May 14, 2003

A BLAIR TELL-ALL COULD NET $1M

Disgraced former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair may be out of work and out of friends - but he could be looking at up to a $1 million payday...

EX-QWEST CHIEF WILL RETURN $4.4M IPO BONANZA

Former Qwest chairman Philip Anschutz forged an agreement with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer yesterday to fork over $4.4 million in profits reaped from hot IPO deals doled out...

MILLER QUITS AS CEO AT U.S. FOODSERVICE

Jim Miller has finally taken the rap for huge accounting discrepancies at U.S. Foodservice. Royal Ahold, the company's Dutch parent, said yesterday that it had accepted Miller's resignation, as president...

BOWIE BOND-ER GETS CO-OP BOOT

FINANCIER David Pullman just got pulled back to earth by a New York court in a case that sets a strong legal precedent for co-op shareholders who can't stand their...

HE OUGHTA KNOW: PITT TELLS FIRMS HOW TO DEAL WITH CRISIS

Former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt is going into the crisis business. He's got plenty of experience. Pitt is heading Kalorama Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm that...

'FRIENDS' IN NEED ; NBC ASKS WHOPPING $2M FOR SERIES FINALE SPOTS

NBC is trying to rake in a bundle on the demise of the network's most popular sitcom - "Friends" - by charging an unprecedented $2 million for a commercial on...

FEDS TIE MURDER INC. TO MONEY LAUNDERING

The feds have set their sights on profits from a recently released gangster rap film promoted by hip-hop label Murder Inc. - claiming the movie was funded with dirty cash....

GQ'S NELSON LANDS FRESH TALENT

AFTER spending most of his first two months on the job firing people left over from the Art Cooper era, GQ's new editor in chief, Jim Nelson, is bringing in...

UPSTART GETS IN MTV'S FACE

Even Mel Karmazin is getting an unwelcome eyeful of a cheeky ad campaign trashing his MTV cash cow. A giant Times Square billboard outside Karmazin's office is expected to greet...

NASDAQ ASKS SEC TO OPEN 'ROACH MOTEL'

They're at it again. In a bid to compete with the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq stock market took a jab at the Big Board's recent woes in a...

MILLER OUT AT U.S. FOODSERVICE

Jim Miller has finally taken the rap for huge accounting discrepancies at U.S. Foodservice. Royal Ahold, the company's Dutch parent, said yesterday that it had accepted Miller's resignation, as president...

HOLD YOUR COURSES: EATERIES PLAY THE WAITINGGAME

IF there's one thing more maddening than trying in vain to book a reservation at a hot restaurant, it's when that hot spot won't take one. No-reservation polices are popping...

HOW KATIE STOLE JAY'S SHOW: WHO KNEW SHE WAS COURIC THE COMEDIAN?

WATCH out Jay Leno. Katie Couric was a smash hit Monday night sitting in for Leno as host of the "Tonight" show - more than 40 percent better than his...

TRANSYLVANIA TRANSFORMATION

DRACULA: PAGES FROM A VIRGIN'S DIARY Bloody good. Running time: 75 minutes. Not rated (mature subject matter). At the Film Forum, Houston Street, west of Sixth Avenue. TO say that...

BARBALUC A FLUKE; ITALIAN ISN'T TRULY LIKE FRIULI

Barbaluc one and ½ stars 135 E. 65th St. (at Lexington Avenue) (212) 774-1999 GIVE Barbaluc credit: It rallied after the soggy gnocchi I had there a month ago. It...

TRISTA NOT A SHY BRIDE

FORGET about "Martha, Inc." - over on ABC it's "Trista, Inc.""Bachelorette" Trista Rehn, who claimed that she wanted her wedding to be a private affair because "it's something that's honest...

RIPA'S SAD SOAP SISTER LEADS ABC FALL LINEUP

'LIVE with Regis & Kelly" co-host Kelly Ripa has a new sitcom coming to ABC. ABC's fall schedule, announced yesterday, includes three new dramas and four new sitcoms - including...

BID IT ADIEU

HOW much would you pay to see the last of "Les Miserables"? By press time yesterday, bidding on a pair of tickets - along with passes to the closing-night bash...

CHEESE CENTER KEEPS A WATCH ON THE RIND

'CHEESE has suffered enough!" Max Mc Calman declares. The maitre fromager and his colleagues at Artisanal Cheese Center are on a mission to right that injustice. The just-opened complex on...

NEW TOP TOQUE AT PERIGORD; TOP TOQUE TOPPLED AT PERIGORD

LE Perigord, the venerable Sutton Place French eatery, has a new chef. Former No. 2 toque Joel Benjamin ascended to the top spot after Executive Chef Jacques Qualin and Le...

A LARK FOR THE PARK

THE weather is no indication, but summertime is almost here and so is Central Park SummerStage, which will serve up its 18th season of free music, spoken-word events and dance...

BILLY, BE A HERO; AS CELEBS BAIL, TONY BROADCAST NEEDS JOEL

THEATER people are starting to get nervous about this year's Tony telecast. The show, which will be broadcast June 8 from Radio City Musical Hall, is still without a host...

CRITICS CIRCLE WINNERS; CRITICS PICK 'HAIRSPRAY'

THE Drama Critics Circle yesterday chose "Hairspray" as the best musical of the year. The critics also honored Richard Greenberg's "Take Me Out" as best play and Alan Bennett's "Talking...

STARR REPORT

Stossel new chair man of '20/20' John Stossel will join Barbara Walters to anchor Friday's "20/20." He begins his new gig May 23 (10 p.m./Ch. 7). Stossel, a 22-year "20/20"...

'MATRIX' IS LOADED: SPECTACULAR EFFECTS, BUT THIN STORY CAN'T MATCH FIRST FLICK

THE MATRIX RELOADED 3 stars *** Bigger but not necessarily better. Running time: 138 minutes. Rated R (violence, sex). WITH the greatest (heavily computer-enhanced) chase sequence ever committed to celluloid...

TARDY YET TESTY: MAYOR STILLWORKING ON PEOPLE SKILLS

MY REPORT card for Mayor Bloomberg's "community breakfast" at Brooklyn's Vanderveer Park United Methodist Church: Number of minutes the mayor arrived late: 30. Excuses offered for tardiness: 0. Minutes spent...

I WAS MOLESTED AS A KID, SCOUNDREL SCRIBE WROTE

Disgraced ex-New York Times reporter Jayson Blair was sexually assaulted as a child, he claimed in a 1999 column written for his former college student newspaper. The column, which was...

STILL NOT ENOUGH TROOPS - HALF-MEASURES IN IRAQ WILL LOSE THE PEACE

WE still do not have enough troops in Iraq to do the job. With nearly 150,000 U.S. and allied troops in-country or nearby, the United States has been both unable...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Doctors in Arizona performed a CAT-scan on a guitar. The bizarre examination came after rockabilly star Brian Setzer - best known as front man for the Stray Cats - asked...

POLL FAULTS PATAKI IN NASTY ALBANY BUDGET BATTLE

ALBANY - Voters are siding with the state Legislature against Gov. Pataki in the ongoing battle over a new state budget, a new poll yesterday showed. The Marist College survey...

APPLE GAP IN BREAST SCREENING

In a disturbing statistic for the city's women, a new study shows that fewer New York City residents take advantage of yearly Medicare mammograms than do their counterparts in the...

CHILD-PORN COP COPS A PLEA

An 18-year veteran cop pleaded guilty yesterday to kiddie porn charges in exchange for a reduced sentence of up to 27 months behind bars. Kevin Green has been suspended from...

FEDS LAUNCH PROBE OF TIMES REPORTER

The turmoil over Jayson Blair's lies in The New York Times expanded yesterday, with word of a federal probe of the disgraced ex-reporter - and newsroom bosses' promise to answer...

MTA'S BIDDER PILL - CONTRACTS MAY HAVE BEEN RIGGED TO RI$E

Three contractors under investigation for their ties to a fired MTA executive took in more than $37 million from the cash-strapped agency, records show. The MTA has turned over all...

IMMIGRATION BIGAMIST DUPED RUSSIANS: DA

Russians with green-card troubles got nothing but more troubles - and sometimes a wedding to a bigamist - when they hired the Specialized Immigration Law Firm across from Grand Central...

$10M GIFT FOR B'KLYN COLLEGE

Brooklyn College yesterday received the largest donation in its history - $10 million from telecom titan Leonard Tow and his wife, Claire. Leonard Tow, 74, is chairman and chief executive...

NOISE 'SHOOTER' DODGES DEATH

A Bronx man accused of fatally shooting his three upstairs neighbors during a simmering feud over noise will not face the death penalty, a Bronx prosecutor said yesterday. Corey Gamble,...

PRODUCTIVITY'S THE TICKET: KELLY

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly yesterday denied union charges that cops are being told to write a blizzard of tickets to help fill the city's $3.8 billion budget gap. "No one...

AGENCY BIDS TO BUDGET-BOOST IMAGE

The MTA is trying to clean up its image after the recent fare-hike debacle by starting its public budget process earlier in the year and enlisting a panel of former...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * Cops have arrested three teenagers in connection with a Williamsburg stabbing that left another teen in critical condition. The trio accosted Kashif Antoine, 15, on Broadway and Marcy...

JUDGES DOC-SIDE - CLEAR MDS WHO SHRUGGED OFF MENINGITIS RISK

ALBANY - The state's top court yesterday dismissed a case brought by a Bronx woman who contracted meningitis from her friend despite being told by two doctors that she needn't...

COP INDICTED OVER THEFT

An on-duty NYPD cop has been indicted on charges he stole $600 from an elderly woman's apartment in The Bronx, authorities said yesterday. Gustavo Figueroa, 44, assigned to the 50th...

MORE THAN TWO TINTS FOR A TWENTY - MINT ADDING COLORS TO FOIL CROOKS

Money is getting more colorful. Uncle Sam yesterday showed off a new $20 bill with touches of peach, blue and yellow added to the traditional green and black in a...

GIFF GOES BUY BUS - USES TAX MONEY TO PAY FOR TENANT RALLY IN ALBANY

The city's broke, but that didn't stop City Council Speaker Gifford Miller from shelling out $75,000 in tax funds to promote a tenants' rally in Albany yesterday, sparking outrage from...

BEAU GETS LIFE IN GAL-PAL SLAY

Joseph Strothers fatally shot his girlfriend in the neck, leaving her young daughter to find the body - and now he'll spend 19 years to life in prison The Manhattan...

SERIAL 'RAPIST' LIST GROWS

A suspected serial rapist with a penchant for schoolgirls has been charged with four additional attacks in Queens. The additional charges filed against Luis Acosta yesterday come after a grand...

GOV HAS 'BETTOR' WAY - GAMBLING TOUTED AS TAX SAVER

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki yesterday proposed three city gambling palaces filled with thousands of video lottery terminals as part of his last-ditch alternative to higher city income and sales taxes....

SAUDI EXTREMISM COMES HOME

MAYBE now the Saudis will finally crack down on terror. In the 9/11 attacks, 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, just like Osama bin Laden - and Saudi officials...

UFT ATTACKS MAYOR'S STATS

The head of the teachers union yesterday insisted that attacks against instructors and other school staffers are up this year - a day after Mayor Bloomberg touted an 8 percent...

GENEROSA TOLD KIDS THAT SLAIN DAD OD'D

Ted Ammon's widow told the kids their dad was done in by an overdose of booze and barbiturates - not bludgeoned to death in his East Hampton mansion. Generosa Ammon...

MORE TRAINS ON TRACK FOR LEXINGTON LINE

The jampacked Lexington Avenue subway will get 12 new trains during rush hours this fall in an effort to give straphangers more elbow room, officials said yesterday. "With these new...

'CLASHES' ON YANKEL JURY

Jurors in the Lemrick Nelson Jr. case appear to be at each other's throats - but agreed to resume deliberations today after a judge instructed them not to let "personality...

DOC DEAN UNVEILS HEALTH-CARE OPERATION

Democratic 2004 presidential candidate Howard Dean yesterday outlined a plan to expand health care with the novel twist that penalizes companies that don't provide it. Dean, a doctor and former...

WALL ST. WISEGUYS - MOB WITNESS TELLS OF BROKERS PACKING HEAT

The mob's money-making operations on Wall Street were like "the wild, wild West" - stockbrokers wore guns to work and 300-pound bikers guarded the trading desk, a Manhattan jury was...

KILLER USED SHMEAR TACTIC, COPS SAY

It was death by bagel with a shmear, cops said yesterday. An unlicensed nurse who was cheating with her patient's hubby in a small Ohio town killed the woman by...

ISRAEL NABS 15 IN TERROR SWEEP

JERUSALEM - Fifteen Israeli Arabs - including a Muslim religious leader - accused of funneling millions of foreign dollars to Hamas were arrested early yesterday in an unprecedented sweep. The...

SMOKED-OUT MODEL EXEC WANTS $4.6M

Elite Model Management should get burned for more than $4 million for snuffing out the career of an exec who complained about secondhand smoke, the woman's lawyer said yesterday. In...

TWO COPS SUSPENDED OVER CHASE

Two veteran cops were suspended yesterday for failing to follow orders to end a high-speed car chase - and reloading the guns they fired during the pursuit before they could...

CONTRERAS DETOURS ON ROAD BACK

YANKEE NOTES Jose Contreras is done pitching for Columbus, but his next stop won't be Yankee Stadium. Rather than rejoin the big club, the Cuban righthander will throw two innings...

BLAIR'S PAL ALSO LEAVES NEWSPAPER

A New York Times clerk who is a gal pal of disgraced ex-reporter Jayson Blair has left the paper amid questions about her possible role in his journalistic misdeeds. Zuza...

EX-TRANSIT BIG TO BE GRILLED

The MTA's former chairman has been subpoenaed to appear before a state Assembly committee investigating corruption allegations in the agency. E. Virgil Conway - who left office in January 2001...

N.Y.'S DISSED LIST - LEONA'S POLL SHOWS SHE'S NO. 1 (BUT FIRST IS WORST)

The "Queen of Mean" has seized a new crown - New York's most unpopular person. A poll commissioned by Leona Helmsley's lawyers in an unsuccessful bid to get a civil...

HEARTSTRINGS BROKEN OVER 5G MANDOLIN LEFT IN CAB

A heartbroken Manhattan musician accidentally left a rare, handcrafted mandolin worth $5,000 - a wedding gift from his wife - in the back of a taxi yesterday. Warren Valdmanis, 29,...

JUDGES GIVE DOCS LICENSE 'TO ILL'

ALBANY - The state's top court yesterday dismissed a case brought by a Bronx woman who contracted meningitis from her friend, despite being told by two doctors that she needn't...

FIREHOUSE DONORS EXTINGUISHED

A nonprofit group that sought to collect donations to save eight city firehouses folded its operations yesterday, less than two weeks before the city can officially close down the companies....

AGENCY LOOKS TO FIX IMAGE

The MTA is trying to clean up its image after the recent fare-hike debacle by starting its public budget process earlier in the year and enlisting a panel of former...

LEMRICK'S LAWYERS EYE PLEA DEAL

Stymied jurors in the Lemrick Nelson Jr. case agreed to resume deliberations this morning after a day of apparently bitter infighting - as the defendant huddled with his lawyers over...

A SMASHING TIME - B'KLYN CHASE LEADS TO CRASH - AND VICTIM'S DRUG BUST

A police chase led to a steel-twisting crash in Brooklyn yesterday, as four men in a stolen SUV rammed a passing car and left its two occupants seriously injured, authorities...

OSAMA BEHIND LETHAL BLASTS - BUSH, SAUDIS VOW JUSTICE AS BOMBING TOLL HITS 30

Saudi officials yesterday charged that Osama bin Laden directed the coordinated terror bombing attacks in Riyadh as the death toll rose to 30, including eight Americans. Some of the attackers...

POLICE SAY NURSE USED SHMEAR TACTIC TO MURDER PATIENT

It was death by bagel with a shmear, cops said yesterday. An unlicensed nurse who was cheating with her patient's hubby in a small Ohio town killed the woman by...

OSAMA BEHIND LETHAL BLASTS: BUSH, SAUDIS VOW JUSTICE AS BOMBING TOLL HITS 20

Saudi officials yesterday charged that Osama bin Laden directed the coordinated terror bombing attacks in Saudi Arabia, as the death toll rose to 20, including eight Americans. The Saudis said...

WISEGUYS ON WALL STREET

The mob's money-making operations on Wall Street were like "the wild, wild West" - stock brokers wore guns to work and 300-pound bikers guarded the trading desk, a Manhattan jury...

GOOD TIME TO COME BACK

DEREK Jeter returned last night. So did the World Series champion Angels. Just 17-19 at gametime and minus the frenetic gleam that fueled its title, Anaheim played with the aggressiveness...

MOOSE IS BURIED BY ANGEL QUAKE

Mike Mussina was resigned to the reality that, no matter how good his stuff or magical his start to the season, his streak would end. It came to a crashing...

ROCKY NIGHT FOR METS ; PEN BLOWS 7-0 LEAD, WASTES PAIR OF PIAZZA HOME RUNS IN LOSS

Rockies 9Mets 8 DENVER - On Monday night, the Mets found Coors Field to be an offensive Fantasyland. The flip side is that it's a House of Horrors for pitching...

THE HOMECOMING TURNS SOUR: ANGELS SPOIL DEREK'S RETURN

ANGELS 10 YANKEES 3 Derek Jeter was the good. Mike Mussina was the bad. The whole Yankee bullpen was the ugly. At a festive Yankee StaDium, in which a Yankee...

SANTOS FEELS HEAT TO TAKE PREAKNESS

JOCKEY Jose Santos, fresh from the nightmare of his life, said yesterday he almost felt he now had to win the Preakness Stakes on Saturday to justify his innocence in...

CHILL CAN'T STOP FLUKE

FLUKE fishing has gotten off to great start at Montauk Point and, when boats do sail, almost every trip produces an 8-to-10 pounder. The key here is "when boats do...

ALYSWEEP SCRATCHED WITH LOW BLOOD COUNT

NOTEBOOK The ever-changing field for Saturday's Preakness Stakes lost a member yesterday when trainer Pat Reynolds withdrew Alysweep. The End Sweep colt completed a five-furlong work in 1:01 at Belmont...

DEVS ON DEFENSIVE ; DANEYKO, TVERDOVSKY SCRATCHED BY BURNS

OTTAWA - It backfired once, but Pat Burns scratched Ken Daneyko for the second time in his playoff career last night. Then Burns went one step further. The Devils coach...

GIANTS REWARD SEUBERT

A year ago, Rich Seubert was an undersized, un-drafted offensive lineman out of Western Illinois with two games of NFL experience. One year later, he's an established starter with the...

NETS COURTING DESTINY

Last year, everything was new. Every step was an adventure. The Nets accomplished things that no Nets team had ever done - like having stories written about them in the...

'CIDE' BLAZES AT BELMONT ; WORKOUT HAS TAGG THRILLED

Any hint that trainer Barclay Tagg is wilting in the Triple Crown heat dissipated yesterday on a cool, crisp morning at Belmont Park when his Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide...

STANDING PAT ISN'T PART OF COACH'S PLAN

OTTAWA - It doesn't matter who you are, what you've done, what your place is in franchise history. The Devils really don't care. Not, at least, if the coaching staff...

LEADER'S ROLE FITS SORIANO LIKE GLOVE

There are precious few positives to be taken from Derek Jeter's injury, and the Yankees were looking forward to their star shortstop's return last night. But if there was anything...

TORRID TOTTENVILLE HAS TITLE DREAMS

PSAL BASEBALLTottenville 17New Dorp 4 Louie Curcio knows what it's like to be the best. He was on the Tottenville squad that knocked off Monroe in the PSAL baseball championship...

DEREK'S TIMING IS PERFECT

MUCH has changed since Derek Jeter met Ken Huckaby at the wrong place at the wrong time and at the wrong speed. Jeter reconciled with owner George Steinbrenner, at least...

ARMANDO RELIEVED HE'S BACK IN GROOVE

MET NOTES DENVER - Armando Benitez is certainly improving his trade value. And the Met coaching staff is more watchful of his durability. The Mets' closer, who blew four of...

D-DAY FOR FORDHAM

Today is crunch time at Fordham. The university's selection committee this morning is expected to meet and decide whether to make a formal offer to one of three candidates interviewed...

CLIFF CLEANS UP METS : NEW NO. 4 HITTERBECOMING LEADER

DENVER What gave Cliff Floyd the right to criticize Mets fans last weekend? Glad you asked. For the first month of this season, Floyd seemed like a bad free-agent signing....

PISTONS ARE BETTER RX FOR NETS, SAYS DR. JACK

If the Nets are thinking anything like Dr. Jack Ramsay, they're probably pulling for the Pistons. The Nets should be the favorites whether they face Detroit or the 76ers in...

ANNIKA WILL 'CUT' A PATH TO HISTORY

AS the anticipation heightens for Annika Sorenstam's participation in the Colonial next weekend, so does the male paranoia of some members of the PGA Tour. Not everyone appreciates the sense...

MISSING MO SPARKS QUESTIONS

DENVER - As of last night, Mo Vaughn, out of touch with his team and family, might as well have been on the dark side of the moon. Team officials...

THE HOMECOMING TURNS SOUR ; DEREK'S RETURN RUINED AS ANGELS HAMMER MUSSINA

Angels 10Yankees 3 There was the good, the bad and the ugly. Derek Jeter was the first part. Mike Mussina was the second. The whole Yankee bullpen was the third....

DEVILS GET EVEN

GAME 2Devils 4Senators 1 OTTAWA - The Eastern Conference finals turned 180-degrees last night, on great saves, on stunning scoring, but most of all on Devils determination. Now the Monsters...

ROCKY NIGHT FOR METS: PEN BLOWS 7-0 LEAD, WASTES PAIR OF PIAZZA HOME RUNS IN LOSS

ROCKIES 9 METS 8 "This is a game we should've won and we let get away from us. There's no other way of looking at it than that."TOM GLAVINE DENVER...

THE LEADING MAN IS BACK ON STAGE: TORRE, TEAMMATES HAIL JETER'S RETURN TO LINEUP

Joe Torre called the previous two times "a tease." About a month ago, Derek Jeter visited the Yankee clubhouse to chat with his teammates. Two weeks ago, he did the...