April 29, 2004

EISNER DIS-ORDER - COMCAST REVERSAL LEAVES MOUSE CHIEF WEAK

Comcast is dropping its bid for Disney, but Michael Eisner's troubles are far from over. Disney's chief - who continues to face sharp criticism of his reign from dissident shareholders...

SEAN JOHN SEEKS NEW SHOP SITES

If hip-hop impresario and newly minted Broadway star Sean "P. Diddy" Combs has his way, his Sean John clothing label will have its own stores in malls around the country....

FOR ROBERTS, IT AIN'T OVER YET

Disney probably hasn't heard the last from Comcast. While the cable giant formally dropped its $48 billion hostile bid yesterday, Comcast's executives and bankers are likely to keep a close...

NORTEL CANS CEO - DUNN LATEST CORPORATE CASUALTY OF COOKED BOOKS

The chief executive of Nortel Networks, North America's largest telephone equipment maker, was fired yesterday, becoming the latest casualty in a spate of accounting scandals. Frank Dunn left the Ontario,...

57TH ST. RENTS HIT $850/FOOT

Madison Avenue is no longer the city's most expensive retail address. According to a report just released by the Real Estate Board of New York, rents in the 57th Street...

TED SACRIFICES GREEN GOALS FOR GREENBACKS

Ted Turner may be biting the hand he feeds. The media mogul gives millions to environmental and conservation causes, but finds himself in the awkward position of having to drill...

SHADID GETS KELLY PRIZE

Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post war correspondent Anthony Shadid is the first winner of the Michael Kelly Award. Kelly, The Atlantic Monthly editor-at-large and a syndicated Washington Post columnist, was the...

RIVAL REALTY BROKER GETS CONTROL OF WILLIAM B. MAY

Takeover fever is far from cooling down in the residential real estate industry. Terra Holdings, the parent company of Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead Property Co., has become a major...

FEDS GOING FOR FRANK'S ROLE IN IPO ALLOCATIONS

Prosecutors opened a new attack on former star investment banker Frank Quattrone yesterday, targeting his involvement in deciding how his firm doled out lucrative pieces of red-hot stock offerings. In...

KINSLEY HEADING TO L.A. TIMES

Michael Kinsley, who has been on leave from the online magazine Slate, yesterday was named editorial and opinion editor of the Los Angeles Times. He replaces Janet Clayton, who was...

BABS SORRY FOR BABY BOO-BOO

BARBARA Walters yesterday ad mitted she made a "mistake" by promoting tomorrow night's "20/20" report on adoption as if it were a reality show - with a baby as the...

SAVOR TRIBECA BY STARLIGHT AT FESTIVAL-FRIENDLY HAUNTS

STARTING this Saturday, celebrities, tourists and even the occasional Upper West Sider will be piling into the Triangle Below Canal for the nine-day cinephile jamboree that is the TriBeCa Film...

N.Y.C. REELS 'EM IN - THE STARS ARE ALIGNED FOR TRIBECA FILM FEST

IT'S only 3 years old, but the Tribeca Film Festival has grown far beyond anyone's expectations. Originally conceived by Robert De Niro and his producing partner, Jane Rosenthal, as a...

SUMMERSTAGE ON SALE

FORGET the Strokes - their May 19 show is sold out. And if you want to see anyone else at Central Park SummerStage, you'd better act soon. Tickets go on...

STILL A HOUSE OF USHER

USHER'S still king of Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart - his "Confessions" has now sold 2.6 million copies, adding 252,950 in sales this past week. But the big news is...

'IDOL' FANS KO UPSTATE TEEN

CARROT-topped John Stevens, the baby- faced 16-year-old from East Amherst, N.Y., was booted off last night's "American Idol." Stevens told "AI" judge Ryan Seacrest he was "somewhat" relieved that his...

STARR REPORT

Ellen, the generousIt's not often someone celebrates their show being cancelled - but Ellen DeGeneres had good reason to pour the bubbly when CBS canned "The Ellen Show" a few...

ROB AND LAURA ARE RICH NOW - FIRST PEEK AT 'DICK VAN DYKE' REUNION

ROB Petrie must have done OK after leaving the employ of Alan Brady in 1966. In CBS's new, updated edition of "The Dick Van Dyke Show," the Petries - Rob...

BABY FACE-OFF - READ ABOUT THE SHOW THAT SET OFF ADOPTION ROW

"20/20: Be My Baby" Tomorrow night at 10 * * * (three stars) DESPITE the hype and hysteria by people who haven't even seen the show, may I be the...

TWO TOO MANY 'CSI'S FOR STAR

'CSI" star William Petersen is mad again, about CBS spinning his show off into "CSI: Miami" and now "CSI: New York." "I just think that it went too fast," Petersen...

BEYOND ITUNES - RATING ALL THE MUSIC-SHARING SITES

iTUNES Music Store, which celebrates its first anniversary this week, is still the music downloading service to beat - if you have an iPod. If you don't, you've got several...

THE LAST ONE (SNIFF) - THE BIG QUESTION: WILL ROSS END UP WITH RACHEL?

All eyes are on Rachel and Ross. The smart money says the two star-crossed lovers will finally get together - permanently - as "Friends" toward its last episode. That's just...

FRIENDS OF FRIENDS - MOVIE STARS MOONLIGHTED WITH ROSS, RACHEL & CO.

Over its ten years on the air, Friends attracted a substantial number of A-list guest stars to play with Ross, Rachel and the rest of the gang. Some, like Charlie...

THE JOY OF SIX - THE UNDENIABLY BEST MOMENTS FROM 'FRIENDS'

Best Episode "The one about the prom video " Rachel and Ross were through until she saw, in an old video, how he was willing to take her to the...

WHO'S YOUR BEST FRIEND? TAKE THE ULTIMATE TRIVIA QUIZ

Who'll be there for you "when the rain starts to fall"? Or when your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A."? You may have six Friends - but...

QNS. DWI IS A REAL HEAD CASE

Things were tight all around. A Queens pedestrian last night found his head pinned between the car's tire and the roadway - and the driver was drunk, police said. Michael...

S.I. DUO LOADED WITH CACHE OF ARMS: COPS

A Staten Island couple was arrested last night after cops executing a search warrant found a cache of guns, ammo and explosive devices in their house, police said. The unmarried...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

QUEENS * Cops are asking the public's help in finding this city cab driver (above) who they say sexually assaulted a woman passenger in the back seat of his taxi...

GETTING IRAQ RIGHT: CALLING WYATT EARP

WHERE'S Rudy Giuliani when we really need him? Looking back on a year of mistakes in Iraq, it's clear he would have been a better choice to run our occupation...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

They say twins feel each other's pain, but 8-year- olds Cassidy and Marissa Wiese of Laurel, Neb., have taken that idea a bit too far. In a five-hour span, both...

YOU CAN $CORE FOR SOCCER KIDS

The Long Island youth soccer team that lost two players in a DWI crash needs some help to get back on the field - because much of their equipment was...

GOV. ARNIE GOING TO ISRAEL

LOS ANGELES - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will make his first overseas trip as California's leading man on Saturday by visiting Israel to break ground on a tolerance museum, officials said....

TRAGIC DAD SEEKS LAW VS. PERVS

ALBANY - The Long Island father of a murdered girl whose Florida abduction was caught on camera called on legislators yesterday to enact a law to lock up sexual predators...

'WHISTLEBLOWER' SUING CON ED

A former Con Edison worker has filed suit against the utility in federal court, claiming his supervisors held him back from promotions, falsified his records and fired him because of...

FED 'CARD' $HARKS RIP US OFF

WASHINGTON - Splurging federal workers used their government-issued credit cards to buy Oakley sunglasses, leather bomber jackets, jewelry, fine wine - and even a mounted deer head, according to a...

D.J. AIMS AT EVIL NURSE

A Manhattan radio personality will be front and center in a New Jersey courtroom today to watch "lowlife" Charles Cullen cop a plea to murdering 14 hospital patients - including...

25 TO LIFE FOR 'WRONG HIT' WIFE

A Long Island woman convicted of plotting a botched contract hit on her husband - which ended with the murder of his best friend - was sentenced to 25 years...

KELLY SHUTS OT LOOPHOLE ON BRASS

The city's highest-ranking cops will no longer be able to stockpile unlimited comp time, under an order by Police Commissioner Ray Kelly that has triggered a battle with their union....

SPELLING ERRORS MAR BLAST

A City Council member who was blasting the Bloomberg administration's social-promotion policies sent out two press releases containing spelling and grammatical errors. The first release - sent Tuesday afternoon from...

'KERRY' COOPER? MORE LIKE JOHN WANE

RIGHT now, John Kerry's message seems to boil down to this: I deserve to be president because I served in Vietnam. But that's not a vision for America - and...

DA DENIES DEAL IN VELELLA CASE

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau insisted yesterday that he's reached no plea deal with indicted Bronx state Sen. Guy Velella, who is accused of taking $137,000 in bribes. "There's absolutely...

STADIUM IS MTA'S TOP SUITOR

The West Side redevelopment plan - featuring a new Jets stadium and expanded Javits Center - is currently the only proposal on the table that would lead the MTA to...

JAYSON JURORS STALL ON COVER-UP

Jurors in Jayson Williams' manslaughter trial appear to be dwelling on the cover-up part of the charge. The former NBA star is accused of shooting his limo driver at his...

MOM WAILS AT SON'S 'KILLERS'

Amid the wailing shrieks of their victim's anguished mother, two coldhearted teens accused of gunning down a man on a Far Rockaway A train were arraigned yesterday in Queens Supreme...

UNDERWORLD GUY - MOB STAB VICTIM BURIED IN GODFATHERS' GRAVEYARD

Wiseguy Preston Geritano was laid to rest yesterday in bad company. The reputed hit man - who was stabbed to death last week by his mobster brother-in-law - was buried...

DIALLO MOM THANKS MIKE

The mother of slain police shooting victim Amadou Diallo said yesterday she was thrilled to have Mayor Bloomberg's support for special legislation to give her and her family permanent-resident status...

FERRY-CRASH CAPT. 'LIED'

The captain of the ill-fated Staten Island Ferry that slammed into a pier last fall, killing 11 passengers, lied to a supervisor 30 minutes after the disaster, telling him he...

THE ART OF THE STEAL - NAME GAME BY 'FRAUDSTER'

It's appropriate John Blumatte was an art academy bookkeeper - the accused fraudster is suspected of being an artful dodger with his own name. Blumatte is the real name of...

THUGS' HUMAN SHIELDS - WOMEN & KIDS USED IN FALLUJAH

Marines, backed up by jet fighters, attack helicopters and an aerial gunship, fought furious battles yesterday with Fallujah terrorists - who used women and children as shields. For the second...

U.N. OIL PAPERS VANISH - FRAUD-PROBE OBSTACLE

WASHINGTON - The vast majority of the United Nations' oil-for-food contracts in Iraq have mysteriously vanished, crippling investigators trying to uncover fraud in the program, a government report charged yesterday....

CHEF WAS SLICED INTO 7 PIECES

Chef Zev Vulevic's killer severed his head and limbs and sawed his torso in half after pumping two slugs into the back of his skull, Connecticut police revealed yesterday. The...

THROUGH THE ROOF - WESTCHESTER REAL ESTATE $KYROCKETS

They call it Westchester, but prices are going even farther North. The latest sales data shows the median price of a single-family house in the county went up 9 percent,...

YOU JERK - DAD BEATS BOY WITH BEEF STRIP; THAT'LL 'CURE' YA! MAD DAD WHACKS KID WITH JERKY

A Staten Island bodega owner whipped his young son with an 18-inch stick of beef jerky after catching the boy skipping school, authorities said yesterday. The bizarre beating began at...

DA NIXES ROOF RAP - CLEARS PAL'S UNCLE IN TOT'S DEATH PLUNGE

The uncle in charge of an 8-year-old boy who took a toddler onto a Brooklyn roof where he plunged to his death was let off the hook yesterday. Cops arrested...

FIEND WANTS MOMMY - SOBBING SUBWAY SLASHER GETS 25 YEARS

"Maaaaaaaa!" That was the final word from a cowardly subway slasher as he was led off in tears yesterday to serve 25 years prison for randomly cutting a woman's face...

DEMS' KERRY WORRY - INSIDERS GRUMBLE AT 'CAN'T WIN' CAMPAIGN

WASHINGTON - Some key Democrats are "pretty freaked out" by John Kerry's last two bumpy weeks on the campaign trail - and are demanding he get his campaign in gear...

KIDS SPARED MAKEUP TEST

Some 1,300 students who got a sneak peek at up to 15 questions on last week's third-grade reading exams will not be required to take a makeup test, Schools Chancellor...

I CAN'T READ IT, AND WEEP: BEAUTY QUEEN

If anyone can make the argument for pulling out all the stops to teach kids to read, it's Veronica Lewis. The actress and opera singer - a former Miss Black...

BUSH-BASHERS DENIED CENTRAL PERK

The largest group of protesters expected at this summer's Republican National Convention has been denied its request to use Central Park as the site of a 250,000-person rally. The Parks...

DA BOOKS 'BRIBE' BROKERS

A possibly mobbed-up Wall Street securities firm rooked investors out of millions of dollars, Manhattan prosecutors said in announcing the indictment of 10 brokers on criminal enterprise charges. The brokers...

CULINARY CAPTAIN ABANDONS SHIP ON QUEEN MARY

Famed four star-chef Daniel Boulud has jumped ship as culinary advisor to The Queen Mary 2. He has had second thoughts about associating his name with the large-scale operation, which...

GOV PASSING COLLECTION PLATE AT LAURA PRAYER BREAKFAST

ALBANY - Call it "Pay to Pray" - with the first lady. A just-released invitation to a special May 11 "prayer breakfast" with Gov. Pataki - featuring an appearance by...

DONALD MERGING - TRUMP TO MARRY MODEL MELANIA

Donald Trump is getting married again. The billionaire star of "The Apprentice" proposed to Slovenian model Melania Knauss Monday night and put a big diamond ring on her finger, The...

TRAGIC TALE WORTHY OF THE SCREEN

IF THE classic movie "A Bronx Tale" was the art work of a brilliant, imaginative screenwriter, I want to respectfully impart something that I believe is a true-life version of...

JAYSON JURORS MULLING COVER-UP

Jurors in Jayson Williams' manslaughter trial appear to be dwelling on the cover-up part of the charge. The former NBA star is accused of shooting a limo driver at his...

ROCK-TOSS DEATH SPARKS SAFETY CHECK ON BRIDGES

ALBANY - Four days after a Queens woman was killed after a thrown chunk of asphalt smashed through her windshield on Westchester's Sprain Brook Parkway, Gov. Pataki yesterday ordered a...

AIRPORT SCREENER GROUNDED FOR WEED

A Kennedy Airport security screener who was wounded last year in a home invasion in which another man was murdered was busted yesterday for selling a pound of marijuana, The...

MAN GUILTY IN GAS BLAST

A year ago, Manhattan lawyer Larry Feingold blew up three floors of Stuyvesant Town. Yesterday, moments after a judge found him guilty of arson for a catastrophically botched suicide attempt,...

GARY COOPER? MORE LIKE JOHN 'WANE'

RIGHT now, John Kerry's message seems to boil down to this: I deserve to be president because I served in Vietnam. But that's not a vision for America - and...

MAD DAD 'MEATS' OUT JUSTICE TO HIS KID - WITH BEEF JERKY

A Staten Island bodega owner whipped his young son with an 18-inch stick of beef jerky after catching the boy skipping school, authorities said yesterday. The bizarre incident began at...

FERRY CAPTAIN 'LIED' TO BOSS AFTER CRASH

The captain of the Staten Island Ferry boat that slammed into a pier last fall, killing 11 passengers, lied to a supervisor 30 minutes after the disaster, telling him he...

DA DENIES DEAL IN VELELLA BRIBE CASE

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau insisted yesterday that he's reached no plea deal with indicted Bronx state Sen. Guy Velella, who is accused of taking $137,000 in bribes. "There's absolutely...

BOMBER MEDALS ARE GOLD TO FANS

Yankee Medallion fever swept New York yesterday as tens of thousands of fans scored their collectable coins featuring pitching ace Mike Mussina. At Yankee Stadium last night, fans went wild...

'BRIBE' BROKERS BOOKED

A possibly mobbed-up Wall Street securities firm rooked investors out of millions of dollars, Manhattan prosecutors said in announcing the indictment of 10 brokers on criminal enterprise charges. The brokers...

CLASSROOM EXTRA: BABE'S FAMOUS HOUSE

Yankee Stadium is affectionately known as "The House That Ruth Built." Read about the history of the world's most famous stadium. The Yankees have never been shy about spending money....

FED 'CARD' $HARKS - RIP OFF MILLIONS ON TAXPAYERS' CREDIT

WASHINGTON - Splurging federal workers used their government-issued credit cards to buy Oakley sunglasses, leather bomber jackets, jewelry, fine wine - and even a mounted deer head, according to a...

DRUGGIES WITH A [HEART] - ADDICTS TOLD NYU GIRL: DON'T DEAL

The druggies and homeless men of Washington Square Park tried to talk wealthy NYU co-ed Julia Diaco out of becoming a street-level drug dealer - but, police said, she ignored...

NYU KID'S REEL DEAL - 'DRUG GIRL' CAUGHT ON VIDEOTAPE: DA

Police have a videotape of accused NYU pot princess Julia Diaco selling drugs - including marijuana, cocaine, magic mushrooms and LSD - to undercover officers, prosecutors said yesterday. The revelation...

POOF! CRUCIAL U.N. DOCUMENTS VANISH

WASHINGTON - The vast majority of the United Nations' oil-for-food contracts in Iraq have mysteriously vanished, crippling investigators trying to uncover fraud in the program, a government report charged yesterday....

JETER A HIT ON DEFENSE

Derek Jeter extended his Charlie Brown-like skid at the plate to 0-for-32 last night. But he might've saved the game in the field with some eighth-inning, double-play dance steps to...

ACHY KNEE PUTS BERNIE ON BENCH

YANKEE NOTES Bernie Williams' cranky body won't give him a break. Williams was held out of last night's game against the A's because Joe Torre said the switch-hitter strained his...

METS FIZZLE AGAIN - LACK OF OFFENSE DOOMS TRACHSEL

Dodgers 3 - Mets 2 LOS ANGELES - It was fun while it lasted. Too bad it only lasted one game. On Tuesday, the Mets busted out of their offensive...

CONFIDENT MANDELLA: IT LOOKS LIKE MY 'DAY'

LOUISVILLE - The scrambled Kentucky Derby picture took another twist yesterday when one of the greatest trainers in the country confidently predicted that his horse, one of the longest shots...

LENNY'S EXPECTED TO RETAIN HIS AIDES

KNICK NOTES Lenny Wilkens said he plans to bring back his coaching staff, though he had an intriguing critique of Mark Aguirre. Insiders believe Aguirre, Isiah's childhood buddy from Chicago,...

TRAINERS KNOW TIME'S RUNNING OUT FOR FINAL TUNEUPS

LOUISVILLE - For the first time in history, two runners in the Kentucky Derby will be saddled by female trainers, and both of those colts had their final blow-outs yesterday...

HE'S MILESTONE MIKE - PIAZZA TIES FISK, NEARS OTHER GREATS

LOS ANGELES - Mike Piazza could have been a lifelong Dodger. Could have strolled into the Hall of Fame dressed in Los Angeles royal blue. But when Piazza was asked...

ISIAH: TIME TO STEPH UP - THOMAS WANTS MORE FROM MARBURY

The critics say Stephon Marbury won't reach Jason Kidd's level next season, though Kidd and his sore knee will turn 32. If he doesn't get there, it won't be from...

WEAVER'S LOVIN' LIFE IN LA-LA LAND

MET NOTES LOS ANGELES - Jeff Weaver has just one thing to say about life with the Dodgers. "I'm loving it, man," he said. "I'm home. The sun shining in...

BOMBERS SERVE UP A RUBEN

For a bat off the bench like Ruben Sierra, opportunities are infrequent. A slump can be a coffin, while one clutch hit can resurrect a season. Coming off Tuesday night's...

KIDD TRUSTS NETS' BENCH

Jason Kidd has seen better than almost anyone the development of his young teammates, Richard Jefferson and Kenyon Martin. The two emerging stars played critical roles in sweeping the Knicks...

JINTS SEND KERRY PACKING

When a player gets cut, especially a veteran, it's the duty of the head coach to make the phone call. But it came as no surprise that when Kerry Collins...

DERBY JOCKS DENY THREAT OF BOYCOTT

John Velazquez and Jose Santos denied a story on ESPN.com that reported they would sit out the Kentucky Derby if the two jockeys were barred from wearing advertising logos on...

HEAT'S ON JOSE - CONTRERAS MIGHT BE PITCHING FOR HIS JOB

They have changed his windup. They have altered where he sets his hands in the stretch. They have instructed him to do a better job of hiding his pitches. But...

TORRE TELLS ACHY BERNIE TO SIT

YANKEE NOTES Bernie Williams' body won't give him a break. Williams was held out of last night's game against the A's because he strained his left knee getting out of...

AGING YANKS COULD BE HINDERED BY HEALTH

THERE is an age-old problem already besetting the Yankees, threatening their season much more than a poor April. Because the forecast for May, June, July and so on must include...

'PHILLY FLASH' GOES FOR CASH - UNBEATEN 'SMARTY' CAN EARN 5M BONUS

LOUISVILLE - Smarty Jones, the "Philly Flash," will break from post 15 in a full field of 20 3-year-olds entered yesterday for Saturday's 130th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, seeking...

HIGH SIERRA RIDES AGAIN

For a bat off the bench like Ruben Sierra's, opportunities are infrequent. A slump can be a coffin, and one clutch hit can resurrect a season. Coming off Tuesday night's...

CONTRERAS, AND YANKS, FINALLY ROLLING

Yankees 5 A's 1 His splitter cut through the crisp air and then seemingly dropped through a trap door. The fastball had life and, more important, was in the strike...

AGE A YANK WORRY

THERE is an age-old problem already besetting the Yankees, threatening their season much more than a poor April. Because the forecast for May, June, July and so on must include...

BACK ON TRACK - CONTRERAS, AND YANKS, FINALLY ROLLING

Yankees 5 A's 1 Bobby Crosby's third-inning homer was still in the air when Jorge Posada took off for the mound. If Jose Contreras had any plans to wilt at...