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Table of Contents


August 12, 2002 Issue

" If I stopped writing this column, I’d probably die tomorrow."
-- Neal Travis, "Post Op"

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FEATURES
I Will Survive
BY ROBERT KOLKER
Civil defense, of the fifties-era, duck-and-cover kind, couldn't have seemed more out-of-date. But that was before September 11. For a small group of New Yorkers who've been preparing for terrorism for years -- call them urban survivalists -- it's I-told-you-so time. Our correspondent infiltrates their subculture and learns their secrets. PLUS: The makings of a survival kit of products both ordinary (duct tape) and extraordinary (the executive parachute), and answers to a host of safety questions you never thought you'd have to ask.

Post Op
BY BETH LANDMAN KEIL
Veteran New York Post gossip columnist Neal Travis, who's suffering from lymphoma, has a drink (or two) and a smoke (or two) and reminisces about scoops, the journalist's life -- and why he chose not to accept Steve Dunleavy's generous offer of a liver.

The End of the Affair
BY CRAIG HOROWITZ
Mitchell Rothken was an Orthodox Jewish family man and a hard-nosed lawyer with a fondness for the strippers at Scores. That he could have managed. But when he met Kymberly Barbieri, it was love at first lap dance. He bought her cars, a Westchester home, and finally a nightclub -- mostly with his clients' money. Now he's sitting in prison. And they never -- get this -- even had sex. What would possess a man to act this way? He's happy to tell you.

Clothes Call
BY AMY LAROCCA
One day, Michael Kors looked in his closet and realized that the clothes he wanted to wear -- simple cashmere turtlenecks, well-cut flannel pants -- simply didn't exist. And thus, this season, a classic, luxurious new menswear collection is born.

GOTHAM
AOL's Faulty Towers
Can the city's other twin towers stand as anything but a memorial to the worst corporate marriage in history?
Trial by Fire
Q&A: 'N Sync's Rent Boy
No Experience Required
Score More?

DEPARTMENTS
Letters

Intelligencer
BY MARC S. MALKIN

The City Politic
BY MICHAEL TOMASKY
Why is our Republican mayor endorsing an upper Manhattan Democrat in a State Senate primary race? It looks like a GOP scheme to divide Democrats. And Democrats are falling for it.

The Sporting Life
BY ALLEN BARRA
Despite what the Times is telling you, George Steinbrenner and the Yankees are not ruining baseball

MARKETPLACE
Best Bets
BY RIMA SUQI
The Cubissimo clock, guitar-pick earrings, and a travel kit for kids
Plus: Best Bets Daily

Sales & Bargains
Japanese hair-straightening for less
Plus: Daily Sales Update

THE CRITICS
Movies
BY PETER RAINER
M. Night Shyamalan delivers predictable surprises with Signs; Steven Soderbergh indulges himself with Full Frontal

Theater
BY JOHN SIMON
Twelfth Night in Central Park is inept, but still entertaining

John Leonard's TV Notes

Classical Music
BY PETER G. DAVIS
Bright Sheng's magical score shines in The Silver River

Dance
BY TOBI TOBIAS
The Kirov Ballet offers a ravishing, refined rendition of La Bayadère

Restaurants
BY ADAM PLATT
L'Actuel gets a much-welcomed makeover as Olica

CUE
Top Five
Movies
Music & Nightlife
Theater
Art
Kids
Classical & Dance
The Mix