April 5, 2002

$1.2M BOOK DEAL FOR NASCAR BIG

VIACOM'S Simon & Schuster imprint is revvng the engines of NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon with a $1.2 million advance for his life story. Gordon's fourth Winston Cup championship, which led...

AN X-RATED MOVE ; GUCCIONE FORCED TO SELL $40M HOME

He may not be sell enough Penthouses, but X-rated magazine titan Bob Guccione is selling his lavish mansion to help cover losses at his troubled media company. The 70-year-old founder...

NO TERROR INS. FOR U.S.

Several of the world's biggest insurers yesterday unveiled the first terrorist insurance since Sept. 11 - but they won't sell it in the U.S. because the risks are too high....

BITTER MEDICINE ; BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB PLUMMETS AFTER WARNING

Bristol-Myers Squibb lost a whopping $10.75 billion of market value yesterday as investors bailed out of the stock after management said sales and profits would be far lower than expected...

TWA FLIGHT 800 HANGAR IS SOLD

The building where TWA Flight 800 was painstakingly reconstructed on Long Island has been sold to a New Jersey food company. Milvia Foods of Paterson, N.J., paid $5 million for...

TOUCHE & GO AT ANDERSEN: TAX BIZ GOES TO RIVAL AS LAYOFFS LOOM

Cash-strapped Arthur Andersen inked a deal handing over the bulk of its U.S. tax practice to rival Deloitte & Touche and will let thousands of pink slips fly next week....

NEW AD CAMPAIGN UNLEASHES BARKING BILLBOARDS HERE

It's tough saying "no" to a dog. With that in mind, the power of the pooch is being tapped by corporate America to win the hearts and pocketbooks of consumers....

ENRON SUIT TARGETS JPM CHASE, OTHERS

Several big Wall Street banks will be named defendants in a class action lawsuit as lawyers seek deeper pockets for the billions lost in the Enron collapse. Investment banks Merrill...

CLICHÉD 'HIGH CRIMES' MORE LIKE A MISDEMEANOR

HIGH CRIMES Charge the producers.Running time: 115 minutes. Rated PG-13 (moderate violence, profanity). At the Empire, the Ziegfeld, the Union Square, others. 'HIGH Crimes," a feeble excuse to reunite Ashley...

WHERE THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE SHOW

LUCKY BREAK The Half Monty.Running time: 109 minutes.Rated PG-13. At the Kips Bay,the Lincoln Square, the UnionSquare. FIVE years after the hugely successful "The Full Monty," director Peter Cattaneo finally...

IT JUST SEEMS THAT LONG

30 YEARS TO LIFE It's not a prison sentence.Running time: 110 minutes. Rated R (language, sex). At the AMC 42nd Street, the Magic Johnson Theater and the Bay Plaza, The...

A TIRED BAG OF GAGS

NATIONALLAMPOON'SVAN WILDER Zero stars You have been warned.Running time: 95 minutes. Rated R (sex, profanity). At the Empire, the Cinema 1, the Kips Bay, others. UNWARY audiences who insist upon...

'BIG' TROUBLED TALE

BIG TROUBLE 1/2 Earthbound ensemble comedy. Running time: 84 minutes. Rated PG-13 (violence, double-entendres). At the Empire, the Lincoln Square, the Loews Village, others. 'BIG Trouble" is a good-natured ensemble...

FRENCH DIPS

LES DESTINEES 1/2 Elegant but shallow and overlong family saga.In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 180 minutes. Not rated (adult themes). At the Lincoln Plaza, Broadway and 63rd Street....

THE LAST HOURS OF BRYANT GUMBEL

Into The Shadows: The CIA in Hollywood, AMC, Dec. 4, 10:00 PM, 2 stars If I were to casually step up to you and say, for example, "Hey - Did...

NEW FILM KIDS ON TRIBECA BLOCKS

THE fledgling TriBeCa Film Festival yesterday announced movies by first-time filmmakers that will compete at the first downtown festival next month. The starrier among the 15 feature titles that will...

LIFE AFTER SEX ; CAREER AND TOILETS ROCK FOR GOO GOO FRONT MAN

THE Goo Goo Dolls have come a long way since 1986, when they were known as the Sex Maggots - a cover band gigging around Buffalo. The trio hit the...

WHITES WON'T CHANGE STRIPES

THE White Stripes, a dynamic garage-rock duo from Detroit, put out its third album, "White Blood Cells," just under a year ago on the very-indie label Sympathy for the Record...

SHACK ATTACK: ANOTHER TRIP TO THE SOUTH POLE - SINGING AND CUTTING OFF TOES

"Shackleton" Sunday and Monday nights at 8 on A&E 1/2 IF English polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton were alive today, he'd be a very happy man. That's because - aside...

STARR REPORT

Sacked again - Bill Maher's conquests "Politically Incorrect" host Bill Maher, 45, has a thing for young girls - and he's not shy about letting you know about it. The...

OUT OF THE GARAGE AND ON THE AIR

LITTLE Steven Van Zandt is about to tune into another channel - as a radio deejay delivering garage rock to the masses. The one-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street...

WOODY GOING TO CANNES FOR 1ST TIME

WOODY Allen, who recently made his inaugural appearance at the Academy Awards, will show up for the first time at this year's Cannes Film Festival next month. "Hollywood Ending," his...

WHO MIGHT GET A 'LET'S TALK' CALL FROM CBS

SO now for the big question: Who will replace Bryant Gumbel on "The Early Show"? The leading candidates, according to sources, are CBS Sports personality Jim Nantz and "Hollywood Squares"...

'EARLY' EXIT 'SURPRISE, BUT NOT A SHOCK' ; THE LAST HOURS OF BRYANT GUMBEL

BRYANT Gumbel astonished colleagues and the TV industry yesterday when he announced he was quitting "The Early Show." His contract ends next month. Gumbel, who has co-hosted the show since...

FELD BRINGS 'LINCOLN' TO LIFE WITH FANFARE

ELIOT FELD'SBALLET TECHAt the Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Ave., at 19th St.; (212) 242-0800. Season runs through May 5. SPRING has definitely sprung as the daffodils swing and sway in...

AYES ON THE PRIZE ; 'TOP DOG/UNDERDOG' IS THE ONE TO OUTRUN FOR A PULITZER

TIME to start handicapping this year's theater prizes and awards.First up, the Pulitzer, which will be doled out Monday. The smart money is onSuzan-Lori Parks' "Top Dog/Underdog," which opens Sunday...

'UNDERPANTS' TOPS

THE UNDERPANTS At the Classic Stage Company, 136 E. 13th St.; (212) 677-4210, Ext. 2. Through April 28. STEVE Martin has brought it off this time - he's written a...

NETHER REGIONS IN SPOTLIGHT

JUST where is the theater getting its themes these days? Both Broadway and off- seem to be hitting below the belt. In a town that already boasts "The Vagina Monologues,"...

'GRADUATE' FAILS: BROADWAY STAGING NOWHERE NEAR AS SEDUCTIVE AS FILM CLASSIC

THE GRADUATE ½ At the Plymouth Theatre, 236 W. 45th St.; (212) 239-6200. WHEN was the last time you saw a successful play made from a movie? Not a musical,...

SAMARITAN FOILS CENTRAL PK. RAPIST

A man tried to rape a Central Park jogger yesterday, but ran off when a passer-by saw what was happening and screamed. The incident occurred at 7:45 a.m. as the...

NO JOKE: JAY JABS DAVE IN LATE-NIGHT SQUAWK SHOW

Jay Leno is ripping David Letterman in their decade-long feud over late-night supremacy. "You'd think after all this time, it would be, 'Oh, well, he's successful, I'm successful, everybody is...

HEAT'S ON RUDY'S L.I. MONSIGNOR PAL

A top official in Long Island's Catholic diocese - a longtime pal of Rudy Giuliani - is under fire for not alerting police or parishioners about a priest accused in...

VINEGRAD: GAG COP'S ATTORNEY

Defense lawyer Ronald Fischetti should be gagged for calling perjury charges against ex-cop Charles Schwarz "a vindictive prosecution," U.S. Attorney Alan Vinegrad said in court papers yesterday. Vinegrad renewed his...

THE PRESIDENT'S MIDEAST SPEECH ; YASSER ARAFAT'S POLITICAL EPITAPH

NOBODY seems to have noticed it in the insta-coverage of George W. Bush's landmark speech yesterday on the Israel-Palestinian crisis, but the president just wrote Yasser Arafat's political epitaph. "As...

POOL TABLED AS POSH EATERY DOES DRY RUN

Like the Big Apple, the Four Seasons restaurant is experiencing a drought now that city inspectors have ordered its 1,600- gallon fountain drained in the landmark eatery's Pool Room. "We'll...

COPS COLLAR L.I. MAN IN PINCHED POOCH CASE

A missing 8-pound Chihuahua called Chico has been reunited with his frantic Long Island mistress, thanks to some good old-fashioned dogged police work. But the mystery initially gave cops plenty...

CREWS SET TO REMOVE LAST DEBRIS FROM WTC

Workers are set to begin clearing the last major debris from Ground Zero after installing a series of critical tiebacks in the wall behind the tangle of steel left from...

MOB-BUSTERS EYE 'CHIN' KIN - PROBE CONSPIRACY TO SHIELD 'CRAZY' BOSS

As Vincent "Chin" Gigante fights charges he faked being off the deep end, family members who have stuck by his "crazy act" may also get pinched for obstructing justice, prosecutors...

MIDEAST: BUSH TAKES CHARGE - SEEKS TO REIN IN ISREAL -- BUT RIPS ARAFAT 'BETRAYAL'

WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday declared, "Enough is enough," and launched a major U.S. push for Mideast peace - calling on Israel to pull back and blasting Yasser Arafat in...

HIGH HOPES, LOW EXPECTATIONS

LISTENING to President Bush deliver his heartfelt statement on the Middle East, I felt weathered and old. This is a president I have come to admire enormously, a man who...

L.I. BUDGET BIG IN DWI, RX BUST

Nassau County's deputy budget director, Guy Courbois, has been charged with DWI and drug possession, police said yesterday. Courbois, 37, was on his way home to Laurel hollow at around...

COPS NAB NEW MOM HURLEY'S STALKER

While actress-model Liz Hurley was in a British hospital yesterday giving birth to a "happy and healthy" son, police were arresting a stalker outside her London home. The scruffy-looking suspect,...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

CTRL-ALT-DEL didn't work. Neither did ESC. So the angry father used a sledgehammer on the computer he bought for his daughter. The Wisconsin man had returned five times to the...

SIGNED DOCUMENTS: YASSER OK'D BLOOD MONEY

JERUSALEM - Israeli officials yesterday displayed two documents they said show Yasser Arafat signing off on payments to terrorists. Arafat's signature, the date, and instructions for payment appear on the...

'GETAWAY GAL' HELD AS COP IS EULOGIZED

The Bronx undercover cop who was stabbed to death defending his girlfriend during a fight with her ex-lover was remembered yesterday as a man who "lived life to the fullest,"...

2ND JAILED 'U.S. TALIBAN' COULD AID LINDH

WASHINGTON - American Taliban No. 1, meet American Taliban No. 2. Lawyers for American Taliban John Walker Lindh said yesterday they'd like to talk to American Taliban newcomer Yasser Esam...

THREE THUGS IN VICIOUS ATTACK ON IMMIGRANT

In an apparently unprovoked assault, a hardworking Albanian immigrant was stabbed as he opened the front gate to his Queens home early yesterday, police said. Three men in dark clothes...

INCOME-ING! COUNCIL EYES TAX HIKE FOR SCHOOLS

The City Council is looking to raise income taxes - with the proceeds dedicated to schools, The Post has learned. "Everything is on the table, including a surcharge [on income]...

VICTIM SPARES ANTHRAX HOAXER JAIL

The anthrax hoaxer who delivered white powder in a FedEx box decorated with a drawing of the devil dodged jail time yesterday because his victim showed him mercy, a judge...

CULTURE $HOCKER: MIKE IS CITY'S MYSTERY ANGEL

A mysterious benefactor has written an eye-popping $10 million check to help rescue New York cultural institutions battered by the economic downturn. But in a tale unique even to the...

'FATHER FRAUD' GETS 2 TO 6 IN INS SCAM

The pastor of a now-defunct Brooklyn church got two to six years behind bars yesterday for scamming illegal immigrants out of an estimated $1 million by promising them legal status...

BLOOMY TAPS EMERGENCY BOSS

The deputy director of the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management got the top job yesterday. John Odermatt, a 20-year veteran of the NYPD who's been serving as OEM's first deputy...

ISRAEL HAILS BUSH SPEECH - BUT ARABS RIP 'UNJUSTIFIED' CRITICISM

JERUSALEM - Israel welcomed President Bush's Mideast speech yesterday - but Palestinian and Arab reaction was wary and cool. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said he was glad to see...

CONGRESS MAY JOIN YANKEE TV WAR

With Yankee fans seething over the cable-TV blackout, Rep. Eliot Engel yesterday sent the baseball commish an ultimatum - do something, or else Congress will. The lawmaker sent a letter...

FEDS: DIRTY COUNCILMAN CAPTURED ON 100 TAPES

Brooklyn City Councilman Angel Rodriguez is facing a flood of evidence that he shook down a developer for more than $1.5 million in payoffs - including a $50,000 cash bribe...

DAS: IT'S CARDINAL SPIN

District attorneys yesterday accused Edward Cardinal Egan of creating a "smoke screen" with his move to give prosecutors the names of priests accused of molesting kids - saying the files...

THE PRESIDENT'S MIDEAST SPEECH: BUSH GETS IT - CNN DOESN'T

DESPITE all the headlines portending a Bosnia-like catastrophe in the Middle East, and the outcry from Europe's political leaders, Israel's incursion in the West Bank is a use of force...

CALL IT THE BILLION-DOLLAR BLACKOUT

Call it the billion-dollar blackout - that's how much Cablevision's value has dropped in a week. When trading closed last Thursday, Cablevision had a market value of $4.53 billion. By...

ST. PAT'S MYSTERY MAN ID'D

Relatives of a despondent man who shot himself after talking to a priest at the St. Patrick's Cathedral rectory helped cops identify him as a 24-year-old bank employee from Brooklyn....

ATTACK SHOCKS NYU - WOMAN STUDENT ESCAPES FIEND'S CLUTCHES

An assailant dressed all in black brazenly attacked a 19-year-old coed in the main building of New York University yesterday, sending shockwaves of fear through the Greenwich Village campus. The...

SUICIDE JUMPER SHOCKS HOTEL

A relaxing round of martinis turned into a horrific death show with dozens of guests at a swanky Times Square hotel watching in shock as a man leaped to his...

PREZ WIELDS U.S. MIGHT IN RISKY GAMBLE

WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday made a bold but risky gamble as he sought to seize command of the Mideast peace process, putting his own prestige - and America's -...

SHOE HONCHO BROUGHT TO HEEL

Millionaire shoe sultan Steve Madden was kicking himself in court yesterday for his own "stupidity, arrogance and greed" as a federal judge slapped him with a 3 1/2-year prison sentence...

HIS 'INN'FAMY GROWS - DIVORCE JUDGE $LAMS 'LIZZIE' CLUB OWNER

The co-owner of the infamous Conscience Point Inn is so unconscionable, he tried to get his wife deported after he cheated on her with a 17-year-old girl, the judge presiding...

TEEN NABBED IN ROOF RAPE

A Brooklyn teen was arrested and charged last night in the Saturday gunpoint rape of a woman on her Bronx rooftop. Police said they located Pablo Maldonado, 19, of Powell...

S.I. KID IN HIT-AND-RUN HORROR

A Staten Island dad said last night that jail isn't punishment enough for the hit-and-run maniac who critically injured his 10-year-old son. Anthony Graziano was crossing the street in front...

W. BANK ALL BUT SEIZED

JERUSALEM - Israeli forces poured into one of the last West Bank cities under Palestinian control yesterday as both sides exchanged charges about the three-day standoff at a Bethlehem church....

DAS: IT'S CARDINAL SPIN - SAY NEW PERV POLICY EXEMPTS SOME PRIESTS

Some district attorneys yesterday accused Edward Cardinal Egan of creating a "smoke screen" with his move to give prosecutors the names of priests accused of molesting kids - saying the...

GOV DEFENDS ELECTION-YEAR TV ADS

Gov. Pataki yesterday defended his heavy presence in state public-service ads - saying he's helping protect uninsured New York families, rather than boosting his own political capital during an election...

MOB-BUSTERS EYE 'CHIN' KIN: PROBE CONSPIRACY TO SHIELD 'CRAZY' BOSS

As Vincent "Chin" Gigante fights charges he faked being off the deep end, family members who have stuck by his "crazy act" may also get pinched for obstructing justice, prosecutors...

MIDEAST: BUSH TAKES CHARGE; SEEKS TO REIN IN ISRAEL - BUT RIPS ARAFAT 'BETRAYAL'

WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday declared, "Enough is enough," and launched a major U.S. push for Mideast peace - calling on Israel to pull back and blasting Yasser Arafat in...

ISRAELIS UPBEAT ON BUSH TALK, AS ARABS COMPLAIN

JERUSALEM - Israel welcomed President Bush's Mideast speech yesterday - but Palestinian and Arab reaction was wary and cool. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said he was glad to see...

MJ RETURN TOOK AIR OUT OF WIZ ; BAD OUTWEIGHS GOOD IN COMEBACK

ALAS, it's 23 Skidoo. Again. Only this time there won't be a next time. No resurrection on this watch: Surely Michael Jordan has instructed esteemed members of his entourage to...

GOOD MOUND NEWS TEMPERED BY BAD

YANKEE NOTES BALTIMORE - The Yankees received good and bad news from their minor-league complex yesterday. On the positive side, Ramiro Mendoza threw three impressive innings in an extended spring...

MUSSINA OPENS STRONG ; STOPS O'S WITH HRS BY VENTURA, JOHNSON

Yankees 4Orioles 1 BALTIMORE - He doesn't have a World Series ring. Or a Cy Young. And he has never won 20 games. In the Yankees' rotation that houses Roger...

SILENT BATS POSE 'L' OF A PROBLEM

TRAILING by a run in the bottom of the ninth, the Mets had the meat of their batting order and payroll up to do what this club was re-designed to...

KEITH DOESN'T TAKE CRITICISM SITTING DOWN

They were standing a mere 10 feet from each other, yet Nets coach Byron Scott and forward Keith Van Horn seemed miles apart. A day after being labeled inconsistent, Van...

OSGOOD POINTS WAY TO PLAYOFFS FOR ISLES

BOSTON - The Islanders can clinch their first playoff berth since 1994 tomorrow night. For that to happen, they needed a point last night here against the Bruins, plus a...

CAME HOME FAVORED

Came Home was installed the heavy 6-5 favorite in a field of eight 3-year-old colts prepping for the May 4 Kentucky Derby tomorrow in the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita...

JACKSON VISITS JETS

With both of their starting 2001 defensive tackles having signed with other teams, the Jets have intensified their search for replacements. That search is currently focused on Grady Jackson, a...

HOLIK PUTS LIMITS ; ON SUITORS

ATLANTA - Bobby Holik is an abject fan of Mark Messier as a player. Before the Rangers even start thinking that making Messier coach next season might help them land...

ESTES SHARP IN LOSS

Speaking to Bobby Valentine and Shawn Estes after the Mets' 3-2 loss to the Pirates yesterday at Shea you'd have thought the Mets won the game. The tenor of the...

FLOUNDER ACTION'S FINE

PRIOR to the blast of cold weather, flounder fishing continued to show signs of health and prosperity and we were also hearing good news from the cod and blackfish anglers....

SPORTS MARKET SPAWNING REGULAR RIOT

DID YOU get a load of all those young Maryland and Indiana dudes who rioted after Monday's NCAA Final? Did you get a good look at 'em? Talk about profiling,...

AIN'T NO SLOWIN' ROBBIE

MET NOTES Understand this, Mets fans. Robbie Alomar is not going to back down. He's going to play his game, he's going to be aggressive even if it backfires on...

DOWN IN THE SLUMPS ; MET SLUMBER CO. CONTINUES EARLY SEASON SNOOZE VS. BUCS

Pirates 3Mets 2 The Mets needed only three games to reach their first crisis of the season. It's fitting that it comes as they head to Atlanta. After being beaten...

GIAMBI SET TO TASTE BIG APPLE ; MAKES PINSTRIPE DEBUT TODAY IN HOME OPENER

BALTIMORE - After 102 at-bats in Yannkee Stadium's left-handed batter's box dressed in road grays, Jason Giambi will dig in today after leaving the home team dugout, a cement bunker...

GIAMBI'S JUICED FOR TASTE OF BIG APPLE

BALTIMORE - After 102 at-bats in Yannkee Stadium's left-handed batter's box dressed in road grays, Jason Giambi will dig in today after leaving the home team dugout, a cement bunker...

THIBODEAU HAS EYES FOR TOP JOB

PORTLAND - It's still perplexing why Knicks GM Scott Layden put the kibosh on assistant Tom Thibodeau's interview with Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks last summer. If Layden thought so highly...

BLUESHIRTS WIN; THEO IN JEOPARDY

Rangers 4 Maple Leafs 2 TORONTO - This is what the Rangers would have you believe - that suddenly after their morning skate, and for no reason whatsoever other than...

ROBIN'S ONE OF THE POISE

BALTIMORE - Joe Torre senses Jason Giambi is trying to justify a $120 million contract and his elevated place in unfamiliar surroundings with every early-season at-bat, and the wise manager...

IT'S OFFICIAL: NO PLAYOFF

Blazers 88Knicks 80 PORTLAND - The frustration of a Knick season gone terribly wrong spilled over late in the third quarter last night. Latrell Sprewell lost his cool and was...

YANKS NEED TO GET ON A RUN

BALTIMORE - Willie Randolph grimaced and shook in anger. The Yankee third base coach quickly recovered. Yet, the subtle spasm of disappointment 18 innings into the season said much about...

MOOSE OPENS SEASON WITH SOLID START: SHUTS DOWN O'S, BACKED BY VENTURA, JOHNSON HOMERS

Yankees 4 Orioles 1 BALTIMORE - He doesn't have a World Series ring or a Cy Young. And he has never won 20 games. In a Yankee rotation that houses...

BRUNSON: SPREE LOVES NEW YORK

KNICK NOTES PORTLAND - Blazers guard Rick Brunson said his buddy Latrell Sprewell would be devastated if the Knicks traded him this summer. Brunson, who played three seasons for the...

NO EXCUSES THIS TIME: HILL'S '86-87 KNICKS GOT DECIMATED BY INJURIES

PORTLAND - With a healthy front line of Patrick Ewing, Bernard King, Bill Cartwright and Pat Cummings, former Knicks coach Bob Hill believes his 1986-87 team would've made the playoffs....

KID'S ALL RIGHT FOR BLUESHIRTS

TORONTO -There is virtually no carryover from one season to next, as those who recall last year's post-elimination Rangers' closing rush can certainly attest. But now, with the Blueshirts having...

KVASHA STICKS IT TO BOSTON IN OT

OVERTIME Islanders 2 Bruins 1 BOSTON - Enigmatic? Bite your tongue. Oleg Kvasha did it again for the Islanders last night, sliding the game-winning goal under Byron Dafoe with 1:31...

ST. ANTHONY'S STAR SAVORS GARDEN RETURN

Elijah Ingram had only been on the Garden floor once before. "I don't want to talk about it," the St. Anthony's (Jersey City) star said. "It didn't go well." Two...