May 2, 2002

HOW WALL STREET'S ANALYSTS FOOLED PUBLIC ON VERISIGN

IT must be something in the Pellegrino. Despite already being in the cross hairs of Albany and Washington, Wall Street still has a hard time being honest. If the cops...

TEEN LIPSTICK MAKER GETS SHINY SOHO DIGS

Call it a Lip Smackin' good lease for SoHo. The Lakeland, Ohio-based teeny-bopper cosmetics company Bonne Bell - known for its 32 fruity flavors of lip gloss - is moving...

RACE ON FOR FOR HANK'S HEIR

Crusty insurance tycoon Hank Greenberg set up a battle royale among seven top executives to find a winner who will succeed him at the helm of giant American International Group....

STOCK MARKET IN DEAD-CAT BOUNCE

When the weather turns warm, stock traders' thoughts turn to . . . bungee jumping, if yesterday's market action is any indication. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 115.5 points...

CAPT. LEAVES CREW - CEO EXIT FOLLOWS MASS LAYOFFS AT RETAILER

J. Crew's chief exec has abandoned ship. The company announced that CEO Mark Sarvary has left by mutual agreement, effective immediately. His departure comes in the aftermath of a bloodbath...

KMART WILL DELAY 10-K, MAY RESTATE

The red ink is still flowing at Kmart. The mass merchant, operating in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, has said it may restate its losses for last year and has delayed filing...

UBS TOWER SOLD - COHEN SNARES PRIME PROPERTY NEXT TO SAKS

Charles S. Cohen's real estate empire, which stretches from Manhattan to Houston to L.A., has staked out a prime new frontier: Fifth Avenue. Sources say his Cohen Bros. Realty quietly...

IS IT A SALE ON 5TH, SALE? JUST ASK MRS. JOHNSON

ONE of the leading bidders for a 13-room, 6,000-square-foot triplex condo at 817 Fifth Ave. is Sale Johnson, the ex-wife of the New York Jets owner, Woody Johnson. But Johnson...

VIBE KOS NEW YORKER AT NATIONAL MAGAZINE AWARDS

Vibe was the upset winner for general excellence at the National Magazine Awards yesterday, knocking out The New Yorker, while Atlantic Monthly Editor Mike Kelly was the insurgent editor of...

WENNER'S CONTEST, HUEY 'RADIOACTIVE'

PUT a record-setting 1,350 people into the Waldorf Astoria for a luncheon and you come up with a master chef's recipe for high-level editorial gossip and intrigue. One of the...

HOT PROPERTIES : THERE ARE STILL REAL ESTATE BARGAINS TO BE HAD, BUT THE SMART RENTERS AND BUYERS ARE SNAPPING THEM UP NOW

There's no question about it: Downtown is back in bloom. Residents, retailers, and building owners have picked themselves up, post 9/11, dusted themselves and the buildings off, and gotten back...

DARKEST HOUR IS JUST BEFORE DAWN: BUSINESSES THAT WEATHER THE COMING MONTHS WILL BOOM

Downtown's commercial real estate outlook is going to get better, landlords and brokers say. But expect it to get worse first. In recent weeks, dealmakers have been buoyed by the...

EAT AND BE MERRY: DOWNTOWN'S RESTAURANTS SERVE SOME OF THE BEST IN THE WEST. HERE'S A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE EATERIES

Best New Restaurant The Harrison - 355 Greenwich St. Since opening in late October, just a few blocks from Ground Zero, The Harrison has been a beacon in the darkened...

HEALTHY BENEFITS: DOWNTOWN NOW HAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO REBUILD BETTER - AND GREENER

Downtown is getting greener. A consensus of community groups, architectural advisors and development mavens has made it clear: whatever goes up Downtown should be environmentally friendly. To their delight, Governor...

SILVER SCREEN DREAMS - ROBERT DENIRO AND JANE ROSENTHAL'S TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL WILL BRING GLAMOR AND GLORY BACK TO DOWNTOWN

Downtown Manhattan's comeback from Sept. 11 will receive a huge boost from the first Tribeca Film Festival, which will feature starry red-carpet premieres, celebrity-laden parties and panels, free concerts and...

BACK TO DOWNTOWN

If you haven't been Downtown in a while - maybe not since Sept. 11 - you're overdue for a stroll through the city's wounded financial heart. Some reassuring sights await...

3-MAN TEAM IN FOX NFL BOOTH - YOUNG BUCKS CALL NEW GAME PLAN

TO replace John Madden and Pat Summerall, Fox is adopting a three-man NFL announcing team. As The Post reported last March, the network is expected to announce today that Joe...

MOTORHEAD ON TOP OF THE WORLD

MOTORHEAD ------ WITH its engine hitting on all cylinders, Motorhead played a great concert Tuesday that will be remembered as one of the low points in its long career. That's...

KIDS LOVE A REGULAR JOE

THE under-five set has a message for former "Blue's Clues" host Steve - don't let the (cartoon) door hit you on the way out! Last Monday's 90-minute "Blue's Clues" episode...

TALES OF TERROR

AS horrific as it was to watch the events of Sept. 11 on TV, the images continue to weigh on the people who captured those images - the TV reporters...

LUCKILY, MILLER GOT BETTER WITH TIME

THE MAN WHO HAD ALL THE LUCK [ 1/2]At the American Airlines Theatre. 227 W. 42nd St., (212) 719-1300. ------------- IN 1944, a critic summed up "The Man Who Had...

HOMER WON'T GO TO EARLY GRAVE

WOO-HOO! Reports of "The Simpsons' " imminent death are greatly exaggerated, says the show's creator, Matt Groening. "I'd like to assure everyone concerned - from nervous writers to frantic fans...

KING CAMERON KICKS BUTT

"Dark Angel" [ 1/2] Tomorrow night at 8:30 on WNYW/Ch. 5 -------- IN post-apocalyptic America there will be no body fat. There will be no cellulite. And you will never...

STARR REPORT

Michelle moves her Chyna; Kate's on the air Michelle Phillips and her daughter, Chyna Phillips, are not only part of a Mother's Day special airing May 12 on WE: Women's...

FIRST SHOT AT BLAKE MOVIE - DEAD WIFE'S PAL FROM JERSEY GOES TO HOLLYWOOD

A WOMAN described as both a friend and a victim of alleged conwoman Bonny Lee Bakley wants to adapt the story of their relationship for a TV movie. If it...

THEY LOVE 'EM, YEAH YEAH YEAHS . . .

DON'T try to say "no, no, no" to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, one of New York's hottest young unsigned acts. Led by the coquettish Karen O, the punk trio is...

GRIEVING DAD SLAMS L.I. MARINE

Manslaughter charges aren't enough for the neighbor who shot his son in an amateurish gun-training exercise, a grieving Suffolk County father said yesterday. Fred Reinhart, 17 - who aspired to...

'POISON' PUPIL BUSTED

A Brooklyn special-education student who allegedly put rat poison in his teacher's soda was ratted out by a classmate and arrested yesterday, police said. Juvian Smith, 16, slipped the poison...

BLAKE: I CAN'T READ - BUT HE'S DENIED BAIL DESPITE DYSLEXIA

LOS ANGELES - A judge denied bail for actor Robert Blake yesterday, after he made a dramatic plea for freedom claiming dyslexia is harming his ability to defend himself. Wearing...

KIN CAN'T SWALLOW POISONER SENTENCE

Petite poisoner Ann Perry smiled, giggled and flirted yesterday - just minutes before a judge sentenced her to more than six years in jail for killing her longtime lover. Perry,...

KIN OF MAN SLAIN BY L.I. COP TO SUE

The family of José Colon, the 20-year-old Long Island college student accidentally shot dead by Suffolk cops during a drug raid, has filed a legal notice of their intention to...

'COAT' CRACK IS COSTING CUOMO HIS SHIRT: POLL

ALBANY - Andrew Cuomo's "coat holding" crack about Gov. Pataki's post-Sept. 11 leadership has cost him support and damaged his image with voters, a new poll shows. The Quinnipiac University...

KIDS WEAR SCARS OF 9/11 - 9 OUT OF 10 TRAUMATIZED MONTHS LATER

A staggering 87 percent of city public-school students reported feeling psychologically terrorized six months after the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attacks, a Board of Education mental-health survey found. And...

BRONX THIEF FALLS TO DEATH WHILE ESCAPING

An armed bandit running across rooftops in an attempt to flee a Bronx crime scene got shafted - literally - when he fell seven stories into a ventilation shaft to...

HERE'S HOPING DUBYA'S A LIAR

YOU'VE got to hope President Bush is lying. Lying when he leaves the impression that he takes seriously a new collaboration with the Saudis into which The New York Times...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Steven Gross doesn't hold a grudge, at least when it comes to man's best friend. The 54-year-old from upstate Binghamton paid $1,000 to be reunited with his dog, Elmo. City...

'MY HAND SLIPPED' - CHOIR COUNSELOR'S EXPLANATION OF ABUSE CHARGES

The disgraced counseling director of the Harlem Boys Choir told cops he was trying to be a "father figure" to the 13-year-old choirboy he's accused of repeatedly kissing, licking and...

GOLI$ANO WILL PULL A BLOOMY

ALBANY - Comparing himself to Mayor Bloomberg, upstate billionaire businessman Thomas Golisano yesterday announced he'll run for governor in a campaign expected to cost $20 million. Golisano said he was...

WORKERS IN FINAL LOOK FOR REMAINS

After the final debris pile is removed from Ground Zero, recovery workers will still have one last task - lifting and cleaning the timbers that line the base of the...

WORD FROM BRONX HS: 'I AM TERRIFIED'

When The Post visited the Bronx HS of Science - a magnet school with students from all over the city - it was clear yesterday that students have lingering memories...

U.S. PREPARED TO HIT AL QAEDA

WASHINGTON - The United States is dispatching more than 1,000 American allied troops to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region in advance of a major new offensive against Osama bin Laden's forces,...

'DEDICATED' EMT MOURNED BY 1,000

An emergency medical technician who died after an alleged drunk driver slammed into his ambulance was hailed at a funeral service yesterday as a man dedicated to his family and...

MATT GETS $5M LESS THAN KATIE

Matt Lauer will stay at the "Today" show for at least another three years - at nearly half the salary of his co-anchor, Katie Couric. Lauer has inked a new...

JAYSON FACES 30 YRS. - 1ST-DEGREE RAP A RELIEF TO FAMILY OF SLAIN DRIVER

As a New Jersey grand jury indicted Jayson Williams yesterday on manslaughter charges that could net him 30 years in prison, the sister of the former NBA star's alleged victim...

THERE ARE WAYS PARENTS CAN HELP THEIR KIDS

There are ways parents can help their kids cope with lingering 9/11 stress, experts say. A study released yesterday shows that almost 90 percent of city students suffered at least...

FED DRUG COP KILLS SUSPECT IN STRUGGLE

A drug suspect was gunned down yesterday in Brooklyn by a plainclothes Drug Enforcement Administration agent after a wild car chase and a scuffle, police and DEA officials said. David...

VERIZON CLIENTS MAY BE ON HOLD UNTIL WEEKEND

Thousands of Verizon customers lost their phone service - and may not have it restored until this weekend - after workers at an East Side construction site accidentally cut through...

BRITNEY IS S-S-S-SMOKIN'

Here's the shocking photo Britney Spears doesn't want her millions of teenybopper fans to see. It shows the blond pop tart with a cigarette in her hand as she relaxes...

BUSH BIDS TO SOFTEN POLS' PRO-ISRAEL 'BILL'

WASHINGTON - The White House is trying to tone down congressional expressions of support for Israel by having a declaration inserted that the Israeli government should "alleviate the occupation of...

LIBERATED ARAFAT BLASTS ISRAEL FOR BLAZE AT NATIVITY

RAMALLAH, West Bank - A furious Yasser Arafat, just freed from a monthlong Israeli siege on his headquarters, last night condemned Israel for firing on the Church of the Nativity....

FIREMAN: I PULLED KNIFE ON FOTOG IN DEAD PAL'S GEAR

In riveting court testimony yesterday, a New York City firefighter described pulling his rescue knife on a free-lance photographer caught sneaking around Ground Zero in allegedly stolen gear. It was...

EMBATTLED PREP HEAD TO RETIRE

The headmaster of the elite Groton School - his tenure clouded by charges of the school's failure to report to authorities alleged male-on-male student rapes on campus - is leaving...

STATE BUDGET 'FRAMEWORK' SPARES SCHOOLS

ALBANY - State leaders last night announced the "framework" for a budget deal that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said should eliminate the need for education cuts in the city. The...

JUDGE RIPS ARCHDIOCESE ON TEACHER BARGAINING

The Archdiocese of New York violated state labor law by refusing to bargain "in good faith" with the union representing 300 of its Catholic high-school teachers, a state labor judge...

KELLY TO AX DWI COPS WHO KILL OR INJURE

DWI cops who cause injuries will be immediately banished from the ranks of New York's Finest under a tough new policy being drafted, The Post has learned. The crackdown is...

ED. BOARD TOO PERK-Y: POLS

ALBANY - A state Assembly plan to revamp the school system would strip city Board of Education members of more than $500,000 in expensive perks such as cars, drivers and...

NYPD IS BITING THE BULLET ON DEFECTIVE AMMUNITION

The Police Department has ordered 2,600 cops to turn in their bullets because they could be defective, The Post has learned. Ammo manufacturer Speer Bullets of Lewiston, Idaho, last month...

S.I. COPS IN STOLEN-SUMMONS SCANDAL

A shakeup is under way at Staten Island precinct after cops broke into a squad car, stole a fellow officer's summons book and submitted dummy tickets, The Post has learned....

CHINA: LAY OFF TAIWAN

WASHINGTON - After meeting President Bush, China's president-in-waiting, Hu Jintao, last night warned that any "trouble" over Taiwan could bring "retrogressian" in U.S.-China relations. But Bush - who has vowed...

SHARON WANTS TO FENCE THEM IN

WASHINGTON - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says he'll propose a security buffer zone with more than 600 miles of fences separating Israel from the Palestinians when he meets President...

BASILICA REMAINS UNBOWED AFTER 17 TURBULENT CENTURIES

Down through the ages, Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity has stood like a rock, resisting armies, earthquakes and fires. For centuries, the place historically regarded as the birthplace of Jesus...

MIDNIGHT MADNESS IN MANGER SQUARE - BLAME GAME AS FLAMES ERUPT FROM CHURCH OF NATIVITY

JERUSALEM - Fire broke out at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity early today after a fierce and dramatic midnight gun battle that Israelis and Palestinians blamed on one another. Flames...

SUICIDE 'GAS' SCARE AT N.H. AIRPORT

A 24-year-old Massachusetts man was caught trying to board a commercial airliner yesterday while carrying a backpack containing gas canisters and a suicide note, cops said. Jonathan Snow, of Hamilton,...

TRAGEDY REVISITED: 'DWI COP' JURORS AT SCENE WHERE 4 DIED

The jurors who will decide the fate of former NYPD officer Joseph Gray stood yesterday on the street where witnesses saw the ex-cop fatally run down a family in Sunset...

LAWYER RIPS POST HEADLINE

Joseph Gray's lawyer blasted the New York Post's front-page headline "Lies, All Lies" in court yesterday - and asked the judge to check if the jury had been influenced by...

LAST-MINUTE POL WRANGLE STALLS STATE BUDGET DEAL

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki and legislative leaders worked well into the evening last night on a prospective budget deal after earlier talks exploded amid partisan charges. Pataki and the lawmakers,...

GRUESOME DEATH LEAP ON W. 57 ST.

A distraught West Side man killed himself yesterday afternoon, jumping from his ninth-floor West 57th Street apartment, police said. The unidentified 29-year-old stabbed himself before he leaped, police said. The...

CULTURE COMMISH OZZY?

Ozzy Osbourne, call your agent - you may have a gig waiting for you at City Hall. MTV President Van Toffler included a new job for the rocker-turned-reality-TV-show-dad in a...

CRACKDOWN ON BUILDING-SITE 'SHAKEDOWNS'

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has launched an effort to thwart violent construction-worker coalitions. Builders say they're being shaken down by the coalitions for payoffs and jobs for their members in...

RUDY GRILLED ON FIRINGS IN '98 PARADE CONTROVERSY

Rudolph Giuliani spent more than three hours being grilled about his role in the firings of a cop and two firefighters who participated in a controversial 1998 Queens parade. Appearing...

GOLISANO PLAN$ TO PULL A BLOOMY IN GOV RACE

ALBANY - Comparing himself to Mayor Bloomberg, upstate billionaire businessman Thomas Golisano yesterday announced he'll run for governor in a campaign expected to cost $20 million. Golisano said he was...

PRIMARY DATE MAY CHANGE TO AVOID SEPT. 11 HASSLE

ALBANY - State lawmakers, worried about the proximity of the one-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to the primary election, may delay the Sept. 10 vote, The Post has...

A TALE OF TWO SEASONS

YANKEE NOTES As entertaining as the playoff encounters between the Yankees and Athletics have been the past two years, it is difficult and unwise to attach any significance to what...

A'S MESS UP MUSSINA - FEEBLE YANKEE BATS CAN'T RESCUE MUSSINA

A's 4 - Yankees 1 Even the stoic get ornery. After striking out in the fifth inning to end what he dubbed "a terrible at-bat," Bernie Williams threw his bat...

FIVE-ALIVE PACERS: NO PRESSURE ON US

Reggie Miller thought about the prospect of playing a deciding Game 5 against the Nets tonight and salivated. "This is going to be the most fun personally," he said. "I'm...

MAKE ROBBY A RANGER - NOW!

A GIFT named Larry Robinson has been dropped into Glen Sather's lap. The Rangers officially received permission from the Devils yesterday to talk to Robinson about the vacant head-coaching job,...

ROBBIE ON RIGHT TRACK

METS NOTES PHOENIX - The most reassuring at-bat of Tuesday night's 10-1 drubbing of the Diamondbacks probably wasn't either one of Mike Piazza's homers. The critical at-bat came in the...

FUTURE LOOKS GOOD TO GENO

Anything is possible in Geno Auriemma's future. Perhaps he'll become the first women's college coach to make the switch to an elite men's program. Or maybe he'll go to the...

KIDD EARNS FIRST TEAM 'D' HONORS

Another day, another first for the Nets as yesterday Jason Kidd became the first Net to be named a first-team All-NBA selection. The honor came one day after Kidd, who...

BAD NEWS GETS WORSE FOR DRYSDALE

DERBY NOTES LOUISVILLE - When bad luck rains, it pours. Just ask trainer Neil Drysdale. Yesterday, after finally learning what he feared all along - that his rapidly improving colt...

D. WAYNE'S CONFIDENT, AS USUAL

LOUISVILLE - If Proud Citizen wins the Kentucky Derby Saturday, the first thing his renowned trainer D. Wayne Lukas will say is, "I told you so." In the run-up to...

JUSTICE CAN'T STAY ON FIELD FOR A'S, EITHER

Throughout his career, David Justice has become synonymous with playoff baseball. He's led his teams into every postseason since 1991, and proven time and again that he knows how to...

AT QUIET COLISEUM, IT'S ALREADY NEXT YEAR

They took down the ice at Nassau Coliseum yesterday, a day after the Maple Leafs took down the Islanders. "Right now, it's more the sting of [Tuesday's] loss, more than...

STEVENS PUMPED TO RIDE JO'BURG

LOUISVILLE - Many never expected Johannesburg, the 2-year-old champion in Europe and the U.S. last year, to leave his Ballydole headquarters in Ireland and return to America for the Kentucky...

REMEMBER THE NAME: CHRIS GARCIA

CHSAA BASEBALL: Xaverian 6 - Molloy 2 The scouts used to show up at Xaverian High baseball games mostly for Danny Christensen. Not anymore. "We used to hear just about...

IT'S OFFICIALLY WIDE OPEN - 9-2 CHOICE 'HOLIDAY' IN POST 14

LOUISVILLE - Lukewarm favorite Harlan's Holiday landed in the 14 hole last evening when post positions were drawn for the filled-to-the-brim field of 20 3-year-olds running in Saturday's $1 million...

NOW OR NEVER FOR NETS

All season, Jason Kidd has been a "silent assassin" for the Nets, according to Byron Scott. Kidd rarely feels compelled to talk. He simply leads by doing. But when he...

IN THE END, YANK$ ALWAYS WIN

THE Yankees have pitching woes. The Yankees aren't hitting. They claimed there were 31,000 people in the stands for last night's game against Oakland, but anyone with a seasoned Yankee...

NO MING DYNASTY SEEMS IMMINENT

CHICAGO - Based on yesterday's 70-minute workout, Yao Ming could still turn into an NBA softie. Don't put the "franchise center" tag that stuck to Patrick Ewing before the 1985...

DYE'S FIRST HOMER IS A SIGHT FOR SORE A'S

The departed Jason Giambi provided the power and the charisma. Young starters Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito provide the pitching and the foundation for the future. But in...

ROLLING SNAKE EYES - METS DO IT AGAIN TO D'BACKS

PHOENIX - Without their two aces, the Diamondbacks are not a team to fear. Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling are Arizona's engine and gasoline, and without them, the Diamondbacks look...

FOR AL, A VALENTINE CARD

MET NOTES PHOENIX - Bobby Valentine doesn't usually give away his original lineup cards, but he was willing to make an exception. After his 10-1 victory over Arizona Tuesday night,...

A'S MESS UP MUSSINA: FEEBLE YANKEE BATS CAN'T RESCUE MOOSE

In some games, what Mike Mussina gave the Yankees last night would have been enough, even though he didn't have all that much to give. On this particular night, Mussina...

JUGGERNAUT JOE: TORRE TAKES AIM AT HIS 600TH YANK WIN

In another time, another Yankees era, the noxious league-wide scent of firings in the air would waft an unpleasant odor into the manger's office at the Stadium. Enter the workplace...

THE SWAGGER OF '86 BACK IN FULL EFFECT

PHOENIX - There have already been a few John Wayne moments this season for the Mets, but none like the display Mike Piazza put on in the Valley of the...

BOBBY V GIVES AL SOUVENIR

PHOENIX -Bobby Valentine doesn't usually give away his original lineup cards, but he was willing to make an exception after Al Leiter's gem Tuesday night. With a 10-1 victory over...

RONDELL TAKES A BREAK

YANKEE NOTES Mired in a slump, Rondell White was out of the Yankee starting lineup last night. Joe Torre hopes White's problem can be explained away by simple fatigue. Hitless...

RONDELL TRIES TO COPE WITH LUMBER SLUMBER

YANKEE NOTES Mired in a slump, Rondell White was out of the Yankee starting lineup last night. Joe Torre hopes White's problem can be explained away by simple fatigue. Hitless...