December 30, 2005
HOUSE SALES SLUMP
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amIn an otherwise cheerful environment of improving consumer sentiment and decent retail sales, the continued slowdown across the housing market might prove to be the Grinch that trumps all. Yesterday,...
ONLINE BIZ ROCKETS AHEAD
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amInternet retailers had a very merry holiday season, according to two reports released yesterday, as consumers boosted online spending on everything from apparel to electronics. Encouraged by strong online spending...
GUCCIONE SUES NEW PENTHOUSE OWNERS FOR $250M
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amBob Guccione, Sr., on the eve of final eviction from his East Side townhouse, is battling back. He's filed a new $250 million lawsuit against the current owners of Penthouse...
SCREEN SAVER - PERELMAN ADDS DELUXE TO MOVIE-MAKING EMPIRE
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amRon Perelman is making yet another comeback, this time as a behind-the-scenes Hollywood mogul. The 62-year-old tycoon, who has earned and lost billions, has quietly bought a crucial piece of...
HACHETTE'S SHOCK TALK - EDGY MEN'S TITLE IS LAUNCH BUZZ OF THE SEASON
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amMOST major media companies are scaling back on launch plans next year, with one "shocking" exception. Paris-based Lagardere Group - parent company of Hachette Filipacchi Media US Inc. - is...
MARY'S HOT PICK
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amArturo O'Farrill, the pianist/musical director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, moonlights big time as the leader of the Chico O'Farrill's Afro-Cuban Jazz Big Band, named for...
STARR REPORT
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amMats entertainment Laugh all you want at the WWE, but the broadcast's return to USA paid huge dividends for the network. The return of "Monday Night Raw" to USA last...
NEW 'DANCE' 2ND BANANA
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amSAMANTHA Harris has replaced Lisa Canning as co-host of "Dancing with the Stars," which returns to ABC Jan. 5. Harris will co-host a live, half-hour results show with Tom Bergeron...
EVA'S REVENGE? - WANTS TO FILE COP COMPLAINT: REPORT
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amNOT-so-desperate housewife Eva Longoria plans to file a complaint against the Texas traffic cop who ticketed her basketball star beau Tony Parker on Christmas Eve, according to unconfirmed reports. Longoria...
RACE TO NOWHERE
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amINITIAL D * (one star) ANDY Lau and Siu Fai Mak, the men behind the successful Hong Kong police thriller trio "Infernal Affairs," should be arrested for directing "Initial D."...
HER FAVORITE YEAR; R&B HOTTIE CIARA IS A FORCE OF NATURE
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amCIARA wants to set the record straight. She is not the princess of crunk & B, and she doesn't want to be labeled as such. "I cringe when I hear...
'CLARK WON'T BE 100 PCT.'
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amRYAN Seacrest says his "New Years' Rockin' Eve" co-host Dick Clark won't be in a wheelchair Saturday night. It will be the first time America sees Clark, 76, since he...
CONFESSIONS OF A CRITIC
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amWHEN you review movies for a living, you tend to get asked a lot more about your work than most lawyers, accountants or bus drivers do. A surprising number of...
DROPPED PENNY
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amPENNY Crone is out at Ch. 5, only a year after rejoining the station. Crone, 58, a correspondent on "Good Day New York," hasn't been on the air since last...
BALLET-BY-COMMITTEE WORKS
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATRENew York City Center, 130 W. 55th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues. (212) 581-1212. Through Sunday. THEY say too many cooks spoil the broth -...
MY TOP 10 GETS EXTRA HIGH FIVE
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amJUST under the wire, here are my top 15 albums of the year. I could pare it down to 10, but then we'd all miss out. It's in alphabetical order....
POOR PIERCE: THIS IS TORO! TORO! TORRIBLE!
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amTHE MATADOR* (one star) Bloody mess.Running time: 97 minutes. Rated R (strong sexual content, profanity). At the Empire, the Union Square, the Lincoln Square. 'THE Matador" makes Pierce Brosnan look...
WRONG MAN - NOTHING IS WORSE THAN SOMEONE IN JAIL FOR A CRIME HE DIDN'T DO
December 30, 2005 | 5:00am"In Justice" Sunday night at 10 on ABC * * ½ (two and a half stars) A group of young lawyers and investigators who apparently just escaped from the Ford...
B'WAY TOPS, FLOPS; STAR IS BORN, BUT 1 SHOW SHOUTS ONO!
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amLET'S ring out the old (and wring a few necks) with a wrap-up of the triumphs, slip-ups and newsmakers of 2005. * IT'S NOT WHERE YOU START, IT'S WHERE YOU...
CLOSE SCRAPE IN B'KLYN - MOM, GIRL IN CRASH
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amLittle Kaithline Rivera and her mother escaped serious injury yesterday morning when a dump truck collided with their car in Brooklyn. The accident occurred at about 10:30 a.m. in Kensington,...
FERRY CRASH SHOCK - BLAME BIGS, NOT PILOT
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amThe "lion's share" of the blame for the Staten Island Ferry crash that killed 11 people should rest squarely on the shoulders of the operation's higher-ups - not the pilot...
STRAY SLUG SHATTERS HOME - QNS. MOM SLAIN AT WINDOW - AND DAD CAN'T BEAR TO TELL KIDS
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amA heartbroken dad doesn't know how to tell his children that a sickening, random act of violence stole the life of their vibrant, beloved mom - who was killed by...
HELP TROOPS PHONE HOME
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amAMERICANS looking for a way to offer some holiday cheer to our troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan might want to consider the USO's Operation Phone Home - a program...
YEAR OF THE DEM? - DON'T BET THE FARM, FOLKS
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amSTANLEY Greenberg, the Democratic pollster, seems increasingly convinced that America is headed for a "change election" in 2006. Using the results of a poll he'd done with a Republican counterpart...
SCHOOL SUSPENSIONS SKYROCKET 26 PERCENT
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amThe number of city public-school students suspended from class shot up a startling 26 percent last school year - after principals were encouraged to use the punishment without restraint. School...
CLICK AND SHAG - GUYS SURF WEB FOR SEX WHILE GALS SEEK RELIGION
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amInternet usage is all about sex for American guys, a new survey says. The broad study of Web usage, released Wednesday, found that men log on more often than women,...
WEST BANK SLAY BOMB
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amAn Islamic Jihad terrorist, headed for Israel to carry out a Hanukkah bombing, detonated his hidden explosives belt at a West Bank roadblock yesterday, killing himself, two fellow Palestinians and...
CIG-CASE JURY AWARD IS TOSSED
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amChristmas came late for the Elite modeling company yesterday, when an appeals court tossed out a cigarette-sensitive former employee's $4.3 million damages award against the agency. The state Appellate Division...
KOCH TO BACK SPITZER FOR GOV
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amFormer Mayor Ed Koch is expected to throw his support behind gubernatorial front-runner Eliot Spitzer today, as the state attorney general looks to end a rough week on a high...
YEAR OF THE HEROES - DISASTER WORKERS WILL HEADLINE TIMES SQ. BASH
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amEveryday Americans who heroically provided relief amid 2005's devastating natural disasters will lower the ball atop Times Square on New Year's Eve, Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday. Representatives from the NYPD,...
'RAFT KID' LAWSUIT
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amA grieving mom plans to sue Metro-North and the city for $40 million, charging their failure to fix a broken fence led her 14-year-old son to drown in the treacherous...
BRAVEST OK CONTRACT
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amThe FDNY's rank and file yesterday overwhelmingly approved a contract agreement between their union and the city. "The agreement not only provides our firefighters a wage increase, but, most significantly,...
TWU'S GREEDY GLOATING - CRIME DOES PAY
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amThe Transport Workers Union was gloating yesterday that its damaging, illegal three-day strike resulted in a better contract for 34,000 subway and bus workers. "Was the strike worth it? Yes,"...
BRAVEST HAPPY TO GO HOME
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amFirefighter Joseph Moore told colleagues yesterday he was just "happy to be going home" as he was released from Mount Sinai Hospital after nearly a month. Moore, 26, suffered a...
DA TO GET NEW 'SHORT' STORY
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amA 3-foot-6 teen, who claims her mother paid her to tell police tall tales about being taunted by their Brooklyn neighbors, said she plans to come to clean in a...
KILLER DRIVER IN FIERY TAXI WRECK WAS DRUNK: DA
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amThe driver busted in a horrific smashup with a taxi in Queens was drunk when he rammed and killed the hardworking cabby, prosecutors said yesterday. Freddy Ramlochan, 27, had bloodshot,...
BLAZING ANGER - SCHUMER TO FORD: REPAIR CROWN VICS
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amSen. Chuck Schumer sent a scathing letter to the Ford Motor Co. yesterday, calling on the automaker to make its Crown Victoria models safer after a city cab driver died...
'I MISS YOU MORE THAN EVER,' MET WROTE TO DEAD SON - PITCHER-TURNED-ROBBER PUT TRAGIC RAMBLINGS ON 'NET
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amWhen grief overcame Jeff Reardon after his son Shane's death two years ago, the bereaved former big-leaguer turned to the Internet to work out his misery - writing a series...
BRUNO KEEPS HEAT ON 'BULLY' ELIOT
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno yesterday urged Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (left) to back an independent probe of his alleged threats against Lower Manhattan Development Corp. Chairman John...
N.J. COP'S BODY IS RECOVERED
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amNYPD scuba divers yesterday recovered the body of a Jersey City cop who accidentally drove off an open drawbridge with his partner Christmas night. Officer Robert Nguyen's remains were found...
FINEST PLANNING TO GIVE LOTS OF LATE PRESENCE
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amNew Yorkers will be safe at home on New Year's Eve - with 10,000 cops on duty to help us ring in 2006 safely, the city's top cop said yesterday....
WHAT AN ACT - COP'S SIS: KILLER STAR DESERVES OSCAR FOR 'I'M SORRY' SOB STORY
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amJailed actor Lillo Brancato Jr. gave "the finest performance of his life - he should get a nice Academy Award" for weeping over the shooting death of hero cop Daniel...
MAYOR INKS 26 NEW LAWS
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amIn an end-of-the year legislative frenzy, Mayor Bloomberg signed 26 bills into law yesterday - including several to curb noise and graffiti. In fact, there were so many new laws...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amMANHATTAN * A Midtown bank teller passively but effectively thwarted a note-passing thief, police sources said yesterday. The robber walked into a Valley National branch at 295 Fifth Ave. at...
RISING CRIME SHAKES 'SAFE' NEIGHBORHOOD
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amTahina Colin remembers when everybody on her street knew each other, and violence happened elsewhere. "We used to have home associations and block parties," said Colin, 36, who grew up...
TIPSY JUDGE HAMMERED BY PANEL
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amAn alcoholic judge who showed up so drunk for work that he had to leave the bench has been given a sobering wakeup call by an state oversight panel. Judge...
ACTIVISTS: SAVE GAY RIKERS UNIT
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amA plan to close a gay jail dormitory on Rikers Island has drawn the ire of some activists who fear inmates won't be safe, despite assurances from the city Correction...
WTC BIZ GOT ZERO - FEDS TURNED DOWN EATERY DEVASTATED BY ATTACKS
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Steamers Landing owner Jan Fried, who was turned down for a small-business loan after the 9/11 attacks devastated her restaurant just blocks from Ground Zero, was steaming herself...
OUTRAGED POLS BLAST LENDER-BENDERS
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Members of Congress expressed outrage yesterday over the Small Business Administration's shocking mismanagement of a special loan program that was supposed to help businesses hurt by 9/11. "There...
PERVY PETE AND POP IN JAIL EMBRACE - TEARFUL REUNION AT BELLEVUE AFTER 2 YRS.
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amAccused pervy predator Peter Braunstein had an emotional jailhouse reunion with his father yesterday - happily hugging the man to whom he hadn't spoken in two years. "There was love...
WEST SIDE CRANE CRASH
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amTragedy was averted on the Upper West Side yesterday when a 40-foot crane slid off a flatbed truck and crashed onto the street, crushing a parked car and damaging the...
SATELLITE DISH RAPE HORROR ON BX. ROOF
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amA knife-wielding sicko forced a 16-year-old Bronx girl to the roof of her building, then raped and robbed her and tied her to a satellite dish, police said yesterday. A...
$4.3M CIG-SUIT AWARD TOSSED
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amChristmas came late for the Elite modeling company yesterday when an appeals court tossed out a smoke-sensitive former employee's $4.3 million damages award against the agency. The state Appellate Division...
MIKE INKS 26 NEW LAWS
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amIn an end-of-year legislative frenzy, Mayor Bloomberg yesterday signed 26 bills into law - including several to curb noise and graffiti. There were so many new laws and so many...
STRAY SLUG SHATTERS HOME - GI ON LEAVE ARRESTED AFTER QNS. MOM IS SLAIN AT WINDOW
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amA heartbroken dad doesn't know how to tell his children that a sickening, random act of violence stole the life of their beloved mom - who was killed by a...
SCHUMER RIPS FORD 'FIRE' CARS
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amSen. Chuck Schumer sent a scathing letter to the Ford Motor Co. yesterday, calling on the automaker to make its Crown Victoria models safer after a city cabdriver died in...
GAY RIKERS DORM SET TO CLOSE
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amA jail dormitory for gay inmates on Rikers Island is expected to close in the next couple of weeks, officials said yesterday. The dorm - one of one of the...
W. SIDE CRANE CRASH
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amTragedy was averted on the Upper West Side yesterday when a 40-foot crane slid off a flatbed truck and crashed onto the street, crushing a parked car and damaging the...
HIGH-CRIME PRECINCTS TO BE SPLIT
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amTwo of the most troublesome police precincts in the city will be split in half as part of the NYPD's revamped "Operation Impact" next year, The Post has learned. The...
'RAFT KID' $40M SUIT - MOM TO SLAP MET-NORTH, CITY
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amA grieving mom plans to sue Metro-North and the city for $40 million, charging their failure to fix a broken fence led her 14-year-old son to drown in the treacherous...
2 CRIME-RIDDEN BX. PRECINCTS WILL BE SPLIT
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amTwo of the most troublesome police precincts in the city will be split in half as part of the NYPD's revamped "Operation Impact" next year, The Post has learned. The...
9/11 PAPA WOULD BE PROUD - HERO'S SON JOINS NYPD
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amCharles Mills Jr. was sworn in yesterday as an NYPD officer - more than four years after his father, also a cop, died on 9/11. In an emotional speech during...
THE FAN'S CORNER
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amPrick Murray Kellman's finger and he'll bleed Giants blue, or so he says. Maybe he can make that Act I, Scene 1 of the sitcom he's currently writing. It would,...
EXTENDED SEASONS ARE A 'REEL' BONUS
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amIN trying to get more anglers on its rivers and streams for close to a year-round basis, New York State has lengthened the seasons for many of its freshwater species...
BAY-AREA BLUES - RAIDERS CAN TURN JINTS TO ROAD KILL
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amTHE Giants already have clinched the playoffs, and you have to wonder if the removal of the do-or-die element will create a letdown, even with a division title at stake....
ROAD TEST; NETS SOON TO BE WELL-TRAVELED
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amPerhaps the NBA was just being kind in giving the Nets an easy week, letting them rest up to brace for a brutal month. Either way, Richard Jefferson thinks winning...
ISLES ON THIN ICE
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amGM Mike Milbury and the Senators were both waiting in Ottawa for the Islanders, making you wonder which scenario was worse. The Islanders, soaked in the gasoline stench of a...
ALLEN STILL HAS THE WILL; PRIDE NO PROBLEM FOR TROUBLED CB
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amNo one will ever accuse Will Allen of harping on the past. He pushes forward, unfazed by the criticism, ignoring the uncertainty of his tenure with the Giants. Last week,...
RANGERS USE PETR PRINCIPLE
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amThe Rangers sent 22-year old defenseman Maxim Kondratiev to the minors this week for seasoning and more ice time than he was going to get with the big club. They're...
INTIMIDATING CAPTURES OPENER
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amTrack was sloppy, sealed; heavy fog rolled in after second race, making for tough calls by track announcer Larry Collmus until fog cleared before seventh. FIRST RACE: "Cowboy Kyle" Kaenel,...
DOYLE LOVES BIG TEN
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amAS he developed into a Division I player at St. Dominic High, there really was only one college Tim Doyle was interested in. The Merrick, L.I., native was not unlike...
TIGHT END LOOSE ; SHIANCOE SET IF SHOCK CAN'T GO
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amJeremy Shockey sat out again yesterday and will travel to Oakland for tomorrow's game having not practiced all week since spraining his left ankle in Saturday's ugly 35-20 loss to...
DEAL NEAR TO BAIL OUT THE NYRA
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amThe New York Racing Association, down to its last dime, came within a photo-finish of reaching a deal with the state yesterday to avoid bankruptcy after intense negotiations with the...
HERM HOLDS LINE ; INSISTS HE WON'T QUIT JETS
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amHerman Edwards, who's had enough brush fires to put out this season in his own backyard, yesterday found himself trying to put out yet more flammable rumors about his coaching...
KOBE SHOWING NASTY SIDE MORE AND MORE
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amFAR be it from me to suggest that Kobe Bryant is playing by his own set of laws, but Sam Smith is writing a sequel to "The Jordan Rules." Kobe's...
LARRY GETS LUCKY; BROWN'S REPUTATION SAVING JOB FOR NOW
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amTHIS just in: The NBA fined the Knicks yesterday for not leaving this season in a timely manner. Larry Brown's deplorable 7-20 record and torn rotation (off the) cuff is...
YOUNG GUN - STAR QB COULD STEAL ROSE BOWL FOR TEXAS
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amIf Texas wins the national championship, it is going to be in a classic, maybe in an unforgettable, 38-34-type shootout. And it if it happens, it will most certainly be...
NO LONGER TEDDY BALLGAME - ROBINSON LEFT WITHOUT BASEBALL GIG
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amFor the first time in 22 years, Ted Robinson will turn his calendar to a new year and broadcasting for a major-league team will not be scheduled for the summer....
5 QUESTIONS FOR HUBIE BROWN
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amThis week, NYP TV Sports' Andrew Marchand spoke with ABC lead NBA analyst Hubie Brown. Brown, 72, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September. Q: What's been...
MARCHAND'S MATCHUP OF THE YEAR: ESPN'S MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL VS. NBC'S FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA (WHO WILL OWN THE NFL NIGHTS IN '06?)
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amAs always, the Matchup of the Year is proactive, looking forward, not backward. Come September, ESPN and NBC will take off the gloves, trying to seize which night of the...
METS ON BRINK OF BAEZ TRADE
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amIn a move that could give the Mets perhaps the finest 1-2 closing punch in the National League, GM Omar Minaya is working to finalize a trade that would bring...
NOW OSI GETS THE BUSINESS
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES Ever since Giants DE Osi Umenyiora has ascended up the chart and moved in as the NFC's sack leader, he has noticed a lot more attention directed his...
CANTEY OPTS FOR SYRACUSE
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amParker Cantey, who led South Shore to the PSAL football title game as a junior a year ago, committed to play at Syracuse next season. The 6-3, 200-pound Cantey, a...
BROWN A KEY COG IN THE BLAME GAME
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amThe Knicks are a basketball catastrophe the likes of which we've never seen around here, and that encompasses an awful lot of brutal basketball. They are 7-20, which means they...
FEUDING DUO IS HOT STEPH - MARBURY AND BROWN AT ODDS ONCE AGAIN
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amMILWAUKEE - The feud is back on. The frosty relationship between Stephon Marbury and Larry Brown grew even colder yesterday in this frosty midwest city. Brown and Marbury not only...
EDDY'S READY DESPITE THE PAIN
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES MILWAUKEE - Knicks center Eddy Curry said yesterday he's willing to play through the pain to get back on the court for tonight's clash in Milwaukee at the...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
December 30, 2005 | 5:00amLocking yourself out of your car is bad enough, but what's really embarrassing is when your cat locks you out. Jeanna Stewart, of Morgantown, W.Va., was getting a spare house...