August 14, 2003
ENGAGEMENT RING SALES POLISHING TIFFANY'S PROFITS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amTiffany & Co. said yesterday that increased sales of engagement rings helped boost second-quarter profit 26 percent. The jeweler's business was strong in all categories, mirroring equally buoyant results reported...
HOME DEPOT SIGNS FOR DIGS ON W. 23RD
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amHome Depot has signed a lease for an 110,000- square-foot store at 28-40 W. 23rd St. As The Post previously reported, Home Depot has been in talks for nearly a...
NEWS CORP. HAS $370M PROFIT IN QTR.
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amNews Corp. reported a steep increase in quarterly profits yesterday, helped by the company's film division and a jump in advertising sales at the Fox News Channel. The company reported...
CASTLE KEEPER SELLING CITY LAIR FOR $925K
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amIVAN Wilzig, one of the two wealthy brothers whose name is synonymous with the infamous party palace in the Hamptons known as Wilzig Castle, is selling the Midtown Manhattan digs...
DYLAN REVISITED IS POSITIVELY LIVELY
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amBOB DYLAN Dylan plays the Hammerstein Ballroom (311 W. 34th St.; [212] 564-4882) again tonight. ---- IF one element marked Bob Dylan's Hammerstein Ballroom performance Tuesday, it was that the...
HBO 'MARRIAGE' DIDN'T WORK OUT
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amHBO has divorced itself from Steven Bochco's "Marriage." The series was to have been set completely in the bedroom of a young married couple and was supposed to premiere next...
ETERNAL HOPE - NIXED BY 'BAYWATCH,' DAVIS GETS INDIE PROPS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amTHESE days, she's a darling of brainy film buffs, but for a very brief moment 15 years ago, Hope Davis wanted to be on "Baywatch." She also went up against...
STARR REPORT
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amSpike's banking on Flex appeal Spike TV is offering one viewer the chance to win a 2003 GMC Yukon XL Denali customized by Funkmaster Flex, otherwise known as the dean...
POOCH PASSION - MTV'S 'TRUE LIFE' FETCHES MY OWN FIDO FIXATION
August 14, 2003 | 4:00am"True Life: I'm Obsessed with my Dog" [ 1/2] Tonight at 10 on MTV ------- ON MTV's latest "True Life," documentary "I'm Obsessed with my Dog," loony dog lovers -...
LATIN KINGS OF COMEDY - WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A KILLER STREET GANG TRIES TO GO STRAIGHT
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amThe Latin Kings: A Street Gang Story [ ] Tonight, at 9:30 on HBO ---- TONIGHT Jon Alpert, an 11-time Emmy winner, turns his camera on the Latin Kings for...
YO! RAP, JAP
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amHow JAP-py are you?Aviad Cohen, a.k.a. rapper 50 Shekel, is searching for someone to become Lil' Spender, his Jewish American Princess sidekick rapper. Cohen, a 28-year-old Brooklyn native, describes his...
FLAUNT IT, BIALYSTOCK
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amNathan Lane's coming back to Broadway, all right - only this time he'll be alongside sexy "Nine" star Jane Krakowski. The two will host "Broadway on Broadway" on Sept. 7...
AUDIENCES OK 'THE O.C.'
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amVIEWERS are starting to find the new prime- time soap "The O.C." The new show - which mixes teen drama with some "Dallas"-like, rich-and-powerful politics - won its time period...
TIMES RADIO FIRES STATION'S VOICE OVER OFF-AIR REMARK
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amRADIO announcer Gregg Whiteside, the voice of The New York Times-owned classical station WQXR, was fired this week in another political-correctness flap at the Gray Lady. The station canned Whiteside...
EVERYBODY MUGS RAYMOND - CO-STAR'S SALARY DISPUTE HALTS PRODUCTION
August 14, 2003 | 4:00am'EVERYBODY Loves Raymond" co-star Brad Garrett remains AWOL from the popular sitcom as he battles CBS for a raise. Garrett, who won an Emmy last year for his portrayal of...
BLOCKPARTY: FIRST THINGS FIRST
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amEast First Street THE easiest thing about getting to this part of town is the cab ride - all you have to say is "First and First." The hardest thing...
LITTLE CROP OF HORRORS: HOLLYWOOD LOVES A GOOD AX MURDER AGAIN
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amA group of college students finishes finals, buys caseloads of beer and delves deep into the woods for an all-night party. Soon enough, of course, the hop-headed teenagers are running...
LIBERTY ST. LESSONS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amEVER since 9/11, Gov. Pataki's redevelopment schemes for Ground Zero have hoped to squirm free from the site's 16-acre confines and seep into some adjacent blocks. But now everyone is...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amOfficials in Maryland's Anne Arundel County pulled out all the stops when Emma the cat plunged down a 60-foot well, sending 11 firefighters to rescue her. Capt. Michael Cox, whose...
BEEP'S $100 TICKET PAID IN MYSTERY
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amManhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields got a pleasant surprise when she walked into court yesterday to fight a $100 ticket for a "dirty sidewalk" - a mystery benefactor had...
HIP-HOPPERS JUMP INTO PUBLIC SERVICE
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amToday's Hip-Hop Summit in Philadelphia will provide the backdrop for the announcement of a new national campaign aimed at helping superstars from the rap and sports world support some of...
PA COPS MAKE TIMES-LY ARRESTS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amAn attempt at an aquatic exposé led a pair of journalists from the New York Times to be netted by Port Authority police yesterday, when they were apprehended aboard a...
GOV WINS ROUND 1 ON $UCKER PUNCH
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amALBANY - The testy Battle of the Bonds between Gov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg got even uglier yesterday as Pataki took Bloomberg to court - and won a decisive first...
YEAR IN JAIL FOR SEAGAL $CARE
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amSteven Seagal's former producer pleaded guilty to shaking down the action star with the help of a powerful wiseguy - but claims he was just trying to collect several million...
SENATOR AND BRONX MOM SUE CITY OVER GAY HIGH SCHOOL
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amA state lawmaker and a Bronx mom sued the city yesterday to block public spending on the city's new gay high school, charging Mayor Bloomberg with segregation for illegally offering...
MELON-CHOLY MURALIST IS BUSTED
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amThe phantom painter behind the mysterious watermelon murals on buildings in Westchester and The Bronx turns out be a contrite 17-year-old kid acting on a dare, police said. Alexander Mosley,...
TRIPLE WRECK ON QNS. BLVD.
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amA triple SUV pileup at a Queens Boulevard intersection looked like a demolition derby - but amazingly, nobody was seriously hurt. The smash-up occurred at 12:45 p.m. when the driver...
SUBURBAN 'TERRORISTS' NEIGHBORS STUNNED AT 'MR. AVERAGE' ARRESTS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amThe neighbors think he's the typical businessman, perhaps a little dull, but definitely on the road a lot. But to the U.S. government, Hemant Lakhani is the shadowy international arms...
JUDGE CUTS MOBSTER A B'DAY BREAK
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amA DeCavalcante mobster will probably party hard on his 60th birthday next month - he's headed for the slammer the next day. Salvatore "Sal the Barber" Timpani, along with three...
THE $25M COUPLE: JUDGE RULES JACKPOT IS THEIRS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amA New Jersey couple who were sued by a group of hospital workers over a winning $25 million lottery ticket were rolling in green yesterday after a judge ruled in...
MIRACLE SUBWAY SHOVE SURVIVOR
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amA straphanger defied death yesterday, surviving a shove that sent him sprawling in front of a No. 5 express train. The Brooklyn martial arts expert, who was on his way...
N.Y. TOPS LIST FOR TOUGH SCHOOL TESTS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amNew York state has some of the toughest high school graduation requirements in the country, a report released yesterday found. In the upcoming school year, New York students are required...
16 NABBED AT DRUG LAIR - FBI AIDS FINEST IN B'KLYN BUST
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amFederal and local cops swarmed into a Brooklyn housing project yesterday and rounded up 16 alleged pot and crack dealers - including a violent Guyanese gang known as the McFarlane...
HAMPTONS DIARY
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amSALLY QUINN and Ben Bradlee were told to "cork it" when East Hampton village cops spotted them serving wine at their annual clambake at Georgica Beach last weekend. "For the...
BILL AND HILL STAY AWAY FROM GRAY MATTER
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amAS ARNIE mania explodes, there are hints that Bill and Hillary Clinton are running scared and don't want to risk putting their personal prestige on the line to try to...
FIENDS PLOTTED A SECOND 9/11: MISSILE 'SMUGGLER' EYED ANNIVERSARY
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amAn arms dealer who boasted that Osama bin Laden "did a good thing" planned to smuggle 50 missiles into the United States this month to attack jetliners and destroy America's...
LAWYER DIES IN QNS. COURT
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amAn elderly Queens lawyer died yesterday of an apparent heart attack as he waited for his case to be called, authorities said. Melvin Weinberger, 75, was sitting in Justice Darrell...
BIZ WHIZ ON BOARD - INVEST GURU BUFFETT BACKS ARNIE'S SCHWARZENOMICS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amWASHINGTON -Legendary investor Warren Buffett yesterday jumped aboard the Arnold Schwarzenegger bandwagon as chief financial adviser, saying the Terminator would make a "great governor" who can fix California's economic woes....
INMATE TIED TO 1994 RAPE
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amAn upstate prison inmate who could've been paroled in January was arrested for rape - thanks to a DNA match almost six years after the crime. Curtis Phillips, 30, was...
JUDGE BOOTS POL OFF BALLOT
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amControversial City Councilman Allan Jennings - who once compared himself to Jesus - has been thrown off the November ballot, The Post has learned. The decision by a Queens Supreme...
SUBURBAN 'TERRORISTS' - NEIGHBORS STUNNED AT 'MR. AVERAGE' ARRESTS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amNeighbors think he's a typical businessman, perhaps a little dull, but definitely on the road a lot. But to the U.S. government, Hemant Lakhani is the shadowy international arms dealer...
FIENDS PLOTTED A SECOND 9/11 - MISSILE 'SMUGGLER' EYED ANNIVERSARY
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amAn arms dealer who boasted that Osama bin Laden "did a good thing" planned to smuggle 50 missiles into the United States to attack jetliners and destroy America's economy on...
THREAT CANCELS SAUDI FLIGHTS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amBritish Airways yesterday suspended flights to Saudi Arabia after Saudi security forces found plastic explosives and written plans to attack a jet in Riyadh, it was reported last night. The...
4 TEENS DIE IN WHIRLING WHITEWATER AS RESCUE GOES AWRY
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amFour teen camp counselors drowned in a popular Adirondacks swimming hole after one tumbled into the rain-swollen river and the three others - lifelong friends from Long Island - dived...
CHOP SHOP SCAM WAS DEAD RINGER
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amThe widow of a Queens garage owner convicted of fraud in 1992 is following her husband down the same criminal path, authorities said yesterday. Lisaleah Perez Rizzo, 38 - who...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amBROOKLYN * Two Flatbush men who shot each other during an argument were arrested early yesterday on assault charges, police said. Elijah Walker and Tremayne Smith, both 26, pulled guns...
PENSION TIME BOMB - PAYOUTS TO BLOW CITY BUDGETS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amCity pension costs will skyrocket over the next four years - largely because of wage hikes and giveaways by the state Legislature, not the sluggish stock market, a fiscal watchdog...
CHILLING REMARKS OVER TED
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amPeople at the kooky company that froze Ted Williams' dead body joked about throwing it out, putting the corpse up for auction on eBay or sending it in a "frosted...
TAIL OF WOE GROUNDS LEARJETS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amThe Federal Aviation Administration yesterday grounded the popular mid-sized Learjet 45 because of a potential defect in its tail section that could send the superlight aircraft into a steep dive....
MYSTERY COLORADO KOBE POLL
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amA polling company reportedly is contacting potential jurors in Kobe Bryant's rape case and asking pointed questions about their opinions on whether the NBA superstar is guilty or innocent. The...
BIZ WHIZ ON BOARD: INVEST GURU BUFFETT BACKS ARNIE'S SCHWARZENOMICS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - Legendary investor Warren Buffett yesterday jumped on board the Arnold Schwarzenegger bandwagon as chief financial adviser and said the Terminator would make a "great governor" who can fix...
WHY MIKE TOOK THE GLOVES OFF
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amFor a guy who's spent 18 months ducking every chance to take on Gov. Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg finds himself in a curious position: in a mega-battle against Pataki in the...
BEATEN TOURIST: NOW I [LOVE] N.Y.
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amTen days after a madman viciously attacked her on her first night in town, Lili Sun returned yesterday to see what a great city New York really is. First she...
QNS. MOM SLAIN - 'KILLER' BEAU THEN WAITS FOR COPS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amA Queens man shot his girlfriend three times in the head in an apparent fit of jealousy yesterday, then walked outside his apartment and fired his gun into the air...
MARIA SHRIVER IS NOW EMERGING AS A KEY PARTNER AND PLAYER
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - Arnold Schwarzenegger's Kennedy-kin wife, Maria Shriver, is now emerging as a key partner and player in the action hero's bid to become California's new Republican governor. "She is...
CLUB SEEKS SUIT OVER NYPD DRUG 'SET UP'
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amThe NYPD set up a nightclub as a drug den so it could shut it down, court papers charge. In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Soundfactory owner Richard Grant...
EUROPE: WORLDS APART
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amLIFE may not be predictable, but Europeans are. If we criticize them publicly, they splutter, outraged that we don't recognize their perfection. They can dish it out abundantly, but continental...
GUILTY PLEA IN SEAGAL $CARE
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amSteven Seagal's former producer pleaded guilty to shaking down the action star with the help of a powerful wiseguy - but claims he was just trying to collect several million...
BEATEN TOURIST: NOW I LOVE N.Y.
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amTen days after a madman viciously attacked her on her first night in town, Lili Sun returned yesterday to see what a great city New York really is. First she...
BUST TOO LATE FOR RAPE VICTIM
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amDetectives yesterday arrested a parolee for a Bronx rape two weeks ago - but less than two hours before he was busted, he struck again, said cops. Cops wanted Ramon...
JUST MIKE OL' TIMES - CATCHER CRUSHES HOMER, KNOCKS IN FIVE IN RETURN
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amMets 9 - Giants 2 Art Howe and Mike Piazza were trying to preach caution yesterday afternoon, and any clear-thinking individual was inclined to believe them. After all, Piazza had...
A ROYAL BEATING - WEAVER ROCKED; APPIER CRUISES
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amKANSAS CITY - One night after the Yankees delivered their best performance of the season, they were putrid against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. When the Yankees don't pitch, hit...
MIKE'S RETURN RX FOR SICKLY LINEUP
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amWhen Mike Piazza was out with a groin injury the last three months, there was a giant hole in the middle of the Met lineup that exposed players like Ty...
TRACHSEL PROVES REAL GIANT SLAYER
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amLost in the hubbub of Mike Piazza's return, Steve Trachsel hurled a gem last night against the first-place Giants. Trachsel allowed only four hits through his first seven innings before...
NIEUWENDYK AWAITS OFFERS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amLess than a month from training camp, Joe Nieuwendyk still doesn't know where he'll be skating. While the three-team Cup-winner counts the Devils among his best options, sources say Lou...
DOSE OF TOUGH LOVE AT OAK HILL
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amROCHESTER - Davis Love III has had plenty to deal with during the 2003 golf season: the death in May of a brother-in-law to suicide and recent rumors of troubles...
JINTS LOOK FOR REAL DIEHL - HOPE ROOKIE GUARD CAN BOLSTER LINE
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amALBANY - Jim McNally is tired. This is a somewhat startling development, considering he is an assistant coach who does more push-ups and sit-ups in a day than more people...
GOLF NEEDS TIGER VICTORY RIGHT NOW
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amROCHESTER - Tiger Woods needs to do everyone a favor this weekend. We've seen enough hand-wringing, about whether his five-major drought officially merits consideration as a slump. We've listened to...
WILSON RETURNS TO RESERVE ROLE
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amThe return of Mike Piazza to the Mets' lineup yesterday was exciting news for everybody - except Vance Wilson. Wilson's time behind the plate likely will be cut drastically to...
OH, BABY! BEEM'S FEELING HOMESICK
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amPGA NOTES ROCHESTER - Rich Beem is happy to be defending the PGA Championship he won at Hazeltine last year. But part of him would rather be in west Texas...
PHILLIPS FIND PROVES TO BE SIMPLY AMAZIN'
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amTHE silver lining wears the kind of goggles associated with a schoolyard racquetball player. The silver lining is slower than Robin Ventura. Heck, he is slower than Robin Ventura carrying...
DUNCAN DEPARTS, ON WAY TO NORFOLK
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amMET NOTES Jeff Duncan was demoted to a place he'd never been before. Duncan, who was recalled to the Mets from Double-A Binghamton earlier this season, was optioned to Triple-A...
LAMPE INKS KNICKS DEAL
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amMaciej Lampe, the 7-foot Polish teenager whose freefall from lottery status on draft night turned into a possible windfall for the Knicks, yesterday signed a three-year deal worth an estimated...
BOOMER BACK SOON - AILING WELLS SHOULD MISS ONLY ONE START
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amKANSAS CITY - David Wells' balky back will cost him just one start. At least that's the plan after the veteran lefty underwent an MRI exam in New York yesterday...
SCORE FREEZE IN 'HOTHOUSE'
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amDouble-OT: M-Stars 0 - Wizards 0 The thermometer hit 118 degrees on the artificial turf at Giants Stadium. Kansas City's Jimmy Conrad was carted off to be treated intravenously for...
NELSON'S MIND ON NEW DEAL
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES KANSAS CITY - Jeff Nelson is using the Yankees' upcoming visit to Baltimore to get the ball rolling on a new multiyear contract. Nelson said he plans to...
KIDD: K-MART DIDN'T MAKE TRADE DEMAND
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amJason Kidd's advice to Kenyon Martin has been to keep working hard and let business handle itself. After all, Kidd reiterated yesterday, there isn't much Martin can do about his...
NEW PACT FOR ALEXEI
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amHoping Alexei Kovalev can provide more than the 10 goals and 13 points he managed in 24 games after his return to the Garden last season, the Rangers signed the...
BECHT'S EYEING BIG ROLE
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amJET NOTES Jet tight end Anthony Becht is ready to make an impact in the passing game. "I really want to," Becht said yesterday. "I really worked hard this offseason...
BONILLA POPS UP AGAIN
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amA day after Bill Clinton paid the Mets' clubhouse a visit, they got another guest yesterday when Bobby Bonilla came by for some pre-game hugs and high-fives. Bonilla, now working...
JIM CRACKS WHIP ON SHOWBOATING SHOCKEY
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amGIANT NOTES ALBANY - Jeremy Shockey caught a touchdown pass yesterday afternoon and then spiked the ball directly at the feet of safety Ryan Clark. The football bounced so high...
BACK WITH A BANG! - PIAZZA CRUSHES HOMER IN RETURN
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amMike Piazza picked up where he left off. In only his second at-bat since straining his right groin on May 16, Piazza smashed a trademark two-run homer to left in...
TIME RUNNING OUT ON LIBERTY'S DRIVE FOR PLAYOFF BERTH
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amDon't tell the Liberty, but closing a 17-point deficit might have been the easiest part of their week. The Liberty continued their improbable march toward the playoffs on Tuesday, eating...
RIVERA'S RETURN MIGHT BE RIGHT
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amKANSAS CITY - Even though he isn't in pinstripes, Juan Rivera remains in the right field mix. Rivera, who started all four Yankee playoff games last year in left field,...
RIGHT ANSWER MAY BE RIVERA
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amKANSAS CITY - Even though Juan Rivera isn't in pinstripes, he remains "in the mix" as the Yankees try to figure out what their best options are in right field....
PIAZZA'S A HIT, BUT WHEN WILL HE PLAY FIRST BASE?
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amTHE photographers all broke from a disinterested slouch on this humid afternoon to race toward the bat rack in the home dugout, and the few hundred folks at Shea Stadium...
WELLS GETS GOOD NEWS ABOUT BACK
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amKANSAS CITY - David Wells' balky back will cost him just one start. At least that's the plan after the veteran lefty underwent an MRI exam in New York yesterday...
'CIDE' PARTY LOOKS TO INVADE TRAVERS
August 14, 2003 | 4:00amSARATOGA SPRINGS - Although a torrential downpour threatened to spoil the festivities, yesterday's Funny Cide Day at the Old Spa turned into a sunny side day long enough for the...