interview. Regardless of his demeanor, Jarvis never has wavered...
SEASON OF FIRE FOR STEVE
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - When you consider all that is swirling around Steve Phillips these days, you might ask: "Why is this GM smiling?" Phillips is the man on the...
WOODS ENDS ON HIGH NOTE
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amPACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - Tiger Woods turned his attention to this week's Accenture Match Play at La Costa by scorching Riviera CC in yesterday's Nissan Open final round. Woods' balky...
T-MAC ATTACK UNSTOPPABLE
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amHis legend only grows after games like this. Yesterday, the Nets again learned Tracy McGrady can carry an NBA team on that lanky 6-foot-8 frame. But they and the alleged...
RIVERS SAYS PATRICK WAS A SWEETHEART
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amMagic coach Doc Rivers wishes Patrick Ewing had let New Yorkers see his real side. To the average Knick fan, Ewing was a surly, uncommunicative brute with the emotions and...
WEIR DRIVES AWAY WITH NISSAN OPEN
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amPACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - Charles Howell spoke so eloquently and with such maturity on Saturday about how it was "new territory" for him entering the final round of a tournament...
NO MAGIC LEFT IN THESE NETS ; DOUBTS ABOUND AS ORLANDO ROLLS
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amMagic 113Nets 105 OK, it is now officially safe to say these are not the same Nets who went to the Finals last June or ripped off 10 straight victories...
SEETHING ROGERS WON'T VENT
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amNET NOTES Rodney Rogers was going to be the outside threat to replace Keith Van Horn. He was going to be an inside presence, a defensive force, a fierce rebounder,...
JASPERS BOUNCE BACK IN A BIG WAY
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amManhattan 83Loyola 49 TRENTON - After having the nation's longest winning streak snapped, Manhattan had a week to seethe and stew. The Jaspers honed, they bonded, and in the end...
RANGERS HIT ROCKY MT. LOW
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amAvalanche 4 Rangers 1 DENVER - If the Rangers truly believe what they said following last night's 4-1 loss here to the Avalanche, if they believe that they played well...
WEIR REELS IN HOWELL FOR WIN
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amPACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - Mike Weir has made a living of flying under the radar. He is, after all, a professional golfer from Canada. That said, the act of grand...
TIGER ENDS NISSAN BID WITH HOT 65
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amPACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - Tiger Woods left Riviera Country Club yesterday wondering what might have been as he turned his attention to this week's Accenture Match Play at La Costa,...
KNICKS TRIPPED UP : TREYS GO SOUTH AS LOSS TO KINGS ENDS TREK WEST
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amKings 99Knicks 92 SACRAMENTO - The Knicks finally found their defense, at least for a half. But at the same time they got their defense back, the Knicks completely lost...
KINGS' DIVAC GIVES VUJANIC SOLID POINTS
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amSACRAMENTO - Kings center Vlade Divac said he thinks point guard Milos Vujanic, the Knicks' 2002 second-round draft pick, could start right away for Don Chaney's club next season. "No...
KNICKS TRIPPED UP: TREYS GO SOUTH AS LOSS ENDS TREK WEST
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amKings 99 Knicks 92 SACRAMENTO - The Knicks finally found their defense, at least for a half. But at the same time they got their defense back, they lost the...
WAR & REMEMBRANCE: SOME MEMORIES DIE HARD FOR AN OLD SAILOR LIKE YOGI BERRA
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amYogi Berra will tell you he was too young to be scared, too green at 19 to be paralyzed at the prospect of spending two weeks lobbing rockets toward a...
HOLIK REMEMBERS DENVER DEBACLE
February 24, 2003 | 5:00amDENVER - He is a Ranger now, but when the team charter touched down here late Saturday, Bobby Holik had flashbacks to June 2001 when he and the Devils were...