April 11, 2003

DIVAS IN DIAPERS ; RALPH LAUREN STORE TARGETS WELL-HEELED TODDLERS

Looking for the perfect gift for that two-year-old in your life? Try a pair of vintage, hand-tooled leather cowboy boots in rainbow colors ($200-$250), part of a one-of-a-kind collection to...

WAL-MART EYEING BJ'S

Wal-Mart Stores, which already owns No. 2 warehouse retailer Sam's Club, is considering buying the No. 3, BJ's Wholesale Club, for $1.4 billion. A report in today's Daily Deal says...

LORELLO'S LIEUTENANT STEPS DOWN AT UBS

William McGahan, the co-head of healthcare banking at UBS Warburg and Benjamin Lorello's top lieutenant, resigned yesterday, people close to the situation said. McGahan's resignation comes at a time when...

CARLYLE NEAR $1B DEAL FOR PARTS FIRM

Washington D.C.-based Carlyle Group is in advanced talks to snap up UIS Inc., a Jersey City-based auto parts maker, for close to $1 billion, sources familiar with the situation told...

VIVENDI GOOFED ON MESSIER SALES

Vivendi backtracked yesterday from earlier claims that former CEO Jean-Marie Messier failed to publicly disclose stock sales in early 2002, before he was ousted by the board of directors. Instead,...

HOLLYWOOD CELEBS, PUBLISHING BIGS ON RADAR'S SCREEN

RADAR - the long- awaited new magazine from Maer Roshan - is coming out of the box swinging at celebs in Hollywood and the media world. In the debut issue...

HILL SQUARE-OFF: TAUZIN TO QUERY DONALDSON ON SEC ACTIONS

Congressional prober Billy "Swamp Fox" Tauzin wants to test how far he can go with the new kid on the block - SEC chief Bill Donaldson. The 71-year-old Donaldson -...

BAPTISTS LOOK FOR G-RATED OPERATOR

The Salisbury Hotel will likely become a "family-friendly" hotel, because the church that owns the structure didn't want to sell to anyone who would allow alcohol or x-rated in-room movies....

LOWE BLOW; ROB'S NOT A PRETTY PICTURE IN 'FRAMED'

"Framed" Sunday night at 8 on TNT I THINK I need to change jobs. Newspapers are great - but it's time I dipped my beak and got in on the...

MUSICAL REVIVED TO THE NINES

NINE Roundabout Theater Company at the Eugene O'Neill Theater, 230 W. 49th St.; (212) 239-6200. THE 1982 musical "Nine" was from the beginning a brilliantly flawed success. Then came Antonio...

ONE BIG STUFFED 'HERO'

BD+>THE HERO Bolly good, lads.In Hindi, with English subtitles. Running time: 185 minutes. Not rated (violence). At the Loews State, Times Square (a very hospitable, but underused, theater). IF you've...

TEDIOUS 'XX/XY' BRINGS ON THE ZZZZZS

XX/XY Boy meets girl times two.Running time: 91 minutes. Rated R (sexuality, language and brief drug use). At the Sunshine Cinema, Houston Street, between First and Second avenues. WRITER-DIRECTOR Austin...

TITANIC: DOWN TO THE SEA IN 3-D

GHOSTS OF THE ABYSS 1/2 Most see- worthy.Running time: 60 minutes. Rated G (nothing objectionable). At the Lincoln Square IMAX, Broadway and 68th Street. OBSESSIVE may be too mild a...

'HITLER' HEAVE-HO

THE producer of the CBS Hitler miniseries has been canned - for comparing the U.S. attitude toward war in Iraq to Hitler's rise to power. Canadian producer Ed Gernon was...

BILLION-DOLLAR MONKEYSHINES

DETAILS are emerging about a new game show with an astonishing $1 billion gtrand prize - which will be drawn by a chattering monkey. The special, "Play for a Billion"...

WANTON SOUP

BETTER LUCK TOMORROW Bracing and stylish thriller.Running time: 101 minutes. Rated R (violence, drugs, profanity, sex). At the Empire, the Chelsea and the Angelika. 'BETTER Luck Tomorrow," Justin Lin's auspicious...

THE STARR REPORT

Food Network to Sally Jessy: 'Lighten Up!' Sally Jessy Raphael, who's kept a low profile since her show went off the air, will reappear on "Lighten Up!," the new Food...

A BLEAK PEEK

THE YOUNG UNKNOWNS L.A. inconsequential. Running time: 87 minutes. Not rated (sexuality, drug use, language). At the Cinema Village, 12th Street between University Place and Fifth Avenue. N'THE Young Unknowns"...

WATER OVER THE 'BRIDGE'

MARION BRIDGE Canadian sunset. Running time: 90 minutes. Not rated (profanity). At the Quad, 13th Street east of Sixth Avenue. WIEBKE von Carolsfeld's "Marion Bridge" is an earnest if dreary...

COMIC SPLIT

THWAK At the New Victory, 209 W. 42 St. Through April 27. Call Telecharge (212) 239-6200. A pair of physical comedians from Australia, the Umbilical Brothers cavort merrily in "Thwak"...

PORTER IN N.Y. STATE OF MIND

THE NEW YORKERS At the 14th Street YMHA, 344 E. 14th St. Call SmartTix, (212) 206-1515. Through April 20. AS presented by Musicals Tonight, a downtown, seat-of-the-pants version of Encores!,...

CRITICS 'BOUNCE' BACK ; SONDHEIM AND PALS' PRESS PLOY WON'T PLAY

ARE Stephen Sondheim, John Weidman and Harold Prince afraid of New York critics? The three Broadway bigwigs are trying to keep the national theater press away from their new musical,...

ADAM AND EVIL: 'ANGER' DOESN'T SHRINK FROM TRYING ANYTHING FOR A LAUGH

ANGER MANAGEMENT ½ Sandler's best since "The Wedding Singer." Running time: 103 minutes. Rated PG-13 (crude sexual humor, moderate profanity, some violence). At the Astor Plaza, the Chelsea, the Union...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * A 19-month-old girl died after being assaulted by a man in a Bushwick apartment, police said yesterday. According to cops, Travis Johnson, 24, and little Nzingha McDonald last...

GUILTY PLEA IN 300G THEFT

A Catholic-school bookkeeper accused of stealing $330,000 from St. Agatha's School in Brooklyn pleaded guilty to fourth-degree larceny yesterday. Winifred Duffy, 51, entered the plea before Judge Neil Firetog at...

DRUG-THUG 'OCCUPIERS' NAILED IN $3M RACKET

Thirty-eight suspected members of a drug gang that virtually took over four apartment buildings were arrested yesterday in the latest blow against narcotics during a massive yearlong NYPD operation in...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

It's nuns on the run. Italian cops say four nuns, driving a Citroen near the northern city of Bergamo, ignored a stop sign and plowed into a Mercedes driven by...

NEW YORK SUPPORT GROWS: POLL

New Yorkers are warming up to the war in Iraq, but are evenly split over the job President Bush is doing, a new poll said. Half of the city residents...

COPS LINK 'SHOOTER' TO HEISTS

The suspected triggerman in a brazen February shooting on a Bronx street corner is now being eyed as the mastermind behind a series of bold bank robberies, cops said yesterday....

SEPT. 11 DEATH $CAMS BARED

Prosecutors charged nearly three dozen greedy ghouls yesterday with trying to scam money meant for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks - including a group of people who tried to...

BANKS CASH IN ON ATMS

Banks are racking up billions of dollars in profits partly by "nickel and diming" customers through excessive ATM charges and confusing debit card fees, a consumer group claimed yesterday. Profits...

RIVAL IMAMS SLAIN - SHIITE MOB CHOPS UP PRO- AND ANTI-SADDAM CLERICS

A mob in An Najaf, Iraq, hacked to death two Islamic clerics - one a supporter of Saddam Hussein, the other an advocate of welcoming U.S. and British troops -...

TEEN 'PIMP' IS ARRESTED

An 18-year-old Riverside Drive man allegedly tried to turn himself into the city's newest pimp with the help of a pair of underage Florida girls he recruited to turn tricks,...

QUIET COP GAINED WISEGUYS' TRUST

Linked to mob."Big Frankie," the undercover detective who infiltrated the mob for nearly three years, became so well liked that a Genovese heavy began calling him his "cousin" and put...

PLAYBOY ENDS LEGAL BATTLE OF THE 'SEX'ES

"Judge Julie" of Playboy TV's "Sex Court" has survived a close call with a real-life federal jury. Lawyers for Playboy Enterprises settled a legal battle yesterday that would likely have...

10,000 PATRIOTS RALLY 'ROUND THE FLAG AT GROUND ZERO

New York's labor unions stood front and center yesterday to lend their voices in support of U.S. troops with a noontime rally at Ground Zero. The supporters, about 10,000 of...

ARTLESS GOV PALS ON GROUND ZERO PANEL

A former top aide to Gov. Pataki and a contributor to the governor's re-election campaign were appointed yesterday to the panel that will choose a design for a Ground Zero...

DNA NAILS 'RAPIST-KILLER'

A confidential informant for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office is now a suspect in a Harlem rape and a Washington Heights killing, The Post has learned. Sources said Angel Rivera,...

GOING FOR A $LAM DUNK - EX SUES FORMER NET FOR $2M

A Manhattan woman is calling for a $2 million personal foul on former Net and Archbishop Molloy high-school star Kenny Anderson, claiming in court papers the basketball player "physically and...

EATERIES GET FRENCH-FRIED

They came to whine, not dine. Top French chefs and restaurateurs gathered at Le Cirque in Manhattan yesterday to speak out against what they call a boycott of the city's...

MIKE PAINTS EVEN 'SCARIER' PICTURE

Things are going to get "very scary" if Albany stiffs the city and $1 billion in contingency service cuts have to be enacted, Mayor Bloomberg warned yesterday. "If we do...

POLS URGE $LAP AT SYRIA

WASHINGTON - There's a growing desire in Congress to punish Syria with stiff trade sanctions for helping to arm Saddam Hussein during the war, two lawmakers said yesterday. "The United...

TOMMY LEE'S 'SERVE' FALLS SHORT IN COURT

MALIBU, Calif. - In the five years since rocker Tommy Lee pleaded no contest to battering his wife, the former Motley Crue drummer has completed just half his court-ordered community...

THE MAN TO TRUST ON IRAQ'S FUTURE

PAUL Wolfowitz was right about Iraq - and a lot of people owe the deputy defense secretary a great big fat apology. Especially a lot of State Department people. He...

CHUCK 'LIENS' ON DIPLO CHEATS

The bucks stop here! Sen. Chuck Schumer is pushing to cut foreign aid to countries that don't pay their New York taxes. "If New Yorkers ignore their property-tax bills, the...

STRIKE CHAOS LOOMS ; DOORWAY TO DISASTER; APT. UNION SET TO WALK ON EASTER

They're leaving the door open to a deal being hammered out before their contract expires at midnight on Easter - but the city's doormen say they're also bracing for a...

BUSH AIRS TV PITCH TO IRAQI CIVILIANS

WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday spoke directly to Iraqis in a TV speech that launches a new coalition-run Iraqi TV network and told them that their nation will soon be...

ALARM AT NUCLEAR BONANZA

Radiation detectors went "off the charts" at an abandoned Iraqi nuclear complex yesterday after U.S. Marines came across a cache of material they suspected was weapons-grade plutonium. But experts in...

DROPOUT FIASCO - ONLY 48% OF CITY'S 2002 HS CLASS GOT DIPLOMAS

Dozens of city high schools are teenage wastelands, new graduation and dropout figures released yesterday show. Only 48 percent of the class of 2002 - which includes all students who...

U.N. STOOGE IN DIPLO LIMBO

His boss has disappeared, his country is under new ownership and his job status is deeply uncertain. So Mohammed Al-Douri, the Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations, went solo yesterday....

'SLAYING' NOW RULED SUICIDE

Police on Long Island say what they initially thought was a murder last week - in which a woman was found shot in the head in a flaming car -...

SCHOOL'S BLUNDER SPURS KIDNAP SCARE

A Long Island mom said her worst nightmare almost came true when her 10-year-old daughter was ordered to leave school with a stranger - despite the fact that the girl...

HOT GRUB VICTIM OF COLD CUTS

Hot breakfasts could soon be off the menu for patients in municipal hospitals if threatened budget cuts go through. Instead, a "continental breakfast" - perhaps something as simple as coffee...

BREAK FOR KILLER MOM

A judge yesterday found that a 20-year-old mother of three who shook her infant daughter to death has been abusive toward her two older daughters - but left open the...

DEVILS CAN'T AFFORD SPLIT

They have incentive enough. Tonight, the Devils can grab the 2-0 series lead that has never failed them, always leading to happy handshakes. "It means Boston would have to win...

FIREMAN'S SON BUSTED IN DESECRATION

The 21-year-old son of a city firefighter was arrested in Brooklyn yesterday for spray-painting a Catholic Church with a slew of sickening sexual images, swastikas and obscenities on a Jewish...

BAGHDAD NOTEBOOK

Here's a small bit of proof that the Iraqi people are enjoying their freedom. MSNBC reported yesterday that a new mom and dad in the new Baghdad have named their...

IT'S MALICE IN PLUNDER LAND - LOOTERS CARRY OFF CASH, BOOZE AND EVEN HORSES

Looting reigned in Baghdad yesterday as Iraqis ransacked the lavish homes of their former leaders - swiping paintings from ex-Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and wine, guns and pictures of...

WOMAN WAS SLAIN FOR HER APT.

The search for a 21-year- old sales clerk who vanished without a trace three years ago ended when an accused contract killer told cops she had been murdered to get...

BUTCHER'S BOAT: THAR SHE BLOWS - U.S. BOMBS MAKE $50M YACHT A FLOATING RUIN

Holy ship! Saddam's $50 million yacht is a goner. In keeping with the U.S. policy of targeting symbols of the evil regime, Navy pilots pounded the maritime presidential palace with...

BUTCHER'S BROTHER BOMBED NEAR BAGHDAD

WASHINGTON - Allied bombers last night went after Saddam Hussein's half-brother - pulverizing an intelligence compound near Baghdad that had been under surveillance for days. Intelligence officials told The Post...

'U.S. TERRORISTS' BEHIND MAILED ANTHRAX: REPORT

The anthrax powder used in the 2001 mail attacks has been reproduced by the Army, which found it was made simply, inexpensively and with limited expertise, it was reported today....

TEEN IN SEX-SLAVE DUNGEON HORROR

In a creepy kidnapping out of "The Silence of the Lambs," an upstate man abducted a 16-year-old girl and held her captive for months, chained to a wall in an...

KIRKUK CONQUERED - KURDS SEIZE OIL CITY AS U.S. STEPS UP NORTHERN PUSH

WASHINGTON - Kurdish forces liberated Kirkuk in northern Iraq yesterday - but later agreed to give up control of the critical oil center to U.S. forces because of diplomatic sensitivities...

SEPT. 11 DEATH $CAM BARED

Prosecutors charged nearly three dozen greedy ghouls yesterday with trying to scam money meant for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks - including a group of people who tried to...

ISRAEL TO PALESTINIANS: TAKE LESSON FROM IRAQ

JERUSALEM - Israel said yesterday the looming defeat of Iraq should send a message to the Palestinians that they've lost a supporter in Saddam Hussein - and it's time to...

KIRKUK CONQUERED : KURDS SEIZE OIL CITY AS U.S. STEPS UP NORTHERN PUSH

WASHINGTON - Kurdish forces liberated Kirkuk in northern Iraq yesterday - but later agreed to give up control of the critical oil center to U.S. forces because of diplomatic sensitivities...

LAST SUPPER FOR LESPINASSE

The economic downturn in New York's restaurant industry has claimed its highest-profile victim: Lespinasse, one of the city's highest-rated restaurants will be closing its doors a week from tomorrow. "We're...

LEBRON, CARMELO - 1 AND 1A ; TWO JACKPOTS ATOP NBA'S DRAFT LOTTERY

HERE'S a question for you: If you were lucky enough to win the NBA lottery on May 22, would you still take LeBron James without thinking twice? Here's what the...

MOTHER NATURE HOLDS KEY

JUST when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, Mother Nature had other ideas. Flounder fishing was definitely on an up turn last weekend with good...

BRUINS AREN'T READY TO HIT PANIC BUTTON

DEVILS NOTES Expect Boston to try again with what wasn't enough Wednesday. They simply plan on being better Bruins tonight. Expect Steve Shields to be back in Boston's net for...

EX-MCCLANCY STAR SEES HOOP PLANS TAKE BIG-TIME HIT

HS NOTES Wesley Matthews became an offensive force in the CHSAA a year ago, when he was the top-scoring junior in the league. He had big plans for his senior...

TRADITION TRUMPS WEATHER

AUGUSTA - With wet conditions prevailing, there were questions yesterday about whether Masters officials would break from staunch tradition and allow players to play "lift, clean and place" in the...

HERE LIES JOHN ; STERLING'S CREDIBILITY RESTS IN PIECES

JOHN Sterling continues to stain the fundamental good-faith principles of his profession. He continues to tell the worst lies that a play-by-play man can tell - radio lies, the kind...

BEEM BATTLES BAD STARTS

AUGUSTA - When we last saw Rich Beem, he was dancing a jig on the 18th green at Hazeltine after outlasting Tiger Woods to win his first major, the 2002...

FRANKEL WARY OF OFF TRACK

Three years ago, Fusaichi Pegasus - a handsome, lightly raced 3-year-old from California with a Hall-of-Fame trainer, world-class pedigree and world of potential - shipped to Aqueduct for the Wood...

CH. 5 VET MCDONALD LANDS AT NY1

Long-time former Fox 5 sportscaster Tom McDonald is headed to NY1 to host its late-night talk show and do updates, officials confirmed yesterday. McDonald will start April 28 by hosting...

LONG DAY WON'T FAZE ZAHRINGER

NOTEBOOK AUGUSTA - Bring it on. That was the attitude of Manhattan's George Zahringer after yesterday's Masters first round was postponed, leaving him and the rest of the field to...

MUDDIED MASTERS ; RAIN FORCES 36-HOLE CHALLENGE TODAY

AUGUSTA - The curse of Martha Burk engulfed Augusta National yesterday and foiled the Masters with a fourth consecutive day of torrential rain. The rain washed out the first round,...

SIMON TAKES OVER AS LOU'S NEW BOSS

They do their big things quietly, these Devils. The first notices of their new chairman, listed above even Lou Lamoriello, come in their game program and playoff guide. J. Peter...

NO BULL, JORDAN'S FUTURE UP IN AIR

UNLESS WNBA union rep David Stern sees fit to extend the regular season to 96 games or jack up the number of playoff participants to two dozen, five days from...

GODARD DRAWS BAN

OTTAWA - The bottom line is you have to be responsible for your stick. So even if Eric Godard had his skates hooked out from under him by Chris Neil...

NO RELIEF FOR ARMANDO ; FISH FLIP METS WITH TWO IN 9TH

Marlins 4 Mets 3 MIAMI - Armando Benitez put his arms out and looked skyward as he began walking toward the dugout in defeat. The winning run had just come...

YANKS AS GREAT AS '98: TORRE: WE 'COULD BE' BETTER THAN 114-WIN TEAM

DAVID WELLS had the Twins, a matinee start and perfect-game stuff yesterday. Though he was not able to fully recapture the magic from 1998, more and more it feels his...

WELLS TURNS PAGE : FANS CHEER BOOMER AS HE AUTHORS GEM

Yankees 2 Twins 0 For the fans, if there was to be any nastiness directed at David Wells for turning spring training into a Book of the Month Club gathering...

GODZILLA GETS IN THE SWING: 2-RUN DOUBLE GAME-WINNER

A three-time home run champion in Japan, Hideki Matsui's towering shots earned him the nickname Godzilla as far back as his high school days. But every day here, the Yankees'...

YANKEES CONTINUE MASTERY OF TWINS

YANKEE NOTES The end of the three-game series could not have come any sooner for the Twins, who yesterday did what's expected of them when they face the Yankees. The...

NO RELIEF FOR ARMANDO: FISH FLIP METS WITH TWO IN 9TH

Marlins 4 Mets 3 MIAMI - Armando Benitez put his arms out and looked skyward as he walked toward the dugout in defeat. The winning run had just come roaring...

SLEEPING BATS FLUSTER FLOYD

"I don't think we're struggling as a whole. I think the middle of the lineup is struggling." CLIFF FLOYD MIAMI - Cliff Floyd had just finished a postgame television interview,...

NEW BRAVE REYNOLDS THOUGHT HE WAS MET

MET NOTES MIAMI - Shane Reynolds thought he had a deal with the Mets, but he ended up with their bitter rivals instead. Reynolds, a free-agent right-hander released by Houston,...

SCOTT: KIDD RIGHT TO TEAR INTO MATES

CHICAGO - Jason Kidd spoke. So, the Nets listened. Or should have. After all, Kidd was right. "He hit it right on the head," Byron Scott said of Kidd's public...

KNICKS NOW KNOW THE END IS HERE

For the first time this season, the Knicks showed up to practice knowing what many people had long suspected. They had no shot at making the playoffs. "It feels kind...

MARCHAND'S MATCHUP OF THE WEEK: TBS' SKIP CARAY VS. TBS' DON SUTTON

TBS' Skip Caray vs. TBS' Don Sutton (Who has a better national style?) Hearing "weeee" when children play on swings is cute. Hearing "we" when flipping past the Women's Entertainment...

5 QUESTIONS FOR CHARLEY STEINER

This week, The Post's Andrew Marchand spoke with Yankee radio play-by-player Charley Steiner. The 53-year-old Steiner is in his 35th year as a broadcaster, and his second with the Yankees....

THE WHOLE BLEEPIN' STORY: BONNIE TIPPED ROY 'THE' QUESTION WAS COMING

Before the now-infamous "One Bleeping Moment" interview after Monday's NCAA title game, CBS' Bonnie Bernstein warned Kansas coach Roy Williams that she would ask about his interest in the job...

THE BANNED PLAYED ON: AUGUSTA BOOTED CBS' GARY MCCORD YEARS AGO ... HE HAS LOTS TO SAY ABOUT THE MASTERS ANYWAY

What's the first word CBS' Gary McCord thinks of when the Masters is brought up? "Exile." How about NOW president Martha Burk? "Exile." Hootie Johnson, the Augusta chairman? "I have...