October 25, 2003

HARLEM'S HOT NEW HOMES: BUILDING BOOM BRINGS MODERN LIFE TO BROWNSTONE STREETS

This week, some 200 politicians and community activists gathered on 135th Steet to celebrate the groundbreaking of Strivers Gardens, a 170-unit luxury condominium building. It was a large celebration for...

NICOLE PLAYING HOUSE

GIMME SHELTER Nicole Kidman and Lenny Kravitz appear to be more serious about each other than we thought. Our spies - or rather, the nosey neighbors we know - spotted...

HOME SHOPPING CLUB

QUI 601 W. 26th St., at 11th Avenue, suite 1341 (212) 691-2240 Sale: Oct. 30 through Nov. 1 Open: noon-7 p.m. Halloween's not spooky when you're shopping. At Qui's sale,...

TAUZIN MAY TAKE ON HOLLYWOOD

Louisiana congressman Billy Tauzin has been plucked to replace Jack Valenti, the long-running head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), according to sources familiar with the matter. Speculation...

NEWHOUSE DROPS NEW YORK MAG BID

The billionaire Newhouse family has taken itself out of the running to buy New York magazine, according to several executives inside the company. From the start, S.I. Newhouse, Jr., the...

REPORT FAULTS SEC ON PUTNAM

The SEC dropped the ball on what has turned out to be another major development in the widening federal and state investigation of the $7 trillion mutual fund industry. According...

TRUMPETING LOUIS ARMSTRONG

Did you know that the borough of Queens inspired Louis Armstrong to sing "What a Wonderful World?" OK, that may be a bit of a speculative leap, but the jazz...

STAR SEARCH; HIGH-TECH HELP FOR THE TRULY OBSESSED

EVEN the most jaded New Yorker still gets a thrill seeing a celebrity on the street. There's Ben Affleck, on his way to the Crunch gym on Lafayette Street. There's...

RAHAV SEGEV/PHOTOPASS.COM; JET NEVER TAKES OFF

JET IN what was one of the most bizarre musical variety show lineups of the year, radio station K-Rock treated its listeners to a gig on Thursday at Irving Plaza...

HAPPY TRAILS; EVEN BEGINNERS CAN SADDLE UP AND RIDE IN THE CITY

Horseback riding in New York City - it sounds like a contradiction in terms. But all of the city's big parks are laced with peaceful horse trails, where you can...

SKY'S THE LIMIT AT GRAND CENTRAL

The constellations on Grand Central Terminal's sky ceiling are actually backwards from how they look in the real sky - ever noticed, or wondered why? You can learn about the...

FLOWER POWER!

After careful deliberation, the organizers of the Village Halloween Parade have picked its grand marshal - and it's a plant. Audrey II, the hot-house star of "Little Shop of Horrors,"...

SOME SWING AND SHTICK

Have you ever heard the Passover song "Dayenu" played with horns and a stomping swing beat? Now you can at the Jewish Museum, which yesterday opened its new Goodkind Media...

SWEETS CAN'T BE BEAT

No one has more fun with dessert than Wayne Harley Brachman. And today you can get a cooking lesson from the Food Network's lively "Melting Pot" co-host when he creates...

CHEAP TIX FOR TEENS

Want to catch Kevin Bacon and Ethan Hawke on stage together, live? Have you wondered what hip-hop, jazz and rock-and-roll sound like when they come together? And can you solve...

GOOD WEEK'S HAUNTING: SCARE UP SOME HALLOWEEN FUN STARTING NOW

The calendar says Halloween isn't here until Friday - but the fun starts today. From the Coney Island aquarium to the Bronx Zoo, folks have been working fiendishly (feverishly, that...

DECKHANDS' KIN PLEAD FOR SYMPATHY

JOAN ENNIS wants everybody to stop vilifying her son - a crew member aboard the tragic Staten Island Ferry. "I hope people will hold their judgment until the investigation is...

'PARTY' CRASHER MIKE BLOWS $2M ON BALLOT DRIVE

Mayor Bloomberg has reached deep into his own pockets again - spending $2 million to promote nonpartisan elections, records released yesterday show. The Committee to Empower All New Yorkers, financed...

ESPIONAGE INVESTIGATION CONTINUES

WASHINGTON - Military authorities are investigating whether an Army Muslim chaplain and an Air Force translator were working together to sabotage interrogations of detainees at the terrorist prison at Guantanamo...

HAZE-SHOCK DETAILS

The Long Island football players who brutally sodomized younger teammates in a cruel hazing ritual used a boom box to blast loud music during the attacks - to drown out...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

THE BRONX Detectives are looking for a gunman who approached a 23-year-old man at a Tremont intersection late Thursday and shot him in the leg, police said yesterday. The incident...

KEY CLUE AS COPS FIND WALLET OF SLAIN COLLEGE STUDENT

Cops yesterday found the wallet of murdered college football player Mark Fisher, pulling it out of a muddy gutter halfway between the house where he was shot and the street...

NYERS FAVOR GOD AND OLD GLORY

ALBANY - New Yorkers are on the side of the angels when it comes to putting God and the Ten Commandments in the pledge, on coins and in public buildings,...

DEMS RALLY ROUND SLAIN POL'S BRO

Geoffrey Davis, who's trying to succeed his murdered brother in the City Council, got a sorely needed boost yesterday when nine Democratic council members endorsed him at City Hall. Councilman...

SHIP SCRAPE SHUTS BAYONNE BRIDGE

A container ship crashed into the Bayonne Bridge, snarling rush-hour traffic and shutting down the crossing for an hour yesterday morning, authorities said. The mast of the 787-foot container vessel...

MAN SHOT IN CROWD ON 42ND ST.

A man was shot in the leg on a crowded Times Square street early this morning, police said. The unidentified male was standing in a large group of young people...

'BABY-SLAY' MOM LOSES LOW-BAIL BID

A Long Island judge set bail at $100,000 yesterday for the woman whose conviction for murdering her newborn son on Christmas Day was overturned on a technicality - and also...

HS HAZING HORROR TALES

The Long Island football players who brutally sodomized younger teammates in a cruel hazing ritual used a boom box to blast loud music during the attacks - to drown out...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Imagine how astonished a Troy, Mich., man was when he received an AT&T Wireless bill for $36,876 in calls made over a six-day period - and he doesn't even have...

DI'S SONS TRASH TATTLER; TELL 'BETRAYAL' BUTLER: GIVE BACK MUM'S LETTERS

The late Princess Diana's sons came out swinging yesterday against her former butler Paul Burrell, slamming him "for his cold and overt betrayal" of their mother - and demanding he...

BROOKLYN STREET FIGHT ENDS AS 'TUBMAN' SINKS 'FULTON'

After a three-year, racially charged battle, the city is poised to rename a 9-mile stretch of Brooklyn's famed Fulton Street for Harriet Tubman, who led more than 300 fugitive slaves...

LIZA'S FIST OF FURY; KARATE MASTER: DRUNKEN DIVA WALLOPED ME GOOD

IMAD HANDI, three- time world karate champion, told me that Liza Minnelli hit him harder than some of his opponents. "Out of 10, she was a 6," Handi was saying...

NICOLE'S NEW ROLE: CHANEL ADS

Ravishing redhead Nicole Kidman has signed on as the new face of Chanel No. 5, the fragrance-and-fashion giant announced yesterday. The Aussie bombshell - who has shunned all advertising deals...

600G POWER SHOCKER; HEVESI ZAPS LIPA EXEC'S RICH HAUL

The Long Island Power Authority shelled out a staggering salary of nearly $600,000 over 14 months to one of its officials - and now state Comptroller Alan Hevesi is demanding...

GOP HAILS CUOMO'S DEM DISS

ALBANY - Andrew Cuomo has picked up some strong support for his controversial attack on the Democratic Party, but he's not likely to be pleased by the praise. Gov. Pataki...

PEN AND CLINK; JAILED ART FORGER $MUGGLES OUT OWN WORKS

An artist doing time for peddling fake Jean-Michel Basquiat paintings has managed to smuggle his jailhouse art - painted using coffee, Kool-Aid and fruit juice - to a Chelsea gallery...

TRAGIC SON JOINS HERO FIREFIGHTER

The only son of a hero firefighter killed in the horrific Father's Day blaze in Queens two years ago was buried yesterday next to his dad in St. Mary's Cemetery...

BUILDING A TRUCE AT WTC

Ground Zero developer Larry Silverstein has told his lead architect to make peace with Daniel Libeskind and reach a compromise over the design of Freedom Tower, a spokesman for the...

PROTESTERS HAVE EXEC'S NUMBER

The sky's the limit for protesters who yesterday tried to change a bank giant's mind about consumer privacy laws - by skywriting Citibank CEO Charles Prince's Social Security number above...

DEM DEAN'S ROCK SOLID IN GRANITE STATE

Democratic front-runner Howard Dean has zoomed into a "juggernaut" lead in the key presidential primary state of New Hampshire while retired Gen. Wesley Clark's support has sagged into single digits,...

ISRAELIS: NUKES ARE NEGOTIABLE

JERUSALEM - The U.N.'s arms-control watchdog said Israel is willing to get rid of any nuclear arms it may have if there is peace in the Mideast. Mohammed el-Baradei called...

DEAN ADS BLASTED

Long-shot Democratic 2004 presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich yesterday demanded that New Hampshire TV stations stop running Howard Dean ads that blast other Democrats over Iraq. Dean's ads stress that...

CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN LOSES 'LANDMARK' BID

The City Council yesterday unanimously voted down a measure to give the Cathedral of St. John the Divine landmark status. The council objected to landmark demarcation because it only pertained...

LOTTO WINNER READY FOR CLO$E-UP

LOS ANGELES - Robynn Newton was just an aspiring actress until she grabbed a starring role in the California lottery this week - as winner of half the $99 million...

KLEIN OFFERS CHANCE OF A LUNCHTIME

Smash-mouth professional wrestlers and free P. Diddy "Sean John" CDs and T-shirts are coming to schools - but only if kids eat their lunch. School Chancellor Joel Klein has launched...

BANDITS SLAY TEEN; PAIR SHOOT STUDENT WALKING HOME FROM BX. HS: COPS

A 15-year-old Bronx boy heading home from high school was killed by a gun blast to his chest after two other teens confronted him in an apparent robbery bid, cops...

WALLET GIVES COPS NEW CLUE IN STUDENT'S MURDER

Cops yesterday found the wallet of murdered college football player Mark Fisher, pulling it out of a muddy gutter halfway between the house where he was shot and the street...

ROSIE'S THORNY SPAT; HER B'WAY SHOW ROCKED AS STAR STORMS OUT

One of the sexy young stars of the troubled Broadway musical "Taboo" stormed out of rehearsals after clashing with the show's producer, Rosie O'Donnell. Raul Esparza, who makes many theater...

STAR WITNESS VS. MARTHA CLAMS UP

The government's star witness against Martha Stewart, Douglas Faneuil, took the Fifth when the domestic diva's lawyers tried to grill him at a confidential deposition, a judge was told yesterday....

VENOMOUS WORDS FOR SNAKE COP

The city cop who kept a snake menagerie in his mother's Manhattan apartment was putting her entire building in danger, a serpent expert told The Post. Officer Perisio Nuñez was...

2 BLDGS. GET TO WAIVE IN PUFFERS

ALBANY - The city Health Department has granted two waivers to the tough smoking ban, officials said yesterday. Smoking is now legal for patients in the psychiatric ward of Staten...

CRASH TAIL OF WHOA; HANSOM HORSES COLLIDE IN PARK

Four people got the scare of their lives yesterday when a hansom-cab horse suddenly bolted down a Central Park road and barreled into another carriage, causing both cabs to flip...

'BIZARRE' JASMINE SHRINKS FROM 'VIOLET'

TV star Jasmine Guy has withdrawn from the new Broadway play "The Violet Hour" after a disastrous night onstage - when she forgot many of her lines, mangled the names...

JUDGE ORDERS FERRY CAPTAIN INTO COURT

A tight-lipped Staten Island Ferry captain was ordered by a federal judge yesterday to explain why he hasn't spoken to investigators about the ferry disaster 10 days ago that killed...

2ND DOPEY AIR FRANCE PILOT LANDS IN TROUBLE

The gall - maybe they should call it Air Farce. For the second time in three months, an Air France pilot was detained at Kennedy Airport for making a glib...

PRINCIPAL RESIGNS IN RACE FUROR

The white principal of a Rockaways high school was forced out of her job yesterday after being engulfed in a racially charged battle over her decision to remove a popular...

BOOMER'S BACK STILL A MYSTERY

ALCS NOTEBOOK Did a one-inning relief stint against the Red Sox in Game 7 of the ALCS have anything to do with David Wells' back blowing out Thursday night? Could...

DEVS NOT MAKING LEADS STAND UP

PITTSBURGH - The Devils are doing what bad teams do, blowing leads nearly nightly this season. The Devils, who play host to the Bruins tonight, stood 1-2-2 as they visited...

K-MART MAY PLAY IN OPENER

BOSTON - Shock. And relief. That pretty much summed up the Nets' day yesterday. First they heard about Pat Riley stepping down as the coach of the Heat, but then...

BAILEY AND DAY A DYNAMIC DUO

ARCADIA, Calif. - One of the most rewarding pointers to winning a bet at the Breeders' Cup is to follow the big brokers and powerhouses in the event, and nobody...

PAPINEAU, HUNTER GET THEIR CHANCE

Once again, Justin Papineau and Trent Hunter are having trouble getting a regular shift on a scoring line. But for the first time all season, they're making the veteran forwards...

CANARSIE'S TURNED THINGS AROUND

ON THE sidelines during one of his team's many losses last season, Canarsie head coach Mike Camardese lamented, "Whatever can go wrong, is going wrong for us, no matter what...

LET THE RACES BEGIN SMOKE FROM WILDFIRE MAY CLOUD RACING'S SHOWCASE

ARCADIA, Calif. - Fanned by the fierce Santa Ana winds gusting down from the desert like a giant hair dryer, a raging wildfire yesterday in Rancho Cuckamonga, 25 miles due...

6-0 VIKES NO MINNY TEST ; JINTS GET READY FOR RAUCOUS RECEPTION

Get the feeling Vikings coach Mike Tice is tired of fielding questions wondering how his team is handling a sensational start? "Oh, it has gone to our heads; we are...

HOBSON'S JET CHOICE FOR MO TIME AT LB

Victor Hobson admits to being a little overwhelmed when he first joined the Jets. "It was tough adjusting," said the rookie linebacker out of Michigan. "But being around Mo has...

AGENT RIPS SLATS FOR KEEFE MOVE

Only the Rangers would respond to an injury by signing and then promoting a self-admitted out-of- shape 30-year-old while concurrently losing on waivers an energetic 23-year-old whom they never allowed...

DESTINY DOESN'T LOOK SO DEFINITE : YANKS GOING TO NEED MORE THAN GHOSTS

THE Yankees are eager to latch on to anything right now, so they gladly engage in talk about ghosts, about destiny, about fate. The more times they say it, they...

BOMBER PROBLEMS ONLY BEGINNING

THE Yankees not only are be- hind in the World Series now, they feel a few games back in the 2004 standings already. Over two nights at Pro Player Stadium,...

ACHING GIAMBI WILL DH

The knee is ailing and surgery is looming, but Jason Giambi will be doing what he can to see that there's a Game 7. And that means he'll be back...

WIN OR LOSE, JETER'S A WINNER

MAYBE now they under stand. Maybe now they can see. Derek Jeter has long been worshipped within the confines of Baseball New York, saluted by those of us who see...

EMERGENCY ROCKET ; CLEMENS UNLIKELY TO RELIEVE IN GAME 6

Every Yankee pitcher will be available for tonight's must-win Game 6 - except Roger Clemens. The Rocket still could be used out of the bullpen in this series, but Joe...

PETTITTE HAS TRUST OF TEAM

As they changed from their road grays into three-button suits on Thursday night at Pro Player Stadium, the Yankees didn't sound like a team on the brink of losing the...

METROS 'REV'-ED FOR SEASON FINALE

The MetroStars' biggest goal in today's regular-season finale in New England (4 p.m., MSG) is come emerge healthy. They play the Revolution in the first round of the playoffs, regardless....

MCKEON TAKES CHANCE WITH BECKETT

Jack McKeon is going for the jugular. Yesterday afternoon, the Marlins' manager officially named Josh Beckett his Game 6 starter despite the fact his ace will be working on three...

SINK OR SWIM FOR BOMBERS ; FACE FISH FIREBALLER BECKETT, ELIMINATION TONIGHT IN GAME 6

There's no World Series wiggle room left for the Yankees. After five games in which they haven't hit, have failed in the clutch and committed killer errors, the Yankees host...

OTHELLA'S ON KNICK MOVE LIST

Don Chaney said yesterday Knicks are looking for a reserve shooting guard to provide scoring spark in their attempt to engineer a 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 trade that would get their...

SERIES STARTS TONIGHT

THE World Series doesn't end tonight. It starts. That's what the Yankees will be thinking when Andy Pettitte throws his first pitch to the Marlins' Juan Pierre in this win-...

ANDY ISN'T AUTOMATIC ; SUPERB THIS SEASON, BUT HAS STRUGGLED IN PAST

Andy Pettitte has been brilliant after a Yankees postseason loss. Hasn't he? Well, that's the theory, anyway. Even Joe Torre admitted as much yesterday, saying of the man who will...

MARLINS IGNORING 'GHOSTS'

Jack McKeon is really tempting fate. Forget the fact that he tabbed Josh Beckett to pitch Game 6 on short rest. In what could be an even gutsier move, McKeon...

DEREK DOWNPLAYS ACHES

Derek Jeter's battered body was one of several worked on by Yankee trainers yesterday at Yankee Stadium - even if the captain refused to acknowledge there is a problem. "I...

GIONTA GIVES DEVS A BOOST

SUMMARY / P. 71Devils 2Penguins 1 PITTSBURGH - The most diminutive Devil gave his team a leg up . . . then he gave them another. Suddenly, the stumbling Stanley...