November 28, 2006
It's Balkman, Baby!
November 28, 2006 | 6:57pmBy MARC BERMANCHICAGO - Seems a lot of readers have thrown Renaldo Balkman's name into the starting mix and tonight they get their wish.With Quentin Richardson out with a strained...
BIG MAC IN BIG TROUBLE
November 28, 2006 | 6:06pmVery interesting story about Mark McGwire by Ron Blum and Ben Walker from the Associated Press.For one glorious summer, Mark McGwire was bigger than baseball itself. America stopped to watch...
STRATEGIES: Grand Bazaar, Istanbul
November 28, 2006 | 11:53am1) It's big. It's chaotic. Get over it. If you're anything like us, you'll spend the time it takes to get here -- and the first five minutes shuffling past...
FIRST TIMER'S: Istanbul
November 28, 2006 | 11:44amWhat is it about Istanbul that makes travel writers take leave of their senses? Forget geography. Let's just wax poetic. Forget the basics. This city is a "study in contrasts!"...
WHY THE TUMBLING DOLLAR IS SUCH A BIG DEAL
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amTHE sharp drop in value of the U.S. dollar will help our exports to foreign countries. And that would be great if we made anything besides movies that foreigners actually...
GOOGLE UNDOES $500
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amInternet search giant Google dropped below the $500 milestone it reached just last week after financial newspaper Barron's said the stock is too pricey and is set to fall. The...
SPACE RACE AT U.N. - MULLS SOLOW'S BUILDING AT 380 MADISON AVE.
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amTHE United Nations, in urgent need of temporary office space once a planned renovation of its First Avenue home starts next year, is in talks with Sheldon Solow about a...
RYDER TO REAP RICHES
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amThomas O. Ryder, the outgoing chairman of the Reader's Digest Association, is going to be one wealthy dude. A day before Ripplewood Holdings made its $17-a-share offer to take RDA...
RUSSIAN MOGUL IN COMA AFTER ACCIDENT ON RIVIERA
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amA Russian oil and banking billionaire is in a coma after he lost control of a Ferrari on the French Riviera. Suleiman Kerimov, 40, ranked 72nd on Forbes' list of...
SARBOX-ING MATCH; SPITZER RESISTING PUSH FOR REGULATION ROLLBACK
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amJust weeks before moving into the governor's mansion, Eliot Spitzer looks like he's at odds with two of New York's most powerful politicians: Sen. Chuck Schumer and Mayor Bloomberg. At...
PANASONIC BETS ON PLASMA'S CONTINUED RULE
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amAs the market leader in plasma TVs, Panasonic has bet big on the gas-based technology's continued dominance over a rival technique known as LCD or liquid crystal display. Plasma still...
DILLER GETS SHRILLER
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amBarry Diller - after being labeled as "America's laziest man" by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof - reacted by calling him "bird-brainy." The head of IAC/Interactive got in his...
EMI TALKING TO KKR, GOLDMAN
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amPrivate-equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and the buyout arm of Goldman Sachs are exploring a potential $4.8 billion bid for music label EMI but are still very far...
GOOGLE REVISITS $500
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amInternet search giant Google dropped below the $500 milestone it reached just last week after financial newspaper Barron's said the stock is too pricey and is set to fall. The...
WEDDING FRIGHT; NEW SERIES 'BIG DAY' DRIVES LINDA NUPS
November 28, 2006 | 5:00am"Big Day" Tonight at 9 on ABC (two and a half stars) TO paraphrase one of the truest things Jerry Seinfeld ever said: No one but you - and possibly...
TRES BON 'VOYAGE'
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amTHE COAST OF UTOPIA - PART ONE: VOYAGE (four stars)Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, Broadway and 65th Street; (212) 239-6200. THE game's afoot! Tom Stoppard's thrilling trilogy of 19th-century Russian...
STARR REPORT
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amWhat about Bob?Bob Saget, who normally plays it for laughs, shows off his acting chops on tonight's episode of "Law & Order: SVU," in which he co-stars with Cath erine...
BURNETT FINDS HIS 'ANGEL'
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amCALL it a match made in TV heaven. "Survivor"mastermind Mark Burnett is engaged to former "Touched By An Angel" star Roma Downey . The couple got engaged over Thanksgiving weekend...
IRWIN'S LITTLEGIRL BINDISOLDIERS ON
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amTERRI Irwin, the widow of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, says the couple's daughter, Bindi, has seen a psychologist - because she's been "so happy" since her dad's death. "I met...
GREEN TEA MAY HELP BAG SKIN CANCER
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amTHE fountain of youth may really exist - in a pot of green tea. A new study says simply drinking green tea, already known for its antioxidant qualities, can help...
IT'S JEN! 'BACHELOR' PRINCE CHOOSES FLA. TEACH
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amPRINCE Somewhat Charming may have found his princess on last night's finale of "The Bachelor: Rome." Lorenzo Borghese, a New York businessman related to the royal Italian Borghese family, chose...
POP IDOL - IN 'FACTORY' EDIE'S BACK AS STAR OF FASHION
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amSHE was the first "It" girl of modern pop culture: to be famous seemingly for nothing. Edie Sedgwick became the toast of New York as the jewel of Andy Warhol's...
DEAR DIARY - PLEASE NEVER READ THIS AGAIN
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amSUFFERING dorks of the world, rejoice. Your new bible has arrived. Remember the diary you kept as a teenager? Remember when you discovered it, and you laughed and you cried...
MIKE TAKES A SHOT AT COPS - CALLS 50 BULLETS FIRED IN SLAYING OF QNS. BRIDEGROOM 'EXCESSIVE'
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amThe cops who unleashed a fatal, 50-bullet barrage on an unarmed Queens groom used "excessive force" that was "unacceptable," a grim-faced Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday - even as he urged...
CEMENT-TRUCK HORROR DEATH
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amA Bronx construction worker died yesterday after falling into a truck full of wet cement, authorities said. Roman Gonzalez, 40, was trying to clear a blockage in the truck -...
CONEY I. CARNIVAL BARKER
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amThe developer looking to build a Las Vegas-glitz entertainment complex in Coney Island kicked off a massive ad blitz yesterday aimed at swaying public opinion toward supporting the $1.5 billion...
ARENA PLAN A THANK-LESS TASK
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amThe Pataki administration is so keen on getting the plan for a Brooklyn NBA arena approved before Eliot Spitzer becomes governor that officials had state employees work through the Thanksgiving...
DEAD BABY AT LIRR STOP
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amA stunned commuter discovered an abandoned dead baby boy in a plastic shopping bag on a Long Island Rail Road station platform in Hicksville yesterday. The unidentified male commuter, waiting...
ISRAEL IN DRAMATIC BID FOR 'REAL PEACE'
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amIsraeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday offered a wide range of concessions to the Palestinians in an effort to turn a fragile two-day cease-fire into the first steps toward a...
2 DEM COUNCILMEN SAY 'NO THANKS' TO PAY RAISE
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amTwo City Councilmen have notified the council's personnel office that they won't be accepting the 25 percent raise that was recently approved. Democrats Tony Avella (Queens) and Mike McMahon (S.I.)...
A MCD'S-BRAND SANDWICH
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amThe next time you're stacking a pastrami hero, better make sure McDonald's isn't watching - they're trying to claim rights on how to make a sandwich. McDonald's filed a staggering...
MTA BIG BLASTS HUB DESIGN
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amRevised plans for the Fulton Street transit hub put "fancy" form over function, an MTA board member complained yesterday. The $847 million project - to connect seven lines in a...
FINALLY PUTTING ON A HAPPY FACE; TRANSPLANT GAL ONE YEAR LATER
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amThe French woman who received the world's first partial face transplant looks nearly flawless on the one-year anniversary of the operation - and says she feels remarkably like herself. Isabelle...
$3M ROOT OF ALL EVIL
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amAn entrepreneur's name game has cost her $3 million. That's how much a Manhattan jury has ordered Arpita Jha-Roy to pay her former bosses at Rootstock for siphoning cash and...
NYPD DAILY CRIME BLOTTER
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amBROOKLYN *** A Bushwick man has been arrested for shooting a female bystander after a fight involving his daughter, authorities said yesterday. Nelson Muniz, 39, broke up a brawl between...
NYPD'S TOP DOGS HIT SUBWAY
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amThe NYPD has unleashed an elite team of dogs specially trained to patrol the subways. Four German shepherds, the first of more than 27, were deployed two weeks ago after...
SERIAL-SLAY HOOKER'S RICH PAST
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amA 42-year-old streetwalker, identified yesterday as one of four dead prostitutes found in a swampy ditch near Atlantic City, was a college graduate who came from a wealthy family, police...
MILLIONS FOR ALBANY PORK
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amALBANY - The state Assembly yesterday revealed more than 2,600 pages worth of pork-barrel projects totaling tens of millions of dollars. The Democrat-controlled Assembly and GOP-led state Senate had refused...
HAIR'S 'GOTTI' ; DON'S GRANDKID AIN'T GELLIN' IN MUG SHOT
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amLike grandfather, like grandson. Authorities yesterday released Frank "Growing up Gotti" Agnello's first mug shot after his arrest on drug charges earlier this month. The 16-year-old reality-television star is following...
COPS BUST 'HIT MAN' PLAN HUBBY
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amThe Long Island businessman charged with trying to hire a hit man to kill his estranged wife has been arrested again - this time for violating a court order to...
KILLED RUNNING FOR LIFE; ATM THUGS SHOT TEEN AFTER HE GOT AWAY
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amCowardly muggers fatally shot a Columbia University student in the back after be broke free from their grasp and ran for his life, neighbors said yesterday. "We don't know why...
PRE-SEX ANTI-POP PILL, GUYS
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amBritish scientists have developed a male contraceptive pill that is effective if taken a few hours before sex. The hormone-free tablet is safe, has no known side effects and could...
MIKE PLAYS RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF RACE-BAITER AL
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amYESTERDAY, a Latino reporter asked Mayor Bloomberg why he had surrounded himself solely with African-Americans at a press conference to discuss the horrible police shooting incident in Queens. Why were...
MONSTROUS DAD ADMITS KID-SLAY
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amA Queens father from hell who beat his 7-year-old daughter to death faces 10 years behind bars after pleading guilty to manslaughter yesterday. Russell Roberts, 43, who could have gotten...
DURST WIFE PROBE STILL OPEN: DA
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amThe Westchester District Attorney's Office is continuing to probe the mysterious disappearance of the first wife of eccentric millionaire Robert Durst, who becomes a free man tomorrow. "It remains an...
TALK TO THE FIENDS; IRAQ PANEL'S REPORT
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - A commission finalizing a report for President Bush on Iraq will urge that country's government to hold talks with several insurgent groups as part of new diplomatic efforts...
BIKE-PERMIT HEARING HELD
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amSeeking to crack down on a group of cyclists who take over city streets every month, the NYPD held a public hearing yesterday on a proposal to require groups of...
CALLOUS 'KILLER'; S.I. THUG 'DIDN'T CARE' VICTIMS WERE COPS: DA
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amAccused cop killer Ronell Wilson knew but "did not care" that the men he shot point-blank in the back of the head during a botched gun deal three years ago...
PANEL PLAN SENDING 6 HOSPS TO MORGUE
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amSix underused city hospitals will be slated for closure by a special commission today, officials said last night. The three Manhattan hospitals being told to shut down their inpatient and...
MIKE TAKES A SHOT AT COPS; CALLS 50 BULLETS FIRED IN SLAYING OF QNS. BRIDEGROOM 'EXCESSIVE'
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg yesterday urged New Yorkers not rush to judge the cops who fired 50 rounds at a groom driving a car outside a strip club - but then said...
GRIEVING FIANCÉE: SEAN WAS MURDERED
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amSean Bell's stricken young fiancée yesterday silently lit white prayer candles at the site where her unarmed boyfriend was shot dead by cops - and later bitterly wept as she...
DON'T AIM AT CARS, NYPD'S RULE SAYS
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amCity cops are not permitted to fire their weapons at a moving vehicle, even if it is heading directly at them in attempt to mow them down. NYPD guidelines prohibit...
'POP' TART SCAMS BIGWIG; EXTORT OF CYBERCHEAT PEPSI EXEC
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amA pretty, young swindler shook down a top exec at Pepsi Bottling Group for $125,000 by threatening to tell his wife, children and bosses that he was trolling the 'Net...
PATAKI ON MISSION TO AFGHANISTAN
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amALBANY - Gov. Pataki was on his way to Afghanistan last night as part of a delegation of governors traveling to the war-torn country, officials said yesterday. The surprise announcement...
MANOR TO THE MOTEL; ATL. CITY VICTIM'S FALL
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amA 42-year-old streetwalker - identified yesterday as one of four dead prostitutes found in a swampy ditch not far from the Atlantic City boardwalk - was a college graduate who...
CALLOUS 'KILLER'; S.I. THUG 'DIDN'T CARE' VICTIMS WERE COPS: FEDS
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amAccused cop-killer Ronell Wilson knew but "did not care" that the men he shot point-blank in the back of the head during a botched gun deal three years ago were...
TALKS WITH FIENDS LOOM
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - A commission finalizing a report for President Bush on Iraq will urge that country's government to hold talks with insurgent groups, officials said yesterday. The panel is considering...
TEEN GUNNED DOWN IN LOBBY
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amA beloved teenager who was a star forward on his neighborhood's basketball team was mysteriously shot to death outside his Queens home yesterday, police and relatives said. Christopher Glenn, 16,...
STATE BANS MEDI-FIRM
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amALBANY - A medical provider in New York City and Long Island received $1.3 million in Medicaid overpayments, leading the state to ban it from participating in the Medicaid program,...
POISON IS SPREADING - MORE NUKE TOXIN FOUND AMID LONDON SPY PROBE
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amTraces of a radioactive poison that killed a former KGB colonel have been found at seven hot spots in London - and three people who had symptoms of contamination are...
INJURIES HAND LEE NEW ROLE
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES CHICAGO - The depleted Knicks will face the Bulls tonight without two-fifths of their starting lineup because Channing Frye and Quentin Richardson will miss the rematch of Saturday's...
YASHIN SHELVED WITH KNEE INJURY
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amIf the Islanders hope to continue their strong play of late, they will need to do it without their best player. An MRI yesterday revealed that Alexi Yashin suffered a...
BLUESHIRTS NEED TO FIX POWER PLAY
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amThe definition of insanity, Benjamin Franklin once suggested, is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. More than two centuries later, this applies to the Rangers'...
A HALL OF A TEST; GONZALEZ HAS REBUILDING TO DO
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amAs bad as the Knicks have been - and they've stunk up the Garden something fierce - they haven't been the only area hardwood team struggling. The local Big East...
JET REPORT CARD - ESCAPING A TRAP
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amQUARTERBACKS A Chad Pennington (24-31, 286 yards, 1 TD, 115.8 rating) rediscovered the chemistry he said was lacking with his receivers. He, too, showed toughness bouncing back from a big...
NO 'MY' IN TEAM; ISIAH TAKES SHOT AT FIXING STEPH'S PIQUE
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amCHICAGO - That was Isiah Thomas standing before the media after yesterday's Knicks practice, but he sounded a lot like Larry Brown in addressing Stephon Marbury's displeasure with getting benched...
RED BULLS DEAL GUEVARA
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amThe Red Bulls traded midfielder Amado Guevara, their best player, to Chivas USA for a second Designated Player slot and a third-round pick. The new designated player spot allows each...
PACMAN BURNED PLAX ON PICK
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES Certain mistakes hit the nerves of fans more sharply than others and one miscue in Sunday's collapse and ensuing 24-21 loss to the Titans that got blood boiling...
CHAD PASSES TEST
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amJET NOTES Chad Pennington reported with a smile yesterday that he came out of Sunday's victory over the Texans, during which he took a hard hit and had the wind...
GIANT REPORT CARD - COLLAPSIBLE PARTS
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amQUARTERBACKS F When Eli Manning (18 of 28, 143 yards, one TD, two INTs) makes the sort of mindless pass in the final minute that gets intercepted when he should...
STRUGGLING NETS LOOK FOR ANSWERS ON RETURN HOME
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amThey went West expecting at least 2-2, hoping for 3-1, dreaming of 4-0. Additionally, they sought world peace, a cure for the cold and winning Power Ball tickets in all...
KNICKS NOT NBA'S ONLY SOAP OPERA
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amTHERE'S only one untried antidote to get through to Stephon Marbury; replace Isiah Thomas with Fat Joe; Rucker Playground is the only place he's ever conquered. Aaah, the constipation that...
JOHNNIES MUST WIN VS. LIU
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amIt would be ridiculous to refer to any college basketball game in November as a must-win. Wouldn't it? Not if you're St. John's. The Red Storm are coming off a...
YANKS KEEP FAITH IN UNIT, PAVANO
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amOn the day the Yankees officially welcomed soon-to-be 38-year-old Mike Mussina back into their Kate Moss-thin rotation with a two-year, $23 million deal, Brian Cashman said he believes Randy Johnson...
CLIFF OUT 6-8 WEEKS
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amNets forward Cliff Robinson underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee yesterday to remove torn cartilage and while the team is putting no timetable on a return, Robinson is likely...
BOMBERS MIGHT BID ON IGAWA
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amYANKEE NOTES The Yankees were expected to be among the teams that made sealed posting bids on Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa yesterday. The Hanshin Tigers have until 5 p.m. Friday...
NO UPSET IN SIGHT; DEFENSE KEYSHALL OF A ROUT
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amSeton Hall 80St. Peter's 60 So far this college basketball season, upsets and inconsistencies have abounded; about the only sure thing has been the favorites have no sure thing. But...
JETS HEARING CALL OF THE WILD
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amA week ago, there was an audible clamoring for the quarterback to be benched, always one of the first signs of a team reeling. The Jets had just been shut...
RECOVERY STARTS WITH MEETING
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amShaken by a historically shocking loss that turned the Giants into a laughingstock in need of pity, scorn or both, a group of team leaders yesterday, fearing a complete unraveling...
BOMBERS MIGHT BID FOR IGAWA
November 28, 2006 | 5:00amYANKEE NOTES The Yankees were expected to be among the teams that made sealed posting bids on Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa yesterday. The Hanshin Tigers have until 5 p.m. Friday...