April 26, 2005
BIG BOARD IPO/MERGER IS GIVING GRASSO MORE AGITA
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amTHIS has been a bad month for Dick Grasso even if we didn't have the pleasure of seeing him wince. Sure, the toppled head of the New York Stock Exchange...
BROOKLYN XPRESS CLOTHES HIT STREET FOR CRED
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amLast Friday, a pair of women stood outside of Martin Luther King Jr. High School and handed out cotton jerseys to passing students. The free clothing was courtesy of Brooklyn...
OREO PLANT MAY SELL FOR $300M
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amONE of the MeatPacking District/Chelsea's hottest commercial buildings is on the sale block just months before the openings there of two restaurants run by megachefs Mario Batali and Tom Colicchio....
THEY SHAKE ON IT - SONYBMG, WARNER MUSIC REACH CYBER DEAL
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amSonyBMG and Warner Music Group's music publishing arm have reached a new licensing agreement that will speed the development of new digital music offerings. Included in the deal are new...
'REAL' THREAT TO APPLE'S ITUNES, NAPSTER
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amRealNetworks will announce today that users of its popular music subscription service, Rhapsody, can transfer their tunes to portable devices, a move that could threaten the popular iTunes service. Until...
SOARING HOMES DATA BOLSTER MARKETS
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amHome ownership is still racing ahead of anything Wall Street can offer - and even helped pull the stock market out of its own doldrums yesterday. Sales of existing homes...
SCORCHING DENIM BIZ DRAWS CROWDED FIELD
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amKnown throughout Europe for its stone-washed denim, Replay has largely gone unnoticed in the U.S., where newer, trendier labels like True Religion and Citizens of Humanity have been in hot...
PRIMEDIA SHEDS BUSINESS MAGS
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amWhere's the beef? The bust-up of Primedia accelerated this week, with its business-to-business titles flopping on the block. The 70 magazines include titles such as Hog Farmer, Soybean Digest, Beef,...
FEDS SQUEEZE $1.5B FROM RIGAS CLAN
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amThe Rigas family, which staged the biggest ever cable TV rip-off, is forfeiting most of its $1.5 billion fortune in hopes of keeping at least some family members out of...
KEN'S REVENGE - LANGONE ATTACKS GOLDMAN, NYSE STOCK DEAL
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amKen Langone's hard charge to topple the New York Stock Exchange merger is not impressing insiders. Seat owners yesterday said they were sure the NYSE was worth more than 70...
QUICK EXIT AT AMEX
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amAmerican Stock Exchange President Peter Quick is expected to leave his job of five years, The Post has learned. No departure date has been set. Quick, the former president of...
SOARING HOMES BOLSTER MARKETS
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amHome ownership is still racing ahead of anything Wall Street can offer -and even helped pull the stock market out of its own doldrums yesterday. Sales of existing homes soared...
KRUMP POWER - EXPLOSIVE DANCE ON 'RIZE'
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amIT was created by a birthday-party clown and looks like a spastic combination of street combat, African tribal dance and break dancing. But krumping - an explosive new West Coast...
'INSIDER' O'BRIEN OUT OF REHAB
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amLADIES, shut off your voice mail - "The Insider" co-host Pat O'Brien has allegedly been released from rehab and could be headed back to TV as soon as next week....
CBS' BOB LEAVING, TOO
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amNOW the replacement anchors are retiring. Interim anchor Bob Schieffer, who took over from Dan Rather last March, says he will retire on his 70th birthday - which is 22...
'TOUCHED' BY A REAL ANGEL
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amREALITY show guru Mark Burnett wants to go into business with his babe. Burnett, whose longtime girlfriend is "Touched by an Angel" star Roma Downey, is developing a new reality...
STARR REPORT
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amWhere there's a Will Marty Krofft came calling yesterday, just hours after Universal announced a movie version of "Land of the Lost" starring "SNL" alum Will Ferrell. "Hey, if [John]...
RAMONES OF THE DAY - PUNK ROCK HAD TO START SOMEWHERE - QUEENS
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amTHEY were arguably the greatest, and definitely the first, punk rock band. They were arguably the most famous, and definitely the least successful, punkers - commercially at least. They were...
IN THE CROSSHAIRS: THE WEB'S BEST FREE MUSIC
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amWHETHER you've got an iPod or not, the Web is now a music lover's best friend. With yesterday's debut of MTV Overdrive, there are now four entertainment giants - also...
CHEAT SPEAK - GUILTY GUYS ALWAYS STICK TO 'THE SCRIPT'; HOW TO CATCH STRAY
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amALL men are alike - at least when it comes to cheating. That's what Elizabeth Landers and Vicky Mainzer argue in their new book, "The Script: The 100% Absolutely Predictable...
MAN DIES IN TRASH-FUELED QNS. FIRE
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amAn elderly man died in a paper- and rag-fueled fire at his Queens house last night. Firefighters had to pick their way through piles of burning newspapers, bags and clothing...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amWe don't want them in our homes, but rats could soon be saving us from terrorists. New Scientist magazine reports that remote-controlled rats - rodents with brain implants - are...
ELTON JOHN TO WED HIS BOYFRIEND
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amGoodbye Yellow Brick Road, hello conjugal bliss - Elton John plans to tie the knot with his longtime boyfriend later this year. The pop superstar says he'll marry partner David...
FAT JOE OFF HOOK IN BX. BRAWL
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amDetectives investigating a bloody Bronx melee have ruled out Latin rap legend Fat Joe as a possible suspect, with his handlers saying they have proof he was in Virginia early...
STOP! (IN THE NAME OF LEFT) - DEMS' EMPTY OPPOSITION
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amIN 1955, William F. Buckley Jr. famously declared that the purpose of conservatism was "to stand athwart history, yelling 'Stop,' at a time when no one is inclined to do...
SHUTTERED FIREHOUSES MEAN LIFE AND DEATH TO NEIGHBORHOOD
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amFIVE men of religion bore the tiny black-draped coffin of 5-year-old Israel Falkowitz. Ari Pollack said: "We put Bloomberg in office, and he gives us this." Pollack, a nursing-home director,...
STATEN ISLAND GETS EVEN GIFF AND MIKE TO AGREE
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amStaten Island never has more muscle in city politics than during an election year, a truism proven once again yesterday when Mayor Bloomberg and one of his fiercest Democratic rivals...
H2 SO? 750G FILTER CAN'T BEAT NYC TAP
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amI drank from the Hudson River yesterday. And a couple of swigs from our brackish, mercury-tainted and PCB-filled waterway left me feeling . . . alive! Of course, there was...
A FRENCH-LEBANESE BUSINESSMAN IS COOPERATING WITH CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES ....
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - A French-Lebanese businessman who claims he informed United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan about shady business deals his son, Kojo, was making with Iraq is cooperating with congressional committees...
BELLEVUE AN RX DISGRACE
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amNearly $5 million worth of drugs and medical supplies sat unsecured in basement hallways at Bellevue Hospital, where just about anyone could walk up and help themselves, city Comptroller William...
POL SON BURNED - RIGHT & LEFT AGREE: BRUNO KIN'S DEAL IS WRONG
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amALBANY - Conservative and liberal reformers alike condemned the "broken" Albany system yesterday for allowing Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's lobbyist son to make a quick $60,000 from ambulette companies...
CHEVY'S BRO IN GUN BUST
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amChevy Chase's half-brother was arrested yesterday for having two illegal handguns in his Upper West Side apartment, police sources said. John Cederquist, whose mother also is the mom of the...
JURY NIXES BALONEY BEEF
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amA jury yesterday found an assault charge against a Long Island man to be baloney - and cleared him of flinging two sandwiches at a cop. "I'm eating soup only,...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amMANHATTAN * Police are asking for the public's assistance in identifying and finding a robber who struck a Hamilton Heights bank yesterday morning. The suspect (above) walked into the Chase...
WILD WIEST GIRL BUSTED IN ATTACK - STAR'S KID, PALS NAB VICTIM'S IPOD: COPS
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amThe teen daughter of former "Law & Order" DA Dianne Wiest has been busted with her girlfriends for beating up a boy and stealing his iPod, officials said yesterday. Emily...
2 DIE IN QNS. TRAIN INCIDENTS
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amA 74-year-old Queens woman was struck and killed by a subway train early yesterday morning in Jackson Heights in an apparent suicide, police said. In an unrelated case, transit cops...
JACKO EX TO SING - DESPERATE DEFENSE LOSES BID TO GAG DEBBIE
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amSANTA MARIA, Calif. - Jacko's jittery defense yesterday fought to muzzle a potentially explosive witness - his ex-wife, Debbie Rowe - but the judge ordered her to the stand. Rowe,...
HIT-RUN CAB WREAKS HAVOC - PREGNANT RIDER HURT IN DRIVER'S FLEE BID
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amA hit-and-run cabby and his pregnant passenger miraculously survived a horrific Midtown car crash yesterday that left nine other people injured - and the car twisted like a crushed soda...
TRAGIC KIN WIN - ONLY THEY CAN PULL PLUG ON BOY: JUDGE
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amA Bronx judge yesterday set the stage for 13-year-old Teron Francis' "dignified, respectful demise." The tragic teen was declared brain dead last Thursday after a tooth infection spread to his...
DEADLY DIVORCE - WIFE'S DEMAND FUELED MOGUL'S FURY: COPS
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amBitter disputes over cash, their business - and ultimately divorce - led a wealthy Upper East Side couple into a spiral of fury that ended in a bloodbath in their...
SCHOOL INSULT UPROAR -ASS'T PRINCIPAL FACES AX
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amA Queens elementary-school assistant principal is expected to be fired after city investigators found she called students "animals" and forced them to eat lunch on the floor with their hands....
FIELDS' CAMPAIGN TAKES CASH COURSE
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amC. Virginia Fields is about to hit up some 50,000 Democratic voters for cash in her first major mailing of the mayoral campaign, The Post has learned. Fields, who is...
LET TERON GO IN PEACE - THEN DEMAND ANSWERS
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amTHERE will be time to ask why Teron Francis is dead. But as he lies in Montefiore Medical Center, machines breathing for him, pumping blood through his heart, it is...
PREGNANT GAL-PAL 'SLAYER' HELD
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amA Brooklyn man who's a suspect in the years-old killing of his first wife was arraigned yesterday on charges he murdered his eight-months-pregnant ex-girlfriend. Lisa Eatmon was "living the good...
TOWER TERROR FEARS - WTC PLAN SETBACK
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amPolice concerns about protecting the Freedom Tower from terrorists have forced the developer of the world's tallest building to go back to the drawing board for significant design changes that...
LIP-SERVICE PUSH FOR OIL - BUSH COZIES UP TO SAUDI
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday held hands with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and took him on a stroll through a field of bluebonnet flowers at his Texas ranch in a...
'TOUCHY-FEELY' TAVERN BOSS GETS BUSTED
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amA manager at tony Tavern on the Green has been pinched for allegedly pigging out on a dish not on the menu - his hostess. Leon Drogy, 37, arrested Thursday,...
WINDOW CHECK ON TOT'S BLOCK
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amThe tragic death of a 2-year-old boy who fell from his family's Washington Heights apartment triggered a city inspection yesterday of every building on his block - turning up 18...
CITY HAILS HOMELAND CHIEF - CHERTOFF VOWS FIGHT FOR FUNDS
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amMichael Chertoff was treated as a hometown hero yesterday, winning plaudits from Mayor Bloomberg and Sens. Chuck Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton in his first appearance here since being named...
STADIUM GETS ANOTHER HIT
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amA coalition of West Side residents, elected officials and a community group slapped the MTA yesterday with yet another lawsuit to block the sale of the agency's rail yard to...
FEDS BUST 'TERRORIST PUSHER'
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amThe feds yesterday indicted one of the world's most notorious drug warlords - with ties to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban - for allegedly transporting $50 million worth of...
GIS JUST MISSED ZARQAWI
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amTerror master Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was seconds away from being captured by U.S. troops - but got away in a daring escape that included jumping out of a truck when...
TOP SCHOOL COPS PLEA IN SEX CASE
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amThe trustees of the Groton School pleaded guilty yesterday to failing to report sex-abuse complaints from students at the elite Massachusetts academy. The embattled board - which includes former NASDAQ...
TRAGIC VIET GI WILL BE BURIED - 38 YRS. LATER
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amThe remains of a Rockland County soldier who was killed on his first day of duty in Vietnam almost 40 years ago will be buried with full honors next month...
BX. BLAZE KILLS COLLEGE PROVOST
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amA former Manhattan College provost died yesterday despite the rescue efforts of firefighters and medics responding to a three-alarm blaze in The Bronx. Firefighters pulled Walter Emge, 69, out of...
JACKO AIDE AXED - FED-UP LAWYER BOOTS FAMILY ADVISER
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amMichael Jackson's pit-bull lead lawyer yesterday booted the star's longtime family adviser, attorney Brian Oxman, from the defense team after purportedly griping about everything from Oxman's showboating to his reputed...
KILLER'S REGRET - I LOVED HER, SAYS WIFE-SLAY MOGUL: COPS
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amAn elderly mogul accused of hacking his wife to death in their posh Upper East Side town house admitted, "I can't believe I did this . . . I loved...
WELD: SPITZER TOUGH TO BEAT
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amALBANY - Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld spoke out yesterday for the first time about running to replace Gov. Pataki - and conceded it would be an uphill battle. Republican...
REV. AL CITES ASHCROFT AS PROOF HE'S INNOCENT
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amThe Rev. Al Sharpton says he did nothing wrong when he took questionable campaign checks two years ago - and the lack of an investigation by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft,...
TALIBAN HEROIN ARREST - THUG WAS N.Y.-BOUND
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amThe feds yesterday indicted one of the world's most notorious drug warlords - with ties to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban - for allegedly transporting $50 million worth of...
TEACH & LOVER-BOY SET TO WED
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amOnce-forbidden lovers Mary Kay Letourneau and her former sixth-grade student Vili Fualaau sound like any soon-to-be newlyweds as they prepare for their nuptials. The former Washington state teacher is already...
HIT-RUN CAB WREAKS HAVOC - PREGNANT RIDER HAS GIRL AFTER CRASH
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amA hit-and-run cabby and his pregnant passenger - who later delivered a healthy baby - yesterday survived a horrific Midtown car crash that left nine other people injured, and the...
'ZO TO NET FANS: I'M NO INGRATE
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amMIAMI - Ex-Net Alonzo Mourning spoke out yesterday, saying it's "comical" that some Net fans think he was a disloyal ingrate for demanding a hefty buyout and bolting New Jersey....
ISIAH, JACKSON HOLD POW-WOW
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amThe Phil Jackson Summit with the Knicks took place yesterday, according to league sources. Knicks president Isiah Thomas, back from Europe, met with Jackson and his agent Todd Musburger at...
CHIPPER FOND OF FLUSHING
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amIf Pedro Martinez can call the Yankees his daddies, Chipper Jones can say the opposite about Shea Stadium. Both literally and figuratively, in every sense of the word, Jones really...
RICHMAN DREAMS OF GARDEN DEBUT
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amBasketball players around the world dream of one day playing in Madison Square Garden. For New York kids who are more familiar with the storied history of the "world's most...
TRUMP WOULD LET KAZ HAVE JOB BACK
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amMET NOTES Last year Donald Trump, of all people, took a public swipe at Kazuo Matsui. Yesterday the billionaire complimented the Met second baseman and wished him well. On ESPN...
STARS SHINE AT SHEA
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amYESTERDAY afternoon, Doug Mientkiewicz pitched to contestants vying for "The Apprentice," Donald Trump made a Shea cameo and it felt like the kind of attention-grabbing gimmick the Mets have had...
BRIEN'S SWAN SONG - DOUG SEES WRITING ON JET WALL
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amDoug Brien is making the long cross-country trip to New York from his home in the San Francisco Bay Area in the coming days, but he won't be anywhere near...
PLAYER-ONLY MEETINGS OK: TORRE
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Some organizations have a problem with players-only meetings. However, Yankees manager Joe Torre and GM Brian Cashman don't share the same insecurities as others. Before Sunday's 11-1 pounding...
CONGRESS READY FOR NFL GROUP
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amThe congressional committee investigating steroid use in sports added six witnesses to tomorrow's hearing on steroid use in the NFL. The most notable addition is former Pittsburgh Steeler and Tampa...
FAY THINKS BASEBALL NEEDS DYKSTRA PROBE
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amMajor League Baseball is not investigating claims that Lenny Dykstra bet on baseball, but the game's former commissioner thinks it should. "I would investigate," said Fay Vincent, baseball's commissioner in...
BELMONT'S 100TH BASH
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amBeautiful Belmont Park, also known as Big Sandy, turns 100 this year, and the New York Racing Association started off the season-long celebration yesterday with a news conference at Gallagher's...
WANG READY TO ANSWER YANKEES' . . . CALL TO ARMS
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amWhenever Joe Torre assesses his team, he always starts with the arms. It makes no difference if Torre's club is on a 10-game winning streak or has the disappointing 8-11...
MONROE'S ADJUSTED TO LOSSES
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amRafael Cabreja thought about staying in the Dominican Republic when he visited family there in February. His father, Manny, is a legendary figure in the country, having starred at third...
TRUMP TO KAZ: GOOD LUCK
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amMET NOTES Last year Donald Trump, of all people, took a public swipe at Kazuo Matsui. Yesterday, "The Apprentice" guru complimented the Mets second baseman and wished him well. On...
CLIFF'S BAT KEEPS ON SMOKIN'
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amCliff Floyd doesn't exactly swing the bat as timidly as Rey Ordonez once did with the Mets. But Floyd's 12-game hitting streak is the longest by a Mets player since...
AMAZIN'S CAN THANK AARON - HEILMAN, METS OVERCOME WRIGHT SCUFFS
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amMets 5 - Braves 4 Anybody who can figure Aaron Heilman out, feel free to e-mail your thoughts. Two starts ago, Heilman fired a complete-game one-hit shutout against the Marlins....
RING GETS CALL-UP
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amMET NOTES The Mets continued to shuffle their bullpen, designating Mike Matthews for assignment last night and recalling lefty Royce Ring. Matthews, a lefty acquired in the offseason, had posted...
METS AIM FOR BRAVE REVIEW - WILLIE WANTS TO 'COMPETE'
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amThe Mets had just piled on 16 runs and established a franchise record with seven homers in last Tuesday's victory in Philadelphia. And that's when Willie Randolph issued a telling...
MOURNING: INGRATE TAG 'ZO WRONG
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amMIAMI - Ex-Net Alonzo Mourning spoke out yesterday, saying it's "comical" that some Net fans think he was a disloyal ingrate for demanding a hefty buyout and bolting New Jersey....
TAKE TWO TONIGHT FOR RECOVERING RICHARD
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amNET NOTES MIAMI - Richard Jefferson felt he became "more competitive" as he settled in with his 23 minutes in the Nets' playoffs opener. And as he comes back after...
OPTION DEFENSE - NETS EXPLORE OTHER STRATEGIES
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amMIAMI - Throughout history, certain questions have baffled the greatest minds. What came first, the chicken or the egg? Why are we here? Is pro wrestling legit? How do you...
VINCE IS MISTER BIG
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amMIAMI - The Heat may have beaten the Nets like a drum Sunday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, 116-98. But The Post has learned that it counts...
SUDDENLY, NBA HAVING SOME LABOR PAINS
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amFOR the first time since dialogue began in earnest a year ago to renegotiate the NBA's collective-bargaining agreement, I'm getting negative feedback. When the Board of Governors convened in New...
VINCE HAS GOTTA BE NETS' MR. BIG
April 26, 2005 | 4:00amMIAMI - The Heat may have beaten the Nets like a drum Sunday in Game 1 of their firstround playoff series, 116-98. But The Post has learned that it counts...