December 21, 2004
HOW NOS. CAN HURT REAL PEOPLE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amTO Wall Street, the economic statistics spewed out by the Feds are a source of amusement and opportunity. For politicians, the numbers mean getting elected or not. The media interpret...
AT $2.8K, SILVER CROSS IS GLAM PRAM FOR HOT TOTS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amThe definitive status stroller has just quadrupled in price. At $2,800, the handmade Silver Cross Balmoral pram far outpaces the $700 Bugaboo Frog - which until now was considered outrageously...
'SPAWN' CREATOR'S BIZ, LONG BALLS LOSING VALUE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amIt's been a tough month for legendary comic book artist Todd McFarlane, who sprang into the headlines after paying $3 million for Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball and $450,000...
LEHMAN SIGNS MIDTOWN LEASE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amWALL Street giant Lehman Bros. just gave the Midtown office market a super-size bundle of Christmas cheer by signing a long-term lease for 306,700 square feet at Equity Office's 1301...
NYSE TRADER PROBE WIDENS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amThe New York Stock Exchange has widened its probe of traders at two market makers - LaBranche & Co. and Van der Moolen. A total of 12 traders are now...
SURPRISE! RETAIL SALES MAY SPARKLE AFTER ALL
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amThis season's dismal holiday-sales numbers may be hiding strong results from online operations, home improvement, consumer electronics and luxury stores that can offset the nation's mall malaise. By some accounts,...
TIFFANY BLUES - JEWELER'S SALES SLOW, WHILE LUXURY MARKET GAINS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amSales of luxury items, especially jewelry, are red hot this holiday season, but not at Tiffany & Co., where demand for the little blue box appears to be cooling. Sales...
SOLDIER 'SWAN' SURVIVES DIVORCE TO TAKE CROWN
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amAN Army captain-turned-knockout was crowned "The Swan" last night. DeLisa Stiles, a 32-year-old veteran of Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, walked away with "The Swan" tiara - but not...
RUNNING WITH SCISSOR SISTERS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amSCISSOR SISTERS ON paper, the Scissor Sisters' dance music doesn't beat rock. But after seeing this wild band of glam-jammers Sunday at the Hammerstein Ballroom, you realize they not only...
PRODUCERS WARNED ABUSIVE HUBBY EARLY
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amJONATHAN Baker - the foul- tempered, world-trekker on "The Amazing Race 6" who has scandalized fans with his berating abuse of his wife on the streets of Berlin - was...
DO OR DIET: MEET THE NEW JENNY CRAIG POSTER GIRL - KIRSTIE ALLEY
December 21, 2004 | 5:00am'FAT Actress" Kirstie Alley will have to forego that next cheeseburger - now that she's inked a deal to promote the Jenny Craig weight-loss program. Alley, the formerly svelte "Cheers"...
WHO'S ON FIRST? - DYING TO LEAVE TOWN FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE? PICK ONE OF THESE FIVE CLOSE-TO-HOME CELEBRATIONS FOR A BRILLIANT, QUICK GETAWAY
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amIF you had a nickel for every "What are you doing for New Year's?" you'd be flying to the tropics. As it is, you, like many New Yorkers, are probably...
EXPRESS CHECK-IN - GOSSIP, HOT TOPICS AND OTHER NEWS YOU'LL USE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amLOVE, VALOR OUR spy and Katie Couric were in Miami this past weekend - not together. But they were both there for the purpose of honoring Carnival's newest Conquest Class...
SAVED FROM HORRID TV JUST IN TIME
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amIf there were only more hours in the day, we'd never have to channel surf. It could be all "24" all the time. In other words, in a perfect world...
STARR REPORT
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amA worthy cause The "NFL on Fox" team - James Brown, Terry Bradshaw, Jimmy Johnson and Howie Long - will all be sporting the National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation lapel pin...
TORY 'R' ROUGH - IT'S NOT EASY WORKING AT CITY'S TOP TOY STORE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amSHOPPING at the Toys "R" Us store in Times Square is a daunting experience any time of the year, let alone pre-Christmas. Just try working there. I showed up for...
DAME MOVES TO 'SEVILLE'
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amSHE'S been a talk-show host, swami, psychic and, in her own words, "a glittering giga-star." Now Dame Edna is about to make her opera debut - with the Metropolitan Opera,...
BRAVEST INJURED IN BLAZE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amA firefighter suffered serious burns yesterday battling an inferno that sources said erupted when a tenant left his stove on because of the cold - one of . Ken Ditata,...
BUST IN SLAY OF GRID KID - 2ND B'KLYN SUSPECT
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amA second man has been arrested for the murder of a Connecticut college athlete who was killed on his first trip to Brooklyn. John Guica, 20, was picked up around...
'NET-PERV VET ADMITS E-MAILS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amA decorated Navy veteran will spend five months in jail after copping a plea yesterday to settle charges he sent filthy e-mails and pictures to a detective posing as a...
RENTERS' PINCH - AVERAGE NYER'S WAGE FALLS FAR SHORT OF APT. COSTS, STUDY FINDS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amLow-paid New Yorkers earn less than half the money they need to live in a one- or two-bedroom apartment, an advocacy group reported yesterday. The group found that New York...
'FREE $$' HAWKER: IT'S WAR - CITES GIG HELPING GIS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amALBANY - The man the state charges has misled Americans into believing that there are billions of hidden federal dollars to pay their bills fought back yesterday - asking how...
NORMAN ACCUSERS ARE 'SORE LOSERS:' DEFENSE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amExtortion and other criminal charges against Brooklyn Democratic boss Clarence Norman should be dropped because the complaints came from two female judges who wanted to dine with the Democrats but...
JENNINGS 'TRIAL' PUT OFF UNTIL JAN.
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amAfter months of testimony in the closed-door trial of City Councilman Allan Jennings (D-Queens), the proceedings were adjourned yesterday until Jan. 3, when it is expected the last witness will...
QUEENS 'BRASCO' BONES ID'D
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amHuman remains unearthed from a mob burial site in Queens have been positively identified as two Bonanno capos who were killed more than 20 years ago in a grisly Mafia...
BELTWAY BLUNDER; WHY 'FIRE RUMMY' CREW FAILED
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amTHIS is a story about how not to get your way in George W. Bush's Washington. Say you're a Washington insider. Or an in-the-know journalist. Or a senator with considerable...
LAWYER TOLD MOBSTER TO SHOOT MAN: FEDS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amFederal prosecutors accused a lawyer retained by Gambino family members - including John "Junior" Gotti - of participating in a shooting with mobsters in the late 1980s. The stunning revelation...
W. DEFENDS RUMMY - PRAISES 'CARING' SECRETARY
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday brushed off criticism that Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld is out of touch, and defended him as a "caring fellow" who will soon win over his...
VIBE-STAB RAPPER AND DA CUT DEAL
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amLOS ANGELES - Rapper Young Buck yesterday bucked an attempted-slay rap with the help of California prosecutors, who downgraded the charges against him stemming from an awards-show melee. But in...
HS SEX FIENDS - AIDES PREYED ON & 'PIMPED' OUT TEENS: PROBE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amTwo male assistants to the principal of Lehman HS held female students in a reign of sexual terror, luring them to a dingy utility room for sex and offering one...
AFTER RAT SHOWER, GAL CLEAN$ UP
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amA Bronx woman yesterday collected a $65,000 settlement check because her bathroom ceiling collapsed as she showered, raining down on her a pile of debris, filthy water - and a...
$100M HARLEM HOUSING PLAN
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amHarlem will soon get about 3,000 new units of affordable housing, thanks to a $100 million loan from Bank of America. The bank will give the money to the city's...
JACKO CRIES HANKY-PANKY
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amWacko Jacko's lawyers yesterday argued that evidence seized this month during a surprise raid on his Neverland ranch, including mucus swabbings from his surgically-challenged nose, should never land in court....
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amMANHATTAN *** A Westchester man was shot in his car after he left a SoHo nightclub early yesterday, police sources said. The victim, 27, told cops he was going home...
DRIVER IS BAD 'NEWS' - 'DRUG, DWI' CRASH
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amA veteran Daily News driver and union bigwig was nabbed on drug, DWI and reckless-driving charges after he fell asleep behind the wheel and sideswiped four parked cars on a...
'PAY TO PLAY' BAN TOO LATE: MIKE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amIf the city bans political contributions from people who do business with the city, it likely won't happen by Election Day next year, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday as he attacked...
NEW TRAGEDY FOR STRIFE-PLAGUED LOTTERY WINNER
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amHe's been cursed with trouble ever since he won the nation's biggest-ever lottery jackpot, and yesterday Jack Whittaker suffered the most heartbreaking blow possible - his 17-year-old granddaughter was found...
DRINK CAME TO 'SHOVE' - BROLIN-LANE SPAT ERUPTS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amDiane Lane and hubby Josh Brolin were bending elbows at a movie wrap party the night he shoved his "Perfect Storm" bride in a domestic incident, cops and sources said...
LUCKY'S KIN, 82, IN MOB PLOT
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amMost octogenarians who head to Florida seek warmth and relaxation, but not the 82-year-old nephew of infamous gangster Charles "Lucky" Luciano - this snowbird migrated to the sunshine state to...
FIREFIGHTERS INJURED IN B'KLYN BLAZE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amA 19-year FDNY veteran suffered serious burns on his face, head and neck yesterday while responding to a false report of someone trapped in a two-alarm blaze that damaged a...
HOW PRECIOUS CHILD BECAME TRASH - MOM'S TWO-DAY SENTENCE BAFFLES 'STEPHIE' LOVERS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amStephanie Ramos was born dark-eyed, black-haired, full-term and motionless in a Bronx bathroom. Her mother, a teenage immigrant from El Salvador, panicked, and threw the blue, silent infant into the...
FATEFUL DAY WHEN BUTCHER MET VICTIM - IN PHOTOTOGETHER AT APRIL DOG SHOW
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amEight months before she allegedly strangled a pregnant woman and ripped the baby out of her womb, the suspect posed for a picture with the victim at an event where...
L.I. FIRE HERO IN GUN BUST
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amA Long Island hero credited with saving four lives last Friday was arrested less than 48 hours later for possessing a stolen handgun, cops said yesterday. Priestly Green, 22 -...
BERNIE MIGHT PULL A BUBBA: SEX SUIT
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amWhile Bernard Kerik's Cabinet appointment was pending, a former city prison warden tried to air lurid details of Kerik's sex life in a federal lawsuit. Erik DeRavin's lawyer argued that...
SNIPES: KID IS NOT MY SON
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amActor Wesley Snipes is suing to block the city from busting him on a child-support claim filed by a woman he says is delusional. Snipes says Lanise Pettis - who...
DEM'S ACCUSERS 'SORE LOSERS'
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amExtortion and other criminal charges against Brooklyn Democratic boss Clarence Norman should be dropped because the complaints came from two judges who wanted to dine with the Democrats but dodge...
BAD ACTOR BLAKE ; STAR'S SKILLS FAILED WHEN MURDER STORY WASN'T A MOVIE: DA
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amHollywood tough guy Robert Blake tried to pull off the acting job of a lifetime after murdering the wife he hated - but his lousy performance gave him up, a...
'CURSED' LOTTO MAN'S TRAGEDY
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amHe's been cursed with trouble ever since he won the nation's biggest-ever lottery jackpot, and yesterday Jack Whittaker suffered the most heartbreaking blow possible - his 17-year-old granddaughter was found...
ONLINE PERV COPS PLEA ON E-MAILS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amA decorated Navy veteran will spend five months in jail after copping a plea yesterday to settle charges he sent filthy e-mails and pictures to a detective posing as a...
FATEFUL DAY WHEN BUTCHER MET VICTIM - IN PHOTO TOGETHER AT APRIL DOG SHOW
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amEight months before she allegedly strangled a pregnant woman and ripped the baby out of her womb, the suspect posed for a picture with the victim at an event where...
BRAVEST INJURED IN BLAZE - 'HEAT' STOVE BLAMED
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amA firefighter suffered serious burns yesterday while battling a Brooklyn inferno that erupted when a tenant left his stove on because of the cold, sources said. Ken Ditata, a 19-year-old...
YANKS: BIDDER UP! - STADIUM SWAG GOES UP FOR SALE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amThe Yankees have already figured out a way to cash in on their heartbreaking loss to the Red Sox last year. The team yesterday sold one of the bases from...
FLEECE MARKET; RAID NETS 9,000 KNOCKOFFS WORTH $1.3M
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amAuthorities busted 17 vendors and seized more than 9,000 knockoff clothing items and pirated CDs and DVDs in a weekend raid on Aqueduct Racetrack's bustling flea market, Queens prosecutors said...
HIGHWAY HORROR - BOY, 15, DIES IN PAL'S SUICIDE TRY
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amTwo teenage pals - at least one of them bent on suicide - raced along a New Jersey highway at more than 100 mph and slammed into a utility pole...
COP SHOT IN B'KLYN PROJECTS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amA cop was shot and wounded during a routine patrol in the stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project last night by a man wearing a black ski mask, police sources...
SECURITY SCARE AT GRACIE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amAn anti-Bloomberg activist breached security at Gracie Mansion last night by crashing the mayor's invitation-only press party. After passing through a metal detector, the man, known for his wild outbursts...
LETHAL GAS SICKENS FAMILIES
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amTwo families living in a house undergoing extensive renovations were almost killed by carbon monoxide yesterday, police said. A total of six people - Bernard and Margally Registre and their...
B'KLYN WIFE KILLER GETS LIFE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amA man who pumped at least five bullets into his wife's head got slapped yesterday with a sentence of 25 years to life. Justice Matthew D'Emic hit Warren Farrier, 34,...
BEGGAR'S BACK - SCAMHANDLER HITS STREETS AS LONG RAP SHEET IS BARED
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amA "bogus beggar" who cowers on Fifth Avenue pretending to be hungry and homeless was back on deceptive duty yesterday - as The Post discovered she has a lengthy rap...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amSicko teens are hurling a life-size mannequin off a highway overpass into the path of oncoming cars to make drivers believe they've hit somebody. Cops in Swampscott, Mass., say freaked-out...
'SPENDING' THE HOLIDAYS - HIGH-FLYING TRAVELERS GO, GO, GO
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amAmericans are really on the go this holiday season - spending at least 25 percent more on travel than last year. A new Maritz poll found that, despite recent declines...
RENTERS' PINCH - NYERS' MEASLY PAY FALLS SHORT OF APT. COSTS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amLow-paid New Yorkers earn less than half the money they need to live in a one- or two-bedroom apartment, an advocacy group reported yesterday. The group found that New York...
'FREE $$' HUCKSTER'S GI DEFENSE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amALBANY - The man the state charges has misled Americans into believing that there are billions of hidden federal dollars to pay their bills fought back yesterday - asking how...
LIFE FOR B'KLYN TRIPLE KILLER
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amAn ex-con who has spent half his life behind bars learned yesterday he'd spend the rest of his days in prison for fatally shooting two young men and one of...
PALE MALE AND LOLA - A HIGH-FLYING LOVE STORY
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amLife in the big city can be tough. Just ask Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk, who for more than a decade has lived in the swankiest part of town -...
GAL SHOWERED WITH WET RATS CLEAN$ UP
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amA Bronx woman yesterday collected a $65,000 settlement check because her bathroom ceiling collapsed as she showered, raining down on her a pile of debris, filthy water - and a...
HOW PRECIOUS CHILD BECAME TRASH
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amStephanie Ramos was born dark-eyed, black-haired, full-term and motionless in a Bronx bathroom. Her mother, a teenage immigrant from the El Salvadoran countryside, panicked, and threw the blue, silent infant...
GUY JAIL 'BREAK' - VELELLA'S LOCK-UP DELAYED FOR NOEL
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amGuy'll be home for Christmas?! Freed felon former state Sen. Guy Velella has been ordered to go back to jail - but not until after Christmas weekend. A unanimous state...
CITY'S SCRAPE WITH WINTER
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amNew Yorkers battled icy wind chills - and windshields - yesterday in their first snowy brush with winter. But after socking the Apple with snow, temperatures in the teens and...
JET REPORT CARD: POUNDING A PATSY
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amQUARTERBACKS Chad Pennington (18-of-24, 253 yards, 3 TDs, no INTs, 148.1 rating) played his best game of the year. He spread the ball around, was accurate, efficient and dynamic. RUNNING...
BIG BLUE BUMMER - NOT EVEN DRAFT CAN OFFER HOPE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amIn other years, the Giants would be huffing and puffing to the close of another horrid season amid conjecture as to how the desire to win can be offset by...
VINCE WON'T FLARE UP
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amFORT MILL, S.C. - Vince Carter couldn't believe all the fuss and didn't want to comment. So, naturally, he commented. The newest Net refused to let reports he "tipped off"...
SEARCH FOR SIZE GOES ON
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amNET NOTES FORT MILL, S.C. - The Nets' search for a big man continues. They've talked around the league, basically looking at guys with short time left on contracts, with...
LAYDEN'S NOT BITTER, PAL SAYS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES Former Knicks GM Scott Layden never believed he got a raw deal. "He wished they would've had more success," said Nuggets assistant GM David Fredman, who worked with...
SNOW DESERVES BETTER THAN DISSIN' FROM SILAS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amSO Eric Snow was suspended a game by the Cavaliers for giving Paul Silas some profane lip Thursday at Detroit. Like whoa! You mean to tell me his check will...
JETS PROVE TO BE REAL 'HOME BOYS'
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amJET NOTES It was one of the objectives Herman Edwards set for the Jets as soon as he took over as head coach: Turn Giants Stadium into a home-field advantage....
WHEELIN' & DEALIN' ; METS GM MINAYA KEEPS AFTER BIG NAMES
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amAfter a weekend mixing business and pleasure in the Dominican Republic, Mets GM Omar Minaya burned up the phone lines stateside yesterday. Minaya revisited trade discussions with Arizona regarding Cliff...
STAR POWER IS BACK IN SWAMP
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amFORT MILL, S.C. Charlotte veteran Steve Smith was discussing Vince Carter joining the Nets. Here was a case, Smith said, where a superstar truly would need to adjust to a...
THE WAITING GAME; YANKEES THROWN CURVE AS L.A. GM DELAYS UNIT TRADE
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amThe Yankees' blockbuster deal to acquire Randy Johnson hit a small delay yesterday, because the Dodgers want to make sure they have their ducks in a row after they include...
WRIST SURGERY KOS CAMERON
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amMike Cameron probably won't be tracking down fly balls for Pedro Martinez on Opening Day. In fact, Cameron might not be playing until May. The Mets announced yesterday that Cameron...
CHAD'S CHIDING GOES ON AND ON ; PENNINGTON TAKES PUZZLED MEDIA ON LONG, STRANGE TRIP
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amThe Chad Pennington saga, which began with his oddly-timed boycott of reporters' questions following the Jets' resounding 37-14 win over the Seahawks Sunday, turned into a second chapter yesterday in...
QB NEEDS TO QUIET DOWN
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amLISTEN up, Chad Pennington: It isn't the media that is standing between you and the Lombardi Trophy. It is the Patriots. So play like a champ and beat the Patriots...
MO GETS WISHES FOR CHRISTMAS
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amThere are precious few things Mariano Rivera either doesn't have or can't afford, from palatial abodes to luxury BMWs to four World Series rings. But this Christmas he will get...
BOMBERS BEAR DOWN ON BELTRAN
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amCarl Pavano will be introduced tomorrow at Yankee Stadium. Randy Johnson is likely coming soon. But the biggest point of emphasis in the Yankees' universe today is Carlos Beltran. Beltran,...
THE WAITING GAME ; JOHNSON TRADE A FEW DETAILS FROM FRUITION
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amNow that the Dodgers are close to signing free agent J.D. Drew as a replacement for Shawn Green, the 10-player trade that will deliver Randy Johnson to the Yankees is...
THE FACES OF CHANGE - THOMAS PROVES A YEAR IN OFFICE CAN GO A LONG WAY
December 21, 2004 | 5:00amThe Knicks held their Christmas Party last night but it should've been an anniversary bash - celebrating one year of Isiah Thomas. And there's lots to celebrate. When Isiah took...