June 18, 2002

QUEEN MARY 2 SET TO CRUISE PAST HIGH SEAS ROYALTY

When she sets sail on her maiden voyage in January 2004, the Queen Mary 2 will be the longest, tallest, widest and most luxurious passenger ship to ever part the...

PHOTOGRAPHY BLDG. FETCHES $22M

The Post has learned. Ben Ashkenazy has signed a contract to buy the 80,000 square-foot office building on the northwest corner of 19th Street at 636 Sixth Ave. Ashkenazy is...

IT LOOKS LIKE THE 1970S ALL OVER AGAIN ON WALL STREET

HOLLYWOOD may love the 1970s, but Wall Street doesn't. Yet that's the decade the investment community now unfortunately seems to be emulating. If you listen to the criminals who brought...

MART'S HOLE IN ONE - 'TIGER WOODS EFFECT' RALLY LIFTS ALL INDEXES

Tiger Woods continues to rule the links - and, more surprisingly, Wall Street. The "Tiger Woods effect" - a Wall Street legend that holds that the market goes up on...

SUIT: KOZLOWSKI SECRETLY SLIPPED TYCO DIRECTOR $20M

Accused Tyco tax dodger Dennis Kozlowski breached his boardroom duties by secretly paying a $20 million fee to a director, according to new legal documents. Tyco International filed suit yesterday...

QWEST EX-EXEC MADE FORTUNE AS INVESTORS LOST

Ousted Qwest chief Joe "Macho" Nacchio defended his five-year reign at the troubled telecom - including cashing out $300 million in options while his shareholders lost nearly $100 billion. Nacchio,...

J. LO MOVES INTO CARDS, CALENDARS WITH LICENSING DEAL

Soon you could be getting a J.Lo Christmas card in the mail. The Latina lovely is joining with the company that's creating such products for the Osbournes to spew out...

AIMING AT BANKERS - ENRON'S WALL ST. DEALINGS NEXT TARGET OF PROBE

There's more on the way for embattled Wall Street firms - Congress will haul investment banks to Washington to testify about their dealings with defunct energy giant Enron next month....

MAX CAPITAL HITS ROAD

ADAM Hochfelder, not yet 40, has a passion you don't usually find in the sole owner of a Manhattan commercial real estate empire valued at $2.5 billion: stock-car racing. And...

ZIFF DAVIS REACHES PACT WITH BANKERS

Financially troubled Ziff Davis Media said it has reached a new agreement with its bankers that will defer principal payments on its $198 million bank debt for two years. The...

PATCH-UP WITH PUFFY NIXED?

Jennifer Lopez went and did it. Possibly risking chances of a reconciliation with ex-beau Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, the Latina lovely has hired one of his former designers. While J....

ICAHN LOSES MORTON'S BID TO CASTLE HARLAN

Carl Icahn lost his bid yesterday to take over Morton's Restaurant Group when a rival Wall Streeter matched his $56.6 million bid. Icahn had been backing a dissident group led...

EXECS EXPECT MORE FRAUD

Top executives expect about 20 more big corporate scandals to wreak havoc on Wall Street in the coming months. A stunning Conference Board survey of senior ethics officers at major...

DRINK IT ALL IN: FINE WINE AND GOURMET MEALS IN THE ALASKAN WILDERNESS

AMONG the many things that Kirsten Dixon has on her mind is the dinner she'll be cooking at Nobu in London next week. Not to mention the party she'll throw...

TRAVELER'S UPDATE

Route canal Most people think of Europe when they imagine a canal cruise vacation. Why go so far? The New York state canal system is made up of four historic...

JANE AT (ALMOST) 40 - STAR EDITOR HOPES TO DO IT AGAIN - WITH GROWNUPS

JANE Pratt is growing up. This year, the feisty editor with the self-titled magazine will turn 40, tie the knot with actor Andrew Shaifer and have her first baby. "I...

STARR REPORT

'It' takes a party to launch 'List' Mariska Hargitay and Stephanie March ("Law & Order: SVU"), Elizabeth Rohm ("Law & Order"), Donald Faison and Zach Braff ("Scrubs") and Lara Flynn...

MEX TREKS - STROLLS AROUND MEXICO CITY'S TRENDY SIDE

IF one were to pick the top 10 breakfast joints of all time, Cafe El Popular would certainly have to be on the list. Twice - there are two of...

A TENNIS CHANNEL ANYONE?

IT appears the new Tennis Channel is heading for New York. The channel, expected to launch by the end of this year, could land on all Time Warner's cable systems...

BILLY'S EX GOES 'INSIDE' TRADING

TRISH Bergin, the News 12 Long Island reporter romantically linked to rocker Billy Joel, has been hired by "Inside Edition." Bergin, who most recently anchored News 12's morning newscast, will...

SLACKER! OPRAH DRASTICALLY SLASHING NUMBER OF SHOWS PER YEAR

OPRAH Winfrey is quickly becoming the Johnny Carson of daytime TV - taking more and more time off from her daily show as it winds down. Winfrey, who's ending "The...

THE GAY LESSONS OF LINDA ELLERBEE

QUESTION for parents: Who do you want raising your kids: you or Linda Ellerbee? If you answered "you," then I suggest you steer your Nickelodeon-aged kiddies away from Ellerbee's new...

MORE THAN SKIN DEEP

* ANASTACIA "Freak of Nature" [] Epic Looks are deceiving. Take sexy blond siren Anastacia's portrait on the cover of her disc "Freak of Nature." You'd expect her to have...

FROM FADS AND FLAB TO FAB: MARILU'S TOPS AFTER GIVING UP YO-YO WAYS

AT 50, Marilu Henner has the body of a woman half her age - and she loves to talk about how she maintains it. "I was a teenage yo-yo dieter,"...

MIKE THE BUILDER - THE MAYOR KNOWS THE BELLY OF N.Y.'S REAL-ESTATE BEAST

UNLIKE the bureaucrats charged with rebuilding at Ground Zero, Michael Bloomberg has actual hands-on experience in the business of filling a big, empty hole in the Manhattan earth. So when...

DOORMAN UNION SLAMMED BY DISSIDENTS' SUIT

The doorman union - once run by a notorious labor kingpin - is waging a campaign of harassment to suppress dissent from unhappy members, a lawsuit charges. Union reformer Dominick...

THE HERO KIDS WHO CAPTURED A KILLER - CHASED SUSPECT IN BROOKLYN STAB SLAY

A trio of gutsy youths who watched in horror as a Bay Ridge woman was stabbed to death said they never hesitated to chase down the suspect and help cops...

2 DIE AS MOTORBIKE HITS CAR IN B'KLYN

A horrific accident between a car and a motorcycle in Brooklyn killed two people and seriously injured a third, cops said yesterday. At about 9:48 p.m. Sunday, motorcyclist Dolorey Taylor,...

SUBWAY RETIREE'S NEXT STOP: CLASSROOM

Lenton Clemons, a veteran subway monitor, is now on a mission to make kids learn what they're supposed to - on time. Clemons formerly worked as a Transit Authority tower...

BILLBOARD BLASPHEMY - UPSTATE STRIP CLUB 'DISGRACES' HEROIC IMAGES

An upstate strip club is using a famous, flag-raising image from Sept. 11 to promote itself, drawing heated criticism from victims' families, emergency workers and area residents. A billboard for...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A man buying a soda got a rare 1845 coin in change, - and it's worth a small fortune. Ron Skeen got the $5 coin after buying a soda from...

MAUL-SLAY STUNNER - JUDGE TOSSES DOG OWNER'S MURDER CONVICTION

SAN FRANCISCO - A reluctant judge yesterday threw out the murder conviction of a killer-dog owner - and then sentenced her husband to the maximum of four years for the...

HIGH-TECH PATH ADS ARE TUNNEL VISION

Attention, PATH commuters: The bizarre light show in the uptown-bound tunnel is not a Port Authority version of Laser Floyd - it's an advertisement for Target department stores. The new...

MIKE'S GOP PITCH IS CONVENTIONAL

WASHINGTON - Mayor Bloomberg yesterday used politics - not sympathy over the 9/11 terror attacks - as he lobbied Republicans to hold their 2004 national convention in New York. Bloomberg...

COPS: WRESTLING STAR IN WIFE 'SMACKDOWN'

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin's buxom blond wife has accused the wrestling superstar of beating her up after a weekend argument at their home. Austin - one of the most popular...

'PARTY'-POOPING BLOOMY WANTS NON-PARTISAN VOTING

Voters should decide in November whether to toss political parties out of city elections, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday - riling critics who accused him of fast-tracking the controversial change. "When...

CITY NIXES BUS-STRIKE TALKS

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday refused to get involved in the strike of Queens private bus companies, which has left 116,000 commuters scrambling to find rides. City officials said other transportation options...

HEAT'S OFF LL COOL J IN HIP-HOP LEGAL SCRAP

Rapper LL Cool J has hip-hopped out of a legal fight over copyright fees because his moves were too smooth for the summons server. A Manhattan federal judge got into...

COUNCIL SEEKS STATE OK TO HIKE TAXES NEARLY $1B

The City Council today will ask state lawmakers to approve $461 million in tax hikes and fees proposed by Mayor Bloomberg, along with $500 million in additional taxes the council...

POLICE GO CHOPPER SHOPPING

The NYPD is revving up to replace most of its aging helicopter fleet and is shopping for swifter and more powerful choppers to patrol the city's skies. The department -...

KICK-START YOUR DAY - UNLIKELY SOCCER HEROES WORTH WAKING UP FOR

Wake up, America. It's time to catch up on some early-morning kicks. While you've been sleeping, your soccer team - the U.S. soccer team - has been stunning the rest...

COURT 'GUNMAN' NABBED

A Manhattan Supreme Court officer got a big surprise when he X-rayed a visitor's knapsack yesterday morning - a .25-caliber handgun that turned out to be fully loaded. When the...

EAST VILLAGE THUG HAS LONG RAP SHEET

Steven Johnson, whose alleged racist rampage in an East Village wine bar Sunday was ended by two plucky patrons and a police bullet, spent five days in jail on a...

RESTAURANT CASE LETS IRS KEEP THE CHANGE

WASHINGTON - In a case that pitted one of the country's oldest Italian eateries against federal tax collectors, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the IRS can use estimates to catch...

SCHWARZ JUROR'S SEPT. 11 COP-OUT

A woman was excused yesterday from the jury pool for ex-cop Charles Schwarz's retrial after she told a federal judge she could never convict a police officer after Sept. 11....

CUNY TO HEAD OF CLASS - 90% OF TEACHING STUDENTS PASS LICENSE EXAM

City University gets an A for dramatically improving its teacher-education programs, with more than 90 percent of students now passing the state's license exams, results yesterday showed. Just three years...

TIGER CASHES IN - AVERAGED 50G AN HOUR FOR OPEN VICTORY

Not only did Tiger Woods club his opponents at the U.S. Open last weekend, he bested some top names for most money made per hour when he pulled down $1...

ALTERNATE JURORS SAY CARNEGIE SUSPECT GUILTY

The double juries of the Carnegie Deli massacre case couldn't reach a verdict yesterday, leaving hanging the fate of two accused triple murderers. But five alternate jurors - relieved of...

DUO BUSTED IN STARBUCKS STICKUP SPREE

Two New York robbers had a taste for Starbucks, but it wasn't the Frappuccinos they were after, police said. Keston Keane, 21, of Brooklyn, and Harold Chesnut, 22, of The...

LINDH DENIED HOME COURT

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - American Taliban John Walker Lindh yesterday lost his bid to move his trial to Northern California, and got shot down on attempts to have his terror charges...

CONTROVERSIAL 'BIRTH CONTROL' BILL GETS OK

ALBANY - The state Legislature last night approved a "Women's Health Bill" that the Catholic Church says will force it to fund birth control for many of its employees. The...

MOB KIN GETS LIFE IN BAR SLAY

The namesake nephew of slain mob boss Carmine "Lilo" Galante was slapped with a sentence of 18 years to life yesterday for killing a college student who got too chatty...

MOUSSAOUI WOULD NOT FIGHT DEATH

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Accused "20th hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui - in court papers handwritten from his jail cell - says he won't fight the death penalty if he's convicted. His concession...

QUEENS SNORKELER DROWNS OFF L.I.

A Queens man who was snorkeling alone in Long Island Sound over the weekend was found dead, an apparent drowning victim. The body of Chiu Ming Cheung, 66, of 55-20...

NO TRACE OF FOUR SHARK HUNTERS

The U.S. Coast Guard is poring over the cell-phone records of one of four fishermen missing off the coast of Long Island to try to figure out where the group...

'ACCIDENTAL' BOMB HAVOC IN QUEENS

A Queens woman calmly walked into a police station house yesterday to turn in a bag of weapons under the city's amnesty program - and triggered a pipe-bomb scare that...

MOB KIN GETS JAIL FOR BAR STAB

The namesake nephew of slain mob boss Carmine "Lilo" Galante was slapped with an 18-years-to-life sentence yesterday for killing a college student who got too chatty with his girlfriend. Carmine...

LAURA RIPS WEST BANK WALL-BUILDING

JERUSALEM - First Lady Laura Bush, making a rare foray into foreign policy, sounded a tougher note than the White House yesterday when she criticized Israel's construction of a vast...

ISRAEL HALTS ATTACK BY 'AIDS' BOMBER

JERUSALEM - Israeli forces foiled an HIV-infected homicide bomber yesterday and killed a prominent West Bank terrorist, according to reports. The 16-year-old failed bomber was spotted in the West Bank...

CASTILLO'S HIT STREAK AT 31 AND COUNTING

THE most anticipated game at Shea of 2002 may not have come in the just-completed Subway Series when Roger Clemens finally batted. It could arrive July 16, which barring a...

WHO'LL RUN METS NEXT?

SOON Jeff Wilpon, who received raves for his work getting the Brooklyn Cyclones off the ground, will be running his father's Mets. The most important decision he'll have to make...

WOODS TRIES TO OUTDO JACK

Tiger Woods became the first player Sunday to win the Masters and U.S. Open in the same calendar year since Jack Nicklaus in 1972. He needs the British Open next...

HOJO SET TO BRING IN 'CLONES

Class A short-season minor league baseball is about as far away from the majors as you can get. Still, that's the expectation of everyone on the Mets' affiliate Brooklyn Cyclones...

JETER OK, SHOULD BE IN LINEUP

YANKEE NOTES DENVER - A second set of X-rays taken on Derek Jeter's left knee yesterday at Beth Israel Hospital revealed no structural damage and the Yankees expect to have...

BOSS MUM ON QUIET BATS; SAYS CASHMAN, TORRE SHOULD HAVE ANSWERS

DENVER - George Steinbrenner didn't see one pitch of the Subway Series because he was receiving an honorary doctorate from Ohio State. So when The Post asked The Boss yesterday...

KNICKS WANT LOOK AT KANSAS' GOODEN

The Knicks have one last wish before draft night - to work out Kansas' Drew Gooden in the unlikely event he slips to No. 7. That's the only player Knick...

THE SHOW MUST GO ON; AMAZIN'S HOPING TURNAROUND SPARKS HOLLYWOOD ENDING

Tim Robbins and Steve Phillips had a brief conversation early Sunday evening, the way famous people and important people often do. Robbins, best known for his movie roles as Nuke...

CHECKETTS EYES DEALS WITH YES

How ironic would it be if Dave Checketts lands the YES Network before James Dolan, the man who fired him as Garden president. The Post has learned that Checketts is...

IT'S WORSE THAN YOU THINK, MIKE

MET NOTES Upon further review, Mike Piazza's throwing numbers look even worse. Kevin Hines of the Elias Sports Bureau reported yesterday baserunners had stolen 51 straight bases off the Met...

WATCH OUT WORLD, U.S.A. HAS ARRIVED ; GERMANY NEXT FOR AMAZING AMERICANS

There is a new era dawning in world soccer, in which the traditional powers no longer just show up to collect fait accompli victories, and pedigree no longer measures prowess....

LIBERTY EYEING GARDEN GETAWAY

The Liberty have proven to be road warriors. Starting with tonight's game against Orlando, they have to begin to exert home-court dominance. Prior to the start of the season, the...

BARON: MAKE ME A KNICK

IF pressured by the authorities to reveal what I've learned over the last few moments/weeks/years, I'd cough up the following material: Baron Davis switched agents from Arn Tellem to Jerome...

REES: MUIRFIELD WILL BE PURR-FECT

Rees Jones, the renowned golf course architect nicknamed the "Open Doctor" for his stunning work on six U.S. Open courses, provided an accurate forecast of this past Open the day...

HE'LL WIN THE WHOLE SLAM THING

WHAT once seemed impossible appears inevitable. Tiger Woods is halfway to becoming the first man in 72 years to capture a calendar Grand Slam, having won the 2002 Masters and...