• NASD FINES WORLDCO $1.5M

    Worldco LLC, a day-trading firm that closed shop in October, was fined $1.5 million by the NASD yesterday for failing to separate its business from a hedge fund. Authorities say...
  • JOBS DISASTER; ONLY 1,000 CREATED LAST MONTH; MARKETS TANK

    A big hole is tearing through the economy’s sails, knocking Wall Street for a loop and dimming optimism for 2004. The damage began yesterday when dismal employment numbers triggered an...
  • NOW KNIGHT TRADING GIVES AMEX THE OL' HEAVE-HO

    Another major trading firm has abandoned its equity-option trading business on the American Stock Exchange. Jersey City-based Knight Trading announced yesterday it would close its operations for trading 74 equity...
  • TIMES RESUME SCANDAL

    A veteran sports reporter who once investigated academic fraud in college football has himself been caught doing a little academic fibbing – and it has cost him his job. Michael...
  • O'NEILL BURNS BUSH IN BOOK

    Former Treasury chief Paul O’Neill – fired by President Bush for disagreeing on tax cuts – blasts Bush as a “blind man in a roomful of deaf people.” The surprising...
  • LOWERING THE BOOM : THE GRITTY LOWER EAST SIDE GETS LUXURIOUS

    WHEN Emily Thall relocated from London back to her native Manhattan last year, she wanted to find an apartment that could compare to the two full floors of Georgian townhouse...
  • GIMME SHELTER: BANKERS' BANQUET

    WHAT’S all that racket coming from the top floors of 740 Park Ave.? It’s a bidding war for a $28 million apartment, of course. According to neighbors, a few Wall...
  • PAMPERING BY THE POOLSIDE: THREE NEW MIAMI-AREA CONDOS ARE ALL ABOUT THEIR SPAS

    REMEMBER how fantastic you felt the last time you went to a spa? Now you can have that feeling just by stepping into a condo – at least that’s what...
  • 'WAYNE BRADY' ENDING ITS RUN

    SAY goodbye to “The Wayne Brady Show.” Buena Vista has pulled the plug on the Emmy-winning talk show, which won’t be renewed for a third season, but will continue producing...
  • TRUMP TOWERS

    HAVING mastered “The Art of the Deal,” Donald Trump is well on his way to mastering television – even on TV’s most competitive night. Trump’s new NBC reality show, “The...
  • NOW THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! THEATER, FILM AND MUSIC - FOR A SONG

    The holidays have come and gone, the ball has dropped – the fireworks are over. Or are they? Meet January, the new December. Once the dreariest month of the year...
  • DADS ARE DUDS

    MY BABY’S DADDY DESPITE the fact that comedian Eddie Griffin has apparently been working on the script for “My Baby’s Daddy” since the mid-’90s, the finished product looks like it...
  • BLOOMBERG CANCELS HAITI TRIP

    Unrest in Haiti has forced Mayor Bloomberg to postpone his scheduled trip to the island nation tomorrow, the mayor’s spokesman said yesterday. “In light of recent conflict in Haiti as...
  • GIS TARGET TERRORISTS IN TIKRIT SWEEP

    WASHINGTON – Hundreds of U.S. soldiers backed by aerial gunships and Bradley fighting vehicles stormed through Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit yesterday, rounding up terrorists involved in attacks on coalition...
  • QUAKE GAL FACES LIFE MINUS BEAU

    Adele Freedman was lucky enough to survive the devastating Dec. 26 earthquake in Iran. Now she must face the tragedy of mourning the loss of her fiance as she recovers...
  • 'DIRTY BOMBER' HUNT; U.S. SCOURS WORLD FOR QAEDA CHEM WIZARD

    WASHINGTON – U.S. intelligence agencies have launched a worldwide manhunt for al Qaeda’s master bombmaker, who may be building a “dirty” bomb and other new devices for terror attacks inside...
  • NO HUE TURN ON TERROR HERE

    WASHINGTON – New York will stay on higher alert but the nation’s threat level was lowered yesterday from code orange to yellow after an anxious holiday season that included a...
  • DISGRACED POL DUCKS JAIL IN 40G FUND SCAM

    An all-bark, no-bite Manhattan judge kept an ex-Queens city councilman out of jail yesterday after giving the disgraced former pol a rousing scolding for trying to steal $40,000 in a...
  • BUBBA 'CONVINCED' IRAQ HAD WMDS

    Bill Clinton was “absolutely convinced” Iraq had weapons of mass destruction up until the fall of Saddam Hussein last spring, according to Portugal’s prime minister. Clinton expressed his certainty about...
  • LIZA'S PIANO ACCUSATION HITS BAD NOTE

    An auctioneer charged yesterday that Liza Minnelli’s claim that her estranged husband, David Gest, auctioned off her piano on eBay without her knowledge is way off key. He says it...
  • ROBBER TURNS INTO PERP-SICLE

    Cornered by cops, a bandit dived into the East River yesterday – and is presumed dead. He left behind an accomplice who surrendered and was charged with robbery. Around 1...
  • 'FRIENDS' IS, LIKE, SO INFLUENTIAL

    When it comes to the hip way we talk, we’re definitely getting a little help from our “Friends.” While the NBC series has been a smash since its debut in...
  • 5 BUSTED IN DUMPSTER THEFT RING

    A mob-linked trash carter and four associates were hauled into custody yesterday for allegedly stealing compactors and containers from the competition – and reselling them on the black market. The...
  • SEX-RAP SLAP FOR LIFEGUARD

    A city lifeguard was put on six years’ probation yesterday for sexually abusing two girls in a Brooklyn pool – but he was given youthful-offender status that will allow him...
  • ATTACK RAP FOR CHOIR HONCHO

    A teen who was repeatedly sexually abused while attending the famed Boys Choir of Harlem claims he was also “physically assaulted” by the school’s embattled founder. The teenage boy leveled...
  • MIKE: HOMEOWNERS DESERVE $400 REBATES

    The mayoral plan to single out small homeowners for $400 tax rebates this summer was strongly defended by Mayor Bloomberg yesterday. Hizzoner said they deserve a reward because they stepped...
  • HILL & CHUCK IN 'PRO-PREZ' TWIST

    WASHINGTON – New York Sens. Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer supported President Bush in their Senate votes more often than any of the Democrats running for president, a new survey...
  • 'RAPIST' PIMP GETS FOUR YEARS

    A man accused of bringing two Mexican women to the United States – promising them the American dream but giving them a living nightmare – was sentenced yesterday to four...
  • PROMOTION, PRAISE FOR EMS HERO

    The first EMS official on scene at the Staten Island Ferry crash – whose ambulance was the first to respond to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing – was promoted...
  • SCORE ONE FOR STUDENTS AS MORE GET A PHYSICS PASS

    ALBANY – State Education Commissioner Richard Mills yesterday revealed that a second scoring of the Regents physics exams will allow thousands more students to pass. After a storm of complaints...
  • 'PROMOTION' SICKNESS; HEATED FIGHT ON PASS RULE

    At PS 51 on Manhattan’s West Side, parents, students and educators yesterday gave Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to end “social promotion” mixed grades. “That’s horrible!” said Al Silvera as he strapped...
  • BACKSEAT BABY OK AFTER CAR SNATCH

    A 2-month-old baby boy, left in a livery cab that was stolen while his mother darted into a restaurant in upper Manhattan, was with an aunt yesterday – and his...
  • 'WILDING' VICTIM TO SUE CITY, EX

    An outspoken victim of the Puerto Rican Day Parade sex assaults is filing a $5 million suit against the city and her ex-husband for joining forces in an attempt “to...
  • NEIGHBORS DEFEND L.I. 'DWI' MOM

    Sympathetic neighbors rallied around the mink-clad Long Island mom busted for allegedly driving drunk with her 5-year-old triplets in the family SUV, declaring the 43-year-old parent should get professional counseling...
  • DEPLETED ISLES ADD RONNING

    In an effort to bolster their depleted corps of forwards, the Islanders yesterday signed free-agent center Cliff Ronning to a contract for the remainder of the season. Ronning, a 38-year...
  • '05 DEMS 'BUCK' UP; THOMPSON AND GIFFIE PASS $1M

    Mayor Bloomberg’s potential 2005 rivals are kicking their fund-raising into high gear early, with four Democrats having hit the $1 million mark nearly two years before a single ballot is...
  • GAFFE-A-MINUTE DEAN ; SLAPS IOWA CAUCUSES AND GORE IN OLD TAPES

    DES MOINES, Iowa – Howard Dean was frantically eating his words yesterday on several fronts, as fallout from his gaffe-filled campaign threatened the Democratic front-runner in the final sprint to...
  • WIDOW FIREWORKS; 9/11 WIFE 'HARASSED' FDNY BEAU'S MISSUS

    The widow of a hero 9/11 firefighter has been slapped with criminal charges after allegedly harassing the wife of her new boyfriend – an FDNY firefighter who left his family...
  • MAN KILLED IN BAR BURGLARY

    A Staten Island man was found beaten to death early yesterday in the Bronx bar where he worked, which police said had also been robbed. Charles Mannino, 46, of 85...
  • MONSTROUS MOM ; ACCUSED IN DEATH OF A 2ND NEWBORN

    A Long Island woman convicted of killing her newborn baby on Christmas Day 2001 was accused yesterday of murdering another newborn she bore just eight months earlier – and dumping...
  • TOUGH TOM TABS EX-STEELER 'D' CHIEF

    When Tom Coughlin’s Jaguars faced the Steelers in past years, he always held the Pittsburgh defense in high regard. Yesterday, Coughlin recalled those battles when he made his first and...
  • ALLAN, STEPH SEEK BALANCE

    Before they even played a game together, Stephon Marbury and Allan Houston were billed as the best guard tandem in the East. After two dismal showings, they look like a...
  • JURY KICKS BUTT; WIDOW GETS $20M IN LUCKY STRIKE SUIT

    In a precedent-setting case, Brooklyn jurors yesterday awarded $20 million to the widow of a cigarette smoker who died of cancer, saying they wanted to teach Big Tobacco a lesson...
  • GAFFE-A-MINUTE DEAN; SLAPS IOWA CAUCUSES AND GORE IN OLD TAPES

    DES MOINES, Iowa – Howard Dean was frantically eating his words yesterday on several fronts, as fallout from his gaffe-filled campaign threatened the Democratic front-runner in the final sprint to...
  • STORM'S WINGERT HONORED

    A superb soccer season at St. John’s gained another highlight last night when senior defender Chris Wingert accepted the Hermann Award as the top player in NCAA Division I. Wingert,...
  • APPLE ON ICE AS ARCTIC BLAST COLD-COCKS GOTHAM

    Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Mother Nature will continue giving the Big Apple the cold shoulder for the next two days – with the mercury expected to nosedive into the single digits. The National...
  • L.I. HOSP AIDE 'MOLESTS' PATIENT

    A Queens man was arrested yesterday for sexually molesting a sedated patient at a Long Island hospital, police said. Luis Cana, 22, a nurse’s assistant at Mercy Medical Center in...
  • NO JAIL FOR SEX-ABUSE LIFEGUARD

    A city lifeguard was put on six years’ probation yesterday for sexually abusing two girls in a Brooklyn pool – but given youthful-offender status that will allow him to have...
  • ROCKET BOO$T FOR NASA

    WASHINGTON – President Bush is expected to ask for an $800 million boost in the NASA budget when he gives his back-to-the-moon speech on Wednesday, White House officials said. The...
  • FROM BAD TO VLAD? METS STILL HOPEFUL OF INKING GUERRERO

    A week ago it was dismissed as an impossible fantasy. But over the last 24 hours, hope has emerged that free-agent superstar Vladimir Guerrero might actually sign with the Mets....
  • AQUEDUCT CLOSED BY ICY TEMPS

    Racing at Aqueduct was cancelled shortly after the fourth race yesterday because of the bitter cold, as temperatures plunged to 16 degrees with a wind-chill factor of zero. “It’s difficult...
  • PATS: BRADY, SET, GO ; FORMER CHAMPS OPEN PLAYOFF RUN VS. TITANS

    FOXBORO – You might be wondering how in the name of Brady the Patriots are the host for tonight’s AFC divisional playoff game against the Titans. You might wonder how...
  • STORM WARY OF POTENT PIRATES

    From the players’ indiscretions to the coach’s firing to their worst start in decades, St. John’s offseason and early season went from bad to worse. But the Red Storm can...
  • RANGERS DESPERATE TO EXTEND DOMINANCE

    The last time it was staged at the Coliseum, on Dec. 4, the Battle of New York was a referendum on the Islanders. They lost. But out of a defeat...
  • FAVRE FROM OVER ; DESTINY WITH PACK ON TRIP TO PHILLY

    Heroics and highlights out of Brett Favre are nothing new, nothing the Packers haven’t seen before, nothing they haven’t come to expect from their magical quarterback. Something, however, happened amid...
  • ROGERS GETS FIRST NET START

    NET NOTES PHILADELPHIA – Rodney Rogers is determined to show the world, and Byron Scott, that he still exists. Rogers, for the better part of two seasons as a Net,...
  • DEV HANGUP: DANEYKO'S '3' DOESN'T FLY

    Now they will need Ken Daneyko Night 2, to retire No. 3. It should have been an evening to remember. Instead, Ken Daneyko Night left the Meadowlands patrons holding the...
  • STEPHON'S STILL FEELIN' WAY AROUND

    KNICK NOTES When Stephon Marbury was traded from Minnesota to the Nets early during the 1999 lockout season, he played one game for Jersey coach John Calipari before the latter...
  • UNDER PRESSURE ; THOMAS FIDDLES WITH CLUB WHILE KNICK FANS BURN

    Don Chaney was allowed to run another practice while Isiah Thomas stayed holed up in his office yesterday at the Knicks’ Westchester campus. The Stephon Marbury blockbuster has not yet...
  • NETS SET TO OFFER GRIFFIN SUPPORT ; HOPE FOR RETURN TO OLD FORM

    PHILADELPHIA – Eddie Griffin looked good the first day. So good, in fact, that the Nets considered keeping him on the active list. Then came day two and a little...
  • FROM BAD TO VLAD? METS STILLHOPEFULOF INKINGGUERRERO

    At first it was dismissed as an impossible fantasy. But yesterday, hope was slowly building that free-agent superstar Vladimir Guerrero might actually sign with the Mets. Might. Though the Orioles...
  • ZIMMER SIGNS ON WITH RAYS

    The Yankees have brought in Gary Sheffield, Kevin Brown, Javier Vazquez and others this offseason, a convoy of All-Stars seemingly passing through the stadium turnstiles. But one man who’s not...
  • DUBOIS' HARD WORK PAYS OFF FOR RICE

    Arturo Dubois wasn’t known as a particularly hard worker in years past. His lackadaisical attitude got on Rice coach Mo Hicks’ nerves so much last year that the 6-foot-8 forward...
  • HOU, STEPH STRUGGLING TO MESH

    Before they even played a game together, Stephon Marbury and Allan Houston were billed as the best guard tandem in the East. After two dismal showings, they look like a...
  • KIDD HURT AS NETS FALL

    Sixers 97 Nets 81 PHILADELPHIA – The Nets started without the suspended Kenyon Martin. So there was no energy. They ended without an injured Jason Kidd. So there was no...
  • NETS SET UP SUPPORT FOR GRIFFIN

    NET NOTES PHILADELPHIA – Eddie Griffin looked so good the first day, the Nets considered keeping him on the active list. Then came day two. Griffin ended yesterday on the...
  • A FLOP FROM START TO FINISH

    Lightning 4 Devils 1 Perhaps the Devils will fare better on Ken Daneyko Night II, if and when they officially retire No. 3. Actually, they couldn’t have fared any worse...