March 11, 1999

CITI CUSTOMERS SUE; SAY PITCH WAS CARD TRICK

Citigroup cardholders, hopping mad about what they claim was a fraudulent lure to lower interest rates, have sued the world's No. 1 financial services giant. Instead of getting low 6.9...

BULLISH TECH STOCK GURU GIVES MARKETS BOOST

The man who first predicted Amazon.com would be a $400 stock is high on a trio of Internet stocks. Influential analyst Henry Blodget - making his first call since joining...

ABBOUD PLANNING NY FLAGSHIP STORE

Trendy men's clothier Joseph Abboud is actively scouting for a New York flagship location on Madison or Fifth avenues, The Post has learned. A company spokesperson said the designer is...

NOTES FROM THE 'NET; CYBER SONG HITTING THE POP CHARTS

The Internet has birthed its first hit single. "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)," based on a misattributed graduation speech which spread like a virus on the Internet, is on its...

POST-MONICA, MSNBC IS GETTING OUT-FOXED

Network brass insist the situation is far from dire. They expect to break even in 2000.MSNBC is getting it from both directions these days. Not only do execs at the...

FLYNT TO STRIKE WITH FASHION STATEMENT

Cracking the African-American men's market, especially with a fashion-oriented title, is not easy, even for maverick publishers. Hustler publisher Larry Flynt is branching out his holdings in the non-X-rated publishing...

PELT'S BIG SNAPPLE TAKEUNDER HAS SUNK

Investor Nelson Peltz is calling off his $440 million deal to take his soda and sandwich empire private - but he might get the prize anyway, at a cheaper price....

TV TICKER

Hugh betcha! Hugh Downs, explorer? Yep - and it's all on tomorrow's all-new ''20/20'' (10 p.m. on Ch.7). Downs recently undertook a two-week trek to the North Pole, sailing on...

GETTING INTUNE WITH PRE-NAZI GERMANY

AS the century ends, there's a rebirth of nostalgia for the vivacious Germanic culture of the pre-Nazi Weimar era. Hence the renewed popularity of the Comedian Harmonists, a Berlin-based vocal...

WHEN YOU'D ALMOST FORGOTTEN HE CAN BE GOOD... 'BEDLAM' BRINGS OUT THE *** ½ GERALDO

"Back to Bedlam" Tomorrow at 9 on WNBC/Ch.4 GIVE Geraldo Rivera a gold star - 3 of 'em, actually - a halo and a journalistic huzzah for "Back to Bedlam."...

COUNTDOWN TO THE OSCARS: BEST ACTOR

Our Odds Ian McKellen(2-1) Nick Nolte(3-1) Tom Hanks(5-1) Roberto Benigni(10-1) Edward Norton(500-1) THE best-actor race is one of this year's most hotly contested. The only one of the five who...

BROKAW 'INSULTS' HOMELESS

NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw made a politically incorrect joke about the homeless on the top-rated "Today" show Monday morning while he was sitting in for vacationing Matt Lauer....

HAWAII WILL LEI IT ON FOR 'BAYWATCH'

'BAYWATCH" is saying aloha to Hawaii and 'bye to Australia. Pearson Television, which syndicates "Baywatch," is expected to announce tomorrow that it is moving the popular babes-in-bathing suits show to...

GROTTESCO IS MERELY GROTESQUE

Theater Reviews THE New Victory Theater is one of the best ideas in town. Built in 1900 by Oscar Hammerstein, the small building enjoyed a colorful and checkered history until...

CHEKHOV'S 'SEAGULL' TAKES WING

Theater Reviews TRUSTING a great play to speak for itself can work. Anton Chekhov's ''The Seagull,'' as directed by Shepard Sobel at the Pearl, lets its silly, besotted characters just...

WAR ON LIMBAUGH, PART 2

MSNBC talk show host Charles Grodin fired back at radio personality Rush Limbaugh yesterday in an escalating war over "hate" on talk radio and cable TV. The fight was sparked...

MY B-LIST NIGHTMARE! IT'S 'BRITE NIGHT,'B-CITY AT WHITNEY

THE invitation to Tuesday night's Brite Night at the Whitney - a benefit in aid of the Upper East Side museum - looked promising enough. There was a stiff white...

CNN: IT'S BUSH LEAGUE - ALL-NEWS NET UPSET OVER GEORGE'S SNUB

CNN is upset that Texas Gov. George W. Bush barred the all-news cable network from a March 2 press conference in which he announced his presidential aspirations. CNN president Tom...

TOKYO'S TARTAN PIPERS JOIN ST. PAT'S PARADE AS RISING SONS OF ERIN

St. Patrick's Day will be a great day for the Japanese - as well as the Irish. A few minutes after the NYPD's chief of patrol, John Scanlon, blows the...

MONICA: HE SEDUCED ME WITH HIS STARE

"He sort of loses the smile, the eyes become intense, there's an animalistic stare." MONICA LEWINSKY Monica Lewinsky revealed the secret of President Clinton's sex appeal yesterday - saying he...

12 MORE FALL ILL AT BX. 'SICK' SCHOOL

Students at a Bronx junior high school that was plagued by sickening fumes earlier this year were back at the hospital yesterday, this time due to a smelly clogged drain....

SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS PUSHED BACK

ALBANY - City school board elections have been pushed back two weeks and will now be held May 18, under a plan approved by state lawmakers yesterday. The community school...

SEX: KEEP IT UP TO STAY YOUNG - 3 TIMES A WEEK CAN MELT AWAY 10 YEARS: STUDY

Having sex at least three times a week can make you look 10 years younger, a Scottish researcher says. But not just any sex. Sex in a loving, stable relationship....

FANS PRAY HE'LL WIN THIS BATTLE, TOO

Fans, friends and prostate-cancer survivors offered an outpouring of support for Joe Torre yesterday - and all predicted the Yankee manager would beat cancer like his team defeats opponents. "Joe...

LIDDY LAUNCHES RUN FOR PREZ AS THE 'UN-CLINTON'

"We've been let down, and by people we should have been able to look up to."ELIZABETH DOLE WASHINGTON - A nervous Elizabeth Dole yesterday threw her hat into the presidential...

SCALDED BOY'S AGONY DIDN'T HAVE TO HAPPEN ; CITY KNEW OF BUILDING PROBLEMS

A 10-year-old Manhattan boy suffered third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body when he fell into a bathtub full of scalding water - a hazard city housing officials knew...

VOUCHERS KAPUT AND CREW WILL STAY PUT

Rudy Crew is staying - and the controversial issue of vouchers is "off the radar screen," the schools chancellor said yesterday after meetings with Mayor Giuliani and the Board of...

DESPERATE COPS NEED YOUR HELP - FEW CLUES IN SEARCH FOR KILLER

An army of detectives is trying to develop a description of the "cowardly" Brooklyn killer who knifed social-work student Amy Watkins - and cops appealed last night for the public's...

TRAGEDY STRIKES JUST WHEN IT ALL APPEARED TO BE PERFECT FOR HIM; TRAGEDY HITS WHEN ALL SEEMED PERFECT

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. JOE TORRE was seemingly leading the perfect life. In his profession, he had found renown and reward, remuneration and respect. Away from the field, he appeared...

EXPERTS HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR JOE: HIS CHANCES ARE GOOD

Prostate cancer is one of the most "favorable" tumors for treatment and Yankee skipper Joe Torre could be back at the helm this season, experts said yesterday. "It's not bad...

SICK 'CATFISH' TO SELL BASEBALL ; TREASURES FOR GRANDKIDS

Ailing Yankee great Jim "Catfish" Hunter is selling his baseball memorabilia - including his two New York World Series rings - to raise money for his two grandchildren. "This is...

HIGHER MURDER RATE COULD BE LINKED TO COPS RELUCTANT TO ACT AFTER DIALLO

Some NYPD officials fear the recent spike in the murder rate may be due to cops hesitating to take action in the wake of the shooting death of Amadou Diallo,...

SLASH SUSPECT JUMPS FROM B'KLYN BRIDGE - AND LIVES

A Long Island man, distraught after slashing his girlfriend in the neck, jumped from the Brooklyn Bridge early yesterday - and lived, police said. Vincent Bonilla, 30, plunged from the...

BOB: I'D BE HAPPY AS FIRST MAN AS LONG AS I 'GO TO BED WITH HER'

BOB DOLE wants to be America's first First Man - but he was nowhere in sight when wife Elizabeth yesterday trekked to Iowa to launch her presidential bid with a...

HOMETOWN MOURNS 'FEARLESS' GIRL

TOPEKA, Kan. - The stabbing death of Amy Watkins hit hard in her Midwestern hometown, where she was remembered yesterday as a young woman who "knew how to enjoy life."...

HASTERT NIXES ALBRIGHT'S PLEA TO K0 KOSOVO DEBATE

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Dennis Hastert yesterday rejected a plea by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to delay a potentially embarrassing vote on sending U.S. troops to Kosovo. "The American...

CANCER-STRICKEN TORRE RALLIES TROOPS - STRAW DEDICATES YEAR TO MANAGER; YANKS RALLY 'ROUND AS CANCER HITS JOE TORRE

Rocked by the news that Yankee manager Joe Torre has prostate cancer, slugger Darryl Strawberry urged teammates yesterday to win one for the skipper. "We should go out and dedicate...

ABUSED WOMEN DREW STRENGTH FROM BRAVE AMY

FOR two years, Sandra Macy couldn't eat or drink until the man she lived with gave her permission. "He would walk me into a room, lock the door and keep...

ESTRANGED SON WILL BE PALLBEARER FOR JOE D.

Joe DiMaggio Jr., the Yankee Clipper's estranged son who hadn't seen his father in more than two years, will be a pallbearer at the baseball legend's private funeral today, the...

REPORT: FURIOUS HILL BLOWS OFF BILL - HE'S ALL ALONE IN CENTRAL AMERICA BECAUSE SHE WON'T STAY IN SAME ROOM

WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton is boycotting her husband's trip to Central America because she's furious with him and won't even sleep in the same hotel room, it was reported...

'EYES WIDE' FOR NUDE NICOLE, TOM

A nude Tom Cruise kisses and strokes a naked Nicole Kidman for 90 seconds as the soundtrack blares the song lyrics "Very bad, bad things," in Stanley Kubrick's last film,...

BLOOD PRESSURE SOARS AS POWER OUTAGE HITS QUEENS HOSP

It was a close call for intensive-care patients on respirators, which hospital staffers scrambled to operate by hand. Doctors and staffers rushed frantically to save patients' lives last night when...

BLACKOUT JOLTS QUEENS HOSPITAL

Doctors and staffers rushed frantically to save patients' lives last night when an hourlong power failure blacked out the two main buildings at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. Miraculously, nobody...

... A WOMAN SCORNED - AMONG THE FLAREUPS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BETWEEN THE CLINTONS:

* During a 1992 argument, Hillary was standing over Clinton, "finger in his face, as he shoveled cereal into his mouth, his head bent close to the bowl," former aide...

ISLES' PILON LOOKS LIKE GONER, TOO

Scott Lachance and his $1.1 million salary's gone, and Rich Pilon is likely next. GM Mike Milbury is obviously trying to make his payroll leaner by the March 23 trading...

ANOTHER ROUND FOR THE ROSES

Round 2 of Kentucky Derby future betting conducted by Churchill Downs begins today and continues through 4:30 p.m. Sunday. New York City OTB, The Meadowlands and Monmouth will accept wagers...

THREE RING MAY SCRATCH

A field of 11 3-year-olds, each seeking to stamp his - and in one case, her - passport to the Kentucky Derby just seven weeks away, was entered yesterday for...

GIRARDI PICKED TO RELAY NEWS

FT. MYERS - Joe Girardi finished packing his equipment bag and was preparing for a lengthy bus ride to play the Red Sox when he was called into Joe Torre's...

BIG MAC MADNESS IS STILL AMAZIN'

PORT ST. LUCIE - The 5,148 fans who came to see Mark McGwire yesterday got exactly what they wanted, a towering three-run home run that landed about 470 feet beyond...

RED SOX ROCK HIDEKI

FORT MYERS - Hideki Irabu was torched for four runs in 32/3 innings yesterday in a split-squad 6-1 loss to the Red Sox, but says the back pain he suffered...

DARRYL CAN FEEL TORRE'S DISTRESS

FORT MYERS - Cancer's favorite team has no answers why it has been chosen. But it does possess a DH and still hopes-to-be-part time leftfielder very much alive and swinging...

'HE MEANS EVERYTHING TO OUR CLUB'

FT. MYERS - A somber cloud didn't smother the Yankees yesterday when they learned that Joe Torre is battling prostate cancer. Supposedly, the disease was detected early and that put...

METS ROOTING FOR TORRE

MET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE - Word of Joe Torre's prostate cancer spread quickly through Met camp yesterday with everyone expressing shock and support for the Yankee manager. Tony La...

SPEED(Y) KILLS FOR HOFSTRA

Craig Claxton isn't overly imposing, at 5-foot-10. And, generously listed at 175-pounds, one wouldn't think his modest shoulders could carry that much. But for the last three years, they've carried...

ARKANSAS WARY OF SIENA-RELLA

WEST DENVER - He has heard that this particular Cinderella wannabe will not attempt to slow the pace and lull his team to sleep. Kareem Reid knows almost nothing about...

VAN'S PAT SOLUTION: JUST @#! WIN

WIZARDS at KNICKS Tonight 7:30 - MSG WFAN (660 AM) The Knicks will be without Patrick Ewing for at least tonight's game against Washington and likely for more games to...

NETS MULLING MARBURY - ALL-STAR WOULD COST KITTLES AND CASSELL

INDIANAPOLIS - Change was in the air and on the court for the Nets. There was change in theory through trade rumors, whose numbers sailed past double digits and kept...

MOLLOY RIDES BROWN INTO CLASS A SEMIS

CHSAA Molloy 68 St. Raymond's 60 Over the past four decades at Archbishop Molloy, Coach Jack Curran has allowed certain players more offensive freedom than others. Kenny Anderson, Kenny Smith...

WATSON GIVES JOE SOME ADVICE FROM A SURVIVOR

TAMPA - Bob Watson always knew he could turn to Joe Torre for support on those days when the Yankee general manager's job seemed like the worst of all ways...

HAWKEYE COACH: IT AIN'T OVER YET

WEST NOTES DENVER - After 13 seasons at Iowa, Tom Davis is being forced out, and the next loss for the Hawkeyes in the NCAA Tournament could bring to a...

DUDLEY, CAMBY GOOD TO GO

Neither player harbored a shred of ill will on Patrick Ewing, but both Chris Dudley and Marcus Camby had a particular gleam in their eyes yesterday at the thought of...

'VANDER TRAINER: JOE WILL BE OK

The news that Joe Torre had been diagnosed with prostate cancer came not as a shock to Don Turner, nor even as a cause for particular concern. "That's nothing," said...

RED STORM READY TO DANCE - THIS TIME JOHNNIES HAVE GOT THE BEAT

SOUTH ORLANDO - Huddled together at center court in Orlando Arena, their arms draped across one another's shoulders, the players stepped from side to side, their bodies swaying to a...

CONFIDENT EVANDER HAS COME LONG WAY

The image Evander Holyfield depicted yesterday amid the trumpets of hype for Saturday's unification bout at Madison Square Garden was of invincibility, and it had little to do with his...

ARRESTED SAMFORD STAR WILL PLAY VS. ST. JOHN'S

ST. JOHN'S NOTES ORLANDO - Marc Salyers, a starting forward on the Samford University basketball team which will meet St. John's today in an opening round game of the NCAA...

RANGERS AIM FOR RECORD - TORRID STREAK MAKES GOAL A REALITY

When John Muckler replaced Colin Campbell behind the bench during last season's Olympic recess, the Rangers were 17-24-16. In addressing the team for the first time, Muckler told the players...

MAZZ TOUCHED BY PAL'S PLIGHT

FT. MYERS - The sun glasses Lee Mazzilli wore yesterday at the batting cage hid eyes that were red and moist hours before when he found out that Joe Torre...

YANKS PICK TORRE TO DEFEAT CANCER - BOSS & PLAYERS SAY SKIPPER WILL PULL THROUGH FINE

"We will handle it because that's what the Yankees are all about. We are a pillar of strength and so is Joe Torre. He is going to be fine and...

MOLLOY ROLLS INTO SEMIS

CHSAA Molloy 68 St. Raymond's 60 CHSAA CTK 70 Xaverian 34 Over the past four decades at Archbishop Molloy, Coach Jack Curran has allowed certain players more offensive freedom than...

UCONN ALL SET TO BEEP-BEEP ROADRUNNERS

DENVER - The question was direct, not at all intended to mislead. "Do you have any advice for the Roadrunners?" Khalid El-Amin's response was a blank stare. "For who?" El-Amin...

NETS FALL, EYE MARBURY - MULL DEALING CASSELL, NO. 1 PICK FOR STEPHON

INDIANAPOLIS - Change was in the air and on the court for the Nets last night. There was change in theory through an abundance of trade rumors, the most intriguing...

NO SEN-DO FOR RANGERS

Senators 3 Rangers 0 That the Rangers' six-game unbeaten streak came to an end with last night's 3-0 Garden loss to an Ottawa team that at least for the moment...

RUTGERS SENDS HOFSTRA TO SPEEDY EXIT

NIT FIRST ROUND Rutgers 58 Hofstra 45 PISCATAWAY - Rutgers players arrived for last night's first-round NIT game with Hofstra at about 6 p.m. But in truth, the Scarlet Knights...