December 28, 2007
UFC 79 Viewing Party at the Garden
UFC stars Forrest Griffin, Kenny Florian and Frankie Edgar will join Matt âThe Terrorâ Serra when he hosts the UFC 79: NEMESIS viewing party Saturday night inside Madison Square Garden.UFC...
Clemens listed as questionable
APQuarterback Kellen Clemens was listed as questionable today for the game against Kansas City because of a rib injury that sidelined him last week.Clemens was injured at New England two...
Roy Jones Jr. works out with Knicks
APRoy Jones Jr. took time from training for his Jan. 19 bout against Felix Trinidad at Madison Square Garden to join the Knicks today for workouts at their training center...
Mopping up the fantasy theater
The credits are rolling on the fantasy season. The few remaining in the theater are awaiting a Ferris Bueller-type good-bye in their Week 17 title games, while the bulk of...
JIM LEYRITZ ARRESTED FOR DUI AND VEHICULAR HOMICDE
WPLG-TV in Miami reports that former Yankee Jim Leyritz was arrested today after being arrested on suspicion of DUI and vehicular homicide. The station reports that police said Leyritz was...
Smush back with Heat
APFormer Fordham star Smush Parker rejoined the Miami Heat today, about a month after his confrontation with a female valet parking attendant.Parker had been placed on the inactive list, and...
Big Cat Big Waste
By FRED KERBERJamaal Magloire averaged a double-double in 2003-04 when he also was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team as a Hornet.As a Net, his double-double is for the...
Starr Report
What, no 'amazing'?Not only did the "NBC Nightly News," anchored by Brian Williams, win the evening news race last week - averaging 9.3 million viewers - but the words "whopping,"...
Oscar Watch: The Box Office Factor
"Sweeney Todd (Dreamworks/Paramount) was down for a 3rd straight day [Thursday], falling to #9 with $2.23M and a $1,788 [per-theater average],'' writes Steve Mason at Fantasy Moguls. "It is a...
LOTTERY
NEW YORK Midday Nos. Thu.: 558; Lucky Sum: 18 / Midday Win-4 Thu.: 5714; Lucky Sum: 17 / Evening Nos. Thu.: 060; Lucky Sum: 6; Evening Win-4 Thu.: 4623; Lucky...
NEXT UP: SHELLY SILVER
State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno has severed longstanding ties to Wright Investors' Services, a financial firm that manages millions for labor unions - many of which have business before...
THE BHUTTO ASSASSINATION
The assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto provided a stark reminder that, despite the improved military situation in Iraq, the future of the War on Terror remains a...
THE BHUTTO ASSASSINATION: DEMOCRACY MUST GO ON
THE death of Benazir Bhutto in a suicide attack in Ra walpindi yesterday has deprived Pakistan of one of the few political leaders who could have helped it unite against...
THE BHUTTO ASSASSINATION: NOT WHAT SHE SEEMED TO BE
FOR the next several days, you're going to read and hear a great deal of pious nonsense in the wake of the assassination of Pakistan's former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto....
WE'RE LOVIN' IT
OAK BROOK, ILL. TO gauge this pell-mell nation's velocity, visit here with Jim Skinner, CEO of a company on pace to have a net income for 2007 of $3.46 billion,...
ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE CHAPEL
THE ISSUE: The role of religion is this year's presidential campaigns. As a potential Mike Huckabee supporter, I am not bothered by the content of his ad ("Huck's Cross Purposes,"...
GOV & CO.'S NEW TRICK: DIGITAL DATA 'DODGE'
THE ISSUE: Allegations that the governor's office destroyed files relevant to the Dirty Tricks probe. Regarding the governor's refusal to give the names of Internet service providers, investigators should consider...
3 BIG BANKS SEEN WRITING DOWN $34B
D The future holds plenty of pain for Goldman Sachs' biggest rivals - that is, according to Goldman Sachs. A Goldman research report from senior bank analyst William Tanona predicted...
TRIPLE THREAT
Wall Street took hits from all sides yesterday, as an assassination in Pakistan, a prediction of billions more in write-offs at big banks and surging oil prices hammered stocks. The...
CONDE'S STEVE FLORIO, 58, DEAD
Steven T. Florio, the hard-charging, former CEO of Condé Nast Publications, died yesterday from complications related to a heart attack he suffered last month. He was 58. Florio was named...
BHUTTO'S BOOK PRIMED
BOOK publisher HarperCol lins, which just received the manuscript for Benazir Bhutto's upcoming book, is now moving quickly to get it on the shelves by February following yesterday's assassination of...
MAXJET 1K GET A BREAK
WASHINGTON - A federal judge said MAXjet Airways can use $390,000 to accommodate more than one thousand customers left stranded by the airline's Christmas Eve bankruptcy filing. Judge Kevin J....
SLICE FOR APPLE
Apple Inc. boss Steve Jobs may be used to calling the shots in almost every business venture he enters into, but in dealing with the entertainment industry he's being forced...
SALLIE'S NEW PLAN ADDS TO STOCK WOES
Shares of Sallie Mae continued to slide yesterday after the nation's largest student lender announced it will seek up to $2.5 billion of additional capital to shore up its beleaguered...
TW TOPS IN MEDIA FLOPS
NBC may broadcast "The Biggest Loser," but in terms of 2007 stock price performance, Time Warner ran away with that title. Of the big five entertainment conglomerates - CBS, Disney,...
HOLIDAY PRESENCE
With this year's batch of holiday gift cards sold, a controversy is resurfacing: how many of them will actually be used? Many industry executives insist the number of gift cards...
WEEKEND SUBWAY GUIDE
6: Manhattan-bound trains run express from Hunts Point to Third Avenue. 7: Manhattan-bound trains skip 111, 103, 90, 82, 74, and 69 streets. E: Manhattan-bound trains run express from Roosevelt...
QNS., B'KLYN IMMIGRANTS FEAR FOR RELATIVES AT HOME
The Benazir Bhutto assassination yesterday shook the city's Pakistani neighborhoods, where frantic residents were concerned about loved ones overseas. The NYPD also reacted to the slaying by beefing up security...
MAYOR: TOP AIDE DOESN'T LOOK NEWISH
Mayor Bloomberg yesterday named an investment banker with less than a year of government service to replace Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, Hizzoner's most-trusted economic-development aide. Bloomberg said Robert Lieber, 53,...
A CHILLING ECHO
Among the spectators watching as Martin Tankleff walked free yesterday was Jeffrey Deskovic, who knows exactly how he felt. Deskovic was sprung from prison 14 months ago after serving 16...
TANKLEFF IS FREE AT LAST
After spending nearly half his life behind bars, Martin Tankleff tasted freedom for the first time yesterday at a party with joyous relatives toasting him with champagne. Grinning from ear...
COP: I GOT DOWN & DIRTY WITH PIMP
A corrupt Queens cop pleaded guilty yesterday to federal extortion charges - admitting that he accepted cash and other bribes for supplying a pimp with dirt on rival brothel owners....
TESTY BETSY TO ED BIGS: ASSESS THIS
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and parent leaders blasted the Department of Education yesterday for forcing students as young as 8 to take tests every three weeks. Gotbaum called on officials...
BLDG.-CLEANER STRIKE LOOMS
City janitors threatened yesterday to sweep in the new year with a strike that would leave cubicle denizens in more than 1,000 office buildings stuck holding the mop. At a...
ODD TEAM BACKS 'RACE' KILLER
A black man convicted of fatally shooting a white teen during a confrontation in the gunman's Long Island driveway is getting support from unlikely allies - white homeowners and the...
TRAGEDY FOR NEW 'CITIZEN'
A Guyanese woman about to become an American citizen was in critical condition after a livery cab careened into her yesterday. Shantta Raghunana, 45, of Queens, was standing on a...
MIKE & PALS PUSH GUN ISSUE
Mayor Bloomberg insists he's not running for president, but a Bloomberg-funded coalition of mayors spent $22,000 yesterday on newspaper ads in two early primary states to prod the presidential candidates...
LI KILLER IN TACO BELL RAMPAGE
A Brooklyn stockboy, heartbroken over a recent breakup, barged into a Long Island fast-food restaurant, gunned down his romantic rival, and later killed himself as cops closed in, police said...
TRUE-BLUE GRADS
More than 900 new cops graduated from the Police Academy yesterday in a Madison Square Garden ceremony - but at least one rookie got an early taste of the action....
NEW HOPE FOR GI
A Queens mother yesterday said the arrest in Iraq of two al Qaeda-linked suspects who may have been instrumental in the kidnapping of her Army son was an answer to...
TREKKIE VS. CHRISTIE'S
Now playing in a Manhattan courthouse - "Star Trek 12: The Wrath of Ted." Lifelong Trekkie Ted Moustakis has boldly filed a $7 million lawsuit against the show's producers and...
NY'S NO-GROWTH POPULATION
Population trends are continuing to make the Empire State less of an empire, new Census Bureau information shows. The number of New Yorkers grew by an anemic 0.08 percent this...
BHUTTO SLAIN IN PAKISTAN
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was fatally shot in the neck as she was leaving a political rally yesterday, in an assassination that left at least 19...
LETTER FROM THE GRAVE
WASHINGTON - Benazir Bhutto warned in a letter two months ago that if she were murdered, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf would bear part of the blame. "Just wanted [you] to...
RIOTS SPUR CIVIL-WAR FEAR
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's assassination yesterday plunged the nuclear-armed country into an epic crisis that raised fear of an all-out civil war. Her killing after an...
WORLD UNITED IN SORROW AND OUTRAGE
From Washington to Riyadh, from New Delhi to Moscow, world leaders denounced the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, urged restraint among Pakistanis and paid tribute to a fallen political figure. "The...
BARRIER-BREAKING BEAUTY FROM A CURSED DYNASTY WENT FROM PITS TO PINNACLE - & THEN BACK AGAIN
Benazir Bhutto, heiress to one of the world's most powerful and star-crossed political dynasties, pursued both her destiny and Pakistan's - while trying to avoid the same fate that doomed...
HONOR HER BY VOTING: BUSH
WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday expressed outrage over the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, but implored Pakistanis not to let it derail democracy. "The United States strongly...
AMAZON HOLIDAY SALES SIMPLY AMAZIN'
Online emporium Amazon.com is walking tall after reporting its best holiday season ever. And the Nintendo Wii was flying faster than Santa off the virtual shelves, at a rate of...
BOOZE-&-DRUG BUST FOR MISCHA
Another member of Hollywood's Bimbo Brigade has joined the DUI club. Former "OC" star Mischa Barton allegedly boozed and cruised right up alongside drunken-driving stars Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan...
4 FATEFUL FEET
The wall surrounding the pen from which a tiger escaped - killing a teen and mauling his two pals - is almost four feet shorter than the recommended standard, the...
GOTTI LAWYER BOOSTS REV. AL'S GALS
The Rev. Al Sharpton is teaming up with John "Junior" Gotti's former lawyer, who said the feds are going after the civil-rights activist as if he were a made man....
RUDY'S 9/11 AD
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa - Rudy Giuliani - suffering from a slide in the polls - unveiled his first TV ad invoking the Sept. 11 attacks and showing images of...
HILL TOPS DEMS, GOP TIED IN KNOTS: NATIONWIDE POLL
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is the national front-runner for the Democratic nod, while the GOP race is a tossup between Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee, a new poll shows. The...
HAWKEYE POLL HAS CLINTON LEADING
DENISON, Iowa - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is leading in Iowa six days before the caucuses, with John Edwards edging out Sen. Barack Obama, a new poll shows. Clinton snares...
NYPD DAIL BLOTTER
QUEENS A large group of young thugs forced a teenager out of a Flushing karaoke bar and attacked him, police said yesterday. The group, between 15 and 20 men, went...
US VOTE WILL FEEL THE EFFECT
DES MOINES, Iowa - The real world - that big, nasty, dangerous, violent, grown-up world out there - just jumped squarely into the middle of a US presidential election that...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
One man's $1 million sculpture is another's worthless piece of junk. Three people were arrested in Montpelier, Vt., for stealing $1 million worth of bronze art and selling the pieces...
SEASON'S GREED-INGS
SHOW of hands: How many believe the NFL Network was created for the sole benefit of football fans, to make them happy and to reward their devotion? No one? Is...
TIME TO PAQ IT IN
PAT Riley already has waited far too long; it's time to fetch Willie Mays from San Francisco for a candid conversation with Shaquille O'Neal. And, by all means, ask the...
BOSTON'S MARKET
JOHAN Santana remains available. The New York teams remain interested. Yet, according to multiple executives spoken to yesterday, the Red Sox remain the strong favorite to obtain the star lefty...
FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE
JUST about everyone in the boxing industry will tell you their sport enjoyed a banner year in 2007 - everyone except Lou DiBella. The Manhattan-based promoter isn't drinking the Kool-Aid...
BLACKBIRDS FLYING HIGH
JIM FERRY is like most col lege coaches in that he absolutely loathes losing. He allows it to eat at him. Quite frankly, it affects everything he does. He is...
16 THE EASY WAY
TO BE honest, I'm tired of arguing whether the Giants should go all-out against the Patriots tomorrow night. So I'll cut to the bottom line, which is that Harry Carson...
MOPPING UP THE FANTASY THEATER
THE CREDITS are rolling on the fantasy season. The few remaining in the theater are awaiting a Ferris Bueller-type good-bye in their Week 17 title games, while the bulk of...
DON'T MESS WITH TEXANS
Adding to his stuffed trophy case, The Wildcat captured first place over more than 50 foes in the 2006-07 edition of Playbook's long-running Wise Guys Contest with an overall record...
NATIONAL BOAT SHOW HAS PLENTY TO OFFER
THE New York National Boat Show opens tomorrow at the Javits Center for those of you looking to do some late Christmas shopping. With more than 1000 boats, that include...
CELTS SLAP SONICS
While most of the attention focused on Ray Allen's return to Seattle, it was Paul Pierce who took over for Boston. Pierce scored 26 of his season-high 37 points in...
TOURNEYS ARE RICE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
Moe Hicks' roster looks a bit like a college team's and lately, his schedule does, too. Just three days after returning from a 4-0 trip at the Iolani Classic in...
GARDEN PARTY
St. John's will soon release its first travel guide, "How to Ruin a Week in Paradise," just in time for spring break. It's a primer for teams playing in any...
GRANT LEADS 'PACK PAST LAING, PIRATES
Brian Laing had seen Gavin Grant seal plenty of wins while the two were winning CHSAA titles at St. Raymond's in The Bronx. But last night, the Seton Hall forward...
TRENDSETTERS
JETS (-61/2) VS. CHIEFS, 4:15 P.M. Jets has covered five straight following a loss, six of seven in December, five of six in Week 17, four of five in conference,...
THE ODD COUPLE
Finishing like the Hall of Famers they are, The Odd Couple (Dick Klayman & Peter Tocco) are 5-1 on Best Bets over the last two weeks. So, for the grand...
O/U RICO!
Rico went 9-7 (2-1 Best Bets) last week on the over/unders to put the season record at 122-116-2 (25-21-2). The selections for Week 17: OVER: Jets / Chiefs; Eagles /...
MISS CHARLEEN
TOMORROW: Giants. SUNDAY: Jets, Bills, Bucs, Dolphins, Packers, Jaguars, Bears, Seahawks, 49ers, Redskins, Steelers, Vikings, Raiders, Rams, Colts. BEST BETS: Jaguars, Redskins, Vikings.
5 QUESTIONS FOR...LEE CORSO
ESPN college-football analyst Lee Corso talked to The Post's Justin Terranova this week as the bowl season kicked into high gear. Q: Shouldn't Missouri have been selected to play in...
FLOP-ALONG HONDO HAS MODEST GOAL
There'll be no happy ending for Hondo in '07, no matter how the truth is massaged. As Mr. Aitch stumbles down the stretch, all that's left is the hope that...
SPORTS SHORTS
GRID: West. Va. sues Rodriguez In Charleston, W. Va, West Virginia University's Board of Governors has sued former football coach Rich Rodriguez yesterday to collect a $4 million buyout of...
DEVILS SEEKING OFFENSIVE PUNCH
Thriving on a starvation diet, the Devils wonder what wonders they might work if they actually scored regularly. Four teams in the NHL entered last night with fewer goals than...
GIANTS AIM FOR PERFECT ENDING
Who's afraid of the big, bad Patriots? Certainly not the Giants, judging by their loose and feisty locker room yesterday and the demeanor of no-nonsense coach Tom Coughlin. "It's not...
IT'S EASY TO DESPISE TEAM LIKE HATETRIOTS
THE YANKEES are hated for a lot of reasons, but mostly because they have won 26 championships. Everyone wanted to knock off John Wooden's UCLA teams, especially the ones with...
A GIANT CHALLENGE
By the time Bill Belichick was finished talking about the Giants yesterday, you wondered whether he would even show up with his 15-0 Patriots tomorrow night at Giants Stadium. Or...
THE 'REST' IS HISTORY
Unless you live in a cave, you know all about the Patriots' pursuit of perfection as they visit the Giants on Saturday night. But did you know that, even if...
JINTS NOT PAT FANS
Antonio Pierce isn't happy with the thousands of Giants fans willing to sell their tickets to Patriots fans this weekend. As of yesterday afternoon, more than 100 tickets - some...
JERRICHO PLANS BIG
Jerricho Cotchery is conflicted. He had different plans for this season. Bigger plans. "My goal was to take my game to another level," the Jets receiver said yesterday. He's done...
COMING HOME?
After saying repeatedly he expects Stephon Marbury to return to the Knicks this season, Isiah Thomas waffled yesterday. When asked if there was any chance Marbury would not return to...
THOMAS: EDDY MUST 'CURRY' ON
After sitting on the bench for 32 straight minutes Wednesday night in Orlando, Fla., Eddy Curry figured his night was over. He had become a $60 million cheerleader. Then, Isiah...
NETS STILL STRUGGLING TO FIND WINNING TOUCH
Few teams could understand how beneficial a river is for the Nets. Without the Hudson separating them from the daily circus and abysmal play the Knicks churn out, people might...
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
The Border Patrol needn't erect a fence at center-ice of the ACC rink when the Rangers visit Toronto tomorrow night. No. 1 Public Enemy Sean Avery has no intention of...
207 BEST SONGS TO DOWNLOAD FROM 2007
Song Of The Year 1. "Rehab," Amy Winehouse The song wasn't ironic at first, but the Brit soul singer lived up to her art - and it turned into a...
QUICK - EXTINGUISH THIS FIASCO
WHEN Eliot Feld and Cora Cahan founded the Joyce Theater 25 years ago - primarily as a showcase for the Feld Ballet - they certainly couldn't have envisaged having such...
FINAL CURTAIN CALLS
THE theater lost some major figures this year, as well as a couple of sassy foot notes (see Charles Nelson Reilly). Let's remember them today, in their own words, from...
DON VITO ORDERED TO STAY OFF 'BAM'
PERVY "Viva La Bam" star Vincent "Don Vito" Margera has been sentenced to 10 years-to-life on probation for sexually assaulting two young girls last year. He has also been ordered...
BIG NEWS: ROSIE O ANNOYING
EVEN Parade magazine, one of the least-snarky publications around, thinks that Rosie O'Donnell is annoying. The former "View" co-host took the honor in a new Most Annoying Celebrity poll conducted...
NEWS ANCHORS STAY HOME
BRIAN Williams, Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric won't be back to their anchor desks this week to cover the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. All three anchors have been off for...
STARR REPORT
What, no 'amazing'? Not only did the "NBC Nightly News," anchored by Brian Williams, win the eve ning news race last week - averaging 9.3 million viewers - but the...
DAN EMMY GETS $2.5G IN EBAY SALE
SOMEONE has paid more than $2,500 on eBay for one of Dan Rather's Emmy awards. The statue that Rather took home for his 1972 "Coverage of the Shooting of Governor...
SCARY HOME COMPANION
I am not easily frightened by movies, but "The Orphanage," a superb haunted-house story from Spain, thoroughly got to me both times I saw it. Guillermo del Toro - who...
CLOSE, TO HIS HEART
A spinal cord blood clot has kept Chuck Close confined to a wheelchair since 1988. But, as we discover in Marion Cajori's documentary named after the photorealist artist, it has...
HONEYDRIPPER
DANNY Glover plays the broke owner of a failing bar and blues club called "Honeydripper," a movie that won't draw a much bigger audience than that club. The film, set...
BROADWAY
"A BRONX TALE": ** Chazz Palminteri stars in his 1993 one-man show of growing up in The Bronx. Material worked better in De Niro's movie. Walter Kerr Theatre, 219 W....
LONG-RUNNING
"AVENUE Q": *** John Golden Theatre, 252 W. 45th St.; (212) 239-6200. "CHICAGO": **** Ambassador Theatre, 219 W. 49th St.; (212) 239-6200. "A CHORUS LINE": ** ½ Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre....
OFF-BROADWAY
"ALTAR BOYZ": *** Musical spoof of Christian-pop boy bands is entertaining despite one-joke premise. New World Stages, 340 W. 50th St.; (877) 226-9941. "BECKETT SHORTS" ***: Legendary dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov...
POP, ROCK, FOLK
THE BOGMEN: The Long Island faves, who broke up in 1999, reunite to raise money for the disaster relief charity Kristy's Smile Sunday at the Times Square Nokia Theatre, 1515...
JAZZ
BLUE NOTE: Through Monday: Chick Corea. 131 W. Third St.; (212) 475-8592. DIZZY'S CLUB COCA-COLA: Tuesday through Jan. 6: Benny Golsen Quintet. 33 W. 60th St.; (212) 258-9595. IRIDIUM: Through...
CLASSICAL
BARGEMUSIC: A 16-piece orchestra assembled for New Years Eve plays an all Bach program Monday at 7:30 p.m. focusing largely on his Brandenburg Concertos. A $150 ticket includes a complimentary...
CABARET
CAFÉ CARLYLE: Tuesday through Jan. 19: Elaine Stritch. 35 E. 76th St.; (212) 570-7189. FEINSTEIN'S: Tonight and tomorrow: Michael Feinstein. 540 Park Ave.; (212) 339-4095. OAK ROOM: Through Jan. 12:...
DANCE
CITY CENTER: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs through Monday. 131 W. 55th St.; (212) 581-1212, nycitycenter.org. FLORENCE GOULD HALL: New York Theatre Ballet's rendition of "The Nutcracker" is a...
FILM
LANDMARK SUNSHINE CINEMA: At midnight tonight and tomorrow, Bob Clark's influential horror film "Black Christmas" (1974) tells the story of a slasher running amuck in a sorority house. 143 E....
COMEDY
BROADWAY COMEDY CLUB: Christian Finnegan, Marina Franklin and Steve Marshall. 318 W. 53rd St.; (212) 757-2323 COMIC STRIP LIVE: Monday: New Year's Eve show includes Ray Ellin, Gregg Rogell, Lisa...
FAIRS, FESTS, ETC.
BIG APPLE CIRCUS: At Damrosch Park's big tent at 62nd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, through Jan. 13. For a full schedule, go to bigapplecircus.org
PREVIEWS
"THE LITTLE MERMAID": The latest Disney cartoon to hit the stage. Lunt- Fontanne Theatre, 205 W. 46th St.; (212) 307-4747. Opens Jan. 10. "NOVEMBER:" Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf star...
CASINO BEAT
NEW JERSEY * TONY BENNETT sings his heart out tonight and tomorrow night at 9 in Harrah's Concert venue. Tickets: $100-$150; harrahs.com, (800) 2-HARRAH.* TOM JONES plays tonight at 9,...
WEEKEND HOT PICKS IN ENTERTAINMENT
NEW YORK MEETS DETROIT Sure, the New York Dolls' members have changed a few times over the years, but David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain have been leading this groundbreaking glam...