February 19, 2003
COOPER: I'M STAYING - GQ EDITOR DENIES RUMORS HE'LL RETIRE
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amNO sooner did venerable GQ editor-in-chief Art Cooper win induction into the Magazine Editors Hall of Fame last month than talk began swirling that the 65-year-old chief was going to...
REUTERS POSTS BIG LOSS; WILL AX 3,000
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amThings are getting ugly at Reuters. The British news and financial data giant posted its first-ever annual loss as a public company yesterday, and said it would cut 3,000 jobs...
DOW UP 132 IN RELIEF RALLY
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amInvestors staged a relief rally yesterday that gave the major market averages had their third up day of the past 10 sessions. The Dow Jones industrial average rallied 132.35, or...
FIDELITY PUTS KIBOSH ON RAISES
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amNo raise for you! That's what employees at Fidelity Investments heard from managers when they got their 2003 reviews. The nation's biggest mutual fund company, suffering from a decline in...
RENTS ARE HEADING DOWN - SUBLEASE SPACE WILL MAKE VACANCY MARKET BALLOON
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amHOW low can rents go? The Rent Limbo Game has already started in Boston, where office vacancies are at one-third of supply. To get out of a 70,000-square-foot swath of...
TIGHE BREAKS A WINNER IN NEW MERGER
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amWHAT will CB Richard Ellis' acquisition of Insignia mean for three key players - CBRE's New York President Mary Ann Tighe, Insignia/ESG Chief Executive Stephen Siegel and Insignia's top broker,...
CBRE, INSIGNIA WED - REAL ESTATE GIANT TAKES RIVAL IN $415M DEAL
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amThe expected $415 million merger of worldwide leader CB Richard Ellis and home-grown powerhouse Insignia Financial Group by June will create the largest real estate services company in the world....
PRUDENTIAL, WACHOVIA MERGER ON
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amAfter courting for months, the brokerage businesses of Wachovia Corp. and Prudential Financial are finally getting hitched. Four months after putting merger talks on ice, Prudential has clinched a deal...
A WINTER WONDERLAND ON WALL ST.
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amHappy the white powder that fell on New York and D.C. was snow, and not anthrax, investors staged a relief rally. The major market averages had their third up day...
KELLNER IS KO'D: TBS BOSS FLEES AOL-TW WITH $128M PAYOUT
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amJamie Kellner took the money and ran. Kellner said yesterday he will leave his post as chairman of AOL Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting division, about a month after getting a...
CH. 4 LEADS EMMYS PACK
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amCH. 4 snagged 42 New York Emmy nominations yesterday - the most of any local station. Cablevision's News 12 Long Island was a surprising second with 25 nominations, followed by...
NOTABLE LOOK AT S. AFRICA
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amAMANDLA! A REVOLUTION IN FOUR-PART HARMONY Needs less talk, more music. Running time: 103 minutes. Rated PG-13 (violence). At Film Forum, at Houston and Varick streets. 'AMANDLA! A Revolution in...
STARR REPORT
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amMichael more: 'Dateline' bests ABC NBC won Monday night's Jacko battle, with its "Dateline" special, "Michael Jackson Unmasked," handily beating ABC's repeat of "Living with Michael Jackson" (9-11 p.m.). "Unmasked,"...
HO-HUM HOEDOWN; 'BALLAD' HO-HUM RUSSKY HOEDOWN
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amTHE BALLAD OF BERING STRAIT Russkies go to Nashville. Running time: 98 minutes. Not rated (nothing objectionable). At Loews State, 1540 Broadway (between 45th and 46th streets); and Village East,...
WALLY'S FOLLY A THEME SCENE
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amWAIKIKI WALLY'S 101 E. SECOND ST., BETWEEN FIRST AVENUE AND AVENUE A (212) 673-8908 'THIS place is owned by the Lucky Cheng's people - are the waiters in drag?" my...
CRAFTY CHEF GETS NEW SHOP; ON THE SIDE
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amIT'S 'wichcraft, that crazy 'wichcraft that chef Tom Colicchio will be opening next month. His new sandwich shop, at 49 E. 19th St., will hardly be "strictly taboo" though, with...
NEXT 'JOE MILLIONAIRE' PACKS A PUNCH - YOUR NEW WIFE
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amHOW do you top "Joe Millionaire"? The answer may be a show about arranged marriages - with TV viewers deciding who should get married. "Married by America," set to debut...
FRENCHIE GRAN-MAUL
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amTHE grandmother of booted "American Idol" contestant Frenchie Davis says the plus-size singer wouldn't have been booted if she was white. In an open letter to the producers of "American...
JACKO'S ON THE NOSE; ...AND THE SMELL LEADS TO A FISHY DOCU-DEAL
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amMAYBE I'm turning into one of those loopy conspiracy theorists, but I think we've all been had. Again. By Michael Jackson. Again. And his PR machine. Again. Doesn't it seem...
MOSQUITO KO'S 'SURVIVOR' LUE
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amONE of the castaways on "Survivor: The Amazon," came down with malaria last week. Daniel Lue, 27, a tax accountant from Houston, apparently contracted the disease while taping the show...
TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT; GOURMET SAMPLES FREE FOR THE TAKING; ELIZABETH LIPPMAN
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amWHEN it's lunchtime and you're torn between Italian wedding soup and chicken noodle, there's one question that will solve your dilemma: "Would you like to try some?" Those tiny plastic...
TURKISH SOUL & NOTHING TO EFENDI YOU
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amEFENDI 1030 SECOND AVE. (BETWEEN 54TH & 55TH STREETS) (212) 421-3004 WHEN Orhan Yegen explains the stuffed cabbage at Efendi, it comes down to this: "I made it myself. It...
BANDING TOGETHER ; COMPOSERS BACKING MUSICIANS
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amIN their battle to eliminate so-called "minimums" from Broadway orchestra pits, theater producers are shunning cost-cutting arguments in favor of "artistic" ones. To wit: Minimums - that is, the number...
TRAILER SMASH! AWARDS GO TO TOP PREVIEWS
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amSOMETIMES, all you need to see is a movie's trailer - it's often better than the film itself. Trailers are a $90 million-a-year industry in Hollywood, with their own production...
TUBE TIED FUN PLATES ARE MAKING TV DINNERS HOT AGAIN
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amThey're ba-a-a-ck! TV dinners, that is. Whether it's the weather or the lure of reality shows, lots of us have been spending lots of time in front of the tube...
POLS IN PARADISE - SPENDING WEEK ON, UH, RESEARCH IN CARIBBEAN
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amSeveral City Council members will be ditching the urban snow and marching to the beat of steel drums at the famed Carnival in the balmy Caribbean nation of Trinidad &...
11 ARABS DEAD IN ISRAELI GAZA RAID
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Eleven Palestinians died overnight as Israeli troops, tanks and helicopters raided a terrorist stronghold in the Gaza Strip, in the third day of a fierce crackdown on Hamas...
ANNA NICOLE'S $1.5M POUT
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amAnna Nicole Smith has fired back a tit-for-tat lawsuit at her estranged public-relations agent, demanding $1.5 million for continuing to use her photo on his Web site after their split....
'SLAY BID' SHRINK IS INDICTED
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amThe Long Island psychiatrist who police say plotted to kill six people and dismember their bodies has been indicted for conspiracy to commit murder. Dr. Richard Karpf, of Great Neck,...
FAB 3'S SECRET REUNION DVD DUE
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amThe Beatles are back! A secret 1994 reunion of the then-three surviving Beatles performing their greatest hits is to be released on DVD next month. The hour-long footage of Paul...
KIN SUE TA FOR $100M IN SUBWAY MOW-DOWN
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amThe family of a track worker who was killed in November when a train barreled into him is suing the Transit Authority for a whopping $100 million, a lawyer said...
CRAWL TO WAR - BUSH BEGINS TO PAY PRICE FOR DELAY ON IRAQ
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amTHE weekend news was bad for President Bush: a distinct momentum shift against him on a key question of foreign policy for the first time since 9/11. It seemed that...
SADDAM'S CHEM PLOT REVEALED - DEFECTOR: HE'S TURNED BAGHDAD INTO DEADLY TRAP
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein plans to use chemical weapons to create a ring of death around Baghdad to slow down a U.S. invasion and turn the city's residents into hostages,...
NEW WHISTLE-BLOW LAW
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amWhistle-blowers in city government won new protections yesterday under a bill signed into law by Mayor Bloomberg. The law expands the definition of a whistle-blower to include not only mayoral-agency...
COURT NIXES LAWYER'S BULLY
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amThreatening your lawyer with bodily harm doesn't entitle you to a new trial, an appeals court ruled yesterday. Patricio Linares claimed he was deprived of his right to a fair...
'BRIBE' PROBERS EYE BRONX POL
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amALBANY - The travel records of Bronx City Councilman Larry Seabrook, a former state senator, have been subpoenaed by a grand jury probing a bribery-linked company's gifts to lawmakers, The...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amMANHATTAN * Cops are investigating the murder of a New Jersey woman found with a gunshot wound in the trunk of a car in Washington Heights. On Monday, neighborhood residents...
FRENCH PREZ TABBED FOR WEASEL PEACE PRIZE
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amSacre bleu! French President Jacques Chirac has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Chirac, a leading opponent of war with Iraq, was one of 150 nominees, including rock star...
OTB FUNDS FED QUICK DRAW FIX: COPS
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amPolice say they don't mind that Judith Masala blew thousands of dollars on the lottery - only that she stole the money from OTB to do it. Masala, 62, was...
N.Y. STARS WILL HOST GRAMMYS
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amThe host of this year's Grammy Awards has been announced - and it's us. New York City is the "host" of the 45th awards ceremony, to be held Sunday at...
BUSH: I WON'T LET WAR PROTESTS HOLD ME BACK
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday said the big worldwide anti-war protests show "democracy is a beautiful thing" but they won't stop him from attacking Iraq because his job is to...
RATINGS FOR THE "JOE MILLIONAIRE" FINALE WENT THROUGH THE ROOF
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amRatings for the "Joe Millionaire" finale went through the roof, as 40 million viewers tuned in to see faux millionaire Evan Marriott choose good girl Zora Andrich. The numbers were...
LACI COPS CLOSE IN - SEARCH CALIFORNIA HOME OF MISSING MOM-TO-BE & HUBBY
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amPolice turned up the heat on California fertilizer salesman Scott Peterson yesterday with a dramatic early-morning sweep of the house he once shared with his pregnant wife, Laci, who has...
BIGGEST-EVER JEWEL HEIST IS A REAL GEM
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amIn the biggest heist ever in the gem-trading capital of the world, brazen burglars cleaned out more than 100 vaults at a diamond center in Belgium, officials said yesterday. The...
MIKE'S STAND ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg yesterday privately questioned why President Bush is trying to scuttle the University of Michigan's affirmative-action program, according to a legislator who discussed the issue with the mayor. "[Bloomberg]...
ZETA MAG DENIES CONSPIRACY
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amThe managing director of Hello! magazine yesterday denied there was a conspiracy between him and a fixer who helps arrange celebrity stories to publish paparazzi pics of Michael Douglas' wedding...
S.I. CENTER RIP-OFF: 727G
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amOfficials at a Staten Island day-care center ripped off as much as $727,992 from the city before the director was indicted two years ago, according to Comptroller William Thompson. Thompson...
INDIA SLAY TWIST - N.J. MAN WANTED FIANCÉE'S LIFE-INSURANCE $$: COPS
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amCops in India believe a New Jersey restaurateur hired hit men to brutally strangle his fiancée because he wanted to collect her life insurance. They reject Pragnesh Desai's claim he...
MYSTERY SHROUDS ARCHITECT'S MURDER
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amNewark architect James Brown died as he lived - mysteriously. Brown, 55, succumbed Monday to a fatal knife thrust inflicted early Saturday after he rode through Chelsea in a brown...
GET READY FOR SLUSH HOUR: HEAVY RAINS ON THE WAY
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amTalk about a 1-2 punch. Get over the blizzard blahs and brace yourself for a new storm system - probably rain this time - that's expected to slam into town...
CITY EYES 'VIRTUAL' CLASSROOMS VIA INTERNET
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amSummer-school students could be taught via the Internet or video hookups under a proposal eyed by Schools Chancellor Joel Klein's office, The Post has learned. The Department of Education will...
ALL MIDTOWN COULD SOON BE A TOLL ZONE
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amNew York officials will soon be heading to London for a firsthand look at a controversial new program to limit traffic by charging motorists $8 to drive into the central...
B'DAY NOW A WAKE FOR TRAGIC FIRE GIRL
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amFamily and friends of Justine Solana gathered yesterday on what would have been her ninth birthday - to mourn the shy honors student, her aunt and two young cousins, who...
S.I. STORM TRAGEDY - MOM'S HORROR DEATH AFTER SLIP ON SNOW
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amA trip home from work during this week's blizzard ended in tragedy for Cynthia Durapau, 52, when she fell into a snow bank, passed out and lay there for a...
DISBARRED LAWYER SUES JUDGES
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amA veteran Queens lawyer who was disbarred last April has filed a federal suit against two state Supreme Court judges, claiming they signed off on a conspiracy to swindle him...
CALLS OF THE DOOMED - S. KOREA RIDERS PHONED FOR HELP
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amThe devastated relatives of the victims aboard South Korea's death subway recalled in chilling detail yesterday their panic-stricken loved ones' final, futile cell-phone calls for help. "My daughter called me...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amAnalyze this - more and more real-life Mafia godfathers are seeking help on the psychiatrist's couch, new research reveals. Doctors at the University of Palermo in Sicily say mobsters are...
HACKER MAY HAVE YOUR CREDIT CARD
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amA computer hacker has gotten access to as many as 8 million Visa, MasterCard and American Express account numbers, the card companies disclosed yesterday - and the thief is still...
MURDER FOR HIRE - HUSBAND, PAL BUSTED IN WIFE'S GRISLY SLAY
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amA fiendish husband hired a hit man to slash his wife's throat - so he wouldn't have to face a custody battle over their young son, Orange County cops say....
'EVERYTHING IS GONE': KOREA SUBWAY-FIREBOMB TOLL 120+
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amAbout 120 people on a packed South Korean subway were killed after a truck driver with a history of mental problems fought with passengers who tried to stop him but...
KIDS CAN BREAK YOUR HEART
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amParents of large families face an increased risk of heart disease, new research suggests. A study has found that parents with more than two children appeared to have a significantly...
S.I. STORM TRAGEDY: MOM'S HORROR DEATH AFTER SLIP ON SNOW
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amThe blizzard soon will melt into memory for most city residents - but the son of one of two New Yorkers killed in the storm says it has brought him...
QNS. FIRE KID'S SOLEMN B'DAY
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amFamily and friends of Justine Solana gathered yesterday on what would have been her ninth birthday to mourn the shy honor student, her aunt and two young cousins, who died...
CHEERS TO YOU: P.J. CLARKE'S TO REOPEN FOLLOWING $3M FACE LIFT
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amP.J. Clarke's - one of the city's oldest and most storied bars - will reopen its doors to the public this Friday, after a 12-month, $3 million restoration. To celebrate,...
MIKE'S AFFIRMATIVE-ACTION STAND
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg yesterday privately questioned why President Bush is trying to scuttle the University of Michigan's affirmative-action program, according to a legislator who discussed the issue with the mayor. "[Bloomberg]...
MURDER FOR HIRE: HUBBY PAID TO KILL WIFE: COPS
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amThis is the smiling face (above) of a fiend who hired a hit man to slash his wife's throat - so he wouldn't have to face a custody battle over...
ISRAELI FORCES HIT JIHAD IN GAZA
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Fierce gunfights erupted late yesterday when Israeli troops, tanks and helicopters raided a terrorist stronghold in the Gaza Strip in the third day of a fierce crackdown, witnesses...
TYSON SAYS FIGHT IS BACK ON TRACK
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amMike Tyson should patent whatever remedy he took for his flu bug. If it works as well for everyone else, Tyson could make more money selling it than he would...
WE'LL NEVER FORGET JIM GORDON
February 19, 2003 | 5:00am"THE trouble with you," Jack Simon, the former Hughes Sports Network and MSG-TV director used to tell Jim Gordon, "is that you're too nice a guy for this business." Jim...
TIME TO BAN TOGETHER: PLAYERS, MLB NEED TO SAY NO TO THIS DRUG
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amTHERE is no reason to debate this, not now. Baseball doesn't need more anecdotal evidence. And the Players Association should believe that one dead baseball player is precisely one too...
'BLUE' BLUNDERS BURY BLUESHIRTS
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amST. PAUL - There's no defense for it. Literally. No defense for a Ranger team that commits consistent gaffes of both the physical and mental variety against teams that trap....
JUST TRYING TO FIT IN, MATSUI STANDS OUT
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amTAMPA - Hideki Matsui moved his locker one cubicle over, so his spot on the far side of the clubhouse would be more visible to his new teammates. He actually...
ISLES ARE PRAYING FOR YASHIN THAW
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amAs the area digs out from the snow, Alexei Yashin is trying to dig himself out from under the blizzard of disappointment that has cloaked him all season long. Yashin...
GOMEZ SHRUGS OFF TRADE TALK
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amPHILADELPHIA - Nearly every Devil trade rumble involves Scott Gomez, although one GM who would be very interested says Lou Lamoriello has not put him on the block. "I know...
LJ WON'T COME BACK - EVEN FOR PAT
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES SEATTLE - Today is the RSVP date for those invited to Patrick Ewing's retirement ceremony - to be held in nine days when the Knicks host Orlando. Most...
HIDEKI'S A HIT: IMPRESSES YANKEES WITH COMPACT POWER
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amTAMPA - While New York dug its way out of a blizzard, the city's newest sports phenom worked his short left-handed stroke yesterday at a sun-splashed Legends Field. With 2,500...
GIAMBI'S TRAINER YANKEE NOTES
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amYANKEE NOTES TAMPA - The unknown has Bobby Alejo wondering. With his access to Jason Giambi greatly reduced by George Steinbrenner, Giambi's personal trainer/BP pitcher/guru said keeping Giambi away from...
PRECAUTIONS ARE STRESSED AFTER O'S HEAT DEATH
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amMET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE - Following the heat-related death of an Oriole prospect Monday, the Mets revisited the issue of hydration yesterday during a brief meeting with team doctor...
SOUND THE HORN ; KNICK 3-WAY COULD LAND KEITH FOR SPREE
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amOMINOUS trade clouds casing Latrell Sprewell are drifting back and forth as tomorrow's 3 p.m. deadline sadistically approaches. According to sources, the 76ers have dropped their placid pursuit of the...
MO'S CAMP DEBUT IS HELTER-SVELTER
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - The SUV pulls up in front of Thomas J. White Stadium late yesterday afternoon and a small army of photographers and cameramen trains its lenses on...
MO SHOWS HE'S THIN IT TO WIN
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - Mo Vaughn doesn't look like a blimp, but his 2002 season still evokes memories of the Hindenburg. After enduring a year that made for great tabloid...
LOCALS ON MCDONALD'S MENU
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amAmong the finalists announced yesterday for this year's McDonald's All-American Game in Cleveland are Xaverian's Chris Taft, Shagari Alleyne from Rice, Gary Forbes of Banneker and Louie McCroskey of St....
NFL SEEKS HIRING FIX
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amCommissioner Paul Tagliabue will meet with several black coaches and executives tonight at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis to outline a plan to facilitate the hiring of more minority head...
SPREE UNFAZED BY TRADE WINDS
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amSEATTLE - Latrell Sprewell has quit worrying about it. He knows tonight's game vs. the Sonics at Key Center could be his final one as a Knick. If he remains,...
JOHNNIES SHOOT - AND MISS
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amSyracuse 66St. John's 60 SYRACUSE - The Mike Jarvis frustration meter broke the glass in his inner gauge last night and literally came spewing out. With 25 seconds left and...
DEVILS MAKE THEIR POINT
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amDevils 2Flyers 2 PHILADELPHIA - Futility stops at one in this Devils' season. "When we lose, you feel a sense of urgency here," said Jeff Friesen, who potted the urgently...
SCOTT WANTS HIS TEAM SPREE FREE
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amNET NOTES Byron Scott admits the guy has talent. But he'd want to stay Spree-free, even if it meant keeping Keith Van Horn. The question was put to the Nets'...
KIDD REVIVES SAGGING NETS
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amNets 84Heat 79 One word used to describe the Nets' play of late has been "complacent." But another far more accurate - but far less printable term - comes to...
NETS ELATED SNOW-SHOWS
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amVirtually everyone in the metropolitan area cursed the weather gods for that 20-inch or so trick that fell from the skies Sunday and Monday. Everyone except for a group of...
BLUE-LINE BLUNDERS BURYING BLUESHIRTS
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amST. PAUL - There's no defense for it. Literally. No defense for a Ranger team that commits consistent gaffes of both the physical and mental variety against teams that trap....
SAME OLD SONG FOR SAD HEAT
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amMiami's 84-79 loss to the Nets last night was a microcosm of the Heat's dreary, last-place season. They got off to a horrible start, they scraped, clawed and showed tenacity...
JARVIS PUTS HEAT ON KING : QUESTIONS COMMITMENT
February 19, 2003 | 5:00amSYRACUSE - It is gut check time for St. John's, more so for sophomore Eric King than any other player. King, who is suffering from tendinitis in his knee which...