February 15, 2003
MARTS HAVE BIG UPTICKS AFTER BLIX IRAQ FIX
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amWall Street sent stocks rallying yesterday on hunches that the U.S. invasion of Iraq will be stalled - at least for the long three-day weekend. Investors began shifting cash into...
MERRILL RESEARCH HEAD QUITS
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amDeepak Raj resigned as deputy director of global securities research and economics at Merrill Lynch yesterday, one week after his boss Robert McCann announced his departure. Raj, who headed Merrill's...
300 INSANE EPISODES AGO... THEY CREATED A MONSTER! ; BUT IT'S THE LITTLE GUYS WHO COUNT ON THE SIMPSONS. CAN YOU NAME 'EM?
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amCONVERSATIONS about "The Simpsons" can be endless. I remember encountering a "Simpsons" fan at a friend's wedding, and the recollecting of plots and personalities just went on and on and...
HE'S A HONKY-TONK GILL
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amVINCE GILL WHAT separates the men from the boys in performance has less to do with inspiration than perspiration. But when you have both, that's when legends are made. Ask...
IT'S AU REVOIR AND OUT, FRENCHIE
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amAN online petition that's snared over 28,000 signatures won't be enough to thrust Frenchie Davis back onto the "American Idol 2" stage. The plus-size Frenchie, a fan favorite, was booted...
MYERS IN THE MIDDLE: CLASSIC MOVIES ABOUT TO BE INVADED BY ZANY MIKE
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amIMAGINE Mike Myers as Rocky, yelling "Yo, Adrian!" while punching the air. Or flitting about the Austrian Alps singing "The hills are alive" or "My favorite things" surrounded by the...
IN THE LAND OF THE BLONDE
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amBlonde Redhead. If the name sounds exotic and strange, wait 'til you experience the band. Japanese girl Kazu Makino and Italian twins Amadeo and Simone Pace make up the extraordinarily...
DINNER PARTY CHEAT SHEET
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amDinner Party Cheat Sheet would love to play the opposite sex in a game of golf, but just can't seem to locate its putter. GREEN PARTY Female golfing sensation Annika...
TINKLETOWN : BRAVE THE CROWDS AT THIS DOWNTOWN CULT COMEDY BASH
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amYou'd think the Strokes were performing a secret show, looking at the young, hipster crowd lined up on a Sunday evening outside Piano's, a new rock club and bar on...
AT HOME IN THE WHITE HOUSE: GROWING UP AT 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amImagine your dad gets a new job and your family has to move. Your new house is 55,000 square feet, has an 18-acre yard and a gorgeous rose garden. Imagine...
HOORAY, IT'S WINTER RECESS! HERE'S WHERE TO PLAY
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amNO school? Give The Sims a rest and check out some real fun as the city goes into overdrive - with special events and matinees tailor-made for winter recess. Here...
MIKE STRAPHANGS TOUGH
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg yesterday said he'll lead by example and rode the subways despite increased fears in the city about a new terror strike. "Today I'll probably take the subway four...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amConnie Post has seen an awful lot of dresses, wedding cakes and bouquet tosses. No big surprise: Post, wed 10 times, is apparently Ohio's most married woman. "I do believe...
HIS CRUEL SMIRK AND EVIL MIND NEVER CHANGED
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amHIS hair is a bit shorter and his cheeks have lost some of their baby pudge. But 15 years in prison and a few cosmetic changes have done nothing to...
HEVESI DROPS A BOMB ON BATTLE-FIELDS
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amA WAR has erupted between - of all people - state Comptroller Alan Hevesi and Manhattan Borough President Virginia Fields. In a searing letter, Hevesi accuses Fields of engaging in...
SETON PROF CRAPS OUT
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amA professor at Seton Hall University whose students denounced her on a Web site was let go after she blasted her young critics as "lying sacks of s--t." Mary Ann...
MIKE WEIGHS IN FOR 'OPEN PIT' WTC PLAN
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg yesterday said he prefers the Ground Zero plan by Berlin-based architect Daniel Libeskind, which leaves much of the pit open as a memorial space. The mayor's remarks on...
TA CHECKING '$WIPING' TURNSTILES
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amTeams of Transit Authority computer technicians were "thoroughly checking" subway turnstiles yesterday to see if they could find a glitch that drains MetroCards of all their funds. "They found nothing...
PRESIDENT BUSH YESTERDAY ORDERED ALL FBI AND CIA COUNTERTERRORISM AGENTS TO MOVE TO A SINGLE PLACE
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday ordered all FBI and CIA counterterrorism agents to move to a single place. The move preempts efforts by some lawmakers who want to strip counterterrorism...
THRU STREETS A FAST-CRAWL SUCCESS
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amControversial no-turn rules have now transformed some crosstown streets into speedways - at least by Midtown standards, transportation officials said yesterday. The city Department of Transportation will release precise figures...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amMANHATTAN * A security guard was shot at a Harlem apartment complex yesterday. An unidentified assailant approached the 37-year-old man on the second floor of a building in which he...
CITY LOSES BID TO NIX $6M PAYOUT
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amThe city has to pay $6 million to a woman who was left brain-damaged in a bizarre police-scooter accident, a court ruled. City lawyers went to the Appellate Division seeking...
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: PREPPY KILLER SPEAKS - 'REMORSE IS SOMETHING YOU FEEL EVERY MINUTE'
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amRobert Chambers broke his silence yesterday and said quietly, firmly and solemnly: "Remorse is not something you put into words." "Remorse? When you know you were responsible for someone's death,...
JURORS REJECT SEX COP
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amA federal jury yesterday rejected an NYPD lieutenant's claims that she was sexually harassed on the job and that her Brooklyn narcotics unit was like a "frat house," where male...
OLD FAVES ARE KEEPING IT FRESH
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amASK most Americans to name a fashion designer and, nine times out of 10, they'll say Ralph Lauren or Donna Karan. And for good reason: Both have worked hard to...
HOW SCHOOLS SPELL SUCCE$$
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amA whopping 85 percent of the city's top 208 public schools are from the city's upper- and middle-class neighborhoods and 15 percent are from poor communities, according to a list...
WE'LL CHILL OUT WITH DOUBLE BLAST OF SNOW
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amBrace yourself for another blast of winter. And then another. Forecasters said another snowstorm could hit the tri-state area tomorrow, bringing in more white stuff after today's predicted snowfall. "It...
WEEKS' AWAY FROM WAR - COLIN WARNS U.N. AFTER ARMS REPORT
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday warned that Saddam Hussein now has just "weeks" to get rid of his doomsday weapons if Iraq wants to avoid war. "We're...
'JOKER' STILL SMIRKING AT HARD TIME
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amA cross-dressing criminal mastermind called "Joker" lived up to his nickname yesterday by smiling through his sentencing when a federal judge gave him 36 years for murder and robbery. Looking...
TRAIN TERROR SCARE - THOUSANDS FLEE PENN STATION OVER TRACK FIRE
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amA track fire halted train service at Penn Station yesterday for four hours - forcing thousands of jittery riders to evacuate amid fears of a terror attack. The fire started...
PREPPY KILLER SLITHERS FREE - SEX FIEND BACK WITH HIS MOM
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amPreppy Killer Robert Chambers, who strangled 18-year-old Jennifer Levin, walked out of an upstate prison a free man yesterday, ripping apart old wounds for the teen beauty's family. A pale...
VALENTINE HORROR - TIED-UP LOVERS FOUND SLAIN IN B'KLYN BLAZE
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amAspiring hip-hop producer.Two young lovers whose bodies were found bound and gagged inside a fire-scorched Brooklyn apartment early yesterday morning probably were murdered before the blaze was set, officials said....
B'KLYN LAWYER GUILTY IN $2M RIPOFF OF OLD FOLKS
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amA former Brooklyn lawyer pleaded guilty yesterday to 19 counts of grand larceny after swindling 20 elderly people out of a whopping $2 million. Frank Gangemi, 39, the son of...
GRIM ANNIVERSARY OF A SPOUSE BETTER WED THAN DEAD
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amIt was some wedding anniversary. Exactly 11 years after the happy Valentine's Day on which Clara and David Harris wed at a tony Houston hotel, she was sentenced to 20...
THINGS ARE LOOKING UP
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amRangers 1 Penguins 0 It took more than 41 minutes for Alex Kovalev to light the way for a Ranger team that has for 60 games played like dimwits. But...
'SHINE' ONE TO BEAT IN FOUNTAIN
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amToday's $200,000 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park is this year's first Grade 1 prep for Triple Crown hopefuls, but none of the nine 3-year-olds going a mile-and-a-sixteenth is among...
LONGDEN DIES ON 96TH BIRTHDAY
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amHall of Fame jockey Johnny Longden, who won the Triple Crown aboard Count Fleet in 1943 and was the only man to ride and train a Kentucky Derby winner, died...
YASHIN CAN'T FIND THE NET
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amAlexei Yashin's insides must be eating away at themselves. In the midst of the worst offensive season of his career with 13 goals, Yashin has seen other Islanders like Mark...
PROVIDENCE & PAIN FOR FRAGILE STORM
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amMarcus Hatten hadn't considered the possibility that he could finish his career at St. John's without having beat Providence. Not Connecticut. Not Notre Dame. Providence. "That would be bad, now,...
1ST THINGS 1ST: DON'T MOVE MIKE
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - At some point this season Mike Piazza will hit the home run that pushes him ahead of Carlton Fisk for the most home runs ever hit...
BYRON ON THE BRINK ; COACH RIPS NETS FOR LOST EDGE
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amNets 90 Bulls 72 He's angry. He's frustrated. He's fed up. And if the Nets don't pick up their play, Byron Scott is ready to do something about it. On...
MOUND OF TROUBLE
February 15, 2003 | 5:00am"You can have too much pitching."YANKEE MANAGER JOE TORRE TAMPA - Now back to the controversy we all came here for. It is just like that team player Derek Jeter...
ARMANDO'S ABSENCE NOT BIG CONCERN
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amMET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE - As long as Armando Benitez produces the way Miguel Tejada did last season, Art Howe will have no problem with a tardy arrival. Howe...
TIGER FROM START TO FINISH
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amLA JOLLA, Calif. - His first and last holes of the day dramatically punctuated the kind of compelling theater Tiger Woods creates. Those two holes - his first and 27th...
REALISTIC RETURN ; CONE: MET COMEBACK A 'LONGSHOT'
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - Calling himself "an old warhorse" and "a real longshot," David Cone arrived at Mets' camp yesterday morning to embark on his final chance at staving off...
BACK OFF, BOSS! WELLS AIMS SOMEVERBAL BEANBALLSAT STEINBRENNER
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amTAMPA - Before David Wells addressed his contract situation yesterday, the outspoken lefty touched all the bases in the Yankee universe. Boomer, who may or not be in his last...
YANK BIGS POWWOW
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amYANKEE NOTES TAMPA - With all sorts of negative ions hovering above the Yankees' camp, George Steinbrenner, manager Joe Torre and GM Brian Cashman met for lunch Thursday to sift...
TIGER'S BACK IN THE HUNT
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amLA JOLLA, Calif. - His first and last holes yesterday dramatically punctuated the kind of compelling theater Tiger Woods creates. Those two holes - his first and 27th of the...
ARMORY GOLD FOR MANHATTAN, IONA
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amThe Armory Collegiate Invitational is rapidly becoming one of the faster meets on the indoor circuit. This year's edition - which includes all four reigning NCAA indoor and outdoor team...
TRANSIT RIDES HIGH IN PLAYOFF RETURN
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amH.S. HOOPS When Mike Perazzo took over as head coach at Transit Tech this season, he knew what he wanted to do. He just wasn't sure how long it would...
NETS BREAK LOOSE ; TEAM EFFORT SLAPS HAPLESS BULLS
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amThe Chicago Bulls: When you absolutely, positively need a win, accept no substitute. And did the Nets ever need this one. Coming off a pair of shoddy losses to Orlando...
LAYDEN'S WORKING TO PULL OFF BIG DEAL
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amKnicks GM Scott Layden will not join the club on their six-game 11-day Western trip that began last night vs. the Suns. He'll be by his desk at 2 Penn...
LEETCH DECIDES HE'LL GIVE IT A TRY
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amIt's last call for the Rangers, down six points on eighth-place Montreal, with three fewer games to play than three of the teams they are chasing for two spots, but...
MANHATTAN AND IONA HOIST ARMORY GOLD
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amThe Armory Collegiate Invitation is rapidly becoming one of the faster meets on the indoor circuit. This year's edition - which includes all four reigning NCAA indoor and outdoor team...
PENS NEXT FOR DEVILS
February 15, 2003 | 5:00amIt'll be a tale of two teams at opposite ends of the hockey spectrum when the Devils host the Penguins today. The Devils, three points off the No. 1 seed...