February 3, 2003

AOL TW GETS BIDS FOR SPORTS TEAMS

AOL Time Warner has been fielding offers for its professional sports teams, but it will likely have to include one of its media properties to complete a deal, The Post...

MUDDLING THE MIX: 25% OF WARNER MUSIC REVENUE COMES FROM DVDS

"Harry Potter" is helping Warner Music buck up its bottom line. Roughly a quarter of Warner Music Group's revenue - and likely most of its cash flow - comes from...

SHOW TIME FOR NEW CLUB

A new club dubbed SHOW is coming to Times Square. Club creators Joseph Vicari, Scott Alling, Armando Peri and Mike Papalardo bought the keys to nightclub Saci and took over...

GRAY MATTERS ; GARDEN'S A HOME

DAVID GRAY TEN years ago, toiling in obscurity at a storefront club on the Lower East Side called Cafe Sine, a younger David Gray sang in front of a sparse...

THIS GUY IS JUST SO CUTE, I HAD TO LIKE HIS SHOW

"A.U.S.A." Tomorrow night at 9:30 on WNBC/Ch. 4 1/2 IF you were a big fan of "Night Court," for sure you'll be a big fan of "A.U.S.A.," the new comedy...

WORKING OUT YOUR STYLE - HOT & NOT WHAT'S NEW AT YOUR LOCAL SWEAT SHOP

JANE Fonda's shiny spandex leotards are, mercifully, a thing of the past. Workout fashion can be just as fickle as the runway, and the sweat-monkey look circa 1985 has long...

OFF WITH HER HEAD! BRITISH SNOBS ARE FED UP WITH HER MADGESTY

IT looks like born-again Brit Mrs. Ritchie is falling out of love with London - and the feeling is mutual. Madonna, with kids and husband in tow, made a dash...

FEVERISH SEARCH FOR NEW PROGRAM IDEAS

THE explosion in "reality," "non- fiction" or "unscripted" programming - whatever you want to call it - is no passing fad. The huge ratings and watercooler conversation being generated by...

BRIBE' FIRM COULD SWAY ELECTION: POL

EXCLUSIVE A VETERAN state lawmaker is breaking the wall of silence about how bribery-linked Correctional Services Corp. delivered political favors to New York City Democrats. "They would help you demolish...

MIKE: AX MAY FALL ON 1,900 TEACHERS

EXCLUSIVE ALBANY - Mayor Bloomberg will bluntly warn state lawmakers this morning that he'll fire 1,900 teachers if Gov. Pataki's new budget plan is approved. Bloomberg - who'll deliver the...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A judge had to don rubber gloves in court after a defendant passed him a motion written on toilet paper. "They couldn't give you normal paper?" disgusted Judge James Daley,...

COLLECTORS SNAPPING UP COLUMBIS MEMORABILIA

Cold-hearted collectors were snapping up Columbia memorabilia ranging from old shuttle tiles to fabric mission patches on eBay yesterday. "Demand is strong," said one eBay seller from San Diego, who...

COP LETS PRISONER SLIP

A Brooklyn detective was suspended after he allowed a burglary suspect to escape, officials said yesterday. Detective Gregory Michaels was guarding the handcuffed prisoner when he disappeared at 6:30 p.m....

B'KLYN POLS: SAVE OUR FIREHOUSES

Political and community leaders yesterday urged Mayor Bloomberg not to shut down Brooklyn firehouses as he grapples with a massive budget gap. Councilwoman Diana Reyna (D-Bushwick) complained that five of...

'HOLE' LOTTA PRIDE IN REPAIRING ROADS

FILLING a New York City pothole is not such a difficult job. Clean out the hole, pour molten asphalt around the edge, shovel in a few loads of it, rake...

IRAQI LACKEY RIPS COLIN'S 'FAKE' PIX

WASHINGTON - Iraqi leaders yesterday charged yesterday that Secretary of State Colin Powell will present bogus evidence to the United Nations during his speech Wednesday. That material will probably be...

GIS NEED NOT APPLY: TOP CITY LANDLORD BANS THE MILITARY

EXCLUSIVE Uncle Sam wants them, but a swanky Manhattan apartment group has no room for the country's military personnel and reserves. Prospective tenants at 13 luxury apartment buildings owned by...

COPS PROBE CURIOUS DEATHS OF L.I. COUPLE

An autopsy set for today could shed light on the mysterious deaths of a Long Island couple whose bodies were found on their dining-room floor over the weekend. Suffolk police...

MAN HELD IN BANK-ROB SPREE

Cops have busted a homeless man wanted in a string of at least 13 bank robberies in Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey that netted tens of thousands of dollars, authorities...

'METER READER' ROBBER RIPS OFF 380G IN BRONX

A brazen robber disguised as a Con Edison meter reader talked his way behind the counter of a Bronx check-cashing store, pulled a gun and walked out with $380,000, police...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

* --- BROOKLYN --- A Mexican immigrant was shot to death yesterday, and cops were searching for another immigrant from his hometown in the killing. Teodoro Castelan, 51, walked into...

LIZZIE HIRES TWO EX- JAILMATES

Lizzie Grubman is giving two ex-inmates she met in jail a leg up on rehabilitation - hiring them to work at her Manhattan p.r. firm. The spin princess yesterday confirmed...

B'KLYN NABE MOURNS SLAIN STORE OWNER

The murder of a clothing-shop owner and landlord known for his generosity and community activism left a Brooklyn neighborhood reeling yesterday. "This is very bad. Nobody believes it. We're trying...

GROUNDHOGS ERASE SHADOW OF DOUBT ABOUT COLD WINTER

From western Pennsylvania to eastern Queens, all manner of rodents yesterday declared what most of us already feel in our bones: It's going to be a long winter. Punxsutawney Phil,...

CRUEL IRONY OF DOOMED CAPTAIN'S SALUTE TO CHALLENGER

Doomed shuttle commander Rick Husband eerily spoke of the 1986 Challenger astronauts and how they had inspired his crew - just four days before the Columbia went down in flames....

DINGHY OF DEATH: FOUR LOST TEENS USED A BOAT BUILT FOR TWO

The 7-foot dinghy found capsized in Long Island Sound - which cops believe four missing teens used for their ill-fated jaunt from City Island - was too small to hold...

GROCER SHOT DEAD IN QUEENS STICKUP

A well-liked Queens grocer died last night after he was shot in the head struggling with three men robbing the store he and his brother owned, cops and friends said...

GHOULS SWIPE SPACE DEBRIS: HEARTLESS LOOTERS FRUSTRATE NASA'S GRIM HUNT IN TEXAS

Heartless ghouls have grabbed debris from the shuttle Columbia - in some cases doing so as soon as it crashed to Earth. As a result, NASA issued a stern warning...

FAKE GUN GETS MAN SHOT FOR REAL

A detective shot and wounded a man in Brooklyn last night during a "buy and bust" drug sting after the man pointed a real-looking fake gun at the officer, cops...

LEADER OF THE PACK: THINK TEAM PROPOSES RIGHT KIND OF REBUILDING

The destined hour for Ground Zero is at hand. This week we will likely know which design proposal, or proposals, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. has chosen for the site....

STATE AND FEDERAL LOOPHOLES ALLOW JOB BIAS VS. TENANTS

New York City civil rights laws prohibit discrimination against tenants based on their occupations - but federal and New York state laws don't. "It's a gaping hole in the federal...

HEAT SURGED IN FINAL MINUTES: NEW INFO POINTS TO TILE DAMAGE

In the minutes before it blew apart on its descent to Earth, space shuttle Columbia's fuselage experienced a sudden spike in temperature, followed by increased drag on its left side,...

STATE TAX AMNESTY SNARES $150 MILLION

ALBANY - Tax deadbeats have agreed to pony up more than $150 million under a state amnesty program that ended Friday, The Post has learned. After all the money is...

POLS $EEK A BOOST FOR NASA

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers jumped to NASA's defense yesterday, with one key moderate Democrat saying President Bush's economic stimulus plan might better be used to buy a new shuttle. Although critics...

THE STARKEEPERS : SPACE STATION TRIO BACK TO WORK

The three astronauts aboard the International Space Station are grieving the loss of their colleagues in the Columbia catastrophe - but are not worried about their own re-entry into the...

SCORES OF EXPERIMENTS LOST

Scientists fear that priceless data and results from scores of experiments conducted by members of Columbia's crew will be lost forever. During the doomed shuttle's 16-day mission, more than 80...

DISASTER CASTS GRIM SHADOW OVER TWIN ASTRONAUTS' N.J. FAMILY

Patricia and Richard Kelly had a particularly emotional experience watching Saturday's fatal crash of the shuttle Columbia - their twin astronaut sons are slated for future shuttle missions. The retired...

ISRAELI HERO'S TOT HAD FORECAST OF HIS FATE

Five-year-old Noa said she knew her hero father, Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, wasn't coming home the day he blasted off into space. 'I lost my daddy," she told her mother,...

SPACE PIONEERS' COURAGE BEYOND WORDS

IT WAS as if somehow St. Patrick's Cathedral put its majesty on hold to honor the day after. Perhaps it was my imagination, perhaps it was a huge congregation swathed...

AMERICANS HONOR CREW IN PRAYERS

In churches and at memorial services across America and around the globe yesterday, people prayed for the astronauts killed in the Columbia disaster. From war-ravaged Afghanistan to the shuttle's home...

BODIES OF ALL SEVEN TRAGIC FLIERS ARE FOUND

Remains of all seven Columbia space shuttle astronauts were found yesterday amid a debris field covering more than 500 square miles of Texas and Louisiana. "We found remains from all...

WAIT 'TIL NEXT YEAR ; KNICKS GOIN' NOWHERE EXCEPT ANOTHER LOTTERY

WHEN the Knicks face the lowly Clippers at the Garden tomorrow, they can rack up their 21st win of the season. Last season's group didn't notch their 21st victory until...

HE'S ALL THE RAGE! WHY THE UPROAR? LEBRON'S THE PERFECT PRODUCT

FORTY bucks for a seat 30 rows back down the right-field line, soda's $5.50 a cup, the punks in front of you are there to curse out the visitors and...

SITTING WEARS ON CHILDS

NET NOTES On the surface - and more importantly in the Nets' locker room - there could be a possible problem with Chris Childs. The reserve point guard admits he...

HALL SLAYS KNIGHTS

Seton Hall 58Rutgers 53 Just two minutes into the second half, Rutgers was up 13 points on Seton Hall. In other words, the Pirates had the Scarlet Knights right where...

NETS GET IT AT K-MART

To hear Kenyon Martin explain it, rebounding is laughably simple and basic. He has followed a virtual primer for rebounding. "See shots miss. Miss, shots, miss. See Kenyon go get...

STORM REIGN ON MIAMI; INGRAM'S 3S PUMMEL 'CANES DOWN STRETCH TO CARRY ST. JOHN'S

St. John's 77Miami 74 In the time it takes an Elijah Ingram ceiling-scraping 3 to complete its arc, you can run to the concession stand in the Garden, purchase a...

BAFFERT SET TO COME UP ROSES WITH VINDICATION

Once upon a time, Vindication - the early favorite for this year's Kentucky Derby on May 3 - would have been the most talked-about colt on the planet. Unbeaten in...

MANHATTAN CLIPPER? ; OLOWOKANDI WILL BE SUMMER TARGET

KNICK NOTES Michael Olowokandi's numbers are no better than Kurt Thomas', but that won't stop the Knicks from trying to woo the Clippers' pending free-agent center starting July 1. It...

WEST STARS BEAT HEATLEY : SHOOTOUT, MVP SHINE IN GREAT SHOW

OT, SHOOTOUT West 6 East 5 SUNRISE, Fla. - Every sport should be so fortunate to have an All-Star Game as entertaining as the one staged here yesterday afternoon by...

ISLES SEE WHAT MIGHT'VE BEEN

SUNRISE, Fla. - So let's just say the Islanders looked at the future in yesterday's All-Star Game but saw nothing but the past. Dany Heatley, the outstanding 22-year-old Thrasher who...

TAFT GETS HELP; CLIPPERS ROLL

H.S. HOOPSXaverian 72Molloy 61 Xaverian's Chris Taft looked to the ceiling and let out a yell. After three quarters of frustration, the emotions finally could come out. And by the...

L.I.'S WELSH DRAFTED TO JUICE POWER

Former Penn State soccer standout Christie Welsh is coming home. The Massapequa Park native was taken by the Power with the second pick in yesterday's WUSA draft. "Part of me...

NO EASY PICKIN'S IN RACING CONTEST

NEW HAVEN - It was a "close but no cigar" afternoon yesterday at Connecticut OTB's Sports Haven, the second and final day of the annual $100,000 "Handicapping Challenge." Despite watching...