December 14, 2004
HOW THE GOVERNMENT PULLS THE WOOL OVER YOUR EYES
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amCONSUMERS can be forgiven if they haven't noticed that today's clothes dryers offer more bang for the buck than they did a few years ago. They'll still dry your towels,...
HIP-HOP FLOPS - SLOWDOWN IN URBAN FASHIONS WORRIES RETAILERS
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amA shakeout is afoot in the world of urban apparel, as sales of once red-hot labels begin to cool, analysts and industry executives said. The across-the-board slowdown is alarming some...
WARNER GIVES NEW PEEK AT NUMBERS
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amWarner Music continued its march toward an initial public offering, reporting that its turnaround plan is ahead of schedule even as it showed very little revenue growth. Privately-held Warner Music...
NEW SCHOOL SEES FIFTH AVE. GROWTH
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amONE of the year's largest office building leases was just signed not by a law firm or bank, but by New School University, which took a whopping 194,300 square feet...
TOMMY TUNES UP - LOOKS TO BOOST SAGGING LINE WITH LAGERFELD BUY
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amEmbattled Tommy Hilfiger Corp., desperate to acquire an upscale brand to help re-ignite its growth engine, will buy designer Karl Lagerfeld's small business and roll it out to upscale departments...
TRUMP SHAREHOLDER WANTS BETTER DEAL
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amOne of Donald Trump's casino investors is raising a new stink about being shortchanged in a makeover deal for Trump's Atlantic City gaming assets. Michael Stortini, who's also the biggest...
AGENCIES READY FOR ARMY AD BATTLE
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amThe ad agency that wins the battle for the U.S. Army's whopping $200 million account faces an even tougher campaign: selling recruits on military life. A decision on whether the...
SONY BID COULD'VE SAVED DISNEY $
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amA former Walt Disney Co. director testified that CEO Michael Eisner hoped that Sony Corp. would take Michael Ovitz off his hands and save Disney a "bundle" in severance pay....
M&A NEWS BOOSTS MARTS, '05 HOPES
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amWall Street is taking a big bite of its Christmas-rally pie - sweetened by hopes of a new year flush with merger and acquisition activity. Analysts say that Oracle's increased...
NO NUDES MADE IT TO OLY OPENING
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amTHE FCC is apparently looking to see if shots of a dozen or so nearly nude dancers who performed at the opening ceremonies of last summer's Olympic Games made it...
GIMME THAT AULD-TIME ROCK 'N' ROLL
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amDICK Clark, who's recovering from a minor stroke, won't host ABC's New Year's Eve telecast this year. Clark has chosen his old pal, Regis Philbin, to sub for him in...
'WILD' SUPER HALFTIME SHOW
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amTHE makers of "Girls Gone Wild" will air a pay-per-view special during this year's Super Bowl halftime show that promises "guaranteed wardrobe malfunctions." The show is the latest in a...
STARR REPORT
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amRipa love triangle Carmen Electra will stop by ABC's "Hope & Faith" for an episode co-starring Mark Consuelos, real-life husband of "Hope" co-star Kelly Ripa. In the episode, airing next...
BEAST OF BIRD-EN - DOCUMENTARY THAT STARTED HAWK GAWK
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amBLAME it on the super. This documentary on the infamous Fifth Avenue hawk would never have existed if the people whose job it is to maintain the ritzy co-op at...
IN SPIRIT - 'KARROLL' DOES RIGHT BY DICKENS
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amWith the bazillions of bad takes on Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" that have been written, I expect that Dickens' own ghost must be spinning in his grave. But I'm...
GOLDEN GLOBES' GLAM SHAM - IT'S HOW YOU LOOK, NOT HOW YOU ACT THAT GETS THE PRIZE; GOLD MEDDLING
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amYOU just can't throw an awards show without Nicole Kidman. So what if her movie bombed - with critics and audiences? With star-colored glasses firmly in place, the Hollywood Foreign...
LONGORIA IS THE LEFT-OFF HOUSEWIFE
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amABC's "Desperate Housewives" are a little happier today - except for Eva Longoria. Longoria (left), who plays sultry philanderer Gabrielle Solis on the hit Sunday-night series, was snubbed for a...
SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS - HILARY SWANK'S TRAINER TAKES OFF THE KID GLOVES
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amNO wimpy celebrity fitness gurus for Hilary Swank. When she was training to play a boxer in the upcoming "Million Dollar Baby," Swank earned her gloves the hard way -...
ON THE ROPES
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amONE hour in the ring with Hector Roca and I learned more there than in four years of boxing at other gyms. I also realized how hard Hilary Swank worked...
STAY A WHILE - SAY "HASTA LUEGO" TO MEGA-RESORTS AND HELLO TO THE UNIQUE HOTELS OF THE YUCATAN PENINSULA
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amAZULIK The beach in Tulum, 90 minutes south of Cancun, is lined with quirky cabana hotels. Among the best is Azulik, which offers up a comfortable, simple experience (read: no...
OUT OF THE ZONE - THIS YEAR, BREAK FREE FROM CANCUN'S ZONA HOTELERA. LISA KEYS DISCOVERS 5 WILD GETAWAYS IN THE REAL MEXICO
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amEVERY year, some 3 million visitors descend upon Cancun, Mexico's party paradise on the Yucatan peninsula. There, they bake on the milky white sand of the Caribbean Sea, slurp tequila...
EXPRESS CHECK-IN - GOSSIP, HOT TOPICS AND OTHER NEWS YOU'LL USE
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amFOLLOW THAT STAR ANYONE who's anyone has been out and about in town these past few weeks, thanks to a blitz of big-name premieres, DVD releases and just plain old...
SHOP, SHOP AND AWAY - LET THE TOURISTS TAKE MANHATTAN - HEAD OUT ON ONE OF 4 GREAT HOLIDAY SHOPPING BREAKS
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amSOMETIMES, it's tough shopping in New York, and now is one of those times. Seemingly, all of western Europe and most of America has descended upon Manhattan, leaving most of...
WHAT GOTHAM LOST - CRYSTAL'S BROADWAY TRIUMPH
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amHAVE you ever felt nostalgic for a time before you were born? Watching Billy Crystal's stunningly sophisticated, powerfully heartfelt and altogether wonderful stage memoir, "700 Sundays," I experienced that intensely...
INTEL MONEY PIT - PEOPLE, NOT SYSTEMS, NEED FUNDS
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amHAVING worked in intelligence for more than two decades, I was fascinated by all the lying as Congress wrestled with intelligence reform. So much of the intel world is hidden...
DOCS TEST DIABETES VACCINE
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amA vaccine that could help wipe out Type 1 diabetes will be tested on patients next year. Two teams of British scientists working on the vaccine said it halts the...
SHOT COP'S JUSTICE - THUG GETS PRISON
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amThe paroled druggie who shot an NYPD captain in Harlem last year was led away to prison yesterday as his victim watched, healthy and satisfied, from the back of the...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amAn elderly Tennessee couple will hang up their hats as foster parents - after taking 233 kids into their home over 45 years. "It's all been good," said Roger Gorsuch,...
GIFFORD PUSHES TO SMARTEN UP APPLE SCHOOLS
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amSome of the city's brightest kids are being shortchanged by a school system that does not offer enough academically challenging classes, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller charged yesterday. The Democratic...
BUSH PICKS UTAH EX-GOV FOR HEALTH CHIEF
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday tapped his environmental chief, Michael Leavitt, as his new health secretary - removing one of the top contenders to replace Bernard Kerik as his choice...
NOW IT'S HIS TURN TO CRY
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amHE CRIED like a bitch. Danny Pelosi, the sadistic, money-worshipping Long Island handyman with the cartoonishly nasal voice, once boasted to a girlfriend that millionaire Ted Ammon "cried like a...
FIEND WHO RAPED AND BEAT GIRL WILL ROT IN PRISON
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amA sicko father of three who raped and pummeled a 13-year-old Long Island girl nearly to death was sentenced yesterday to 65 years behind bars. Calling him an "abomination," Suffolk...
LAST-MINUTE PLEA TO PATAKI TO NIX FARE AND TOLL INCREASES
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amWith Gov. Pataki's six appointees to the MTA board expected to tilt the scales in favor of a fare and toll hike Thursday, transit advocates will call on the governor...
MOVING 'SIDEWAYS' - VOTERS INTOXICATED BY WINE FLICK MAKE IT EARLY OSCAR FRONT-RUNNER
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amForget controversial films like "The Passion of Christ" and "Fahrenheit 9/11." When it comes to nominating the best of the year, Golden Globes voters are far more interested in movies...
SOCIAL WORKER ADMITS KILLING HER EX
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amA city social worker who shot her former boyfriend and stuffed his body in a bag under her basement stairs will serve 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to...
EGG-ON-FACE RUDY STILL IN BUSH'S GOOD GRACES
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush is giving Rudy Giuliani a pass for pushing scandal-scarred former top cop Bernard Kerik as homeland-security chief, and the pols are still "very good friends," the...
PROBERS DROOLING AT RICH - FACES OIL SUBPOENA
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Manhattan grand juries probing the U.N. oil-for-food scandal have subpoenaed some 20 U.S. businesses and individuals - and pardoned billionaire Marc Rich is sure to join them if...
3 CLEARED IN HAZING
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amA Queens courtroom erupted in wild applause and shouts of joy yesterday after a jury acquitted three St. John's frat brothers of paddling a pledge into kidney failure. Friends, Phi...
VELELLA IN-LAW IS OUT - LOSING BIG-PAY CITY JOB
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amGuy Velella's son-in-law had better start cleaning out his desk at the Board of Standards and Appeals. Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that he won't reappoint Peter Caliendo when his six-year...
CHUCK CALLS FOR 7-TRAIN LINK TO PENN STATION
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amSen. Charles Schumer yesterday asked city officials to revise their West Side plan so the extension of the No. 7 subway line includes a link from Grand Central Terminal to...
HARASS FUROR AT FDNY - GRIPES OVER FIRE GAL
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amThe first woman to join an elite FDNY team - who was then transferred amid complaints of sexual harassment - caused resentment in her firehouse because she was too small...
BID TO NIX 'FIERY' WITNESS
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amFederal prosecutors are scrambling to keep jurors in the upcoming terror- financing trial of a Yemeni sheik from learning that a key FBI informant set himself on fire in a...
SWOLLEN JAILS MEAN HEARTLESS SLAYER COULD FACE DOOM FOR DECADES
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amEven though a jury condemned Scott Peterson to death yesterday, it could be years - even decades - before he's executed. That's because California's death row has grown to 650...
YULE JUST DIE - XMAS DEADLIEST DAY
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amThe most wonderful day of the year is the also deadliest - because Americans join the angels at a 12.4 percent higher rate on Dec. 25 than at other times,...
MANHUNT'S ON FOR FDR CRASH 'TOSSER'
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amCops are looking for a person who tossed debris onto the FDR Drive and may have caused a five-car pile-up, police said. NYPD brass discovered that a woman called 911...
SUSPECT HELD IN B'DAY SLAY
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amA flower-shop worker has been busted for allegedly ordering a brutal hit in which a Bronx teen was stabbed to death on his birthday, police said yesterday. Antonio Burgoa, 21,...
%*&#! GOTTI TAPE - RACE RANTS MAY KO BRO
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amA prison tape of late Gambino boss John Gotti spewing anti-black and anti-gay remarks - as well as a tirade suggesting he wanted mob turncoat Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano killed...
CHEF-CHARITY BOSS $ERVED SELF: COPS
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amThe ex-president of the James Beard Foundation was indicted yesterday on charges he pillaged the esteemed foodie's charity - pocketing as much as $1 million over the past four years....
GETTING THEIR LICKS IN - SUED ICE-CREAM SHOP: OUR CAKE'S BETTER
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amThe ice cream chain accused of knocking off a Manhattan bakery's designer cupcakes says there is a difference between their's and Crumbs' - their's tastes better. "We believe our product...
BROOKLYN DEATH CRASH - M'CYCLIST SMASHES INTO SIDE OF SUV
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amA Brooklyn man was killed yesterday when his motorcycle hit an SUV making an illegal left turn, police said. The crash occurred at 8:21 a.m. as Alexandre Koulygine, 51, was...
DANNY'S OWN TESTIMONY OF SADISTIC GAME WITH STUN GUN SEALED HIS FATE
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amDanny Pelosi zapped himself. The on-the-make Long Island electrician was found guilty yesterday of the 2001 murder of megamillionaire banker Ted Ammon - and it was his own testimony that...
'DOUBLE' DEALER GUILTY OF ART FRAUD
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amA Manhattan art dealer pleaded guilty yesterday to commissioning forgeries of works by at least five famous painters and selling the counterfeits for $7 million in a scam that he...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amTHE BRONX * A young man was busted yesterday for killing a homeless man in Claremont with one punch, after the vagrant urinated in front of the suspect's girlfriend, police...
COLD ATTITUDE HELPED DOOM HIM, SAY JURORS
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amFor the jury foreman, it was crucial that the bodies of Laci Peterson and her fetus were found exactly where a tidal expert said they would wash up if her...
SNIFF, SNIFF - HERE COMES A COLD
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amIt's cold and flu season. Learn about the world's most common ailment. CHANCES are you've already had one this season. If not- you'll probably get one. Catching a cold is...
NO REASON TO WATCH
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amGIANT REPORT CARD QUARTERBACKS: F Eli Manning (4 of 18, 27 yards, 2 INTs) pulled a Blutarski with a rating of zero point zero. Perhaps a food fight is in...
IRISH MAY LOSE RECRUITS
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amBoth Brian Cushing and Jimmy Dray had Notre Dame on their short lists before the school axed head coach Ty Willingham after a 6-5 regular season. And although the Irish...
RED-ZONE DUDS
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amJET REPORT CARDQUARTERBACKS: F Chad Pennington (17-of-31, 189 yards, 3 INTs, 33.6 rating) had a poor day, short-arming on a couple of INTs and failing not only to get his...
TURNING OVER THE SEASON
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES When the Giants were 5-2, they were riding high with a turnover margin of plus-12, tied for the best in the league. Six losses later, the Giants are...
KIDD'S WORKLOAD TO RISE GRADUALLY
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amJason Kidd is still limited in the number of minutes he can log since his return from off-season knee surgery, but the star point guard is not scheduled to see...
A ROOKIE'S MISTAKES - COUGHLIN: ELI MUST PLAY TO LEARN
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amThe here-and-now is so bad that it takes either extreme patience or blind faith to project Eli Manning as the franchise quarterback the Giants purport he will be. Manning has...
GANG GREEN CONTROL OWN PLAYOFF FATE
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amJET NOTES The Jets can clinch a playoff berth this weekend. They will be in as an AFC wild card team if they beat the Seahawks, the Broncos lose to...
GARY TO UNION: DIE - BETTMAN SET TO SLAP PLAYERS' PROPOSAL
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amTORONTO - Two weeks ago Gary Bettman visited Edmonton and designated the Alberta city as the ultimate NHL small-market representative that would require a hard salary cap to stay in...
TAKING OFFENSE - JORDAN LAMENTS LACK OF SCORING
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amAs the December chill descends upon the Jets and their playoff chances hang very much in the balance of the next three games, emotions are becoming raw at Weeb Ewbank...
COACH - LEAVING MAY BE BEST FOR LEINART
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amMatt Leinart says he wants to come back to Southern Cal for his senior season, despite already possessing a national championship and, since Saturday night, a Heisman Trophy. But his...
D'BACKS WON'T BUDGE - STILL WANT RANSOM FROM YANKS FOR UNIT
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amANAHEIM - Arizona's song remains the same. And to the Yankees' ears, it's like listening to finger nails traveling across a chalkboard. After 13 days of no communication between the...
INTEREST IN LOWE HEATS UP
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amANAHEIM - Scott Boras claimed interest in Derek Lowe is climbing - while Carlos Beltran's next possible destination is being whittled down. Baseball's super agent spoke with reporters late yesterday...
PEDRO BECOMES AN AMAZIN' ACE - METS GIVE MARTINEZ 4-YEAR, $54M PACT
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amANAHEIM - The man has won three Cy Young Awards, pitched a team to a championship and been one of the game's most dominant aces for a decade. And now...
VINCE WORTH JAMAL PRICE
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amAFTER watching him in a Knick uniform for two months, many fans are smitten with Jamal Crawford, his breezy personality, exciting crossover dribble and dipsy-doodle moves reminiscent of Earl "The...
SHEA READY TO ROCK AGAIN
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amTHE Mets have to do this. They have to overpay. They have to blow Pedro Martinez out of the water. They have to reel in the biggest fish they've corralled...
DESPERATE HOOPS-WIFE - SPOUSE SPARKED KOBE-KARL SPAT
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amREMEMBER when the Lakers' "three-ring" circus was simply silly? Last season it became painfully sad. Well, now they've got themselves a full-blown stench. And it's getting more toxic by the...
'D' PROVING TOPIC 'A' FOR KNICKS
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amThe Knicks cross the Hudson to face the Nets tonight in the first meeting with their cross-river rivals since getting swept out of last season's playoffs. But the Knicks have...
PEDRO'S A GREAT PRESENT
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amMET NOTES ANAHEIM - At first, Mike Cameron couldn't believe it and was reluctant to say much. Then he heard Larry Lucchino's concession e-mail in which the Sox president said...
WHITE'S FEELING GOOD AT LINCOLN
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amLincoln 93 - Madison 43 Kevin White Jr. stepped on the court at Lincoln High for the first time as a member of the Railsplitters yesterday and admitted it took...
PEDRO ALL BUT AN AMAZIN' ACE - METS, MARTINEZ NEAR 4-YEAR, $54M PACT
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amANAHEIM - The man has won three Cy Young Awards, captured a championship and been one of the game's most dominant aces for a decade. And now in a stunning...
D'BACKS WON'T BUDGE - STILL DEMAND RANSOM FROM YANKS FOR UNIT
December 14, 2004 | 5:00amANAHEIM - Arizona's song remains the same. And to the Yankees' ears, it's like listening to finger nails traveling across a chalkboard. After 13 days of no communication between the...