November 7, 2006

LIVEBLOG/ITALY: Where the crab pasta at?

Venice, you will quickly discover, is not wheelchair-accessible.We are here to eat our way through three notorious Italian food cities, but first we must lug.Just out of the Santa Lucia...

UPDATE: It's Tuesday. There's news.

Bill Gates and some Saudi prince dude are hoping to take Toronto-based Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts private. Founder Issy Sharp wins big cash prizes and stays in control, with...

Isiah: We'll stink in November

By MARC BERMANTalk about NOT shooting for the moon. Isiah Thomas is bracing Knick fans for the worst with a bizarre admission during Monday's morning shootaround.This was before the Knicks...

U.S. TREASURY IS QUIETLY DOING THE FED'S WORK

FOR the past few years the U.S. Treasury has been quietly involved in what the financial markets call "repo" agreements and this near-secret operation could explain why the nation's money...

PIRATE JUMPED 'OUT' TOO EARLY

Pushy hedge fund Pirate Capital was served a heaping helping of humiliation yesterday as it watched its former investment in the parent company of Outback Steakhouse skyrocket in value -...

XM STEMS LOSSE$ - EARNINGS, OUTLOOK RAISE SHARES 15%

Shares of XM Satellite Radio gained more than 15 percent yesterday as investors bid the stock up mainly on an apparent end to bad news rather than an overabundance of...

EMI WILL MOVE TO CHELSEA - GETS TRENDY ADDRESS; EMI IS HEADING DOWNTOWN

RECORDING world giant EMI Music Publishing, with a catalogue of millions of songs by artists such as Beyoncé and Kanye West, is bolting staid uptown digs for trendier 75 Ninth...

TIGER EYES ASIA LINKS

Golf megastar Tiger Woods is going to invest some of his $200 million fortune in building golf courses - mostly for China's new country club set. The sports world's highest-paid...

BIG-$$ BUYOUTS SHOWING PRIVATE-EQUITY'S CLOUT

The recent wave of giant leveraged-buyout deals is placing control of the world's biggest and best-known companies in a handful of secretive and extremely powerful investment firms that operate largely...

TIGER TEEING UP ASIAN LINKS

Golf megastar Tiger Woods is going to invest some of his $200 million fortune in building golf courses - mostly for China's new country club set. The sports world's highest...

GIANT BONUS POOL - WALL ST. PAYS $36B

Wall Street firms are handing out some of the fattest bonuses ever seen - the high price for curbing a runaway poaching war of talent. The top five firms alone...

MAY IS PROFIT DRAG - FEDERATED STOCK HIT

Federated Department Stores' acquisition of the May Department Stores Company is hitting what appears to be its first snag: Lower than expected sales at former May stores that have been...

SEVENTEEN EDITOR QUITS TO START OWN PROJECTS

Atoosa Rubenstein, the high-profile editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine, is leaving the top-selling teen title to launch her own teen-centered Web business, write a book and start a consulting firm specializing...

WAKE UP AND SMELL REAL DEAL ON FATIGUE

SUFFERERS of chronic fatigue syndrome have long been sick and tired of having their illness dismissed by others. A bit of relief is in sight: Recently, the Centers for Disease...

DEAD 'LINE'

A Texas prosecutor who was snared in an online "Dateline" sex sting killed himself Sunday. Former Kaufman County DA Louis "Bill" Conradt Jr., 56, allegedly went online to solicit sex...

'DATELINE' PERV DA A SUICIDE

A TEXAS prosecutor who was snared in an online "Dateline" sex sting killed himself Sunday. Former Kaufman County DA Louis "Bill" Conradt Jr., 56, allegedly went online to solicit sex...

BIKINI TRIUMPH - KIRSTIE BARES HER NEW BODY

THREE cheers for Kirstie Alley. The "Fat Actress" and former "Cheers" sitcom star yesterday strutted her newly slimmed-down stuff on the "Oprah Winfrey Show," casting off a plush wrap to...

STARR REPORT

Meredith, that's 'Who' I'm basing this on pure speculation, but I'm guessing that Meredith Vieira's higher visibility on the "Today" show is the big reason ratings are up 20 percent...

FALL FROM GRACE - HARRIDAN HOSTESS BUZZES 'JEOPARDY'

CABLE news queen Nancy Grace is the answer to the "Jeopardy" question: Who's the last person you expected to see on a game show? The hang-'em-high host matches wits with...

MORE BURNS WAR STORIES

KEN Burns, the filmmaker who created such definitive historical series as "The Civil War" and "Baseball," is taking on World War II next. A preview of the 14-hour film, "The...

FOUR PLAY - PBS FINDS FAMILY OF HANDWALKERS

The man who claims to have "found" them believes the family represents nothing less than a "backward stage in evolution." IT is like something out of Ripley's Believe It or...

MOB RULE - ALL IN THE FAMILY - WITH NEW BOOK, GODFATHER PULLS US BACK IN

WHEN Mark Winegardner first heard that a sequel to Mario Puzo's beloved book "The Godfather" was planned, he had pretty much the same reaction everyone else did: "Wow, that's gonna...

CAUTION: GRAPHICS VIOLENCE

NEW episodes of "The Sopranos" may be months away, but you can satisfy your need to whack someone today with the release of "The Sopranos: Road to Respect." The video...

TURKISH CLAN BIG ON FOUR PLAY

IT'S like something out of Ripley's Believe It or Not. But, believe it or not, it is on the PBS science show "Nova." It is the shocking story of five...

KEN BURNS' NEXT: WWII

KEN Burns, the filmmaker who created such definitive historical series as "The Civil War" and "Baseball," is taking on World War II next. A preview of the 14-hour film, "The...

LOSERS HAVE TO WALK THE PLANK

SHIVER me timbers, reality guru Mark Burnett is creating a new reality show based on the life of pirates. CBS has given thumbs up to production on about 13 episodes...

5 MORE EYED IN 'BIAS' BASH

The lawyer for a Pakistani immigrant allegedly beaten by five Orthodox Jewish teens on Oct. 29 in Brooklyn wants prosecutors to charge at least five others believed to have egged...

CITY WORKER IN 125G SOC. SEC. 'SCAM'

A city worker was arrested yesterday for allegedly accepting more than $125,000 in Social Security benefits for a relative who died 10 years ago, investigators said. Burnestha Wilder, 55, of...

UNDEFEATED INTREPID 'DIGS IN HER HEELS' - THIS OL' LADY'S STILL FIGHTING

THE first time Ray Stone, 81, heard the words "abandon ship" was on Nov. 25, 1944 - when two kamikaze planes crashed into the indestructible USS Intrepid off the Philippines....

EXPERTS EXPECT 'ROBUST' TURNOUT

Closely contested New York races may be few and far between, but some political observers are predicting an above-average turnout today because voters desperately want to speak out on such...

'HITLER' TEEN IN PROTEST OF SELF

Students and parents at a Brooklyn high school where a teen was removed from class for dressing as Adolf Hitler on Halloween marched in protest of the costume yesterday -...

A NEW DOWNTOWN - BOOMING DESPITE THE POLS

ALL over Lower Manhattan, people are living and working oblivious to the contempt with which their elected officials have mostly treated them and their ravaged surroundings. Though Ground Zero remains...

NOBODY KNOWS - PUNDITS, POLLSTERS AT LOSS

THE screenwriter William Goldman changed history in Hollywood with three simple words: "Nobody knows anything." He was giving a simple and profound explanation for why some movies succeed and others...

$2.5 BILLION SPEND SPREE

WASHINGTON - Forget the politics, the campaign season has been great for the economy. Republicans and Democrats are on pace to spend more than $2.5 billion rounding up votes until...

'VILE' HS HONCHO JAILED 10 YRS. FOR KID PORN

A federal judge slapped a former Manhattan high-school administrator with a 10-year prison sentence yesterday for trying to lure teenage girls into sex and trading kiddie porn from his school...

TEEN EYED IN GAY-SLAY MYSTERY

Police continued to search yesterday for a 19-year-old Queens man who was arrested this month while driving a car that belonged to a middle-aged gay man found beaten to death...

BIG MO. SWINGS BACK AND FORTH

WASHINGTON - Republicans and Democrats kept a laser-like focus on Midwestern battleground Missouri in the campaign's final hours. The top-tier Senate race between Republican incumbent Jim Talent and Democrat Claire...

'SHOWER KILLER' BROUGHT BACK

Long Island cops went to the Dominican Republic to arrest a killer they say murdered his former girlfriend in the shower, officials announced yesterday. Detective Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick said Wendy...

'SEX' PRINCIPAL IS SENT PACKIN' - COVERED UP TEACHER 'TRYST' WITH STUDENT

The principal of a prominent Harlem public high school was ousted yesterday for failing to alert authorities to gossip that a teacher had wined and dined a female student on...

QNS. 'DEVIL' DAD IN KID-RAPE BUST

A Queens dad has been arrested for raping a 5-year-old girl in his home while his own two children were in another room, authorities said yesterday. José Perez, 29, told...

NYPD DAILY CRIME BLOTTER

MANHATTAN * A 19-year-old New Jersey man was struck and killed by a subway train yesterday morning. Officials said Joshua Alston, of Orange, was walking on the southbound tracks at...

N.J. BATTLE GOES DOWN TO THE WIRE

The grueling battle for a Senate seat from New Jersey drew closer yesterday, with a new poll showing Democrat Robert Menendez's lead at a scant five points over Republican Tom...

TEFLON ALAN HAS BIG LEAD

Scandal-scarred Comptroller Alan Hevesi goes into Election Day with a 12-point lead in the last poll of the campaign - all the while remaining in seclusion. A Quinnipiac University poll...

AIR-CRASH KIN SUE L.I. FIRM

Relatives of 10 people killed when their airliner was struck by a business jet and plunged into Brazil's Amazon rainforest filed suit yesterday against the owner of the smaller plane...

SUBWAY 'SUICIDE' TANGLES COMMUTES

An apparent suicide on the subway tracks caused extensive rush-hour delays yesterday morning, transit officials said. Service on the Nos. 1 and 3 trains was suspended between 96th Street and...

NEWBORN BABY'S BODY IN QUEENS TRASH

A Queens recycling-plant worker found a newborn's body on a garbage-strewn conveyor belt, authorities said. The baby girl - whose umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck - was found...

IN STORE: PLAN B PILL HITTING N.Y. SHELVES

The morning-after pill could be available over the counter in New York as early as today, according to pharmacists who plan to stock the controversial contraceptive in their stores. Until...

SLAIN DELI CLERK TRIED TO SAVE PAL - SHOT BY GANG EYED IN SPREE

A brave Brooklyn deli worker, shot in the head by a gang of armed robbers, was trying to save his co-worker by wrestling one of the bandits to the ground...

B'KLYN PATIENTS WON'T HAVE TO WALK THE WALK

Outpatients at sprawling Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn will no longer have to trudge from one building to another. Mayor Bloomberg yesterday officially opened a $50 million Ambulatory Care Pavilion...

FEDS RAID SPITZER FAN'S OFFICE

ALBANY - The offices of a stockbroker who is a contributor to Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's campaign were raided by the FBI yesterday, The Post has learned. FBI agents are...

WEBBER'S ART-SHOW $TOPPER

A Manhattan federal judge yesterday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the auction tomorrow of a painting owned by famed composer Andrew Lloyd Webber that had been expected to fetch...

BUSH: FOES WILL TAX YOU FROM CRADLE TO THE GRAVE

Democrats will stop at nothing to hike taxes - even trying to seize hard-earned dollars "when you die," President Bush needled yesterday in his final pre-election push to rally the...

'MOMS' THE WORD AS SEN. CLINTON SEEKS BOOST

Seeking to show she has broad appeal, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is looking for at least a 10-point increase in support over her 2000 results in key target areas -...

KISSY CUOMO'S SMOOCHY COUP - AMBUSHES HILLARY WITH A KISS

The Democratic ticket was awfully unified yesterday as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton got a stealth smooch from attorney-general front-runner Andrew Cuomo in lower Manhattan. Clinton's eyes opened wide when she...

STAR'S SUICIDE WAS KILLER COVER-UP - WORKER ADMITS SLAY: COPS

In a shocking turnaround, a construction worker yesterday confessed to killing indie actress Adrienne Shelly, whose death in a Greenwich Village apartment last week was first believed to be a...

LICENSE TO KILL - EPILEPTIC 'LIED ON DRIVER APPLICATION'

The Queens psychiatrist who suffered an epileptic seizure in his car, triggering a crash that killed three people, had lied on his last two license-renewal forms about his medical condition,...

DEMS DIMMING 'CELEBRATION' - A BITTY LESS GIDDY AS POLLS TIGHTEN UP

WASHINGTON - Democrats eased expectations yesterday for seizing the Senate, as last-minute polls showed key contests tightening across the country. "We have never said we are going to take control...

HIT-AND-RUN VICTIM DIES

The 75-year-old Brooklyn man struck by two cars, one of which sped away, died of his injuries yesterday, police said. Ishmael Rivera, a retired carpenter, had been crossing Fourth Avenue...

LOWERED E. SIDE - PLAN CALLS FOR BLDG. HEIGHT CAP

New buildings taller than eight stories will no longer be permitted on the Lower East Side and in the East Village, under a new plan proposed by the city yesterday...

RAY SOUNDS LUST ALARM

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has warned his top brass about the pitfalls of fraternizing with underlings - after the recent sex-harassment scandal involving a veteran Bronx officer, sources told The...

B'KLYN PATIENTS GET IT TOGETHER

Outpatients at sprawling Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn will no longer have to trudge from one building to another. Mayor Bloomberg yesterday officially opened a $50 million Ambulatory Care Pavilion,...

BOY, 6, KILLED IN L.I. SCHOOL-BUS HORROR

A 6-year-old Long Island first-grader was run over by his school bus and killed yesterday when he doubled back in front of the vehicle after it dropped him off, police...

TALKS PRODUCE THE 100G TEACHER

The era of the $100,000- a-year teacher arrived in New York last night. Under a tentative deal, Mayor Bloomberg and the United Federation of Teachers agreed to a two-year contract...

UPPER W. SIDE HIGH-RISE FIRE

Firefighters battled for 45 minutes yesterday to control a blaze that erupted in a 12-story building on the Upper West Side. An FDNY spokesman said the blaze, which broke out...

W. SIDE HIGH-RISE BLAZE

Firefighters battled for 45 minutes yesterday to control a smoky blaze that erupted in a 12-story building on the Upper West Side. Thick black smoke poured from a window after...

NYPD'S 'LUST' ALARM - KELLY WARNS BRASS

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has warned his top brass about the pitfalls of fraternizing with underlings - after the recent sex-harassment scandal involving a veteran Bronx officer, sources told The...

FIRE AT UPPER W. SIDE BUILDING

Firefighters battled for 45 minutes yesterday to control a smoky blaze that erupted in a 12-story building on the UpperWest Side. Thick smoke poured from a window after the fire...

ANDREW LLOYD'S ART-SHOW $TOPPER

A Manhattan federal judge yesterday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the auction tomorrow of a painting owned by famed composer Andrew Lloyd Webber that had been expected to fetch...

JUST GOOD ENOUGH

GIANTS REPORT CARDQUARTERBACKS: B- Not the rhythm Eli Manning (17 of 28, 179 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) was looking for. Rarely looked comfortable until fourth-quarter switch to no-huddle for...

PLAX PROMISES TO BE BACK AGAINST BEARS

GIANT NOTES As the Giants continue to be battered on defense, their offense appears to be getting healthier in time for Sunday's clash with the Bears. Receiver Plaxico Burress, who...

NETS HOLD BREATH OVER RJ

To his credit, Richard Jefferson has never used injuries as an excuse for poor play; and for the second straight day, the Nets swingman insisted his mildly sprained right ankle...

NOT-SO-GREAT EXPECTATIONS - THOMAS: KNICKS FACE ROUGH MONTH

Talk about not reaching for the moon. In the opposite of a "sky's-the-limit" declaration about the team he assembled for $122 million, Isiah Thomas braced Knicks fans for the worst...

'CANE EVENT - REVENGE ON MENU FOR DEVS

The Devils - in search of some consistency and revenge - open a three-game homestand tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m.; VS-TV; WFAN-660 AM). It's only the team that...

POPOVICH RIPS BROWN DEAL

KNICK NOTES Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said coaches around the league are outraged Larry Brown had to reach a "settlement" on the $41 million left on his contract, fearing it...

DELGADO DECLINES SHOT TO LEAVE METS

Thankfully for the Mets, they won't need a replacement for Carlos Delgado. GM Omar Minaya announced yesterday that Delgado, who had the right to demand a trade from the Mets...

LAKERS HAVE HAD THEIR PHIL OF KOBE

FOLLOWING two straight Kobe Bryant-short successes to launch the season, Lakers fans were freakin' feverish! Temperatures were off the thermometer! Episodes of delirium reached epidemic proportion. All on account of...

STUD FARM FOR BERNARDINI

Like a July 4th sparkler that burns brightly, then fizzles too soon, Darley Stable's once-mighty Bernardini has been retired by his owner, Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai. Bernardini, whose sensational six-race...

MORAL VICTORY ALL KNICKS GET - LATE RALLY FALLS SHORT AGAINST SPURS

Spurs 105 - Knicks 93 The Knicks were so dead and desperate that coach/president Isiah Thomas began the second half by benching four of his starters, including Stephon Marbury, Eddy...

EDDY DOESN'T CURRY FAVOR

Eddy Curry talked before yesterday's game about being up to the "challenge" of guarding Tim Duncan, and Channing Frye was the last person off the court following yesterday's shootaround, trying...

GREAT MOMENT TURNS GRATING

FOR those four-and-a-half precious minutes of basketball, you could actually allow your imagination to run wild and loose and free, to remember a time in the not-so-distant past when it...

PRIME PIECES STILL IN PLACE

THERE are no excuses for you, Giants. Michael Strahan could miss a month, which means he will be watching Giants-Bears just like the rest of us. Mum remains the word...

OVERDUE BILL - PATS' LOSS COULD BE BAD FOR JETS

Like Eric Mangini and a number of the Jets players, Matt Chatham sat back on Sunday night and watched the Patriots lose to the Colts in Foxborough in the most...

SALVAGING MARBURY NO. 1 TASK FOR ISIAH

AT THE end of the day, at the end of his tenure, what Isiah Thomas will most be judged on is what he was able to do with, for, and...

MANGINI EXPECTS TO HEAR BOOS

JET NOTES Eric Mangini yesterday joked about what kind of reception he expects to receive from the New England locals when he takes the Jets to play the Patriots Sunday...

SHY VS. CHI - GIANTS FORCED TO BATTLE BEARS WITHOUT STRAHAN

Even the most optimistic observers of the Giants could not have asked for anything more than a 6-2 record and two-game lead in the NFC East at the midpoint of...

VEGAS BOOKS LIKE BIG BLUE EARLY ON

Here's why the Giants have been established in Vegas as three-point favorites over the Bears Sunday night even without Michael Strahan: "I think right now the Giants are the best...

EDDY AIMS TO CURRY FAVOR

Isiah Thomas liked what he saw so much when he put Eddy Curry up against Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal on Saturday, he decided Curry would be able to handle Tim Duncan...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Jerry Rose might have gotten away with murder - if not for a party game he played over the summer. As part of the game, when asked to name the...