October 21, 2003

FRIDA PORTRAIT GOES ON BLOCK

A tiny tin self-portrait of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, portrayed by Salma Hayek in the hit film "Frida," is on the block for $2 million. Christie's says the 5-by 7-inch...

GRYPHON BUYING 8 O'CLOCK FOR $128M

After months of brewing, A & P has finally served up a deal for its flagship Eight O'Clock Coffee Brand, as part of its plan to reduce debt and costs....

AS COMEY MOVES ON, MARTHA COULD BEAT THE RAP

EVERY so often, someone like Martha Stewart should go to jail. And the whole country should see pictures of her waiting in line for chow or using the toilet in...

M'SOFT'S SUITE DEAL ; WANT A BETTER OFFICE? BUY WINDOWS SERVER TOO!

For competitors, Microsoft's Office 2003 looks like déjà vu all over again. Having famously used the dominance of Windows to rule the Internet browser market, the tech giant now is...

TOY STORES MAKE PLAY FOR 'TWEENS

Toy retailers are stocking up on a host of non-traditional products this holiday season - from portable video players to watches and jewelry - in the hopes of attracting kids...

LEGAL AID HEADS TO 199 WATER ST.

DISPLACED from its Church Street base by the 9/11 attacks, the Legal Aid Society signed a lease to relocate to 199 Water St. The society will lease 134,000 square feet...

WEBB TO UNTANGLE NYSE PAY, GOVERNANCE: REPORT

Dan K. Webb, a high-profile attorney who has defended Microsoft Corp. and tobacco companies, is the latest big name to be recruited into the New York Stock Exchange's house-cleaning effort....

PUBLISHERS LIGHTEN UP MAG CONFAB TURNOUT

IN another sign of the tough times facing the industry, Time Inc. - the United States' largest magazine publisher - has sent one of its lightest contingents ever to the...

SNOW BLINDNE$$: TREASURY CHIEF'S LATEST GAFFE: INTEREST RATES

An economic foot-in-mouth disease could still be lurking in the water at the Treasury Department. In less than a year, a second Treasury Secretary is making recurring public misstatements about...

RIVAL FLYNT LOOKING AT PENTHOUSE

Larry Flynt is taking a good, long look at Penthouse. The controversial publisher of rival girlie title Hustler is said to be one of several potential buyers in a bankruptcy...

SETBACK AT AMEX ; DEAL TO SELL TROUBLED EXCHANGE IS ON THE ROPES

Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR told NASD officials it intends to "reassess" its deal to acquire the American Stock Exchange, putting the exchange back on the block. The setback is...

HOLTSVILLE EXEMPTION: RISE IN E-FILINGS FORCES IRS TO SHUTTER FAMED L.I. OFFICE

After 32 years, a dreaded symbol of Big Apple life is disappearing - the Holtsville IRS office where you file taxes. About 1,700 people will be let go as the...

NASD MAY TAKE OVER REGULATION OF EXCHANGE

The NASD and American Stock Exchange boards have voted to have the NASD take over regulation for the Amex, say sources familiar with the situation. Management of both organizations has...

GREENBACK ATTACK - STORM OVER SNOW'S GOOFY GAFFE AT TREASURY

An economic foot-in-mouth disease could still be lurking in the water at the Treasury Department. In less than a year, another Treasury Secretary is suffering recurring bouts of public mis-statements...

TEACHER'S 9TH GRADE HELL; NOW SHEWRITES BOOKON SCHOOLHORRORS

IMAGINE a school where students call teachers by their first names, all decisions are made democratically - and the worst punishment a kid can draw is not being allowed to...

FIRST LOOK: LISTEN FOR THE SIREN

AFTER 10 years of family-friendly "battles" that took place daily in front of Las Vegas' Treasure Island hotel and casino, pirates both good and bad have been shown the door....

BOTOXIC HUMOR 'KID NOTORIOUS' SPOOFS STONE, H'WOOD

"Kid Notorious" Tomorrow night at 10:30 on Comedy Central (three stars) WHAT would happen if Sharon Stone's private parts had a problem? How'd you feel if Guns 'n Roses string...

HOMER'S VOICE HITS HIGH NOTE

Mmmmmmmm, Angels. Dan Castellaneta, who provides the voice of Homer Simpson on "The Simpsons," has been cast as TV mogul Aaron Spelling in NBC's movie about "Charlie's Angels," one of...

LADIES STRIP DOWN SOUND

* BARENAKEDLADIES "Everything to Everyone" Reprise Records On their first studio album in three years, the Barenaked Ladies forgo most of their pop snap in favor of a very acoustic...

SCREENER PLAY RUFFLES CRITICS

THE New York Film Critics Circle is considering whether to follow the Los Angeles film critics, who canceled their annual awards to protest the ban against sending screeners of films...

'LAW & ORDER' EPISODE SPARKS PROTEST

MEMBERS of the Dominican-American community are angry at NBC over a perceived racial slur on an episode of "Law & Order: SVU." At issue: An "SVU" episode focusing on the...

DOWNEY'S NEW SKIN FLICK: STAR PLAYS 'HUMAN PIZZA' IN 'SINGING DETECTIVE'

YOU saw John Hurt's Proteus syndrome in 1980's "The Elephant Man," Eric Stoltz's craniodiaphyseal dysplasia in 1985's "Mask" and Mel Gibson's severe facial scarring in 1993's "The Man Without a...

SINGLES' NEW LEASH ON LIFE

IF you think on-line dating is for the dogs, here's a match making service for you. KissyKat (kissykat.com) is a new on-line dating destinationaimed at animal lovers. "On other dating...

FOX SCORES

ABOUT 46 million viewers watched all or part of the Yanks 6-1 victory over Miami in Game 2 of the World Series Sunday on Fox. Overall, about 20.6 million viewers...

WOE IS 'JOE' ; THIS GREEDY GAGGLE OF EURO-BIMBOS IS THE PITS

FIRST of all, the women are all horrible. All 14 of them come across as nasty, slovenly, gold-digging morons. As for the new Joe Millionaire, he comes across as a...

STARR REPORT

Elizabeth, Part II NBC yesterday released more from Katie Couric's exclusive chat with Elizabeth Smart, which The Post first reported yesterday. In the quote released by NBC, Couric asks Smart...

DEAL OF THE WEEK- THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM

STAYING in a state-run hotel isn't exactly our idea of a vacation - it sounds so Soviet-era unfriendly. But Puerto Rico's 24 paradores, government-operated inns scattered across the island, are...

POLS LOVE ZIP CODE $10021; PREZ FOES CASH IN ON UPPER E. SIDE

For presidential candidates looking to pump up their cash stash, the top target is just north of Bloomingdale's at "Piggybank Central" - ZIP code 10021 on Manhattan's Upper East Side....

TONY'S WIFE RELIVES THAT PUT END TO 'OUR PERFECT LIFE'

CARYN and Anthony Battaglia should have celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary this past weekend. They had planned to go to dinner with their kids at The Palm in Manhattan. Instead,...

SUBWAY CRIME STATS KEEP FALLING

Crime in the subways continues to tumble to record lows despite the brutal slaying last month of a Mexican immigrant on his way to work. Robberies, assaults and grand larcenies...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

You may get a speeding ticket in Mount Holly, N.J., but at least you'll have a good laugh. The town has introduced humorous road signs to slow down drivers who...

U.N. GUNMAN GETS LENIENCY

A postal worker who claimed he didn't want to hurt anyone by firing seven shots outside the United Nations building will be out of prison by the end of next...

MA-LAYING INTO PM; BUSH MEETS AND SCOLDS JEW BASHER

WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday strongly rebuked Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad for his anti-Semitic remarks to a world gathering of Muslim leaders last week. Between meetings of Asian Pacific...

LOCAL AGENT GETS FBI TERROR POST

Thomas Donlon, a supervising special agent in counterterrorism in New York, has been named chief of the FBI's new National Threat Center in Washington, officials said yesterday. Donlon, who has...

PARADISE IS DATING HEAVEN FOR WOMEN IN THE 'BURBS OF VEGAS

The U.S. Census Bureau has found Paradise - for single women, at least. In the booming Las Vegas surburb of Paradise, Nev., unmarried men outnumber unmarried women, 116 to 100....

TUNNEL HOAXER HANDED TO INS

A terror fraud who gave cops a bogus tip about an al Qaeda plot to bomb the Holland and Lincoln tunnels is set to be thrown out of the country,...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

Queens Three men, including two probationary firefighters, damaged $500 worth of property in a Bayside diner during an alcohol-fueled, early-morning melee yesterday, authorities said. Michael Davidson, 23, and Gregory Damato,...

SUNY ENLISTED TO REBUILD IRAQ

The State University at Stony Brook has been awarded $4.1 million to help rebuild Iraq. The funds will be used to help set up programs in environmental health and archeology...

GOV'S CANAL DEAL S(T)INKS

ALBANY - State Comptroller Alan Hevesi revealed yesterday he has cancelled a controversial deal by Gov. Pataki's administration for development on the Erie Canal after concluding "false and misleading" statements...

THE GENERAL IN HIS PULPIT

Gen. Boykin was talking about an Islamic radical, not about a mainstream imam. THE war over religion is heating up. The Supreme Court is taking up the question of whether...

10 KILLED IN ISRAELI RAID ON FACTORY

JERUSALEM - Israel blitzed the Gaza Strip with five airstrikes yesterday, destroying a Hamas weapons factory, killing at least nine Palestinians and wounding more than 90 others. The raids included...

MIKE GOES AWOL IN BALLOT LAW BATTLE

There's one prominent name missing in the first mass mailing by Mayor's Bloomberg newly formed committee to promote nonpartisan elections - Mayor Bloomberg's. The mayor's name is nowhere to be...

'ROCKEFELLER' CON TO LOSE BOOK MONEY

A French con artist, who in a new book documents his scheme to squeeze $1.2 million out of America's upper crust by posing as a Rockefeller, was ordered to fork...

COP-KILLER HIRE DRAWS IRE

Rockland County and New York City cops picketed St. Luke's Hospital in Morningside Heights yesterday to protest convicted cop-killer Kathy Boudin being employed at the facility. Boudin, 60, was released...

BLAINE'S NEXT ACT: EATING SOLID FOOD

David Blaine - hooked up to an intravenous drip and unable to walk by himself - was said to be "resting comfortably" in a private London hospital last night, 24...

DIVORCÉ: GARSON DUPED ME

Now a man says he was ripped off in a divorce case handled by indicted Judge Gerald Garson. Louis Kaplan, 33, has taken legal action to reopen his divorce case...

MARTHA DODGES BULLET ON IMCLONE SALE E-MAIL

A federal judge yesterday rescued Martha Stewart from having an e-mail she wrote to her lawyer and daughter about her contentious sale of ImClone shares being read out to jurors...

IT'S AN 'INSANITY' DEFENSE BECAUSE IT'S FLAT-OUT CRAZY

HE ALLEGEDLY shoots dead a couple in their 80s, takes there money, defiles their bodies and even their faded 50-year-old wedding pictures. "The night before, I walked them both home...

SENATORS' STUNNING SILENCE

WASHINGTON - In the wake of the deadly Staten Island Ferry crash last week, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer - who frequently call for government investigations into all...

J.LO'S HIGH HOPES FOR DAYTIME TV

The J.Lo juggernaut is steamrolling into daytime TV. Sexy screen siren Jennifer Lopez will produce a one-hour talk show premiering next fall - which will be co-hosted by her kid...

TYCO ACCUSERS LIVED LARGE, TOO

Tainted Tyco tycoon Dennis Kozlowski put the screws to a second key prosecution witness at his embezzlement trial yesterday by accusing the witness of some of the same licentiousness he's...

OUTRAGE OVER TEACHERLESS CLASS

Education experts were in disbelief yesterday after The Post exposed the scandal of a Queens middle-school class that's been without a regular teacher for six weeks. "I'm really shocked there's...

CLARK MARSHALS HIS FORCES FOR N.H.

WASHINGTON - Retired Gen. Wesley Clark already is lowering his expectations for the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary, with hopes of a top-four finish there - just a day after deciding...

DEVILISH DENIAL ; SLAY SUSPECT NIXES HORRIFIC CONFESSION

Steven Santos was busted leaving the scene of a triple murder wearing one of the victim's shirts, carrying their stolen property and with the murder weapon on his belt -...

'KLEIN' LAW SENDS BAD FANS TO COURT

Mayor Bloomberg signed into law yesterday the "Calvin Klein" bill to crack down on unruly fan behavior at sporting events. The law makes trespassing on the playing area of a...

STUDENT KILLED IN SUBWAY SURFING STUNT

A 14-year-old student on his way home was killed yesterday when he accepted a dare to "subway surf" and fell to the tracks off a moving C train, police said....

'COOKIE' MONSTER ; SUSPECT'S BIZARRE DEFENSE AS HE PLAYS OWN LAWYER

Beltway sniper sus pect John Allen Mu hammad yesterday in sisted he's innocent - just as his youngest daughter was innocent when he once accused her of disobeying him and...

BOAT CREW MAY HAVE FLOUTED REG

City regulations explicitly call for Staten Island ferry captains to be in the pilothouse as a boat docks - a rule that may have been violated when the pilot of...

PLIMPTON LEAVES REVIEW A HOME IN $5M WILL

Author George Plimpton was a class act to the end. In papers filed in Manhattan Surrogate Court, Plimpton, who died last month at 76, left most of his $5 million...

E. SIDE HEIST SPARKS CHASE

Two bandits grabbed $48,000 in cash and millions more in checks in a brazen Upper East Side bank heist yesterday - but after a wild, zigzagging motorcycle chase through northern...

DE NIRO CANCER SHOCK - SUPERSTAR FIGHTS PROSTATE DISEASE

Robert De Niro was facing the toughest battle of his life last night after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. A spokesman for the Oscar-winning actor, who commands $20 million per...

TEARS FOR NYU'S THIRD 'SUICIDE'

An NYU student's Brooklyn family yesterday buried the 19-year-old sophomore who plunged from a window in an apparent suicide, as acquaintances described her as a vibrant and athletic hard worker...

'COOKIE' MONSTER SUSPECT'S BIZARRE DEFENSE AS HE PLAYS OWN LAWYER

Beltway sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad yesterday insisted he's innocent - just as his youngest daughter was innocent when he once accused her of disobeying him and raiding the family...

'HEARING VOICES'; INSIDE THE TWISTED MIND OF FAMILY-SLASH MANIAC

The schizo uncle who fatally slit the throat of his young niece was "hearing voices in his head" before he attacked the tragic little girl and other relatives in their...

IVAN THE AVAILABLE ; METS MAY TRY TO CATCH FREE-AGENT PUDGE

Pudge Rodriguez hasn't been declared a free agent yet, and Mike Piazza is entrenched as the Mets' catcher for now. Nevertheless, the Mets have been depicted as a stalking horse...

ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES ON GAZA KILL 10

JERUSALEM - Israel blitzed the Gaza Strip with five airstrikes yesterday, destroying a Hamas weapons factory, killing at least 10 Palestinians and wounding about 100. The raids included the first...

MARTHA STEWART DODGES BULLET ON IMCLONE E-MAIL

A federal judge yesterday spared Martha Stewart from letting jurors at her upcoming trial hear about an e-mail she wrote to her lawyer and daughter about her sale of ImClone...

TRAGIC SUBWAY STUNT ; SCHOOLKID, 14, DIES ON DARE FROM PALS

An honors student - egged on by pals to "subway surf" atop a train in Manhattan yesterday - was killed when his head struck a cement beam and he fell...

TRAGIC TRIBUTE FOR FERRY DAD ; SON WEARS YANKEE JACKET AT FUNERAL

An excited Brian Healy, 9, planned to wear his Yankee jacket when his dad took him and his brother to Sunday's World Series game as a birthday treat. Instead, the...

CLASSROOM EXTRA: FALL BACK AND CATCH SOME ZZZS

The phrase, "Spring forward, fall back" helps us to remember the beginning and end of Daylight-Saving Time. Read on to see how all this clock switching began. This Sunday, before...

CAR-INSURE HIKE GIVE NYERS THE DRIVE SHAFT

ALBANY - More than three dozen auto insurance companies in New York have been granted permission by the state this year to raise their rates, The Post has learned. Of...

GIAMBI CALLED TO TESTIFY IN PROBE: JASON DENIES WRONGDOING AS FEDS EYE STEROID 'CONSPIRACY'

Pinstripe powerhouse Jason Giambi yesterday tried to shrug off the news that he has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury probing a company that allegedly helps dope up big-name...

NICE COMEBACK : JET REPORT CARD

QUARTERBACKSVinny Testaverde (15-of-29, 182 yards, 1 TD, 82.8 rating) engineered what could turn out to be the two big- gest drives of the season when he cut the lead to...

NO RELIEF IN SIGHT - GIANT REPORT CARD

QUARTERBACKSIt's gotten to the point Kerry Collins (22 of 36, 174 yards) is dodging the pass rush even before it's there. No interceptions, but very costly fumble. RUNNING BACKSThought Dorsey...

BEATEN, BATTERED & BLUE ; ROCK-BOTTOM GIANTS GROPE FOR ANSWERS

"I don't think anyone around here has the sentiment that things are going to be OK."AMANI TOOMER Human nature could dictate a violent reaction to the fate that's befallen the...

HEY, IT'S LEAF SEASON!

If Steve Webb's absence had gone unnoticed through the season's first four games, it was a different story last night against the hated Maple Leafs. In the two years since...

READ WON'T PIN BLAME ON FEAGLES

GIANT NOTES Bruce Read, the Giants' special-teams coach, is under fire for repeated blunders by his unit, directly leading to two embarrassing losses. But Jim Fassel yesterday did not did...

MALIGNAGGI GLAD TO BE FIGHTING IN APPLE AGAIN

If you're planning to stop by Jimmy's Bronx Café Friday night, you might have a hard time getting to the bar for a drink. That's because there will be a...

VINNY WILL START, CHAD WILL GET TIME

Herman Edwards delivered a surprise announcement regarding the Jets' quarterback situation yesterday, revealing that Vinny Testaverde will start the next game, against the Eagles on Sunday in Philadelphia, but will...

GROUND GAME GETS OFF AND RUNNING

JET NOTES The Jets' once anemic rushing attack has actually shown some bite in the last two games, with Curtis Martin looking a lot more like the Martin of old...

AZERI YANKED FROM DISTAFF

ARCADIA, Calif. - The 20th Breeders' Cup lost one of its leading lights yesterday when reigning Horse of the Year Azeri, who promised to kick off Saturday's World Thoroughbred Championships...

STARTING A RELIEF FOR MIKE

MIAMI - For the first time in his career, Mike Mussina will be trying to build off his relief effort. In last Thursday's ALCS Game 7 against the Red Sox,...

'CIDE' TEAM EITHER BOLD OR BUNGLING

ARCADIA, Calif. - The romantic racing story of the year - Funny Cide's Triple Crown saga - is about to rocket to the stars or risk crashing to the ground...

MUTOMBO EYES NEW CHALLENGE

The Nets discarded Dikembe Mutombo after what he acknowledged was the "worst season" of his 13-year career. Tonight, when he faces his old club for the first time since being...

'SHAKE' BLAZES IN WORK

ARCADIA, Calif. - Shake You Down, the favorite for Saturday's Breeders' Cup Sprint, blazed through a four-furlong work yesterday morning over the lightning-fast strip at Santa Anita. "He worked tremendous,"...

MOOSE HUNTS BIG GAME ; MUSSINA SHOOTS AT FIXING HIS REP

MIAMI - Mike Mussina is a big-game pitcher. Mike Mussina is not a big-game pitcher. What day of the week is it? What game in what postseason series are we...

NO JOSH-ING: HE'S GOOD ; BECKETT'S 'A YOUNG VERSION OF CURT SCHILLING'

MIAMI - Driving through the pouring sunshine to Pro Player Stadium on the team bus yesterday, Yankees GM Brian Cashman decided to do some homework on the Marlins' big right-hander...

GIAMBI CALLED TO TESTIFY IN PROBE ; SLUGGER HAS SHOT TO CLEAR THE AIR ONCE AND FOR ALL

MIAMI - Jason Giambi came bounding into the visiting clubhouse at Pro Player Stadium yesterday, draped in his customary cape of California cool, sunglasses tucked in his shirt and an...

FIRST BASEMAN EXPECTS TO BE TESTED - BY MARLINS

MIAMI - The Yankees need Jason Giambi for his bat. The Marlins are more interested in his glove. As the series shifts to Florida, Giambi, who fielded questions yesterday about...

QUESTIONS, AND NO ANSON

As Anson Carter sees it, it isn't that the Rangers are a slow team, so much as they're a tentative one. "I think our team speed is actually pretty good,"...

SORI'S STYLE FITS TO A 'T'

MIAMI - As inconsistent as Alfonso Soriano has been at the plate, he's just as consistent off it. Case in point: With the pressure of tonight's Game 3 of the...

BIG DEAL MAKES CENTS

AT first aghast, I figured Danny Ain't must be using Rick Pitino as his consigliore. What other explanation could there be for the Celtics' tribal boss squandering the surplus skill...

TORRE STILL LOOKING FOR RIGHT MOVE

MIAMI - The Yankees are the only team in baseball that suffer from this kind of thinking: If there isn't a superstar, or a potential star, at every position, there's...

YANK ARMS GEAR UP FOR TURN AT BAT

MIAMI - Roger Clemens squaring up? Mike Mussina trying to move over a runner? David Wells swinging for the fences? Welcome to National League baseball. The Yankees are no longer...

YANKEES HEAD TO FISH BOWL IT'S MOOSE VS. BECKETT AS SERIES SHIFTS TO FLA.

MIAMI - The ballpark is a football stadium. The weather has gone from chilly to sweaty. The DH is out and pitchers must hit. Jason Giambi is at first base...

LOWELL'S BRONX TALES

Mike Lowell knows the standards under which George Steinbrenner's team operates. For eight games and 15 at-bats in 1998, he had to deal with it. Lowell, a 20th-round draft pick...

JOHNSON 'NOT HAPPY' ABOUT BEING BENCHED

MIAMI - Baseball is a game of adjustments and Nick Johnson must make one of the toughest adjustments of all. After playing in the first 13 playoff games, Johnson goes...

PRO PLAYER INFIELD LIKE PUTTING GREEN

MIAMI - Augusta greens on a baseball field. That's the best way to describe the infield at Pro Player Stadium. And if the condition of the infield costs the Yankees...

ERIC HURT AS RANGERS WIN

Rangers 3Panthers 1 They played with attitude and they played with snarl. And now, after recording their first win of the season last night at the Garden, the Rangers will...

ISLANDERS DO SOME RAKING

Islanders 5Leafs 2 The puck hung in the air above the Islanders blue line long enough to see that the Toronto player standing under it was Darcy Tucker. A moment...

JASON DENIES WRONGDOING AS FEDS EYE STEROID 'CONSPIRACY'

Pinstripe powerhouse Jason Giambi yesterday tried to shrug off the news that he has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury probing a company that allegedly helps dope up big-name...