May 19, 2005

PROS WILL LIFT STOX IN JUNE

THERE'S at least one thing Wall Street can be glad about: next month is June, a happy month. It's been that kind of stock market. And right now the calendar,...

VERDICT MAY BE LAST STRAW FOR PURCELL

Battered Morgan Stanley CEO Phil Purcell may have taken a bigger hit than the company's beleaguered shareholders when a Florida jury awarded Ron Perelman $850 million in punitive damages yesterday....

SAY IT AIN'T SONY - SPITZER SERVES IENNER, EXECS IN RECORD PROBE

At least a dozen executives at SonyBMG, including Donnie Ienner, president and CEO of the Sony Music U.S. label group, have received subpoenas from New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer...

MORGAN FAILURE - DEFIANT FIRM GETS SLAMMED FOR ANOTHER $850M

Morgan Stanley is being ordered to write Ron Perelman a whopping check for $1.45 billion as full punishment for wrecking a Perelman deal seven years ago. A jury in West...

NURSING HIS INNER CHILD - OCTOGENARIAN BILLIONAIRE BOOZE BARON BUYS MAG

Liquor baron Sidney Frank has doubled the size of his fledgling Frank Media, snapping up Business Traveler magazine from Institutional Investor owner Euromoney. It marks the second acquisition in three...

SUIT: HANK SET UP CRONIES

AIG and its board of directors set up a subsidiary that not only illegally made deposed AIG chairman Maurice "Hank" Greenberg and a select group of cronies rich but helped...

HANK IS HIT BY CRONY BIN SUIT

AIG and its board of directors set up a subsidiary that not only illegally made deposed AIG chairman Maurice "Hank" Greenberg and a select group of cronies rich but helped...

CBS DUMPS '60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY'

CBS has canceled "60 Minutes Wednesday," which sparked an investigation into the network's storied news division earlier this year. CBS chief Leslie Moonves said yesterday that the show had been...

TRUE BRIT - 'THERE WAS NOTHING TOO RAW THAT WE COULDN'T PUT ON TV'

NETWORK producers of Britney Spears' new UPN reality show had just three weeks to assemble the Spears' home video footage into a prime-time show. "We were brought on less than...

COLDPLAY CHILL - AOL WEBCAST CRAMPS STYLE OF BRITISH ROCKERS

ON the same day Coldplay complained that corporate shareholders "are the great evil of the modern world," the British rockers took the Beacon stage Tuesday night in league with America...

NEW DAVE IS THE FAVE

IN a three-way race to the top of the Billboard Top 200 chart, the Dave Matthews Band handily defeated Weezer and Nine Inch Nails for the No. 1 spot. Boosted...

FIRST TO FACE 'PARDY KEN

L.A. writer Jerome Vered was victorious on "Jeopardy!" last night - winning the chance to take on reigning champ Ken Jennings. Vered defeated New York transit cop Frank Spangenberg and...

STARR REPORT

The dulcet tones of former WQXR personality Gregg Whiteside haven't completely disappeared from the local airwaves. I did some checking around, after hearing from readers who miss Gregg's work, and...

GIRL ON 'TOP' - WINNER: 'I WOULD NEVER DO THIS AGAIN'

FORDS aren't the only hard bodies coming out of Detroit - Motor City waitress Naima Mora was named the winner of "America's Next Top Model" last night. "It was a...

REBEL WITH A 401(K) - INDIE-YUPPIES SWAPPING PINSTRIPES FOR WHITE STRIPES; BOHOS MAKING BANK

MEET the new yuppie: the urban striver who listens to "O.C."-approved indie rock, checks the right blogs to find out about "secret" rock shows, considers white iPod earbuds the ultimate...

MOSHING MAMAS - MOM BANDS GO BEYOND ROCKING THE CRADLE

WHEN Westchester mom Joy Rose was a kid, her mom would scream at her to lower the volume on her stereo when it got too loud. Now the leader for...

OFF-SEASON ALTERNATIVES

AFTER everyone's been hired or fired on "The Apprentice," and after Jack Bauer stops the clock on "24," couch potatoes can rejoin the land of the living. It's sad to...

YOU GOTTA HAVE HEART - JON BLOOSTEIN'S SAVVY HELPS KEEP BUSINESS BUBBLING AT HIS HEARTLAND BREWERY EATERIES

WHILE some retail tenants rely on their brokers to boost their visibility, Heartland Brewery owner Jon Bloostein has taken matters into his own hands and created an easy going DVD...

SOHO - SO GOOD - HOW THE AREA IS KEEPING ITSELF VITAL AND ALIVE

LONG after its purported demise, SoHo is not only alive and well but is thriving as a mixed retail environment. Sure, September 11 knocked the wind out of its sales...

LIFESTYLE CHANNELS - ATLAS PARK, QUEENS OFFERS HOUSING AND SHOPPING IN ONE "LIFESTYLE CENTER"

A FORMER Queens industrial complex is being turned into the city's first lifestyle center. The Shops at Atlas Park is located at Cooper Avenue and 80th Street in central Queens...

EDUCATION STATIONS: GETTING CREATIVE - USING SHOPS AS SCHOOL LOCATIONS

WITH New York City becoming the education capital of the world, classes are spilling over from formal school settings to retail locations, and the creatives are cooking up school settings...

ALL BETS ARE OFF FOR THIS MET MAN - TEAM'S TOP GROUNDSKEEPER IN 'MOB' GAMBLE BUST DIAMOND DUD:

Cops and prosecutors hit the big score yesterday, rolling up one of the largest sports-betting operations in history - an international, mob-controlled ring based in Queens that took in $360...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A black Florida high school senior kiddingly posed with a leash held by his white girlfriend for a yearbook photo under the heading "most whipped" student. But the mother of...

SEX-HARASS RAP VS. DIDDY CO.

A female worker slapped hip-hop mogul Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' clothing company with a sexual-harassment suit yesterday, claiming her supervisor made lewd comments - including suggesting that she was into...

52% WENT BELLY-UP IN THE BAR TEST

Fifty-two percent of aspiring lawyers can't argue before the court because they flunked the New York State Bar exam, new test results show. Still, the pass rate is an improvement...

APPLE HOME BOOM - 'BUBBLE' SWELLS AGAIN

In a slap to the growing predictions of a real-estate market crash, Manhattan apartment prices have posted yet another bubble-licious upswing. Real Estate Board of New York figures released today...

SPITZER HAILS WALL ST. CLEANUP

WASHINGTON - New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer spoke before a left-leaning think tank yesterday as he touted his crackdown on Wall Street. Spitzer cast his crusade against big-business shenanigans...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN * Cops yesterday released a photo of a man wanted for a string of gunpoint robberies at beauty salons. Between March 4 and April 23, Jamel Stevens (above), 27,...

MARCHING OFF TO 'WARS' - JEDI-JOYOUS FILMGOERS STORM THEATERS AS 'III' STRIKES

The Force took the Big Apple at a minute past midnight this morning, as the final chapter of "Star Wars" debuted all over the city. But 400 lucky New York...

RUDY MAY BE BIG WINNER IN JUDGE WAR

RUDY GIULIANI'S 2008 presidential hopes could get a boost from the Senate's filibuster fight - because it puts his top Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, at odds with the GOP's...

VEGAS BIGS BET ON BUDDY WEINER

FEW people leave Las Vegas a winner - but Anthony Weiner is one of them. Sin City honchos have doled out more than $40,000 to Weiner's congressional campaigns and anted...

DON'T GO THERE, DONALD

FOR a guy who's been awfully discreet about his own downtown plans, Donald Trump can sure spout off loud and clear about a parcel where he has nothing at stake....

PORNO-GRAPHIC - JACKO CUZ TELLS OF KID'S DIRTY DOINGS

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Michael Jackson's kid cousin told a tale of nocturnal nastiness yesterday as he recalled seeing the King of Pop's sex accuser masturbating to pornography in a...

L.I. 'ROBBER' SHOT BY COPS

The 13th try was unlucky for a Long Island serial bank robber shot and wounded by cops yesterday after he tried to run over a detective outside a Citibank branch...

BOPPING THE BOOKIES IS NO WAY TO WIN THIS RACE

I AM shocked, horrified and eternally mortified the head groundskeeper at Shea Stadium has been snagged in a sports-betting gambling ring in Queens. Dominic Valila is quite obviously a monster...

GOV VOWS ANOTHER GO AT STADIUM

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki will try again next Wednesday to win approval of the West Side stadium project at a special meeting of the Public Authorities Control Board. Pataki made...

'RELIEVED' GALS THANK POLS FOR POTTY FAVOR

A city bill may end women's room lines like this one in new buildings. Those waiting lines outside ladies rooms are about to become a thing of the past. The...

COMMISH DEFENDS CENTRAL PK. LIMITS

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe yesterday defended his plan to limit the number of large events on Central Park's Great Lawn, telling a City Council hearing that the lawn is fragile...

EMS HEROES

The city's Emergency Medical Service yesterday gave its highest honors to an EMT and a paramedic who risked their lives attempting to save New Yorkers. At the FDNY EMS Medal...

BEATEN KID TO FACE BEAST OF BELLEVUE

In a shocking and vile attack last year, a prowling pedophile plucked a sick 13-year-old girl from her Bellevue Hospital bed. He dragged the girl into an empty conference room,...

MAYOR BLOOMBERG AGAIN SHOWED OFF HIS LANGUAGE SKILLS YESTERDAY ...

Mayor Bloomberg - nicknamed the "Latin Lover" by The Post (left) for his Spanish campaign ads - again showed off his language skills yesterday. At a press conference in The...

FRIST BIDS TO BUST FILIBUSTER - PUTS UP 'NUKE OPTION'

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist yesterday moved the so-called "nuclear option" to the launch pad - a tactic to force votes on President Bush's judicial nominees, which could...

SARAH-SLAY SUSPECT SELLING PAD FOR $1M

The prime suspect in the brutal slaying of a 21-year-old Juilliard drama student is selling his Manhattan co-op apartment for $1 million and moving to New Jersey. Dimitri Sheinman's four-bedroom...

WHAT A MAROON! - CASTAWAY KOOKS TELL OF JAMAICA BAY ODYSSEY

First, their boat ran aground on a sandbar. Then, they ran out of gas trying to get free. Finally, a high tide washed them off the sandbar, but they got...

ROLL-AWAY CAR MANGLES MAN

A man was severely injured in upper Manhattan yesterday when he was pinned between two cars after trying to stop one of them from rolling down a hill, authorities said....

THUGS FLEE QNS. HOSTAGE HORROR

Ten thugs held a family hostage yesterday while trashing their Queens home, authorities said. At about 3:30 a.m., the unidentified suspects climbed through a second-floor window of the two-family house...

READ IT AND CHEER - HUGE JUMP IN SCORES FOR MINORITY SCHOOLKIDS

Black and Hispanic fourth-graders in some of the city's poorest and lowest-performing public-school districts posted the largest gains on the state's standardized reading tests this year - narrowing the achievement...

RUDE, BUTT LEGAL - FANNY-SLAP RAP KO'D

It's not necessarily a crime to pat a person on the posterior, a Manhattan judge has ruled. The finding - a potential blow to harassed women and boon to pro...

'DESPERATE' ACTOR BUST BOGUS: AIDE

The young "Desperate Housewives" star busted for allegedly smoking pot on the Lower East Side was "just in the wrong place at the wrong time," his manager said yesterday. Cody...

CRUEL CAT BEATER WILL BE CAGED

A Bronx parolee who savagely beat his pet kitten last month has agreed to spend the next nine months behind bars, one for each of the nine lives he nearly...

PAP-TEST BLUNDERS SPARK HOSP-ALERT OVERHAUL

Officials will make unannounced spot checks at city hospitals to make sure the facilities are informing women of their Pap-test results. The move comes in the wake of one city...

IT'S TWO MUCH TRUMP - HYPES WTC, SHOW

Donald Trump showed he's no apprentice when it comes to promoting his plan for rebuilding on Ground Zero - or his hit reality TV show. New York's megadeveloper yesterday unveiled...

VIDEO PEEP SWEEP ON UPPER E. SIDE - SUBWAY CONTRACTOR EYED IN PERV PROBE

Cops searched for video cameras hidden under subway grates on the Upper East Side yesterday - fearing a pervert who installed one to peek up women's skirts may have planted...

TRAGIC BRITISH EARL FOUND DEAD IN VILLAGE

A young English aristocrat died of a suspected heart attack in Greenwich Village - just a month after the hacked-up body of his booze-loving, skirt-chasing father was found in the...

NAZI THREATS ON QNS. CARS

Many Flushing residents were shocked to find Nazi racial threats and swastikas scrawled on their cars yesterday. Police said 19 cars along 164th Street near Jewel Avenue had graffiti saying:...

PRAYING FOR BLOOD MIRACLE

These are desperate hours for Davina Daniels, a Queens single mom who is nearing death from sickle-cell anemia and in dire need of lifesaving blood transfusions. "I don't want to...

'ECO TERROR' EYED IN THREE L.I. FIRES

Three suspicious fires early yesterday in a ritzy area of Long Island's Gold Coast prompted fire officials to investigate whether environmental terrorists were once again targeting the area. Nobody was...

HILL MAN HAD ME 'FIX' $$ - PLANNER'S TESTIMONY

LOS ANGELES - A planner of the star-studded Hollywood gala to raise money for Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate campaign testified yesterday that she was told by Clinton's former chief fund-raiser...

JETS NEAR PLAN B TO PLAY IN JERSEY

While the Jets battle for a West Side stadium, team officials are close to signing a backup plan to play in a new stadium in New Jersey until 2018, sources...

'MISCARRIAGE' GAL'S CHECKERED PAST

The pregnant Brooklyn woman who claims she suffered a miscarriage after cops manhandled her was charged last year with insurance fraud, police sources said yesterday. Michelle Dutchin, who claims cops...

COP HOOKED IN PROSTY STING

An off-duty cop was busted during a Gramercy Park prostitution sting early yesterday, police said. An undercover team cracking down on prostitution in the area caught 13-year NYPD veteran Richard...

BYE, BABY: 'IDOL' DOWN TO 2

Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood will square off in the "American Idol" finale next week after Vonzell Solomon's elimination on last night's live show. Bice, the bearded, long-haired rocker, and...

SARAH SUSPECT SELLS - MAN EYED IN MURDER GETTING $1M

The prime suspect in the brutal slaying of a 21-year-old Juilliard drama student is selling his Manhattan co-op for $1 million and moving to New Jersey. Dimitri Sheinman's four-bedroom digs...

MURDOCH LAUDS HERO EDUCATORS

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch last night praised teachers from an organization dedicated to educating children in low-income areas - describing them as "civil-rights leaders." Murdoch was honored by Teach...

MARCHING OFF TO 'WARS' - JEDI-JOYOUS FILMGOERS GIVE THUMBS-UP TO SUPER 'SITH'

Sci-fi nerds, light-saber-toting geeks and everyday fans have spoken: The new "Star Wars" movie is out of this world. "I've been a major 'Star Wars' fan for 30 years and...

SEAMEN DIE IN L.I. CRASH

Two midshipmen from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy were killed in a fiery car accident on Long Island yesterday. Brett Penfold, 21, of Bellport, L.I. and Matthew Freeman, 23, of...

COME OUT AND PLAY

Today Classroom Extra salutes New York's great Central Park as one of the world's most famous playgrounds. Central Park is one of the best things in New York City. Thousands...

SPITZER TOUTS WALL ST. STANCE

WASHINGTON - New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer spoke before a leftleaning think tank yesterday as he touted his crackdown on Wall Street. "We believe . . . it's absolutely...

RUDY COULD BE BIG WINNER IN JUDGE WAR

RUDY GIULIANI'S 2008 presidential hopes could get a surprise boost from the Senate's filibuster fight - because it puts his top Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, at odds with the...

TRAGIC EARL DEAD IN VILLAGE - PA SLAIN LAST MONTH

A young English aristocrat died of a suspected heart attack in Greenwich Village - just a month after the hacked-up body of his booze-loving, skirt-chasing father was found in the...

FANNY-PAT RUDE, BUTT NO CRIME

It's not necessarily a crime to pat a person on the posterior, a Manhattan judge has ruled. The finding - a potential blow to harassed women and boon to pro...

WE FANS BEAR UP FOR LONG GEEK-END

If you feel a sharp pain today - as if millions of voices cried out and were suddenly silenced - look no further than the guy at the next desk....

CRYING 'BABY' BOOTED AS 'IDOL' SETS FINAL BATTLE

Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood will square off in the "American Idol" finale next week following Vonzell Solomon's elimination on last night's live show. Bice, the bearded, longhaired rocker, and...

METS RIDE BEL-TRAIN - A SUPERSTAR FOR OTHER SIDE OF TRACKS

EVERY now and again, he'll catch a snippet of news, a highlight here or there, a few paragraphs in a newspaper. Carlos Beltran has never been one to dwell too...

COLLEGE GRID HALL TABS CLASS OF '05

When Cornelius Bennett heard he'd been picked for the College Football Hall of Fame, he called his mother and his wife. When Don Nehlen found out, he figured his wife...

ISIAH AWAITS NATE'S FATE

Sometime late tonight, Nate McMillan could become the newest hot coaching free agent on the NBA market and the latest to draw Isiah Thomas' lust. The Sonics are one loss...

KERR CLIMBS THE CHARTS - TOP AMERICAN ON LPGA TOUR LOOKS TO CASH IN AT NEW ROCHELLE

Cristie Kerr enters this week's Sybase Classic at the Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle carrying a bit of pressure with her. It's pressure that comes with success, so it's...

'GALAXY' COULD BE STAR OF DAY

BALTIMORE - Trainer Glen Stute leaned on the rail in front of Greeley's Galaxy's stall at Pimlico yesterday and conceded up front, "I'm a bettin' man." He paused briefly, then...

DOUG SAYS PEDRO'S BEAN THERE BEFORE

Doug Mientkiewicz doesn't think the Yankees are intimidated by Pedro Martinez. The Mets first baseman also doesn't believe Martinez will be trembling over the Bombers - even if he does...

CAM GOES 'HOME' FOR DAY

MET NOTES Centerfield at Shea had a familiar look yesterday. Mike Cameron, the Mets' rightfielder who's won two Gold Gloves in center, got to play his old position when manager...

ACHY SIERRA BOUNCES BACK

YANK NOTES SEATTLE - One day after leaving an extended spring training game in Tampa with a left hip flexor problem, Ruben Sierra returned to action yesterday. "He went 1-for-6...

POLS WISH THEY HAD REAL MUSCLE

WASHINGTON - Congress now loves the new, rough, tough, Bud Selig, bullied into returning with 50-game penalties for the first steroid offense, 100 games for the second, a lifetime ban...

A FEDERAL CASE - SELIG ONLY 'BUD' OF 'ROID PROPOSAL

WASHINGTON - The delicate dance between Congress and leaders of the country's professional sports leagues over their efforts to curtail athletes' use of steroids continued yesterday at the Capitol. The...

PRINCE VERDICT EXPECTED MONDAY

All that remains in the trial of Epiphanny Prince are closing arguments and the judge's verdict, both of which should come when proceedings resume Monday. But while those surrounding the...

'ZERO' WORTH TRIP FOR ELLIOTT

2ND RACE - It looked as if favored Impeachthepro would have his chances compromised when Pioneer Boy ranged up on outside to set pace, but Edgar Prado was usual cool...

WILLIE'S STAYING COOL WITH YANKEES ON WAY

This will be the ninth year they've played the Subway Series but the first time Willie Randolph will be a part of it not wearing Pinstripes. But while Randolph is...

UNLUCKY DRAW? - DERBY CHAMP GETS 13TH POST FOR PREAKNESS

BALTIMORE - Giacomo, on a mission to prove his 50-1 triumph in the May 7 Run for the Roses was no fluke, stepped off a van at Pimlico yesterday afternoon...

CARDOZO'S TYLER CHOOSES FDU

When Fairleigh Dickinson coach Tom Green first started recruiting former Cardozo star Cameron Tyler, the guard didn't give him much of a chance. "I thought they were too low," said...

YANKEE STREAK HITS DEAD END - THREE ERRORS OPEN DOOR FOR MARINER RALLY

Mariners 7 - Yankees 6 SEATTLE - The Yankees' 10-game winning streak wasn't stopped last night - it was given away. Thanks to three errors that produced two unearned runs...

TORRE REFUSES TO SIT STRUGGLING MATSUI

SEATTLE - Since Hideki Matsui hadn't homered in 140 at-bats and was hitting .250 going into last night's game against the Mariners at Safeco Field, Joe Torre was asked if...

IT'S OCTOBER IN MAY

THEY ARE paid to play 162 games a year, to take the field with the same sense of purpose and professionalism when facing a generic opponent with 12,000 people in...

COLD STRETCH - TORRE REFUSES TO SIT STRUGGLING MATSUI

SEATTLE - Following Tuesday night's 6-0 win over the Mariners at Safeco Field, Joe Torre was asked what he would do concerning Jason Giambi, Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez for...

METS' TRAIN ROLLS INTO SUBWAY STOP - SWEEP CINCY; YANKS UP NEXT

Mets 10 - Reds 6 Willie Randolph wanted payback, and the Mets earned it the past three days against the amateurish Reds. With revenge taken care of, now comes the...

WAITING GAME - HURTING HIP MOVES PEDRO TO SUNDAY

It promised to be a mesmerizing moment tomorrow, Pedro Martinez taking the mound at Shea Stadium against the Yankees. But you're going to have to wait another couple of days...

HEAD OVER ILLS - REGGIE ARRIVES, JASON'S BAT COMES TO LIFE

SEATTLE - Reggie Jackson boarded a plane from Seattle to southern California yesterday morning and the biggest question in the Yankees' universe was this: What effect would Jackson not being...

THE MATCHUPS - YANKS STILL RATE EDGE AS METS NARROW TALENT GAP

A position-by-position look at how the Yankees and Mets stack up for this weekend's Subway Series at Shea: CATCHER Jorge Posada has been up and down offensively, but has benefited...

GOTTA HAND IT TO SHEFFIELD

YANK NOTES SEATTLE - Gary Sheffield's violent swing doesn't come with a small price. Two weeks ago the Yankees' No. 3 hitter broke several blood vessels in his left hand...