May 13, 2002

BLACKSTONE GETS COLUMBIA HOUSE FOR $450M

Blackstone Group has clinched its deal to buy a majority stake in Columbia House, the jointly owned music and movie club of AOL Time Warner Inc. and Sony Corp., for...

BATTERY MAY BE RECHARGED WITH A $100M YACHT HOTEL

Restaurateur David Emil is competing with a floating hotel for the right to redevelop the Battery Maritime Building at the southeastern tip of Lower Manhattan. Emil, who lost his icon...

GOLDMAN RAN IPO SCAM, TRADER SAYS

A former hedge fund staffer says he has detailed Goldman Sachs' involvement in IPO "laddering" schemes to regulators looking into alleged illegal practices in the IPO market during the tech...

TRIBECA FILM FEST FIRST-RATE

THAT the first Tribeca Film Festival succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of its organizers was clear from an overheard conversation between two women looking out the windows of the festival's...

KID ROCK ON A ROLL AT GARDEN

KID ROCK ----- FRIDAY night was Kid Rock-in-a-babes sandwich night at the Garden. The stage at Madison Square Garden was flanked by two pairs of centerfold girls in micro bikinis....

STARR REPORT

'Weakest' ratings show strong surge Overlooked in all the commotion about Meredith Vieira hosting the syndicated version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" is the syndicated version of "Weakest...

BACK TO BAGHDAD

WESTERN TV journalists are already on the ground in Iraq, preparing for what seems the inevitablity of a second Gulf War. Like door-to-door salesmen, Western journalists stuck their foot in...

A 'TV GUIDE' SPECIAL SELECTS THE TOP 50 SHOWS OF ALL TIME TONIGHT. ADAM WONDERS WHERE IS 'GILLIGAN' - AND 49 OTHER BETTER TV SHOWS ; MY TOP ; FIFTY

I have some bones to pick with TV Guide - 50 of them to be exact. Tonight, the digest-sized listings mag celebrates its 50th anniversary with a prime-time special ("TV...

UNIVERSAL APPEAL: USA BEAUTY IS SOPHISTICATED AND SIMPLY FASHIONABLE

STANDING in the middle of designer Alvin Valley's showroom, Shauntay Hinton studies the pretty, cappuccino-skinned girl in the mirror. She smiles at the glass and leans in close, lifting her...

LAWMAKER IS GAME TO BAN 'SPORTS RAGE'

YOU'VE heard of "road rage." You've heard of "office rage." You've even heard of drunk passengers committing "air rage." But "sports rage"? Inspired by that infamous slaying of a parent...

SILVER SEEKS FREE PASS FOR CUOMO IN PRIMARY

ANDREW CUOMO should be handed a spot on the September primary ballot, even if he doesn't have enough support to win one at next week's state Democratic Convention. That was...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A Minnesota couple got a very rude awakening when a car smashed through their apartment and landed on the bed where they were sleeping. Miraculously, nobody was injured. "Both of...

TEARS AND PRAYER AT FLIGHT 587 OBSERVANCE

Overcast skies and a light drizzle provided a dreary backdrop yesterday as grieving relatives and friends gathered at a vacant spot in Queens where a jetliner went down six months...

THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF JOE BONANNO

Mob kingpin Joseph Bonanno remained a web of contradictions until the second he drew his final breath. Articulate, polite and impeccably dressed, the mob boss was nonetheless at the epicenter...

YOU'RE NEEDED IN BEETLE BATTLE

New Yorkers are being urged to join a posse of beetle-busters to bring down a ravenous tree-killing pest that will soon reappear in the Big Apple. Wallet-sized ID cards are...

GIZMO PROVIDES 'RUFF' TRANSLATION

An amazing new gadget has given man's best friend the ability to talk. The device converts dog barks into human expressions of emotion. Bowlingual, made by the Japanese firm Takara,...

MIKE ADMITS BUDGET HOLE IS DEEPER

Mayor Bloomberg conceded yesterday that some of the city comptroller's dire predictions for next year's ballooning budget gap are about right, including at least a $200 million drop in tax...

MADONNA VS. MCCARTNEY IN CASTLE HASSLE

Get ready for the rock-'n'-roll brawl of the century - it's Madonna vs. McCartney. The Material Mom is reported to be competing with the ex-Beatle to buy a $7 million...

SCHUMER: I 'SEA' A DIRE NUKE PERIL

Sen. Charles Schumer yesterday said terrorists now have a wide open chance at smuggling nuclear devices into the United States by land and sea, and he's proposing a $250 million...

THE MIDEAST CONFLICT IS ONLY CREATING MORE AL QAEDA RECRUITS

The Mideast conflict is only creating more al Qaeda recruits for terror kingpin Osama bin Laden, Jordan's King Abdullah warned yesterday. Bombarded by daily images of bloody Israeli invasions into...

FIDEL WELCOMES AMIGO JIMMY TO CUBA

WASHINGTON - Flashing his trademark grin and accompanied by wife Rosalyn, former President Jimmy Carter landed in Cuba yesterday and proclaimed himself a "friend" of the people. Carter, the first...

POLICE FORCE, THERE'S A DISTURBANCE.

Police force, there's a disturbance. While "Star Wars" fans paid as much as $1,000 to catch a sneak peek of "Episode II" at a TriBeCa benefit yesterday, other New Yorkers...

CELEBS OUT IN FULL FORCE FOR TRIBECA FEST'S JEDI NIGHT

The "Star Wars" hype machine slammed into overdrive yesterday with the star-studded New York premiere of "Episode II - Attack of the Clones." A galaxy of stars and their children...

SPIDEY MAY BE SEEING 'STARS' - 'CLONES' SET TO CLOUT SUPERHERO IN SCI-FI SHOWDOWN FOR NO. 1

Get ready for war at the box office this week as Obi-Wan Kenobi rockets into town in an attempt to slash Spider-Man's web with his light saber. "Spider-Man" remained the...

MEGA-BUCKS LOTTERY READY FOR N.Y. DEBUT

The Big Game multistate lottery is coming to the Empire State this week with longer odds, a redundant name - Mega Millions - and a lot more balls. Sales of...

'DWI' U-TURN KILLS RIDER ON QNS. BLVD.

A drunken driver attempting an illegal U-turn on Queens Boulevard early yesterday plowed into the side of another car, killing the passenger and seriously injuring the driver, police said. Cops...

LUCIANO PAVA-NAUGHTY - TENOR STANDS UP ITALIAN CONSUL

With the curtain falling on his stellar career, phantom of the opera Luciano Pavarotti was in no mood to celebrate yesterday, ending his disastrous New York trip by blowing off...

THE COMEBACK KID - DWI ORDEAL AT 5 INSPIRES HER TO MAKE HISTORY AS LAW GRAD

Seventeen years ago, a drunk driver ran over and crushed Christina Brouder on a Bronx street. While Brouder, now 22, doesn't "hold a grudge," she will be thinking of that...

ALL WORK, SOME PLAY - SEX SURVEY SHOWS WE'RE GETTING IT ON WHILE ON THE JOB

You're not alone, Suzy Wetlaufer. Like the dethroned Harvard Business Review editor, 62 percent of Americans have had an office romance, a new survey says. Even more surprising, 41 percent...

ISRAELIS: WE'LL PUT CHURCH 13 ON TRIAL

JERUSALEM - If the 13 Palestinian terrorists that Israel booted to Cyprus think they're home free, they should think again. Depending on what countries they eventually land in, Israel will...

BIBI'S BACK: EX-P.M. WHIPS SHARON IN KEY VOTE ON PALESTINE STATEHOOD

JERUSALEM - Bibi Netanyahu, gunning for his old job as Israeli prime minister, last night launched a mini-coup against current chief Ariel Sharon - and won. Netanyahu mounted the damaging...

TERROR LEADERS ESCAPE - LEAKS LEAVE RAIDS IN GAZA STRIPPED OF SECRECY

JERUSALEM - Israel yesterday pulled back some troops from its border with the Gaza Strip after details of its plans to launch raids on Palestinian terror nests leaked out, giving...

THUGS KILL 1, WOUND 7 IN BLOODY WEEKEND AROUND CITY

It was a busy weekend for the city's bad guys. Police said seven people were shot, one fatally, while another was stabbed in his hip while walking in Midtown. All...

WAR-BOUND TROOPS MAKE GROUND ZERO PILGRIMAGE

A group of soldiers, about to ship overseas in the war on terror, paid a solemn visit to Ground Zero yesterday to see what they are fighting for. The Army...

PAROLE FOR A COP-KILLER?

Thirty-one years ago this month, two New York City cops were brutally gunned down on the streets of Harlem by a trio of self-proclaimed revolutionaries from the Black Liberation Army....

THUGS TERRORIZE EMPLOYEES AT GROUND ZERO RESTAURANT

It was a brief but terrifying few minutes for employees of a downtown T.G.I. Friday's restaurant last night when gunmen herded the group into the basement to rob them, police...

U.S. IS PATRIOTIC CHOICE FOR SUMMER VACATIONS

Americans still wary of flying abroad are planning "patriotic vacations" across the country this summer. "The general thought seems to be that most people want to stay close to home...

COPS STYMIED BY 'JAR BABY'

A baby girl found dead inside a chemical-filled jar nearly two years ago has been kept inside a refrigerator in the medical examiner's office ever since - and will likely...

BIZMEN LIVID OVER H20WE - SAY CITY $OAKS THEM FOR MINOR DROUGHT VIOLATIONS

The city agency responsible for policing the water-use restrictions is showering New Yorkers with hundreds of fines for, of all things, failing to post "Save Water" signs in their businesses....

OUCH! $12M ED. BOARD INJURY BILL SOCKS CITY

The city is spending $12 million a year just to cover the costs of absent public-school staffers who claim injuries from on-the-job accidents, The Post has learned. Board of Education...

N.Y. BEETLE BATTLE NEEDS YOUR HELP

New Yorkers are being urged to join a posse of beetle-busters to bring down a ravenous tree-killing pest that will soon reappear in the Big Apple. Wallet-sized ID cards are...

EX-DON'S FUNERAL WON'T BE MOB SCENE

Don't expect a gaudy sendoff for the mob's exiled "Boss of Bosses." Joseph Bonanno Sr., the 97-year-old criminal mastermind and a devout Catholic, will instead be buried in a quiet,...

TERROR ALERT FOR MALLS, RESTAURANTS AND APTS.

Terrorists could be targeting large apartment buildings, malls, restaurants and supermarkets in New York and throughout the United States, according to a nationwide FBI alert. The alert was recently issued...

BARON: WE'RE NOT DONE

CHARLOTTE - Baron Davis isn't ready to start house-hunting in New Orleans. The Hornets star wants his mates to feel the same way despite a 3-1 hole. "I'm confident we...

FEW ARE ROOTING FOR 'EMBLEM'

For a variety of reasons, War Emblem's upstart score in the Kentucky Derby for his new owner, Prince Ahmed Salman of Saudi Arabia, and trainer, former media darling Bob Baffert,...

HORNETS HOPING THIS ISN'T FINAL GOODBYE

CHARLOTTE - An hour before tip-off, Hornets coach Paul Silas did something he almost never does - spent 15 minutes signing autographs for early arriving fans at Charlotte Coliseum. As...

'CITIZEN' SHARP IN CHURCHILL WORKOUT

Proud Citizen, who's come on strong this spring with a front-running victory in the Lexington Stakes followed by a pace-pressing second in the Kentucky Derby, breezed a solid four furlongs...

MOTHERLY INSTINCTS KICK IN FOR JOUMANA

CHARLOTTE - Joumana Kidd believes someone upstairs is watching out for her family. That's the only way she can explain how she and her 3½ year-old son, T.J. were fortunate...

STITCHED-UP JASON, NETS STOMP HORNETS

CHARLOTTE - Nets trainer Tim Walsh went to Jason Kidd's room yesterday morning, hoping to see less swelling around the All-Star's right eye. That would have been a strong indicator...

POINT GUARD'S PERFORMANCE A SIGHT FOR SORE EYE

GAME 4Nets 89Hornets 79CHARLOTTE - It was a Mothers' Day game only the players' mothers could love, a down-and-dirty half-court submission match where the only shooting percentages truly relevant in...

YANKEES PONDER WAYS TO FIX NICK

MINNEAPOLIS - A towering home run in a game in which the Yankees crushed five dingers and a bloop single in the eighth inning of a blowout victory don't mean...

COLLINS STARS AS HUSTLER

CHARLOTTE - Rookie Jason Collins' first-ever pro start came here and with it, his best pro game. And now Collins can add his best playoff game - and probably most...

KID BEASLEY SHOWS THE WAY FOR USA

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Even in the resurgence of U.S. soccer the past 15 years, there has been a glaring lack of individual brilliance, a crying need for stars capable of...

ICE-COLD KITTLES COMES UP BIG

CHARLOTTE - Kerry Kittles had hit the big shot in Game 3 of the Nets' opening playoff series in Indiana. He also had chased Reggie Miller and he also, er,...

BOMBER BATS ; BLAST TWINS ; FIVE HRS BACK MUSSINA'S 5TH

Yankees 10Twins 4 MINNEAPOLIS - Welcome back, biceps. When the Yankees rebuilt their lineup after their World Series debacle at the plate, they fantasized about yesterday. Jason Giambi would go...

TEAM ANSWERS CALL OF KENYON

NET NOTES CHARLOTTE - Kenyon Martin already was ornery. The Nets had received a butt-kicking in Game 3, especially inside where Martin earns his pay. Now, there were media types,...

PETTITTE PITCHES AROUND ; RUMORS

YANKEE NOTES MINNEAPOLIS - While whispers swirl through the baseball grapevine that Andy Pettitte's elbow problem is more serious than tendonitis, the news on his workout yesterday in Tampa was...

MET FANS NOT FINDING MUCH TO CHEER ABOUT

NOT many people were left sitting in the rain by the time Kane Davis took the mound in the 13th inning yesterday, though you could have fooled Davis' ears. The...

BOBBY'S HOPING BENITEZ CAN GO

MET NOTES The status of closer Armando Benitez remains questionable as the Mets embark on their 10-game road trip. Benitez, who's been unavailable the last two games because of a...

HR IN 13TH HANDS AMAZIN'S UNLUCKY SEND-OFF

13 Innings Rockies 4 Mets 3 The Mets boarded their charter flight to the West Coast for a 10-game road trip last night an utterly confused team, completely uncertain of...

WALKER ROCKS METS :HR IN 13TH HANDS AMAZIN'S UNLUCKY SEND-OFF

13 ININNGS Rockies 4 Mets 3 The Mets were sure they were out of their funk. A day earlier, they'd ended their six-game slide with some dramatic offensive fireworks from...

BET ON BENITEZ TO PITCH IN L.A.

MET NOTES Bobby Valentine cautiously gave a thumbs-up assessment on Armando Benitez' finger problem yesterday. Valentine said he hopes to have his closer available later today for the start of...