January 23, 2009
Mets make Mackowiak official
From JOEL SHERMAN In a continuing collection of left-handed hitting outfielders, the Mets have signed Rob Mackowiak to a minor-league contract, the Post has learned. If Mackowiak makes the team...
METS SIGN MACKOWIAK
By JOEL SHERMANIn a continuing effort to collect spare, lefty-hitting outfielders, the Mets have signed Rob Mackowiak to a minor league contract, the Post has learned.If Mackowiak makes the team...
ARRESTS IN JOHN TRAVOLTA EXTORTION PLOT
Authorities in the Bahamas have detained an island lawmaker and a paramedic in an alleged plot to extort money from actor John Travolta after the death of his son, police...
Mets invite several prospects to Spring Training
The Mets have invited several of their top prospects to participate in Spring Training with the organization's major leaguers. Some of the players are just there to gain experience, while...
Report: Chiefs fire Herm Edwards
ESPN.com is reporting the Chiefs have fired head coach Herman Edwards.
CREWS REMOVE ENGINE FROM HUDSON RIVER
Salvage crews pulled the battered, twisted left engine of a US Airways plane from the murky waters of the Hudson River. Hero Pilot Gets First InterviewHudson Crash Victims Try to...
HERO PILOT GIVES COURIC FIRST INTERVIEW
Katie Couric has landed the first interview with hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger, who brought his distressed plane down in the Hudson River with all his passengers surviving. Crews Remove Engine...
COURIC GETS FIRST INTERVIEW WITH HUDSON HERO PILOT
Katie Couric has landed the first interview with hero pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who brought his distressed plane down in the Hudson River with all his passengers surviving. The interview...
PETTITTE RETURN TO ASTROS UNLIKELY
HOUSTON - As the Astros were celebrating the development of a new youth academy Friday, owner Drayton McLane was talking about the possibility of Andy Pettitte returning to the team...
VIDEO SHOWS TEEN THUGS IN THE ACT
Two teen thugs were caught on tape mugging and beating up another teen in a surveillance video. Luis Navarro, 19, of The Bronx, and Jemal Mays, 19, of Brooklyn, were...
SIENNA MILLER HEADS TO BROADWAY
Things are looking up for Sienna Miller. The 27-year-old actress will make her Broadway debut this fall in its production of "After Miss Julie," playwright Patrick Marber's riff on a...
EA Sports: Steelers to win Super Bowl, Big Ben MVP
In the Super Bowl XLIII matchup between the Steelers and Cardinals _ one team trying to become the most prolific ever and the other who's been arguably the most disappointing...
HUDSON CRASH VICTIMS TRY TO MOVE ON
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- When US Airways Flight 1549 splashed down in the icy Hudson River, Mike Berkwits was too busy getting his wife off the slowly sinking plane and out...
Talk Show Guests: Amy Poehler
What is short, funny and blonde all over? Why, Amy Poehler and Ellen DeGeneres of course! If watching a solo Seth Myers on "SNL's" Weekend Update makes you pine for...
Everybody's Just Ducky
By FRED KERBERSAN ANTONIO - Devin Harris says he's playing. Keyon Dooling says he's playing. Vince Carter says his ankle is swell.So we'll wait and see."I think he's going to...
Starr Report: Ernest Borgnine
Talk about your three-day weekends. Ernest Borgnine has quite a schedule lined up tomorrow through Monday. He celebrates his 92nd birthday to morrow, joins Jane Russell as a presenter at...
Bicknell Jr. added to staff
The Giants today announced the hiring of Jack Bicknell Jr. as the team's new assistant offensive line coach.Bicknell comes to the Giants after two seasons as the assistant head coach/offensive...
TRIAL STARTS FOR ALLEGED MANIAC STABBER
A Boston man called "anti-social and ill-tempered" by prosecutors has gone on trial on charges of stabbing four people during a 13-hour rampage through Manhattan in 2006. Kenny Alexis is...
MAN MURDERED WIFE FOR CHANGING FACEBOOK STATUS TO 'SINGLE'
A man murdered his estranged wife after he became "enraged" that she had changed her marital status to single on the social networking site Facebook. Edward Richardson, 41, was found...
Report: Schottenheimer to stay
ESPN.com is reporting that Brian Schottenheimer will remain as Jets offensive coordinator.Schottenheimer was passed over for head coach in favor of Rex Ryan.
MAN WHO FATHERED 4 KIDS WITH DAUGHTER CHARGED WITH MURDER
HARRISONVILLE, Mo. - A man who fathered four children with his teenage daughter has been charged with murder after the remains of two infants were found in coolers on property...
MODEL LOSES HANDS AND FEET
A STUNNING Miss World finalist had her hands and feet amputated - after contracting a killer bug, according to reports. Doctors carried out the drastic surgery on Mariana Bridi da...
Phillies interested in Alou
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that "A major-league source said yesterday that the Phils have pursued veteran free agent Moises Alou 'pretty hard.' " Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. confirmed...
OBAMA TELEPHONES CONGRATULATIONS TO GILLIBRAND
President Barack Obama has telephoned his congratulations to U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, chosen by New York's governor to fill the state's newly vacant Senate seat. At Friday's briefing for the...
FORMER NY SENATE LEADER JOE BRUNO INDICTED
ALBANY, N.Y. - Joseph Bruno, who was New York's top Republican as the state Senate majority leader, was accused in a federal indictment Friday of abusing his public position to...
Box Office: Sheen vs. Sheen
Poor Michael Sheen was snubbed again on Oscar nomination morning for "Frost/Nixon'' (unlike co-star Frank Langella, who played Nixon to his Frost), just as he was for "The Queen'' (where...
GOV. PATERSON NAMES GILLIBRAND SENATOR
Gov. David Paterson appointed Democratic U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand on Friday to fill New York's vacant Senate seat, finally settling on a woman from a largely rural, eastern district of...
WORKER BREAKS HIS LEG AT TOXIC WTC SITE
A construction worker has broken his leg in an accident at a toxic ground zero tower where two firefighters were killed over a year ago. The accident happened last week...
GOV. PATERSON NAMES GILLIBRAND SENATOR
Gov. David Paterson has appointed Democratic U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to fill New York's vacant Senate seat. The appointment was announced Friday and requires no further confirmation. Gillibrand replaces Hillary...
OBAMA CALLS FOR QUICK PASSAGE OF STIMULUS BILL
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats sought to ease Republican complaints about a massive economic stimulus plan Friday, meeting with GOP leaders in the White House and promising...
OBAMA TO REVERSE ABORTION POLICY
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama plans to sign an executive order ending the ban on federal funds for international groups that promote or perform abortions, officials told The Associated Press...
SENATE OKS SEVERAL OBAMA NOMINEES
WASHINGTON - It's nine down, six to go to fill President Barack Obama's Cabinet. Yet, for all of the progress, his picks for attorney general and deputy defense secretary remain...
2 STRIKES IN PAKISTAN BY US SPY PLANE
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Intelligence officials are reporting a second suspected U.S. missile attack on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border. The officials say there were no immediate confirmation of...
REPORT: EX-GITMO DETAINEE NOW AL-QAIDA LEADER IN YEMEN
CAIRO, Egypt - An Internet posting purportedly by al-Qaida in Yemen says the group's No. 2 is a Saudi national who is a former Guantanamo detainee. The Yemeni group -...
THAIN'S REIGN OF PAIN
The shotgun marriage of Merrill Lynch's John Thain and Bank of America's Ken Lewis already has ended in divorce. And in the process, Thain has added another Wall Street big...
BBWAA DINNER SUNDAY: Bernie, Moose and Wright
On Sunday night, the New York Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America will be hosting our 86th annual awards dinner. It is always a great night of baseball,...
Sundance: The Wrap
From today's print edition::PARK CITY, Utah - With temperatures pushing a positively spring-like 50 degrees, love in all its many permutations is in the air at this year's Sundance Film...
Oscar Watch: 'Reader' and Weep
From today's print edition:'DARK Knight" fans can thank Harvey Weinstein - and Oscar voters' historic weakness for Holocaust flicks - for yesterday's shocking snub of "The Dark Knight" for a...
ACE OF GRACE
A "very, very nice" President Obama took time at an inaugural ball to chat, pose for photos and say, "Good job!" to the US Airways crew whose disabled plane miraculously...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
Manhattan After leaving his Correction Department ID at the scene of a crime, a bonehead burglar with three previous stints in state prison was arrested for ripping off seven stores...
DR. CLOONEY BACK IN 'ER'
The doctor is in! George Clooney, who shot to fame on TV's "ER" from 1994 to 2000, is back in scrubs as Dr. Doug Ross yesterday as he films an...
FANS CLASH AFTER DJOKOVIC-DELIC MATCH
MELBOURNE, Australia - Defending champion Novak Djokovic survived a spirited encounter with Bosnian-born American Amer Delic in the Australian Open today before crowd trouble flared outside. The 21-year-old Serb lost...
TEXAS SCHOOL SEEKS TO FORFEIT 100-0 WIN
DALLAS - A Texas high school girls basketball team on the winning end of a 100-0 game has a case of blowout remorse. Now officials from The Covenant School say...
'CLASSIC' 2ND ROUND FOR PEREZ
LA QUINTA, Calif. - Pat Perez shot a 9-under 63 yesterday to become the first player in PGA Tour history to play a 36-hole stretch in a tournament in 20...
PLAXICO FILL-IN BIDDLE SHOT
Giants practice squad wide receiver Taye Biddle, who was promoted to the active roster when Plaxico Burress was suspended for a game in September, was shot outside his home in...
MCGWIRE NEEDLED IN NEW BOOK BY BROTHER
Mark McGwire's youngest brother says in a book proposal that he injected the former baseball star with steroids, according to Deadspin.com. Jay McGwire is circulating a manuscript titled "The McGwire...
FOUR WINNABLE GAMES ON KNICKS' HORIZON
Former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said he believes the team needs more than salary-cap space and the lure of New York to land a big-name free agent, most notably...
GRIZZLIES FIRE IAVARONI
Halfway through another lost season, the Grizzlies fired coach Marc Iavaroni last night. Team spokesman Dustin Krugel confirmed Iavaroni's dismissal, but would not say who would coach the Grizzlies tonight...
5 QUESTIONS FOR...MIKE EMRICK
THE NHL All-Star break is upon us, and MSG and Versus analyst Mike "Doc" Emrick, recently honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame, talked with The Post's Justin Terranova about...
NEW YORK SPIES A LICENSE TO FISH
SALTWATER anglers have for years cried never when it came to a saltwater license. Never has arrived. The only argument is what kind of license. The Magnuson-Stevens Act calls for...
MARGARITO SHOWING HUNGER TO BE 'BEST'
LOS ANGELES - Nearly every picture of Antonio Margarito that appeared in a Mexican newspaper or on the Internet after his career-defining victory over Miguel Cotto last July was followed...
GOODBYE, 'CHAMP'
JOSE TORRES, the light-heavy weight champion of the world in the mid-1960s and a Post cityside columnist in the mid-1970s, died Monday at his home in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where...
NEW COORDINATOR WANTS TO GET BEST OF VERNON
Rex Ryan is not going to tackle the Vernon Gholston project alone. The Jets' first-round draft pick also will have to deal with new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine. Pettine scouted...
BREWERS, FIELDER AGREE ON TWO-YEAR, $18M DEAL
First baseman Prince Fielder and the Brewers reached a preliminary agreement yesterday on an $18 million, two-year contract. The agreement is subject to a physical, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin...
WOODY STILL WILLING TO BRETT ON FAVRE
Woody Johnson found his coach this week, now he's turned his eyes to his quarterback - and he's looking at you, Brett Favre. Johnson reiterated his desire to have Favre...
NO TIME FOR RANGERS GM TO BE CHEAP-SKATE
MONTREAL - The re cord is 28-16-4, the Rangers are 10 points ahead of their pace of each of the last two seasons, but the most important number to digest...
NO LOVE LOST BETWEEN STEELERS QB, CARDS COACH
Make nice. You know they will in the days leading up to Super Bowl XLIII, when the masses will descend on Tampa and every word or comment will be dissected...
LEE PILING UP POINTS, BOARDS ... AND KUDOS
When it comes to David Lee, Mike D'Antoni's goal is to have him reach his peak. The Knicks coach is confident nobody's seen that yet. "We still don't think he's...
BIG BEN EAGER FOR 2ND SHOT ON BIGGEST STAGE
There are regular-season games. The first 13 regular-season in which Ben Roethlisberger played, he won, as if he had been doing it all his life. There is the postseason, which,...
D'ANTONI'S T'D OFF AT ROBINSON
It's a good thing Madison Square Garden has security. Otherwise, Nate Robinson might have felt Mike D'Antoni's wrath Wednesday night. Robinson was hit with a technical during the Knicks' win...
YOUNG STAR MAKING HIS MARK ON LAKERS
IT'S official; the Lakers are Andrew Bynum's team. What other conclusion can be drawn after he recorded twice his age? As Jerome James prepared for Achilles surgery and Channing Frye...
BOLDIN: REACTION TO COACH CLASH 'HILARIOUS'
Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin laughed off the negative reaction to his nationally televised run-in with offensive coordinator Todd Haley, calling it "hilarious." Boldin's shouting match with the coach on...
MORE PAIN FOR REELING NETS
SAN ANTONIO - The Nets' losing streak is at four, a season high. Trade rumors are swirling. The benching controversy of last weekend has subsided somewhat. Tonight's opponents, the Spurs,...
CLEMENS' ATTORNEY JOINS JUSTICE DEPT.
WASHINGTON - A lawyer who represented Roger Clemens last year when he denied under oath that he used performance enhancing drugs has been chosen to lead the Justice Department lawyers...
PRO BOWL IS A SNAP FOR ZAK
Giants long-snapper Zak DeOssie was selected by Eagles coach Andy Reid as his "need" player for the NFC squad and will get to play in the Feb. 8 Pro Bowl...
WRIGHT HIGH ON RAMIREZ
David Wright has a huge Man-crush on a certain available slugger. Just don't expect to see Manny Ramirez wearing a Mets uniform this season, unless the organization has an abrupt...
METS, GARCIA REACH DEAL
The Mets have one more veteran pitcher to consider for the fifth spot in their starting rotation. According to industry sources, right-hander Freddy Garcia has reached agreement with the team...
IN 21 DAYS, STAGE SET FOR YANKS, METS
IN 21 days Mets and Yankees pitchers and catchers report to spring training. New York can't wait. It already has been one long, harsh winter. This has been an amazing...
SPORTS SHORTS
NBA: Mourning calls it a career Seven-time All-Star center Alonzo Mourning has decided to retire rather than mount another NBA comeback at age 38. In 15 seasons with the Nets,...
HIDEOUS LOSS COULD BURY ST. JOHN'S
St. John's suffered its most horrendous loss in the Norm Roberts era, a defeat so demoralizing that it could cripple the season. Leading by 11 at halftime and playing its...
FOUL RESULT FOR SINKING PIRATES
Seton Hall has been playing with a short bench all season long. In last night's game against Providence at the Prudential Center, it caught up with them. After getting to...
DO YA THINK I'M TINY?
Rod Stewart may be a big rock star - but his wife will always look down on him! On the town in Hollywood, 6-foot-1 Penny Lancaster dwarfs the crooner, who...
WEST SIDE MUG SPREE
A rash of gunpoint robberies has terrified residents on the Upper West Side and Harlem. Three thugs - all in their 20s - have pulled off 10 robberies inside low-rise...
RISK OF KO'ING KEY EVIDENCE VS. THUGS
President Obama's biggest legal headache in shutting down the Guantanamo Bay prison is that the most important inmates, alleged to have committed the worst crimes, including the 9/11 attacks, have...
FAMILY TRAGEDY
A tight-knit Brooklyn family was left devastated yesterday after a heartless hit-and-run driver mowed down a "brilliant" 8-year-old boy as he crossed a street with his mother, grandmother and sister....
SCHOOL FLAP OVER HOT TOT SPOTS
They already won a high-stakes lottery that earned their kids coveted pre-kindergarten slots in school this year. But now parents at some popular lower Manhattan public schools are livid after...
MEET O'S GABBY GIBBS
Robert Gibbs - President Obama's mouthpiece to the world - is a quick-witted and battle-tested verbal brawler nicknamed "The Enforcer" for confronting journalists about unflattering coverage of his boss. The...
WE COME IN PEACE
WASHINGTON - President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton were united and all smiles yesterday as they vowed a big push for Middle East peace yesterday. Obama, appearing...
TAYLOR-MADE HERO
How sweet it is to be loved by James Taylor! The legendary folk singer yesterday came running to the rescue of a California woman forced by Port Authority cops to...
GUARDS INDICTED IN RIKERS DEATH
Three guards and 12 inmates have been indicted in the beating death of an 18-year-old prisoner at Rikers Island. Correction Officers Michael McKie and Khalid Nelson are charged with enterprise...
LICENSE SUSPENDED 76 TIMES
A Long Island man was busted for driving with 76 suspensions on his license - and his kid brother, also arrested, had seven, Suffolk police said. William Ivory, 44, was...
VICTIM: I MADE BLAZE WORSE
On the eve of the anniversary of the hellish Black Sunday blaze that left two firefighters dead, a Bronx tenant yesterday recalled how he "made it worse" by throwing water...
$TUPOR-GATE
ALBANY - The five investigations of "Troopergate" - the Spitzer administration disclosures of state aircraft use by rival politician Sen. Joseph Bruno - were "piecemeal" and "duplicative," wasting taxpayer money,...
SEX RAP FOR BX. HS DEAN
The dean of discipline at Cardinal Hayes HS has been arrested for allegedly fondling a 19-year-old student in his office, where he purportedly said, "I love you . . ....
CRAZY $ERIAL SCAM
Park Avenue lawyer Marc Dreier must have a "mental disorder" to have allegedly tried selling $33 million worth of bogus financial notes in Canada while under scrutiny in a massive...
'BANK ROBBER' MAKES GETAWAY IN A LEXUS
Times must really be tough - a guy robbed a Westchester bank, then sped off in his expensive Lexus SUV, authorities said. Insurance agent Edward Solomon, 71, may have robbed...
OH, THE SHAME: BLAGO DID BETTER
AS THE ashes of Caroline Kennedy's brief foray into politics are shoveled away, New Yorkers are left with a sad irony: Battling corruption charges and staring down certain impeachment, Gov....
MTA MOM'S TOLL
An MTA employee filed a charge of discrimination against the agency this week, alleging that her job duties changed after she became pregnant. Lori Ann DiPalo, who has been a...
MIKE RIPS 'LAYOFF' BUDGET
ALBANY - Mayor Bloomberg blasted Gov. Paterson's $121 billion budget proposal as "unfair" and "outrageous" yesterday, and said its cuts would result in tax hikes and force thousands of city...
INAUGURAL-TIX CONSOLATION
Ticketholders who never made it to President Obama's inauguration are going to get a few commemorative items. Thousands were kept waiting in a tunnel below the National Mall on Tuesday...
FIRST KIDS' CLASS ACT
WASHINGTON - After a day off following the excitement of their dad's inauguration, Malia and Sasha Obama yesterday returned to class at different campuses of the Sidwell Friends School. Malia,...
PS KIDS IN TIME TRAVEL
A document-filled copper box from 1917 that was recently discovered in a wall of a Greenwich Village school spurred students yesterday to create a time capsule of their own. Workers...
SHORT ON CASH? BARTER LUCK NEXT TIME
With cash and credit harder to come by, those Port Authority cops who forced a tourist to pay her cab fare with her iPod may be on to something. "The...
HITTING A 'RAW' NERVE
Here's one guy you wouldn't want to face on "Iron Chef"! A hot-blooded sushi chef got so mad during a road- rage incident on Staten Island Wednesday that he whipped...
LEGEND OF LEDGER LIVES ON
On the first anniversary of his death, actor Heath Ledger was honored yesterday - scoring an Academy Award nomination for playing the twisted villain the Joker in the Batman movie...
CROCKEFELLER EYES 5-YEAR DEAL
BOSTON - Prosecutors yesterday said they were willing to recommend that the man who calls himself Clark Rockefeller get just 4 1/2 to five years in prison if he agrees...
SEX-HARASS SUIT SLAPS EX-BROKERAGE BOSS
A former brokerage firm exec says she was hounded out of her job by a horndog CEO who sexually harassed her and then made her life hell after she rejected...
CHUTE-FOR-BRAINS JUMPER DUCKS JAIL
The California dare-devil who tried to parachute off the Empire State Building in 2006 won't serve a day in prison, thanks to a judge who defied the wishes of both...
FORCE IS WITH US
Geese, beware: The US Air Force is on the way. Air Force brass yesterday offered to give New York one of its cutting-edge bird-detecting radar systems in order to prevent...
SHE HAD IT MADE, NOW SHE'S MAID
On Dec. 10, Maureen Ebel believed she had $7.3 million in her financial portfolio, and was looking forward to spending the winter at her Florida home. A week later, she...
BARACKBERRY STAYS
WASHINGTON - President Obama yesterday won his first high-profile battle - he's keeping his beloved BlackBerry. "Through a compromise that allows him to stay in touch with senior staff and...
THE SCOOP ON WORST US FOOD
You could be on the rocky road to flab if you slurp a Baskin-Robbins Large Chocolate Oreo Shake - a new book ranks it the worst food in the nation....
CHIRAC IS DEFEATED BY HIS DOG
He's survived corruption allegations, a stroke, and an assassination attempt, but former French President Jacques Chirac may have met his match - he's been viciously attacked by his "clinically depressed"...
'THE TERRORISTS WILL NOW CHEER'
President Obama yesterday issued orders to close the controversial Guantanamo Bay military prison that houses the plotters of the Sept. 11 attacks - sparking outrage from families of World Trade...
DOLLED-UP 1ST SISTERS
They have bronze skin, long, dark hair, and they're named "Sweet Sasha" and "Marvelous Malia." But these two new dolls, created by the company that makes Beanie Babies, have absolutely...
NASTY CAROLINE WAR
A source close to Gov. Paterson dragged Caroline Kennedy through the mud yesterday, saying the governor never planned to pick her for the Senate because she was "mired" in issues...
KIRSTEN HAS BIG GOALS - BUT LITTLE EXPERIENCE
ALBANY - In her brief stint in Congress, Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand - the pick to fill Hillary Rodham Clinton's seat - has distinguished herself for at least two things: an...
TOTS CRUSHED TO DEATH
A delivery van jumped the curb on a bustling Chinatown street yesterday and plowed through a group of preschoolers as they strolled single file holding a walking rope while returning...
DAVE PICKS GILLIBRAND AS LIBERAL DEMS HOWL
ALBANY - Gov. Paterson, defying the liberal wing of his Democratic Party, has chosen little-known, NRA-backed, upstate Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton as New York's junior senator,...
I'M PLANE INSANE
The Indiana flyboy and accused financial scammer who jumped out of his plane and let it crash in Florida in an attempt to fake his death says he doesn't remember...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
Dog-gone-it! A man searching for his missing pooch in Michigan lost his car after parking it on a frozen river and locking himself outside the idling vehicle - which fell...
WEEKEND HOT PICKS IN ENTERTAINMENT
BRUSSELS SPROUT "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles" is an unusual title for a film, but then the movie itself is unusual. Directed and written in 1975 by...
EAT-SY STREET
FORGET 46th Street - Martha Stewart has crowned a new Restaurant Row. In a four-part restaurant tour kicking off Monday on "The Martha Stewart Show" (11 a.m., Ch. 4), the...
DID QB JINX CARDS?
ARIZONA Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner is tempting fate. In the week he is set to play in Super Bowl XLIII against the favored Pittsburgh Steelers, Warner is appearing on a...
'MORNING JOE' FADES TO BLACK ON RADIO
The popular "Joe Scarbo rough" radio show got knocked off the air yesterday for about 15 minutes by a technical glitch - at just the wrong moment. The connection between...
'LOST' DOWN
'LOST" seems poised to lose it - again. Despite a critically-acclaimed season premiere, the show lost nearly 30 percent of its audience compared to last year's season debut.
PREVIEWS
"HEDDA GABLER": A new adaptation of Ibsen's drama, starring Mary- Louise Parker, Michael Cerveris and Paul Sparks. American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St.; 212-719-1300. Opens Sunday. "ENTER LAUGHING": An...
FILM
ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES: Sander Francken's 2006 documentary "Dealing and Wheeling in Small Arms" explores the international gun trade. Through Tuesday at 7 and 9 p.m. daily, with an additional 5...
DANCE
CITY CENTER: The Miami City Ballet visits Manhattan for the first time and performs works by Balanchine and Twyla Tharp tomorrow at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. 130...
CABARET
FEINSTEINS: Jane Monheit performs cabaret and jazz standards through Feb. 7. For showtimes, see feinsteinsattheregency.com. 540 Park Ave. South; 212-339-4095. METROPOLITAN ROOM: Jennifer Pade sings pop and Broadway tunes today...
CLASSICAL
AVERY FISHER HALL: Alec Baldwin talks about "The Other Brahms" tonight at 8. Riccardo Muti conducts the New York Philharmonic and great bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff in several Haydn arias tomorrow...
JAZZ
BLUE NOTE: Jazz singer Holly Cole performs Wednesday and Thursday at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. 131 W. Third St.; 212-475-8592. DIZZY'S CLUB COCA-COLA: Tuesday through Feb. 1, sax star Lou...
POP, ROCK, FOLK
BLUE OYSTER CULT: These Long Island longtime prog-rockers perform Saturday at 8 p.m. at B.B. King's, 237 W. 42nd St.; 212-997-4144. BRYAN SCARY & THE SHREDDING TEARS: This Brooklyn quartet...
OFF-BROADWAY
(Starred reviews by Frank Scheck)"BECKY SHAW": *** 1/2 Gina Gionfriddo's scathingly funny, class-conscious comedy about a blind date gone horribly awry. Second Stage Theatre, 307 W. 43rd St.; 212-246-4422. Closes...
BUNGLED 'STIMULUS'
IN his inaugural pledge to "lay a new foundation for growth," President Obama mentioned "roads and bridges" as the first thing on the list. For America to get the modern...
A $1/GAL GAS-TAX HIKE: CENTS-IBLE OR FUEL-ISH?
THE ISSUE: Whether raising gas taxes and lowering the FICA tax would benefit the nation. *** At first thought, Charles Krauthammer's advocacy of a $1 tax per gallon of gas...
MISSING: A FIX FOR MORTGAGE MESS
THE $825 billion stimulus bill working its way through Congress has its virtues, but also one big disappointment - it fails to address housing. Yes, it provides token amounts for...
M'SOFT RATTLES MARKETS WITH FIRST-EVER LAYOFFS
Microsoft shocked investors and roiled the stock market by rushing out a surprise earnings report and announcing the first major layoffs in the company's history yesterday. The software giant released...
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Aflac, duck! Aflac fell the most in more than a quarter cen tury as Morgan Stanley called the firm's invest ments in UK banks "a rapidly escalating con cern." Aflac...
PROBLEMS THAT COULDN'T BE SWEPT UNDER AN $88,000 RUG
In getting bounced from Bank of America, John Thain not only lost his job, he got the rug yanked out from under him - an $87,784 rug, to be exact....
RESCUE CASH ISN'T PART OF GEITHNER'S PLAN
Treasury Secretary nominee Tim Geithner accused China of "manipulating its currency," suggesting that the Obama administration might take a tougher stance against the country if he's confirmed. Geithner, who Wednesday...
GAZA & 'OUR IDEALS'
IMAGINE waging war against terrorists who operate from heavily populated neighborhoods, so that women and children inevitably get hurt despite your attempts to avoid it. Then imagine the usual suspects...
A SYMS SET ON SALES
Off-price clothing retailer Syms has quietly moved to sell or rent some of its real estate to other businesses, The Post has learned. The Secaucus, NJ-based chain is looking to...
COLD COMFORT OVER MAG FEES
CANADIAN billionaire Jimmy Pattison's magazine-wholesale chain The News Group yesterday said it will not press for a 7-cent-per-copy surcharge that two rivals are trying to extract from magazine publishers starting...
GOOGLE'S PROFIT TOPS ESTIMATES
Google's fourth-quarter profit slumped after several big writedowns, but the company's overall results were still better than expected given the bleak economy. Investors also saw the earnings report as evidence...
IT'S PARSONS' TIME
Citigroup's newly minted chairman Richard Parsons is expected to take a much more hands-on role in helping run the embattled bank giant - and that could be bad news for...
NOT TRANSPARENT - JUST OUT OF FOCUS
A lack of focus bedevils President Obama. Literally. In a break from precedent, only the official White House photographer was permitted to take pictures of the new president in the...
THE PATERSON CIRCUS
What else is there to do but stare in bug-eyed bewilderment at the wreckage of Caroline Kennedy's effort to succeed Hillary Clinton in the US Senate? That, and to ask...
ACTOR'S UNION GIVES UP STRIKE VOTE
LOS ANGELES - The Screen Actors Guild has suspended plans for a strike-authorization vote. A hardline faction within the union and the guild's president said the vote was likely to...
LAKE'S ANYTHING BUT PLACID
SEEING it's set in the Catskills in the sum mer of 1960, you might suspect "The American Plan" of being another "Dirty Dancing." But the real dance in Richard Greenberg's...
A PRECIOUS 'PUSH'
PARK CITY, Utah - With temperatures pushing a positively spring-like 50 degrees, love in all its many permutations is in the air at this year's Sundance Film Festival. One of...
SOGGY SERIAL KILLER
A good cast can't save "The Lodger," the utterly wrongheaded fourth movie version of a 1910 novel inspired by Jack the Ripper that was most famously filmed by Alfred Hitchcock...
STARR REPORT
Talk about your three-day weekends. Ernest Borgnine has quite a schedule lined up tomorrow through Monday. He celebrates his 92nd birthday to morrow, joins Jane Russell as a presenter at...
REMINISCENCES BY THE BECKETT-FUL
IT takes nerve to mine the same territory as Samuel Beckett, but Michael Laurence pulls it off with "Krapp, 39," his idiosyncratic riff on "Krapp's Last Tape." Opening off-Broadway this...
OFF-TRACK BEDDING CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'
ROMANIAN writer- director Cristian Ne mescu wrapped shooting on his first feature, "California Dreamin', " on July 8, 2006. On Aug. 24, he and a friend were killed in an...
SIMON SEEKS NEWBIE TO BRIGHTEN 'BRIGHTON'
IF you're between 15 and 20, cute, male and, preferably, Jewish, send your head shot and résumé to Neil Simon right away. The famed playwright is bringing back two of...
SWOON OVER MIAMI
IT'S a shame it's taken 23 years for Edward Villel la's Miami City Ballet to come to Manhattan, but it was worth the wait. Villella, a former New York City...
'READER' & WEEP, BATMAN
'DARK Knight" fans can thank Harvey Weinstein - and Oscar voters' historic weakness for Holocaust flicks - for yesterday's shocking snub of "The Dark Knight" for a Best Picture nomination....
ROCKIN' THE BOAT
'DONKEY Punch" is slang for a particularly danger ous sexual practice - one that triggers a night of terror on a private yacht in director Olly Blackburn's lurid thriller. Three...
JEWISH GOSPEL
'HALLMARK Hall of Fame," which debuted in 1951 to showcase great plays, has, in the past few years, replaced great with mediocre. So I was excited to watch "Loving Leah,"...
STINKHEART
A flea market of fairy tales and hocus-pocus, "Inkheart" makes as much sense as an inkblot. Brendan Fraser plays Mo, a dad who, when reading a story to his baby...
BROADWAY
(Reviews by Clive Barnes, unless noted otherwise)"BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL": **** A soaring new show about a coal miner's son who's born to pirouette, set to Elton John's best score...
Spanish FA all but ignore racism
OK, maybe that headline isn't exactly accurate. How about Spanish FA give tacit approval of racism? That might be better.Reuters reports that the Spanish FA fined Real Madrid 3,000 Euros...
Knicks ballot void (Memphis update)
By MARC BERMANAll-Star Balloting is over, with today's announcement of the starters, which relieves the Garden of having to promote the vote. If you attend Knick games at the Garden,...
LIPSTICK 'BUNGLE'
A sticky-fingered stage manager turned the NBC show "Lipstick Jungle" into a fashion victim when he stole nearly $30,000 in designer props from the Brooklyn set and tried to hawk...
METS INK GARCIA TO 'MINOR' DEAL
Freddy Garcia's signing to a minor-league deal was made official by the Mets yesterday. The 33-year-old Garcia is expected to compete for the fifth spot in the rotation during spring...
LUCKY DEVILS
MONTREAL - Here's how you prove a negative - Zach Parise is here for tomorrow night's All-Star Game representing the Devils and not the Rangers or Islanders, who both unaccountably...
Landon Donovan scores again. No, really
All the Landon Donovan haters out there: You need to recognize the boy can flat-out play. The U.S. National Team star is still tearing through Bayern Munich's midseason slate of...
Red Bull Arena delayed to 2010
The long-awaited, oft-delayed opening of Red Bull Arena has been delayed again. This time the estimated opening has been pushed back from late this summer to the opening of next...
PATERSON TO NAME REP. GILLIBRAND FOR SENATE: SOURCE
New York Gov. David Paterson will name Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, an upstate Democrat, to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate, a Democratic official with knowledge of the governor's decision...
Big Babajide, Berhalter, & Red Bull notes
With the Red Bulls having lost starting defenders Jeff Parke and Diego Jimenez as well as backup Gabriel Cichero, their defense is thinned-out and their fans stressed out. And the...
LOST TUNNEL TOUR EXCITEMENT ON TAP
Here’s one way to stay warm this winter: Descend 30 feet below Atlantic Avenue during an upcoming tour of a once forgotten tunnel. The tour is being led by urban...
ASTROLAND FAVORITES NOT GONE FOR GOOD
Pieces of Astroland Amusement Park may be rapidly falling away on Surf Avenue this week, but the head of the Coney Island Development Corporation told this newspaper that the venerable...
YOUNGSTERS WITNESS HISTORY - NEW PRESIDENT'S "HOPE OVER FEAR' SPEECH INSPIRES STUDENTS
It was undoubtedly considerably warmer in the auditorium at Public School 315 than on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., but silence descended there, too, as the solemnity of the...
BROOKLYNITES ON THE MALL
Thousands of Brooklynites were among the millions of Americans gathered on the Mall of America Tuesday to watch the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United...
EMOTIONAL SCENE AT BOROUGH HALL
Tears of joy, pride and fellowship swept through the ornate Borough Hall courtroom as a packed crowd of Brooklynites watched on a large-screen television as Barack Obama was sworn in...
SECURITY TAPE SHOWS PLANE FLOATING IN HUDSON RIVER
NEW YORK -- A newly released security camera tape shows US Airways Flight 1549 from right after it splashed into the Hudson River until after the last of the 155...
"Tomb Raider" DLC heading your way
Someone here at the Post is a big "Tomb Raider" nerd. He loves the franchise. Has played most, if not all, of them over the years. Believe he finished Underworld...
Eric Brunner: The prodigal son returns
There's a saying about not burning your bridges, and apparently both the Red Bulls and Eric Brunner must've taken it to heart. After the rookie defender left when the club...
WRIGHT OK WITH MANNY; METS AREN'T
David Wright is OK with the Mets signing free agent Manny Ramirez. Mets hierarchy isn't. Speaking to Bloomberg News today, chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon said, "Omar [Minaya] and the...