February 7, 2002

BANK'S $29 TRILLION DERIVATIVES BET IS VERY RISKY

IS J.P. Morgan Chase too big to bail? Last week I posed the more common question: Was the bank too big to fail, or allowed to fail by the government....

WHITE SHOE DOO-DOO : MISSTEPS PUT J.P. MORGAN BOSS' JOB ON LINE

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. CEO William Harrison is in the hot seat as shareholders - disappointed with the company's 19 percent stock drop so far this year - start...

'KASPER' THE GHOST? ANNE KLEIN OWNER FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY

In his first big move as Chairman and CEO of ASL Kasper, John Idol is taking the company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company reported it has total assets of...

ASKJADE TESTING IF IPOS WILL BE PORN AGAIN

he best way to buy shares being issued in the new porn site AskJade.com is probably in a plain brown wrapper. That way, no one will see how gullible you...

SHOPPERS SLAM DOOR IN FACE DO NOT ENTER:

Bon voyage, Voyage? The tony London retailer, pronounced voy-aahge, went into liquidation earlier this month with more than $4.5 million in debt. And though owners Tiziano and Louise Mazzilli didn't...

OPRAH WILL LAY OFF 5% AT OXYGEN

Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen Media is gasping for air. The cable channel and Internet provider targeted at women slashed 5 percent of its staff yesterday, just four months after lopping its...

DEVELOPER WANTS WTC STREETS BACK

Larry Silverstein wants to put the street grid back into Downtown. The developer says he'd like to see an end to the 16-acre super block that was the foundation of...

DEEPAK PAYING $9M FOR 2 PADS W/GREAT CPW VUS

SPIRITUAL sage to the stars Deepak Chopra is getting closer to the heavens. As evidence, the self-improvement mogul is purchasing two apartments on high floors in two different buildings, both...

MANILOW A SECOND-SET WONDER AT RADIO CITY

BARRY MANILOWRadio City Music Hall, 50th Street and Sixth Avenue. Concerts nightly at 8. Through Saturday. IT was late in the Barry Manilow concert at Radio City Music Hall Tuesday,...

STARR REPORT

Where there's a Will . . . now at BET Former Ch. 9 news director Will Wright has landed at Viacom-owned Black Entertainment Television. Wright, who had been at Ch....

BACK TO 'SURVIVOR' ISLAND

TWO New Yorkers are among the 16 castaways chosen for "Survivor 4." Limo-driver Robert DeCanio, 38, who lives in Queens, and Harlem-born schoolteacher Sean Rector will compete for a $1...

CABLE PLAYING GAMES

CABLEVISION customers may have to consider watching some of the Winter Olympics at a friend's house - in a different cable area. Residents in about 524,000 homes in the Bronx...

THEIR PLACE OR YOURS ; STAY IN AND COZY UP TO YOUR SWEETIE

FEW things are sexier than a candle-lit night at home - with no TV, chores or phone calls.To create a romantic do-it-yourself Valentine's Day next Thursday, "a few great touches...

OUT & ABOUT - AND A LITTLE WILD

GOT to get out on V-Day? Check out these quirky treats.ROMP THE NIGHT AWAYCafe Deville (103 Third Ave. at 13th Street) turns into a naughty nightclub at 11 p.m., filling...

SECRETS OF THE SLAVE TRADE THEY WOULDN'T TEACH YOU AT SCHOOL

"The Middle Passage" Saturday at 10:05 on HBO NOT much about "The Middle Passage," the HBO movie debuting Saturday night, will be familiar to you. In fact, I don't know...

DESTINATION: NEW YORK - AMERICAN DESIGNERS BRING CLASSIC STYLE - AND RENEWED HOPE - TO OUR CITY THIS FASHION WEEK

This Fashion Week, New York designers are thinking globally and acting locally. Oscar de la Renta's Fall 2002 line will pay a colorful homage to the great street markets of...

SEAT OF THEIR RANTS: IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD CROWD VYING FOR SPOTS AT FASHION WEEK

Seating a fashion show has been compared to seating a 600-guest wedding - except that instead of two families jockeying for position, there are 10 or more. Vying for the...

ANDY GRABS UNION NOD

ALBANY - Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Cuomo won a round in the fight for labor support yesterday, picking up the endorsement of the Communications Workers of America. The CWA represents...

HILLARY'S HILARIOUS ; MOCKS HERSELF FOR LAUGHS AT D.C. DINNER

WHO knew that Hillary Clinton could - as she puts it - "do funny"? The new Funny Girl had everyone in stitches at a D.C. political dinner, lamenting the loss...

BILL COZIES UP TO SLOBBO IN SECRET TAPES

In a major embarrassment for Bill Clinton, newly released tapes reveal the former president in a friendly chat with Slobodan Milosevic, treating the Butcher of Belgrade like a good ol'...

2 CLOWNS PLAYING PATRIOT GAMES

I HAVE this naughty fantasy. Take Norman Mailer, the America-hating writer who never saw a killer he didn't want to set free, and lock him in a room with that...

A TRAGIC REMINDER : WIFE STUNNED BY PIX OF 9/11 VICTIM'S CAR

Yvette Pabon was "stunned" when she opened The Post yesterday and saw her dead husband's intact car amid the horrific rubble of the World Trade Center. The sight of the...

AMMON WIDOW'S HUBBY BACK ON L.I. OVER DWI RAP

Danny Pelosi, the bad-boy new husband of millionaire widow Generosa Ammon, appeared in court on Long Island yesterday for a hearing in one of two drunken-driving cases. Dressed in a...

KIDS THANK E. HARLEM'S BRAVEST

Around 250 students from the Holy Rosary School, wearing red plastic fire hats, marched to Battalion 12 headquarters in East Harlem yesterday morning to show support for their local heroes....

U.S. ADMITS GOOF, PAYS VICTIMS OF AFGHAN RAID

WASHINGTON - U.S. forces in Afghanistan released 27 people captured in a botched commando raid yesterday - and the CIA is paying cash to families of those killed in the...

FERGIE'S DOLL A 'SYMBOL OF HOPE'

The red-haired rag doll recovered from the rubble of the World Trade Center should serve as "a symbol of hope," said Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, to whose children's...

BOOZED-UP TEENS IN DANGEROUS LIAISONS

So much for sex ed! At least 23 percent of sexually active teens and young adults in the United States have reckless, unprotected sex when they're under the influence of...

BAIL IS DENIED ; FOR TALI-YANK ; HAS 'EVERY INCENTIVE TO FLEE,' JUDGE SAYS

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A federal judge yesterday denied bail for American Taliban John Walker Lindh, saying he has "every incentive to flee," while prosecutors released snippets of e-mails in which...

QNS. SCHOOL STILL BAFFLED BY RASH OF ITCHY STUDENTS

Kids suffering from a mysterious rash continued to scratch their faces yesterday as mystified school officials scratched their heads trying to come up with the cause. The mystery began Tuesday,...

SELFLESS 'ROBBER' REJECTS A PLEA

The Manhattan man who fancies himself a modern-day, multimillion-dollar Robin Hood - and who allegedly admitted embezzling from his rich bosses so he could give to the poor - pleaded...

TEEN SUICIDE PILOT: SUPER BOWL WAS NEXT

The teen terrorist wannabe who slammed a single-engine plane into a Florida office building last month claims he was acting on al Qaeda's behalf - and warned that Osama bin...

OLGA HAD 4G IN FUNNY MONEY: COPS

Legendary Olympic gymnast Olga Korbut, who was busted on a shoplifting rap last week, is also being investigated for thousands in counterfeit cash seized at her Atlanta home, officials said...

PREZ HAILS $3B BOOST TO TIGHTEN BORDERS

President Bush yesterday told a crowd of cheering cops and firefighters he's increasing the budget for homeland defense by $3.5 billion because "the enemy still wants to get us." But...

PLEA NETS KILLER DRIVER 6 MONTHS

A 20-year-old man who blew past a Brooklyn stop light and plowed his car into a group of pedestrians - killing two sisters and injuring their mother and another teen...

BIZMEN SHOOT FOR 'NET GAINS

Too many black families have yet to hit the information superhighway, a new study reveals - but top technology experts and black entrepreneurs are hoping to change that. Today, they...

RAPE RAP FOR HS GUARD IN AFFAIR WITH STUDENT

A Brooklyn school-safety officer at Boys and Girls HS was charged with rape and sodomy for conducting a torrid three-month affair with a 15-year-old girl student, police said yesterday. Jayson...

DRAFT LAW FAILS TO REGISTER IN APPLE

The Dodgers are back - the draft dodgers, that is. More than half the city's young men fail to register for the draft - as required by law - when...

8 FROM ENRON ON HOUSE HOT SEAT TODAY

Eight current and former Enron honchos will face congressional investigators today - with half determined to give questioners the silent treatment. Chief among those expected to talk is former CEO...

MAN GUILTY IN 1981 MUG-SLAY OF DOCTOR

A dogged homicide cop finally saw justice after a 20-year wait last night - when a Manhattan jury convicted the murderer of a young doctor. "I feel terrific! I'm very...

TRADER EYED IN BANK'S $750M HIT

The FBI is probing a Baltimore financial trader who may have scammed as much as $750 million from a major international bank, officials said yesterday. Ireland's largest bank, Allied Irish,...

DUBYA'S PLEDGE: 'WHEN I SAID $20 BILLION, I MEANT $20 BILLION'

President Bush came to New York yesterday and dramatically renewed his $20 billion pledge to the city, saying: "I'm here to tell you the federal help is coming." Bush's vow...

MOB BOSS CONVICTED IN SHAKEDOWN

Federal prosecutors scored a narrow victory yesterday when a jury convicted reputed Colombo underboss John "Jackie" DeRoss of extortion - but acquitted him on numerous racketeering charges. A mob turncoat...

LAY PASSES THE BUCK ; SAYS HE WAS 'BETRAYED' BY HIS CFO

Enron's ex-chairman Kenneth Lay told investigators he felt "betrayed" by Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, the mastermind behind the web of secret partnerships used to hide the energy-trading giant's massive...

HEROES' WIDOWS IN PLEA TO PATAKI

Widows of firefighters and police officers yesterday made an impassioned appeal to Gov. Pataki not to kill a bill broadening their rights to sue the city. The bill, which dies...

HS SHOOTER CHANGES STORY: COPS

The teen who opened fire at Martin Luther King HS on Martin Luther King's birthday, wounding two students, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder yesterday as authorities released his waffling...

BUSH RAKE$ IT IN FOR PATAKI ; ADDS $2M TO GOV'S WAR CHEST

President Bush yesterday helped haul in $2 million in campaign cash for Gov. Pataki, from a private big-bucks affair at Mayor Bloomberg's posh townhouse, and a lower-rent fund-raiser in Midtown....

FDNY'S 'BODY HUNT' FORCE CUT BY HALF

The FDNY has ordered a 50 percent reduction in the number of firefighters searching the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island for the remains of those who perished in the...

BLOOMY MUFFLES THE VIP SIRENS

The Big Apple will be a little bit quieter under Mayor Bloomberg. The mayor's chief of staff warned city employees in a memo this week not to use the lights...

NEW OLYMPIC FLAG FLAP UNFURLS ; PA WANTED TO PUNISH BANNER COP FOR RIPPING IOC

The uproar over the Ground Zero flag at the Olympics spawned more flip-flops than a champion snowboarder yesterday. First, the International Olympic Committee, facing public outrage, lifted its ban on...

AL QAEDA BIGS NAILED BY MISSILE

Several senior al Qaeda leaders who had gathered for a meeting in mountainous eastern Afghanistan were killed by a missile from a CIA drone plane, U.S. government sources said yesterday....

HE'S THE KIDNAPPER ; PAKISTAN COPS ON TRAIL OF THIS MAN IN PEARL CASE

This is the face of evil behind the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, authorities say. Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British-born Muslim militant also known as Sheikh...

PALESTINIAN GUNMEN KILL 4 ISRAELIS ON EVE OF SHARON'S TRIP TO U.S.

Four Israelis were killed in the West Bank yesterday, one day before Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's U.S. trip aimed at convincing President Bush to sever ties with Palestinian leader...

STUDIO IN 'DAMAGE' CONTROL ON FUND TIE-IN

Warner Bros. distanced itself from former Mayor Giuliani's Twin Towers Fund yesterday after the company was accused of using the charity to promote its new Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. In a...

COPS: MAN DWI WITH KIDS IN CAR

An uncle baby-sitting his young niece and nephew on Long Island took them out for ice cream - and, while bringing them home, was arrested for drunken driving, Suffolk police...

FAILING GROUND ZERO EATERY SERVES UP MEMORIES

Nino's Restaurant - which has served thousands of free meals to ground zero workers since Sept. 11 - is closing next week, and wants to preserve the thousands of artifacts...

QUICK-THINKING DRIVER THWARTS SUICIDE BOMBER

Four Israelis were killed in the West Bank yesterday - on the eve of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's U.S. trip aimed at convincing President Bush to sever ties with...

BARE PAIR ARE FREE TO STREAK AGAIN

Two college coeds have vowed to take it all off again after a judge in Maine ruled it's perfectly legal for women to jog naked in the Pine Tree State....

VICTORIA'S SPLIT A 'DON' DEAL

Mob daughter Victoria Gotti yesterday officially ended her 18-year marriage to jailed hubby Carmine Agnello - and sources say she rushed the wrap-up partly for her "Dapper Don" dad, who's...

GOLD-MEDAL DAY FOR WTC FLAG

U.S. athletes claimed their first Olympic victory yesterday - getting the Winter Games' organizers to retreat from their "insulting" ban on the torn and tattered flag recovered from the World...

TORCH TRUCKER BURNING MAD

One of the advertising teams behind the Olympic Torch Relay works its employees illegally long hours, according to a truck driver who claims he was fired for complaining, and then...

AFGHAN BAN AT OLYMPICS

America's Ground Zero flag wasn't the only banner snubbed by the International Olympic Committee - it also put the kibosh on including Afghanistan in the opening ceremony. The nation hasn't...

'DAMAGE' CONTROL AT WARNER BROS.

Entertainment giant Warner Bros. distanced itself from former Mayor Giuliani's Twin Towers Fund yesterday after the company was accused of using the charity to promote its new Arnold Schwarzenegger movie....

HIZZONER RIDING HIGH IN NEW POLL

A healthy 65 percent of voters approve of the job Mayor Bloomberg is doing after his first month in office, according to a poll released yesterday. Only 6 percent of...

NO DISORDER AT OUR BORDER: PREZ HAILS $3B BOOST FOR QUICK RESPONSE

President Bush yesterday told a crowd of cheering cops and firefighters that he's increasing the budget for homeland defense by $3.5 billion because "the enemy still wants to get us."...

DEVILS LOOK TO REBOUND VS. ATLANTA

They're on the outside, looking in. So tonight when the Devils host the worst team in the conference, the Thrashers, they will try to remedy that, one point behind Montreal...

AIR BYRNES: FUN'S THE NAME OF THE GAME FOR GREENWICH SNOWBOARDER

PARK CITY, Utah - Here's the thing that snowboarders know about their sport. You've got to see it to believe it. "Every time I've tried to describe it to someone,...

9-11 BAILED OUT IOC SCOUNDRELS

TO the shameful list of those individuals and organizations who have profited off the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, feel free to add the most objectionable one of all: the...

LEZCANO WINS 5

Red-hot apprentice jockey Lorenzo Lezcano, who's been burning up the track all winter at the Big A, came within a few strides of riding into the record books yesterday, booting...

KNICKS FALL PREY TO CASUAL VEX ; ALLAN: TEAM LACKS PRIDE, INTENSITY

It is not only the Knicks' record that stinks, but it is also their effort. Allan Houston thinks the Knicks aren't trying their hardest, lack pride and have a casual...

AILING HOU ON KNEE-D TO KNOW BASIS

KNICK NOTES While Allan Houston did plenty of talking yesterday, he didn't do any practicing. Houston sat out with a sore left knee. He expects to be able to play...

MUSICAL GOALIES HAS ISLES IN TUNE

The Islanders don't have a No.1 goalie. Just ask anyone on the team and they'll tell you. Coach Peter Laviolette will tell you the same thing, using the mentality that...

AGE, NOT EFFORT, THE PROBLEM FOR THIS GRAY-HAIRED GANG

THE Knicks, Allan Houston maintained, were too "casual" in letting an 18-point, third-quarter lead against the Clippers turn into a 10-point deficit that resulted in a two-point loss. Houston says...

MILLER TIME OVER IN N.J.

Mike Miller, the Devils' radio play-by-play man since 1993, will not return to the team following the NHL's Olympic break in order to become the GM of the Toledo Storm...

CANARSIE'S WHITE IS JUST OUTTA SIGHT

Canarsie 65Banneker 54 After Robert White poured in a team-high 24 points in Canarsie's win at Banneker, a Division III head coach was on the phone with an Ivy League...

JETS LOSING O-LINE AIDE TO TAMPA RAN SOLID UNIT

The Jets' most dependable anchor - their rock-solid offensive line - is in jeopardy of becoming weakened considerably. Jet GM Terry Bradway told The Post yesterday that offensive-line coach Bill...

RAVENS' ALLAN HAS RAY OF HOPE

It looks like the waiting is about to be over for Allan Ray. The St. Raymond's senior has missed the entire season with a broken foot that has taken longer...

JASON HAS MAGIC TOUCH, JOHNSON SAYS

NET NOTES Growing up in Oakland, Jason Kidd idolized Magic Johnson. He watched him in person and tried to copy his style, his passing. Well, he must have watched real...

DALLAS DUNKS PAYBACK PLAN ; MAVERICKS SNAP NETS' WIN STREAK IN SWEEP

Mavs 112Nets 100 This payback saw a switch for the Nets last night. All season, the Nets have avenged earlier defeats. The Pistons, Raptors, Bucks, Wizards, Magic, Kings. Last night...

FAIRFIELD TAKEN BY STORM : NOW JOHNNIES FACE REAL TESTS

St. John's 95Fairfield 56 There was very little St. John's could learn, or prove, in last night's out-of-conference mismatch with Fairfield. Red Storm coach Mike Jarvis just wanted his team...

RANGERS KNOW IT'S TIME TO 'FLY'

Theo Fleury knows about urgency. So when the Rangers' winger was asked if he felt the four games the team plays this week before the NHL breaks for the Olympics...

DON'T STOP US NOW! BREAK COMES AT BAD TIME FOR ROCKIN', ROLLIN' NETS

For so many teams, this All-Star weekend break looks like an oasis in the rigors of the NBA schedule. An entire weekend and a day off. Rest, recuperate, do whatever...

MAVS' NASH IS CANADA'S TOP HOOPS EXPORT

NET NOTES For one night at least, Todd MacCulloch was not the most famous Canadian in the Meadowlands. That honor went to Dallas' Steve Nash. "He's a very interesting guy....

SJU: STAG-NATION COULD BE PROBLEM

It only takes a cursory glance at St. John's schedule for last night's game against Fairfield to jump off the page. Sandwiched neatly - and insidiously - in the middle...