July 29, 2004
BUSH HAS A LOT RIDING ON REVISED GDP DATA
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amTHE Commerce Department could change the nature of the presidential debate with one press release. Tomorrow morning the department's Bureau of Economic Analysis is scheduled to issue its revised gross...
61 B'WAY SOLD FOR $131M
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amAn investment group consisting of Raymond Chalme along with Adam Popper's new company, Heyman Properties, signed a contract to buy 61 Broadway for $131 million, but the seller thinks prices...
DESIGNER DRAMA - NOW, VERSACE MUST DEAL WITH DONATELLA'S REHAB
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe house of Versace has survived the death of its founder, and a cash crisis that reportedly caused the family to sell valuable Picasso paintings. Now, Versace is forced to...
RUSSIAN OIL FIGHT SPARKS CRUDE AWAKENING
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amA high-stakes standoff in Russia pushed oil prices to record highs and sent U.S. stocks on a wild ride yesterday. The action started early as traders pounced on the possible...
APRIA HEALTH ON BLOCK
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amApria Healthcare Group Inc., one of the country's biggest home healthcare providers, is on the block, The Post has learned. Apria, the publicly traded provider of home respiratory medications, oxygen...
NEWSDAY RUNS ANGRY CAR DEALERS OUT OF PAPER
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amNewsday is refusing to accept advertising from a group of 50 car dealers suing the paper over its rates. In letters sent yesterday, Newsday said its attorneys have warned that...
FANS STRIKE OUT - CABLEVISION THREATENING TO PULL PLUG ON METS
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amCablevision and Time Warner Cable are once again at war, and as soon as this weekend nearly 1 million homes in the New York City area could be without the...
EDIT PICK SHOWS HEF KNOWS BEST
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amPlayboy stayed inside and tapped a 16-year company veteran to take over the key editorial director job. Observers say that naming Executive Editor Christopher Napolitano for the job means Hugh...
BLACKSTONE PACKAGE DEAL
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe Blackstone Group-owned Graham Packaging Co. announced yesterday its agreement to buy the plastic container business of Owens-Illinois Inc. for $1.2 billion. Graham said the combined company will become a...
STUNT DOUBLED - WHAT 'EVEL' LURKS IN TV MOVIE?
July 29, 2004 | 4:00am"Evel Knievel" [ 1/2] (Two and one-half stars) Tomorrow night at 8 on TNT WHILE TNT's newest no-warts-and-all biopic of insane daredevil Evel Knievel may never equal the original, 1971...
BLEAK HOUSE
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amDAUGHTERS OF THE SUN [] (Three stars) Iranian tearjerker. In Persian, with English subtitles. Running time: 92 minutes. Not rated (violence). At the Two Boots Pioneer Theater, Avenue A and...
A CHEESE GROWS IN BROOKLYN
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amIT'S billed as a place "where a kid can be a kid," but at Chuck E. Cheese, adults can be kids, too. Nate Chinen, 27, has vivid memories of good...
ADVICE FROM MARY POPPINS WITH AN ATTITUDE
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amIT'S a bird, it's a plane it's . . . "Super Nanny"? ABC has ordered an eight-episode reality series called "Super Nanny," in which a real-life nanny moves in with...
ROCK-SOLID MIX
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amCONCRETE BLONDE AFTER more than 20 years of pouring Concrete Blonde music - a heady mix of sex, aggression and brooding stage theatrics - the L.A. trio featuring Johnette Napolitano...
HOOD WINKED: 'VILLAGE' FAILS TO DELIVER THE SHIVER
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amTHE VILLAGE (two stars) Frighteningly tame. Running time: 107 minutes. Rated PG-13 (violence, frightening images). At the Astor Plaza, the Cinema 1, the Chelsea, others. THE fourth major movie by...
BYE-BYE, BAWDY - DOWNTOWN LOSING ITS VILLAGE IDIOT
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amIF anyone doubts that the Village Idiot - the infamously rowdy bar at 14th Street and Ninth Avenue - is calling it quits, he need only consider the bra traffic....
TWO OF A KIND - WATCH IT, OLSENS, THERE'S A NEW SET OF CUTIES
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amMEET the new "It" kids of the tween set. They're 11-year-old identical twins Dylan and Cole Sprouse, and they're starring in the upcoming Disney Channel sitcom "The Suite Life" -...
KILLER INSTINCT - GROWN-UP TWIST ON TAG IS NEW 'IT' GAME
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amFIRST came the hang-ups at odd hours. Then Nadine Gelineau saw a strange man - "a bike-courier guy with tattoo sleeves" - lurking outside her office building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn....
STARR REPORT
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amAngie gets an 'Alias' So how much is ABC loving Angela Bassett these days? The movie star will guest in an upcoming episode of "Alias," according to an exclusive report...
$1 MIL WIN BOOSTS 'PARDY
July 29, 2004 | 4:00am'JEOPARDY!- champ Ken Jennings might be on summer hiatus - but he continues to affect the veteran game show in his absence. Ratings for the week of July 12, in...
HOSP SHOOTING - BEAU PUTS BULLET IN GAL PAL'S EYE
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amA female hospital orderly was clinging to life last night after she was shot in the eye by her co-worker boyfriend - who claimed the gun went off as she...
A HERO'S COURAGE SAVES 4
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amRicardo Muñoz raced inside a burning Queens house on Columbus Day, shouting "Wake up! Get out!" - and later realized that when he kicked open one apartment door, the heat...
RESTAURATEUR EATS UP THE NEW, EASYGOING AMBIENCE
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amUntil Arnaud Erhart opened the French restaurant 360 last year, the Statue of Liberty was the closest thing Red Hook had to France. But now that the neighborhood's crime and...
RED HOOK REBORN - 'HOOD OVERCOMES ITS ROUGH HISTORY
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amWho could have predicted that this year, there would be more bodies pulled into Red Hook's art galleries and restaurants than out of its Buttermilk Channel? But as the neighborhood's...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amA Louisiana man who walked up to a cop and spouted off about how dumb criminals were proved his own point when the officer noticed a bag of marijuana sticking...
TOP LATINOS SNUBBED BY FERRER'S 'GIFT' OF GAB
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amBOSTON - Fernando Ferrer is no longer in office, but his landing of a last-minute speaking role at the convention with the help of a Kerry campaign aide has angered...
BRAVEST GET BURNED BY LOW-PAYING JOB
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amFIREFIGHTER Al Kessner was in the Cornell Burn Center yesterday with nasty second- and third-degree burns to both legs. At 8:20 a.m. yesterday his painful morning brightened when Mayor Michael...
BERGER PAPERS BARED TRANSLATION DISASTER
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - Urgent complaints that the FBI could not decipher bugged conversations between members of a Brooklyn mosque and Afghan terrorists because it lacked translators were included in the documents...
ZETA'S NIGHTMARE - FACES 'STALKER' AND TELLS OF DEATH FEAR
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amLOS ANGELES - Catherine Zeta-Jones appeared in a thriller of a different type yesterday - facing down the alleged stalker who threatened to "slice her up like meat on a...
KERRY STARS AS 'FLIPPER' IN GOP TAPE
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amBOSTON - Republicans yesterday released a powerful video that uses Sen. John Kerry's own words to document his "flip-flopping" positions on the war in Iraq. Former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik,...
HAMPTONS DIARY
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amDIARY spies swear they saw Alec Baldwin's girl friend Nicole Seidel wearing an engagement ring last weekend. But Baldwin called Diary and left a polite message - asking for a...
COPS OFFER REWARD IN DEAD BABY CASE
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amCops put up a $2,000 reward yesterday for information leading to the mother of a newborn baby girl discovered dead in the back of a garbage truck in Brooklyn Friday...
PBA IN COMPLAINT TIRADE
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amCity officials have no business telling Republican convention protesters how to file complaints against cops, the leader of a police union said yesterday. "Isn't it bad enough that drug dealers...
THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE HAS RETURNED $149,000 IN CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS ....
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amBOSTON - The Democratic National Committee has returned $149,000 in campaign contributions from a New Jersey real-estate mogul accused of hiring a prostitute to blackmail a key witness in a...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amBROOKLYN * Cops are asking for the public's help in finding this man (above) who broke into a Bushwick church rectory and viciously beat a 66-year-old priest last week. Monsignor...
THE BOSTON 'SEA' PARTY - JOHN GETS NAVY HERO'S WELCOME ON HARBOR BOAT
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amCHARLESTOWN, Mass. - Like a conquering hero, John Kerry returned home yesterday standing at the bow of a harbor cruise boat surrounded by more than a dozen of his Vietnam...
DNA HELPED NAIL HOFSTRA 'RAPIST'
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amPolice on Long Island say they captured the suspect in the rape ordeal of a Hofstra University student using old-fashioned detective work - and a scientific match from the state's...
WACKY WIFE HAS BECOME 'MOTHER' TERESA
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amBOSTON - A mystery of interplanetary proportions has landed at the Democratic convention. The question that's keeping trained political observers awake in the bars at night is: Who the heck...
MTA'S HEAVYWEIGHT $25B SPENDING PLAN
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe MTA will unveil today a five-year capital program that includes a whopping $18 billion to maintain the current transit system and $7 billion toward expansion projects like the Second...
DELTA NIXES SPECIAL FEE FOR TICKETS
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amDelta Air Lines has grounded a plan to charge customers a special fee to buy tickets through call centers in North America rather than India. Delta had floated the idea...
FIREMEN, COPS $TAGE ANGRY RALLY
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amScores of boisterous cops and firefighters marched to City Hall yesterday loudly demanding a new contract that offers a substantial pay hike. But Mayor Bloomberg blew off the ranting on...
MAVERICK AFFLECK BACKS GAY MARRIAGE
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amBOSTON - Ben Affleck, the celebrity gadfly of the Democratic convention, yesterday broke ranks on the taboo topic of gay marriage, saying homosexuals are "entitled to every goddamned right that...
EDWARDS SALUTES GI JOHN
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amBOSTON - John Edwards urged Democrats to reject the "hateful, negative" politics of Republicans and said John Kerry's harrowing Vietnam War experience trained him well to be president, according to...
'SPIDEY' THIEF HAD SPEED OF 'THE FLASH'
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe "Spider-Man" burglar has a little of "The Flash" in him - he ran like "a professional sprinter" after making an incredible leap from one building to another, a cop...
BEAST RAPES BROOKLYN GRANNY
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amPolice are hunting the thug who savagely raped a 68-year-old Brooklyn woman after smashing his way into her Fort Greene apartment and forcing himself upon her at knifepoint. An unidentified...
KERRY'S FOREIGN FOLLIES: STANDING BY JOE
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amBOSTON DEMOCRAT John Kerry's campaign yesterday gave a ringing endorsement to Bush-bashing Ambassador Joe Wilson - even though a bipartisan Senate committee just found so many holes in his story...
B'KLYN BRIDGE 'LEAP' DRAMA
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amCops made a dramatic rescue of a distraught man who climbed to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday and threatened to leap to his death, police said. The man,...
LIL' KIM AIDE INDICTED ON RECORDS RAP
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amHip-hop's diminutive diva Lil' Kim showed up in court yesterday - minus her trademark bling-bling - as her business manager was added to the perjury and obstruction-of-justice case against her....
ANGEL'S TOKYO POSE
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amPublicity-hound talk-show host Curtis Sliwa, who claims he's on the run from the mob and scared for his life, has finally emerged - into the glare of flashbulbs. In Japan....
'FIRING' LINE - 'APPRENTICE' WANNABES QUEUE UP FOR TRUMP TODAY
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amWanna make it big in New York City? Be an apprentice to The Donald? Get in line! That's exactly what hundreds of young Donald Trump wannabes will do today when...
COPS DIG UP SIDEWALK IN CLUE HUNT
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amScores of cops descended on a quiet Queens street yesterday, tearing up a sidewalk and wheelchair ramp in front of a church annex in an apparently fruitless search for evidence....
WEED IT AND . . . SMILE - POT-BUST KIMORA ALL GRINS
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amIt will take more than a pot bust to bring down Kimora Lee Simmons. The smiling spouse of rap mogul Russell Simmons mugged for the mug-shot camera in this police...
ANOTHER SAN GENNARO CHIEF'S HEAD ROLLS
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amA reputed wiseguy's sister stepped down from her day-old post as acting president of the San Gennaro feast yesterday in a shake-up sparked by allegations that the Mafia has regained...
PLAY BY THE RULES - MARTHA PROBATION TERMS
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amMartha Stewart will be kept on a short leash by authorities after finishing her five-month prison sentence. She'll have to ask for permission to travel to the Hamptons and other...
LAST TRAGIC CLUE - BRITTNEY'S B'DAY NECKLACE WAS KEY TO IDING BODY
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amInvestigators knew they had found Brittney Gregory's body as soon as they cleared away the sandy soil in the shallow makeshift grave in Lakewood, N.J. They knew when they saw...
ACTOR HELD ON RAPE RAP
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amComic actor Anthony Anderson is accused of sexually assaulting an extra on a Memphis movie set, authorities said yesterday. Anderson, 33 - who appears in "Harold and Kumar Go to...
SPEECH MUST OVERSHADOW SIDESHOW
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amBOSTON. NONE of this matters as long as John Kerry gives a great speech tonight. But so far, Boston has had a lot of bizarre moments, mixed with blandness and...
KID-PORN LAWSUIT GETS DISMISSED
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amA judge yesterday tossed a lawsuit by a techie who was fired after blowing the whistle on a New York Law School professor who had kiddie porn on his computer....
A GIRL NAMED 'SUE' - TAKES DAD TO COURT TO 'FREE' SIBS
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amA teenager is suing her estranged father - a powerful Ohio businessman - demanding that he send her younger sisters to Manhattan to live with her and their mom. Sarah...
RICIN IN BABY FOOD
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe deadly poison ricin was found in two jars of baby food sold in southern California, the FBI said yesterday. The yogurt jars contained notes warning that the food was...
CITY 'CELLS' HI-TECH LAMPPOSTS FOR $25M
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amCity lampposts soon will light up cellphones and laptops as well as street corners. Six telecommunications companies plan to fit about 18,000 lampposts around the city with cellular and high-speed...
ASST. PRINCIPAL IN PERV BUST
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amAn assistant high-school principal was arrested yesterday on charges of sexually abusing two 17-year- old boys, police said. One of the victims told police that when he was a sophomore...
SHARPTON REVS. UP THE PARTY
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amBOSTON - The Rev. Al Sharpton outshone his role model, Jesse Jackson, in an impassioned speech that ran twice as long as scheduled and electrified the Democratic national convention. Ignoring...
2G TO FIND 'TRASH BABY' MOM
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amCops put up a $2,000 reward yesterday for information leading to the mother of a newborn baby girl discovered dead in the back of a garbage truck in Brooklyn Friday...
EDWARDS HAILS WARRIOR RUNNING MATE
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amBOSTON - John Edwards last night slammed President Bush for practicing "hateful, negative" politics, and claimed that John Kerry's heroism on Vietnam's harrowing battlefields prepared him to lead America. Edwards...
D'AMATO IN CLEAR OVER 500G CALL
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amA phone call that earned former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato $500,000 did not help remove "any roadblocks" in a rehab project at the MTA's scandal-ridden lower Manhattan headquarters at 2 Broadway,...
COTTON CANDY - EDWARDS' EMPTY SPEECH
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amIN case you missed it last night, here's a quick recap of the speech by John Edwards: Edwards doesn't like negative campaigning, he believes in racial equality, he wants Americans...
BROOKLYN PLAYBOY MURDERED
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amA handsome Lothario with a penchant for wearing flashy jewelry was murdered just outside his Brooklyn apartment yesterday, cops and family said. Serge Philippe, 50, had his key in the...
OUCH! JOSE HURTS ANKLE - AND HOWE LETS HIM STAY IN GAME!
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amExpos 7 - Mets 4 MONTREAL - They are the five worst words a Met fan can hear: Jose Reyes is hurt again. The Mets' 21-year-old prodigy sprained his right...
SPECTOR IS MAN U'S AMERICAN DREAMER
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amPHILADELPHIA - When Manchester United arrived in the U.S. last week, the media glare turned to Jersey-bred keeper Tim Howard, widely assumed to be the first American to join the...
BIG EAST PLAYERS MISS MIAMI, VT
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amMike Tranghese repeatedly insisted that everything was fine. That losing the likes of Miami and Virginia Tech and replacing them with programs such as Connecticut and Louisville wouldn't have a...
MIKE'S VOICE HAS NICE 'RING' TO IT
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amLOUISVILLE - It was a simple phrase that spoke the obvious, but when it came from Mike Tyson's own lips it sounded extra sweet to the former heavyweight champion. "I'm...
SPENCER SUSPENDED - METS PULL PAYCHECK AFTER DUI ARREST
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amMONTREAL - Shane Spencer might end up losing his driver's license. For now, he's lost his paycheck. Soon enough, he might lose his job with the Mets. Acting quickly in...
ELI-KURT BATTLE IS SET TO START
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amGIANT NOTES ALBANY - Whenever Eli Manning signs and arrives at training camp - reporting day is today at 1 p.m. - the scrutiny will commence. Every snap Manning takes...
METS STILL IN THE HUNT FOR BENSON
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amMONTREAL - Though all signs pointed to the Twins winning the Kris Benson sweepstakes, the Mets were trying to the end to nab the Pirates righty. According to an AL...
JARVIS' ESPN ROLE STILL NOT FINALIZED
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amMike Jarvis will be on ESPN next season. Yesterday, the former St. John's coach began on a little bit of the wrong foot. Unbeknownst to ESPN, Jarvis' agents sent out...
TRADE TALKS FOR KITTLES WILL DEPEND ON CLIPPERS
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe next few days could shape the Nets and decide whether they will be a contender for a playoff spot or a Ratner's Rabble collection with all the fan appeal...
ISIAH STILL SHOOTING FOR CRAWFORD DEAL
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amThe five-hour summit at Chicago's O'Hare Airport Tuesday between Knicks president Isiah Thomas and Bulls GM John Paxson did not achieve a sign-and-trade settlement for Jamal Crawford, but the sides...
CUBAN DEAL NEAR
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amMET NOTES MONTREAL - After several weeks of negotiations, the Mets could have an agreement with Cuban RHP Alay Soler as early as today. "We're finalizing some secondary issues that...
OLERUD, MCGRIFF ON DECK
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amTORONTO - While Jason Giambi underwent further testing at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York yesterday, the Yankees continued to develop plans to upgrade first base if Giambi has to go...
LUZZI LEAP RESULTS IN BROKEN LEG
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amSARATOGA SPRINGS - More freakish things happen at Saratoga's six-week stand than during the rest of the racing year combined. The weirdness began moments after the gates opened for the...
WAYNE-Y OPENER AT SPA - LUKAS FILLY WINS FEATURE IN MUD
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amSARATOGA SPRINGS - Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who dominated the trainer standings at Saratoga from 1986-1992 but has been slumping of late, could be set for another...
UNBEATEN STAKES WINNERS WILL SQUARE OFF IN SANFORD
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amSARATOGA SPRINGS - In an attempt to bolster the turnout for 2-year-old stakes at the Old Spa, NYRA dropped two traditional events, the Saratoga Special and Adirondack for fillies, from...
NEW-LOOK JETS OPEN CAMP
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amIf youth, speed and enthusiasm equate to a successful football team, then the Jets will open their training camp today at Weeb Ewbank Hall with Super Bowl aspirations. Of the...
PHILLIES TAKE LOOK AT LOFTON
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES TORONTO - With Arizona's Steve Finley not going to Philadelphia, the Phillies have an interest in Kenny Lofton, according to a Phillies' decision maker. The Phillies thought they...
SNAKES WILL BLINK, DEAL UNIT TO BRONX
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amTHE Diamondbacks want to be able to sell a trade of Randy Johnson to their fans. They can forget that. You don't trade the best player in your history, a...
RANDY DODGES DEAL - JOHNSON AVOIDSTRADE TO LOS ANGELES
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amTORONTO - Whether the Diamondbacks trade Randy Johnson or not, the latest development in the Big Unit saga is positive for the Yankees. According to multiple sources, the Dodgers offered...
METS GET SET TO AX SHANE
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amMONTREAL - Shane Spencer may end up losing his job. For now, he's lost his paycheck. Acting quickly in the aftermath of Spencer's DUI arrest early Tuesday morning, the Mets...
NO RELIEF IN SIGHT - HEREDIA, PROCTOR FAIL AS JAYS WIN IN 10
July 29, 2004 | 4:00am10 INNINGS: Blue Jays 3 - Yankees 2 TORONTO - Jon Lieber granted Joe Torre's pre-game wish to rest a weary bullpen. Gary Sheffield continued to stake a claim as...
CELTIC KOS MAN U ON BEATTIE GOAL
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amCeltic 2 - Man U 1 PHILADELPHIA - Manchester United is winning the war for the rich American market, but last night British rival Celtic won their not-too-friendly skirmish 2-1...
JOSE WE GO AGAIN - REYES INJURES ANKLE IN LOSS
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amExpos 7 - Mets 4 MONTREAL - They are the five worst words a Mets fan can hear: Jose Reyes is hurt again. On the day Mike Piazza returned to...
RANDY NIXES L.A.
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amTORONTO - Whether the Diamondbacks trade Randy Johnson or not, the latest development in the Big Unit saga is a positive one for the Yankees. According to multiple sources, the...
CAMP COUGHLIN - COACH CAN'T WAIT TO PUT GIANTS TO WORK
July 29, 2004 | 4:00amALBANY - This is his time, his passion. The Giants hired Tom Coughlin to win games and games aren't won in the summer, not in training camp. But the seeds...