January 11, 2002
MAG ADS TUMBLED 11.7%
The just completed year for magazine publishers showed the worst one-year erosion in ad strength in nearly a quarter century. The full-year ad paging was down double digits, 11.7 percent...
DIVA IS TAKING A DIVE: SLUMPING KMART'S DEBT WOES HIT MARTHA
Things keep getting worse for Martha Stewart. The home diva's fortunes are closely tied to mass retailer Kmart, which yesterday announced it is negotiating with its lenders in a desperate...
PORN AGAIN PLAYBOY MAY STILL LOSE ITS SHIRT
Playboy's empire is making ends meet thanks to its new hard-core movies - but it may still have to sell the famous Playboy Mansion. Pressure is mounting to stem red...
SIKES OUT @HEARST; AX SWINGS
YIKES! Sikes Gone! Cutbacks continued to roil Hearst Corp. Former FCC Chairman Alfred Sikes, who has been president of Hearst New Media & Technology since 1995, quietly packed it in...
SIMPLY COUNTRY
AS one of Nashville's nuts 'n' bolts honky-tonkers, Alan Jackson has redefined modern country with his plain-spoken lyrics and traditional, no-frills arrangements and melodies. The Georgia-born singer has sold a...
BETTER 'LATE' THAN NEVER ; DALY'S GOOD - BUT QUIT THE GUSHING
"Last Call with Carson Daly" Monday through Thursday at 1:35 a.m. on NBC/Ch. 4 I AM in love with Alicia Keys, and I have Carson Daly to thank for that....
PAULA ZAHN, MEET TV'S SEXIEST WOMAN (SAYS HER HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER)
PAULA who? CNN's hometown newspaper ran a poll this week in the wake of the embarrassing zipper promo ad for anchorwoman Paula Zahn - asking readers to select the "Sexiest...
HERE'S THE STUFF 'E-DREAMS' WAS MADE OF
E-DREAMS 1/2 Enjoyable documentary about the rise and fall of New York City's own Kozmo.com.Running time: 93 minutes. Not rated. At the Quad Cinema, 13th Street, between Fifth and Sixth...
'WOLF' HAS BITE
BROTHERHOODOF THE WOLF An 18th-century "Matrix." Running time: 140 minutes. In French with English subtitles. Rated R (gory violence, sex). At the Empire, the Lincoln Square and the Union Square....
TWO MANNS TOO MANY
ESCAPE TO LIFE: THE ERIKA AND KLAUS MANN STORY 1/2THE documentary about German writer Thomas Mann's two oldest children has a split personality. One is a conventional, TV-style doc, mostly...
STARR REPORT
Punchin' Judy: Sheindlin's big Nov. #s It was a November to remember for "Judge Judy." TV's top-rated court show, hosted by Judge Judy Sheindlin, was ranked first among all syndicated,...
A DELICATE TOUCH DEFINES 'EBAN'
EBAN AND CHARLEY Man meets boy in low-budget, non-exploitative drama.Running time: 89 minutes. Not rated (adult subject matter). At the Cinema Village, 12th Street, between Fifth Avenue and University Place....
IT'S TIMELY
WHAT TIME IS IT THERE? Timely Taiwanese meditation on loss.Running time: 116 minutes. Subtitled. Not rated (sex). At the Lincoln Plaza and the Angelika. I'VE never been a huge fan...
ARTFUL DODGERS ; PRODUCER PONDERS THEATER COMPLEX
DODGER Theatricals - the veteran producing organization behind "42nd Street," "The Music Man" and "Urinetown" - may be getting into the real estate business. Sources say the Dodgers are in...
STRUTTING HER STUFF
BRITNEY Spears has all the right stuff for Stuff magazine, which put her No. 1 on its 102 Sexiest Women in the World list. (Who knew they were counting?) Following...
PUSH FOR FAME BY RAGGEDY FANS
RAGGEDY Ann's fans don't want her to become the Susan Lucci of the toy world. The flame-haired floppy doll has been rejected from the National Toy Hall four times in...
HUNKY ETHAN WINS 'SURVIVOR'
CURLY Ethan Zohn, the 27-year-old pro soccer player from Lexington, Mass. - and the popular favorite to win - took home the $1 million prize on last night's finale of...
OLSEN TWINS RUN OUT OF 'TIME'
TWIN teen tycoons Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have dropped a double-whammy on cable's ABC Family Channel, pulling out of their successful sitcom "So Little Time" after just two seasons. "Time"...
NO, HANKS: TOM'S SON HAS NO JUICE IN SATIRE
ORANGE COUNTY ½ Pale, stale teen comedy with a (lame) message.Running time: 83 minutes. Rated PG-13 (drug humor). At the Loews Lincoln Square, 42nd St. E-Walk, Orpheum, others. ORANGE County,...
LITTLE LEAGUE SYNDROME IS A PARENTAL PLAGUE
IT IS so different when you see a hardened hood on trial. There's a disconnect, something alien that tells you the villain is different than you and me. But there...
WHITE HOUSE ADMITS CONTACT
WASHINGTON - Enron chief Kenneth Lay talked with two of President Bush's top economic officials about the company's financial troubles shortly before it collapsed into bankruptcy, the White House acknowledged...
WELCOME BACK, BOOMER
All's Wells that ends Wells. Now that David "Boomer" Wells is back in the Big Apple, bartenders and club owners are rubbing their hands with glee: one of the hardiest...
NEW 'JEW HATER' OUTRAGE - ANNAN 'THREAT' NIXES BAIL FOR U.N. WORKER
A German U.N. employee, accused of being an arsonist Jew-hater, is staying in the clink now that a judge knows about his alleged stash of Holocaust-hoax books - and that...
KELLY NOT SET TO PULL TRIGGER ON BERNIE'S BIGGER GUNS
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is reviewing a decision by his predecessor to increase the firepower of cops in precincts around the city with weaponry that includes a powerful rifle capable...
GET READY FOR MORE CASUALTIES
GREEN Beret Sgt. Nathan Chapman, who was killed in an ambush near Khost last week, is the first uniformed American serviceman to die in combat in Afghanistan. He is unlikely...
GEN. ZINNI, WON'T YOU PLEASE STAY HOME?
THE following is a public plea to Gen. Anthony Zinni: Gen. Zinni, please stay away from the Middle East between Jan. 18 and Jan. 28. I know you're planning to...
KAMIKAZE KID'S PARENTS ONCE HAD SUICIDE PACT
Teen suicide pilot Charles Bishop's then-teenage parents tried to kill themselves in a "Romeo and Juliet" death pact before he was born, it was revealed yesterday. But where young lovers...
AFGHAN WAR BOOTY HELPS SMASH TERROR CELLS
WASHINGTON - The U.S. has launched dramatic new counterterrorism operations against suspected al Qaeda cells in several countries as a result of intelligence gained recently in Afghanistan, The Post has...
MIKE LIKES STADIUM, BUT NOT $1B PRICE
Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday it would be "great" to build an Olympic stadium as part of an expanded Javits Center, but shied away from committing to an ambitious $1 billion...
MODELS SUE OVER PHOTOS IN 'MAXIMUM SEX' MANUAL
Two European models sued the publishers of Maxim magazine yesterday, saying their photos were used without permission on a raunchy book called "Maximum Sex." German stunner Katja Hilgendorff, who has...
CHARGES STILL PENDING AGAINST 'WRONG MAN'
A day after he was freed from jail after serving seven months for a slaying he didn't commit, José Martinez went to court expecting the manslaughter and weapons charges to...
ENRON DATA DISAPPEARS AMID PROBE
The auditors of Enron Corp. - the energy giant that collapsed into bankruptcy with a spectacular thud - may face criminal charges and millions of dollars in fines after they...
LEVY RIPS 'DISGUSTING' PORN LAW
Schools Chancellor Harold Levy yesterday lambasted a state law that he believes lets Internet porn providers off the hook for exploiting underage teens. Levy said he was angry after a...
ATTORNEY CAN SUE BIN LADEN VIA TELEVISION
Think killing Osama bin Laden is tough? Try suing him. Just ask Philadelphia lawyer James Beasley Jr. Beasley, acting on behalf of the family of George Eric Smith, who was...
IT'S A GIRL FOR 9/11 HIJACK HERO'S WIDOW
The gutsy widow of Flight 93 hero Todd "Let's Roll" Beamer has given birth to his daughter - their third child - and named her Morgan after the hero's middle...
SCHOOL BIG'S FORMER FIRM WINS BID ON CONSTRUCTION
The firm founded by the new president of the School Construction Authority has landed a contract to build a new public school in Queens. And the company that hired the...
ISLAMIC JIHAD RENEGES ON ARAFAT DEAL
JERUSALEM - The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad yesterday set the stage for new violence by pulling out of a deal with Yasser Arafat not to stage attacks in Israel....
HEAT'S ON BLOOMY TO KEEP COOL IN PARTY TIFF
Mayor Bloomberg is trying to block Andrew Eristoff from becoming Manhattan Republican chairman because he supported pesky GOP rival Herman Badillo for mayor, sources said yesterday. "People around the mayor...
COPS SACK S.I. MAN IN FOOTBALL POOL
The traditional office football pool has one Staten Island man in hot water - cops hauled him out of his New Jersey office and arrested him last week for illegal...
PATAKI: MY SCHOOL PLAN HAS 'MERIT'
ALBANY - Gov. Pataki is pushing a merit-pay plan to reward urban schools that show improvement. The idea is for a statewide merit-pay system that would benefit all teachers -...
INSURANCE DEPARTMENT CAN'T PUT BRAKES ON N.Y. NO-FAULT AUTO FRAUD
ALBANY - Reports of insurance fraud ballooned 36 percent the past two years, with the biggest increases seen in the auto market, new state figures show. The state Insurance Department...
WOMAN ACCUSES JAIL GUARD OF RAPE
A 23-year-old London woman busted for "ecstasy" smuggling last summer has accused a correction lieutenant of raping her in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center while she awaited sentencing. Prosecutors are waiting...
MIKE: HOLD CONTEST FOR TRIBUTE AT GROUND ZERO
Mayor Bloomberg supports holding a competition to choose the designer of the memorial tribute to the World Trade Center victims that will be built at ground zero, officials said yesterday....
CUBA-'BOUND' POWS ABOARD PRISON PLANE
WASHINGTON - The U.S. military flew the first group of shackled and hooded Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners out of Afghanistan yesterday to an isolated and highly secure base in...
O.J.'S NEW LOW: SHAMED GRID GREAT WANTS TO USE GROUND ZERO FOR FILM
In a bid to rehabilitate his battered image, O.J. Simpson will tour the Big Apple today while making a self-serving documentary - and he wants to pay a visit to...
COACH AXED FOR LESBIAN FLING WITH TEEN STUDENT
A Brooklyn high-school teacher and tennis coach has been bounced from her job after a sting operation caught her allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old female student, The...
LAST HEARTACHE FOR HERO'S WIFE - WEDDING RING NEVER GOT TO MARINE BEFORE PLANE CRASH
Marine Staff Sgt. Scott Germosen's wife bought a new wedding band to present to her husband when he returned from the war in Afghanistan. But only hours after her purchase,...
PATRIOTISM EN VOGUE FOR FASHION WEEK
Fashion [LOVES] New York! Post-Sept. 11 patriotism is bringing unprecedented attention to American designers and their participation in New York City's biggest fashion event: Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, set for Feb....
'HOOKER' DA QUITS HIS JOB
A Queens assistant district attorney who confessed to patronizing a prostitute resigned from $98,000-a-year job yesterday, authorities said. A Bronx prosecutor will oversee the criminal case against Michael Connolly, 49,...
AIRMAN OK AFTER F-16 GOES DOWN IN JERSEY - CLOSE CALL FOR GARDEN STATE PARKWAY
One of the F-16 fighter jets that's been protecting the skies over New York City crashed perilously close to the Garden State Parkway during a training mission yesterday - but...
SLAY-TOT TUG-OF-LOVE - CUSTODY FIGHT LOOMS FOR TRAGIC WRITER'S BABY
A nasty custody battle is brewing over the 2 1/2-year-old girl fathered by slain fashion writer Christa Worthington's married ex-lover. The Cape Cod woman's will decrees that her friends, Amyra...
BLOOMY: CLEANUP FINISHED BY SPRING
Cleanup work at the World Trade Center will be wrapped up by late spring - months earlier than originally planned, Mayor Bloomberg predicted yesterday. "It is going faster than anybody...
WOMAN SCAMS ELDERLY IN B'KLYN RENTAL RIP-OFF: COPS
A heartless con artist duped elderly people out of their life savings by renting them apartments in a Brooklyn home she no longer owned, police said yesterday. A bank foreclosed...
UNEASY RYDER WILL LEARN FATE FEB 8.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Oscar-nominated actress Winona Ryder will wait another month before prosecutors decided to slap her with shoplifting and drug charges. Prosecutors have until Feb. 8 to bring...
JEWISH MUSEUM IN HOLOCAUST-'ART' FLAP
A controversial art exhibit that makes daring and disturbing use of Nazi images is coming to the Jewish Museum of New York - and generating heated debate before it's even...
'ZUCCHINI BANDIT' SQUASHED AT LAST
Queens' infamous "zucchini bandit," accused of using the elongated vegetable to simulate a gun in a 1995 robbery, pleaded guilty of attempted robbery yesterday, ending years of twists and turns...
BROOKLYN ESCAPEE STILL ON RUN
An ex-con, arrested for allegedly punching a woman who helped put him behind bars, was still on the lam yesterday, a day after he escaped from a van taking him...
BUFFALO'S BIGGEST EXPORT: SNOW
The city of Rochester dispatched 10 trucks to Buffalo yesterday because Rochester's two-day winter tourism festival, beginning today, was missing a key ingredient: snow. "We never thought in a million...
'GAS DEATH' DOC PROBE MOVING SLOWLY
The boyfriend of a woman who died after an unusual "gas therapy" psychiatric session is blasting Manhattan prosecutors for dragging their heels in investigating her doctor. After eight months of...
PALESTINE RADICALS NIX ARAFAT'S NON-VIOLENCE DEAL
JERUSALEM - The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad yesterday set the stage for new violence by pulling out of a deal with Yasser Arafat not to stage attacks in Israel....
SLAY-TOT TUG-OF-LOVE: CUSTODY FIGHT LOOMS FOR TRAGIC WRITER'S BABY
A nasty custody battle is brewing over the 2½-year-old girl fathered by slain fashion writer Christa Worthington's married ex-lover. The Cape Cod woman's will decrees that her friends, Amyra and...
HOLOCAUST CONTROVERSY : JEWISH MUSEUM WILL SHOW DISTURBING EXHIBIT
A controversial art exhibit that makes daring and disturbing use of Nazi images is coming to the Jewish Museum of New York -and generating heated debate before it's even opened....
'W' WARNING TO IRAN: ACT LIKE AN ALLY
WASHINGTON - President Bush spoke sternly to Iran yesterday amid reports Tehran is harboring terrorists and snubbing the new westernized government in Afghanistan. "Any nation that thwarts our ability to...
SPREE 'INDIFFERENT' TO TRADE TALK
KNICK NOTES DALLAS - Latrell Sprewell desperately wants a ring and doesn't believe the Knicks are a championship contender. But Sprewell told The Post he still would prefer sticking it...
NETS HAVE A BLAST
Nets 108 Clippers 89 Something jumped off the screen when the Nets saw the videotape of their late November victory over the Clippers. The fact they had Kenyon Martin playing...
ISLES TAKE A BEATING
Canadiens 4 Islanders 0 MONTREAL - So much for starting this "critical" road trip on the right foot. Instead, the Islanders played with two left feet. Despite a major line...
KNICKS SUFFER TEXAS TORTURE
Mavs 111Knicks 89 DALLAS - At this horrifying stage, the Chinese Olympic Team can score 100 points on the post-Jeff Van Gundy Knicks. Little-used Dallas center Wang Zhizhi of China...
ECLIPSE FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
Point Given, the "Big Red Train" who won the Santa Anita Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes, Haskell and Travers; Tiznow, who became the first horse to win the Breeders' Cup Classic...
ISLES STILL SEARCHING FOR ROAD TO RECOVERY
MONTREAL - What does a leader in the locker room do? He sees what's wrong with his team and does something about it. The same can be said about Islanders...
LINDROS BRACING FOR PHILLY RETURN
Whether it's a battle along the boards, an open ice check or a downright nasty scrum, the Rangers are preparing for another physical war when they head to Philadelphia tomorrow....
WELCOME BACK, DAVE ; WELLS MAKES YANK RETURN OFFICIAL
Life is good. You have just signed another nice contract, you weigh 250 pounds and everyone says what great shape you're in, you're back in the city and with the...
INDECENT EXPOSURE ; TV HYPOCRITES ARE GUILTY OF UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT
DOESN'T matter which side of the street one works, it's still Con Street, Bunk Blvd. Wednesday night, ABC's "Nightline," having reported on the hockey dad manslaughter trial in Massachusetts, examined...
BOMBERS ROLL THE DICE ON BOOMER II
WELL SURE, Brian Cashman said, the chances of the Yankees making a guaranteed commitment to a 275-pound, about to turn 39, David Wells were slim and none until George Steinbrenner...
MO SINGS SUBWAY SONG ; WANTS TO BE PART OF METS-YANKS SERIES
STOUGHTON, Mass. - Mo Vaughn has huge visions. Visions of a world championship with the Mets, visions of an MVP season by Mike Piazza and visions of life in the...
ASTACIO AND BUBBA ARE NEXT ON WISH LIST
Plan B is in full throttle for the Mets. The club continued its pursuit of Pedro Astacio yesterday, talking to the right-hander's agent, Steve Schneider, and they also continued their...
NO CURE FOR SICK-SERS ; PHILLY'S GOING NOWHERE FAST
JUST when you think the 76ers are starting to care for each other on offense and trust one another on defense (see Monday's compression of the Clippers), they manufacture an...
MARTIN'S NEW LOOK HAS SOX APPEAL
NET NOTES For the first half, Kenyon Martin looked like everybody else. Except for the socks, of course. In an attempt to just "try something different," Martin wore socks pulled...
SCOTT HAS GOOD SHOT TO COACH ALL-STARS
NET NOTES Byron Scott may finally get to an All-Star Game. Scott, who never was selected in his 14-season playing career, could end up coaching the East All-Stars in Philadelphia...
BENCH GIVING NETS UNEXPECTED BOOST
An apparent weakness is becoming an obvious strength for the Nets. When the season began, most observers spied the Nets bench and winced. There were proven veterans in Aaron Williams...
CHANEY: KURT COST US WIN : THOMAS' JOB NOW IN DANGER
DALLAS - As yesterday's morning shootaround drew to a close, Don Chaney and Kurt Thomas huddled in the American Airlines Arena bleachers for a talk. Speaking to reporters, Chaney was...
WARD DEFENDS D-CISION
DALLAS -Knicks coach Don Chaney criticized Charlie Ward for making a "mental mistake" by leaving Moochie Norris wide open at the 3-point line in Tuesday's buzzer-beating loss in Houston, but...
DEVILS SIT DAGENAIS AGAIN
From the replacement-designee for Alexander Mogilny, the only player the Devils have coveted enough to draft twice has fallen off New Jersey's map. His agent hopes Pierre Dagenais is traded...
BE WARY OF ICE'S HIDDEN DANGERS
NEW YORK State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is urging snowmobilers, anglers and anyone who loves to enjoy the winter outdoors to be cautious about traveling on frozen water bodies....
MORE DRAGONS TO SLAY : JETS HAVE FOUND PLENTY OF PLAYOFF HEARTBREAK
When it's time to do or die, has the voodoo finally died? For the Jets to make the playoffs, one of the NFL's top quarterbacks had to overthrow a wide-open...
WORDS TO LIVE BY: VERMEIL'S LESSONS ON NFL SURVIVAL OPENED PLAYOFF DOOR TO HERM
Long before his rookie season as head coach of the Jets, Herman Edwards got some advice from his former coach and mentor Dick Vermeil on how to survive the NFL...
MOSS HAS EYES ON END ZONE
JET NOTES Santana Moss is a rocket ready to launch in the punt-return game. Though Moss rested for much of the practices this week with a strained left hip flexor,...
CROSS: VIN GETS NOD VS. GANNON
Rich Gannon was the AFC's highest-rated passer. Vinny Testaverde finished 10th. Advantage, Jets. When CBS analyst Randy Cross breaks down the two teams, he believes the Jets have an edge...
DBS CLAMPING DOWN ON BROWN, RICE
Aaron Glenn and Marcus Coleman understand the challenge that will line up across from them in Saturday's AFC Wild Card game at Oakland. For the second straight weekend, they'll face...
MAKE ROOM FOR MARVIN: VETERAN LB JONES-ING TO GET HANDS ON RAIDERS
The Jets had just gone through their final preparations for tomorrow's AFC Wild Card game against the Raiders in Oakland with a spirited 90-minute session inside their practice bubble yesterday....
JETS SET FOR NEXT RAID: WILL TAKE OAKLAND ENCORE
THE Jets-Raiders game the toughest game of Wild-Card Weekend to pick outright. But since the instant replay of last week's do-or-die Jet win carries the biggest spread of the four...
THE MATCHUPS: JETS WILL WIN INSTANT REPLAY
QUARTERBACKS AND RECEIVERS VS. DEFENSIVE BACKS WHEN JETS HAVE THE BALL: Vinny Testaverde (260-of-441, 59.0, 2,752 yards, 15 TDs, 14 INTs, 75.3 rating) has passed at his best with his...