July 8, 2004
THIS IS STILL A DANGEROUS TIME TO GET INTO THE MARKET
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amTHE good news is that stocks aren't as expensive as they were this time last year because company profits have improved nicely. And there hasn't been a corporate scandal worthy...
SWEET AFTERTASTE - MOTTOLA'S NEW DEALS: LOHAN, USHER, HERSHEY
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amA year after launching Casablanca Records with Universal Music, Tommy Mottola is back making waves in show business. Since leaving his post as chief of Sony Music in early 2003,...
AT&T BONDS APPROACHING 'JUNK' TERRITORY
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amThe once mighty AT&T is facing the humiliation of sinking into junk-bond land. Bonds of the telecom giant have skidded all week into junk territory, following a pair of damaging...
HARVEY FINDS A MYSTERY BACKER
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amSUN VALLEY, Idaho - The mysterious international financier Vivi Nevo - who has not yet shown his face here but is expected shortly - is apparently ready to open his...
SWANKY SUITCASE MAKER LOOKING TO BAG A BUYER
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amLuxe luggage maker Tumi Inc. is holding a summer sale, The Post has learned. The South Plainfield, N.J.-based designer of high-end suitcases, garment bags, backpacks and business accessories has hired...
PERRY DESIGNER SUITS UP FOR JOB HUNT
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amPatrick Robinson, whose designs for Perry Ellis have won critical acclaim but fallen flat commercially, is looking for a new job, The Post has learned. Robinson is in the midst...
THEY'RE HEADING FOR EXITS AT CSFB
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amBankers are fleeing the CSFB coop, with managing directors in private equity and investment banking heading for the exit. David Wittels, Andy Rush, Mike Ranger and Ari Benacerraf have left...
DOWNLOAD THIS! IPOD MAG EN ROUTE
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amFans of Apple's iPod - the hand-held digital music player that has become the icon of everything cool in technology - will soon have their own magazine. IDG, the company...
140 ARE SLASHED AT REED
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amThe publisher of top business magazines including Variety and Broadcasting & Cable has fired up to 140 employees in a new round of cost-cutting. Most of the editorial and ad...
YAHOO! NET FAILS TO EXCITE
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amInternet darling Yahoo! became the latest tech company to disappoint Wall Street when it reported second-quarter results yesterday that fell short of sky-high expectations. The company, based in Sunnyvale, Calif.,...
BASEBALL A HIT IN RATINGS
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amBASEBALL ratings are hit ting a grand-slam across the country - as the national pasttime stages a bounce-back season. In virtually every market, baseball viewership is on the rise -...
JET PLAIN ROCK - SCRUFFY AUSSIES SOAR PAST TOP GARAGE ACTS
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amCLEAR the runway of the debris of the Strokes, Vines and White Stripes. The last garage band standing is Jet - four scruffy Australian rockers who'll touch down at the...
BANKS ACCOUNTS FOR TOP SPOT
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amBOOSTED by the huge hit single "On Fire," young Queens rapper Lloyd Banks burned up Bill board's Top 200 Albums chart this week with his debut disc, "The Hunger for...
NET RESULT: 'MCENROE' SERVES UP A LOSER
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amWE NOW have a new definition of the word "pain," thanks to John McEnroe. Pain is: The opening to last night's premiere episode of Mac's new CNBC talk show, "McEnroe."...
IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY - LURID AND RIVETING TALE OF THE BIZARRE FRIEDMANS
July 8, 2004 | 4:00am"Capturing The Friedmans" Tonight at 9 on HBO (four stars) IF you missed the 2003 theatrical release of "Capturing the Friedmans" - perhaps the most disturbing, bizarre, and honest film...
REAL' TROUBLE IN PHILLY OVER MTV CLUB FIGHT
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amCAST members from the Philadelphia cast of "The Real World" were caught up in a barroom brawl over the weekend - which was, of course, all caught on tape. The...
STARR REPORT
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amPete best on ABC ABC's Peter Jennings proved last week in Iraq that access equals ratings. Jen nings was the only network anchor to witness, first-hand, both the transfer of...
'NANNY' DIARY - MARK BURNETT'S REALITY ENDS UP A COMEDY
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amYOU have to admit, the story does sound like a sitcom. Long before Mark Burnett became famous as the creator of "Survivor" and, subsequently, other reality shows such as "The...
'EVERWOOD'S' NEW DOC CRIES WOLF
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amSCOTT Wolf, the hunky star girls love and guys love to hate, is heading back to TV. Wolf, who played the earnest but troubled Bailey Salinger on Fox's acclaimed drama...
SAND TRAPS - WHAT YOUR BEACH LOOK REALLY SAYS ABOUT YOU
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amWhat she says: "I'm single and looking. Can I give you my phone number in case anyone's interested?" Shab Hariri, 34, interior designer What our panel says: "Her outfit tells...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amAn Oregon truck driver nearly got busted for hauling busts - after motorists passing his pick-up with six life-like sculptures in the back mistook them for dead bodies and called...
COPYCAT SANTA SUIT TOSSED BY JUDGE
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amNo, Virginia, you can't copyright Santa Claus. A Manhattan federal court judge has given the heave-ho-ho-ho to a Texas manufacturer's lawsuit against a rival company it claimed was ripping off...
HAIR BRAIDER AND PAL BUSTED IN HARLEM GIRL'S SLAY
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amA self-styled hairdresser parolee and his thuggish sidekick were behind bars yesterday after cops accused them of brutally strangling a precocious 13-year-old girl they met in a racy telephone "chat...
'MUSIC MAN' HERO TO KIDS
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amLatin jazz musician Steve Pouchie is also a Bronx high-school music teacher with a favorite theme - he believes that inner-city students taught to play Beethoven improve in English and...
FRACTURED FAMILY - MASSINO WIFE BLASTS HER TELL-ALL BROTHER
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amTHEIR story began in a dusty village in Sicily, where a hard-working baker married a peasant girl. "Myself and my two sisters were born there and we came to Bushwick,...
JUDGE 'RULES' FOR JA IN '96 BUST
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amRapper Ja Rule was king of the court yesterday as he appeared in Queens on an 8-year-old warrant, happily signing autographs for surprised fans eager to get a glimpse of...
PLAQUE SPARKS FERRY FURY
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amFamilies of those killed in last year's Staten Island Ferry crash ripped the city yesterday for placing a plaque inside the boat and failing to rename the vessel in the...
LAWN-SIGN FIGHT A PAIN IN THE GRASS
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amA Long Island man - outraged at what he says are efforts to stifle his right to free speech - has won a battle to keep a sign on his...
GOTBAUM GOT $LOPPY - AUDIT ZINGS WATCHDOG'S SNAFUS
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amPublic Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, who's supposed to be a watchdog over city agencies, is running a loose financial ship in her own office - with tens of thousands of dollars...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amMANHATTAN * Two men were busted on gun-possession charges yesterday after detectives pulled them over in a livery cab in East Harlem, police sources said. Two detectives from the Manhattan...
D'AMATO TO PARTY BIGS: DUMP DICK
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amALBANY - Former Republican Sen. Alfonse D'Amato yesterday called on President Bush to dump Dick Cheney from the GOP ticket. D'Amato described Cheney as a "decent, honorable and patriotic American,"...
CITY'S TALL ORDER - SEEKS QNS. TOWER PLAN
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amWhat to do with the crumbling 250-foot towers left over from the 1964-65 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens? The city is open to suggestions. Rather than demolish the eerie...
THERE'S LITTLE CHANCE THAT MUNICIPAL UNIONS WILL IMPEDE THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION ...
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amThere's little chance that municipal unions will impede the Republican National Convention because they don't have the right to strike, Mayor Bloomberg declared yesterday. Cops, firefighters and teachers have scheduled...
'BOUNCE' A BUMP - VEEP PICK GIVES KERRY SMALL POLL HIKE
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amJohn Kerry's selection of charismatic North Carolina Sen. John Edwards as his running mate gave him a single-digit bounce in the polls - considerably less than the party's two previous...
AVENGING HUBBY - NABS SUSPECT IN WIFE'S SLAY
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amA New Jersey lawyer wrestled his wife's alleged killer to the ground outside a Coney Island apartment building, where the woman's body had been left for two days, cops said...
COPS BUST S.I. 'SWASTIKA' DUO
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amPolice arrested two men yesterday for searing a huge swastika into a Staten Island street, authorities said. Joseph Pucciarelli, 24 and Jeremiah Logan, 23, allegedly burned the 20-foot hate symbol...
COURT PULLS PLUG ON VIDEO SLOTS
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amALBANY - A state court yesterday ruled that the law authorizing video slot machines in New York is unconstitutional, placing into jeopardy planned gambling parlors at Aqueduct and Yonkers raceways....
B'KLYN ATM HIT DÉJÀ VU FOR POLICE
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amCops investigating the robbery last week of a Brooklyn cash machine are checking to see if the heist is connected to a string of ATM thefts in Manhattan. For months,...
HAMPTONS DIARY
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amDIRECTOR Brett Ratner is calling the shots with his girlfriend, tennis ace Serena Williams. When the couple showed up at the FYE music and movie shop in Bridgehampton on Tuesday,...
'BURNED' BEAU EYED IN FATAL ARSON
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amA Bronx man bent on revenge after being dumped by his fiancée has emerged as the prime suspect in the horrifying Long Island firebomb murder of the woman's sister, prosecutors...
WTC KID JOINS THE FINEST
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amCatherine Hernandez believed there was only one way to repay the heroes who gave their lives trying to save her father in the World Trade Center - by donning a...
PLAYER, PAL 'PUMMEL' SOCCER REF
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amWhen a crucial call didn't go his way, a Brooklyn soccer player did what athletes often threaten to do: He beat up the referee, a law-enforcement source said yesterday. Nedgy...
GOP DUSTS OFF THE 'L' WORD
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amDAYTON, Ohio - Republicans hurled the word "liberal" like an epithet at the John-John Democratic ticket yesterday when John Edwards hit the road for the first time as John Kerry's...
2 ACCUSED OF LYING AT GOTTI TRIAL
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amA union leader and an ex-driver for Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano were arraigned yesterday on charges of lying at last year's racketeering trial of mob boss Peter Gotti. Louis Saccenti...
BUST MAY BREAK SLAY CASE: COPS
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amTurning up the heat in their probe of a well-liked New Jersey college student's slaying, authorities have busted a Brooklyn man linked to the case in an unrelated shooting. John...
DEMONS PUSHED KIRK'S KID TO DEATH
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amTHE private demons in Eric Douglas' very public, very troubled life finally won this week when his bloated body was found alone in his messy apartment. Perhaps it was natural...
SANTA'S LEGAL HELPER - JUDGE TOSSES SUIT
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amNo, Virginia, you can't copyright Santa Claus. A Manhattan federal court judge has given the heave-ho-ho-ho to a Texas manufacturer's lawsuit against a rival company it claimed was ripping off...
BUSH BELITTLES GREEN EDWARDS - PRAISES 'READY' CHENEY, SCOFFS AT YOUNGSTER
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amPresident Bush yesterday swiped at new Democratic vice-presidential contender John Edwards, curtly dismissing him as not ready for the White House - spurring John Kerry to fire back in a...
GAY TEEN SUES CITY FOR $4M OVER BUST ORDEAL
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amA Harvey Milk HS student has filed a $4 million suit against the city, claiming she was wrongly arrested last year in a melee outside the nation's first gay high...
MA KIMES GUILTY - RANTS AT JURORS AS L.A. KIN GET SOME JUSTICE IN '98 SLAY
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amLOS ANGELES - A jury convicted Sante Kimes of first-degree murder yesterday, nailing the defiant New York grifter for the coldblooded slaying of an L.A. businessman who knew too much...
POVERTY FIGURES ROCKET IN N.Y. PUBLIC SCHOOLS
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amThe number of public-school students identified as poor in New York state cities has jumped 33 percent over the past decade, according to a new report. The state Department of...
HELL'S KITCHEN - CANNIBAL'S CREEPY COOKING SECRETS
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amCall him the cannibal with his foot in his mouth. Notorious "Butcher of Tompkins Square" Daniel Rakowitz took the witness stand in a bid for freedom yesterday, but instead gave...
WRETCHED BUTCHER'S ACT MAKES ME RETCH
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amTHE fat cannibal laughed. Daniel Rakowitz walked to the witness stand like a 15-year-old nightmare conjured from the diseased recesses of the public consciousness - older, hairier and far tubbier...
POWELL IV SNUBS MORGY'S OFFICE
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amEmbattled state Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV won't meet with prosecutors probing rape allegations against him unless he has to, his lawyer said yesterday. "The only person he's meeting with...
HELL OF A TRY BY 'DEVIL' JACKO
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amLOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson's defense asked a judge to throw out sex-and-conspiracy indictments against the singer, claiming that prosecutors unfairly labeled him "the devil," according to papers made public...
L.I. MOM CHARGED IN BABY SLAY
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amA 35-year-old mother of three yesterday was charged with manslaughter in the death of her newborn daughter two years ago on Long Island. Susan Miller, who gave birth in March...
MASSACRE AT SAM'S - TV ANCHOR FINDS 3 MURDERED; NEWSMAN SAM FINDS 3 BODIES ON RANCH
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amABC newsman Sam Donaldson discovered three bodies buried in a shallow grave on his New Mexico ranch, the victims of a massacre over the July Fourth weekend, authorities said yesterday....
BOY, 12, CRITICAL AFTER TRUCK HITS BIKE
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amA 12-year-old Queens boy riding a bicycle was critically injured yesterday when he was hit by a dump truck that blew a red light, police sources said. Nicholas Ho was...
GRAND JURY INDICTS EX-ENRON BOSS LAY
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amFormer Enron chief Kenneth Lay - the poster boy for corporate scandals - was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury in Houston. Lay will face criminal charges stemming from...
'DEVIL' JACKO BIDS TO KO CASE
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amLOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson's defense asked a judge to throw out sex and conspiracy indictments against the singer, claiming that a prosecution witness unfairly labeled him "the devil," according...
3 FIREFIGHTERS SAVE TOT'S LIFE
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amA 10-month-old girl was brought back to life yesterday by firefighters who raced to the rescue after getting a call that she was unconscious, fire officials said. Adisha Moffit was...
MARINE HOAX PROBE - 'FREED' SOLDIER IS SAFE
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - The Navy is investigating the possibility the abduction of Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun was a hoax, sources told The Post. The Naval Investigative Service is probing entire...
HOT KAZ ROLLING IN HIGH GEAR
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amPHILADELPHIA - Maybe Kaz Matsui is starting to find himself. Maybe he's finally adjusted to major league pitching. Maybe this rookie shortstop can be an impact player after all. "Maybe,"...
JUDGE 'RULES' FOR JA
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amRapper Ja Rule was king of the court yesterday as he appeared in Queens on an 8-year-old warrant, happily signing autographs for surprised fans eager to get a glimpse of...
'BREAK' IN SLAY PROBE - 'GRID KID' BUST
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amTurning up the heat in their probe of a well-liked New Jersey college student's slaying, authorities have busted a Brooklyn man linked to the case in an unrelated shooting. John...
KILLED FOR HER HAIRDO - BRAIDER, PAL BUSTED
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amA self-styled hairdresser parolee and his thuggish sidekick were behind bars yesterday after cops accused them of brutally strangling a precocious 13-year-old girl they met in a racy telephone "chat...
PHILLY BUSTERS - METS ONE GAME OUT AFTER 18-HIT BARRAGE
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amMets 10 Phillies 1 PHILADELPHIA - One game out. It's all happening for the Mets right now, their season soaring, their hopes rapidly turning into a reality. It's July 8,...
YANKS-TIGERS UMP NO ANGEL - PUDGE GETS TOSSED IN FIRST INNING
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amBefore the top half of the first inning was even close to finished, there was a feeling at the Stadium that this was more than just the Tigers versus the...
K-MART STILL HAS NETS ON THE TOP OF HIS WISH LIST
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amJust a few weeks ago, there was a general sense of gloom around the Nets regarding the prospect of keeping Kenyon Martin. Every avenue was investigated as the Nets looked...
CHANCE ROCKET COULD COME BACK
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amAS of yesterday, the best starter available in a trade was Pittsburgh's Kris Benson. Asked to quantify the rest of the current market, a GM from a contender said, "Sludge....
ISIAH PAYING KOBE A VISIT
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amCall it Mission Impossible. Knick president Isiah Thomas bolted from their summer-league training camp after yesterday's morning practice and flew to L.A. to meet with Kobe Bryant to convince him...
TREVOR IMPRESSES THOMAS
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amBefore he left for Southern California yesterday for his Kobe Bryant recruiting trip, Isiah Thomas got to see the kind of athlete that region can produce. Second-round pick Trevor Ariza,...
NO ONE PITCHING IN FOR YANKEES - HALSEY LATEST STARTER TO FALTER
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amTigers 10 - Yankees 8 Around here, no points are awarded for comebacks that fall short. So don't praise the Yankees for making a game out of yesterday's 10-8 loss...
YANKS' D A FIELD OF SCREAMS
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amGranted, no one looks at the Yankees roster and thinks defense. Only three everyday players have Gold Gloves, with two - Bernie Williams and Kenny Lofton - past their defensive...
HARRIS HEADS TO ABCD CAMP
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amLittle more than a week ago, Will Harris was set to attend the adidas basketball camp in Georgia that is taking place this week. But days before the Reebok ABCD...
NEWLY HIRED LIBS COACH IS LOOKING FOR ENCORE
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amPatty Coyle refused to bask in the glow of her first win in the WNBA after the Liberty avenged a 26-point loss to the Sacramento Monarchs Tuesday night with a...
BROWN'S RETURN IS UP IN THE AIR
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Kevin Brown will throw off a bullpen mound today but don't ask him about a timetable for a return from the DL. "That's too far down the line,...
VANCE BACK AFTER REHAB
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amMET NOTES PHILADELPHIA - One Wilson's back, and the other one's gone. Vance Wilson returned from his stint on the disabled list last night after missing approximately three weeks with...
PETERSON'S MET MVP* - *MOST VALUABLE PITCHING COACH
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amPHILADELPHIA - Sure, it doesn't take much to be a contender anymore. The Mets went into last night's game against the Phillies only two games over .500 and in the...
TIGERS ATTACK HALSEY
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amBrad Halsey possesses more guts than heat, with a fastball that could best be described as mediocre. What irked the 23-year-old Yankees lefty about yesterday's performance against the Tigers was...
KAZ JUST TWO GOOD - BAT[[U4]]TING SECOND, MATSUI A MONSTER
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amPHILADELPHIA - Just for argument's sake, let's say you were presented with the following situation: Let's say that, before this season started, someone handed you some final figures for Kaz...
A-ROD THROWS AWAY TOUGH DAY
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amIt wasn't Alex Rodriguez's best game by a long shot, but he still managed a three-run homer and a stupendous defensive play. That must be why he's a perennial All-Star....
AMAZIN'S HAVE EYES ON CUBAN PITCHER
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amMET NOTES PHILADELPHIA - The Mets may have just found some starting pitching help. The club is closing in on signing right-handed starter Alay Soler, a Cuban defector, who the...
PHILLY BUSTERS; METS ONE GAME OUT AFTER 18-HIT BARRAGE
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amMets 10 Phillies 1 PHILADELPHIA - One game out. It's all happening for the Mets right now, their season soaring, their hopes rapidly turning into a reality. It's July 8,...
ARMED & DANGEROUS- SOLID PITCHING KEYS AMAZIN' JOURNEY
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amPHILADELPHIA - Just call them the Meaningful Mets. Team Wilpon will play Meaningful Games. Sure, it doesn't take much to be a contender these days, but tonight the Mets can...
STROKES OF GENIUS - COUGHLIN CAPABLE OF GOLD RUSH IN ATHENS
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amDon't be fooled by Natalie Coughlin, and it would be easy to be misled. It would be easy to gaze at her turquoise eyes, sandy brown hair and cheerleader smile...
FRIESEN DECIDES TO STAY A DEVIL
July 8, 2004 | 4:00amWhile winger Jeff Friesen says he's signed his $3 million qualifying offer to remain with the Devils, Turner Stevenson says Flyer money is helping him get over not being rewarded...