October 8, 2000

SUITE LIFE SUITS HIM :SCHRAGER HAS MANY HIP HOTELS; NOW HE WANTS TO DO RETAIL TOO

IAN Schrager is tired. It's the day after yet another star-studded opening for yet another of his of-the-moment hotels. Kidada Jones, Calvin Klein, Savion Glover and the Back Street Boys...

UPPER UPPER WEST IS GETTING VERY HOT

THE move to gentrify the Upper West Side above 100th Street has received a big boost from two out-of-town investors. The former Towers Nursing Home - a dilapidated French chateau...

EEK! MICE INFEST TINA'S TALK

THE late Walt Disney used the appearance of a mouse in his studio as the inspiration for a cartoon character the became the conerstone of a far-flung empire. But when...

OH, DEAR, NOT ANOTHER O.J. CASE THEORY!

Dallas-based private investigator William C. Dear believes there's room for one more theory on the murder trial-of-the-century involving O.J. Simpson. Dear, whose work was the cornerstone of a BBC TV...

CHELSEA GEM MAY COST A COOL $400M

THE Starrett-Lehigh Building may be up for grabs. Purchased for $152.5 million in 1998, the repositioned 2.2-million-square-foot former warehouse that sits at the Hudson River and 26th Street could have...

ALTMAN'S RX FOR HOLLYWOOD: THE 'DR. T' DIRECTOR SEES AN OVERDOSE OF SEX AND VIOLENCE

The Hollywood maverick who gave us "Nashville," "M*A*S*H" and "The Player" has a new film opening next week that's funny, smart and fascinating on several levels, not the least of...

YA GOTTA LOVETT: LYLE ADDS STYLE TO ALTMAN'S LATEST FILM

Lyle Lovett, the Texan singer/songwriter, actor and ex-husband of you-know-who, has outdone himself with the soundtrack for director Robert Altman's new film, "Dr. T and the Women." Despite his latest...

HE BRIDGES PERFORMING AND POLITICS IN 'THE CONTENDER'

Jeff Bridges plays the president of the United States in his new movie, "The Contender." Most pols would sell their souls to be so cool and charming. In person, Bridges...

NEW MEDIA

Foreign affairs The chances of learning a language from a book, CD or Web site are pretty slim: Nothing compares with face-to-face instruction or the full-immersion treatment -- travel. Microsoft's...

WRAP ARTISTS

Fashion designer/pop culture icon Diane Von Furstenberg recently assured us that wrap clothing is just as hip now as it was in the mid-'70s, when she single-handedly popularized jersey dresses...

CREPE CRUSADERS: THE FRENCH RUE FOOD MAKES A COMEBACK

A Brooklyn woman caves into her cravings at 4 a.m., phoning her sister in Paris for a recipe. A Manhattan gallery owner recalls sitting in her mother's kitchen, watching culinary...

A SIX-COURSE FEAST FROM MIDDLE EAST

Mamlouk 221 E. Fourth St. (bet. avenues A and B) (212) 529-3477 The quickest passage to the Middle East comes via East Fourth Street, thanks to Mamlouk. This newcomer from...

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT TV HAD GROWN OUT OF THAT SENSITIVE GUY STUFF, ALONG COMES 'ED' . THE WIMP STRIKES BACK

"Ed" Tonight at 8 on WNBC/Ch. 4 Zero stars ONCE upon a time in the '80s, men on TV became sensitive, warm, fuzzy, and incredibly annoying. Think "thirtysomething." I myself...

GOOD ('NIKKI') FOLLOWS BAD ('HYPE')

"Hype" Tonight at 9 on WPIX/Ch. 11 Zero stars"Nikki" Tonight at 9:30 on Ch. 11 AND the award for the Worst New Show of the Season goes to ... "Hype."...

OFF-BROADWAY'S OFF THE MARK SO FAR

It's very early, but this has not been a particularly successful opening to the off-Broadway season. And with new theatrical offerings about to open, the question is: Will things get...

LESLIE BIBB

As a little girl, Leslie Bibb was destined to be an actress. As a young girl, she would run around her house with her three older sisters doing improv skits...

DEAR 'DIARY'

IT'S the 100th anniversary of the birth of Luis Buñuel, the great Spanish filmmaker, and Rialto Pictures is celebrating with the release of a restored version of the maestro's 1964...

WRITE AND WRONG : THERESA REBECK CAPTURES THE DARK SIDE OF GENIUS IN 'THE BUTTERFLY COLLECTION'

Paul, a novelist and the main character in Theresa Rebeck's "The Butterfly Collection," is among the giants. He's a Nobel laureate whose sentences are dissected by graduate students and whose...

E-BOOKS; GETTING 'NET RESULTS

Literary Luddites will be pining for the good old days if big-name publishing giants like Random House and Time Warner Books have their way. Each plans to launch its own...

WHAT I WATCH

MARCUS SCHENKENBERG MODEL/ACTOR "V.I.P." I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT SHOW. MY GIRLFRIEND, PAMELA (ANDERSON), IS AWESOME AND FUNNY. SHE'S SUCH A NATURAL. KATHY SLEDGE SINGER, SISTER SLEDGE "THE ANDY GRIFFITH...

FARNSWORTH PLOWED A RICH FIELD OF FEELING

RICHARD Farnsworth was a link to Hollywood's glorious past - and so much more. For Farnsworth, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound just eight months after receiving an Oscar...

20TH BUST FOR QUEENS PAROLEE

A recently paroled career criminal was busted for the 20th time when he was nabbed trying to rip off five Queens teens by concocting a tale that he was looking...

LET'S STOP & SEARCH FOR TRUTH

'YOU were acting suspiciously." On some of the city's meanest streets, those words are grounds for an NYPD stop and search. That's why "Frank," a 35-year-old black professional, and two...

DEBATE OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS

THANK God for televised debates. After watching last week's election smackdowns, I know for sure that there are two men out there who are capable of handling the presidency: Cheney...

WHO IS BURIED IN HOLY SPOT?

Both sides agree that the site known as Joseph's Tomb is sacred - what they can't agree on is why. Many Jews believe the site holds the ancient mummified bones...

CHOKED ARTERIES $QUEEZE CITY

New York is bursting at the seams. Look around Manhattan on a typical weekday - the signs of economic boom are everywhere: more people, cars, buses and trucks on our...

LIZ MAY GET HURL-ED AS SAG SCAB

Elizabeth Hurley isn't so groovy, baby, to thousands of striking actors - who warn her that crossing the picket line could get her booted off Hollywood sets. The bodacious Brit...

ARMY SEALED YUGO'S 'VELVET REVOLUTION'

Vojislav Kostunica became Yugoslavia's president yesterday as new details surfaced about the bloodbath averted when military chiefs refused to use force to put down the uprising against the Milosevic regime....

HILLARY HITS LAZIO HARD FOR 'VIOLATING' SOFT-MONEY BAN : LOCK HORNS TODAY IN 2ND DEBATE

Hillary Clinton yesterday ripped GOP Senate candidate Rick Lazio for using outside GOP money to pay for campaign ads - while reformer John McCain said Lazio did the "right thing"...

AMERICAN INDIANS RAIN ON COLUMBUS' PARADE IN DENVER

DENVER - The city held its first Columbus Day parade in nine years yesterday, and cops in riot gear busted 150 Native American protesters who tried to block the route....

REV. AL, FALWELL DISCUSS RACIAL PROFILING

Activist Rev. Al Sharpton says he wants to team up with conservative televangelist Rev. Jerry Falwell to fight racial profiling and make it an issue in the presidential election. "I...

YOUNG CROSSFIRE VICTIM ON MEND AFTER GANG FIGHT

A young boy who was shot in the neck when he was caught in the middle of a gang fight while walking home from his Queens school is expected to...

BARAK: CEASE ; RIOTING OR IT'S WAR : TERRORISTS SEIZE 3 ISRAELI TROOPS

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak yesterday demanded Palestinian chief Yasser Arafat put a halt to the bloody attacks in the West Bank within 48 hours - or face all-out war....

THE NAKED TRUTH ABOUT KHADAFY

Move over, United States: Libyan strongman Moammar Khadafy has a new sworn enemy - clothing. The dictator told a group of Jordanian women that he believes clothes are the "work...

HOODS MADE JAIL FERTILE GROUND FOR VIAL-ATIONS

As many as five New York mobsters fathered children in federal prison by bribing guards to smuggle their sperm to fertility clinics where wives and girlfriends were impregnated, law-enforcement sources...

YANKS WILL-ING TO FOLLOW HUNK TO COLLEGE

Legions of lovestruck American girls are applying to a Scottish university in hopes of making the grade with the teen heartthrob heir to the British throne - and becoming a...

THE THUNDER ROLLS: BROOKS AND WIFE SPLIT

It's splitsville for Nashville megastar Garth Brooks and his wife Sandy after 14 years of marriage. "Sandy and I both agree that we need to get a divorce," the country...

BUSH FLUBS FUZZY MATH OF HIS OWN

GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush got tangled up in "fuzzy math" yesterday when he attacked Democratic rival Al Gore's tax-reform policy. The veep, meanwhile, accused the Texas governor of...

COPS NAB BX. MAN IN PARKING-LOT DEATH

Police arrested a Bronx man yesterday for allegedly punching a parking lot manager who died after he cracked his head on the pavement. Charges have yet to be determined against...

BENNY & THE METS EARN SHEA HOORAY

Call him the Big Kahuna. Hawaiian native Benny Agbayani swept over the Giants last night with a game-winning homer that brought the Mets back to defeat San Francisco and take...

STUDENTS CLAIM COLLEGE TRICKERY

Manhattan Community College freshmen say they were taught an unusual lesson this semester: "Deception 101." They claim the college upended their schedules by forcing them to take a monthlong, noncredit...

ESTATE SALE KILLING DREAMS OF MURDERED MILLIONAIRE

Friends of murdered millionairess Irene Silverman are in a snit now that her Upper East Side mansion - which she'd dreamed of turning into a needlepoint museum - has been...

WHY AIRLINES MAKE US FLY INTO A RAGE

AIR travel was never fun, but for the longest time it was tolerable.Not anymore. You feel sorry for flight attendants and airline personnel who have to deal with crabby, abusive,...

OUT-OF-TOWN VISITOR SURPRISES THIS NEW YORKER

HAVING just returned to Brooklyn from the heartland of Texas where wildlife abounds, I was a bit shocked to see a bird of prey flying just above me. Peregrine falcons...

MCSORLEY VERDICT SENDS A MESSAGE

Can't cross some lines - even on ice ATLANTA - Yes, it sure was a sad day when on Friday British Columbia judge Bill Kitchen pronounced Marty McSorley guilty of...

DEVIL PACTS ON HOLD :KEY CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS STAYING ON BACK BURNER

This annual contract trouble in Devilville isn't going to get any easier. While Jason Arnott and Scott Niedermayer remain out of action, unsigned, next summer's horizon already looks troubled. Both...

CLAUDE QUICKLY SHOWS HE DESERVES HIS DEAL

TAMPA - For someone who, amazing as it sounds, desperately wanted to re-sign with the Islanders, center Claude Lapointe wasn't feeling appreciated. This was last season, at the height of...

BROWN'S BEARS MAKE FORDHAM BLUE

Brown44 Fordham17 For every step Fordham took to beat Brown, there was another step backward. The final score was not nearly as outlandish as it looks. If not for some...

MOUNTIES RISE TO THE OCCASION : AGUIRRE'S TACKLE SAVES VICTORY

The Mount14 CTK12 Most teams wouldn't want their quarterback having to make the biggest tackle of the game, but Ric Aguirre isn't your average quarterback. For the second time this...

COLSTAR SHINES IN FLOWER BOWL

Around the far turn in yesterday's Grade 1, $750,000 Flower Bowl Handicap on turf at Belmont Park, Snow Polina easily cruised to the lead under a confident ride by Jerry...

COLOMBIAN PHENOM SET FOR NY DEBUT

Braulio Baeza. Manny Ycaza. Jacinto Vasquez. Jorge Velasquez. Laffit Pincay. Jorge Duarte Jr. Jorge Duarte Jr.? Who knows if Duarte, the 15-year-old Colombian wunderkind who'll launch his U.S. riding career...

MARINERS WAITING TO SET SAIL AGAIN

SEATTLE - There are no secrets at this time of year. Every team makes sure of that, especially the Yankees. If the Yankees can get past the Oakland A's, their...

NET BACKUPS TRYING TO GET THE POINT

Net notes / Page 70 You can never have enough depth at a position, right? Try telling that to the Nets about the point guard spot. Naturally, they're secure in...

THIS M&M DELIVERS POSITIVE MESSAGE

NET NOTES There was a feel, a look. And in one instant, the Nets gave a glimpse of the future. Kenyon Martin pointed, Stephon Marbury lobbed and the result was...

RANGERS STICK TO BASICS

ATLANTA - There's going to be a whole lot of sitting for players who can't get on the power play or penalty kill units in this enforcement-conscious NHL. "It's going...

KEEPING UP WITH THOMAS: ISIAH CRACKING WHIP ON INDY

ORLANDO - Three years ago, when Larry Bird's commencement exercise as a coach kicked off here at the Disney Institute where the Pacers train each Fall, a deluge of veteran...

IVERSON GETS E-Z PASS: RAP CD FAR WORSE THAN ROCKER, BUT DOES ANYONE CARE?

AMERICA'S divisive double standards not only persist, they continue to grow bolder, uglier and more infuriating. The civil and the fair-minded are left dumbfounded and impotent. Allen Iverson's new gangsta...

THE BEST OF A BAD LOT? GIANTS LOWER SIGHTS

ATLANTA - The new goal is now in place. Not officially, of course, but certainly spiritually and probably rationally. The Giants have their sights set on emerging as the leader...

UNBEATEN, UNASSUMING: GROH WON'T LET JETS GET GRANDIOSE IDEAS

Whether they acknowledge it or not, the Jets are somewhat the rage in this AFC through the first month of the season. Without their head coach, their defensive game-plan guru...

EVERYTHING'S HALL RIGHT NOW

JET NOTES It was only two weeks ago that Jets kicker John Hall was perceived as struggling and the Jets were taking a look-see at free agent Doug Pelfrey in...

NO TUNA SIGHTINGS: PARCELLS STAYS IN SHADOWS AS JETS SOAR

THE Phantom of the Meadowlands will be watching the Jets play the Steelers this afternoon, from an unknown location and with thoughts that only he is privy to. He may...

ZEILE DEMOTED TO NO. 7 SPOT

MET NOTES Bobby Valentine decided to reshuffle his lineup again before yesterday's Game 3 of the NLDS, dropping Todd Zeile to the No. 7 spot. "I saw Joe Torre move...

JAY'S WALKING TALL: PAYTON FEELS AMAZIN' AFTER GAME 2 HIT

MAYBE Robb Nen should have been on the mound. Maybe he should been summoned from the bullpen to face Jay Payton in the 10th inning Thursday at Pac Bell Park....

ALONG COMES JONES: BATTLIN' BOBBY LIKELY TO START TONIGHT

If the award for the Comeback Player of the Year was given based on a player's first half compared to their second half, then it would be almost impossible to...

GARDNER PLANS TO BE ON MARK

GIANT NOTES If you didn't know any better, you would think that today's pitching matchup was a Fresno St. alumni game with Bulldogs Mark Gardner and Bobby Jones going against...

YANKEE PRIDE PERKS UP: BOMBERS SHOW SIGNS OF BUSTING OUT

THE YANKEES have not flipped their switch on. What is important is that the switch is not "off" anymore. We wondered if the Yankees could somehow awaken from the abysmal...

LITTLE MAN, BIG HEART: TINY TIMO A TRUE SCOUTING GEM

SOME ballplayers look better on scouting reports than on a baseball field. They throw a ball so well or run with such grace or hit the ball so far when...

MO-MENTUM BACK WITH THE YANKEES: RIVERA REGAINS DOMINATING FORM

Suddenly, all was well in the Yankees' universe last night. Even though they were batting an anemic .216, the defending World Champions were nine innings away from putting the upstart...

TORRE TINKERS WITH LINEUP: JOE JUGGLES BATTING ORDER

YANKEE NOTEBOOK The names remained the same but the slots in the batting ordered were slightly altered. After winning two straight games to erase a 1-0 deficit in the best-of-five...

'KID' HAS SCHULHOFER BEAMING

Whitney and Woodward winner Lemon Drop Kid, the leading candidate for Horse of the Year, breezed four furlongs yesterday morning in :47 2/5 under exercise rider George Martens. The four-year-old...

CAMBY'S NOW THE CENTER OF ATTERNTION

CHARLESTON, S.C. - So much for Marcus Camby's right knee problems effecting him during training camp. Jeff Van Gundy has been so thrilled with what he's seen the last few...

HOUSTON SPRAINS TROUBLING ANKLE

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Allan Houston sprained his left ankle yesterday during Day 5 of practice, which wouldn't be such a concern if it weren't the same ankle that bothered him...

COLLAPSE COME EARLY : CARDS END BRAVES' NLCS STRANGLEHOLD WITH 3-GAME SWEEP

ATLANTA - The sights and sounds should haunt the Braves and their fans for the entire winter. The image of Dave Veres fanning Paul Bako to seal St. Louis' 7-1...

CHIPPER TO CARDS: BEAT METS

ATLANTA - After watching St. Louis dominate them in every facet of the game - pitching, hitting and fielding - Atlanta's Chipper Jones proclaimed the Cardinals the best team in...

JONES GETS CALL IN QUEST FOR CLINCHER

If the award for the Comeback Player of the Year was given based on a player's first half compared to their second half, then it would be almost impossible to...

MARTIN, MARBURY GIVE NETS HOPE FOR FUTURE

There was a feel, a look. And in one instant, the Nets gave a glimpse of the future. Kenyon Martin pointed, Stephon Marbury lobbed and the result was a resounding...

ZEILE TO BRAVES: GOOD RIDDANCE!

Were the Mets happy the Braves are done? Well, there fans starting doing the chop in the first inning when the final from St. Louis was flashed on the right-field...

CONFIDENT KENT STILL SAYS GIANTS ARE BETTER

Jeff Kent pulled his chair within inches of the TV. This was just minutes after the 3-2, 13-inning loss to the Mets. He ran back the tape of his final...

HAMPTON S.F. BOUND, JUST IN CASE

The Mets are hoping it's all for naught, but they were planning on sending Mike Hampton on a plane to San Francisco today so he will be well rested for...

TORRE'S LINEUP SHUFFLE DOESN'T DO TRICK ; TORRE SHAKES UP HIS LINEUP

The names remained the same, but the slots in the batting ordered were slightly altered. After winning two straight games to erase a 1-0 deficit in the best-of-five ALDS against...

BIG-GAME BENNY GIVES FANS BANG FOR BUCKS

"You round third and head for home, look up and see your teammates and you know they are all going to bash you on the head and it's just an...

SAN FRAN'S JUNK BONDS: BARRY FAILS IN CLUTCH ONCE MORE

The Mets have mastered living on the edge. For Barry Bonds & Co. there is nothing but post-season frustration again. Down 2-1 in the series, the Giants have shown they...

METS' HAWAII FIVE-O DEEP SIXES FRISCO: BENNY'S BLAST SLAYS GIANTS IN 13TH

13 INNINGSMets3 Giants2 He flipped his bat in the air like a baton and started toward first base. Benny Agbayani had just sent a ball into Mets' history and even...

DESTINY MIGHT BE IN METS' CORNER

WHERE have we seen this before? The Mets pouring out of the dugout, arms raised, surrounding home plate, waiting for one of their teammates to finish trotting around the bases...

NEN DOESN'T BLAME EARLY CALL

There were no excuses from Robb Nen. After converting 28 straight saves for the Giants this season, the longest streak in the majors, the closer blew the biggest one of...

GIANTS LOSE BATTLE OF PENS

All that was missing was the flight attendant. Aaron Fultz knew that as soon as Benny Agbayani sent his fastball into orbit. Actually, it really wasn't a fastball, but a...

WHITE & PEN HURL BLANKS

Maybe Cardinals superstar center fielder Jim Edmonds never heard of Rick White, but every baseball fan in San Francisco has heard of him by now. White pitched the final two...

N.E. BOUND COASTS TO CUP

When Skimming was assigned 122 pounds for the twenty-third running of the Meadowlands Cup, his trainer Bobby Frankel was furious and went as far as to call the race a...

FONZIE COLLECTS ASSIST

If Edgardo Alfonzo were a basketball player, he would be the king of hitting the game-tying bucket at the end of regulation before Jimmy Hoops hit the game-winning OT three...

CLEMENS FAILS AGAIN TO EARN HIS PINSTRIPS

THE plaque at Cooperstown will say many glowing things about Roger Clemens. But 'Big Game Pitcher' will be glaringly absent; the missing ingredient to a career that otherwise has few...

DASILVA PLOTTING PENN COMEBACK

GRANTVILLE, Pa. - After two days of competition at the World Series of Handicapping at Penn National, James Dewyer of Burlington, N.J. has the lead with a bankroll of $6,008.80,...

DON'T WRITE YANK OBIT YET

YOU write off a team that has won consecutive World Series championships and three in the last four years with a pen potentially more leaky than the A's defense. You...

WE'LL WIN TONIGHT; YANK GM PREDICTS VICTORY AFTER GAME FOUR STINKER

Three-thousand miles of overnight travel to play a winner-take-all game in Oakland. Six weeks of spring training. Six months of regular season tilts. Now, the Yankees' season has been reduced...

BOMBERS' SURVIVAL RESTING ON ANDY'S ARM

Jason Giambi knows what the A's need to do to beat Andy Pettitte tonight. "Maybe go to church," Giambi joked. If the Yankees have a prayer, it's resting on the...