February 9, 2005
LIVENT EXECS MUST REFUND $23M
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amCo-founders of a once high-flying threatre group that produced musicals such as "Phantom of the Opera," "Show Boat" and "Ragtime," must pay investors a whopping $23 million for issuing misleading...
ROY DISNEY, GOLD TO HOLD VOTES IN PROTEST
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amFormer Walt Disney Co. directors Roy Disney and Stanley Gold never seem to tire of their campaign to oust Chief Executive Michael Eisner. Dissatisfied with the board's search for a...
SEAPORT SKY CUBES GET OK ; THUMBS UP FOR CALATRAVA CUBES
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amTHE construction of Santiago Calatrava's $35 million townhome cubes in the sky has received a "go" from the New York City Department of Buildings. We could almost hear the wood...
THAIN GOES PUBLIC
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amNew York Stock Exchange chief John Thain is honing his skills at corralling Wall Street's cranky press corps to see things his way. Laying on his charm and frankness, the...
BERNIE BURNED ; SULLIVAN SAYS EX-WORLDCOM BIG KNEW OF FRAUD
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amThe $11 billion WorldCom accounting fraud came smashing through Bernard Ebbers' corner office yesterday. Ebbers, the disgraced former CEO of the telecom company, knew WorldCom books were being cooked to...
GRUBMAN GAVE COMPANY PERSONAL TOUCH
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amWas it a trick or was it a treat? Bernard Ebbers and Scott Sullivan were holed up in a New York City hotel room late on Halloween night, 2000, cramming...
STORES BATTLE OVER 'EXCLUSIVE' DEALS
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amCompetition is heating up among the big department store retailers, as they jockey to lock up hot designers. The practice of exclusives has been around for decades, but has intensified...
TRUMP RIVALS TARGET MORE $
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amDonald Trump's stockholders accused him of "insider self-dealing" yesterday and launched a battle to derail his makeover plan for his casinos. Calling Trump "the fox guarding the hen house," a...
WET SEAL SALE IN SEC SIGHT
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amWet Seal, the troubled teen retailer, said yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission has begun an informal investigation into a series of events, including a stock sale by its...
IT'S LIGHTS OUT FOR LANGONE AT GE BOARD
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amKenneth Langone, a key player in the New York Stock Exchange pay scandal, is stepping down from his board seat at General Electric Corp. Langone, 69, who held his seat...
IT'S ANARCHY OVER ANISTON
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amTHOUGH Brad Pitt may not want her, celebrity magazines can't get enough of Jennifer Aniston. Life & Style Weekly thought it had won a high stakes auction last week, agreeing...
SEX SPICY AFTER SPOUSE GROUSE
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amUNSCREWED ½ (two and one half stars) Sex is funny.Running time: 75 minutes. Not rated (sexual situations and language, brief nudity). Playing at the Quad Cinema, 13th Street, between Fifth...
'SEXY' MAMA; KRISTIN'S NEW 'DESPERATE' LIFE AS 'SOCCER MOM'
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amKRISTIN Davis is moving from the "City" to become a suburban soccer mom. Davis, who played Charlotte York on HBO's long-running "Sex and the City," has been inked to co-star...
THE MAINE EVENT
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amTHE LETTER: AN AMERICAN TOWN AND THE "SOMALI INVASION" (three stars) A documentary thrill-ride. Running time: 75 minutes. Not rated (violent situations, crude language). At the Two Boots Pioneer Theater,...
IT'S HEART BLANCHE; CELEBRATING ANTI-V-DAY
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amTHOSE who think Valentine's Day is more stupid than Cupid are finding themselves in good company - as more and more restaurants, bars and Web sites offer an alternative to...
MODEL FINISH FOR 'RACE'
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amFREDDY and Kendra, the engaged models from Miami, snared the $1 million prize on last night's two-hour finale of "The Amazing Race." The couple beat out Aaron/Hayden, Adam/Rebecca and John/Kris...
BLOWIN' IN THE WINGS; THARP'S HARD REINS ON DYLAN SHOW
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amTWYLA Tharp, the prickly genius behind the Broadway hit "Movin' Out," stood at the entrance to a re hearsal studio eyeballing every major producer and theater owner who filed by....
HEART BURN - RESTAURANTS WE DON'T LOVE FOR V-DAY (AND A FEW WE DO)
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amBad news for Valentine's Day: Romantic dining is dead, victim to 747-size restaurants, communal tables and excruciating noise levels. It perished, too, with dress codes. How special can a night...
IT'S TIME TO RETHINK - JUST USE YOUR IMAGINATION, LUV
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amCHOCOLATE and roses, heart-shape cards and Chateaubriand. You've wooed your sweetie the tried-and-true ways Valentine's Days past with no complaints. But now you're ready to spice things up with something...
'STOP IT' - STARS UPSET THAT OSCAR CHEATS WINNERS OUT OF VICTORY STRUT
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amOSCAR nominees might not stand for a plan proposed for this year's telecast that would have them standing on stage in groups of five to hear which one of them...
STARR REPORT
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amIt's officially official "The Tony Danza Show" has been officially renewed for a second season, after several weeks of station-by- station renewals and an up grade from Siberia to daytime...
MIRA! MIRA! - THIS JUST IN
February 9, 2005 | 5:00am'Smack' down IF you like to kiss, you can be part of history. In an attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records for most couples kissing simultaneously, The...
OTHER LATIN STARS
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amFashion week was bursting with Latino talent this week. Also turning heads with their fabulous designs were: * Cubano Narciso Rodriguez * Dominicano Oscar de la Renta * Venezolana Carolina...
HOUSE OF 'BLUES' - ACTOR'S AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL DRAMA MAKES ITS SMALL-SCREEN DEBUT
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amWHEN Ruben Santiago-Hudson was writing the play "Lackawanna Blues," he couldn't possibly have known how many people would connect with its vivid array of characters. The Tony-winning actor, whose father...
ADASSA'S IN GOOD 'SPIRITS'
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amADASSA's CD hasn't hit stores yet and already the urban songstress has been tapped to be the face of reggaetón. Not that she's a reggaetón artist, mind you. Just semantics,...
SPELLBOUND - WALTER MERCADO SHARES HIS SECRETS TO WORKING YOUR VALENTINE MOJO
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amTHIS Valentine's Day, Latin America's beloved astrologer Walter Mercado will continue a tradition he started more than three decades ago - he'll spend the day calling all the people in...
BRONX MOM BUSTED FOR CHILD ABUSE
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amA Bronx mother was busted yesterday and charged with beating her two kids, police said. Everlene Whitick, 23, was arrested after her 7-year- old son showed up at PS 55...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amYou can call this Florida firefighter a real bird brain. Cops say Lt. Bruce Coates of the Edgewater Fire Department got tipsy at a party, grabbed a pet parrot off...
BEING OSSIE; HE NEVER FEARED A RIGHTEOUS FIGHT
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amTHE irony in the death of actor Ossie Davis, of course, is that the person most qualified to deliver his eulogy is sadly unavailable. If you ever led a people's...
ME & JACKO: EX-KID STAR
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amFormer child star Corey Feldman plans to go public about his relationship with Michael Jackson. "I started looking at each piece of information . . . and, with that, came...
'CAMESCHLOCK' ON THE BLOCK ; AUCTION OF JFK, JACKIE LEFTOVERS MORE LIKE A SURREAL GARAGE SALE
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amIF I didn't know better, I'd have thought I'd beamed into the gift shop in Graceland. Well, I was close. Welcome to Cameschlock on the Upper East Side. Here is...
CUTE-AS-PIE COURIC TURNS RUBBER MAID
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amSHOW BUZZ IS Katie Couric playing it safe? Goody-two-shoes Couric was one of the many celebrities who picked up VIP gift bags backstage at the "Heart Truth" fashion show Friday....
BREAK FOR 'BUTCHER'
February 9, 2005 | 5:00am"Baby-faced Butcher" Daphne Abdela will have harassment charges against her dropped if she can stay out of trouble for the next six months. Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge William Miller decided...
TEARS AND RIBBONS FOR SLAIN 'INNA'
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amMore than 200 weeping co-workers yesterday donned somber purple ribbons in memory of tragic Russian beauty Inessa Ivanov as they held a heartbreaking memorial service for her at the famed...
BX. HOMELESS PREVENTION
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amA new program aimed at preventing people from getting thrown out on the street - the first of its kind in the nation - has been launched in the South...
S.I. FERRY TERMINAL'S RE-BERTH
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amIt cost a bundle - $201 million - and took more than a decade to complete, but the new Staten Island Ferry terminal in Manhattan is a dazzler. Opened officially...
TALKS FAIL TO IMPRESS SKEPTICS
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amIt'll be a cold day in Haifa when there's real peace in the Mideast, Israelis and Palestinians agreed yesterday - and, in fact, it snowed in the northern Israeli city....
ANNAN'S MAN D.C.-BOUND
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's new troubleshooter holds his first face-to-face meetings today with congressional leaders investigating the U.N. oil-for-food scandal, in a bid to end months of...
TAX THE RICH TO PAY FOR SCHOOLS: UNIONS
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - Taxes should be hiked on the state's top earners to pay for a massive court-ordered boost in education funding, teachers-union leaders said yesterday. Alan Lubin, executive vice president...
PRINCE REIGN$; ARTIST CROWNED '04'S TOP MUSIC GROSSER
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amPrince is now king. The high-energy rocker was the top-earning music act of 2004. The oddball hit-maker, who once changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and was considered washed...
BIKER 'SAFE SEX'; HELMETED PAIR BUSTED
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amA pair of motorcyclists were caught with their pants down - but their helmets still on - along a quiet Brooklyn street. Robert Wallendorf, 45, and his fiancée Demetra Decolvenaere,...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amQUEENS *** Two men have pleaded guilty to charges they fabricated allegations of police brutality after they were each arrested by cops in separate cases in Queens and the Bronx,...
WARM DAYS TO TAKE A 'POWDER'
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amSay bye-bye to balmy weather - and get ready for some snow. The Big Apple tomorrow will likely get another dose of the powdery, wintry white stuff after basking in...
PATAKI COULD DERAIL $5B: TRANSIT CRITICS
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amThe Second Avenue Subway and a plan to bring Long Island Rail Road trains into Grand Central Terminal run the risk of losing $5 billion in federal aid if Gov....
'GEM-SLAY' GIRLFRIEND: 'I'M SORRY'
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amThe girlfriend of suspected jeweler slayer Christopher DiMeo apologized yesterday for her alleged role in three murders - minutes before she was rushed to a Long Island hospital for, police...
'JIHAD' BANK LEAVES U.S.
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amA top Middle Eastern bank is closing shop in New York and around the United States in the wake of allegations that it supports terrorism and administers a "life insurance"...
1,100 ART LOVERS DO THEIR PART IN THE PARK
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amIf you build it, they will come. But for "The Gates," the giant public art project slowly spreading through Central Park, they came to build it instead. Of the 1,100...
FREDDY'S TALE OF TWO CITIES
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amMayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer declared yesterday that there are still two New Yorks - one rich, the other poor - returning to a controversial theme from his 2001 campaign that...
PREZ GURU PROMOTED
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove - who already enjoys near-mythic influence in the White House - is taking on even more power. Spokesman Scott McClellan announced yesterday...
BARRON WILL BOW OUT OF MAYOR RACE
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amCity Councilman Charles Barron - the first Democrat to throw his hat into the race for mayor this year - is about to pull the plug on his fledgling campaign....
GOOD 'GAG' RULE; JURY CLEARS LAWYER-JOKE DUO
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amA couple of jokers from Long Island got the last laugh yesterday after a grand jury dismissed charges they had caused a disturbance when they told lawyer jokes in front...
MA & PA BOOZE BLAST; '3-WAY TEEN KISS'
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amTeen guests at a booze-fueled party hosted by a Westchester dentist and his wife described a wild scene of zonked-out kids guzzling beer and champagne as two girls and a...
MENDS FENCES WITH THE FRENCH
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amSecretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday challenged France to let bygones be bygones and launch "a new chapter" as she took her whirlwind charm-offensive tour to Paris, a hotbed of...
COS GROPED ME, TOO
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amA former fashion model is urging investigators not to shrug off a Canadian woman's claim she was drugged and groped by Bill Cosby - claiming "he did exactly the same...
OLD FOES SEE A HAPPY 'NEW ERA' ; * ABBAS AND SHARON ALL SMILES * VOW TO RESTART PEACE PROCESS
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amSHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt - Israeli and Palestinian leaders yesterday declared a new era had begun for the Mideast as they vowed to turn a temporary truce into a revived peace...
'SEX' STAR'S NOW MAKING SCENTS
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amSarah Jessica Parker will star in a new production - scents and the city. The former "Sex and the City" actress said yesterday she's developing her own line of fragrances...
AMMON TWINS TO SIS; $1M GOES TO NANNY
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amTed Ammon's sister will get full custody of the slain millionaire's twins as part of an agreement with Kaye Mayne, the English nanny their mother had chosen as their guardian,...
PAUL'S A $UPER RICH MAN NOW
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amBaby, you can drive my car - straight to the bank! That's the tune Paul McCartney is singing this week after earning an astounding $3.3 million for his 12-minute Super...
LAWYER LYNNE'S FOES EYED
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amA federal judge in the Lynne Stewart terrorism trial yesterday urged law-enforcement authorities to probe the militant Jewish Defense Organization, which threatened to run the radical lawyer-defendant out of town...
MTA GIVES GARDEN A FRIDAY DEADLINE
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amMTA Chairman Peter Kalikow yesterday set a Friday deadline for Madison Square Garden to come up with the details of its blockbuster $600 million offer to build housing, hotels and...
CITY STARTS GAY-NUPS APPEAL BID
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amThe city took its first legal step yesterday to annul a Manhattan judge's ruling that same-sex marriages be legalized. Claiming the case raises a "substantial constitutional question" for review by...
COS GROPED ME: 'TAINTED' LAWYER
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amA former fashion model is urging investigators not to shrug off a Canadian woman's claim she was drugged and groped by Bill Cosby - claiming "he did exactly the same...
SEWN-ON BLING THE NEW THING ; DESIGNERS PAY HEED TO THE BEAD
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amKiss your chandelier earrings goodbye. And lose the brooch. One of the strongest trends for next fall/winter - bling-encrusted dresses, skirts and even daytime sweaters - will render flashy jewelry...
TERROR'S NEW FRONTIER - MOSUL: THE MUST-WIN IRAQI CITY
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amMOSUL is the good girl who went bad. Quiet in the early days of the occupation, the violence-ravaged Iraqi city has become a must-win battlefield for our enemies. The terrorists...
SEWN-ON BLING - THE NEW THING: GAUDY JEWELRY IS OUT
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amKiss your chandelier earrings goodbye. And lose the brooch. One of the strongest trends for next fall/winter - bling-encrusted dresses, skirts and even daytime sweaters - will make eye-popping jewelry...
MA & PA BOOZE BLAST - '3-WAY TEEN KISS'
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amTeen guests at a booze-fueled party hosted by a Westchester dentist and his wife described a wild scene of zonked-out kids guzzling beer and champagne as two girls and a...
RE-BERTH OF S.I. FERRY TERMINAL
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amIt cost a bundle - $201 million - and took more than a decade to complete, but the new Staten Island Ferry terminal in lower Manhattan is a dazzler. Opened...
CLASSROOM EXTRA - DRAWINGS IN MOTION
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amWe look at cartoons and movies like the new "Son of the Mask" and ask, 'How'd they do that?" Classroom Extra talked to the film's lead animator, Industrial Light &...
DOUBY, DOUBY, DO!; FOUL PLAY AT BUZZER SINKS PIRATES IN OT
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amPISCATAWAY - The call was questionable, the end-game as dramatic as it was ironic. What a shame a game this good came down to a call this bad. First, Quincy...
STRIPPED AWAY ; RED STORM FAILS TO PULL OFF PITT SWEEP
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amPitt 55SJU 44 PITTSBURGH - The most embarrassing moments in St. John's basketball history occurred in this town a year ago. After a 20-point loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers, six...
CARTER'S 'RAISING THE BAR'
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amNET NOTES Vince Carter has averaged 25.6 points as a Net and 29.6 over his last 11 games, including back-to back torch jobs of 41 and 43. Know what he...
SHAQ: REALLY NOT WHAT NAZR NEEDS
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES Nazr Mohammed isn't heading into tonight's rematch with Shaquille O'Neal and the almighty Heat on a confidence roll. Mohammed would have been the ultimate goat Monday in Utah...
STEPH & JASON STAR-SNUBBED - SEVEN-TIME PICK KIDD TAKES OMISSION IN STRIDE
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amEastern Conference coaches finally found a way to stop Jason Kidd: Ignore him. For the first time since 1997 when he was injured, Kidd will not be a part of...
ALMONTE MOVING TO FLORIDA SCHOOL
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amDanny Almonte's days at Monroe appear to be over, at least for now. Almonte, who helped pitch Monroe to the PSAL championship a year ago, was signed out of the...
STORMY STRETCH - ST. JOHN'S FRESHMANSTRUGGLES WITH SHOT
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amPITTSBURGH - St. John's guard Eugene Lawrence didn't need a vote of confidence, but he got one following the Red Storm's 68-46 loss at Connecticut on Saturday. When a reporter...
ENOUGH, ALREADY! JUST PULL THE PLUG!
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amSO in this alternate uni verse, Gary Bettman is driving from the NHL's midtown Manhattan offices to the Meadowlands to watch the Devils play the Rangers. There are two Manhattan...
KENNEDY GIRLS COP BRONX HOOP CROWN
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amBX. GIRLS FINALKennedy 64Lehman 43 Michelle Pacheco thought she was just going to pick up an award for her performance in Kennedy's 64-43 win over Lehman yesterday in The Bronx...
SWINGTIME FOR SHEFF
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amThe Yankees had no doubt that Gary Sheffield's left shoulder would be ready for the start of spring training. The All-Star right fielder yesterday showed the organization the hinge has...
JETS: PENNINGTON SURGERY A SUCCESS
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amJETS NOTES Chad Pennington yesterday underwent what the Jets termed "successful" surgery on the partially-torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder. The arthroscopic procedure was conducted by shoulder specialist Dr....
WIN ORR LOSE, HALL HAS IT TOUGH
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amPISCATAWAY - Even as the Rutgers-Seton Hall rivalry has become increasingly one-sided, it never has lacked for drama. From verbal sparring to flagrant fouls to ejections, this Garden State rivalry...
BRONX H.S. HOOP CHAMPIONSHIPS - REAL SOAR SPOT FOR WINGS
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amBOYSWings 83Kennedy 81 Rasheem Jenkins knows that Wings Academy isn't exactly a household name among the elite teams in the PSAL. But in only their second year in the league's...
BRONX H.S. HOOP CHAMPIONSHIPS: PACHECO POWERS KENNEDY
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amGIRLSKennedy 64Lehman 43 Michelle Pacheco thought she was just going to pick up an award for her performance in Kennedy's 64-43 win over Lehman yesterday in The Bronx Borough Championship....
THE SHORT END ; PANTHERS PUMMEL WEAKENED STORM
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amPITTSBURGH - In Norm's World, everything is positive. Does he worry that he only has nine scholarship players? Nope. Every one of them should be excited to come to practice...
DOUBY, DOUBY, DO!; FOUL PLAY AT BUZZER SINKS PIRATES IN OT ; HALL CRIES FOUL AFTER LOSS
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amOVERTIMERutgers 62Seton Hall 61 PISCATAWAY - The call was questionable, the end-game as dramatic as it was ironic. It's a shame a game this good had to come down to...
HIGH ROAD - MARTINEZ DODGES STEROIDS CONTROVERSY
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - Say this for Pedro Martinez. He doesn't make excuses. When asked about Jose Canseco's accusations, concerning the use of steroids by some of baseball's top sluggers,...
GIAMBI TO MEET MEDIA
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amJason Giambi, his representatives and the Yankees worked yesterday toward Giambi being available to the media in New York before the end of the week. It's possible Giambi will meet...
EARLY ARRIVAL - GLAD TO BE OUT OF BEANTOWN, AN EAGER PEDRO HITS CAMP
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - All eyes were on the man with the red glove and the Hall of Fame arm. Pedro Martinez showed up at Mets camp yesterday morning to...
STEPH & JASON STAR-SNUBBED - MARBURY: KNICKS' WOES TORPEDOED MY CHANCES
February 9, 2005 | 5:00amStephon Marbury on New Year's Eve called himself the "best point guard in the world." Marbury's boast broke the most sacred NBA commandment: "Thou Shalt Not Toot Your Own Horn...