February 9, 2000

FTC PROBING AMAZON

Amazon.com says the Federal Trade Commission has opened an "informal inquiry" into its Alexa Internet subsidiary in the wake of two lawsuits charging misuse of private customer data by the...

NO BUZZ, NO BUCKS ; POWER P.R. IS CRUCIAL AT THE SHOWS

If you're not a Calvin or a Giorgio, you'll need help getting buzz during Fashion Week -- no matter how much flesh or flash your designs offer. Getting into the...

MEDALLION FINANCIAL HITCHES RIDE WITH .COMS

Silicon Alley may be headquartered in the Flatiron District in downtown Manhattan, but its reach is extending all over town -- thanks to New York's ubiquitous yellow taxicabs. The cabs...

LATEST DESIGN FROM GUCCI: SLEEK WEB SITE

POST FOCUS ON THE FASHION BIZ - STYLE WATCH Gucci is set to unveil a new and improved Web site, just in time for the company's upcoming Fall 2000 fashion...

REUTERS' 'NET PLANS LIGHT A FIRE UNDER STOCK

Shares of Reuters PLC, the world's largest financial information and news provider, soared 25 percent yesterday after the company unveiled its long-awaited Internet strategy. The blueprint calls for linking the...

RIDING THE ROCKET; LABOR-COST REPORT SENDS NASDAQ SOARING

What drove the Nasdaq Composite Index to its third-straight record close yesterday? Well, it's the economy, stupid. A government report out yesterday showed worker productivity grew at a whopping 5...

NEWS GOSSIPMONGERS JUMP TO US

THE stampede for the exits continues at the Daily News, with two gossip reporters and a top entertainment editor jumping to Jann Wenner's kingdom at Us. Us had been attempting...

NEW INTERNET BILLIONAIRE MINTED

Scott Blum became the latest Internet billionaire yesterday -- on the very day that his web site was practically shut down by hackers. The 34-year-old founder of Buy.com, an avid...

BONY SAYS IT WILL BOOST ITS OVERSIGHT

In the wake of the Bank of New York-Russian mob money-laundering scandal, Federal Reserve regulators will get quarterly updates from the bank about any shady transactions or customers, it was...

FIRED FOR ADULTERY! TRADER SUES GOLDMAN SACHS OVER DISMISSAL

A former Goldman Sachs bond trader is suing the company for $50 million, claiming he was illegally fired for having an extramarital affair with a co-worker. Thomas Hudson Jr., who...

CARVER SAYS: BACK OFF - BANK'S CEO WRIGHT BASHES OUT-OF-TOWN RIVALS

The head of Harlem's legendary Carver National Bank fired her first full salvo against a husband-and-wife team who are trying to buy the bank in a nasty proxy fight. Deborah...

RAO'S COMING TO MIDTOWN: NEW SPECCHIO TO FEATURE THE SAME GREAT FOOD AND ATMOSPHERE WITH MORE SPACE

IT may take years, or the sudden disappearance of a regular customer, to get a seat at Rao's, the tiny 10-table restaurant in East Harlem. Otherwise, fuhgedaboudit. The eatery, owned...

BRAWN FOR THE BRAINLESS: STUDY SUGGESTS ANDRO SUPPLEMENTS MAY WORK - BUT POTENTIAL RISKS FAR OUTWEIGH BENEFITS

SLUGGER Mark McGwire's controversial steroid may make you stronger, but only if you take high doses of it - and doctors warn that even small doses can be dangerous. An...

A NEW SLANT ON THE GOOD OLD KABOB

'THIS is for you!" says the beaming waiter bearing a silvery holder full of golden french fries. They look so tempting it's a shame to admit I didn't order them....

BRASSERIE II: A DESIGN TO DIE FOR

'OH, WOW," my theatrical designer friend chuckles at the video screens suspended over the bar at the new Brasserie. "I get to see how I looked when I was 20...

MAGIC MAN DOUG HENNING DEAD AT 52

DOUG Henning -- the hippie magician who wowed the world with his amazing illusions on TV and on Broadway -- has died at the age of 52. The mellow magic...

OSCAR WATCH

Today The Post offers another article in a series of predictions for Oscar nominations, which will be announced next week. IF there's one clear favorite in the entire Oscar derby,...

THE STARR REPORT

The Hung jury "The Starr Report" has learned that Timmy Hung, son of "Martial Law" star Sammo Hung, will be joining the show for a three-episode arc airing in May....

CHAPLIN'S GRANDKID BARES ALL ; DOLORES IN 'ICE' CAPADE

CALL her the Little Vamp.Dolores Chaplin, 26-year-old granddaughter of screen icon Charlie Chaplin, has posed naked for the cover of a French fashion magazine and appears in the altogether in...

AILING BURNETT TAKES A WEEK OFF

CAROL Burnett suffered a groin injury during a performance of "Putting It Together" over the weekend and will be out of the Broadway show for at least a week. Her...

OASIS FANS IN BOOTLEG BONANZA

BRIT rock band Oasis is the latest victim of digital bootlegging, with songs from the group's as-yet-unreleased new album flooding the Internet. "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants" is not...

MAJOR LEAGUE HITS

CD REVIEW BIG LEAGUE ROCKS Various Baseball Players ½ EMI-Capitol Music One could easily dismiss "Big League Rocks" as a vanity project by the boys of summer, but there are...

JOHN ROLAND WOWING 'EM FOR 30 YEARS: WHAT'S HIS SECRET?

JOHN Roland is celebrating 30 years at WNYW/Ch.5 -- no mean feat for an anchor in the country's most demanding, scrutinized TV market. But Roland can't readily explain the secret...

SINGING FOR THE FENCES ; BALLPLAYERS RECORD CD

YANKEE fans may never see Paul O'Neill in the same light.The right-fielder, one of the more tightly wound baseball players, is usually seen hustling after line-drives in the alley or...

HARD TO WATCH OR FORGET

"True Life: I'm OnCrystal Meth" Tonight at 10 p.m. on MTV NEXT time you decide to blame the Colombian drug cartels, Russian mobsters, Mexican drug lords, Asian gangs, or the...

STEP UP AND CONFESS; SECRETS TO MTV

WILL teenagers who wouldn't be caught dead going into a church confessional spill their deepest, darkest secrets to a TV camera instead? MTV is counting on it. A new MTV...

ON-THE-MEND SPIELBERG TO TAPE NAACP AWARDS

LOS ANGELES -- Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg is doing so well after undergoing emergency surgery to remove a kidney that he'll be back on his feet to tape an NAACP...

HOPE IN WAR ON FEMALE CANCERS

Researchers are holding out new hope for catching ovarian cancer in its early stages - when the cure rate is highest - using ultrasound. And they're also close to linking...

DE LA RENTA RULES

Fall is looking up -- thanks to the terrific shows put on yesterday by Oscar de la Renta and Marc Bouwer. Nothing ruffles de la Renta's feathers -- even two...

KIDS WELL SERVED BY AFRICAN GRILL

Students at East Harlem's Sojourner Truth School will set off Friday on an international trek -- to the kitchens of Africa. Their destination will be the African Grill, where co-owner...

THE BLACK STATUE OF LIBERTY?: OLD POST COLUMN SPARKS 'NET RUMOR ABOUT LADY'S RACE

IMAGINE my surprise at learning that I'm at the center of a raging Internet controversy that is now officially being investigated by the federal government. According to an Associated Press...

ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT MESSAGE HITS HOME

THERE is a secret weapon behind Sen. John McCain's amazing rise in the Republican presidential primaries: George W. Bush. McCain is novelty -- an anti-Establishment conservative. And Bush walked straight...

DYNAMIC DUO COULDN'T JUST STAND AND WATCH

TO THE rest of the late-night subway riders, it was nothing more than a loud boy-girl fight. But something in the girl's expression caught Wanda Rivera's attention. She was so...

UNFASHIONABLE FURY: LENSMAN TAKES AN ANGRY SHOT AT ANTI-FUR PROTESTERS

The fur flew at designer Oscar de la Renta's high-wattage fashion show yesterday when two animal-rights protesters stormed the runway -- and were tackled by an outraged cameraman. "Fur pimp!"...

W'CHESTER VICTIM'S MOTHER LASHES OUT

The angry mom of a Westchester Community College student -- shot by an ex-boyfriend before he killed himself -- insisted yesterday that the bloodshed could have been avoided. Joy Thomas,...

'DE-CONSTRUCTING' WOODY BIDS TO STOP E. SIDE TOWER

Woody Allen, the city's unofficial cinéaste laureate, mixed stand-up comedy with community activism yesterday, asking a city panel to block a tower in his beloved Upper East Side neighborhood. Cracking...

HILLARY'S RX: BUY CANADIAN

ROCHESTER -- Hillary Rodham Clinton rolled out her plan yesterday to slash rising prescription-drug prices -- and charged that Mayor Giuliani's health-care proposal is a rip-off of her old one....

BIG PUN'S PAL JOE: I'LL LOSE THE 'FAT'

Hip-hop superstar Fat Joe -- stunned by the sudden death of his 698-pound rapper pal Big Pun -- made a do-or-die vow yesterday to begin shedding pounds. "I've got to...

BRADLEY UNFURLS 'FLAG' ATTACK ON GOP

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Bill Bradley -- in a break from attacking Veep Al Gore -- yesterday took a shot at Republicans for pandering to "right-wingers" who keep the Confederate flag...

BRITS MOVE TO SUSPEND NEW GOV'T IN ULSTER

Ignoring an appeal from Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, British legislators voted overwhelmingly last night to suspend Northern Ireland's new power-sharing administration. By a vote of 352-11, the House of...

OH, BOY! TOYMAKERS PLAYING FOR KEEPS

The new high-tech toys hitting shelves this year are sturdier than usual -- and can even help your kid become a doctor or lawyer. That's the good news at next...

CLINTON 'LEGACY' GOING UP IN SMOKE, TOO

ANALYSIS WASHINGTON -- President Clinton's hopes for a positive foreign-policy legacy will be dashed if peace talks crumble in Northern Ireland and the Mideast, analysts say. The president has devoted...

JACKO DRUG STUNNER IN 'GYNO' TRIAL

A one-time dope-addict doctor was accused yesterday of pumping Michael Jackson full of drugs while on tour with the bizarre megastar. The bombshell accusation came in Manhattan federal court, where...

ARK. PANEL EYES DISBARRING PREZ

WASHINGTON -- The Arkansas disbarment committee has drafted a complaint against President Clinton that could end up costing him his law license, sources said yesterday. Sources said the committee last...

ISRAEL BOMBERS BLITZ LEBANON AGAIN

JERUSALEM -- Israel bombed Lebanon for the second straight night yesterday, hitting three Hezbollah guerrilla targets as Prime Minister Ehud Barak vowed to do "whatever it takes" to save Israeli...

CITY SCHOOLS HIT BY NEW TEST SCANDALS

Two new investigations into test-tampering by teachers and administrators in city schools are under way, The Post has learned. The state Education Department and city Board of Education are jointly...

'DOCTOR ZORRO' INDICTED

"Carved" into patient.The obstetrician dubbed "Dr. Zorro" for carving his initials in a patient's belly has been indicted on criminal charges and will surrender to investigators today, The Post has...

LOUIMA GRILLED OVER 'OPEN DOOR' TESTIMONY

Defense lawyers lit into Abner Louima in Brooklyn federal court yesterday, asking the cop-torture victim why he never before said someone else opened the bathroom door during the precinct house...

DREAM TEAM SEES $$$ IN GOOD MEN'S DESTRUCTION

CHUCK SCHWARZ, decorated cop and ex-Marine hero, walked from the sixth floor of the Brooklyn Federal Court Building on the dot of 5 p.m. yesterday to sleep in a steel...

EXPERTS: 'MIND' WHAT YOU EAT

Diet experts yesterday said that if rapper Fat Joe is serious about shedding pounds, he should realize the secret to weight loss is in the head as much as the...

DOC LANCES DIALLO DEFENSE: SAYS FALLEN VICTIM WAS SHOT

ALBANY -- Four Bronx cops kept firing -- up to 15 shots -- at Amadou Diallo, even after he had crumpled to the floor with his spine severed and his...

O'CONNOR HEADS FOR VATICAN

John Cardinal O'Connor jetted off to Rome last night, expecting a personal audience with Pope John Paul that will likely include a discussion of O'Connor's successor, church sources said. O'Connor's...

LAWYER: LET JURY SEE KENDRA'S KILLER OFF RX

The lawyer for a mental patient who shoved a woman in front of an oncoming subway train wants him taken off his anti-psychotic medication so jurors in his upcoming murder...

'HURRICANE' GLORIFIES A KILLER, SAY VICTIMS' KIN

Relatives of three murder victims took aim yesterday at "The Hurricane," the new movie about boxer Rubin Carter -- who spent 19 years in prison for a New Jersey triple...

PALS, KIN MOURN COLUMBIA 'ANGEL'

Friends and relatives of Columbia University murder victim Kathleen Roskot yesterday remembered a young woman with a "beautiful smile" whose life of promise was tragically cut short. "She was an...

CONSERVATIVE PRIMARY OK WITH ME: RUDY

Mayor Giuliani yesterday said he would be more than willing to face off against Long Island Rep. Rick Lazio -- or anyone else -- in a Conservative Party primary for...

NEW POLL SHOWS MCCAIN NARROWING THE GAP IN N.Y.

George W. Bush won the Delaware primary yesterday -- but a new poll shows rival John McCain has zoomed in New York and is now just 9 points behind Bush....

PETITE POWERHOUSE POUNDS PERP: COPS: SUBWAY RAPE TRY HALTED BY FEARLESS EX-VICTIM

While other straphangers watched and did nothing, a tiny female dynamo furiously punched out a homeless man who was attacking another woman at a subway station yesterday, police said. "I...

HACK ATTACKERS TANGLE WEB SITES

Computer hackers were on the attack again yesterday, knocking out Amazon.com, CNN.com and eBay -- some of the Internet's most popular sites. The assaults were similar to the strike that...

GILL PUTS HIS GAME WHERE HIS MOUTH IS

Kendall Gill spoke. And has since backed up his words. Gill, remember, was critical of his Net teammates last week and challenged them to get mentally tough, especially in late-game...

BRODEUR, DEVILS SHOOTING FOR NHL DOUBLE-DOUBLE

Fully aware that little they do in the regular season will impress anyone, the Devils can only continue to convince themselves. Martin Brodeur says they may as well set their...

JOHNNIES WILL FIGHT BARKLEY'S 3-GAME BAN

PROVIDENCE - When St. John's AD Ed Manetta, Jr. hung up the phone, he must have felt as if the NCAA had just tried to flush the Red Storm's season...

ISLES' OFFER HAS LAPOINTE BAFFLED

Claude Lapointe, an unrestricted free agent following the season, said yesterday that he was growing anxious over his contract negotiations with the Islanders. Maybe that's because he doesn't seem to...

CAP WOES HANDCUFF GIANTS

Wait 'til next year. While that's not exactly the rallying cry the Giants are offering as the free-agency signing period nears, it's close to the reality the club takes into...

JETS LOOK TO IMPROVE FROM WITHIN

They were active a year ago and experienced less-than-desirable results. In last year's free-agency signing period, the Jets added big-name veterans in Steve Atwater and Eric Green, who provided little...

DISABLED SKIERS FIGHT FOR FUTURE

CLAIMING discrimination against disabled skiers, 21 members of the U.S. Disabled Ski Team filed a formal grievance Monday against the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. The disabled skiers claim the...

ROCKER HEARING TODAY

Atlanta shock jock John Rocker is going to hell. Or at least his version of it. Rocker is coming to New York City today for his grievance hearing at Major...

PAT, VG CATCH BREAK

JEFF Van Gundy and Patrick Ewing breathed sighs of relief yesterday. Neither will admit it, but losing Marcus Camby for the season to a knee injury would have revealed how...

MULLIGAN RESCUES RAVENS ; LATE HEROICS BOOST ST. RAY'S OVER LA SALLE

St. Ray's 71 La Salle 60 It's hard to keep a good man down. Struggling offensively throughout much of yesterday's game, St. Raymond's Peter Mulligan came alive in the fourth...

FARMHAND BACK WITH YANKEES

Luke Wilcox, a third-round pick of the Yankees in the 1995 draft, returned to the organization yesterday when the 26-year-old outfielder signed a minor league deal. Wilcox, who was taken...

FEELING LIKE HALL-STARS: PIRATES SETON PRETTY FOR NCAAS

Seton Hall coach Tommy Amaker can remember sitting in the bowels of the Meadowlands a year ago this month, preparing for last season's game with intrastate rival Rutgers. His slumping...

RELIEF OVER CAMBY:AGENT: KNICK STAR IS EXPECTED BACK IN 3 TO 4 WEEKS

MILWAUKEE -- The Knick season lives. In a shocking turn of events that sent joyous waves through the organization and kept alive their championship hopes, a diagnostic arthroscopic surgery performed...

METS MAKE ROOM FOR RODRIGUEZ

One day after claiming infielder David Lamb on waivers, the Mets yesterday designated the infielder for assignment to make room on their 40-man roster for lefty reliever Rich Rodriguez, who...

RELIEF OVER CAMBY:EWING WAS READY WITH SYMPATHY

KNICK NOTES MILWAUKEE -- Before learning the news about Marcus Camby's right knee, Patrick Ewing was all set to give the Knicks' electric Sixth Man rehab advice. As Ewing spoke...

LENNOX HASN'T ERASED DOUBTS

ON APRIL 28, Lennox Lewis will accept the Fighter of the Year Award from the Boxing Writers Association of America. The next night, he will defend his heavyweight title against...

JOHNNIES BAND TOGETHER & ROAST FRIARS

St. Johns 61 Providence 46 PROVIDENCE -- The St. John's Red Storm took the court in the Providence Civic Center last night making certain the one teammate who was back...

GRAVES MOURNSSON

When anyone would ask Adam Graves how his infant sons, Jaxon and Logan, who weighed less than 2 pounds when born 2½ months premature on Jan. 14, were doing, the...

FED-UP BARKLEY GOIN' PRO:ERICK HEADING FOR NBA AFTER SEASON

PROVIDENCE -- Congratulations, NCAA. Despite all of your rhetoric about trying to keep players from leaving college early for the NBA, you've probably just driven an underclassmen into the arms...

FED-UP BARKLEY GOIN' PRO: ST. JOHN'S TO APPEAL SUSPENSION

PROVIDENCE -- The call from the NCAA came in the afternoon and when St. John's athletic director Ed Manetta Jr. hung up the receiver, he must have felt as if...

NETS' GRAND OPENING SHUTS DOOR ON CELTS

There was a 10-0 Celtic run midway in the fourth quarter. In one wretched third-quarter stretch, the Nets looked as bad as they have at any point this season, missing...

CROWDS DIMINISH AS LOSSES PILE UP

Hurricanes 4 Islanders 3 If you thought the All-Star break would help revive the Islanders, you were about as wrong as the owners were when they decided to buy the...

MOUNT FTOREK ERUPTS AT ZEBRAS AGAIN

The tightly wrapped Devil coach has come undone twice in his last three games. Both times he had ample cause, and they were much appreciated by his players, but Robbie...

RANGERS MAKE POINT: GRITTY TIE WITH DEVS A REAL STATEMENT

Rangers 2 Devils 2 That the Ranger winless streak against the Devils has reached 18 games and 1,123 days is a mere footnote to the story of last night's 2-2...