January 2, 2002
OUR CRYSTAL BALL: FOR MAGS, THINGS JUST GETTING WORSE
The magazine industry shows no sign of pulling out of the slump that is now a year old. Industry insiders look for more turmoil at hardpressed companies such as Primedia,...
LOOK FOR NEW LBOS TO DRIVE DEAL FLOW
With 2001 now a painful memory, Wall Street dealmakers are praying the new year will usher in a much-needed pickup in mergers and acquisitions. While most industry watchers believe M&A...
RETAILERS SHARPENING THE KNIVES
Retailers probably think they had it bad last year, but the coming year's not looking much brighter. Though some Wall Street analysts believe we've seen the bottom of this recession...
FASHION FACING BLOODY SHAKEOUT
The next year will be plenty painful for the fashion industry. American designers walk a fine line between art and commerce, but the new year will be a challenge for...
BEST BET: RECOVERY WILL SHOW UP IN Q3
OK, as long as the terrorists are kept at bay and the war in Afghanistan doesn't linger, the new year has got to be an improvement over the devastation of...
OUR CHRYSTAL BALL: WHAT WE CAN EXPECT IN THE NEW YEAR - VIVENDI'S APPETITE FOR DEALS GROWING
The nation's major media companies are reeling from the ad recession - but that isn't stopping them from continuing to plot ways to beat each others' brains out. All eyes...
SHARK-INFESTED WATERS IN REAL ESTATE
The new year's real estate decisions will all follow in the wake of the fallen towers. The economy was already tanking before the attack, and firms were laying off big...
'EISENSTEIN' TAKES A FEW MISSTEPS
EISENSTEIN 1/2 Fictionalized portrait of famed Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein.Running time: 96 minutes. Not rated (sex, violence). At the Film Forum, Houston Street, between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street. Through...
STARR REPORT
'Fat' city: More 'Albert' for UPN UPN's re-airing of "The Fat Albert Christmas Special" after a 24-year gap has spurred talks of UPN reviving other "Fat Albert" specials, says Variety....
WEST END RIPE FOR PICKING ; BUSHEL OF BRIT HITS EYED FOR B'WAY
THINGS are a little sleepy on Broadway right now, what with theater mucky-mucks running off to ski houses in Vermont, private yachts in the Caribbean and spas in Arizona. But...
FRENCH CONFECTION
MARSEILLE 630 NINTH AVE. (AT 44TH STREET) (212) 333-3410 MARSEILLE brings something new to rough-and-tumble Ninth Avenue: design and concept. A Marseille/Moroccan mirage, the place rewrites the rule book for...
PROSPECTS ABOUND AT PARK SLOPE WINE SHOP
MOST wine stores are about as different from one another as McDonald's franchises.Walk past the Veuve Clicquot in the window to see shelves full of California chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon,...
VITAMIN UP ITS SLEEVES
NEW for 2002 - getting your vitamins by wearing a T-shirt. A Japanese company has developed a fiber containing a chemical that turns into Vitamin C when it comes in...
ETHNIC COMFORT NEAR YOU
ONE of the great things about this city is having a ready-to-eat world at your doorstep. Here's a taste of some of the far-flung comfort foods at hand. * Bacalhau...
GLOBAL WARMING ; FOOD TASTES LIKE HOME, WHEREVER THAT IS
WITH all the hoopla over mac and cheese lately, you'd think it's the only comfort food on Earth.Hardly.There's a globeful of soothing dishes out there, and the new cookbook "Home...
THE PATRIOT GAMES ; IT'S $UPER BOWL VS. OLYMPIC$ AND HERE'S HOW THEY MATCH UP:
IT has the makings of the most patriotic month of TV sports programming ever. The only question is: Which event - the Super Bowl or the Winter Olympics - will...
WITH HIS OWN LATE, LATE SHOW (1:35 A.M.), WILL BLEARY-EYED MTV FANS MAKE... CARSON DALY THE NEW DICK CLARK? ; 'IT'S NOT LIKE THESE ARE MUTANT PEOPLE WHO CRAWL OUT OF A HOLE...IT'S THE REGULAR AUDIENCE BUT MUCH SMALLER - NBC VP RICK LUDWIN
CAN Carson Daly, the eternally boyish MTV host, make people forget Bob Costas? Daly, 28, takes over as host of the on-again-off-again, late, late "Last Call" on Monday night. It's...
BURN, BABY! WHAT'S HOT AND NOT IN THEATER, MUSIC AND MOVIES, THEATER AND MUSIC FOR 2002
Movies HOT "The Two Towers" Despite an unfortunate name, the second film in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy is the one guaranteed hit of 2002 NOT HOT Movies with...
10 MORE HEROES FOUND IN RUBBLE
While most New Yorkers were toasting the New Year with champagne, workers at ground zero were recovering the bodies of 10 firefighters from the rubble. In the biggest discovery of...
AOL PUTS HARVARD IN SHAM SPAM JAM
You got derailed. America Online last month junked dozens of replies from Harvard University to its early applicants. Scared off by the anthrax postal threat, the esteemed university was looking...
COPS: HIT-RUN DRIVER KILLS WOMAN CROSSING NORTHERN BOULEVARD
A woman in her 60s was killed by a hit-and-run driver on a busy Queens thoroughfare yesterday, police said. The woman, whose name was not immediately released, was struck by...
'SUBWAY SURFER' KILLED IN B'KLYN
A Bronx man was struck and killed in a Brooklyn subway tunnel early yesterday - apparently after a dangerous train-surfing stunt took a deadly turn, authorities said. Ariel Briones, 20,...
BULLY DAY FOR 'BILLY' & BETSY
City Comptroller William Thompson's lively father stole the show yesterday - swearing in his son with a confident wish that he'll be mayor someday. "Billy, if you do your usual...
HIZZONER'S A RAIL STRAPHANGER
The wealthiest mayor in Big Apple history pulled up to City Hall for his inaugural festivities yesterday in a subway car. Mayor Bloomberg hopped on a No. 6 train near...
DIVAS, DEALS AND DISSES ; SARTORIAL SPLENDOR MEETS PB&J SANDWICHES
Bette Midler knows how to be a diva. Like all performers at yesterday's inaugural ceremonies, the star got a private room with refreshments to ready herself before singing the national...
FREDDY IS STANDING-O SO RUDE TO RUDY
Former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer refused to join the inaugural crowd yesterday in a standing ovation to honor Mayor Giuliani. Ferrer, who was barely on speaking terms with Giuliani...
MIKE THROWS A 'COURTLY' BASH ; INAUGURAL GALA AT TWEED IS CLASSY BUT LOW-KEY
Mayor Bloomberg's post-inauguration party at the restored Tweed Courthouse yesterday was an austere bash, where guests munched on vegetable wraps and sipped Brooklyn Lager. The storied courthouse - once the...
JUST CALL THEM THE B'KLYN POLAR BRRRRS
Seemingly sensible New Yorkers stripped down to nearly nothing yesterday to shiver in the cold before making a mad dash into the frigid waters off Coney Island. This was the...
OH, BABY! IT'S A TIE ; TWO INFANTS USHER IN NEW YEAR AT MIDNIGHT
For cryin' out loud - two children born at the stroke of midnight yesterday are battling it out for the title of the First Big Apple Baby of 2002. The...
MIKE THE KNIFE: NEW MAYOR CALLS FOR 20% CUTS
Mayor Bloomberg bluntly warned New Yorkers in his inaugural address yesterday that the city's finances are stretched so thin, "We will not even be able to afford everything we currently...
METS JOIN WINNING TEAM AT CITY HALL
Pinstripes are out, and the Mets are in. After eight years of diehard Yankee booster Rudy Giuliani showing his team allegiance, Mayor Bloomberg sent an orange-and-blue signal to city baseball...
CITY BIGS HOWL AT HIZZONER'S 'CUTTING' REMARKS
City bigs howl at Hizzoner's 'cutting' remarks Mayor Bloomberg's tough talk of sacrifice and promises to listen to everyone drew praise from the crowd of veteran officials, but his call...
BLOOMBERG TAKES CHARGE
New York not only got a new mayor yesterday - it got a new "first lady." Diana Taylor, Mayor Bloomberg's girlfriend, sat beaming from the front row of the dais...
BLOOMY'S BABES KNOW THEIR WINTER FASHIONS
IF Mayor Bloomberg's commitment to balancing the city budget is as strong as the commitment the women in his life have to stylish cold-weather gear, New York's in for a...
HIZZONER'S LONG VIEW COMES UP A BIT SHORT ON SPECIFICS ; COST-CUTTING A PERSONNEL WOE
ANALYSIS Michael Bloomberg, the mayor we barely know, yesterday offered a brief glimpse of where he wants to take the city. Like most inaugural addresses, Bloomberg's 14-minute speech was long...
RUDY HITS THE LECTURE CIRCUIT
Just hours after watching Mike Bloomberg take office, Rudy Giuliani yesterday headed to Florida to deliver his first speech on the lucrative lecture circuit and get some much-needed relaxation, sources...
2002 DAWNS WITH A MURDER AS BULLETS FLY ON STATEN ISLAND
A young Staten Island man - shot twice in the back just before dawn yesterday - was the first reported homicide of the new year. Jason Parker, 22, of Simonson...
U.S. & AFGHAN FORCES JOIN IN MULLAH MISSION
WASHINGTON - U.S. troops yesterday went on a mission with Afghan guerrilla fighters to try to capture elusive Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar in the rugged mountains northwest of Kandahar,...
ISRAELI TROOPS NAB 5 TERROR SUSPECTS
JERUSALEM - Israeli special forces captured five top terror suspects yesterday on the eve of another peacemaking mission by the Bush administration's special Mideast envoy. Military sources said Israelis seized...
LETTER BARES SCHOOL'S HIJACK TIP TO FEDS
WASHINGTON - A Minnesota flight school warned the FBI that so-called "20th hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui might have been plotting a skyjacking almost a month before the Sept. 11 attacks, a...
BUBBA'S A NO-SHOW AT NEW MAYOR'S SWEARING-IN
Where was Bill? Former President Bill Clinton snubbed Mayor Bloomberg's swearing-in yesterday - even though organizers had saved him a front-row seat. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was vague on the...
DIVIDED THEY STAND ON THE EURO ; NEW CASH IS ALL THE 'RAGE' IN EVERY WAY
From cafes in Paris to tavernas in Athens, the euro was splashed around for the first time yesterday - but European unity was nowhere to be seen. The new currency,...
DURST CONFESSED TO WIFE-SLAY: MAG
Robert Durst's closest confidante told friends the real-estate heir confessed to her that he killed his long-missing wife, a new report claims. Five days before she was murdered, on Christmas...
AMTRAK RIDERS IN FIVE-HOUR NIGHTMARE
Passengers aboard a Boston-to-Washington Amtrak train were stuck nearly five hours without heat, electricity or bathrooms yesterday because the train's electric locomotive failed. The Acela Regional train, carrying 300 passengers,...
'20TH HIJACKER' MAY PLEAD INSANITY
WASHINGTON - The French-Moroccan man accused of being the "20th hijacker" appears in federal court today to enter a plea in the death-penalty charges against him - and maybe claim...
NHL OFFICIALS MAKING AN EXAMPLE OF THEO
EDMONTON - The numbers have become frightening. So, too, the implications for Theo Fleury, the Rangers, and perhaps the NHL itself. In the last nine games, beginning with the Dec....
HAPPY TRAILS AGAIN FOR SHEA FAMILY
LAST week, Jim Shea Jr. qualified for the U.S. Olympic skeleton team, making the Sheas the first family to produce three generations of Olympians. Jim Sr. competed in the Nordic...
SIZZLIN' VICTORY FOR XTRA HEAT
There have been some great filly sprinters over the years, champions like Ta Wee, My Juliet, Gold Beauty and Safely Kept, but Xtra Heat takes a back seat to none...
SHANDON SHOOTS BACK ; ANDERSON SAYS HE'LL GET BETTER WITH MORE TIME
Shandon Anderson's frustration level has reached a new high. Responding to Don Chaney's claim that he's letting his offensive woes affect his entire game, Anderson shot back that his reduced...
ISLES GO DOWN MEEKLY ; CAPITALS EXTEND HEX TO 21
Capitals 3Islanders 2 WASHINGTON - It's no secret the Islanders aren't intimidating anyone. Yesterday it was openly apparent to the 17,609 at the MCI Center that the Isles have a...
PITT'S MCCARROLL READY FOR RED STORM
When Mark McCarroll told people where he had decided to go to college, he was met with the same reaction almost every time. "They all thought I was crazy," said...
DEAD TEAM WALKING: JETS ARE DOOMED TO MISS PLAYOFFS
FOR most of this NFL season, I've been a firm believer in the 2001 Jets, a staunch supporter of Herman Edwards and his coaching staff and on board with the...
SPOON COULD RETURN DURING TEXAS TRIP
KNICK NOTES Clarence Weatherspoon has been cleared for running and could be back at practice Friday and in the lineup sometime during the Knicks' three-game Texas trip that begins Monday...
GLASS PROBLEMS ARE GLARING
The Nets are being out-rebounded on the season. OK, so it's not earth-shattering news and won't knock the bowl games out of the sports headlines. But that is something that...
KENYON'S ADMISSION BACKFIRES
NET NOTES Never wear a tin hat in an electrical storm. Never check for rattlesnakes under a rock with your bare hand. And never, ever tell Michael Jordan you're hurting....
BACKUP MIGHT BE LORD OF THE WING
PASADENA - All it will take is a hit or one high ankle sprain, and Nebraska's dream of winning the national title in tomorrow night's Rose Bowl will rest in...
THE ARMS OF A STRANGER ; CROUCH, DORSEY LIKE NIGHT & DAY
PASADENA - Nebraska's Eric Crouch and Miami's Ken Dorsey first met in mid-December at the college football awards show in Orlando and got to know each other better in New...
COTTRELL SEEMS GOOD BET FOR CHARGERS' TOP JOB
JET NOTES Jet defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell will be interviewed by the Chargers soon for their vacant head-coaching job. Bank on that happening even though, in his typical self-effacing humor,...
FOX SEES BLUE SKIES BEHIND GIANT CLOUDS
HIS defense was ravaged for 10 points in 102 seconds, crashing and burning to dump the Giants out of playoff contention, and so it was understandable that John Fox yesterday...
SPECIALIST LOOKING AT LINDROS
EDMONTON - After withholding the information for at least 24 hours and for no apparent reason, the Rangers yesterday acknowledged that they'd asked Dr. Karen Johnston to fly here from...
GONZO, METS SLATE 'SUBSTANTIVE' TALKS
What a Juan-derful life it's going to be for the Mets. Starting with today's talks between Juan Gonzalez's agent, Jeff Moorad, and Steve Phillips. The two sides will get together...
DEVS AGAIN 'ONE'-UP FOE
Devils 2Blues 1 Each time now that the Devils go back to basics, back to their basis, they seem to dwell there a little longer, becoming a bit stronger. It's...
GIONTA MAY BRING ANSWER
It could be the solution to the Devils' problem, one way or the other. Bringing up rookie Brian Gionta for a look-see is an obvious attempt to find a replacement...