June 29, 2004
MYSTERY BEHIND LATE RELEASE OF PPI DATA
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amONLY a dedicated cynic and a devout pain like me probably would bring this up, but how can the U.S. Labor Department expect people to believe statistics like the producer...
ORVIS DRIVES AWAY BUGS WITH NEW TREATED DUDS
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amYou've heard of stain-proof shirts and crease-resistant pants. Now there's insect-repellant clothing. Orvis, a chain of high-end sporting stores, is selling shirts, pants, hats and socks treated with the same...
DISCOVERY'S ZONE - CABLE NETWORK SIGNS BIG LEASE AT 850 THIRD AVE.
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amDISCOVERY Communications Inc., parent of the Discovery Channel, discovered it was out of room at 641 Lexington Ave., its New York base for its growing global advertising sales unit. So...
PLAYING ROUGH - AMAZON SEEKS $750 MILLION FROM TOYS 'R' US
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amAmazon.com has stopped playing nice with partner Toys "R" Us, filing a countersuit that asks a judge to terminate its contract with the toy retailer and award Amazon as much...
WAL-MART CUTS JUNE FORECAST
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amWal-Mart lowered its forecast for June sales growth yesterday, blaming unseasonably cool weather and lower-than-expected demand for Father's Day gifts. The nation's largest retailer said during its weekly sales update...
STAR'S PARENT RISKS CREDIT DOWNGRADE
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amAmerican Media, battling a potential downgrade by Moody's Investor Service, reported yesterday that its net income fell from a year ago, despite a rise in revenue. AMI also disclosed that...
PAPER'S EXEC WAS WATCHDOG
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amNewsday's top circulation executive was asked to help advise an industry watchdog charged with verifying the accuracy of circulation figures just months before his own paper admitted to fudging the...
46 GET DUMPED IN DEEP CUTS AT NEWSDAY
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amNewsday whacked its editorial and operations staff by 46 people, making the cuts among the deepest absorbed yet by any in Tribune Co.'s relentless cost-cutting drive. Newsday Publisher Ray Jansen...
WORLDCOM BANKS BALK OVER $2.8B
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amJ.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America and 14 other investment banks opted against paying $2.8 billion to settle allegations that they fleeced investors by selling billions of dollars of...
WORLDCOM BANKS BALK
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amJ.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America and 14 other investment banks opted against paying $2.8 billion to settle allegations that they fleeced investors by selling billions of dollars of...
INSIDE CLINTON'S SO-CALLED 'LIFE' - EDITOR HELPS BILL GET UNDER THE COVERS
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amHOW do you edit a president? If you're Robert Gottlieb, you treat him like anyone else - though admittedly it gets "a little surreal" when Secret Service men are standing...
MTV'S REAL 'O.C.'
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amMTV is borrowing a page from Fox's "The O.C." - and making its own series based in California's Orange County. The difference here is that "Laguna Beach - The Real...
STAR HITTER - HEARTTHROB SLIDES SAFELY TO 'CLUBHOUSE'
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amYOU may not know who Jeremy Sumpter is yet, but chances are your kids or your neighbor's kids already do. Sumpter, 16, is the star of CBS' "Clubhouse," a feel-good...
JANET OFF THE LEASH - NO DELAY ON SINGER'S LIVE BET PERFORMANCE
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amJANET Jackson and BET will be working without a net on live TV tonight. Jackson will perform live for the cable channel's fourth annual BET Awards. "We have every confidence...
COSTELLO, KABUKI, AN ALL-NIGHTER & MORE
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amTEN years ago, it was the festival nobody wanted: Since New York is a year-round arts festival, why create another? Since then, the Lincoln Center Festival has found its place...
'JEOPARDY' STREAK STILL GOING
June 29, 2004 | 4:00am'JEOPARDY!" whiz Ken Jennings' win ning streak rolls on. Jennings, who develops software for a healthcare company, continued to steamroll the competition on last night's edition of the quiz show,...
STARR REPORT
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe sky's no limit Barbara Walters is getting high on Thursday - and so is Peter Jennings, Diane Sawyer, Charles Gibson, John Stossel and Dan Harris. The ABC News anchors...
JUST ANOTHER FACIAL IN THE CROWD: THE 02JOY FACIAL
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amBILLED as an "instant face-lift" set to music, the new O2 Joy facial would seem to have everything going for it: oxygen, collagen . . . Beethoven's Ninth ("Ode to...
WILD SLING - SUPERHERO SEQUEL SOARS TO THRILLING NEW HEIGHTS; SPIDER-MAN'S WEB OF INTRIGUE
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amSPIDER-MAN 2 [*** 1/2] (Three and one-half stars) Super sequel. Running time: 127 minutes. Rated PG-13 (action violence). At the Astor Plaza, the Union Square, the Chelsea West, others. SEQUELS...
DÉJA VIEWS - BREAKING THE CURSE OF THE SEQUEL
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amA NUMBER after a movie's title used to be a sure-fire sign to stay away. "Charlie's Angels 2"? No thanks. "Rambo 3"? "Rocky 4"? "Nightmare on Elm Street 5"? Never....
LESSONS FOR NEXT TIME
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amIRAQ is again a sovereign state, this time without a dictator. Despite ongoing violence, the country's moving toward democracy. And even if that democracy proves imperfect, it will still be...
KINDERGARTEN KILLERS - 2 PERISH AS ROCKET HITS ISRAEL
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amJERUSALEM - A 4-year-old boy and a grandfather died outside an Israeli kindergarten in a rocket attack yesterday - the first victims in nearly three years of Palestinian missile assaults...
TV JUNKIES REACH PUBERTY SOONER
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amChildren who watch too much TV and play on their computers for extended periods of time appear to reach puberty faster than other kids, a new study says. "Our hypothesis...
PERV MA GETS WRIST-SLAP - 60 DAYS IN JAIL FOR BOY SEX
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amA Long Island mom who had sex with her son's 15-year-old friend as her husband slept nearby was sentenced yesterday to just 60 days behind bars and 10 years of...
THE IRAQ HANDOVER: KNOW THE ENEMY
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amONCE again, the Bush administration shows that it's at its best when it's at its boldest. The decision not to stand on rigid ceremony when it came to the inauguration...
MAID MAN CLEAN$ OUT HOUSE: COPS
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe owner of a Long Island housekeeping service has been busted for cleaning out a customer's jewelry box of $99,000 in baubles, police said. It was not the first time...
GALS ON ATKINS RISK NO BRAT-KINS
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amWomen eating a high-protein diet - such as Atkins - may reduce their chances of becoming pregnant, a study suggests. In tests on mice, scientists found that females fed a...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amDallas firefighters returned from a call to find their own station ablaze - because they'd left potatoes cooking on the stove. Other ladder companies had to be called in to...
ROT IN PRISON, KILLER - GETS LIFE IN CABBY SLAY
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amA "stone-hearted killer" who mercilessly shot dead an immigrant cabby in his driveway and stole his SUV should never see the light of day again, a Queens judge said yesterday...
ROCKET KILLS ISRAELI TOT & GRANDPA
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amJERUSALEM - A 4-year-old boy and a grandfather died outside an Israeli kindergarten yesterday - the first victims in nearly three years of attacks by Palestinian rockets fired from the...
PLUNGING SUBWAY CRIME RATE MAKING HISTORY
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amSubway crime continues to remain at historically low levels, according to the latest statistics released yesterday. Figures for four of the NYPD's six major crime categories have either decreased or...
WORLD CROSSES FINGERS & HOPES - OPTIMISM BALANCED BY DOUBTS
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amForeign governments around the globe cautiously welcomed yesterday's surprise early handover of power in Iraq, but there was widespread doubt that it will have immediate effect. "Everything that accelerates the...
U.S. LOSING EDUCATION BATTLE: MURDOCH
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amUnless failing public schools are turned around, kids here are going to lose jobs to better-educated youngsters half a world away, News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch warned yesterday....
OH, BROTHER! WIFE CAN'T STAND THIS RAT'S POISON
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amSTONE-FACED and thin-lipped, Josephine Massino stared about 60 feet across the courtroom at a man once known as "her baby." Sal Vitale, 56, or "handsome Sal," as he is called,...
HAMPTONS DIARY
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amIF Howard Dean were still running for president, he'd have more money in his coffers. His sprightly mom, Andrée Maitland Dean, sold several items at a tiny yard sale in...
RESERVOIR HERO DIES SAVING BOY
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amA Manhattan native with a heart as big as his adopted home state of Texas drowned after plunging into the frigid waters of a reservoir to rescue a 15-year-old family...
MASS. GOV RIPS KERRY 'COP'-OUT
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amBOSTON - Sen. John Kerry got replaced - and scolded - by Republican Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney yesterday after the Democrat canceled a speech to the nation's mayors rather than...
$75M TO KEEP LID ON RENTS
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe city is shelling out nearly $75 million to keep building owners from renting subsidized middle-class housing at market-value rates, Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday. Under the Mitchell-Lama program of the...
FREAK SHOW GETS EVEN MORE FRIGHTENING
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amPLEASE, Courtney. Say it isn't true. Courtney Love whirled into Manhattan Criminal Court like a high-heeled train wreck, 5 ½ hours late. Standing before the judge, she swatted theatrically at...
COP GUILTY OF ABUSING PAL'S WIFE
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amA veteran city cop was convicted yesterday of molesting a fellow officer's wife while riding with her in an elevator. Mark Faljean, 46, of Staten Island faces two years in...
A TARDY TART - JUDGE RIPS LATE COURTNEY LOVE
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amYou can't hurry Love - but if you're a Manhattan Criminal Court judge, you can still threaten to bust Love for being late. "I had already issued an arrest warrant,"...
NUT OPENS FIRE ON WALL ST. SUBWAY
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amA straphanger who exchanged stares with another subway rider on a No. 5 train pulled out a gun and fired at the man yesterday afternoon after the pair got off...
COUNCIL OVERRIDES MIKE ON 'GAY BENEFITS' BILL
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe City Council yesterday voted to override Mayor Bloomberg's veto of a bill forcing contractors doing business with the city to offer domestic-partner benefits - but the mayor said the...
SLAIN MAN KNEW KILLER: POLICE
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amA Brooklyn man was mysteriously killed at his apartment in Crown Heights. Lowell Fletcher, 47, was shot four times in the hallway of his apartment on New York Avenue, just...
NEW MAN TARGETS FDNY BOOZE WOE
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amIn an effort to bolster the FDNY's top brass after a series of alcohol-related incidents, Mayor Bloomberg yesterday appointed Peter Hayden as chief of the department, the highest-ranking uniformed position....
NATION IN IRAQI HANDS AT LAST - TAKES POWER 2 DAYS EARLY
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - The U.S.-led coalition gave up control of Iraq two days ahead of schedule yesterday, stunning the world with a secretive low-key ceremony that ended 14 months of turbulent...
COUNCIL FLUNKS HOLD-BACK PLAN
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe City Council yesterday passed a resolution blasting Mayor Bloomberg's plan to end social promotion of city school kids. Council Speaker Gifford Miller (D-Manhattan) called the mayor's third-grade retention plan...
BUSH STARTS DAY ON HIGH 'NOTE'
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amPresident Bush yesterday read a top aide's note alerting him to the transfer of power in Iraq, glanced at his watch and whispered the news to British Prime Minister Tony...
CAPTORS EXECUTE ARMY GI - GRISLY VIDEO AIRED
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amBloodthirsty fanatics in Iraq yesterday released a videotape of a captive American soldier who's been held for more than three months being shot execution-style in the back of the head....
DEATH-LEAP DAD - JUMPS FROM HOTEL AFTER BATTERING WIFE
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amA deranged tourist - furious his wife planned to dump him - savagely beat her in their Midtown hotel room, then took a swan dive out the window, plunging six...
FAMILY CRISIS - MAFIA KIN FUME AS IN-LAW SQUEALS ON STAND
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amAs his big sister looked on, seething with rage, Salvatore "Good Looking Sal" Vitale took the stand yesterday and ratted out her husband, reputed Bonanno mob boss Joseph Massino. Vitale,...
AMERICAN KIDS LOSING EDUCATION BATTLE
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amUnless failing public schools are turned around, kids here are going to lose jobs to better-educated youngsters half a world away, News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch warned yesterday....
POLS TRUMP MIKE ON GAY BILL
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe City Council yesterday voted to override Mayor Bloomberg's veto of a bill forcing contractors doing business with the city to offer domestic-partner benefits - but the mayor said the...
WOMB WITH A VIEW - PICS SHOW FETUSES SMILING - AND 'WALKING'
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amBreathtaking new photos showing fetuses "walking," yawning, smiling and crying in their mother's wombs have been produced, thanks to a revolutionary ultrasound scan. The amazing snapshots of the unborn boys...
OUT-OF-TOWN FERRY MAN FIRED
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amA Staten Island Ferry worker has been fired after failing to comply with the city's residency rules, officials said yesterday. James Margro, 60, who earned $160,000 a year in 2002...
PRINCIPALS OF 45 SCHOOLS GET BOOT
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amSchools Chancellor Joel Klein has flunked and replaced 45 principals this school year - including half of those who headed the city's most dangerous schools. Eighteen were forced to quit...
TWO KIDS BADLY HURT IN TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amTwo youngsters were fighting for their lives last night after unrelated traffic accidents one hour - and four blocks - apart in Brooklyn's Crown Heights. At 6:30 p.m., three children,...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amMANHATTAN * Police yesterday released this sketch of a gun-toting cat burglar who has broken into three swanky Upper East Side apartments and stolen cash and jewelry. He began his...
OUT-OF-TOWN FERRY MAN AXED
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amA Staten Island Ferry worker has been fired after failing to comply with the city's residency rules, officials said yesterday. James Margro, 60, who earned $160,000 a year in 2002...
SUBWAY CRIME PLUNGE MAKES HISTORY
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amSubway crime continues to remain at historically low levels, according to the latest statistics released yesterday. Figures for four of the NYPD's six major crime categories have either decreased or...
RESCUE TRAGEDY - MAN DROWNS SAVING BOY, 15
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amA native New Yorker with a heart as big as his adopted home state of Texas drowned after plunging into the frigid waters of a reservoir to rescue a 15-year-old...
TEACHERS 'PERK' UP - HUNDREDS GET PAID LEAVE AFTER '03 NIX
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amHappy days are here again for hundreds of city public-school teachers just granted approval to take prized paid sabbaticals after being denied the cushy leaves last year. Mayor Bloomberg rejected...
FDNY BIG PICKED TO HELP PUT OUT 'FIREWATER' WOES
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amIn an effort to bolster the FDNY's top brass after a series of alcohol-related incidents, Mayor Bloomberg yesterday appointed Peter Hayden as chief of the department, the highest-ranking uniformed position....
SUBWAY CRIME HITS RECORD LOWS AGAIN
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amSubway crime continues to remain at historically low levels, according to the latest statistics released yesterday. Figures for four of the NYPD's six major crime categories have either decreased or...
SPIDEY'S NEW YORK - CITY REINVENTED IN WEB OF FANTASY
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe real New York wasn't good enough for "Spider-Man 2." So when the highly anticipated sequel opens tomorrow, don't be surprised to see that Spidey's Manhattan isn't quite the same...
TIME IS NOW TO BANISH BOSTON
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amNONE of the players wants to throw himself onto the griddle. The Red Sox talk so earnestly and so often about the Yankees being just another team on the schedule,...
ABUNDANCE OF RICHARD - HIDALGO OFF TO HOT START WITH METS
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amMET NOTES The first home run was a monster blast, soaring into the black behind the center field fence at Yankee Stadium. The second one was a no-doubt drive into...
LOWDOWN ON DICKIE DUNCE: AWFUL, BABY!
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amFAR be it from me to segue into summer without summarily slapping someone. Today's vacuous victim is none other than Dick Vitale, whose credibility lies somewhere between Bill Clinton and...
DUKE FINDING HOME AT MSG
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe Duke Blue Devils could play in the Garden as many as three times this season after agreeing yesterday to play Oklahoma in a nationally-televised game on Dec. 18. Duke...
BOSS: BRING IT ON - STEINBRENNER'S STOKED FOR SOX
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amHe'll celebrate his 74th birthday on Sunday, but George Steinbrenner's competitive juices flow like a man half his age. Asked about the Yankees-Red Sox three-game Baseball Armageddon that opens tonight...
CALL FOR ARMS - METS MUST FIX ROTATION FOR PLAYOFF PUSH
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe Mets need another pitcher. But is there one to find? Starting tonight, the Mets will play 13 games in 13 days with every upcoming opponent currently in either first...
RICHARDSON TELLS KIDS: LIFE, DRUGS DON'T MIX
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amMicheal Ray Richardson had more natural talent than any other Knicks point guard, more than Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe, more than Stephon Marbury. Yet the 6-5 do-everything floor leader...
BOSS - BOMBERS ARE STILL IN ARMS RACE
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amGeorge Steinbrenner admitted yesterday his club will likely add a starting pitcher, but didn't say who it would be. "We probably will," The Boss said about making a deal for...
'JUST ANOTHER GAME' - SOX DOWNPLAY BRONX SERIES (YEAH, RIGHT!)
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amBOSTON - The Red Sox swear there is no sense of urgency, that their series with the Yankees, which begins tonight at Yankee Stadium, is just another trip on the...
GIAMBI PEEKS INTO FUTURE
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amApparently eager to know if there is any more bad news in his future, slumping Yankee slugger Jason Giambi - already plagued by a bum ankle and a case of...
YANKEES-RED SOX IS TALK OF TOWN
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe city is frozen with anticipation as the heavyweight championship of sports resumes tonight. THE rumble of the Subway is drowned now by the marching of the Red Sox toward...
SHEFF, JASON SET TO RETURN
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Brian Cashman expects Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi in Joe Torre's lineup tonight when the Yankees open their three-game series against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Sheffield,...
RICHARDSON TO KIDS: SAY NO TO DRUGS
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amMicheal Ray Richardson had more natural talent than any other Knicks point guard, more than Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe, more than Stephon Marbury. Yet the 6-5 do-everything floor leader...
SHEFFIELD, GIAMBI SET TO RETURN
June 29, 2004 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Brian Cashman expects Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi in Joe Torre's lineup tonight when the Yankees open their three-game series against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Sheffield,...