March 1, 2005
HEAR NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL & SPEAK NO EVIL
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amBERNIE Ebbers wanted so badly to tell his jury how sick he is. The former head of WorldCom bravely testified yesterday on his first day on the stand that he...
MACY'S PARADE - FEDERATED PLANS TO CONVERT STORES ACROSS NATION
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amA Macy's in every mall. That slogan may best describe the change in the nation's retail world following the $11 billion merger of Macy's-owned Federated Department Stores with May Department...
XM UP 14% ON PRICE BOOST
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amXM Satellite Radio finally reported some good news of its own yesterday when the company said it was raising its prices, sending is shares - and those of its rival...
PLAZA'S UNIONS NOT SOLD ON DEAL
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amTHE Plaza Hotel's new owners have offered the union fighting its conversion to condos a 50 percent partnership in a new Manhattan hotel that would create hundreds of new jobs...
FED TAX CHEAT OWES $210M
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe feds have arrested a high-living telecom executive as the largest-ever tax cheat - who owes $210 million to the Internal Revenue Service. Investigators said Walter Anderson, 51, earned as...
HOMES DATA HIT IN JAN.
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amNew home sales fell by a surprising 9.5 percent in January as the median price for a home skidded under the $200,000 mark - turning recent purchases into negative investments....
WORLD SIT-COM - UNDER OATH, EBBERS SAYS FRAUD WAS SURPRISE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amFormer WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers yesterday was one German accent away from a smashing impression of Sgt. Schultz, taking to the witness stand to say he heard nothing, saw nothing...
DUMB & DUMBER - UNDER OATH, EBBERS SAYS FRAUD WAS SURPRISE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amFormer WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers yesterday was one German accent away from a smashing impression of Sgt. Schultz, taking to the witness stand to say he heard nothing, saw nothing...
CURTAIN FALLS ON 'NYPD'
March 1, 2005 | 5:00am'NYPD Blue" is ending its 12-season run tonight - not with a bang, but with a tear. "If this was an ending where a bomb went off in the station...
STARR REPORT
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amSteve's special FX With tonight's finale of "NYPD Blue" and the launch of his new ABC series, "Blind Justice," "Blue" creator Steven Bochco is expanding his horizons. FX announced yesterday...
IT'S ALL ABOUT ANDY ...
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amIT'S all about Andy: Three ways "NYPD Blue" could end tonight (10 p.m. on ABC) * Sipowicz gets canned. Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) became unit commander just last week, but...
FIRED HOST LASHES OUT - WB MORNING ANCHOR SAYS AGE DID HER IN
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amLYNNE White is seeing red. The popular host of WB's Morning News host who was abruptly canned right after the show on Friday (after five years and two Emmys) says...
OSCARS TAKE A DIVE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00am'MILLION Dollar Baby" was no "The Lord of the Rings." This year's Oscar telecast - despite a lot of popular interest in a new, controversial host, Chris Rock - was...
LET THERE BE LIGHT - FORGET THE COLD - AFFORDABLE SUN AND SURF ARE YOURS AT THESE GREAT BEACH DESTINATIONS
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amENCINITAS, CALIF. Located along six miles of Pacific coastline in northern San Diego County, Encinitas feel like a well-kept secret - at least compared to crowded SoCal sun spots like...
EXPRESS CHECK-IN - GOSSIP, HOT TOPICS AND OTHER NEWS YOU'LL USE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amGROWING UP BACK in the late 1990s, the San Francisco-based Kimpton Group created buzz every time it opened a new hotel. A hit with travelers, its affordable hotels still have...
BACK SPLASH
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amRED-CARPET correspondents weren't the only people stunned by Hilary Swank's knock-out Guy Laroche gown at the Oscars - so were the designers at Calvin Klein, who had spent two weeks...
BLING TIME FOR OSCAR
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amBEYONCE was lucky her neck didn't give out during her Phantom of the Opera performance. The honking Swarovski crystal necklace she wore on stage was the same piece of custom-designed...
ALL ABOARD!
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amTHESE stars are right on track with the hottest fashion trend at the Oscars - cascading trains of silk and satin so long, they'd make a bride blush. Tinseltown's leading...
BONES TO PICK WITH RENÉE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amTHE dress - a raspberry Carolina Herrera with a sweeping train - was, in a word, divine. So why is everyone saying the woman wearing it wasn't? Renée Zellweger was...
MOST IMPROVED - FORMER FASHION VICTIMS SURPRISE US WITH STYLISH, SEXY GOWNS
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amOUR prayers for a fashion intervention have been answered. At award events past, these stars have bombed on the red carpet with frumpy, ill-fitting and unflattering frocks. But rather than...
CARPET BOMBING
March 1, 2005 | 5:00am* MONEY can't buy taste, an adage the Hilton sisters have proved time and again. Paris somehow found a dress that made her look like she eats more than once...
PELOSI NEAR PLEA DEAL IN WITNESS PLOT
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amDanny Pelosi may cop a plea to his remaining criminal cases in New York - which could add up to three years onto his 25-years-to-life sentence for killing millionaire banker...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amA Chinese woman sued her husband for bigamy - after he married another woman on the Internet. Lin, from Harbin, noticed her hubby, Zhang, spending long periods at the computer,...
JOHN PAUL RANKS AMONG GREATEST LEADERS: POLL
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amMost Catholics revere Pope John Paul II and consider him one of the world's greatest leaders, according to a poll released yesterday. As the pontiff continued to recover from a...
MIKE BIDS TO CURB 'DISABLED' PARKING BILL
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - The Bloomberg administration is trying to kill legislation that would open up on-street parking in the city to 50,000 disabled New Yorkers. The bill would allow any disabled...
ZONGO COP IN LIMBO OVER FATEFUL CHOICE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amDETECTIVES Pat Rafferty and Robert Parker approached violent mutt Marlon Legre in his car in Brooklyn on Sept. 10, 2004. Rafferty and Parker didn't draw their guns. Legre did, and...
DEMS HOWL OVER LAUGHINGSTOCK MONKEY PATAKI
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - Gov. Pataki's supposed presidential ambitions are "laughable" and the governor himself has become an object of ridicule, the state Democratic Party's chief spokesman claimed yesterday. "His presidential ambitions...
ISRAEL BIDS TO UNMASK DAMASCUS
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Israel launched a diplomatic offensive yesterday to prove that Syria had a bloody hand in the Tel Aviv homicide bombing that ruptured the month-old Mideast truce. Israeli officials...
SUNDAY DRIVERS' BAD NEWS
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amIf you want to pray, you have to pay, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. Bloomberg said the city will continue to enforce parking-meter rules on Sundays. "If you didn't have parking...
THEFT CHARGES AGAINST HYNES' RIVAL DROPPED
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amAuthorities have dropped grand-larceny and forgery charges against a Brooklyn lawyer after she agreed to repay nearly $9,000 allegedly swindled from an elderly client. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice James Starkey...
CITY TO BE $OAKED FOR ASTORIA FLOOD
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe city will pay millions of dollars in damages to Queens residents whose homes were damaged in last week's water-main break in Astoria. "It looks like the city is responsible...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amBROOKLYN * An 82-year-old man threatened his neighbor with a machete and a hammer in a parking dispute in East New York, authorities said yesterday. The incident began at 7:45...
DERAILED - THEN BUSTED
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amTwo men hurt early yesterday in a minor subway derailment were arrested after cops realized they had outstanding warrants out on them, police said. Jean Rice, 66, and John Dayly,...
SLUSH PUPPIES - SNOW & RAIN AGAIN HOUND NEW YORKERS
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amWhat a miserable mess! Winter-weary New Yorkers are waking up today to a slippery, slushy commute after Mother Nature dumped a predicted 6 inches of snow on the Big Apple....
SADDAM'S CAGE - BAGHDAD WAR-CRIME COURT PREPARES ITS BEST DE'FENCE'
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - This medieval-looking structure will be the scene of Saddam Hussein's ultimate humiliation. It's the metal cage that will hold the Butcher of Baghdad inside a courtroom when he...
BROOKLYN BEEP DISINVITES CRACKER BARREL
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amBrooklyn has yanked the welcome mat out from under Southern food chain Cracker Barrel Old Country Store due to accusations of discrimination. Borough President Marty Markowitz, who invited the company...
ATM FOOTAGE MAY UNMASK COPTIC KILLER
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amIt's the first big break in the brutal, unsolved slayings of a New Jersey couple and their two young daughters: bank video footage that shows a man using the family's...
LEB GOV'T IS FORCED OUT - ANTI-SYRIA BACKLASH EXPLODES IN STREETS
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amThrongs of Lebanese protesters - shouting, "Syria out!" to express outrage over the assassination of a beloved former prime minister - forced the pro-Syrian government in Beirut to quit abruptly...
ODDSMAKERS: DON'T BET ON HOME OLYMPIC TEAM
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amNew York pulled out all the stops for the International Olympic Committee's visit last week, but that did little to improve the betting line on getting the 2012 Summer Games....
BUTCHER'S BRO FIRST FOR TRIAL
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amOne of Saddam Hussein's half brothers is among the first of five regime monsters who will face trials for crimes against humanity committed during the brutal Ba'athist reign, it was...
ELEVATOR-FIRE WIDOW'S PLEA TO JUDGE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe widow of a security guard killed in a Christmas Day fire in Queens sobbed softly yesterday as a judge was told how the hard work of her husband carried...
PARK'S 'GATES' CLOSE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amIt's curtains for "The Gates." Teams of dismantlers began a two-week mission to reverse Central Park's orange makeover yesterday - stripping down the city's most talked-about art installation into piles...
BOY: I KNEW MORE THAN HIM ABOUT SEX
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amMichael Jackson was severely inadequate when it came to rapping about "the birds and the bees," his young accuser says. "He didn't know much - I knew more than he...
COLLAPSED BLDG. MUST BE RAZED
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe Brooklyn family displaced from their home of 30 years after a construction crew allegedly caused the back wall to collapse was told the building will be demolished. Outraged and...
FOXX GETS SPANKS OVER THANKS TO GRANNY
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amJamie Foxx whipped up a firestorm of controversy with his surprise declaration that he won an Oscar because his granny applied a firm hand to his behind. Some experts and...
5 COPS EYED IN PEDDLER GRAFT SCAM
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amAs many as five Manhattan cops are being probed for allegedly shaking down peddlers selling knockoff designer purses, jackets and accessory items, sources told The Post yesterday. One young cop...
EX-PARTNER MAKES $6M POWER PLAY AGAINST LIZZIE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amOne of Lizzie Grubman's former power girls has filed a $6 million lawsuit against her old boss, charging she broke promises to give her a raise and make her a...
BUSH'S POLICIES SPARK REFORM IN MIDEAST
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - It may still be a little too early to talk about the "democracy domino effect" that President Bush is creating in the Middle East, but the evidence is...
TOT CRITICAL, MAN DEAD IN 2 CRASHES
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amA baby girl who was riding with a drunken driver was fighting for her life after he crashed yesterday, police said. Meanwhile, a Queens man was killed in separate early-morning...
TRIAL SETBACK FOR LIL' KIM
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe judge in the Lil' Kim perjury trial ruled yesterday that prosecutors can show jurors a provocative music video of the racy rapper performing with two of her co-defendants -...
SLAY-SUICIDE - COP SHOOTS GAL PAL, SELF: POLICE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amA cop fatally shot his schoolteacher girlfriend in their bedroom yesterday, then put the gun to his own head and fired, police sources said. Investigators were try ing to determine...
CON: 'I'M NOT A MONSTER' - TELLS OF TRAGIC NIGHT WITH CO-ED
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amSing Sing inmate Javier Tamez broke down in tears yesterday as he told how he picked up stunning college student Veronica Hagman at a trendy Manhattan nightclub, took her back...
STILL PUTTING ON A SHOW - A DISGUSTING ONE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amSANTA MARIA, Calif. - He glided into the courtroom, his jaw chomping delicately on contraband chewing gum, and a troubling half-smile below his evaporating nose. Hey Jacko! I couldn't resist...
TRIAL OPENS WITH SHOT AT JACKO'S 'PORNO' PLAYROOM
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amMichael Jackson is an aging, twisted sicko who urged his cancer-stricken victim to call him "Daddy," then ogled porn with the boy and fondled him, prosecutors charged in explosive opening...
5TH SUSPECT FACES RAP IN MURDER OF ACTRESS
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amA fifth member of a gang linked to the senseless shooting of a beautiful actress on the Lower East Side was charged with murder yesterday after a 14-year-old girl copped...
REALTOR IN 161G WIDOW SCAM: DA
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amA Long Island Realtor has been charged with bilking a 75-year-old widow out of $161,000. Salvatore Sanzone, 65, a broker with AA Premier Realty, met his victim when he sold...
OSCAR BURGER FOR HUNGRY HIL
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amCall it the Million Dollar Burger. Proving she's truly Hollywood's anti-diva, "Million Dollar Baby" superstar Hilary Swank celebrated her second Best Actress Oscar in style - at a fast-food joint....
GAL COMES CLEAN OVER SUBWAY SLAY
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe two-timing woman at the center of last month's subway love-triangle slaying changed her tune about the attack in testimony before a Manhattan grand jury yesterday - giving an account...
$6M POWER PLAY AGAINST GRUBMAN
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amOne of Lizzie Grubman's former power girls has filed a $6 million lawsuit against her old boss, charging that Grubman broke promises to give her a raise and make her...
PELOSI FACING 3 MORE YEARS
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amDanny Pelosi may cop a plea to his remaining criminal cases in New York - which could add up to three years onto his 25-years-to-life sentence for killing millionaire banker...
ATM VIDEO IN N.J. FAMILY SLAY
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amIt's the first big break in the brutal, unsolved slayings of a New Jersey couple and their two young daughters: bank video footage that shows a man using the parents'...
NUN SNUBS HUG, GETS SLUGGED
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amA Harlem nun may think twice about being a good Samaritan after a drunken man allegedly beat her up when she returned his lost keys, but then wouldn't accept a...
THE FLIGHT STUFF - FOSSETT SETS OFF ON ROUND-THE-WORLD SOLO TRIP
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amAviator and millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett is once again trying to go where no man has gone before. Fossett set off from an airport in central Kansas last night, hoping...
BROOKLYN COLLAPSE BLDG. RAZED
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe Brooklyn family displaced from its home of 30 years last week after the back wall collapsed suffered another indignity last night - watching as the rest of the building...
VEGAN CHOWS DOWN ON TONGUE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amA Brooklyn vegan who was once accused of snatching his son was arrested yesterday for allegedly biting his wife's tongue, law-enforcement sources said. Raphael Spindell was charged with assaulting his...
50 CENT PAL SHOT AT HOT 97
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amA member of rapper 50 Cent's posse was wounded last night by gunmen who shot him in the lobby of troubled-plagued radio station Hot 97 - then tried to make...
BROOKLYN BANISHES 'BARREL'
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amBrooklyn has yanked the welcome mat out from under Southern food chain Cracker Barrel Old Country Store due to accusations of discrimination. Borough President Marty Markowitz, who invited the company...
PARK 'GATES' ARE CLOSED
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amIt's curtains for "The Gates." Teams of dismantlers began a two-week mission to reverse Central Park's orange makeover yesterday - stripping down the city's most talked-about art installation into piles...
CELEBRATE AMAZING LADIES!
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amMarch is Women's History Month and all month long Classroom Extra is celebrating the lives and achievements of some amazing women. Here's a brief look at how it all got...
COP IN SLAY-SUICIDE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amA cop fatally shot his schoolteacher girlfriend in their bedroom yesterday, then put the gun to his own head and fired, police sources said. The bodies of the 51-year-old elementary...
HILARY'S 'BABY' FOOD - BURGER QUEEN OF OSCARS
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amCall it the Million Dollar Burger. Proving she's truly Hollywood's anti-diva, "Million Dollar Baby" superstar Hilary Swank celebrated her second Best Actress Oscar in style - at a fast-food joint....
DYNAMIC DUO NEEDS HELP
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amJason Kidd and Vince Carter deserve the headlines, but the Nets' success in their final 25 games will largely come down to the supporting cast. If you see double-digit scoring...
HARD TO FEEL SORRY FOR GRUMPY GARY
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amTAMPA - The world was picking on poor Gary Sheffield again, baiting him, disrespecting him, antagonizing him, aggravating him, persecuting him, prosecuting him. "It's the same thing every year," he...
SHARING THE CRUMBS - NHL REVENUE PLAN DOES LITTLE TO RESCUE LEAGUE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amTHE NHL has published specific details of each proposal it has made to the NHL Players Association within the last three months - but the league has steadfastly refused to...
STERN HAND GAVE NETS MARV PUSH
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amNBA commissioner David Stern was instrumental in Marv Albert becoming the new voice of the Nets on YES, according to sources. Around the time Albert and the Knicks parted ways...
NORM MUST EARN RESPECT OF REFS
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amLET'S say up front that in 24 years of covering high school, college and pro sports, never once have I seen a game decided by officials. Never. So for the...
GIANTS LOOK AT FIEDLER
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amIt appears the Giants will not be battling with the Jets for backup quarterback Jay Fiedler, but they are competing with the Bears for his services. Brian Levy, Fiedler's agent,...
PLAYERS MEETING TO GRIPE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amTORONTO - Amid all the anger and frustration flaring out in all directions, one theme seems common among the locked-out NHL players: Keep talking. "I just hope that we don't...
KURT SPARKS KNICK SURGE
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amKurt Thomas, despite the numbers he's put up there in his first two games at center, hasn't warmed to the idea of playing in the middle. However, his presence there...
CBA-ER INKS 10-DAY DEAL
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES The Knicks yesterday continued to fill out their roster after losing four players last Thursday at the trading deadline. CBA guard Jermaine Jackson, playing for the Great Lakes...
LET'S ALL STOP ROASTING ISIAH
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amTHE new-look Lakers made their only visit of the year to the Garden last night, offering locals an up-close look at how trading a center really can be a destructive...
SHEFFIELD'S IN DOUR STRAITS - JOYLESS YANKEE ZIPS HIS LIPS ON PACT
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amTAMPA - Gary Sheffield declined to reveal anything about his latest contract demands yesterday, instead portraying himself as a man tormented by the media. Sheffield's recent attempt to rework his...
MATSUI STARTS WITH A BANG
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amYANKEE NOTES TAMPA - It's just plain silly to say the price went up on Hideki Matsui. But if his first at-bat in yesterday's intrasquad game is any indication, Godzilla...
KOUFAX & PEDRO GET REACQUAINTED
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amMET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE - Sandy Koufax was with Mets bullpen coach Guy Conti yesterday when he decided he wanted to chat with one of the pitchers. "He said...
GREAT EXPECTATIONS DON'T ALWAYS COME HOME
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - Darryl Strawberry was going to be a Hall of Famer. We might as well start with the cautionary tale. We might as well be honest that...
METS BRING OUT THE YOUNG GUNS - KAZ & JOSE LEARN ON THE JOB
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - On the Mets' first day of live competition, Jose Reyes was picked off twice and Kaz Matsui misplayed a grounder at second base. Good thing it...
PROSPECT HEIGHTS KEEPS EMERGING
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amHIGH SCHOOLS It was only when Phyllip Jones asked about the basketball coaching job at the high school that had just hired him that he found out he would have...
WILD STREAK - KNICKS SURVIVE MIRACLE L.A. RALLY, WIN 3RD STRAIGHT
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amOVERTME: Knicks 117 - Lakers 115 The Knicks last night survived Kobe Bryant's late-game heroics, Stephon Marbury's botched free-throw attempt and an ugly incident on their bench in the fourth...
KOBE MEETS YIN AND YANG
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amKobe Bryant had the ball in his hands with the game on the line - twice. The first time, he drilled a dramatic 3-pointer to tie the game and force...
TRADING UP TO INTENSITY
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amPENNY HARDAWAY and Tim Thomas were screaming at each other and exchanging the kind of threats and language that usually result in someone winding up with a black eye and...
THE JAX FACTOR - PHIL RETURNS FROM VACATION - AND LANDS ON RADAR OF KNICKS, LAKERS
March 1, 2005 | 5:00amIt was ironic that on the day Knicks and Lakers battled at the Garden, Phil Jackson returned home yesterday from a six-week vacation to Australia and New Zealand. The league's...