October 27, 1999

CITIGROUP LANDS RUBIN: EX-TREASURY BOSS TAKES BOARD SEAT

Citigroup snared Bob Rubin yesterday, naming the former Treasury Secretary to its board as well as a three-person office of the chairman. Rubin, 61, will not have any line responsibilities...

CATHOLIC LEAGUE BLASTS VF FOR BIASED ARTICLES

The Catholic League has launched an aggressive campaign to stop Vanity Fair from what it considers Catholic bashing. In a full-page ad in yesterday's New York Times, the 350,000-member group...

ANALYST'S SUIT CLAIMS BEAR CLAWED HIM FOR GAY HARASSMENT COMPLAINT

A Bear Stearns analyst was fired after complaining that his male boss demanded gay sexual favors in return for a bonus, a lawsuit charges. Richard Bracco, who calls himself a...

DOW AVERAGE BOOTS UP; NASDAQ'S INTEL AND MICROSOFT ARE ADDED

The blue chips caught up with the age of computer chips yesterday as Nasdaq-listed Microsoft and Intel were added to the bellwether Dow Jones industrial average. Showing the increasing prominence...

VANITY FAIR HIRES GENE PRESSMAN ; IS IT SQUEEZING TINA?

Long-time rivals Tina Brown and Graydon Carter have something new to battle over - which one got the better half of Barneys' legendary creative team. Vanity Fair's editor has hired...

DEN EXECS QUIT ON EVE OF IPO

The three co-founders of an Internet start-up about to go public hastily resigned yesterday amid questions about their extravagant compensation and lifestyle. The creators of the Digital Entertainment Network -...

FLORIO GETS THAT CONDE NAST-Y FEELING

A NEW sense of intrigue gripped the Conde Nast empire yesterday in the wake of the sudden "resignation" of longtime company veteran Cathy Viscardi Johnston late Monday night. CEO Steve...

ABT TAKES GRAHAM'S POETIC 'ANGELS' IN STRIDE

THEY used to say that classic dance and American modern dance could never be performed, or at least performed adequately, by the same dancers. Yet for years now the barriers...

FUSION DELUSIONS AT VOLUBLE VOX

RESTAURANT REVIEW VOX 646 165 Eighth Avenue FUGGEDABOUDIT, our waiter at Vox 646 might as well say when I ask about paella with frogs' legs, shellfish and chorizo. "I don't...

WHERE THE ELITE MEET TO EAT MEAT

CHEAP EATS EL OMBU 1363 First Ave. P ERHAPS it's just taking time for locals to heed the cattle call to El Ombu, a new Argentine steakhouse on the Upper...

YOUR BEST BETTE FOR A LAUGH

BETTE Midler's variety show, "The Divine Miss Millennium Tour," is an outlandish affair that draws its humor from controlled chaos, surreal stagecraft and sharp-tongued wit. Oh, yeah - Midler also...

TWISTED TALESBENT ON IRONY

IT was, thought the German doctor, a droll idea to entertain children with tales of grotesque and monstrous infant deaths. Disobey some petty rule - don't play with matches; don't...

'WE'VE ALWAYS HAD A GOOD RELATIONSHIP' ; BRYANT DENIES PERSONAL FEUD WITH 'TODAY'S' KATIE COURIC

BRYANT Gumbel is soft-peddling his apparent feud with "Today" show host Katie Couric. "We've never exchanged a bad word," Gumbel said yesterday about his former co-host . "As far as...

'BUSINESS CENTER' UNSEATS 'MONEYLINE' CNBC SCORES FIRST VICTORY OVER LOU DOBBS-LESS RIVAL ON CNN

CNBC'S red-hot "Business Center" beat its sagging archrival, CNN's "Moneyline," for the first time last week. For the five days ending last Friday, "Business Center" averaged 247,000 households vs. 246,000...

THE STARR REPORT

Bill Carey out at Ch.2 Bill Carey has resigned as news director at third-place WCBS/Ch.2 after two years. "Bill has elected to retire to pursue other opportunities," said a CBS...

A PARENT'S WORST NIGHTMARE

Yesterday, little Stephen Johnson - who was abducted from a Chelsea playground late Saturday afternoon, held overnight and then abandoned miles away at a Bronx subway station - had to...

TALK OF THE TEA ROOM: WARNER LEROY'S HOT NEW CHEF GIVES HIS FIRST INTERVIEW

FIRST Listener Hillary Clin ton's million-dollar birthday party/fund-raiser on Monday featured hubby Bill, billionairess Martha Stewart, Robert DeNiro, Lauren Bacall, felonious actor Christian Slater - and Democratic Party fat cats....

DISNEY'S HEIR: A BRILLIANT JAPANESE ANIMATOR GOES HOLLYWOOD WITH 'PRINCESS MONONOKE'

PUT aside your preconceptions and prepare to be enchanted. Japanese anime, that sometimes hard-to-follow style of animation so popular in Asia, has so far had only a limited appeal in...

THE ROTTING OF ELLIS ISLAND; THE 'NEW' PLAN TO FIX UP ITS FORGOTTEN SIDE IS HALF A CENTURY OLD

A CONSULTANT group hired by the National Park Service has just recommended a "new" plan on what to do with the southern half of Ellis Island, which served as America's...

POPE URGES COURAGE IN FACING AGE AND DEATH

A reflective Pope John Paul II said yesterday that although he still has a passion for life at age 79, he is not afraid of the inevitable. "I find great...

BUCHANAN OFFERS U.S. FASCISM WITH A HAPPY FACE

Patrick Buchanan, in his own words: "Though Hitler was indeed racist and anti-Semitic to the core ... he was also an individual of great courage, a soldier's soldier in the...

DOC STILL HOT FOR SOUTH POLE

The adventurous South Pole doctor who was rushed home this month for emergency breast-cancer surgery says she's recuperating - and, incredibly, would like to return to her icy job. "It...

FIERCE BATTLES ROLL TOWARD CHECHEN CAPITAL

Russian and Chechen forces engaged in the fiercest fighting of the Caucasus war yesterday as Moscow officials placed a $1million bounty on the head of an Islamic warlord. Western leaders...

SHOW'S OVER AT LAST FOR MERRICKS

The curtain has finally come down on Broadway's longest-running drama - the divorce of octogenarian Tony-winning producer David Merrick and the wife from whom he has been separated for 14...

DA PUTTING PATTY HEARST ON STAND ; WILL TESTIFY AT TRIAL OF RADICAL 'SOCCER MOM'

Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst - kidnapped in the 1970s by the Symbionese Liberation Army - will be the prosecution's star witness at the trial of alleged SLA fugitive Kathleen Soliah...

MUD-SLINGING HILLARY TAKES THE CAKE, RUDY SAYS

Mayor Giuliani said yesterday the stinging attacks launched against him at Hillary Rodham Clinton's Broadway birthday bash show she is taking the low road in their upcoming Senate race. "This...

CHUB CLUB EXPANDING ; OBESITY IN U.S. IS ON RISE: STUDY

Americans are eating their fat-loving hearts into a full-scale epidemic - with a whopping 50 percent more tipping the obesity scale since 1991, a new study finds. New Yorkers apparently...

30 HURT AS VIOLENCE IN BETHLEHEM GROWS

Israeli troops firing rubber bullets wounded 30 Palestinians yesterday as hundreds of demonstrators hurled rocks and bottles in a protest after a soldier killed a Palestinian in Bethlehem. It was...

SUCCESS GIVING RISE TO 'HIS AND HERS' VIAGRA

Viagra - it's not just for Bob anymore. In a few years, Liddy'll be able to get hers, too. Giant drug maker Pfizer Inc. said it's been studying the effects...

PINSTRIPE PADRE: ; GIVE 'EM HELL

Yankee chaplain the Rev. Edward McMahon usually preaches peace, but when it comes to his beloved World Series team he tells them to show no mercy to the Braves. "When...

JOE D'S BRO TESTIFIES ON BIAS AGAINST U.S. ITALIANS

WASHINGTON - Joe DiMaggio's father - like thousands of other Italian-Americans - was mistreated during World War II, the Yankee great's brother told a congressional panel yesterday. "It saddens me...

GORE'S GOT TO CONNECT IN 1ST ROUND AGAINST BRADLEY

Vice President Al Gore and Democratic rival Bill Bradley hold their first debate tonight in New Hampshire - and the pressure is on Gore, who's demanding more jab-fests to pull...

MAKE 'EM WORK, BUT CUT THE RED TAPE

A YOUNG, very pregnant Tina Guinty can't go home - she says her mother won't let her in. Pushing her 10-month-old son, Anthony, in a stroller even as she is...

TA DELAY FANNING FEARS OF JULY HELL

The Transit Authority's plan to install a cooling system at the Grand Central subway station has been put on ice, a new study indicates - forcing straphangers to brace for...

PAT: 'I'D LIKE ALL FOLKS' TO BE CHRISTIANS

Presidential wannabe and Reform Party convert Pat Buchanan - already under fire for faulting the United States for fighting Hitler - yesterday proclaimed Christianity the one "true faith." "I believe...

JUSTICE IS FINALLY SERVED AFTER NINE AGONIZING YEARS

IT WAS like listening to a symphony composed by angels. "Thank God for you. You made the difference. You carried the ball," former Police Lt. Patricia Feerick told me. "In...

HOMELESS PLAN SPURS WAR OF WORDS

A fierce debate erupted yesterday over Mayor Giuliani's plan to force the homeless to work for their shelter, with the mayor describing it as "compassionate" and critics blasting it as...

MAN KILLS EX-LOVER, SELF

A Bronx man fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and then himself yesterday in front of the couple's year-old daughter, who escaped injury, police said. Rayshawn Patterson, 24, of Morris Heights, walked...

NEWT'S BEAUT TO TESTIFY IN DIVORCE CASE

WASHINGTON - Newt Gingrich's girlfriend agreed yesterday to answer questions on videotape in his ugly divorce - days after sharing a $450 bottle of wine with the portly Republican at...

MTA SUED FOR SEARCHING CARS

A downtown garage owner has sued the MTA to stop the agency's cops from searching customers' cars. "The MTA is doing everything they can to drive my clients out of...

EDITOR QUITS IN FLAP OVER BUSH BOOK

Veteran journalist Robert Wallace has quit as St. Martin's Press editor-in-chief - the latest fallout over the controversial George W. Bush biography by disgraced writer James Hatfield. The resignation was...

SHRINK: SEXY VICTIM TOO MUCH FOR SUBWAY-PUSH FIEND

Schizophrenic Andrew Goldstein shoved a beautiful stranger in front of a speeding subway train because she "turned him on" sexually, the star prosecution expert testified yesterday. "To use the colloquial,...

NBC GUY HAD TO POSE ROSE QUERIES

Journalists and their subjects often do not get along. They are not supposed to. IF YOU believe in a free press, there is no Gray area concerning the now infamous...

JESSE MAY VENTURA INTO PREZ RACE

WASHINGTON - Reform Party Gov. Jesse "The Body" Ventura yesterday dealt a body blow to Pat Buchanan and Donald Trump - hinting he might climb into the presidential ring. "I'd...

DRUG-BUSTER COP FREED ; GOV GIVES CLEMENCY IN WRONGFUL SEARCH

Gov. Pataki yesterday granted clemency to ex-NYPD Lt. Patricia Feerick, who was convicted of illegally searching and terrorizing East Harlem drug dealers. Acting on a campaign conducted by cops and...

DIALLO'S DAD 'ABANDONED' HIM: MOTHER

The father of police shooting victim Amadou Diallo is a deadbeat dad - and should not control his son's potentially multimillion-dollar estate, Diallo's mother contends in scathing court papers filed...

GIRL BOUND AND ATTACKED AT BAYSIDE HS

A 16-year-old girl was found bound, bruised and possibly sexually assaulted in a basement locker room at a Queens high school late yesterday afternoon, police said. The 10th-grade student at...

2 STOCKBROKERS SLAIN AT POSH ESTATE

Two stockbrokers were executed yesterday in a lavish house on a 16-acre estate in the wealthy New Jersey town of Colts Neck, authorities said. "This is a definite 'whodunit,''' said...

GRAY FINDS CURTIS DISCOURTEOUS OVER PETE ROSE BLOWUP

The Yankees' Game 3 hero, Chad Curtis, snubbed NBC's Jim Gray last night - refusing to talk to him out of anger over the sports reporter's controversial interview with ex-baseballer...

BOMBER FANS GET THEIR BROOMS READY: THEY SMELL A SWEEP AFTER GAME 3 THRILLER

Yankee fans are ready and rarin' for a repeat today - hoping to see their beloved Bombers sweep their second straight World Series after chopping down the Atlanta Braves, 6-5,...

BOMBER FANS GET THEIR BROOMS READY: BRAVES DON'T HAVE GHOST OF A CHANCE

BRING your brooms to the ballpark tonight and hope that Roger Clemens doesn't get swept away by the magnitude of the moment. Once again, the Yankees are on the verge...

EERIE ECHO OF TOT-DROWN CASE

A depressed mother drove her car into a Minnesota lake to drown her two daughters, prosecutors said yesterday - in a ghoulish echo of Susan Smith's murder of her two...

SERIES TICKET DOLLARS LINE PLAYERS' POCKETS

IF you've been lucky enough to plunk down $150 for a box seat, $100 for a reserved seat or even $40 for bleacher seat for the World Series and are...

BIG FISH STICKING CLOSE TO BIG APPLE

T HIS time of year, it's usually the East End of Long Island that sees all the hot bass action. But for whatever reason, the western shores broke wide open...

MAKING HAY AT THE BIG A

Aqueduct, complete with a new $4 million paddock that now allows bettors to see the horses being saddled, opens its fall meet today and will play home to New York...

LAWRENCE IS ISLE WORRY

Wasn't this supposed to be Mark Lawrence's breakout season? That's what Islander General Manager Mike Milbury envisioned during training camp. Instead, Lawrence, a 27-year-old right wing, has been chewed up...

SPUTTERING DEVILS BRACE FOR BLUES

Carrying a season-high, two-game losing streak, the Devils (4-3-1-1) host the Blues tonight at the Meadowlands. The Devils are coming off a 3-1 loss to the Blues on Saturday at...

FASSEL'S JINTS AT CROSSROADS

THIS is the time of year when an investment must be made. Is it wise to make an emotional deposit on the Giants, to make a contribution of belief on...

SPREE'S SET TO MAKE CALL

Latrell Sprewell and his Atlanta-based agent Robert Gist met last night in Westchester in an attempt to reach a final decision on whether to accept the long-term, five-year contract-extension offer...

PHIFER DOESN'T WANT PITY: DESPITE RAMS' SUCCESS, JET LB ISN'T QUESTIONING MOVE

GOOD things, the saying goes, happen to good people. The question here then is this: What in the world has happened to Roman Phifer? A look at the star-crossed career...

SMOLTZ ISN'T HOLDING BACK

Now John Smoltz gets a chance. Obviously the Braves rely heavily upon their starting pitching, and through most of this World Series it has not been good enough. So Smoltz,...

SELIG: PETE'S BAN STANDS

Despite the outpouring of support for Pete Rose, commissioner Bud Selig indicated anew yesterday that he has no intention of lifting the banishment of baseball's all-time hit leader. "I have...

GRAY HAD RIGHT TO ASK ROSE

I F YOU believe in a free press, there is no Gray area concerning the now infamous Jim Gray-Pete Rose on-air conversation before Game 2 of the World Series. Gray...

YANKS STICK IT TO GRAY

The real question of the World Series heading into tonight's Game 4 at Yankee Stadium is not if the Bronx Bombers will win their 25th championship, but: When they do,...

BRAVES BELIEVE THEY CAN DO THE IMPOSSIBLE

They have been in this depressing situation before, as recently as last year in the NLCS. They didn't win then and there is very little chance they will win now....

BOSS BOASTS: TORRE'S BEST ; CLAIMS HIS MANAGER HAS 'TOUCH OF GENIUS'

George Steinbrenner has seen it all, done it all, been in the middle of it all, but he has never had such a complete manager as Joe Torre. Never. The...

SOJO: DAD WANTED ME TO BE PART OF THE TEAM

Luis Sojo walked into Yankee Stadium four hours before last night's game and the fans near the players' entrance started chanting his name. Sojo was back at home after one...

IT'S WAIT TILL LAST YEAR AS YANKS DO IT '98 WAY

HERE AT the end, the Yankees have finally found 1998. They have once again become an unstoppable march toward greatness. A single-minded force that has no off button. They spent...

CHUCK'S NO THROWAWAY ; WOES IN FIELD SHOULDN'T OVERSHADOW BIG BAT

LUIS Sojo returned to the Yankees last night for Game 3 of the 95th World Series, but Joe Torre didn't need to use him. Knoblauch did just fine all by...

GLAVINE CAN'T BELIEVE KNOBBY WENT YARD IN 8TH

Neither Tom Glavine, nor Brian Jordan nor any of the Braves could believe it when Chuck Knoblauch's home run went out of the park in the eighth inning of last...

BRAVE BATS FALL ASLEEP LATE

Finally, after lying in hibernation for two games, the Braves bats finally awoke last night for four innings. They might as well have stayed asleep. In fact, they might just...

JASON IS MONSTER IN MIDDLE RELIEF

Jason Grimsley's former claim to fame was stealing back Albert Belle's corked bat a few years ago. Last night he helped the Yankees steal back a game, and the World...

COX BLEW IT - BIG TIME

AWAY, away, away, Tom Glavine stayed from the Yankee bats for seven innings last night. Away, away, away, Bobby Cox got carried, if not by sending Glavine out for an...

GLAVINE: IT WASN'T MY NIGHT

Tom Glavine said he felt fine. He did not run out of gas. He was not rusty and his control wasn't off just because he hadn't pitched since Game 3...

YANKEES THINKING SWEEP THOUGHTS

Send in the brooms. Can there be any doubt now that the Yankees are nine innings away from winning their second straight World Series and 25th in club history tonight?...

TORRE MAY START POSADA

WORLD SERIES NOTEBOOK Jorge Posada has too much respect for Joe Torre and Joe Girardi to demand playing time. However, the switch-hitting catcher approached his manager and asked that he...

CHAD JOINS DENT, LEYRITZ IN HERO CLUB

For Yankee fans, the names will be etched in their memories forever. Three unlikely heroes. Four unlikely home runs - Bucky Dent, Jim Leyritz and now Chad Curtis. Leyritz has...

MEMORIES OF '96 HAUNTED PETTITTE

Yankee Stadium, the Braves and Andy Pettitte are a combustible combination in the World Series. Pettitte was terrible last night, surrendering five runs in 32/3 innings on 10 hits. The...

YANKS WON'T BUY RINGS JUST YET: INSIST 2-0 LEAD IN WORLD SERIES IS NO SURE THING

Last October, the Yankees fought a two-front war - one front against the Padres for the World Series title, and one for the label "Best Team Ever." This October, it's...

BOMBERS CAN CLINCH TONIGHT AS CHAD'S 2ND HR KOS BRAVES

The Yankees used their arms to win the first two games. Last night they flexed Chad Curtis' muscles to break the Braves' spine with a pulsating comeback victory in Game...

GRAY ISSUES APOLOGY TO ALL EXCEPT ROSE

Jim Gray has issued a blanket apology to all baseball fans for his confrontational interview with Pete Rose Sunday night - all baseball fans, that is, except Rose himself. "After...

HOUSE THAT STICK BUILT

A MINI-DYNASTY is not built in a day. If the Yankees ultimately attain this concocted Team of the Decade, it will be due to a decade of splendid moves. Ahead...

BOMBERS HAVE A BLAST:VICTORY OVER BRAVES A FOUR-GONE CONCLUSION

OK, so the Yankees do hit home runs. But only when they need them. This team is so good all you have to do is tell them they can't do...

THE BOMBERS' BIG TEN : JETER HEADS LIST OF MVPS, BUT HE'S FAR FROM ALONE

THE YANKEES have only one player who has a shot at being named the American League Most Valuable Player for 1999 but it's their depth that makes them the best...

THANKFUL TORRE LOVIN' LIFE EVEN MORE THAN GAME

The road has been long. The road has been scary, but it is a road that Joe Torre is so thankful to have traveled. "It's been an emotional year," Torre...

IF BAYLOR LEAVES, JONES MAY FOLLOW

Chipper Jones said his relationship with Braves hitting coach Don Baylor is so good, he would like to play for him one day when Baylor becomes a manager. Baylor, however,...

BRAVE BATS SHOW SIGNS OF LIFE

After hibernating for two games, the Braves bats' finally awoke last night for four innings. They might as well have stayed asleep. In fact, they might as well just sleep...

MAYS COOL WITH RICKEY, NOT METS

Willie Mays is upset with the Mets for giving out his No. 24 before this season. He is not, however, upset with the man who wore it and some would...

MADDUX: IT'S YANKS' ARMS

For years the Braves have been credited with having the best starting pitching staff in baseball, and it is probably true. The one constant they have had since the 1991...