August 18, 2003

REIT STYMIED IN N.Y. BID ACTION

Bidding for top-flight city office buildings is so intense that one real estate group has been unable to drop $500 million set aside for purchases. Wells Real Estate Funds, a...

ANDREA GOES BACK TO DRAMA

FORMER CNN Headline News anchor Andrea Thompson is going back to acting. She has been hired to play a recurring on the hit suspense/action series "24" this season. According to...

SIMON WORTH $45M

FOR a guy who can't sing, dance or - for that mater - cook, "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell is hugely well paid. The King of Nasty Cuts was just...

CRUNCH TIME ... SHOWMAN EATS LIGHT BULBS

TO us, it's a light bulb. To Todd Robbins, even in a blackout, it's a light snack. "G.E.," he said. "Good Eating!" He bit off the base, spit it out,...

LUDDITE'S NEW TARGET: THE DAWN OF EVOLUTION

LAST week's power outage inconvenienced millions of people across a wide swath of eight states, but it made Kirkpatrick Sale's day. As the nation's foremost critic of technology - his...

MAKING SENSE OF THE '70S - THE MUSIC WAS DUMB, THE CLOTHES WERE DREADFUL AND SONNY & CHER HAD THE NO. 1 TV SHOW - SO WHY DO WE MISS THE 'ME DECADE' SO MUCH?

"I Love the '70s" [* * 1/2] Tonight through Friday night at 9 o'clock on VH1 ----- DO you really care what someone named Mo Rocca thinks about the 1970s?...

CHECK OUT TODDLER TV

TV producers worried about employment security will be downright terrified to learn that four-year-olds are being trained to do their jobs. An early learning center in Chicago called Créme de...

STARR REPORT

PBS taps Smiley for nighttime talk show Tavis Smiley, who's already established a beachhead on National Public Radio, is returning to TV as the host of "The Tavis Smiley Show,"...

SHOE-PER STAR - 'THE VIEW' OF JONES' NEW COLLECTION

The gap between Prada and Payless is getting smaller - thanks in part to Star Jones. This fall, the former prosecutor and current co-host of ABC's "The View," will debut...

DESIGNER OR DISCOUNT? - MIXING HIGH-END STYLE WITH COOL FALL BARGAINS

DRESSING in head-to-toe designer clothes is a thing of the past. These days, it's not uncommon to see a New York woman wearing a $9.99 Old Navy dress with a...

SKATING FASHION IS ON A ROLL

BACKYARD pools, staircase handrails, benches, curbs - pretty much any surface with a dip and a swoop will satisfy a skateboarder. But they're extremely picky about their wardrobes - trucker...

DEM IN 'POWER' PLAY FOR SPECIAL LEGISLATURE SESSION

GOV. PATAKI yesterday was urged to call a special emergency session of the Legislature to approve new laws to build power plants and upgrade the state's electrical transmission lines. The...

ISLAND TAKES ITS JESTER TO COURT

A California magnet salesman - who doubles as the "official court jester" to the king of a tiny Pacific island - isn't making 'em laugh anymore. That's because Jesse Bogdonoff...

IGNORANCE - OUR REAL ENEMY IN IRAQ

WE'LL bag Saddam. We'll continue to break down the diehard support for the old regime. And we'll do our best to give the people of Iraq a chance at greater...

MORE POWER TO HEROES OF BLACKOUT

There were many unsung heroes during the tumultuous Blackout of 2003 - and here's your chance to tap them for a New York Post Liberty Medal Award. The nominating process...

FURY AS SCHOOL LETS TOT, 3, WANDER OUT - TEACH SUSPENDED IN UPTOWN FIASCO

An East Harlem pre-school teacher has been suspended indefinitely after a 3-year-old toddler walked out of her second-floor classroom and left the building without notice. The tot, Albert Carvajal Jr.,...

HAMPTONS DIARY

HEY, all you producers reading this, if you're looking for a funny guy for your next film, Chevy Chase is your man - and he wants you to know he's...

STITCH IN TIME SAVES POOCH

Puffy is the miracle dog of the blackout. The lovable chow had undergone surgery to have an ovarian tumor removed before the lights went out. But then her stitches popped,...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A Maryland college has stunned cash-strapped students by allowing them to pay the exact same tuition their grandparents shelled out when they attended. For Rebecca Dupont, 18, that means paying...

UNLUCKY E. SIDERS SPEND EXTRA DAY IN DARK

Tenants of an Upper East Side high-rise - the last Manhattanites to emerge from the blackout - finally got their lights back yesterday afternoon. "It's wonderful," said Roberta Breitrose, one...

GEN. CLARK COY ON BID FOR PREZ

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark yesterday said he'll decide whether to become the 10th Democrat running for president "in the next two or three weeks," and revved up with a slashing...

CAPTURED QAEDA BIG'S PLANS MAY BE AFOOT

Intelligence officials now fear they may not have caught crazed al Qaeda kingpin Hambali in time to thwart a string of terror bombings planned around President Bush's visit to Bangkok...

IT AIN'T BEACHY KEEN

It's not safe to go back in the water quite yet - except in the Rockaways. Most city beaches remained closed yesterday - frustrating thousands of overheated New Yorkers -...

BLOOMY WON'T BLAME BUCKEYES

Don't get mad at Ohio. That was the word from Mayor Bloomberg yesterday, who said even though Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. looks like the main culprit in the biggest blackout in...

HARLEM DAY IS A SOULFUL SUCCESS

There was electricity in the air yesterday as New Yorkers and out-of-towners flocked to 135th Street to celebrate Harlem Day by listening to top rappers including Doug E. Fresh and...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

THE BRONX * Two men were shot, one fatally, in the Eastchester Road section at 10:30 Saturday night, police said yesterday. Leroy Tutti, 22, was found dead at 3046 Eastchester...

SEAMAN TRAGEDY - CRASH KILLS B'KLYN TEEN

When Shanachie Caceres got a phone call from her future mother-in-law Saturday telling her to quickly come to the house, her heart skipped a beat. Caceres, 19, of Brooklyn, was...

ROAD-MAPPING ISRAEL THROWS IN 2 TOWNS

JERUSALEM - Israel will start handing over control of two West Bank towns today after saying that the Palestinian Authority had made significant efforts to rein in terrorists, but threatened...

BROTHERLY LOVE LEADS TO SLAY

A heartbroken Queens grandfather says he's cursing the day he took pity on his freeloading, booze-addled brother and let him move in - because now his beloved wife is dead...

CAR-DRAG TEEN IN COMA ON L.I.

A 19-year-old Long Island man was in critical condition in a coma yesterday after being dragged 100 feet by a car during a dispute with the driver and his passenger,...

BLECH-OUT 2003 - FOOD POISONING SOARS AS GOODS GO BAD

An unusually high number of food-poisoning cases reported by hospital emergency rooms has spurred the city Health Department to warn New Yorkers not to eat food that could have been...

BX. KIDNAP-RAPE NIGHTMARE

Two thugs forced a 23-year-old woman to endure a horrifying rape-and-kidnapping ordeal - and also robbed her of $12,000 cash she'd gotten in a pyramid scheme, police said yesterday. A...

CITY GOING AFTER THE 20 WORST DEADBEAT PARENTS

The city is finally cracking down on its most notorious deadbeat parents - slamming them with subpoenas and property liens, The Post has learned. The stepped-up action comes just weeks...

THAT GLAM SADDAM - GIS HANGING MOCK PIX TO TAUNT FIENDS

Here's a different side of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein - whose loyalists now can see him depicted as a "Hunka Burnin' Love," a busty Hollywood star, or as a...

GOOD 'SIGN' FROM ARNIE - AUTOGRAPH GIVES NEW YORK SHELTER KID HOPE

HANDSOME, young Carmelo Cintron is blessed with irresistible dimples and dreams of fighting fires. He also lives in a homeless shelter, where such goals often die. But Carmelo's parents see...

STUDENT ADMISSIONS SKYROCKET AT CUNY

The number of students flocking to the City University of New York has shot up despite a 25 percent hike in tuition and tougher admission and graduation requirements, new data...

INSPECTION DOUGH RISES - CITY'S NEW REGS $OCK BATTERED EATERIES

Restaurants and bars are getting socked this year with a staggering 400 percent increase in Health Department inspection fines, according to city estimates - a move that will rake in...

PALMER ON VERGE OF FALLING BACK

GIANT NOTES Jeremy Shockey becomes Casper Milquetoast. Ray Handley comes back. And now, soaring on the list of every Giant fan's nightmare: Kerry Collins goes down. It hasn't happened yet....

TIKI LIKES WHAT HE SEES

Tiki Barber is flashing his megawatt smile, and talking about a career year, for himself and for his Giants. Barber has always been the songbird of optimism, the painter of...

'CIDE' LONGSHOT TO MAKE TRAVERS

SARATOGA SPRINGS - After accepting congratulations yesterday morning for his 3-year-old filly Island Fashion's runaway victory in Saturday's rich, prestigious Alabama Stakes at the Old Spa, trainer Barclay Tagg continued...

STEVENS ON MEND

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Hall-of-Fame jockey Gary Stevens, co-star of the movie "Seabiscuit," miraculously escaped serious injury when his mount unseated him at the finish of Saturday's Arlington Million. He is...

TNT COVERAGE A MAJOR MESS - DREADFUL DECISIONS RUIN PGA

ONCE again a network in the proud and loud possession of a significant sports event has done its best not to show it. Why did TNT for months encourage us...

THORPE HANGS ON AS GILDER CAN'T CONVERT

After a long, hot afternoon of wonderful golf warfare, the Champions Tour Long Island Classic came down to one putt. Bob Gilder, who came into the final round at Eisenhower...

GREEN HAMSTRUNG BY INJURY TO JONES

JET NOTES The Jets' injury-free preseason has come to a screeching halt with the news of Marvin Jones' right hamstring pull. Making Jones' injury even more exasperating is that it...

MOSS ACES CHEMISTRY - RECEIVER FORGES BOND WITH PENNINGTON

There was a period in Saturday night's preseason game between the Jets and Saints that had to have Jets fans asking themselves, "Laveranues who?" Santana Moss' performance in the first...

METS STARTERS NEED MORE THAN GERITOL

IT is OK if you are a Met fan to watch your team's five-game winning streak and go giddy with possibilities. You are owed that considering, as Al Leiter explained,...

TIGER CRAWLS AWAY QUIETLY

PGA NOTES ROCHESTER - Tiger Woods birdied two of his final three holes yesterday, but by then he knew he would not win a major in 2003. Woods ended a...

SCUTARO'S 'STEAL' IS ALL HUSTLE

MET NOTES The most surprising and amusing play of the Mets' 6-4 win over Colorado yesterday was Marco Scutaro drawing a two-out, full-count walk in the fifth, and - with...

FLOYD GIVES 'EM HEEL - CLIFF GOES 4-FOR-4 AS METS WIN 5TH STRAIGHT

"I've been questioning myself a bit, but it's the right thing to do. I have to get myself right." -CLIFF FLOYD ---- Mets 6 - Rockies 4 When Cliff Floyd...

DUNCAN KNOWS ROLE WELL

USA 101 - P. Rico 74 Maybe the U.S. will need Tracy McGrady to come up with a defensive stop. There will be times when Allen Iverson is expected to...

AARON'S BAT NOW BOON FOR BOMBERS

YANKEE NOTES BALTIMORE - The immediate impression is that Aaron Boone's world suddenly came together Friday night when he hit a game-winning three-run homer and made his first contribution as...

ONE SWEET SWEEP - EAST LEAD AT 5 AS MASTERFUL MOOSE BLANKS BIRDS

Yankees 8 - Orioles 0 BALTIMORE - Is a four-game sweep of the banged-up and deflated Orioles an indication the Yankees are about to separate themselves from the Red Sox...

RASPBERRIES FOR COLLISON

USA NOTES Nick Collison swears he never dissed the Knicks, made fun of New York or alleged that Willis Reed was faking that Game 7 injury. No matter; he still...

MAJOR MICHEEL CLOSES THE DEAL - UNKNOWN BECOMES BIG SHOT

ROCHESTER - There had never been a shot like this, not on the 72nd hole of a major championship. Not with the world watching. Shaun Micheel hit the ball clean...

YANKS RELEASE ZEILE

BALTIMORE - Todd Zeile is out, Jorge De Paula is in for the time being and Juan Rivera is on the way. Welcome to the Yankees Roster Carousel, which was...

SURPRISE! PHIL FALLS SHORT AGAIN

ROCHESTER - If he keeps wanting it bad enough, hoping for it hard enough, maybe it really will happen for Phil Mickelson one of these days. If the galleries that...

SHAUN OUTDUELS CAMPBELL TO CAPTURE PGA TITLE

ROCHESTER - When Shaun Micheel swung at his ball with his seven-iron on the 18th hole at Oak Hill Country Club yesterday, he watched its flight as his caddie yelled:...

SHAUN OUTDUELS CAMPBELL TO CAPTURE PGA

ROCHESTER - As Shaun Micheel watched the ballflight off his 7-iron sail toward the 18th green at Oak Hill Country Club yesterday, his caddie yelled: "Be Right!" It was better...

SURPRISE! PHIL FIZZLES AGAIN

ROCHESTER - If he keeps wanting it bad enough, hoping for it hard enough, maybe it really will happen for Phil Mickelson one of these days. If the galleries that...

WOODS LEAVES QUIETLY

PGA NOTES ROCHESTER - Tiger Woods birdied two of his final three holes yesterday, but by then he knew he would not win a major in 2003. Woods ended a...

BIG SHOT WAS ONE FOR AGES

ROCHESTER - They will add this one to the rotation of unforgettable moments at once, alongside Larry Mize's 140-foot chip shot at Augusta in 1986, next to Bob Tway's blast...

CHAD LEFT HANGING BY THREAD

ROCHESTER - Want to know what Chad Campbell thought of his chances to win the PGA Championship before he got here? Well, it seems he had to all but sprint...