December 24, 2002
TIME TAKES TOLL, CUTTING $100M
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amCEO Ann Moore told several hundred grim-faced executives at a recent quarterly management meeting that she is demanding $100 million in cost savings in 2003. It's a sign that the...
SPITZER FIDDLED WHILE INVESTORS GOT BURNED
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amIT is true that two wrongs don't make a right. What Wall Street did to American investors this past decade was not only wrong - it was evil. Because of...
JETBLUE TRIPLES SIZE OF ITS QUEENS OFFICES
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amHIGH-FLYING JetBlue Airways, the only U.S. airline based in New York, just tripled the size of its headquarters. Under a newly signed sublease from RCN Telecommunications, the upstart airline has...
CHARTER SACKS 2 TOP OFFICIALS
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amTwo top execs were axed at Charter Communications yesterday in the latest chapter of the financial debacle at the cable company controlled by billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Charter, under...
CITIGROUP $UITS UP - PUTS ASIDE $1.5B TO SETTLE SHAREHOLDER BEEFS
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amImmune now from prosecution for misleading investors, Citigroup chief Sandy Weill is setting up a $1.5 billion pool to settle lawsuits over his bank's debacles. Citigroup drew the largest fines...
J.P. MORGAN SETBACK - JURY TO SEE ENRON E-MAILS ON 'DISGUISED LOANS'
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amJ.P. Morgan Chase & Co. yesterday was dealt a blow by a judge hearing a lawsuit against several insurance companies. The judge's ruling, to allow a jury to see e-mails...
NEW YORK PRESS IS SOLD FOR ABOUT $5M
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amThe feisty New York Press, founded in 1988 by Russ Smith with backing from his brother, has been sold to a pair of publishing entrepreneurs. Industry sources put the price...
SANDY SOUNDS DANDY ON CONFERENCE CALL
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amSandy Weill and his managers are toasting their own Christmas miracle. Sounding relieved and upbeat, the 69-year-old head of Citigroup yesterday painted a jingle-bells spin over his company's wrap-up to...
WSJ SCRIBE INKS 6-FIGURE BOOK DEAL
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amThe collapse on Wall Street has benefited one of its choniclers. Wall Street Journal senior writer Charles Gasparino is close to inking a mid-six-figure deal with the Free Press imprint...
STARR REPORT
December 24, 2002 | 5:00am'Sammy in the Sixties': A golden treat The television work of Sammy Davis Jr., long overlooked, will get a second life of sorts in a new retrospective playing at The...
WARM UP TO SELDOM-HEARD COLE
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amPORTERPHILESAt St. Peter's, 619 Lexington Ave. Through Jan. 12. Tele-Charge, (212) 239-6200. ----- FROM how many composers can you draw an evening of "unpublished" but genuinely entertaining and characteristic works?...
CHRISTMAS EVE, KOSHER-STYLE
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amCHRISTMAS Eve brings with it the annual "What I Like About Jew" concert at the ongoing Jewsapalooza festival at the Knitting Factory (74 Leonard St., [212] 219-3055). Celebrating its third...
WHAT FANS THINK - STRETCHING THE FRIENDSHIP
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amOK, so "Friends" is coming back for a 10th season - but at what cost to the show's loyal fans? The "Friends" cast has reportedly agreed to do only 18...
BILLY BUSH A DOUBLE DEALER
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amBILLY Bush, the "Access Hollywood" correspondent and first cousin to President George W. Bush, is poised to become the next Monty Hall. Bush has inked a deal with NBC to...
DEAD ROCKERS GET SILENT TREATMENT
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amYESTERDAY, the radio and MTV let me down. Again. It happens every time the great ones die. This time, it was Joe Strummer. He was one of the co-founders of...
JOLY GOOD SHOW ; ...AND THIS WARNING SIGN IS SERIOUS
December 24, 2002 | 5:00am"Trigger Happy TV" [ ] Tonight at 7 on Comedy Central ---- WHAT happens when clowns fight in a laundromat? Or when a man takes a real, but dead, stuffed...
LAST-MINUTE ESCAPES: MAKE A QUICK GETAWAY TO THESE HOTSPOTS
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amSO you're home this year. Maybe you have to be at work first thing Thursday. Or just maybe, you didn't feel like schlepping to Tulsa, Charlotte or Sacramento, or wherever...
JUST THE TICKET
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amYOU don't have to leave town to find a good time this weekend * SAMPLE SOME ADULT ENTERTAINMENT: Not just any peekaboo show, but Elaine May's deliciously off-kilter "Adult Entertainment."...
CATCH THIS - DON'T LET LEO & TOM IN THIS SLICK FLICK SLIP AWAY
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amCATCH ME IF YOU CAN Leo's phony pilot soars. Running time: 140 minutes. Rated PG-13 (sexuality). At the E-Walk, the Lincoln Square, the Orpheum, others. 'CATCH Me If You Can,"...
BUSH GRANTS SEVEN HOLIDAY PARDONS
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday pardoned seven convicted criminals, including a minister who refused the draft and a bootlegger. They were the first pardons of Bush's presidency, which began amid...
YASSER'S VOTE SNUB - CANCELED ELECTIONS MEANT TO HUMILIATE WESTERN LEADERS
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amLAST week, Colin Powell and a bunch of Europeans introduced their "road map" to a Palestinian state in three years' time. Then, as ever and always, Yasser Arafat embarrassed and...
'DEADBEAT DAD' BOXER HOOKED
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amA former boxing champ was knocked for a loop in Manhattan Family Court yesterday, when he was arrested for stiffing the mother of one of his infant daughters - as...
GLEE GLOWS IN B'KLYN - DYKER HEIGHTS LIGHTS UP NIGHT WITH CHRISTMAS SPIRIT
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amDyker Heights, the section of Brooklyn near the Verrazano Bridge, is a winter wonderland of holiday displays - but few rival the extravaganza on 84th Street. Each Christmas, visitors' cars...
DEM-OTED STATE SENATOR IN 'QUEEG' RAGE: WITNESSES
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amALBANY - Democrats in the state Senate charged yesterday that ousted Minority Leader Martin Connor was acting "like Captain Queeg" - engaging in angry, paranoid disputes in his final days...
CHOIRBOY'S MOLESTER GETS 2 YRS.
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amA former counselor for the Boys Choir of Harlem was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison for sexually abusing a teenage boy, whom he repeatedly kissed, licked and fondled...
IRAQ'S USEFUL IDIOTS - WESTERNERS 'VOLUNTEER' AS HUMAN SHIELDS
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Iraq is bringing in volunteer "human shields" from outside countries - possibly including Americans - to try to thwart U.S. airstrikes, Iraqi officials said yesterday. The Arab, European...
WEB SITE MAKES POWERBALL EASY $
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amProcrastinators hoping to place a wager in Christmas Day's $280 million Powerball drawing needn't drive from town to town despairing at the sight of closed lottery agents. Instead, a bit...
U.N. GRILLS SADDAM'S NUCLEAR SCIENTISTS
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - U.N. weapons inspectors said yesterday they have started interviewing Iraqi nuclear scientists - a maneuver President Bush has been demanding for weeks. "We are at a point now...
MEMORIAL PARK OPENS NEAR 9/11 MORGUE
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amJust a few yards from where the remains of the dead in the World Trade Center attack are still being identified, a temporary memorial park was opened yesterday for the...
CON'S CRUEL SNUB TO COP HE CRIPPLED
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amA detective left crippled when a drug suspect ran her down with his car found no comfort yesterday at his sentencing - where he added insult to injury by refusing...
HANKS RANKS NO. 1 - TOM PASSES JULIA AS FAVORITE MOVIE STAR
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amTom Terrific gave Pretty Woman the boot yesterday - with Tom Hanks replacing Julia Roberts as America's favorite movie star. The good-guy actor - who hits theaters tomorrow in "Catch...
KIN, COLLEAGUES MOURN TROOPER
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amOfficers stood at attention and drums and bagpipes played somberly as hundreds yesterday packed a Long Island church to mourn the death of a New York state trooper. Robert Ambrose,...
STRAPPED-HANGERS MAY PAY
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amIn the wake of a deal for a new transit workers' contract, a fare hike of even 75 cents may not cover the Transit Authority's growing deficit, a conservative think...
L.I.-BASED HEROES GET A JUMP ON THE ENEMY
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amWhile most Americans spend a relaxing Christmas with family, members of the Air Force's elite Para-Jumpers will be on high alert - readying themselves to splash down in enemy territory...
MALL-TEEN HORROR - JERSEY BUDDIES KILLED IN CAR WRECK ON WAY HOME
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amTwo teenage boys - longtime friends who grew up just doors apart in suburban New Jersey - were killed in a car wreck as they rode home from a shopping...
QNS. RAPE VICTIM: COP K-9 SAVED ME
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amThe victim of a horrific gang-rape in a Queens park has revealed how the barking of an NYPD dog gave her the courage to break free from the homeless thugs...
FRIST THINGS FIRST: RACE 'UNITY' ON GOP AGENDA
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Newly elected Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist pledged yesterday to use the flap over Trent Lott to make Congress more racially sensitive. "We must dedicate ourselves to healing...
FEDS' PAY-FOR-PORN AROUSES CRITICS
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amUncle Sam wants you - to get all hot and bothered. A true-blue, federally funded study is paying women 20 to 40 up to $75 to watch porn flicks so...
TWO SHARP-EYED COPS WHO CAPTURED A MURDER SUSPECT ON THEIR WAY HOME FROM AN OVERNIGHT TOUR WERE HONORED
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amTwo sharp-eyed cops who captured a murder suspect on their way home from an overnight tour were honored yesterday by Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. "It's remarkable to have that level...
RUDY RANTS - EX-MAYOR RIPS NEW WTC PLANS; RUDY'S RILED BY GROUND ZERO DESIGNS
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amFormer Mayor Rudy Giuliani panned the new design proposals for ground zero yesterday, saying they fail to capture the profound meaning of Sept. 11. "None of them accomplished overall what...
DETECTIVES VIEW RIVERS TAPE
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amDetectives yesterday reviewed a videotape of Joan Rivers doing stand-up at an Upper East Side car-rental agency, police sources said. The tape, made Friday, shows Rivers "flicking" a marker pen...
A HOME FOR THE HOLIDAY - ABANDONED BABY ADOPTED FOR XMAS; ABANDONED TOT'S GIFT: A NEW FAMILY
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amMeet the former "Baby Jane Doe." The pint-sized tot - who was abandoned at birth by her homeless mother - was adopted in time for Christmas in a tearful courtroom...
SLUSHY, MUSHY NOR'EASTER FLIES IN WITH SANTA
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amIf you're hoping for a white Christmas, Ol' Man Winter is about to rain on your parade. A ferocious Nor'easter is set to hit the city and surrounding areas after...
LAWYERS WANT INQUIRY INTO HOW TEENS WERE 'RAILROADED'
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amThe criminal case is over - and now lawyers for the "Central Park 5" want the criminal inquiry to begin. "The next stage . . . is to discover how...
'CHEMICAL' MAN FACES 9/11 LIE RAP
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amA Middle Eastern man who researched Web sites about deadly chemicals - while earmarking almanac pages on major U.S. dams, reservoirs and railroads - was charged yesterday with lying about...
2 NABBED IN L.I. BABY KIDNAP BID
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amSuffolk County police have arrested a woman who allegedly pulled a knife on a mother in a parking lot and demanded that she hand over her 7-month-old baby. Angela Sorcio,...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amIt was better than pennies from heaven. Mike Jeffcoat, 42, a furnishings consultant in Charlotte, N.C., taped 300 $1 bills outside his ground-floor office window with a note: "Please take...
'CRACK'ETEERING - MOBSTER JOKES WAY THROUGH GUILTY PLEA
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amWise-cracking wiseguy Anthony "T.G." Graziano yesterday acted more like the life of the party than a man expecting to spend the rest of his life in prison as he prepared...
MILLIONAIRE GIVES SONG & DANCE IN 9/11 'SCAM'
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amThe accountant made me do it. That's the defense an elderly millionairess is using against charges she tried to scam about $1 million in Sept. 11 relief money. "My accountant...
LIEBERMAN SUPPORTS PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a potential presidential candidate in 2004, endorsed a Palestinian state during a visit to Israel and deplored "desperate" living conditions in the West Bank. Lieberman...
FEDS' PAY FOR PORN AROUSES CRITICS
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amUncle Sam wants you - to get all hot and bothered. A true blue, federally funded study is paying women 20 to 40 up to $75 to watch porn flicks...
'SUCH A WASTE' - N.J. MALL TEENS KILLED IN CRASH
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amTwo teenage boys - longtime friends who grew up just doors apart in suburban New Jersey - were killed in a car wreck as they drove home from a shopping...
'DEM'OTED SENATOR IN OFFICE RAGE
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amALBANY - Democrats in the state Senate charged yesterday that ousted Minority Leader Martin Connor was acting "like Captain Queeg" - engaging in angry, paranoid disputes in his final days...
LAWYERS DEMANDING INQUIRY INTO HOW PARK TEENS WERE 'RAILROADED'
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amThe criminal case is over - and now lawyers for the "Central Park 5" want the criminal inquiry to begin. "The next stage of this process is to discover how...
9/11 'LIE' RAP FOR QATAR MAN
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amA Middle Eastern man already being held as a material witness in the 9/11 attacks was charged yesterday with lying to the FBI about phone calls he allegedly made to...
SOURCE: JOSE ON WAY
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amAs the Yankees began negotiations with the agent for Cuban defector Jose Contreras, baseball officials in The Bronx were hedging their bets that the Red Sox would land the dominating...
PETERSON SAYS HE'S NOW READY TO RUMBLE
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES He has played barely more than one quarter in the past four games, and cornerback Will Peterson estimated that he probably won't practice at all this week. "If...
VERY IMPRESSIVE
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amGIANT REPORT CARD QUARTERBACKS: A+ Computer went agog and spit out best-possible rating (158.3) for Kerry Collins (23 of 29, 366 yards, 4 TDs). Brilliant display of pure passing. RUNNING...
THE HATE IS REAL - GIANTS CAN'T WAIT TO DEFLATE EAGLES
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amIt did not take Michael Strahan long to agree that, yes indeed, the Eagles are the opponent the Giants love to hate more than any other. "It was Dallas at...
REBOUNDING NICELY
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amJET REPORT CARD QUARTERBACKS: A Chad Pennington (23-33, 285 yards, 3 TDs, 126.5 rating) showed that he should have been a Pro Bowl QB. He set the tone for the...
LET'S GET IT ON - BIG BLUE BRACING FOR BRAWL WITH BIRDS
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amFROM the blood feud that gave us Bednarik versus Gifford way back when, it is Brawl Or Nothing for the Giants. "This is one of those games that you just...
HEY ISLES, GIVE YASHIN WINGS
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amWill Alexei Yashin please step aside? Either to the right or the left will do. He's played center his whole career, but Yashin should be moved immediately to left wing,...
THOMAS FACES BIG BATTLES IN TEXAS
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amLater this week, Knicks center Kurt Thomas will try on a pair of oversized, XXXX-large, post-Christmas presents - courtesy of his home state of Texas. First up, 7-foot-5 rookie Yao...
PRESSURE-PACKED - HEAT'S ON CHAD IN FINALE VS. GREEN BAY
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amThe Jets' resolve is at its strongest now, hours removed from their season-saving triumph over the detested Patriots on Sunday night in Foxboro. Resilience is a powerful trait if you...
THIS TIME, COTTRELL'S TROOPS D-LIVER
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amJET NOTES Since Bill Belichick seemed so delighted with the coaching job he and his Patriot assistants performed in their 44-7 win over the Jets back in September, it should...
NETS' CHRISTMAS WISH: WIN THAT ELUSIVE TITLE
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amThis year, bicycles and remote control cars have been replaced on the Nets' wish list by an NBA championship. The Nets' first step is to try to get their act...
FLOYD FITS IN FLUSHING - BUT AMAZIN' FARM NEEDS TO FLOURISH
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amCLIFF Floyd is in the best shape of his life, genuinely thrilled to be here and determined to roll with the unique stress that has betrayed so many guys before...
CLIFF VOWS TO HOLD NOTHING BACK
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amThe Mets thought they were getting a run producer, but Cliff Floyd promised to be a hustler as well. Last season, Floyd read a negative scouting report about himself on...
JUST CALL THIS GAME: YOU BRETT YOUR LIFE
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amFORGET about the Patriots and Dolphins and what might or might not happen in New England on Sunday. The only thing the Jets - and specifically their defense - needs...
BLAZER-BRAWL PUNISHMENT SHOWS FOLLY OF NBA JUSTICE
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amTODAY'S toxic topic, gentlemen of the juvenile justice system, is lunacy and leniency. Who better to pollute the pulpit than Stupe Jackson, the NBA's VP of Vacuousness? In the aftermath...
ISLANDERS CUT HABS IN THIRD
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amIslanders 3 - Canadiens 1 Just three more wins to start fresh in the new year. After last night's 3-1 come-from-behind Coliseum win over the Canadiens, the Islanders need just...
FOR HOLIK, IT'S POINT WELL MADE
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amRangers 2 - Devils 2 Forcibly removing Scott Stevens' helmet, kneeing Patrik Elias and running over Martin Brodeur: Ranger Bobby Holik cut his ties to the Devils last night, doing...
NERVES GET WORST OF JAY
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amHe said he wouldn't get nervous. His coach said he wouldn't get nervous. Then 750 - yes, 750 - of Jay Williams' closest friends and family members showed up to...
HO, HUM: NETS GARNER ANOTHER HOME VICTORY - BULLS JUST ROADKILL FOR KIDD & COMPANY
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amNets 99 - Bulls 83 Jason Kidd was all over the place. And this was after the game. He spoke to the media about offense and everybody touching the ball....
RANGERS TREAT GARDEN TO RARE, ROUSING NIGHT
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amTHE Rangers played with passion and the Garden came alive. For this brief moment, this brief interlude in yet another season already gone bad, it was a reminder of yesteryear...
LEARNING'S THE POINT FOR JAY
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amExhibit A demonstrating the learning curve for the Bulls' Jay Williams: Score two points on 1-for-10 shooting as your team loses to Indiana. Then score 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting...
SATHER OFF BASE ON HOLIK
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amLET'S get this straight. Bobby Holik is the very least of the problems on a Ranger team whose Christmas stocking is overstuffed with them. Yet, for whatever reason, Glen Sather...
BOBBY HAS OLD A LINE ON HIS MIND
December 24, 2002 | 5:00amDown the hall, the ex-Devil was remembering the other one his former team let get away - the A Line. It was just a few hours before Bobby Holik played...