November 2, 2004

MAX CAP LOANS FOCUS OF PROBE

The Manhattan District Attorney's office is investigating whether Max Capital co-founder Adam C. Hochfelder used his personal stake in the real estate giant to get two different loans, The Post...

PICK APART GDP & YOU'LL SEE JOB PROSPECTS DIM

THEY say timing is everything. So it is President Bush's extremely good luck that the calendar managed to squeeze an election in between last Friday's report on the nation's gross...

FEDS SAY 'NET STOCK PROMOTER WAS THIEF

Onetime Internet stock guru Amr "Anthony" Elgindy was "an opportunistic thief" who robbed from the "rich and the poor," said federal prosecutors who yesterday began the trial of Elgindy and...

OIL DROP BOOSTS ECONOMY

The historic oil-price climb is finally easing - giving the U.S. economy some more wind in its sails. Crude-oil prices dropped sharply yesterday and are expected to slide lower as...

CANDIE'S GETTING FANCY WITH ITS UPMARKET BUY

Candie's Inc., best known for its high-heeled sandal and cheeky advertising, has dipped its toe into the designer clothing market with the acquisition, announced yesterday, of Badgley Mischka. Candie's recently...

PEOPLESOFT $9.2B BID IS 'BEST, FINAL': ORACLE

Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison raised his company's offer for rival PeopleSoft Inc. to $24 a share, or $9.2 billion, calling the fifth bid over a 17-month takeover battle the...

SPORTS HALL SWITCHES SIDES - FOUNDER CROSSES B'WAY TO KEEP NATIONAL MUSEUM IN PLAY

THE heavily hyped National Sports Museum has walked away from a widely reported deal to open in the landmark 26 Broadway and is negotiating instead with the owners of a...

OVITZ: I WANT MY PROPS

Michael Ovitz hopes getting his day in court fixes his battered career and tarnished image. Ovitz testified for the fifth day in the trial that has Disney shareholders shooting to...

MANY NEWSPAPERS SEE CIRCULATION DECLINES

Some of the nation's largest daily newspapers reported steep circulation declines yesterday, with overall circulation down across the industry, a new report revealed. The top 20 papers suffered the biggest...

WET SEAL HUNT - TEEN-TOG PLAYER NEEDS BIZ, CONSIDERS CLOSINGS

Wet Seal, the teen retailer that has fallen out of fashion, has considered drastically reducing the number of stores it operates in an attempt to conserve cash, The Post has...

STARR REPORT

Returned 'Delivery' Say goodbye to "Home Delivery." The syndicated show, which airs here at 1 p.m. on Ch. 11, has been canned by NBC Universal after only two months. The...

'60 MINS WEDNESDAY' THREATENED

CBS is mulling the possi bile cancellation of the Wednesday edition of "60 Minutes," according to reports. The show that brought so much negative attention to the network in the...

'ANGEL' GETS A BADGE

'ANGEL" star David Boreanaz is putting the bite into ABC. Boreanaz, whose long-running "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spin-off wrapped up last spring after five seasons on the WB Network, is...

ELECTION DAZE - POL DRAMAS PIT BARTLET VS. BOBBY

The fledgling political drama "Jack & Bobby" isn't taking any chances- they filmed three different endings to tomorrow night's episode to cover all the possibilities of what could happen in...

'FEAR FACTOR' GROSS OUT IN NYC

'FEAR Factor" will scare its way into New York City next week. The gross-out/stunt show filmed its 100th episode in Manhattan last summer and it's finally scheduled to air Monday....

S.W.A.T. TEAM FOR TODDLERS

LUCKILY, I'm not alone in the idea that the best parents understand that you don't negotiate with 4-year-olds. First off, they're 4, and second, they don't pay the bills. And...

LONG DAY'S PARTY INTO NIGHT - WITH THESE BASHES, WE'LL BE BUSHED NO MATTER WHO WINS

IT'S like New Year's Eve - two months early. Tonight will be far too exciting to spend home alone agonizing over the election returns. Just about every bar and club...

POLLS FROM THE PARANORMAL

BUSH is ahead by a nose. Kerry's up by a hair. Who can wait until tonight (or next month) to find out who our next president will be? That's why...

EXPRESS CHECK-IN - GOSSIP, HOT TOPICS AND OTHER NEWS YOU CAN USE

ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTING THERE'S fashionably late, and then there's just plain late. Take, para example, London's newly renovated Cumberland Hotel, which looks like it should have opened in...

TELLTALE STAIN - AUTO DETAILER FOUND 'BLOOD' IN TED'S CAR

A "detailer" who cleaned slain millionaire Ted Ammon's station wagon - at Danny Pelosi's request - testified yesterday that he may have seen blood in the car and joked that...

MILLION DOLLAR MUDDLE - CITY SITS ON 9/11 GIFT

A Midwest carpenter was so moved by the Sept. 11 attacks that he willed his entire $1.4 million estate to the Big Apple. But three years later, the money languishes...

EX-JAILS BOSS FINED $500

Former Correction Commissioner William Fraser has been fined $500 for allowing three correction officers to repair his swimming pool, officials reported yesterday. In a settlement with the Conflicts of Interest...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Troy Garrett wrote a check for $91,595.25 to buy a Porsche 911 so he could drive to Florida in style. Problem was, the Fort Thomas, Ohio, man had only $900...

PHONE-LINE PERV GETS 1 YR.

An East Harlem man was sentenced to a year in jail yesterday for admittedly having sex with a 16-year-old upstate girl he'd met on a telephone sex chat line. Anibal...

RAIN MAY DAMPEN KEY STATE TURNOUT

Weather may prove crucial in today's election - because rain could keep voters from turning out at the polls in at least three battleground states. Here's how forecasters see it:...

DETOUR-IST SEASON OPENS ON THE FDR

A traffic shift along the FDR Drive that will span two years began yesterday. Vehicles traveling southbound will shift onto the existing northbound lanes at 63rd Street and return to...

EX-COP SEEKS 'VOICE' IN STATE

AT THE age of 20, Joe Aponte was at the top of his game - his likeness beamed out over the airwaves on "America's Most Wanted." "He was wanted for...

MONEYBAGS BLITZ - SOROS CLAN GIVES 11TH-HOUR 60G TO N.Y. DEMS

ALBANY - Controversial billionaire George Soros and his family have given Democrats in four hotly contested state Senate races nearly $60,000 in last-minute contributions, newly filed state Board of Elections...

KID BOMBER - KILLS THREE IN TEL AVIV

A 16-year-old high-school dropout - following orders from a jailed terror chief - became the youngest homicide bomber of the Palestinian uprising yesterday when he blew himself up in a...

SCHILLING SHILLS FOR W. AFTER BALK

The biggest recent Massachusetts flip-flopper isn't John Kerry - try Red Sox ace Curt Schilling. The Boston pitcher toed the rubber for President Bush at appearances yesterday, just days after...

MOTHER'S RAGE - SHOUTS AT SON'S 'DWI KILLER'

A heartbroken mother unleashed a verbal barrage on the driver accused of drunkenly mowing down her 11-year-old son, screaming "Look at me!" as the man left a Queens courtroom yesterday....

SOLITARY GOTTI IS COMB-SICK

The once-mighty Peter Gotti faced a grooming and health crisis yesterday - he complained he was unexpectedly thrown into solitary confinement without a comb or nail clippers, or medication for...

N.H. VOTES ADD TO THE UNCERTAINTY

It's either going to be a long night or a Bush landslide if the first returns from two New Hampshire communities early today are any indication. President Bush and John...

H'WEEN DEATH BRAWL AT L.I. CLUB

A Long Island man was stabbed to death when he couldn't escape a vicious brawl in the parking lot of a popular nightclub, police said yesterday. At least 50 people...

ROCK CENTER OF ATTENTION

You've heard of the Ice Capades and Disney on Ice. Today you'll see the 2004 election on ice, courtesy of NBC News, which has installed a 65-foot-wide United States map...

SCHU-IN CHUCK SET TO SMASH RECORD

ALBANY - Sen. Charles Schumer today is set to cruise to an easy - and possibly record-breaking - re-election victory amid speculation that the popular and well-funded Democrat is already...

CON GOES AWOL & AMOK

A crook proved he wasn't ready to return to society when he skipped out on his prison work-release program and went on a mini crime spree, which culminated when he...

HOME-INVASION ORDEAL - 4 TERRORIZED BY RAIDERS IN QUEENS

A Queens couple, an employee, and a pregnant friend were terrorized at gunpoint yesterday by a pair of robbers posing as deliverymen who kicked in the front door of their...

CAMINITI AUTOPSY SHOWS OD

Former baseball slugger Ken Caminiti succumbed to an "accidental" overdose of "cocaine and opiates" last month, the city's medical examiner ruled yesterday. Caminiti, an admitted steroid user who struggled with...

DEM LEADER DASCHLE UNDER SIEGE

WASHINGTON - Tom Daschle, the Senate's top Democrat, is fighting for his political life in a tight South Dakota election that could determine which party controls the Senate. Daschle's struggle...

SEX THUG'S RAP SHEET NOW LONGER

A depraved sex fiend, already serving 225 years for a decade-long rape rampage in The Bronx, admitted yesterday to four more attacks in Queens, prosecutors said. Luis Acosta, 36, of...

PRESIDENT BUSH WILL WATCH ELECTION RETURNS AT THE WHITE HOUSE TONIGHT ...

President Bush will watch election returns at the White House tonight with wife Laura and Bush twins Jenna and Barbara, while John Kerry watches from Boston. Slated to be with...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * Police yesterday released this photo (above) of the man who is suspected of sexually assaulting home health aides and swindling senior citizens in Williamsburg. David Matos, 39, was...

'WEB' FEET IN RUNNING FOR MARATHON SPOTS

Some people desperate to compete in Sunday's marathon but unable to get a coveted slot are being offered a run - for their money. A lot of money. Some runners...

FLU HITS NURSING HOMES

The flu has hit patients at nursing homes in Queens and Nassau County, as well as a Brooklyn resident, authorities said yesterday. Flu outbreaks were reported last Thursday at the...

BIN LADEN'S 'BANKRUPT' STRATEGY

WASHINGTON - Terror master Osama bin Laden said al Qaeda's overall goal is to wound the U.S. economically until it is "bankrupt," according to newly released portions of his October...

DIVA PUTS ON 'FLOOR' SHOW FOR WARDEN

Martha Stewart was so appalled by dirt in staff offices at her West Virginia prison that she got "down on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floor," a Big House...

INCENSED JUDGE WARNS PELOSI IS COURTING TROUBLE

The judge in Danny Pelosi's Long Island murder trial angrily halted the proceedings yesterday to yell at Pelosi's defense lawyer - because Pelosi was making faces at the prosecution witnesses....

DRIVER WHO MOWED DOWN N.J. SISTERS BUSTED

Authorities last night arrested the driver who struck and killed two teenage sisters as they crossed a street near their home, Newark cops said. Kevin McGrath, 41, of Old Bridge,...

CHURCH WINS HOMELESS FIGHT

The city cannot remove homeless people from the steps of a Midtown church unless they're doing something illegal or it's extremely cold out, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Judge Lawrence...

FOES IN FINAL STUMP-ATHON - W. & KERRY HIT KEY STATES IN HOME STRETCH

Facing a dead heat in the polls, President Bush and John Kerry blitzed through a slew of battleground states yesterday on the last and longest day of the exhausting 2004...

H'WEEN HORROR - RAPIST LAY IN WAIT AS VICTIM SOUGHT PALS

The financial analyst who was raped in a horrifying two-hour Halloween ordeal was easy prey for the pervert because she had been walking alone after losing her pals inside a...

$75M RAP FLAP - R. KELLY SLAPS A 'DIVORCE' SUIT ON JAY-Z AFTER BEING FIRED FROM TOUR

R. Kelly is demanding $75 million to break up with Jay-Z. The singer is suing the "jealous" rapper after getting the boot from their joint concert tour - a split...

CAMPAIGNS BOTH CHARGED WITH PLAYING TRICK OR CHEAT

Republicans and Democrats traded charges of political dirty tricks yesterday as voting officials braced for a huge turnout today. Gulf War commander Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, who backs President Bush, accused...

POLLS ALL OVER MAP - EXPERTS 'HAVE NO IDEA WHO'S GOING TO WIN'

A blizzard of last-minute presidential polls sent clashing signals yesterday and fueled anxiety in the campaigns of both President Bush and John Kerry. Most national polls still showed Bush a...

TEEN STABS HER BEAU: COPS

An East Harlem teen was fighting for his life today after his girlfriend allegedly stabbed him in a quarrel over $10. Nastasha Adorno, 16, was charged with assault and criminal...

'PLUG PULL' PROBED AS HOSP SLAY

Police are probing the suspicious death of a 61-year-old comatose patient whose ventilator was mysteriously turned off at a Queens hospital. Authorities have already interviewed staffers at St. John's Episcopal...

CROSS-DRESSER INDICTED IN SLAY

The cross-dressing Orthodox Jew charged with killing his elderly roommate in Brooklyn last week was indicted yesterday on a second-degree murder charge. After hearing evidence, the Brooklyn Supreme Court grand...

N.Y. HERO GIS KILLED IN IRAQ

Two New York-area soldiers - one a popular Long Island swim champ-turned-Marine officer, the other a Nigerian immigrant who came to the United States for his education - have been...

ELECTION WEIRD BUT TRUE: MARTHA SKEWERED IN N.J. CAMPAIGN LITERATURE

Jailbird Martha Stewart has become an unwitting poster girl in a bitter election battle in her home state of New Jersey. A mailer showing Martha's photo superimposed over a jail...

GAL-PAL KILLER'S TWISTED BOAST: COPS

The sicko dad who bound and blew away his ex-girlfriend as their 4-year-old son watched in horror bragged about the murder just minutes later, police in Brooklyn said yesterday. A...

HOUR-BY-HOUR ELECTION GUIDE

Well before polls close in New York at 9 tonight, voters can get plenty of clues to whether President Bush or John Kerry will be living in the White House...

IS JIM NEXT? - LEYLAND MAY STILL GET MET INTERVIEW

Willie Randolph, Rudy Jaramillo and Terry Collins will return to Shea for Met second-round interviews tomorrow. But the most intrigue remains with Jim Leyland, whose muddled status should be cleared...

HIGH PRAISE FOR ROOKIE SAFETY

GIANT NOTES Rarely is a young player compared to one of the best linebackers to ever suit up for the Giants. But rookie safety Gibril Wilson is a rarity. "Jessie...

ROUGH ROAD AHEAD - KNICKS COULD TRIP OVER EARLY STRETCH

The Knicks begin the 2004-05 season tomorrow night in Minnesota, kicking off a grueling early schedule that will be a little like learning to swim in the deep end of...

PEDRO'S CLOSE TO FILING AS FREE AGENT

Pedro Martinez wasn't one of the 10 Red Sox to file for free agency yesterday. However, he will go through that formality shortly, which will set off a bidding war...

N.Y. MARATHON WILL ALWAYS BE FRED'S

It's been a decade last month since Fred Lebow, the first race director of the New York City Marathon, died of brain cancer. But as the event that started in...

JETS PRACTICE BALANCING ACT - JORDAN GUNG HO FOR MORE ACTION

Just like he always has since he was drafted by the Jets in 2001, LaMont Jordan readied himself to play a football game last night - against the Dolphins at...

2ND HALF PRIME TIME FOR JET 'D'

JET NOTES It's an uncanny statistic, but not one to ignore. Entering last night's game against the Dolphins, the Jets' defense had pitched second-half shutouts in three of the previous...

NETS' TRIO SET TO MAKE POINT

Jacque Vaughn and Travis Best have been around the NBA for a while. Yet tomorrow night, when the Nets play their season opener in the Meadowlands against the Heat, they...

IT'S OFFICIAL: HOUSTON PLACED ON INJURED LIST

KNICK NOTES As expected, the Knicks yesterday placed Allan Houston on the injured list with left-knee pain, ending speculation he may be healthy enough to start the season. The Knicks...

SIMPLY BLUE-TIFUL

Giant Report CardQUARTERBACKS B- Working with short field, with lead and with 168-yard ground game all benefited Kurt Warner (13 of 21, 144 yards), who was charged with three fumbles...

JEFFERSON TAKES ON NEW ROLE - LEADER

NET NOTES Kenyon Martin is gone and Jason Kidd is still on the shelf, so Richard Jefferson knows that when the Nets begin their season tomorrow night against the Heat,...

NO DOUBT ABOUT THIS JETS ROUT - GREEN MACHINE IMPROVES TO 6-1

Jets 41 - Dolphins 14 For a change, the Jets left no doubt. In what was an utterly liberating night of football - a three-hour party, really - the Jets...

LAMONT & CURTIS KO FISH

JET NOTES LaMont Jordan watched Sunday's Steelers' win over the Patriots and saw a terrific one-two running back punch in Duce Staley and Jerome Bettis for Pittsburgh. "I commented to...

GIANTS STICK TO BEAR FACTS

It is easy and not at all challenging, after the fact, to identify a defining moment for a team that is making strides. In retrospect, uncovering where a season turned...

GIFF WRAPPED - FORMER GIANT GREAT THINKS BIG BLUE CAN GET TO SUPER BOWL

The resurrections of the flagship franchise and the cosmopolitan running back are among the top stories of the NFL season, right up there with Big Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh, McNabb...

BACK TO THE ALAMO - ONCE AGAIN, SPURS SHOULD BE WEST'S BEST

Anybody (may I see a show of hand) in the NBA who hasn't initiated a new feud or renewed an old one since the opening of training camp; been fined...