July 22, 2004
DON'T ASK GREENSPAN FOR ADVICE ON WHAT MORTGAGE TO GET
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amALAN Greenspan's opinions appear to be very adjustable. Just look at how the Federal Reserve Board chairman's take on adjustable rate mortgages has changed. In February Greenspan said, "American consumers...
LUXURY SURVIVOR - LVMH BEATS HIGH-END RIVALS IN RETAIL COMEBACK
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amBernard Arnault's LVMH is roaring back. Like one of his fashion models teetering on high heels, Arnault's luxury goods empire looked wobbly three years ago, besieged by ballooning debt and...
PICTURING AN IPO - DREAMWORKS PLANS SPIN-OFF OF ANIMATION UNIT
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amDreamWorks SKG announced plans to spin off its animation unit yesterday in a bid to raise some $650 million. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, DreamWorks -...
DISGRACED ANALYST BLODGET WARNS OF WALL ST. TRICKS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amIn his search for redemption, disbarred tech analyst Henry Blodget is now writing columns on what your broker won't tell you. Blodget writes engagingly enough in his latest Slate.com pieces...
IMCLONE HAMMERED AS SALES LAG ESTIMATES
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amScandal-plagued ImClone Systems may have fallen off the road to recovery. While the company's second-quarter earnings beat Wall Street estimates, the stock plunged yesterday on disappointing sales of the company's...
JPM ALLOTS $2.3B TO COVER CLIENT CLAIMS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amJ.P. Morgan Chase became the latest banking giant to show massive legal costs eating into its bottom line. The country's second-biggest bank announced yesterday it would set aside $2.3 billion...
SUPPLY QUESTIONS TRIM PRICE OF GAS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amConfusion over gas supplies has New York area drivers starting to see a rare drop at gas pumps. A gallon of gasoline dropped below $2 in parts of northern New...
$12,000 MATTRESS PROVES TO BE SLEEPER HIT
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amIn another sign that the economy is improving, New Yorkers are snapping up new $12,000 luxury mattresses without a blink. Bedding retailer 1-800-Mattress began offering the world's most expensive mattress...
FIGHTING 'WASHINGTON'
July 22, 2004 | 4:00am"Washington Wive" Tonight at 10 on A&E * * (two stars) 'WASHINGTON Wives" on A&E Thursday night is not, repeat not, a Jackie Collins potboiler about political wives who endure...
SHEDDING SOME LIGHT ON 'STUDIO 7'
July 22, 2004 | 4:00am"Studio 7" Tonight at 9 on WB/Ch. 11 * * (two stars) 'Studio 7" could be a lot more fun if it weren't so gloomy. This new quiz show on...
STARR REPORT
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amBill beaming up? There's been some talk among "Star Trek" fans that William Shatner could make an appearance on UPN's "Star Trek: Enterprise" this season. Yesterday, "Enter prise" creator Rick...
WHO ELSE FOR 'CSI' THEME?
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amPETE Townshend and Roger Daltrey, the surviving members of The Who, are loving CBS. The network has already shelled out millions for the rights to use The Who hits "Who...
GOOD, CLEAN FUN WITH CARTOONS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amNEXT fall, even 'toons will have their own, er, reality show. Comedy Central's "Drawn Together," a racy, animated parody of reality shows, will lock eight characters in a house and...
KITTY LITTER - NOT EVEN A LEATHER-CLAD HALLE BERRY CAN SAVE 'CATWOMAN'
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amCATWOMAN * (one star) Spay her, please! Running time: 91 minutes Rated PG-13 (action violence, sensuality). At the E-Walk, the Cinema 1, the Harlem USA, others July 22, 2004 --...
'I'LL GET JOB BACK' - AXED 'CSI' STAR CLAIMS HE SNOOZED
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amFIRED "CSI" actor George Eads predicted yesterday he'll get his job back this week. It was all an "incredible misunderstanding," Eads says, that began because he overslept on the first...
THE BIG 'CHILL'
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amKING of the Parrotheads Jimmy Buffett was tops in pops this week. The "Margaritaville" rocker's latest album, "License to Chill," made its debut at No. 1, selling 238,597 copies, according...
'JEOPARDY' ROLLS PAST 'WHEEL'
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amKEN Jennings' remarka ble "Jeopardy!" run helped the show to a rare ratings victory over its King World stablemate, "Wheel of Fortune." For the week ending July 11, "Jeopardy!" averaged...
BREAKFAST EPIPHANY - THEATER 'CLUB' AN HOMAGE TO HUGHES' FLICK
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amLIKE most kids coming of age in the '80s, Dana Discordia was "obsessed" with John Hughes' 1985 film, "The Breakfast Club," in which five teen archetypes - the stoner, the...
UNSHACKLING SPIES - AN INTEL CZAR ISN'T ENOUGH
July 22, 2004 | 4:00am'High-level intelligence managers aren't about to risk their reputations on some hot-potato hypothesis proposed by a staffer who knows how al Qaeda works, but not how congressional sub-committees function.' IF...
'DOUBLE' TEAMED - JAYSON LAWYERS: STATE CAN'T TRY HIM TWICE
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amJayson Williams' attorneys say double jeopardy prevents the former hoopster from being tried again for the shooting death of a hired driver - and asked a judge to toss the...
REVVED-UP W. INKS BIO BILL
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amPresident Bush yesterday signed a "Bioshield" bill to strengthen America's defenses against bioterror as he revved up for a political summer where he hopes to prove that he will keep...
SOUR KRAUTS: GERMAN 'IDIOTS' SPIT ON LANCE
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amAsinine German cycling fans harassed five-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong (photo above) during yesterday's grueling ride though the French Alps - two of the "idiots" spat on him,...
QUEENS MOM STABS SON, 11: COPS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amA parental scolding got out of hand in last night, ending with a Queens mom stabbing her 11-year-old son in the arm, police sources said. At around 8 p.m., Nuvia...
GOP BIG RAISES EYEBROWS WITH DEM DONATION
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amALBANY - Even by the notoriously incestuous standards of New York state politics, this one is a beaut. A top state Republican Party official has just given a $1,000 campaign...
ALL THAT JAZEERA AT CONVENTIONS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amAl-Jazeera, the Arab news network, will cover both the Republican and Democratic national conventions alongside other major TV networks for the first time. "They will be treated the same as...
CITY NEEDS FIRM TO DELIVER THE GOOD$
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amCity officials are seeking another high-profile business partner like Snapple - this time for courier services. The Marketing Development Corp. has been putting out feelers to firms like UPS and...
THREE SLAY WITNESSES BRIBED: DA
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amA Brooklyn man who beat a murder rap last year, threatened and then bribed three teenage girls into changing their testimony about who shot their friend dead, Assistant DA Mitch...
NO WAIT FOR '08: DEMS LIKE HILL
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amSen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is still the belle of the Democrats' ball - delegates to next week's convention favor her over vice-presidential contender John Edwards as their 2008 nominee if...
YASSER CAVES ON REFORM
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amJERUSALEM - Yasser Arafat has finally yielded to Palestinian and foreign pressure for reform by agreeing to consolidate the much-criticized security forces, a senior aide said yesterday. Arafat signed a...
B'KLYN MAN 'RAPED AND BEAT' WIFE
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amA Brooklyn man was arraigned yesterday on charges that he raped his newlywed wife and beat her with a wooden 2-by-4 after she accused him of having a steamy affair....
HAMPTONS DIARY
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amWITH a month left before the start of his rape trial, Kobe Bryant is considering hotfooting it to the Hamptons for some rest and relaxation away from the West Coast...
ED. TESTERS BAN REPEAT QUESTIONS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amThe Bloomberg administration has forbidden the practice of repeating questions on its standardized exams from year to year in order to prevent a repeat of the embarrassing security breaches that...
ALBANY OKS TERROR BILL
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amALBANY - After nearly three years at loggerheads, Gov. Pataki and the Democratic-controlled Assembly finally agreed to an anti-terrorism bill that creates new crimes for the possession and use of...
JAKE-LESS KIRSTEN'S STILL SMOKIN'
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amKirsten Dunst (above) takes a pensive puff on a cigarette - perhaps wondering why her red-hot romance with actor Jake Gyllenhaal went up in smoke. Her moody moment came as...
NARCS DO ZIP AS 'DRUG DEALER' SHOT
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amBumbling DEA agents who were spying on a drug dealer stood by while he was shot and carjacked in The Bronx - then did nothing but call 911 as his...
LODE OF 'BULL' - VICTIMS GET MOB-BOOK $$
July 22, 2004 | 4:00am"Sammy Bull" Gravano did the time - now he's paying for the crime. The families of some of the murder victims of John Gotti's infamous underboss have received $52,500 checks...
COPS HUNT SHAKEDOWN THUG
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amPolice are looking for the leader of a vicious Chinatown gang that has been shaking down the $2 van operators who take passengers into Lower Manhattan from the outer boroughs....
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amQUEENS * Police yesterday released a sketch (above) of a man who allegedly raped two women - one of them at knifepoint - in their homes. The unidentified man, who...
FRIST WANTS 9/11 ACTION
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - Congress sent mixed signals yesterday about reforms sought by the 9/11 commission, with the Senate promising "immediate" action but House leaders saying not so fast. The sharply contrasting...
BUSH: GRILL BERGER
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amPresident Bush yesterday said the issue of whether Bill Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, illegally sneaked top-secret documents out of a secure reading room is "a very serious matter"...
SUIT SAYS CHANEL CLOTHES WERE DUDS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amA wealthy jet-setter says her $160,000 buying spree at Chanel in New York and Paris was more hellish than haute couture. Barbara Kaplan, a Chicago businesswoman, is suing the famed...
FINAL FAREWELL FOR CONSTABLE
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amA retired NYPD lieutenant gunned down by a drunken driver was laid to rest yesterday. Funeral services for retired Lt. Richard Brooks, 44, were held in Amityville, L.I., after the...
FALLEN BROTHERS - UNION MOURNS 2 KILLED IN HIT-RUN
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amWith a metal cross and two cans of beer, friends yesterday memorialized two union members who were killed by an allegedly drug-addled hit-and-run driver while walking a picket line in...
VERMIN'S DRUG DEALER WORE A WIRE TO NAIL HIM
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amThe man accused of killing Brittney Gregory revealed to his drug dealer that he murdered the popular teen - and the vile admission was so sickening, his supplier agreed to...
CLEAR CHANNEL SUES OVER SEXED-UP STERN SHOWS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amThe Clear Channel Communications radio company yesterday whacked Howard Stern's distributors with a $3 million federal lawsuit. The suit says that by providing a sexually charged show that violated federal...
THUG ADMITTED '88 SLAYS: WITNESS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amA woman said yesterday that career criminal Joseph "Guns" Creedon confessed to her that he'd been involved in the slaying of a wealthy Long Island couple - bombshell testimony that...
ACQUITTED HORSE MAN AN EASY RIDER
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amMayor Bloomberg's equestrienne daughter Georgina and her riding instructor hugged for joy outside a Westchester courtroom yesterday after a jury acquitted him of sexually abusing a former student. "My faith...
COPS PULL JUMPER OUT OF BX. RIVER
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amPolice rescued a man who threw himself off a bridge into the Bronx River yesterday. The drama unfolded around 2:45 p.m., when the man plunged more than 60 feet into...
FEDS CLOSE CASE ON MASSINO MOB
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amMurderous mob powerhouse Joseph Massino put it best when he called himself a "one-man army," a federal prosecutor said in closing statements at the reputed Bonanno boss's racketeering murder trial...
KERRY'S OTHER DIPLO ADVISER GETTING RADIOACTIVE
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amJOHN KERRY ditched adviser Sandy Berger over the "Socks Docs" probe, but is stonewalling questions about another national security adviser whose credibility is taking much flak - Bush-basher Joe Wilson....
STRAPHANGERS TELL CABBIES: TAKE A HIKE
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amHigher taxi fares have apparently driven more commuters to take buses and subways, with riders taking a MetroCard swipe at more expensive yellow cabs. Weekday and weekend bus and subway...
L.I. SURF HERO'S LAMENT
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amA heroic Long Island surfer yesterday told how he battled eight-foot waves and a deadly riptide in a dramatic bid to rescue two drowning boys - but could save only...
FLUSH TO JUDGMENT - RESTROOM JUROR-CHAT RAP
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amSome potty mouthing-off has gotten a former top executive at Elite Model Management charged with tampering with the jury in the case of a woman who said she was smoked...
'BOMB' COP'S ORDEAL - BURIED IN WTC DEBRIS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amThe cop being probed for the pipe-bomb explosion in a Times Square subway station handed in his badge yesterday, officially ending his troubled NYPD career, as new details emerged about...
HEARTBREAKING MEMORIES FILL BEDROOM OF SLAIN BRITTNEY
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amBRICK, N.J. - Love and memories spill out of 16-year-old Brittney Gregory's crammed bedroom. Stuffed animals, family photos, posters, banners - mementos cover every surface, exuding warmth and happiness and...
DON'T FREE SICKO - TOMPKINS BODY-CHOP PLEA
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amThey saw the butchery firsthand - a skull stored in a bucket of kitty litter in a Port Authority locker; a gutted torso hanging above a bathtub like meat. Now,...
JAYSON: KO SLAY CHARGE
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amJayson Williams' attorneys say double jeopardy prevents the former hoopster from being tried again for the shooting death of a limo driver - and asked a judge to toss the...
BEDSIDE VIGIL FOR HARLEM HIT-RUN GIRL
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amThe parents of a young girl critically injured in an alleged hit-and-run on a Harlem street are keeping a bedside vigil for her, a relative said. "The parents haven't left...
WORST IS BEHIND US, SAYS W.
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amPresident Bush yesterday raised $23 million for Republicans at a Washington dinner, where he sought to reassure Americans that the toughest time is over and the next four years will...
GOP BIG GIVES $$ - TO DEMS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amALBANY - Even by the notoriously incestuous standards of New York state politics, this one is a beaut. A top state Republican Party official has just given a $1,000 campaign...
ED. TESTERS SPEND $2M TO ROOT OUT REPEAT QUESTIONS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amThe Bloomberg administration has banned the practice of repeating questions on its standardized exams from year-to-year in order to prevent a repeat of the embarrassing security breaches that occurred this...
LOUIMA'S 1ST LAWYERS GET STIFFED FOR $3M
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amAbner Louima's original team of lawyers won't get a dime from the abused Haitian immigrant's $8.7 million civil lawsuit settlement after a court ruled yesterday they withdrew from the case...
B'KLYN 'WIFE-RAPE' BUST
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amA Brooklyn man was arraigned yesterday on charges that he raped his newlywed wife and beat her with a 2-by-4 after she threatened to divorce him for having a steamy...
EDWARDS' $1.3M APPLE JAUNT
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amJohn Kerry's running mate, John Edwards, swept through the city last night, raising an impressive $1.3 million from his party's clubhoppers and its Wall Street elite. The evening's three fund-raisers...
VIDEO REVEALS 9/11 KILLERS SETTING OFF METAL DETECTORS - AND FLYING ANYWAY - MONSTERS SLIP PAST SECURITY
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amStartling video, never before seen by the public, shows four 9/11 hijackers waltzing through airport security despite setting off metal detectors before boarding the jet they would crash into the...
CHANEL CLOTHES DUDS: SUIT
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amA wealthy jet-setter says her $160,000 buying spree at Chanel in New York and Paris was more hellish than haute couture. Barbara Kaplan, a Chicago businesswoman, is suing the famed...
HEALTH, NOT RANDY, BIGGEST YANK NEED
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amJASON Giambi was hoping to get some sleep last night, something he has struggled to do in recent weeks despite barely having enough energy to play in an Old Timer's...
ACHING SHEFF KEEPS COOKIN' DESPITE PAIN
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amGary Sheffield continues to complain about the persistent pain in his shoulders, but his recent production doesn't back him up. The right fielder continued his torrid hitting last night, blasting...
GIAMBI TESTED FOR CANCER
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Jason Giambi was tested for cancer yesterday afternoon, and he'll undergo more tests today to determine why he's still not feeling well in the aftermath of the parasite...
TY 'UPSET' WITH MOVE
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amMET NOTES Ty Wigginton certainly wasn't happy Tuesday night when he was informed that David Wright was being called up from Triple-A Norfolk and would be taking his job as...
KNICK DEAL MAY INCLUDE PIPPEN
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amWith the Erick Dampier sign-and-trade hitting a roadblock, Knicks president Isiah Thomas revisited his bid to nail down Jamal Crawford from the Bulls in a multi-player package and his latest...
IT'S ALL WRIGHT - ROOKIE'S DEBUT 'DREAM COME TRUE'
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amDavid Wright slept about two hours the night before his major-league debut and didn't anticipate getting much more last night following the Mets' 5-4 victory over the Expos. "I think...
ACHIN' SHEFF KEEPS COOKIN'
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amGary Sheffield has the same feeling every day when he shows up to the ballpark, his injured shoulder still throbbing: "There's no way I'm going to be able to play."...
BATS INCREDIBLE! - SHEFF'S 398TH CAREER HR SPARKS YANKS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amYankees 10 - Blue Jays 3 Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi were forced to be spectators last night, but at least there was plenty of offense to celebrate. And with...
NO RELIEF FROM 'PEN
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amAt first glance, it was difficult to tell if the old ladies and little kids were jockeying for position last night behind the Mets' dugout for free T-shirts or for...
FRACTURE SENDS DEREK TO BENCH
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amWhen Derek Jeter was in pain in Toronto on Opening Day 2003 with a dislocated shoulder, he told Joe Torre he could play the following day. Toughness is one of...
IT ALL WORKS OUT WRIGHT IN THE END - METS WIN ON ERROR IN PHENOM'S DEBUT
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amMets 5 - Expos 4 In the end, the difference between the contending Mets and the bottom-feeding Expos was a drop by one of the most dependable fielders in the...
METS' WRIST WATCH - PIAZZA SAYS 'IT'S GONNA BE A FEW DAYS'
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amWhen plans were made to move Mike Piazza out from behind the plate and turn the greatest hitting catcher into the Mets' first baseman, the thinking was the veteran would...
GATTI SET FOR SLUGFEST
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amIn the past year, WBC super lightweight champion Arturo Gatti has shaved two strokes off his handicap to bring it down to a 15. Golf, he says, relaxes him. Given...
NETS FEEL SHAREEF DEAL MAY WORK OUT
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amShareef Abdur-Rahim wants out of Portland. The Nets need a big forward, someone who can replace Kenyon Martin, someone who can score inside, someone like Shareef Abdur-Rahim. It's so crazy...
DAMPIER DEAL NEEDS NEW LOOK
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amForget Atlanta. With the $65 million Isiah Thomas is offering, the Knicks have become Erick Dampier's first choice. But that's worth as much as a Patrick Ewing guarantee. Dampier, who...
BIG UNIT WOULD BE SMALL RX - YANK ROSTER LITTERED WITH HEALTH QUESTIONS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amWHILE there continues to be plenty of discussion about Randy Johnson and whether the Yankees can lure him from the Diamondbacks by the trade deadline, the more significant issue facing...
NHL GIVES UNION SIX PROPOSALS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amSo now there are six degrees of separation from reaching a new NHL collective bargaining agreement in the wake of yesterday's four-hour Manhattan meeting between League Layoff and the NHL...
MORE TESTS FOR GIAMBI
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Jason Giambi left Yankee Stadium yesterday afternoon for additional tests to determine why he's still not feeling well. Manager Joe Torre planned to have Giambi available for pinch-hitting...
GETTING OFF ON THE WRIGHT FOOT - METS PHENOM MAKES DEBUT
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amDavid Wright used all the words a youngster is supposed to blurt out when asked about the fulfillment of a dream. Wright is in the big leagues at the age...
DEREK TAKES A SEAT - SORE HAND PUTS JETER ON BENCH
July 22, 2004 | 4:00am"It's just stiff - the same thing when you usually get hit." -DEREK JETER When Derek Jeter was in pain in Toronto last Opening Day with a dislocated shoulder, he...
HOWARD'S HOMECOMING - EX-METROSTAR GOALIE LEADS MAN-U TO BIG M
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amThe last time Tim Howard played for Manchester United on U.S. soil, he was an unheralded rookie just looking to make the team. When he starts Sunday in Chicago, it'll...
ACHY MOOSE WON'T RUSH HIS RETURN
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amMike Mussina has battled a stiff elbow before in his career, but he's slowly beginning to understand that his recovery skills are not what they once were. "When this happened...
METS WATCH MIKE'S WRIST
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amWhen plans were made to move Mike Piazza out from behind the plate and turn the greatest hitting catcher into the Mets' first baseman, the thinking was the veteran would...
MORE RELIEF GRIEF
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amAt first glance, it was difficult to tell if the old ladies and little kids were jockeying for position behind the Mets' dugout for free T-shirts or for the chance...
BATS INCREDIBLE! - SHEFF'S 398TH CAREER HR BOOSTS YANKS
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amYankees 10 - Blue Jays 3 Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi were forced to be spectators last night, but at least there was plenty of action to celebrate. And with...
DELGADO STANDS GROUND
July 22, 2004 | 4:00amToronto slugger Carlos Delgado, making an anti-war protest, hasn't been standing for "God Bless America," which has been made public of late. "I don't think that would be received kindly,...