July 1, 2005
BERNIE COUGHS UP $45M
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amConvicted WorldCom boss Bernard Ebbers has agreed to pay $5 million cash and fork over as much as $40 million in assets to investors and banks hurt by the company's...
HE HAS RETURNED - MACK BACK AT MORGAN: CRUZ, CRAWFORD QUIT BOARD
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amJohn Mack took the helm of Morgan Stanley yesterday, a move that was met with cheers on the trading floor as the curtain fell on one of the longest-running dramas...
CREDIT EXEC CASHES IN AFTER N.Y.C. COPTER CRASH
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amTwo weeks ago this morning, Bruce Hammonds cheated death when he swam to safety after a helicopter he was flying in crashed into the East River. For the 57-year old...
ALL THE CARDS - BOFA HAS FULL HOUSE WITH $35B MBNA BUY
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amYou need to be more than just powerful in plastic. Credit card industry analysts yesterday said they expect other independent credit card issuers to get the once-over by banks after...
HERSH $WITCH HITS - INVESTIGATIVE MASTER SCORES $1M IN KNOPF MOVE
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amMAYBE Sy Hersh can smile now. The New Yorker's muckraker snagged a deal believed to be between $750,000 and $1 million to jump to the Knopf imprint of Random House...
'WORLD' WITHOUT END . . .
July 1, 2005 | 4:00am'THE World" is too much of a good thing. It's the fourth film by 35-year-old Jia Zhangke of China, who has gained a following based on his highly praised "Platform"...
HALL OF A TIME FOR KNOPFLER
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amARMED with three great songs and exquisite guitar technique, Mark Knopfler attempted to conquer Radio City Music Hall Wednesday. But the magnificent beast that is this landmark theater left the...
PIANO SCAM
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amWHEN Thomas isn't sitting down at the piano to play a Bach toccata and fugue, he keeps his hands limber by cracking skulls. Thomas, the smoldering, chain-smoking anti-hero of France's...
YOU WON'T 'DIG-LIANI
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amSCREEN Actors Guild regulations require anyone playing an artist to overact, and Andy Garcia does not defy expectations as the painter Amedeo Modigliani, a rival of Picasso's who died at...
'UNDEAD' ON ARRIVAL
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amGOREHOUNDS who didn't get their fill of entrails at George Romero's "Land of the Dead" can return for a second helping at "Undead," a campy, low-budget Romero homage that's badly...
JUST A WILD HUNCH
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amFOUR garage-punk bands even the coolest moms would hate hit Williamsburg's Trash tonight. The Hunches will slay your ears with howling noise as they fray the edges of garage rock...
FELIX & OSCAR LIKE TO SWITCH - BRODERICK, LANE'S 'ODD' CASTING
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amBROADWAY'S favorite couple - Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane - may have some fun with "The Odd Couple." The two actors are kicking around the idea of swapping roles on...
NEW 'NEIGHBORS' CAN KEEP HOME
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amTHE winners of ABC's controversial reality show, "Welcome to the Neighborhood," will get to keep their prize, a new home - even if the series is never broadcast. After heavily...
LIVING 'IDOL' - THE LEAP FROM NOBODY TO 'INSTANT STAR'
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amIF the premise behind a new teen drama, "Instant Star," seems familiar - girl wins televised elimination singing contest, becomes overnight star - it should. The show - which debuts...
AD-JUSTMENT FOR TIVO
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amTV advertisers can TiVo-proof their commercials by ensuring the ads still make sense when viewers press the fast-forward button, according to a new study. "You can't just look at a...
HOT TO TROT - IT'LL BE SIZZLE VS. SMILES FOR THE 'DANCING' FINALE
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amFLEET-footed "Seinfeld" alum John O'Hurley could be a lock to win ABC's hit reality show "Dancing with the Stars," but soap queen Kelly Monaco will be stiff competition - thanks...
MARY'S HOT PICK
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amSlip on your dancing shoes for a spin in the park after work. The George Gee Swing Orchestra, featuring scat singer Carla Cook, slinks into Bryant Park on Wednesday as...
FOUL AND POINTLESS 'REBOUND'
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amHOW could you have a worse time than you would if you saw "Rebound"? You could lock yourself in a closet for 86 minutes, but then you might slip into...
ROCK & RELIEF - ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TOMORROW'S LIVE 8 SHOWS
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amTHE world's biggest, most-hyped concert is finally here. Tomorrow at 8 a.m., viewers can begin tuning into Bob Geldof's 24-hour global rock-a-thon, in which 100 of the world's top acts...
ANOTHER TOURIST LIAR FESSES UP
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amAnother tourist has lied to cops about being robbed in Central Park in a bid to scam an insurance payout, police said yesterday. Emma Gibson, 34, of Australia, claimed a...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amBill and Susan Hosking couldn't get a refund from a posh country club after their daughter Katie called off her wedding 12 days before the big day - so they...
TEEN ARRESTED FOR 'RED-CAST' ATTACK
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amA teen who was caught on surveillance camera hitting a woman with a red cast on his arm before trying to rape her on the Lower East Side was arrested...
HIGH-RI$E APTS. - MANHATTAN LUXURY CO-OPS & CONDOS SOAR PAST $5M AVERAGE FOR FIRST TIME
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amDespite speculation of a pending explosion in the so-called real-estate bubble, Manhattan's residential prices continue to hit record highs. According to several surveys released yesterday by the city's top real-estate...
HOLLYWOOD'S 9/11 PROBLEM
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amEVEN though it is nominally a science-fiction film about an alien invasion, Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" is, in fact, the first Hollywood movie about 9/11. It's all there...
SPITZER FILES SUIT TO HALT GREEN-CARD SCAM
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amALBANY - Attorney General Eliot Spitzer charged yesterday that three Queens residents defrauded dozens of immigrants out of at least $175,000 by falsely claiming they'd get them permanent-residency status. The...
$OUR NOTE FOR CYNDI LAUPER
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amALBANY - Singer Cyndi Lauper once sang "money changes everything," but it didn't help her and her actor husband get the rent on their Upper West Side luxury apartment slashed...
HAMPTONS DIARY
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amADD gasoline to the list of things you may not be able to afford in the Hamptons. A Mobil station in Amagansett is charging an eye-popping $3.19 per gallon for...
BIZARRE HAUL FROM 'MAFIA COP' LAIR
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amAccused mob cop Louis Eppolito's Las Vegas home was packed with unauthorized police paperwork, pictures of him posing with snakes and knives, a newspaper clipping about John Gotti - and...
163 GRADS ADD TO EMS RANKS
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amOne hundred and sixty-three new graduates joined the city's Emergency Medical Services at a Queens College ceremony yesterday, including 44 new paramedics and 19 new emergency medical technicians. They join...
'SMART' FARE CARDS ON WAY
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amCall it an E-ZPass for straphangers. For the first time ever, the Port Authority will partner with the MTA and NJ Transit to devise "smart cards" that can be used...
PUNK WAS INVOLVED IN '02 STABBING
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amNicholas Minucci dodged a legal bullet a year ago when the attempted murder charges he faced in a stabbing case got lowered after the victim mysteriously died before a trial....
ISRAEL RAID ROUTS 150 GAZA 'PLOTTERS'
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amJERUSALEM - Elite Israeli police yesterday stormed a Gaza Strip hotel and ousted 150 militant Jews using the building to plot resistance to this summer's planned withdrawal from the region....
CHEERS FOR WOUNDED COP - SHOT HERO BOOSTED TO DETECTIVE
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amA Brooklyn cop who survived a wild shootout with a drug suspect after being abandoned by his partner received a hero's welcome yesterday - and a promotion from police officer...
H20, NO! PARASITES IN WATER - BOIL BEFORE DRINKING
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amThe city Health Department yesterday advised New Yorkers to boil their water before they drink it because of contamination with above-normal levels of two parasites. City officials said people with...
COUNCIL MEMBERS $LAM VENGEFUL GIFF
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amThe City Council yesterday unanimously approved the new $50.2 billion city budget - but not before several lawmakers lashed out at Speaker Gifford Miller for cutting their funding in retaliation....
APPLE'S WELFARE ROLLS AT NEW LOW
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amWith little fanfare, the city's welfare rolls have dropped to their lowest level in 40 years, The Post has learned. Figures compiled by the Human Resources Administration show 413,838 individuals...
N.Y. POLS: AX MUSEUM AT 9/11 SITE
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - New York Republican lawmakers are warning the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to kill plans for the International Freedom Center at Ground Zero or face the wrath of Congress....
EERIE ECHOES OF '86 TRAGEDY RING IN MY EARS
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amTHE yahoos were out in force in Howard Beach yesterday - putting on a pageant of dopiness in support of Nicholas Minucci, who was arrested for attacking a black man...
BUILT OF 'STEAL' - FREEDOM TOWER LOOKS SUSPICIOUSLY LIKE DESIGN BY FAMED ARCHITECT STERN
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amTalk about Twin Towers! Famed New York architect Robert A.M. Stern says David Childs' new Freedom Tower looks just like one of Stern's never-realized designs for the Comcast Center in...
JACKO AWAY ON SUMMER SHEIK-ATION
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amLOS ANGELES - The royal family of Bahrain opened its home to pop star Michael Jackson, who bolted from Neverland ranch for his first vacation since beating lurid kiddie-sex charges...
L.I. VAN 'KILLER' BUSTED - 1ST FOR VASEAN'S LAW
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amPolice busted the driver who allegedly caused the deaths of three Haitian immigrants when he plowed into their van on a Long Island highway - and said he'll be the...
SLAP FOR CAMDEN CLOD COPS - COUNCILMAN PLEDGES PUNISHMENT
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amThe two female police officers who botched the search for the three Camden, N.J., kids who suffocated in a car trunk will likely face disciplinary action, a city official said....
MALL KILLER IS EX-CON DRIFTER: DA
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amA convicted rapist accused of stabbing a White Plains woman to death in a shopping mall garage is a homeless man who was bused to the mall every day, officials...
HOSTAGE VICTIMS OF '79 EMBASSY THUG SEE IRAN'S EVIL NEW PREZ AND SAY . . . IT'S HIM!
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amThe newly elected president of Iran was one of the fanatics who took Americans hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran over 25 years ago, six former captives charged yesterday...
NEW U.S. ATTY. FOR MANHATTAN
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amFormer terrorist-busting prosecutor Michael Garcia has been nominated by President Bush to be the next U.S. attorney in Manhattan. The White House made the announcement yesterday, paving the way for...
SHAMED HONCHO TO SUE - HITS CITY IN SEX FLAP
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amJohn Murphy was forced to retire as chief of the city's largest pension system because he promoted his married lover to a top job - and now he's suing the...
KLEIN SLAMS UFT BID TO REHIRE 'PERV'
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amAn outraged Schools Chancellor Joel Klein yesterday blasted the teachers union for filing court papers to win the back the job of a fired high-school teacher - who admitted to...
SPIKE IN HOWARD BEACH HOME INVASIONS HAD NEIGHBORHOOD FEELING VULNERABLE
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amA recent series of push-in robberies by minorities in Howard Beach had put the neighborhood on edge, residents said yesterday. They say that - not racism - was the motivation...
GEM FIEND GUILTY - KILLER COPS PLEA TO AID COHORT MA
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amA coldblooded killer - who shot a jeweler during a Long Island robbery his mother helped carry out - pleaded guilty yesterday in order to get his mom a lighter...
MAN KILLS HIS BRO IN PARK: COPS
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amA man shot his half-brother to death in a children's playground yesterday, cops said. Milton Muller, 27, allegedly shot and killed Henry White, 32, in the playground on East 12th...
JUSTICE AT LAST - 125 YRS. FOR CENTRAL PK. SEX FIEND
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amA Manhattan judge slammed a sex fiend with a staggering 125-year-to-life sentence yesterday - after hearing the trembling victim sob, "He is an animal!" "He belongs in a cage," statuesque...
'FAT NICK' HELD IN BIGOT BASH - TWO PALS GRILLED IN SICKENING BAT ATTACK
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amNicholas "Fat Nick" Minucci was ordered held without bail yesterday in the Howard Beach racial attack as the 19-year-old white thug's two pals were taken into custody and questioned by...
STATE TRIES TO THROW 'BOOK' AT BERKOWITZ
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amALBANY - Disgusted state officials say they will investigate whether a book of "Son of Sam" David Berkowitz's jailhouse journal entries violates state law and prison rules. The Post reported...
PARACHUTING PILOT ESCAPES CRASH
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amA small plane crashed into a Rockland County pond yesterday after the pilot suffered leg pains and parachuted out, police said. The pilot, who was rescued from Bowline Pond in...
POLICE PAPERS IN 'MOB COP' LAIR
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amAccused mob cop Louis Eppolito's Las Vegas home was packed with unauthorized police paperwork, pictures of him posing with snakes and knives, and a newspaper clipping about John Gotti. Eppolito,...
MAN KILLS BROTHER IN PLAYGROUND: COPS
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amA man shot his half-brother to death in a playground yesterday, police said. Milton Muller, 27, allegedly shot and killed Henry White, 32, in the playground on East 12th Street...
STRIKE COULD 'FUEL' DELAYS AT JFK THIS WEEKEND
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amPassengers at Kennedy Airport could face long delays today and throughout the holiday weekend, as the 300 union employees who refuel planes prepared to strike early this morning. Demos Demopoulos,...
RECENT HOME INVASIONS LEFT NEIGHBORS FEELING VULNERABLE
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amA recent series of push-in robberies by minorities in Howard Beach have put the neighborhood on edge, residents said yesterday. They claimed that - not racism - was behind a...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amBROOKLYN * A man has been arrested for assaulting his mother in their Bushwick home, authorities said yesterday. Sources said Tyheem Ponder, 25, was arguing with his girlfriend in the...
'DUNKIN' DONUT' SLAY-BID CHARGE
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amThe would-be robber who slashed an off-duty cop during a botched heist in a Brooklyn doughnut shop was charged with attempted murder yesterday, cops said. Shron Killings, 22, was also...
CLOCK STOPS IN VOICE TALKS
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amUnion and management negotiators at the Village Voice were still negotiating early today - even after the contract covering the paper's writers and ad-sales staff expired. Workers had said they...
BIGOT BASHER STRUCK BEFORE - HOWARD BEACH THUG 'FAT NICK' CHARGED IN 9/11 SIKH ATTACK
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amA Queens thug arraigned yesterday for viciously beating a black man in Howard Beach was previously charged in another bias attack - shooting paintballs at Sikhs outside a Queens temple...
BICKERING AT GROUND ZERO
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amSO how does the Port Authority really feel about the new Freedom Tower? "I love the project," PA Executive Director Kenneth Ringler said yesterday. "It's a beautiful building. David Childs...
CAUGHT LOOKING - ESPN HAS NO FEEL FOR BASEBALL
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amFOR ALL the attention ESPN pays to baseball, for all of its hip, clever treatment of highlights, one would think ESPN's live baseball coverage would be, at worst, pretty good....
U.S. OPEN CHAMP THUMPED
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amGOLF NOTES Upset but still upbeat, sixth-seed "Bunker" Birdie Kim failed to follow up her U.S. Women's Open triumph, a first-round victim yesterday of 59th-rated Sophie Gustafson at the Women's...
ROOKIE CREAMER OF CROP IN EXPERIENCE
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amSELDOM is there a tournament that Paula Creamer enters where experience is her advantage. That's the way it normally is when you're an 18-year-old rookie on the LPGA Tour. Yet,...
THORPE GOAL: 3-PEAT
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amJim Thorpe gave Dana Quigley a new putter at the beginning of May, a radical thing called a two-bar blade. Since then, Quigley's won $780,000 in eight starts and hasn't...
REYES STAYS ON FAST TRACK
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amElectrifying Jose Reyes can turn his Mets teammates into awestruck fans. During the fourth inning yesterday, Reyes connected on a line drive that flew over the head of Phillies center...
METS FIGHT BACK TO HIT .500 MARK - RESILIENT CLUB WINS THIRD SERIES IN ROW
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amMets 5- Phillies 3 When the Mets left Seattle 13 days ago, they had just gotten swept by the Mariners, had dropped nine of 11, and were three games under...
WILLIE GETS SOME RELIEF
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amWILLIE RANDOLPH can pick up the phone and ask for one rookie reliever named Ring or another named Bell, opening marketing possibilities that could work out better than, say, Mercury...
PETER, SYKES SET FOR BRAWL
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amSamuel Peter continues his quest to prove himself the next great heavyweight tomorrow night when he faces Brooklyn's Peter Sykes in a 12-round fight in the Reno Events Center in...
BELTRAN GOES WILD ON THE BASEPATHS
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amMET NOTES The latest measure of Carlos Beltran's improved health came in the seventh inning yesterday when he stole second base and then third. "I hope that that's a great...
IN JERSEY, COULD BE NEW SHAREEF IN TOWN
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amWhen he was laboring in the NBA's Land of the Lost - a/k/a Vancouver - Shareef Abdur-Rahim struck up a close working relationship with an assistant on coach Brian Hill's...
NATE GETTING FULL 'COURT' - ISIAH, OTHERS WOO MCMILLAN
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amYESTERDAY, the NBA's collective-bargaining agreement expired, along with roughly a hundred contracts belonging to players, head coaches and assistants. Meaning today's the day the teddy bears tell their secrets. Now...
CASH: WE JUST NEEDED A CHANGE
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amYANK NOTES DETROIT - Change for the sake of change. That's how GM Brian Cashman described dumping Mike Stanton and Paul Quantrill Wednesday night and purchasing lefty reliever Wayne Franklin...
QUENTIN ON BOARD - PASSES PHYSICAL, OFFICIALLY A KNICK
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amThe singer/actress Brandy attended yesterday's news conference at the Knicks' Westchester practice campus wearing a diamond engagement ring as big as a basketball. Knick President Isiah Thomas can only hope...
PRICE IS WRONG - YANKS WON'T DEAL FEW REMAINING CHIPS
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amDETROIT - If you don't like looking at what you see in pinstripes, turn off your television, because the prices to upgrade George Steinbrenner's underachieving Yankees have been deemed too...
SHEFFIELD SUSPENDED TWO GAMES
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amDETROIT - A bad week for Gary Sheffield got worse yesterday when he was suspended for two games and fined $2,000 by MLB's top cop Bob Watson for his behavior...
SUBWAY SCRAP - METS OFFICIAL: TORRE STORY OFF BASE
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amTHE Subway Series is over, but that did not prevent the Mets from ratcheting up inter-city hostilities yesterday by claiming the Yankees are misleading New York fans by denying they...
AGENT FOR NATE SAYS LET'S TALK
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amKNICK NOTES Not only will Isiah Thomas get a crack at a bunch of enticing centers who become free agents today, but the Knick president also will get a shot...
TWO SIDES TO DEAL WITH METS
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amTHE Mets believed that the Yankees had made Gary Sheffield available to them. The Yanks say that is untrue, that it was Mets GM Omar Minaya who shot for Sheffield...
PRICE IS WRONG FOR THE YANKS - WON'T PART WITH FEW BARGAINING CHIPS
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amDETROIT - If you don't like looking at what you see in pinstripes, turn off your television, because the prices to upgrade George Steinbrenner's underachieving club have been deemed too...
JINTS CLAIM ROOKIE TE
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amIn their ongoing quest to take a look at as many young tight ends as possible, the Giants claimed Victor Sesay off waivers yesterday. The Giants had an open roster...
LIBERTY LOOKING FOR SOME MOORE HELP
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amLoree Moore has grown all too accustomed to sitting on the bench. First, she missed nearly half of her junior season at Tennessee after tearing her left ACL. And while...
COACH RIPS LIBS
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amMonarchs 61 - Liberty 50 Coach Pat Coyle said she was "embarrassed" by the Liberty's effort at the Garden last night, and kept her team in the locker room for...
HOLIDAY SHAPES UP AS CROWD PLEASER
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amTHERE is always a love-hate relationship with the Fourth of July weekend: You have a long weekend with no work and plenty of time to fish, but so does everyone...
STONESIDER LEARNS & EARNS
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amTicket applications for Oct. 29 Breeders' Cup at Belmont are now available. Prices range from $175 for "preferred grandstand seats" to $50 for "grandstand reserved" (partially obstructed view). Admission ($25...
SHEFF SUSPENDED FOR TWO GAMES
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amDETROIT - A bad week for Gary Sheffield got worse yesterday when he was suspended for two games and fined $2,000 by MLB's top cop Bob Watson for his behavior...
'CARD'GAME - BOWA SAYS YANKS IN FOR 'WILD RIDE'
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amWhen ESPN's Larry Bowa looks at the AL East, he sees the Red Sox winning the division. That leaves the Yankees fighting for the wild card. "Watching Boston play [recently]...
5 QUESTIONS FOR COLIN COWHERD
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amRecently, NYP TV Sports' Andrew Marchand spoke with ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd. The 40-year-old Seattle native hosts a syndicated show based out of Bristol, Conn. It's been heard daily in...
'WAVE' OF CRITICISM - COHEN'S GESTURE TO YANK FANS CROSSES LINE
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amWFAN Met-caster Gary Cohen has been eaten by his own this week. First, mid-morning co-host Joe Benigno revealed on the air that Cohen was waving goodbye to Yankee fans as...
MARCHAND'S MATCHUP OF THE WEEK: CHRIS BERMAN VS. MIKE TIRICO (WHO'S BETTER COVERING A DRAFT?)
July 1, 2005 | 4:00amESPN's Chris Berman's flaws show up on live events. When he reaches into his nickname bag during baseball games or the U.S. Open, it obstructs your attention. While Berman doesn't...