August 4, 2006
NOW AOL 'FREES' 5,000 STAFFERS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amA day after announcing a plan to give away many of its services for free, America Online said yesterday it will send out nearly 5,000 pink slips. The job cuts,...
PAIN IN THE GAS - BETS AGAINST ENERGY PRICES SINK FUND
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amA hedge fund run by the former president of the New York Mercantile Exchange made a gas-propelled exit from existence when a massive bet on a drop in natural gas...
IPODS TO JAZZ UP '07 CARS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amIn a single killer deal, Steve Jobs has found new homes for millions of his iPods - behind the wheel of new cars coming out of Detroit showrooms. General Motors,...
GREEN MAKE$ A MOVE
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amThe $6 billion purchase of Reckson Associates Realty by real estate investment trust, SL Green, has allowed it to corral five "fortress" properties in Midtown while getting some new reach...
FCC TACKLES TIME WARNER
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amFederal regulators threw a flag at Time Warner Cable yesterday, ordering it to reinstate the NFL Network after the cable operator yanked the channel from some systems in the middle...
NEW CRISIS BOOSTS COFFEE
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amWorld coffee prices hit new six-year highs for the second day following a warehouse bungle in Italy that may have ruined thousands of tons of beans. Traders already were scrambling...
BOOK FINDS NEW LIFE - CONTROVERSIAL VIKING REJECT TO HIT STORES THIS MONTH
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amA controversial new book by Jack Holland, "Misogyny, the World's Oldest Prejudice," that is being published posthumously, is slated to start showing up in bookstores in mid-August. That has to...
STARR REPORT
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amCNN has hired Fidel Cas tro's estranged daughter, Alina Fernandez, as a "net work contributor" while ru mors about the precarious state of Castro's health con tinue to swirl. Fer...
THE SEX IS KILLER, BUT ...
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amTHE BRIDESMAID (three stars) Mad love.In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 110 minutes. Not rated (sex, nudity). At the Angelika, Mercer and Houston streets. NOW well into his 70s,...
IT RISES ABOVE
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amTHE DESCENT (three stars) Prepare to be scared.Running time: 99 minutes. Rated R (strong violence, gore, profanity). At the Empire, the Chelsea, the Union Square, others. MOVIES about people trapped...
DESIGN CHEAT OFF THE RUNWAY
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amBRAVO'S "Project Run way" was thrown into turmoil after a promising designer was booted for violating the show's rules. Brooklyn-born Keith Michael, 34, was dismissed midway through Wednesday's episode of...
NEITHER EAR NOR THERE
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amTHE NIGHT LISTENER (one and a half stars) Tune it out.Running time: 91 minutes. Rated R (profanity, graphic sexual references). At the Empire, the Lincoln Square, the Kips Bay, others....
ANIMATED FARM TALE UDDERLY UNREDEEMING
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amBARNYARD (one and a half stars) Don't step in it.Running time: 88 minutes. Rated PG (crude humor, animal violence, death scene). At the E- Walk, the Orpheum, the Kips Bay,...
LAUGHTER ON A ROAD TO RECLINER
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amTHE PUFFY CHAIR (three stars) Take your seat.Running time: 85 minutes. Rated R (mature subject matter). At the Angelika, Houston and Mercer streets. 'THE Puffy Chair" is the charming feature...
KNISH ME, I'M JEWISH; SOAP'S FIRST KOSHER LEAD
August 4, 2006 | 4:00am'THE Young and the Restless" has made soap history by revealing a leading character's deep, dark secret: Brad Carlton is (gasp!) Jewish. And when was the last time that happened...
SHIVER YOUR FILM TIMBERS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00am'I want the man to look like a pirate, not a mollycoddle," went a studio memo. "You have him standing up here dealing with a lot of hard-boiled characters and...
RACE ACE - WILL HITS THE ALI G-SPOT AND 'TALLADEGA' TAKES OFF; FAST & CURIOUS, 'NIGHTS' IS ON TRACK
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amTALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY (three stars) Hicky, slobby. Running time: 105 minutes. Rated PG-13 (crude humor, profanity, drug references, comic violence). At the Lincoln Square, Kips Bay,...
BLESSED BY AUSSIE CHURCH
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amTHE Church, a quartet which has made 30 albums since forming in Sydney 26 years ago, is touring behind their latest disc, "Uninvited, Like the Clouds," which, like the clouds,...
LOST LACHANZE; TONY WINNER GETS A STAR FOR IMPERFECT ATTENDANCE
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amA hiker in the Himalayas has a better chance of spotting a snow leopard than a theatergoer at "The Color Purple" has of seeing its Tony-winning star, La Chanze. The...
CANE-DO - REPORTER DOZIER BACK ON HER FEET AFTER IRAQI ATTACK
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amCBS correspondent Kim Dozier is out of the hospital and walking with a cane. Dozier was critically injured (inset) in a bomb attack last May while traveling with a U.S....
CASINO BEAT
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amNEW JERSEY * There will be no more drama once MARY J. BLIGE (pictured) takes the stage tonight at 8 in the Borgata's Event Center. Tickets: $85-$125. Or riff with...
MARY'S HOT PICK
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amENJOY some Cuban spices without having to go anywhere near the brothers Castro. Francisco Mela, born in 1968 in Bayamo, Cuba, was a renowned Latin jazz drummer in his native...
INSIDER JOKE - PAIR POKES FUN AT THE WORLD OF INDIE FILM
August 4, 2006 | 4:00am"The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman": (three stars) "The Business": (four stars) Tonight at 11 and 11:30 on IFC MAYBE it's not the extreme heat, the unending wars, gas prices...
TERROR'S SUCK-UPS - KOWTOWING TO HEZ KILLERS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amHEZBOLLAH has been in existence for almost 25 years. In that time, it has become arguably the most sophisticated, if not the most dangerous, non-state actor in the world. It...
RUMMYACHE - HILLARY RIPS INTO HIS IRAQ 'ERRORS' & 'ROSY' TALK IN FURIOUS SENATE DUEL
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton blasted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's "record of incompetence" yesterday as she unleashed her harshest barrage of criticism yet on the war in Iraq. "My...
COMPUTER THEFT BUST
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amA computer expert for a Long Island school district stole almost $54,000 worth of high-tech gear from the district and sold it on eBay, authorities said yesterday. Donald Meritz, 51,...
PRO-WAR LIEBERMAN BOMBING WITH DEMS - TRAILS NED BY 13 PTS. IN NEW POLL
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amA new poll shows embattled Sen. Joe Lieberman falling 13 points behind his upstart, anti-war opponent in Tuesday's Connecticut Democratic primary. The Quinnipiac University poll gave Greenwich millionaire and political...
'WILL' POWER IN BROOKE FIGHT - PALS DEMAND TO SEE MED AND $$ RECORDS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amBAR HARBOR, Maine - The group of friends and family trying to wrest guardianship of Brooke Astor from her son is seeking access to her will and medical records, fearing...
BROOKLYN HOUSING BONANZA
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amAfter 20 years of planning, officials broke ground yesterday for 2,200 new affordable homes on a 227-acre former landfill in Brooklyn that Mayor Bloomberg said had once been regarded as...
MTA TALKS IN A 'BIND'
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amThe MTA and the Transport Workers Union start binding arbitration hearings today, returning to the bargaining table for the first time since the days following last year's transit strike. Both...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amBROOKLYN * Cops yesterday were hunting for a would-be Midwood bank robber. The unidentified suspect (above), a man in his 20s, walked into a Citibank branch on Kings Highway near...
HEALTH UNION: JOE MUST GO
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amNew York's powerful health-care workers union yesterday joined the effort to unseat Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman - vowing to put volunteers in the field on behalf of challenger Ned Lamont...
BRAVE VIGIL FOR HOSTAGE HUBBY THE WORLD FORGOT
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amTHE sad, beautiful wife sighed as if she'd rather be anywhere else on earth. Karnit Goldwasser came here from Israel to remind us of something too many people would rather...
SLEEPING BABY SHOT
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amA Brooklyn infant was grazed by a bullet that ripped through her front door early yesterday, police said. Six-month-old Zatrina Ramsey was sleeping in a stroller inside her sixth-floor apartment...
'PIMP' CLUELESS HE'D HELD BRUNO KID - FLESH PEDDLER HIT WITH PROBATION RAP
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amThe sleazy "pimp" busted after being found in Times Square with state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's missing granddaughter may have been clueless that she was related to the powerful...
WTC SHRINE READY TO GO
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amConstruction of the World Trade Center Memorial will finally begin later this month now that a contractor has been hired to build the foundation at Ground Zero. The Port Authority...
'BLIND DRUNK' L.I. COP BUSTED AFTER CRASH
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amA Long Island police inspector has been charged with drunken driving after crashing his official unmarked car into a telephone pole, authorities said yesterday. Nassau County Officer Vincent Muscarnera, who...
RODNEY STILL DI$$ED - WIDOW SUES HIS PAL
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amHe gets no respect, no respect at all - not even in death. Rodney Dangerfield's widow charges in papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court that shortly before her husband died,...
DOG SAVES CLAN IN BLAZE OF GLORY
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amA hero dog named Daisy saved her family yesterday when she braved smoke and flames to rouse her sleeping best friend - an 8-year-old special-needs girl - in their Long...
SECRET WAR OVER B'KLYN PK. CONDOS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amA scathing letter from the leading advocacy group for the future Brooklyn Bridge Park has exposed the secret turbulence behind controversial plans to include condo high-rises on the waterfront site....
DOUBLE LIFE OF 'FRAUD' - 'FAKE' INVEST DEALS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amAn Upper East Side scam artist - who was posing as a fund-raising socialite when she was busted at a 9/11 charity gala in the Hamptons - led a jet-set...
TEEN'S BRAIN TAKES POWDER
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amA Brooklyn teen, apparently angry about a drug bust, didn't know write from wrong when he mailed cops an envelope stuffed with white powder - and bearing his name and...
BRUTAL WEATHER EYED IN 4 DEATHS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amThe heat wave may be responsible for the deaths of four local people, officials said yesterday. The body of a possibly homeless man was found under the Gowanus Expressway in...
'JUNIOR' JUDGE BLOCKS 'PLEA PLAN' TAPES
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amJurors in the trial of John "Junior" Gotti won't hear incriminating tapes of the mob scion talking about his plans to cop a plea to kidnapping radio host Curtis Sliwa,...
NATALEE SUIT IS DISMISSED
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amThe New York civil suit filed by the parents of teen Natalee Holloway, who vanished in Aruba last year, was tossed out by a judge yesterday. New York "is not...
FATAL L.I. STUNT
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amA Long Island man fell out of a moving vehicle and was killed by another car, apparently while "skitching" - a thrill sport in which someone hangs out of a...
BID TO STOP YANK PARK FOULED OFF
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amPlay ball - for now. A Manhattan judge yesterday denied an environmental group's bid to halt construction of a new Yankee Stadium, but ordered a full hearing on the issue...
RUMMYACHE - HILLARY CALLS FOR HIM TO RESIGN OVER IRAQ 'ERRORS' AFTER FURIOUS SENATE DUEL
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton blasted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's "record of incompetence" yesterday as she unleashed her harshest barrage of criticism yet on the war in Iraq -...
DARKEST DAY FOR ISRAELIS - HEZ SLAYS 12 AS TOP THUG VOWS ROCKET BLITZ ON TEL AVIV
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amJERUSALEM - Hezbollah killed 12 Israelis yesterday - the highest toll since the war began - and threatened to bomb Tel Aviv as the Israeli ground offensive pressed further into...
TWU HEARINGS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amThe Transport Workers Union and the MTA start binding arbitration hearings today, returning to the table for the first time since the days following last year's transit strike. Both sides...
HOME RUN FOR B'KLYN
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amOfficials broke ground yesterday for 2,200 affordable homes on a 227-acre former landfill in Brooklyn that Mayor Bloomberg said had once been regarded as "worthless." "This really will be an...
MAURY SUIT SLAM - SENT TO ARBITRATION
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amThe $100 million sexual-harassment suit against the producers of the "Maury" show is going the way of host Maury Povich's weekend program with wife Connie Chung - off the air....
DA: JUDGE GAVE FIEND 'FREE RAPE'
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amQueens District Attorney Richard Brown yesterday slammed a judge for giving no additional jail time to a twice-convicted rapist who is already serving 25 years for another sexual assault. "For...
TOWERING STARS - 'WTC' OPENS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amReal-life heroes from 9/11 walked the red carpet in Manhattan last night alongside Tinseltown stars for the premiere of Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center." Sgt. John McLoughlin - the Port...
EVAC AT BOULEY BAKERY
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amHigh levels of carbon monoxide inside a ritzy SoHo restaurant last night forced the evacuation of dozens of patrons, fire officials said. A 911 call triggered the evacuation of Bouley...
SOAP-GAL 'STARVE' DRAMA - HELPS SAVE KIDS AS N.J. MA IS BUSTED
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amSoap-opera star Lisa Peluso had the lead role in a life-and-death drama in which she helped save four kids who were being starved by their mother, friends and officials said...
BRINGIN' THE HEAT - NABES SOCKED BY BLACKOUTS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amWith temperatures reaching 100 degrees in the Big Apple for the third day in a row yesterday - rocketing to over 120 degrees on the field at Yankee Stadium -...
LOVE ME TENDER MERCY - ELVIS TEDDY DOG GETS FARMED OUT
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amBarney was nothin' but a hound dog, but he won't be howling jailhouse rock anytime soon. On Tuesday, the Doberman pinscher guard dog ripped to shreds a $75,000 teddy bear...
THE 5TH ANNUAL LIBERTY MEDAL AWARDS - OUR 'OTHER' N.Y. HEROES
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amAway from the glare of the spotlight, our city's unsung heroes strive to help others without expectation of fame or fortune. We are seeking candidates for the fifth annual New...
QNS. DA RIPS JUDGE OVER 'FREE RAPE'
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amThe Queens district attorney slammed a judge yesterday for refusing to give additional prison time to a twice-convicted rapist already serving 25 years behind bars. "For all intents and purposes,...
B'KLYN PARK SHOCK - SECRET HI-RISE STRUGGLE
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amA scathing letter from the leading advocacy group for the future Brooklyn Bridge Park has exposed the secret turbulence behind controversial plans to include condo high-rises on the waterfront site....
'KILLER' WEATHER EYED IN 3 DEATHS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amThree local people may have died from the stifling heat wave, officials said yesterday. In the city, the body of an unidentified, possibly homeless, man was found under the Gowanus...
'DWI' COP BUSTED 3 WKS. LATER
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amA Long Island police inspector has been charged with drunk driving after crashing his official unmarked car into a telephone pole, authorities said yesterday. But police did not arrest Nassau...
BACKS TO THE FUTURE ; JETS MAY HAVE TO REPLACE MARTIN NOW
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amCurtis Martin's old reliable No. 28 uniform remains ominously invisible at Jets practices. They have conducted 11 practices in seven days of camp and the status of the most dependable,...
JUSTIN COULD BE AN EXAMPLE
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amJET NOTES Keep a close eye on Jets receiver Justin McCareins to see whether he's truly out of Eric Mangini's doghouse. McCareins was irked by Mangini putting him on the...
NOT FEELIN' O-KAY
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amIF TVs and radios included tiny red lights that glowed whenever sportscasters spoke words inspired by their conflicted interests, you'd have to replace that bulb three, four times a year....
OLD PAL OFFERS LARRY DEVELOPMENTAL JOB
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amOn a lark, the owner of an expansion NBDL team in Colorado offered its head-coaching job to Larry Brown on Tuesday. Colorado 14ers president Gary Hunter, who was the associate...
LAIMBEER: I WOULD HAVE DONE BETTER THAN BROWN
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amBill Laimbeer interviewed with Isiah Thomas twice last year about the vacant Knicks' head coaching job. The former Piston told his old teammate that he was no longer interested in...
CARTER: SHOCKEY SHOULD TAKE TIME
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amGIANT NOTES ALBANY - Do not rush back. That is receiver Tim Carter's advice to Jeremy Shockey as the impatient tight end recovers from the first concussion of his career....
BIG NIGHT FOR DIBELLA; PROMOTER'S BOXERS HIT GARDEN
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amBefore Bernard Hopkins met Jermain Taylor in their first fight last summer, Hopkins delighted at the notion that beating Taylor would put Taylor's promoter and Hopkins' arch-enemy Lou DiBella "out...
SPA BACK IN ACTION
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amSARATOGA SPRINGS - All systems were go again at the Old Spa after the track was closed Wednesday because of a killer heat wave, the first time an entire racing...
IT'S UP AND DOWN DAY FOR FRANKEL FAVORITES
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amSARATOGA SPRINGS - New York Racing Association named senior vice president Bill Nader new chief operating officer, position he's held de facto, sans title, for years. SECOND RACE: Seaside Affair,...
HONOR LETS BILLIE JEAN HOLD COURT
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amBillie Jean King walked into a press-conference room with Mayor Bloomberg at the USTA National Tennis Center, walked directly to the front-row where a white-haired lady sat. "Mommy, this is...
BALL OFF THUMB KOS FARNSWORTH
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Kyle Farnsworth exited during the eighth inning of yesterday's 8-1 victory over Toronto after getting nailed with a batted ball on his right thumb joint. Manager Joe Torre...
ISLES ADD SCOUT HEAD TO STAFF
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amJust when you thought the Islanders' standing-room-only front office was crowded enough, the team added another assistant GM to the mix with the hiring of Ryan Jankowski, who also will...
NETS SET PRESEASON SLATE
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amTrips to Toronto and Indiana plus home and away dates with the Knicks highlight the Nets' eight-game pre-season schedule. The Nets open with four away games - at Indiana (Oct....
WAGS NOT SURPRISED BY UTLEY'S HIT STREAK
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amMET NOTES MIAMI - For two years, Billy Wagner was a teammate of Chase Utley in Philadelphia. "He's a gamer," Wagner said yesterday. "He brings it every day." Utley also...
A LIDLE HELP - LIFE OF BRIAN JUST FINE THESE DAYS, THANK YOU
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amALL THE phone calls were worth it yesterday. All of Brian Cashman's persistent calls out to fellow GMs, all of those he received from a demanding George Steinbrenner, all of...
REYES SIGNS NEW FOUR-YEAR CONTRACT
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amMIAMI - THe way he steals bases and racks up triples, Jose Reyes has literally gotten rich quick. Reyes, the Mets' All-Star shortstop, signed his first major contract with the...
A BIG DEAL - PACT SHOWS METS HAVE STAYING POWER
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amTHE Mets have had as shaky a week as a team can have when it's already lapped the rest of its division, starting from the moment Duaner Sanchez' stepped into...
YANKS, CORY (ICE) CREAM THE BLUE JAYS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amYANKEES 8 BLUE JAYS 1 There were six ice cream bars waiting on Cory Lidle's clubhouse chair late yesterday afternoon. The irony was delicious. On Monday, Philly reliever Arthur Rhodes...
DONTRELLE OUTDUELS MARTINEZ IN ACE-OFF
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amMARLINS 4 METS 1 MIAMI - Last night Dontrelle Willis tossed eight innings against the Mets. And Pedro Martinez craves the star lefty as his teammate. The Mets lost 4-1...
DONTRELLE OUTDUELS MARTINEZ
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amMARLINS 4 METS 1 MIAMI - Last night Dontrelle Willis tossed eight innings against the Mets. And Pedro Martinez craves the star lefty as his teammate. The Mets lost 4-1...
WHAT A STEAL! AMAZIN'S LOCK UP REYES FOR NEXT FOUR YEARS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amMIAMI - The way he steals bases and racks up triples, Jose Reyes has literally gotten rich quick. Reyes, the Mets' 23-year-old All-Star shortstop, signed his first major contract with...
JOSE BACKS MAC - CANSECO: MCGWIRE DESERVES HALL PLAQUE
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amLONG BEACH, Calif. - Seated in the dugout at tiny Blair Field, Jose Canseco has just finished his fast food dinner when a reporter asks him about Mark McGwire, who...
CRAIG DELIVERS WHEN IT COUNTS
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amCraig Wilson came up with the bases loaded twice yesterday afternoon, and both times the freshly minted Yankee first baseman failed. Acquired at the trade deadline from Pittsburgh for Shawn...
TORRID PACE CONTINUES
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amTHE heat wave had many anglers fishing early and late in the day and opting for indoors and air conditioning in between. The action on striped bass was very early...
SHEA HEY, MIKE; PIAZZA STILL A STAR IN RETURN TO NEW YORK
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amWhen Jerry Coleman watches Mike Piazza, he sees the same traits Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio displayed when they walked around the Yankee Stadium clubhouse more than a half-century ago....
CALL HIM 'LITTLE' JOE; WITH REYNOLDS OUT, MORGAN ON SERIES
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amIn the wake of the firing of Harold Reynolds, Joe Morgan will be the new analyst on ABC's coverage of the Little League World Series. For the U.S. Championship on...
5 QUESTIONS FOR HOWIE ROSE
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amThis week, NYP TV Sports' Andrew Marchand spoke with Mets' radio play-by-play man Howie Rose. The 52year-old has been broadcasting Mets games for two decades. He also calls Islanders games...
MARCHAND'S MEMO OF THE WEEK
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amTo: WFAN Executives From: Andrew Marchand Re: Sid Rosenberg CC: Don Imus Dear WFAN Execs: It doesn't make any sense for anyone for Sid Rosenberg to return to WFAN. When...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
August 4, 2006 | 4:00amThese fleas became fire flies. After firefighters finished battling a blaze in a flea-infested house in Milwaukee, they headed back to their engine house - not realizing the fleas had...