October 16, 2002
BELLA DONNA ON DESIGNER DIET
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amWant the skinny on the newest, hottest designer trend? Get on the diet that has turned Donna Karan from a victim of middle-age spread to a long, lean lady. Karan,...
FUND WINNERS RIDE SURGING MARKET
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amWith the Dow up almost 1,000 points in the last four days, mutual fund owners may be feeling more optimistic than they have since the dot-coms ruled the market. Among...
TRUMP ROUNDING OUT W. SIDE DEVELOPMENT
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amDONALD Trump is keeping busy. He's putting together plans to top off the northernmost piece of his West Side project with a new curved condominium building at 72nd Street, while...
OFF AND RUNNING - BULLS STAMPEDE AGAIN, SENDING DOW UP 4.8%
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amNo bull! Sure, some investors may think the bull market is back now that the Dow has risen an amazing 969 points in the last four days - including 378.28...
KOHL'S DELIVERS MATERNITY LINE
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amKohl's is getting closer and closer to hitting the Target. The moderate department store chain has entered into an exclusive agreement with Belly Basics to create a line of maternity...
UTAH SAYS CONFLICTS PROBE OF GOLDMAN NEARLY COMPLETE
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amInvestigators probing Goldman Sachs' analysts' possible conflicts of interest will decide on whether to level charges against the elite investment bank in a matter of weeks. Anthony Taggart, director of...
SSSH! ROSIE MAY BE READY TO SETTLE SUIT
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amTHE word circulating in publishing circles is that Rosie O'Donnell may be getting ready to settle the high-profile lawsuit filed against her by Gruner + Jahr USA and its CEO,...
DOUBLE-TALK HANK - WHITE-SHOE FIRM WANTED JACK DESPITE GRUBBY TRUTH
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amGoldman Sachs once offered a lot of money to hire now-disgraced telecom star analyst Jack Grubman - despite evidence discovered by Goldman that Grubman's integrity was questionable, The Post has...
TIMING IS EVERYTHING: SOLLY ANALYSTS HONORED
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amThe scandal-scarred Salomon Smith Barney investment bank has won top honors for its research - despite multiple probes and the resignation of its disgraced former star telecom analyst, Jack Grubman....
FINDING GOOD FUNDS FOR A BULL MARKET
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amFor the past three years, mutual fund managers have been positioning themselves for the return of the bull market. Now that U.S. stocks have registered four consecutive days of big...
NOTHING NEW IN EX-CON TALE
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amBLINK OF AN EYE []Running time: 92 minutes. Not rated (sex, violence). At the Anthology Film Archives, Second Avenue and Second Street, East Village. ------------ VAN Fischer's low-budget indie "Blink...
NAZI LINK TO SADDAM
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amSTEALING THE FIRE [ 1/2]IN 1996, the New York Times, quoting U.N. inspectors, reported that a German nuclear technician named Karl-Heinz Schaab sold stolen atomic secrets to Saddam Hussein. Documentarians...
GLOOM WITHOUT A VIEW - WHERE DID ALL THE ROOFTOP EATERIES GO?
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amBRING back Nirvana! Did I really say that about the city's most touristy Indian restaurant, spawn of more boldface column items than all of Leo DiCaprio's downtown club stops combined?...
STARR REPORT
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amWalters slips the Gores a Tenn. spotBarbara Walters has snagged the first formal interview with Al Gore since the 2000 election. Gore and wife Tipper Gore will sit down with...
'LIVE' HOST GOES BACK TO SCHOOL AFTER TELLING LARRY KING SHOW... - RETIRE? NOT A PRAYER
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amREGIS Philbin went on Larry King's show this week to throw cold water on reports that he's getting ready to retire - and that there's a problem with "Live" co-host...
WACKY WOMEN, AS A RULE, MAKE 'BETTY' ROCK
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amBETTY RULESAt the Zipper Theatre, 336 W. 37th St. Telecharge, (212) 239-6200. ------- IN the recent vein of performers telling us, on stage, about their lives, "Betty Rules" rules. Three...
BIG MAC ATTACK - 'SLOW' FOODIES ARE ARCH ENEMIES
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amEVEN in this fast town, Slow Food is catching on. What is Slow Food? Not escargot - though the group's symbol is the snail.It's about cooking food at a leisurely...
WHERE TO FIND SADDAM'S $5 WINE
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amIRAQI dictator Saddam Hussein is a Mateus Rose man. Recent news reports have pointed out that the nemesis of our teetotaling president likes to kick back in his various palaces...
'SOPRANOS' FOR BREAKFAST - NEWEST CABLE GADGET IS FAVORITES ANYTIME
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amJUST when you thought you'd never figure out how to program your VCR, along comes another option - "The Sopranos" on demand. Starting this week, Time Warner Cable of New...
GORE GALORE FOR B'WAY
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amNOW this sounds like the perfect show for Kids' Night on Broadway: Deborah Warner's blood-curdling production of "Medea," which just ended its all-too-brief run as part of the Brooklyn Academy...
PUFF! COMBS' CHEF IS GONE
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amAFTER only a month as Sean "P.Diddy" Combs' personal chef, Renaud Le Rasle - former top toque of the Russian Tea Room - has bolted from Combs' kitchen for Medi....
WILL EYES LOOK WEST? - SERIES IS A CINDERELLA AND THE SLUGGER STORY
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amWILL anyone outside California watch the World Series this year? Two teams from the West Coast - the San Francisco Giants and the Anaheim Angels - are set to play...
(FA)SHUNNED - THE RUNWAY WAS LITTERED WITH MISHITS AT THE VH1/VOGUE FASHION AWARDS
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amWant boring? The VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards had it - in spades. Safe was the name of the game at the event, held last night at Radio City Music Hall. Basic...
SPACE IS HEAVENLY: ASTRO VET
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amA U.S. astronaut - dubbed "history's most traveled Jew" - said he's getting a different perspective on religious observance from the International Space Station. "Because we are traveling up here...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amDirty diapers smell gross, rotten eggs have a miserable stench - but folks say skunks still emit the worst odor. That's the finding of nationwide survey by the Renuzit air...
PROBERS FIND AL QAEDA LINK AS THEY CLOSE IN ON FIENDS
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amAustralian officials yesterday said investigators are making headway in finding the terrorists behind the Bali massacre. Searching through the charred wreckage of the Sari Club, officials found fragments of the...
GAME CLOCK'S TICKING FOR DOUG FORRESTER
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amIF the numbers in the latest MSNBC/Zogby poll in the New Jersey Senate race are accurate, Republican candidate Doug Forrester has reason to be worried. Not so much because the...
DELL PUNK IN FOR A 'DUDE' AWAKENING
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amDude, you're getting downsized! Steven, the unflappable surfer-dude Dell pitchman played by actor Ben Curtis, is appearing in only one of three new ads featuring Dell interns brainstorming new products....
COPS AIM AT TOP BURGLARS
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amCops will compile a hit list of the city's top 500 burglars in a new strategy for fighting home robberies. The new tactic is one of several burglary-fighting measures unveiled...
ALL-OUT PUSH ON TO CLEAR JOGGER 5
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amMatias Reyes' confession to the '89 Central Park rape casts doubt on convictions.Art Cuffee A group of prominent city officials yesterday demanded that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office set aside...
SCHOOL 'GUARD' BUSTED IN SEX STING
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amDetectives busted a city school safety officer after he allegedly tried to seduce a 13-year-old girl over the Internet, authorities said. Ben Auerbach, 47, allegedly talked dirty in an attempt...
CLOSE SHAVE FOR 'S&M SEX FIEND'
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amAccused cyber-sex slave sicko James Warren - charged with kidnapping a 15-year-old Massachusetts girl and subjecting her to a degrading week long ordeal of rape, sodomy and S&M abuse -...
BROOKLYN LOVE SLAUGHTER TO JURY
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amA Brooklyn man slaughtered his childhood sweetheart and her two kids because she had told him he wasn't the father of her infant daughter, prosecutors charged yesterday. Zabdiel Yara, 23,...
BRIDE'S KIN LOST IN BALI HELLFIRE
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amA bride who lost four of her bridesmaids - two of them her sisters. Six women clubbing with their teenage daughters who all perished - while some of the girls...
MIKE NAMES FOE TO RIGHTS PANEL
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amA gay leader who clashed with Mayor Bloomberg over a gay rights bill was named by the mayor yesterday to the Human Rights Commission. Matt Foreman, acting executive director of...
$300M SEX SUIT SLAMS DIOCESE
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amThe Diocese of Brooklyn yesterday was slapped with a massive $300 million lawsuit by 42 people who claim they were sexually molested as children by Catholic priests whose bishops covered...
HERO DAD SLAIN - WAS TRYING TO PROTECT HIS FAMILY
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amA beloved Bronx bodega owner was bound with duct tape and fatally stabbed on his doorstep early yesterday as he tried to protect his wife and children from three robbers...
CAR-BUMP KILLER GETS 18 YEARS
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amA gunman was sentenced to 18 ½ years in prison yesterday for shooting a Brooklyn father of two after a fender bender. "It's a crime that apparently occurred over a...
B'KLYN FIGHT TURNS DEADLY
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amA Brooklyn man was shot to death yesterday morning after he argued with a neighbor over being awakened by a meter reader, police said. Hakeem Harriston, 22, was asleep in...
TEEN IN SCHOOL ELEVATOR TRAGEDY
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amA 10th-grader was fighting for his life last night after plunging down an elevator shaft in the Bronx's Harry Truman HS - ranked one of the city's most violent schools....
MCCALL 'HIGH' ON POT AS RX
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amCarl McCall, who says he's never smoked pot, announced yesterday he wants to make it legal to inhale, as long as it's for medical purposes. In contrast to Gov. Pataki,...
BUSH MAN: IRAQ MUST BECOME 'DE-NAZIFIED'
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - A top Bush aide yesterday said Iraq will need a kind of "de-Nazification" to get rid of top officials as well as Saddam Hussein. "It's not just the...
B'KLYN MAN SLAIN IN 'METER READING' TIFF
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amA Brooklyn man was shot to death yesterday morning after he argued with a neighbor over being awakened by a meter reader, police said. Hakeem Harriston, 22, was asleep in...
AIRLINE SINGS THE BOOZE OVER PILOT
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amA Continental pilot was pulled from his flight yesterday in the latest alcohol-related incident involving an airline. It appeared the unidentified pilot wasn't "fit for duty," the airline said in...
CLOSING IN ON 1-SHOT KILLER - SKETCH IS NEAR AMID KEY CLUES
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amAuthorities last night were frantically putting the finishing touches on a composite sketch of the Psycho Sniper - while moving in on 15 possible suspects ID'd through crucial clues from...
FORMER CONGRESSMAN BILL GREEN DIES AT 72
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amFormer Manhattan Congressman Bill Green died in the city yesterday after a battle with cancer. He was 72. Green, a native New Yorker, served as a state assemblyman from 1965-68...
W. SAYS HE'LL HELP BLACKS BUY HOMES
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday touted plans to help millions of blacks and Hispanics buy their own homes as a way to help kick-start the struggling economy, while top Democrats...
H'WOOD WAITING IN WINGS OF D.C. DRAMA
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amThe mystery of the Beltway Sniper is turning into an all-media phenomenon. The Washington-area gunman has apparently helped spike the ratings on all three major cable news networks, and sniper-related...
LONG ISLAND MAY HAVE A COPYCAT
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amPolice on Long Island fear they may have a copycat sniper on their hands. A bullet hit a woman's car as she drove past North Hills on the Long Island...
NYPD JOINS IN BY LARRY CELONA
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amThe NYPD has joined in the search for the Beltway Sniper. Police said an urgent bulletin had been sent out to all commands ordering cops to be on the lookout...
CIG-NIFICANT DROP - BLOOMY'S TAX SNUFFS OUT 64% OF SALES
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amCigarette sales in the city plummeted last month, with just one-third as many packs sold as before the city added a hefty $1.50 tax, The Post has learned. In September,...
POLS PLAN EMERGENCY RX FOR FAILING MIDDLE SCHOOLS
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amState officials are crafting a sweeping package of reforms to try to overhaul New York's low-performing middle schools next year. "Obviously there's a crisis in the middle schools when you...
$1.5M MIDTOWN JEWEL HEIST
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amA brazen burglar busted into a 12th-floor jewelry manufacturer in Midtown early yesterday and made off with $1.5 million in jewelry, police said. Cops said the thief, who may have...
SAM'S PALS ARE NEXT - FEDS HAVE 'EVIDENCE' ON STOCK DUMPERS
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amPals of prison-bound ImClone founder Sam Waksal, who joined Martha Stewart in suddenly dumping their stocks, were given a bone-jarring warning yesterday: The feds have "compelling evidence" that the entrepreneur...
NEIGHBORS SHARE A HUSBAND'S GRIEF
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amARLINGTON, Va. KENNETH BARTEE emerged from a house of mourning yesterday and said, "I just can't imagine what he's going through." Bartee had just left the side of Ted Franklin,...
'BAGHDAD BABS' AD FUROR - LINKED TO SADDAM IN GOP SPOT
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amA bejeweled "Baghdad Babs" stars in a new TV ad for a Long Island congressional candidate - but not exactly willingly. In the controversial commercial launched yesterday by Marilyn O'Grady,...
LOUIMA LAWYERS FIGHT OVER $3M IN LEGAL FEES
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amLawyers who represented Abner Louima in his civil-rights suit against the city are back in court to duke it out over their cut of the $8.75 million pie - with...
WINONA'S FOLKS RIP 'WITCH HUNT'
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amBEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - The parents of embattled actress Winona Ryder lashed out at prosecutors, calling their pursuit of the Oscar-nominated beauty and accused shoplifter a "witch hunt." A Los...
EYE IN SKY WILL HELP IN THE HUNT
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amSophisticated reconnaissance equipment being used in the hunt for terror mastermind Osama bin Laden will soon be helping Washington-area investigators track down the Psycho Sniper. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amMANHATTAN * Cops are investigating a possible bias incident in Inwood, where anti-black remarks were written on the wall of an apartment, police said yesterday. A 30-year-old woman, who lives...
BECKER LOBS TAX CHARGES OUT OF COURT
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amBoris Becker has reached an out-of-court settlement in his tax-evasion case - and will not have to go into the slammer. The three-time Wimbledon champ will be given two years...
THE KILLER WHO NOW SAYS HE RAPED THE CENTRAL PARK JOGGER MAY HAVE MADE THE CONFESSION BECAUSE HE'S A TROUBLE-MAKER
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amThe killer who now says he raped the Central Park jogger may have made the confession because he's a trouble-maker who wants to throw a monkey wrench into the judicial...
$300 MIL LAWSUIT VS. B'KLYN CLERICS
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amThe Diocese of Brooklyn yesterday was slapped with a massive $300 million lawsuit by 42 people who claim they were sexually molested as children by Catholic priests whose bishops covered...
SHARON VISITING BUSH FOR WAR SUMMIT
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amJERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon goes to the White House today for what he called the "most important" of his seven summit meetings with President Bush. Israeli officials...
$1.5M JEWEL HEIST - MIDTOWN BURGLAR CRACKS 12TH-FLOOR VAULT
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amA brazen burglar busted into a 12th-floor jewelry manufacturer in Midtown early yesterday and made off with $1.5 million in jewelry, police said. Cops said the thief, who may have...
CLOSING IN ON 1-SHOT KILLER - WITNESSES GIVE COPS DETAILED ID
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amMembers of the Psycho Sniper task force believe they're closing in on the one-shot/one-kill predator who has slain nine and injured two in his murderous two-week sharp-shooting spree. Law-enforcement officials...
PROBERS FIND AL QAEDA-LINKED BOMB EVIDENCE AS THEY CLOSE ON FIENDS
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amAustralian officials said yesterday investigators are making headway in finding the terrorists who triggered the massacre. In the charred wreckage of the Sari Club, officials found fragments of the explosives-packed...
STRAPPED CITY EYES $1B PENSION HIKE
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amThe city's pension bill is going to explode by another $1 billion just as it grapples with sharply declining revenues and a major budget crisis, Mayor Bloomberg warned yesterday. Bloomberg's...
CARL TAKES A SCALPEL TO GOV ON HEALTH CARE
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amCarl McCall yesterday slammed Gov. Pataki's health-care record, while the governor picked up a bodega-owners endorsement in East Harlem. "At that so-called debate we had last Sunday, the governor said...
MAZ, WILLIE ON YANK AGENDA
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amANAHEIM - George Steinbrenner's inner circle was in Tampa yesterday for the start of Yankees' organizational meetings, which could last until tomorrow. While the major emphasis will be on improving...
GARDEN'S ONLY HOPE - BURE HAS BLUESHIRTS POINTING AT PLAYOFFS
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amIT WAS a fabulous Knick season, for as many exhibition games as Antonio McDyess's knee lasted. Now, those still living between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, hard by hard times at...
OH, DEER! CWD'S QUITE A PROBLEM
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amTHE deer season is under way in New York and it is probably a good time to review what we know about Chronic Wasting Disease and what the state is...
DEVS LOSE WINGER TO WAIVERS
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amClearing roster space for a trade or to bring back Tommy Albelin, the Devils yesterday lost infrequently-used winger Andreas Salomonsson to the Caps on waivers. Since there was no other...
JET PLAN: STOP MOSS - MUST CATCH VIKES' WR
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amTHERE are no easy answers, no fail-safe solutions to rescue the Jets from the ruins of their 1-4 start. But one thing is as certain as their inexcusable 3-7 home...
RANDY'S TROUBLES BOTHERING CHAD
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amChad Pennington said he becomes "frustrated" when he hears about the numerous off-the-field scrapes former college teammate Randy Moss gets into. Moss, the prolific Vikings' receiver and the No. 1...
HAMILTON LOOKS AHEAD - GIANTS HOPEFUL HE'LL COME BACK
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amKeith Hamilton's fears are natural, but according to the Giants, unfounded. He is not going to be discarded now that he's injured. "He gets every benefit of the doubt from...
N.Y. ROOTS SHOW
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amSAN FRANCISCO - Leave it to a couple of New York Giants to put the team's World Series season in perspective. "You know what we are," explained Brooklyn-born shortstop Rich...
GARDEN'S ONLY HOPE - RANGERS CAN KEEP PLAYOFF LIGHTS ON
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amIT WAS a fabulous Knicks season, for as many exhibition games as it lasted. Now the living between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, hard by the hard times at 33rd and...
FOURSTARDAVE DEAD AT 17
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amFourstardave, the gallant and much-loved New York-bred gelding known as the "Sultan of Saratoga," died yesterday morning of a heart attack while jogging over the main track at Belmont Park....
ANGELS BRACE FOR BARRY - HALOS: WE'LL BE CAREFUL
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amANAHEIM - The Angels aren't going to allow their ego to get in the way of denying them a World Series title. If Barry Bonds needs to be walked, Angel...
RUN, KENNY, RUN! - LOFTON'S JOG HOME COULD HAVE COST JINTS
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amI SUPPOSE, by now, we should be used to big-leaguers jogging the bases, even in a season's biggest games. But Monday night, in Game 5 of the NLCS, the Giants'...
DVORAK PLAYING IT SAFE - RETURN FROM INJURY LIMITS ICE TIME
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amRadek Dvorak is certainly among the best penalty-killers on the Rangers, of that there can be little dispute. So what's the deal with the right winger having gotten one second...
TROY'S GUARDIAN ANGEL: NAILS
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amWORLD SERIES NOTEBOOK ANAHEIM - The Angels and Troy Percival have two secret weapons the Giants can't get their hands on: Lenny Dykstra's coffee and baseball advice, both of which...
TORRES & 'TOFT: BOYS ARE BACK
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amRaffi Torres and Justin Mapletoft were the two best young players fighting for spots on the Islanders' roster throughout training camp and the exhibition season. So it was a huge...
KNICKS WON'T QUIT TRYING TO UPGRADE
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amSALT LAKE CITY - Don Chaney said the Knicks have not "thrown in the towel in trying to "improve the team" in the wake of Antonio McDyess' potential season-ending kneecap...
SELIG TO METS, M'S: GET IT DONE!
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amThe clock and the commissioner have become factors in what seems like the inevitable now - Lou Piniella's hiring as Mets manager. Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln and Mets owner Fred...
JAX HITS BACK AT DON SLAP
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amKNICK NOTES SALT LAKE CITY - Mark Jackson, John Stockton's backup for Utah, disagreed with Don Chaney's assertion the Knicks "had no leaders last season" and stuck up for banished...
RANGERS ANSWER CALL - LINDROS' PENALTY SPARKS VICTORY
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amRangers 5 - Leafs 4 If last night's match at the Garden was the first NHL game you've ever attended, you're coming back, again and again. Because though anything but...
AUCOIN, ISLES OFF SCHNEID
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amOVERTIME: Isles 4 - Predators 3 That breeze you felt last night was most likely a collective sigh of relief exhaled by Peter Laviolette and the Islanders, who needed overtime...
NETS HAVE GAME PLAN FOR ROGERS
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amNets 104 - Celtics 92 Mistake Rodney Rogers for Keith Van Horn? Sure, if you were A) blindfolded; B) dead; or C) considering only roles within the Nets' offense. Rogers,...
REDUCING TURNOVERS IS TRULY KIDD'S PLAY
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amNET NOTES Jason Kidd gets as excited about preseason as Byron Scott does, which means basically not at all. But Kidd did have an agenda for last night. And he...
ACHILLES CONTINUES TO DELAY CHILDS' PLAY
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amNET NOTES Logic and his coach say otherwise, but Chris Childs believes he can be ready to play for the Nets in the season-opener, two weeks from tonight. "I think...
ROGERS NOT JUST A GUNNER
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amRodney Rogers wants you to know something: The new Net is more than a 3-point shooter. After arriving in Boston last year through an in-season trade with Phoenix, Rogers became...
METS CONFIRM PINIELLA CALL
October 16, 2002 | 4:00amIf it feels like Lou Piniella is days away from donning a certain blue-and-orange cap, it's no illusion. On the same day two other candidates were interviewed for the Mets'...