August 5, 2003
GE SELLS BOND UNIT FOR $2.1B
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amGeneral Electric Co. announced yesterday that it would sell its bond insurance unit to a team of buyers led by mortgage insurer PMI Group Inc. for $2.16 billion. After months...
INTEREST-RATE MOVES WARN THE ECONOMY MAY BE BROKEN
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amTHE U.S. economy may be broken. That's different from saying that the economy is - or isn't - improving. It is like saying it can't improve. And the idea that...
$75,000 MYSTERY: MONEY TRAIL MAY LINK MERRILL TO ANTI-SPITZER MOVIE
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amEarlier this year, Merrill Lynch paid Chicago-based strategy consultant Cambridge Group $75,000 - the same amount the consultant had paid to an independent filmmaker who was planning a documentary critical...
HELLER MAY WALK IN MERGER WAKE
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amWITH the ink barely dry on CB Richard Ellis's gobbling-up of Insignia, one of CBRE's best-known dealmakers is already headed out the door. Sources say investment sales specialist Woody Heller...
COMCAST-ING CALL : HIRES UNIVERSAL ALUM BIONDI FOR HELP WITH VUE BID
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amComcast appears to be getting serious about making a formal bid for Vivendi Universal Entertainment. The cable giant has hired former Universal Studios head Frank Biondi to help with its...
CABLEVISION HIRES AOL LAWYER AMID PROBE
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amCablevision said yesterday it hired Jonathan Schwartz, who recently helped AOL Time Warner manage its government accounting investigations, as its new general counsel. Cablevision is in the midst of its...
NAUTICA ARTISTE SEEKS PARTNER
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amJohn Varvatos, creator of the John Varvatos sportswear label for Nautica, has been talking to possible partners for his business, The Post has learned. The future of Varvatos, 48, and...
NHL-ERS TO THAW OUT VINTAGE TEAM JERSEYS
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amNational Hockey League fans will have a chance to step back in time during the upcoming season, when members of six teams will don vintage jerseys during games - part...
ON A 'POWER' KICK
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amMEET the Lara Croft of Manhattan. With her slicked- back hair, six-pack abs and higher-than-Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer kicks, Ilaria Montagnani looks ready - and able - to raid the next tomb. Unlike...
GETTIN' IGGY WITH IT - PIONEER POP AND STOOGES REUNITE
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amALL too often, rock bands are labeled "legendary" or "pioneering." Rarely do bands actually live up to such accolades. But, in the case of the Stooges, fronted by Iggy Pop,...
WYNONNA 'LOVE' STORY
August 5, 2003 | 4:00am* Wynonna "What the World Needs Now Is Love" [] Curb Records Wynonna Judd's story is hidden in a few words at the end of the thank yous in the...
SFO FAR, SO GOOD
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amTRAVELING between downtown San Francisco and the city's airport (SFO) has gotten easier and cheaper. For just $4.70, you go the distance quickly and comfortably on BART (Bay Area Rapid...
STARR REPORT
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amDefinitely READ into it: Bernie's 'Armed' Bernie Mac is the latest star to pose for a READ poster for the American Library Association. The "Bernie Mac" star, photographed by Kimberly...
STROLL ON OVER TO PIER 54 FOR THE WALKMEN
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amTO prolong that summertime feeling, pray for no rain, have some pink drinks al fresco in the Meatpacking District, then head to Pier 54 (West Side Highway at 14th Street;...
BEST DEBUT SINCE GEORGE CLOONEY - KID ACTOR STEALS FOX'S PRIMETIME SOAP 'THE O.C.'
August 5, 2003 | 4:00am"The O.C." [ ] Tonight at 9 on Fox ----- ONCE in a great while an actor comes along whose face pins you to your seat. No, I don't mean...
BACK-BITING BEGINS TO GET ROCCO
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amCELEBRITY chefs with their own reality TV shows have their dark moments. Even entire episodes for that matter. Ask Rocco DiSpirito, the star of NBC's "The Restaurant" who came out...
TIGHTWAD: CHILE OUT
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amFOR a boutique resort that attracts the world's best skiers - along with a respectable mix of celebs -Chile's Portillo, 30 degrees and snowy when the north is hot, is...
SPLIT SCREEN: BEN AND JEN SHOULD KEEP THEIR DISTANCE AT THE MOVIES
August 5, 2003 | 4:00am'GIGLI" didn't just bomb at the box office this weekend - it nuked. And the noxious fall-out may mean Ben and Jen will never work together again. The movie industry...
THE POST HELPS SET STANDARD FOR MINT CONDITION
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amMINTS may be the fashionista's latest accessory - but Pulse wondered if there was any punch behind the fancy packaging. Stores have been flooded with colorful containers holding all sorts...
'FIRE EXIT' OBSTRUCTED - VOLUNTEER HEROES SUE TO STOP EVICTION
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amOne of the city's remaining volunteer fire crews is hoping a judge will come to its rescue. The Aviation Volunteer Fire Department of Harding Park in The Bronx was supposed...
SINGING PRAISES: PIANIST IS ONE OF CITY'S GREATEST HITS
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amDENNIS MCHUGH - Anbassador Medal Nominee If you feel like grabbing a mike and singing a song like "When Your Old Wedding Ring was New," Denis McHugh is the pianist...
DAS RUSH TO INDICT RAPE DNA
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amThe city's five district attorneys will seek indictments against as many as 600 at-large rapists - known only by their DNA profiles - before the 10-year statute of limitations runs...
CIA GUY AIMS AT SEAGAL
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amThe CIA mystery man who once claimed Steven Seagal asked him about "whacking" someone may soon be dragged into federal court to help discredit the action star as a witness...
ZONGO KIN TO SUE CITY FOR $150M
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amThe family of Ousmane Zongo, an unarmed African immigrant shot to death by a cop, will file a $150 million suit against the city, the Rev. Al Sharpton said yesterday....
BIKE GIRL GETS WHEEL SURPRISE
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amAn 11-year-old Brooklyn girl, crushed when the bike she won in a school contest was stolen by thugs, was given a surprise consolation prize: new wheels courtesy of police detectives...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amA car crash near New Orleans revealed that a building thought to be a home-improvement business was actually a white-supremacist church. The vehicle smashed into the brick storefront in Chalmette,...
HAMPTONS DIARY
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amWHEN Richard Hendrickson says it's going to rain in the Hamptons, you can bank on it. That's because the lively, 90-year-old Bridgehampton resident has worked as a climate observer for...
'TALIBAN' DECAPITATOR LOSES HEAD IN COURT
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amAn independent filmmaker who decapitated his business partner - supposedly because he feared the victim was in the Taliban - yesterday accused the police, prosecutors and the judge in his...
FBI AGENTS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WEEK TO INTERVIEW A SAUDI MAN
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - FBI agents are expected within the week to interview a Saudi man who befriended and supported two of the 9/11 hijackers while they lived in San Diego, officials...
NUTELLA CONFIRMED YESTERDAY THAT IT HAS SEVERED ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH KOBE BRYANT
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amNutella confirmed yesterday that it has severed its relationship with Kobe Bryant - in part because of the basketball stars' legal problems. The statement, issued by Ferrero, Nutella's parent company,...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amBROOKLYN * A 28-year-old man was critically wounded early yesterday when a gun-toting thug accosted him and opened fire on a Crown Heights street, police said. The victim was shot...
PAL TELLS OF SON'S PAIN IN '97 SLAY CASE
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amThe son of a Queens couple gunned down as they slept became so withdrawn and depressed after their murder it was as if "he died inside," a family friend testified...
2 SIDES MAKE CONNECTION IN VERIZON TALKS
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amThe 78,000 Verizon workers whose contract expired over the weekend returned to work for a second day yesterday - averting a strike while talks between their unions and the nation's...
ARIEL MURDER PLOT - HAMAS DUO PLANNED TO DOWN CHOPPER
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amTwo Hamas agents planned to kill Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon by blowing up his helicopter or attacking his motorcade in Jerusalem, but the plot unraveled when they were arrested,...
GAVEL SET TO FALL ON 'BRIBE' JUDGE
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amA grand jury is expected today to indict embattled Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Gerald Garson for taking bribes after examining $10,000 in credit card bills that a lawyer claims he...
GORE PLANS NYU ANTI-WAR SPEECH
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - Amid talk he's being urged to jump back into the presidential race, Al Gore has arranged to speak out on Iraq to a large anti-war group at New...
'RENT-A-BRIDE' SEES JUSTICE OF PEACE
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amHere comes the alleged immigration-scam serial bride, modeling a less-than-couture bridal veil. Monique Figueroa, 26, of Richmond Hill, Queens, was in court yesterday to plead not guilty to accusations that...
WEATHER PUTS REAL DAMPER ON COMMUTE
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amFierce thunderstorms battered the Big Apple yesterday, bringing flash floods and causing a nightmarish commute home for thousands. And guess what folks - that was just the beginning. Forecasters are...
BIAS BASH OUTRAGE IN QUEENS
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amAn Indian-born cabby and members of his family were beaten, cursed and told, "Get out of here, bin Laden, go back to your country or we'll kill you," by three...
'97 ELEVATOR RAPIST GETS 40 YRS.
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amA man convicted of sexually brutalizing two Queens women in their apartment buildings was sentenced to at least 40 years in prison yesterday. Roderick Lesane, 38, landed two consecutive 20-years-to-life...
HEEERE'S 'WILFRED' - 'SCAM' SIBLINGS TESTIFY WTC BROTHER EXISTED
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amAlas, poor Wilfred - they knew him. Three siblings took the stand in Manhattan yesterday to insist they have a brother "Wilfred" - describing him in detail as a playboy...
'KID-TRASHER' INDICTED
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amA 50-year-old Bronx woman was indicted yesterday for allegedly tampering with physical evidence by tossing the body of her 9-year-old foster daughter out as trash in the Upper East Side....
DAVIS SIB HAS RIVAL FOR SEAT
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amGeoffrey Davis isn't going to have a free shot at the City Council seat of his murdered brother, James. The Working Families Party announced yesterday it's putting Letitia James, who...
COPS SHOOT UNARMED WOMAN
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amAn unarmed woman was shot by police in the basement apartment of a Brooklyn building last night, cops said. The woman, identified by police sources and relatives as Julia Rodriguez,...
WACKY CALIFORNIA GOV WANNABES
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amA pneumatic model who drives around in a pink Corvette, a veteran smutmeister, a thong-wearing computer geek - they're all rushing to get on the ballot to replace California Gov....
GAY 'BISHOP' SHOCK - PERV ACCUSATION HALTS HISTORIC EPISCOPAL VOTE
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amA controversial Episcopal priest on the verge of becoming the church's first openly gay bishop was suddenly derailed yesterday by bombshell charges of sexual misconduct and alleged ties to a...
BANDS BY HER MAN - 'I LOVE KOBE' BRACELET WORN BY YOUNG WIFE
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amNot only is Kobe Bryant's wife showing support for her man by wearing the $4 million diamond ring he gave her after he was charged with sexual assault, but the...
DON'T SELL OUT IRAQ: KEEP THE UNITED NATIONS SIDELINED
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amHAVING seen the United Nations in action (or inaction), I wouldn't trust it to run a school safety crossing on a traffic-free day in a roadless town with no children....
ZONGO KIN TO SUE FOR $150M
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amThe family of slain African immigrant Ousmane Zongo will file a $150 million suit against the city, the Rev. Al Sharpton said yesterday. Sharpton made the announcement after the family...
NO NEW TRIAL FOR '81 KILLERS
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amThe family of a Queens cop who was gunned down by two Black Panthers more than 20 years ago breathed a sigh of relief yesterday as a federal judge tossed...
MODEL CANDIDATE FOR CALIF. GOV
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amA pneumatic model who drives around in a pink Corvette, a veteran smutmeister, a thong-wearing computer geek - they're all rushing to get on the ballot to replace California Gov....
BANDS BY HER MAN: 'I LOVE KOBE' BRACELET WORN BY YOUNG WIFE
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amNot only is Kobe Bryant's wife showing support for her man by wearing the $4 million diamond ring he gave her after he was charged with sexual assault, but the...
ZONGO KIN TO SUE CITY FOR $150M OVER SLAY BY COP
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amThe family of slain African immigrant Ousmane Zongo will file a $150 million suit against the city, the Rev. Al Sharpton said yesterday. Sharpton made the announcement after the family...
LEGAL LOOPHOLE FREES FIENDS
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amA rapist lives among us. He's never been charged with attacking and beating four women in Harlem in the early 1990s, although cops are dead certain he's their man. But...
LIEBERMAN LASHES LEFTIES
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amSen. Joe Lieberman made his most dramatic pitch yet to separate himself from the angry Bush-bashing Democrats in the presidential race, claiming populist liberal Howard Dean "could lead the Democratic...
MIKE COOL ON DAVIS DYNASTY
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amThe practice of political candidates appointing a committee to pick their replacement if they can't serve is seriously flawed and must be re-examined, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. "We have this...
'CIDE' FEVER PUTS TRAVERS IN DOUBT
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amSARATOGA SPRINGS - The rematch in the Aug. 23 Travers Stakes between Triple Crown rivals Funny Cide and Empire Maker, which lost much of its luster Sunday when both 3-year-olds...
FUN DONE, JETS GET BUSY
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amTHE field trip is over and now the real work can begin for the Jets. When teachers take their students out of the classroom for a field trip, the concentration...
LIBERTY SUPER SUBS PICK UP THE PIECES
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amIt was fitting yesterday as a downed telephone pole knocked out the power for Liberty practice at the MSG fortress in Westchester. The team, cloaked in darkness most of this...
THE CLUB MIGHT NOT RECOVER FROM TORRE'S ADDICTION TO RIVERA
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amIT is never easy to watch a man try to break free from his addictions. If you've ever tried to stop smoking, there have been times you've approached a total...
YANKS ARMED, BUT MUCH MO DANGEROUS - WITHOUT STARTERS, BOMBERS ARE FINISHED
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amNine games produced a 5-4 record away from home during a stretch in which the Yankees traded their starting right fielder Raul Mondesi, third baseman Robin Ventura and acquired Aaron...
BOONE ANXIOUS FOR BRONX DEBUT
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Aaron Boone watched his brother Bret play for the Braves in the 1999 World Series at Yankee Stadium and remembers being there when his father played for the...
'SONNY' & SMITH ENTER RACING HALL
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amSARATOGA SPRINGS - Emotions were running high at the Old Spa yesterday when the late trainer Hubert "Sonny" Hine and jockey Mike Smith were inducted into the National Museum of...
METS ALREADY LOOKING AT '04
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amPerennial playoff teams are built on two things the Mets have gotten away from - and two things they plan to get back to next season. "We feel like the...
FASSEL'S RUNNING JUMPERS OFF FIELD
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amGIANT NOTES ALBANY - The first one to jump was tight end Darnell Dinkins. "Take a lap around this field and then come back," coach Jim Fassel shouted yesterday afternoon....
HOLDOUT HEADACHE - JOSEPH'S ABSENCE STIRS UP D-LINE
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amALBANY - When William Joseph finally arrives here at training camp, he's going to get an earful from coach Jim Fassel, and not merely for missing so much time and...
SEO'S MET SPOT SAFE - FOR NOW
August 5, 2003 | 4:00amMET NOTES Jae Weong Seo is struggling, but he's not in danger of being demoted to Triple-A Norfolk. Since it looks like Tom Glavine won't need to go on the...