August 5, 2004
WHY WALL STREET IS GUESSING WRONG ON JOBS GROWTH
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amWALL Street thinks the government will report strong U.S. job growth tomorrow. I think Wall Street is wrong. The consensus is that the Labor Department will saythat anywhere from 215,000...
TOMMY & HARVEY JOIN ON PINK FLOYD PROJECT
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amIn a collaboration that brings together two of the more colorful personalities in the entertainment business, Tommy Mottola and Harvey Weinstein have finalized a deal to produce a Broadway show...
SPITZER: RX FIRM RIPS OFF ELDERLY
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amEliot Spitzer scored another hit in his newest target for reform - prescription drugs - by accusing a pharmacy-benefits giant of skimming $100 million from retirees. A lawsuit filed yesterday...
BUYOUT GIANTS PREPARE BIDS FOR EDDIE BAUER
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amEddie Bauer is set to round up final bids from a handful of suitors, in a prelude to the sale of the outdoorsy retail chain. In what is turning out...
SPRUCING UP AOL - TIME WARNER SINKS MONEY INTO STRUGGLING UNIT
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amTime Warner is ramping up investment in struggling AOL while it mulls the unit's fate. Yesterday, AOL snapped up antispam company Mailblocks. While nothing else is imminent, AOL is looking...
DILLER'S TRAVEL BIZ NOT GOING ANYWHERE
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amBarry Diller's InterActiveCorp took a tumble yesterday after the online travel company reported lower second-quarter results and cut its forecast for the rest of the year. The shares fell 16...
ASHLEE DEMOTED
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amASHLEE Simpson was knocked off the top of Bill board's Album Charts this week by a bunch of "Now That's What I Call Music" hit makers. "Now 16," the latest...
CRUISE MISSILE - 'COLLATERAL' HITS TARGET THANKS TO TALENTED TOM AND JAMIE FOXX; COMIC SHINES IN 'COLLATERAL'
August 5, 2004 | 4:00am"Collateral" [***] (Three stars) Expertly crafted, if not original. Running time: 119 minutes. Rated R (violence, profanity). At the Lincoln Square, Village VII, the Kips Bay, others. WHILE Tom Cruise...
NEW 'BAND OF BROTHERS': BAGHDAD STYLE
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amHBO will produce a "Band of Brothers"- type miniseries based on the U.S. invasion of Iraq. "Generation Kill," based on Rolling Stone editor Evan Wright's book, will follow Wright's experiences...
'CSI' TO CUT A MAJOR PLAYER
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amWELL, George Eads and Jorja Fox were hired back on "CSI" - but now another actor is leaving the show's spinoff, "CSI: Miami." Rory Cochrane, who plays Tim "Speed" Speedle,...
STARR REPORT
August 5, 2004 | 4:00am'Life' as she knows it Jules Asner is very complimentary toward "The View" - but she wants you to know that her new women's show, "Life & Style," will be...
'DREAM' WORKS - HOOP-LA FOLLOWS RUN-UP TO ATHENS
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amDREAM Team IV is like almost any successful sequel. You want to see it because it is a Dream Team, but you know there is no chance it will come...
HEARTBREAK KID - JACKO MOVIE BLAMES DAD FOR MICHAEL'S DEMONS
August 5, 2004 | 4:00am"Man In The Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story" [** 1/2] (Two and one-half stars) Tomorrow night at 9 on VH1 MICHAEL Jackson, the accused child-molest ing, nose-dropping, shape-shifting, skin-bleaching freak,...
HELPING CHILDREN KEEP STEP
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amIt takes two to tango - and thousands of fourth- and fifth-graders are pairing up to dance it in Big Apple public schools, thanks to Pierre Dulaine, who also teaches...
LINEUP IDS PARTY SHOOTER
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amA teenager was busted for allegedly murdering a Far Rockaway man and shooting five others with a fusillade of bullets as they left a party last weekend, The Post has...
MAKING YOU MISS NIXON
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amDOES John Kerry have a secret plan to end the war in Iraq? The Democratic nominee has been promising that he can "put a deal together" to cut the number...
THE SENATOR & THE CZAR - LIEBERMAN'S WISE WARNING ON INTEL REFORM
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amIN this angry year, with extremists in both political parties forgetting that we're all Americans, it's great to be reminded that there are honorable politicians in Washington who never fail...
CADDY WHACK - FORGER DRIVES OFF WITH TWO 65G SUVS: COPS
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amA Long Island man was charged yesterday with writing bogus checks - complete with glaring spelling errors - to purchase two identical $65,000 Cadillac SUVs from two different car dealers....
BIG APPLE IN TOURI$T DE FORCE
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amHomegrown travelers pushed New York City to its best tourism year ever in 2003, despite a drop in foreign visitors. A record 37.8 million tourists visited the Big Apple as...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amMichael Hanczyk appeared in a Pennsylvania court to fight a drunken driving charge - boozed out of his mind. A judge stopped the hearing and ordered Hanczyk, who reeked of...
NO GRAFFITI ON THIS SWEETIE - '75 SUBWAY QUEEN DAZZLED
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe subways may have been filled with a lot more graffiti in 1975 than they are today, but that didn't stop former Miss Subways Ayana Lawson-Scott from loving every minute...
COP GIVES UP KIDNEY FOR STRANGER
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amAn NYPD officer has selflessly donated a kidney to a woman she didn't know after reading about her desperate need for a transplant in her church newsletter, The Post has...
WOMAN SUES OVER 'BLT' FIRING
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amA Florida woman is suing a former employer for firing her because she noshed on a BLT sandwich in violation of the company "no pork" rule, which was set up...
AT LEAST HE FACED IT LIKE A MAN
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amNOT that it's a consolation for those who lost loved ones and those who were maimed, but . . . Assistant Capt. Richard Smith, of the Staten Island ferry the...
X-RAY 'GHOST' FACES 7 YEARS
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amAn X-ray technician was arrested for collecting $22,000 in wages from the city's Medical Examiner's Office - all while working at a private radiology lab, officials said yesterday. Richard Kulig,...
'GET LUCKY' LYNNDIE - CAUGHT IN SEX ACTS AT ABU GHRAIB
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amA brazen Pfc. Lynndie England snuck off repeatedly to have late-night trysts with her lover at Abu Ghraib prison, where inmates were abused, her supervisor testified yesterday. Between July 2003...
GOTTI GOTTA GO, ITALIANS SAY OF HER TV SHOW
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amItalian-American groups are threatening to boycott the sponsors of "Growing Up Gotti," the new reality-TV series about mob daughter Victoria Gotti's family, because it gives Italians a bad name. Gotti,...
METS FANS BATTY OVER BLACKOUT
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amMets fans fumed yesterday as the channel that carries their team remained blacked out because of the big money battle between two cable TV titans. "It's completely ridiculous," said fan...
BX. CRUDWAY STOPS ARE CITY'S FILTHIEST
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amBronx straphangers have nothing to cheer about - four of the dirtiest and most decrepit stations are located in the borough, a transit watchdog group said yesterday. A survey of...
RESCUED BAY TEEN IN FIGHT FOR LIFE
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe Queens teenager plucked from the treacherous waters of Jamaica Bay by a hero firefighter continued to fight for his life yesterday. But while Tab Miller, 13, remained on life...
YES, JOHN'S BETWEEN ROCK AND HARD PLACE
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amREPUBLICANS are out to make Democratic nominee John Kerry answer a simple question: Knowing what you know now, would you have gone to war in Iraq - yes or no?...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amMANHATTAN (lcf) * Cops are asking for the public's help reuniting this young girl (above) - who has been unable to communicate with authorities - with her family after she...
SPIDEY'S HIGH 5 - SUPERCROOK GOT INTO FIFTH-FLOOR WINDOW
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amWhen young marketing professional Perry Cooper got an alarm system for his Upper West Side apartment, the installers told him not to bother wiring the bathroom window. The window was...
CORNY COINCIDENCE - BUSH, KERRY STUMP 2 BLOCKS APART IN IOWA
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush and John Kerry campaigned less than a cornfield away from each other yesterday in Iowa, holding dueling events in a key state in the tight race...
VIET VETS RIP DEM AS 'UNFIT'
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - More than a dozen Vietnam veterans who served in the Navy with John Kerry are today launching a hard-hitting TV ad claiming Kerry is lying about his record...
JAILS WIN BID TO BAN 'GANG' SECT
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amState prison officials can bar inmates who are members of a religious sect with a history of violence from holding meetings or worshipping together, a Manhattan federal judge said yesterday....
SKIPPER: I WAS UNCONSCIOUS - OWNS UP TO 11 SLAY COUNTS
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe pilot at the helm of the doomed Staten Island Ferry took full responsibility for his actions yesterday when he pleaded guilty to 11 counts of manslaughter - one for...
BOOZE 'CROOKS' NABBED AT JFK
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amFive JFK cargo workers are accused of taking off with hundreds of mini liquor bottles and other merchandise intended for sale on international flights, authorities said yesterday. The bust netted...
HE'S A BEAST - MONKEY MAN DID 9 YRS. AS COKE-PUSHER
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe owner of an attack macaque monkey is a criminal, having served nearly nine years in a federal penitentiary for cocaine dealing. Steve Seidler, who claims to need his monkey...
FEDS PROBE MISSING BRONX BUCKS
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe feds said yesterday they are examining how a Bronx cultural group tied to Rep. Jose Serrano spent hundreds of thousands dollars to create a Puerto Rican cultural center, but...
DOGGED SECURITY AT GOP CONVENTION
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amIt will look like the Westminster Dog Show all over again. An army of 200 bomb-sniffing pooches will descend on Madison Square Garden starting Aug. 30 for the GOP convention....
RAPE & ROB ORDEAL - GAL SNATCHED OFF STREET
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amTwo men kidnapped a young woman who was walking home from a Brooklyn nightclub, drove her to a Queens ATM where they forced her to withdraw $800, then brutally raped...
GUARD YOUR KIDS - SEX TEACHER OUT, LOVER STILL WANTS HER
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amInfamous cradle-robbing teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, whose taboo trysts with her schoolboy lover produced two kids, was released from prison yesterday as her now-21-year-old former flame challenged a court order...
BOSS ASLEEP AT SWITCH: FEDS
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe Staten Island Ferry crash was a "tragedy waiting to happen" because of the negligence of the ferry system's director, Patrick Ryan, prosecutors charged yesterday. The former director of ferry...
HAMPTONS DIARY
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amWHO'S got "Style" - and who doesn't? This time the courts and not the fashionistas may wind up making the decision. Joseph DeCristofaro says he trademarked the magazine title Hamptons...
THUG BUSTED IN RAPE - B'KLYN ROOF ATTACK
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amA Brooklyn man with a history of stalking has been busted for brutally choking and raping a teenager, law-enforcement sources said. Adam Wright, 36, is being held in lieu $50,000...
KEEP ON TRUCKING: TRAVEL BAN LIFTED
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe morning commute should be easier today because the NYPD has lifted the truck ban on Manhattan-bound East River crossings imposed earlier this week after the latest terror scare, officials...
TELFAIR 'VICTIM' CHANGES STORY
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe man who once identified the brother of city high-school hoops star Sebastian Telfair as the gunman who shot him in the face has gone back to his original story...
DOC'S 'BLANK CHECK' SHOCKER
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe lies of a Staten Island doctor helped the doomed ferry's pilot keep his license to kill, prosecutors charged yesterday. Assistant Capt. Richard Smith would have been barred from piloting...
SUIT OVER 'HEART' RX
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amPharmaceutical giant Pfizer was slapped with a lawsuit yesterday charging that a drug aimed at reducing cholesterol can cause heart problems. The suit came on the day Pfizer said it...
BRIT AIRPORT ATTACK FOILED
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amLONDON - A senior al Qaeda operative was in the final stages of planning a terrorist attack on London's Heathrow airport before he was arrested, it was reported today. Pakistani...
HEPBURN MANSION SOLD
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe estate of the late Katherine Hepburn has sold her Connecticut mansion. The home, fronting Long Island Sound in Old Saybrook, was sold to a neighbor, Manhattan developer Frank Sciame,...
COP FINDS PIPE BOMB NEAR HOME
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amAn off-duty cop found a pipe bomb on the sidewalk outside his Queens home and then did a "stupid" thing by carrying it into his driveway before calling 911. "I...
HACKING'S TRYST - MORMONS BOOTED HIM AFTER FORBIDDEN AFFAIR
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amLori Hacking's lying husband, charged this week in the death of his pregnant wife, was once sent home from a church mission for seducing a young woman he helped convert...
PILOT: I KILLED 11 PASSENGERS - COPS PLEA TO MANSLAUGHTER
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe pilot at the helm of the doomed Staten Island Ferry pleaded guilty yesterday to 11 counts of manslaughter - one for each passenger killed - and confessed he was...
QAEDA'S U.S. CONTACTS
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amAl Qaeda operatives in Pakistan have been in touch with at least six people in the United States, it was reported yesterday. Two Pakistani intelligence sources told CNN that Mohammad...
COP'S KIDNEY FOR STRANGER
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amAn NYPD officer has selflessly donated a kidney to a woman she didn't know, after reading about her desperate need for a transplant in her church newsletter. Police Officer Marie...
PATAKI STAFF TIED TO GRAFT
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amALBANY - An FBI investigation is yielding evidence the Pataki administration had steered state leases to politically connected landlords who made large campaign contributions, a newly unsealed court record indicates....
TEACHER'S PETS - SEX-CRAZED TEENS GREET FREED MARY KAY
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amInfamous cradle-robbing teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, whose taboo trysts with her schoolboy lover produced two kids, was released from prison yesterday - as dozens of randy teens welcomed her back...
2 NAILED IN ID-THEFT $CHEME
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amA Brooklyn man and woman were busted and charged with identity theft after cops found hundreds of stolen identification and credit cards in their Flatlands home, along with thousands of...
POST WAS CLUE TO INJURED NEIGHBOR
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amA sharp-eyed neighbor, a concerned doorman and a copy of The Post helped save an elderly man who was lying helpless on the floor after collapsing in his apartment. Max...
X-RAY 'GHOST' FACES 7 YRS. IN FRAUD
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amAn X-ray technician was arrested for collecting $22,000 in wages from the city's Medical Examiner's Office - all while working at a private radiology lab, officials said yesterday. Richard Kulig,...
RESCUED KID'S FIGHT TO SURVIVE
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe Queens teenager plucked from the treacherous waters of Jamaica Bay by a hero firefighter continued to fight for his life yesterday. But while Tab Miller, 13, remained on life...
AL QAEDA IN TOUCH WITH U.S. CONTACTS
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amAl Qaeda operatives in Pakistan have been in contact with at least six people in the United States, it was reported yesterday. Two senior Pakistani intelligence sources told CNN that...
ITALIAN GROUPS SLAM GOTTI-TV
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amItalian-American groups are threatening to boycott the sponsors of "Growing Up Gotti," the new reality-TV series about mob daughter Victoria Gotti's family, because it gives Italians a bad name. Gotti,...
TOP CABBIES HAILED
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amDozens of taxi drivers were honored yesterday for going beyond the usual call of a cab ride - getting praise for returning lost treasures, for decades of dedicated service and...
SHEFFIELD, A-ROD HRS RESCUE LOAIZA - YANKEES RALLY IN PITCHER'S DEBUT
August 5, 2004 | 4:00am11 INNINGS: Yankees 8 - A's 6 Gary Sheffield, Mariano Rivera and Alex Rodriguez were the best things Esteban Loaiza had going for him last night in his Yankee debut....
GM: GIAMBI IMPROVING
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amYANK NOTES Brian Cashman reported Jason Giambi is making progress. "Every day I think he is getting better," the GM said of the first baseman who was diagnosed with a...
SHORT-TERM ANSWER - JOSE TAKES OVER FOR ACHING KAZ
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amMets 6 - Brewers 5 MILWAUKEE - For one night, everything was right in the Mets' defensive world. Meet Jose Reyes. Shortstop. In what will almost certainly be a precursor...
MCEWING POPS BREWERS AGAIN
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amMILWAUKEE - Brewers fans beware: Joe McEwing owns your team. The Mets utility man continued his smoking hitting against Milwaukee last night, and at this point, the Brewers might want...
KARSAY'S CLOSER TO RETURNING
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amReinforcements to the Yankees' bullpen are on the way - sort of. Relief pitcher Steve Karsay took another step back toward rejoining the team this week with a rehab assignment...
WOMEN'S TEAM IS ON ALERT
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe U.S. Women's Olympic team knows full well that the terrorism level in New York has been raised to orange. And because of the way the men's team has floundered...
RANGERS SIGN TAYLOR
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amReaching again into their crop of collegiate prospects, the Rangers yesterday signed Jake Taylor from the University of Minnesota. The 6-4, 220-pound defenseman played 39 games as a freshman for...
LOCKOUT LOOMING - NHL TALKS GOING NOWHERE FAST
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amFour more hours later, the NHL is another day closer to Gary Bettman's Lockout II, aka Calamity Redux. The race to mutiny, seeing whether owners or players cave first, is...
BLAKE HAMMERS OUT DEAL WITH ISLANDERS
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amJason Blake wants to win a Stanley Cup and he wants to hoist the NHL's holy grail in an Islanders sweater. The Isles announced yesterday that they and Blake came...
CRAWFORD DEAL STILL UNFINISHED
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amWhile Erick Dampier was visiting Westchester yesterday talking about signing with the Knicks for the mid-level exception if need be, Jamal Crawford and his agent were still haggling over terms...
NETS SET TO RE-SIGN JEFFERSON
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe Nets are closing in on re-signing Richard Jefferson and signing free-agent guard Ron Mercer. "I say we're getting closer," admitted Nets CEO Rod Thorn last night. "Both could be...
DAMPIER LOVES N.Y. - PRICE IS RIGHT FOR KNICKS
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amNeither the Knicks nor Erick Dampier would say yesterday how close they are to working out a sign-and-trade to bring the Golden State center to New York. But listening to...
S.I. YANKS' ZAMORA SHOWING TRUE GRIT
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe Staten Island roster sheet has all the usual nuggets of info: height, weight, birth date, hometown and - oddly enough - previous team. Only four players exist from last...
CASHMAN: GIAMBI IS PROGRESSING
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Brian Cashman reported Jason Giambi is making progress. "Every day I think he is getting better," the GM said of the first baseman who was diagnosed with a...
WHAT A RELIEF! HEREDIA'S GONE - YANKS SEND FELIX TO WORK WITH CONNORS
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amYesterday was not only a sad day for left-handed hitters but for all hackers in the American League. That's when the Yankees, with his permission, optioned Felix Heredia to Tampa...
SHORT-TERM ANSWER - WITH KAZ INJURED, JOSE MOVES OVER TO BETTER POSITION
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amMILWAUKEE - For one night, everything was right in the Mets' defensive world. When Jose Reyes came into the visitors' clubhouse yesterday, he took a quick glance at the lineup...
ZAMBRANO STARTS ANEW
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amMET NOTES MILWAUKEE - For Victor Zambrano, it's opening day all over again. On March 30, Zambrano kicked off the season by beating the Yankees in Tokyo, allowing three runs...
S.I. YANKS BLANKED ... AGAIN
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amLowell 7 - S.I. Yanks 0 It doesn't help to face one of the league's best pitchers when you have a tough time scratching out hits in the first place....
HEREDIA HEADS FOR TAMPA RX
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amYesterday was not only a sad day for left-handed hitters but for all hackers in the American League. That's when the Yankees, with his permission, optioned Felix Heredia to Tampa...
MIGHTY MO PROVIDES THAT EXTRA SOMETHING
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amThe magic was in full blast last night at the Stadium as the Yankees, in a total playoff atmosphere here in early August, came back in the late stages of...
NEW GIANT LBS ARE TRUE BLUE
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amALBANY - During those hours together on the field, in endless meetings and in the time spent inside their dorm suite as roommates, Carlos Emmons and Barrett Green do their...
BRADSHAW SAYS COUGHLIN SHOULD START MANNING
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amGIANT NOTES ALBANY - Play the kid. That's the advice of a pretty fair former quarterback, Terry Bradshaw, to Giant coach Tom Coughlin. "Whether it's New York or Tacoma, load...
COWART UP FOR FIGHT
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amSam Cowart, quite simply, has been perhaps the biggest enigma tied to the lack of production of the Jets' defense the last two years. Now, beginning his third season in...
HERM EAGER FOR GIANT 'TEST'
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amJET NOTES Some of the veterans are dreading the trip. Herman Edwards can't wait to board his players on buses at about 4:30 Saturday morning bound for Albany, where the...
CHOWDER'S FIRST IN FEATURE
August 5, 2004 | 4:00amSARATOGA SPRINGS - Trainer Todd Pletcher is well on his way to another training title at the Old Spa with seven winners in the first seven days; five other trainers...