February 1, 2005
HANDICAPPING FRIDAY'S REPORT ON EMPLOYMENT
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amWALL Street is probably expecting too much from Friday's employment report. Experts think the economy produced over 200,000 new jobs in the first month of 2005. But for that to...
OPEC GAFFE SENDS OIL UP
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amA bureaucrat's boo-boo in arithmetic is being blamed for a surprise surge in oil prices yesterday that ended a brief calm in the market. The session began here with traders...
UNIVERSAL MUSIC CHARGING VIDEO NETS TO AIR ARTISTS
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amUniversal Music instituted a new policy yesterday to begin charging online, satellite and cable companies for each music video streamed over video-on-demand services, according to sources familiar with the matter....
FRAUD TRIAL STARTS FOR EX-OGILVY EXECS
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amMadison Avenue is fixated on more than just the Super Bowl this week. Two former execs from New York ad agency Ogilvy & Mather who stand accused of inflating bills...
KUNZ TO SET NEW CAFÉ AT TW BLDG.
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amTHE Time Warner Center galleria, a favorite put-down target of Manhattan elitists, grows more bustling by the month. Now comes word from Related Cos. honcho Kenneth Himmel that superchef Gray...
MARSH'S 'SHAME' - INSURER DOLES OUT $850M TO SETTLE CHARGES
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amMarsh & McLennan Cos. yesterday settled Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's bid-rigging and price-fixing charges by agreeing to fork over $850 million in restitution to clients it overcharged during the alleged...
MTV2 PUTS ON THE DOG
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amWhat on Earth is the two-headed dog? It's the new logo for MTV2 and the creature behind MTV's viral-marketing campaign to create all-important buzz for MTV2's new look and programming....
BARBIE UPSWING PUTS BRATZ ON THEIR HEELS
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amBarbie may finally be getting a leg up on the competition. Mattel, the maker of the blonde doll with the unimaginably small waist, said yesterday that U.S. Barbie sales rose...
EBBERS' TOILET PAPER CAPER
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amEx-WorldCom honcho Bernie Ebbers obsessed over puny cost overruns for things like paper clips and toilet paper while his firm began covering up a gargantuan $3 billion in losses in...
TAKE2, BASEBALL REACH AN EXCLUSIVE GAME DEAL
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe battle for supremacy in the sports video-game game business intensified yesterday after Take2 Interactive Software finalized an exclusive third-party deal with Major League Baseball. The multi-year deal, which starts...
MELLON SEEKS $1B BID IN SALE
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amMellon Financial is looking for a solution for its Human Resources and Investor Solutions business, The Post has learned. Pittsburgh-based Mellon has hired Citigroup to explore a possible sale of...
COREY'S PRESENT A GIFT
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amJACKSONVILLE - This is what the happy ending is supposed to look like. This is why second chances were invented, proof that they aren't always a waste of breath and...
MICRO BERNIE - CEO SWEATED SMALL STUFF WHILE FIRM TANKED
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amEx-WorldCom honcho Bernie Ebbers obsessed over puny cost overruns for things like paper clips and toilet paper while his firm began covering up a gargantuan $3 billion in losses in...
TAKE2 INKS EXCLUSIVE DEAL WITH BASEBALL
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe battle for supremacy in the sports video-game game business intensified yesterday after Take2 Interactive Software finalized an exclusive third-party deal with Major League Baseball. The multi-year deal, which starts...
'APPRENTICE' TRY-OUTS ON WALL ST. FRIDAY
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amGET your talking points ready - NBC is holding auditions for the next season of "The Apprentice." Show host Donald Trump and past winners Bill Rancic and Kelly Perdew will...
'SOPRANOS' TO A&E
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amA&E has won "The Sopranos" sweepstakes - agreeing to pay nearly $190 million for the right to air cleaned-up reruns of the HBO mob opera. The hour-long episodes, stripped of...
WONDER FANS - DVD-EVOTION FOR FAILED SHOW
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amTHE people have spoken - and they chose "Wonderfalls." Last spring, this quirky TV dramedy only lasted for a month on Fox before it was yanked because of low ratings....
STARR REPORT
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amNPR's new addition Ed Gordon marked his radio debut yesterday on NPR's "News & Notes with Ed Gordon," targeting the network's African American audience. "Our sensibilities are . . ....
WHAT'S HE THINKING? - ON EVE OF HIS TRIAL, COURT TV PUTS 'MICHAEL JACKSON'S MIND' TO TEST
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amTHIS week the transformation of Michael Jackson into Norma Desmond becomes complete. Like Desmond, Jackson the has-been also has gone loopy, cakes himself in makeup, and acts like the cameras...
NANNY NEAREST - WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, CALL IN THE KIDDIE COPS
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amBEDRAGGLED parents rejoice and pint-sized hellions beware - nannies, the newest group of reality stars, seem here to stay. Reality TV, once the sole domain of bug-eating contenders, macho motorcycle...
LION IN WINTOUR - HOW ANNA HISSED, CLAWED & FLIRTED HER WAY TO THE TOP; CALL HER CRUELLA DE VOGUE
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amTHAT bob. That scowl. That bone-chilling glare. Nobody inspires envy, fear and - apparently - hatred quite like icy editrix Anna Wintour, parodied in "The Devil Wears Prada" and now...
EXPRESS CHECK-IN - GOSSIP, HOT TOPICS AND OTHER NEWS YOU'LL USE
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amIN THE D.F. IT seems like eons since the owners of Mexico City's Hotel Habita announced the opening of the Hotel Condesa across Chapultepec Park. So long, in fact, that...
MCD'S MAN WANTED TO PULL GLASS ACT BY SAYING SORRY
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe McDonald's cook accused of mixing shards of glass into a cop's Big Mac over the weekend had later wanted to apologize to the officer who bit into the booby-trapped...
QUEENS ASTRO READY FOR BLASTOFF
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amWhen the next space shuttle blasts off for the first time since the Columbia tragedy shocked the nation, the spirit of Queens will ride with one member of the crew...
ARMY CENTERS VANDALIZED
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amTwo Army recruiting stations, one in The Bronx and one in Manhattan, were hit by vandals in unrelated attacks yesterday, a law-enforcement source said. David Seigel, 19, of Litchfield, Conn.,...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amHey, we may sound stupid, but we're really not. A 242-year-old Massachusetts boarding school called the Governor Dummer Academy - after an 18th-century governor - wants to change its name...
APT. GIFT FOR HOMELESS WAR HERO
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amAn anonymous angel has swooped down to give a homeless Brooklyn-born Iraq war vet the gift of a lifetime - an apartment for the decorated military man and his family....
STRIP-SEARCHING SHOCK AT SCHOOL
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amA Bronx school aide accused of strip-searching five young boys for a lost ring last spring said ordering students to disrobe was a "common practice" at his school, and the...
VIRUSES ADDED TO 'CANCER LIST'
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe feds have added 17 factors to the growing list of cancer-causers - including two forms of hepatitis and viruses that cause sexually transmitted diseases. The additions now bring to...
CITY HAS DEAL TO BUY BUS CO.
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe city has reached a deal to buy the largest private bus company in town for $9.5 million, officials said yesterday. The agreement with Queens Surface, which serves 43,000 daily...
UDAY'S FAVORITE YANK -BIZMAN ON 'HONOR ROLL'
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - An Iraqi-American businessman under investigation in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal was placed on an honor roll of former regime thugs by Saddam Hussein's demonic son Uday just months...
SUPER BOWL FANS SACK EMPLOYERS FOR $1B LOSS
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe Super Bowl is a super bummer for employers across the nation who lose more than $1 billion in productivity from workers as a result of the big game, a...
SPITZER BLASTS BUSH BIZ POLICY IN D.C. SPEECH
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer yesterday tore into President Bush for failing to rein in corporate accounting shenanigans - but the New York gov hopeful insisted the slap...
SHELLS IMPERIL GAZA TRUCE
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Top Israeli and Palestinian officials held an urgent meeting last night to try to save a fragile truce following terrorist shelling of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip....
SUPPORT FOR POL-$$ LIMITS
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amGood-government groups yesterday supported Mayor Bloomberg's plan to crack down on "pay-to-play" campaign contributions from people doing business with the city - but they said the mayor's plan doesn't go...
SUBWAY BLAZE GOES IN UNSOLVED-MYSTERY FILE
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe cause of the fire that destroyed a subway signal room and crippled A and C service has officially been deemed "not ascertained," after investigators failed to figure out exactly...
GIFF'S LONGTIME ALLY SWITCHES TO FERRER
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amCity Council Speaker Gifford Miller's mayoral campaign suffered another blow yesterday after a long-standing ally threw his support behind former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, The Post has learned. Councilman...
TURKEY TEEN ALSO HURLED VEGGIES: COPS
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amOne of Long Island's turkey-tossing teens was previously busted for pelting produce at another vehicle, authorities said yesterday. Steven Manzolina, 17, of Selden, was arraigned on a charge of third-degree...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amBROOKLYN * A 29-year-old man was found shot to death in his car near the entrance to Benhurst Park in Bath Beach yesterday. Police said a caller phoned 911 to...
DON DEALS DEATH - RAT MAY DOOM AIDE
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amBonanno godfather-turned-canary Joe Massino has exposed his reputed acting boss "Vinny Gorgeous" to the death penalty by giving the feds the key to two murders, including the rubout of an...
STATE DEMOCRAT CHIEFS GIVE SHOUT-OUT TO DEAN
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Howard Dean vaulted back in front as the favorite to become the nation's new top Democrat after state party chairs around the country did an about-face and backed...
BOY DIES IN TRAFFIC DASH
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amA 13-year-old Queens schoolboy was struck and killed by a pickup truck yesterday as he made a dash across a busy, four-lane highway, cops and witnesses said. The youngster, who...
BLAZE RESCUE DRAMA - 'LIKE A BLOWTORCH'
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe second-floor bedroom was thick with smoke, and flames were licking at the doorway, when firefighter Joseph Fornicola climbed in through a window. To keep the fire out, Fornicola, 43,...
LIBBY'S G.O.PEON - PATAKI 'AIDE' JUST A GROCERY GETTER: PAL
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe state Republican Party worker described by Gov. Pataki's staff as an "administrative aide" to his wife has had to trot to Albany to pick up chef-prepared meals for Mrs....
CD'S GLASS COOK 'SORRY' ABOUT COP
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe McDonald's cook accused of mixing shards of glass into a K-9 cop's Big Mac over the weekend had later wanted to apologize to the officer who bit into the...
LET ALL IRAQIS UNITE: ALLAWI - LEADER DECLARES TERRORISTS DEFEATED
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amIraq's interim leader yesterday hailed the historic weekend election as proof that the Saddam Hussein era is over - and the terrorists have lost. "I call upon those who cast...
CAR-RENT FIRM HIT FOR $20M
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amA Manhattan pedestrian, paralyzed in an accident caused by a driver of a rental car, has been awarded a $20 million judgment against Budget Rent-A-Car, the victim's lawyers said yesterday....
BLOOMBERG ON BOARD - ENDORSES FUND FOR FDNY KIN
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg yesterday heartily endorsed the New York Post's special Heroes Fund to help families of the three city firemen killed in the line of duty last month and four...
BUYERS BRING DOWN HOUSE
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amPrice ceilings for brownstones aren't the only things being shattered in Brooklyn - the ceilings themselves are. During an open house in Boerum Hill Sunday, a roomful of prospective buyers...
HE CRIES FOR HIMSELF - SUSPECT WAS 'WHINING LIKE A LITTLE GIRL' - BUT NOT FOR SLAIN NICOLE: COPS
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amPolice yesterday busted the teen punk who allegedly shot aspiring actress Nicole duFresne - but the crybaby put on his own performance, moaning and complaining that he was sick while...
SPILLARY CLINTON - AILING SENATOR FAINTS DURING BUFFALO SPEECH
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amSen. Hillary Clinton fainted during a lunchtime speech in Buffalo yesterday after saying she had a stomach bug and felt queasy. Four aides broke her fall and eased her gently...
'KING' AND COURT - JACKO ARRIVES EARLY FOR DAY 1 OF SEX TRIAL
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amSANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Michael Jackson showed up early and dressed all in white - for innocence - as jury selection for his child-molestation trial began yesterday. Arriving in a...
HOOKER FINALLY HOOKED - MADAM TURNS SELF IN TO COPS
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amSelf-styled madam-with-a-heart-of-gold Julie Moya stopped acting like a cop-tease yesterday and finally turned herself in to police. Moya, who initially said she planned to turn herself in to authorities on...
59TH STREET BRIDGE LEAP
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amA woman tried to kill herself by jumping off the 59th Street Bridge yesterday - but she smacked into a scaffold and dangled from it until help arrived. The 49-year-old...
MAID 'TO ORDER' - PATAKI 'AIDE' JUST A GROCERY GETTER: PAL
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe state Republican Party worker described by Gov. Pataki's staff as an "administrative aide" to his wife has had to trot to Albany to pick up chef-prepared meals for Mrs....
9/11 'NAZI' PROF QUITS COLLEGE POST
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amA University of Colorado professor who provoked national outrage by comparing those killed in the World Trade Center terrorist attacks to Nazis resigned as a department chairman yesterday, but will...
VIRUSES MAKE 'CANCER LIST'
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe feds have added 17 factors to the growing list of cancer causers - including two forms of hepatitis and viruses that cause sexually transmitted diseases. The additions bring to...
JERICA'S MOM VIEWS TINY BODY
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe mother of a murdered 7-year-old girl was finally allowed to see her dead daughter's body at an upstate funeral home yesterday after reportedly threatening to protest outside the home....
STRIP SEARCH SHOCK - SCHOOL'S BIZARRE 'POLICY'
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amA Bronx school aide accused of strip-searching five young boys for a lost ring last spring said that ordering students to disrobe was "common practice" at the school and that...
BOWL FANS SACK BOSSES FOR LO$$
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe Super Bowl is a super bummer for employers across the nation who lose more than $1 billion in productivity from workers as a result of the big game, a...
SEX-ATTACK SUIT VS. DOGG
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amMembers of Snoop Dogg's entourage drugged a makeup artist and joined the rapper in sexually assaulting her, the woman charges in a lawsuit. Emmy Award-winning Kylie Bell is seeking $25...
JOHNNY WROTE DAVE'S SALUTE
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amIt was David Letterman's tribute to Johnny Carson, but it was Carson who wrote the jokes. On his first "Late Show" since Carson's death on Jan. 23, Letterman's monologue was...
DOC TAKES 'SUICIDE LEAP'
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amA doctor plunged seven stories from his Manhattan high-rise apartment last night in what police said was an apparent suicide. The 33-year-old victim, whose name was withheld, was a resident...
THE FATHER OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amToday's page marks the start of Black History Month. Read about Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who started this celebration of black history and culture. Black History Month actually began as...
AN EMPTY SPACE - SHUTTLE WIFE'S PAIN ENDURES 2 YRS. LATER
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amNo one thought the pictures on the roll of film recovered from a rubble field in Texas after the space shuttle Columbia broke apart could possibly have survived. But when...
MAGGLIO, PRESTON ON OMAR'S RADAR
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amOmar Minaya insisted he'd keep looking for potential trades and free agents last week, and he was mulling at least one of each yesterday. A source said Minaya is still...
METS SIGN LEFTY HURLER
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amThe Mets signed lefty Scott Stewart to a minor-league contract yesterday and invited him to major-league camp. Stewart, 29, went 1-0 with a 5.23 ERA in 10 games for Los...
ARIZA'S HAPPY RETURN
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES LOS ANGELES - Knicks rookie Trevor Ariza received two thrills in one day. Yesterday afternoon, his No. 4 jersey was retired at nearby Westchester High in a ceremony....
EAGLES TE GETS START AT PERFECT TIME
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amJACKSONVILLE - L.J. Smith was a working stiff, late of ShopRite, The Limited, Bagel Bazaar, and he is late of a losing Rutgers program because he was late to get...
CATCHING ON AGAIN FINE WITH VRABEL
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amJACKSONVILLE - Mike Vrabel's most precious NFL moment came when he caught that one-yard TD pass from Tom Brady with 2:51 left in Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Panthers. You...
MIXED NEWS FOR AILING NET ROSTER
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amOne step forward, one step back. So it goes these days for the undermanned Nets. Coach Lawrence Frank adds a much-needed big body today when 7-foot-0 Elden Campbell reports in...
ACE MILER WILL JOIN MILLROSE
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amWhen David Katz took over as meet director of the Millrose Games, his first priority was to return the lost luster of the Wanamaker Mile. Mission accomplished, with Friday's already...
PREPARING TO PLAY, OWENS RETURNS TO PRACTICE
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amJACKSONVILLE - Forty-three days after he tore ligaments in his right ankle and fractured his fibula, Terrell Owens yesterday returned to practice with the Eagles, a positive step forward in...
PRESSURE'S NOT ON PLAYERS
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amTHE propagandist or chronicler who insists that the NHL players are desperate to reach a settlement and have resigned themselves to accepting an oppressive hard-cap system only need do the...
EAGLES' LEWIS EYES ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amJACKSONVILLE - It has been a splendid ride so far for Michael Lewis. In his third year out of Colorado, the Eagles' strong safety is playing in his first Super...
TRIPLE THREAT - BROWN'S PLAYING PATS' CATCH-ALL ROLE
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amJACKSONVILLE - Rodney Harrison remembers the moment during training camp when he first saw Troy Brown, his teammate and one of the top receivers on offense, standing near him on...
FRYAR BURNED BY COMMENT
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amSuper Bowl Confidential JACKSONVILLE - Don't expect to see Cris Collinsworth and Irving Fryar rubbing elbows at any Super Bowl parties this week. Fryar, now a pastor in a New...
BRUSCHI'S A PAT ANSWER
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amJACKSONVILLE - Just a few strokes of an airbrush, and Tedy Bruschi's profile could pass for the Patriot in the team logo, and probably should. He is driven, proud, quick,...
BROWN: NO TO N.Y. - SAYS DETROIT'S HIS 'LAST COACHING JOB'
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amLOS ANGELES - After angering his bosses with comments made in Saturday's editions of The Post about coaching the Knicks always being his dream job, Larry Brown ended his silence...
BOATENG'S RETURN GETS LINCOLN GOING
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amLincoln 107 - New Utrecht 49 Nyan Boateng made his way back onto the football field earlier this month when he played in the Army All-American Game in San Antonio....
ARIZA'S RETURN MIXED
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES LOS ANGELES - Knicks rookie Trevor Ariza got two thrills in one day. Yesterday afternoon, his No. 4 jersey was retired in a ceremony at a packed gym...
LARRY, LITERALLY
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amIN CASE you're unaware, the NBA this season instituted a new avant-garde dress code and other radical rules: Players are prohibited from wearing any form of head gear during TV...
KNICKS CAP HELL MONTH
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amClippers 96 - Knicks 89 LOS ANGELES - It's not the ultimate indignity, but it's close. Following last night's 96-89 loss to the Clippers at Staples Center, the Knicks now...
DAWKINS LOOKS TO DISARM CHAMPS
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amJACKSONVILLE - When Brian Dawkins gives one of those looks, take cover. Throughout the years, receivers have come to learn that when those steely eyes are fixed on them, protect...
TAKING LARRY LITERALLY
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amIN CASE you're unaware, the NBA this season instituted a new avant-garde dress code and other radical rules: Players are prohibited from wearing any form of head gear during TV...
BROWN: NO TO N.Y. - SAYS DETROIT HIS 'LAST COACHING JOB'
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amLOS ANGELES - After angering his bosses with comments made in Saturday's Post about coaching the Knicks always being his "dream" job, Larry Brown ended his silence and attempted to...
EAGLES TE GETS STARTING NOD AT PERFECT TIME
February 1, 2005 | 5:00amJACKSONVILLE - L.J. Smith was a working stiff, late of ShopRite, The Limited, Bagel Bazaar, and he is late of a losing Rutgers program because he was late to get...