April 20, 2005

MONEY TALK$... RETENTION BONUSES FOR TOP MORGAN STANLEY EXECS

Attempting to stem the tide of defections that have been plaguing the firm, Morgan Stanley is handing out lucrative retention bonuses to select members of its senior-most ranks, The Post...

WHEN MICKEY'S DISMANTLED

Leave the home runs to the pros, some amateur sports collectors learned the hard way yesterday. Dozens of memorabilia fanciers had their financial dreams and personal pride shattered upon learning...

HOME STARTS FALL ALARMING 17.6%

Construction of new homes in the U.S. plunged an unexpected 17.6 percent in March, the largest drop in more than 14 years and potentially a huge blow to the booming...

GM POSTS $1.1B LOSS

General Motors has dropped a stunning $1.1 billion loss for just three months - and says it'll tap into retirees' medical funds to keep factories running. The world's largest auto...

ESQUIRE LOSES BET VS. FEDS - PUBLISHER O'MALLEY'S TROUBLES: MILLION$ IN AD REVENUE

PROBLEMS appear to be mounting for Esquire. Publisher Kevin O'Malley may be getting caught in the crosshairs of a federal investigation into illegal offshore-gambling operations. The feds are not happy...

THEY LIED TO ME ; PERELMAN TESTIFIES MORGAN BANKERS MISLED HIM

Ron Perelman called Morgan Stanley executives liars whose misdirection led him to lose $680 million on the sale of Coleman Co. to financially strapped Sunbeam Corp. The billionaire investor, who...

SPITZER SHOULD QUIT: MAG

A business magazine editor urged Eliot Spitzer to resign as attorney general during his governor's race - claiming he's using his post to raise campaign cash. Editor-in-Chief Bill Holstein of...

AD BOOM FUELS YAHOO! PROFIT

The bona-fide boom in online advertising has carried over into 2005, defying skeptics who warned of a new Internet bubble. Yesterday, Internet powerhouse Yahoo! beat analysts' expectations again when it...

DOW JONES REVOLT IN THE WORKS

Major shareholders may try today to break through the wall surrounding the Wall Street Journal's family controlled empire. The company's top institutional investors - including its largest T. Rowe Price...

DOW JONES REVOLT BREWS ON FAMILY DEAL

Major shareholders may try today to break through the wall surrounding the Wall Street Journal's family-controlled empire. The company's top institutional investors, including its largest T. Rowe Price at 15...

AFTER $1.1B LOSS, GM EYES RETIREE'S FUNDS

General Motors has dropped a stunning $1.1 billion loss for just three months - and says it'll tap into retirees' medical funds to keep factories running. The world's largest auto...

ESSEX, RIHGA HOTELS ARE SOLD

TWO of the city's swanky hotels - the Essex House and the Rihga Royal - have just changed hands in deals that highlight the often strange twists and turns of...

AMERICAN DIRECTORS: OUI CANNES DO IT

GEORGE Lucas and Woody Allen are packing their bags for the French Riviera. Next month's Cannes Film Festival will include the world premieres of Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode III -...

EAST SIDE LA-DI-DA

DA GIACOMO ½ (one and a half stars) 156 E. 64TH ST. (212) 308-1300 ONE night at thriving new da Giacomo, Oleg Cassini and a half-dozen friends anchored a second-floor...

FASHION GURU SPILLS TO OPRAH

STYLE maven Steven "Cojo" Cojocaru says he was "dumped" from the "Today" show because he agreed to go on "Oprah" to talk about his kidney transplant. That appearance airs tomorrow...

ZOMBIE BLOODY ZOMBIE

DEAD AND BREAKFAST (three stars) Kicking zombie butt.Running time: 88 minutes. Rated R (strong violence, profanity). At the Two Boots Pioneer Theater, Avenue A and Third Street. OH yeah! Here...

UNEARTHLY DELIGHTS

SAVE THE GREEN PLANET! (three stars) Sci-fi thrill ride.In Korean, with English subtitles. Running time: 118 minutes. Not rated (extreme violence, brief nudity). At the Film Forum, Houston Street, west...

BRAVERY FANS ARE TOO COOL FOR THE BAND

THE BRAVERY THE Bravery's gig at Bowery Ballroom Monday was clearly the place to be. The floor was packed with too-cool-to-dance hipsters, while music heavies including L.A. Reid and Jay-Z...

'TODAY' TUMULT; BOSS GETS THE BOOT

THE top dog at the "Today" show is leaving. Tom Touchet, the popular morning show's executive producer is out of a job, a network official confirmed yesterday. Jim Bell, an...

DENZEL DOWNER; TONY SHUTOUT POSSIBLE FOR 'CAESAR' STAR

ET non tu, Denzel? As the Tony Award races start to come into focus, it looks as if the big gest star on Broadway this spring may find himself shut...

ON THE SIDE: SUDDEN SHUFFLE OF CHEFS

DAVID Walzog, the longtime executive chef of the Glazier Group steakhouse empire, has suddenly left his comfy company position - and the city - for a cooking gamble at Steve...

KNOCK OUT - SEXUAL SECRET OF FATAL FLIGHT

"Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story" Tonight at 9 on USA (three stars) HAD six-time boxing champ Emile Griffith been fighting today instead of the 1950s and '60s, he...

'I NEVER HAD AN OPINION' ON JACKO

LARRY King is claiming neutrality in the Michael Jackson case even as he weighs a response to a subpeona from Jackson's lawyers to testify for the defense. King, 71, was...

STARR REPORT

Martha movie moved Cybill Shepherd's second go-round as Martha Stewart won't air in May, after all. CBS announced yesterday that "Martha: Behind Bars," originally scheduled to air May 25, will...

850G EASES HIS PAIN

A Metro-North conductor won a $850,000 settlement for a shoulder injury after slipping and falling on a railroad platform, officials said yesterday. Richard Hoffman, 46, who sued the agency for...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

An Illinois schoolteacher told his students they could earn extra credit by participating in a class "Get Naked Day," Bob Burt, in hot water with the teen students' parents, insists...

WEINER WHACKS FERRER PLAN FOR WALL ST. TAX

Rep. Anthony Weiner used a Democratic mayoral forum yesterday to rip Fernando Ferrer's plan for a $1 billion-a-year tax on Wall Street as a "mind-bogglingly bad idea." Weiner's swipe came...

THIS PARTY'S DEM AND DUMBER

HERE we go again. Freddy "Mr. Taxes" Ferrer was late for yesterday's big Democratic mayoral debate - trotting to his seat in the Hyatt ballroom several minutes after the moderator...

BOUTROS' BAG-MAN PAL

WASHINGTON - Suspicion surrounding former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's role in the Iraq oil-for-food scandal deepened yesterday when ex-aides revealed he was a friend of Saddam Hussein's South Korean bag...

'SUPER' PERIL FOR STADIUM; LAWSUIT PROBLEMS

Final approval for the West Side stadium is unlikely by the May deadline set by the Jets to land a 2010 Super Bowl because of a growing number of lawsuits...

QUEEN FOR A DAY: REP. KING HAILS HILL

WASHINGTON - Long Island Republican Rep. Peter King yesterday heaped praise on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and may have even given her a new re-election slogan - much to the...

ROOTIN' TEUTON TOAST TO PONTIFF

YOU don't go to a Polish restaurant to mourn the passing of a pope, but you do go to a German restaurant to celebrate the entrance of a new one....

'TRI' A NEW DIET - FOOD PYRAMID TURNS TO MANY SHAPES

Here's a pyramid scheme to confuse even the savviest ingester. The federal government has dumped its one-size-fits-all food pyramid in favor of a mind-boggling new system: a dozen rainbow-colored triangular...

JUDGE FINALLY JAILS 'HUSBAND FROM HELL'; VIOLATED SEVEN RESTRAINING ORDERS AS HE TERRORIZED WIFE

He truly is the "husband from hell." A Long Island man was arraigned yesterday on charges he violated a restraining order against his estranged wife - for the seventh time...

MIKE GETS LEFT LIFT FOR HOU$ING PLAN

Score another political slam-dunk for Mayor Bloomberg, who announced a new $130 million housing initiative yesterday and won praise from a political leader not usually in his corner. With Bertha...

NYPD CAPT. PROBE - HAD OFFICERS DO WORK ON HIS HOME

A captain from an elite NYPD unit is under investigation for having cops within his command work on his Long Island home when they were supposed to be fighting crime,...

N.Y. SALUTES PAPA WITH OOMPAH-PAH

New York Catholics said they're proud German-born Benedict XVI is their new pope because they consider him an intelligent theological titan with strong values. But some fear his strict orthodoxy...

BROOKLYN GI KILLED IN ACTION

A soldier from Brooklyn was among three killed in action Saturday in Iraq, the Defense Department said yesterday. Sgt. Angelo Lozada Jr., 36, died in Ramadi, a terrorist hotbed about...

SITTER TOT-SLAY RAP - GAGGED, BEATEN AND STABBED

A deeply religious Brooklyn woman turned out to be the baby sitter from hell - gagging, beating and stabbing a 19-month-old to death, prosecutors said. Tammie Williams was arraigned on...

EUROPE TOPS BENEDICTINE ORDER

In becoming Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger takes on the name of the patron saint of Europe, thereby signaling a dedication to bolster the church on the continent, experts said...

QNS. MAN BUSTED IN JUDGE THREAT

A 19-year-old Queens man was nabbed by the FBI on charges he threatened to blow up Brooklyn federal court and kill a judge presiding over a credit-card-fraud case against his...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

QUEENS *** (lcf) Cops arrested two suspects in the killing of two men outside a Corona nightclub last month, police said yesterday. Luis Lantigua, 19, and Randy Cabreja, 20, are...

JEWS: 'GREAT FRIEND' ATONED FOR WWII PAST

Pope Benedict XVI's work with Pope John Paul II to reconcile Jews and Catholics leaves Jewish leaders with little concern about the new pontiff's membership in the Hitler Youth and...

ALLAN FIGHTS BACK - RIPS SEX ACCUSERS

Facing punishment for his mistreatment of two female staffers, embattled Councilman Allan Jennings yesterday lashed out at his accusers - charging they lied and were out to get money. Jennings,...

BUSH JOINS LEADERS IN HOLY PRAISE

World leaders yesterday embraced the newly selected pope as a man who will build on the legacy of his popular predecessor, John Paul II. President Bush called the new pope...

HE DESERTED HITLER'S ARMY TO ENLIST AS GOD'S SOLDIER

From his Hitler Youth days to his role as the Vatican's chief enforcer of dogma - "God's Rottweiler" as he was known - Joseph Ratzinger's past would seem the kiss...

COURT CAN'T SEE EYE TO EYE WITH SUIT

Right eye, left eye - what's the difference? An appeals court yesterday threw out a Westchester woman's claims that Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital had negligently allowed her doctor...

KERREY NOW NIXES RUN FOR MAYOR

New School University president Bob Kerrey said yesterday he will not run for mayor. "I am not running for the mayor of New York City, nor do I intend to...

PAIR DODGE PRISON IN NBC RIPOFF

Two heads of a Manhattan messenger company were given no-jail sentences yesterday for swindling more than $1 million out of NBC - amazingly stealing the money one bogus $19 messenger...

WINNERS TO JUDGE: HALT NEWS NUMBERS RACKET

A lawyer for the winners of the Daily News' Scratch n' Stiff sweepstakes game - who were denied their cash prizes - asked a Bronx judge yesterday to scratch any...

B'KLYN REV. MOLESTED TEEN: COPS

The pastor of a Brooklyn church sexually assaulted a teenage boy and then warned him that God would "make him a cripple" if he told anyone, authorities said yesterday. The...

FOLLOWING PATH OF JOHN PAUL II

The Catholic Church's new pope had a 40-year friendship with his predecessor that was rooted in their agreement on theological issues. Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II were...

FAITHFUL IN A SPLIT DECISION - WORLD CHEERS PONTIFF BUT FEARS FIRM LINE

Emotional Catholics across the globe yesterday welcomed their new pope with tears, cheers, some jeers - and fears about exactly how conservative his legacy will be. Passionately debating Pope Benedict...

ON THE 'RIGHT' COURSE - STAUNCH TRADITIONALIST

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the leading hard-liner in Pope John Paul II's inner circle, is expected to keep the Roman Catholic Church on a staunchly traditionalist course as Pope Benedict XVI....

WIFE: HOSP KILLED HUBBY

A cardiac patient at New York-Presbyterian Hospital died after he contracted Legionnaires' disease by inhaling moisture from tainted water used in his humidifier, his widow claimed yesterday. The state Health...

COP'S GOTTI LINKS; DROPPED DON'S NAME

Suspected mob cop Louis Eppolito once unwittingly boasted on tape about his relationship with John Gotti - a slip that bolsters the feds' suspicions that he once worked for the...

B'KLYN MOM WOUNDED BY STRAY BULLET

A bullet fired during a street fight slammed into a young mother walking her child home from day care in Brooklyn yesterday, police said. Shaquanda McMillan, 22, was wounded in...

'HOSTAGE' NEGOTIATOR; GRANNY: I SAVED GRANDKIDS FROM JACKO

The grandmother of Michael Jackson's alleged victim claims the King of Pop's agents waged a campaign of terror against her by keeping the boy hostage, stalking her and even throwing...

MAN KILLED BY MIDTOWN BUS

A homeless man died in Midtown last night after he was struck by a city bus, police said. The man, who was not identified, was crossing Third Avenue at 42nd...

L.I. GOP POL KING HAILS HILL

WASHINGTON - Long Island Republican Rep. Peter King yesterday heaped praise on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and may have even given her a new re-election slogan - much to the...

WESTCHESTER BUS STRIKE DEAL

Striking Bee-Line bus drivers reached a tentative deal yesterday that could end a seven-week strike that stranded 55,000 commuters in Westchester and The Bronx, officials said. If the deal is...

POLICE CAPTAIN PROBED - COPS 'WORKED' ON HOME

A captain from an elite NYPD unit is under investigation for having cops within his command work on his Long Island home when they were supposed to be fighting crime,...

B'KLYN GI KILLED IN ACTION

A soldier from Brooklyn was among three killed in action Saturday in Iraq, the Defense Department said yesterday. Sgt. Angelo Lozada Jr., 36, died in Ramadi, an insurgent hotbed about...

JEFFERSON WON'T PLAY VS. CELTS, UNLESS . . .

NET NOTES Net coach Lawrence Frank quickly said it would be "highly unlikely" that Richard Jefferson would join the team to play in Boston tonight, even if he's cleared earlier...

NFL HAS DATE WITH CONGRESS

The NFL will get its day under the Congressional steroid spotlight when the same committee that grilled baseball last month holds a hearing on the NFL's steroids policy a week...

DESIGN A BETTER LIFE JACKET

BUILDING a better mousetrap may only get you more dead mice, but building a better life jacket will put $5,000 in your pocket and probably save some lives. Don't get...

A-ROD LEARNS WHAT IT TAKES

THERE have been many times since the Yankees collapsed against the Red Sox last October that I have believed Alex Rodriguez would never make it through his contract in pinstripes....

'COUNTDOWN' TO BERMAN

In the wake of the NFL's billion-dollar deals with ESPN and NBC, the first major move involving sportscasters has been made, with the announcement that Chris Berman will be the...

WHERE PITCH PROJECT - MET HURLERS MUSTCURB WALKS TO WIN

PHILADELPHIA -Reality is about to set in with the Mets. They know now that the rest of the division has the kind of pitching that could make this a difficult...

NETS SEEM CON-VINCE-D OF PLAYOFFS

Vince Carter means no disrespect to whatshisname. And he certainly doesn't mean to put down whojamacallit. Plus, he holds the other guy in high regard. See, when Carter is locked...

NO PROGRESS AT NHL TALKS

The NHL and NHLPA held what passes for another one of their bargaining sessions yesterday, but if Gary Bettman and company thought that the players would take the league off...

BULLPEN BULLIES - RELIEVERS LOOKAMAZIN' SO FAR

PHILADELPHIA - Nobody is quite ready to affiliate the unit with the 1990 Nasty Boys of Cincinnati. But in case you haven't been paying attention, something surprising has been taking...

JEFFERSON WOULD BE 'GOOD PROBLEM' FOR FRANK

NET NOTES Richard Jefferson is expected to meet with his doctor today and get a ruling on whether he could play with the Nets in the playoffs, if they manage...

STEPH: BLAME ME FOR AWFUL SEASON

CHICAGO - If you must slap the blame of this grotesque Knick season that ends tonight on him, Stephon Marbury said he'll accept it. At the same time, he indicated...

ANTAWN'S AWED BY CARTER MAGIC

Antawn Jamison talked to his former college teammate shortly after Vince Carter was traded from Toronto to the Nets. "When that happened, he told me, 'All those people who doubted...

MARTINEZ A REAL HIT

Tino Martinez may be a little older than he was the first time he played with the Yankees, but he still has one of the more clutch swings in the...

YANKEES LOOK TO GO ON RUN ; BIG OFFENSIVE OUTBURST NOT ONLY ANSWER

The onslaught was overdue, but Monday's Yankees' victory didn't overly impress Joe Torre. Sounding a bit like his boss, The Boss, Torre said yesterday afternoon he anticipated the Yankees would...

NETS' FUTURE HAS SWEET SMELL

A FAMILIAR theme in sports is that one season doesn't really affect the next. Each new season, no matter how the preceding one ended, is an entity of its own,...

METS HOPE BELL'S A RINGER

MET NOTES PHILADELPHIA - It took an injury to make it happen, but Heath Bell is now where he belongs. The Mets recalled Bell from Triple-A Norfolk yesterday and put...

JEFFERSON WON'T PLAY TONIGHT - UNLESS . . .

NET NOTES Net coach Lawrence Frank quickly said it would be "highly unlikely" that Richard Jefferson would join the team in Boston tonight, even if he's cleared to play earlier...

SMASHING SUCCESS ; AMAZIN' BATS LAUNCH 7 HRS

Mets 16 Phillies 4 PHILADELPHIA - When you're not hitting and not winning, there's apparently only one thing to do: rip more homers in one night than in any night...

DIAZ DESERVES HIS DAY ; METS SHOULD MAKE ROOM FOR YOUNG OF

Mets 16Phillies 4PHILADELPHIA - If the core of young Mets do live up to their lofty expectations, you can point to last night as the night it all came together...

THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE

THIS was more unacceptable than anything that happened at Fenway Park or even during the lost weekend at Camden Yards that made George Steinbrenner lose his mind. This was as...

'VINCE OF OLD' THRILLS ANTAWN

Shortly after Vince Carter was traded from Toronto to the Nets, Antawn Jamison talked with his former college teammate. "When that happened, he told me, 'All those people who doubted...

LOSS SENDS YANKSBACK INTO LAST PLACE

DEVIL RAYS 6 YANKEES 2 What was more stunning - journeyman Eduardo Perez taking Randy Johnson deep not once but twice last night? Or Perez posing at the plate when...

GAME 82 WILL BE ; LIKE A GAME 7

IT WAS BILLED as Fan Appreciation Night, the final regular season home game in which a franchise traditionally thanks its fans for their support during the year. Richard Jefferson, dressed...

EDUARDO UNFAZED BY ACE JOHNSON

Randy Johnson just wasn't himself last night, and Eduardo Perez knew it right away. Perez hit two home runs off of the Big Unit last night in a slump-busting 6-2...

MARBURY POINTS FINGER AT HIMSELF

Bulls 92Knicks 91 CHICAGO - If you must slap the blame on him for this grotesque Knicks season that ends tonight, Stephon Marbury said he'll accept it, right or wrong....

SHEFF SAYS: NO SUSPENSION - BOSTON POLICE TO CHARGE TWO FANS

YANKEE NOTES Gary Sheffield came away from yesterday afternoon's meeting with Major League Baseball disciplinarian Bob Watson saying he felt confident he'd escape punishment for his altercation with a fan...

BATTLE FOR JAX MAY HEAT UP

With the Knicks and Lakers ending their seasons tonight, the two glamour teams will begin the battle for glamour free-agent coach Phil Jackson. The Zen Master was in Montana yesterday,...

LOSS SENDS YANKS BACK INTO LAST PLACE

DEVIL RAYS 6 YANKEES 2 What was more stunning - journeyman Eduardo Perez taking Randy Johnson deep not once but twice last night? Or Perez posing at the plate when...

WIN & THEY'RE IN: NETS THUMP WIZARDS, CAN CLINCH BERTH TONIGHT

NETS 109 WIZARDS 101 "As a team, we kept fighting. Now it has come down to the last game and we have to go on the road. It will be...

FLOYD 'TAKES' PITCH DEEP

MET NOTES PHILADELPHIA - There was a reason why Cliff Floyd swung at a 3-0 pitch on Monday in the ninth inning with the Mets down four runs. He missed...

WIN & THEY'RE IN - NETS THUMP WIZARDS, CAN CLINCH BERTH TONIGHT

NETS 109 WIZARDS 101 A season that made injuries and rehab a way of life, that contained 16 different starting lineups, that held more ups and downs than any amusement-park...

SMOKESCREENS & BACKDRAFTS: 'BARBER-TYPE' FASON COULD MAKE GIANTS' CUT

The reminder was more a command than a suggestion. The coaching staff at Florida wanted to hammer home a point to Ciatrick Fason and the other running backs. Fason was...

MUM JETS MAY SEEK MEANS TO AN END

Here's what Jets general manager Terry Bradway had to say, when asked about the Kate-Moss-thin state of their depth at tight end as this weekend's draft approaches. "In the draft,...