February 5, 2006
EXTREME VALENTINE'S GIFTS GO FOR BROKE
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amLove is free, but everything else costs - and plenty at that. Businesses around the tri-state, looking to tap into the super-wealthy and super-in-love markets, are cobbling together over-the-top Valentine's...
CLEARING SNOW OFF SOCIAL SECURITY'S SLIM RETURN
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amDear John: Treasury Secretary John Snow was interviewed recently on C-Span, and a caller asked why he doesn't exercise the Treasury's right to invest Social Security funds in companies.Predictably, Snow...
CEO WHISPERER - WALL ST. LEGEND PERELLA READY FOR RETURN
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amThe next big thing on Wall Street is just about to take shape. Joseph Perella, the M&A whiz who left Morgan Stanley in a huff last spring, spent a good...
BONO EYES TAKE-TWO - ROCKER'S FIRM INTERESTED IN 'GRAND THEFT AUTO' MAKER
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amIS U2's righteous lead singer playing with violent video games? Bono's private-equity firm Elevation Partners is rumored to be eyeing a bid for troubled video-game company Take-Two Interactive - developer...
MOST RICH EARNED FORTUNES
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amNine out of 10 of the wealthiest Americans earned their vast fortunes in the last 20 years and did not inherit their money, a recent study shows. The superrich, born...
PAIR OF SURPRISES AT U.S. CHAMPIONSHIP
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amTWO unlikely names are featured in next month's U.S. Championship: an astrologer who had a secret passion for chess and a New Jersey grandmaster who is coming out of retirement...
FIVE CABLE CHANNELS I CAN LIVE WITHOUT
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amWHY are these cable channels allowed to exist? We all have them - cable channels we check out frequently while grazing with our remote controls, but which never exhibit anything...
REEL GOOD - LINDA STASI PREVIEWS THIS WEEK'S BEST MOVIES
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amCLEOPATRA (1963) Wednesday, 8 p.m., AMC "Cleopatra" is the overblown spectacle that nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox. Watch it for Liz Taylor's Vegas showgirl costumes and that campy script ("My...
IS 'OPRAH' UP TO ITS OWN STANDARDS?
February 5, 2006 | 5:00am'Will Winfrey now stand and certify the veracity of every guest - past, current and future?' OKAY, so after some very public prodding, Oprah Winfrey did the right thing. And...
IT TAKES TWO, ONLY: 'RACE' RETURNS TO FORM
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amAFTER bombing out with its family-team installment, "The Amazing Race" is returning to form with its award-wining format, where, for 30 days, teams of two race through airports, gaspingly board...
BIGGEST WEEK EVER - FROM SPORTS TO MUSIC,THERE'S SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amTHE whole world will be watching. Or so it might seem this week as network TV experiences an unprecedented confluence of four events in the same week. How big? Well,...
THE DON'T MISS LIST
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amCOMEDY Voices carry "LOVE MONKEY" is shaping up to be a musical showcase as name talent appears on the show every week. This week's guest artists are brooding cult-favorite singer...
HOT LIST - WHAT WE'RE OBSESSED WITH THIS WEEK
February 5, 2006 | 5:00am1. The 'O'-ffice Grainy black-and-white video with a heavily panting soundtrack is typical Internet fare. But the latest hot clip comes courtesy of racy lingerie brand Agent Provocateur. The eightminute...
LOOK WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN - STEVE MARTIN'S NEW VERSION IS THE LAST GASP FOR "THE PINK PANTHER"
February 5, 2006 | 5:00am"THE Pink Panther" has made its way to Friday's release date with all the grace of Inspector Jacques Clouseau in a china shop. From casting changes and creative differences to...
LOOKING FOR A FIX - OUR GRAMMY DIAGNOSIS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amTHERE'S no need to mince words: The Grammys suck. They're out of touch with cutting-edge music, the nomination categories are a joke and the winners are (mostly) yawningly predictable. The...
GIVING US WILLIES - NORAH JONES AND FRIENDS GO COUNTRY
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amTHE name "Trigger," scrawled on a blackboard outside the Living Room this past Thursday didn't mean much to music fans - or anyone trolling the Lower East Side for that...
SHE DIGS INDIE ROCK AND GOOD SPELLERS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amMeet Becky, a cute 26-year-old art production coordinator who says that the most important qualities in a man are "honesty, confidence, politeness, curiosity and proper spelling!" This fan of Webster's...
HER TALL ORDER ISN'T FULFILLED
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amHI, and welcome back to Meet Market. This week, Lindsay, a 23-year-old publicist, was looking for someone who was "tall, dark and handsome, and who looks good in a suit."...
WEDDINGS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amHock, 26, and Prybys, 25 NOV. 12 - Marissa Prybys realized she was in love with Michael Hock when he told her to pack her bags - for a study...
WOMEN FIRST - HONORING THE REINVENTIONS OF MARIAH, GWEN & KELLY
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amIF you'd told any pop-music maven three years ago that Mariah Carey, Gwen Stefani and Kelly Clarkson would be three of the biggest contenders at this year's Grammys, they would...
SING & WIN - STAGE TIME PREDICTS AWARDS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amIF Mariah Carey is heading west from New York to California at 60 mph to perform at the 48th annual Grammy Awards, and Paul McCartney is jetting east at 400...
HEAR THIS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amIN CONCERT * Singer-songwriter Holly Brook at the Living Room tonight. * At Irving Plaza: Poprockers Lifehouse tomorrow. It's a poprock fiesta when the Academy Is . . ., Acceptance,...
SALES - THE BEST BUYS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amIna 101 Thompson St., between Prince and Spring streets; (212) 941-4757 Sale: ends today. Noon-8 p.m. Stock from Balenciaga, Marni, Lanvin and others will be up to 70 percent off....
HELP BUNNIES HOP HOME
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amBANISH the stereotype of the dumb bunny: Rabbits are trainable, sweet, active little vegetarians that use a litter box and learn to come when called by name. You've heard of...
MOLEST RAP A REAL DOG: STAR'S DAD
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amTroubled "American Pie" actress Natasha Lyonne has no intention of facing justice over her alleged threat to molest a neighbor's dog - at least according to her dad. The one-time...
GAMBLER LOSES LIFE AT CARDS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amA card game in the back room of a Brooklyn barbershop turned deadly when one player stabbed another in the chest, police said yesterday. Osiris Sanchez, 30, was with two...
SHOCKING TESTS FIND LETHAL VOLT RISKS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amStray electrical voltage was found at more than 1,100 sites in the city last year - and 72 of those street lamps, sidewalk grates and utility boxes sizzled with potentially...
ELEX BOARD EXECS WANT PUNCH-CLOCK EXTRAS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amTOP managers often work long hours in city government without receiving anything extra, but the folks who run the city's Board of Elections have decided its executives deserve better. They...
'I WILL LOVE YOU ALWAYS' - TRIBUTE 1 YR. AFTER MADISON AVE. SLAY
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amJohn Turco brought red roses and wept at the grave of his fiancée yesterday, exactly one year after the woman he worshipped was taken from him in a vicious Madison...
GANG KILLED WRONG TEEN: KIN
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amThe Bronx teen who was beaten to death by a gang of street thugs may have been a victim of mistaken identity, his family and friends said yesterday. "His mother...
'GRANDPA' AL SAYS GOODBYE - 'MUNSTERS' STAR LEWIS DEAD AT 82
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amTV legend "Grandpa" Al Lewis, who rose to cult icon status as the cigar-chomping patriarch on "The Munsters" and as Officer Leo Schnauser on "Car 54, Where are You?" -...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amTHE BRONX (s, lcf) * Gunfire erupted in front of a noisy nightclub early yesterday, seriously wounding a man before the shooter or shooters escaped in a car, cops said....
SHERYL'S SHARP U-TURN ON LANCE
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amA glowing Sheryl Crow raved about her relationship with Lance Armstrong in an interview just three weeks ago. But some of her comments may have hinted at their impending bombshell...
MAN SHOT ON CHINATOWN STREET
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amA man was shot on a Chinatown street corner last night, police said. The victim, identified only as a 25-year-old Asian male, was in front of 96 East Broadway near...
STORIED FIRE PATROL FACES THE AX
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amThe New York City Fire Patrol, a 200-year-old organization that protects the contents of burning commercial buildings, may be disbanded. The New York Board of Fire Underwriters - a consortium...
NAILING CIG-TAX CHEATS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amThe city has come up with a new 10 Most Wanted list - serial cigarette scofflaws who will have to cough up upwards of $40,000 for buying bushels of butts...
HOLLYWOOD ELITE HEADS FOR HILL'S
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The stars are shining brightly on Hollywood Hill. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is a smash hit in La-La Land, where she gobbled up big bucks late last year...
FIREFIGHTERS TO BRASS: NOT WHILE WE'RE EATING
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amThere's no such thing as a "free" lunch - but two unions representing the city's Bravest want to change that. The Uniformed Firefighters Association and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association...
HEY U., DROP GUNS - FEDS HIT DIXIE COLLEGES
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amThe feds have a new target in their battle to block illegal guns from coming to New York: college kids in Georgia. They say unthinking students in the Peach State...
DAD'S MISSION AFTER VILLAGE ELECTROCUTION HORROR
February 5, 2006 | 5:00am"New York City's stray-voltage problem has not been solved." So says Jodie Lane's dad - an engineer by training who has been pondering the problem himself since his beloved daughter's...
TROUBLED ACS STAFF IN CHAOS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amThe city's beleaguered child-welfare agency is experiencing a "mass exodus" of employees and a skyrocketing workload since the tragic death of Nixzmary Brown, agency caseworkers said. "There's going to be...
HOPPER TOPPERS - L.I. BROOD: WE BREED BUNNIES EVEN BIGGER
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amCathy Caracciolo was not impressed with the photo of a huge 17-pound rabbit that appeared in Friday's Post. She has 36 of them - and "they're all gentle and sweet."...
HOSP $LAPPED FOR TRAGIC MANNY BOTCH
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amA scathing report by the state Health Department smacks St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital for nine violations and $18,000 in fines for shoddy care of an uninsured man who died waiting for...
PARENTS SUE OVER KID MOLEST
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amA Bronx couple whose 5-year-old son had his genitals grabbed by two classmates in a kindergarten lunchroom three days in a row are blaming lax supervision by the school. The...
HER BRAVE FACE - TRANSPLANT GAL OUT & ABOUT
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amHere's the remarkable survivor of the world's first partial face transplant - a mother of two, once mauled beyond recognition, who now bravely faces the world. Isabelle Dinoire, 39, is...
SUPER DUPER AND STUPOR - 40 YRS. OF GRIDIRON GREATS & GOOFBALLS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amEveryone's seen Scott Norwood's "wide right" field goal, Lynn Swann's over-the-shoulder catch, and John Riggins' 43-yard TD rumble. But the Super Bowl has had other famous - and infamous -...
GANG KILLED THE WRONG TEEN: KIN
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amThe Bronx teen who was beaten to death by a gang of street thugs may have been a victim of mistaken identity, his family and friends said yesterday. "His mother...
PARKER GAL'S IN THE PINK
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amSOCIALITES who shop at the A.S. Parker boutique on Madison Avenue may find themselves portrayed in an upcoming series of porn movies called "Trust Fund Sluts." Andrew Parker - the...
A PINCH OF PUNK - ALICE'S QUIRKY STYLES
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amWith a color palette inspired by Rembrandt and an overall aesthetic inspired by punk and newwave, Alice Roi showed a thoroughly gorgeous, off-kilter, triumphant line for fall yesterday, the second...
THIS IS FOR THE BIRDS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amTHE cold month of February is hard on everyone, especially wildlife and that why it's been designated as National Bird Feeding Month. Wild birds need your help. Populations of many...
TAKING STOCK OF ONE SUPER TREND
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amDETROIT - Are you ready for some . . . investing? If so, start counting your earnings, because according to the Super Bowl Stock Market Predictor, you're about to cash...
'CANES COULD AFFORD TO TAKE ON WEIGHT
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amPHILADELPHIA - The Hurricanes were able to get Doug Weight, the apparent plum of the rental market, for a package of obvious quantity but dubious quality not because GM Jim...
WELCOME, MATT: SEAHAWKS QB CAN JOIN LEGENDS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amDETROIT - A group of former Super Bowl MVPs sat in a designated area while commissioner Paul Tagliabue was delivering his state-of-the-NFL speech here this week. Bart Starr was in...
JUST CHIN BABY - VICTORY PUTS COWHER AMONG GREATEST EVER
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amDETROIT - Regardless of the outcome tonight at Ford Field in Super Bowl XL, Bill Cowher always will be known as a very good coach. The outcome, however, will go...
UTLEY CONTINUES TO BE INSPIRING
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amSUPER BOWL CONFIDENTIAL DETROIT - One constant presence this week has been former Lions guard Mike Utley, who was paralyzed from the mid-chest down in a game on Nov. 17,...
ZORN'S OL' GANG GETS IN ON SUPER MANIA
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amDETROIT - He's taken calls from most of the old gang, all caught up in Seahawk mania, all ready to burst with pride after 30 years of waiting and hoping...
BAD-NEWS VAN HITS GARDEN
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amThe Knick universe fell apart when Jeff Van Gundy left in 2001. But as he returns to the Garden today with his Rockets, his world is falling apart, too. For...
SHAQUILLE MISSING IN ACTION
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amWith the Nets' Nenad Krstic out with the flu, Shaquille O'Neal had to be envisioning a huge game yesterday at the Meadowlands. Instead, the Miami center played Invisible Man, turning...
SANTOS REACHES MILESTONE
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amCongratulations to Jose Santos, who reached 4,000-win plateau yesterday, romping by 5 ½ lengths gate to wire aboard 6-1 Melodeeman in fifth race. Santos, 44, rode his first winner in...
KNICKS AREN'T DONE YET
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amWHILE the rest of you are either congratulating or condemning the Knicks' masterminds for taking on Jalen Rose and his money for Antonio Davis and his honey (and you thought...
ROBINSON A CLEAN MACHINE
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amNET NOTES Cliff Robinson got up early and wanted to get his body limber. So he washed two cars. And then he went out and waxed the Heat. Robinson scored...
BUDDING ROSE - JALEN GETS HIS 1ST KNICK START TODAY AT GARDEN
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amROCKETS at KNICKS Today Noon - Ch. 7; ESPN (1050) Knicks owner James Dolan may look lighter today as he gets to see exactly what he paid for. At least...
TURN OFF THE HEAT - CARTER & CO. MYSTIFY MIAMI
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amNets 105 - Heat 92 The Nets went up early. Oh, it helped that Shaquille O'Neal was in foul trouble and shooting as if every attempt from the floor were...
GOIN' TOP SHELF - JAGR PUTS RANGERS IN FIRST; PRUCHA INJURED
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amOVERTIME: Rangers 4 - Flyers 3 PHILADELPHIA - The last time the Rangers had been alone in first place this late in a season was just under 10 years ago....
RATTLED & ROLLED - DEVS ENDURE PLANE SCARE, THEN LOSE
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amLeafs 4 - Devils 2 TORONTO - There's the road. There's fatigue. But blame this loss on the Devils' airplane horror. They were shaken, not stirred, by an aborted takeoff...
BAND OF DRUTHERS - WHY NOT GO OLD SCHOOL AND TAKE HALFTIME BACK?
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amTHE SAYING in sports, of late, is, "It ain't braggin' if you can back it up." But bragging is bragging, even if you can back it up. So, I admit...
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS - BETTIS, STEELERS RATE EDGE OVER UNDERDOG SEAHAWKS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amDETROIT - The disparity in the seedings doesn't matter any more. Who's favored and who isn't doesn't mean a thing. Perceptions of the AFC as the powerhouse and the NFC...
SUPERMEN TAKE OFF - STEELERS, SEAHAWKS LOOKING FOR THEIR HERO
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amDETROIT - No matter how they got here or what they said when they arrived, the Steelers and Seahawks understand Super Bowl XL is not about talk or perception. It...
THEY'LL WIN TONIGHT! - POST COLUMNISTS GEORGE WILLIS AND STEVE SERBY SLUG IT OUT OVER WHICH TEAM WILL TAKE HOME THE LOMBARDI TROPHY:
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amGeorge Willis: I'm picking the Seahawks to win Super Bowl XL because they're simply the better team. Everyone has been blinded by the Steelers' road to Detroit, the Cinderella sixth...
GIVE 'EM HALL HARRY - LB WAS GIANTS' EMOTIONAL LEADER
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amDETROIT - Harry Carson was the heart and soul of the Giants long before they were Super Bowl champions, a menacing rock of granite who policed the football field for...
CANTON CALLS ON CARSON
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amDETROIT - It took longer than he wanted, longer than the Giants thought necessary or fair, but at long last, Harry Carson is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame....
YOUR OLYMPIC GRAND TORINO - THESE STARS IN STRIPES COULD BECOME ITALIAN HEROES
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amGet ready to get that Olympic song stuck in your head. The Winter Games begin Friday when the torch is lit in Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy (Or is it...
GOOD FOR HOCKEY EVEN IF IT'S BAD FOR RANGERS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amIF JAROMIR Jagr takes one in the clavicle for his country in Turin, then at least the Czech Republic took its shot. But if subsequently the Rangers' best player has...
FIDEL'S PHANTOMS - WBC TEAM AS MUCH A MYSTERY AS CUBA ITSELF
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amALEX Rodriguez is not the mystery of the World Baseball Classic. He is more a global jester, playing everywhere, yet maybe still not playing at all. The great unknown is...
IT'S FINGER-CLICKING GOOD
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amThis is the ultimate TV sports day so grab some snacks and your favorite beverage - perhaps some Iron City Brew if you're for Pittsburgh or a Mocha Latte if...
STORM BOW TO FRIAR POWER - BIG EAST TOURNEY SPOT SLIPPING AWAY
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amProvidence 81 - St. John's 73 PROVIDENCE - Norm Roberts dropped his clipboard on the scorer's table in disbelief. He paced a few steps in front of the St. John's...
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT - YOUNG MASE UPHOLDS ST. JOHN'S LEGACY
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amPROVIDENCE - Anthony Mason Jr. hadn't heard the comments Tom Cream made Wednesday night after the freshman with the name every Knicks fan holds dear to his heart posted the...
ON A ROLL AT HOME* - NEW NHL SYSTEM HAS JERSEY STREAKIN'
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amTORONTO - Now we need shootout asterisks. The way the NHL figures it, the Devils will be trying to equal their team record home winning streak when they play host...
ON A ROLL AT HOME* - NEW NHL SYSTEM HAS DEVILS STREAKING
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amTORONTO - Now we need shootout asterisks. The way the NHL figures it, the Devils will be trying to equal their team record home winning streak when they play host...
GOIN' TOP SHELF - RANGERS AIMING FOR LEAD
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amPHILADELPHIA - The last time the Rangers were alone in first place this late in a season was just under 10 years ago. It was Mar. 14, 1996, and the...
WHITE ON! - BILL BREAKS COLOR LINE IN BASEBALL BOOTH
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amFEB. 10 1971 If any more alumni of 75 St. Nicholas Pl. make good, they will have to retire the building and send it to the Hall of Fame. It...
INSIDE SUPER BOWL XL PLAYBOOK: POWER 49 NGO
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amFox Sports and NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger diagrams a potential big play for the Seahawk offense. Baldinger then breaks down the play in an interview with The Post's Andrew...
SELECTION OF MOON BREAKS HALL BARRIER
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amDETROIT - History was made yesterday, as Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2006 was announced. It was no secret or surprise that Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman and Eagles...
U.S. MIGHT FORM CONGA LINE OF CLOSERS
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amFrom the 60-man availability list, the U.S. team has begun to chisel a final WBC roster and initial permutations indicate the strategy that manager Buck Martinez is likely to follow....
DEVS IN PLANE SCARE
February 5, 2006 | 5:00amTORONTO - The Devils suffered a major scare when their plane's takeoff was aborted in Newark on Friday night, delaying their trip here until yesterday. A suspected mechanical malfunction aboard...