June 10, 2003

NYSE LAWYERS GO AFTER INTERNET GEEK

THE New York Stock Exchange spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees in a futile attempt to keep a guy from using the name "Dick Grasso" as his...

MEL KOS MGM-VUE BID

MGM recently approached Viacom about teaming up to bid for French conglomerate Vivendi's U.S. entertainment assets - but was rebuffed, The Post has learned. Viacom President Mel Karmazin nixed the...

WARNER'S LEDGERS SLOWING BMG DEAL

A hoped-for merger between BMG and Warner Music's recorded-music division could get bogged down over accounting issues, The Post has learned. For months, the two music giants have been talking...

BUDDHA BAR'S $3M HEADACHE

DON'T look for Buddha Bar, the heavily hyped nightlife mecca planned for Chelsea Market, to open soon - if at all. Work on the 12,000-square-foot David Rockwell-designed club has ground...

FREDDIE MAC ATTACK - MORTGAGE SCANDAL LOPS $6.6B OFF MARKET CAP

The financial world was rocked yesterday when the top three execs of mortgage giant Freddie Mac were ousted from their jobs. Shares of the nation's second-largest buyer of mortgages plunged...

EXPERTS: HOUSING BUBBLE THREATENED

The bookkeeping time bomb being probed at Freddie Mac could yank the rug out from under our booming housing market - the last leg holding up the economy. Economists and...

G+J PASSES ON ROSIE'S PEACE PIPE

Rosie O'Donnell has reportedly offered to settle her infamous lawsuit against magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr for $10 million - but her former partner in the now-defunct Rosie magazine has...

GQ EDITOR ART COOPER DEAD AT 65

Art Cooper, the Magazine Hall of Fame editor who ran GQ for 20 years, is dead. He died of a stroke yesterday after being rushed to New York Hospital on...

WORRIED INVESTORS SELL OFF DOW

Wall Street is still trying to find shelter that won't leak out money. Investors yesterday turned their backs again on stocks, and bailed out of financial and housing shares in...

LUSCIOUS LUTHER

* LUTHER VANDROSS "Dance With My Father" [ 1/2] J Records While smooth-groove ballad king Luther Vandross is still bedridden, recovering from the devastating stroke he suffered earlier this year,...

BARENBOIM KEYED UP FOR LUDWIG

ALL Beethoven, all the time. That's what Daniel Barenboim's bringing to Carnegie Hall starting tonight, when he plays all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas - by heart and with all his...

NO STRINGS - AIR GUITAR PLAYERS EYE PRIZE

CHRIS McGuire headed eagerly for the Pussycat Lounge Friday night, but not for the women. Instead, the 33-year-old hedge-fund manager was determined to strum his stuff in the East Coast...

RATINGS ON THE BRIGHT CIDE

FUNNY Cide may have lost his bid for the Triple Crown, but he won the ratings race. It was a huge weekend for local sports fans - with the Devils...

'DUMB' LUCK : UNKNOWN GETS THE CALL WHEN CARREY SKIPS SEQUEL

FOR the record: Jim Carrey is not in "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd." You might think so after seeing ads for the movie, which opens this Friday. While...

CAVESTOMP! PUNCTUATED BY A QUESTION MARK

AS has become their habit, ? and the Mysterians will likely perform their 1966 hit "96 Tears" twice when the '60s garage act performs at Cavestomp! on Friday at Warsaw...

'SPRAY' WINNERS GAIN EXTRA HOLD

'HAIRSPRAY" stars Harvey Fierstein and Marissa Winokur won Tonys Sunday night - and could use their new Broadway stardom to muscle their sitcoms onto ABC's schedule. "They're getting their pictures...

THAT MUST HURT, DAVE

SOMEONE better take those kitchen knives away from walking medical disaster David Letterman. The "Late Show" cut-up actually cut his own finger Sunday evening while slicing an onion to go...

'ANTIQUES' STARS TAKE TWIN PEEKS AT HOME

THE Keno twins are ready for their closeup. Leigh and Leslie Keno, star appraisers on "Antiques Roadshow," have landed their own show in which they'll visit people's homes to evaluate...

SITTING THROUGH THE NEW OSBOURNES SERIES IS LIKE...PULLING TEETH

"The Osbournes" Tonight at 10:30 on MTV No stars "THE Osbournes" has become about as much fun as a trip to the dentist. Literally. Yes, tonight's third season premiere is...

STARR REPORT

Sunday Best: Hillary-Babs Nets Big Ratings ABC's Barbara Walters- Hillary Clinton interview scored big numbers Sunday night. The interview, timed to the release of Clinton's book, "Living History," averaged in...

HELLO SUPER WONDERFUL CRAZY FANTASTIC TOWN: DAVID LANDSEL GETS THE DIRT ON WHAT'S HOT AND WHERE THE STARS (AND THE CHEFS AND DESIGNERS) HANG IN TOKYO

THERE are places in the world where, at any given time, you may spot a celeb or two. But for sheer star power, Tokyo is one of the top places...

IRAQ'S WEAPONS: NO DUBYA DOUBTS

THE president said yesterday he is "absolutely confident" that further investigation in Iraq will uncover that missing weapons-of-mass-destruction program. And you could tell when he said it that he meant...

HI-TECH TRAP FOR 'RAPIST'

A Long Island woman who was brutally kidnapped and raped by her obsessed ex-boyfriend helped cops finally nab the fiend over the weekend - with the push of a button,...

PLUNGE MOM A HOMICIDE

The death of a beautiful mom who fell six stories from her Queens apartment was ruled a homicide yesterday by the city medical examiner. Johanna Tamayo, 24 - the mother...

2ND GOV BUDDY'S 186G JOB PROBED

ALBANY - The state agency paying a royal salary to Gov. Pataki's former bodyguard also has on its payroll one of the governor's childhood friends, at a salary of $186,000...

FEDS FISH FOR ANTHRAX - DRAINING MD. POND IN HUNT FOR BIO CLUES

FREDERICK, Md. - The FBI began draining a pond in a remote forest yesterday, searching for evidence in the deadly anthrax attacks that has once again focused attention on a...

BRAWL GETS CITY COP SUSPENDED

An NYPD cop, on active duty as a Marine reservist, was suspended from the police force yesterday after his arrest for getting into chair-throwing free-for-all outside a California hotel, authorities...

GETTING THE FINGER - TOURIST SEEKS $10M FOR DIGIT-CHOP ON SUBWAY

It was some Big Apple welcome. On his first visit to New York, a South African retiree says he lost a fingertip when a surly subway conductor slammed his window...

'PARENT-SLAY' BRO A SUICIDE

A man accused by his brother of killing their parents, a wealthy Long Island couple bludgeoned to death in 1997, committed suicide yesterday, law-enforcement officials said. Harvey Brown, 37, whose...

SPIKE VS. SPIKE - DIRECTOR RIPS 'CRAP' SHOWS IN NAME SUIT

At least one guy doesn't want to have anything to do with "Baywatch" babe Pamela Anderson - director Spike Lee. Lee took aim at the curvalicious sex kitten after a...

SLAY RAP FOR HIT-RUN SUSPECT

Queens prosecutors yesterday lodged vehicular-manslaughter and assault charges against a construction worker accused of being drunk when he hit and injured a woman with a van only minutes before fatally...

WELFARE CAN BE REAL STEAL: AUDIT

The city welfare agency's sprawling warehouse - filled with more than $1 million in supplies - is so mismanaged that there's a "high potential" for theft, according to an audit...

WAIT LIFTING AT HS GYM - GETTING BUILT AFTER 55 YEARS

How long does it take to build a high-school gym in New York City? More than 50 years too long, Mayor Bloomberg says. The mayor said yesterday the city will...

MILLER PLANS TO CUT MIKE OUT OF BUDGET LOOP

Miffed that budget talks with Mayor Bloomberg are going nowhere, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller yesterday began laying the groundwork to pass his own spending plan. Miller (D-Manhattan) told Democratic...

BUSH VOWS TO HELP MAZEN TAKE ON THUGS

WASHINGTON - President Bush said yesterday that people have grown "sick" over continuing terrorism in the Middle East, and vowed that the United States will help "strengthen" Palestinian Prime Minister...

TAX MAN STOLE IDENTITIES: DA

A Queens tax preparer swiped personal information from his clients and used it to get credit cards and cash advances topping $64,000 in their names, prosecutors said yesterday. Ramfis Ortiz,...

CREEPY HOW HER ADORING FANS BUY INTO THE FICTION

HOW appropriate. Her jaw deftly working a wad of chewing gum, Hillary Clinton plunked her blinding, yellow pantsuit into the "Science Fiction/Fantasy" section of a Midtown bookstore. In this familiar...

PRAYERS FOR VICTIM OF WRONG-WAY QNS. DRIVER

A retired city schoolteacher who was mowed down by an elderly jazz musician driving the wrong way on Queens Boulevard remained in critical condition yesterday - while her family kept...

WOODY PITCHES TRAVEL TO FRANCE . . . BUT HE SHOT THE AD IN N.Y.

Famed New York neurotic Woody Allen loves French kissing - not freedom kissing - and wants Americans to start visiting France again, despite the squabble over the Iraq war. Allen...

REMEMBER DAPPER DON, LAST OF THE STAND-UP GUYS

HARRY BATCHELDER, with all his genius, is a mob lawyer - and a great defender of the late John Gotti. "He's the last of the stand-up guys. I don't know...

ZONGO IS BURIED IN AFRICA

The body of an African immigrant gunned down by a plainclothes cop in a Chelsea warehouse was flown home for burial in Burkina Faso yesterday. When the wooden casket containing...

WHAT EVIDENCE? JUDGE PLEADS INNOCENT DESPITE TALE OF THE TAPES

A Brooklyn judge proclaimed his innocence yesterday on charges he took payoffs to fix divorce and custody cases - although the prosecution says it's amassed an overwhelming arsenal of evidence...

ISRAEL DISMANTLES SETTLERS' OUTPOSTS

JERUSALEM - The Israeli military began dismantling unoccupied settler outposts in the West Bank yesterday - the first of nearly 100 small Jewish encampments that could be slated for demolition...

BARS PLAN TO DRAW OUT SMOKE-BAN PROTEST

ALBANY - Upset at the coming statewide smoking ban, restaurant and bar owners from across the state are planning another Quick Draw blackout for next week, The Post has learned....

GOV AND BRUNO JOIN FORCES VS. RENT LAWS

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno are considering a bid to weaken rent-protection laws that are set to expire Sunday, The Post has learned. Bruno dropped...

HERO GUN DAD GETS JUST 3 DAYS

A Navy veteran who shot a burglar as the crook crept into his toddler's bedroom has dodged a possible three- month prison sentence for criminal possession of a weapon by...

I NEVER 2-TIMED BILL - BEST-SELLER HILL SAYS SHE'S BEEN FAITHFUL

Hill never cheated on Bill. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton made that claim yesterday before signing copies of her explosive new memoir, which for the first time reveals her fury upon...

MORE CUNY STUDENTS PASSING TEACH TESTS

The City University of New York is turning out better-prepared teachers: The percentage of its students passing the state license exams has jumped 30 points in six years, new figures...

PROBES INCLUDE ALLEGED JOB-BUY BOAST

A probe into judicial appointments in Brooklyn has expanded to cover at least two more judges - including one jurist whose father allegedly bragged of having paid $50,000 to get...

COPS EYE DRUGS IN TRIPLE EXECUTION IN QUEENS HOME

A man, his wife and his sister-in-law were found murdered in their ransacked Queens home yesterday in what police believe were coldblooded executions, law enforcement sources said. The ruthless slayings...

A KILL BEFORE DYING: CANCER MANWANTED 2ND VICTIM: COPS

A cancer-stricken construction worker went off the deep end and fatally gunned down a bar owner in Trenton - saying he wanted to "take someone with him" - after a...

MARTHA 'MUGS' FOR CAMERAS IN PRIVATE

Martha Stewart was allowed to slip quietly into the FBI's New York headquarters early yesterday morning to escape media attention while she was fingerprinted and photographed, The Post has learned....

NOACH FIGHTS TO RUN AGAIN

It looks like the fierce battle over term limits isn't over just yet. A city councilman forced out in 2001 is campaigning to regain his old Brooklyn seat - despite...

IS IT FARE OR FOUL? COURT RULES TODAY

The fate of bus and subway fares and river tolls will be in the hands of an appeals court today as the MTA again takes on the Straphangers Campaign and...

BITTER HILL LONE 'NAY' VS. JUDGE

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton gave a lone thumbs-down to one of President Bush's favorite lawyers last night, voting against the appointment of Michael Chertoff to the federal appellate...

SPITZER SUIT SHOT DOWN

A Long Island judge yesterday threw out a civil corruption lawsuit filed by state Attorney General El liot Spitzer against a local official, saying it was an attempted "usurpation of...

A KILL BEFORE DYING - CANCER MAN WANTED 2ND VICTIM: COPS

A cancer-stricken construction worker went off the deep end and fatally gunned down a beloved bar owner in Trenton - saying he wanted to "take someone with him" - after...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * A 34-year-old man was shot twice during an assault in Brownsville, police said yesterday. The man was shot in the buttocks and suffered a graze wound to his...

JUDGE RUINED ME - WHISTLEBLOW MOM FUMES AS GARSON PLEADS INNOCENT

The whistleblowing divorcee who helped nail an allegedly crooked Brooklyn judge said yesterday he botched her case so badly that she's now too broke to hire a lawyer to fight...

MAN NABBED AS KIDDIE PHONE PERV

A Brooklyn man's frightening phone calls terrorized young Westchester children into sexual behavior by threatening rape or death if they refused, authorities said yesterday. Philip N. Wald, 35 - a...

FAMILY MASSACRE - DRUGS EYED IN EXECUTION KILLINGS OF 3 QUEENS KIN

A man, his wife and his sister-in-law were found murdered execution-style yesterday in their ransacked Queens home. The horrific crime scene was discovered by the couple's 13-year-old son, who came...

HERO GUN DAD GETS 3 DAYS IN JAIL

A Navy veteran who shot a burglar as the crook crept into his toddler's bedroom has dodged a possible three- month prison sentence for criminal possession of a weapon by...

BRAWL GETS NYPD COP SUSPENDED

An NYPD cop, on active duty as a Marine reservist, was suspended from the force yesterday after his arrest for getting into chair-throwing free-for-all outside a California hotel, authorities said....

CLASSROOM EXTRA: PROTECTING NATURE'S TREASURES

"There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country," Theodore Roosevelt said - and that was way back in 1912. Conservation means the preservation and management...

DEVILS IN HEAVEN AFTER THIRD CUP - CEMENT PLACE IN NHL HISTORY WITH MASTERFUL GAME 7

Now they belong with the legends. Dominant in the Ultimate Game, the Devils rose from the ranks of the simply great to join the very elite of NHL history last...

MVP'S SMALL CONSOLATION FOR GIGUERE

Jean-Sebastien Giguere went home with a trophy last night, but it wasn't the one he really was after. The Ducks' goalie was named the Conn Smythe winner as the NHL's...

AN ALL-TIME DEVIL GETS HIS MOMENT

If it was and all-time Devil's final game, it was the all-time way to go. "I couldn't think of a sweeter way to go out," Ken Daneyko said after making...

DID YOU EVER DOUBT MARTY?

PATRICK Roy's career had been cold for only two weeks. And already, uneasily rested the World's Greatest Goaltender crown on Martin Brodeur's head. He hadn't been hot since midway through...

RUPP'S CUP RUNNETH OVER

He's nowhere to be found in the Devil media guide, except for in the "In the System" section in which all the prospects and projects are listed with a little...

BREAKING POINT FOR KIDD & NETS - PARKER PROVING TO BE MORE THAN JASON CAN HANDLE

The pendulum has swung so wildly and decisively that it has come to this for the Nets: Jason Kidd needs help dealing with a 21-year-old kid from France. Make that...

NOT MUCH FREE-DOM FOR R.J.

NET NOTES During the regular season, Richard Jefferson shot a team-high 436 free throws, 33 more than the next Nets player, Jason Kidd. Getting to the foul line is what...

ROCKY ROAD AHEAD FOR PHILLIPS

Silently and acceptingly, the last place Mets trudge through this awful season. Tonight, they start a 10-game road trip against the man who should've been a Met, Alex Rodriguez, and...

DEVS' SHOT AT GLORY - TRIED NOT TO DUCK IN FOURTH SHOT AT THIRD STANLEY CUP

Once again, for a fourth time, the realm of the immortal called the Devils. Once again, for the second time, so did the land of gnashing teeth. This then, was...

FOR NOW, JUST CALL JETER 'L' CAPITAN

YANKEE NOTES His batting average is at a very pedestrian .275 after missing the first six weeks due to a dislocated left shoulder. He admits his defense has been "so-so."...

IT WAS MIGHTY BIG YEAR FOR DUCKS

Win or lose last night, Game 7 climaxed an incredible joyride for the Mighty Ducks and rookie coach Mike Babcock. In taking the Devils and all their playoff experience the...

TONY NOT WORRIED ABOUT SAVING HIS JOB

With every blazing first step he takes, point guard Tony Parker brings San Antonio a stride closer to an NBA title. And he brings himself one step closer to saving...

HONEYMAN'S GOOD ENOUGH

CHSAA PLAYOFFS: Molloy 9 - St. Francis 4 Brian Honeyman wanted to play for Molloy since his freshman year, but it never seemed to work out. "I got cut my...

YAO! VAN GUNDY ROCKETS' MAN

One year ago, the Knicks refused to allow Jeff Van Gundy to run the ballyhooed pre-draft workout for 7-6 phenom Yao Ming in Chicago. Now Van Gundy has the last...

NOTHING TO PROVE: WIN OR LOSE, MARTY STILL AN ALL-TIME GREAT

TONY Esposito, up 2-0, at home, late in the second period of Game 7 in 1971, blinked. That's as long as it took for Jacques Lemaire's shot from the other...

MET PICK REAL STEAL

So, Dave Moates is asked, is there one play above any other that stood out for Lastings Milledge? Moates is the man who coached Milledge, the Mets' first-round draft pick,...

THE HOLE FROM HELL - PLAYERS COULD CRASH AND BURN ON 247-YARD PAR-3 MONSTER

"Virtually everyone will take 12 strokes [total] for the week on that hole and run to the 18th." -JEFF SLUMAN -- OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. - At first glance it looks...

AKILI MAY BE JETS' NO. 3

The Jets have their eyes on Akili Smith as their future No. 2 quarterback behind Chad Pennington. Smith, who is determined to resurrect his career following a nightmare in Cincinnati,...

WIN OR LOSE AT OPEN, WOODS IS AT WESTCHESTER

U.S. OPEN NOTEBOOK OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. - Good news for New York golf fans: Tiger Woods has no intention of changing his mind and backing out of next week's Buick...

FORGET JASON, TIM WANTS A BIG MAN

"DID you hear New Jersey is offering to sign-and- trade Jason Kidd for Tony Parker?" I asked Tim Duncan while walking him to the team bus following Game 3 of...

YANKEES HAVE EYES FOR UGIE

Eric Karros' dramatic home run hadn't cleared the Wrigley Field bleachers Saturday before George Steinbrenner ordered the Tampa arm of his dysfunctional Yankee family to New York. Not only did...

DANEYKO GETS SURPRISE CALL; JOE'S A NO-GO

It could have been the last Devil game for the all-time Devil. At least Ken Daneyko received the Game 7 chance he wanted. But it wasn't so for Joe Nieuwendyk,...

FINALLY, A MAJOR COURSE THAT COULD BE TIGER-PROOF

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. - After Tiger Woods won the 1997 Masters with a record 12-stroke victory, the term Tiger-proofing soon became part of golf's vernacular. It's a term used to...

LIBS SEEK REVENGE

The Liberty hope to use a little magic tonight in the Garden to avenge a season-opening thrashing at the hands of the Cleveland Rockers. This is the Liberty's first home...

DJ IS 'L' CAPITAN

YANKEE NOTES His batting average is at a very pedestrian .275 after missing the first six weeks due to a dislocated left shoulder. He admits his defense has been "so-so."...

SPECIAL MOMENT FOR A SPECIAL TEAM

ON Sunday night when the Devils convened for their Game 7-eve meal, Lou Lamoriello addressed his team. The GM talked about special players stepping up in special situations, about special...

EVEN IN DEFEAT, DUCKS ARE MIGHTY, INDEED

No, the Ducks didn't win the Stanley Cup - but they did win everybody's respect during an amazing playoff run that finally ended at the Meadowlands last night with their...

HURLER HURT BY LINE DRIVE

There was a frightening moment in last night's All-American Game at Yogi Berra Stadium in Upper Montclair when the East's Scott Maine, a left-handed pitcher, was struck in the side...

MET, YANK PICKS STAR

There's just one question for Met first-round pick Lastings Milledge and Yankee first-round pick Eric Duncan: How fast can you get here? OK, so last night's inaugural All-American Game at...

3RD CUP HAS DEVS IN SEVENTH HEAVEN: FRIESEN NETS TWO AS BRODEUR BLANKS DUCKS IN SWAMP

GAME 7Devils 3Ducks 0 Now they belong with the legends. The Devils rose from the ranks of simply great teams to the very elite in NHL history last night. They...

DID YOU DOUBT MARTY? LONG AGO, HE PROVED HE'S ALL-TIME GREAT

PATRICK Roy's career had only been cold for two weeks. And already, uneasy rested the crown of World's Greatest Goaltender on Marty Brodeur's head. He hadn't been hot since midway...