December 22, 2004

VOOM AND DOOM - END OF SPINOFF MAY GROUND DOLAN'S DREAM

Cablevision's announcement yesterday that it may sell off its Voom satellite business and three cable channels could mark the beginning of the end of the company in its current form....

COOKBOOK: TWINKIE SUSHI, TACO, KABOB

Thousands of recipes for cooking with Twinkies are going into a cookbook to help chefs find new sugar buzzes and boost company fortunes. Meals range from Twinkie mousse (a pair...

MIAMI'S FISHER I. SOLD FOR AS MUCH AS $250M

Fisher Island, the private, super-upscale Miami Beach enclave, has just been sold. London-based Euro Fund Properties (EFP) and its U.S. subsidiary, Fisher Island Investments, Inc., bought 100 percent of the...

IT'S EXPEDI-ENT - DILLER DITCHES VISION FOR VALUE IN SPINOFF

So much for Barry Diller's vision thing. After years of chastising Wall Street and others who, he believed, didn't get the beauty and formulaic synergies that his InterActiveCorp. brought to...

CHURCH SELLS PRIME CORNER

Aheavenly Upper East Side site that's been in flux for more than eight years may finally turn into a luxurious condo development. Collegiate Church has entered into a contract to...

FEDS TARGET UBS OVER HEALTHSOUTH

Europe's biggest bank - UBS - is being targeted for federal charges that it helped to cover up financial scams at HealthSouth Corp. that cost investors $328 million. The Securities...

-BIG CHANGES FOR AMI - NEW CFO HIRED AS COMPANY AIMS TO GET ON TRACK (M)-ILL WIND TWISTING AMI - NEW CFO HIRED AS COMPANY AIMS TO GET ON TRACK (S, LCF)

AFTER weeks of rumors, American Media has acknowledged that its chief financial officer John Miley is exiting for health reasons. "It was strictly because of health reasons," said Miley, 49,...

WASH. POST GETS CLEAN SLATE

Microsoft has unloaded Slate, its online magazine, to the Washington Post Co. Terms were not disclosed, but sources estimated the sale price to be in the $18 million range -...

FANNIE MAE GIVES RAINES THE BOOT

The two top officers of embattled mortgage giant Fannie Mae were fired yesterday for bungling their books in a massive $9 billion loss undermining Fannie Mae's soundness. The ouster of...

FEDS MOVE ON UBS

Europe's biggest bank - UBS - is being targeted for federal charges that it helped to cover up financial scams at HealthSouth Corp. that cost investors $328 million. The Securities...

HEARTBREAK 'HOTEL'

DON Cheadle takes his rightful place among America's greatest actors in "Hotel Rwanda," masterfully playing an African Oskar Schindler in Terry George's devastating docudrama. Like the hero of "Schindler's List,"...

A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A DIRTY OLD MAN

'HE was in his own little world," someone says of Henry Darger, the subject of the documentary "In the Realms of the Unreal." Darger was a rather strange individual, a...

REBOUND - ESPN WANTS BASKETBALL TO LOOK LIKE THIS AGAIN

TWO weeks from today, the calendar will read Jan. 5, 2005 - but it'll be 1979 all over again on ESPN Classic. The network will use "throwback" graphics and original...

DELETE THE 'FOCKERS' - SILLY PLOT DOESN'T CAPITALIZE ON WONDERFUL STREISAND-HOFFMAN CHEMISTRY; 'MEET' IS UNDER-DONE

'MEET the Fockers" - a sloppy and not-funny-enough sequel to "Meet the Parents" - inexplicably underexploits the casting coup of the year, Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand as Ben Stiller's...

A FULL 'HOUSE'

THE physical and emotional toll of living with a disabled child is brought to life in the Italian drama "The Keys to the House." Kim Rossi Stuart gives an excellent...

HOARSE 'OPERA'

JOEL Schumacher has not so much directed the movie version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's hugely successful "The Phantom of the Opera" as embalmed it. It will be interesting to see...

'WORLD' WITHIN AUSTIN CITY LIMITS

THE next edition of the "Real World" is headed to the Lone Star State. MTV will film the next season of the popular reality show in Austin, Texas. Producers for...

KEEPING ABREAST OF OLYMPIC CASE

THE viewer complaints that have sparked a controversial FCC investigation into NBC's handling of the 2004 Summer Olympics - made public for the first time yesterday - include emails claiming...

GOURMET GARAGE FINDS PARK SPACE

FURTHER evidence of the encroaching gentrification of upper Manhattan includes plans for the opening of a new Gourmet Garage. The 5,000-square-foot store, expected to open in February at 1245 Park...

STARR REPORT

Ed Gordon, who recently joined "60 Minutes Wednesday," has added another job to his resume - hosting a show for NPR. The New York-based Gordon will host "News & Notes...

'SHOT' IN THE DARK SOLVES MURDER CASE

IN 1999, Miriam Illes, a smalltown, stay-at-home mom/former heart surgeon's operating room nurse/assistant was shot dead with a highpowered rifle through the window of her home one evening during a...

KING CLONE - GET THIS - AN IRISH KID IS PLAYING OUR ELVIS

ELVIS has left Memphis - try Ireland instead. Irish actor Jonathan Rhys-Myers, who starred in the indie hit film, "Bend it Like Beckham," will play Elvis Presley in CBS' new...

THE PLOD 'COUPLE' - MONEY TALK MAKES REVIVAL SLOW GOING

CONTRACT negotiations for the eagerly awaiting Broadway revival of Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple" - starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick - are proving to be messier than Oscar Madison's...

DAZZLING DANIA - DOMINICAN DIVA DELIGHTS IN 'FAT ALBERT'

YOU might hear some "Hey, hey, hey!" with your "Ho, ho, ho!" this season - the loveable Fat Albert is back, skin-tight red sweater and all. And this time around,...

HAWK FANS' PREYERS ARE ANSWERED

New York's most famous hawks could be home for the holidays - their Fifth Avenue perch will be rebuilt tomorrow. Anti-pigeon spikes will be welded back to the spot where...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Honesty is the best policy. Just ask Rachelle Thomas of Cincinnati, who told a judge that she couldn't serve on a jury because she had to take her son to...

HOTTER 'POTTER' DUE IN JULY

Get ready for a Harry Potter summer! The sixth adventure of the famed boy wizard will hit stores next July 16, it was revealed yesterday. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood...

JUNK GUY JAIL LAW: MIKE

An obscure provision in the law that has allowed the clock to continue running on Guy Velella's jail sentence - even as he's appealed his sentence from the comfort of...

'KILLER' IS TOO CRAZY FOR TRIAL

The heartbroken wife of a Queens bridge painter senselessly gunned down by a homeless man under an overpass last month exploded in rage as a judge pronounced the vagrant unfit...

JACK NEWFIELD, COLUMNIST, DIES

Jack Newfield, the iconoclast columnist whose friends ranged from Robert Kennedy to Muhammad Ali, has died after a brief bout with cancer. He was 66 and writing columns up until...

DOCS BELIEVE IN MIRACLES: POLL

A nationwide poll of doctors has revealed that 74 percent believe miracles have occurred in the past and 73 percent believe they can occur today. It also indicates that American...

FRIGID CITY ON A POWER HIGH

Cold weather is turning up the heat on Con Ed's electric system, with Monday's deep freeze bringing record wintertime electricity demand. At 6 p.m. Monday, electricity use in New York...

TRAGIC MOM ZINGS 'DWI KILLER' AT COURT

The grieving mom of a Queens boy who was run down and killed in October ambushed the allegedly drunken driver yesterday, emptying her anguished heart as he walked out of...

CITY PET SHELTERS PLAY SANTA CLAWS

Animal-welfare officials are begging New Yorkers not to buy puppies and kittens from pet stores this Christmas, when they can save a life and adopt a grateful new friend from...

ED. UNION 'FIRE'PROOF - TEACH AIDES WIN JOB PROTECTION

ALBANY - Grade-school teaching assistants yesterday won stronger layoff protections from the state's highest court. In a unanimous ruling, the Court of Appeals ruled that under state education law, school...

'PRINCESS' PLEA DEAL CRUMBLES

Manhattan prosecutors are becoming a royal pain for a certain fake princess. On the brink of pleading guilty to a bizarre insurance scam - in which she allegedly pretended to...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * A Bushwick man was arrested for attacking and critically injuring a passerby in the course of a robbery, police said yesterday. At about 3 p.m. last Friday, Melvin...

U.N.'S KOFI SCOLDS HIS PRODIG-OIL SON

WASHINGTON - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday publicly rebuked his son for claiming that investigations of the U.N. oil-for-food program are a Republican "witch hunt." "I don't agree with that,"...

SETTLERS' 'HOLOCAUST' FUROR

JERUSALEM - Fears about Israel's upcoming pullout from the Gaza Strip mounted yesterday as police warned it would be hard to carry out peacefully - and settlers touched off an...

HAMMER HUBBY HUFFY - RANTS AT HIS SENTENCING

A three-time felon, convicted last month of trying to hire a hit man to kill his wife, launched into a rambling tirade in his own defense yesterday before a Queens...

BLAKE STOOD BY AS WIFE DIED: WITNESS

LOS ANGELES - Robert Blake never came to the aid of his wife as she lay dying in his car, leaving a bewildered stranger to tend to Bonny Lee Bakley's...

CAR INSURER SET TO TRIM RATES

ALBANY - For the second time in a week, the state Insurance Department is set to announce that a major auto-insurance company will reduce its rates next year, The Post...

BOOZED-UP GOP BIG BASHED ME, SAYS WIFE

ALBANY - The New York Republican Party's top lawyer has been arrested on a charge of attacking his wife, The Post has learned. Jeffrey Buley, 44, was arrested and arraigned...

ELEVATOR FALL AFTER HS FIGHT

A school administrator and a student he was pulling out of a fight at Brooklyn's troubled Lafayette HS plunged down an empty elevator shaft when the door of the 65-year-old...

COLIN GLAD TO DROP NEW YEAR'S BALL

Secretary of State Colin Powell will return to the city of his birth and drop the famous Waterford Crystal ball in Times Square on New Year's Eve, Mayor Bloomberg announced...

HILLARY TOES DEM LINE

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Clinton is one of the most loyal Democrats in the Senate, while Sen. Charles Schumer is slightly less inclined to vote with the party, according to...

HAWK FANS' PREYERS ANSWERED

New York's most famous hawks could be home for the holidays - their Fifth Avenue perch will be rebuilt tomorrow. Anti-pigeon spikes will be welded back to the spot where...

SAY IT AIN'T SEW - COPS SMASH $12M COUNTERFEIT-CLOTHES RING

Police shut down a veritable mall for counterfeiters on Broadway - seizing more than $12 million worth of phony brand-name clothes in the biggest trademark-counterfeiting raid in NYPD history. The...

DRIVEN TO SUICIDE - CAR-CRASH TEENS CARRIED NOTE BOASTING OF 'THELMA & LOUISE'-STYLE DEATH PACT

The two teen pals involved in the horrific New Jersey crash that killed one had made a "Thelma and Louise" suicide pact, a source close to the case told The...

'DO IT RIGHT' - CHILLING WORDS IN GRID-KID SLAY: COPS

The second Brooklyn thug charged in the slaying of a popular college athlete last year was dragged before a judge yesterday, accused of providing the murder weapon with the cold-blooded...

'PERP' KEPT SCHOOL JOB DESPITE BUST

A male school aide accused of having sex with a teenage girl at Lehman HS could have been removed from the school on other charges a year before the alleged...

FLU CASES ON RISE IN APPLE

The flu has become widespread in the city, health officials said yesterday, noting there have been 21 outbreaks in nursing homes. That's more than twice the number of outbreaks at...

SHOTGUN MANIAC - COPS WOUND PSYCHO AFTER BX. RAMPAGE

Cops shot and seriously wounded a shotgun-wielding maniac on a Bronx street yesterday, narrowly missing another man with a bullet as he sat in his apartment while the drama unfolded...

A HIGH FLYING PHONY - 'SCAMMER' $PREE

He had a phony client list that included the likes of Samuel L. Jackson and Gary Sheffield, but scamming stockbroker Calvin Darden had a very real taste for the high...

LIFE AFTER DEATH - 1ST LOOK AT MIRACLE TOT AS MOM IS MOURNED

America yesterday got this first look at the miracle baby who survived being ripped from her mother's womb, as the tragic mom was laid to rest. The rites took place...

PRIVATE BUSES LEAVE RIDERS IN COLD

Hundreds of Brooklyn commuters were stranded yesterday when drivers for a private bus company called in sick, leaving riders to fend for themselves on a frigid morning. The sickout by...

CATFIGHT MARS S.I. KID SHOW

A children's Christmas show at a Staten Island school was anything but jolly after a mother and a grandmother got in a "catfight" over seating arrangements, police said. When all...

GULOTTA'S SON KILLS HIMSELF

The 30-year-old son of former Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta apparently committed suicide near an elementary school Monday night, authorities said yesterday. Thomas "T.J." Gulotta Jr.'s slumped body was discovered...

FAKE GROOM KILLS CLERK IN GEM SHOP

A suspected robber who posed as a groom-to-be shot a clerk to death yesterday in a Long Island jewelry store, cops said. The attacker chatted with his victim for about...

FEWER STUDENTS ARE USING DRUGS

Illicit-drug use among middle- and high-school students has declined by almost 17 percent over a three-year period, according to a survey released by the National Institute of Drug Abuse. The...

CLASS INACTION - SCHOOL KEPT AIDE ON DESPITE BUST

A school aide, accused of having sex with a teenage girl at Lehman HS, could have been removed from the Bronx school on other charges a year before the alleged...

DARK DAY FOR GI LIBERATORS - 15 KILLED AS ENEMY BLOWS UP MESS TENT

In one of the deadliest single terror attacks on U.S. troops since the Iraq war began, 15 soldiers were killed yesterday when a blast ripped through a mess tent at...

KERIK ADMITS AFFAIR WITH CORRECTIONS GAL

Bernard Kerik has admitted to having sexual relations with a female corrections officer while serving as first deputy commissioner of the department. Kerik was forced to answer questions about his...

FAKE GROOM KILLS LONG ISLAND JEWELRY-STORE CLERK

A robber who posed as a groom-to-be blasted a clerk to death yesterday inside a Long Island jewelry store. The attacker chatted with his victim, Tom Renison, for about 30...

TRIO'S TERROR IN QNS. POSTAL HEIST

Three terrified postal workers and the young daughter of one of them were bound and shoved inside a Queens post-office vault last night while two armed robbers stole more than...

GULOTTA SON A SUICIDE

The 30-year-old son of former Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta committed suicide near an elementary school Monday night, authorities said yesterday. Thomas "T.J." Gulotta Jr.'s slumped body was discovered with...

ICY APPLE TURNS UP THE JUICE

Cold weather is turning up the heat on Con Ed's electric system, with Monday's deep freeze bringing record wintertime electricity demand. At 6 p.m. that day, electricity use in New...

KERIK 'FESSES UP TO AFFAIR WITH CORRECTIONS GAL

Bernard Kerik has admitted to having sexual relations with a female corrections officer while serving as first deputy commissioner of the department. Kerik was forced to answer questions about his...

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM AUSTRALIA

Santa better wear his long johns because it's cold in the city, but in Australia, Santa rides a surfboard. It's Christmastime in Australia, and the people on the world's smallest...

STUDENT DRUG USE IN DECLINE

Illicit-drug use among middle- and high-school students has declined by almost 17 percent over a three-year period, according to a survey released by the National Institute of Drug Abuse. The...

DE$PERATE 'HOUSEWIFE' - NAUGHTY NICOLETTE: 'POOR'ME

"Desperate Housewives" star Nicolette Sheridan, who plays devious Edie Britt on the hit ABC series, claims she's "the poorest actress on television" - and hopes ABC will cough up a...

DARKEST DAY FOR GI HEROES - 19 KILLED AS ENEMY BLOWS UP MESS TENT

In the deadliest single terror attack on U.S. troops since the Iraq war began, 19 soldiers were killed yesterday when a horrific blast ripped through a mess tent at a...

MOOKIE HAPPY TO MANAGE CYCLONES

For now, Mookie Wilson said he prefers being the top guy on the minor team to being the minor guy on the top team. For now. "My goal is not...

THE POST'S TOP 25

Rank(prev) TEAM - RESULT - NEXT1 Kansas (7-0) beat S. Carolina 64-60 vs. Wisc.-Milw. (2) Game is in Kansas City; bet the Jayhawks big. 2 Illinois (10-0) beat Valp. 93-56...

CARDIAC KNICKS - LATE-GAME DRAMA PART OF ROUTINE FOR LENNY & CO.

In those recent non-playoff years - known as the Dark Ages - the rap on the Knicks was that they were bad and dull. Not anymore, on both counts. Having...

INJURY A FITTING END FOR GREEN

GIANT NOTES Linebacker Barrett Green underwent arthroscopic surgery Friday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. That procedure went well, but the prognosis wasn't all good, as Green...

BRADWAY DESERVES KUDOS

A second Vince Lombardi Trophy doesn't yet reside inside Weeb Ewbank Hall. In fact, despite an already-successful first 14 games to the 2004 season, a playoff berth hasn't even been...

NOWITZKI TRYING TO LIGHT FIRE FOR MAVS

Dirk Nowitzki is having a career season and is hoping to be the first Dallas player to win the NBA scoring title. But before the German big man wins any...

RJ: BEWARE 2-3 PUNCH

CHARLOTTE - A little duplication is not such a bad thing. Look at the Nets now with Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson. Carter is a two-guard who runs the floor,...

CARTER REPORTS NO SORENESS

NET NOTES CHARLOTTE - Vince Carter awoke yesterday and felt . . . Nothing. No soreness, no tightness, no pain in the left Achilles that had landed him on the...

TOSCA: DELGADO'S A RANDOLPH CLONE

Carlos Tosca describes himself as "a big fan" of Carlos Delgado, a sense that magnified over the 2 ½ years he managed the slugging first baseman in Toronto and realized...

HALL MAY PAY PRICE FOR COLD SHOOTING

Maddeningly inconsistent; offensively incompetent. A host of phrases come to mind to describe Seton Hall this season, a club that expected to be one of the Big East's best offensive...

TIME FOR METS TO CHASE CARLOS

IT IS George Steinbrenner. It is Scott Boras. So it is a fight you do not enter with a weak heart and a flimsy wallet. The Mets should get into...

CALL HIM THE PROFIT ISIAH

IF Isiah Thomas were to receive a cake to celebrate his first anniversary as Knick president, Maverick owner Mark Cuban would be willing to pay for it. From his view,...

BELTRAN, BOSS TALK IN TAMPA

YANKEE NOTES The Yankees' courting of Carlos Beltran began yesterday in Tampa where the jewel of the free-agent class met with George Steinbrenner at The Boss' Legends Field office. On...

PENNY STILL ALL TORN UP

KNICK NOTES Penny Hardaway's torn right hamstring is still bothering him - even when he sits on the bench. That's a pretty big clue that he won't be back anytime...

CUBAN FAVORS NHL CAP

Mark Cuban is a co-owner of the American Airlines Arena with Stars owner Tom Hicks in Dallas, so it was so it was no surprise yesterday when the outspoken billionaire...

ISIAH ANNIVERSARY HAS SOUR ENDING

THE honeymoon on Isiah Thomas' first year as the Knicks president officially ended at 8:43 last night. That's when his Knicks left the court headed for their dressing room amid...

STUCK-IN-SUIT PENNY'S STILL ALL TORN UP

KNICK NOTES Penny Hardaway's right hamstring tear is even bothering him when he sits on the bench. That's a pretty big clue that he won't be back anytime soon. "Getting...

DIRK SINKS TEETH INTO LISTLESS KNICKS

Dirk Nowitzki had a couple of brand new teeth in his mouth last night at the Garden and if his performance against the Knicks was any indication, the Dallas big...

KRSTIC BOUNCED IN FIRST START

NET NOTES CHARLOTTE - Nenad Krstic got his first NBA start last night. And he also got his first NBA ejection. "I don't think I deserved it, no," said Krstic,...

HALL'S CLOSE CALL HAS SWEET RESULT

Seton Hall 58 - Drexel 54 Perhaps this is just how things are going to be this season for Seton Hall. Maybe every single game with be a tooth-and-nail affair,...

CALL IT MADISON SQUARE GARBAGE - KNICKS STINK UP ARENA IN MAV MAULING

Mavs 123 - Knicks 94 A year ago, Isiah Thomas took over the Knicks. A lot has changed since then, but it's obvious his club still can't hang with the...

THE DEAL'S OFF - VAZQUEZ DERAILS YANKS' UNIT TRADE

The trade sending Randy Johnson to the Yankees through the Dodgers is dead - and the Yankees are livid. The Diamondbacks and Yankees believed the three-way, 10-player trade was close...

BOMBERS, BELTRAN TANGO IN TAMPA

The Yankees' courting of Carlos Beltran began yesterday in Tampa where the jewel of the free-agent class met with George Steinbrenner at The Boss' Legends Field office. On hand were...

THE DEAL'S OFF - YANKS' TRADE FOR JOHNSON FALLS THROUGH

The trade of Randy Johnson to the Yankees is dead, thanks the Dodgers' feet turning to ice at the last minute. According to several sources close to the proposed three-way...

SIMMS, IRVIN HAVE THEIR SAY IN PENNINGTON-MEDIA DUEL

When CBS Sports' Phil Simms was asked yesterday about Chad Pennington's media critique, the Giants' Super Bowl-winning quarterback bellowed a hearty beenthere, done-that laugh. "Boy, I played here for 15...

LAME DAYNE - FORMER HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER IS READY TO LEAVE GIANTS

Two more games and the agony/mistake/silliness will come to an end. At long last, Ron Dayne will be free of the Giants and the Giants will be free of Ron...

JEFFERSON STARSHIP - CARTER WATCHES RJ SAVE THE DAY

Nets 94 - Bobcats 91 CHARLOTTE - Vince Carter was sitting on the bench in street clothes, along with Travis Best. Nenad Krstic was sitting in the locker room having...

'CATS CAN'T STOP 'EM- VINCE WATCHES NETS POST WIN

Nets 94 - Bobcats 91 CHARLOTTE - Vince Carter was sitting on the bench in street clothes, along with Travis Best. Nenad Krstic was sitting in the locker room having...