March 8, 2003
CABLEVISION PULLING PLUG ON THE WIZ
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amCablevision announced plans yesterday to liquidate its electronics chain The Wiz. The Long Island-based cable company said it had agreed to transfer the assets from its 17 The Wiz electronics...
LIMELIGHT MAY SELL FOR $18.5M
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amThe landmark Chelsea church building that housed the notorious Limelight nightclub is for sale for $18.5 million. After a renovation, the club on the southeast corner of 20th Street and...
DI'S GHOST CENSORED; BUT U.S. VIEWERS WILL BEAT BAN ON PRINCESS SÉANCE
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amVIEWERS in the U.S. will be able to see tomorrow's pay- per-view séance to contact the spirit of Princess Diana - but it's been banned in England. Over in the...
TAYLOR'S SILLY SEASON
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amPAUL TAYLORCity Center, 55th Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, (212) 581-1212. Through March 22. THERE are two Paul Taylors out there - probably more than that, but let's concentrate...
MISS BREWSKI FOR YOU-SKI: REVIVED RHEINGOLD QUEEN MORE PUNK THAN PRIM
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amFORTY years ago, she needed a set of white gloves, lacquered hair and a porcelain complexion to stand a chance. But Miss Rheingold's 21st-century incarnation is more likely to wear...
DINNER PARTY CHEAT SHEET
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amWhen mall security tells us to remove our T-shirt, Dinner Party Cheat Sheet is vaguely flattered. TEE'D OFF Security guards at Crossgates Mall, located in a suburb of Albany, told...
AIN'T THAT A 'SHAM'
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amThursday of last week, when the organizers of the TriBeCa Film Festival held a launch party there, the brand-spanking-new Shamballa lounge was jammed to the rafters. Then it wasn't. Never...
PRIMAL SCREENS: GET DIGITALLY STIMULATED AT THE XFEST VIDEO BASH
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amMove over Mister DJ, there's a whole new crop of VJs jockeying for space at the hottest downtown clubs, museums and digital salons around town. Until now, the club scene's...
THE JAZZ RAGE: NORAH JONESING? DISCOVER NEW TALENT AT THESE YOUNG JAZZ HANGOUTS
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amAlthough many were surprised by the success of classically trained jazz pianist Norah Jones at the Grammys (including her), it's hard to ignore that jazz is back big-time. The radio's...
FREE FOR ALL
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amSwitch-hitter The New York Society for Ethical Culture is presenting an award to Sen. James M. Jeffords tomorrow for shifting from Republican to Independent in 2001 and changing the balance...
LONDON CALLING
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amWhen Frank London and David Lindsey wrote "An Alphabet in the Sky" and other kids' songs, they had to answer to a higher authority: London's 9-year-old son. Louie didn't like...
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS ... BUT THEY'VE GOT SMALL FANS NOW
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amAfter childhood pals John Linnell and John Flansburgh formed They Might Be Giants about 20 years ago, they played a lot of colleges - halls full of arty and geeky-but-earnest,...
LIZZIE NO MORE:'MCGUIRE' STAR HILARY DUFF SHOWS A NEW SIDE OF HERSELF
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amAs Lizzie McGuire, Hilary Duff agonized about keeping up with the latest fashions, being tortured by her siblings - and trying to be popular. Now she is - or, at...
DEADLINE FOR WAR: MARCH 17 - IRAQ GIVEN ULTIMATUM
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The United States and Britain yesterday set a March 17 deadline - just one week from Monday - as the time when Saddam Hussein must give up all...
LAWYER GETS 15 YEARS IN $2M RIPOFF
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amA former Brooklyn lawyer was sentenced yesterday to five to 15 years in prison for bilking 20 senior citizens out of $2 million - leaving his victims with little satisfaction...
U.N. BURIED IRAQ-DRONE REPORT
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amA report declassified by the United Nations yesterday revealed that weapons inspectors had recently found an undeclared Iraqi drone that could threaten troops with a biological attack. U.S. officials were...
SECURITY COUNCIL'S ROTTEN SHOW A HANS-DOWN LOSER
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amHANS Blix tells us on one hand Iraq is cooperating, on the other hand they are not cooperating enough, and yet on another hand inspectors need more time. That makes...
IT STINKS: SANIT BUDGET COMPACTORS EYE FEWER PICK-UPS
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amTHE Sanitation Department is exploring whether to reduce garbage pick-ups in some neighborhoods to meet the latest budget cut imposed by City Hall. Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty raised the possibility...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amBow wow WOW! A German artist plans to open the world's first brothel for dogs. For $35, horny hounds will be able to have sex at Karl-Friedrich Lentze's proposed new...
MISSING WOMAN LAST SEEN IN CAB ALONE
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amA parking lot attendant told cops yesterday that he saw missing Upper East Side woman Svetlana Aronov hop into a cab at the time she disappeared, law enforcement sources said....
NON TO WAR, OUI TO TREACHERY ; FRENCH FIRM SELLS SADDAM PARTS FOR HIS DEATH ARSENAL
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - A French company has been selling military spare parts to Iraq over the last few months while its government has been leading the charge against the U.S. war...
FUMING OVER A FINE MESS
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amBar and restaurant owners were fuming yesterday after learning health inspectors will only issue tickets to them and not to smokers who light up in violation of the upcoming ban....
BETTORS CAN BOOT SELVES
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amALBANY - Problem gamblers can now ask the state's racetracks and OTB parlors to stop them before they bet again. An emergency regulation enacted by the state Racing and Wagering...
ISRAELI COUPLE SLAIN IN SABBATH TERROR
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Palestinian terrorists disguised as yeshiva students yesterday infiltrated a West Bank settlement and gunned down a rabbi and his U.S.-born wife. The terrorists were quickly shot dead by...
AIDS FEAR CITED IN GAY BASHING
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amThe alleged ringleader of three accused gay-bashers indicted yesterday will claim fear of AIDS made him do it. Lawyer Michael David Heller said Oscar Afre, 22, "thought he was defending...
FIREHOUSES MAY BE SAVED BY THE SELL
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amHook and ladder symbols adorning city firehouses may soon be supplemented by some much better-known logos - such as Nike. Sources said the Bloomberg administration is studying a proposal put...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amManhattan Three people were arrested yesterday and charged with the fatal shooting of a man in his Harlem apartment, cops said. Yolanda McDowell, 20, Maurice McDowell, 22, and William Calderone,...
OSCAR NOMINEE SLASHED
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amEmmy-winning and Oscar-nominated documentary maker Susan Froemke was slashed in her Upper West Side apartment yesterday by her live-in boyfriend, who stabbed himself several times in a failed bid to...
DEATH OF A DREAM ; ASPIRING NURSE SLAIN AT WORK
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amA "fun-loving and easygoing" 36-year-old woman who worked overnights at a Queens laundry to pay for nursing school was found murdered there yesterday, police said. The body of Valerie Dennis...
GUARD FILLS IN DETAILS IN DALI HEIST
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amA Rikers Island correction officer involved in the heist of a Salvador Dali painting told investigators the name of the supervisor who walked out of the jail with the valuable...
ABORTION-DOC KILLER WANTS TO MAKE A DEAL
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amAnti-abortion militant James Kopp - whose trial on charges he killed a doctor for performing abortions is set to begin next week in Buffalo - may be ready to make...
HBO'S CONTRACT ON TONY
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amHBO yesterday publicly rebuked its biggest star, James Gandolfini of "The Sopranos," as their money battle erupted into open warfare. The increasingly heated feud - which next moves to a...
B'KLYN KIDS ARE CHESS CHAMPS
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amBrooklyn Intermediate School 318 has been crowned with the New York State Junior High School Chess Championship. Students captured 12 of the top 20 positions in their matches. The top...
JUNKET POLS WENT HELL FOR FEATHER
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amWar's on the horizon, the city's mired in a budget abyss - but the talk of City Hall yesterday was photographs of exuberant City Council members whooping it up at...
MIKE-EXTORT LAWYER OFF THE HOOK
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amManhattan prosecutors, on the eve of going to trial, dropped their case yesterday against the lawyer of Oleg Zerev, the Kazakhstan computer hacker who extorted Mike Bloomberg. Igor Yarimaka, 39,...
HARASS PROBE CLEARS PRINCIPAL
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amBrooklyn Tech HS Principal Lee McCaskill was cleared yesterday of charges that he sent sexually obscene and harassing e-mails to staff members. The report by Special Schools Investigator Richard Condon's...
DIRTY DUO HIGHTAIL IT OUT
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amTwo Iraqis - booted by U.S. officials for security reasons - had their last look at Manhattan yesterday as they hopped into a SUV whisking them to the airport. Nazih...
RAIDERS SLAY 7 GOONS IN OSAMA HUNT
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Seven die-hard al Qaeda thugs were shot dead yesterday when U.S., Pakistani and Afghan military forces raided a terror camp in the no-man's land where Afghanistan, Pakistan and...
TRIPLE WHAMMY HITS THE PRODUCERS
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amBY agreeing to honor the picket line, actors and stagehands have handed pit musicians a major victory in their fight against Broadway producers to preserve orchestra minimums. Producers grimly conceded...
WORKING GIRL CHELSEA HITS 100-GRAND SLAM
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amNo starting at the bottom for Chelsea Clinton. The former first daughter has landed a $100,000 a year job at a business consulting firm, Newsweek.com reported yesterday. Clinton, 23, who...
COPS DIAL IN TO MISSING WOMAN'S LIFE
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amA team of detectives has been scouring the cell-phone records of missing Upper East Side woman Svetlana Aronov - hoping they'll hold a clue to her mystery disappearance. Cops have...
PROTESTER HAS A GRIPE WITH GRAPE
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amThe men's bathroom in one New Jersey eatery was flowing with champagne yesterday - when a restaurateur poured out $1,000 worth of Dom Perignon as a protest against the French....
OSAMA HUNT BAGS GANG OF TERROR GOONS
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - U.S., Pakistani and Afghan military forces got into a shootout with al Qaeda diehards during a raid on a camp in Pakistan yesterday where reports indicated Osama bin...
SMOTHERING 'D' POWERS IONA
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amMAAC TOURNEYIona 62Loyola 39 TRENTON - When Iona won championships, it was always the Gaels' defense that carried them. And last night, despite ice-cold shooting and sputtering offense, it was...
JETS PUT LANDETA ON HOLD
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amNFL NOTES The Jets yesterday waived punter Matt Turk, and will take a look tomorrow at 14-year journeyman Dan Stryzinski, who last kicked for the Chiefs, with ex-Colt Hunter Smith...
SEAHAWKS SHOOTING TO TOP LIU
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amFour years ago, Dereck Whittenburg offered Jermaine Hall the chance to be the cornerstone of a struggling Wagner basketball program. Hall signed on in a heartbeat, coming to a tiny...
OSGOOD'S READY FOR ISLE RETURN
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amChris Osgood is expected to get his first start in the Islander net since Jan. 21 when the Isles host the Devils tonight at the Coliseum. It would be Osgood's...
JOHNSON'S BRACED FOR BIG SWINGS
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amYANKEE NOTES FORT MYERS - On the second pitch he saw yesterday, Nick Johnson ripped a line-drive single to right. Safe to say that wrist's feeling better. In his first...
LEETCH LEADING WAY
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amTHE Rangers, cornered by a season of injury, misdirection and brainlock, needing probably 10 wins in their 13 remaining games to make the playoffs for the first time since 1997,...
NETS FACING BIGGER PROBLEMS THAN YAO
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amHOUSTON - Yo, Yao is not the only problem facing the Nets here tonight. Granted, Yao Ming literally will be the biggest obstacle facing the Nets in their quest to...
BIG BLUE DOESN'T SEEM HIGH ON HUGH
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES Defensive end Hugh Douglas yesterday concluded his visit to Giants Stadium, and the Giants are not expected to make a major play for him. "It's not going to...
REYES LIKELY NORFOLK BOUND
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amMET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE - Shortstop Jose Reyes thinks he's headed for the minors. Reyes, who has missed more than a week of spring training games due to a...
ASTACIO SEEMS BOUND FOR DL
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amSPLIT SQUADSMets 4Braves 0Mets 6Tigers 5 PORT ST. LUCIE - An unexpected hole in the Mets' starting rotation opened up yesterday when GM Steve Phillips said it's likely No. 3...
THROWN FOR A LOSS ; METS SUDDENLY FACE UNFORSEEN ROTATION ISSUES
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - David Cone was supposed to be a potential fringe benefit, not a necessity. Mike Bacsik and Jason Middlebrook were expected to battle for one spot in...
VLAD LUCK FOR RANGERS
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amYes, of course Mike Richter remains out of the lineup, and so, for that matter, does Sylvain Lefebvre. Still, the mid-February returns of both Brian Leetch and Pavel Bure gives...
SEE YA SEHORN: GIANTS CUT JASON,TAKE $8M CAP HIT
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amOnce, in a quiet moment a few years ago, Giants co-owner Wellington Mara said Jason Sehorn was the best cornerback he'd ever seen. It was quite an assessment. Although Sehorn's...
EWING JR. HEADING TO INDIANA
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES ORLANDO - It's been quite a week for Patrick Ewing Jr. Yesterday, one week after watching his dad's No. 33 Knicks number rise to the Garden rafters, Patrick...
INJURED YANKS PLAYING IT SAFE
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amTwins 9Yankees 2 FORT MYERS - First the bad news. Alfonso Soriano has been diagnosed with right shoulder tendinitis. Now the good news. An MRI came back negative, meaning it...
THURSDAY'S SNOW KNOCKS OUT AQUEDUCT CARDS
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amLive racing at Aqueduct was canceled today and yesterday after the first race, when the NYRA management decided the track had absorbed too much moisture from Thursday's snow. The snow...
JASPERS COP MAAC HONORS
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amTRENTON-- Locals swept the annual MAAC awards ceremony. Manhattan's Bobby Gonzalez was named Coach of the Year and junior guard Luis Flores was named Player of the Year. Gonzalez led...
HOLIK LEADS WAY
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amRangers 5Flyers 1 Nights like this are the reason the Devils tried to keep Bobby Holik away from the Rangers by offering him $41.25 million to stay in New Jersey....
THE REST IS EASY
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amMIGHT have been the three days off. Also could have been Roman Cechmanek, who with the Rangers' late bid for a playoff spot getting down to the short strokes, opened...
MOLLOY TAKES THE HIGH ROAD
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amCHSAA 'A'Molloy 72Rice 68 Jack Curran has seen his team win a lot of games in his illustrious career - 850 and counting - but last night's Molloy win stood...
LAVOR POSTED TO INJURED LIST
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES ORLANDO - Lavor Postell, the odd man out yesterday when the Knicks brought Charlie Ward off the injured list, was miffed about heading to the IL himself, as...
KNICKS WORK MAGIC ; SMALL LINEUP ENDS 7-GAME ROAD SKID
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amKnicks 111Magic 102 ORLANDO - As Howard Eisley dribbled out the final seconds of last night's gutty 111-102 victory at Orlando's TD Waterhouse Centre, Shandon Anderson walked off the court,...
GOOD MOVE, FRANK-LY : WILLIAMS STAYS, POSTELL BUMPED
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amORLANDO - The Knicks finally did the right thing. With Charlie Ward activated for last night's game against the Magic after he missed eight straight games, the Knicks elected to...
WILLIE SHAW'S UP ST. JOHN'S
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amMIAMI - Don't let the final score and statistics fool you. Before Marcus Hatten erupted for 31 points in the second half of a 75-59 win over Rutgers Thursday night,...
GAELS' 'D' ZAPS LOYOLA
March 8, 2003 | 5:00amMAAC TOURNEY Iona 62 Loyola 39 TRENTON - When Iona has been a championship team, it's been the Gaels' defense that has carried them. And even with their shooting touch...