February 25, 2000

EXCHANGES RAISE RED FLAG ON MARGIN

YOU aren't the only one concerned about the dangers of the stock market. The New York Stock Exchange and and NASD issued a rare joint statement yesterday warning brokers not...

DOW TESTS LOWS: DIPS BELOW 10,000 BEFORE LATE-DAY RALLY

Dow 10,000 is once again on Wall Street's mind -- after a five-month hiatus. That's because the blue-chip average plunged yesterday, falling below the 10,000 mark for the first time...

FLAT-FOOTED CONVERSE BETS ON A NEW SHOE

Converse Inc., whose Chuck Taylor All-Star canvas sneaker is an American icon and the country's oldest sneaker brand, is getting kicked around a lot these days. Teenagers are reaching for...

GUCCI JOINS THE ARMANI SWEEPSTAKES

Giorgio Armani will show his fall/winter collection tomorrow in Milan amid rampant reports the designer is close to partnering with fellow Italian fashion powerhouse Gucci. While it comes as no...

HDP STOCK GAINS ON REPORTS OF FASHION EXIT

Reports that Italy's HdP is bailing out of the fashion business and selling off part of its publishing business continue to swirl. The latest -- that the company hired Goldman...

SPAM SCAMMERS CANNED; 2 SUED FOR PHONY AOL STOCK ENDORSEMENTS

America Online users annoyed by e-mails pitching penny stocks can now rest easy: They won't be receiving any more bogus "AOL Investment Snapshots." The federal authorities yesterday filed civil and...

DEDE'S OUT AGAIN ; VACATES SEAT ON MORGAN STANLEY BOARD

Disgraced art world queen Diana (Dede) Brooks, pushed from Sotheby's throne in a price-fixing scandal, is also out at her other high-profile post as a director at Morgan Stanley Dean...

SPECTATOR SPORT ; BLACK CLOSE TO GRABBING CONSERVATIVE MAG

Canadian media mogul Conrad Black is close to a deal to buy The American Spectator from the not-for-profit foundation that currently controls the conservative weekly, say sources close to the...

NEW VULCAN ALERT ; SET TO CAST BID ON VIBE, SPIN AND BLAZE

Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures is wading into the bidding war for music magazines Vibe, Spin and Blaze, said reliable industry sources. Only last week, Allen's Vulcan Ventures emerged as the...

SENATE TARGETS DAY TRADING IN HEARING

Congress and the National Association of Securities Dealers launched an all-out regulatory and public relations war on the day-trading industry yesterday. While traders who lost their money testified before a...

AOL TAPS EX-FCC HEAD FOR WIRELESS UNIT

As the world turns wireless, America Online is upping its commitment to developing new technologies for wireless devices. Bob Pittman, president and chief operating officer, has tapped Dennis Patrick, who...

CLAUS FOR ALARM

REINDEER GAMESThis brain-dead, Christmas-themed thriller piles on one unbelievable plot twist after another, and director John Frankenheimer can do little but keep things moving. Ben Affleck is absurdly miscast as...

PLUCK OF THE IRISH

THE CLOSER YOU GETBachelors in a small Irish village advertise for brides from America, upsetting the local female population, in this gentle, scenic comedy along the lines of "The Full...

BUILDING BRIDGES ; ACTOR JEFF ON HIS NOTE-ABLE CAREER MOVE

AS one of Hollywood's most respected actors, Jeff Bridges has had his share of success, including three Oscar nominations and starring roles in contemporary classics such as "The Big Lebowski,"...

RENEE ZELLWEGER TO STAR AS 'BRIDGET JONES'

AMERICAN-as-apple-pie actress Renée Zellweger has beat out two top British stars to land the lead role in a feature film based on "Bridget Jones's Diary." Texas-born Zellweger, 29, will be...

THE MYSTERY THAT WON'T DIE

"Perfect Murder,Perfect Town" Sunday and Wednesday at 9 p.m. on WCBS/Ch.2. * IF you're like me, you cover the front page of The New York Times with the front page...

FRACTURED FAIRY TALE

"The 10th Kingdom" Sunday at 9 p.m., Monday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 8 p.m., next Sunday at 9 p.m. and next Monday at 8 p.m. 4 bombs "THE 10th...

TASTY PLAIN DANISH

Newlyweds Sofie Grabol and Anders W. Berthelsen are quickly faced with some unexpected developments in "Mifune."MIFUNE1/2You would never guess from the name, but "Mifune" turns out to be a fresh...

A TOUCHING TALE OF SUBURBAN RENEWAL

JUDY BERLIN1/2Poetic but very slow, Eric Mendelsohn's bittersweet ode to the Long Island suburbs offers a rare lack of cynicism and fine performances, including a last bow by the late...

WHAT A WONDERFUL 'WORLD'

NOT OF THIS WORLD1/2An abandoned baby brings together a novice nun (Margherita Buy) and a middle-aged dry-cleaning proprietor (Silvio Orlando) in this excellently acted bittersweet comedy, directed with rare sensitivity...

LIPPA'S 'PARTY' IS A BIG BUST

THE WILD PARTYThe Manhattan Theatre Club, Stage 1,131 W. 55th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues; (212) 581-1212.Queenie (Julia Murney) and Black (Taye Diggs) in a scene from AndrewLippa's "The...

GRAMMYS ARE LIKELY TO GO TO WOMEN'S HEADS

IT'S been dubbed the Millennium Shag and the Electric Mop but, after Wednesday night's awards ceremony, you can call it Grammy Hair. The trend-setting Meg Ryan debuted the abstract, "shattered...

THE STARR REPORT

The Green monster Don't invite Donny and Marie Osmond to the same party as MTV madman Tom Green. And if you do, bring a change of clothing for the Osmond...

DISNEY UNVEILS A WHOLE NEW 'AIDA'

'AIDA" -- the eagerly awaited new musical from Disney -- begins previews tonight at the Palace Theater after undergoing an extensive overhaul since its out-of-town tryout in Chicago last December....

DR. DANGER TO 2 NEWS

JOEL Cheatwood -- one of the most notorious TV news execs in the country -- was named yesterday to run Ch.2 news. Big changes for the station's third-place newscasts seem...

LITTLE RAY OF HOPE FOR 'BAYWATCH'

SURF'S up on the hunt to find the next "Baywatch." And the biggest threat to the long-running beach-babe fest are the new shows that feature its former stars. Carmen Electra...

METEORITE MAY UNLOCK LIFE SECRETS

A fragment from a meteorite that exploded in the Yukon Territory last month could hold valuable secrets to the origin of the universe, excited scientists say. The 6-ounce rock, believed...

PLEA TO PREZ OVER 'BIAS' IN SECRET SERVICE

WASHINGTON - A lawyer for three black Secret Service agents who claim they're victims of discrimination yesterday pleaded for President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore to end racial bias...

NEW REPORTOF MASSACRE IN COLOMBIA 'DIRTY WAR'

Members of a right-wing death squad reportedly drank and danced as they tortured and beheaded at least 28 villagers in the latest atrocity in Colombia's "dirty war" against rebels and...

CASH-STRAPPED REITER ENDS MAYORAL RUN

Former Deputy Mayor Fran Reiter, who quit her $230,000-a-year job to run for mayor in 2001, announced yesterday she's pulling the plug on her candidacy because she can't raise enough...

LOUIMA-CASE LAWYERS SPAR OVER JURY BRIEFING

-Prosecutors in the Abner Louima trial asked the judge yesterday to tell jurors they may convict the three accused cops of conspiracy - even if they don't believe Charles Schwarz...

CHER TORE GEFFEN'S HEART OUT: DUMPED BI-GUY MOGUL FOR ALLMAN: BIO

Entertainment mogul David Geffen was on the verge of marrying Cher - then nearly cracked up when she dumped him for rocker Gregg Allman, according to a new bio. In...

GRAVANO'S IN BIG 'DEAL' OF TROUBLE: FEDS: MOB CANARY RAN VAST DRUG RING

Millionaire mob canary Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano has been gored - busted yesterday on charges of setting up his own Arizona crime family to traffic in the hot club drug...

EX-DETECTIVE: COPS BEAT ME IN FRONT OF MY WIFE AND KIDS

A retired city detective from The Bronx said yesterday he was beaten in front on his wife and two horrified kids when over-aggressive cops mistook him for a burglar. The...

WHO IS THE BETTER CHOICE? TO FACE SMASHMOUTH AL, PICK A GUY WHO CAN TALK

FOR those of my brethren on the Right who are still laboring under the delusion that George W. Bush will make a stronger candidate in the fall than John McCain,...

BX. CABBY SLAIN NEAR SITE OF LIVERY STAB

A Bronx livery driver was shot and killed early yesterday -- just a block from where another driver from the same company was stabbed and robbed a day earlier. Norberto...

PUBLIC OFFICE DIDN'T INTEREST HER, SHE SAID IN '97 BOOK

NEVER say never in politics. Just ask Hillary Rodham Clinton. Browsing at the Strand bookstore, Campaign Buzz discovered "The Unique Voice of Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Portrait in Her Own...

CITY BIGS BID TO TAKE HEAT OFF SENIORS' FUEL-$$ WOE

City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, the city's top Democrat, joined Mayor Giuliani yesterday to announce that the city would ante up $5 million to help poor seniors cope with sky-high...

PACK UP THE CHILDREN AND GET OUT, CHARISSE

WHEN you think of Darryl Strawberry, the cocaine-tooting Yankee whose self-destructing career has had more lives than a cat on crack, you've got to wonder: What is his wife thinking?...

ANOTHER CHURCH STATUE VANDALIZED

Yet another religious statue has been vandalized in Brooklyn, police said yesterday. A statue of Jesus outside the Monastery of Our Precious Blood in the Borough Park section was desecrated...

BOB JONES WILL RUIN BUSH: MOLINARI ; GAFFE WILL BE MAJOR ISSUE, S.I. BEEP SAYS

ALBANY -- John McCain's New York campaign will make a "major issue" of GOP rival George W. Bush's appearance at anti-Catholic Bob Jones University, a top campaign aide said yesterday....

BASEBALL COMMISH PUTS OFF DARRYL'S DAY OF RECKONING

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig put off an expected ruling on whether to suspend Yankee slugger Darryl Strawberry, who violated probation when he tested positive for drugs last month. Selig, who...

JUDGE BLASTS IRS IN 10G REFUND CASE

A federal judge ripped into the IRS yesterday as a tax-refund cheat for trying to snatch back $10,000 it returned to a Manhattan couple years ago. In a blistering decision,...

POPE RIPS RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE

Pope John Paul II met Egypt's top Muslim and Coptic Christian clerics in Cairo yesterday, preaching a message of peace -- and denouncing violence in the name of religion as...

VEEP GORES GOP RIVALS FOR IGNORING ENVIRONMENT

Vice President Al Gore yesterday turned both barrels on the two Republican presidential candidates, charging them with "a zero record of support for the environment." But Gore ignored rival Democrat...

EXPERTS FIGURE LOPEZ FOUND SOME GLUE IN HER TOOL CHEST

Those live shots of Jennifer Lopez's scandalously small Grammy gown may have been a taped event. Experts point to some good old beauty-pageant magic to explain what kept the singer's...

DUELING DIET DOCS GET 'FAT LIPS' IN D.C. - RIVALS IN BITTER VERBAL SLUGFEST

Two of the nation's heavyweight diet gurus chewed each other out yesterday over their dueling food plans. Cardiologist Robert Atkins, who cooked up a popular high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, and internist...

CHILLING TALE OF TAPE AT KIMES TRIAL

Irene Silverman's voice came back to haunt her alleged killer in a Manhattan courtroom yesterday, where prosecutors played a tape they said showed grifter Sante Kimes trying to con the...

WHAT HE WOULDN'T GIVE FOR SOME TAKEOUT FROM KATZ'S DELI

THE wiseguy's voice was unmistakable. So was the smart-ass patter, with the same "I can get away with anything" ring to it. Recently, Sammy Gravano, free of the Witness Protection...

NUMBERS SHOW WHY CONVICTION WOULD BE A CRIME

HE HAD murder and money in his heart -- and a Ruger pistol in his hand. When he stopped spraying the street with the lethal weapon, there were four bad...

COURT HALTS VISITATION IN 'SCRAMBLED EGGS' CASE

An appeals court yesterday temporarily stopped court- ordered visits between the genetic parents of a switched-before-birth baby and the woman who bore the child. "We are thankful and relieved," said...

FEAR ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BADGE

IT'S called Amadou Diallo Syndrome -- and it can be dangerous to both cops and the public they're supposed to protect. The syndrome is known to affect cops afraid to...

BUSH AIDE STIRS NEW RELIGIOUS BROUHAHA

GEORGE W. BUSH has a new religious flap on his hands -- his adviser Marvin Olasky has claimed three reporters, all Jews, who have criticized Bush follow the "religion of...

TEXAS GRANNY IS EXECUTED AFTER BUSH DENIES STAY

WASHINGTON -- "Black Widow" killer Betty Lou Beets was put to death last night -- only the fourth woman to be executed in the United States since 1976 -- after...

LEVY TO 'RULE OUT' BUREAUCRACY ; WANTS 'SILLY' REGULATIONS AXED

Interim Schools Chancellor Harold Levy said he wants to scrap up to 25 percent of New York City's unnecessary school rules -- but will keep teachers and administrators accountable for...

MCCAIN LABELS SELF 'REAGAN REPUBLICAN'

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Republican upstart John McCain yesterday tried to reach out to his own party by billing himself as "a proud Reagan Republican" -- and claiming rival George W....

IT'S KATE EXPECTATIONS: 'TITANIC' STAR TO BE A MOM

"Titanic" actress Kate Winslet is becoming an even bigger star -- she's expecting a baby! The Rubenesque beauty is six-weeks pregnant and expects a new edition in late September, two...

JFK JR. AT FAULT: REPORT

Federal investigators have concluded pilot error caused the plane crash that killed John Kennedy Jr., his wife and sister-in-law -- bolstering a possible lawsuit from his bride's family, it was...

FILIPINO PARENTS SELL ALL TO GET TOT TRANSPLANT HERE

A desperate, poor Filipino couple has sold everything they own to come to New York in hopes of getting their dying 2-year-old daughter a lifesaving liver transplant. "We had no...

U.S. CARRIER HEADS FOR TAIWAN

A U.S. aircraft carrier was dispatched to the area near the Taiwan Strait to monitor escalating tensions between China and Taiwan, a London newspaper reports. Officially, the USS Kitty Hawk...

HAS DIALLO JURY ALREADY NIXED 'MURDER' VERDICT?

ALBANY -- Jurors in the Amadou Diallo trial asked the judge to read them the law for manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide yesterday -- spurring speculation they had ruled out...

HILL HASN'T MADE A DENT IN RUDY'S LEAD: NEW POLL

Mayor Giuliani is holding on to a 6-point lead over Hillary Rodham Clinton in their Senate race, according to a new poll -- showing the first lady didn't get a...

GRAVANO'S IN BIG 'DEAL' OF TROUBLE - FEDS: MOB CANARY RAN VAST DRUG RING

Millionaire mob canary Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano was gored yesterday -- busted on charges of setting up his own Arizona crime family to traffic in the trendy club drug Ecstasy....

OWNER SLAIN AT POSH E. SIDE RESTAURANT

Detectives last night charged an employee of a posh Upper East Side restaurant with slaying his boss so brutally that the victim's head was nearly cut off. Hugo Piereia, 17,...

OLIWA PUTS FIGHTING ON THE BACK BURNER

MONTREAL - More than a month since his last bout, Devil enforcer Krzysztof Oliwa says fighting takes a back seat in his game. "When I'm getting ready for a game,...

MAN'S THOUGHTS TURN TO FLOUNDER

THE quick turn in the weather has just as quickly turned our minds to fishing, and with the opening of the flounder season less than four weeks away we can...

G-MEN -- AS IN GUTLESS ; FEDS' IBF PROBE FALLS WAY SHORT OF CURING SPORT ; FEDS' CASE FALLS WOEFULLY SHORT

Last in a series documenting the federal racketeeringcase against the International Boxing Federation. *IF THIS is the best the Feds can do, then we've been taken for suckers once again....

UMPIRE UNION OUSTED

Major league baseball umpires will meet this Sunday to plot strategy for a new labor contract and for the first time in 21 years Richie Phillips will not be in...

RALLYING 'ROUND RIVERSIDE

For some 40 years, in what has become his anonymous style, Ernie Lorch, who founded the Riverside Church basketball program, has been helping the children of financially challenged families pursue...

JINTS COULD SHIFT OBEN

The Giants know they need to re-assemble their offensive line, an area that was extremely disappointing last season. While the re-signing of Roman Oben remains a priority, it is not...

EDMONDS DEAL NOT DEAD

YANKEE NOTES TAMPA -- When the Yankees have talked to the Angels about the availability of Jim Edmonds, they have gotten the feeling that the Angels really didn't want to...

OSCAR'S THE ALTERED STATESMAN

WILL THE real Oscar De La Hoya please stand up? Is he the self-styled warrior who slugged it out with Ike Quartey in the 12th round to pull out their...

FOX CHASING TUNA

Fox is pursuing Bill Parcells as an NFL analyst, sources close to the negotiations have told The Post. Parcells, who served NBC as an NFL analyst between his Giants' and...

DOWD TRIO TEST POSITIVE, DQ'D

The New York State Racing and Wagering Board yesterday disqualified three horses, all trained by John Dowd, from purse money in recent races at Aqueduct after they tested positive for...

NEIL: WE MUST MAKE PLAYOFFS

BUFFALO -- The Rangers have not missed the playoffs three straight seasons since the mid-'60s, since failing to qualify four straight times from 1963 through 1966 in the years just...

BARKLEY IN HIGH STAKES GAME

Erick Barkley began the season as one of the nation's top point guards. Today he finds himself a pawn in a high stakes game; one he can't control with a...

PLEASE CALL THE NCAA, ED

AN OPEN memo to St. John's athletic director Ed Manetta, Jr.: Call the NCAA today. I will pay for the call. Report everything you have learned about who paid for...

KNICKS FAIL TO TRADE CHILDS

In an attempt to dump Chris Childs' suffocating contract, the Knicks made an offer to rent Clippers' on-the-block forward Maurice Taylor before yesterday's 6 p.m. trade deadline. According to two...

CAMBY, WARD NOT READY YET

KNICK NOTES The Knicks will likely have to play three more games without both Marcus Camby and starting point guard Charlie Ward, beginning with tonight's Garden matchup vs. the Suns....

PULSE STILL DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HIT HIM

PORT ST. LUCIE -- As 26-year-old Bill Pulsipher spoke yesterday just past 4 p.m. -- a little more than 24 hours after his pregnant wife had called 911 and had...

ISLANDERS LOSE HEWARD

Islanders defenseman Jamie Heward will be out four to six weeks with a non-displaced fracture of his right ankle. Heward suffered the injury eight days ago in the first period...

COMMISH WEIGHS STRAW'S FUTURE ; D-DAY NOT LIKELY UNTIL NEXT WEEK

TAMPA -- While his baseball future sits in commissioner Bud Selig's palms, Darryl Strawberry spent yesterday in a positive frame of mind. According to two people who spoke with the...

FIVE SET TO CHALLENGE BEHRENS

Behrens, who kicked off his 1999 winning streak in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Handicap, will try to jump start his 6-year-old campaign the same way tomorrow as he heads...

BOBBY PLANS SHORT WORKOUT FOR OF MORA

MET NOTES Bobby Valentine thinks that Melvin Mora could add the infield to his outfield duties this season, which could open up a spot for the Mets to employ six...

DAVID VS. GOLIATH II? TIGER, DUVAL EYEING SUNDAY SHOWDOWN

CARLSBAD -- This is what the tournament organizers had in mind when they schemed up this Andersen Consulting World Match Play Championship. The idea, as it is in every draw-sheet...

REPLACING DARRYL IS NO BIG DEAL

TAMPA -- With Darryl Strawberry, the myth remained stronger than the math. He had averaged fewer than seven homers and just more than 125 at-bats over the last eight seasons....

NET JUGGERNAUT KEEPS PAT HAND

Whew, that was close. Just think, the Nets were tinkering with thoughts of breaking up this 21-33 juggernaut. In the end last night, the trade deadline arrived and passed without...

EL NINO'S PACKING A WALLOP

MATCH NOTES CARLSBAD -- El Nino is back, tearing up the West Coast. Spanish Wunderkind Sergio Garcia yesterday made the kind of statement he was making as he burst upon...

STRAW'S STUPIDITY IS NOT A 'SICKNESS'

HALLELUJAH to ya! In what can only be classified an inevitability, Darryl Strawberry taught the media a lesson that most fans already knew: Cancer and illegal drug use are two...

LAYDEN HOLDS HIS FIRE:GM MISSED CHANCE TO UPGRADE KNICKS

SCOTT Layden's first trading deadline as the Knicks GM went by last night with a yawn. It appears Layden was more concerned with trying to dump Chris Childs' contract and...

WHO WANTS RICKEY? ; HENDERSON REALIZES METS ARE LOOKING TO DUMP HIM

PORT ST. LUCIE -- On Day 3 of Camp Rickey, future Hall of Fame outfielder Rickey Henderson confirmed that his agent has told him the Mets are trying to trade...

ALL TALK, NO ACTION ON NBA DEADLINE DAY

ICAN'T remember the gap between trade talk and actual action ever being greater," Hawks president Stan Kasten grieved shortly before yesterday's 6 p.m. dealing deadline. At that time, despite the...

HOME-TOWN CALL DEFLATES DEVILS

OVERTIMECanadiens 3 Devils 2 MONTREAL -- With their $175 million sale believed imminent, the Devils hardly noticed that their pocket may have been picked here last night. They hadn't yet...