February 20, 2002

ICE HOUSE LANDLORD SETTLES

After a long deep freeze, they can finally chill out at the Ice House. The developer of the luxury loft building at 27 N. Moore St. has turned over $2...

MEDI-HUT PLUNGES AFTER ACCOUNTANTS QUIT

Troubled condom maker Medi-Hut Co.'s stock got slammed again yesterday after the company's accountants quit. Shares lost 20 percent in heavy trading, falling 76 cents to $3.04. The medical-products supplier...

JANOVIC/PLAZA PAINTS DOWNTOWN

SPRUCING up Downtown will soon get easier. Paint and hardware specialist Janovic/Plaza intends to open its 10th city store in a three-level space just four blocks north of ground zero....

SPRINT-ING TO SECURE BY JESSICA SOMMAR

Long-distance telephone service provider Sprint Corp.'s stock plunged as it moved to secure fresh financing and avoid tapping into bank loans that could trip a threatened credit downgrade. Sprint said...

BLACK & BLUE CHIPS - TAINT OF ENRON KEEPING INVESTORS OUT OF MARKET

Stocks took a nose-dive as investors' fears over future accounting scandals and debt defaults fed a buyer's strike. Tech stocks riddled by the sell-off, took the Nasdaq down to levels...

LAZARD POACHES A BIG ONE FROM CSFB

Credit Suisse First Boston said good-bye to one of its veteran bankers yesterday, when Charles Ward, co-head of global investment banking, said he would leave to become president of Lazard...

NEW RULES FOR TV - COURT DECISION COULD BRING CABLE BID FOR NBC

In a landmark media decision, a federal court paved the way for NBC to be bought by the likes of Bill Gates or Ted Turner. The surprise ruling vacated a...

ARNAULT BAILS ON AUCTION BUSINESS

Luxury king Bernard Arnault is giving up trying to win over the rich art crowd with his upstart Phillips auction house. The billionaire had plowed hundreds of millions into private...

A LOIRE UNTO ITSELF

THE owners of Chambers Street Wines - which opened last June in a retired firehouse four blocks from the World Trade Center -figure they have the largest stock of Loire...

FEAST MEETS OUEST

OUEST [] 2315 BROADWAY (AT WEST 84TH STREET) (212) 580-8700 ------- 'NOTHING to apologize for," the waiter at Ouest kids us when we explain that our half-eaten filet mignon was...

STARR REPORT

Ex-'Headline'(r) opens up web shopLynne Russell, who left "CNN Headline News" last year, has logged onto the 'Net with her own website, lynne-russell.com. "These are the kinds of things men...

THIRTY YEARS AGO, THE DAD IN THIS PICTURE KILLED HIS WHOLE FAMILY - AND DISAPPEARED - 'I THOUGHT, I WON'T BE CAUGHT'

JOHN List - the quiet New Jersey accountant who murdered his entire family in 1971, took on a new identity and a new family and went undetected for 18 years...

DUCASSE HAS 'EM TALKING

NOW that Alain Ducasse is enjoying new-found success with his eponymous Manhattan restaurant, he's planning to open another eatery in the Big Apple. "He's looking at space in another hotel,"...

'LIFE' HAS BREADTH

BIG news out of London: Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, arguably the two greatest actresses treading the boards today, will co-star in "The Breath of Life," a new play by...

STAR CHEF KNOWS HOW TO BRING HOME THE BACON

TOM Valenti is having a sizzling affair and he doesn't care who knows it. "Bacon - I l-o-o-ove bacon," gushes the chef of Ouest. He's also having a romance with...

BY GOLLUM, 'RINGS' TROLL IS UGLY

LOOK out, Jar Jar Binks - there's a new movie creature coming to wipe that goofy grin off your computer-generated face. The second installment of "Lord of the Rings" will...

RUSTLE UP TO BARK

BARK [ 1/2] 255 W. 10TH ST. (NEAR HUDSON STREET) (212) 633-1133 ------- THE wild wild West Village just got a tad more genteel with the opening of BarK (pronounced...

HONESTLY MONICA - HBO SPECIAL TELLS HOW SHE GOT BILL AND WHY SHE KEPT THAT DRESS

"Monica in Black and White" [ ] Sunday, March at 10 on HBO --------- BILL Clinton had an affair with Monica Lewinsky and it cost us -the half-witted taxpayers -...

DEFINITIONS OF GOOD TASTE - TO EAT RIGHT IN THIS TOWN, LEARN YOUR PONZUS & YUZUS

You think you're set for a big night out. You have a date, a new 'do, and reservations at a happening restaurant. Now, suppose while perusing the menu, the object...

ISRAEL HITS ARAFAT'S HQ - MISSILE FLIES AFTER SIX SOLDIERS DIE IN AMBUSH

JERUSALEM - A missile fired from an Israeli helicopter slammed into Yasser Arafat's West Bank compound today - but the PLO leader was unhurt, a Palestinian official said. The missile...

OUR BEST CHANCE FOR BETTER SCHOOLS

TODAY the U.S. Supreme Court will hear one of the most important education cases in America since Brown vs. Board of Education. It could greatly enhance the ability of parents...

POLICE AT JFK DETAIN YEMENIS

A group of 31 Yemeni men trying to board a British Airways flight at Kennedy Airport last night were stopped for credential checks, and several were kept from boarding, officials...

THE MEDIA ALREADY HAVE

SUDDENLY, it seems, America is doing more wrong than right as it fights the war on terrorism. Or so you might think from the press and TV coverage. In the...

OLDSTERS' GENES STUDIED AS KEY TO US ALL LIVING LONGER

A Boston biotech firm is studying people 100 and older to find a longevity gene that could be used to help others pass the century mark. Scientists at Centagenetics hope...

BILL PROBER MAY OPPOSE SEN. 'TORCH'

WASHINGTON - The independent counsel who replaced Ken Starr in the long-running investigation of Bill and Hillary Clinton says he might challenge Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli in New Jersey. "I'm...

BOARD BIG MARIO STEERS 26.5G TO SON'S CAMPAIGN

Former Gov. Mario Cuomo helped funnel $26,500 in donations to his son's gubernatorial campaign from a taxi-medallion company where he serves on the board, The Post has learned. An examination...

LIMBO LEGEND REVEALS DANCE'S SLAVE-ERA ORIGIN

When America was dancing the limbo like crazy 40-plus years ago, few knew they were taking part in a ritual that celebrated the horrors of man's inhumanity to man. "The...

PATAKI, ANDY IN DUELING DOMINICAN DASHES

New York's gubernatorial battle headed far south yesterday as Gov. Pataki and Andrew Cuomo held near-overlapping events in the Dominican Republic. Pataki, on a politically charged, state-funded three-day swing through...

'GODFATHER' FEELS GOOD ABOUT JURY'S HARASS VOTE

LOS ANGELES - A jury yesterday cleared soul legend James Brown of sexual harassment, but held his company liable for wrongful termination of a former employee. The "Godfather of Soul"...

N.J. HOLDS HIT-&-RUN SICKO ON NEW RAP

Accused hit-run madman Ronald Popadich was slapped with additional charges yesterday stemming from last week's deadly roadway rampage. Police in Secaucus filed car-jacking charges against the unemployed, 39-year- old loner...

IT'S REEL-LIFE N.Y. - STARS FILM IN B'KLYN AS HOLLYWOOD RETURNS TO CITY

New York is back in the picture. After a brief lull, Hollywood has resumed shooting full-length features on the streets of New York. The latest star-studded venture got under way...

BODY HUNT RE-VAMPED - TONS OF DEBRIS TO BE CLEARED QUICKLY

Ground Zero workers are racing to finish a massive steel truck ramp that will allow them to clear a large area of World Trade Center debris believed to contain human...

'SURVIVOR' 'SCREW-UP' COSTS CBS $200G

A mistake that may have influenced the outcome of "Survivor: Africa" has forced CBS to pay three contestants as second-place winners. Last month, the network awarded $100,000 each to runner-ups...

'SWEAR'-IN AT PORN KING'S TRIAL

Potential jurors in a Brooklyn courthouse were stunned yesterday when the judge read aloud a list of four-letter words allegedly used by porn king Al Goldstein against his former secretary....

$56M JURY AWARD FOR TRAGIC TRIPLET LEFT CRIPPLED BY BOTCH AFTER BIRTH

A teen triplet left brain-damaged because of a doctor's misdiagnosis has been awarded $56 million by a Manhattan jury. Beth Meyers, 13, suffers from cerebral palsy, is legally blind and...

BERMUDA BLOOMY TEES OFF ON PRESS

Mayor Bloomberg wasn't missing over the weekend - he was lost in the Bermuda Triangle. Bloomberg, who bucked tradition by secretly ducking out of town for three days, was spotted...

PRIVATE-SCHOOL VOUCHERS AIDING BLACKS: STUDY

Black students who attend private schools through the city's privately funded voucher program scored substantially higher on standardized math and reading tests than their counterparts in public schools, a new...

CARNEGIE SUSPECT: VICTIM SMILED

The first victim of accused Carnegie Deli killer Sean Salley smiled at him when he entered her apartment, his alleged accomplice told cops. When they went into her apartment, Jennifer...

SHE BEGGED FACE-EATING LOVER TO SEE PSYCHIATRIST

The Queens woman whose face was gnawed to pieces in a stomach-churning attack Sunday begged her boyfriend to get mental help before he allegedly tore into her cheek with his...

CREMATE SCAM A KIN BIZ: COPS

Creepy cremator Ray Brent Marsh may have just been following family tradition in dumping hundreds of corpses on his rural property, Georgia investigators said yesterday. While the 28-year-old Marsh's parents...

EVERY GORY DETAIL - KILLER-DOG TRIAL START A HORROR SHOW

LOS ANGELES - Prosecutors displayed gut-wrenching autopsy photos yesterday of a bloodied and battered woman, killed by two vicious dogs who tore her flesh from head to toe. Long Island...

AIR FORCE ADMITS CITY BUZZ WAS A 'LOW' MOMENT

The Air Force admitted yesterday it goofed big-time when two low-flying F-16 jets jolted sleeping New Yorkers out of their beds earlier this week. A spokesman from the North American...

POL RIPS TOUGHER CUNY AS 'RACIST'

The new head of the City Council's higher-education panel yesterday slammed the City University's tougher entrance standards as discriminatory toward minority students. Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barron said there's often a...

JUDGE DELAYS SENTENCING IN 'EX' SLAY

A man convicted of killing his wife's first husband before marrying her staved off sentencing yesterday, arguing that her word shouldn't be enough to put him behind bars for life....

GREEN LIGHT FOR INSURANCE RULES

ALBANY - A judge yesterday removed a hold on new auto-insurance regulations that the Pataki administration says will help cut rates. Justice William Wetzel, of Manhattan Supreme Court, found that...

SENTENCE DELAY IN 'EX' SLAY

A man convicted of killing his wife's first husband before marrying her staved off sentencing yesterday - arguing that her word shouldn't be enough to put him behind bars for...

6 ISRAELI SOLDIERS SLAIN - AFTER NINE PALESTINIANS ARE KILLED IN REVENGE RAIDS

JERUSALEM - Palestinian gunmen killed six Israeli soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint last night, capping a bloody day that also saw nine Palestinians die in Israeli raids. The death...

NEW TRUCK RAMP WILL BOOST HUNT FOR BODIES

Ground Zero workers are racing to finish a massive steel truck ramp that will allow them to clear a large area of World Trade Center debris believed to contain human...

'IT' BETTER BE WORTH IT: BIDDING HITS 30G FOR 'FUTURE' SCOOTER

The hot new "IT" scooter won't go on sale for another nine months, but three limited-edition models went on the auction block yesterday - sending wealthy bidders into a frenzy....

AIR FORCE: CITY BUZZ A 'LOW' MOMENT

The Air Force admitted yesterday it goofed big-time when two low-flying F-16 jets jolted sleeping New Yorkers out of their beds earlier this week. A spokesman from the North American...

DWI'S WIDOW WINS OK TO SUE CARMAKER

ALBANY - The widow of a heavily drunken driver may not have only her husband to blame for the fatal accident - the state's top court ruled yesterday she can...

U.S. HOOPSTERS SEEK REVERSAL OF '72 'SCAM' GAME

The U.S. Olympic basketball team is going for the gold in 2002 - the 1972 team, that is. Three decades after the basketball team lost to the USSR in what...

THE FIXIN'S LONG OVERDUE FOR THIS 'FIX'

THE fix was fixed at these Winter Olympics, but who's going to fix it for the 1972 U.S. basketball team? It's time to lift the Iron Curtain on the greatest...

BUSH STILL OPEN TO N. KOREA TALKS

Aides to President Bush, who arrived in South Korea yesterday, said he will renew an offer of unconditional talks with the North as he seeks to reassure Asian allies who...

COUNCILMAN RIPS CUNY'S 'RACIST' RULES

The new head of the City Council's higher-education panel yesterday slammed City University's tougher entrance standards as discriminatory toward minority students. Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barron said there's often a hidden...

COOL KWAN HALFWAY HOME - U.S. WOMEN 1, 3, 4 IN SHORT PROGRAM

SALT LAKE CITY - Gliding across the ice like a sequined swan, Michelle Kwan melted hearts last night as she gracefully swept toward an elusive Olympic gold medal. In a...

NOT AN ICE FOLLY IN SIGHT ON ALL-AMERICAN WINNERS

Americans are the most stylish people in the world. Or at least they were last night in Salt Lake City, where they were fashionably victorious over Olympic figure skating's continental...

'72 HOOP TEAM HOPES FOR 'GOLDEN' OLDIE

The golden good fortune of Canadian skate sensations Jamie Sale and David Pelletier is giving hope to another group of Olympians who say they've been fouled by bad officiating -...

THE ART OF THE MATTER - ARTIST ANTHONY WHITAKER USES HIS TALENT

Anthony Whitaker knew the moment he set eyes on the remains of the south tower of the destroyed World Trade Center - jutted steel, still erect with a sense of...

GIVING HEART AND SOUL - KIM ROYSTER WAS THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN TO SING FOR A PRESIDENT REPRESENTING THE NYPD. SHE COMBINES FAMILY, WORK AND A SUCCESSFUL SINGING CAREER

Kim Royster proudly wears a shield of gold, with a heart and voice to match. In her 15 years with the NYPD, Sgt. Royster, 39, has climbed up the ranks,...

READY TO TAKE CHARGE - NYC DEPUTY MAYOR DENNIS WALCOTT HAS PROVED HE IS READY FOR TOUGH CHALLENGES

Dennis Walcott always returns his phone calls. It just takes him longer now. "I used to call people back usually with in 24 hours," said New York's new Deputy Mayor...

BURNING AMBITION - ERROL ANDERSON WORKS TO RECRUIT MINORITIES TO THE RANKS OF NEW YORK'S BRAVEST

Errol Anderson rarely gets a positive first response when he talks to inner city teenagers about becoming a firefighter. "Man, I'm not running into any burning buildings" is a typical...

FIGHTING THE BENEFITS OF OTHERS - NORMAN SEABROOK WON RIGHTS FOR CORRECTION OFFICERS

Norman Seabrook knew things had to change. He knew while patrolling the toughest jails in New York that on any given day he might not make it home, and his...

WILLIAM THOMPSON JR., COMPTROLLER

If City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. was trying to keep quiet about his political plans, he can blame his father for spilling the beans. At his swearing in ceremony last...

SPREE-STEPH DEAL DISCUSSED - SUNS WOULD ALSO GET CAMBY, WARD

CHICAGO - While a handful of GMs claimed yesterday the Suns aren't moving Stephon Marbury, a Western Conference official confirmed the Knicks, Phoenix and Golden State have discussed a three-team...

ACHY TODD HAS THAT LEFT-OUT FEELING

NET NOTES Last night was weird, really weird, for Todd MacCulloch. And he didn't even play in the Nets' 123-115 victory over the Warriors. The Nets' 7-foot-0 center missed his...

KIDD'S 6TH TRIPLE ALMOST WASTED

So who were those guys in Net uniforms last night, the Knicks? Oh, wait. Couldn't have been the Knicks. These guys blew a huge lead. But won. Jason Kidd recorded...

NO-NAMES MAKE HISTORY - NO. 2 U.S. BOBSLEDDERS RIDE TO GOLD

PARK CITY, Utah - The U.S. bobsled team no one knew about made history last night. Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers stunned the field, winning the gold medal in the...

APOLO ON NEW MISSION

SALT LAKE CITY - Apolo Anton Ohno has learned the Olympic adage "No Pain, No Gain" is indeed true. Ohno practiced for the second straight day yesterday since suffering a...

KWAN SHORT AND SWEET - MICHELLE FLAWLESS IN TAKING EARLY LEAD

SALT LAKE CITY - These are the lies Michelle Kwan, the most scrutinized person in the nation last night, has been telling herself for four years: "Will [a gold medal]...

RESORTS PUT PRESERVING THE ENVIRONMENT AT PEAK

TO raise awareness about the environment, the National Ski Areas Association's (NSAA) second annual "Sustainable Slopes" outreach campaign will take place on Saturday. The focus will be on the programs...

LOSING, EVEN WITH HONOR, IS NOT AN OPTION FOR CANADA

THEY are Canadians first, Coyotes, Penguins, Rangers and Devils second. And these Canadian hockey players at Salt Lake are facing pressure that not a single collection of American athletes has...

DRAFT-SNUBBED GARNES EXPECTS A GIANT PAY CUT

Sam Garnes figures he knows what comes next. "I think they're probably going to want me to take a pay cut," he surmised. Good guess. The expansion draft to stock...

PAYTON KNOWS HE NEEDS A BIG YEAR

MET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE - During the winter, Jay Payton and Benny Agbayani knew the end was near. The two outfielders, who came up with the Mets around the...

BOSS WON'T SHUT DOOR ON CONE

YANKEE NOTES TAMPA - Hearing the words of former GM Gabe Paul ringing in his ears, George Steinbrenner refuses to count out David Cone returning to the Yankees. "We are...

NOW COMES THE BIG ONE

Canada 7 - Finland 3 SALT LAKE CITY - Eight straight times, the American women hockey players have beaten the Canadiens, every single time they have played, with only one...

JACK MAY BACK OUT OF MASTERS

Jack Nicklaus, battling chronic back problems that have kept him out of tournament competition for months, said yesterday he's clinging to slim hopes of playing in his 41st Masters in...

THE SULTAN OF SPRING - JASON'S YANK DEBUT A REAL POWER SHOW

TAMPA - Jason Giambi's beefy hands didn't touch wood all winter. So when the next great Yankee stepped into a Legends Field batting cage yesterday against coach Willie Randolph, Giambi...

STRAW HAS JOB WAITING

TAMPA - Life is looking up for Darryl Strawberry. His colon cancer is in remission, and George Steinbrenner says the former slugger will have a job in the Yankee organization...

VAUGHN MAKING PRESENCE FELT

PORT ST. LUCIE - Mo Vaughn sat in the home dugout at Thomas J. White Stadium, rubbing his shaved scalp, wringing his black cap in his hands and constantly describing...

LATECOMER BENITEZ: WE'RE ONLY HUMAN

PORT ST. LUCIE - Palm trees danced to the tune of a loud wind as the Florida sun played peek-a-boo with the clouds. Michael Manchise, all 61 pounds of him,...

WILL GIAMBI STIR THE DRINK, OR CONTROVERSY?

TAMPA - By coincidence, they arrived at the Legends Field player parking lot at the same moment yesterday morning and shared a golf-cart lift to the Yankee clubhouse on their...

JACK MAY SKIP MASTERS

Jack Nicklaus, battling chronic back problems that have kept him out of tournament competition for months, said yesterday he's clinging to slim hopes of playing in his 41st Masters in...

GERMAN WARFARE - TEAM USA PUMPED FOR ONE-AND-DONE MATCH

SALT LAKE CITY - The German coach, who didn't pull his goalie with a chance to tie Canada, said through a translator he wanted to finish fourth in the four-team...

BELARUS SKATER BUSTED

SALT LAKE CITY - A doped-up speedskater from Belarus has been booted out of the Winter Games after a steroid dose nearly 400 times the acceptable limit was found in...

U.S. PRIMED FOR MEDALS IN SKELETON

SALT LAKE CITY - The waiting is over. The track is in perfect condition. The skeleton is back. For the first time since the 1948 Olympics, this daredevil sport in...

BERGY GOES BUST IN AERIALS

OLYMPIC ROUNDUP SALT LAKE CITY - A mistake last summer came back to haunt U.S. aerial freestyle legend Eric Bergoust yesterday, shattering his dream of becoming the sport's first back-to-back...

'72 HOOPSTER: MEDAL CAN'T 'FIX' INJUSTICE

KEVIN Joyce doesn't have an Olympic basketball gold medal around his neck, but he's got one in his heart. Joyce and his 11 teammates had the gold medal stolen from...

NCAA KEEPS BLOOM FROM CASHING IN

OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK SALT LAKE CITY - Just when we had a new acronym to kick around, the ISU - International Skating Union - the NCAA proves once again that it,...

BERGOUST GOES BUST IN AERIALS

SALT LAKE CITY - A mistake last summer came back to haunt U.S. aerial freestyle legend Eric Bergoust yesterday, shattering his dream of becoming the sport's first back-to-back gold medalist....

JACKSON MAY DRAW ACTION - PACERS COVET KNICK PG

CHICAGO - Could Mark Jackson be dealt for the second straight year at the NBA's trading deadline? We'll know when that deadline arrives tomorrow. Yesterday's Indiana-Chicago blockbuster could affect the...

COLLINS USED TO 1ST CLASS

College recruiting. It can conjure up images of sleaze and shady deals and payoffs. For Net Jason Collins, it invokes memories of the country's national security advisor. Collins, who expected...

SCOTT: WON'T TRADE JUST TO MAKE DEAL

NET NOTES It is that time again, trading-deadline time, the period that in past years brought the Nets Rony Seikaly, Stephon Marbury, Sam Cassell, Joe Kleine and a whole bunch...

BERGY'S DREAM GOES BUST IN AERIALS

SALT LAKE CITY - A mistake last summer came back to haunt U.S. aerial freestyle legend Eric Bergoust yesterday, shattering his dream of becoming the sport's first back-to-back gold medalist....