June 16, 2005
THE STAKE BEEF - BENIHANA FOUNDER IN COURT CARVE-UP
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amROCKY Aoki is a restaurant industry legend, having founded Benihana on the West Side of Manhattan when he was just a young man. But the people who today run the...
PHILLY STAKES - CITADEL AND MERRILL LYNCH GET 10% OF EXCHANGE
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amHedge fund Citadel Investment Group and Wall Street powerhouse Merrill Lynch have each bought a 10 percent stake in the tiny Philadelphia Stock Exchange, according to traders familiar with the...
CIRC JERKS NAILED - 3 NEWSDAY EXECS CHARGED; 4 MORE TO PLEAD
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amIn an ongoing federal investigation, three former executives at Newsday and its sister paper Hoy were arrested yesterday for scheming to inflate circulation figures and defraud advertisers. The arrests were...
A BOOST FOR VERIZON TV
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amVerizon took a giant step toward bringing television to New York homes when it steamrolled Cablevision's attempt to block it from building any more fiber-optic cables. The setback for Cablevision...
NO HILFIGER HI-LIFE: HE'S HITTING SKIDS
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amTommy Hilfiger, the struggling apparel maker that is the subject of a federal tax probe, reported preliminary results for the recently completed fiscal year: They show a continued decline in...
SAKS HIT BY DEFAULT NOTICE, DOWNGRADE
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amSaks Inc. said yesterday that it received a notice of default from an unnamed hedge fund that holds a large chunk of its convertible notes - fallout from an investigation...
VIACOM WILL SELL 2 UNITS
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amNow that it has won board approval to split itself in two, Viacom Inc. is finally putting Simon & Schuster and Paramount Parks on the block. Viacom would consider selling...
$2B HEDGE FUND SAYS IT WILL FOLD
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amAfter a terrible spring, the wreckage in key areas of the capital markets is just beginning to be sorted out, with Marin Capital Partners, a $2 billion hedge fund in...
SOFT DRINK BIG: LET THEM DRINK COKE
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA summer boycott of Coca-Cola is being plotted to protest Coke's factories in India for allegedly siphoning off millions of gallons of water in arid areas just to make soft...
INDUSTRY WATCHDOG IS TIGHTENING THE RULES
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amWith newspaper and magazine circulation under closer scrutiny, an industry monitor is tightening the reporting standards for the murky area of so-called "sponsored sales." BPA Worldwide, which audits circulation figures...
WORK SMART - KEEP UP WITH TECHNOLOGY, OR GO THE WAY OF THE DINOSAUR...
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amTHIS is not your mom and pop's economy. The brewery, the chop shop, the graphic designer - what were once storefront operations that rolled down the shutters at 6 p.m....
PIXIE LUST
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amNOBODY in rock music has it harder than the opening act, just ask LCD Soundsystem, which warmed up the Jones Beach Theater for the reunited, rejuvenated Pixies on Tuesday. Although...
MADDEN PUNTED TO NBC
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amBLUSTERY NFL analyst John Madden is jumping to NBC's "Sunday Night Football" in 2006. Madden, 69, who will continue on ABC's "Monday Night Football" for one more season, made his...
COLDPLAY IT AGAIN
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amCOLDPLAY slammed the competition this week, rushing Billboard's Top 200 Albums Charts with "X&Y," the Brit-pop band's latest disc. Chris Martin and company's third studio release sold 737,300 copies in...
JACKO FREE TO PURSUE BASHIR LAWSUIT
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amABC News correspondent Mar tin Bashir, whose blockbus ter 2003 documentary "Living with Michael Jackson" sparked the child-molestation case against the pop star, is waiting for the other shoe to...
STARR REPORT
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amTom, Jay & Jacko Jay Leno, who made hay joking about the Michael Jackson molestation case, will come face-to-face with Jacko's lawyer when Tom Mesereau visits tomorrow's "Tonight Show" (11:35...
'I NEARLY CRIED' - 'ARRESTED' STAR BACK FROM BRINK OF CANCELLATION
June 16, 2005 | 4:00am'ARRESTED Development" star Jeffrey Tambor nearly cried when the critically acclaimed comedy was picked up for a third season on Fox. "I had steeled myself for cancellation," Tambor told the...
DEATH OF THE WEEKEND - SUMMER SQUEEZE 2005: BEACH IS OUT, BLACKBERRY'S IN, YOU'RE BURNT; THE LOST WEEKEND
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amEVERY Friday, 36-year-old Leanne French hopes that this will be the weekend she and her husband take their 16-month-old son to visit friends in the Berkshires or on a trip...
SLAP FOR LADY PERV TEACH - STUDENT'S DAD RIPS 'GROPER'
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA furious dad yesterday exploded at his 12-year- old daughter's former teacher after she pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the girl - and was freed with a slap on the...
CRASH KILLS A COP - B'KLYN CYCLE TRAGEDY
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amAn off-duty cop was killed last night when his motorcycle collided with an SUV in Brooklyn. Kamal Matthews, a 29-year-old rookie, was riding home from work - with his girlfriend...
FDNY HERO DIES AT L.I. BLAZE
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA 30-year veteran of the FDNY has died of a heart attack after battling a blaze on Long Island. Peter Lund, 54, a volunteer with the Woodmere Fire Department, was...
MOGUL ARTSY & CRAFTY - OPERA MAN SELLING OFF PAINTINGS TO MAKE BAIL
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amOpera philanthropist and art lover Alberto Vilar is dumping his most precious paintings at an upcoming Christie's auction in his bid to make $10 million bail on fraud charges. The...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA bald eagle crashed through a window of a home in Alaska, dropped a salmon in the living room and flew back out. "There were feathers about eight feet into...
GITMO COCKTAIL - DRUNK ON ANTI-AMERICANISM
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amTHE demands to shut down our Guantanamo lock-up for terrorists have nothing to do with human rights. They're about punishing America for our power and success. From our ailing domestic...
GET A WHIFF OF GIFF'S TRASH PLAN
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amRecycled paper is OK. Stinky garbage is not. That was the plan that City Council Speaker and mayoral candidate Gifford Miller came up with for a proposed waste transfer site...
DOCS: GET A'S BY GETTING Z'S
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amGetting a good night's sleep can increase your brainpower. Sleep appears to help the brain consolidate memories so they're readily available during waking hours, say scientists in Liege, Belgium. In...
FLIP-FLOP FREDDY FOULS UP HIS STADIUM-MONEY STANCE
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amFERNANDO FERRER can't quite get his stadium story straight. On the stump, he can often be heard saying he has never supported taxpayer-funded stadiums. After it was pointed out that...
NEW YORK AIDS HONCHO DOWNGRADES 'SUPERSTRAIN'
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amATLANTA - The city's top AIDS official said yesterday the recently discovered virulent HIV strain - dubbed a "superstrain" by some - appears to be an isolated case and may...
REP: PUT FAKE WHIZ OUT OF BIZ
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amRep. Eliot Engel wants to beat the Whizzinator. The Bronx Democrat is outraged that the lifelike rubber penis, loaded with clean urine, is being used by steroid cheats to beat...
HOSTAGE FOUND ALIVE - IRAQI ARMY RAIDERS FREE KIDNAPPED AUSTRALIAN
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA California-based Australian who was kidnapped six weeks ago in Iraq was found and freed yesterday in a dramatic raid in Baghdad, officials said. Hopes for Douglas Wood had been...
NEW TACTIC VS. HILL: IGNORE HER
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amREPUBLICANS may finally be wising up to the fact that it's dumb to turn Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton into a victim by always attacking her and trumpeting every possible scurrilous...
TERRI HAD NO HOPE - AUTOPSY SUPPORTS HER HUSBAND
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amThe long-awaited results of the autopsy on Terri Schiavo were released yesterday - and backed her husband's contention that the Florida woman was in a vegetative state with no hope...
DISNEY KID'S FUNERAL SET
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amFuneral services for a 4-year-old boy who died after he collapsed on a Walt Disney World spaceship ride are scheduled in his Pennsylvania hometown Saturday as more tests are conducted...
MAYOR GETS A SPECIAL DELIVERY FROM RIVAL
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amApparently no voter is immune from City Council Speaker Gifford Miller's recent blizzard of taxpayer-funded mailings boasting of his success in battling the Bloomberg administration - not even Mayor Bloomberg....
'OIL' EXEC CHANGES KOFI TALE
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - The man whose explosive e-mails triggered a new probe of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement yesterday contradicting information in his own memos. But the statement from...
THE FIX WAS IN AT NYRA - HEVESI RIPS CORRUPTION
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amALBANY - The New York Racing Association is the "poster child for mismanagement and corruption" - demonstrated by how it gave a no-bid $800,000 contract to the son and daughter-in-law...
THE LADIE$ OF THE HOUSE
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - Two women top the charts when it comes to the wealth of New York's House members, new financial disclosure forms show. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D- Manhattan) has millions...
HERO DIES AT BLAZE - HEART ATTACK ON L.I.
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA 30-year veteran of the FDNY has died of a heart attack after battling a blaze on Long Island. Peter Lund, 54, a volunteer with the Woodmere Fire Department, was...
NO MERCY FOR VIAGRA KID PERV
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA Long Island pervert who was convicted last year of sexually abusing two young girls - despite his defense that he wasn't taking his Viagra to correct erectile dysfunction -...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amQUEENS * Police yesterday released an updated sketch and description of a man being sought for allegedly raping a woman in a Long Island City subway station. The unidentified suspect...
OOPS! KIDS' GROUP GETS CONDOM DEAL
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA child-advocacy group that works to prevent abductions has won city approval for a new line of work - distributing condoms as part of the city's safe-sex program, The Post...
CITY AUDIT RIPS DEPT. OF AGING
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA city audit rapped the Department of Aging for failing to vigorously track complaints of its $2.8 million bus-service program for senior citizens. The agency oversees 12 companies that provide...
MYSTERY-BLAST GI A 'LEADER'
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA Rockland County Army National Guardsman killed in a mysterious explosion in Iraq and laid to rest yesterday was described at an emotional service as "above all things, a leader"...
LEGAL 'SCALPING' - GOV OKS 45% MARKUP FOR TIX
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amALBANY - If you missed out on getting tickets for the upcoming Rolling Stones show at Madison Square Garden you may soon have a second chance - with new state-approved...
FREAK SHOW - PRODUCER PITCHES JACKO 'REALITY' TV
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amONLY in America could anyone get away with using the words "reality" and "Jackson family" in the same sentence. But there the words are, joined together in a pitch for...
DISASTER DANGER AT HYATT
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA utility vault under the Grand Hyatt is in danger of collapsing - which could damage the hotel's foundation and leave it without any power, authorities said yesterday. Peter Cannito,...
CLASS SIZE MATTERS IN NEW COUNCIL BILL
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amParents searching for a school for their child deserve to know the size of every class in every school to make an appropriate choice, city educrats said yesterday. The city...
MURDER RAP FOR SHORTY - SUSPECT JUST 14
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA 4-foot-6 punk barely into his teens helped beat a man senseless and then stole his shoes and $10 from his pocket as he lay dying on a gritty Brooklyn...
NYERS WONDER WATT'S WRONG WITH CON ED
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amThe heat wave may be over, but Queens and Staten Island residents are still steaming over a slew of recent blackouts - and the city faces the likelihood of a...
HAMPTONS WARPATH - TRIBE SUES TO TAKE LAND IN RITZY VILLAGE
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amThe Southampton-based Shinnecock Indians yesterday fired the first arrow in their battle to reclaim ancestral lands - filing a federal lawsuit seeking the return of 3,600 acres of prime real...
THE LYIN' $HARE - 'GRIFTER' DONORS STIFF NYU: MAG
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amThe Bottom Line has become the school of crock - NYU has named its new lecture hall, on the site of the legendary rock club, after a family accused of...
YANKEES MAKE A SWEET PITCH - * STADIUM STAYS IN BRONX * TEAM FOOTS $800M BILL
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amThe Yankees unveiled plans for their dazzling new ballpark yesterday, vowing to foot the $800 million price tag and keep ticket prices "affordable" - and ending years of talk that...
FAMILY TO 'PREPPY KILLER': PAY UP
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amHe's been out of prison for two years, but notorious "Preppy Killer" Robert Chambers has yet to pay a dime of the $25 million wrongful-death judgment against him, the lawyer...
CHINATOWN EATERY SLAY
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA New Jersey man was gunned down last night inside a crowded Chinese restaurant once owned by an alleged alien smuggler involved in the ill-fated Golden Venture voyage. Around 6...
HOSTAGE FOUND ALIVE - AUSSIE ASKS FOR BREWSKI AFTER RESCUE BY IRAQIS
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA California-based Australian who was kidnapped six weeks ago in Iraq was found and freed yesterday in a dramatic raid in Baghdad - and immediately asked for a beer. Hopes...
HOOD'S 'BANKRUPT' EX WAILS OVER 133G DEBT
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA failed New Jersey political candidate accused of bilking $1.2 million from her reputed Mafia ex-boyfriend claims she is $133,000 in debt. Karen DeSoto, 35, filed for bankruptcy Tuesday, the...
FREAK SHOW - PRODUCER PITCHING JACKO 'REALITY' TV TO NETWORKS
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amONLY in America could any one get away with using the words "reality" and "Jackson family" in the same sentence. But there the words are, joined together in a pitch...
'UNSTABLE' POLICE DUO UNSADDLED
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amTwo Bronx mounted cops were suspended yesterday when they got into a fistfight after one of them placed a garbage can too close to the other officer's horse, law-enforcement sources...
NEW YORK'S BEACHFRONT PLAYGROUND
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amLong before there was a Disneyland, Brooklyn's Coney Island was the world's largest amusement center. It's still a fun place to play. There are a few theories on how Coney...
2 JERSEY OFFICERS SHOT AT HQ
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA man about to be arrested for domestic violence opened fire yesterday inside police headquarters in Jersey City, wounding two cops before being shot himself, authorities said. A sergeant was...
MYSTERY-BLAST GI HAILED AT FUNERAL AS A LEADER
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA Rockland County Army National Guardsman killed in a mysterious explosion in Iraq and laid to rest yesterday was described at an emotional service as "above all things, a leader"...
'GREAT' NIGHT FOR THE BOSS
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amAbout 90 minutes after Jason Giambi's mammoth upper-deck walkoff home run had given the Yankees a 10th-inning 7-5 win over Pittsburgh last night, George Steinbrenner climbed into his waiting van...
AGONY OF DEFEAT - METS FALL ON SCUTARO'S RBI SINGLE IN 9TH
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA's 3 - Mets 2 OAKLAND - Four nights earlier, the Mets had experienced the thrill of a walk-off hit. Last night, they got the other end of it. Former...
WILLIE MIGHT TWEAK LINEUP
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amMET NOTES OAKLAND - After the Mets lost 5-0 on Tuesday night, Willie Randolph said there might be some "adjustments" with the lineup. Looks like an adjustment is coming. Mike...
SLEW MOTION WINS AT 1-9
June 16, 2005 | 4:00am1ST RACE - Region of Merit, eased by Rich Migliore last out after bolting on clubhouse turn of turf race, was back going one turn on dirt, taking big drop...
FROM BAT TO WORSE - METS CAN'T AFFORD TO SLUMP FOR TOO LONG
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amOAKLAND - Two Sundays ago, the Mets played a game against the Giants in which they scored 12 runs in eight innings. Over their past six games heading into last...
NET PROSPECT TALKS BIG GAME
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amArizona State's Ike Diogu, the Pac 10 Player of the Year and the first player to lead that conference in scoring, rebounding and blocks, wants to thank Elton Brand. And...
GRAVES' MET DEBUT EASY AS 1-2-3
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amMET NOTES OAKLAND - Three up and three down. Not a bad Met debut for Danny Graves. Graves, the righty reliever who recently joined the team, pitched the seventh inning...
GIAMBI SUFFERING A POWER SHORTAGE
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amThe two-run double Jason Giambi hit Tuesday night in the Yankees' 9-0 win over the Pirates was an indictment of just how far the once-mighty slugger has fallen over the...
BOWEN BATTLE FOR HAMILTON
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amAUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Detroit's Richard Hamilton said he believes he's figured out San Antonio's Bruce Bowen. Hamilton said he doesn't think the referees have figured out Bowen. Bowen is...
SHUT UP & BUILD - PROGRESS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SENTIMENTALITY
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amBY THE time the endless receiving line of gas-bag politicians had finished tearing up their rotator cuffs patting themselves on the back, it was almost easy to forget why everyone...
TIGER REACHES OUT TO CANCER WOMAN
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amOPEN NOTES PINEHURST, N.C. - Amid the many sarcastic things that are said and written about the top players lie many special deeds that go unnoticed. Recently, Tiger Woods did...
HE'S TONY WOE-MACK - YANK STILL IRKED OVER OF SHIFT
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES It's clear Tony Womack doesn't like playing the outfield - and he likes talking about it even less. Womack revealed his unhappiness regarding a shift from second base...
RAINBOW BLUE MAY BE FINISHED FOR THE YEAR
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amRainbow Blue, the 2004 Harness Horse of the Year, may have suffered a season-ending tendon injury earlier this week. "I can't pinpoint when it happened," said trainer/co-owner George Teague, who...
JETS GIVE TONGUE WALKING PAPERS
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amThe Jets yesterday parted ways for good with safety Reggie Tongue, whose contract was terminated. This is the second time Tongue has been released by the team since the end...
MCDYESS ON ROLL OFF DETROIT BENCH
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amNOTES AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - The question to Antonio McDyess was blunt: "Was there anyone who didn't believe you can come back?" The answer was more blunt. "New York. Phoenix,"...
IS HE WRIGHT FOR KNICKS?
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amAntoine Wright compares himself to a "Ray Allen-type or Paul Pierce." The Knicks will take either. Wright, a 6-foot-7 junior shooting guard from Texas A&M, is scheduled to work out...
COMPANY OF CHAMPS HELPS BOOST STADIUM
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amWhile the Yankees unveiled plans for their new stadium yesterday afternoon, the next wave of Monument Park additions were preparing for a game against Pittsburgh last night. While they weren't...
IT'S NEVER TWO LATE - METS PLAN TO CHANGE REYES' SPOT IN LINEUP
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amOAKLAND - After the Mets lost to the A's 5-0 Tuesday night, Willie Randolph said there might be some "adjustments" with his lineup. An adjustment is coming. Mike Cameron was...
JASON PROVES TO BE HIGH & MIGHTY
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amIn the not too distant past, Pirate closer Jose Mesa would have considered two options when Jason Giambi came to bat with first base open and one out in the...
VICTORY CELEBRATION JUST LIKE OLD TIMES
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amTHIRTY TIMES in 2005 the Yankees had trailed after eight innings, and on each occasion a team that has Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield, failed...
GIAMBI'S SHOT SAVES THE DAY - JASON'S HOMER BAILS OUT BROWN, BURIES BUCS
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amEven Kevin Brown couldn't sabotage one of the proudest days in Yankee history. Even more unbelievably, Jason Giambi capped it. The undependable Brown left in the fifth inning of last...
SOJO, A-ROD OFF HOOK
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amA night earlier, Luis Sojo flashed the "stop" sign at third base but Hideki Matsui ran through it on his swollen right ankle and wound up scoring a run in...
THANKS FOR THE CONTRIBUTIONS - JETER, TORRE AND CO. BOOSTED STADIUM PLANS
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amWhile the Yankees unveiled plans for their new stadium yesterday afternoon, the next wave of Monument Park additions were preparing for a game against Pittsburgh last night. While they weren't...
BERNIE BRACES FOR HIS FINAL STAND
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amBERNIE Williams lined a dart to right field with Alex Rodriguez on second and Ruben Sierra on first. There was one out in the eighth inning Tuesday and the Yankees...
DUVAL NEEDS TO FIND HIS OLD SWING
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amPINEHURST, N.C. - The last time the U.S. Open was played at Pinehurst, in 1999, David Duval was the kingpin of the PGA Tour, ranked No. 1 and having halted...
OPEN HOUSE - BIG GUNS TAKE AIM AT PINEHURST
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amPINEHURST, N.C. - So many images from the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst are burned forever into the minds of virtually every golf fan. For this week's tournament at Pinehurst...
IT'S WIDE OPEN
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amPINEHURST, N.C. - So many images from the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst are burned forever into the minds of virtually every golf fan. For this week's tournament at Pinehurst...
RIGHT TIME FOR LEFTY
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amPINEHURST, N.C. - If Phil Mickelson had his druthers, he wants the greens on Pinehurst's No.2 course to be bone dry and slick as glass throughout the 2005 U.S. Open...
HE'S TONY WOE-MACK - YANK STILL GRUMBLING OVER SHIFT TO OF
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES It's clear Tony Womack doesn't like playing the outfield - and he likes talking about it even less. Womack revealed his unhappiness regarding a shift from second base...
METS HAMSTRUNG AS CAIRO IS DL'D
June 16, 2005 | 4:00amMET NOTES OAKLAND - The rest of the Mets' 12-game road trip will have to be played without Miguel Cairo. Cairo was put on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with...