January 23, 2002

MACK'S DEAL WITH SEC SAVES CSFB'S BACON

CS First Boston's chief exec John Mack deftly closed out an ugly era for the troubled big Swiss financial services firm, cutting a sweet deal that settles with regulators and...

FLICKED-OFF FUBU IS SUINGUNIVERSAL FOR $100M

Two foul-mouthed, pot-smoking movie characters have done $100 million worth of damage to the popular FUBU clothing line, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday. The clothing company filed a trademark...

CONSUMERS MAY PASS ON $200 NIKES

Although Michael Jordan draws basketball's highest TV rating, it's no slam-dunk for selling his new $200 sneakers. The new sneakers are Nike's highest-priced ever - and the 17th model emblazoned...

MARTHA'S GOT KMART IN CHECK

Martha Stewart is saved - for now. In filing for bankruptcy yesterday, Kmart announced it has secured $2 billion in financing to help it pull out of its mess. That...

PEOPLE MAY NEED PEOPLE

CAROL Wallace, top editor of People - believed to be the most profitable magazine in the world - may be roamin' in the gloamin' by mid-year, insiders say. Wallace has...

PARK AVENUE TOWER COULD BRING IN OVER $150 MILLION

THE investor community is drooling over a Park Avenue tower expected to hit the market in February. The 33-story beauty at 450 Park on the southwest corner of 57th Street...

CHEAP TRICKS

CARSONMcCULLERS(HISTORICALLY INACCURATE)At the Women's Project Theatre, 424 W. 55th St. Through Feb. 3. TeleCharge (212) 239-6200. CARSON McCullers was a Georgia writer born in 1913, who produced in the 1940s...

PRESSING ITS LUC

JEAN-LUC 507 COLUMBUS AVE. (BETWEEN 84TH AND 85TH STREETS) (212) 712-1700 'IS that fish supposed to be blackened?" my wife asks about the ominous-looking striped bass at hot new bistro...

FRANC-LY, MORE TO CABERNET THAN SAUVIGNON

CABERNET Franc has always lived in the shadow of its more fabulous cousin, Cabernet Sauvignon.In the wines of Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon is a star and Cabernet Franc plays, if anything,...

CHINGHALLE CALLS IT QUITS AFTER VERY TOUGH YEAR

MEATPACKING District restaurant Chinghalle has packed it in after little more than a year. "It was just a tough year and a tough year to start up a new business,"...

THAT'S SUMMERALL, FOLKS

NFL announcer Pat Summerall is calling it quits with partner John Madden after 21 years together as football's No. 1 TV team. The pair's final NFL game together will be...

SOME WILL SWOON OVER PARADOU

PARADOU ½ 8 LITTLE W. 12TH ST. AT Paradou, you'll see things not normally encountered around the big city:Sliced radishes with butter and salt, in lieu of a breadbasket. Wine...

SUPREME INSULT ; SINGER DRAWS EQUITY'S FIRE

STOP, in the name of Equity!Former Supreme Mary Wilson is the latest performer to incur the wrath of Actors Equity for agreeing to star in a non-union tour of a...

STARR REPORT

Caroline in the cities: Rhea of clearanceCaroline Rhea hasn't taken over for Rosie O'Donnell yet - but she's off to a good start if local station interest is any indication....

HEY! THAT'S A FAMILIA PLOT ; A SOAP FROM NORTH OF THE BORDER

"American Family" Tonight at 8 on PBS 1/2 A FEW years ago I had a TV series titled "American Family" in development. Somehow it never developed, even though it may...

OZZY THE NEW OZZIE? ...NOT LIKELY. BUT THE ROCK WILDMAN STARS IN A NEW NELSONS-TYPE SHOW

FORTY years after Ozzie Nelson and and his squeaky-clean family dominated TV comes a new Ozzy - the bat-biting rock star - and his family. MTV is getting ready to...

MAIS OUI, 'AMÉLIE'

'AMÉLIE," the little French movie that could, has broken a longstanding record to become the highest-grossing French-language film to be released in the United States. Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's whimsical tale...

GRILL CRAZY ; BRINGING BARBECUE TO THE GREAT INDOORS

IF you don't own an indoor grill, chances are you know someone who does. The George Foreman Grill has become a heavyweight seller of millions, and other makes sizzle right...

DIRECTORS' NOMS A FOREIGN AFFAIR

RON Howard was the sole American nominee on the list yesterday for the annual award by the Directors Guild of America - the single most accurate predictor for the Oscars....

COPS: HOME AIDE PREYED ON ELDERLY

A home health-care aide - hired to help sick and disabled seniors - stole thousands of dollars of jewelry and valuables from their Long Island homes, Nassau County police said...

RUN, AL, RUN

IT'S time for those who've been trying to keep Al Sharpton confined to the political margins to throw up their hands in defeat. The battle's over, and he won. That...

DURST'S BABY STEPS - PLOTTED TO GET HIS FAMILY'S MILLION$ - BY HAVING A KID

Several years before they got married, real-estate heir Robert Durst and his second wife, Debrah Lee Charatan, considered having a child so they could get money from his wealthy family,...

WE'LL WEATHER HARD TIMES: FORECA$T CALLS FOR PAIN

ALBANY - Buried in Gov. Pataki's generally upbeat budget plan is an unusually grim economic forecast - stemming largely from the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. The bad news is located...

S.I. DELI OWNER SLAIN

The co-owner of a Staten Island deli was shot dead last night in a robbery attempt while a frightened co-worker hid in the store's back room, police said. The unidentified...

BETSY NIPS AT DOG'S TALE

A Manhattan man is barking up the wrong tree if he thinks a decade-old letter from then-Parks Commissioner Betsy Gotbaum gives his crime-fighting pooch the right to play in a...

SHUT UP, CELEBS, AND OPEN YOUR WALLETS

RICHARD GERE, Mavis Leno, Jane Fonda, even the fruitful songstress Madonna, have an opportunity to do something useful for once. Open your wallets for the poor, pummeled people of Afghanistan,...

BUSH KIN GOT BURNED, TOO

First mother-in-law Jenna Welch was burned to the tune of $8,000 in the Enron collapse. "My own mother-in-law bought stock last summer, and it's not worth anything now," President Bush...

SPIELBERG & FORD DOING A NEW 'INDY'

Steven Spielberg has confirmed he's working on the third sequel to "Raiders of the Lost Ark" starring Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. "We have a title, but we're not ready...

EX-COP ACCEPTED SEX 'APPEAL'

A Long Island ex-cop who had sex with a female driver who wanted to avoid a traffic ticket pleaded guilty yesterday to attempted bribe receiving. Jay Seifert, who resigned from...

SHOPPERS: AILING CHAIN'S NO BARGAIN

Queens Kmart shoppers scoping out the Fresh Meadows store for bargains yesterday said they felt sorry for the bankrupt retailer - but admitted they don't have a strong loyalty to...

BOY, 11, FONDLED CLASSMATES: COPS

An 11-year-old boy was arrested yesterday and charged with sexual abuse for allegedly fondling five girls at a Brooklyn public school. The suspect, whose name was not released because of...

GOV GOES FOR THE RECORD - OUT TO SPEND ALL-TIME-HIGH $89B WHILE CLOSING GAP

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki yesterday unveiled a record-high, $88.6 billion state budget plan that closes a massive looming deficit by tapping reserves, cutting jobs, raising fees and restraining growth. Pataki's...

HOLY MOSES! 'BIBLE' TEAM BRINGING RUDY TALE TO TV

Abraham, Moses, David, Joseph - and Rudy. Biblical-epic TV producers Lorenzo Minoli and Russ Kagen will turn Rudy Giuliani's stormy eight-year tenure as mayor into a television flick. Minoli and...

2 DEM INSIDERS LAND PLUM COUNCIL JOBS

Two veteran political operatives from the Queens and Bronx Democratic organizations began working yesterday as special advisers to Council Speaker Gifford Miller. Kathy Torres, the former executive director of the...

TROUBLE LEAKS AND REEKS ON NO. 7 TRACKS

Transit workers and straphangers are "PO'd" that a urinal empties onto a Times Square subway track right next to a platform on - what else? - the Flushing line. "That's...

RILED RUMSFELD FIRES BACK AT CAMP CRITICS

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ripped into critics of the U.S. military's treatment of Afghan war prisoners yesterday, blasting them as "uniformed, misinformed or poorly informed." The high-profile Pentagon...

SOME CITY OUTLETS ARE LIKELY TO GO

The city's 11 Kmarts are probably among the most profitable in the bankrupt chain - but the cash-starved company could close some of them because selling their leases could bring...

COMPANY SPREAD $$ AROUND ALBANY

Enron - the Texas company in the middle of the biggest corporate bankruptcy case ever - spent $250,000 lobbying state legislators in Albany over the last four years, The Post...

PEGGY LEE DIES ; LEGENDARY JAZZ SINGER WAS 81

Smoky-voiced Peggy Lee - who brought sultry, hypnotic elegance to dozens of jazz and pop hits including "Fever" and "Is That All There Is?" - has died at 81. The...

REAL SUPERHEROES IN ART SHOW

Slide over, Spider-Man. New superheroes are gracing comic books - New York firefighters, cops and rescue workers. An exhibit at the New York City Fire Museum, "Heroes Among Us," which...

MAYOR EYES NEW EMERGENCY HQ

The Bloomberg administration plans to rebuild the city's emergency command center, destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks, at a new site in Brooklyn. "That's one of the high-priority items in...

CONNIE CHUNG TO CNN

ABC News star Connie Chung is heading to CNN to host a one-hour prime-time show. CNN's hiring of Chung, expected to be announced today, is a shot in the arm...

YANKEL'S BRO SEEKS ASHCROFT POWWOW ON CROWN HTS. RULING

Yankel Rosenbaum's brother was headed to Washington last night, hoping to discuss with Attorney General John Ashcroft the recent overturned convictions of two men charged in the Hasidic scholar's death....

KMART BANKRUPT - RETAILER IN COURT TO HOLD OFF CREDITORS

The blue light has turned red. In the largest retail bankruptcy in U.S. history, Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday in an effort to reorganize its massive debt....

FEUD STALLS REBUILDING PLAN

WASHINGTON - A fight between Gov. Pataki and Sen. Charles Schumer is holding up efforts to push a special $6 billion economic-stimulus plan to help rebuild Ground Zero, officials told...

SELF-DEFENSE SHOOTER CAN GUN BUT HE CAN'T HIDE

WITH a wounded, two-bit hood writhing at his feet and a loaded gun in his hand, Hong Dong Xie thought - for a split second - about one thing: murder....

STOOLIE: HOW I GOT SHOT

A mob turncoat who survived a shot to the head during a 1994 hit that killed his cousin took the stand in Brooklyn federal court yesterday at the opening of...

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF FALLEN FDNY HEROES

Mayor Bloomberg swore in 305 additional probationary firefighters yesterday in an emotional ceremony that included four relatives of fallen World Trade Center heroes. One of the "probies" - 24-year-old Joseph...

FEDS SWOOPING IN ON ENRON HQ

Enron will be swarming with federal investigators today as the FBI and Justice Department begin probing charges of document-shredding inside the collapsed energy-trading giant's Houston headquarters. The FBI, Justice Department...

NEW RAMP TO HELP IN 'LAST PHASE'

Workers at Ground Zero yesterday started building a massive steel truck ramp to make way for the "final phase" of the World Trade Center excavation. The 500-foot, two-lane ramp will...

NEW COUNCIL SPEAKER TO PATAKI: WHAT ABOUT US?

ALBANY - The first rift between Gov. Pataki and new City Council Speaker Gifford Miller erupted yesterday over the redevelopment of New York City. Miller, a Democrat, blasted Republican Pataki's...

MIKE'S $1.6M INAUGURAL TAB

Mayor Bloomberg spent a whopping $1.6 million on his transition and inaugural festivities - including more than $200,000 in previously undisclosed bonuses and salaries to campaign workers, it was revealed...

2,000 HELP FASHION A FITTING FAREWELL TO YVES

Designer Yves Saint Laurent, flanked by Laetitia Casta (above left), his favorite model, and Catherine Deneuve, his most famous muse, takes to the runway for the final time yesterday in...

30-CENT TAX ON CALLERS A TOUGH 'CELL'

The ears of cell-phone users could soon be ringing with a new tax on talk. Gov. Pataki's proposed 2002-03 executive budget recommends giving New York City and other localities the...

CITY FACES $10M SUIT IN SCHOOL SHOOTING

The mother of one of the students wounded in the Martin Luther King HS shooting notified the city she plans to file a $10 million negligence suit for the security...

COPS SUSPECT DRUG LINK IN BX. TRIPLE SLAY

Drugs remained the most likely motive for a grisly triple-murder inside a Bronx apartment where investigators found what appeared to be crack cocaine, police sources said yesterday. The victims -...

APPLE TEACHERS RECEIVING A $200M CARROT

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki's new budget contains a more than $200 million gift for the city's teachers, sources say. Pataki wants to borrow $204 million to speed up school-aid repayments...

WTC HEROES IGNORED CALL TO BUG OUT - DEPUTY CHIEF: MANY COULD HAVE SAVED THEIR LIVES

Many firefighters died unnecessarily in the World Trade Center because they disobeyed an order to evacuate the towers, a senior fire chief said yesterday. Based on a report that a...

JURIST IMPRUDENCE: JUDGE BUSTED ON BRIBE-TAKING RAP

A Brooklyn judge charged with bribery is suspected of demanding $260,000 to fix non-existent problems with a $4.9 million car-accident settlement, The Post has learned. Supreme Court Justice Victor Barron,...

'I SAW HATE IN HIS EYES' - TERROR GUNMAN KILLS 2, HURTS 40 IN JERUSALEM

JERUSALEM - A Palestinian gunman with "hate in his eyes" opened fire during a rainy rush hour yesterday in the heart of Jerusalem, killing two women and injuring 40 other...

PEACE AMID THE ASSAULT

JERUSALEM WHEN my niece Avital heard about the terrorist who shot up a bat mitzvah celebration last week in the town of Hadera, she groaned. "Great," she said. "Something else...

POLICE HUNT 'RETIRED' ROBBER

Police have released a photo of a man they say robbed 19 banks on Long Island in a spree that ended a year ago. The sunglasses-wearing crook, who patiently waited...

JUDGE BUSTED FOR JURIST IMPRUDENCE

A Brooklyn judge found himself on the other side of the law yesterday, busted for allegedly taking a fat wad of cash to tip the scales of justice, authorities said....

RE-PUG-NANT: TYSON & LEWIS SLUG IT OUT IN MIDTOWN

Tyson and Lennox Lewis, the two heavyweights who are guaranteed $20 million apiece for their real fight on April 6 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, fought their...

WTC HEROES IGNORED CALL TO BUG OUT: DEPUTY CHIEF: MANY COULD HAVE SAVED THEIR LIVES

Many firefighters died unnecessarily in the World Trade Center because they disobeyed an order to evacuate the towers, a senior fire chief said yesterday. Based on a report that a...

'I SAW HATE IN HIS EYES' :TERRORIST INJURES 42 IN JERUSALEM SHOOTING SPREE

JERUSALEM - A Palestinian gunman opened fire during a rainy rush hour yesterday in the heart of Jerusalem, injuring 42 people before he was shot by two policemen. The 10-minute...

KIDD WON'T FORGET WIN AT THE ALAMO

Nets 92Spurs 86 SAN ANTONIO - Forget .500. Push a playoff berth off a cliff. Respectability be damned. The goals have changed. The Nets are aiming higher. Much, much higher....

KIDD'S FIRST SHOT COMES UP HUGE

SAN ANTONIO - For Jason Kidd, the game was on the line. He had the ball in his mitts and was lined up 14 feet from the basket. The game...

ST. JOHN'S-UCONN GREAT FOR APPETITE

It's time for the main course. In the Big East's East Division, St. John's-Connecticut is the filet mignon. Vegetarians can enjoy side dishes like Boston College-Providence, but the Red Storm...

DEVILS GO BACK TO BASICS

"I'm not a quitter."Larry Robinson SUNRISE, Fla. - This town threatens to look more like sunset to the Devils, the former contenders who are waiting for GM Lou Lamoriello to...

NOW, ISLES ARE DESIRABLE STOP

There was a time when being traded to or signed by the Islanders was the equivalent of being sent to Oz. Can you say Kirk Muller? But this year, things...

HUNTER MT. DOES IT AGAIN

FOR 29 years Hunter Mountain has honored police, firefighters and nurses with a myriad of recreational races, and this year the camaraderie and spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood that have...

MESSIER SAYS SURGERY IS OUT OF THE QUESTION

Mark Messier yesterday disputed recent suggestions from both Ron Low and the Ranger medical staff that surgery might become necessary if traditional treatment fails to cure his ailing left rotator...

JETS LEAVE 4 STARTERS OUT IN COLD

Starting cornerbacks Aaron Glenn and Marcus Coleman are among four starters the Jets made available to the Houston Texans in next month's expansion draft. Tackle Ryan Young and defensive lineman...

NICE DOESN'T WORK

MEL Ott was more than a Hall of Fame slugger; by all accounts, he was a Hall of Fame guy. He was such a nice guy he drove Leo Durocher...

A TOUGH LOSS FOR LOUGHLIN

H.S. HOOPSMolloy 66Loughlin 65 When the final buzzer sounded in Bishop Loughlin's Brooklyn Gym, three Loughlin players fell to the ground in disbelief as the visiting Archbishop Molloy Stanners (13-2,...

THE FREAK SHOW MUST GO ON ; MONEY'S THE ROOT OF TYSON'S EVIL ACTS

IN 1997, Mike Tyson bit off a chunk of Evander Holyfield's ear and spit it at him. In 1999, a team of shrinks from Massachusetts General Hospital said Tyson suffered...

METS EYE CONE RETURN: V, AL & FRANCO LOBBY FOR ENCORE

Bobby Valentine, John Franco and Al Leiter praised the extensive roster renovations GM Steve Phillips has undertaken this offseason. Yet, they see one missing piece to complete the overhaul. David...

NO SAFETY NET FOR GARNES ; SAM LANDS ON GIANTS' EXPANSION DRAFT LIST

Sam Garnes knows the deal. He heard all season how the Giants might not be interested in keeping him around and yesterday those rumors became reality when he learned he...

CHANEY: PRACTICES ARE TOUGH ENOUGH

KNICK NOTES TORONTO - Don Chaney dismissed Latrell Sprewell's comment that the team's practices haven't been hard enough, leading to this sickening stretch of Knick history. Chaney contended the problem...

AMAZIN'S: HOT STOVE MADE US HOT STUFF

Mike Piazza strode through the Chelsea Piers Fieldhouse in dark shades and a black overcoat, the final - and most anticipated - Met to arrive for yesterday's charity event. Teammates...

FACES OF DOOM? DEFIANT SPREWELL: WE AREN'T DEAD YET

TORONTO - From the depths of the Knick rubble, Latrell Sprewell searched for a silver lining yesterday and proclaimed he still sees his reeling club in the playoffs this spring...

MESS RULES OUT SURGERY

Mark Messier yesterday disputed recent suggestions from both Ron Low and the Ranger medical staff that surgery might become necessary if traditional treatment fails to cure his ailing left rotator...

FIRST-PLACE JASPERS PROVE THEIR METTLE

Manhattan 67Marist 62 On the surface, Manhattan's situation hardly seemed dire. The Jaspers were playing for first place in the MAAC last night and had already racked up 13 wins,...

THIS RANGER WIN A WORK OF HEART

Rangers 5Islanders 4 You never really know when a team is simply going to collapse and quit on itself and its coaching staff. But after last night, there is this...

ACHING WRIST SENDS OSGOOD TO SIDELINES

Add Chris Osgood to the line of Islander wounded. After the Isles lost regulars Mark Parrish (ribs) and Roman Hamrlik (knee) - both are day-to-day - Osgood's name was penciled...

NO KIDDING: THINKING DOESN'T WORK

SAN ANTONIO - Jason Kidd doesn't want to think about shooting. Especially when he's shooting. In Dallas on Monday, the Nets' MVP-caliber point guard suffered through the basic equivalent of...

JASPERS NO JESTERS DESPITE RECENT SKID

Not that he wanted to see Manhattan's 11-game winning streak stopped or lose two of the next three after the run, but Noah Coughlin said his teammates' reaction has been...

MACCULLOCH PREFERS THE BIG CHALLENGES

NET NOTES SAN ANTONIO - Todd MacCulloch wants to pick on somebody his own size. The Nets' 7-0, 280-pound center has played his best this season when going against players...