March 20, 2001

FIFTH AVE. CORNER IS BOUGHT FOR $35M

A trio of buildings on a prime midtown corner has been sold to a major developer, increasing chances that the site will finally be developed after years of false starts,...

WHITE & CASE RENEWS ITS 'PINK' BLDG. LEASE

INTERNATIONAL law firm White & Case wanted to secure its New York headquarters for the future. Landlord Doug Durst wanted to lock in a long-term quality tenant at his black-sided...

MERGER-WARY EU MAY MAR WELCH'S EXIT

Jack Welch is getting the Full Monti. The European Commission's antitrust czar, Mario Monti, is coming down hard on the General Electric chairman's $34 billion plan to take over Honeywell....

TWEC RENAMING STORES FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT

The country's largest specialty entertainment retailer, Trans World Entertainment Corp., is renaming its 730 mall-based specialty stores fye (for your entertainment). The re-branding will also extend to the company's e-commerce...

NATIONAL PICTURE WEAKER, BUT HOW MUCH?

Looking out over the national landscape, figuring out what to do about monetary policy today, Alan Greenspan can't be thrilled with what he's seeing. His numbers are mixed, with some...

FLORIO SNATCHES CONA FROM TW TO PUBLISH VF

On the brink of its big post-Oscar party on Sunday, Conde Nast CEO Steve Florio filled a big hole in the Vanity Fair lineup by raiding AOL Time Warner for...

WWF IS LOOKING TO TAKE OVER WCW

The WWF and the WCW may soon be one big, happy family. The World Wrestling Federation confirmed yesterday that is looking to buy the floundering World Championship Wrestling. "We are...

VORNADO IS DUMPED - PA TALKS WITH SILVERSTEIN ABOUT WTC LEASE

The Port Authority last night abruptly ended talks to lease the World Trade Center to Steve Roth's Vornado for 99 years and began exclusive negotiations for the lease with rival...

INVESTORS RACING FED CUT KICK THE MARKETS UP A NOTCH

The stock markets enjoyed a modest rally yesterday as investors sought to buy stocks ahead of today's much anticipated interest rate cut and report on the economy by the Fed....

HEY, ALAN! WE'RE HURTIN' OVER HERE! - AS GREENSPAN MULLS RATES, NYC FEELING THE PAIN

Even in a bad economy, there's always a little good news around. In New York's case, snobby four-star restaurants will now seat you right away instead of making you wait...

NATIONAL PICTURE IS WEAKER; QUESTION IS 'HOW MUCH?'

Looking out over the national landscape, figuring out what to do about monetary policy today, Alan Greenspan can't be thrilled with what he's seeing. His numbers are mixed, with some...

A HORSE'S HEAD FOR BD+]]BRAVO ; THEY BUTCHER A CLASSIC

The folks at Bravo wasted no time last week bragging about the ratings they got for "The Godfather" earlier this month. But fans of the movie know the boast was...

'STAR TREK' WANTS CAPT. SCOTT

TV veteran Scott Bakula is in talks to take the helm of the latest "Star Trek" series, according to a devoted "Trekker" Web site. Bakula, best known for playing Dr....

BUZZ

Fertile ground for doubt Women struggling with infertility - as well as those who rely on the rhythm method of birth control - pay close attention to their ovulation cycles....

THE STARR REPORT

Irish eyes smile on 4's parade coverage Ch. 4's live coverage of Saturday's St. Patrick's Day Parade scored the annual event's best numbers since 1984. Ch. 4 notched a 7.4...

HIDDEN DRAGON - BARGAINS AND CHAOS ON A LANCASTER COUNTY BACK ROAD

A Lancaster County day trip can be so much more than outlet shopping and homestyle cooking served up in towns with giggle-inducing names like Intercourse and Blue Ball. The actual...

RAY OF LIGHT FROM 'HANNIBAL' - NOW, THERE'S A WHOLE LOTTA LIOTTA GOIN' ON

ACTING, Ray Liotta admits, is not brain surgery."No pun intended," he adds with a sly grin.If you've seen "Hannibal," you get the pun - it refers, of course, to a...

TRAVELER'S UPDATE

Toy story Did you know that Barbie's last name is Roberts? Or that it takes 80 feet of wire to create a Slinky? That's just a small bit of what...

NO SUGAR COATING FOR KILLING HEIDI'S AUSSIE-POP

KILLING HEIDI "Reflector" () 3:33 Music Group Killing Heidi is a young Australian band making American music of their own utopian rock vision - it is partly punk, metallic blues...

POWER PLIÉ : EVEN IF YOU HAVE TWO LEFT FEET, YOU CAN WORK OUT LIKE A PRIMA BALLERINA

Those who've stepped, cycled and shadow-boxed for fitness' sake now have another way: ballet. "New York City Ballet Workout," just out this week, promises enhanced muscle tone, improved posture, greater...

DOG'S LOVE THEY DELIVER: HOSPITALS' THERAPY POOCHES WAG THEIR WAY INTO SICK KIDS' HEARTS

EVERY Thursday, Duncan Hanna patrols the corridors of the Children's Hospital of New York with three of his pals: Moo-Shu, a 7-year-old Shar-Pei; Tommy Lee, a 4-year-old corgi; and Mo,...

A DIVE DOWN UNDER : MILES FROM AUSTRALIA'S DUSTY OUTBACK, LUSH QUEENSLAND IS SCUBA HEAVEN

If you think Australia's natural marvels are limited to kangaroos hop ping across the dusty outback or great whites chomping on shark cages, you've never visited the towering rain forests...

DOC: YASSER IS SUFFERING FROM ANXIETY

Yasser Arafat is in "good health," but suffers from anxiety because of the six months of Palestinian-Israeli fighting, a doctor said yesterday. The 71-year-old PLO chairman underwent a routine physical...

TAXES: A W.-MADE DEBATE - WITHOUT HIM, WASHINGTON WOULDN'T BE TALKING CUTS AT ALL

THE tax cut is too big. The tax cut is too small. The tax cut is back-loaded when it should be front-loaded. The tax cut should include a slash in...

THE SPY WHO LOVED ME

JAMES BOND may have had a new squeeze for each of his international adventures. But for America's real-life intelligence men - employees of the Central Intelligence Agency - the mates...

HOW NYPD CRACKED THE ULTIMATE CYBERFRAUD - B'KLYN BUSBOY BUSTED IN THEFT OF 200+ TYCOON IDS

USING computers in a local library, a Brooklyn busboy pulled off the largest identity-theft in Internet history, victimizing more than 200 of the "Richest People in America" listed in Forbes...

A-TRAIN RIDERS ARE RISING UP IN DEFENSE OF ELEVATOR MAN

Washington Heights straphangers are rallying around a subway elevator operator who has given them a lift for years. Bruce Renfroe, 57, an elevator operator at the 181st Street station on...

EMBASSY BOMBER GLAD HE DID IT: FBI

An accused terrorist confessed to eagerly helping bomb a U.S. Embassy - and vowed to keep trying to kill Americans if ever given the chance, an FBI agent testified yesterday....

SEN. FLATWARE CAN BE YOURS - FOR A PRICE

SHE'S been called many things. Smart. Greedy. Shrewd. A doormat. Perhaps it's time to award New York's junior senator a more appropriate nickname. A name that captures the essence of...

FEDS: BLAME BILL IF CITY'S LEFT IN THE DARK

WASHINGTON - Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham warned yesterday that New York City will be zapped with electricity shortages this summer as the country faces its worst energy crisis in more...

RUDY RIPS 'UNACCOUNTABLE' TA OVER SUBWAY CHANGES

Mayor Giuliani lashed out at the Transit Authority yesterday for keeping City Hall in the dark about a massive change in subway service to begin in July, calling the agency...

GOP: DEM $CHOOLS PLAN TOO MUCH

ALBANY - Assembly Democrats yesterday proposed increasing education spending by a whopping $1.7 billion this year - a "mind-boggling" plan that Republicans charged will break the bank. The Democrats' record...

RING IN THE SPRING THING

The crocuses and the calendar say it all - winter becomes a has-been today and spring blooms. The welcome new season springs in to the Big Apple at 8:31 a.m.,...

BRITISH TEEN RELIVES PARK-GROPE ORDEAL

A young British tourist who went to the Puerto Rican Day Parade for a "good family outing" testified yesterday she was beaten, groped and sexually assaulted by more than 20...

AND REV. AL - NOT JESSE - SHALL SET THEM FREE

AL SHARPTON is going to Africa to free the slaves. No kidding. Sources close to the civil-rights activist say he will soon announce a trip to Sudan set for later...

'PEACEMAKER' BILL MET BY N.Y. PROTEST

Bill Clinton accepted a peace award from Cardozo Law School yesterday - while protesters outside questioned his status as a disgraced lawyer and chanted, "Where's the peace" [in Israel]? The...

FBI SEEKS TO QUIZ SILVER IN PARDONS

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said yesterday the FBI has contacted him to talk about any link Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton might have to the controversial New Square clemencies. But Silver...

BUBBA BACKS HILL ON HER 514G OFFICE

Ex-President Clinton last night came to his wife's defense over her most-expensive-in-the-nation Senate office, saying: "She needs it for the volunteers." Clinton spoke up for wife Hillary, whose Manhattan office...

LOW TURNOUT FOR EDISON VOTING

Voting by parents on whether Edison Schools Inc. should take over five of the city's worst schools got off to a dreadful start yesterday - with only 36 votes out...

GUN ARREST LINKS LIL' KIM'S PAL TO HIP-HOP SHOOTOUT

A Lil' Kim hip-hop protégé, busted in a Harlem drug sweep, admitted he was on the scene during a recent shootout between rival rappers that has stymied investigators, cops said...

MARRIAGE CAPS COMEBACK FOR BRIDGE-SHOOT VICTIM

Nachum Sasonkin - a former yeshiva student written off as dead after being shot in the head by a gunman on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1994 - was married last...

MURDER-SUICIDE SUSPECTED IN B'KLYN SLAYS

Cops investigating the apparent suicide of a Brooklyn construction worker went to the man's basement apartment yesterday and found the body of a murdered woman. Shortly before 1:30 p.m., police...

IT'S A 'HALL' OF A NIGHT FOR ROCK INDUCTEES

Ex-Supreme Mary Wilson (above) gets the red-carpet treatment last night at the Waldorf, where Brian May of Queen (right) rocked out to celebrate his band's induction.Dave Alloca/DMI (above); AP Music...

MCCAIN'S PLEA: DON'T KILL CAMPAIGN-FINANCE REFORM BILL

WASHINGTON - Republican maverick Sen. John McCain yesterday opened a two-week debate over rewriting America's campaign-finance laws by "begging" colleagues not to kill his bill. The Arizona senator urged compromise...

LAST-PLACE HEVESI IS FIRST TO DECLARE

Hoping to shift his campaign out of last place, city Comptroller Alan Hevesi today will become the first of four Democratic mayoral candidates to formally throw his hat into the...

TAKE-OUT DELIVERYMAN BEATEN

A gang of thugs lured a Chinese-food deliveryman into an apartment building on the Lower East Side yesterday and savagely beat him in a brazen daytime robbery attempt, cops said....

TAKE-OUT DELIVERYMAN ATTACKED

A group of heartless thugs brutally beat a Chinese-food deliveryman yesterday in a savage daytime robbery in the Lower East Side. Wu-Chang Wang, 51, was delivering Chinese food to a...

HANKS' EX DYING OF BONE CANCER

Tom Hanks will be nursing a heartache when he attends the Academy Awards ceremony and waits to learn if he'll net his third Oscar this weekend. The good-guy star, nominated...

MICK IS DAUGHTER'S STONE CHAPERONE

Mick Jagger has agreed to let his underage daughter shack up with her older boyfriend - but he's giving them satisfaction on one condition. The wrinkly rocker, known for his...

A 'HALL' OF A NIGHT FOR ROCK INDUCTEES

Music royalty got the red-carpet treatment last night as the self-proclaimed King of Pop and the glam group Queen were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In...

BREAST-FED KIDS MAKE HEARTSICK ADULTS: STUDY

Babies who are breast-fed may be more at risk for heart disease later in life, according to an alarming new study. Research revealed that the longer youngsters are fed from...

HEVESI IS NO. 1 (SORT OF) - HE'LL BE FIRST TO DECLARE

Hoping to shift his campaign out of last place, city Comptroller Alan Hevesi today will become the first of four Democratic mayoral candidates to formally throw his hat into the...

VG: HOUSTON HAS A PROBLEM ; JEFF IMPLORES ALLAN TO SHAKE OFF HIS 2ND-HALF HANGOVER

Allan Houston and Jeff Van Gundy are butting heads on the causes to Houston's alarming flameouts in the second half of games. And if they continue to not see eye...

BEFUDDLED BYRON CALLS NETS 'UNBELIEVABLE'

Welcome to March Madness, New Jersey Nets style. Well, maybe not madness. More like maddening. With 13 games remaining following a wretched 0-5 road trip that began in Washington, journeyed...

LUTE STILL TRYING TO PICK UP PIECES: WIFE'S DEATH LINGERS WITH ARIZONA COACH

ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR: MIDWEST KANSAS CITY - If you don't know him - and even if you do - Lute Olson can come off as a crusty sort...

MILBURY INTERVIEWS FTOREK

Former Devils coach Robbie Ftorek was interviewed last week by Islanders general manager Mike Milbury for the Islanders head coaching position, The Post has learned. "I'd like to be there,"...

RADEK-AL CHANGE ON WING

"When I wake up in the morning I tell myself, 'Shoot the puck, shoot the puck,' " Radek Dvorak said before last night's match at the Garden between the Rangers-Caps....

JONES AND MARTIN LIKELY SIDELINED FOR OPENING DAY

MET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE - Bullpen hopefuls Bobby Jones and Tom Martin are hurt and it is doubtful they will be ready for Opening Day. Both pitchers had MRIs...

VIKES' HATCHETTE JOINS JETS' FOLD

The Jets yesterday signed former Vikings backup receiver Matthew Hatchette to a two-year contract with hopes of finding a gem among the thin free-agent market. There is a hope that...

JINTS-BRONCS OPENER?

The NFL schedule will not officially be released for several weeks, but a report out of Denver states that the Giants will start their 2001 season on Monday Night Football,...

MCCOLLIN CROWNED NEXT QUEEN OF KING; MCCOLLIN CONTINUES TRADITION

Sure, there is still business to be taken care of this season. Christ the King travels to Glens Falls this week, attempting to win its 12th straight New York Federation...

ROBBY PUSHES RIGHT BUTTON

CALGARY - The Devil coach again pushed the right button, the one that powers the cattle prod. Larry Robinson first sent jolts towards his top line in the playoffs last...

METS' BATTING COACH COVERS EVERY ENGLE

PORT ST. LUCIE - The emotion spills out of new batting coach Dave Engle as Jay Payton creams a curveball. Payton stayed tall, waited and turned on the pitch from...

CHUCK'S LEFT OUT ; SCATTER-ARMED 2B MOVING TO OUTFIELD

TAMPA - Chuck Knoblauch walked out of Legends Field yesterday with a box of Yankee media guides that needed altering before they reached Linda Knoblauch, the mother of the new...

EL DUQUE'S CAT SCAN COMES UP SPOTLESS

YANKEE NOTES TAMPA - A CAT scan taken yesterday of Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez' right elbow produced the same results X-rays and an MRI showed March 9: There is nothing...

DUQUE DOES BANG-UP JOB

TAMPA - Add a dented Mercedes to the list of Derek Jeter's spring training problems. When Jeter was leaving the players' parking lot at Legends Field Sunday, Orlando "El Duque"...

KOBE GETS HIS COMEUPPANCE: COURTSIDE HECKLER IN ORLANDO PUTS SHACKLES ON FRAGILE LAKER

AS many NBA games as I've eyeballed since first becoming intoxicated on the elementary enchantment performed by Dick McGuire, the original eyes of the cutter, there's still a guarantee of...

RANGERS CAPITALIZE EARLY

Rangers 6 Capitals 3 There are four home games to go now for the Rangers, who need to go better than .500 on Broadway the rest of the way in...

DEVILS ROLL ON GOMEZ PAIR: WIN 11TH STRAIGHT, CLINCH BERTH

CALGARY - The Rocky Mountain Rout complete and the foregone conclusion now certified, the Jersey Juggernaut turns its menacing maw homeward towards the NHL record winning streak. "Just streaking across...