September 19, 2003

2 SHOW BIZ LAW FIRMS IN A DUET

One of the leading music law firms is joining forces with one of Hollywood's most powerful firms, bringing the lawyers for such stars as Britney Spears, Brad Pitt and LL...

OTHER FLOORS HOPE NYSE ILLS AID THEM

As the New York Stock Exchange reels from the furor surrounding Dick Grasso, other trading floors are hoping companies are willing to make a trade themselves - to their boards....

BROOKLYN OK FOR NETS: BOSS

George Steinbrenner says he has nothing against a plan that would bring the New Jersey Nets basketball team to Brooklyn. A story in yesterday's Post reported that Steinbrenner has opposed...

NOT MAKING NYSE - CALLS FOR MORE HEADS TO ROLL AFTER GRASSO DEBACLE

A day after Dick Grasso resigned, the furor continued at the New York Stock Exchange as Big Board members called for more heads to roll, more disclosure of management pay...

P. DIDDY CITY IS MOVING BUSINESS TO TIMES SQ.

Call it the P. Diddy Building. Sean "P. Diddy" Combs" is expected to lease an entire Times Square Building for his hip-hop and fashion headquarters, preparing to take on 52,000...

SIMMONS HEATS UP KELLWOOD SALE TALK

The Kellwood Company is in exclusive negotiations to buy Phat Fashions from music mogul Russell Simmons, The Post has learned. A deal was signed last week, and Kellwood will have...

LF'S CYNTHIA STEFFE LOOKS FOR INVESTORS

The apparel company that owns designer sportswear maker Cynthia Steffe has hired an investment bank to find an investor willing to help finance an expansion of the brand, The Post...

MAGAZINES PLANNING TO TRIM AD STAFFS IN CRUCIAL 4TH QTR.

DESPITE an upbeat September, publishers remain nervous about the rest of the year. "Nobody is out of the woods yet," said one knowledgeable executive. "The fourth quarter is going to...

EXPRESS HIT WITH SEVEN JEANS SUIT

The Express chain is selling jeans under the Seven7 brand name that mimics the more upscale Seven jeans sold in department stores and retail boutiques, according to a lawsuit filed...

WARNER, EMI ARE IN TALKS . . . AGAIN

As talks between Time Warner and Bertelsmann about merging their music divisions have all but collapsed, a new round of discussions between Warner Music and EMI has begun, according to...

NBC, VIVENDI SETTLE MOST ISSUES, PLAN OCT. MERGER

Vivendi and NBC have resolved most of their remaining differences and plan to announce a final merger deal in early October, The Post has learned. The two companies have tentatively...

PAULSON HAS PLAN TO END NYSE CONFLICTS

Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson has presented to NYSE directors a proposal to overhaul the structure of its board. The proposal would prohibit securities industry directors from sitting on the...

WARNER, EMI ARE IN TALKS ... AGAIN

As talks between Time Warner and Bertelsmann about merging their music divisions have all but collapsed, a new round of discussions between Warner Music and EMI have begun, according to...

NOT MAKING NYSE: CALLS FOR MORE HEADS TO ROLL AFTER GRASSO DEBACLE

A day after Dick Grasso resigned, the furuor continued at the New York Stock Exchange as Big Board members called for more heads to roll, more disclosure of management pay...

SIEBERT MIS-INTUITS QUICKEN ALLY, SUES

Muriel Siebert & Co. has filed a $44 million lawsuit against Intuit Inc., charging the tax software giant was a bad business partner. The two companies teamed up last year...

LEFT COAST OVERTAKES APPLE IN NUMBER OF UBER-WEALTHY

New York is no longer home to the richest Americans - California now has twice as many. In Forbes' annual ranking of the nation's 400 wealthiest people, California has knocked...

STARR REPORT

Denis Leary says he bucks the common trend - since he's a guy who isn't afraid to ask for help (or directions). Leary will give pointers to guys on how...

'COLD' DAY IN STIX

COLD CREEK MANOR ½ (one and one half stars) Low-tension rural thriller. Running time: 118 minutes. Rated R (violence, nudity, language, sexuality). At the E-Walk, the Kips Bay, the 84th...

YO, SUSANNA; THE BANGLES ARE BACK, WITH NEW PRIORITIES

BY day, she's a mom. But after the sun sets and her two boys are tucked in for the night, Susanna Hoffs - the girl who puts the bang in...

JACKMAN, BE NIMBLE

NATHAN Lane and Matthew Broderick in "The Producers." Harvey Fierstein in "Hairspray." Antonio Banderas in "Nine." Audrey II in "Little Shop of Horrors." Hugh Jackman had better wind up on...

NO ROARS FROM THIS CROWD

SECONDHAND LIONS (two stars) Threadbare family entertainment. Running time: 109 minutes. Rated PG (action violence). At the Empire, the Union Square, the East 86th Street. YOU want to like "Secondhand...

'UNDER' WHELMING

UNDERWORLD (two stars) Surprisingly diverting. Running time: 121 minutes. Rated R (violence, gore). At the Chelsea West, the Union Square, the Battery Park, others. THOUGH it sometimes feels as if...

BILLYBURG HAS OWN JAZZ FEST

EVERYONE knows about Williamsburg as the hipster home for New York rockers, but there's a burgeoning jazz scene there as well. And Jesse Selengut, a jazz trumpeter and composer and...

A KNOCK ON WOODY

ANYTHING ELSE ½ (one and one half stars) La-di-dull. Running time: 108 minutes. Rated R (drug use, sexual innuendo). At the Empire, the Lincoln Square, the Battery Park City, others....

AMEN! 'TEMPTATIONS' IS THE GOSPEL TRUTH

THE FIGHTING TEMPTATIONS ½ (two and one half stars) A hoot and a holler.Running time: 123 minutes. Rated PG-13 (some sexual references). At the E Walk, Loews 34th Street, Kips...

A LITTLE SCHOOLHOUSE

TO BE AND TO HAVE 1/2 (three and one half stars)THIS utterly charming documentary, which observes a year in the life of a small, single-class school in a French farming...

BIG FAT ITALIAN CANNOLI

MAMBO ITALIANO > (two stars) Entertaining fluff. Running time: 88 minutes. In English, Italian and French with English subtitles. Rated R (profanity, sex). At the Lincoln Square, the Chelsea, the...

'CASA' WON'T BRING DOWN THE HOUSE

CASA DE LOS BABYS (two stars) Casa de los yawns. Running time: 95 minutes. Rated R (profanity, drugs). At the Union Square and the Clearview First and 62nd. 'CASA de...

'FRIENDS' GETS NO SPECIAL HANDLING THIS YEAR

'FRIENDS" is entering its 10th and final season - but don't expect the Emmys to cut them any slack. All six "Friends" threw their names into the Emmy nomination pool...

PUFFED UP RATINGS BAD WEATHER IS GOOD NEWS FOR LOCAL NEWSCASTS, CABLE

AS hurricane Isabel battered the Eastern Seaboard yesterday, the violent storm whipped up some mega ratings for the Weather Channel and local news programs. "It's all about viewing the real-life...

BUNKER OF THE BARRIO

"Luis" Tonight at 8:30 on Fox/Ch. 5 (three stars) LUIS Cortez will strike some as the Archie Bunker of the barrio, but that's only because Bunker- style political incorrectness has...

JONES' VINTAGE DUETS RIPE

BILL T. JONES/ARNIE ZANE DANCE COMPANY The Kitchen, 512 W. 19th St., between 10th and 11th avenues; (212) 255-5793. Closes tomorrow. TWENTY years after it started, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie...

TREE SPEARS L.I. DRIVER IN WIND HORROR

Hurricane Isabel's howling winds combined with cruel fate yesterday to leave a Long Island man seriously injured by a flying tree branch that impaled him when it smashed through the...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Dedicated Post reader Mickey Metcalfe offered the following tidbit from his local paper: An upstate cop blasted an 81-year-old woman with pepper spray after she assaulted him and his partner,...

JAMES BROWN'S SOUL SURPRISE

Godfather of Soul James Brown, in Harlem to announce his upcoming shows at the Apollo Theatre, turned what was supposed to be a free, three-song mini-concert into an hourlong funkfest...

NYPD PLANS HIGH HOLY DAY VIGILANCE

The Police Department is stepping up security for the Jewish High Holy Days beginning next week, including unannounced visits to synagogues. "Like Israel, New York City will never bow to...

SUBWAY MUMBLE BUMBLE

Straphangers, listen up - subway-car announcements have gotten much harder to understand. Subway announcements are worse this year on 12 lines where conductors deliver garbled and hard-to-understand messages, a new...

MASSACRED INNOCENTS LAID TO REST

At least 1,000 people crammed the farewell church service yesterday for four family members found slaughtered in their Queens home last week, as cops continued to hunt down their elusive...

OIL SLICKSTER GETS SLAMMER

A retired big-shot oil executive who slipped out of paying taxes on nearly $8 million was sent to prison yesterday for nearly four years after admitting he'd made "stupid mistakes."...

STUDENT RAGE IN HS GRID SCANDAL

Furious students stormed out of their classes in protest yesterday after Mepham HS on Long Island canceled its football season in the wake of a lurid sex-assault hazing scandal surrounding...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN * A Queens man who suffered an apparent stroke after being robbed in East Harlem last week has died, police said yesterday. Ivan Urrego, 45, was accosted by an...

MIKE: BUTT REALLY, RUDY BACKS BAN

Mayor Bloomberg insisted yesterday that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani "is certainly in favor of" the city's strict smoking ban - a day after Giuliani said it went too far. On...

HILL SPINS WEB OF '04 RIDDLES

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday gave her staff a green light to keep promoting speculation that she'll run for president, saying that's "freedom of speech." Clinton's remarks came after her...

BOARDWALK BLAZE - HOMELESS SUSPECTED AS B'KLYN EATERY IS DESTROYED

A four-alarm blaze that gutted a popular Brighton Beach restaurant and injured 20 people is considered suspicious, fire officials said yesterday. The fire erupted at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at...

W'CHESTER KIDS BUSTED IN MALL ROBS

A pair of brothers, ages 10 and 15, brazenly robbed five women in a pair of upscale Westchester shopping malls, officials said. The boys, who commuted from Yonkers by bus...

ISRAELIS INTERCEPT TWO MORE BOMBERS

Israel staged major raids in the West Bank and Gaza Strip - and Palestinians battled Palestinians in Gaza City yesterday - as President Bush conceded the Mideast peace process had...

TRYING ON A GUISE OF DOLLS

SHOPPING for something to wear to a party is going to be a breeze next spring. Practically every designer who's showed over the last seven days of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week...

MORE THUGS EYED IN TENNIS-SIS SLAY

LOS ANGELES - The sister of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams died in a deadly hail of bullets - fired by at least three gunmen who shot off nine...

CONFESSED PERV BUSTED IN MOLEST AT HIS SCHOOL JOB

A registered sex offender working as a janitor at a private Brooklyn elementary school has been arrested for allegedly hugging and kissing an 11-year-old girl in a school hallway, law-enforcement...

BER$ERK 'KILLER' HUBBY

A Brooklyn husband, outraged over losing inheritance money to his wife, pummeled her with a shoe and dumped the dying woman in the bushes before turning his rage on a...

'GANG SLAY' TRIO NAILED

Three Long Island members of the deadly MS-13 gang were arraigned yesterday for the execution-style shooting of one of their own, whom they suspected as a snitch, police said. Edgardo...

TRAVELERS GO NOWHERE FAST - THOUSANDS YIELD TO BEAST OF THE EAST

Hurricane Isabel is wreaking havoc on travel plans as thousands of airline passengers, train commuters and motorists deal with high winds and heavy rain. Airline passengers should expect more delays...

DEMS DARE CLARK TO DEBATE

Democratic rivals yesterday dared retired Gen. Wesley Clark to show up and face them at the next presidential debate on Thursday in New York. Clark just jumped into the Democratic...

CON BLAMES HIS BRO

Oh, brother, where art thou? A Queens mechanic who was convicted yesterday of robbing two female clubgoers at gunpoint said the real robber was his brother, a dead ringer who...

COPS IN S.I. BIAS TROUBLE

Three cops, including a sergeant, are expected to face charges as early as today for failing to properly investigate an alleged hate crime on Staten Island, sources said yesterday. The...

MIKE HAS HAR$H WORDS FOR UNIONS

A tough-talking Mayor Bloomberg yesterday warned city union leaders face to face that there's no way their workers will get raises without sweeping changes in work rules. The mayor's hard-line...

DITCHED PITCH FIRM SUING CRONKITE

Walter Cronkite, the "Most Trusted Man in America," can't be trusted, claims a federal lawsuit filed yesterday against the legendary newsman. The former CBS anchorman was accused by a Florida...

ISABEL ROARS ASHORE - 1 MILLION ARE LEFT POWERLESS AS HUGE 'CANE SOCKS N.C.

It is big. It is bad. It is ugly. Hurricane Isabel howled onto the U.S. mainland yesterday, pounding the Eastern Seaboard with 100-mph winds, stinging rain and surging 15-foot waves....

GIMME SHELTER - BIANCA SUES FOR $20M AND FLEES PARK AVE. MOLD

What a drag it is getting mold. Bianca Jagger has filed a $20 million lawsuit against her Park Avenue apartment building, alleging that she's suffered "personal injury" from mold and...

N.Y. CALM BEFORE THE STORM

As Isabel played havoc with the rest of the Eastern Seaboard, New Yorkers went about their business yesterday and dozens of surfers hit the beach. Mayor Bloomberg said the storm's...

MAYOR RAPS HIS OWN TAX HIKE

In his strongest comments to date against his own tax hikes, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday the 18.5 percent property tax increase was too high because "people just don't have the...

ISABEL ROARS ASHORE - DEADLY HURRICANE LASHES EAST COAST WITH 100-MPH WINDS

It is big. It is bad. It is ugly. Hurricane Isabel howled onto the U.S. mainland yesterday, pounding the Eastern Seaboard with 100-mph-plus winds, stinging rain and surging 15-foot waves....

MOST KIDS WOULD FLUNK NEW REGENTS

Most of the city's public high school senior class would fail to graduate if the state's tougher exam requirements were in effect this year, experts said yesterday. Albany plans to...

COPS HUNTING BANK-ROB DUO

The police are asking for the public's help in searching for a pair of brazen robbers who've stolen more than $30,000 from banks in Brooklyn and Queens. Cops yesterday released...

B'KLYN MAN: I KILLED MY LOVER

A Brooklyn man confessed to police that he killed his girlfriend, whose body was discovered in the bathroom of the apartment they shared, law-enforcement sources said. The couple had been...

KIDS NABBED AS MALL-RAT ROBBERS

A pair of brothers, ages 10 and 15, brazenly robbed five women in a pair of upscale Westchester shopping malls, officials said. The boys, who commuted from Yonkers by bus...

BOOKS HID $1M POT FARM: COPS

Chinatown cops checking out a building where there'd been complaints of drug use stumbled across a marijuana farm - hidden behind sliding bookcases in an apartment, authorities said. The bookcases...

JAMES BROWN'S SURPRISE SOULFEST

Godfather of Soul James Brown, in Harlem to announce his upcoming shows at the Apollo Theatre, turned what was supposed to be a free, three-song mini-concert into an hourlong funkfest...

STUDENT STORM IN GRID SCANDAL

Furious students stormed out of their classes in protest yesterday after Mepham HS on Long Island cancelled its football season in the wake of a lurid sexual assault scandal surrounding...

BE$ERK 'KILLER' HUBBY

A Brooklyn husband, outraged over losing inheritance money to his wife, pummeled her with a shoe and dumped the dying woman in the bushes before turning his rage on a...

BIG TROUBLE FOR GIANTS ; REVAMPED REDSKINS WILL SHOW OFF TALENT

After allowing Terry Glenn and Antonio Bryant to beat them with quick-hitters and down-the-field strikes, the Giants' defense has to be especially wary of the Redskins' dangerous Laveranues Coles-Rod Gardner...

THE FAN'S CORNER

James Grundvig has a son named Fridrik and the middle name Ottar. You think he has any Norwegian blood in him? Oddly enough, he hates the Vikings. "People call me...

BATES OUT TO REGAIN HIS LUCKY 7'S FORM

WHEELING, W.Va. - The most common question heard in the hallway outside the Islanders dressing room is, without a doubt, "Where's Batesey?" There always seems to be someone looking for...

ISABEL KEEPS ANGLERS ASHORE

HOW Hurricane Isabel will play out for New York's saltwater anglers this weekend remains to be seen, but there will be enough going on around the tri-state area to keep...

BRODEUR: STABILITY'S THE KEY

When the Devils visit Philly tonight, they'll be opening both preseason and old wounds, rubbing salt into the Flyers' now-chronic sores. It has been a drought of near-Ranger proportions for...

PENNINGTON NOW BATTLING WAIT PROBLEM

JET NOTES The wait isn't any less aggravating for Chad Pennington these days. Rehabbing his fractured and dislocated left wrist, the Jets quarterback called his time away from the field...

LUNDMARK NOT TAKING ; JOB FOR GRANTED

Jamie Lundmark scored one goal in the final 25 games last season, eight in 55 matches overall. That much about his rookie season is documented. What isn't documented is that...

PIGSKIN PROFIT

Before you lay your hard-earned greenbacks on a college game this weekend, we make this rare suggestion: Turn to the Weather Channel. These people get as worked up about a...

YR MULLS 5-MONTH HIATUS

A report that Yonkers Raceway has tentative plans to close for five months this coming winter and spring to install a new electrical system for its under-construction slots casino sent...

NYRA KNOCK ADDS FUEL TO FIRE

The audit and accompanying report on the New York Racing Association released Wednesday by state comptroller Alan Hevesi, which, as expected, was highly critical of NYRA's business practices, fiscal performance...

SLAP AT COMMON DECENCY ; ESPN'S SCOTT HIT LOW ROAD WITH SLUR

LAST week, "SportsCenter" anchor Stuart Scott described the Raiders as having "pimp-slapped" an opponent. Even by ESPN's diminishing standards, it was a highly inappropriate crack, and, given that Scott is...

HARRY GETS HIS DUE

DAYS off have always been as few and far between as playoff appearances, both for the Rangers of Harry Howell's 17 NHL seasons and the same organization for which he...

METS MIGHT LOSE OUT ON GUERRERO

How bad are things going for the Mets right now? Even their offseason plans have taken a hit. The Expos have announced that they've begun discussions on a new contract...

COLES CATCHES GIANTS' EYE ; 'SKINS WR POSES PROBLEM FOR BLUE

In this business known as the National Football League, players are cut, signed and traded with such frequency that the transactions become a blur. Yet when the Redskins lured Laveranues...

FASSEL CONCERNED WITH COLLINS' PROTECTION

GIANTS NOTES Giants coach Jim Fassel is keeping an eye on quarterback Kerry Collins, who got hit early and often by the Cowboys in Monday night's 35-32 overtime loss. Collins...

GEORGE: 'IT WAS STUPID' TO PLAY ; ANGRY YANKS DRENCH O'S WITH DOWNPOUR OF CRITICISM

BALTIMORE - Call him Hurricane Joe. An angry Joe Torre ripped into the Orioles yesterday for their Birdbrain decision to go on with yesterday's Hurricane Isabel game at Camden Yards...

BLAZERS CAN'T WORK IT OUT

THE best thing about the NFL season is the NBA season is just around the gully, and over the ridge to Grandpa Stern's house we go. With training camps scheduled...

BLUSTERY BOSS BLASTS BASEBALL, COULD FACE FINE

"It was stupid and terrible judgment by the commissioner's office."GEORGE STEINBRENNER ST. PETERSBURG - Using words that likely will lead to him getting fined, George Steinbrenner unloaded on Major League...

JETS AIR IT OUT ; MOSS THRIVES AS DEEP THREAT

There was a moment as the Jets prepared to face the Dolphins early last week when Herman Edwards quietly entered the room during an offensive coaches' meeting, approached the board...

TIE FEELS LIKE LOSS TO MUSSINA ; 6

5 INNINGSYankees 1Orioles 1 BALTIMORE - The Yankees didn't lose yesterday, but they didn't win either. Worst of all, their pitching took a hit. "We burned a pitcher," Joe Torre...

METS MIGHT LOSE CHANCE AT GUERRERO

Expos 1Mets 0 How bad are things for the Mets? Even their offseason plans have taken a hit. The Expos have begun contract negotiations for All-Planet right fielder - and...

MARCHAND'S MATCHUP OF THE WEEK

Al Michaels vs. Mike Breen (Who really should be the NBA's lead play-by-player?) TNT's Marv Albert is the best NBA play-by-player. But right now he is unavailable to ABC (which...

5 QUESTIONS FOR RALPH KINER

This week, The Post's Andrew Marchand spoke with Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner. The 80-year-old Kiner will work with soon-to-retire Bob Murphy - his fellow original Met-caster - for the...

SIDELINE SIREN SILENT: GUERRERO MUM ON BAD START - OR HAS ABC MUZZLED HER?

ABC Monday Night Football sideline reporter Lisa Guerrero is paid to talk, but she won't speak. With all the harsh criticism of Guerrero's work in her first season, NYP TV...

STEVIE WONDER : SPURRIER HAS SKINS 2-0 - BUT CAN HE STOP STRAHAN?

Sunday, Giants at Redskins, 4 p.m., Fox His critics mockingly call him "Steve Superior" because of his cockiness. But with his Redskins at 2-0, Steve Spurrier is on the verge...