August 2, 2005
LAYOFFS WILL SLAM MARTS
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amFRIDAY'S employment report could be too disappointing to explain away. I'm going out on a thin limb here since Wall Street - the land of eternal optimism born of never-ending...
TOP EXEC AT HAVAS LEAVES FOR WPP
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amThe head of Havas's biggest advertising agency, Euro RSCG Worldwide, has resigned amid continued management turmoil at the French firm. Jim Heekin, the chairman and chief executive of Euro, is...
YAHOO! ADDS VIDEO FROM CNN AND ABC
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amYahoo! cut a deal yesterday with ABC News and CNN to start offering free video news feeds, a part of the online giant's efforts at becoming a broader media company....
SOHO LANDS AN EQUINOX
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amAFTER 10 years of searching, fast-expanding Equinox Fitness Clubs has finally landed a SoHo location: a 40,000 square-foot, three-level jumbo at 568 Broadway, the trendy gallery and office building at...
PURCELL'S FALL - FORMER MORGAN HEAD HAD BUNKER MENTALITY IN LAST DAYS
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amIn his final days as head of Morgan Stanley, Phil Purcell employed a bunker mentality - issuing directives for "dirty tricks" against imagined foes, tapping phones and demanding loyalty oaths....
CRUDE SOARS TO $62.05 ON DEATH OF KING FAHD
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amRattled traders sent oil prices to a new high following the death of Saudi Arabia's aged King Fahd - setting the stage for $3-a-gallon gasoline the rest of the summer....
ATKINS BINGE ENDS IN CHAP. 11 - LATE GURU'S FIRM BIT OFF MORE THAN IT COULD CHEW
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA disastrous foray into the food business led the Atkins low-carb diet empire into a sinkhole that ended with the company's bankruptcy filing yesterday. Coupled with a losing battle against...
TELE-ADS, NO HOLDS BARRED
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amAnyone who has ever been placed on hold - and that's pretty much everyone - is familiar with the "muzak" and recorded announcements that usually fill those wasted minutes and...
KISSING'S OUT AT MORGAN STANLEY
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amMorgan Stanley's new CEO, John Mack, addressed his beleaguered retail brokerage troops yesterday on the firm-wide squawk box and helpfully explained that "Kissing ass just won't cut it anymore." He...
STARR REPORT
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amHe's Tyra's new guy Talk-show veteran John Redmann, late of "The Tony Danza Show," has joined "The Tyra Banks Show" as an executive producer working with Kerrie Moriarity. Before joining...
'SIX FEET'S' OWN DEATH
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amFANS of "Six Feet Under" were in shock yesterday after producers unexpectedly killed off one of the show's most popular characters, Nate Fisher. Fisher, who was played by Peter Krause,...
AL'S HIP CHECK - KEEPING CURRENT WITHOUT MTV
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amAL Gore may or may not have invented the information superhighway way back when, but with the debut yesterday of his newest venture, a 24-hour news-features channel called "Current," there's...
PAST PERFECT - OH, NO! MARTHA ADS PAINT HER AS LOVABLE SCREW-UP
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amMARTHA Stewart used to be perfect. Not any more. A headline-making trial and a high-profile stay in federal prison ended her reputation for doing no wrong - and that's the...
SLOW GOING - WHILE CONGRESS DEBATES THE FUTURE OF AMTRAK, LISA KEYS BOARDS THE VERMONTER TO FIND OUT IF IT'S A TRAIN WORTH FIGHTING FOR
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amI'LL admit, I love to drive - fast. My father calls me "leadfoot." I take it as a compliment. But a last-minute compulsion to leave town July Fourth weekend meant...
EXPRESS CHECK-IN - GOSSIP, HOT TOPICS AND OTHER NEWS YOU'LL USE
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amSEEKING SOLIS THERE was a time when Horst Schulze was the Ritz-Carlton brand. During his more than decade-long tenure as president of the once Atlanta-based hotel management group, Schulze was...
OFF TARGET - 'BABY GOT BACKPACK' ANOTHER OUT-OF-TUNE AD; OFF-KEY ADS - OTHER BAD COMMERCIAL PAIRINGS
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amOH . . . my . . . God . . . Becky. Guess what Target's new theme song is? It's none other than Sir Mix-A-Lot's ode to big booty,...
JANE SAYS - EDITOR PRATT INSPIRED A GENERATION OF WOMEN
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amWHEN Jane Pratt talks about how she feels about leaving her eponymous magazine, she makes no attempt to gloss over her emotions with the kind of neutral, p.r.- approved response...
THE BOOK IS CLOSED ON FREE SCHOOL 'PLANNERS'
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amFile it under "F," for finished. A popular city Department of Education program that provided free student planners to 875,000 public-school kids has gone belly up after corporate sponsors dropped...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA 65-pound golden retriever named Jake made history as the first dog ever to make the annual 1.2-mile swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco - and even beat hundreds of...
TEARS FLOW AT SERVICE FOR CAMP GIRL KILLED IN CATSKILLS CRASH
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amThree 14-year-old girls bade a tearful farewell yesterday to their "happy-go-lucky" best friend - one of five youths driven to their death last week in the Catskills by an unhinged...
2ND PUNCH 'DOCKS' N.Y. DOC - CALL THIS ALBU-QUIRKY JUSTICE
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amALBUQUERQUE - Dr. Vincent Moss looked as if he'd been body-slammed - for the second time. The New York surgeon - who came here to treat impoverished Indians, only to...
STOCK SCAMMER 'FESSES UP TO ID PLOT
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amAn Internet stock adviser pleaded guilty yesterday to using phony identification to board a plane to San Diego while he awaited trial on federal racketeering charges. "I did something I...
QUEENS BAT-BEATING SUSPECT SWINGS AND MISSES ON BAIL BID
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA Queens judge swatted down a motion for bail yesterday by the lawyer for accused bias bat-beater Nicholas "Fat Nick" Minucci. The suspect's mother, Maria, shook her head slowly as...
W THE LIMPING DUCK - BEHIND AN UP-DOWN-UP WEEK
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amIT'S been a weird, weird week for Republicans and President Bush. They passed and signed a flurry of new legislation before Congress went into recess Friday night - thus giving...
CRITICS (ET TU, BRUNO?) HIT PATAKI OVER VETO
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amALBANY - Gov. Pataki is a hypocrite who plans to veto an "emergency contraception" bill only because he thinks it will help his quest for the presidency, critics charged one...
DREAM ENDS IN FIERY NIGHTMARE
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA Colombian immigrant's flourishing American dream came to a fiery end on Long Island when her car burst into flames after being rear-ended. Only a week removed from her second...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amQUEENS * A gunman has been arrested after firing shots at cops during a foot chase in Jackson Heights, police sources said yesterday. The violence began at about 11:45 p.m....
GANG SWEEP CORRALS 582
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amGang-busting feds arrested 582 foreign nationals, including 26 from Queens and Long Island, in a two-week nationwide sweep. "These violent gangs pose a threat to our homeland and the safety...
FREDDY GETS THOMPSON'S ENDORSEMENT
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amMayoral contender Fernando Ferrer picked up a key endorsement yesterday from city Comptroller William Thompson and moved quickly to capitalize on it by featuring Thompson in his first campaign ads....
'BROKE' DEADBEAT DAD COUGHS UP $250,000
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amOhhh - that money. A "broke" millionaire deadbeat dad yesterday settled his five-year child-support battle with his ex-wife after he managed to dig up $250,000 - money he originally claimed...
SICK SEX & BOOZE - 'SLAY' WIFE TESTIFIES
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amThe raven-haired beauty on trial for allegedly drugging her hot-shot Merrill Lynch banker hubby, then clubbing him to death, broke down on the witness stand yesterday as she told how...
JEWISH DOC SECRETLY MADE LIMP PRINCES POTENT-ATES
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amJERUSALEM - Did you hear the one about the Jewish doctor who helped the Saudi crown prince make it big-time with ravishing Riviera babes? Well, it's no joke. A prominent...
DANGLING GRIPER IN HIGH DRAMA
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA middle-aged man checked into a Midtown hotel yesterday, then dangled off his 14th-floor balcony and littered the streets with fliers, cops said. Passers-by gawked as cops descended on the...
SEX TEACH SCORED ON GRIDIRON - COPS: SHE NAILED BOY IN PRESS BOX
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA randy teacher bedded a 16-year-old student in her home - and then had sex with the boy at the Catholic school's football field within earshot of his snickering pals,...
DISSING DEMS DID DUBYA A FAVOR IN DIPLO DISPUTE
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amSTONEWALLING Democrats made President Bush's day by helping him send John Bolton to the United Nations with a tough-guy image as the new sheriff who'll crack down on scandals and...
YANK COPS FROM SCHOOLS: KIDS
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amHigh-school students from The Bronx and Brooklyn yesterday protested the city's use of cops to keep order at unruly public schools, charging that the policy does more harm than good....
SLASHER GUILTY OF PLAYSTATION RAMPAGE
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA man admitted yesterday viciously slashing a mother and her two kids - who were trying to rescue her. Amara Jawara, 27, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in Bronx Supreme...
RADIO $TATIC FUROR - BX. CHARITY 'CONNED'
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA top staffer at the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club in The Bronx "conned" the organization into lending nearly $500,000 to the left-wing radio network Air America - a...
GOP MIKE WANTS TO RUN ON THE LIBERAL LINE, TOO
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amHe may be the ultimate RINO (Republican in Name Only) in the country, but Mayor Bloomberg is moving to further water down his GOP credentials by circulating petitions to also...
'BODY-CHOP' TEEN - SLAY NEIGHBOR CUT UP GIRL, THEN PUT HER IN TRUNK: COPS
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA frantic New Jersey couple searched for their missing teenage daughter without a clue that she was dismembered and stuffed in a trunk next door - where the neighbor who...
GOTTI FAME IS NAME OF THE GAME
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA federal judge grilled potential jurors for the racketeering trial of John "Junior" Gotti yesterday after airing her concerns that everyone has watched mob movies and knows the defendant's notorious...
'KING' IS THRONE IN JAIL - CAR SCAMMER GUILTY
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amDisgraced "Caddy King" Dick Gidron shouldn't bother kicking the tires on a sweetheart deal approved for him yesterday in a Manhattan courtroom. In exchange for admitting to a $70,000 trade-in...
EX-JAIL BOSS CAGED - 8 MONTHS ON TAX RAP
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amThe former Rikers Island boss who moonlighted for Republican political campaigns - and then stashed away the money he made without paying taxes - was sentenced to eight months behind...
JEN WITHOUT PITTY - 'THERE'S A SENSITIVITY CHIP THAT'S MISSING [FROM BRAD]'
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amJennifer Aniston confesses she still loves her estranged hubby, Brad Pitt - but was "shocked" and "hurt" to see intimate photos of the Hollywood hunk cozying up with his new...
SCIENTOLOGISTS: IT'LL PAY TO BOO$T CITY POL
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA Scientology group told its members that donating to City Councilmember Margarita Lopez would "pay dividends," according to a bombshell e-mail obtained by The Post. The Citizens for Social Reform,...
JUICED STAR IS STRUCK OUT - BASEBALL SLUGGER PALMEIRO SUSPENDED OVER POSITIVE 'ROID TEST
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amBaseball's steroid scandal ensnared its first likely Hall of Famer yesterday when slugger Rafael Palmeiro was suspended for testing positive - less than five months after he stared down a...
'POOR' PA PONIES UP $250,000
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amOhhh - that money. A "broke" millionaire deadbeat dad yesterday settled his five-year child-support battle with his ex-wife after he managed to dig up $250,000 - money he originally claimed...
'BAT-BEATER' SWINGS & MISSES
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA Queens judge swatted down a motion for bail yesterday by the lawyer for accused bias bat-beater Nicholas "Fat Nick" Minucci. The suspect's mother, Maria, shook her head slowly as...
PALS MOURN CAMP GIRL
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amThree 14-year-old girls bade a tearful farewell yesterday to their "happy-go-lucky" best friend - one of five kids driven to their doom in the Catskills last week by a speeding...
GOTTI FAME IS NAME OF GAME IN JURY SELECTION
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA federal judge grilled potential jurors for the racketeering trial of John "Junior" Gotti yesterday after airing her concerns that everyone has watched mob movies and knows the defendant's notorious...
RADIO MAN CATCHES $TATIC
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA top staffer at the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club in The Bronx "conned" the organization into lending nearly $500,000 to the left-wing radio network Air America - a...
LOVE RIVAL SLAIN - EX FORCED TO WATCH
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amAn ex-beau enraged with jealousy forced his former girlfriend to watch as he gunned down her new love in Brooklyn yesterday, then put a gun to her head in a...
PUNK-ROCK RALLY FOR CBGB
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amCBGB began the last month on its lease yesterday as E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt stepped up in hopes of saving the grungy East Village rock palace. The...
TOSS OUT ALL THE HALL OF SHAMERS
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amFORGET about the Hall of Fame. Just as in 1939, when Babe Ruth & Co. became charter members in Cooperstown, Rafael Palmeiro is now a charter member of the Steroid...
TOURIST SLASHED IN CENTRAL PARK
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA tourist from New Zealand was slashed in Central Park last night by an emotionally disturbed man, cops said. The 22-year-old woman, whose name was withheld, was walking near West...
BOOZE & SICK SEX - 'BANKER SLAY' WIFE: HE WALLOPED ME
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amThe raven-haired beauty on trial for allegedly drugging her hot-shot Merrill Lynch banker hubby, then clubbing him to death, broke down on the witness stand yesterday as she told how...
BEAT GOES ON AT CBGB - FOR NOW
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amCBGB began the last month on its lease yesterday as E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt stepped up in hopes of saving the grungy East Village rock palace. The...
JUICED STAR IS STRUCK OUT - BASEBALL'S PALMEIRO SUSPENDED AFTER POSITIVE 'ROID TEST
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amBaseball's steroid scandal ensnared its first potential Hall of Famer yesterday when slugger Rafael Palmeiro was suspended for testing positive - less than five months after he stared down a...
BACKDOOR BOLTON - BUSH BYPASSES SENATE TO FILL U.N. POST
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday made an end-run around the Senate to install John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations - a post Bolton manned in New York just...
OVER-THE-EDGE CRACKPOT - DANGLES OUT HOTEL IN PROTEST
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amA nutty protester yesterday plunked down several hundred dollars for a Midtown hotel room - then dangled off its 14th-floor balcony and littered the streets with fliers, cops and witnesses...
ROBINSON TEACHING CHRISTON
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amLiberty coach Patty Coyle is waiting for Crystal Robinson to tell her that the pain has subsided enough in her sprained right pinky for the veteran to play again. As...
MAGIC: STEPHON KEY TO KNICKS
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amMagic Johnson yesterday guaranteed Larry Brown would get the Knicks into the playoffs this upcoming season, but said how far they go would depend on whether Stephon Marbury was willing...
WE'RE FIT TO FIGHT! - BOMBERS CONFIDENT IN CURRENT ROSTER
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amSubtle. That was the word Alex Rodriguez used, in obvious approval, for Yankee GM Brian Cashman's recent trade maneuvering. The Yankees didn't make any blockbuster acquisitions this July, which was...
MOSS' BIG MOUTH HITS RAIDER NATION
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amNAPA, Calif. - Randy Moss issued his first apology as a member of the Oakland Raiders yesterday. He has not done anything wrong yet, but he figured it would be...
GIANT STRUGGLE - WIFE'S DEATH WEIGHS ON BACKUP LINEMAN KELLY
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amALBANY - Lewis Kelly never hesitated, stating he'd been married for 414 days. Kelly managed to chuckle when it was pointed out to him yesterday prior to the lunch period...
CHANTAL SPARKLES AT SPA
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amSARATOGA SPRINGS - Call her the "longshot queen of the Old Spa." Chantal Sutherland, the 29-year-old Canadian sensation who's riding at this meet for the first time, lit up the...
CHACON'S GLAD HE'S NOT BACK IN COORS
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Shawn Chacon learned plenty of lessons, good and bad, from his stint as the Colorado closer last season. Mostly, he learned he didn't want the job. Chacon, who...
CHAD NOT WORRIED BY RUST
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amJET NOTES The analysis of Chad Pennington's every throw and movement pushed him to the brink of agitation yesterday when questions about his downfield accuracy were brought up. "I haven't...
DEVILS IN HUNT TO BRING BACK HOLIK
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amGoing from the Garden to the swamp could be in the works for Bobby Holik. Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello is said to have initiated negotiations yesterday aimed at bringing...
GIAMBI CLEAN AS YANK
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amIf you're waiting for Jason Giambi to suffer the same penalty as Rafael Palmeiro, don't hold your breath. In the wake of yesterday's revelation that Palmeiro has not only failed...
LAW UNTO HIMSELF - GANG GREEN ZEROS IN ON FREE-AGENT CORNER
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amThe specter of Ty Law hangs over the Jets' training camp like the humid haze that has players running to the water jugs every few minutes in the throes of...
ULTI-MET CHALLENGE - AMAZIN'S HEAD TO BATTLE UNCHANGED
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amOn Sunday the Mets won a game without Manny Ramirez or Alfonso Soriano - or anybody else new, for that matter. Now they have to win about 35 or 40...
CHACON NO COORS FAN
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Shawn Chacon learned plenty of lessons, good and bad, from his stint as the Colorado closer last season. Mostly, he learned he didn't want the job. Chacon, who...
MLB SUSPENDS PALMEIRO - RAFFY: 'I HAVE NEVER INTENTIONALLY USED STEROIDS'
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amMajor League Baseball landed its first big-name steroids cheat yesterday when it suspended Rafael Palmeiro 10 days for violating the league's new steroid policy. The suspension comes four months after...
WILL HALL STILL CALL? - HALL OF FAME VOTERS' BALLOTS ARE ALREADY IN
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amTHE fans have resumed cheering Jason Giambi, so clearly not enough of them really care who has cheated and who hasn't. The lovefest for Gary Sheffield made it obvious all...
BALLER OF THE WEEK: CAPPIE PONDEXTER
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amRaised on the west side of Chicago, Cappie Pondexter grew up idolizing Michael Jordan. Since she can remember, Cappie always knew what she wanted to do. "Before the WNBA even...
LIKE OL' TIMES FOR MIG, 'ARTIE'
August 2, 2005 | 4:00amReunited with jockey Rich Migliore for first time since Oct. 30 Breeders' Cup, 2-5 favorite Artie Schiller tracked crawling pace (:25.4, :50) set by Silver Tree, then ran him down...