December 14, 2002
MARTS FADING FAST : RECENT JUMP A MEMORY; DOW OFF 104, NASDAQ 37
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amStocks fell, even as consumer confidence zipped up to its highest level in four months in November. But December has not been a good month for stocks, as more data...
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL TENTS MAY RISE ON RANDALL'S
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amForget Santa Claus. The costumed creatures from Cirque du Soleil and its trademarked blue and yellow Grand Chapiteau tent are coming to town. A pact to pay the city $300,000...
CONVERSE PLANS TO GO PUBLIC AGAIN
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amWall Street's hunger for new stock offerings means having to search in unlikely places - like retreading bankrupt companies. Sneaker maker Converse Inc., which spent a year in bankruptcy protection,...
NASDAQ BOARD SNUFFS OUT WICK
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amNasdaq's Chairman and Chief Executive Hardwick "Wick" Simmons will step down from his post at the helm of the world's largest electronic stock market next year. The board will initiate...
JANUS REOPENING BATTERED FUNDS
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amJanus plans to re-open several funds closed to new investors three years ago when they got too hot, but have since lost investors billions and experienced a steady outflow of...
SMALL WONDERS: YOU CAN REAP BIG DREAMS AT THESE TOY STORES
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amHuge crowds, mind-boggling variety and - let's face it - screaming children can really take the fun out of toy shopping. But if you shudder at the thought of heading...
MARKET VALUE: DON'T GET MAULED AT THE MALL - CHECK OUT THESE HOLIDAY STALLS
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amSick of fighting feeding frenzies of crazed consumers while doing your holiday shopping? Pining for the traditional? No worries - the centuries-old European custom of the Christkindlmarkt is a New...
DINNER PARTY CHEAT SHEET
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amWith a looming transit strike and a soon-to-be enforced ban on cigarette smoking in bars, many are wondering why Dinner Party Cheat Sheet is moving its home operations from New...
ITCHING FOR SCRATCHER
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amIt sounds like the title of a KISS song. But The Scratcher is about as far away from Detroit Rock City as you can get in Manhattan. Scratcher's about as...
FREE FOR ALL
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amContinental drift Check out a stirring sampling of some of Gotham's up-and-coming musical talent tonight as the classic downtown venue Continental wraps up a two-night alterna-rock holiday bash. Lava Baby,...
ALMOND JOY
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amSince we all tend to go a wee bit nuts this time of year anyway, why not give in to it - with almonds. No need feeling guilty about noshing...
PETER, THE WOLF - AND TONY RANDALL
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amUnlike most of us, Tony Randall never heard "Peter and the Wolf" when he was growing up. "When I was a child, it hadn't been written yet," says Randall, who...
TINGLE ALL THE WAY: Z-100 HOLIDAY POPFEST GETS ITS GROOVE BACK
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amJINGLE BALL FOR the past couple of years, the Z-100 Jingle Ball has seemed as tired as a Christmas tree in June, but the radio station turned all that around...
ROAD-RAGER HELD IN HAMMER ATTACK
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amA truck driver in the grip of road rage terrorized three college students on the Long Island Expressway by smashing their car windows with a hammer and injuring one of...
MIKE BARES EXCEPTIONS TO TOUGH CARPOOL RULE
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amIn the event of a transit strike, only vehicles with four or more passengers will be allowed to enter or leave Manhattan on weekdays. But Mayor Bloomberg yesterday announced a...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amMANHATTAN A 25-year-old man was shot dead yesterday in front of a Lower East Side apartment building, police said. An unidentified assailant pulled a gun and pumped a bullet into...
NEW INSPECTION STALL
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - U.N. weapons inspectors were left cooling their heels for two hours yesterday to enter an Iraqi disease control center yesterday and were forced to use a special hot...
SMALL VACCINE AVAILABILITY
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush said yesterday that ordinary Americans can have the smallpox vaccine if they "insist." Bush is getting it, but his family and the White House staff won't....
GOVERNOR PATAKI AND SCHOOL AID
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amALBANY - Gov. Pataki yesterday raised the specter of cutting school aid next year because of the state's financial crisis. Pataki, who already has ordered state agencies to slash 5...
SHE'S A MODEL SHOPLIFTER
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amHot-fingered starlet Winona Ryder may wind up getting paid to wear clothes she tried to steal. The convicted shoplifter ,who was caught making off with a $760 Marc Jacobs thermal...
PLUCKY KID WHO SURVIVED SNIPER: BRING ON HOOPS!
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Young sniper victim Iran Brown, speaking out for the first time yesterday, said he's healing, gaining strength, and looking forward to playing more basketball. "I feel great and...
BAR OWNERS' LAST GASP IN SMOKE FIGHT
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amEmbattled bar and restaurant owners testified at City Hall yesterday in a last-ditch effort to stop the city from banning smoking in virtually all public places. "I want to let...
MIKE IN TAX-$$$ PLEDGE TO GOP
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Mayor Bloomberg has pledged city funds to make up any shortfall in the $71.5 million he has vowed to raise privately to host the 2004 Republican National Convention,...
ISRAELI WOMAN SOLDIER DIES IN HEBRON AMBUSH
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - A teenage corporal became the first Israeli woman soldier to die in the 2-year-long Palestinian uprising when she was cut down by a sniper, officials said yesterday. Keren...
MYSTERY OF A 9/11 'VICTIM' WHO LIVES
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amCity officials yesterday took Oliva Khemrat's name off the list of people killed on Sept. 11, but not everyone is celebrating the good news. Khemrat's mother Meena Bhiro, who has...
RR WORKERS: WE WON'T BE SCABBING
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amSome workers on the MTA's commuter railroads say they won't pitch in to help if city subway and bus workers walk out Monday. Leaders of 14 Metro-North Railroad unions met...
STAFF FACES WAGE RAGE IN PENSION GIVEBACK
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amTHE Bloomberg administration wants city workers to start making pension contributions again - which means they'd effectively be swallowing a 3 percent pay cut. The mayor anticipates $600 million in...
IRAQ REPORT A REPEAT PERFORMANCE
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The head of the international team hunting for nukes in Iraq says Saddam Hussein's weapons-free claim "cannot be taken at face value" because it's recycled information. And the...
GRANNY SLAIN FOR $20: IMMIGRANT BEATEN OUTSIDE QNS. HOME
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amA hardworking Queens grandmother, walking with an armful of groceries and just $20 in her wallet, died fighting for her life in a robbery near her home, law enforcement officials...
'POISON' PENN IN IRAQ : PLAYS INTO ENEMY HANDS
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amMove over, "Hanoi Jane," here comes "Baghdad Sean." The latest actor to turn self-styled peacenik, Sean Penn, arrived in Iraq for a three-day tour yesterday - claiming he wants to...
HE CHOPS 'TIL HE DROPS INTO JAIL
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amA Staten Island man yesterday was sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison - and ordered to pay nearly $1 million in restitution to insurance companies - for...
MOB 'HEAVY' CAN'T SHAKE BALL & CHAIN
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amA 395-pound reputed Mafioso - living proof that pasta carbonara and home confinement is a recipe for a waistline disaster - had his bid to join a gym refused by...
BLOOMBERG PUTS METTLE TO PEDAL WITH $500 BIKE
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amGet ready for Mike the Bike! If transit workers walk, Mayor Bloomberg plans to ride to work - at least once - on a $540 mountain bike that he bought...
KISSINGER KISS-OFF CITES CONFLICT IN QUITTING 9/11 PANEL
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Henry Kissinger last night abruptly resigned as chairman of the independent 9/11 commission, saying he didn't think he could quell lingering questions about conflicts of interest from his...
ANTI-TERROR UNITS READY: NYPD ON GUARD FOR EVILDOERS
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amThe NYPD's anti-terrorist units will be out in full force in the event of a transit strike, inspecting trucks and other vehicles that could be hauling explosives onto the city's...
EMBATTLED CARDINAL QUITS DIOCESE AFTER MEETING POPE
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amPope John Paul II accepted Bernard Cardinal Law's resignation as head of the Boston archdiocese yesterday as a yearlong sexual abuse scandal continued to shake the American Catholic community to...
ACT 2 OF LOTT'S 'SORRY' SHOW: GOP BIG APOLOGIZES ONCE MORE
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Senate Republican leader Trent Lott yesterday begged forgiveness for his "terrible" remarks that seemed to defend segregation as he battled to save his job against growing pressure to...
COPS ZERO IN ON SUBWAY HOAX BLOKES
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amPolice are looking for at least two young men suspected of planting dozens of boxes marked "fear" in the Union Square subway station - possibly as a publicity stunt, law...
JUDGE 'STRIKES' DOWN WORKERS: BANS WALKOUT AS BIGS SPIN WHEELS
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amAs a Brooklyn judge last night issued an injunction forbidding bus and subway workers from walking off their jobs after midnight tomorrow, union leaders and transit officials squabbled over whether...
'PRAGMATIC' TWU BOSS A MAN OF PRINCIPLE
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amHe talks softly, but is often compared to Mike Quill, the Irish firebrand who founded the transit workers union. He went three years without pay rather than settle a feud...
CRAZY LIKE A SOX?
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amA clue to his agenda. OK. Heres my theory: Mayor Bloombergs secret goal is to help the Red Sox finally win a World Series. Anybody got a better explanation for...
VEEP'S AIDE SWAPS WORK FOR CHILDREN
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Mary Matalin is doing a Karen Hughes. Vice President Dick Cheney's counselor - one of the most powerful women in America - is leaving the White House because...
METS TO MEET REDS, BUT NOT ABOUT JR.
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amMet execs plan to sit down with Reds brass today in Nashville, The Post has learned - but Ken Griffey Jr. will not be on the agenda. A source said...
RILEY: REFS HATE ME
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amMIAMI - Forget that last night's Knicks-Heat matchup was a battle for the Atlantic Division basement. Even if it was far from a sellout, the night had an electric, playoff...
HEISMAN RACE DOWN TO WIRE
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amOK. It's your turn. In what figures to be the closest race in history, who gets your vote for the Heisman Trophy? The candidates: Iowa quarterback Brad Banks has already...
BLACKBURN HAPPY FOR A PARTNER
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amTORONTO - For the first time in almost six weeks, the Rangers will have two bona fide NHL goaltenders in uniform for a game. Which suits Dan Blackburn just fine,...
ZITO APPEALING TO HIGHER COURT
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amTwo-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Nick Zito, flabbergasted that a New York appeals court on Thursday upheld the 15-day suspension and $2,000 fine levied against him by the State Racing and...
HOT CORNER IS HOT TOPIC FOR AMAZIN'S
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amNASHVILLE -As baseball's winter meetings got under way yesterday, the Mets made third base their top priority. Their goal is simple and direct. "We're hopeful of coming back a better...
TITLE IX CLOUDS RED STORM CUTS
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amThe last line of St. John's athletic mission statement states the school is committed "to provide equitable opportunities for men and women to participate and to operate within the rules...
JINTS' JONES PSYCHED FOR COWBOYS' VISIT
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amDaryl Jones, the Giants' rookie receiver, is a Dallas native who grew up rooting for the Cowboys and idolizing Michael Irvin. When the Giants played at Texas Stadium back on...
JUMBO: IT WASN'T ME
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amJumbo Elliott claimed that he didn't know anything about the alleged assault of limo driver Donald Matinsky on Monday, despite a published report that he was the Jet involved. "I...
NIEUWENDYK'S NOT FAZED BY DRY SPELL
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amOTTAWA - If true class is revealed in adversity, Joe Nieuwendyk has it in heaping helpings. He might prefer to trade some, however, for one measly goal. Off his elbow...
BYRD READY FOR HOLYFIELD
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amATLANTIC CITY - If the fighters' styles make the fight, than it's unlikely tonight's heavyweight championship fight between Evander Holyfield and Chris Byrd will provide much in the way of...
JETS INSIST FIGHT IS BURIED IN PAST
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amA day after practice ended in a brawl between the offense and defense, numerous Jets claimed that the matter was settled, including Kevin Mawae. But Mawae didn't sound like he...
ST. JOHN'S ATHLETES PLAN PROTEST TODAY
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amAthletes at St. John's plan a show of force today to voice support for the termination of five varsity sports. Bobby Rosenberg, a tri-captain on the football team, told The...
APPLE TEAMS COOL ON GRIF - BUT BELTRAN'S CENTER OF ATTENTION
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amNASHVILLE - Ken Griffey Jr. is available, adding spice to the winter meetings. He told a national publication this week that he wants the Yankees. But GM Brian Cashman indicated...
MCEWING RE-UPS FOR ONE YEAR
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amThe Mets yesterday signed utilityman Joe McEwing to a one-year, $600,000 contract - a 20 percent pay cut from last season. McEwing, 30, made franchise history last season by becoming...
FLORIDA TRIP OFF TO SO-SO START
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amIsles 3Panthers 3 SUNRISE, Fla. - Peter Laviolette talked about how important the current two-game trip through Florida was and how, with a pair of wins last night and tonight...
SCOTT, MUTOMBO TALK THINGS OVER
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amNET NOTES Byron Scott and Dikembe Mutombo met last night to clear some air that, they say, really didn't need clearing. Scott wanted Mutombo to know he was not upset...
SCORING SPREE ZAPS HEAT
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amKnicks 97Heat 92 MIAMI - Latrell Sprewell wants to be remembered in this city for his playoff glory on the court, not sleeping through a shootaround. Seemingly sparked by facing...
LATRELL'S TIMING IS MUCH BETTER
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amKNICK NOTESMIAMI - The first battle was won yesterday. Latrell Sprewell showed up to a Miami shootaround and expressed a morsel of regret for the events of last April. "It...
KIDD, JEFF DEFLATE AIR JORDAN LOOKS HIS AGE AS NETS STOP WIZARDS IN SWAMP SNORE-FEST
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amNets 79Wizards 65 Even with Michael Jordan on the court, the 17,208 folks who showed up for the Nets-Wizards last night had to be debating for much of the game,...
KURT MULLS APPEALING 5G FINE
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES MIAMI - Kurt Thomas said he may appeal the $5,000 fine levied against him by the league for his altercation with Seattle's Vladimir Radmanovic at the end of...
'PUNCTUAL' SPREE AVOIDS MIAMI HEAT
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amMIAMI - The first battle was won yesterday. Latrell Sprewell made it to a Miami shootaround. Told by reporters they watched to make sure he got off the bus, Sprewell...
NJ NOT SAME FOR MJ: KIDD'S NETS NO LONGER PATSIES FOR AIR SHOW
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amIt used to be so easy in New Jersey for Michael Jordan. Fly in, go to the game, win, leave. Yeah, that has changed. Jason Kidd saw to that. And...
K-MART MAKES DEFENSIVE STRIDES
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amNET NOTES Last year, Kenyon Martin's reputation was that of the league's premier flagrant fouler. This year, his image has changed considerably. "He's starting to get the reputation as a...
JETS PROCLAIM THURSDAY FIGHT IS FORGOTTEN
December 14, 2002 | 5:00amA day after practice ended in a brawl between the offense and defense, numerous Jets claimed that the matter was settled, including Kevin Mawae. But Mawae didn't sound like he...