November 16, 2005
RAT LOVE SETS TRAP FOR EXECS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amThere isn't much to love about rats, especially in this city, where many residents fear they are outnumbered by the toothsome vermin. So it struck more than a few people...
GOLDMAN SOCKED - JUDGE'S REBUKE SLOWS NYSE MERGER, CITES CONFLICTS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amA New York judge bounced Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs & Co. from a key role in the landmark merger of the New York Stock Exchange and Archipelago. In a...
REFCO INSTALLS A FIXER
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amBankrupt and beseiged trading firm Refco Inc. installed a noted turnaround expert as its new top executive. The firm hooked veteran finance pro Robert Dangremond as its interim CEO, replacing...
THE LION KINGS - WEINSTEIN BROS. TALK DISTRIBUTION WITH MGM
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amThe Weinstein Company is in negotiations with new MGM boss Harry Sloan to distribute films through the storied movie studio in a bid to gain access to MGM's valuable slots...
NEWSDAY HITS UNION - PRESS JOBS, DRIVERS TARGETED; EDITORIAL IS SAFE - FOR NOW
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amNEWSDAY is looking to chop up to 165 jobs next year, but the newsroom may be safe this time. Contracts will soon expire for six different bargaining units represented by...
GEMSTAR FOLDING INSIDE TV MAG
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amInside TV, which said it was closing down yesterday, burned through about $35 million in its short life span. Gemstar TV Guide, the parent company, announced it was pulling the...
REFCO INSTALLS FIXER
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amBankrupt and beseiged trading firm Refco Inc. installed a noted turnaround expert as its new top executive. The firm hooked veteran finance pro Robert Dangremond as its interim CEO, replacing...
ACTING SCHOOL GETS NEW DIGS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amTHE prestigious off- Broadway Atlantic Theater company school is moving into 111 Eighth Ave. The 25,000 foot space, on the 16th side of the full-block building, includes a private, street...
ISS BACKS SNYDER BID
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amWashington Redskins owner Dan Snyder scored a major victory yesterday against the board of Six Flags Inc., putting him one step closer to winning the bitter battle for the troubled...
CUSTOMERS GIVE DISH; RESTAURANT'S OWNERS ASK FOR GUT REACTION
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amTHE tuna tartare is "fantastic and packed with flavor." Rigatoni "could have more sauce." It's "drafty near the entrance" and the "music was too loud but was turned down." Who's...
BRIDE & GLOOM
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amTHE SYRIAN BRIDE (three stars)ALL Mona wants to do is get married. True, she's never actually met her husband-to-be, a TV star named Tallel whom she knows only through his...
ON THE SIDE: BOTH COASTS ARE CLEAR FOR TV TOQUE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amPSYCHO TV chef Gordon Ramsay is not only bringing his pots and pans to New York, he's also branching out to Los Angeles. The bullying Brit, who stars on Fox...
ASK A PASTRY CHEF
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amSTARTING today, three of the city's top patissiers will share their knowledge of technique and the business during live, online chats at pastryscoop.com, aWeb site founded by the French Culinary...
4 8 15 16 23 42 - 'LOST' NUMBERS = ZERO
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amMEMO to "Lost" fanatics: those numbers you're all so obsessed with - not even the producers know what they mean. "I think that that question will never, ever be answered,"...
WAS EPISODE OF 'NCIS' INDECENT?
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amTHE obscenity-watchdog group Parents Television Council yesterday filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against the hit drama "NCIS" over a stripper scene. The episode, which aired Oct. 25,...
SAME CITY, DIFFERENT SEX - TV READIES SEQUEL TO HIT 'SEX'
November 16, 2005 | 5:00am'SEX" is back in the city. Candace Bushnell, the original brains behind "Sex and the City" will be back on TV for act two - NBC has ordered a pilot...
CILLIAN SHINES AS IRISH MISFIT
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amBREAKFAST ON PLUTO (three stars) Like nothing else out there. Running time: 135 minutes. Rated R (sexuality, profanity, violence, drugs). At the Lincoln Plaza the Sunshine, the 19th St. East....
URBAN COWBOYS - COUNTRY FASHION HITS TWANG NOTE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amHee-Haw. The Country Music Awards crowd did their best to sparkle on the red carpet outside Madison Square Garden last night - but the result was more honky tonk than...
STARR REPORT
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amMarcy out, Martha in Marcy McGinnis, a 35-year CBS News veteran who was former CBS News president Andrew Heyward's second-incommand, is leaving the network on Friday. McGinnis, in a note...
YOU'VE GOT BAIL - FIRST LOOK AT MOB SHOW
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amHERE'S a message for prosecutors who are upset over an HBO reality show starring a reallife, alleged mobster: Fuhgeddaboudit! The show is "House Arrest," a half-hour billed awkwardly as "a...
TWISTED 'TRACE' - PERSPECTIVE SWITCHES TO VICTIM'S FAMILY
November 16, 2005 | 5:00am'WITHOUT a Trace" is not only a great show without the usual hype, but it's also a show without the bells and whistles many series use to disguise the fact...
4 BUSTED IN EGG TOSS - 'PRANK' BLINDED L.I. BOY
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amFour affluent Long Island teens were busted yesterday in the Halloween night "drive-by" egging that left a 13-year-old boy blind in one eye. Some of the 17-year-old high-school students were...
E-THREATS JOKE TO TEEN: COPS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amA Brooklyn student laughed when he was busted for ominous postings on his high school's message board, authorities said yesterday. Stanley Wu, 17, who attends elite Brooklyn Tech HS in...
WRIST SLAP FUROR - DA RIPS ROSLYN JUDGE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amA Long Island district attorney has blasted a judge for allowing a figure in the Roslyn schools scandal to get no more than six months in a local jail instead...
CITIZEN 'KIDNAP' TEST CASE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amA teen born in the former Soviet Union doesn't want a little thing like kidnapping conspiracy charges to keep him from becoming an American. Alexandr Smirnov, busted in July for...
HILLARY'S ROAD TO A WALKOVER
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amWHO would have thought, back when she first took office, that the New York Republican Party would be unable to come up with a credible issue - let alone a...
PIRRO SITS ON COURT FENCE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - Republican Senate hopeful Jeanine Pirro refused yesterday to back President Bush's selection of Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court, in part because of Alito's past anti-abortion views. The...
GIS IN 'TORTURE BY LION' PROBE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amThe U.S. Army is looking into claims by two Iraqis who said GIs forced them into a cage of lions to terrify them into disclosing secrets about Saddam Hussein's weapons...
BIG AD GUYS JOIN 9/11 MEMORIAL PU$H
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amFund-raisers for the World Trade Center Memorial have lined up a major advertising firm to develop for free a national campaign aimed at raising another $400 million for the project,...
POLICE SALUTE IS ONE FOR THE AGES
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amTheir sacrifice had been forgotten - but not anymore. The city yesterday honored 100 police officers who died in the line of duty over the last century and a half....
BEEP IS HEADED FOR BIG EASY
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amVirginia Fields, who failed in her attempt to become the city's first female mayor, has been tapped as an urban expert to assist in rebuilding New Orleans. The 60-year-old Manhattan...
SUBWAY CRIME ON RIGHT TRACK
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amSubway crime is down for the year for the first time since the dramatic spike in iPod robberies last winter, cops said yesterday. "We're reducing crime and preventing terrorism," NYPD...
FAST TRACK TO FLORIDA SUN
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amFaster flights to Florida are in the offing this winter, thanks to a federal plan to reroute southbound aircraft from La Guardia Airport. More Florida flights will be sent down...
HILLARY HURLS 'BA$E' BAWL
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton begs for donor dollars in a new letter to her base supporters, casting herself as the victim of a GOP attack machine - despite...
YULE FARE WELL AT MERRY MIDNIGHT
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amMTA holiday bonuses start at midnight tonight, when $76 unlimited-ride MetroCards that offer 41 days for the price of 30 go on sale. They look ordinary - except for an...
ABBAS' PEACE CHALLENGE - FORESEES TREATY IN SIX MONTHS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amPalestinians said yesterday they could wrap up a final peace treaty with Israel in a matter of months - if Israel is ready to negotiate. "If we have an Israeli...
PARIS HAS A NEW 'KINK' IN HER LIFE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amHere's Paris Hilton's latest pet du jour - a cuddly but carnivorous mammal called a kinkajou, which has razor-sharp teeth and a mean bite. The hotel heiress and little Baby...
AGONY OF BIG GAL COP
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amA hulking female ex-cop suing the NYPD for alleged sexual harassment testified that years of lewd jokes and subsequent retaliation for complaining drove her to secretly record her supervisors -...
$315M MEGA MANIA
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amThe city has Mega fever. New Yorkers were dreaming of pennies from heaven yesterday as they snatched up tickets for the biggest-ever Mega Millions jackpot. With last-minute money pouring in,...
FALLEN OFFICER HONORED AT LAST
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amPolice Officer Robert Cox left behind a wife and three young boys when he died 28 years ago trying to arrest a burglar in Queens. He's one of the Forgotten...
LAWYER 'STOLE FROM DEAD PAL'
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amA lawyer who blew the whistle on a dirty judge has been busted for stealing more than $60,000 from his dead ex-law partner, prosecutors said yesterday. Gary Berenholtz helped himself...
HERO GI I.D.S STOLEN - QNS. BASE RIP-OFF
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amA janitor at a Queens military base swiped the IDs of nearly 150 soldiers serving overseas - and then used the sensitive information to get bogus credit cards to go...
KERIK TOOK THE FIFTH
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amFormer top cop Bernard Kerik took the Fifth Amendment on nine key matters regarding his ties to two mob-connected brothers, officials charged yesterday. Kerik refused to cooperate with the New...
XXX TRAIL OF TEEN 'KILLER' - SWAPPED NUDE PIX WITH GIRL
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amBefore her parents ended up murdered, Kara Beth Borden and David Ludwig e-mailed each other nude photos of themselves during a six- month affair they tried to keep secret. And...
BUSH RAPS TYRANTS ON ASIAN TRIP
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush issued a clarion call for greater freedom in China - as well as Burma and North Korea - early today as he began his eight-day Asia...
BABY-IN-TRASH HORROR
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amIt's a crime both horrific and crass - a welfare mother smothers her crying baby in his crib, dumps him in a trash bin, then continues to collect public assistance...
E-THREATS BIG JOKE TO TEEN: COPS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amA Brooklyn student laughed when he was busted for ominous postings on his high school's message board - including one promising to assassinate President Bush, authorities said yesterday. Stanley Wu,...
S.I. SCHOOLGIRL MAY NEED BRAIN OP
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amA Staten Island schoolgirl may need brain surgery as she fights for her life after being hit by a minivan, her father said yesterday. Dilane Sandrakumar, 13, was in guarded...
SENATE TO PROBE DOUGHNUT HOLE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - A Senate committee is investigating more than 100 loans made under a federal program that was aimed at 9/11-hurt businesses - but instead helped entrepreneurs buy and renovate...
JUDGES BENCH BELTED - STATE CENSURE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amA state disciplinary panel has found a pair of judges were out of order when they found two litigants in contempt of court. One of the judges, Queens Supreme Court...
CONFLICT MAID TO ORDER - HER LAWYER LINKED TO DE NIRO
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amRobert De Niro's wife has gone ballistic after learning that the "maid to the stars" accused of swiping the $95,000 diamond earrings the actor gave her as a wedding gift...
AXED AIDE: JUDGE DISROBED WITH DA - QNS. 'AFFAIR' LEADS TO TAINTED-TRIAL CLAIM
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amA married Queens judge carried on a torrid affair with a female prosecutor while handing out special favors to the DA's office, including tips on how to win a murder...
'FIRE FAKE' HAD DREAM WEDDING BEFORE THE NIGHTMARE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amIt was the early 1990s, and Peter Braunstein, a brilliant up-and-coming writer, already had his wife - and the world - fooled. Handsome, clever and spewing just enough cockiness to...
GAL VS. NYPD 'CREEP'
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amThe stepdaughter of rocker David Bowie yesterday testified about her "horrible" ordeal with an NYPD detective accused of taking X-rated pictures of her while investigating a claim that she had...
PATAKI MUST FREE PERVS, JUDGE RULES
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amA dozen sexual predators ordered confined beyond their prison terms by Gov. Pataki's office "are being illegally detained" and should be released, a Manhattan judge found yesterday. "The court takes...
HARLEMITES RIP COLUMBIA
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amAngry Harlem residents and business owners, fearing they'd be pushed out of the neighborhood, blasted Columbia University's proposal to condemn property for its multibillion-dollar campus expansion at a hearing last...
BX. SLAY BUST - 35 YRS. LATER
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amCold-case detectives have busted one of two men who killed a Bronx tailor in a botched robbery 35 years ago, cops said yesterday. A homeless man was dragged out of...
POST OFFICE HIT FOR 10G - B'KLYN COPS, FEDS SUSPECT AN INSIDE JOB
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amThree gun-wielding, masked thugs barged into a Brooklyn post office early yesterday, tied up six workers and fled with a canvas mail bag stuffed with about $10,000 in cash, authorities...
YULE 'FARE' WELL ON RAILS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amMTA holiday bonuses start at midnight tonight, when $76 unlimited-ride MetroCards that offer 41 days for the price of 30 go on sale. They have an understated "Happy Holidays" graphic...
HILLARY SIGNS 'BA$E' BAWL
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton begs for donor dollars in a new letter to her base supporters, casting herself as the victim of a GOP attack machine - despite...
$315M MEGA NUMBERS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amIf you have a Mega Million lottery ticket with these numbers - 2, 4, 5, 40, 48 and Mega Ball 7 - then you've just won $315 million. New Yorkers...
2 NABBED IN STUDENT STAB
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amPolice busted a knife-wielding ring of young robbers who badly stabbed a Brooklyn Tech HS student after he told them he didn't have any money, police said yesterday. Two suspects...
PAIR OF BX. GIRLS, 12, MISSING FOR 3 DAYS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amCops are searching for two 12-year-old Bronx girls who have been missing since Sunday evening. Kimberly Marrero and Carmen Valencia were last seen at approximately 5 p.m. in Co-op City,...
TISCH DIES OF CANCER - CO-OWNED GIANTS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amRobert Tisch, co-owner of the New York Giants and one of the city's most renowned civic leaders, died at his Manhattan home last night of brain cancer. He was 79....
10G HEIST AT POST OFFICE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amThree gun-wielding, masked thugs barged into a Brooklyn post office early yesterday, tied up six workers and fled with a canvas mail bag stuffed with about $10,000 in cash, authorities...
APPLE'S A COUNTRY CITY - NASHVILLE NORTH FOR AWARDS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amThe star of last night's Country Music Awards at Madison Square Garden didn't sing a note or win a prize. It was New York City, which lent the show the...
SECOND GIANT PASSES - TISCH, 79, DIES
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amRobert Tisch, co-owner of the New York Giants and one of the city's most renowned civic leaders, died at his Manhattan home last night of brain cancer. He was 79....
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amSTATEN ISLAND *** A Port Ivory woman allegedly ran down and dragged a cop with her SUV and then went on the lam, authorities said yesterday. Detective Wayne Vanderpool, of...
HEY, ELI: SHED THE 'KID' MINDSET
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amHE reminds us often enough that he is a work in progress, and that he's trying awfully hard to hurry up that darned learning curve. After all, Eli Manning, 24,...
JINTS' CO-OWNER 'MAN OF COURAGE'
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amIn what has been an emotional three-week span, the Giants yesterday bid adieu to Bob Tisch, a co-owner of the team since 1991. Tisch, 79, died last night, three weeks...
KIDD AVOIDS SONIC DOOM
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amNETS 109 - SONICS 99 So your recent defensive excursions have left you somewhere between doormat and cupcake. What you need is a team even worse. All praise the NBA...
DNP MURRAY FEELS LEFT OUT
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amNET NOTES Lamond Murray has been here before: on a team waiting for a chance. But that doesn't make the waiting any easier for the veteran who was brought in...
ISLANDERS FEELING ROSY & READY
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amISLES at THRASHERS - Tonight 7:00 - FSN; WBBR (1130) ATLANTA - Still enlivened by the dramatic fashion in which they started their lengthiest road trip of the season less...
JETS' DIVE NOT HERM'S FAULT
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amWITH this Jets season careening toward the worst records since the Rich Kotite Era of 3-13 and 1-15 in 1995 and '96, respectively, rumor mills are spinning and angry fans...
IT'S TIME TO BEGIN THE GAME
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amNEW YORK'S regular big game season kicks off at sunrise on Saturday, and hunters across the state should have everything - from boots to bullets - in order. This season...
QUARTEY IS TAKING LONG VIEW
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amPromoter Lou DiBella laid it out bluntly. "Ike [Quartey] didn't come back to fight [Carlos] Bojorquez," DiBella told reporters yesterday at the Laugh Factory. "He wants [Oscar] De La Hoya."...
MURRAY, PADGETT AWAIT THEIR SHOT
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amLamond Murray and Scott Padgett both say they've been here before: on a team waiting for a chance. But that doesn't make the waiting any easier for the two veterans...
COLLINS ISN'T RUSHING BACK
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amNET NOTES If the Nets are going to make a mistake with Jason Collins, they're going to do it by being too cautious. Collins sat against Seattle last night -...
ALLEN WAITING TO CATCH FIRE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amRay Allen had to be concerned a year ago with the pressure of playing for a contract, wondering what team he was going to wind up with as a free...
LESTER SHINES FOR CANARSIE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amWith junior Nathaniel Lester, Canarsie is eyeing the PSAL Finals at the Garden in March. But last night, the Chiefs made it to the Meadowlands, where Lester's 20 points led...
AW-PHIL TRUTH - JAX: I WAS NEVER JUICED OVER KNICK JOB
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amLOS ANGELES - Phil Jackson finally admitted yesterday the Knicks were always his second choice - and that he would only have considered them last spring if he knew the...
LARRY'S HOT TOPIC IN L.A.
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES LOS ANGELES - At least Larry Brown didn't call the Laker coaching position his "dream job." Ironically, Brown sat yesterday in front of a backdrop dotted with purple-and-gold...
3 COMMIT TO HOFSTRA
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amHofstra signed three players to national letters of intent yesterday - 6-2 guard Sal Patricio of Queens, 6-10 forward Greg Washington of Islip and Lithuanian 6-7 forward Mantas Leonavicius. The...
DEVS' FORWARD PROGRESS STOPS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amSabres 4 - Devils 1 BUFFALO - By now, Lou Lamoriello has enough evidence that he doesn't have enough offense. He needs to deal now, but first he needs to...
'IT'S HARD ON THIS TEAM' - TISCH, 79, LATEST GIANTS LOSS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00am'CALL me Bob." That was my first interaction with Preston Robert Tisch, back in 1994, which also was my first interaction with a billionaire. It was at Fairleigh Dickinson University,...
LEAFS, REFS KO RANGERS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amLeafs 2 - Rangers 1 TORONTO - It's not as if the Rangers sat back and simply gave last night's game to the Maple Leafs, not at all. But it...
'A GIANT STEP FORWARD'
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amWe expect a lot from baseball. Other sports have troubles. Other sports have issues. Other sports have had drug problems, and steroid problems. Other sports have had gambling scandals. Other...
SPORT FLEXES ITS MUSCLES - 50-GAME SUSPENSION FOR FIRST FAILED TEST
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amAfter months of negotiation with the Major League Baseball Players Association and threats from Congress, commissioner Bud Selig got his way yesterday. Major League Baseball announced its owners and players...
CATCH PHASE - METS EYE TRIO OF BACKSTOPS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amOn the closer front, it's evident that Billy Wagner is not only the Mets' No. 1 choice but is the best closer on the market. But the Mets also have...
CLOSING IN - SIGNS GOOD THAT MATSUI WILL RETURN TO YANKS
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amAs the dinner hour approached last night, the Yankees hadn't concluded the Hideki Matsui signing. But they were very close. In the spirit of the football season, Yankee general manager...
DONE DEAL - MATSUI WILL STAY IN PINSTRIPES
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amHideki Matsui is back under contract with the Yankees - and with a couple of hours to spare. After days of ballyhooed negotiations, the Yanks and Matsui's agent beat their...
METS EYEING CATCHER TRIO
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amIt's evident that Billy Wagner is not only the Mets' No. 1 choice but is the best closer on the market. But the Mets also have to find a catcher...
DEVILS' FORWARD PROGRESS HALTED
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amSabres 4 - Devils 1 BUFFALO - By now, Lou Lamoriello has enough evidence that he doesn't have enough offense. He needs to deal now, but first he needs to...
MINUS-ITIS GIVING DEVS A HEADACHE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amBUFFALO - The numbers are foul and they keep dropping below zero, and that's not the temperature here; not yet. Key members of the Devils are suffering minus-itis, and Larry...
LIONS' HALI HAS LEARNED TO BE STRONG
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amHe runs full bore on every play, as if his life depended on it, because a lifetime ago, his arms pumping, eyes bulging in terror, his legs churning in a...
LINDROS TRYIN' TO MOVE ON
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amTORONTO - Funny how the seven years of losing can fog the memory. For instance, with the Rangers at 11-5-3 going into last night's match here against the Maple Leafs,...
POLICY PUTS RED LIGHT ON SOME 'GREENIES'
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amFor years, the whispers of players popping "greenies" and drinking amphetaminespiked coffee prior to games have surrounded baseball. Commissioner Bud Selig hopes those whispers will now disappear and the use...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
November 16, 2005 | 5:00amJesus saves - at the gas pumps. The New Life Christian Church in Auburn, Calif., is offering discounts of 50 cents a gallon to show that God is interested in...