November 12, 2003

DOLAN ADDS IT UP ; CABLEVISION'S BAD BOOKS GO BEYOND MEDIA UNIT

Cablevision's accounting woes are growing. The Long Island-based cable giant disclosed that it will have to restate earnings by $15 million - and that its accounting problems extend beyond the...

VIVENDI, DREAMWORKS IN MUSIC, MOVIE DEAL

DreamWorks and Vivendi Universal inked two deals yesterday. The companies confirmed that Vivendi's Universal Music, the largest record company in the world, will buy DreamWorks Records. Financial terms were not...

ORACLE CHOKES ON PEOPLESOFT'S POISON PILL

The Oracle didn't see this one coming. An ingenious "poison pill" could sink Oracle Corp.'s hostile takeover of rival business software firm PeopleSoft Inc. by adding as much as $800...

NASDAQ IN PUSH TO GET NYSE FIRMS

It's kick-'em-while-they're-down marketing - just what the Nasdaq's been seeking for more than 10 years. The technology-laden stock market has been struggling in a losing battle against its prominent rival,...

EAST RIVER MALL WOOING TENANTS

THE $200 million East River Plaza in East Harlem should be under construction next year, and the developers are targeting tenants like Home Depot, Target and the Gap to fill...

BUSH MAY HAVE TO LIFT TARIFFS ON STEEL

President Bush is backed into a corner over the threat of an all-out trade war with both Asia and Europe, and may have to open U.S. borders to cheaper imported...

BANK UNDER FIRE; FIRED WHISTLEBLOWER SUES BOFA FOR $10M

A former big gun at Bank of America is seeking $10 million from the company and a top executive, claiming the nation's second-largest bank dumped him because he complained about...

BOYD BOOK DEAL BEATS BLAIR ; TIMESMAN'S $300K MEMOIR TOPS FABULIST'S ADVANCE

GERALD Boyd, the deposed managing editor of The New York Times, has become the latest participant in the Jayson Blair scandal to land a book deal. Boyd has been signed...

RACE FOR NEW YORK : BIG SPREAD IN OPENING ROUND OF BIDS FOR PRIMEDIA TITLE

First-round bids for New York magazine have landed - and they indicate buyers may go as high as $80 million. The bids are highly preliminary, and would likely change, in...

ALTRIA EXEC WARNS OF NAME-GAME TRIALS

What's in a name? If you're AOL Time Warner, ValuJet or Puff Daddy: a liability. So you drop a few letters, change a few vowels, and voila! New corporate identity....

'I DON'T WANT TO KNOW': CAST KEEP THEMSELVES IN DARK ABOUT 'FRIENDS' END

AT least one "Friends" cast member wants to be left in the dark about how the series will end. "I'm not asking for too much input because I trust them...

JAPANESE ROULETTE MATSURI SPINS ITS WHEELS

MATSURI (two stars) 369 W. 16TH ST., AT NINTH AVENUE MARITIME HOTEL (212) 243-6400 MATSURI, the booming new Japanese brasserie in the Maritime Hotel, calls itself a "contemporary, truthful interpretation...

ARCHITECT BUILT SECRET LIFE

MY ARCHITECT 1/2 (two and one half stars) Running time: 116 minutes. Not rated (mature subject matter). At the Film Forum, Houston Street east of Sixth Avenue. LOUIS Kahn, possibly...

HIT ME! NOW, IT'S BLACKJACK ON TV

THE Game Show Network is betting that viewers will double-down on a new card show called "The World Series of Blackjack." Each episode, slated to debut weekly in March, will...

'FAME' NOT A CLASS ACT

FAME ON 42nd STREETAt the Little Shubert Theatre, 422 W. 42 St. Call Telecharge (212) 239-6200. 'FAME on 42nd Street" is a strange phenomenon. First done in Sweden, this musical...

REGIS, THANKS BUT NO THANKS

REGIS Philbin was a big hit on last Friday's "Hope & Faith" - but don't expect a repeat performance soon. Philbin's walk-on role as slimy used-car salesman "Handsome Hal" Halverson...

ON THE SIDE; IL MULINO TO TAKE ITS CHOW ON THE ROAD

MORE of the country will soon know how hard it is to get a reservation at Il Mulino. Gino and Fernando Masci, the brothers who opened Il Mulino 22 years...

DESIGNER COCOA PROPS

WHERE else will you see models dressed in chocolate? For the first time, the public is invited to the outrageous fashion show that kicks off the annual Chocolate Show tonight...

TRUE CONFECTIONS ; NEW YORK CHOCOLATE MAKERS BREAKING THE MOLD

WHEN Forrest Gump proclaimed, "Life is like a box of chocolates," he wasn't referring to the sophisticated confections in this city. While imported chocolate from all over the world has...

JACKO ANCHOR BUGGED BY P.I. TABLOID TV VETERAN TURNS UP IN PHONE TAP SCANDAL

COURT TV anchor Diane Dimond, who reported on the first days of the Michael Jackson sex case a decade ago, is the latest to be caught up in a Hollywood...

MEAT & GREET

COWS should run for their lives. "I'm living proof that an all-meat diet works," says Josh Ozersky, author of the new book "Meat Me in Manhattan: A Carnivore's Guide to...

POUR BASTARD

HOW about a Fat Bastard with dinner? That's not an unwanted guest - but one of several uniquely named wines (Thirsty Lizard anyone?) served at Cork & Fin, a new...

ROYAL MESS: WHY FARRAH FAWCETT'S PLAY WAS A TOTAL DISASTER

THE production staff of "Bobbi Boland" invoked two words to convince producer Joyce Johnson to close her show in previews: "Moose Murders." That was the title of a 1983 mystery...

STARR REPORT

Gregg: 'I still hurt' I'm still receiving calls and e-mails regarding the status of Gregg Whiteside, who was forced off WQXR three months ago. So I called Gregg yesterday for...

KWAI ME A RIVER

"Secrets of the Dead: The Bridge on the River Kwai" Tonight at 8 on PBS *** (three stars) WHAT keeps a man alive in the face of extreme hunger, exhaustion,...

CAN-DO RECIPES

Soups, Stews and One-Pot Meals By Tom Valenti and Andrew Friedman Scribner (three stars) Canned broth users, rejoice! Tom Valenti, chef/owner of Ouest and 'Cesca, gives you the OK to...

NEW SMITS HIT: BROADWAY IS BROOKLYN ACTOR'S LATEST STAGE

JIMMY Smits cuts a striking figure when he first appears onstage in the Pulitzer Prize winning "Anna in the Tropics." All eyes are on the 6-foot-3, Brooklyn-born actor, impeccably outfitted...

GIVING THE OLD COLLEGE TRY

BIG Apple Latinos are attending and graduating college in record numbers. Census figures show that 16 percent of Hispanics born here between the ages of 25 and 35 earned a...

GET READY TO RUMBLE! LUCHA LIBRE SET TO GRIP APPLE'S WRESTLING FANS

IF you're a diehard wrestling fan sick of Stone Cold and retching from The Rock, say hello to the Shocker. Never heard of him? Then you don't know about Lucha...

GREAT SCOTT: MEXICAN-COLOMBIAN HOCKEY HUNK GOMEZ SIZZLES ON ICE

ALTHOUGH only 23, Alaskan native, Scott Gomez, a center for the champion New Jersey Devils, already has won two Stanley Cups in his four National Hockey League seasons. Gomez, who...

BORICUA T'GIVING: NOW WE'RE TALKING TURKEY

ROASTING the Thanksgiving turkey as if it were a lechón, suckling pig, has been a Puerto Rican tradition since the island adopted the holiday, but the name for the delicacy,...

MAKING STARS FEEL AT HOME

SURE, lots of New York real-estate agents are "brokers to the stars." After all, Gotham is teeming with celebrities. But Wilbur Gonzalez, a soft-spoken Douglas Elliman broker who is not...

SHE'S A HIT: HOW 'SABOR' BABE GETS 'SHY' SLUGGERS TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE

PINUP babe Celines Toribio is, at heart, just your average girl-next-door. But she's also a Latin bombshell who's called "Miss Major League Baseball" for her breakthrough role as host of...

KICK'N BACK: HOLLYWOOD BAD BOY BENICIO DEL TORO BARES HIS BEAUTIFUL SOUL

ACADEMY Award-winning actor Benicio Del Toro is in a playful mood these days. He wants to start a rumor that he was born in Caguas and not in Santurce or...

TASTE OF 'COLOMBIA'

KNOWN to locals as, La Pequeña Colombia, Jackson Heights is a historic immigrant community in northwestern Queens. A walk down 37th Street, Roo-sevelt Avenue or Northern Boulevard - the main...

FALLING DEM HEROES

IT'S not a good time to be a war hero in the Democratic Party. The presidential campaign of Congressional Medal of Honor winner John Kerry is imploding. With poll numbers...

LIE CORPSE BEYOND ID

A body discovered buried in dense woods off the Long Island Expressway was so decomposed and ravaged by animals that the Suffolk medical examiner has been unable to determine its...

SLIMY LYNCH-ING - FLYNT: FELLOW GIS SOLD NUDIE PIX TO TAINT JESSICA

The soldiers who sold nude photos of Jessica Lynch to a porn magazine did it to show "she's not all apple pie," publisher Larry Flynt said yesterday. Flynt bought the...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Louise Fowler, 16, was heartbroken in 1935 after her 23-year-old boyfriend, Roy Domigan, gave her a diamond engagement ring and her parents promptly moved from Michigan to California to keep...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN * Police are seeking two thugs who menaced a 13-year-old girl with a knife and spewed anti-white insults at her. The incident occurred in an apartment house lobby on...

PEOPLE-PERSON TRAIN-ING NEEDED

Straphangers would be better served if transit workers were better people persons, a new report says. Station agents and conductors would give riders faster and more accurate information if they...

$44M SUIT HITS TROOPER IN DRUG SLAY

A state trooper who fatally shot a young Brooklyn mother during a botched drug bust has been slapped with a $44 million federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the woman's...

GOPERS: SINK BOAT PARTY

WASHINGTON - Republican lawmakers yesterday threw cold water on a proposed GOP luxury booze cruise for the party's national convention next year. Several Republicans said the image of partying on...

N.J. TIGER PAUSE - 24 CATS MOVED FROM FILTHY LAIR

It wasn't at all easy to hold that tiger yesterday as an army of animal handlers swooped down on a New Jersey sanctuary to seize 24 cantankerous cats living in...

TOP YANK SUMMONED FROM BAGHDAD

WASHINGTON - The top American civilian official in Baghdad was unexpectedly summoned to the White House for high-level talks yesterday amid signs that the United States is planning major changes...

WAR VETS DON'T NEED A PARADE TO REMEMBER

WHEN Agent Orange is your constant companion and a pair of crutches is the best way to get around, it tends to take the shine off marching. So yesterday, former...

N.Y. TOPS NATION IN BIG GOV'T

ALBANY - When it comes to bloated government payrolls, nobody comes close to New York, a new report shows. Local governments in New York averaged 508 employees for every 10,000...

N.Y. GETS OLYMPIC BOOST

A U.S. member of the International Olympic Committee declared yesterday that the Big Apple's bid to host the 2012 Summer Games is a winning one that is second to none....

RAVAGED LIE BODY UNRECOGNIZABLE

The body discovered buried under a tangle of leaves and brush in dense woods off the Long Island Expressway was so decomposed and ravaged by animals that the Suffolk medical...

DEM REGRETS ANTI-GOP INTEL MEMO

WASHINGTON - A Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday said it was "unfortunate" that Democratic committee staffers wrote a memo outlining a strategy to play politics with prewar intelligence....

FERRY BOSS IS STEERED AWAY FROM PROBE

The testimony of crew members aboard the ferry that slammed into a Staten Island pier last month may have been tainted by the presence of their boss during questioning, The...

ISRAEL EYES SABOTAGE IN BABY-FOOD DEATHS

A German firm reversed itself yesterday and admitted its baby formula, linked to the deaths of two Israeli babies, lacked a key vitamin and Israel's intelligence agencies have launched a...

N.Y. HAILS VALOR OF VETERANS

New Yorkers yesterday joined the nation in honoring the veterans of past wars and gratefully saluting the heroes now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Here in New York City we...

BLAKE: I'LL FIGHT CASE 'DOG'-GEDLY

LOS ANGELES - Actor Robert Blake called himself a "busted-up old dog," ready to prove he's not guilty of murdering wife Bonny Lee Bakley, according to a televised report tonight....

GRANNY KNEW HER KILLER: COPS

Feisty Queens granny Olga Prince was likely killed by someone who knew her, cops said yesterday. Investigators said they've questioned the 71-year-old Hollis woman's relatives, including her son-in-law, who was...

MIKE LOSES ANOTHER AIDE

A second high-ranking official from the Bloomberg administration is set to leave for the private sector, less than a week after the mayor's senior adviser announced he was calling it...

BATTLE OVER FLT. 587 - KIN PUSH FOR A MEMORIAL PLAN ON TRAGIC ANNIVERSARY

As mourners today observe the second anniversary of the Flight 587 crash, families who lost loved ones are still struggling to resolve where a memorial should be erected. Some families...

FIREFIGHTERS' PIDDLING PRANK SPARKS TUNNEL TERROR ALERT

A post-bachelor party prank on a city firefighter sparked a terrorist alert that shut down the Queens-Midtown Tunnel for more than an hour last weekend, The Post has learned. The...

DIDDY'S GUN PAL IS SLAIN

Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' former bodyguard - who was acquitted with the millionaire rap mogul in a sensational gun trial two years ago - was shot and killed early yesterday...

'STARVE' FEUD - BIOLOGICAL MOM WANTS KID BACK

The biological mother of a New Jersey teen allegedly starved by his adoptive parents said yesterday she wants him back - even as the biological children of the parents went...

SOLDIER ON, TROOPS - BUSH AGAIN VOWS TO FINISH IRAQ JOB

WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday mourned Americans who died in Iraq and offered a progress report on the battle against "killers" in Iraq, vowing: "We will finish the mission we...

STEAKOUT AT GALLAGHER'S

Gallagher's Steakhouse was on the grill as restaurant workers gathered outside yesterday to loudly encourage management to settle on new contracts. "No contract, no peace," chanted a crowd of 150...

HILL CRASHES DEMS' BASH

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton heads to Iowa this weekend, ruffling feathers by stepping into the midst of the crowded 2004 Democratic presidential campaign and headlining seven political fund-raisers...

HEAVEN'S 'HONEYMOONER' - TV PIONEER ART CARNEY DIES AT 85

TV legend Art Carney, who capered to fame as dim-bulb sewer worker Ed Norton in "The Honeymooners," originated the role of Felix Unger in "The Odd Couple" and later won...

$TICK IT TO PARIS: LOVERBOY TO SUE HORNY HILTON OVER VID 'DEFAMATION'

The man who sexed-up Paris Hilton in a homemade video said he had nothing to do with the porn flick's release and will sue her family for wrongfully accusing him,...

WE DON'T DO RUGS - HEARINGS ON WACKY JANITOR RULES

Explosive public hearings on "scandalous" school union work rules start today, with a principal in a taped interview revealing his custodian wouldn't even vacuum - and there was nothing that...

'HE'LL DO IT AGAIN,' SAYS SMUG SLAYER'S ANGRY BROTHER

ROBERT DURST'S youngest brother is furious that a Texas jury let his "madman" brother walk out of jail with a smirk on his face - free at last on a...

GORY STORY OF WIGGY HEIR - 20-YEAR STRING OF CORPSES FOLLOWS DURST

At dusk on Sept. 30, 2001, 13-year-old James Avina was fishing in Galveston Bay when he saw what he thought was a dead pig in the water. It wasn't a...

KERRY STAFF INFECTION - 2 MORE AIDES OUT IN PREZ-BID CHAOS

WASHINGTON -Two more top staffers yesterday quit Democratic 2004 wannabe John Kerry's troubled candidacy a day after he fired his campaign manager - and rivals began crowing about a meltdown...

FELLOW GIS SOLD NUDE PIX TO SMEAR JESSICA: FLYNT

The soldiers who sold nude photos of Jessica Lynch to a porn magazine did it to show "she's not all apple pie," publisher Larry Flynt said yesterday. Flynt bought the...

$TICK IT TO PARIS - VIDEO LOVER VOWS TO SUE HORNY HILTON

The man who had raunchy sex with Paris Hilton in a homemade video said he had nothing to do with the porn flick's release and will sue her family for...

DRUG SUSPECT ESCAPES POLICE VAN

A drug suspect escaped police while he was boarding a van taking prisoners from the 25th Precinct in Harlem to Central Booking, police sources said. Gerald Blunt, 39, was chained...

SON-IN-LAW BUSTED IN GRANNY SLAY

The son-in-law of a Queens grandmother brutally slain in her home on Monday was arrested yesterday on charges of killing her, police said. Sydney Sampson, 54, was charged with second-degree...

SEX-HAZE 'DEAL' - OUTRAGE AS MEPHAM SUSPECT BIDS FOR JUVENILE TRIAL

The youngest of the three Mepham HS hazing suspects has cut a last-minute plea deal in which he would testify against his co-defendants in exchange for having his case kept...

N.Y. GETS RINGING OLYMPIC ENDORSEMENT

A U.S. member of the International Olympic Committee declared yesterday that the Big Apple's bid to host the 2012 Summer Games is a winning one that is second to none....

KERRY STAFF INFECTION: 2 MORE AIDES OUT IN PREZ-BID CHAOS

WASHINGTON - Two more top staffers yesterday quit Democratic 2004 wannabe John Kerry's troubled candidacy a day after he fired his campaign manager - and rivals began crowing about a...

SOLO DRIVERS TO GET A BREAK

The ban on single-occupancy vehicles imposed after the World Trade Center attacks will be lifted Monday at five lower Manhattan crossings, Department of Transportation officials said yesterday. The city currently...

TUNNEL 'TERROR' ALERT SPARKED BY FIREFIGHTERS' PIDDLING PRANK

A post-bachelor party prank on a city firefighter sparked a terrorist alert that shut down the Queens Midtown tunnel for more than an hour last weekend, The Post has learned....

BIG BLUE SAYS NO TO JOHNNY MITCHELL

Former Jets No. 1 draft choice Johnny Mitchell - older, wiser, and in the best shape of his life - yearns for one last chance from the NFL to fulfill...

PHILLY RUNNER ROLLS AT BIG A

Philly Park invader Presidentialaffair never ran in New York before, and after sprinting through most of his career had raced two turns just twice. So he was lightly regarded at...

PLAYOFFS OR BUST FOR FASSEL ; RALLY'S NEEDED TO SAVE HIS JOB

ONE SUNDAY, Jim Fassel was surrounded in a corner of the Giants locker room, upbeat and chatty as those around him marveled at his Houdini-like ability to escape peril. The...

MCDYESS IS LAST HOPE . . . ; . . . BUT EVEN HE MAY NOT BE ENOUGH TO SAVE KNICKS

The only hope left to save the season is Antonio McDyess. And that means there's barely any hope left at all for the 2-5 Knicks, who are deluding themselves if...

K-MART SPURRED TO QUICK RETURN

Never has Kenyon Martin's value to the Nets been more obvious than in their last five games, which he's missed with a sprained ankle. And the star forward couldn't have...

BOSS BLISTERS DEKI DISS ; SAYS 'MISGUIDED' ROOKIE VOTERS HAD IT IN FOR MATSUI

Unable to beat the Marlins in the World Series and not deep enough into the free-agent scene to get into a lather, George Steinbrenner has found a new arena to...

BIG BLUE SIGNS BACKUP CORNER

GIANT NOTES After a tryout yesterday inside the practice bubble at Giants Stadium, the Giants signed veteran cornerback Ike Charlton to fill the void left by multiple injuries to their...

WHITE'S BACK WITH BOMBERS

The Yankees took another step toward restructuring their coaching staff yesterday when they announced the hiring of Roy White as first-base coach. White, 59, takes over Lee Mazzilli's spot on...

LEITER: DON'T MOVE REYES

The way to contention is up the middle. So says Al Leiter. Leiter honored Veterans Day yesterday by donating $25,000 to the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation, helping to raise...

BOOMER MIGHT OPT FOR SURGERY

David Wells isn't done pitching. According to agent Gregg Clifton, the veteran lefty is prepared to do what a doctor tells him he must in order to hurl again 2004....

SATHER'S PLAYING 'WHAT'S MY LINE?'

Welcome to another edition of Glen Sather's musical lines. The Ranger GM/coach began tinkering with his entire lineup last Thursday, and as of yesterday still was unsure of the combinations...

AT A MOSS FOR WORDS ; HUMBLE SANTANA LETS PLAY DO TALKING

SANTANA MOSS had every opportunity to crow, and you wouldn't have blamed him if he had. Moss, standing in front of his dressing stall in the visitors locker room in...

BATES PLACED ON IR

JET NOTES The Jets yesterday placed special teamer Michael Bates on injured reserve, ending his first season with the team. Bates, second in the AFC in kickoff returns with a...

YANKS EXPLORE TRADE ROUTE 1ST

PHOENIX - The talks never stopped. Brian Cashman was everywhere yesterday laying the groundwork that is needed to pull off a major trade. Cashman said he planned to talk to...

SPORTS SHORTS

GRID: Browns release Johnson Wide receiver Kevin Johnson was released by the Browns, one week after he was benched by coach Butch Davis. Davis had been unpleased with the performance...

A TEST OF BILLS: PARCELLS RETURNS TO NEW ENGLAND, WHERE BELICHICK IS WAITING

Bill Parcells isn't about to get caught up in the hype surrounding his return to New England on Sunday night when his 7-2 Cowboys meet Bill Belichick and his 7-2...

WIEMER WAIVED, THEN ISLES FALL

Flyers 2Islanders 1 PHILADELPHIA - As promised, the Islanders placed Jason Wiemer and his $1.6 million contract on waivers yesterday, and teams have until noon tomorrow to claim the gritty...

ESPN AIRING RAILSPLITTERS

LeBron James didn't fully capture the nation's attention until his high school team, St. Mary-St. Vincent, appeared on national television. Sebastian Telfair hopes similar exposure does the same for him....

ISLES IN CHAOS OVER WIEMER

PHILADELPHIA - What's come to be known as "The Jason Wiemer Situation" has already begun to pull apart the fragile Islanders. Last night's game here against the Flyers was not...