August 16, 2003
WATT A DISASTER - BLACKOUT MAY SPARK CHANGE IN FLAWED UTILITY BIZ
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amThe worst blackout in North American history is likely setting the stage for a heightened Congressional debate over the reliability of the nation's electricity grid, legal experts and energy regulators...
SCHRAGER HOTEL FILES BANKRUPTCY
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amIan Schrager's Clift Hotel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, as the hotel impresario struggles to restructure mounting debt. The Clift in San Francisco is just one piece...
GRIN & WEAR IT - WITH NO POWER AND NO SHOWERS, NEW YORKERS DEBUTED 'BLACKOUT CHIC'
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amMANHATTAN'S notoriously high fashion standards went out with the lights this week, as New Yorkers made do with whatever clothes, soap and running water they could find. Yesterday, people who...
TWO GUYS TO GAG ON - 'MAN SHOW' A MANGLED MESS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00am"The Man Show" [Zero stars] Tomorrow at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central ---- IF you've ever wondered how low TV can go, check out "The Man Show." Repulsive and over-rated...
REAL TOMB RAIDERS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amNEFERTITI RESURRECTED [* * * 1/2] Tomorrow at 9 p.m. on Discovery ---- IF you love everything about ancient Egypt, from the curses to the inexplicable architectural feats that we...
CALM IN THE CRISIS: THANK RUDY
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amWHAT a difference 26 years makes. In the summer of 1977, on the hot night of July 13, the city of New York went dark - and Americans bore horrified...
JOHN ODERMATT, HEAD OF THE CITY'S OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, WAS IN WASHINGTON CONDUCTING A MEETING ....
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amJohn Odermatt, head of the city's Office of Emergency Management, was in Washington conducting a meeting on homeland security when he got the call that the lights were out in...
STRICKEN SCIENTIST SUING NYU
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amA research scientist says he was unwittingly exposed to an untreatable and debilitating virus while working at New York University. Paul Schwenger's $25 million lawsuit charges the school failed "to...
NYC IN THE DARK: A FRIENDLY TOWN
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amI WAS 55 blocks south and four avenues east of my apartment when the lights went out on Thursday. But the long walk home - the whole night really -...
MY HOURS OF UNDERGROUND TERROR IN HEAT AND DARKNESS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amTHE subway train jerked to a stop. The lights went out, the air conditioning went off and it was dead silent for a full minute before emergency lights came on...
WHAT WENT WRONG? - BLAME ALBANY
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amALBANY STATE politicians from Gov. Pataki to the leaders of the Legislature were already playing the power- outage blame-game yesterday - but top energy experts agreed they had nobody to...
HUNTING FOR BUCKS - NYERS FORCED TO $CROUNGE FOR OPEN ATMS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amBig banks showed little sympathy for customers as cash-strapped New Yorkers had to trek miles yesterday to get a few bucks from a working ATM - while it was business...
GETTING TURNED ON WHEN EVERYTHING ELSE IS TURNED OFF
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amThe massive blackout didn't shut off all the electricity in the city - psychologists are predicting a baby boom from a rash of lights-out lovemaking. "One of my patients called...
DELIVERY IN THE DARK; EMERGENCY BIRTH GOES WITHOUT HITCH
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amWhen Julia Figueroa entered Elmhurst Hospital early Thursday morning, she was expecting a normal delivery. Instead, the Corona, Queens, woman had an emergency Caesarean section during the worst power outage...
THERE WAS LOOTING IN CANADA, CLEVELAND HAD NO WATER AND MORE THAN 100 MINERS WERE TRAPPED UNDERGROUND....
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - There was looting in Canada, Cleveland had no water and more than 100 miners were trapped underground as the ripples of the blackout of 2003 spread from Manhattan...
TRACKS OF OUR FEARS - SUBWAYS' COMEBACK IS DELAYED
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amThe subways weren't running yesterday - and that meant free city buses, overloaded cars, any bicycle and good old-fashioned shoe leather had to carry millions of people into, out of...
HAMPTONS BLACKOUT DIARY
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amPATRONS of Scoop Du Jour, the Main Street ice-cream staple in East Hampton Village, will have to wait some time before they get their next fix. The store, beloved by...
THE POWER OUTAGE WAS A NIGHTMARE FOR MOST NEW YORKERS ...
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amThe power outage was a nightmare for most New Yorkers, but it was anything but lights out for sidewalk food vendors. The nosh merchants ate up the biggest power outage...
FRUSTRATED FLIERS FACE 2ND NIGHT AT IRE-PORTS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amStranded air passengers had to sleep on sidewalks or floors with no food and little water the first night of the blackout - and awoke to wait in long lines...
IT WAS DIM PICKINGS - SHOPPING BY FLASHLIGHT FOR FOOD AND WATER
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amRestaurants, delis and bodegas around the city were still being hit up for rations a day after the blackout zapped the Fried Apple. At Costco's in Long Island City, Queens,...
TRAPPED ELEVATOR GIRL, 11, LIFTS HER MOM'S SPIRITS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amBeing trapped in an elevator is never fun. And you'd think that being trapped in one for three hours alone in the dark when you're 11 years old is the...
SUMMER CAMP FOR 8 MILLION - NO PLACE TO SLEEP BUT SIDEWALKS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amThe blackout turned the city that never sleeps into the city that sleeps anywhere - on the sidewalks, in skyscraper courtyards, parking lots and lobbies. Thousands of tourists staying at...
TV NEWS' 'DARKEST' MOMENT
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amThe historic blackout threw local TV stations for a loop - but only momentarily. Within minutes of losing power, almost every station switched to backup generators and were back on...
ONLY LAWYERS TO GET A $$ SURGE FROM BIG LOSSES
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amThe Great Blackout of 2003 is sure to generate countless lawsuits aimed at holding someone liable for the massive economic losses it caused - but experts said yesterday the only...
INSURANCE BATTLES LOOMING
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amMost insurance coverage provides little protection against power outages - but some businesses and homeowners may still be able to file claims, officials said yesterday. "You can't put a claim...
BRIDE AND GLOOM - POWERLESS CITY LEAVES COUPLE AT ALTAR
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amYesterday was their wedding day - but they were jilted by the city clerk. "We have the license and the paperwork, but the clerk's office was closed," said London native...
LOOTING TURNS LETHAL IN B'KLYN
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amA teenager died when he fell off the roof of a Brooklyn store under attack by looters during the blackout, police said yesterday. The youth, whose name was withheld pending...
BLOOMY MAY GET RECHARGE IN POLLS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amSeven hours into the Great Blackout of '03, Mayor Bloomberg decided to wind up a grueling 16-hour day by visiting the headquarters of Con Ed near Union Square. But the...
BYPASSED BOROUGH HAS A QUEENS-SIZE COMPLAINT
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amThe blackout left some Queens residents feeling that their borough was the forgotten child. As most other parts of the city were powered up yesterday, generators continued to blow at...
DUMPING IRON? - SUDDENLY, ARNIE'S IN 2ND PLACE
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - A shocking California poll suggests Arnie-mania may be hitting some turbulence and Arnold Schwarzenegger could be in a tough race for governor against Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante....
DEATHS AMID THE DARKNESS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amFour people paid with their lives seeking light and coolness lost to the blackout, authorities said yesterday. A 70-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman - who apparently thought sea breezes...
DEADLY EVE AS LIGHTS GO BACK ON
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amThree people were killed yesterday in separate tragedies just as power was coming back throughout the city. Avin Ramgoolam, 22, was killed on a personal watercraft off Howard Beach, Queens...
LET THERE BE LIGHTS * POWER FINALLY SEEPS BACK TO CITY * SUBWAYS GETTING BACK ON TRACK
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amThe city slowly crawled out of darkness yesterday, but the effects of the largest blackout in U.S. history were still being felt in all five boroughs - from snarled traffic...
KNICKS HOPE LAMPE GLOWS BRIGHT AND LONG
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amMaybe two months. Maybe two years. . . . No one seems to be able to pinpoint, or even provide an educated estimate, of when Maciej Lampe might become a...
FRANKEL HOPES 'FUR' WILL FLY TO $2M BONUS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amSARATOGA SPRINGS - Trainer Bobby Frankel refuses to count his dollars before they're hatched, all two million of them, which is the bonus his 3-year-old filly Spoken Fur will receive...
BRADLEY HAS METROS KEEPING EYES ON GOAL
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amThe MetroStars missed the playoffs last year, but that's ancient history under new coach Bob Bradley. He's aiming to make his team more dangerous. He's aiming to win the Eastern...
ACHING BACK SENDS DUVAL HOME
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amPGA NOTES ROCHESTER - David Duval's woes continued yesterday when he withdrew from the 85th PGA Championship due to a back injury. Duval had started the day 10-over-par after shooting...
DEREK'S SET TO CUT SHORT WEAK TOSSES
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES BALTIMORE - Joe Torre admitted this week what the rest of baseball has known for quite some time: His outfielders' arms aren't very good. So, to help them...
LOST IN THE WOODS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amROCHESTER - It isn't going to happen for Tiger, not here, not in this tournament, not in this forgettable year. Call it a slump if you want. Call it an...
IVERSON: MEDIA UNFAIR TO KOBE
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amThe shockwaves that have rippled from Kobe Bryant's sexual assault charge are partly the result of an unrealistic image that's been foisted on the Lakers' All-Star, said Philadelphia's Allen Iverson....
'BIG' GAME FOR JETS AS CHESTER DEBUTS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amDon't be alarmed if you witness a lunar eclipse sometime in the first quarter of tonight's preseason game between the Jets and Saints at Giants Stadium. It'll merely be massive...
U.S. HAPPY TO BE BACK IN LIGHTS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amThe U.S. Olympic qualifying men's basketball practiced yesterday. Playing a game was another matter. In the wake of the massive blackout that left the Garden still without power yesterday, the...
AMAZIN'S FIND WAY TO DEAL WITH DARKNESS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amMets millionaires were up the same creek as the rest of us Thursday night when the lights went out on Broadway. And like the rest of the city (and parts...
TOPSY-TURVY TOURNEY - UNKNOWN MICHEEL STEALS LEAD AT PGA
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amROCHESTER - This is how crazy the 85th PGA Championship has become. Shaun Micheel, playing in his first PGA Championship, and Billy Andrade, who barely got in the tournament after...
NO BLACKOUT BLUES FOR JINTS
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amGIANT NOTES For all the mayhem created by the unprecedented power outage that rocked the area, the Giants and Panthers were barely affected as they traveled to Giants Stadium for...
GLAVINE, HRS BRING A GLOW TO FLUSHING
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amMets 5 - Rockies 0 Even more ridiculous than the Mets playing a game under the lights last night when parts of the city still had none were the random...
GIANT BUMMER - FASSEL'S FURY FAILS TO IGNITE BIG BLUE
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amPanthers 20 - Giants 10 The ultimatum laid on the Giants - play better, or else - did not result in the crisp, efficient performance coach Jim Fassel was searching...
FLOYD OPTS FOR SURGERY
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amMET NOTES Cliff Floyd's season most likely will end Monday, when he plays in the final game of the Mets' four-game series with Colorado at Shea. The slugging outfielder, acquired...
YANKS GET BIG BOONE - HUGE HR BAILS OUT BULLPEN
August 16, 2003 | 4:00amYankees 6 - Orioles 4 BALTIMORE - Wearing a sweat-soaked, road-gray uniform, Aaron Boone started to earn his Yankee pinstripes last night at Camden Yards. Boone came through with a...