December 22, 2005
TW SUCCESSION; BEWKES MADE PRESIDENT, HEIR TO PARSONS
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amTime Warner Chairman Richard Parsons promoted Jeff Bewkes to president and chief operating officer yesterday, cementing the smooth-talking Yalie's position as the next in line to run the world's largest...
HEDGE HIGHFLIER CLIPPED BY SEC
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amA hedge fund whiz kid who bragged publicly that his fund's sky-high returns let him fly around in private jets and buy a new Lamborghini was in fact running a...
BALLY EXERCISES ITS SHARES
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amBally Total Fitness Holding Corp. is pushing a new compensation proposal that could give Chief Executive Officer Paul Toback and other executives a multimillion-dollar payday providing the feeble fitness chain...
CHASING GIFT CARDS - FRESH GOODS AIM TO RAKE IN POST-CHRISTMAS $
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amBreaking with convention, a handful of retailers including Coach and Abercrombie & Fitch will stock stores with fresh merchandise in the last week of December to capitalize on a shopping...
A STORMY FORECAST - HURRICANES TOOK ECONOMIC TOLL; CONSUMERS CUT BACK
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amThe economy has turned out to be weaker during the past summer of hurricanes than the government had predicted. And it faces a bumpier road ahead in 2006. Consumers are...
TRADER STIFFED STAFF
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amFulcrum Global Partners, which shut its stock-trading and research operations last week, raised millions of dollars selling its stock to employees but often offered them pennies on the dollar when...
STRIKE COSTS BIG RETAIL STORES $240M IN LOST SALES
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amLosses continued to pile up for New York City retailers as they suffered through the second day of a transit strike yesterday. With shoppers staying away and many stores closing...
BANKS ACCUSED OF FEE-RIGGING THEIR DEBIT-CARD WITHDRAWALS
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amShoppers paying with their debit cards could wind up getting hit with surprise holiday fight against major banks is alleging. Three top banks - Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells...
STRIKE FORCES COMMUTER DAILIES TO SCRAMBLE
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amMetro New York and am New York, two daily papers that owe their existence to free copies stuffed in the hands of morning commuters, have been scrambling to adjust in...
DEBIT-CARD DANGER SEEN IN BANK FEES
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amShoppers paying with their debit cards could wind up getting hit with surprise holiday penalties, says a widening legal fight against major banks. Three top banks - Citigroup, Bank of...
TEST DRIVE
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amMERCEDES ML350 ATTENTION Westchester and Southampton - forget the drama about gas prices, the new 2006 Mercedes ML350 has pulled into the driveway. This second take on the very important...
'MNF'S' FAREWELL REUNION
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amFRANK Gifford and "Dandy" Don Meredith will return to "Monday Night Football" one last time next week to bid farewell to the ABC Sports program, which is heading to cable...
'HEAVEN' CAN'T WAIT
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amBARBARA Walters' special on heaven pulled in big numbers Tuesday night. "Heaven, Where is it? How Do We Get There?," which featured interviews with Richard Gere and the Dalai Lama,...
'MUNICH' FALLOUT - DEBATE RAGES ON FILM'S 'TRUTH'
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amSTEVEN Spielberg - friend or faux? "Munich," the award-winning director's latest film hasn't even been released yet - it opens tomorrow - but critics are already lashing out after the...
ROUSING HAND FOR GLOVER
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amSAVION Glover - tap-dancer extraordinaire - has nowadays become a regular occupant of the Joyce Theatre. His latest offering, "Visions of a Bible," opened there Tuesday night and is scheduled...
KNIGHT OF RED CARPET - RYAN THE NEW JOAN RIVERS FOR E!
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amRYAN Seacrest is the new face of E! under a three-year deal paying him roughly $7 million to $8 million a year. Seacrest, who already hosts "American Idol" and two...
STARR REPORT
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amCrisp Quentin With hundreds of channels to choose from, networks are always looking for a way to set themselves apart in the eyes of viewers. Doesn't matter if it's just...
BROOKLYN LIGHT - STOPPING TRAFFIC IN DYKER HEIGHTS YEAR AFTER YEAR
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amSO who put the crazy in Christmas? If you've never taken the trip to see the loony lights of Dyker Heights at Christmas, run, walk, drive, and bring the kids,...
FAKE OVER - HOW TO THROW A CLASSY PARTY, EVEN IF YOU'RE A SCHLUB; DO YOURSELF SOME PARTY FAVORS
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amFASHION designer Michelle Siwy once boxed up all the junk in her apartment - including her dirty laundry - stuck a ribbon on and called it a Christmas present from...
MISERABLE CROOKS DOING WHAT EVEN 9/11 COULDN'T
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amTHE 9/11 terror attacks couldn't kill his business. No, the villains threatening to rob Jay Park of his livelihood are far more treacherous, selfish and insane. "It's dead - dead!"...
FACING A 'FINAL' CUT - COLLEGE-TESTS ORDEAL
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amTens of thousands of city college students will have the anxiety of exams hanging over their heads instead of mistletoe - because the transit strike has forced the postponement of...
RIP-ROARING RANT BY KOOKY KOFI - FURY AT 'CHEEKY' REPORTER
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amU.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan angrily accused a journalist of behaving "like an overgrown schoolboy" and being "an embarrassment to [his] profession" yesterday, for seeking to question his son Kojo's sleazy...
POOR KIDS GET LESS SCHOOL $$-AID
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amPoor and minority schoolchildren are shortchanged on education aid in New York more than in any other state in the country, according to a new report to be released today....
HORNY HARBORMASTER BILLED 60G FOR SEX SUIT
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amLong Island's horny harbormaster has been slapped with a bill for more than $60,000 in court costs after coming up empty in his sexual-harassment case against a former councilwoman and...
GLOVE HURTS FOR VENDOR
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amAs the transit strike stretched into Day Two yesterday, suffering business owners like Anthony Montaira (right) simmered as visions of year-end profits evaporated from their tills. "We have probably done...
PIRRO ENDS SENATE BID
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - Jeanine Pirro finally heeded the call of state GOP leaders yesterday and abandoned her ill-fated campaign to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Pirro announced that she'll run instead...
FELLOW TRAVELERS AID PREGNANT GAL
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amThe weather outside was still frightful, and the crowds were hardly delightful yesterday as Day Two of the city's transit strike taxed the Christmas spirit of weary commuters forced to...
ALBANY WINS ONE FOR COPS AS 'HEROES LAW' GETS APPROVED
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - The "heroes law" was approved yesterday in a special session of the state Legislature, honoring two city cops slain in the line of duty with tougher gun-control measures....
RATNER 'RAZES' STAKES - PUSHES DEMOLITION
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amDeveloper Bruce Ratner has taken the first step toward demolishing six "hazardous" buildings in Brooklyn that stand in the way of his basketball arena - but he's refusing to let...
MIKE SOUNDS SOFTER NOTE ON NOISE LAW
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amBar owners got some relief from Mayor Bloomberg yesterday when he agreed to back off a proposed law that would have given police huge leeway in serving up fines for...
CELEB 'THIEF' MAID AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amEven if she beats the rap on charges she ripped off her celebrity bosses, so-called maid-to-the-stars Lucyna Turyk-Wawrynowicz will have to leave the United States, it was revealed yesterday. The...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amBROOKLYN * Two teenagers were arrested for beating a female acquaintance and swiping her $700 earrings in Williamsburg, authorities said yesterday. Sources said Hope Key, 15, Michael Sanders, 15, and...
COP-BRASS SON FACES 40 YEARS
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amThe son of the former NYPD second-in-command could spend up to 40 years behind bars after admitting yesterday he tried to buy 400 pounds of pot from an undercover agent....
TEARS FOR SLAIN SCHOOL COP AT WAKE
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amVivian Samuels, the school safety agent who died Friday after being struck in the head by a 12-year-old girl, was honored yesterday by family and scores of school safety and...
WRONG-MAN 'KILLER' FREE
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amA Long Island man who spent more than 17 years behind bars for the rape and murder of a teenage girl walked free from court yesterday after a judge found...
COOKE 'BODY' SNATCH - BONES STOLEN: COPS
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amA fiendish team of body snatchers in Brooklyn defiled the body of beloved "Masterpiece Theater" host Alistair Cooke, removing his bones for profit without his family's permission, authorities said yesterday....
HEY, UNION JERKS, ENJOY YOUR 'ISLAND' GETAWAY - AT RIKERS
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amA furious Brooklyn judge yesterday threatened to toss the top transit-union leaders in jail for ignoring his injunction against a walkout - calling it a "distinct possibility." In a stunning...
BLACK LEADERS RIP MIKE'S REMARKS AS RACIST
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amAfrican-American leaders took offense yesterday at Mayor Bloomberg's use of the word "thuggish" to describe chiefs of the striking transit union. "These are hardworking people," said the Rev. Al Sharpton....
RETAIL LOSSES ALREADY $240M
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amLosses continued to pile up for Big Apple retailers yesterday as they suffered through the second day of the transit strike. With shoppers staying away - and many stores closing...
I SHOWED UP FOR WORK - BUT LEFT AFTER A WARNING
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amA transit worker who reported to work on Day One of the strike because he thought the walkout was wrong was made to fear for his safety, he says. "I...
CRUISE-TRAGEDY KIN WARY OF WIFE
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amThe heartsick family of a 26-year-old man who mysteriously disappeared during a honeymoon cruise in the Mediterranean last summer claims that his widow is withholding information from them. "She hasn't...
SENATE OKS 6-MONTH PATRIOT EXTENSION
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The Senate last night broke a stalemate and reached an 11th-hour deal to extend the Patriot Act for six months - giving senators time to negotiate a long-term...
PHONE-UP CHARITIES' BIG $ BITE
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - Just 37 percent of the charitable contributions raised in New York last year by telemarketers actually went to the charities, according to a report released yesterday by state...
MALL-JACK 'CAR THIEF' ARRESTED
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amA Long Island teenager suspected in three carjackings at shopping malls was nabbed last night driving one of the stolen vehicles, police said yesterday. The suspect, Willie Lopez, 17, was...
BATTLE OF THE TV ADS
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amThe transit union and MTA have taken to the airwaves in an effort to rally public support. Striking transit workers have enlisted the help of Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Pat...
MILLARD FILLMORE - THE 13TH PRESIDENT
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amMillard Fillmore assumed the presidency with ever-growing dissent over slavery. His presidency made the problem even worse. MILLARD Fillmore was born in Summerhill in the Finger Lakes region of New...
HORNY SEADOG BILLED - TOWN DEMANDS 60G
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amLong Island's horny harbormaster has been slapped with a bill for more than $60,000 in court costs after coming up empty in his sex- harassment case against a former councilwoman...
CHARITIES' FUND-RAZE
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - Just 37 percent of the charitable contributions raised in New York last year by telemarketers actually went to the charities, according to a report released yesterday by state...
BUSH TURNS UP HEAT TO SAVE PATRIOT ACT
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday warned that the United States would be "in a weaker position in the fight against brutal killers" if the Senate doesn't step it up and...
FELLOW TRAVELERS AID STRICKEN PREGNANT GAL
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amThe weather outside was still frightful, and the crowds were hardly delightful yesterday as Day Two of the city's transit strike taxed the Christmas spirit of weary commuters forced to...
GRIDLOCK DOC A HERO - SAVES LADY BY PHONE
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amStuck in traffic for hours and thinking about her baby at home, Dr. Cynthia Pan still managed to save a life as she fought her way through the city's strike-snarled...
GLOVE-LORN VENDOR RIPS 'GRINCH' TWU
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amAs the transit strike stretched into day two yesterday, suffering business owners - like Anthony Montaira - simmered as visions of year-end profits evaporated from their tills. "We have probably...
'FRAUDS HURT THE WORKING PEOPLE'
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amCalling them "frauds" for striking in the name of working people, Mayor Bloomberg tore into Roger Toussaint and the Transport Workers Union yesterday for the second consecutive day. Bloomberg blasted...
5TH & MADISON REOPEN TODAY
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amFifth and Madison avenues, which had been offlimits to motorists from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. since the start of the transit strike, are being partially reopened today. One lane...
REV. AL BLASTS MIKE'S 'THUG' CRACK
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amIn the war of words over the ongoing transit strike, Mayor Bloomberg's use of the word "thuggish" to describe the actions of union chiefs has whipped up a firestorm of...
GIANTS HAVE INJURY PLAN
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES Antonio Pierce isn't close to returning to action with a high ankle sprain, but he is improving. He had his cast changed, and Tom Coughlin said the Giants...
PRO BOWL FOR TY NO WIN FOR JETS
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amNEWS bulletin: Ty Law was voted into his fifth Pro Bowl yesterday. Sidebar: Law, the only Jets player to be voted into this year's game, ends Terry Bradway's five-season streak...
CAL'S LEVY NEVER HAD ANY DOUBT
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amBy the time Cal quarterback Steve Levy gets into the real world and has to prove himself at some corporate interview with the head of mergers and acquisitions for a...
TOUGH TEST FOR STIRLING
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amIn a rare match-up between teacher and pupil, Islander head coach Steve Stirling looked to his right and saw Lou Lamoriello running the Devils bench last night at the Coliseum....
CASHMAN GAVE YANKEES EDGE WITH DAMON
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amTHE Yankees re-signed their general manager. The Red Sox did not. Who could have guessed that the current phase of The Rivalry would pivot on the job status of two...
MANNY'S GETTING MAD - BOSTON FLEE PARTY COULD HELP METS
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amThe Mets say they are currently monitoring the Manny Ramirez situation with the Red Sox. That's another way of saying there is absolutely nothing brewing - for now. But Boston's...
FRANK SALUTES MAGIC'S HILL
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amNET NOTES ORLANDO - Add Orlando's Brian Hill to the list of opposing coaches who insist much of the recent concern around the Nets is unfounded. "Those guys are going...
REELING RED SOX START TO UNRAVEL - LUCCHINO LEFT 'DISAPPOINTED'
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amRed Sox Nation is angry and upset. "More like disappointed," Larry Lucchino told The Post last night from Boston after yet another wild chapter in the Yankees-Red Sox saga was...
MARBURY FEELS SECURE ABOUT HIS KNICK FUTURE
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES What, Stephon Marbury worry? Despite Isiah Thomas' remarks over the weekend that he's building around "three pieces" - Eddy Curry, Channing Frye and Larry Brown - he believes...
RENNEY SPARES ROD TO RANGERS
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amAfter the Rangers committed an obscene 11 penalties and gave up two goals in 16 seconds in Tuesday night's ugly 3-1 loss to the Devils, guess how many "suicide drills"...
BROWN: ISIAH'S WHY I'M HERE
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES Isiah Thomas' two-year anniversary as Knick president is today and there's only reason to cry, not celebrate. Thomas gave himself an "incomplete" when asked last weekend about the...
STEPH INFECTION - MARBURY BOOED IN LATEST UGLY LOSS
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amSpurs 109 - Knicks 96 The Garden finally turned its venom on Stephon Marbury late in the third quarter last night. The fans had booed the Knicks plenty this season,...
STORM SQUASHED - ST. JOHN'S NO THREAT TO PERFECT BLUE DEVILS
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amDuke 70 - St. John's 57 DURHAM - The public-address announcer at Cameron Indoor Stadium botched the St. John's starting introductions and, later, the names of some subs. This is...
STIRLING SHOWING
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amIslanders 4 - Devils 2 Steve Stirling said jokingly yesterday morning that when he played for Boston University against the Lou Lamoriello-coached Providence squads of the 1970s, "We used to...
NETS PULL MAGIC WHACK - CARTER LEADS WAY TO 4TH STRAIGHT WIN
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amNets 96 - Magic 85 ORLANDO - Vince Carter got his nearly obligatory 30-point game - 32 to be exact. Richard Jefferson had his customary all-around effort with 18 points,...
COLLINS GOES DOWN AGAIN
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amNET NOTES ORLANDO - Jason Collins is hurt again. But this time it's not his leg. Collins aggravated the ankle he rolled Sunday and played only five minutes last night....
POP: THIS IS LARRY'S THING
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amFew people could know mercurial Larry Brown better than Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, the best man at Brown's wedding. And Popovich says Brown isn't happy unless he's teaching and tinkering,...
IT COULDN'T HURT TO TURN TO SAINT KNICK
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amDEAR SANTA: I know it has been a while since we last talked. I apologize for being so offended at not getting the 8-track tape player I requested in my...
BLAKE IS BACK
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amIslanders 4 - Devils 2 Everyone knew Jason Blake would have an impact on last night's game between the Islanders and Devils, but nobody could have predicted how big it...
HOT ANTONIO LOSES COOL
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amIt was painfully obvious and sadly ironic. Antonio Davis - who initially refused to report to the Knicks after being traded and begged for a buyout - has come to...
FACE FACTS: HE'S A WINNER
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amTHERE'S only one other precedent for this. On the morning of July 16, 1948, Leo Durocher awoke as the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was everything to the Dodgers:...
A HAIR-RAISING FINISH TO DEAL - YANKEE ULTIMATUM GETS DAMON TO SAY I 'DO
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amEven though the Yankees were a favorite in his mind, Johnny Damon had approximately four hours Tuesday to accept a four-year, $52 million deal or forget the Yankees. Damon was...
IT'S TIME FOR ELI TO BE THE MAN
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amTHIS has been a dream season for Giant fans - five Pro Bowl stars, the young franchise quarterback growing up before their eyes, the demise of the Eagles, a team...
ISIAH KEEPS QUIET - REFUSES INTERVIEW FOR 2ND KNICK ANNIVERSARY
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amIsiah Thomas' two-year anniversary as Knick president is today and there's no reason to celebrate. Thomas gave himself an "incomplete" when asked last weekend about the grade he deserves. Thomas'...
YOUNG JINTS LOOK FOR CAPITAL SKILL - ROOKIE AT FOREFRONT OF BIG BLUE DEFENSE
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amSam Huff considers it one of the special positions on one of the special teams in sports. Huff ought to know, considering he played middle linebacker for the Giants with...
NETS UP 'D' TEMPO - JERSEY'S DEFENSE KEYS REVVED-UP 'O'
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amThe Nets turn defense into offense as quickly - and as devastatingly - as any team in the NBA. They'd gotten away from that blueprint for success earlier in this...
STORM SQUASHED - DUKE CRUISES, STAYS PERFECT
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amDuke 70 - St. John's 57 DURHAM, N.C. - The public-address announcer at Cameron Indoor Stadium botched the St. John's starting introductions and the names of some subs, because this...
BERNIE'S NEW PACT WORTH UP TO $3 MIL
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amOne day after the Yankees threw $52 million at Johnny Damon to replace Bernie Williams in center field, the Yankees were searching for Williams. In perfect Williams fashion, the club...
JOHNNY: I BROUGHT MY RAZORS, BUT ...
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amJohnny Damon officially arrived in the Big Apple early this morning - checking into Manhattan's Regency Hotel wearing jeans, a winter coat and orange wool hat - and his trademark...
5 BOWLERS MOST SINCE '90
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amOsi Umenyiora thought he played well enough to earn his first trip to the Pro Bowl, but he wasn't sure he and fellow defensive end Michael Strahan would both be...
EMBARRASSING LOSS TO GIANTS HAS 'SKINS SEEING RED
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amASHBURN, Va. - Redskins defensive end Renaldo Wynn remembers the feeling he and his teammates had two months ago walking out of Giants Stadium after receiving a 36-0 thumping from...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
December 22, 2005 | 5:00amA Florida teen who caused a fatal crash by drunkenly pulling on the steering wheel of a pal's car as a joke has pleaded guilty to manslaughter after confessing -...