May 15, 2004
STOCK SCAM BUSTED BY SEC
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA penny-stock promoter who once handled a soured stock deal with former HBO chief Michael Fuchs was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with running bucket-shop scams. The SEC...
SAKS CHANGES PECKING ORDER
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amRon Frasch's appointment earlier this year overseeing private brands and international operations at Saks Inc. caused a lot of head scratching in the fashion world. Everyone knew Frasch was a...
OVITZ GOES WILD - EX-DISNEY CHIEF SAYS HE WAS WORTH $140M
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amMichael Ovitz says he was worth every penny of his $140 million severance from Walt Disney, because he solved studio problems that Chairman Michael Eisner couldn't handle. Eisner and Ovitz...
LET'S HIT THE ROOF- HIGH TIMES AND GREAT VIEWS MAKE RENTERS FLOCK TO ROOFTOPS
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amSTANDING 25 stories up, atop downtown luxury high-rise the Ocean, it's hard to decide what to look at first. The view from the building's rooftop terrace is dazzling. With the...
GIMME SHELTER - THAT'S A WRAP
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amFASHION designer Diane von Furstenberg could go from seller to renter now that a contract has gone out on her combined townhouses on West 12th Street. Sources in the know...
PARK LIFE - FOR LESS: YOU CAN AFFORD THE GREEN ACRES IN THESE FIVE AREAS
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amWOULDN'T it be great if we could all live on Central Park West? And yet, for a variety of reasons - like zoning laws and the lack of a citywide...
'FRASIER' FINALE: 25 MIL
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amTHURSDAY'S finale of "Frasier" snared 25 million viewers - less than half the viewers who tuned into the May 6 finale of NBC stablemate "Friends" (52.3 million). The "Frasier" number...
GARDEN CROWD JUST SAYS YES
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amYES EVERYONE I invited to see Yes answered with a resounding no. Even so, Madison Square Garden was filled Thursday night with folks willing to spend three hours hearing the...
ELVIS SIGHTING; CBS SET TO ROCK WITH FOUR-HOUR PRESLEY FLICK
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amCBS is whipping up a big hunk of burnin' love for the King of Rock 'n Roll: a new four-hour movie about Elvis Presley. The film, tentatively titled "Elvis," will...
LA TOYA: COOL COST ME
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amLOS ANGELES - Ousted "American Idol" diva La Toya London speculated yesterday that her cool, calm demeanor might have hit a sour note with fans, who turned her from early...
SHARK ATTACK - SURPRISE STARS TAKE A BITE OUT OF CANNES
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amCANNES - Before Will Smith, Angelina Jolie and Jack Black rode off on an inflatable shark yesterday, they had a salty exchange on dry land. "I'll ask the real question...
WHERE THE BUYS ARE - SIX OUTLET MALLS THAT ARE WORTH THE DRIVE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amDiehard bargain hunters know that shopping for steals is a year-round commitment. But with summer's arrival, there's no better time to skip out on the steamy city than for the...
IT'S A LAUGH-IN
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amSTOP Smiling, a magazine that mocks, wants you to join the fun, and will bring some funny gals and guys to the Bowery Ballroom tonight to celebrate its "Comedian Issue...
HOBOKEN ROCKIN'
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amPatti Smith, one of the first punk artists to get signed, will rock the Hoboken Art & Music Festival tomorrow - she hits the main stage at about 4:45 p.m....
DIZZY SPELLS
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amThere are wizards and witches who know exactly what they're doing - Hermione Granger, anyone? - and then there are those who have flunked out of charm school. Take Fizzy,...
NOT-SO-LOST IN SPACE - COME ON OVER & CHECK OUT A ROVER
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amThe coolest thing about being on the moon, says astronaut Eugene Cernan, is "to be able to look back at the Earth from a quarter-of-a-million miles away." He speaks with...
TAKE A HIKE!
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amThe mercury's up, the birds are back - and the time is ripe for getting out and about. And this city has plenty of paths for families on the go....
Correction Date: 05/16/2004
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amCorrection: A Bronx woman busted for ripping off $171,483 from a city marshal's office was misidentified in yesterday's Post because of an editing error. The suspect, Marcia Skeffery, 31, is...
MADMAN - KILLS GRANDMA, PUSHES RIDER ON TRACKS: COPS
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA crazed 20-year-old murder suspects orgy of violence culminated on a Columbus Circle subway platform yesterday, where he pushed a straphanger to the tracks in front of an oncoming train....
COP COLLARS THUG WHO 'ROBBED' HER
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA rookie Manhattan cop got her man yesterday - almost four years to the day after he robbed her as she ate at a Chinatown McDonald's, cops said. "I remember...
$2 MIL BAIL MAKES STABBER A FREEFELLA
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amThe reputed Genovese soldier who stabbed his mob-linked brother-in-law to death outside a restaurant went from jail into the open arms of his family yesterday after posting $2 million bail....
WEIRD BUT TRUE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amTeen gangs are going high-tech. They're setting up their street fights over the Internet. Cops in Garland, Texas, busted 27 high-school students - members of two rival car clubs -...
BUDGET FISCALLY UNFIT: REPORT
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amMayor Bloomberg's proposed budget doesn't do enough to address the city's fiscal woes and will cost New Yorkers dearly in the future, a leading fiscal-watchdog group warned yesterday. A "fiscal...
ONE-THIRD BLOW OFF CITY CIG TAX
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA third of smokers here aren't paying the $1.50-a- pack cigarette tax - leading the city health commissioner to warn that smuggled smokes are "the single biggest threat" to the...
POLICE TOP FDNY IN TERROR RESPONSE PLAN
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amThe Police Department - not the Fire Department - will take charge of the response to terrorist attacks like 9/11 under a new emergency plan released yesterday by City Hall....
VELELLA OFFICIALLY STEPS DOWN
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amALBANY- State Sen. Guy Velella officially resigned his seat yesterday, ending a 28-year influential legislative career and paving the way for a plea deal on bribery charges next week that...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amSTATEN ISLAND *** A retired NYPD detective was found dead inside his Arden Heights home, police said yesterday. Nelson Ferrone, 49, was discovered lying in his bed in his Loring...
NEW ED. COUNCILS 'TIE' ONE ON
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amThe city will hold runoff elections in 21 parent-led community education councils on May 26 and 27 because there was a tie for 51 of the contested seats in the...
GAS FIRE SPARKED BY CELL; MAN ABLAZE AT FUEL PUMP
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA college student who answered his cellphone while gassing up his car got connected to a ball of flames - in what may be the first-ever case of a wireless...
GHRAIB GI HIT WITH ABUSE, ADULTERY RAPS
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amThe Army has filed criminal charges against Spc. Charles Graner Jr. - the military cop photographed grinning at a pyramid of naked Iraqi prisoners and videotaped having sex with his...
ARREST DEFLATES TIRE-SLASH SUSPECT
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amCops responding to a call of a man with a knife caught a tire-slasher in Brooklyn red-handed early yesterday, police sources said. Patrick Innis, 32, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, was nabbed at...
MAKEUP MUCK-UP MAY TOSS TESTS: MIKE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA miffed Mayor Bloomberg said he might toss out the test results for students who flunked the botched makeup third-grade exams - if a review shows they were confused by...
SPLAT'S ALL FOR DRIVE-BY PAINTBALL JERK
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amTwo Long Island teens with a paintball gun were arrested in a drive-by shooting that splattered three kids with paint and left one with an injured eye, police said yesterday....
MADMAN KILLS GRANDMA, PUSHES RIDER ON TRACKS: COPS
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA crazed 20-year-old murder suspect's orgy of violence culminated on a Columbus Circle subway platform yesterday, where he pushed a straphanger to the tracks in front of an oncoming train....
PENTHOUSE CAPER; BURGLAR PULLS GUN ON MAID IN HEIST
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA high-flying cat burglar scampered from the roof of a tony Upper East Side high-rise and onto a penthouse balcony yesterday, where he broke though a door, held a maid...
SCHOOL COP IN STUDENT-SEX BUST
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA school-safety agent was nabbed in Queens yesterday for having sex with a 16-year-old girl who attends the school where he works, police said. Eliodoro Figueroa, 30, met the girl...
SPECTOR IN BRAWL WITH HIS CHAUFFEUR
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amALHAMBRA, Calif. - Cops busted troubled music legend Phil Spector and his chauffeur yesterday for allegedly brawling at the accused killer's mansion, authorities said. The driver called 911 from inside...
TRUE AXIS OF EVIL; BUSH: BERG KILLER HAD SADDAM TIES; KIN BURY BRAVE NICK
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amPresident Bush yesterday blamed al Qaeda supporter Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for the brutal killing of Nick Berg - and used the assassin an example of the "terrorist ties" Saddam Hussein...
COPS KILL ATTACKING DALMATIAN IN HARLEM
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA beloved Dalmatian - who patrolled the back yard of Harlem building - died after he was shot by cops who said the dog lunged at them as they were...
POLLS SHOW CLOSE RACE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - Polls show it's close for votes, but President Bush is still winning the 2004 race for campaign cash in a runaway and has raised more than Democrat John...
170G SCAM BUST; MARSHAL LAW UNTO HERSELF
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA longtime Bronx city marshal was charged yesterday with embezzling $171,483 over 19 months from motorists who paid cash to retrieve towed vehicles. Officials charged that nine-year employee Marcia Skeffery,...
HOSP IS NIP AND TUCKED; FINED 20G FOR DEATHS
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amALBANY - The prestigious Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital was fined $20,000 yesterday by the state "for serious breakdowns in patient care" that led to the death of two...
CLOUSEAU HANGING LOOSEAU
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amFunnyman Steve Martin shuffles his way across Fifth Avenue yesterday (above and right) as he makes celluloid magic during filming of the new "Pink Panther" movie. Martin is trying to...
CREEPY-CRAWLY KERRY; GOP AD TURNS HIM INTO INSECT
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - The Republican Party yesterday tried to bug Democrat John Kerry with a flutter of insect humor - using a new Web video that morphs him into a cicada,...
WITNESS QUIZZED IN QNS. TRASH SLAY
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amWith the exception of the monster who beat and shot her and dumped her bloody body in the garbage, a witness police are talking to was probably the last person...
FRESH FIELDS FOR BREAKAWAY BOVINE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA New Jersey steer who escaped the chopping block at a Newark slaughterhouse last week found greener pastures yesterday after an upstate animal shelter agreed to take it in. The...
EDITOR AXED FOR FAKE PIX
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amThe high-flying editor of a top British newspaper was ousted yesterday after the paper admitted photos it printed of alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners were a "calculated and malicious hoax."...
TRUMP STAKES CLAIM TO THE 'BURBS
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amDonald Trump is making his mark on the Westchester skyline. Trump has joined with Westchester-based developer and friend Louis Cappelli to develop a 35-story condominium as part of Cappelli's $325...
'ROCK OF HIS FAMILY'; KIN & PALS BID PRIVATEFAREWELL TO BRAVE NICK
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amNick Berg's family and friends said farewell yesterday to the idealistic adventurer who went to Iraq to help rebuild a war-torn country and ended up a victim of terrorist vengeance....
CRASH-LAND HOME HELL FOR FAMILY
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA Brooklyn family left homeless after Channel 4's helicopter crash-landed on a roof is still in a city shelter almost two full weeks after the accident - lost in a...
2 MORE ISRAELIS KILLED
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amJERUSALEM - Two Israeli soldiers were fatally shot as they helped recover the remains of five colleagues blown up this week near a terrorist arms-smuggling tunnel. Hamas took credit for...
PLUCKY ROCKER SUING - WANTS $100M FOR CLUB BEAT
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA goodhearted act might have cost one of rock star Joan Jett's Blackhearts his musical career. In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, guitarist Sami Takamaki says his hand was...
RUNOFFS DUE AS ED COUNCILS 'TIE' ONE ON
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amThe city will hold runoff elections in 21 parent-led community education councils on May 26 and 27 because there was a tie for 51 of the contested seats in the...
RED-TAPE HELL FOR FAMILY UPROOTED IN COPTER CRASH
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA Brooklyn family left homeless after Channel4's helicopter crash-landed on the roof is still in a city shelter almost two full weeks after the accident - lost in a maze...
BRAVEST FINDS LOST TOURIST BOY WANDERING IN HARLEM
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA quick-thinking firefighter who spotted a lost 8-year-old tourist wandering around East Harlem yesterday said the boy wandered away from his family - and walked nearly 60 blocks uptown to...
'HOT LINE' SPARKS GAS STATION FIRE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amA college student who answered his cellphone while gassing up his car got connected to a ball of flames - in what may be the first-ever case of a wireless...
CLIFF-BANGER ; FLOYD SLAM BLASTS METS PAST ASTROS
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amMets 8Astros 3 HOUSTON - Rehabbing in Port St. Lucie, Cliff Floyd followed his teammates through the television screen. He'd watch the games, picturing himself in certain spots. "Guys came...
YANKS DO JUST ENOUGH TO TRIP M'S
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amYankees 9Mariners 5 Mike Mussina was not throwing it back. No matter how ugly the numbers next to his name in the boxscore look, Mussina gladly added a win over...
BOSOX MAY ADD BOONE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amAaron Boone on the Red Sox! As wild as that sounds, it's possible the man who sent a Yankee dagger through New England last October could join the Red Sox...
SCALABRINE A VEAL-GOOD STORY
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amAUBURN HILLS - So many times on so many days, it had just been the two of them, the unlikely coach and the improbable forward, stretching the afternoons out long...
BILLUPS' HEROICS NOT ENOUGH
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amAUBURN HILLS - Chauncey Billups was able to hit from 43 feet but not from three feet last night. Billups, playing with a wrenched back, connected from just inside halfcourt...
THREE CHEERS FOR NETS IN THRILLER ; TOP PISTONS FOR 3-2 SERIES LEAD
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amGAME 5 / TRIPLE OT Nets 127 Pistons 120 AUBURN HILLS - For three seasons, Jason Kidd has directed and led the Nets in every way possible. Always, it seemed,...
ZEKE STILL PIECE OF MOTOWN SOUL
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amAUBURN HILLS - After sitting on the LaGuardia runway for two hours, Knicks president Isiah Thomas arrived fashionably late for last night's Game 5 between the Nets and Pistons at...
OT? NO BIG DEAL FOR N.J.
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amNET NOTES AUBURN HILLS - The Nets had seen it before. Reggie Miller forced an overtime in that memorable first-round series with Indiana two years ago. So when Chauncey Billups...
THIS ROAD WELL-TRAVELED
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amAUBURN HILLS - To understand why the Nets didn't feel an overwhelming sense of dread heading into last night's pivotal Game 5 with the Pistons at The Palace, maybe you...
METROS IN LINE OF FIRE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amFor the better part of three seasons, Chicago has had the MetroStars' collective number. The Metros (2-1-2) are mired in an eight-game winless streak vs. the Fire, having been bullied...
THORN'S FEELING DEJA VU
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amNET NOTES AUBURN HILLS - It was just a regular-season game, nothing like Game 5 in a playoff series. But Nets CEO Rod Thorn had seen a finish that compared...
RED SOX HAVE EYES ON BOONE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Aaron Boone a Red Sox! As wild as that sounds, it's possible the man who sent a Yankees dagger through New England last October could join the Red...
NEW 'BONEHEAD' JOINS BIG BLUE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amIt seemed a bit odd that for all the changes Tom Coughlin made since he blew into town as the Giants' new head coach, he did not touch the place-kicking...
'SOUTHERN' IS SPECIAL
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amBALTIMORE - Southern Image, a Californian gold-digger, vaulted into America's top handicap ranks with a decisive victory in the $500,000 Pimlico Special yesterday to give him three Grade 1 wins...
STEPHON'S 'PROUD' TO BE AN OLYMPIAN
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amStephon Marbury said he doesn't know the full scope what of being named to the U.S. Olympic team will mean. Isiah Thomas does. "It stamps you," the Knicks' president told...
KITTLES CARRYING NETS UP DE-FENSE ; BOTTLING BILLUPS BIG SERIES KEY
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amAUBURN HILLS - So the Nets climbed back in the series at home. After two games where they were demolished in Detroit, they came to the Meadowlands and routed the...
A 'STORM' WATCH IN SHUVEE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amThe enigmatic Storm Flag Flying leads a field of six in today's Grade 2, $200,000 Shuvee Handicap at Belmont Park. Since her championship season as a two-year-old back in 2002...
LEIT'S OUT . . . . . . BUT SHOULD MISS JUST ONE START
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amHOUSTON - The results are in for Al Leiter, and the news is both good and bad. The 38-year-old left-hander received an MRI in New York yesterday, and the test...
VALENT GETS START AT FIRST
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amMET NOTES HOUSTON - That didn't take very long. A few days after Art Howe said Eric Valent would take some grounders at first base, Valent was in the starting...
CHAUNCEY EYES CALL TO ATHENS
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amAUBURN HILLS - You'd think Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups would have some pull, with his coach Larry Brown being the U.S. Olympic coach. But Billups hasn't heard a word...
ROCKET'S FAST START NO REAL SURPRISE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amHOUSTON - The Astros have this little slogan this year: "It's Our Turn." It was their turn to land Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens during the offseason. The Mets get...
MESSY 'W' FOR MOOSE - YANKS DO JUST ENOUGH TO TRIP M'S
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amYankees 9Mariners 5 You wonder why America's youth is tuning out baseball? Look no further than last night's Mariners-Yankees ugliness. What kid could dig the mess created at Yankee Stadium?...
FAST START A MATTER OF ROCKET SCIENCE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amHOUSTON - The Astros have this little slogan this year: "It's Our Turn." It was their turn to land Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens this offseason. The Mets get to...
AILING LEITER HOPES HE'LL MISS ONLY ONE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amMET NOTES HOUSTON - Al Leiter got good news on his left shoulder yesterday, but that doesn't necessarily mean the worrying's over. The 38-year-old southpaw received an MRI in New...
BILLUPS' HEROICS DON'T PAY OFF
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amAUBURN HILLS - For a guy with a bad back, Chauncey Billups had his nose in the middle of all the Nets-Pistons madness last night. Alternating from goat to hero,...
IT'S OFFICIAL! RJ PICKED
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amAUBURN HILLS - It's official. Richard Jefferson can add another line to his professional resume: USA Olympian. Jefferson was among five players formally named yesterday to play for the U.S....
INJURED 'CLIFFIE' FALLS OUT
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amBALTIMORE - After battling a stone bruise in The Cliff's Edge's right front foot since Wednesday morning, trainer Nick Zito threw in the towel yesterday and scratched the Blue Grass...
PROBLEMS CAN'T AFFECT MY RACE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amPhiladelphia Park's top jockey, Stewart Elliott, riding in the Triple Crown for the first time, aims for eight straight aboard Smarty Jones in today's Preakness Stakes after taking the Kentucky...
BAFFERT: 'THEY WON'T BEAT HIM' ; 4-TIME WINNER SAYS 'SMARTY' WILL RUN AWAY
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amBALTIMORE - The reigning foremost authority on the Preakness Stakes confidently predicted yesterday that the 129th running will be a one-horse slaughter. The authority is trainer Bob Baffert, who won...
'PHILLY FLASH' EARLY 2-5 FAVE
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amBALTIMORE - Who would have guessed after last year's Preakness, amidst the feeding frenzy over Funny Cide and his storybook bid for the Triple Crown, that he was just an...
PUT UP OR SHUT UP ; JONES OUT TO QUIET TRASH-TALKIN' TARVER
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amLAS VEGAS - After 50 professional fights, world titles in four weight classes, and after showing us he can rap, play basketball and beat people up all in the same...
SCALABRINE TO THE RESCUE!
May 15, 2004 | 4:00amABURN HILLS - The Nets had won the game three times already. They'd already lost it just as many. So many players had fouled out on both sides, you half...
RUBEN ON A ROLL - 'NEW' SIERRA HITTING, FITTING IN
May 15, 2004 | 4:00am"The best part about Ruben is he has come here and in his mind he will do whatever we ask him to do." - JOE TORRE (ABOVE) ON RUBEN SIERRA...