March 30, 2005

FRAUD RAP FOR IMPATH EX-EXECS

Top executives at once high-flying Impath Inc. crashed and burned yesterday for allegedly defrauding investors out of $260 million by cooking the books to "hit the numbers," authorities announced yesterday....

ORBIT FORFEIT - CHUCK DOLAN TO FCC: HALT OUR ECHOSTAR DEAL

Cablevision patriarch Chuck Dolan is taking the remarkable step of urging the Federal Communications Commission to block his own company's $200 million sale of a satellite to EchoStar. The move...

MIRAMAX SPLITS FROM DISNEY

Miramax and Disney finally made their divorce official yesterday, ending years of acrimony between the two parties. In September Miramax's Weinstein brothers will leave the Disney fold to start up...

BUFFETT WAS IN THE DARK ON TAINTED AIG DEALS

Warren Buffett didn't know how AIG's Hank Greenberg was going to use or misuse reinsurance products sold to the insurer in 2001. The Oracle of Omaha, who is expected to...

SL GREEN SNAGS ONE MAD.; SL GREEN WINS ONE MADISON

SL GREEN Realty Trust is buying One Madison Ave. for $921 million and planning a full-blown residential conversion for the landmark tower. Credit Suisse First Boston, which is based in...

COURT OKS A SPIEGEL VOTE

Bankrupt retailer Spiegel yesterday won court approval to proceed with a vote by creditors on its reorganization plan, paving the way for the company to exit Chapter 11 proceedings by...

HAD THEIR PHIL - MOVE TO OUST MORGAN STANLEY'S CEO PURCELL

Some people are calling it the Midtown Massacre. Philip Purcell's surprise management makeover at Morgan Stanley drew howls of protest yesterday from nine former executives who called for the CEO's...

JUDGE PUSHES B OF A BROKER CASE

The judge presiding over the criminal case against Theodore Sihpol has started pre-screening jurors for the ex-Bank of America securities broker's April 26 trial, lawyers on the case were told...

BANKRUPT FIRM'S TOP TWO FACE FRAUD RAP

Top executives at once high-flying Impath Inc. crashed and burned yesterday for allegedly defrauding investors out of $260 million by cooking the books to "hit the numbers," authorities announced yesterday....

DAY AT 'ODESSA' A BLIGHT FROM THE UKRAINE

'ODESSA . . . Odessa!," a French-Israeli documentary about the nearly 200,000 Jews who left that city in the 1970s, is sometimes beautiful to look at but ultimately too poetic...

U2: ROCK & ROAR

SAN DIEGO - Every year, a monster tour rocks America, baring its teeth, slapping its tail and roaring, "Here I am." In 2005, that tour belongs to U2, and it...

GOOD HAIR DAY - LATIFAH DOES IT IN STYLE; LATIFAH A CUT ABOVE

WITH an excellent ensemble headed by Queen Latifah, the warm, funny, empowering (and estrogen-drenched) "Beauty Shop" is a cut above what you'd expect from the spinoff of a sequel. Though...

THEY SLICE, THEY DICE AND NOW THE GINSU GUYS WRITE

THOSE zany Ginsu Guys are back! The immortal duo who first sliced into our consciousness in 1978 with their late-night commercials in which they cut tin cans - and then,...

'SWEET' TALKER - HURT STAR BULLIES PRODUCER TO HOLD ON

AFTER the curtain came down Sunday night on what was supposed to have been the final performance of the tepid revival of "Sweet Charity," Christina Applegate, the show's crippled star,...

SAJAK BLOG ROLLING

ADD Pat Sajak to the growing list of Internet bloggers writing about politics. Sajak, the longtime host of "Wheel of Fortune" - and a former Fox News Channel talk show...

SEEING IS BELIEVING - 'EYES' DETECTIVES TURN ON THE CHARM

WHAT is in the water over at ABC? It wasn't that long ago that this network couldn't develop a decent TV show to save its life. And now, every time...

CANSECO, OMAROSA GET 'SURREAL'

THE weirdest show on TV just got weirder - next season "The Surreal Life" will house steroid slugger Jose Canseco and prickly personality Omarosa under the same roof. Other motley...

PAT HAS TO GO - FAIR OR NOT, CELEB HOST IS KAPUT

Wouldn't you think that if you gossiped on-air for a living - literally made your daily bread from the sex scandals, drug-rehab stints, drunken escapades and the horrifying public indiscretions...

THE NEW '21' CHEF IS RITZ-Y

AFTER an extensive search, the '21' Club has found its new executive chef. Stephen Trojahn, formerly of the Ritz-Carlton resort in Bachelor Gulch, Colo., began helming the stoves on Monday...

OLD KING COAL - ANCIENT OVENS MAKE A PIZZA TO KILN FOR

LOMBARDI'S, Patsy's, Grimaldi's, Totonno's, John's. Aside from rabid fans, there's one thing these legendary New York pizzerias have in common: coal-burning ovens. The super-hot kilns, aficionados agree, can elevate a...

WE ARE NOT AMUSED - OUR CRITIC LOOKS A GIFT COURSE IN THE MOUTH

HERE'S a tip for chefs who think they're being generous by offering diners numerous and elaborate amuse-bouches, the palate-tinglers that arrive, unbidden and often unwelcome, before appetizers: Call this an...

MEALS À LA MART

Say you had to survive solely on items from the local 7-Eleven. Or maybe you just need a laugh. The just-released "Mini-Mart a la Carte" (Chronicle Books, $14.95) fits the...

'GROPE' PASTOR FREED - CLEARED OF SEX ATTACK

A Queens minister on trial for seducing an underage parishioner into a church-office tryst five years ago strode out of court yesterday - cleared of all charges. "I want to...

PRISON GUARD BUSTED FOR 'INMATE SEX'

A federal prison guard was busted yesterday for allegedly having sex with a female inmate he was supposed to supervise inside the kitchen area of the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Nicholas...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

The Easter egg hunt has just begun for a woman in Wisconsin. Earlier this month, she gave the Salvation Army thrift shop in Manitowoc a batch of plastic Easter eggs...

LOHAN DAD'S 'DWI' NOW A FELONY

The DWI charge against Lindsay Lohan's embattled father was upgraded yesterday to a felony - which could land him in the clink for four years. When a handcuffed Michael Lohan...

FIELDS PLAYS UP HER ARREST WITH MLK

C. Virginia Fields' mayoral campaign will begin handing out leaflets across the city today to remind New Yorkers of her connections to slain civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Fields,...

BENCH THIS COURT KOOK BEFORE SHE RULES AGAIN

JUDGE Phyllis Gangel-Jacob should be ashamed to wear her robes. She should step down or be fired. I introduced you to this legal blockhead on New Year's Eve, when she...

POST WINNER - REAL CASH

Neddy Mercado (left) won at Post Poker more than a week ago, but the Bronx woman is still reeling from the excitement of her $1,000 prize. "I can't even sleep,"...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

QUEENS (s, lcf) * Police yesterday released this photo (above) of a suspect wanted in the attempted robbery of a Woodhaven bank on Monday. The thief passed a note demanding...

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINK-ING SCAM

A Long Island shrink has been busted for insurance fraud after billing a "patient" for 30 sessions that were all in the therapist's head - because he never actually met...

PLUMBER HAS BURY CLOSE CALL

A plumber laying pipe inside a muddy trench on a Brooklyn construction site was buried up to his waist for an hour yesterday as colleagues and firefighters tried desperately to...

RE-ELECT TEAM EYEING KOCH

The Bloomberg campaign is shopping for a Democrat to serve as campaign co-chairman for the Republican mayor, The Post has learned. Ex-Mayor Ed Koch is on the list of contenders....

NEW YORK IS IN A TIGHT THREE-WAY RACE WITH PARIS AND LONDON ...

New York is in a tight three-way race with Paris and London to host the 2012 Olympics, say sources close to the International Olympic Committee. The IOC's evaluation commission, which...

MAKING A 'BEE LINE' FOR MEDIATOR

Striking Bee Line bus drivers and company honchos will call in a federal mediator to help resolve a four-week Westchester transit strike, union officials said yesterday. Talks between Transport Workers...

JETS' BID SCORES POINTS WITH INSIDER

The Jets' drive to build a West Side stadium got a huge boost yesterday from an influential MTA board member who called the plan "hands down the best deal" for...

GRANNY FALLS TO DEATH

A beloved 94-year-old great-grandmother who lost her balance when she tried to open a stuck window fell to her death from her 10th-story Bronx apartment, police and neighbors said yesterday....

POL: TOSS ROASTED KOFI - PROBE BLASTS U.N. BOSS OVER SON'S LIES

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan should resign, a key U.S. senator demanded yesterday after a damning new report found Annan looked the other way while his son received secret, big-bucks fees...

SCOUT BOSS A 'PERV' - CYBER KID-PORN BUST

A longtime top official with the Boy Scouts of America has been charged with using the Internet to swap graphic pictures of kids having sex, federal prosecutors in Texas said....

NYU PLAN TO THWART SUICIDES

At New York University, a doorway to suicide is being sealed shut. The suicide-plagued school is blocking access to balconies in two high-rise dormitories starting this summer. "This could bring...

THE LIVE-IN IS OUT - 'SQUATTER' HEALTH AIDE GIVES UP

It took Adam Fisher two weeks to do what Donald Trump manages in two words. A live-in health aide - whom Fisher fired for neglecting his 86-year-old father - finally...

PETER COOPER TENANTS GET A BREAK

Residents of Peter Cooper Village don't need a card key with their picture on it to get into their apartments - yet. A Manhattan judge yesterday signed an order assuring...

MASSIVE POTHOLES CLAIM 14 'VICTIMS'

Mayor Bloomberg has been bragging about filling potholes, but that boasting didn't impress a bunch of motorists yesterday after they had their tires blown out, rims bent and wallets busted...

SCHOOL SNEAKS USE GADGETS TO CHAT & CHEAT

Students regularly sneak cellphones into city schools and use them to text-message friends during class - and sometimes to cheat on tests. Although the city Department of Education has banned...

WINNERS PROTEST - HIGH-NOON MARCH ON THE NEWS

The Daily News' game-card fiasco is becoming an itch the paper can't scratch, as lawyers, politicians and conned contestants turn up the heat today in an angry bid to make...

CUNY BRAINIAC SNARES 30G PRIZE

A City College junior was named a $30,000 Truman Scholarship winner yesterday, making him the third CUNY student this year to earn a prestigious postgraduate award. Claudio Simpkins, 20, a...

IMMIGRATION COPS NAIL 25 PERVS

Federal immigration authorities yesterday rounded up and began deportation proceedings against 25 illegal aliens on Long Island who had raped and sexually abused victims ranging in age from 9 to...

JACKO USED ME - LISA MARIE'S SHOCKING MARRIAGE CLAIM

A remarkably blunt Lisa Marie Presley says she was "snowed" into marrying Michael Jackson and described their bizarre courtship as her basically having "fallen prey to the 'poor you' thing."...

BUYER FLOORED OVER 'HUSTLE'

He should be dancing, but a man who claims he won an auction for the dance floor used in "Saturday Night Fever" says he's getting nothing but jive talkin' from...

MIKE ON BOARD WITH 'MTA' SALES-TAX HIKE

ALBANY - Mayor Bloomberg yesterday praised state lawmakers for plans to provide more transportation aide by increasing the sales tax - a proposal jeered by all his Democratic rivals. Under...

JOHN PAUL MIGHT GET FEED-TUBE OPERATION

The pope's doctors are considering an operation to insert a tube into his stomach so he can be fed without having to swallow. If the procedure is performed, John Paul...

LAURA'S OFF ON SURPRISE AFGHAN TRIP

WASHINGTON - First Lady Laura Bush vowed to show "solidarity with the women" as she took off yesterday on a surprise trip to Afghanistan - a danger zone where U.S....

BUSH PRODS & PRAISES IRAQ

WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday gently prodded Iraq's squabbling political parties to reach a compromise and said the country has already become a model for the region. "The free people...

O.J. ATT'Y COCHRAN DIES AT 67

Johnnie Cochran, the loquacious legal legend who stunned the world by helping spring O.J. Simpson with the phrase, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," died yesterday of a brain...

OMG, A TXT MESS - TEEN RINGS UP 1G CELL BILL - AT SCHOOL

Kids spend more time in high school sending text messages than reading textbooks, a New Jersey father discovered to his horror - after his 16-year-old daughter rang up a whopping...

10-FLOOR FALL KILLS BRONX GRANNY, 94

A beloved 94-year-old great-grandmother, who lost her balance when she tried to open a stuck window, fell to her death yesterday from her 10th-story Bronx apartment, police and neighbors said....

'SEX' OP LEFT ME LIMP: SUIT

Bigger isn't better for Eric Neuberger, who says his New York doctor botched his penile enhancement to the point that he's now nearly impotent. Before the January 2001 surgery, Neuberger...

JET-SETTING LAURA - MAKES 'SOLIDARITY' TRIP TO AFGHANISTAN

WASHINGTON - First Lady Laura Bush vowed to show "solidarity with the women" as she took off yesterday on a surprise trip to Afghanistan - a danger zone where U.S....

SUBWAY WOES A FLUKE: TA

A series of subway snafus that derailed service over the past month were "unfortunate incidents" and not a symptom of a system on the brink of collapse, officials said. "We...

JOHNNIE DEAD - 'IF IT [THE GLOVE] DOESN'T FIT, YOU MUST ACQUIT ...'

Johnnie Cochran, the loquacious legal legend who stunned the world by helping spring O.J. Simpson with the phrase, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," died yesterday of a brain...

RUDY TO BE STRONG ARM OF THE LAW

Rudy Giuliani is expanding his empire - and his business reach - joining forces with a Houston-based law office that has offices in Washington, London and Kazakhstan. Giuliani and his...

GIULIANI'S WORDS USED AGAINST HIM

ALBANY - It's called "The Quotable Rudolph Giuliani," but it's really a new national effort to derail any hope the former New York City mayor has to become the Republican...

MTA SPENDING BIG TO SAVE

The cash-strapped MTA is looking to save money - but it will cost them. The agency could pay Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm, up to $832,283 to find ways...

BX. TOT DROWNS IN TUB

Bath time turned into tragedy as a 2-year-old boy died while being washed in a tub by his father, police sources said. Vision Redick went under water and drowned at...

TERRI HUBBY BARS JESSE - PARENTS ASKED REV. TO PRAY AT HER BEDSIDE

The Rev. Jesse Jackson swooped in to Florida yesterday to visit the dying Terri Schiavo, but was barred by her husband from praying at her bedside. "This is one of...

FEARLESS FIRST LADY - CAR BOMB CAN'T STOP KABUL 'SOLIDARITY' VISIT

WASHINGTON - In a trip delayed by safety concerns, First Lady Laura Bush arrived in Afghanistan this morning, hours after a car bomb explosion there and an ambush that wounded...

A BABE FOR ALL GAMES

Tomboy? Definitely. In an age where good girls didn't sweat, Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias sweated. She ran faster, jumped higher, threw farther and hit the little dimpled white ball better...

BURY CLOSE CALL - PLUMBER DUG OUT OF TRENCH

A plumber laying pipe inside a muddy trench on a Brooklyn constructionsite was buried up to his waist for an hour yesterday as colleagues and firefighters tried desperately to save...

SCHOOLS' MOVING VIOLATION - HS SPORTS STARS BETTER STAY PUT

City high-school athletes who transfer schools to better their sports careers could be called for traveling under a new Public Schools Athletic League eligibility rule. Under the rule, released yesterday,...

BENCH THIS IDIOT - JUDGE TAKES QUADRIPLEGIC FROM GUARDIAN

JUDGE Phyllis Gangel Jacob should be ashamed to wear her robes - which incidentally, I know she does not. She should step down or be fired. I introduced you to...

POPE'FEED TUBE'- DOCS WEIGH TERRI-STYLE TREATMENT

The pope's doctors are considering an operation to insert a tube into his stomach so he can be fed without having to swallow. If the procedure is performed, John Paul...

GAMECOCKS FEAST ON TERPS

NIT SEMIFINALS: S. Carolina 75 - Maryland 67 Carlos Powell didn't like what was happening with he and his teammates as South Carolina saw its NCAA tournament hopes slip away...

AT LONG LAST, TIME FOR TROUT

THE opening of the trout season on Friday will draw lots of anglers who have been waiting through this long, hard winter to pursue their love of fishing. The early...

POL: PUT MARIS BACK ON TOP OF HOMER LIST

A North Dakota legislator is trying to put Roger Maris' name back on top of baseball's record book in the wake of the steroids scandal. Sen. Joel Heitkamp is sponsoring...

TERPS AIM FOR NIT TITLE TRIP

When you're a perennial contender in the ACC, a Final Four appearance is nearly something to be expected rather than cause for celebration. That's especially true at Maryland, which won...

TORRE FEARS BROWN-OUT

TAMPA - Kevin Brown should come with a soundtrack. Tick, tick, tick. He is a human time bomb, and Joe Torre and Mel Stottlemyre know at some point, physically or...

KITTLES TO MISS RETURN

NET NOTES There will be no video tribute to Kerry Kittles tonight when his new team, the Clippers, visits the Meadowlands for the first time since he left the Nets...

WRIGHT YANKEES' FOUR-GOTTEN MAN - EARLY ROTATION WON'T INCLUDE RIGHTY

TAMPA - Jaret Wright signed a $21 million contract with the Yankees and pitched his butt off in four exhibition starts. So how was the 29-year-old right-hander rewarded? By getting...

RANDY: I'M JUST ONE-FIFTH

TAMPA - Randy Johnson's time as a Red Sox-Yankees virgin is slowly coming to an end. Late Sunday night, Johnson will be able to explain what being part of the...

'TIGHT' GIAMBI SITS OUT

YANKEE NOTES TAMPA - Jason Giambi was held out of yesterday's game against the Red Sox and won't travel to face the Reds today due to a tight left hamstring....

BRAITHWAITE WANTS MORE THAN THE TITLE

At Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn, everybody knows Wayne Braithwaite. But few know him outside the fabled gym where he trains, something Braithwaite wants to change beginning Saturday night in Worcester,...

JAMAL SENDS S.O.S. - ADMITS HE'S AT SEA IN HERB'S SYSTEM

LOS ANGELES - Knick guard Jamal Crawford sat in the visitors' locker room in Oakland a lost soul late Monday night. It was another bitter loss to a bad team...

SEE YOU MONDAY - PEDRO'S BACK ACES TEST FOR OPENING DAY

Mets 4 - Nationals 3 VIERA, Fla. - Well, that ought to put everyone's minds at ease. For the first time since he was scratched from his start last Friday...

ABRACADABRA! - METS GOTTA BELIEVE IN MARTINEZ MAGIC

PORT ST. LUCIE - Pedro Dust was sprinkled all around Mets camp yesterday after the final outing of the spring for the Mets' new ace. The Mets are hoping a...

GALARRAGA CALLS IT QUITS

VIERA, Fla. - As great a player as Andres Galarraga was, his career numbers probably won't be the first thing people remember about him. It'll be what kind of person...

ANOTHER UP-AND-DOWN DAY FOR ZAMBRANO

MET NOTES VIERA, Fla. - The first batter Victor Zambrano faced yesterday in the Mets' minor-league intrasquad game was Brian Daubach. He homered. It would get better for Zambrano, but...

'ROIDS IN THE SUPE? - REPORT: 3 PANTHERS FILLED PRESCRIPTIONS BEFORE 2004 GAME

Three Carolina Panther players had steroid prescriptions filled less than two weeks before they played in Super Bowl XXXVIII last year, according to a report on "60 Minutes Wednesday" airing...

NETS KNOW THERE'S NO ROOM FOR ERROR

Can they run the table? The Nets believe they can win all 11 of their remaining games - and they understand they may have to do that in order to...

APPLE OF JAX' EYE? - PHIL'S GAL PAL: COACH STILL LOVES N.Y.

LOS ANGELES - Jeanie Buss, Phil Jackson's girlfriend, Lakers VP and daughter of owner Jerry Buss, said last night she "absolutely, yes" sees the Zen Master landing with the Knicks...

HOT CUP OF JOE'S - HAWKS SINK TALONS IN OUTMATCHED TIGERS

St. Joe's 70 - Memphis 58 One team was tougher. One team was hungrier. One team actually played like a team, not a bunch of individuals with agendas. In the...

KNIGHTS' POINT OF NO RETURN

PHILLY REGIONAL: Tenn. 59 - Rutgers 49 PHILADELPHIA - Rutgers' one-woman show ended last night - predictably, for lack of options. When coach C. Vivian Stringer said Monday that Cappie...

STEPH'S 45 NOT ENOUGH

Lakers 117 - Knicks 107 LOS ANGELES - Hopefully, Phil Jackson won't judge his next coaching stop on last night's Staples Center score. With Jackson watching on TV from his...

KEEP EYE ON ARIZA'S KID BROTHER

KNICK NOTES LOS ANGELES - Knick President Isiah Thomas may have a chance to draft Trevor Ariza's brother in a couple of years. Kenny McClary, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, led...

CRAWFORD ADMITS HE'S 'CONFUSED'

KNICK NOTES LOS ANGELES - Knick guard Jamal Crawford sounded like a lost soul after Monday's loss in Golden State after getting benched in favor of CBA journeyman Jermaine Jackson....

CAPPIN' IT OFF - PONDEXTER'S RETURN A BOOST FOR RUTGERS

PHILADELPHIA - It's a heavy responsibility, with or without the extra pounds Cappie Pondexter still carries. But Rutgers would go last night as she did. "Personal reasons," still too personal...

TIP OF THE CAPPIE - PONDEXTER'S RETURN BIG BOOST FOR RUTGERS IN NCAA TOURNEY RUN

PHILADELPHIA - It's a heavy responsibility, with or without the extra pounds Cappie Pondexter still carries. But Rutgers would go last night as she did. "Personal reasons," still too personal...

OMG, WHAT A TXT - TEEN RINGS UP 1G CELL BILL - AT SCHOOL

Kids spend more time in high school sending text messages than reading textbooks, a New Jersey father discovered to his horror - after his 16-year-old daughter rang up a whopping...