November 1, 2003
M'SOFT SPECTER STALKS GOOGLE
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amMicrosoft Corp. may be pulling a Darth Vader on Google. There's speculation in tech circles that the software giant is pursuing the same "join us or die" approach it has...
GUCCI TALKS FASHIONABLY LATE
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amContract negotiations between Gucci's star management team and owner Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) dragged on yesterday, dashing expectations of an imminent settlement. Gucci Chief Executive Domenico De Sole said recently that he...
MIDWAY WAS THE LITTLE AIRLINE THAT COULDN'T
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amIt was a high-flying start-up - an airline with bright-colored planes, low-cost fares and a reputation for impeccable customer service. No, it's not JetBlue, the current darling of the airline...
NEW MCI HURDLES; OUT OF BANKRUPTCY, BUT LEGAL FIGHTS WITH RIVALS LOOM
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amThe phone giant formerly known as WorldCom is cautiously stepping out of bankruptcy court protection - but faces more battles in its second life. The company, which lately has been...
MORE STATE PENSION FUNDS DROP PUTNAM
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amTainted mutual fund Putnam Investments got fired by more pension funds yesterday, raking up $4 billion in lost accounts. Putnam is at the center of a growing probe on how...
GET INN ON THE B&B MARKET
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amTwenty-six years ago, when David Whitbeck purchased an ornate townhouse in Brooklyn's Prospect Heights, he didn't set out to open a bed-and-breakfast. Still, when his daughter moved out decades later,...
SUPERMODEL HOME
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amGIMME SHELTER Mannequin-turned-mother Christie Brinkley is selling her Bridgehampton estate, again. The former supermodel and her husband, local architect Peter Cook, are re-listing their sprawling 21-acre north-of-the-highway property, this time...
POETS & DOORMEN: LUXURY BUILDINGS SPRING UP IN THE RAFFISH EAST VILLAGE
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amFrom W.H. Auden to Iggy Pop, the East Village has long provided a home for Gotham's contingent of poets and madmen. And with rents in Williamsburg no longer the bargain...
VINTAGE PORT IS MELLLOW
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amAsk anyone on the streets of Port Washington about the best thing this North Shore hamlet has to offer, and you'll keep hearing the same word: community. Newly arrived residents...
HOME MAKEOVER: HERE'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TV'S "SELL THIS HOUSE" COMES TO TOWN
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amIt's dirty. It's filthy." "Look at the stove - it looks like rats live in here." Ever wonder what potential buyers say when they enter your home? Perhaps it's best...
BORDELLO MUSICAL FLAT & FLIMSY
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amWILDER At Playwrights Horizons, 416 W. 42nd St. Through Nov. 14. Ticket Central, (212) 279-4200. FROM the title, "Wilder," one expects a play about the youth of Thornton Wilder -...
CELEBRATING A 20-YEAR RUN
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amIT'S been 20 years since Run-DMC released its self-titled debut and changed the course of rap music. That's the anniversary that Eyejammie Gallery owner Bill Adler wanted to celebrate with...
GIRLS & DOLLS: GET READY FOR GOTHAM'S NEW TOY PALACE
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amIf you or anyone else you know loves American Girl - the dolls, the books, the furniture, the magazine - you'll be thrilled by what's in store next: The store....
BROOKLYN'S GIANTS HIT THE BOOKS
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amThey're both pop musicians. They both have children's books. But They Might Be Giants insist they're not mimicking Madonna. With their first kids' book, "Bed Bed Bed," says Giant John...
WHEEL STRANGE ; BICYCLES FROM JUNK READY FOR SPIN CYCLE
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amSOME people balk at the mere idea of riding a bike around the city. Try riding three at once - like the members of the New York chapter of the...
HOT SHOPS: IT'LL TAKE SOME SLEUTHING TO FIND THESE TRENDY, NEW DOWNTOWN BOUTIQUES - BUT THEY'RE WORTH IT
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amThough their stock is as different as can be, the new crop of downtown designer boutiques have one thing in common: blink and you'll miss them. All five of these...
THE WINNER'S CIRCLE
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amCome meet Seabiscuit - or at least one of the horses that played him in the hit movie - at the 120th Metropolitan National Horse Show this weekend. You can...
FELLINI OF THE SPIRITS
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amHard to believe, but it has been 10 years since Federico Fellini's death on Halloween 1993. To mark the occasion, the Guggenheim Museum is presenting what it calls "the first...
PICTURE OF AN AMERICAN WEEK
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amThe new coffee-table book, "America 24/7" (DK Publishers, $50) was certainly a logistical challenge. The editors - the same team who put together "A Day in the Life of America"...
SURVIVOR AND KIN IN ANGUISH
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amBill Castro was all right when he went to the memorial service for Staten Island ferry victims last Wednesday. He was all right until he came home to his one-bedroom...
GIS ENCIRCLE SADDAM'S HOMETOWN
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The U.S. military sealed off the village where Saddam Hussein was born yesterday as part of an aggressive new campaign to stem the terrorist violence. Soldiers from the...
THE REAL REASON CORPORATE HYPOCRITES SUED: SHE'S GAY
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amROSIE O'Donnell's "partner" - the politically preferred term for her female lover - smiled as she showed me a photo of 11-month-old Vivienne Rose O'Donnell. "Vivi," as Kelli Carpenter calls...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amBrooklyn A 66-year-old man was charged with murder yesterday after he strangled his live-in girlfriend in a Seagate apartment building, police said. Seagate police were called to the building on...
HOUSE PASSES IRAQ RECON BUDGET
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The House yesterday passed President Bush's $87 billion Iraq reconstruction budget - with New York's Democrats sharply divided over it. Eight New York Democrats voted for the bill,...
MOB BABY STORY JUST A PLAY FAKE
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amProsecutors believe a murdering mobster was just being spiteful when he testified in Philadelphia this week that he drove the wife of his newly jailed mob boss - Philly's notorious...
KERRY RIPS INTO DEAN'S GUN STANCE
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Democratic 2004 wannabe Sen. John Kerry yesterday went gunning for pheasant - and for rival Howard Dean. Kerry sported a 12-gauge shotgun as he set off for an...
EAR'S WHERE IT'S THE WORST
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amSubway noise on a platform at the Union Square station was the ear-splitting loudest in the city, according to a City Council new report on the most deafening places. Of...
VANDALS HIT RABIN MEMORIAL
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Vandals yesterday painted swastikas and graffiti on a statue marking the spot where Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated eight years ago. The desecration came on the...
L.I. SLAY CONVICTION TOSSED
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amA federal judge yesterday threw out the 1997 murder conviction of a Long Island woman serving life for killing an ex-boyfriend - because he found she was wrongly prevented from...
SHAKEDOWN SPURS KNIFE-SLAY: COPS
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amA would-be extortionist was stabbed 10 times and killed by the Chinatown bus-company owner he was trying to shake down, a police source said. Zhen Ji-Li, 31, was knifed in...
OVERCROWDED KIDS CAUGHT IN 'MIDDLE'
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amTwo-thirds of the city's public middle-school students were packed in classes with 28 or more kids last year, a report yesterday found. And about half of sixth- to eighth-graders were...
MARATHON MADNESS; 30,000 RUNNERS POUNDING THE PAVEMENT TOMORROW
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amCandidates for political office are headed into the Election Day home stretch to determine who will run the city. But tomorrow, more than 30,000 marathoners will run the Big Apple...
TRAIN-TOILET DOPE MU$T DO HIS DUTY
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amCall it the most expensive toilet flush ever. The man riding a Metro-North train who dropped his cell phone into the bowl and got his arm stuck trying to retrieve...
DONORS TO $HED LIGHT ON BRIDGES
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg came up with a very bright idea yesterday by convincing corporate donors to restore the lights on the four East River bridges. Switches will return to the "on"...
'COCAINE-COUCH' COURIER FURNISHES A GUILTY PLEA
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amA polite, wheelchair-bound Texan 'fessed up yesterday to his role in the cocaine couch caper. Eddie Gutierrez, 44, mopped his brow nervously as he told federal Judge Deborah Batts he...
FED FERRY FIX-IT; CITY BRINGING IN TEAM OF EXPERTS
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amCity officials are bringing in federal maritime experts to check the ferry system after the deadly crash Oct. 15 on Staten Island. The Global Maritime and Transportation School, which handles...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amCustoms agents at Miami International Airport seized 51 travel-size salted-peanut packets on an Avianca flight from Colombia after they discovered they were packed with snorts for snacks - 2.6 pounds...
HOW RAPIST BEAT SYSTEM
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amPolice are trying to learn whether anyone bothered to monitor the whereabouts of a repeat rapist who was released from prison in July - now that he's believed to have...
'AHNOLD CHAOS' WARNING
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amDemocrats are circulating a brochure linking Mayor Bloomberg's referendum on nonpartisan elections with the controversial elections of President Bush and California Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger, in an effort to get the...
N.J. BUST IN N. KOREA 'NUKE PLOT'
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amA New Jersey engineer was arrested by the feds yesterday for allegedly trying to send plans for nuclear power plant machinery to North Korea. Federal agents pounced on Sitaraman Ravi...
CONFLICT-WOE OFFICIAL ALTERS WEB SITE IN A SNAP
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amThe official facing conflict-of-interest charges over the city's controversial deal with Snapple has deleted references to the beverage company from the Web site of the private marketing firm run by...
SURPRISE OPPOSITION TO BUSH PICK
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - In an unusual move, four Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee said they oppose President Bush's nominee for a federal judgeship in Brooklyn. The nominee, Dora Irizarry, has...
CEMENT EYED IN GARAGE TRAGEDY
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amInvestigators are probing whether the concrete used to lay down the floors was the cause for the collapse of the Atlantic City casino garage that killed four construction workers and...
LOOKING ROSIER; WITNESSES CALL HER A FAIR BOSS
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amHer former business partners painted her as Tyrannosaurus Rosie - but Rosie O'Donnell's former employees testified yesterday that the one-time talk show host was no tyrant. The first four witnesses...
A WILD WEST TV SHOOTOUT GUNMAN WOUNDS LAWYER AS COURT CAMERAS ROLL
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amA man furious about losing a court battle over money with his sister sought Wild West-style justice outside a Los Angeles courthouse yesterday - going after her lawyer with a...
CASTLE MAN HEADING TO YE OLDE JAIL
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amA 1980s wheeler-dealer whose gaudy Southampton castle once turned stomachs throughout the Hamptons was sent to prison yesterday for evading taxes on the sales of a multimillion-dollar piano and some...
CEMENT EYED IN COLLAPSE
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amInvestigators are probing whether the concrete used to lay down the floors was the cause for the collapse of the Atlantic City casino garage that killed four construction workers and...
A WILD WEST TV SHOOTOUT; GUNMAN WOUNDS LAWYER AS COURT CAMERAS ROLL
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amA man furious with losing money in a court battle sought Wild West justice yesterday outside a courthouse by going after a lawyer with a gun in a bizarre showdown...
VEST OF TIMES FOR COP; LEAVES HOSP AFTER TAKING BULLET IN SHOOTOUT
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amThe police officer most seriously shot in Wednesday night's wild Brooklyn gun battle was released from the hospital yesterday, after thanking his partner for helping save his life. Sgt. James...
RESTAURANTS CAN'T SWALLOW LABOR PACT
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amRestaurant workers and their employers broke off contract talks last night, letting their contract expire at midnight without a strike. Talks will resume today between the Local 100 Hotel Employees...
FRIGHT-NIGHT FEVER; 25,000 TRICKSTERS TREAT VILLAGE TO A DELIGHTFUL FRIGHTFULNESS
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amA man-eating plant hungry for attention led thousands of costumed revelers through Greenwich Village last night in a spooktacular salute to Halloween. Audrey II, the hot-house star of "Little Shop...
HALLOWEEN VIOLENCE
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amA man trick-or-treating with his child in Queens last night was viciously stabbed by a gang of egg-throwing punks, police said. The victim, 24, was pushing his 2-year-old girl in...
CHINATOWN SHAKEDOWN SPURS KNIFE-SLAY: COPS
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amA would-be extortionist was stabbed 10 times and killed by the Chinatown bus-company owner he was trying to shake down, a police source said. Zhen Ji-Li, 31, was knifed in...
FRIGHT-NIGHT FEVER: 25,000 TRICKSTERS TREAT VILLAGE TO A DELIGHTFUL FRIGHTFULNESS
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amA man-eating plant hungry for attention led thousands of costumed revelers through Greenwich Village last night in a spooktacular salute to Halloween. Audrey II, the hot-house star of "Little Shop...
FRIGHT-NIGHT FEVER: PLANT LEADS PARADE
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amA man-eating plant hungry for attention led thousands of costumed revelers through Greenwich Village last night in a spooktacular salute to Halloween. Audrey II, the hot-house star of "Little Shop...
MIKE MOONS FOR LOPEZ LUST
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amJennifer Lopez had better watch her backside. Mayor Bloomberg apparently wasn't satisfied by his City Hall "love in" with J.Lo earlier this week as he made another attempt to make...
SCHOOLS TURN INTO GHOST TOWNS
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amHalloween emptied city public high schools yesterday - nearly half the kids were no-shows. High school attendance was a scary 56 percent - meaning 44 percent of students turned phantom....
GOP TRIES TO WIN ONE FOR THE GIPPER IN CBS MINISERIES FIGHT
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The Republican National Committee's chairman yesterday challenged CBS to submit its controversial Ronald Reagan miniseries to review for accuracy by a team of historians - or run a...
VEST OF TIMES AS SHOT COP LEAVES HOSP
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amThe police officer most seriously shot in Wednesday night's wild Brooklyn gun battle was released from the hospital yesterday after thanking his partner for helping save his life. Sgt. James...
SPREE FIRES MORE POTSHOTS AT KNICKS
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amLATRELL Sprewell, late of the Knicks, late to report to the Timberwolves' training camp, continuing to insist a clock's little hand is an issue only for small persons, again fired...
PAINFUL VICTORY: KENYON INJURED AS NETS WIN 1ST
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amNets 84 T-wolves 61 With 10:05 left in the third quarter, Brian Scalabrine and Aaron Williams appeared to be carrying off more than a teammate when they lifted Kenyon Martin,...
SCOTT-E.J. FACEOFF ECLIPSES GAME
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amNET NOTES Hey, players might even show up tonight when the Nets and Wizards play Washington's home opener, a game that has enough intrigue even without guys in shorts. The...
'QUEST' ONE TO BEAT IN KNICKERBOCKER
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amAs an antidote to the post-Breeders' Cup blues, Aqueduct offers up a pair of stakes races today for horses who are several cuts below those that ran last Saturday at...
CLARKE'S IDEA WOULD HINDER MARTY
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amThis idea might be Good for The Game. It would surely be bad for the Devils. Vezina Trophy winner Martin Brodeur would have to change his style dramatically if Flyer...
ISLES NEED SOMEONE TO STEP UP
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amIt would be one thing if the Islanders didn't have any skill or talent. But everyone, including those in uniform, all know they have enough firepower to do some special...
THE SMELL OF FEAR ; PENNINGTON GIVES JINTS THE SHAKES
November 1, 2003 | 5:00am"We're kind of at a disadvantage because we didn't get as much film on him as you would a normal quarterback leading up to the game."SHAUN WILLIAMS on Jets QB...
MARTIN IN RUSH TO SNAP BIG BLUE STREAK
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amJET NOTES The Jets' running game, after a pitiful start to the season, appears to be on the rise. In the previous three games, Curtis Martin has rushed for 77,...
MITCHELL MUST TURN THE CORNER
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES The Jets lost return ace Chad Morton but continue to rank among the league leaders in kickoff returns and punt returns. The Giants gained one of the league's...
WILPON PAL SEEMS SHOO-IN FOR MET SUPERSCOUT SPOT
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amAl Goldis, a longtime acquaintance of the Wilpon family with deep New York roots, has interviewed for one of the two "superscout" openings on the Mets, and is tentatively scheduled...
COACHES SAFE FROM AX
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amYANKEE NOTES Unless Lee Mazzilli or Willie Randolph lands a managing job, Yankee manager Joe Torre said yesterday there won't be any more coaches leaving his staff. Bench coach Don...
COACHING CLASH SCOTT-E.J. FACEOFFSTEALS FOCUS FROMNETS AND WIZARDS
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amRumors swirled that players also will be involved tonight when the Nets and Wizards play Washington's home opener in the first faceoff between New Jersey head coach Byron Scott and...
BOSS SPENT ALL OCTOBER IN FOUL MOOD
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amAccording to multiple organizational members, George Steinbrenner spent a lot of the postseason griping about multiple issues. It got so heated with GM Brian Cashman in the ALDS against the...
PORT RICHMOND EYEING TOP SEED
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amLAST year was supposed to be a breakthrough season for Port Richmond. The Red Raiders took a potent offense and a No. 3 seeding into the PSAL playoffs. But they...
JETS, GIANTS WANT SOMETHING SPECIAL ; HAPPY RETURNS COULD BRING WIN
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amSure, the Giants should be able to run the ball on the Jets' 31st-ranked run defense when the two teams meet tomorrow at Giants Stadium with their respective seasons hanging...
PATIENT ARMSTRONG BIDES HIS TIME
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amNET NOTES Starting would be nice, but playing is what matters for Brandon Armstrong. With Kerry Kittles working on a gimpy left leg because of a thigh bruise, coach Byron...
ANOTHER SLAM-DUNC? UP-SIZED KNICKS HAVE SPURS' NUMBER
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amLast year, Tim Duncan killed the Knicks. Obliterated the Knicks. Averaged 29 points and 13 rebounds in two games against their pint-sized front line. But the Knicks still won both...
HIS OWN BOSS ; TORRE HINTS 2004 MAY BE LAST HURRAH
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amWith the respect he demands from others, Joe Torre left no doubt in George Steinbrenner's mind that there were situations created by the The Boss this past season that the...
HOUSTON'S BUM KNEE MAKING PROGRESS
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES He moved faster, looked quicker and felt better. Not a bad day of practice for Allan Houston. The city's most talked-about right knee was feeling better yesterday, as...
LEETCH JUST ABOUT READY
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amMONTREAL - When Brian Leetch reports to the rink for today's morning skate, he'll do so with every intention of making his first appearance of the season in the Rangers'...
A WILD WEST TV SHOOTOUT ; GUNMAN WOUNDS LAWYER AS COURT CAMERAS ROLL
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amA man furious with losing money in a court battle yesterday sought Wild West justice outside a courthouse by going after a lawyer with a gun in a bizarre showdown...
HOKIES FIRE FIRST SHOT AT 'CANES
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amBLACKSBURG, Va. - It's been almost 17 years since the Miami Hurricanes stepped off a plane in Phoenix wearing combat fatigues and talking more trash than executives at a Browning-Ferris...
REY HOPES TO REIGN FOR SPAIN
November 1, 2003 | 5:00amKenyans swept the men's and women's crowns at last year's New York City Marathon. Rodgers Rop earned the fourth victory in six years by a Kenyan man, and will wear...