September 20, 2005
OIL & GAS BARONS COMPLAIN ABOUT BAD RAP
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amJIM Tisch called me the other day because he wanted to defend capitalism. He was annoyed that a column of mine accused the oil and gas industry of overcharging consumers...
CHUMS ON THE BAYOU - MARQUEZ MENTORED ISRAEL
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amEmbattled hedge fund founder Samuel Israel was the doting protégé of James Marquez, a trader emerging as a key figure at the center of the Bayou Management scandal, his former...
BALLY TO SELL CRUNCH
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amBeleaguered health club chain Bally Total Fitness Corp. has struck a deal to unload its chain of Crunch Fitness gyms to private equity shop Angelo Gordon & Co. and fitness...
MOMS' NEW DESTINATION; NEW UES DESTINATION FOR NEW MOMS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA new flagship maternity shop together with a special spa to pamper the mom-to-be is coming to the Upper East Side. New York Destination Maternity, a division of Mothers Work,...
DEMON OIL DAYS - RITA THE WRECKER IS THREATENING CHRISTMAS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amEnergy prices soared yesterday over new fears of a two-punch hurricane crisis that could wreck Christmas shopping and plunge the economy into a recession next spring. Oil prices surged with...
MBAS DOUBT REAL ESTATE
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amIn the first poll of its kind, MBAs say they'd rather buy stocks than residential houses because housing prices aren't based on realities the way office buildings are. The booming...
OVERSTUFFED.COM -OVERSTOCK AIRED WAREHOUSE TROUBLE WEEKS AGO
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amThree weeks before the troubled Internet discount retailer Overstock.com informed investors last Friday that computer woes would drive down revenues and profits in the next quarter, the firm's chief information...
BAYOU PAIR'S PAST - MARQUEZ RAN FIRST FUND
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amEmbattled hedge fund founder Samuel Israel was the doting protégé of James Marquez, a trader emerging as a key figure at the center of the Bayou Management scandal, his former...
FROM APPLE TO EASY: IT'S BIG
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA little bit of the New Orleans party spirit is heading to New York tonight. During "From the Big Apple to the Big Easy," musical legends from New Orleans are...
HATCH AT-TAX THE FEDS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amRICHARD Hatch, the fat, naked guy who won the original season of "Survivor," pleaded innocent yesterday to tax evasion and other charges. If convicted, he could face 75 years behind...
OPRAH: HERMES EMBARRASSED ME
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amOPRAH Winfrey calmly socked it to Hermes yesterday, recalling her humiliation when she was barred from entering the fashion house's Paris store earlier this summer. "My friends and I were...
NO KEN DO ON 'JEOPARDY'
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amDAVE Madden's "Jeopardy!" run ended last night at 20 games. Madden, 24, a student from Ridgewood, N.J., had won 19 games and over $430,000. He was bidding to unseat reigning...
'EARL' YOU NEED IS LOVE - REDNECK COMEDY LIVES UP TO HYPE
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amWHAT do you get when bad taste meets good writing? In the case of NBC's crazy new sitcom, the politically incorrect "My Name Is Earl," you git sumpin' funnier than...
STARR REPORT
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amRed-carpet Star Sunday's Emmycast averaged 18.6 million viewers on CBS - up 35 percent from last year (13.8 million) and the highest viewership since 2002. Meanwhile, E!'s pre-Emmys red carpet...
SMALL (SCREEN) WONDERS - EMMYS WIN PRIZE FOR SEXIEST STYLES; GLAMOUR IN HIGH-DEF AT EMMYS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amONCE the red-carpet stepchild of the Oscars, the Emmys finally came into its own this year as a swank style event. Terrified of being upstaged by the fearsome fivesome that...
DYLAN: TALKIN' BLUES AND A LOT MORE - RECLUSE ROCKER EXPOSED IN NEW FILM
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amBOB Dylan is both well known and little known. Notoriously reclusive - always letting only his music speak for him - Dylan began to lift the veil of privacy last...
ANCHORS AWEIGH - STEP AWAY FROM THE MIDNIGHT BUFFET - IT'S TIME TO GET FIT. DAVID LANDSEL EXPLAINS HOW
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amEVERYONE I know is passionate about cruising - they either love it or they love to hate it. I used to be one of the latter, even before I stepped...
KID WHO KILLED MOM FREED ON SELF-DEFENSE
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA 12-year-old Long Island girl - charged with killing her mom in a fight - has been released from custody to begin a new life after authorities decided she acted...
BRONX GI WAS KING OF THE BALL
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amLt. Col. Stephen Stewart used a secret weapon in Iraq: the soccer ball. In his nine months as an Army reservist in Baghdad, the Bronx resident collected and distributed so...
WHY I'VE GOT A LOT OF SYMPATHY FOR THIS DEVIL
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amDENNIS KOZLOWSKI was beaming with pride on the 13th floor of the courthouse. He was with daughters Cheryl, 30, and Sandi, 27, and Sandi was talking about her triathlon in...
POLICE 'THRASH' TRASHER - LITTERBUG 'STOMPED'
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA Manhattan businessman claims he was stomped into unconsciousness by members of a Fire Island police department last month after being taken to a station house for littering. Sam Gilberd,...
PUERTO RICANS READY TO FLY IN FOR FERRER
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amFired-up Puerto Ricans have pledged to come to New York to help Democratic nominee Fernando Ferrer in his bid to become the city's first Latino mayor, a key backer said...
DOCS WARN OVER-35 WOMEN OF PREGNANCY DANGERS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amCareer women who put off motherhood till their mid-30s risk the heartbreak of infertility, failed pregnancies and serious health problems, a new report says. "Women want to 'have it all,'...
BRONX HS KIDS: WE'RE IN 'PRISON'
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amHundreds of outraged students from DeWitt Clinton HS in The Bronx hit the streets in protest yesterday, claiming the installation of metal detectors and a new school lunch policy have...
ARIEL FIGHTS FOR SURVIVAL
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amJERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon flew home yesterday to begin a week of feverish lobbying that may determine whether his government survives a right-wing challenge. Sharon's Likud Party...
CITY'S BIRD BRAINS - DIM LIGHTS FOR FOWL
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amThis plan is for the birds. City officials and NYC Audubon want all lights decorating the outside of buildings above the 40th floor to be turned off by midnight from...
INGENIOUS NYERS AWARDED 500G GRANTS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA South Bronx activist, a Brooklyn author and a Manhattan documentary maker are among the 25 people being awarded so-called "genius grants" from the MacArthur Foundation today. Filmmaker Edet Belzberg,...
PIRRO RIPS BILL FOR HIS MUM ADVICE TO HILL
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amALBANY - Jeanine Pirro sought to use Bill Clinton against Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday, ripping the former president for saying his wife shouldn't have to promise to serve a full...
'MY LITTLE ANGEL!' - 'DWI' DAD WAILS OVER GIRL HE FATALLY RAN DOWN: KIN
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA young Brooklyn dad who was allegedly drunk and driving without a license when he fatally mowed down his beloved 3-year-old daughter sobbed hysterically for his "little angel" after realizing...
FLAMING RIOT - BRIT SOLDIER SET AFIRE AS IRAQIS ATTACK BASRA TROOPS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amThis dramatic photo shows a British soldier escaping from his tank set ablaze yesterday by an angry Iraqi mob in the normally quiet southern city of Basra. The soldier was...
BOY 'FLEW IN AIR' AFTER CRASH: WITNESS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA key witness against an SUV driver who killed a 10-year-old on a bicycle testified yesterday she saw "an explosion" - and the boy's body tossed high in the air....
CELEBRITY DOC'S 'BLIND' FURY
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA celebrity eye doctor accused of nearly blinding a New Jersey woman during laser surgery says he's the victim - of professional jealousy by a physician credited with saving her...
MTA GETS WORD OUT ON EVAC PLAN
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amNew York City Transit yesterday began distributing pamphlets to its riders that give tips on how to evacuate the subway system during emergencies. The brochures were offered at five subway...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amBROOKLYN * An ax-wielding man - who was thrown out of his Sunset Park house after he threatened to kill his nephew - was busted after calling cops to try...
LAW'S PAWS OFF SLATER - JUDGE JUNKS GROPE CASE AGAINST STAR
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amIT WAS minutes before a judge dismissed criminal butt-groping charges yesterday against actor Christian Slater. Sitting amid a sea of ordinary thieves and crack whores in Manhattan Criminal Court, the...
HOT SCOTS RANK WORST IN CRIME
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amScotland is the most violent country in the developed world, according to a crime report prepared by the United Nations. And England and Wales were right behind - recording the...
NEWS TURNS WINNERS' JACKPOTS INTO $25 JUNKPOTS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amWhile The Post is giving $250,000 to a real winner, The Daily News is sending out $25 checks - to people who should have pocketed as much as $100,000 in...
FREDDY PLAYS IT COY ON HEALTH-CARE UNION DEAL
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amFernando Ferrer was mum yesterday about whether he backed a $1 billion plan to put thousands of private health-care workers on the city payroll to win the support of a...
9/11 JURY QUIZ IN '93 WTC CASE
September 20, 2005 | 4:00am"Where were you during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks?" That's one of the dozens of questions the lawyers and the judge want prospective jurors to answer in the long-delayed...
RELIVING HORROR AT RAPE TRIAL
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA rapist broke into a Queens woman's apartment and held a knife to her toddler's neck - demanding that she submit to his desires or see the child's throat slit,...
GOTTI SPLIT - JURY LOCKES ON JR.'S MOB GUILT; GOTTI JURY SPLIT ON MOB GUILT
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amJury deliberations in the case of John "Junior" Gotti took a stunning turn yesterday as jurors revealed they are split over whether the once-powerful gangster quit the Mafia - raising...
SLAY TEEN'S SICK BLAME GAME - EX TELLS OF GRID-SHOOT SUSPECT'S CRAZED CALL
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA Brooklyn teen told his ex-girlfriend in a frantic cellphone call that he wouldn't have killed Fairfield University football player Mark Fisher if she had been by his side -...
KIM-PRESSIVE LINEUP SEES HIP-HOP HONEY OFF TO PRISON
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA partied-out Lil' Kim, wearing sunglasses to conceal the toll of her final night of freedom, surrendered yesterday to a hardened lockup in downtown Philly - after complaining that she...
CURTAINS FOR TYCO'S THIEF EXEC AS HE GETS 25 YEARS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amThe $6,000 shower curtain has finally fallen on Tyco marauder Dennis Kozlowski. The spend-a-holic former CEO - as infamous for his bizarrely pricey home furnishings as for his $600 million...
BX. BABE COULDN'T WAIT
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amIt was the seventh time for the veteran firefighter; the first for the rookie EMT - but in just three minutes yesterday they delivered number eight to a Bronx mom...
JEN: I'M SO OVER BRAD
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amBrad who? Jennifer Aniston wants the world to know she's ready to date again. In her first TV interview since filing for divorce from Brad Pitt earlier this year, the...
COPS DON'T 'PERMIT' SHEEHAN RALLY
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA speech by antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan in Union Square Park was interrupted yesterday as police arrested a man for using a loudspeaker without a permit, sources said. Sheehan stopped...
PUERTO RICANS READY TO FLY IN TO HELP FERRER
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amFired-up Puerto Ricans have pledged to come to New York to help Democratic nominee Fernando Ferrer become the city's first Latino mayor, a key backer said yesterday. "I have received...
OPRAH'S A $10M WOMAN FOR KATRINA VICTIMS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amOprah Winfrey, who broadcast two shows from the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast region, yesterday pledged $10 million to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. TV's richest star made her announcement on yesterday's...
A LAST HIP-HOP HURRAH: KIM BOOZES IT UP IN WILD SEND-OFF
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA partied-out Lil' Kim, wearing sunglasses to conceal the toll of her final night of freedom, surrendered yesterday to a hardened lockup in downtown Philly - after complaining that she...
'MY LITTLE ANGEL!' - 'DRUNK' DAD WAILS OVER DAUGHTER HE RAN DOWN: KIN
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA young Brooklyn dad who was allegedly drunk and driving without a license when he fatally mowed down his beloved 3-year-old daughter sobbed hysterically for his "little angel" after realizing...
BRO: I KILLED SISTER - S.I. SLAY CONFESSION
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA 27-year-old man was arrested last night for slaying his half sister, whose nude body was found in their mother's Staten Island home, sources told The Post. Raviv Gabbay, 27,...
DOCS WARN OF OVER-35 PREGNANCY DANGERS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amCareer women who put off motherhood until their mid-30s risk the heartbreak of infertility, failed pregnancies and serious health problems, a new report says. "Women want to 'have it all,'...
COPS 'STOMPED' LITTERBUG SENSELESS: SUIT
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amA Manhattan businessman claims he was stomped into unconsciousness by members of a Fire Island police department last month after being taken to a station house for littering. Sam Gilberd,...
FIRST LADY OF THE BENCH
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amSandra Day O'Connor is retiring from the Supreme Court after 24 years on the bench. Hers was the deciding vote in some of the country's biggest decisions, and she became...
CORNERING KOREA - BUT DON'T EXPECT MUCH
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amTHIS nation and the world have every reason to be skeptical about the supposed breakthrough announced yesterday with North Korea. Every five or six years we are told that the...
GAL'S OPERA $CORE - MUSIC LOVER SCRATCHES UP 250G IN POST POKER
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amOpera lover Virginia Mercuris is hitting a high note - the Brooklyn woman won a whopping $250,000 yesterday in the fabulous Post Poker $4 Million Scratch N' Win game. Mercuris,...
WANG STILL HAS THE RIGHT STUFF
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amAfter Chien-Ming Wang returned from a two-month stint on the disabled list, the Yankees wondered whether he'd be the same pitcher he was before his shoulder injury. The rookie pitcher...
BLUE HEAVEN SHUNS SAINTS - 'HOME' COOKED AS JINTS PREVAIL
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amGiants 27 - Saints 10 The official stats will label it a road victory while reality will designate it a win at home. The Giants could care less what it's...
ACHY JARET: I'LL MAKE NEXT START
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Jaret Wright said his right elbow actually felt worse last night than it did the day before. But Wright expected the hinge - which was nailed by a...
BOMBERS PLAYING SCOREBOARD GAME
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amFOR four innings, it was so quiet at the Stadium you could almost hear the scores in St. Petersburg and Chicago changing on the scoreboard. Time has hung heavy on...
A REVERSAL OF FORTUNE FOR SAINTS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amThe Saints, rendered football vagabonds when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, didn't march into Giants Stadium. They bumbled in, fumbled around and stumbled around, out with a 27-10 loss. Saints...
SPECIAL NIGHT FOR MANNING
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amEli Manning of New Orleans and Deuce McAllister of Mississippi met on the Giants Stadium field after one of the most surreal games in NFL history. This was supposed to...
STRAHAN GUTS OUT BAD BACK
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amGIANT NOTES Defensive end Michael Strahan was able to battle through back spasms and was in uniform and active for last night's Giants-Saints game. Not only was Strahan on the...
NO RED LINE? NO BIG DEAL
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amEven before this opening exhibition weekend's officiating crackdown illustrated the bottom-line norm for calling new-age infractions, the two most senior Ranger defensemen wondered whether another dramatic rules change, this the...
VAST IMPROVEMENT
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amJETS REPORT CARDQUARTERBACKS: B Chad Pennington (19-of-30, 190 yards, 2 TDs, 103.5 rating) wasn't artistic, but he was gritty, resilient and clutch. On crucial drive in the fourth quarter, he...
ISLES' BLAKE MOVING UP TO THE TOP
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amJason Blake started his Islanders career as a fourth- line pest with a reputation for getting under opponents' skin and a knack for killing penalties. Over the course of his...
STRAHAN TOUGHS IT OUT - SUITS UP VERSUS SAINTS AFTER BACK-SPASM BOUT
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amGIANT NOTES Defensive end Michael Strahan battled through back spasms and was in uniform and active for last night's Giants-Saints game. Strahan was unable to practice on Saturday and instead...
CANO-HOW - ROBBY IS NO ORDINARY ROOKIE
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amOne would think a 22-year-old rookie coming off a protracted August slump would start to press during a pressure-packed September pennant race. But apparently Robinson Cano is no ordinary rookie,...
METS BELIEVE IN NEXT YEAR - OMAR'S WORKING ON 2006 AGENDA
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amTwo weeks from today, the playoffs begin for eight teams. Two weeks from today, the offseason begins for the Mets. The Mets (73-76) have 13 games left in 2005, and...
RUN DOWN - KNEE INJURY MAY KO MARTIN
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amThe Jets just struggled through a week of crisis after their horrendous season-opening loss to the Chiefs. Now, following their first victory of the season, 17-7 over the Dolphins, they...
VELOCITY NO ISSUE FOR CHAD
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amJET NOTES Chad Pennington is well aware that some of his wobbly throws drew some rumblings and negative attention during the Jets' victory over the Dolphins Sunday. He insisted yesterday,...
LEITER VOLUNTEERS FOR SHORT WORK
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES Once again, left-hander Al Leiter has volunteered to take on a lesser role. Leiter, who began the season as a starting pitcher with Florida and also made 10...
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE FOR SAINTS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amThe team with no home field gave away whatever home-field advantage the NFL tried to bestow on it last night in inexplicable fashion. The Saints, rendered football vagabonds when Hurricane...
RED-HOT ROBINSON KEEPS ON ROLLING
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amYou'd think a 22-year-old rookie coming off an August slump would start to press during a pressure-packed September pennant race. But apparently Robinson Cano is no ordinary rookie. Before last...
STRAHAN BACK FROM SPASMS - DE SHINES IN WIN OVER SAINTS
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amGIANT NOTES Giants defensive end Michael Strahan was able to battle through back spasms and was active for last night's game against the Saints. Not only was Strahan on the...
CROSBY'S BLAST A LIFETIME IN THE MAKING
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amTHESE moments don't always find the obvious names. It was Bobby Thomson who hit the shot heard 'round the world, after all, not Willie Mays. It was Bill Mazeroski who...
BATTERED - THE PAIN AND THE AGONY OF AUTUMN
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amIT'S easy to take injuries for granted - when they are someone else's injuries. Fans do it all the time. A player sits when there's no evidence of a compound...
BUBBA BAILS OUT BOMBERS - YANKEES NOW HALF-GAME BACK OF SOX IN EAST
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amYankees 3 - Orioles 2 Bubba Crosby was inserted into the Yankees' starting lineup to tighten up the defense. Instead, he tightened up the AL East. Crosby, who started in...
MANNING THE 'CANE EFFORT - ELI'S THOUGHTS WITH HOMETOWN
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amLate last week, Eli Manning donned a New Orleans Saints jersey, wearing No. 2 for his quarterback counterpart, Aaron Brooks. This was not the first time a Manning wore the...
GIANTS FACE AMERICA'S TEAM
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amSOMETIMES it seems as if sports heroes, or sports teams, are all we have. When an irrepressible band of American amateurs beat the Russians 25 years ago at a time...
BOMBERS ARE BATTERED - WRIGHT, SHEFFIELD, MUSSINA AMONG WOUNDED
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amYou'd never wager on a limping horse to gain ground in the homestretch, but the Yankees don't think you should bet against them. With a resolve that's stronger than their...
METS TOAST NEXT YEAR - OMAR'S ALREADY BEGINNING WORK ON 2006 AGENDA
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amTwo weeks from today, the playoffs begin for eight teams. Two weeks from today, the offseason begins for the Mets. The Mets (73-76) have 13 games left in 2005, and...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
September 20, 2005 | 4:00amPolice responding to a report of a man being eaten alive by rats broke into a Michigan home to find a mentally disabled man being nibbled on by more than...