September 20, 2000

BANK ON IT - MORE BUYS COMING

ARE there any other financial companies left to be acquired? After the recent blockbuster deal between Chase Manhattan and J.P. Morgan and the numerous other acquisitions of financial services companies,...

NICKY HILTON, UNSUSPECTING BRIDE

NICKY Hilton went backstage at Lloyd Klein for a sandwich - and came out a bride. Hilton was famished when she showed up at the tents as a guest, to...

NASDAQ BYTES BACK WITH BIGGEST GAIN SINCE JUNE

It's baaaack! The Nasdaq roared back to life yesterday with its biggest gain in more than two months. Driven by a rally in computer-related stocks, the tech-heavy index surged 139.12,...

M'SOFT FOE KLEIN LEAVING FOR 'NEW CHALLENGES'

Microsoft's bogeyman Joel Klein is hanging up his big stick. The head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, who led the government's case against Microsoft, says he is resigning at...

MALONE, HICKS TAKE ICG BATH; MORE EXECS EXIT FROM FALLING TELCO

Wall Street says run, don't walk, from telephone company ICG Communications. Just a month after coming on board, ICG's CEO and two board members spark-plugging the company's growth plan abruptly...

BELL STEPPING DOWN AS EXCITE CEO

The churn continues at Excite@Home, where CEO George Bell yesterday announced he intends to resign as soon as the company can find a replacement. The company said Bell will remain...

LALLI RE-SHUFFLES GEORGE

SHAKE-UPS continue at George, the politics and pop culture magazine started by John F. Kennedy Jr. five years ago this month. Yesterday, Arts & Entertainment Editor Jeffrey D. Podolsky -...

EAST MEETS WEST ... AT NEW YORK FEST

Call it the Asian invasion.Ten of the 25 entries in the main program of this year's New York Film Festival - which opens Friday and runs through Oct. 9 at...

RHONE IS HOT - FOOD IS NOT

RHONE 63 GANSEVOORT ST. (212) 367-8440 TAKE the Meatpacking District - please.The streets smell like one big pancreas. At Markt, they still haven't figured out how to seat people. Rhone...

KENNEDY CENTER SHINES WITH ALL-BALANCHINE FEST

BALANCHINE CELEBRATIONKennedy Center, Washington, D.C. The San Francisco Ballet and the Pennsylvania Ballet, through Sunday. Call (202) 467-4600. WASHINGTON - It is proving a smash hit, a sort of ballet...

NEW PUBLIC SPACE AN UPPER WEST SIDE STAR ; D. FINNIN/AMNH

WHEN it opens to the public Saturday, the Arthur Ross Terrace at the American Museum of Natural History will be the city's newest public space. What used to be an...

THE STARR REPORT

Sweet news for 'Candy' and Ryder Movie star Winona Ryder ("Autumn in New York") has agreed to guest star in the season finale of Comedy Central's "Strangers With Candy," along...

RIGG WON'T 'VISIT' ; LONDON PRODUCTION DOUBTFUL AS ANOTHER STAR REFUSES LEAD

MORE bad news for "The Visit": Diana Rigg has declined to star in the proposed London production, her agent, Lionel Larner, confirmed yesterday.Rigg is the latest in a parade of...

DOWN AND DIRTY DOWN UNDER ; ABC RIPS NBC'S DELAYED OLYMPICSCAST

NBC's Olympics coverage, already ailing from less-than-stellar ratings, is now under fire from ABC, which is exploiting the 15-hour time difference between New York and Sydney to broadcast the Games'...

BUSH'S BY ANDY GELLER IN NEW YORK AND DEBORAH ORIN IN CHICAGO

SUSAN Hawk, the trash-talking Wisconsin truck driver who didn't survive "Survivor," tomorrow gets the chance to grill George W. Bush - who probably doesn't know who she is. Hawk, who...

ART-HOUSE FLICKS GO BEGGING ; 'JUST A GLUT OF PRODUCT'

SOME very good movies may never see the inside of U.S. theaters."There's just a glut of product," said an acquisitions scout for one art-house film distributor. "Everybody has at least...

RUSSIA WON'T FREE U.S. 'SPY' WITH CANCER

A Moscow court yesterday rejected an appeal by a jailed, cancer-stricken U.S. citizen and said he must remain behind bars until he is tried for espionage. Edmond Pope, a retired...

16 DEAD IN PAKISTAN TERROR BLAST

A bomb hidden in a crate of grapes ripped through the biggest open-air produce market in Pakistan's capital of Islamabad yesterday, killing at least 16 people, authorities said. More than...

ADWATCH

TITLE: "Stand Up" LENGTH: 30 seconds PRODUCER: "Team Hillary" (Mandy Grunwald, Mark Penn and the ad firm of DeVito/Verdi) AIRING: Statewide SCRIPT: Announcer -- "They tried to get her to...

PUFFY IN COMPUTER PUSH FOR STUDENTS

Criminal defendant Sean "Puffy" Combs scored big with Board of Education officials yesterday - he donated 100 computers to a Harlem school and was praised as a role model. Manhattan...

DIVINE DE LA RENTA! OSCAR DELIVERS THE GOODS TO THE 'LADIES WHO LUNCH'

Spring is Oscar season! Keeping the stylish precedent he's set over the last few seasons, Mr. de la Renta turned out a beautiful collection of luxe, lush and lively clothes...

MARC'S DOUBLE LINE

Donna has DKNY. Calvin has CK. Ralph has Polo. And now Marc Jacobs has Marc - a don't-call-it-a-bridge line that'll be priced to sell to girls who love his trend-making...

BETSEY'S BEVY OF BUNNIES

Betsey Johnson wowed a crowd that included Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, Lauren Holly, Cyndi Lauper, Melania Knauss and Donald Trump when she trotted a bevy of bodacious Playboy Bunnies down...

BETSEY'S PLAYMATE PARADE

ABSTRACT: It takes quite a woman to carry off one of Betsey Johnson's creations, but the 29 Playboy Playmates she recruited perfectly filled out her barely there bikinis, sequined bodysuits...

DOCS: ASPIRIN MAY NIX PROSTATE CANCER

Aspirin - believed to inhibit heart disease and some forms of stroke - may have another amazing use: helping prevent prostate cancer. Scientists believe aspirin can work to halt an...

ARAFAT GETS AN ULTIMATUM

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Israeli negotiators would resume talks with Yasser Arafat's team only if the Palestinian leader agrees to discuss the Jerusalem compromise offered by President...

SALIVATING OVER SWEET TOOTH CURE

How sweet it isn't! Researchers believe they may have found a cure for the sweet tooth. A hormone called leptin, released by fat cells in the body, has been found...

KIN OF DEAD INXS ROCKER WANT HIS KID

A fierce tug-of-love battle has begun over the orphaned daughter of British TV personality Paula Yates and INXS rocker Michael Hutchence. The mother and sister of Hutchence have vowed to...

SHE'LL LEAVE THE LIGHT ON ; DOES NEW YORK STATE WANT A SENATOR WHO HAS TURNED THE WHITE HOUSE INTO A HIGH-RENT MOTEL 6?

THEY slapped handcuffs on one Paul W. Adler last week. Hidden federal microphones had caught him in a candid moment, talking about what politicians sometimes talk about. Adler is chairman...

BUSH'S SMOOCHY COUP:GREETS OPRAH WITH BIG KISS

CHICAGO - George W. Bush walked onto the Oprah Winfrey show to court women voters yesterday - and promptly planted a big smooch on the talk-show queen's cheek. "Thanks for...

IMAGINE, AN HONEST MAN IN CRIMINAL COURT

ON THE 13th floor of the Manhattan Criminal Court building at 100 Centre St., it was a horror house of broken mirrors. In Judge James Yates' court, there was a...

ENVOY TO FEDS: JOIN THE 21ST CENTURY - END THE SANCTIONS

Cuba's top diplomat in the United States insisted to a federal panel yesterday that it's time to end all sanctions against Havana. "In a world where the 21st century has...

COPS: DRIFTER SWIPED BOAT

A homeless man looking for a good night's sleep found it in an unusual place - a Department of Transportation boat he stole from near the Staten Island ferry terminal,...

VENUS RETURNS FIRE AFTER BIG MAC ATTACK

SYDNEY - Straight-shooting tennis champ Venus Williams' first Olympic victory was less than 10 minutes old when she served up a return to loudmouth critic John McEnroe. Williams, whose 27-match...

JUDGE: CITY FAILED AIDS VICTIMS

A federal judge has ruled the city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by "chronically and systematically" failing to provide crucial services for poor New Yorkers living with AIDS. U.S....

LOVABLE W.: HOW GEORGE PASSED THE OPRAH TEST

IT'S long been said that George W. Bush is a terrifically likable and charming guy. As someone who has watched his campaign obsessively for 18 months, I've been a little...

MELISSA & JULIE SPLIT ; LESBIAN COUPLE WILL SHARE KIDS' CUSTODY

Move over, Ellen and Ann - another famous lesbian couple is calling it quits. Rock superstar Melissa Etheridge and director Julie Cypher yesterday revealed they're splitting after 12 years. The...

SENATE OKS CHINA-TRADE PACT

WASHINGTON - The Senate cleared the way yesterday for a massive trade boost with China, cheering business types but angering human-rights advocates and labor leaders. In a 83-15 vote, senators...

BIAS SUIT HITS GIRL SCOUTS

It's a man's world - unless you work for the Girl Scouts, a lawsuit charges. The popular cookie-selling organization has a "willful disregard for the rights of males" and subjects...

FENCERS HAIL FROM N.Y. EPEE-CENTER ; CITY KIDS THRUST AND PARRY WAY TO GAMES

Akhnaten Spencer-El didn't know jack about fencing when he was a 12-year-old growing up in Harlem. He was into baseball and soccer like his friends. But his parents wanted to...

IRON MIKE'S EX TO SHARE 'MONOLOGUES' WITH DONNA

Imagine the girl talk backstage! Robin Givens, ex-wife of Mike Tyson, will join Donna Hanover, estranged wife of Mayor Giuliani, in "The Vagina Monologues" Oct. 17 through Nov. 5, the...

PLAN WOULD MAKE TIMES SQUARE PEDESTRIAN PARADISE

EXCLUSIVE The Giuliani administration is considering a sweeping plan to unclog Times Square for pedestrians with wider sidewalks, severe traffic restrictions and fewer taxi stands, The Post has learned. A...

CITY TACKLING 'SECRET' BID TO LAND JETS

The Jets have launched an all-out blitz for a new West Side stadium - and the football team's officials will be pushing their plan in a secret huddle with City...

L.I. REP FORBES CONCEDES

WASHINGTON - Long Island Rep. Michael Forbes, a one-time Republican who abruptly turned Democrat a year ago, yesterday threw in the towel - conceding defeat to an elderly former librarian....

LAZIO RIPS 'SEXIST' CRITICS ; SAYS HE'S BEING HELD TO DOUBLE STANDARD

GOP Senate candidate Rick Lazio yesterday said the criticism he's faced after confronting Hillary Rodham Clinton near the end of last week's debate is "sexist." "I think the idea that...

HILL HURDLES W'WATER AS SLEEPOVER LIST LOOMS

WASHINGTON - Independent counsel Robert Ray today plans to clear Hillary Rodham Clinton of criminality in the Whitewater affair - just as the White House releases a list of sleepover...

FUR SURE! INTREPID KITTY IS HONORED

The city's most famous feline - already the subject of two books and countless TV and newspaper stories - was back in the news yesterday when she won the first...

TRUTH BEHIND THE EMBARGO LIES BETWEEN PROS & CONS ; WHERE THE EMBARGO TRUTH LIES

TWO weeks ago, two groups of demonstrators gathered outside the Cuban Mission to the United Nations. The group that demanded that the United States lift its embargo against Cuba set...

ACTIVISTS DEMAND ASYLUM FOR SURVIVORS

Cuban-Americans said they hope survivors of yesterday's plane crash will be allowed to stay in the United States - and that a decision to return them will be met with...

GORE & JOE PLAY TRASH 'EM, CASH 'EM IN HOLLYWOOD

LOS ANGELES - Al Gore and Joe Lieberman made nice-nice with moviemakers at a $4.2 million fund-raiser in Beverly Hills - less than a week after ripping Hollywood for plying...

FERGIE'S EX-AIDE SOUGHT IN ; BEAU'S SLAY

London cops were searching for the Duchess of York's former personal assistant yesterday after she disappeared following the murder of her boyfriend. "We are concerned about her welfare and anxious...

GOP CHAIRMAN: BRATTON? WHO'S THAT?

"What's a Bratton?" That was New York Republican Chairman William Powers' sarcastic response yesterday to former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton's interest in running for mayor of the Big Apple next...

COPS NAB VIGILANTE SLAY SUSPECT

When his young son told him someone tried to lure him into a red car, James Price of Lakeland, Fla., took matters into his own hands - and shot dead...

GOOD TEACHERS LOST TO 'EXCESS' STUPIDITY

CAROLYN is the kind of teacher Schools Chancellor Harold Levy daydreams about. Her résumé includes an MBA degree, a former career on Wall Street and an overwhelming - her friends...

FLAKE: MY FIRM WOULD PAY TEACHERS MORE

The nation's largest private charter-school-management firm says it's willing to give city public-school teachers a pay hike in exchange for working more hours. "The thing that the [teachers union] is...

PSYCHED-OUT AMAZIN'S NEED TO SEE SHRINK

ATLANTA - Paging Dr. Lans ... Paging Dr. Lans ... Please report to the visiting clubhouse at Turner Field. It's an emergency. Repeat, an emergency. Dr. Lans ... Paging Dr....

ATLANTA SHOVELS DIRT ON MET GRAVE

Braves 12 Mets 4 ATLANTA - The NL East race is over. The Mets will have to settle for plastering "Wild-Card Winners" on the top of their Shea dugouts again...

IT'S AL UP TO LEITER : DESPERATE METS NEED LEFTY TO END DROUGHT AT TED

ATLANTA - Al Leiter has won at least one game at every National League ballpark in his career, except for the BOB and one other. Can you guess which one?...

KNOBLAUCH FINDS IT TOUGH TO SCRAPE OFF RUST

YANKEE NOTES TORONTO - Since he was out for a month, Chuck Knoblauch didn't have an idea how thick the rust on his game would be or how long it...

ARMSTRONG RACING FOR OLYMPIC GLORY

SYDNEY - Lance Armstrong has a broken neck and is considerably better off at these Olympics than in 1996. First, he knows he has the injury. Second, it is not...

KIDS: HOOK, ON-LINE & SINKER

INTRODUCING youngsters and parents to fishing, America's favorite pastime, has been the goal of Hooked On Fishing International and its Kids All-American Fishing Derby program for the past 15 years....

TEUSCHER'S TRUE METTLE PAYS OFF IN BRONZE

SYDNEY - Cristina Teuscher earned an individual bronze medal in the pool and a gold in perspective. A good enough swimmer out of high school to win gold in the...

THORPE BOUNCES BACK, ADDS THIRD GOLD

SYDNEY - Ian Thorpe did not get mad. He got even better. Behind Thorpe's dynamic opening 200-meter leg, Australia today destroyed the world record and the rest of the world...

PHELPS SERVES NOTICE HE'LL BE '04 FORCE

SYDNEY - The future of American swimming has braces on his bottom row of teeth and wears a baseball cap from a university that, at best, he is two years...

FREEMAN JUST CAN'T WIN ; ABORIGINE FINDS HERSELF IN MIDDLE OF RACIAL STRUGGLE

SYDNEY - Cathy Freeman wants only to run races, not represent them. And yet, she suddenly finds herself an unwitting and unwilling pawn in the ongoing chess match between the...

COUNT DRAGILA AMONG THE STARS

SYDNEY - Two Olympics ago, Stacy Dragila was a failed college heptathlete. Last Olympics, she was still trying to justify spending time at an event that was not even part...

GROH'S DOING ONE AL OF A JOB

JUST because Al Groh refuses to accept credit for this scintillating 3-0 start to the Jets' season doesn't mean he doesn't deserve it. Perhaps the best compliment that can be...

TRAINER: 'PEGASUS' IS SET FOR JEROME

Trainer Neil Drysdale confirmed yesterday that, barring a physical setback or bad track conditions, Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus will make his long-awaited return to the races Saturday in the...

MARBURY SIGNS WITH NEW REP

Stephon Marbury usually gives out assists. Now he's getting one. Acknowledging that he hasn't paid as much attention to making the public aware of who the Nets point guard is...

DREAM TEAM EATS 'EM UP : PUTS AWAY ITALY AFTER STRUGGLING IN FIRST HALF

MEN'S HOOPSU.S. 93 Italy 61 SYDNEY - Mamma mia, what a grande festa it would have been on Mulberry Street. In fact, you wouldn't have blamed the paesans in the...

ITALIAN HERO HAS GOODS

SYDNEY - Gregor Fucka, Italy's 7-1 forward, runs the floor like a deer, has a great medium range shot and can mix it up with players like Alonzo Mourning, who...

METROSTARS LOOK TO FINISH OFF BURN

To understand how important tonight's MLS Cup playoff game in Dallas is, one need only take a quick glance at the MetroStars' checkered history. They've never won a playoff series...

BENNY SITS ONE OUT VS. RIGHTY

MET NOTES ATLANTA - Because of the upcoming pitching matchups, Darryl Hamilton started in left field for Benny Agbayani against the Braves' Andy Ashby last night. "Starting [tonight against Tom...

BULLY BELA STARVED FOR ATTENTION

SYDNEY - For the U.S. women's gymnastics team, now is never. Don't take my word for it, because the words are not mine. They are Bela Karolyi's, who knows more...

GLAVINE: I KNOW HOW METS FEEL

ATLANTA - Tom Glavine will step to the Turner Field mound tonight with a chance to heap more misery on the Mets, to further bury them in a morass of...

BUTCH WON'T GO EASY ON ISLE ROOKS

Butch Goring admits that higher expectations on his team have meant less tolerance for rookie left wingers Taylor Pyatt and Raffi Torres' growing pains. "We don't have the luxury of...

FURCAL'S BEEN A REAL FIND FOR BRAVES

ATLANTA - The Braves knew infielder Rafael Furcal had the talent to be a star long before they invited him to spring training, though the players took a wait-and-see attitude...

MACLEAN SET TO GO FOURTH

He will turn 36 on Nov. 20 while competing for a spot on a Ranger team everyone wants to see get younger but doesn't have very many obvious avenues by...

ROBBY MAKES CAMP REAL DEVIL OF A CHORE

ALBANY - They come off the training-camp ice with tongues dragging, stopped and started nearly to exhaustion, these Stanley Cup champion Devils. Forget about resting on their laurels. Larry Robinson...

AMERICAN SWIMMERS MAKE HALL OF A SPLASH

OLYMPIC NOTES SYDNEY - Three days before the Olympics opened, Gary Hall Jr., the U.S. sprint swimmer, became public-enemy No. 1 here for saying his U.S. mates would crush the...

GREENE VOWS TO TURN ON SPEED

SYDNEY - In a room packed with scores of journalists and more testosterone than an East German swim meet, Maurice Greene took center stage and threw down the gauntlet. Greene,...

SALVAGE JOB FOR LEITER

ATLANTA - In his career, Al Leiter has won at least once at every NL ballpark except Bank One in Phoenix and one other. Can you guess which one? You're...

BERNIE'S BACK ON FULL-TIME DUTY

YANKEES NOTES TORONTO - Ready or not, Bernie Williams has returned to full-time duty. And for the Yankees, Williams had better be ready to play now and next month and...

CHUCK CAN'T SHAKE RUST

YANKEE NOTES TORONTO - Since he was out for a month, Chuck Knoblauch didn't have an idea how thick the rust on his game would be or how long it...

BLUE JAYS KO YANKS, PETTITTE

Blue Jays 16 Yankees 3 TORONTO - That stench drifting from north of the border last night was the odor of a baseball team contaminating the cool Canadian air that...

DUTCH TEAM SHOCKS CUBANS: EX-YANK MEULENS LEADS WAY

BASEBALL Netherlands 4 Cuba 2 SYDNEY - A former Yankee helped the Yanks. Hensley Meulens - yes, that Hensley Meulens - broke a third-inning tie with a bases-clearing double today...

ASHBY TURNS INTO RUBBLE

ATLANTA - About half-an-hour after Andy Ashby had pitched the Braves to a 12-4 whipping of the Mets at Turner Field -about 30 minutes after he had all but ended...

VALENTINE SEES RED AFTER FIASCO AT TED: MAYBE TONGUE-LASHING CAN WHIP AMAZIN'S INTO SHAPE

ATLANTA - The threat of physical violence initiated by the manager hung in the air like a lobbed grenade, according to one eyewitness. Bobby Valentine used every profanity except the...

VALENTINE SEES RED AFTER FIASCO AT TED:ANGRY BOBBY TELLS TEAM TO FORGET PAST

Braves 12 Mets 4 ATLANTA - After the NL East race ended here last night. After the Mets had suffered their latest embarrassment at the Ted, a 12-4 domination at...

GLENDON: FROM BAD TO WORSE

MET NOTES ATLANTA - Glendon Rusch hoped last night would be different than his first outing against the Braves, which he considered poor. It was different. It was worse. Rusch...