December 3, 2002
HOTSHOT ATTORNEY PAINTS HIMSELF INTO A CORNER
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amNEVER bet the farm or the boat - especially when it's a 156-foot yacht worth an estimated $25 million. But that's what lawyer extraordinaire Ronald Motley seems to have done....
MECHANICS' NEW VOTE MAY NOT KEEP UAL ALOFT
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amUAL Corp.'s United Airlines got a glimmer of hope when its mechanics union decided to vote again on the wage concessions it voted down last week - but analysts say...
JANUS IN JEOPARDY: STAKEHOLDER MOVES TO SHAKE UP FUND COMPANY
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amA big shareholder in Stillwell Financial is looking to shake up the troubled mutual fund company. Highfields Capital Management wants to start by putting the brakes on a plan by...
AOL PLAN: CONTENT IS KING AGAIN
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amIt's Miller time. Today Jonathan Miller, the newish chief executive officer of America Online, will let Wall Street in on what he's been doing for the past three months. In...
GOLDMAN TRADERS DIG IN ; FIRM MAY SEND BACK OFFICE STAFF TO JERSEY CITY INSTEAD
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amTHERE'S nothing like a giant Wall Street firm to keep a landlord guessing. And Goldman Sachs continues to keep owners, brokers, and economic development officials on both sides of the...
HO, HO, HO! HOW ABOUT GE AT $919?
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amThey must have missed the e-mail. Red-faced news organizations online posted phony stock price data they mistakenly picked up during a routine system test last Friday. Although the Consolidated Tape...
MOVE OVER MARTHA, HERE COMES THALIA
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amLatina songstress Thalia is expanding into fashion. The international superstar, who is married to music mogul Tommy Mottola, has signed up with Kmart to create a line of Thalia brand...
ALPHABET SOUP: ABC COULD BE BIG LOSER IN AFFILIATES' REVOLT
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amTV stations in ABC's network are openly revolting over its lousy ratings and want to stop airing some of the prime-time shows. Such an unprecedented move would be a severe...
SONGS OF SANTA: MARIAH CAN STILL CAREY A TUNE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amMARIAH CAREY "Charmbracelet" MonarC/Island The notion that the public will scoop up anything Mariah Carey cranks out (witness last year's "Glitter") has undergone a major attitude adjustment. While her shiny...
STARR REPORT
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amCarey breaks down breakdown on 'Dateline' Part of Matt Lauer's "Dateline" interview with Mariah Carey, airing tonight (10 p.m./Ch. 4), deals with Carey discussing her hospitalization last year for emotional...
SONGS OF SANTA
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amSILENT nights? There's no reason for it with this year's blizzard of Christmas offerings - more than 50 new holiday albums trying to jingle your bells. There are the twangers...
FOX SETS $50M 'BACHELOR' TRAP
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amTHE latest reality show will make fun of reality shows - and the women who flock to get on shows like "The Bachelor" in hopes of getting rich. Fox has...
'MILLIONAIRE' MEET YOUR MILIAN-HEIR
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amCH. 2 is dropping "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" at 4 p.m. and replacing it with "People's Court" next season. Ch. 2 isn't commenting, but industry sources are confirming...
EL VEZ & THE CITY: MEXICAN ELVIS IS ALL SHOOK UP FOR XMAS
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amMex-Mas time is almost here! And so is El Vez, the magnificent Mexican Elvis, ready to ponder the meaning of the holiday season. El Vez's smart campy act is fab...
STROKES OF GOOD FORTUNE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amTHE Strokes are it.The New York rockers, fronted by Julian Casablancas, was named Band of the Year by Spin Magazine, based on the strength of its debut album, "Is This...
OUCH! THAT'S REALLY GOTTA HURT, PAULA
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amCNN morning anchor Paula Zahn fractured her leg and knee in a skiing accident last weekend - and is expected to remain hospitalized the rest of this week. Zahn, a...
ALL STRUNG OUT ; EVERYONE INTO THE STATION WAGON, SAYS DAVID LANDSEL - IT'S GAWKING SEASON
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amDRIVING RANGETHE history of Christmas decorations in this country is fairly short. Consider that in the 1600s, a Massachusetts court passed a law that would punish anyone who observed Dec....
DUBLIN OR NOTHING ; GERSH KUNTZMAN GIVES THE IRISH CAPITAL A WHIRL AND ENDS UP SIPPING PINTS AT A PUB (NATURALLY)
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amLAYOVERA DAY in Dublin? It may sound unfair to spend only 24 hours in the Irish capital, but it's enough to give you a taste for it. Of course, you'll...
WHAT IF...
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amQ) I am traveling to Portland for a long weekend. I've never owned a car, and can't remember the last time I rented one. Will I survive without wheels? A)...
BATTLE OF THE BLONDES: MOVE OVER, GWYNETH: A NEW FAIR-HAIRED CROP OF ACTRESSES ARE HOLLYWOOD'S BIGGEST MONEY HONEYS
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amHOLLYWOOD'S a notoriously fickle town - and this year, there are some new fair-haired stars atop the list of top earners in movies. Reese Witherspoon, Renée Zellweger and the currently...
GEAR & GADGETS: LISTEN UP
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amLONG before everybody had cell phones, hand-held stereos were the electronic device du jour. These days, 21st-century technology has shrunk those once blocky cassette players down to the size of...
MOB COP BETRAYED BUDDIES, FEDS SAY
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amA New York police detective "turned his back on his oath, his fellow officers and the law" by helping cover up a gangland murder orchestrated by his mobbed-up cousin, a...
BAGHDAD ADMITS TO 'NUKE PART' SMUGGLE BID
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amIraqi officials have admitted they tried several times to buy aluminum tubes to build rockets - in violation of a U.N. ban on importing materials that could be used to...
WHAT HAWKS FEAR ; CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR . . . CLOUSEAU
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amTHE hawks are anxious. Those conservative think ers, analysts and media stars who are convinced that a war to oust Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq is both necessary and...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amCrikey! Our crocs aren't the horny little devils they used to be. That's the word from Australia, where the worst drought in decades has stopped male crocodiles from producing sperm....
EVEN ARAFAT'S FED UP WITH $AUDI TERROR TIE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Saudi Arabia's double dealings with terrorists has become so pervasive that even PLO boss Yasser Arafat has gotten upset over it. The Post yesterday obtained a letter from...
GRAHAM TRACKERS: FBI EYED WRITER
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amThe FBI spied on famed author Graham Greene for more than 40 years because of his outspoken criticism of the United States, it was revealed last night. Documents obtained under...
TAXES ARE EARLY RISING - BLOOMBERG PICKS DAWN HOUR TO INK $$-PAIN PLAN
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg approved the largest tax increase in city history yesterday at City Hall, in a ceremony just after sunrise that barely lasted 10 minutes. Not a single person showed...
I'LL KEEP GIVING W. HELL: HILL
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - With Republicans having won control of the Senate, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is vowing to be "outspoken" in criticizing President Bush. In an interview with The Post, Clinton...
CITY PLANS FOR SMALLPOX
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amCity officials have submitted a preliminary plan to the feds for dealing with a terrorist-launched smallpox epidemic, officials said yesterday. The plan was required by a $26 million grant the...
'REV. REFUND' GETS JAIL IN TAX SCAM
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amA former minister will serve up to 4 ½ years in prison as his penance for cheating the state out of more than $5 million, a Manhattan judge ordered yesterday....
STATE TO TOUGHEN DWI LAW
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amALBANY - After years of delay, New York is poised to lower the permitted blood-alcohol level for driving. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno yesterday said the Republican-led Senate will pass...
HE'S A 'MAJOR' TERROR PLAYER
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amCracking down on Saddam Hussein will help the war on terror because he's a "major sponsor" of international terrorism, a senior administration official said yesterday. "Nobody is suggesting that Saddam...
GOV RIVALS $MASHED RECORD
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amShelling out a stunning $116 for every vote he got in the governor's race, billionaire Tom Golisano helped push total spending in the campaign to a record $150 million, finance...
GROUND ZERO REBUILD ON FAST TRACK
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amA top development official yesterday laid out a timeline for completing a site plan for Ground Zero - saying there is a "sense of urgency" about showing real progress downtown....
$1,000 DEATH JACKET - SLAIN MAN WORKED OT FOR LEATHER
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amWaldrine Ewool worked long hours to afford a $1,000 Vanson leather jacket, but he only got to enjoy his Christmas present to himself for two days before a gunman killed...
ANTHRAX SCARE IN GATES MAIL
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amA well-meaning postal worker inadvertently triggered an anthrax scare yesterday morning when he delivered an envelope addressed to Bill Gates to the former IBM building in Midtown, officials said. Two...
CUNY LAW GRADS BLOWING BAR EXAM
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amHalf the graduates of the City University's Law School flunked the state bar exam this year, The Post has learned. The passing rate fell from 74 percent in 2000 to...
MOB SPERM BUST - CON, WIFE NAILED IN 'BABY' PLOT
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amThe parents of a 3- year-old Staten Island girl conceived while her mobster father was incarcerated have been indicted for their part in smuggling his sperm out of a federal...
'HOMELESS' JUDGE UP FOR PROMOTION
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amALBANY - The controversial judge whose decisions on the city's homeless policies has frustrated mayors and cost the city millions is a finalist for a seat on the state's highest...
BETSY BOOTS 3 PALS - AIDES FIRED IN GOTBAUM BID TO BOOST HER PROFILE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amThree of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum's top aides are out the door as part of an effort to revamp the office and raise her profile, The Post has learned. "She...
SCHOOL TURKEYS PLUCK THINGS UP
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amThe city Department of Education said yesterday that contaminated turkey did not make its way into school lunchrooms - despite letters sent to parents that raised the possibility. The federal...
RICE: WE'RE NOT COOKING UP WAR PLAN JUST YET
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amSaddam Hussein's declaration of all weapons of mass murder, due Sunday, is critical - but the crunch won't come right after that, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said yesterday. "I...
BRUTAL RAPE WON'T BOOST PARK POLICE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amPolice Commissioner Ray Kelly yesterday defended decreased NYPD presence in city parks during winter months - three days after a horrific gang rape of a woman in a Brooklyn park....
LIZZIE BIDS TO MOVE CIVIL TRIAL
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amSpin maven Lizzie Grubman wants the remaining civil suits against her moved to Albany, saying she can't get a fair trial because of massive - and negative - publicity about...
AL QAEDA BIG HUNTED FOR ATTACKS IN KENYA
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - The mastermind of last week's terror attacks in Kenya was identified yesterday as a top al Qaeda operative who was indicted for the two 1998 U.S. embassy bombings...
SEX ATTACK AT BAYSIDE HS
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amA 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by another student in a stairwell at Bayside HS in Queens yesterday, a police source said. The source said the attack occurred at around...
TELEMARKETER THREATENS RAPE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amA New Jersey woman says a telemarketer threatened to rape her when she refused to buy any of the magazines he was peddling. The Burlington County woman, who asked not...
COPS THINK MORGY WILL ZAP JOGGER RAPE RAPS
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amManhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau is "likely" to recommend the rape convictions of the so-called "Central Park 5" be overturned, police sources said yesterday. Morgenthau didn't definitively say that's what...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amBROOKLYN * An NYPD officer has been suspended for failing to monitor a prisoner who escaped from the 66th Precinct but was recaptured hours later. Officer Mary Bell, assigned to...
BUSH CALLS BUTCHER'S BLUFF ON WEAPONS
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - In his first comments on the weapons inspections in Iraq, President Bush said yesterday that Saddam Hussein's approach is "not encouraging." "So far, the signs are not encouraging,"...
SCROOGE YOU, SCHWARZ PERSECUTORS
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amCHUCK SCHWARZ, a dedicated former Marine and a decorated cop, was to surrender to authorities at noon today. But he won't have to, thanks to the efforts of his lawyer,...
'9/11' GLOW GONE AS COP COMPLAINTS RISE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amComplaints against abusive and violent cops - which plummeted during the post-9/11 wave of pro-police sentiment - have almost completely returned to pre-attack levels, a new report shows. A 184-page...
RANDI MAKES ED. DEPT. HONCHO HER TOP ADVISER
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amUnited Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten has hired a top City Department of Education official to be her senior adviser, union officials said yesterday. Bert Sacks, who just retired...
COURT GRAVY TRAIN DERAILED
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amThe state court system yesterday unveiled its new rules designed to smash the pervasive patronage and cronyism that have turned judicial appointments into lucrative gravy trains. The reforms by the...
MINIVANS EYED FOR BX. RIDERS
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amThe city is considering using minivans to take thousands of Bronx commuters to the nearest bus or subway stop after New York Bus Service closes next month. "We are exploring...
MIKE LAUNCHES COAT DRIVE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg kicked off the 14th Annual New York Cares Coat Drive by giving away used coats to needy men and women at the Bowery Mission yesterday. The drive is...
VILLAGE GEM HEIST BAGS 250G
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amA gun-wielding thief stole $250,000 in jewelry from a Greenwich Village store yesterday, police said. The robber walked into Valentino Jewelry on Christopher Street at about 12:40 p.m. and asked...
FIEND PLEADS GUILTY IN HORROR SLAY OF GIRL, 7
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amA Bronx man pleaded guilty yesterday to the horrific bludgeoning murder of his girlfriend's 7-year-old daughter. Jason Lewis, 24, admitted to killing Inez Bennett on Nov. 21, 2001. Inez was...
LIZZIE DISLIKES HOME 'COURT'
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amSpin maven Lizzie Grubman wants the remaining civil suits against her moved to Albany, saying she can't get a fair trial because of the massive - and negative - publicity...
'REV. REFUND' GETS JAIL FOR TAX SCAM
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amA former minister will serve up to 4½ years in prison as his penance for cheating the state out of more than $5 million, a Manhattan judge ordered yesterday. State...
AL QAEDA: WE WERE THE KILLERS IN KENYA
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Al Qaeda claimed responsibility yesterday for last week's terror attacks in Kenya - as new evidence tied Osama bin Laden's network to the twin assaults. A statement sent...
SEA SICKNESS : SHIPBOARD OUTBREAKS BAFFLE PROBERS
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amThe latest cruise liner to turn into a floating contagion ward, the Carnival line's Fascination, docked at a Florida port yesterday - leaving federal investigators puzzling over an apparent spike...
PAUL SCHWARTZ' GIANT REPORT CARD : ET TWO, COACH?
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amQUARTERBACKSDespite the wind, Kerry Collins (22 of 36, 283, 2 TDs) was excellent and deserved better. Smart with changes at line. When he plays like this, Giants shouldn't lose.RUNNING BACKSStrange...
AIR SNEAK ATTACK BUGS MIKE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES Of all the plays the Giants screwed up on defense in their 32-29 overtime loss to the Titans, Michael Strahan says one bothered him more than the others....
PENALTIES PUT DRAG ON ISLES
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amIf you thought the Islanders, with all their speed and quickness, were going to benefit from the crackdown on obstruction, and from ultra-sensitive officiating, boy, were you wrong. Not only...
KERRY KNOWS THIS ONE WAS A KILLER
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amKERRY Collins is like all the rest of them now, speaking in hushed, hopeful tones, painting optimistic pictures, explaining how to turn 6-6 into 10-6 in four easy steps. This...
FASSEL: WE CAN WIN FOUR ; SAYS GIANTS CAN RUN TABLE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amIn the middle of one of those State of the Head Coach addresses that invariably arrive when losing sets in, Jim Fassel was informed that his quarterback, Kerry Collins, stated...
RANGERS WANT WIN, NOT VENGEANCE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amThey lost, they fought, they were suspended and fined. But the Rangers say that when they take the ice against the Blue Jackets tonight, they've also moved on. When the...
NYRA GUARD CHARGED
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amHenderson Kirton, a security guard for the New York Racing Association, was fired by NYRA yesterday and arrested by the N.Y. City Police for allegedly stealing and then trying to...
YANKEES STUCK IN NEUTRAL
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amGeorge Steinbrenner's strong desire to rid himself of Raul Mondesi, Rondell White and Sterling Hitchcock has held his inner circle back from making important decisions that will affect what the...
KIDD CAN'T SHOULDER WHOLE LOAD
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amAsk a traveler for impressions of New Jersey and inevitably, you'll hear talk of the Turnpike drive - that fragrant stretch of refineries, toxic dumps and junk-car lots. A real...
'04 OLYMPICS A PIPE DREAM FOR WALKER
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amLIKE teammate Paul Pierce (and Baron Davis), Antoine Walker has no chance of being asked to play on the '04 Dream Team. Taunting Larry Brown last season, among other coaches,...
THOME, PHILS REACH DEAL: NOW, METS NEED GLAVINE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amTHE Mets moved a step closer to division oblivion yesterday when slugger Jim Thome signed with the Phils, but they also inched closer to getting a guaranteed four-year deal on...
KNICKS THREE AND EASY: CRUSH CAVALIERS FOR THIRD STRAIGHT
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amKnicks 125 Cavaliers 93 Don't look now, but the rampaging Knicks can sniff the eighth seed. After destroying the atrocious Cavaliers for their first three-game winning streak since last January,...
DEVILS GET ANOTHER '1' PAST PHILLY
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amOVERTIMEDevils 1Flyers 0 PHILADELPHIA - The captain says the Devils have the Flyers' number. It happens to be zero. "Sometimes you just have a team's number, like Carolina has ours...
LAYDEN PASSES ON INJURY-EXCEPTION DEAL
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES Well, there's always the Feb. 20th trade deadline. At 6:45 p.m. last night, five hours before the deadline, GM Scott Layden all but surrendered, announcing the $4.5M injury...
SPREWELL IS THE RE-MAIN MAN
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amKnicks 125Cavaliers 93 The deadline for the Knicks to trade, use or lose their injury exception came and went at midnight last night, and Latrell Sprewell is still a Knick....
NO TRADE OPENS UP MC-COMEBACK
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amWith the Antonio McDyess injury exception now expired, the Knicks perhaps could talk more candidly about their franchise player making a March/April comeback. When they looked to use the exception,...
RAIDERS DERAIL GREEN EXPRESS: JETS ARE DENIED SHARE OF 1ST PLACE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amRaiders 26 Jets 20 OAKLAND - Just as it did last January in this very venue, prosperity sat tantalizingly before the Jets last night. In January, it was a chance...
ANGRY EVANS RIPS RAIDERS' CHOPS
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amOAKLAND - Jets' defensive tackle Josh Evans was infuriated during and after last night's 26-20 loss to the Raiders for what he termed repeated cheap shots. "The Raiders got away...
ON THEIR WAY TO GREATNESS: MARTIN QUIETLY RUNNING INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amOAKLAND - Curtis Martin went into last night's game against the Raiders inching closer and closer to the NFL's rushing elite. Martin needed only 38 yards to reach the 10,000-yard...
CHANEY AVOIDS TALK OF MCDYESS TIMETABLE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES With the Antonio McDyess injury exception about to expire last night, perhaps the Knicks could talk more candidly about the possibility of their franchise player making a March/April...
NO DEAL - FOR NOW : KNICKS MILK CLOCK ON EXCEPTION MOVE
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amWell, there's always Feb. 20. With Knicks GM Scott Layden facing last night's deadline to trade the $4.5M injury exception in a package deal, the likelihood of a move became...
DEV-DANTON RIFT GROWS EVEN UGLIER
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amPHILADELPHIA - The Mike Danton battle escalated toward a declaration of war yesterday. Kicked off the Devils on Friday in Nashville and officially assigned to Albany, the 22-year-old rookie was...
GANNON'S ARM A STERN TEST
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amJET NOTES OAKLAND - The Jets entered last night's game against the Raiders having not allowed a 300-yard passer in 30 games, the longest streak in the NFL. Raiders quarterback...
JETS LOSE MOSS TO ANKLE SPRAIN
December 3, 2002 | 5:00amOAKLAND - The Jets lost valuable receiver and punt returner Santana Moss to a sprained left ankle in the second quarter of last night's 26-20 loss to the Raiders. Moss,...