April 3, 2002

BLOOMIE'S, DETAILS WILL ROCK NEW YORK

Bloomies is trying to get hip. The department store wants to lure kids away from the likes of Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle Outfitters and Wet Seal and convince them...

LOUNGE LIZARD GOING TO 23RD

ROAMING party thrower Eytan Sugarman, whose buddies include Derek Jeter and InSync's Lance Bass, has decided there is no place like home - and is establishing his own club. The...

BIG MACK ATTACK - 300 HIGH-PRICED BANKERS GET PINK SLIPS

Credit Suisse First Boston Chief Executive John Mack showed yesterday how he earned the nickname "Mack the Knife," lopping off 300 of its 2,200 investment banking jobs worldwide to bring...

STOCKS HIT HARD ON RESTATEMENTS

A slew of companies are restating earnings in the wake of the Enron and Andersen disasters - and it's killing their stocks. Jeffrey Dachis, CEO of Razorfish, Inc. - a...

PARK JOGGER RUNS WITH MEMOIR

THE Central Parker Jogger - victim of a 1989 "wilding" attack by a youth gang that left her in a coma and near death - is writing a book about...

KANSAS CITY STRIP - LONE STAR SOLD DESPITE SHAREHOLDER BEEF

The steakhouse chain that runs pricey steakhouse Del Frisco's in Rockefeller Center is being sold for about $547 million in the wake of accusations of insider self-dealing. The management faces...

SI TAKES JOBS TO DEL. WITH $1.5M IN GRANTS

Billionaire publisher S.I. Newhouse Jr. is pulling hundreds of back-shop jobs from hard-pressed New York City and moving them to Wilmington, Del. Under a deal unveiled yesterday, he is getting...

A WHOLE LOTTA 'SOUL'

ANGELIQUE KIDJO WHEN Angelique Kidjo took the stage at the Bowery Ballroom Monday, she transformed the modest hall into an exotic island where her fans lost their inhibitions through the...

GIRLS, WEDDINGS & FUNERALS

CRUSH OK time-killer at best.Running time: 115 minutes. Rated R (sex, profanity). At the Empire, the Lincoln Square, the Union Square, others. IT'S sad that the once-mighty British film industry...

'FORTUNE'S' PRICELESS

FORTUNE'S FOOL 1/2At the Music Box Theatre, 239 W. 45th St. (212) 239-6200. WHERE has Ivan Turgenev's "Fortune's Fool" been all our lives?Turgenev, celebrated for his short stories, novels and...

DROWNING IN STYLE

SUBA 109 LUDLOW ST. (212) 982-5714 'WE are French and Spanish fusion," the waiter at Suba proudly proclaims. The "French" part exists only in the kitchen's dreams, but so what?...

THE GREAT WHITE HOPES

CHARDONNAY who? Wine made from the chardonnay grape is still America's favorite white - but there are signs things are changing. Take the by-the-glass list at Judson Grill, which offers...

OPRAH COMPLAINS TO PALS ON 'THE VIEW'; WHITE HOUSE SET ME UP

OPRAH Winfrey fired back at the White House yesterday - saying she felt "extremely used" by the Bush administration for implying that she was too busy to tour Afghanistan schools...

HEY YOU THERE! STOP HIJACKING THIS PLANE

"The Court TV SafetyChallenge: The NewMeaning of Safe" Tonight at 10 on Court TV WHEN I was a kid (circa 1776), one of the networks, (CBS, I think) used to...

STARR REPORT

India.Arie comes up for Oxygen Grammy nominee India.Arie will perform a live concert for Oxygen, taped tomorrow (8 p.m.) at the Exit nightclub here in Manhattan. Arie will be joined...

ENGLISH TROUBLED IN BOSTON

CELEB chef Todd English got plenty of publicity in Boston last week - but not the good kind. Charlestown, Mass. residents decided to sic the health department on his Olive's...

SAVORY SAMOSAS MAKE MURRAY HILL CURRY HILL

CURRY LEAF 99 LEXINGTON AVE., AT 27TH STREET (212) 725-5558 ANYONE with a nose will be seduced by Kalustyan's array of Middle Eastern and Indian products. Now that the owners...

COSTAS BOBBING UP MORE AT HBO

HBO will announce today that sportscaster Bob Costas is expanding his role at the network - fueling speculation that Costas' days as the signature figure of NBC Sports are over....

GRADUATE SEES GREEN: KA-CHING, KA-CHING, MRS. ROBINSON. THE SHUBERTS LOVE YOU MORE THAN YOU WILL KNOW (WO WO WO). YOUR SALES ARE STRONG, MRS. ROBINSON, AND THE PLYMOUTH IS THE PLACE WHERE YOU WILL STAY (HEY HEY HEY. HEY HEY HEY).

'THE Graduate" is the closest thing to a critic-proof show as you are likely to find this season. Advance ticket sales for this stage adaptation of Mike Nichols' iconic 1967...

MINUTE MADE: RESTAURANTS RACE AGAINST CLOCK TO PUT FRESH-BAKED SWEETS ON YOUR TABLE

REMEMBER those carefree days when Mom would treat you to warm cookies just out of the oven? Restaurants do - and diners are happily enjoying a new wave of made-to-order...

MENTALLY CHALLENGED TEEN GETS 15 YRS. IN SLAY

A teen was hit with 15 years behind bars yesterday for stabbing a 12-year- old boy to death outside Canarsie HS. Judge Anne Feldman - who at trial in Brooklyn...

BYSTANDER SHOT OUTSIDE GROCERY

An innocent bystander was shot in the leg after a heated dispute erupted in gunfire on a Harlem street last night, cops and witnesses said. The 29-year-old woman, who was...

AUXILIARY COP BUSTED IN ATTACK

An enraged 35-year-old auxiliary cop has been arrested for smashing down the front door of his elderly neighbor, beating him up and threatening to kill him, police said Vidal Palacious-Mira,...

'NET SEX SITES AROUSING LESS INTEREST FOR SURFERS

As far as sex on the Internet is concerned, the thrill is gone. Researchers say surfing for sex sites is losing its appeal and is being replaced by more serious...

DELAYS IN SPECIAL ED STIR FUROR

Education officials have denied appropriate services to 300 severely handicapped students who've waited up to a year or more for placement in privately run programs - in violation of state...

BRAVE NYERS' ACT OF DEFIANCE - MOVING TO ISRAEL IN THE FACE OF TERROR

HOWARD GREEN learned a powerful lesson from the Palestinian suicide bomber who nearly ended his life. Now he knows how to fight terrorism. He's moving to Israel. Green, who lives...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A berserk landlord allegedly put a knife to a female tenant's throat and forced her to drink a nauseating "motor-oil cocktail." James King Jr., 26, of upstate Walker Valley, became...

THE 'PEACE' PATH TO NIGHTMARE

HOW did nine years of the Olso "peace process" lead to today's nightmare? Oslo was supposed to build prosperity for the Palestinians and peace for Israel. Yet peace is now...

GOOD NEWS FOR NEWS DEALERS

Newsstand owners yesterday won the right to sell items worth up to $5, in one of the first bills signed by Mayor Bloomberg. "I'm not sure how this is going...

OSAMA BIG'S NEXT PLOT FOUND

WASHINGTON - U.S. agents whisked bigwig al Qaeda prisoner Abu Zubaydah to a secret location yesterday to grill him after finding documents revealing he was planning a new wave of...

CUOMO SHOWING 'SOLIDARITY'

Gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Cuomo is scheduled to fly to Israel tonight - less than a month after his Democratic rival Carl McCall visited the country. "Andrew is going at this...

MASS HONORS CHIEF WHO 'LIVED FOR FDNY'

Remembering him as a man who "loved to help others," hundreds of friends, family and New York's Bravest packed a Staten Island church yesterday to bid a tearful farewell to...

PUMPED-UP GAS PRICES $OAKING CITY'S DRIVERS

Driving can be dangerous to your wallet. The price of gasoline has jumped almost 15 percent in the city in the past month, and it's expected to keep rising as...

THUGS WERE ARAB, SAYS L.I. VICTIM IN GERMANY

A Long Island rabbinical student beaten in Germany by a gang of anti-Semitic thugs says he believes his attackers were Arabs venting their rage over the Mideast crisis. Zalman Teldon,...

AXED SEC'Y WRONGED - BUT WRONG, COURT SAYS

An appeals court yesterday threw out a woman's discrimination suit against a doctor at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital after finding she wasn't fired because she was pregnant - but because her boss's...

BROOKLYN POL 'LENT' HIMSELF 15G: PROBERS

Already battling corruption charges, Brooklyn City Councilman Angel Rodriguez will be facing a city probe of his campaign finances - which included a $15,000 loan to himself, The Post has...

THIS FACE WILL GIVE JFK TERRORISTS PAWS

The art of the sniff is no joke to man's best friend at JFK Airport, where the newest canine on patrol is working hard to keep the skies safe. The...

GOV KEEPS IT ALL IN THE FAMILY

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki has made his campaign a family affair, hiring his daughter for a high-profile role. Emily Pataki, 23, will chair the campaign's "People for Pataki" grass-roots effort,...

INJUSTICE, THY NAME IS VINEGRAD

TOMMY BRUDER said it as bluntly as he could: Brooklyn U.S. Attorney "Alan Vinegrad is not used to dealing with real men." After five years of seeing Chuck Schwarz, Tommy...

PICKPOCKETS MAKE THEIR MARK ON L.I.

Suffolk County cops are hunting for a man and a woman who stole a woman's wallet and charged $10,000 worth of merchandise on her credit cards. The light-fingered thieves snatched...

CAB-FARE DISPUTE TURNS DEADLY

A violent dispute over a taxi fare ended with the death of a Brooklyn woman, but so far, there's no evidence that the brawl killed Clarabel Velez. Velez fell to...

FDNY HOT FOR MINORITIES

Fire Department officials are gearing up for a multimillion-dollar media blitz this spring to recruit more minorities and women, officials said yesterday. "The image of firefighters and the contributions they...

YES NETWORK BOASTS A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE

For diehard Yankee fans desperate to spend summer watching the Bombers, here's a last-ditch solution - go to prison. While 2.9 million homes in the New York area are presently...

CITY TO KEEP U.N. TOWERS

Reversing course from the Giuliani administration, Mayor Bloomberg has decided not to sell three glittering office towers near the United Nations. Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff said yesterday the city concluded,...

SCHOOLS BIG A 'LION' THIEF: FEDS

Four School Construction Authority supervisors were busted by the feds yesterday - one for allegedly stealing lion statues worth $60,000 from a Brooklyn school, and three others for squeezing contractors...

FIRST 2 SKAKEL JURORS SELECTED

NORWALK, Conn. - A businesswoman and an investment broker yesterday were the first jurors selected to decide whether Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel is guilty of the decades-old slaying of young...

FEDS PROBING JEW-MUSLIM BIZ FEUD IN B'KLYN

The feds have launched a civil-rights probe into allegations that a group of Muslim shop owners in Brooklyn were run out of business by Jewish competitors using Mafia-style tactics, sources...

SODA POP, SODA POOP - 'VANILLA' COKE FAILS TASTE TEST

It's not a secret anymore. A bottle of Coca-Cola's closely guarded Vanilla Coke found its way into The Post's hands - and stomachs - yesterday. And, according to our panel...

CUNY EYES SUMMER SCHOOL ON GOVERNORS ISLAND

City University wants to start converting Governors Island from a Coast Guard station to a campus as early as this summer, officials said yesterday. CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein said he'd...

COP-SLAY SUSPECT'S STILL ON THE LOOSE

Detectives believe they were just steps behind the suspected killer of off-duty narcotics cop Jamie Betancourt yesterday as they raided hotel rooms in Jersey City and Bayonne - without finding...

MAN DIES IN HARLEM BUILDING COLLAPSE

A construction worker died in an avalanche of rubble yesterday when an upper floor of a Harlem building collapsed, dropping him eight stories, cops said. The victim, a 53-year-old man...

JETER'S GRAND 'SLAM' - HAMMERS TV FOES WHO CAUSED CABLE BLACKOUT

Derek Jeter swung hard yesterday for Yankee fans caught in a cable-TV blackout, saying that if they couldn't watch the Bombers, it's hardly worth playing. "You don't want the fans...

LOUIMA COP BRUDER REJECTS DA'S DEAL

As ex-cop Charles Schwarz prepares to fight new charges that he committed perjury in connection with the Abner Louima police brutality case, his former co-defendant Thomas Bruder says he won't...

HIT-AND-RUN DRIVER SOUGHT

Police are hunting for the hit-and-run motorist who fatally struck a 71-year-old pedestrian in Brooklyn's Sunset Park. Lee Jun Chow was struck and killed by a motorist while crossing at...

STATE: LOTTERY FIRM SPENT A LOTTO ON POLS

ALBANY - A lottery company and its lobbyist are under investigation for allegedly showering state leaders with a juicy jackpot of pricey perks in violation of state law, The Post...

CARNIVAL KIDS INJURED

An inflatable kiddie trampoline, shaped like and named after the Titanic, collapsed at a Queens carnival last night, sending 10 children to the hospital with minor injuries. The ship-shaped trampoline...

RUKEYSER: 'I'M IRREPLACEABLE'

NORWALK, Conn. - Noted celebrity Wall Street analyst Louis Rukeyser provided a little comic relief yesterday during jury selection in the Michael Skakel murder trial. Rukeyser, who was recently ousted...

AMMON WIDOW BACK ON L.I. AFTER DEATH IN THE FAMILY

Generosa Ammon, the widow of murdered millionaire Ted Ammon, has returned from England to be with her new husband, Danny Pelosi, whose hero police-officer brother died of a heart attack....

MALTED MOM WAS WANTED ON 16-YEAR-OLD WARRANT

When cops busted 34-year-old Yolesa Collock for leaving her infant daughter alone while she went off to drink a beer on a Queens street, they discovered she was also wanted...

SPECIAL-ED KIDS IN LURCH: PARENTS: BOARD DENYING PROPER SERVICES

Education officials have denied appropriate services to 300 severely handicapped students who've waited up to a year or more for placement in privately run programs - in violation of state...

GENEROSA RETURNS TO U.S. AFTER DEATH IN THE FAMILY

Generosa Ammon, the widow of murdered millionaire Ted Ammon, has returned from England to be with new husband Danny Pelosi, whose hero-police-officer brother died of a heart attack. She was...

MIDEAST CRISIS HELPS FUEL NEW GA$ PAINS

Driving can be dangerous to your wallet. The price of gasoline has jumped almost 15 percent in the city in the past month, and it's expected to keep rising as...

REPORT: VAN GUNDY HEADED TO WNBA'S MYSTICS

Jeff Van Gundy to coach the women? Although the Knicks say they haven't been approached by the WNBA's Washington Mystics, a shocking report out of Orlando states that Van Gundy...

CAN'T BLOW 'EM ALL: KNICKS REMAIN 'ALIVE' WITH WIN

Knicks 91 Hornets 85 When it's time to go, Mark Jackson insists he'll be the first to know. "A lot of guys get caught up in ego and they fool...

THIS ONE AVENGED NIGHTMARE

KNICK NOTES At first, Don Chaney planned on showing the Knicks the horrid tapes of their embarrassing 111-68 loss to the Hornets back on Jan. 21, the worst Garden loss...

EVEN KNICK WINS ARE LOST IN SORRY SEASON OF DEFEAT

AMID the hoopla over the start of the 2002 baseball season, the Knicks have led a quiet existence, except for the booing from those who have shown up at the...

SOME FIRST IMPRESSIONS AREN'T GREAT

BALTIMORE - Opening Day results are as reliable in judging a team as reports from one percent of the precincts are in forecasting an election. It is just that 0-1...

ZINTER REACHES NEXT STOP ON A LONG, STRANGE TRIP

KISSIMMEE - The year before Alan Zinter would become the Mets' No. 1 draft pick, he was playing in the Cape Cod League. One night the catcher went to the...

WELLS MELLOW THE SECOND TIME AROUND

BALTIMORE - Joe Torre didn't know whose voice was blaring out of a stereo in the Legends Field workout room. He did understand it wasn't Frank Sinatra. David Wells doesn't...

DERIENZO QUITS POST AT ATHLETIC COMMISSION

The New York State Athletic Commission is once again without a leader. Yesterday, the six-month tenure of Charles DeRienzo as the Commission's Executive Director ended when DeRienzo left to become...

JOHANNESBURG STILL MYSTERY

Of all the tough questions horseplayers must ask before they bet this year's Kentucky Derby, the toughest may be: What to make of Johannesburg? Can the undefeated 2-year-old champion, who's...

INCENTIVE'S NOT A PROBLEM

BUFFALO - These two teams don't like each other one bit, and judging from the reception he got last month in his first return to Buffalo, this city doesn't like...

SLATS SAYS HE WON'T STEP DOWN

Glen Sather has pretty much heard it all, but he hadn't heard this one. "I'm stepping down as GM? I'm just going to be president of the team? I'm hiring...

WATERSHED LAND MAY OPEN

ALL New York City watershed lands were closed to public access following Sept. 11, and as of today have not reopened. However, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection...

BAD BREAK: GOMEZ OUT 4-6 WEEKS

RALEIGH - It is nothing short of crippling to the Devils. Scott Gomez, the young Moses of their resurgence under Kevin Constantine as their leading point-getter since his arrival, will...

FOR OPENERS, WEATHERS SETS UP NICELY

MET NOTES David Weathers liked being announced in the seventh inning on Opening Day, but he was happier he got some notice before the game. The 32-year-old righty, who was...

METS' NEW BATS MUST BUST OUT

When four potential All-Stars hit a combined 2-for-17 on Opening Day, the law of averages says the best is yet to come. Call it Alomar's Axiom, or Mo's Law. Although...

HAVING FOUR-SIGHT IS KEY TO WINNING A TITLE

ATLANTA - It's time for college coaches to face up to their own folly. They continue the dogged pursuit of the elite high school players whose intention is to use...

EX-YANKS SAFE AT HOME

BALTIMORE - Every year since 1981 there was an Opening Day for Paul O'Neill, in small towns such as Billings and Cedar Rapids all the way to New York. Scott...

SCOTT: MO FLAP NO BIG DEAL

BALTIMORE - Scott Brosius saw the headline and thought it was odd that Mariano Rivera seemingly blamed him for the Yankees losing Game 7 to the Diamondbacks last November because...

NETS DREAM OF MATCHING THE MIGHTY

Let the envy drip, let the dreaming begin. The Nets tonight get to see up close exactly what they want to be when they grow up. And they're not alone...

SCOTT: MY LAKERS SUPERIOR

With Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and two titles already, the Lakers are a dynasty-in-waiting. But they are not better than the Lakers' dynasty teams from the 1980's, Byron Scott said...

ROGER SAYS SORE HAND'S NO PROBLEM

YANKEE NOTES BALTIMORE - The outside of Roger Clemens' right hand was swollen yesterday morning. But X-rays found no broken bones or chips. Hence, Clemens expects to make a start...

COOKE ON A ROAD LESS TRAVELED ; H.S. STAR WEIGHS OPTIONS

Lenny Cooke is like a lot of the high-school players in the McDonald's All-American Game. He's big, talented and also thinking about jumping right into the NBA. But unlike the...

HEAD-COACH DREAMS: JACKSON'SAIMING FORA TOP JOB(EVENTUALLY)

Think Mark Jackson is destined to occupy an assistant-coach's chair the moment after he retires? Think again. Jackson plans on sitting directly on the hot seat. "I would like to...

STUNG KNICKS OUT TO MAKE A STATEMENT

Of all the horrible, disconcerting losses the Knicks have stockpiled this season, none was quite as historically dreadful as the stinker they came up with on Jan. 21. It was...

CHANEY'S GETTING SET TO TINKER

KNICK NOTES Once they are officially eliminated, the Knicks might look slightly different than they have for most of this sorry season. Not that anyone has any illusions lately that...