August 5, 2001

BULL'S EYE

HOTEL CHARGES 'MARKET' RATES WORRIED about the stock market? The New Yorker Hotel is launching a new room rate policy on Wednesday that could help many travelers feel a little...

FREE $ ADVICE FOR BUBBA

BILL Clinton: He's no Hillary. Hillary Clinton, of course, famously made $100,000 in profits on commodities futures in 1993, which she attributed to reading The Wall Street Journal. The former...

A FUND MANAGER WHO REDEFINES THE BLUES

CENDANT is not a company that many people would consider a "blue chip." But Barbara Marcin is not like many people. As portfolio manager of the Gabelli Blue Chip Value...

MEMO TO CONSECO'S WENDT: KEEP IT UP

INSURANCE giant Conseco reports earnings this Tuesday, but the real highlight of the week will surely be "NEW Conseco Memo #14." That would be the latest installment in a series...

STYLE & SUBSTANCE: MINI ANDEN

Swedish supermodel Mini Anden may be most notorious for appearing in a provocative girl-on-girl Gucci campaign, but the racy ads are not her only major modeling credits. Anden has posed...

A WILD AND WACKY GUY

The films of Guy Maddin are like no others. They are part Soviet montage, part German Expressionism and a bit of Daliesque surrealism. Shot in black and white or tinted...

LURED TO THE LAIR OF A LOTHARIO

Last weekend, I entered the lair of a serious womanizer - but I was so blind that it practically took me all night to figure it out. It's not that...

A FERRET-ABLE LOVE AFFAIR: WHY THESE KITTEN-LIKE CRITTERS ARE THE NEW PET OF CHOICE

The way the Mayor talks about ferrets, one would think they're the most dangerous, unappealing critters imaginable. But ferret advocates -- led by writer and computer consultant Gary Kaskel, co-chairman...

FINER DINERS: GREASY SPOONS GO UPSCALE WITH CLASSY EATS AND CHIC DIGS

These aren't your grandfather's diners. A growing number of diners have gone posh, combining an old-fashioned feel with chic design touches, dishing up trendy food regularly featured in elegant Italian...

GRIMLY HILARIOUS, PINTER HONORED AS ONE OF THE GREAT DRAMATISTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY

The extraordinary two-week Harold Pinter Festival that concluded last week at Lincoln Center was remarkable for many reasons, most notably for reminding us how beautifully crafted his plays are -...

DANCES WITH DOGS

GOD forgive me, but I just spent a week with 130 crazy people and 150 dogs at Camp Gone to the Dogs. In Vermont. And you thought the state was...

DON'T WANT MY MTV

A NEW survey in Blender magazine says Britney Spears is the sexiest artist of all time. That's right. Of all time. Wait 'til she turns 12, and is allowed to...

THE E-MAIL JUST KEEPS ON COMING

FROM tWalsh, two offerings: "One of life's mysteries is how a two-pound box of candy can make a woman gain five pounds." "One way to forget all your troubles is...

ELLE'S WAX DOUBLE TROUBLED

Men just can't keep their paws off Elle Macpherson's wax double. Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London is beefing up security around the Aussie supermodel's figure because visitors keep groping...

JFK NEPHEW HITS BACK ; DENIES RAPE TRIAL NIXED HOUSE BID

CHICAGO - William Kennedy Smith isn't running for office this year - but he isn't running scared, either. Contrary to speculation, Smith says his decision not to make a 2002...

MADONNA MANGLES TRAFFIC

Madonna may have been too sick to perform at the Meadowlands Friday - but she definitely wasn't too sick to act like a diva yesterday. Madonna's two-car motorcade nearly started...

TACKY JACKIE 'TRIBUTE' ; COLLECTIBLE IS UN-BEAR-ABLY BAD

The award for "tackiest taste" goes to the Franklin Mint. They have splashed across the country advertisements for a toy bear dressed like Jackie Kennedy. I am not joking ....

STALKER HAS GROOM-TO-BE SCARED STEPH

More than four years after a former White House intern began stalking Bill Clinton's sexy senior staffer, George Stephanopoulos is still trying to shake his star-struck shadow - afraid she'll...

BADILLO CAN'T BUY A BREAK AT MALL

While three of his mayoral rivals dashed around the city to stump stops yesterday, Republican Herman Badillo was almost thwarted at his one appearance of the day. Badillo, who's racing...

SANIT WORKER DESCRIBES KILLER IN HIS DYING WORDS

A lifelong sanitation worker gasped out a description of the gun-toting thug who shot him and stole his jewelry and cash - just before he died yesterday of a bullet...

PROTESTERS: QNS. DROWNINGS DIDN'T HAVE TO HAPPEN

A few more safety signs and better cooperation between rescue teams could have saved the three girls who drowned in the currents at a deadly stretch of Rockaway Beach last...

VICTORIA GOTTI

"I WAS worried about the possibility of having to wear a loincloth." says Mark Wahlberg of his latest acclaimed role as Leo Davidson in this summer's blockbuster remake of "Planet...

'SOPRANO' GANG EYED IN CRIME RAMPAGE

Cops are probing three other robberies that are strikingly similar to the strong-arm mugging allegedly pulled off by teen "Sopranos" star Robert Iler and his pals last month. Police sources...

'TERRORIST' SURVIVES AIR ATTACK

JERUSALEM - An alleged Palestinian assassin barely survived an Israeli helicopter attack yesterday when he dove out of his car on a West Bank street as rockets screamed toward him....

MAN SHOT DEAD ON GRAND CONCOURSE

A 21-year-old man was shot and killed on the Grand Concourse in The Bronx yesterday, and his female companion was wounded, police said. Pedro Lopez of The Bronx was hit...

POT-POWERED CAR TOUR IN 'HIGH' GEAR

Driving on pot will get you busted. But driving a pot-powered car not only is legal, it also makes good sense, say the high-flying promoters of a controversial new fuel....

THE NEW YORK POST FROM AUG. 5, 1926

"Houdini 'Buried' 90 Minutes" was The Post's headline above a story that read: "Harry Houdini squeezed himself into a 61/2-foot galvanized coffin today. "The coffin was immediately lowered to the...

FIT AS A FIDDLE, BUSH MOSEYS OFF TO TEXAS

WASHINGTON - President Bush began his month-long vacation with good news from a six-hour checkup by his 14-doctor medical team - he's in "outstanding" condition. "I feel pretty good. I...

IT'S A CRYING SHAM ; TOT DEATH PUTS FOCUS ON HOUSING PROGRAM

The murder of a Bronx baby in taxpayer-funded homeless housing raises serious questions about a new city program - and whether families are being denied vital social services. The problems...

NOW CONDIT HAS VANISHED

Rep. Gary Condit went into hiding in California yesterday, while Chandra Levy's mother says she needs tranquilizers and sleeping pills to make it through the horrifying nights without her daughter....

RAMPAGE STEP BY STEP ; RIDERS RECALL BUS-DEPOT TERROR

A gunman sat sullenly at the back of a Greyhound bus swilling blackberry brandy until he suddenly erupted in a foul-mouthed diatribe and opened fire, according to the chilling accounts...

TEACHER IS CONVICTED OF KID SEX

A Westchester jury yesterday found a teacher guilty of the statutory rape and sodomy of three under-age students she wooed into her home for extracurricular sexcapades. Marci Stein, 29, a...

NO METHOD TO THEIR FATNESS

The next time I'm out hoisting Red Bull spritzers with Hollywood studio heads, I plan to hit them with a question that's central to contemporary American cinema: What's up with...

LOTTO PLANS TO DOUBLE 'SIX' APPEAL

Lottery lovers in New York will soon get twice as many dreams for their dollars - the state is rolling back the price of Pick Six Lotto to two plays...

HOUSE OF ILL REPUTE NEEDS WILLIE

THE world was stunned and saddened last week to hear that William Kennedy Smith has decided - at least for the moment - not to run for Congress. Now that's...

HOTEL PERKS FOR PETS

Some of the city's swankiest hotels are making such a fuss over Fido, you'd think he was the one footing the bill. The Loews Metropolitan Hotel last May began offering...

'MODEL' SOLDIER'S TRAGIC STORY

Chani Abramov's beautiful young face will grace magazines on newsstands across Europe next month. But that face no longer exists. A week ago, the 19-year-old Israeli soldier lost her tongue...

CONTRACTORS FLUNK ; DOLTISH WORKERS DISGUST SCHOOLS

The school-building agency is cracking down on complaints of construction workers doing shoddy work, boozing it up, jeopardizing safety - and even stealing a teacher's teddy bear, The Post has...

FERRER'S PHONE 'POLL' TAKES WHACK AT GREEN

Mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer wants to know whether voters care that rival Mark Green's two children went to private school. Team Ferrer called voters across the city last week with...

HOFFA FOE BROKE LAW TO BEAT MOB: FEDS

Former Teamsters boss Ron Carey fought so hard to keep mobsters out of his union that he broke the law to do it, prosecutors will argue to a jury later...

FULANI NONPROFIT RAISES EYEBROWS

A youth group founded by controversial activist Lenora Fulani is in line to receive a tax-exempt $12 million bond from the city to buy a 42nd Street theater, The Post...

B'KLYN DRUG-BUST TRAGEDY; COPS: DEALER PUT PAL IN HARM'S WAY

The end of Charmene Pickering's life began with a quick visit to her mom. The 27-year-old stopped at her mom's two-story Brooklyn house on her way to go shopping for...

THEREIN LIES THE RUB ; MASSAGES GETTING TOO TOUCHY-FEELY

People are getting rubbed the wrong way on massage tables around town. With massage therapy exploding in popularity, unwitting clients seeking stress or pain relief and a feeling of well-being...

DUBYA: I'LL GET 'A' FOR FITNESS

WASHINGTON - President Bush declared himself fit and healthy after undergoing a six-hour physical yesterday - then he took off for Texas for a one-month vacation. "I feel pretty good....

DWI HORROR: DRUNK COP KILLS 3 IN BROOKLYN

A pregnant woman, her 4-year-old son and teenage sister died last night after they were mowed down in a Brooklyn crosswalk by an off-duty cop who was driving drunk, police...

DON'T BE A STATISTIC - WEAR A LIFE JACKET

THE summer is barely half over and the Coast Guard reports 30 boating-related fatalities in the Northeast. Al Johnson, recreational boating safety specialist for the Northeast's First Coast Guard District,...

CYCLONE'S CAREER A REAL ROLLER-COASTER

THIRTY. That's the age you'd guess Harold Eckert is when you hear what he's been through. I mean, you try staying young when half the people you grow up with...

CHEAPSKATES NO MORE ; ISLES TO GIVE YASHIN RECORD $80M

TURNS out that Charles Wang and Sanjay Kumar are putting their money where Mike Milbury's mouth is as this astonishing hockey $ummer of '01 rolls on. While Lou Lamoriello confronts...

SHANNY SNUB A DISGRACE FOR CANADA

THE omission of Joe Thornton from the group invited to Canada's Olympic camp was stunning, absolutely stunning, but there has been no greater insult in all of this than the...

LOU CAN'T AFFORD TO HAMMER HOLIK

The Devils' future reaches a critical juncture today. Lou Lamoriello risks winning his case and losing a key player next summer if he employs his usual arbitration attack dog strategy...

TOP-DOLLAR COURSES SPARKLE IN TWILIGHT

LOCAL GOLF Wait! You don't need to fork up $100 or more for a quality round of golf. Sure enough, there's still just enough daylight out there to take advantage...

LONGLEY'S LIKELY AT END OF LINE

KNICK NOTES The shuffling of paperwork for Knick center Luc Longley's impending retirement has begun. Jeff Austin, Longley's agent, has sent the Knicks medical records on Longley's deformed ankle for...

BOSS IS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YANKS, METS

A YEAR ago today, the Yankees sat atop the AL East, 13 games over .500. and 3½ games ahead of the Red Sox, and everybody said, this dynasty has just...

CRUDE? WFAN SET STANDARD ; STATION'S WEBSITE GETS WHAT IT SPEWS

THE most darkly comical story of the week found WFAN management shutting down the station's listener feedback message board on its Website because - what is the world coming to?...

GOLF IN SUPER NOVA IS SHORE TO PLEASE

In a world gone goofy with fast-food golf destinations, Nova Scotia stands out on Canada's Atlantic coast like a finely broiled lobster. Here, the golf is so good, so scrumptious,...

CULINARY CLASSIC ; TOP-FLIGHT CHEFS HAVE HEARTY GOLF APPETITES

I already had a pretty good handle on how good these guys are in the kitchen. Now I was curious about their talents elsewhere - specifically on the golf course....

SWAYNE'S COMING ON

You cannot help but notice Kevin Swayne when you watch the Jets practice. The man who'd been just about everywhere before the Jets signed him a week ago has been...

CHAMP RETURNS : POINT GIVEN READY FOR $1.5M HASKELL

OCEANPORT - Point Given, the most exciting thoroughbred in America today, will seek to polish his halo by dusting off five rivals in the $1.5 million Haskell Invitational Handicap at...

SCARLET KNIGHT CAPTURES HAMBO

Stefan Melander became the first owner-trainer-driver since Stanley Dancer in 1975 (Bonefish) to win trotting's biggest prize when he guided Scarlet Knight to a 13/4-length victory in the $1M Hambletonian...

SHADES OF DEREK ; SORIANO'S ROOKIE CAMPAIGN A TRUE GEM

THERE IS a problem sizing up Alfonso Soriano's season. With whom do we compare him? Do we use the inflationary numbers imagined when word was trickling from the minor leagues...

RIVERA REDEEMS HIMSELF

Mariano Rivera blew his 37th save of season by yielding two-run HR to Troy Glaus in the eighth, but then shut down Angels to pick up decision in Yanks' 5-4...

WISHES ARE GRANTED ; SHARP SCRIMMAGE WORK PLEASES FASSEL

GIANT NOTES ALBANY - When Jim Fassel made public his wish list for yesterday's intra-squad scrimmage, it went something like this: Stay healthy, get crisp execution from the starting players,...

BARROW NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION: THIS YEAR, LB'S A GIANT FIXTURE

ALBANY - I'm with Jessie. That was the way Mike Barrow arrived on the scene a year ago, gaining acceptance before he ever slammed a ball-carrier to the ground, simply...

HALL'S SLOW PACE DISHONORS TRAINERS

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Thoroughbred racing will honor one of its best tomorrow when trainer Dick Mandella is inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame, along with jockey...

SCORPION STUNS JIM DANDY FIELD

SARATOGA SPRINGS - He came, he saw, but he didn't Congaree. Trainer Bob Baffert's ballyhooed colt, sent off at 2-5 by the crowd of 30,871 yesterday at the Old Spa,...

ROCKET OK DESPITE NO B-DAY WIN

Roger Clemens didn't get a win on his 39th birthday yesterday when the Yankees beat the Angels, 5-4. However, Clemens didn't spend the evening worrying about his right groin. "I...

VELARDE PROBABLY STAYING PUT

YANKEE NOTES Even if the Yankees were looking at Randy Velarde to plug the hole created by Scott Brosius' broken left hand - and they say they aren't - the...

MAZ GETS WILLIAMS BACK INTO STRIDE

Two steps forward, one step back. Normally that's a way of describing limited progress, but in this case it's a description of the excellent outfield Bernie Williams has played of...

TASTE OF HEAVEN ; TORRID TINO'S HR SAVES DAY VS. HALOS

Yankees 5 Angels 4 At this pace, Nick Johnson could be the next Lou Gehrig and never inhale a molecule of oxygen while wearing Yankee pinstripes. In March it was...

AGBAYANI FEARS TRADE IS AT HAND

PHOENIX - The waiver period is supposed to be an invisible time in which trades aren't disclosed. But Benny Agbayani's situation is very public, because his fears of being traded...

CALL HIM BAGGER VANCE: GUTTY WILSON SLAYS 'ZONA

Mets 4 D'backs 2 PHOENIX - If the play that nearly ruined Vance Wilson's career on a minor-league field in 1998 hadn't been so "wimpy," then Wilson might've had flashbacks...

ROBIN TO MISS TIME AFTER HURTING WRIST

MET NOTES PHOENIX - Struggling Robin Ventura is expected to miss today's game and perhaps more after bruising his left wrist yesterday, The Post has learned. Trainers took X-rays on...

CHUNG LIFTS M'STARS PAST MIAMI

MetroStars 2 Fusion 1 The MetroStars pride themselves on performing in the clutch, coming up big in the big spots. And in a must-win game against the best team in...

JETS HOPEFUL MOSS CAN PLAY OPENER

JET NOTES Santana Moss had what Herman Edwards described as successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee yesterday morning and the team's hope remains that he'll be ready for the...

MAZ HELPS WILLIAMS STEP IT UP

Two steps forward, one step back. Normally that's a way of describing limited progress, but in this case it's a description of the excellent outfield Bernie Williams has played of...

HEAVEN CAN WAIT: TINO, YANKS FOIL ANGEL COMEBACK

Yankees 5 Angels 4 At this pace, Nick Johnson could be the next Lou Gehrig and never breath a molecule of oxygen while wearing Yankee pinstripes. When the season started,...

TORRE NOT READY TO CELEBRATE JUST YET

Joe Torre won't relax until the Yankees clinch their fourth straight AL East title. And while he admits the season-high five-game bulge his Yankees held over the Red Sox when...

BIG DAVE & MAZ: IT'S A DREAM COME TRUE FOR THE GLOVE OF THE GAME

COOPERSTOWN - For 24 years, one of the greatest defensive second baseman ever was denied election to the Hall of Fame because of selectors' stubborn insistence that one of the...

AGBAYANI'S CONFIDENCE IS 'WAIVERING'

PHOENIX - The waiver trading period is supposed to be an invisible time in which dealings aren't disclosed. But Benny Agbayani's situation is very public, because his fears of being...

UNIT SLAYER MEETS MATCH: DANDY RANDY KEEPS MCEWING IN CHECK

PHOENIX - Joe McEwing, a.k.a. The Unit Slayer, was 0-for-3 Friday night as Randy Johnson reversed recent history. McEwing was 6-for-18 with four doubles, going into the game - Big...

HALL OF A DAY FOR BIG DAVE & MAZ: WINNY'S BRILLIANCE CAN'T BE DENIED

COOPERSTOWN - Rare are the times that a 10-year-old looking up at the world sees something in perfect proportion. But so unprecedented was Dave Winfield's talent, Derek Jeter remembers his...

THIS DIAMOND IS FOREVER: DAMASCHKE FIELD IS BASEBALL'S LAST UNSPOILED PLEASURE

ONEONTA - Get here before it's too late. Damaschke Field, the first professional home to generations of Yankees, is a Class-A picture postcard that refuses to migrate to greener pastures....

NFL WOULD FIT M'STAR TO A TEE

When Tab Ramos' sprained ankle took him out of the middle of the MetroStars' midfield and took the continuity out of their offense, coach Octavio Zambrano had precious few options...

VANDERBILT FIELD SET TO SIZZLE

SARATOGA SPRINGS - The after-burners will go full blast today at the Old Spa when a field of eight battle-hardened sprinters knock heads going six furlongs in the Grade 2,...

TEACHER GUILTY OF SEX ROMPS WITH HER STUDENTS

A former Westchester teacher burst into tears yesterday when a jury declared her guilty of having afterschool sex romps with her underage students. Marci Stein, a 29-year-old high-school special-education teacher,...