October 18, 2006

The anxiety is building

Sitting here about 45 minutes before first pitch, and the fans are strating to filter into Shea. The crowd figures to be an anxious one tonight with the Mets' season...

Isiah likes Quentin, really

By MARC BERMAN and BRIAN LEWISThere was a perception last week Isiah Thomas was looking to up Quentin Richardson’s trade value when he went out of his way to praise...

METS' SPONSORS SCORE ON WILD PLAYOFF RIDE

Banco Popular Chief Executive Richard Carrion made a big investment in March 2005, when he signed a five-year deal to be the New York Mets' official bank sponsor. Although the...

MUSIC GIANT UNLEASHES COPYRIGHT DOGS

Universal Music Group yesterday filed copyright infringement charges against Grouper.com and Bolt.com - the first such lawsuits brought against a user-generated content Web site. The lawsuits, filed in U.S. District...

CBOT MERGER DEAL UPS NYMEX VALUE

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange's $8 billion deal for its crosstown rival, the Chicago Board of Trade, will likely boost the value of the New York Mercantile Exchange - one of...

TAKE-TWO'S BRANT EXITING

Ryan Brant, the controversial founder of high-profile SoHo video game designer Take-Two Interactive, is stepping down from the company, according to an SEC filing. Brant leaves a very mixed legacy....

DEAD MAN WALKS AS LAY IS CLEARED

Although dead and buried, Ken Lay is finally an innocent man with his slate wiped clean despite pulling off one of America's worst corporate frauds. A federal judge yesterday voided...

BLOUIN IN THE WIND; CFO FOLLOWS CEO OUT ARTSY LTB MEDIA'S DOOR

LOUISE T. Blouin MacBain, the wealthy Canadian behind artsy LTB Media, officially lost her second top-shelf executive this month when her chief money man said he was following defecting CEO...

SEMEL SEES MORE TOUGH TIMES AHEAD

Yahoo!, which has already suffered some embarrassing setbacks this year, yesterday reported disappointing third-quarter results and cut its sales forecast for this quarter. Chief Executive Terry Semel softened the blow...

ON EA$Y STREET - FINANCIAL INDUSTRY PAY IS 5 TIMES CITY AVERAGE

Maybe Wall Street really is paved with gold. People who toil in the securities industry earn five times more than other workers in the Big Apple - or an average...

TISHMAN EYES 666 CO-OWNER

LONG before they knew they would prevail in the bidding for Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, Tishman Speyer Properties started the process to hire a marketing firm to replace...

$8B CHICAGO MERC MERGER LIFTS NYMEX

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange's $8 billion deal for its crosstown rival, the Chicago Board of Trade, will likely boost the value of the New York Mercantile Exchange - one of...

TAKE THE METRO

* Izakaya Ten207 10th Ave., between 22nd and 23rd streets; (212) 627-7777 Little plates: $5 to $12; sushi and sashimi: $3 to $16 Korean-French boite D'Or Ahn has morphed into...

MESSED WESTERN

FATTY steak and soggy fries. A surf 'n' turf combo called a "tomahawk chop." These are what pass for Yee-haw! news in this dismal season for new restaurants, when New...

TIPS TO AVOID BEING POUND FOOLISH

HEY you, the one eating "just a salad" for lunch - you can ditch the holier-than-thou routine. According to Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, even...

CRAZY LOVE - 'BACHELOR' RICH GIRL HAS HER SAY

ERICA Rose, the drama-queen socialite who was booted off "The Bachelor: Rome" halfway through this week's episode, confesses she may be wee-bit snooty. "Maybe I've realized that I am a...

'FLAVOR' MOST FAVE

THE finale of "Flavor of Love 2" - the oddball dating show that has taken cable TV by storm - drew a staggering 7.5 million viewers last Sunday, according to...

WOWIE MALAWI! GET TO KNOW AFRICA, THE HIP PLACE TO STEAL A BABY

DON'T blow your paycheck at Bloomie's, girlfriend - it's baby time in Botswana! Developing world? Developing trend! Madonna just scooped up toddler David in Malawi (we'll forgive the lame-o name...

SCARY POPPINS - INTENSE SCENE HAS KIDS CRAWLING UNDER SEATS

WHEN "Mary Poppins" opened in London two years ago, producer Cameron Mackintosh announced that the show - which would seem to be the very definition of "family entertainment" - was...

SOUVENIR SPOONFUL

THOSE killer-rabbit slippers from "Spamalot"? So yesterday. This year's must-have souvenir is the parrot-handled umbrella from "Mary Poppins." Big, black and sturdy, the adult-size brolly - modeled on the one...

CLASSROOM EXTRA - MASSACHUSETTS - THE BAY STATE

Massachusetts was home to the Mayflower's Pilgrims and the scene of the famous Boston Tea Party. It is the sixth state, having ratified the Constitution on Feb. 6, 1788. MASSACHUSETTS...

RANKING FALL TV - FANS WILLING TO DATE, WON'T COMMIT

THE fall season is a month old, but already there is a clear group of winners - and losers. There is no "Grey's Anatomy" or "My Name Is Earl" among...

STARR REPORT

Sleeping with Tori Tori Spelling, who most recently headlined VH1's "NoTORIous," is pitching a new show in which she'd star with her husband, Dean McDermott. A source tells Us Weekly...

IT'S SHOWTIME - MEXICAN SOUNDS DOMINATE THE LIVE PERFORMANCES AT THIS YEAR'S GALA

YOU better like Mexican banda, ranchera, Latin pop and rock en español, because so far, that's the musical menu of performers set to jam at the Latin Grammy Awards next...

FRESH FACES - FOUR TALENTED SINGER-SONGWRITERS ARE ALSO VYING FOR BEST NEW ARTIST

Lena WHEN you're unsigned and Spanish pop idol Alejandro Sanz offers to duet with you, you know you got it goin' on. And that's basically where the Miami-based Cuban American...

ANTHRAX - STILL NO ANSWERS: FIVE YEARS AFTER

IT'S a strange anniversary. Five years ago, what looked like a crank "letter to the editor" containing anthrax landed on my desk. We were too busy to open mail in...

UNFABULOUS NIGHT FOR FABOLOUS - RAPPER BUSTED AFTER GETTING SHOT

Rapper Fabolous was shot in the leg in a Manhattan parking garage early yesterday after he and his crew left a swank eatery owned by hip-hop guru Sean "Diddy" Combs,...

'SOPRANO' EX ADMITS DWI RAP

The ex-girlfriend of cop-slay-suspect "Sopranos" actor Lillo Brancato pleaded guilty yesterday to DWI, and will have to attend alcohol-abuse counseling sessions and pay a $500 fine. Stefanie Armento, 21, pleaded...

DEATH LEAP ON PARK AVENUE

A woman left a note on her bed and jumped from the 10th floor of her Park Avenue apartment building to her death, authorities said yesterday. They said there was...

N. KOREA PLANNING ANOTHER NUKE TEST

WASHINGTON - North Korea made what looked like preparations for a second nuclear test yesterday as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew to Asia on an urgent mission to put...

MIKE WIN IS DOMINICAN PAY PARADE

In the same year he was actively courting Dominican voters, Mayor Bloomberg stepped up his charitable donations to their groups, according to records his office released yesterday. Premiering on his...

ONLINE HIGHS FOR 'ADDICTS'

Blogs and YouTube are as addictive as cigarettes and booze, according to a new study that reveals more than one in eight Americans shows signs of being hooked on the...

W. INKS TERROR TRIAL LAW - GRILLING BUT NO TORTURE

WASHINGTON - President Bush signed a "vital tool" in the war on terror into law yesterday, authorizing aggressive interrogation of detainees and paving the way for the criminal trials of...

2 MACE CADETS SPRAY 5

Two teenage brothers went on a Mace spraying spree in Queens, sending five men to hospitals, police said. The first attack took place at 10:30 p.m. Monday, when the 15-year-old...

2 BUSTED IN 'KERIK' DOOR DEAL

A scandal connected to Bernard Kerik reared its head yesterday with the arrests of two people who bid on some high-tech security doors ordered by the then-police commissioner. Alan Risi,...

PENN STATION BLUES - WE WERE NEVER GETTING THE MAJESTY BACK

AS the long-aborning plan for Moynihan Station faces an almost certain premature burial today at the hands of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, there's plenty of emotion to go around: sadness,...

THIS MA IS MADE OF BETTER 'MATERIAL'

YOU can't say Mama Madonna is not a savvy shopper - she made a beeline for the express checkout lane to get her hands on her latest baby boy. Other...

HIP HOP COP GETS TIME TO RHYME IN JAIL

A disgraced NYPD narcotics officer is facing at least 3 ½ years in prison after he was convicted in a scheme to stick up drug dealers. A Manhattan Supreme Court...

SNUGGLING 'GAY' COPS NAB BASHER

A Brooklyn man chose the wrong targets to gay-bash when he picked on two undercover cops pretending to be snuggling paramours in Union Square Park, authorities said yesterday. Tyrone George,...

ULTIMATUM ON TRAIN STATION

A furious Gov. Pataki warned he'll yank the $900 million Moynihan Train Station project and dump the developers working with Madison Square Garden if the plan is not approved in...

1 IN 300,000,000 - 3 CITY HOSPS STAKE CLAIM ON BEING BIRTHPLACE OF MILESTONE AMERICAN TOT

Three city hospitals yesterday claimed to be the birthplace of the 300 millionth American - by delivering babies precisely at 7:46 a.m. It's a real New York tale. The race...

$2.65B FOR LIRR PLAN

The federal government is set to contribute $2.65 billion toward the MTA's East Side Access project, which will connect the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Terminal, officials said....

CORY'S KID MVP - YANK WIDOW: SON MY ROCK

COVINA, Calif. - The wife of tragic Yankee pitcher Corey Lidle said yesterday she never would have been able to make it through the worst week of her life had...

VEEP IS VEXED OVER LYNNE'S WRIST SLAP

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney expressed shock at the wrist-slap prison sentence that attorney Lynne Stewart got - despite being "in bed" with terrorist mastermind Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. "I...

SICKO SLAY ALIBI - 'NIXZMARY WAS FAKING'

As little Nixzmary Brown lay naked, beaten and dying - moaning in pain on a mattress in a spare utility room in her Brooklyn apartment - the man accused of...

SNIPES 'SWIPES' $12M IN TAX SCAM: IRS - SHADY DOINGS WITH ACCOUNTING 'MINISTRY'

"Blade" star Wesley Snipes is facing the sharp side of the law after he was indicted on charges of trying to cheat the IRS out of $12 million in bogus...

PERV PIMP GETS 16 YRS.

A Brooklyn judge sentenced an ex-con pimp to eight to 16 years in prison yesterday for putting a 15-year-old girl out on the street, then telling her, "I love you...

RUDY SLAMS DEMS AS SOFT

Rudy Giuliani blasts Democrats, saying they are poised to "dismantle" anti-terror programs and "weaken our military," in a fund-raising e-mail for Republican senators. In some of his most partisan rhetoric...

'BORAT' TALKS 'TODD' FLICK

Borat is now make already plan for big next Hollywood America film. British filmmaker and actor Sacha Baron Cohen - famous for playing the English-mangling Kazakh journalist Borat - is...

SCHOOL PERV SAYS 'SORRY'

A twisted Staten Island man who admitted secretly videotaping girls' bathrooms at two Brooklyn high schools was filled with remorse yesterday as a judge sentenced him to probation and community...

MOM AND GIRL BLUDGEONED

The badly decomposed bodies of a 9-year-old girl and her mother were found yesterday in a ninth-floor apartment in an Upper West Side housing project, police said. The girl, identified...

$5.4 BIL STUY TOWN DEAL SHATTERS RECORD

A joint venture led by New York developer Tishman Speyer announced yesterday that it will pay a record $5.4 billion for the giant apartment complex Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper...

PERVY PETE'S NUTTY CLAIM

Accused "fire fiend" Peter Braunstein is so insane, he didn't know it's wrong to kidnap and sexually assault someone. That's what Braunstein will argue - in hopes of being found...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * Police yesterday released a photo of a teenager who allegedly shot dead his pregnant girlfriend in her Williamsburg apartment. Tirek Dixon (above), 17, allegedly shot 19-year-old Nanika Brown...

GOOD FRIENDS - PALS JEN AND COURTENEY NEIGHBORS, TOO

Jennifer Aniston will soon be a friend and neighbor of Courteney Cox. The knockout actress has purchased a stunning Beverly Hills property for $15 million, putting her three doors away...

READY OR NOT, CRACKDOWN IS COMING

THERE'S no telling what changes mighty Tishman Speyer will bring to Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village over time - but in the short run, I wouldn't want to be...

DIRTY CASH OF POL-LOOTER - FEDS: HE PLUNDERED $2M FROM UNION - & LITTLE LEAGUE

Labor leader and state Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin lined his pockets with more than $2.2 million by ripping off the state, his union, his political club, his campaign, contractors and even...

JUDGE OKS GROUND ZERO WORKERS' SUIT

A federal judge ruled yesterday that sick Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers who blame the city for their illnesses can have their day in court - putting the Big...

FEDS BLEW NUKE-SCANNER BUY

The Department of Homeland Security used "incomplete and unreliable data" to buy radiation monitors for New York's port, and the machines frequently don't work right, according another report critical of...

FLOWER-GIRL JURY: IT'S MURDER - WRONG-WAY DWI DRIVER CONVICTED OF DUAL SLAY

Tearful jurors in the Long Island DWI case convicted Martin Heidgen of two counts of murder yesterday for slamming head-on into a wedding limousine, decapitating a 7-year-old flower girl and...

CUOMO PACKS A TAX WALLOP - CHALLENGE TO PIRRO IN FREE-FOR-ALL DEBATE

ROCHESTER - Andrew Cuomo yesterday took off the gloves in his second debate with Jeanine Pirro, mocking her husband's tax fraud-conviction and detailing pending investigations against her. "I released my...

MOM & GIRL FOUND SLAIN

The decomposed bodies of a 9-year-old girl and her mother were found yesterday in an apartment at an Upper West Side housing project, police said. Mariah Navarro, a fourth-grader at...

MIKE WAS A BIG DOMINICAN DONOR

In the same year he was actively courting Dominican voters, Mayor Bloomberg stepped up his charitable donations to their groups, according to records. Premiering on his annual charities list were...

EGAN 'WAS UPSET' AS HE DISCUSSED LETTER WITH PRIEST

Edward Cardinal Egan was visibly "upset" while meeting with top priests to discuss a letter that harshly criticizes his leadership of the New York Archdiocese, a cleric revealed yesterday. But...

UNFABULOUS NIGHT FOR FABOLOUS - RAPPER SHOT, THEN BUSTED

Rapper Fabolous was shot in the leg in a Manhattan parking garage early yesterday after he and his crew left a swank eatery owned by hip-hop guru Sean "Diddy" Combs,...

MADONNA'S NEW ADOPT SCHEME: 'WE MUST GIVE MALAWIAN GIRL A HOME, TOO!'

It looks like Madonna is borderline adoption crazy - now she wants to take home a little Malawi girl, too. A day after whisking a 13-month-old boy from the struggling...

EGAN RED IN FACE - STEAMED OVER LETTER

Edward Cardinal Egan was visibly "upset" while meeting with top priests to discuss a letter that harshly criticizes his leadership of the New York Archdiocese, a cleric revealed yesterday. But...

UNFABULOUS NIGHT FOR FABOLOUS - RAPPER SHOT & ARRESTED

Rapper Fabolous was shot in the leg in a Manhattan parking garage early yesterday after he and his crew left a swank eatery owned by hip-hop guru Sean "Diddy" Combs,...

BRAVEST TEARS FOR 12 LOST IN '66 BLAZE

Hundreds of former and current firefighters and relatives and friends of victims of the "23rd Street Fire" gathered yesterday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the worst pre-9/11 blow to...

TURNER NETWORK LANDS LCS DEAL

Continuing the trend of prominent sports television events migrating to cable, Major League Baseball has agreed to move one of its League Championship Series to TBS for the next seven...

WEATHER DELAYS BETRAY METS

ST. LOUIS - The Mets can blame it on the rain. The NLCS turned on a downpour. The formerly hot visitors swung their bats as if they were waterlogged during...

PUJOLS POWERS UP - HR STIRS UP CARDS

ST. LOUIS - In the morning, a local columnist greeted Albert Pujols by suggesting the slugger's churlish attitude was making him resemble Barry Bonds. Last night, Pujols continued to act...

KEEP EYE OUT FOR AVIAN FLU

NEW York's bird hunters are being asked to help stay on top of any bird flu that may, or may not, appear in our state. The NYS Dept. of Environmental...

CARDS TO USE ACE IN GAME 6

ST. LOUIS - Granted an opportunity to pitch Chris Carpenter on three days rest and try to forge a one-game lead in Game 5 of the NLCS last night at...

NETS COUNTING ON KRSTIC TO BUST OUT

Ask anyone about Nenad Krstic for this season and they claim double-double averages are within reach. Ask Nenad Krstic and he changes the subject. "I don't want to say, because...

SURVIVE OR CONQUER - MET MANTRA: IN MAINE WE TRUST

ST. LOUIS - John Maine has a huge task in his right hand tonight. So far during this playoff baptism, he hasn't exactly been the second coming of Josh Beckett....

A-ROD RUMOR MILL IS JUST GETTING STARTED

ST. LOUIS - The first significant Alex Rodriguez rumor of the offseason was thrown out in the past 36 hours and the suggestion here is that you do the same:...

NOTHIN' DOIN' - LOU, CUBS DENY RODRIGUEZ TRADE TALK

ST. LOUIS - Cubs GM Jim Hendry and his new Manager, Lou Piniella, insist Alex Rodriguez's name never surfaced when Piniella was being interviewed for the job. Hours after Piniella...

SUDDEN IMPACT - SHANAHAN HITS BROADWAY RUNNING

PREDATORS at RANGERS - Tonight - 7:00; MSG; WEPN (1050 AM) With An NHL-high seven goals, Brendan Shanahan hasn't wasted time in making his presence felt with the Rangers. So...

INJURY BUG BITES AGAIN

The Nets' bench is getting smaller by the week. Marcus Williams suffered a sprained left wrist yesterday and will be out indefinitely, the team announced. Williams, who went for an...

NO SMALL WORRY - JEFFRIES INJURY CLOUDS ISIAH'S FORWARD PLANS

Camp Harmony could soon turn into Camp Confusion as Isiah Thomas tries to figure out who his starting small forward is now that Jared Jeffries could be out two months....

WEAVER REDEEMS HIMSELF

ST. LOUIS - Now the "Busts As Yankees But Great In October 2006" playing card has a flip side. Jeff Weaver, a basket case when he left the Yankees three...

DISAPPEARING ACT - REYES, WRIGHT STRUGGLING AT THE WRONG TIME

ST. LOUIS - Jose Reyes and David Wright have disappeared, and now the Met season might, also. The Mets are just missing too many elements - namely dependable starting pitching...

WILLIE'S HOT PEN PUTS OUT FIRE

ST. LOUIS - Willie Randolph once again called on the tag-team tightrope act of Chad Bradford and Pedro Feliciano. They gave the Mets a chance, but the offense squandered the...

THE POST'S TOP 25

Rank (prev) TEAM RESULT NEXT 1 Ohio State (7-0) Won 38-7 at Michigan St. vs. Indiana (1) We know John L. Smith has a lot of problems, but why did...

BALKMAN STEPS UP TO FILL KNICK VOID

Knicks 116 - Celtics 108 With Jared Jeffries out for possibly two months, Isiah Thomas is desperately searching for a small-forward replacement. And while he still has a ways to...

AMAZIN' DOUBLE WHAMMY

ST. LOUIS - After getting victimized by the Mets' Carloses in Sunday's NLCS Game 4, the Cardinals shut down the duo last night in Game 5. Carlos Beltran and Carlos...

TOM BOMBS - GLAVINE HOT STREAK COMES TO ABRUPT END

ST. LOUIS - Tom Glavine's terrific postseason took a terrible turn last night. The Mets' ace cruised through his first two starts this October, but the Cardinals took it to...

BRADFORD, FELICIANO PITCH IN

ST. LOUIS - At the beginning of the NLCS, Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols revealed the way to get him out: Throw the ball right down the middle. Chad Bradford...

SERIES BACK IN BIG APPLE - THE NL'S BRAWL FOR IT ALL ENDS AT SHEA

ST. LOUIS - Heading into last night's series-breaking Game 5 at Busch Stadium, Willie Randolph believed his team was prepared "I never sense my guys are ever nervous. They're ready...

HOW WILL TONY, WILLIE GET BY? THEY'LL MANAGE

ST. LOUIS - There are worse gigs than being the manager of a major league baseball team. The hours are good. The travel is first-class. You get your winters off,...

GHOSTS OF SHEA NEEDED TONIGHT

ST. LOUIS - The other ballyard in town is where all the ghosts are supposed to reside, where all the goblins serve as poltergeistsin-residence. Yankee Stadium is the place where,...

METS BLINK; ON THE BRINK - WEAVER, BULLPEN BAFFLE AMAZIN'S IN GAME 5

GAME 5: Cardinals 4 - Mets 2 ST. LOUIS - For the Mets, it's about playing tomorrow. The Mets are a loss away from finishing the year, and they have...

TRACHSEL AN OPTION FOR RELIEF

MET NOTES ST. LOUIS - Right now the Mets have extra bullpen help, assuming Steve Trachsel is able. Willie Randolph said Trachsel, who's suffering from a right thigh contusion, is...

DUQUE'S WORLD VIEW - HEALING HERNANDEZ COULD RETURN IN TIME

ST. LOUIS - It was late at night, about 45 minutes after Mets 12, Cardinals 5, on Sunday. Orlando Hernandez was fully dressed and walking briskly through the winding corridors...

GIANT HEADACHE - BIG BLUE PREPARES FOR T.O. CIRCUS

WE KNOW. You can't take another word about Terrell Owens and want to lunge for the remote whenever his grimacing, smiling, complaining or smirking face flashes across the screen. Well,...

MISSING MARTIN - BARLOW, JETS LONG TO SEE CURTIS BACK

THERE'S a sign with the word "Winner" on a wall inside the Jets' locker room in the bowels of Giants Stadium. On Sundays, as Curtis Martin would head out toward...

ROLLING A SEVEN - METS SEARCH FOR DECIDING-GAME STARTER

ST. LOUIS - It is the question Mets fans do not want to find out the answer to. Who will take the Shea Stadium mound for the team if there...

TAKING FIVE - FLOYD CAN'T CONVINCE WILLIE TO LET HIM START

ST. LOUIS - Cliff Floyd was not in the Mets' lineup for last night's NLCS Game 5 with the Cardinals, but the injured left fielder feels he is getting close...

HEALING HERNANDEZ COULD RETURN IN TIME

ST. LOUIS - It was late at night, about 45 minutes after Mets 12, Cardinals 5 on Sunday. Orlando Hernandez was fully dressed and walking briskly through the winding corridors...

FLOYD BATS IN 9TH

MET NOTES ST. LOUIS - Cliff Floyd pinch hit last night, coming up to hit in the ninth inning of the Mets' 4-2 loss. Floyd grounded out to first in...

PAGE-TURNER: MLB AGREES TO MOVE ONE LCS TO TBS

Continuing the trend of prominent sports television events migrating to cable, Major League Baseball has agreed to move one of its League Championship Series to TBS for the next seven...

SCHEDULE SWITCH

You know that attractive Giants-Bears game set for Nov. 12 in the early afternoon at Giants Stadium, with kickoff at a time when the sun can be shining and provide...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

If this fellow had been a light sleeper, he could have taken a bite out of crime. Bryan Osteen of Mims, Fla., told police someone slipped into his bedroom, reached...

Week 6 recap

Finally, some big names came through in a big way this weekend — LaDainian Tomlinson, Torry Holt, Terrell Owens, Matt Hasselbeck.Some other big boys and newfound “sleepers” failed miserably —...

GADGETS: A bridge over wireless waters

Okay, so apparently, such a thing exists that allows those of us with nonfunctioning wireless cards to hook in to a wireless network. Such a thing, I believe, is called...