May 6, 2003

TVT ON THE ROPES - RECORD CO. SKIPS ON LOAN, CAN'T FIND BUYER

The finances of the nation's biggest indie music label appear to be in disarray - suggesting the company may have trouble finding the buyer it's hoping for. Privately held TVT...

STREET LAYOFFS HIT NEW RECORD

Wall Street firms' bloodletting has killed more jobs in the last two years than any other comparable period in history. According to a report by the Securities Industry Association, 80,400...

TED'S TURNOVER - DUMPS HALF HIS AOL STAKE AT HUGE LOSS

Ted Turner is going the way of the buffalo. The colorful 64-year-old legend is cashing out half of his stake in AOL Time Warner - after losing $9.4 billion on...

GOLDMAN STUCK WITH N.J. BURDEN

DOES Goldman Sachs have a 42-story white elephant on its hands in Jersey City? Sources who accurately predicted the firm's reversal of its plan to move equity traders there from...

SPIEGEL CUTS 635 IN CH. 11

Catalog retailer Spiegel Inc., which is operating under bankruptcy protection, said yesterday that it would fire 635 employees, as part of an ongoing process to cut costs. The company, which...

AIRLINES LOSE $10B TO SARS THIS YEAR

The plague-like SARS, which spreads fast in closed quarters, is taking a bigger toll on air travel than the Iraqi war. The airline industry said yesterday it expects to lose...

PFIZER N.Y. MOVE TO YIELD CITY $1B

In the largest local expansion project announced in the last two years, drug giant Pfizer said yesterday it will pump $1 billion into the city economy by adding thousands of...

DOW JONES GETS COZIER WITH WASHINGTON POST

Dow Jones and The Washington Post Co. are in talks about expanding their alliance, The Post has learned. The growing relationship has fueled speculation within Dow Jones that The Washington...

DOW JONES GETS EVEN COZIER WITH WASHINGTON POST

Dow Jones and The Washington Post are in talks about expanding their alliance, The Post has learned. The growing relationship has fueled speculation within Dow Jones that The Washington Post...

'INCOME' FINAGLING MAY AFFECT FED'S RATE CALL

THE only bright spot in the economy these days is personal income, which the government recently said rose 0.4 percent in March and 0.2 percent the month before. But Washington...

COMIC RELIEF

VICTORY BEGINS AT HOME [] Virginia Theatre, 245 W. 52nd St., (212) 239-6200. ---- WHENEVER I watched Bill Maher's "Politically Incorrect," which I occasionally did only because it came after...

NEW HIATT: TRY IT

* JOHN HIATT & THE GONERS "Beneath This Gruff Exterior" [] New West Records Most couldn't pick John Hiatt out of a lineup if he was colored as blue as...

'HAIRSPRAY' TAKES HOLD OF FIVE AWARDS

BERNADETTE Peters' discovery of her inner Rose apparently came too late for the Outer Critics Circle, which snubbed "Gypsy" and its director yesterday in favor of "Nine" and "Hairspray." The...

A DREAMY 'MIDSUMMER'

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM At the New Victory Theater, 209 W. 42nd St. Through May 18. Call Telecharge (212) 239-6200. ---- THE New Victory, that theater for wonder- mad children...

FULLER HERSELF ON E! SERIES

CABLE'S E! Entertainment channel is apparently developing a new "Osbournes"-style reality show starring the editors of the celebrity magazine US Weekly. The project, which has been on-again, off-again for months,...

THE SOUND & THE FURY - NEW STUDY SAYS VIOLENT MUSIC FUELS THE SAVAGE BEAST

TIPPER Gore was right - nasty music can mess with a kid's head. So say psychologists who studied the effect that violent lyrics can have on thoughts and feelings. Male...

WHEN GAMBLING'S RISKY BUSINESS

GAMBLING can cause problems for the least likely people - or so it seems, with Washington Monthly's report that "Book of Virtues" author William Bennett lost $8 million playing slot...

BOOT CAMP 25BC

"Warrior Challenge" [ ] Tonight and May 13, 20, 27 at 9 p.m. on Ch. 13 ------ IF you can't stand watch ing one more bartender brave the the wilds...

OH SO GOOD: WELL-RESPECTED MEN ABOUT TOWN

WITH the Kinks' Dave Davies and Sky Saxon and the Seeds in town, this is the week to discover where today's young rockers got their inspiration.TONIGHT: In the late '60s,...

JESSE COUNTED OUT?

A new MSNBC cable talk show starring former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is in a sleeper-hold before it even hits the air. The show was reportedly "on ice" yesterday according...

MONICA STAYING UP LATE

MONICA Lewinsky will be the co- host of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" next week for three nights. Producers have long been trying to land Lewinsky for Kimmel's late night show, sources...

PLAY IT AGAIN - 'X2' SHOWS HOLLYWOOD'S BROKEN THE CURSE OF THE SEQUEL

STEVEN Soderbergh once described the making of sequels as "a whore's game" - but then he signed on to direct "Ocean's Twelve." With "X2: X-Men United" taking in $85.5 million...

GEHRY NICE

MUCH ado has been made about the DIA's new outpost in Beacon, N.Y., but another triumph for the Dutchess County arts scene debuted last week without the benefit of a...

DO THE RATE THING

NEW Yorkers never pay retail - unless, that is, we're going on the vacation a lifetime. For those other times - if we have to get to a wedding or...

CRIPPLED AL QAEDA A SHELL OF ITSELF: TERROR EXPERT

Al Qaeda's failure to launch a terrorist attack during the war with Iraq has made U.S. intelligence officials optimistic that the terror organization is nearly crippled, it was reported today....

POTHOLE PATROL PLUGS 17,000

The city has filled nearly 17,000 potholes during its recent 10-day blitz to cover up the craters - exceeding its minimum goal of 12,000, officials said yesterday. The Department of...

A CHANCE TO LAUGH

LET's take a break from war, politics, terrorism and the neoconservative conspiracy for a little while so that I can tell you about something fun for a change. You've probably...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Honus the dog knows what it's like to be the United States vice president - the 2-year-old pooch has had a $30,000 defibrillator installed, just like the one that regulates...

SHATNER VOTED LEAST FAB-ULOUS

William Shatner's embarrassing version of "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" has been voted the worst Beatles cover of all time. The actor - best-known as Captain Kirk on "Star...

ANGRY STRAPHANGERS GIVE THEIR 2 CENTS ON $2 RIDE

Angry straphangers begrudgingly dipped into their pockets for an extra 50 cents to ride subways and buses - even as more news surfaced of mismanagement within the trouble-plagued Metropolitan Transportation...

JACKET MAY WRAP UP '88 COP-SLAY TRIAL

Manhattan jurors in a cop murder trial got to see the 15-year-old case's most important physical evidence yesterday - the fake-leather bomber jacket of one of the two defendants. Prosecutors...

QNS. RAPIST GETS 50 YRS.

A Queens man whose DNA helped convict him of raping a 20-year-old woman was sentenced yesterday to 50 years to life in prison as a persistent violent sex crime offender....

MEET THE PENTAGON'S FIVE CARD STUDS

WASHINGTON - When they first came up with the idea of putting the list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqi regime figures on a deck of playing cards, a group of...

TESTIMONY BRINGS BACK HORROR OF HATE CRIMES

SHE sat in the federal courtroom, closed her eyes and it all came flooding back like a bad rerun. "The same bloody clothes, hearing the same awful medical reports, the...

WATER TORTURE AS RATES SOAR

The city's Water Board yesterday voted to raise water rates by 5.5 percent - one percentage point less than originally planned after a legislator charged the board had "over-inflated surpluses"...

MIKE SAYS BAILOUT IS NOT ENOUGH

Mayor Bloomberg admitted yesterday that a $2.7 billion tax bailout package from Albany won't solve the city's budget problems. "We still have a budget deficit and all of the pieces...

2ND CITY IS. DROWN TEEN ID'D

A body discovered in the waters off Hart Island on Sunday was identified yesterday as the second of four teens who drowned in January after calling 911 from their sinking...

BENNETT FOLDS HIS HAND

William Bennett says he's done with one-armed bandits. The conservative morals crusader, whose years as a high-roller at Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos were revealed last weekend, issued a...

MOB BIZ TIE PROBED IN GUN ATTACK

Police investigating the mob-style shooting of a Howard Beach man are looking into his three businesses to see if he's had any dealings with people with ties to organized crime,...

FAREWELL, 'FRASIER' - SITCOM TO END AFTER 2004

NBC's long-running shrink sitcom, "Frasier," is set to terminate therapy next year when it wraps up its 11th season, one of its stars said yesterday. David Hyde Pierce, who plays...

UFT SUES CITY OVER 'RACIST' LAYOFF PLAN

The teachers union yesterday filed a lawsuit accusing the Bloomberg administration of racial discrimination for moving to lay off 864 mostly minority school aides - while hiring 135 high-paid executives...

HOW ONE GAL FEELS APPLE'S BITE IN WALLET

Polly Baydala, a young New Yorker trying to make it in the big city, is smoking mad that higher taxes are making it tough to pay her bills. Like millions...

WIN FOR LEMRICK - JUDGE BARS 'LIE' FROM YANKEL CASE

Jurors in Lemrick Nelson Jr.'s third trial won't hear how he changed his story - now admitting he fatally stabbed a Hasidic scholar during the Crown Heights riots after previously...

XMAS 'SLAY' MOM - L.I. WOMAN TRIED FOR MURDER OF NEWBORN

A Long Island woman sneaked away from Christmas dinner, secretly gave birth to a healthy baby boy, smothered him in a plastic bag "like yesterday's garbage," and then returned to...

GRIM ASTHMA REPORT TAKES OUR BREATH AWAY

Asthma has afflicted at least 1 million New Yorkers - including 300,000 children - at some point in their lives, a new report by city health officials found. "Asthma is...

SCAM PAL RATS ON SON OF HARDING

A close pal of former city official Russell Harding - the son of political heavyweight Ray Harding - ratted out his friend yesterday, telling a federal judge they ripped off...

GOV $OUNDS THE ALARM TO RALLY CITY BEHIND VETO

Gov. Pataki stepped up his budget veto threats yesterday, warning that raising both state and city taxes will be a devastating one-two punch for Big Apple residents. Pataki made his...

WOMAN HURT IN PARK AVE. FIRE

An elderly woman was critically injured in a blaze in her apartment in a Park Avenue co-op last night, fire officials said. The woman, whose name and age were not...

'DR. ANTHRAX' FOLDS HER HAND

WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein's top biological-weapons scientist, an American-educated woman nicknamed "Dr. Anthrax," has surrendered to U.S. forces, the Pentagon said last night. Dr. Huda Ammash, 49, who U.S. intelligence...

NYER BACK FROM CHINA IS LIKELY NEW SARS CASE

There is a third probable case of SARS in the Big Apple, the city Health Department reported yesterday. The latest patient, a 49-year-old woman, raises the number of suspected and...

RENT BIGS VOTE FOR 8.5% HIKE

The Rent Guidelines Board voted last night to boost rents by 5.5 percent and 8.5 percent for new one- and two-year leases, the largest such hikes in 14 years. Landlords...

SADDAM & SON PULLED STUNNING $1B BANK JOB

Saddam Hussein's family could teach Willie Sutton a thing or two about robbing banks - the Iraqi dictator and his son are suspected of a $1 billion bank heist, it...

N.Y.'S SCHOOLS HAVE BEST TESTS - ALL WE NEED IS KIDS WHO'LL PASS THEM

New York state's standardized-testing program for kindergarten through 12th grade is the best in the country, according to a survey released today. Now the school system just needs to get...

CYBERSEX KILLER: GIRL ASKED FOR IT

A 13-year-old Connecticut schoolgirl asked for "rough sex" from a Brazilian immigrant whom she met on the Internet - then initiated the thrill choking that led to her accidental death,...

PIPE CONNECTION- $3.4M PLUMBER LINKED TO AXED TRANSIT EXEC

A Brooklyn plumber who raked in $3.4 million for work at the MTA's new headquarters has come under scrutiny for ties to a fired transit big caught up in a...

CHINATOWN RAID - FISTS FLY AS AGENTS SEIZE STORE'S 'KNOCKOFFS'

Chinatown workers peddling big-name designer knockoffs wound up knocking around a few private agents launching a surprise raid on their shop yesterday, cops said. Two of the store's owners and...

BANKS TAKE NOTE: 3 MORE ROBBERS STRIKE

Note-passing bandits hit three Manhattan banks yesterday - minutes before Police Commissioner Ray Kelly criticized those and other banks for not doing enough to thwart robbers. The first theft occurred...

COUNCIL OKS BUDGET BOMB - GOP RIPS 'LAUGHABLE' TAX 'CURE'

The City Council yesterday overwhelmingly approved legislation to raise the sales tax and hike the income tax to close a multibillion-dollar budget gap. The council voted 46-3 for a home-rule...

APPLE EATERIES' CHEFS ARE NATION'S KINGS OF THE KITCHEN

Too many cooks certainly haven't spoiled the broth in the Big Apple - the city with the nation's most restaurants turns out to be the place to get the best...

TERRIBLE TYCO 2 GET 500G PLAY $$$

Tyco's indicted bigwigs are still living high on the hog - spending $500,000 a month each even as the faltering company hemorrhages money and finds ever-more accounting problems. Just last...

'BAGMAN' IN PILLS-BILL$ TRIAL

An HSBC money courier set up a shadowy sideline business, transporting to Israel millions of dollars he received from "ecstasy" drug dealers at clandestine meetings in New York, a Manhattan...

25G REWARD FOR MISSING BANKER

The family of the Barclay's Bank analyst who vanished last month has offered a $25,000 reward for information about her whereabouts. The relatives of Maria Cruz, last seen April 13...

TEACHER NABBED A WEB PERV

A 38-year-old Long Island teacher was busted for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old boy he met on the Internet, cops said yesterday. Joseph Acosta, a Spanish teacher at Bellport...

PREDATOR - SERIAL RAPE FIEND STALKS CHELSEA, X.; SEX FIEND STALKING WOMEN

A rapist who attacked a 23-year-old woman Friday night in Chelsea has been linked to six other sex attacks over the past five months, police said yesterday. Cops believe the...

CLASSROOM EXTRA - IT'S BASEBALL TIME! (SPORTS EDITION) - WITH THE NEW YORK TEAMS IN FULL SWING, TODAY'S CLASSROOM EXTRA PAGE LOOKS AHEAD TO THE FALL EVENT IN WHICH ALL TEAMS ARE COMPETING TO PLAY - THE WORLD SERIES

ABSTRACT: SPRING had barely sprung when the Yankees had to postpone their opening game because of a freak April snowstorm. But baseball fans are already looking excitedly ahead to the...

MISSING BANKER REWARD OF 25G

The family of the Barclay's Bank analyst who vanished without a trace last month has offered a $25,000 reward for information about her whereabouts. The relatives of Maria Cruz, last...

'BAGMAN' ON TRIAL OVER PILLS & BILL$

An HSBC money courier set up a shadowy sideline business, transporting to Israel millions of dollars he received from "ecstasy" drug dealers at clandestine meetings in New York, a Manhattan...

BUSH PRODS CONGRESS ON $550B TAX CUT

President Bush said yesterday that Congress "needs to move" on igniting the fluttering economy with a tax cut of at least $550 billion. "Congress has got important business to finish...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN * A 55-year-old man walking near Riverside Park was abducted at gunpoint by two men who forced him into a van and drove him to a nearby ATM, where...

POTHOLE PATROL CLAIMS 17,000 FILLED

The city has filled nearly 17,000 potholes during its recent 10-day blitz to cover up the craters - exceeding its minimum goal of 12,000, officials said yesterday. The Department of...

TERRIBLE 2'S TYCO PLAY $$$

Tyco's indicted bigwigs are still living high on the hog - spending $500,000 a month each even as the faltering company hemorrhages money and finds ever-more accounting problems. Just last...

'DOCTOR ANTHRAX' DEALS HERSELF OUT

WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein's top biological-weapons scientist, an American-educated woman nicknamed "Dr. Anthrax," has surrendered to U.S. forces, the Pentagon said last night. Dr. Huda Ammash, 49, who U.S. intelligence...

FEDS PLANNING MOCK TERROR STRIKES

WASHINGTON - The Department of Homeland Security is planning a mock disaster - a dirty-bomb attack in Seattle occurring at the same time as a biological attack in Chicago -...

BAGHDAD ARTIFACTS BEGIN TO SURFACE

As the Metropolitan Museum of Art unveils a timely Near East exhibit, art officials said items looted from the Baghdad Museum are slowly surfacing. The exhibit featuring hundreds of artifacts...

WOMAN IS CITY'S 3RD PROBABLE SARS CASE

There is a third probable case of SARS in the Big Apple, the city Health Department reported yesterday. The new patient, a 49-year-old woman, raises the number of suspected and...

PIPE CONNECTION - $3.4M PLUMBER LINKED TO AXED TRANSIT EXEC

A Brooklyn plumber who raked in $3.4 million for work at the MTA's new headquarters has come under scrutiny for ties to a fired transit big caught up in a...

W. GOES ON THE 'MOVE' FOR TAX CUT

President Bush said yesterday that Congress "needs to move" on igniting the fluttering economy with a tax cut of at least $550 billion. "Congress has got important business to finish...

BANKS TAKE NOTE: THREE MORE ROBBERS STRIKE

Note-passing bandits hit three Manhattan banks yesterday - just minutes before Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was criticizing those and several other banks for not doing enough to thwart robbers. The...

PREDATOR - SERIAL RAPE FIEND STALKS CHELSEA, BX.; SERIAL RAPIST ON LOOSE

A rapist who attacked a 23-year-old woman Friday night in Chelsea has been linked to six other sex attacks over the past five months, police said yesterday. Cops believe the...

PREDATOR - SERIAL RAPE FIEND STALKS CHELSEA, BX.; SERIAL RAPIST STALKS WOMEN

A rapist who attacked a 23-year-old woman Friday night in Chelsea has been linked to six other sex attacks over the past five months, police said yesterday. Cops believe the...

STOPPING SHORT - DEREK'S IMMINENT RETURN MEANS MINORS FOR ERICK

In about a week, Derek Jeter will return to the Yankees, which is good news for Jeter, the Yankees and anyone else who bleeds pinstripes. And bad news for Erick...

CELTS WANTED BYRON

NET NOTES There are few things in life that Byron Scott really despises. The Celtic aura is one of them. Nothing personal, Paul and Antoine. But don't forget, Scott was...

STAR MOLLOY HURLER ALL THE WAY BACK AFTER DEATH SCARE

H.S. BASEBALL: Molloy 2 - Xaverian 1 Last summer, Mike Montali wasn't too concerned about his upcoming senior season. Although the lanky right-hander had pitched for Molloy High as the...

MOLLOY'S SMITH MAY CHOOSE PENN STATE

Marlon Smith returned from his visit to Penn State last week and Molloy head coach Jack Curran thought the guard's mind may have been made up. "He loved it down...

SANCHEZ STYLIN' WHILE METS SINK - CLUBHOUSE HAIRCUT RAISES QUESTIONS

Former Mets Bobby Bonilla and Rickey Henderson were forever tainted by allegations of card-playing during a playoff game. Rey Sanchez may now be in trouble for a clubhouse haircut. As...

NOW, MATSUI-ICHIRO PART II

YANKEE NOTES As far as Round II of Hideki Matsui-Ichiro Suzuki goes, Matsui's attitude is pretty simple: Been there, done that. Japan's two biggest baseball superstars square off again tonight,...

MOTA STILL MET TARGET

Mike Piazza and Guillermo Mota meet again tonight, though the Met catcher tried to downplay any chance of retaliation as the Mets and Dodgers open a three-game series at Shea....

'WE USED TO PLAY THERE' - FIELDS OF DREAMS NOW 'WEEDS & WHISKEY BOTTLES'

When Willie Randolph goes back to Brooklyn to visit relatives, he passes Betsy Head Park, where he first learned to play baseball. What he sees sickens him. "Crack addicts have...

REY'S GOOD CUT DESERVES ANOTHER

REY Sanchez has finally done the Mets a solid, has fi nally proved that the team was right to invite him to be a member of the Shea Stadium Lawn...

TALKING SMACK - BOSTON COLUMNIST VERBALLY ASSAULTS JOUMANA KIDD

Bob Ryan, a institution as a columnist for the Boston Globe, said on Boston television Sunday night he'd "like to smack" Jason Kidd's wife, Joumana, because he feels she uses...

BU'S WOLFF TURNS BACK ON RAMS

One name can be crossed off the lengthy list that Fordham athletic director Frank McLaughlin has strung together to replace Bob Hill as men's basketball coach. Boston University coach Dennis...

WALKER: NO PROPS FOR NETS

Maybe after the Celtics go down for the second straight year to the Nets, Antoine Walker will give Byron Scott's club some credit. But for now, nada. Walker stunk out...

JETS ADD TRIO TO ROSTER

The Jets, continuing to tinker with their roster for training camp, yesterday signed free agent defensive end Lance Gibson, tight end Gabe Reid and wide receiver Michael Oliva. Gibson, a...

EARLY FOUL TROUBLE CAN'T SLOW K-MART'S CHARGE

This was not vintage Kenyon Martin domination, which tells you how dominant he's been. Slowed by foul trouble, getting his third midway through the second and fifth with 6:30 left,...

OPENING STATEMENT - NET DEFENSE MAKES STAND, PUTS CLAMPS ON CELTICS

GAME 1: Nets 97 - Celtics 93 For more than eight minutes last night, from the middle of the third quarter until early in the fourth, the Nets were simply...

RUN & DONE FOR NETS

THE Celtics live by the trey. And if they don't make enough of them, will hand this series to the Nets on a tray. When the ball hits the rim...

WINNING FORMULA: RUN & THEY'RE DONE

THE Celtics, who live by the trey, will hand this series to the Nets on a tray, if they don't make more than the nine-out-of-28 they did last night. In...

NO SLAM DUNC - JASON: MVP TIM IS TWICE AS NICE

Last season, it was wrong, plain and simple. If ever there was a deserving Most Valuable Player, it was Jason Kidd. But he finished second to Tim Duncan. There was...

KITTLES SICKENS CELTS

NET NOTES Kerry Kittles looked as bad as he felt. Kittles, who missed practice Sunday with a cold and sore throat, shuffled into the Meadowlands and was asked how he...

CELTS' WALKER DOWNPLAYS K-MART'S DEFENSE

Antoine Walker still refused to give Kenyon Martin any credit for his 28 percent shooting vs. the Nets in the regular season, saying it was just a coincidence. "There's 82...