March 5, 2003
HOTEL COMING TO HARLEM; MARRIOTT, WESTIN EYE SITE ON E. 125TH ST.
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amWEDDING and meeting planners take note: Harlem may soon get its first, full-service hotel. The land, a vacant parcel at the southwest corner of Park Avenue and East 125th Street...
JUNGLE RUMBLES WITH STAFF EXITS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amIT'S a jungle out there. Just ask the people running Jungle Media, who seem to be having a tough time holding onto their top editing talent. Vince Bielski, the editor...
PRESSURE COOKER: BESET BY LEGAL WOES, MARTHA POSTS FIRST LOSS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amMartha Stewart's empire has suffered its first-ever loss because of the trashing she's getting from insider-trading allegations concerning a cancer-cure stock. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia said yesterday it lost $2...
STARR REPORT
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amThe skinny on Anna Nicole's numbers Last Sunday's "Anna Nicole Show" second-season opener snared 1.8 million viewers on E! - decent numbers for a cable network, but down 57 percent...
ONE FIN DAY
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amCITARELLA 1/2 1240 SIXTH AVE., AT 49TH STREET (212) 332-1515 'GOOD evening," the cheerful waitress greeted me at lunch at Citarella the Restaurant. "Whoops, the shifts all kind of blur."...
AT A MINIMUM, B'WAY SINGING COMPROMISE
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amHERE'S the compromise that cooler heads in the theater business think will be forged tomorrow - around midnight (strike deadline!) - between Broadway producers and the musicians union: The minimum...
PLAY WITH FOOD ; EVERYTHING'S COOKIN' IN 'VINCENT IN BRIXTON'
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amTHE play is called "Vincent in Brixton," but it might as well be "Van Gogh By the Stove" for all the cooking, chopping and stirring going during the performance. Dishes...
MAN, YOU COULD BE KELLY FOR A DAY
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amIF you've ever wondered what it's like to swap "what-I-did- last-night" stories with Regis Philbin on live TV - well, here's your chance."Live with Regis & Kelly" is staging its...
HAVE A BALL (OF OCTOPUS)
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amOTAFUKU ½ 236 E. NINTH ST. BETWEEN SECOND & THIRD AVENUES (212) 353-8503 ON an East Village block that's fast becoming something of a Little Tokyo, now there's Japanese street...
SWEDISH DISH
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amSCANDINAVIAN superchef Marcus Samuelsson has turned his culinary sights both east and west as inspiration for his next restaurant in Manhattan. At last week's South Beach Wine & Food Festival,...
WHY CAMERAS STOP WHEN AIMEE OSBOURNE WALKS IN
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amAIMEE Osbourne has yet to appear on "The Osbournes" - and won't be on the show any time soon, says family matriarch Sharon Osbourne. "Everybody had a decision to make,...
OTHER PUBS WHERE YOU CAN PARTY LIKE IT'S 1899
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amFOR a city that calls itself "new," there's plenty of old to go around, especially when it comes to places to eat and drink. In "The Historic Shops & Restaurants...
CENTURY CLUB CLARKE'S FACE-LIFT PRESERVES WRINKLES
March 5, 2003 | 5:00am'YOU didn't do anything. What took you so long?" people ask restaurateur Philip Scotti, co-owner of P.J. Clarke's, about his eatery's recent renovation. He calls that the best compliment. Scotti...
CAN THIS MARRIAGE BE SAVED? MAYBE, IF THEY LISTEN TO DEAR LINDA...
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amSO why did Fox's new "reality" show, "Married by America," tank like brick in a bathtub? Aside from the fact that the premiere lasted longer than the Bible, the premise...
IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amTEN In Farsi, with English subtitles. Running time: 94 minutes. Not rated (nothing objectionable). At the Film Forum, Houston Street, west of Sixth Avenue. Through March 18. 'TEN" is another...
GRIEVIN' STEPHEN: LIFE IS ONE FINE MESS FOR TORTURED PHENOM PLAYWRIGHT
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amWHY does this man look so unhappy? Critics are hailing him as the next big thing, Richard Avedon just shot him for The New Yorker and Philip Seymour Hoffman directed...
GUARDIAN ANGEL ; MOM'S BODY SAVED PLANE-CRASH KIDS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amTwo kids survived Sunday's tragic plane crash in Massachusetts by keeping warm under their mother's body - until their baby brother flagged down rescuers while standing in an icy creek....
COUNCIL KOOK-FEST; BUSH-BASHERS SWARM CITY HALL
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amBET you didn't know that the Bush folks caused the Chicago nightclub stampede that killed 21 people. Or that the concept of evil is "archaic." Or that the biggest threat...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amTrees aren't the biggest obstacles skiers face in Sun Valley, Idaho, this winter - dog doo is. Officials say more and more skiers are bringing their dogs on trail runs,...
NEW POLL PUTS RUDY AHEAD OF SCHUMER
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amALBANY - Rudy Giuliani holds a narrow lead over Sen. Charles Schumer in a hypothetical Senate race next year, a new poll yesterday showed. The Zogby International survey of 703...
INMATES WOULD GIVE HIM DEATH PENALTY NIXED BY DA
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amERNESTO Gutierrez was a teardrop away from giving his blessing to the execution of the man who raped and murdered his 11-year-old daughter. The unlikely hit men were jailed thugs...
BLAKE BRAGGED HE COULD 'ACT' INNOCENT: STUNTMAN
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amLOS ANGELES - A stuntman testified yesterday Robert Blake boasted he could fool cops with acting skills and deny he killed his wife. Veteran fall guy Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton said...
GIRL'S FIRST JOY OF HEARING
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amA deaf, impoverished 2-year-old Romanian girl heard her mother's voice for the first time yesterday after a Manhattan hospital donated the procedure that saved the girl from a lifetime of...
TEEN CONFRONTS L.I. RAPE PRIEST
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amThe Rev. Michael Hands' teen sex-abuse victim broke his five-year silence yesterday at the fallen cleric's sentencing in a Long Island court - telling how the priest "murdered" his childhood...
GAL PALS KICK GLASS: TEAM UP FOR REVENGE VS. TWO-TIMER
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amA Long Island Romeo - allegedly two-timing his new girlfriend with an old love - got his just deserts when the two women found out about each other and ganged...
GOV.: BAN G.I. DISCRIMINATION
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amALBANY - Gov. Pataki yesterday called for a statewide ban on apartment rental practices that require tenants to swear that they aren't in the military services. "That should be illegal...
MIKE WITHOUT A $PARE IF COMMUTER TAX FALLS FLAT
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg has no backup plan for raising $1 billion if Albany won't re-impose the commuter tax, a top administration official said yesterday. "At this moment, I think we're in...
NOSE-KNOCK $UIT
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amA Manhattan woman has her nose out of joint about getting her nose knocked out of joint - allegedly by an ice cube - during a run-in with a waiter...
FATAL FIGHT COSTS SINGER 'IDOL' SPOT
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amHad reached semifinals.An "American Idol" contestant who went out to celebrate advancing to the show's semifinals got into a street fight outside the bar, ended up charged in a fatal...
GOV'T'S CASE IS 'PICTURE' OF NOTHING
March 5, 2003 | 5:00am'A HUNDRED rabbits will never make a horse, and a hundred suspicions will never make a proof," defense attorney Gerry Shargel said yesterday, quoting famed "Crime and Punishment" author Fyodor...
HELMSLEY STILL ANGRY OVER IDIOTIC VERDICT
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amLEONA HELMSLEY is not claiming victory. So a judge ruled that Charles Bell, a ferocious opportunist with a taste for illicit drugs, should not become a millionaire at Leona's expense...
TEEN DEAD IN RAID ON WEST BANK
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Eight people were wounded and a 16-year-old was killed at a West Bank Internet café yesterday when Israeli commandos disguised as Arabs tried to seize a suspected terrorist...
FIEND GETS LIFE ; FREED CRACK USER RAPED, KILLED GIRL
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amA crack-addicted "monster" - who was on the street thanks to a notorious junk-justice decision by a Philadelphia judge - was sentenced to life in prison without parole yesterday for...
GENE'S THE BOSS ; PETER GOTTI'S LAWYER SAYS BROTHER GAVE ORDERS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amProsecutors failed "completely . . . utterly and miserably" to prove their case against Peter Gotti, according to the reputed Gambino boss's lawyer - who tried to pin the top...
MUSLIMS PRAY BUT DON'T TELL OF CLERIC
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amThey went to the mosque to pray - not to discuss the latest government charges linking their house of worship to terrorist fund-raising. Most of the 50 people who answered...
DALI PROBE EYES RIKERS WORKERS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amInvestigators are poring over personnel time sheets and visitor logs at Rikers Island to determine who had access to a Salvador Dali painting that vanished from the men's jail -...
COP'S FATAL CRASH ; B'KLYN WRECK KILLS OFF-DUTY OFFICER & BAKERY COUPLE
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amA car driven by an off-duty cop plowed into the vehicle of a Brooklyn couple headed for work early yesterday, killing all three people, police said. Michael McGibbon, 28, was...
QUEEN OF GREEN: LEONA'S $11M GAY-FIRE FINE SLASHED TO 500G
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amA Manhattan judge took the ax to an $11.175 million gay-discrimination verdict against Leona Helmsley yesterday and chopped it down to a royal pittance, finding the whopping jury award was...
A JIHAD GROWS IN BROOKLYN: SHEIK BOASTS MOSQUE HELPED RAISE $20M FOR OSAMA'S THUGS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amA Yemeni cleric busted in Germany in a global FBI sting boasted that he provided Osama bin Laden with recruits, weapons - and millions of dollars he collected at a...
DESPERATE SEARCH FOR MISSING E. SIDE WOMAN
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amPolice mounted a search last night for an Upper East Side woman who vanished Monday while walking her dog. Svetlana Aronov, 44, an importer of hard-to-find Russian books, was last...
MORE HARD TIME FOR VIAGRA FAKER
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amIt's another seven months behind bars for a Chinese man caught smuggling 750 fake Viagra pills halfway around the world to New York inside a teddy bear. Chinese national Winhway...
FEDS: WE'VE FOILED 20 TERROR PLOTS IN U.S.
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amMore than 100 worldwide terrorist attacks have been thwarted since Sept. 11, 2001 - including 20 inside the United States, the FBI said yesterday. Intelligence gleaned from the cell phone...
BICKERING OVER KEY WTC POST
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amJockeying between City Hall and Gov. Pataki for control of downtown redevelopment has held up the choice of a permanent head for a key rebuilding agency, sources said yesterday. The...
L.I. HOCKEY-RAGE DAD FACES LIFETIME BAN
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amA Long Island hockey dad who allegedly went berserk during a game, choking a teenage player and throwing a linesman to the ice, could be permanently banned from the league....
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amManhattan Two men have been arrested in Friday's gunpoint robbery of $1,500 from a Washington Heights fast-food restaurant, a police source said yesterday. Merlon Daley, 22, was charged with robbery...
KLEIN ENROLL$ PARENTS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amSchools Chancellor Joel Klein last night called on parents to pressure Gov. Pataki and state lawmakers to avoid slashing state funding to city schools by $477 million. "Assembly members, senators,...
FEDS PROBE WAKSAL'S ART DEALER
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amHot-shot gallery owner Larry Gagosian is the latest high-flier to be hit with the curse of Sam Waksal. Like Martha Stewart, Gagosian is being investigated by the feds because of...
FIREFIGHTER CRITICAL AFTER B'KLYN BLAZE
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amA firefighter was hospitalized in critical condition after suffering smoke inhalation while battling a five-alarm blaze in Brooklyn last night, fire officials said. The 26-year-old firefighter, assigned to Ladder 120,...
TRAGIC SMILES: CRASH SHATTERED THIS PERFECT FAMILY
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amLoving parents Ronald and Tayne Ferris beam proudly in the touching family photo at right taken just after the birth of their fourth son - a picture-perfect scene tragically shattered...
SCHUMER'S DAD RUSHED TO HOSPITAL
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amAbraham Schumer, the 79-year-old father of Sen. Chuck Schumer, was rushed to a hospital yesterday after fainting while exercising at a Queens gym. FDNY and EMS personnel "got there quick....
BUSH CALLS ON CONGRESS TO BREAK MEDICARE STALEMATE
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday prodded Congress to give long-sought prescription-drug coverage to all seniors as part of a $400 billion Medicare overhaul that would offer big incentives to switch...
POX SHOTS FOR NYPD
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amThe NYPD is gearing up to offer smallpox inoculations for cops on the front lines of anti-terror efforts as early as next week, sources told The Post. The Medical Division...
COPS SET 'SATURDAY SLAY' TALK
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amDetective supervisors from four precincts where the so-called "Saturday Slayers" have murdered four people will meet today at Police Headquarters to swap leads and coordinate the manhunt for the cold-blooded...
QUEEN OF GREEN: LEONA'S $11M GAY-FIRE FINE SLASHED TO 500GS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amA Manhattan judge took the axe to an $11.175 million gay-discrimination verdict against Leona Helmsley yesterday and chopped it down to a royal pittance, finding the whopping jury award was...
EAST SIDE WOMAN MISSING
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amPolice mounted a search last night for an Upper East Side woman who vanished Monday while walking her dog on York Avenue. Svetlana Aronov, a importer of hard-to-find Russian books,...
MORE HARD TIME FOR VIAGRA FAKE
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amIt's another seven months behind bars for a Chinese man caught smuggling 750 fake Viagra pills halfway around the world to New York inside a teddy bear. Chinese national Winhway...
U.S. TROOPS 300,000 STRONG AS PREZ PONDERS IRAQI D-DAY
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The U.S. force in the Persian Gulf will grow to more than 300,000 troops in the coming days as the Bush administration prepares to make final decisions on...
KLEIN'S HOOKY RULE
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amSchools Chancellor Joel Klein yesterday warned high-school kids not to cut class to attend the "Books, not Bombs" anti-war protests today - after some organizers urged students to play hooky....
FRENCH VETO? NON
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - A French newspaper yesterday claimed France has just about ruled out using its U.N. Security Council veto to block the U.S.-backed resolution that would green-light an Iraq attack....
HILL SORT OF BACKS W.
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Clinton yesterday said she doesn't agree "100 percent" with President Bush's approach on Iraq - just days after her staff said she "fully supports" the steps...
'IDOL' SINGER BOOTED AFTER DEADLY BARROOM BRAWL
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amAn "American Idol" contestant who went out to celebrate advancing to the show's semifinal round got into a street fight outside the bar and ended up charged in a fatal...
PATAKI IN '$ICK' DEAL WITH UNION
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amALBANY - Gov. Pataki has awarded three extra annual sick days to members of a union that endorsed him last fall, brushing aside concerns about the state's worsening fiscal condition,...
NO FARE! MTA BOARD FIGHTS OVER METROCARD DISCOUNTS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amSome MTA board members will fight a fare hike that would include giving big discounts to straphangers who use unlimited MetroCards - insisting it's unfair to low-income riders, The Post...
METROCARD DISCOUNTS IN DOUBT AS $2 FARE LOOMS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amEven with a $2 bus and subway fare expected to pass tomorrow, some MTA board members will fight a move that would give big discounts to straphangers who use unlimited...
FAST-FORWARD ON VID-VOYEUR LAW
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amALBANY - Negotiations are underway to end a long deadlock on a bill to toughen penalties for video voyeurism, sources told The Post last night. Democratic state lawmakers have reached...
NETS TAKE ANOTHER TUMBLE
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amMavs 88 Nets 79 DALLAS -The Mavs are, the Nets agree, "a nightmare team to guard." So you must do all the other elements. You must rebound. The Nets did....
THORN FORSAKES ABANDONED CHILDS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amNET NOTES DALLAS - It wasn't one thing that led to the current crisis with Chris Childs, Nets president Rod Thorn said. "One event? No. There was not one event,"...
SPREWELL CONFUSED BY CHILD-SUPPORT CLAIMS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES Latrell Sprewell is a little baffled by allegations that he's failed to pay proper child support to ex-girlfriend Mitraline Maclin. "It's a situation that I've been taking care...
FOR KNICKS, TRUTH HURTS: AILMENTS INJURE PUSH FOR PLAYOFFS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amYou really couldn't fault the Knicks if their final drive toward the postseason came in an ambulance. Heading into last night's showdown with the cellar-dwelling Cavs, the Knicks trailed two...
ROSE SHOWS TRUE COLOR: GREEN - PETE'S SIGHTS SET MORE ON HIGH-PAYING JOB THAN HALL CALL: SOURCE
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - Pete Rose will not be reinstated by Opening Day and his chances of quickening the process are being complicated by his desire to regain the right...
ROSE SHOWS TRUE COLOR: GREEN: PUT HIM IN HALL WITH A PLAQUE THAT TELLS IT LIKE IT IS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amTO one flock of fans, Pete Rose was the very essence of what baseball was supposed to be. He ran out walks. He broke up double plays with his spikes....
ANDERSON ACTS ON HIS TASTE FOR TUNA
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amThe choice for Richie Anderson was Bill Parcells or Bill Belichick. Score this one for the Tuna. Anderson, who played for six head coaches during his 10-year career with the...
CONTRERAS NEEDS TO IMPROVE FAST
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amFORT MYERS - Consider this interesting montage yesterday from Yankeeland: There was Jose Contreras sitting in front of his locker after surrendering three runs and four hits to the Red...
ROUGH DAY FOR JOSE
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amYankees 7Red Sox 4 FORT MYERS - The Red Sox spanked the pitcher they lost to the Yankees as a free agent in December. But when it comes to facing...
ROSE SHOWS TRUE COLOR: GREEN: COMMISH CAN'T RISK A CHARLIE HUSTLE PARLAY
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - The Yankees really should spare us the mock shock over David Wells going all Page Six in his autobiography. They traded Wells after his half-drunk, hung-over,...
CANDID DAD KEPT BRAZELL ON TRACK
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - It was an innocent question from the back seat of a car, but the answer changed a 7-year-old's life. Craig Brazell had just finished up a...
JARVIS A GONER? C'MON, GET REAL
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amTHE two hours after St. John's beat Duke 72-71 on Sunday comprised some of the most entertaining moments of my professional life. No sooner had Marcus Hatten's foul shot with...
WELLS TRADES PLACES ; NOW DENIES HE'LL ALLOW YANKEES TO SEEK A DEAL
March 5, 2003 | 5:00am"First and foremost, is it a non-fiction or fiction book?"BRIAN CASHMAN FORT MYERS - David Wells already has backpedaled faster than Deion Sanders. Now he is reversing field like Barry...
JINTS ARE KICKING THE SNAFUS AWAY
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amGet the feeling the Giants are kinda-sorta interested in upgrading their special teams? What would have been a footnote in other years now becomes big news: The Giants have agreed...
SATHER FANNING FLAMES
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amWith the trade deadline coming up Tuesday, Glen Sather wouldn't mind chatting with Craig Button. Problem is, the Calgary GM isn't the easiest man for Sather to reach, even with...
HAYES OWES WIN TO SENIOR
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amCHSAA "B" SEMISCardinal Hayes 48St. John's Prep 45 Before Kaimondre Owes' freshman year of high school, he was awarded a scholarship to Cardinal Hayes. Rather than being excited about the...
DAY AFTER, ISLES HAVE NOTHING
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amLightning 3Isles 1 There's a term floating around Islander Country called "the Ranger hangover," that says the Isles have a tough time playing in games following those exhaustive and often...
MCDYESS TARGETS JULY FOR RETURN TO COURT
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES The brace is off and the rehab is ahead of schedule. But Antonio McDyess won't be coming back this season. While the Knick forward didn't pronounce himself officially...
JUST CALL 'EM DEM AMAZIN' BUMS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amMET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE - The Mets will will end their preseason in Brooklyn. The team announced plans yesterday to hold a March 30 workout at Coney Island's KeySpan...
KNICKS SURVIVE VS. WOEFUL CAVS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amKnicks 89Cavaliers 80 Well, that was unimpressive. Against a team that's a league-worst 11-49 overall and 3-28 on the road, a team that's already been accused of tanking games to...
NBA LOTTERY'S NOT THE TICKET FOR LAYDEN, CHANEY GANG
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amHEY, thinks Scott Layden, the odd general manager of the Knicks. You never know. On the one-percent chance the SuperSonics would trade Gary Payton and Vladimir Radmanovic without getting back...
THIS SLOW START LEADS TO AN 'L'
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amWild 3Devils 2 ST. PAUL - These contenders suddenly aren't so convincing. It may require more than alarm clocks for these Devils who sleep through their starts. With GM Lou...
KNICK SKID NOT ANSWER
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amHEY, you never know, thinks Scott Layden, the odd general manager of the Knicks. On the one per cent chance the Supersonics would trade him Gary Payton and Vladimir Radmanovic...
COREY COULD BRING DEVS NEEDED HELP
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amST. PAUL - Altering conventional wisdom, Devils backup Corey Schwab should be giving Lou Lamoriello an extra trade option to consider. Since Martin Brodeur broke in to stay with New...
SNOW'S HOLDING THE FORT
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amThe rule of thumb in sports is that you can't lose your job because of an injury. If that's the case, then Garth Snow may just lose his job because...
SLATS WANTS FLAMES TO RETURN HIS CALLS
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amWith the trade deadline coming up Tuesday, Glen Sather wouldn't mind chatting with Craig Button. Problem is, the Calgary GM isn't the easiest man for Sather to reach, even with...
ABANDONED CHILDS NO BIG DEAL
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amNET NOTES DALLAS - While Net players insist they were unaware of what was going on with Chris Childs, the overriding sentiment was that no matter the outcome concerning the...
DISTRACTIONS KEEP NETS OFF BALANCE
March 5, 2003 | 5:00amDALLAS - There was the off-season trade that re-made the team by importing one center, Dikembe Mutombo, while exporting another, Todd MacCulloch, along with the power forward, Keith Van Horn....