May 21, 1999

GREENSPAN'S SCAM - THREATS OF INTEREST-RATE HIKES ARE ELABORATE LIES

THE Federal Reserve is perpetrating a fraud. And while the press and public may not be wise to what is going on, the financial markets are. Here's how this scam...

4 FLOOR BROKERS, 2 EXECS COP TO 'FRONT RUNNING'

Two Wall Street brokerage officials and four New York Stock Exchange floor brokers pleaded guilty yesterday to plotting to make illegal trades and conceal the profits. The case, the first...

FIDELITY RESISTING LURE OF 'NET FUNDS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Don't expect an Internet fund from Fidelity Investments anytime soon. Despite requests from shareholders as well as pressure from its own marketing department, Fidelity, the world's biggest...

VOICE GOES FREE IN ALL BOROUGHS; EXCLUSIVE

The Village Voice, the granddaddy of alternative papers, plans to become a freebie in the outer boroughs, following its similar move in Manhattan three years ago. Circulation in the outer...

OVITZ SITE AIMS TO CONNECT WITH WEB SURFERS' WALLETS

Michael Ovitz, the onetime Hollywood power broker now on the comeback trail, is making an Internet play. The co-founder of mega-talent agency CAA is partnering with Yucaipa Companies, a private...

WWF SIZING UP IPO - OFFERING COULD RAISE STONE-COLD $750M; NYC ARENA PLANNED

Flamboyant wrestling czar Vince McMahon is pumping up his World Wrestling Federation with plans for a public offering and a new sports arena on the East Side. McMahon, 53, is...

EISNER BENT ON CONTINUING KATZENBERG BOUT

Walt Disney chief Michael Eisner is ready for more abuse. Instead of quietly settling his sensationalized legal spat with his former studio boss Jeffrey Katzenberg, Eisner is vowing to go...

'FROGS FOR SNAKES' DESERVES A BIT OF A HISS

'FROGS for Snakes" starts out as yet another sub-Tarantino neo-noir film before turning into a feature-length joke about actors who literally kill for parts. It's a clever, amusing joke, but...

'5' STEPS FORWARD - LENNY KRAVITZ MAKES MUSICAL PROGRESS

"I guess my greatest accomplishment is just that I'm still here after 10 years." - Lenny Kravitz DURING the last 10 years, Lenny Kravitz has tested a wide assortment of...

BALLET BASH GETS TOUCH OF CLASS

ALTHOUGH New York City Ballet is happily engaged in a grand celebration of its 50th anniversary, in actual fact its roots extend back rather further. The company had its true...

'MASCARA' DESERVES THE LASH

EVERYTHING ''Mascara'' writer-director Linda Kandel knows about life she learned from reading Cosmopolitan. That's the only conclusion that makes sense after seeing this dreadful paean to female bonding, in which...

CLEO A LITTLE CHARMER

"Cleopatra" Sunday and Monday at 9 on WABC/Ch.7 ON the final jam-packed weekend of the May sweeps, "Cleopatra" rules. And producer Robert Halmi Sr., who sank to "Ishtar" career levels...

IT'S DADDY SMEAREST

"Michael Landon, theFather I Knew" Sunday at 9 on WCBS/Ch.2 AS a freshman director, Michael Landon Jr. makes a good candidate for 24-7 therapy. "Michael Landon, the Father I Knew"...

CH.5 NEWS BRINGS BACK SCAMARDELLA: TV LEGEND FILES REPORTS ON KOSOVO REFUGEES

ROSE Ann Scamardella - the "Eyewitness News" anchor/reporter who was a local TV fixture in the '70s and early '80s - is coming back. Scamardella will report for WNYW/Ch.5's 10...

'LOVE LETTER' DOESN'T DELIVER

THE one thing that sticks with you about Kate Capshaw's - that is, Mrs. Steven Spielberg's - drowsy vanity project "The Love Letter" is its bizarre attempt to pass off...

'TREKKIES' IS A REAL TRIP

'TREKKIES' may be the "Roger & Me" of 1999; it is certainly one of the funniest movies so far this year. This is a considerable achievement for a feature-length documentary...

OUCH! A 2-HOUR JESSE HEADLOCK

"The Jesse Ventura Story" Sunday at 9 on WNBC/Ch.4 One Star Rating IF you still don't think Jesse "The Body-Turned-Brain" Ventura is the greatest thing since sliced bread, let him...

TV TICKER

'20/20' shocker ABC's ''20/20'' uses hidden cameras tonight for a startling look at kids and guns. In a unique experiment, ''20/20'' placed real guns, unloaded and disabled, in the playroom...

'BESIEGED' A QUIET JOY

SMALLER and tighter is better for Bernardo Bertolucci, the Italian director of such gassy epics as "Little Buddha" and the languorous Tuscan indulgence "Stealing Beauty." Coming in at just over...

HAUNTING COMEDY IN FINE 'VOICE'

WHEN the beautiful and elegant young editor notices an odd smell in the apartment of the handsome and elegant young novelist, she jokingly speculates that "behind that door, there's some...

ALLY GOES OFF-B'WAY

THIS summer, off-Broadway theatergoers are going to get a chance to see just how skinny Calista Flockhart really is. The pencil-thin diva will star in ''A Gaggle of Saints,'' three...

SHATNER'S NEW ENTERPRISE

IN person, William Shatner is quieter and more solemn that you might expect from his performances as Capt. Kirk or from ''Get a Life!'' the ebulliently comic, self-deprecating book that...

WEIRD EXIT FOR 'HOME ALONE' STAR

A mystery has sprung up around actor Daniel Stern and his proposed CBS series. On the eve of the network's fall-season announcement, Stern quit the show in a terse, written...

ROYALS BOW TO PRESSURE

THE royal wedding of Britain's Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones will be televised after all. Up until this week, the couple had hoped that their wedding would be private, but...

BEATEN RECORD EXEC: I'LL SEE PUFFY BEHIND BARS

The record exec allegedly beaten bloody by Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs says he fears for his life - but will do whatever it takes to put the rap mogul behind...

STARVING SERB SOLDIERS DESERTING THEIR POSTS

"I think this is the beginning of something. I think it shows the Serbs are vulnerable and are feeling it." JIM HOOPER, BALKANS ACTION COUNCIL Serbian soldiers are throwing down...

ANOTHER RED ALERT AT CITY SCHOOLS

"We are coordinating with the local precincts, and our staffs at the schools remain vigilant, making sure there are no unusual activities." BOARD OF ED SPOKESWOMAN MARGIE FEINBERG New York...

FOR OPENERS, 'PHANTOM' $MASHES RECORD

The new "Star Wars" did out-of-this-world business on opening day - raking in a whopping $28.5 million in just 24 hours. The jaw-dropping figure sets a new world record for...

NO WEAPON, ROSIE, IS MORE LETHAL THAN AN UNENFORCED LAW; IT'S ABOUT THE LAW, ROSIE, NOT ABOUT GUNS

DEAR Rosie: Go to bed tonight and please don't lose any sleep. You said in your mea culpa yesterday that you got the impression you "embarrassed and or humiliated" Tom....

O'DONNELL SORRY ABOUT PASSION, BUT NOT POSITION

Rosie O'Donnell offered a tepid apology to Tom Selleck yesterday - one day after ripping into the hunky actor on live TV for supporting the National Rifle Association. "I don't...

NO-SHOW JACKO COSTS INSURER $1M

Pop icon Michael Jackson's grief over Princess Di's death will cost the insurers of a concert he canceled more than $1 million, a top British court ruled yesterday. Wacko Jacko...

SEXY SENIOR SOPHIA: I'VE NEVER HAD NIP & TUCK

A feisty Sophia Loren tells her fans to face it - she's never had plastic surgery. But the 64-year-old sex symbol adds that she's never ruled out the possibility. "Some...

BARAK: I'LL PULL TROOPS FROM LEBANON

JERUSALEM - Israeli troops - which have been in southern Lebanon for two decades - could be pulled out in less than a year, Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak said yesterday....

VOLPE LAWYER LAYS OFF LATEST COP'S DAMNING TESTIMONY

Another cop came forward yesterday to back up a damning account of crazed behavior by Officer Justin Volpe - whose lawyer suddenly backed down from challenging the witness. The stunning...

CLASSMATES SAY GEORGIA SHOOTER WAS JEKYLL & HYDE

"I talked to him just before he started shooting and asked him why she broke up with him." NATHANIEL DEETER The Georgia teen who went on a shooting spree at...

CITY EYES DRASTIC CUTS IF COMMUTER TAX IS KILLED

City officials are threatening to cut services and curtail a stadium-construction fund - and are even raising the issue of layoffs - as a result of the proposed commuter-tax repeal....

SPIELBERG PATCHED 15-YR. RIFT WITH DAD

Steven Spielberg reveals that he and his father had a bitter, 15-year rift during which they barely talked. The famed director says he cut off contact with Arnold Spielberg when...

CLINTON BIDS TO HEAL COLO. WOUNDS AMID NEW TRAGEDY

LITTLETON, Colo. - President Clinton embraced the families of the Columbine HS massacre victims yesterday - hours after another "deeply troubling" school shooting in Georgia. The president and First Lady...

PEACE PUSH GAINS STEAM AS NATO BOMB ROCKS HOSP

Diplomatic moves to end the Kosovo crisis picked up pace yesterday following another NATO mishap, this one killing three patients in a suburban Belgrade hospital. The victims died early yesterday...

ANOTHER SCHOOL, ANOTHER CRAZY TEEN - HS GUNMAN LEAVES 6 WOUNDED IN GA.

In a horrific replay of the Littleton massacre, a lovelorn Georgia teen went on a shooting rampage at his school yesterday - wounding six students before collapsing in tears. "Oh,...

'WE'RE REAL PROUD OF HIM'

June Anderson just knew her quiet, dependable neighbor "would be right in the middle of it" when she heard a teen gunman went on a bloody rampage at the local...

GABBY-CABBY CRACKDOWN - LAW BANS CELL PHONES WHILE DRIVING

Cabbies caught yapping on cell phones will get zapped with $200 fines under a ban approved yesterday by the Taxi and Limousine Commission. The rule - slated to go into...

A MODEST HERO SAVES THE DAY

"Oh, my God, he's got a gun!" FRESHMAN JESSIE McCUMBER The fearless and unflappable assistant principal who brought a quick and quiet end to yesterday's bloody high school rampage says...

KIN ARE LEFT AGAIN TO MAKE SENSE OF THE UNTHINKABLE

CONYERS, Ga. A COLD chill ran down C.M. Ashley's spine. He had just heard on the radio that six teen-agers had been shot inside Heritage HS in Conyers, Ga., which...

SENATE OKS NEW CURBS ON GUN BUYERS - GORE CASTS TIE-BREAKING VOTE AFTER GA. SHOOTING

WASHINGTON - The Senate yesterday approved a plan to force background checks for buyers at gun shows, after Vice President Al Gore made a rare appearance at the Capitol to...

HIZZONER SETS SIGHTS ON 'LIBERATING' ROOSEVELT IS.

Mayor Giuliani opened up a new battlefront in his feud with Gov. Pataki and lawmakers in Albany yesterday, saying he wanted to "liberate" Roosevelt Island from its state caretakers. The...

JONBENET'S BROTHER DIDN'T KILL HER: DA

JonBenet Ramsey's brother was cleared yesterday by Boulder, Colo. officials investigating the 6-year-old beauty queen's grisly murder. "Burke Ramsey is not a suspect," a spokeswoman for Boulder DA Alex Hunter...

PEACE PUSH GAINS STEAM AS NATO ; BOMB ROCKS HOSP

Diplomatic moves to end the Kosovo crisis picked up pace yesterday following another NATO mishap, this one killing three patients in a suburban Belgrade hospital. The victims died early yesterday...

JETER BELONGS IN 3-HOLE: IT'S TIME TO LET DEREK HIT IN O'NEILL'S SPOT

THE long-time No. 3 batter, a lefty-swinging midwesterner considered one of the best hitters in Yankee history, was not producing impact akin to his past. There was an option, a...

VENTURA'S TV MOVIE: WHAT, NO STEROIDS?

'It's only a 96-minute movie," huffed the Burbank-based NBC publicist. And, because "The Jesse Ventura Story," tonight on NBC, is only a 96-minute movie, there's no room to hint, let...

ONE FISH, TWO FISH WEAKFISH, BLUEFISH

STRIPED bass, weakfish, fluke and bluefish are all on tap for the weekend and from the looks of it, saltwater fishing is in full bloom. Right up until Wednesday's downpour,...

GIANTS ADD FRED BROCK

The Giants added to their depth at their receiving corps yesterday, signing Fred Brock, who was with the Cardinals in 1996 when Jim Fassel was offensive coordinator in Arizona. Brock...

MUSHNICK'S LOOKALIKES

Laker boss Jerry West and Defense Secretary William Cohen.

DEVS-MSG PLAN RAISES RED FLAG

IT RINGS wrong, no matter how loudly money peals. Madison Square Garden should not be half landlord to the Devils in Hoboken. The immediate cringe is reason enough. Cablevision's agreement...

BROWN'S HOOP GENIUS HAS SAVED ANOTHER FRANCHISE

"If Allen Iverson is the heart and soul of this team, then Larry Brown is the gray matter. He's the genius behind this whole thing."76ER PRESIDENT PAT CROCE PHILADELPHIA -...

TIX EASY TO COME BY IN APATHETIC ATLANTA

ATLANTA (Bloomberg) - It's playoff time in Atlanta, and that means there are plenty of tickets available. Last Sunday, the Hawks couldn't sell out the deciding Game 5 of its...

WHISTLIN' 'DIXIE' IS BIG HIT

Bought In Dixie impressed everyone by winning yesterday's sixth race in a very fast time. Jockey Jean-Luc Samyn tried stalking the early pace but was dragged to the lead by...

HAWKS' HOPES REST ON SMITH

"I've got to go out and outscore Sprewell and Houston."STEVE SMITH ATLANTA - Three years ago, the Knicks, carrying a loaded wallet and a sparse offense, plunged in the free-agent...

CHILI: WE CAN USE DARRYL

BOSTON - There is a possibility that Darryl Strawberry will learn where his baseball career is going in a few days when his lawyers enter a plea of nolo contendre...

ON PACE FOR VICTORY: INDIANA HAS YET TO PLAY BEST GAME

PHILADELPHIA - It is a mortal sin ever to look anywhere but the next game in the postseason, especially this post-Jordan one when nothing can be factored out of the...

DIKEMBE KNOWS BOARDS ARE THE KEY

ATLANTA - Most of the Hawks' depth is found in Dikembe Mutombo's voice. Down 1-0 to the Knicks and facing the big test last night, he went to the testosterone....

ROCKET BOOST ON TAP ; TORRE COUNTIN' ON LIFT FROM ROGER'S RETURN

BOSTON - Joe Torre is too secure a man to try to claim a huge slice of the credit for the Yankees' success under his watch. He consistently has listed...

TROUBLE AHEAD FOR KNICKS ; TEAM MUST FIND WAY TO APPEASE SPREE & CAMBY

ATLANTA - Optimism is at its peak right now. The Knicks are in the thick of the NBA playoffs with a real chance to make the Eastern Conference finals. The...

CHUCK PRIMED FOR BREAKOUT: SLUMPIN' KNOBBY SEES END IN SIGHT OF SLUMBER FUNK

"I have been feeling better lately, trying to go the other way and stuff."CHUCK KNOBLAUCH BOSTON - Chuck Knoblauch stood behind the batting cage fitting his frigid bat with a...

CONFIDENT KNICKS ARE TALKIN' TITLE: VAN'S CREW NOT HAPPY JUST TO BE IN PLAYOFFS

'Our goals are bigger right now."MARCUS CAMBY ATLANTA - At first, the Knicks were just enjoying the playoff ride. Now, they're looking for much bigger success, as Marcus Camby pointed...

NETS AIM TO HIT JAX-POT: MONSTER OFFER COULD BRING PHIL TO JERSEY

PHILADELPHIA - The Nets' owners are sparing no expense or perk in their romancing of Phil Jackson, sources reveal. Whatever it takes within modern-day sports insanity to recruit the six-time...

YANKEES REACTIVATE NELSON

YANK NOTES BOSTON - Consider the moves the Yankees made yesterday as a line change instead of a major shakeup that would lead everybody to believe panic had settled into...

REFRESHED GRANT READY FOR LONG GAME

"We're not in a do or die situation, but we want to go out and play well. No one wants to go to New York down 0-2."GRANT LONG ATLANTA -...

ANTLEY WANTS IN ON BELMONT 'BET'

"If he doesn't want to accept my challenge, I respect his right to do that."BOB LEWIS, OWNER OF CHARISMATIC Chris Antley, rider of Triple Crown hopeful Charismatic, and Mike Pegram,...

HENNIG, PLETCHER GIVEN A REPRIEVE

Belmont-based trainers Mark Hennig and Todd Pletcher, two of the best and brightest young horsemen in America, were given a 48-hour reprieve yesterday by the N.Y. State Racing and Wagering...

ANOTHER AWFUL OUTING FOR ABBOTT

Perhaps someday, Jim Abbott will win a game in the National League. That day did not come yesterday and, considering how poorly his latest comeback attempt is going, it's questionable...

NO GUTMAN, NO STORY:TEAM PRES SIDESTEPS JETS SALE QUESTIONS

As the Jets convened yesterday for their annual highlight film unveiling in Manhattan there was only one subject on the minds of those in attendance: What's going to happen with...

HAWKS HATE WHEN EWING SITS IT OUT

KNICK NOTES ATLANTA - Steve Smith said it before. And now he said it again. The Hawks - at least the Hawk guards - don't want to see Patrick Ewing...

BENNY JACKS 2 TO SAVE METS:AGBAYANI SLAMS PAIR OF HOMERS IN OPENER

GAME 1 Mets 11 Brewers 10 The latest fad at Shea Stadium is not booing Bobby Bonilla and not showing up early for a twi-night doubleheader. The latest thing at...

RICKEY STILL A NO-GO

MET NOTES Rickey Henderson was not activated from the disabled list yesterday because his sore right hamstring was not pronounced fully healthy. Henderson ran the bases during batting practice, working...

'EL DUQUE' TO THE RESCUE: HERNANDEZ GIVES BOMBERS A BOOST

Yankees 3 Red Sox 1 BOSTON - El Beauty. Coming off three putrid outings and spending Monday in New York having an MRI and a CAT-scan on his back, there...

SPREE BACKS APPEAL OF AGENT'S FINE

KNICK NOTES ATLANTA - Latrell's Sprewell's focus is clearly on the Hawks and the second round of the playoffs and that was evident by another big game last night in...

CALL HIM 'EL STOPPER':DUQUE BEATS CLEMENS TO THE PUNCH

BOSTON - The script called for Roger Clemens to lead the pitching staff out of disrepair and for the rest of the team to fall into place. It was scheduled...

IS FAME FLEETING? ; HEY, FANS: ENJOY SPREE WHILE YOU CAN

ATLANTA - He may be a reluctant sixth man, but Latrell Sprewell has been the Knicks' main man through two games of their Eastern Conference semifinal with the Hawks. On...

KNICKS WON, BUT HOOPS LOST

Awful spectacle as N.Y. KO'd hapless Hawks ATLANTA - The Knicks and Hawks raced up and down the floor like fingernails on a blackboard. Allan Houston missed his first five...

NOTHING UP THERE, STEVE :SMITH'S HORRIBLE GAME COSTS HAWKS

ATLANTA - There are bad games. There are horrible games. There are those types of games that warrant a death penalty in certain Third World countries. And then there is...

THIS TIME, ATLANTA JUST PLAIN O'FUL

ATLANTA - This thing might not go four games. After Game 1, the Hawks talked about playing better defense. Now after Game 2, they'll be talking about playing better offense....

ROBIN SLAMS BREWERS TWICE

There aren't a lot of ways to upstage a night like Benny Agbayani had, but Robin Ventura found a way to do it with a pair of grand slams. The...

MARCUS CALLS HIS DUNK SHOT

ATLANTA - If Marcus Camby really had a crystal ball, this would not have been the game to bring it out. Somebody would have dropped it. But the all-knowing, all-seeing,...

SPREWELL BACKS UNION APPEAL OF FINE

KNICK NOTES ATLANTA - Latrell Sprewell's focus is clearly on the Hawks and the second round of the playoffs and that was evident by another big game last night in...

KNICK FANS MAKE DOME THEIR HOME

ATLANTA - After Game 1, the Hawks shrugged off the decided Knick presence in the crowd here. Some made jokes about it. Some said you live with it. One player...

YOSHII CONTINUES AMAZIN' TURNAROUND

Nothing has changed ... except the results. The transformation from struggling starter to sensational starter has not been a case of any drastic alterations. So says Masato Yoshii, who last...

SPREE-WHEELIN' KNICKS ON ROLL: HEADING TO GARDEN WITH SWEEP DREAMS

ATLANTA - Bring on the Pacers. Put the Hawks out of their misery. Energized by the continued laser bench play of Latrell Sprewell, the Knicks took a 2-0 lead in...

LATRELL ON WAY OUT?

ATLANTA - Latrell Sprewell scored 31 points in leading the Knicks to victory over the Hawks in Game One. Last night, he matched that total with another 31 points in...

VG: EWING DESERVES PAT ON BACK

ATLANTA - Patrick Ewing often has been an aloof superstar, never really endearing himself to Knicks fans, who have not loved him the way they loved Walt Frazier, Willis Reed...

HAWKS SUFFER ANXIETY ATTACK

ATLANTA - The word that popped up over and over in the Hawks' locker room last night describing their play - although the word should have been "lousy" - was...

GARNER APOLOGIZES TO OCHOA

MET NOTES When watching at home sometimes fans don't get the whole picture about what's going on in the game. Sometimes the same can happen from the dugout. After Game...