February 21, 2005
STODGY PARAMOUNT BETS ON FRESTON FOR BUZZ
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amThe youth invasion is heading to rescue Paramount from a bad case of boredom at the box office. Leading the charge to lift the movie studio's fortunes - deadened recently...
HOLIDAY WORRY - INFLATION THREATENS TO SAP EXPANDING ECONOMY
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amAlthough the economy is holding its ground, some Wall Streeters are spending today's holiday worrying about a bumpy ride ahead this week. With earnings season winding down, stocks are expected...
FACE CREAM LIFT FOR EXTRA-LUXE BODY CREAMS
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amAt up to $300 an ounce, luxury face cream is close to rivaling the price of gold. To some, that's a bargain compared to the price of plastic surgery. Now...
'WEST WING' DONNA STARS AS AMBER - DEAD RINGER FOR SCOTT'S GIRLFREIND
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amAMBER Frey - whose tell-all book about her affair with killer Scott Peterson is still on the best-seller list - will be played in a TV movie by Janel Moloney...
WHERE TO GO WHEN YOU NEED AN 'L&O' FIX
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amHAVING trouble keeping up with all the "Law & Orders"? You're not alone anymore. A new Web site popped up last week that keeps track of all - and we...
DAVE STUNT OFF
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amSNOWBOARDING champion Tara Dakides - who was set to return to "The Late Show with David Letterman" tonight after a spectacular ramp stunt went wrong last year - has dropped...
'VERTIGO' FOR IT - KINGS OF LEON WILL OPEN FOR U2
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amTHE Kings of Leon, a young rock quartet from rural Tennessee, are taking a giant step from the days when they backed up their singing preacher dad and piano-playing mom....
SOPHIE'S CHOICE - SOME BET 'HOTEL RWANDA' ACTRESS WILL GRAB OSCAR; 'RWANDA' ACTRESS MAY BE AN OSCAR UPSET
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amWATCH out, Cate Blanchett and Virginia Madsen. A relatively obscure African-Jewish actress from London is poised to pull off Oscar night's biggest upset. Most handicappers think the award for Best...
WHY I'M ROOTING FOR WICKED WENDY - 'RUNWAY' SCHEMER DRESSES UP FINALE
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amNOT that Wendy Pepper should care one way or another what I think, but I am praying for her to win it all on "Project Runway." I crave nothing more...
WINNIE GROWS UP - 'WONDER YEARS' STAR TURNING UP ALL OVER THE DIAL - AND IN SOME MATH EQUATIONS
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amONLY Danica McKellar, the girl who played Winnie Cooper on the beloved drama "The Wonder Years" and a real-life math genius, could make numbers and terms like "statistical mechanics" sound...
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY - HOW TO TELL THIS YEAR'S CHIC FROM YE OLDE PEASANT BLEAK
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amIT'S been nearly three years since fashion last braved the peasant invasion. Just when the last embroidered shirts and frumpy skirts were finally turned into dishrags, along comes this spring's...
'ATTACKED' AIDE AXED - 'PUNCH' POL IN NEW FUROR
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amA RECEPTIONIST who says she was once assaulted by state Sen. Kevin Parker - the Brooklyn Democrat arrested for allegedly punching a traffic agent - was fired last week after...
ELEVATOR-FIRE WIDOW SUES
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amThe widow of a security guard who burned to death in a Christmas Day elevator fire in Queens has slapped five companies with a multimillion dollar lawsuit, alleging their actions...
HILLARY: STICK WITH IRAQ TROOPS DESPITE VIOLENT OCCUPATION
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton made an unusual appeal yesterday - urging Americans to rally behind the increasingly violent war in Iraq while also rejecting calls by Democrats to...
QUEENS SQUATTER CHARGED IN ARSON
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amA homeless squatter was busted after lighting two fires in a vacant Queens house, fire officials said yesterday. Alleged firestarter Beresford Muarry, 46, claimed he was trying to keep warm...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amOfficials in Washington state have bought a gigantic shrink-wrap machine - to use for human bodies in case of a catastrophe. "You know, it's neat, but it's kind of creepy,"...
WHOLE LOTTO LIKE - JUAN'S GAL: 'HE KNOWS I HAVE A BOYFRIEND'
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amShe says he moves gracefully, like a dancer, and she loves how he showers her with roses all the time, but the woman Mega Millionaire Juan Rodriguez claims is his...
WHERE'S THE TIMES WHEN COPS ARE CLEARED?
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amIT DIDN'T make the front page of The New York Times, which is strange, considering how that paper normally treats stories of a cop involved in a shooting of a...
BUSH HOPING WARMTH WILL SPROUT IN BRUSSELS
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush left the White House and arrived in Belgium yesterday for a week of meetings with foreign leaders during which he'll push for more European involvement in...
MORE 'WILL' POWER
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amWill Smith blew away the competition as his romantic comedy "Hitch" remained the nation's No. 1 movie for the second straight weekend - beating three new entries, including Keanu Reeves'...
BX. GOP CHEERS ON BLOOMBERG
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amThe Bronx County Republican Party officially endorsed Mayor Bloomberg over the weekend. "Mike Bloomberg has earned the right to be re-elected," said Bronx GOP Chairman Victor Tosi. "He took office...
BUSHES LOOKING TO SPICE UP LIFE
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amPresident Bush and his wife, Laura, like it hot and spicy. Hey, get your mind out of the gutter - we're talking about food. The first lady tells Newsweek magazine...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amQUEENS * A distraught man was hospitalized after his pickup truck rolled into Little Neck Bay in Bayside, authorities said yesterday. It was unclear whether the man, whose name and...
W. GETS AN 'L' IN BATTLE OF GEORGES
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amIf George Washington came back from the grave and tried to recapture the presidency, he'd wallop President Bush by nearly 20 points. The first U.S. president would trounce the 43rd...
8 HOSPS IN CRITICAL CONDITION ID'D ON 'HIT LIST' FOR CLOSURE
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amA "hit list" of eight city hospitals targeted for closing is being distributed, even as the state tries to find ways to bail them out. Interfaith and Victory Memorial hospitals...
OLYM-PICKERS WOOED WITH FUN AND GAMES
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amNew York may not have kings, queens or prime ministers to woo the Olympic big-wigs who rolled into town yesterday, but city officials are pulling out all the stops to...
U.S. & REBELS IN TALKS - SECRET PEACE BIDS
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amU.S. representatives using "back channels" reportedly have been in direct contact with rebels to discuss a possible end to guerrilla attacks in Iraq. U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers have held...
ROB SUSPECTS' GETAWAY DERAILED
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amAn ace team of Queens transit cops stopped two bodega-heist suspects in their tracks during a short-hop getaway on a subway train yesterday. Police said that the two had pistol-whipped...
ISRAELIS OK GAZA PULLOUT - MOVE TOWARD '67 BORDER
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - At a historic session, the Israeli Cabinet yesterday gave final approval to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. In an equally important vote,...
SANDRA DEE, 1950S TEEN STAR, DIES AT 62
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amSandra Dee, the bright-eyed, blond beauty who became a teen sensation in films such as "Gidget" and "Tammy Tell Me True" and who married pop singer Bobby Darin, died yesterday...
POLICE KILL FATHER - SAY HE WAS ARMED
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amA Brooklyn dad who neighbors said was struggling to start fresh after years of drug addiction and petty crime was shot dead by cops early yesterday outside his Boerum Hill...
FDNY WORKER IN DRUG BUST
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amA Fire Department spokesman was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance yesterday after being spotted snorting cocaine on a Midtown street by an undercover cop, authorities said. Mike...
TERROR LAWYER UNSCATHED BY '90S RAP
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amRadical lawyer Lynne Stewart - who faces up to 30 years in prison for her recent terror-related conviction - got off scot-free for her last offense, The Post has learned....
OPPONENTS ANXIOUS TO CITE DOWNSIDE OF SOME SITES
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amCommunity activists, opposed to two key proposed Olympic venues - a West Side stadium and the downtown Brooklyn basketball arena - have been appealing to the International Olympic Committee for...
THIN LIZZIE GETTING REALITY-READY
February 21, 2005 | 5:00am"PoweR Girl" Lizzie Grubman is flexing her muscle, not as a publicist- to-the-stars, but in the gym at her Upper East Side apartment building. The p.r. princess is buffing up...
C-NOTES SOAR AT A JAZZ SALE
February 21, 2005 | 5:00am"Bird" soared high over the Big Apple yesterday, as the legendary Charlie Parker's alto sax scored one of the top bids at a one-of-a-kind auction of jazz memorabilia. An anonymous...
PAIR RELIVE UNION SQ. 'NIGHTMARE'
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amA couple who was viciously attacked by thugs in a Union Square subway station described yesterday how they fought for their lives as the gang of men and women mercilessly...
W. BARES POT DAYS ON TAPE
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The author who taped President Bush admitting he's smoked pot said yesterday that Bush often talked about drug use during nearly 12 hours of chats. Doug Wead said...
A BIGGER RAISE - WHAT TEACHERS UNION MISSES
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amNEGOTIATIONS are still on going, but the United Federation of Teachers has come close to settling for a 14 percent pay hike. The union's thinking too small: Here's how it...
SCHUMER RETHINKING DIALLO BILL
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - Sen. Charles Schumer said yesterday that he may set up a meeting with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to discuss a bill to keep the family of police-shooting victim...
BUSH IN BRUSSELS HOPING UNITY SPROUTS
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Saying "no power on earth will ever divide us," President Bush arrived in Belgium last night for a week of meetings with foreign leaders during which he'll try...
B'WAY'S RAITT IS DEAD AT 88
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amJohn Raitt, a star of Broadway musicals for more than 60 years and the father of singer Bonnie Raitt, died of pneumonia yesterday morning at his Pacific Palisades, Calif., home....
EIGHT $ICK HOSPITALS COULD BE SHUT
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amA "hit list" of eight city hospitals targeted for closing is being distributed, even as the state tries to find ways to bail them out. Interfaith and Victory Memorial hospitals...
THERE'S PRECIOUS LITTLE HERE FOR READERS TO PUPPY-LOVE
February 21, 2005 | 5:00am"Madison in New York," illustrated by Betsy Day, ain't exactly Dr. Seuss, or even Madonna, but it is sort of flat - no mystery, no conflict and resolution, no laughs....
IT'S ART-IFICIAL - MOMA'S ROOF GARDEN ALL FAKE
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amIt's MoMA's secret garden. The latest installation at the newly expanded Museum of Modern Art is on its roof - but don't expect to lounge there. In fact, unless you've...
QNS. WIDOW SUES OVER ELEVATOR FIRE DEATH
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amThe widow of a security guard who burned to death in a Christmas Day elevator fire in Queens has slapped five companies with a multimillion dollar lawsuit, alleging their actions...
TRAFFIC DEATHS PLUNGE - CITY ON RECORD PACE
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amTraffic deaths across the city are on the road to another record low. Traffic fatalities, including pedestrians, drivers and passengers, fell 6 percent in the first four months of the...
ACTOR'S TORTURE RAP - TRIAL SET IN SAVAGE ASSAULT ON GAL PAL
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amUntil last March, Carlos Leiva had it all. Dashing Latin looks. A budding career as a soap-opera heartthrob. A Central Park West address. A wild night life. Leiva also had...
NEW HIV SPURS CITY AIDS DEPT. OVERHAUL
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amThe city is revamping HIV services within the Health Department - creating seven senior positions and coordinating all related services in one unit - in an ambitious bid to end...
PATAKI DOG DAZE - WOMAN SNARLS OVER 'PURLOINED' POOCH IN LIBBY'S KIDDIE BOOK
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - Gov. Pataki's wife is in the doghouse with a Manhattan businesswoman who is charging that the state's first lady ripped off her cute Yorkshire terrier character for a...
GI'S POISON PEN PALS - SOLDIER STUNNED BY LETTER KIDS' RANTS
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amAn American soldier overseas is fuming over letters he received from Brooklyn middle-school children accusing GIs of destroying mosques and killing civilians in Iraq. Pfc. Rob Jacobs of New Jersey...
JOHN RAITT DIES AT 88 - '40S-'50S B'WAY LEGEND
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amJohn Raitt, a star of Broadway musicals for more than 60 years and the father of singer Bonnie Raitt, died of pneumonia yesterday morning at his Pacific Palisades, Calif., home....
ACTOR'S TORTURE RAP - TRIAL SET IN ASSAULT ON GAL PAL
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amUntil last March, Carlos Leiva had it all. Stunning Latin looks. A budding career as a soapopera heartthrob. A Central Park West address. A wild night life busy with clubs,...
EXECUTING HIS EXIT
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amLOS ANGELES - One more fight, maybe two. That's as far as Bernard Hopkins should go before calling it a Hall of Fame career. Of course, that might be one...
KARSAY: GETTING BETTER
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amTAMPA - Steve Karsay finally took a break from baseball this offseason after his seemingly endless rehab, and it took him time to feel OK about that. "At first, I...
PAPUA TAKES HOLLIE HUGHES
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amPapua, favored at 6-5, rallied up rail in stretch, swung out, ran down pacesetter Show Boot inside final furlong to notch third straight victory in Hollie Hughes Handicap for N.Y.-bred...
'ROCKY' ROAD BEGINS WITH BRUISED FOOT
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amLike father, like son? Nine years ago, a handsome gray colt named Unbridled's Song won the Florida Derby and Wood Memorial, was favored in the Kentucky Derby, and would have...
PROFESSOR OF PITCHING
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - Rick Peterson swears he's a product of his times, a creation of his environment. We are in an informational age, he says, when a telephone is...
STORM HAMPER HOYAS
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amSt. John's 76 - G'town 67 Norm Roberts twice pounded the top of the scorer's table next to the St. John's table in the Garden. A towel fell to the...
MAKING MAGIC IN L.A. - JOHNSON EYES JACKSON FOR LAKER RETURN
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amALL-STAR NOTES DENVER - A more rotund Magic Johnson stuffed himself into a purple Lakers jersey Saturday night during the All- Star skills competition, playing in the shooting stars contest....
CARDOZO LOSES DAVIS
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amAny hope Cardozo had of getting 6-9 center Theo Davis for the PSAL basketball playoffs ended last week when he headed back to his native Canada for the second time...
XAVERIAN APPEARS TO BE READY FOR LONG RIDE
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amCHSAA PLAYOFFS: Xaverian 85 - Molloy 73 Even when Levance Fields saw his Xaverian team quickly slipping down the CHSAA AA standings, he refused to worry. The senior has been...
SILENCE WON'T SHUT UP BOSOX - A-ROD'S REFUSAL TO REPEL BARBS ONLY INVITES MORE
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amTAMPA - Alex Rodriguez is no idiot and certainly no Idiot. Yet in playing dumb yesterday, acting as if he were unaware of all the Red Sox barbs aimed at...
TO BOSTON, ALEX NO DEREK
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amFORT MYERS - Early yesterday afternoon, word filtered over from Tampa that Alex Rodriguez had referred to Bronson Arroyo as "Brandon" Arroyo, the second time that has happened. This is...
CROWD WAITS FOR GIAMBI
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amTAMPA - The second day of Jason Giambi's colossal task of coping with being the face of steroids in baseball comes when the disgraced slugger arrives at Legends Field for...
BOSS LAUDS SMART ALEX
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amTAMPA - Alex Rodriguez's decision not to fire back at Boston may be denounced in some circles, but he received the ultimate Yankee seal of approval yesterday. Owner George Steinbrenner...
MOVING MIKE - METS SEEK DEAL FOR CAMERON
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE - Position players report for the Mets today, and Mike Cameron will be one of them. But he might not want to get too settled in. Concerned...
TORRE LAMENTS 'LACK OF RESPECT'
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amYANKEE NOTES TAMPA - The Red Sox rip Alex Rodriguez. Football players celebrate the most mundane play. And Joe Torre has a theory why there isn't more class in sports....
MIENTKIEWICZ HAS A LOT ON THE BALL
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amMET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE - As you might have heard, Doug Mientkiewicz caught the last out of the World Series for the Red Sox. But upon ending the 2004...
SECOND SHOT GRANT-ED - MAGIC'S HILL KNOWS WHAT HOUSTON FACES
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amDENVER - Last season, the Magic's Grant Hill, like the Knicks' Allan Houston, was on the cusp of retirement after a series of ankle surgeries failed to get him back...
WITHOUT A FIGHT - A-ROD TURNS OTHER CHEEK TO RAILIN' RED SOX
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amTAMPA - Alex Rodriguez said he was unaware of the daily Red Sox attacks on his character even if the baseball universe easily could recite them word for word. However,...
THE LOVE SHAQ - O'NEAL CHEERED, KOBE JEERED AS EAST BEATS WEST
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amEast 125 - West 115 DENVER - Vince Carter made a mockery of the West's sleepwalking defense late in the second quarter last night at Pepsi Center. The Nets superstar...
NHL'S LAST STAND WAS NO BARGAIN
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amTHE most absurd part of the NHL's refusal to increase its hard cap to $45M is that all of the critical underlying levers contained in Saturday's DOA proposal to the...
PBA TRASH PLAN ROLLS GUTTER BALL
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amFRIDAY NIGHT we stopped off at Carolier Lanes in North Brunswick, N.J., where the U.S. Open was down to match play among 24 survivors from 433 entrants. We were curious...
KARSAY: I'M GETTING BETTER
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amTAMPA - Steve Karsay finally took a break from baseball this offseason after his seemingly endless rehab, and it took him time to feel OK about that. "At first, I...
GREAT IDEA FOR NHL
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amIT happened again, just as it did 10 years ago, except this time Wayne Gretzky couldn't confound Gary Bettman's scheme, or get the union to budge. It'd surely be a...
REJUVENATED HILL FEELS HOU'S PAIN
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amDENVER - Last season, the Magic's Grant Hill, like the Knicks' Allan Houston, was on the cusp of retirement after a series of ankle surgeries failed to get him back....
LAKERS CLEANING HOUSE
February 21, 2005 | 5:00amDENVER - The Lakers, intent on renovating their front line, have consummated a deal that will send 6-7 Caron Butler, 6-8 Devean George, and 7-1 Vlade Divac to Utah for...