May 12, 2005

BRAKING INTER - GM DUMPS INTERPUBLIC, NOW JOB CUTS LIKELY

Advertising behemoth Interpublic Group, already struggling with a host of financial problems, suffered another setback yesterday when General Motors handed its U.S. media-buying duties to a rival shop. The loss...

A SERIOUS MISTAKE - SEC PROBES IF FIDELITY USED ERROR ACCOUNTS

THE Securities & Exchange Commission is looking into whether traders at brokerage firms cheated on behalf of Fidelity Investments, according to sources. The investigation is very, very preliminary and was...

THE GONG SHOW - WARNER MUSIC SLIDES 3.5% IN FIRST DAY TRADING

Warner Music's shares fell on their first day of trading, further evidence that investors are not convinced that the music industry's woes are over. Warner's shares were priced at $17...

HEDGE FUND JITTERS ON STREET

A day after rumors of a hedge fund disaster roiled the U.S. markets, investors stayed on alert for any widespread damage in the most secretive corners of Wall Street. The...

ICAHN WINS FIGHT WITH BLOCKBUSTER BOSS

Investor Carl Icahn has carved another CEO's notch on his billionaire's belt after shooting down Blockbuster's chief in a proxy battle. Icahn won a 77 percent landslide vote to oust...

HSBC TO BRANCH OUT

HSBC is escalating the bank expansion wars in New York City. The bank said it will open another 10 new branches in the five boroughs, Long Island and Westchester. It...

MORGAN LAWYER'S PAY: $20M

The new chief lawyer for embattled investment banking giant Morgan Stanley, David Heleniak, has about $20 million reasons to be happy, according to an SEC filing that details his compensation...

YAHOO! GETS CHEERS; NAPSTER, REAL JEERS

Shares of Napster were shredded yesterday as investors jumped ship in the wake of a new, much lower-priced music service from Yahoo! The service, called Yahoo! Music Unlimited, costs as...

MTV AND VH1 EXECS SHIFT TO NEW POSTS

Sumner Redstone's media giant Viacom Inc. named new executives at its MTV and VH1 units yesterday. VH1 President Christina Norman will become president of MTV, while MTV Executive Vice President...

ED. MEMO IS SUN DOWNER

The New York Sun, the money-bleeding, right-leaning daily paper, is "floundering" and morale is sinking, one of the paper's top editors warned in an internal memo that was rocketing around...

RITZ FUR SHOP TO GO

The tiny Ritz Fur Shop at 107 W. 57th St. is becoming a victim of the real estate market. The spot down the block from Carnegie Hall, where a gal...

PENTHOUSE EJECTS BOOTY CALL AD PAGES

Penthouse is cleaning up its pages in a move toward more upmarket erotica. The beleaguered adult brand is stripping out the raunchy back-of-the-book ads for phone sex, escort services and...

SIHPOL IS DEFENDED BY ASS'T.

Ted Sihpol's former assistant admitted yesterday that the broker didn't receive commissions on mutual fund purchases by Canary Capital, but rather shared a 1 percent wrap fee. The testimony by...

INVESTORS EYE HEDGE FUNDS' STORM

A day after rumors of a hedge fund disaster roiled the U.S. markets, investors stayed on alert for any widespread damage in the most secretive corners of Wall Street. The...

COFFEE DRINKERS WILL FACE THE MUSIC

THE next time you're ordering a skim latte at Starbucks, chances are you'll be listening to the dulcet tones of New York's Antigone Rising. After selling more than 700,000 copies...

GIVE HIM AN INCH, HE TAKES NO. 1

TRENT Reznor's on an upward spiral after the new Nine Inch Nails disc debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Charts. "With Teeth," NIN's first album since...

TARANTINO WANTS TO JUMP TO TV

QUENTIN Tarantino, who's directing the season finale of "CSI," says he wants to do his own TV series. "I'm interested in doing a show of my own," Tarantino tells TV...

'IDOL' PHONE GOOF, PART 2

'AMERICAN Idol" flubbed its controver sial phone-in voting system again. Sort of. For those viewers who were watching Tuesday night's live episode of the Fox talent show with closed captioning...

ALL'S FARE IN 'RACE' - TAXI DRIVER HAD TO BE PAID

THE big question being asked by fans of "The Amazing Race" yesterday was: why didn't Uchenna and Joyce Agu - the ulitmate winners - just run off and leave that...

IN COLD BLOOD - DENNIS QUITS BEFORE CNBC CHOPS SHOW

DENNIS Miller quit CNBC yesterday as the network was preparing to dump his low-rated talk show. Sources say CNBC was going to to axe "Dennis Miller" next month. But Miller...

SAVED BY CINDY - LAUPER HITS HIGH NOTE IN PRESLEY SHOW

AS the daughter of one of America's most prominent idols, Lisa Marie Presley always feels the intense pressure of performance. At the intimate Supper Club on Tuesday, she played the...

TROJAN WANTS PRIME-TIME ADS

THE maker of Trojan condoms wants to advertise on primetime television. Church & Dwight, which sells the safer-sex product for men, is hoping to persuade the major TV networks to...

'JEOPARDY' COP WINS AGAIN

NEW York City transit cop Frank Spangenberg moved a step closer to a showdown with "Jeopardy!" champ Ken Jennings, last night. Spangenberg, 47, beat past "Jeopardy!" champs Shane Whitlock and...

STARR REPORT

What's in a name? NBC News swapped O'Donnells yesterday, naming Kelly O'Donnell its White House correspondent (joining David Gregory) - while naming Norah O'Donnell chief Washington correspondent. The moves, naturally,...

'IDOL' IS DOWN TO FINAL 3

CLAY Aiken lookalike Anthony Fedorov was the latest "American Idol" wannabe to be tossed, as the top-rated talent show heads into the home stretch. That leaves rocker Bo Bice, Vonzell...

SABER THE MOMENTS - THE 10 GREATEST SCENES IN 'STAR WARS' HISTORY; THE 'WAR' SCENES THAT LEFT US 'STAR' STRUCK

IN a galaxy far, far away called the mid-'70s, nobody had an inkling that "Star Wars," a clunky swashbuckler of a space tale, would quickly become one of the most...

MAN ARRESTED IN RAPE OF MEPHAM HS GIRL, 16

A young Long Island man was arrested last night for raping a student who attends the infamous Mepham HS, police said. Eguardo Alvarez, 19, allegedly attacked the 16-year-old girl after...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Philip Petronella, 63, was flabbergasted when cops broke down his door and demanded to know where the hookers were. Turns out authorities in Woodbridge, N.J., were acting on the outdated...

MEPHAM HIGH GIRL 'SEXUALLY ATTACKED' OFF CAMPUS

A girl at Long Island's infamous Mepham HS told cops she was sexually assaulted during an off-campus trip to a home with a girlfriend and two boys, police said. The...

DRUG CLUB CALLED 'CRACK FACTORY'

Drug dealing was so rampant at the Sound Factory nightclub that regular partygoers called it the "Crack Factory," according to testimony in the trial of the club's owner yesterday. Benjamin...

RENTS $OAR IN STORES - UPTOWN & NEAR WTC

Rents are up in most of Manhattan's major retail corridors, including two areas that could use the good news - northern and lower Manhattan. According to the latest figures released...

PALS' GUN TRAGEDY PROBED

Police on Long Island are investigating the accidental shooting death of a 13-year-old boy by his best friend, and are unsure if any adults will be charged. Christian DeMaio, of...

PATAKI 6TH-MOST UNPOPULAR GOV

ALBANY - A poll yesterday ranked Gov. Pataki as the 45th in popularity among the nation's 50 governors. The rating came from SurveyUSA, a New Jersey- based company. Pataki tallied...

SLIMY SADDAM CHARITY - BRIT POL'S OIL BOO$T

WASHINGTON - A heartless British politician used a charity for Iraqi children with leukemia to launder profits from his illegal oil deals with Saddam Hussein, according to a bombshell Senate...

DIALLO REMARK POLL-AXES FERRER

Fernando Ferrer's comments about Amadou Diallo continue to haunt him, according to a new poll released yesterday that shows the Democratic mayoral front-runner at his lowest standing of the year....

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * A man defied death twice - when a gun pointed at his head misfired shortly after he and a friend escaped unscathed from a fusillade of bullets, police...

COOKIE WAS POWERBALL PLAYERS' LUCKY BAKE

Fortune cookies usually come with a check - but thanks to Donald Lau, those checks were for $100,000 or more. Lau, vice president of Wonton Food Inc. in Long Island...

THE PAPER CHA$E - BOYCOTTERS BLITZ NEWS BUILDING

Disgruntled Daily News Scratch n' Stiff winners demonstrated outside the newspaper's headquarters yesterday - demanding the millions they won and spreading the word about a citywide boycott. Protesters passed out...

MAYOR HOPES TO TAKE THE 'GO' OUT OF GOLDMAN

The chances of luring financial services giant Goldman Sachs and its 8,000 workers to a new headquarters in lower Manhattan are alive and well, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. "They certainly...

1,120 KIDS FLEE QNS. GAS BLAST

A Queens elementary school was evacuated yesterday after a natural-gas main broke, causing an explosion that sent smoke 10 stories into the air. All 1,120 student at PS 107 in...

PLANE PANIC SWEEPS D.C. - HORDES FLEE CAPITOL, WHITE HOUSE AS TINY CRAFT SPURS FALSE ALARM

WASHINGTON - In the biggest scare since 9/11, the White House and U.S. Capitol were evacuated yesterday after a two-seater plane penetrated restricted airspace - and didn't respond to furious...

MIKE: WIDEN BOOZE TESTS

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday asked all city agencies to "take a look" at their alcohol programs for employees in the wake of a new NYPD directive to monitor problem drinkers both...

GENTLEMAN JACKO - MACAULAY TESTIFIES: BUDDY MIKE NEVER LAID A HAND ON ME

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Former child star Macaulay Culkin revealed the secrets of his wacko life with Jacko yesterday, testifying that the King of Pop gave him an expensive watch,...

DOG SURVIVES FIRE HORROR - AILING PUP SET ABLAZE BY SICKO

A "sweet as pudding" pup was badly burned through a combination of naivete and cruelty when his owner tried to treat the dog's mange with motor oil - and a...

COUNCIL-CHAMBER RUCKUS OVER FULANI

Two Brooklyn lawmakers ferociously ripped into each other yesterday in front of colleagues and spectators at a City Council meeting, prompting the public advocate to threaten to throw them out...

SPACE CADETS - COSTUMED GEEKS LINE UP EARLY FOR LATEST 'STAR WARS' MOVIE

The Empire State's not under threat - those storm troopers massing in Midtown are just sweet-natured geeks. With only days to go before the final "Star Wars" chapter is released,...

BX. MAN CRITICAL AFTER BAT ATTACK

A beef between rival gang members flared into violence on a Bronx street when bat-wielding thugs jumped out of an SUV and critically beat up a 21-year-old man before shouting,...

KID CHOKES ON CANDY - GIRL, 5, DIES EATING MINT AS SHE RUNS TO MOM

An angel-faced 5-year- old girl choked to death on a single peppermint candy in The Bronx as she rushed up a flight of stairs to see her mother, cops said...

BATTERED BX. PRIEST FORGIVES ATTACKERS

A Bronx priest viciously beaten while jogging last week by a gang of teens said yesterday that he forgives his attackers - and leaves their fate up to the justice...

FEDS' TOUGH 'CARD' DEAL - 'REAL ID' LAW HITS NYERS

WASHINGTON - The new nationwide "Real ID" law - which President Bush signed yesterday as part of an anti-terror effort - will make it tougher for New Yorkers to get...

'GREAT DAY' TO SAVE A LIFE - KIDNEY OP GOES WELL FOR COPS

Two Bronx cops were recovering nicely yesterday after a hero officer came to the rescue of her veteran colleague by giving him one of her kidneys. Doctors at Westchester Medical...

DIPLOMACY (& PLATES) VICTIMS OF BRIT ENVOY AND WIFE

A brawl between a British diplomat and his wife - complete with pushing, shoving and flying plates - ended when cops busted both of them at their Upper East Side...

BILL MAY TAKE STAND - COULD BE WITNESS IN TRIAL OF HILL FUND-RAISER

LOS ANGELES - Former President Bill Clinton may be called to testify at the trial of his wife's former chief fund-raiser, it was revealed yesterday. That surprise possibility emerged before...

BROOKLYN MAN CHEATS DEATH TWICE IN SHOOTING

A Brooklyn man defied death when a gun pointed at his head misfired - moments after he and a female friend escaped unscathed from a fusillade of bullets, police sources...

PIRRO INVITES PROBE - DENIES HUBBY MOB TIE

ALBANY - Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro revealed yesterday that she has asked federal prosecutors to investigate a mobster's claim that her husband leaked sensitive information to the Mafia....

WEIGHT-ING FOR CARE - QNS. POL WANTS APPLE HOSPS SUPER-SIZED

It's a heavy lift - but a Queens legislator is leaning on hospitals to buy special oversized equipment to handle obese patients. "In our society, it's easy to make fun...

JUST TELL ME WHERE TO SIGN TO KILL THIS #$%!

IN A just world, Jerry Hobbs would be stabbed in his eyes and left to die. I'd volunteer to help put down this beast. But in our humane society, lethal...

JUDGE TO GIVE UP IN AUNT THEFT

An embattled Brooklyn judge is expected to turn himself in this morning to face charges that he pilfered thousands of dollars from his elderly aunt's estate, The Post has learned....

GUILT BY ASSOCIATION HAS DEMS WORRIED

SEN. Hillary Rodham Clinton's pals stress that she's not a target in the criminal case against former chief fund-raiser David Rosen - but Democrats have the jitters because she could...

MONSTER OF A DAD CHOPPED UP GIRLS OVER $40

The quick-tempered ex-con father of little Laura Hobbs savagely pummeled and stabbed his daughter and her best friend after flying into a rage over a missing $40 and a lifted...

FEDS SMASH BRONX DRUG GANG

The feds have nabbed a crew of Bronx drug dealers who specialized in robbing their rivals, authorities said yesterday. The Drug Enforcement Administration collared the five men in a sting...

HS KNIFE FURY - BLOODY END TO STUDENTS' SPAT

A simmering spat between two teenage girls ended in a frenzied knife attack yesterday at a Brooklyn high school, authorities said. Princess Starasia McAllister, 18, was sliced four times in...

STOUT-HEARTED TRUCK THIEVES IN BEER HAUL

Three Brooklyn men stole a Heineken beer truck yesterday and tried to sell its frosty contents to the owner of a deli, police said. The brew-ha-ha started when the men...

MAN CRITICAL AFTER BRONX BAT ATTACK

A beef between rival gang members flared into violence on a Bronx street when bat-wielding thugs jumped out of an SUV and critically beat up a 21-year-old man before shouting,...

FERRER IN POLL PLUMMET

Fernando Ferrer's comments about Amadou Diallo continue to haunt him, according to a new poll released yesterday that shows the Democratic mayoral front-runner at his lowest standing of the year....

DEM'S $TAR CRISIS - FEDS: HILL'S FUND MAN IN PARTY PANIC

LOS ANGELES - Hillary Rodham Clinton's former chief fund-raiser flew into a panic as costs for a star-studded Hollywood gala spiraled out of control - with coddled celebs making outrageous...

GOV PICKS NEW MAN FOR WTC

In a bid to jumpstart slumping efforts to rebuild Ground Zero, Gov. Pataki today will put his chief-of-staff in charge - naming him to a new post where he'll coordinate...

UNION HEAVY: DO IT MY WEIGH - SEEKS $UPER-SIZE HOSPS

A 420-pound union official who wants taxpayers to buy ambulances big enough to hold him is throwing his weight around - and a Queens legislator is doing the heavy lifting....

HILLARY'S $TAR CRISIS - FUND MAN IN PRIMA DONNA 'PANIC'

LOS ANGELES - Hillary Rodham Clinton's former chief fund-raiser flew into a panic as costs for a star-studded Hollywood gala spiraled out of control - with coddled celebs making outrageous...

GIRL CHOKES ON PIECE OF CANDY - 5-YEAR OLD DIES IN SISTER'S ARMS

An angel-faced 5-year- old girl choked to death on a peppermint candy in The Bronx as she rushed up a flight of stairs to see her mother, cops said yesterday....

ROOKIE NAILS KIDDIE PERV

A fast-acting rookie cop yesterday tracked down a convicted sexual predator who allegedly groped a 12-year-old girl on a Queens street. Officer Nicole Gonzalez, who graduated from the Police Academy...

NASTY COUNCIL CLASH OVER FULANI

Two Brooklyn lawmakers ferociously ripped into each other yesterday in front of colleagues and spectators at a City Council meeting - prompting the public advocate to threaten to throw them...

THE POWERFUL PEN OF WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT

The Post is known for its colorful pages. Here's a brief look at one of its most brilliant editors. William Cullen Bryant had a few careers before he found himself...

BLOOMBERG: WIDEN CITY BOOZE TESTS

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday asked all city agencies to "take a look" at their alcohol programs for their employees in the wake of a new NYPD directive to monitor problem drinkers...

HOOP STAR TRIAL FOR ASSAULT HITS SNAG

Another day, another delay in the trial of Bergtraum hoop star Epiphanny Prince. Prince, a junior, is being tried for an alleged attack on a 13-year-old girl last May with...

NETS PUTTING 2ND-ROUNDERS FIRST IN LINE

Projected first-round draft picks will be visiting next month - but the Nets, next week, will begin working out potential second-rounders. On Tuesday, the Nets are scheduled to work four...

RICE'S SOSA FACES D-DAY

Edgar Sosa still has one more year to win a city title at Rice, but he is already set to announce where he intends to capture a national championship. The...

CHALK MAKING A COMEBACK

After winning just eight races entire opening week of Belmont meet, favorites got back in swing of things yesterday going 5-for-9. 1ST RACE - Merger of Equals and Curly's Pride...

TRI-MENDOUS! - $10 TRIPLE BET ON S.I. WORTH MORE THAN 625G

A lucky OTB player on Staten Island is sitting on the windfall of a lifetime after hitting the boxcars trifecta in last Saturday's Kentucky Derby. Altogether, 15 winning tickets were...

GOLDEN MAN JOINS PREAKNESS PARTY

The May 14 Preakness got a surprise entrant yesterday when a syndicate of New York owners decided to supplement Golden Man, a gelding they claimed for $60,000 Jan. 23 at...

NHL, PLAYERS MEET AGAIN

Sick as they are of each other, the NHL and the Players Association didn't call off today's third straight day of negotiations. The sides spent yesterday here working on smaller...

GIAMBI WILL BE BACK IN LINEUP

YANKEE NOTES Joe Torre not only proclaimed Jason Giambi would be back in the Yankees' lineup tomorrow night in Oakland, he called the embattled slugger his DH for the time...

KOO CAN'T FIND PLATE

MET NOTES CHICAGO - That's three straight times now that Dae-Sung Koo has been brought in to face a lefty and failed to do the job. Koo, the only southpaw...

BAD DRUG TEST STRIPS TONEY

LAS VEGAS - James "Lights Out" Toney insists he has "never used any illegal substances" and blamed medical treatment he received for an injured biceps as the probable cause for...

METS GET BELL RUNG - CUBS WIN ON LEE'S WALK-OFF IN 10TH

10 INNINGS: Cubs 4 - Mets 3 CHICAGO - The wind was blowing in at 14 mph at the start of yesterday's game. So you'd have to hit a ball...

ZAMBRANO GETS OFF TO A BAD START

CHICAGO - In Victor Zambrano's first two innings yesterday against the Cubs, he allowed three runs on three hits, three walks, a hit-by pitch, a balk and a wild pitch....

RIFT OVER GLOVES NEARLY KOS FIGHT

LAS VEGAS - Saturday night's middleweight fight between Felix "Tito" Trinidad and Ronald "Winky" Wright was in jeopardy early yesterday when a dispute over what boxing gloves will be worn...

MADISON GETS 'UGLY' VICTORY

H.S. BASEBALL: Madison 9 - Sh. Bay 2 Even before Madison coach Vincent Caiazza gave his team the ritual postgame wrap-up speech, he uttered these words to describe what transpired...

PHIL MULLS KING-DOM

The Knicks are expected to get a run for their money from the Kings for the services of Phil Jackson. Sources close to the Zen Master say the Kings offer...

O'NEIL: ROCKER'S OFF BASE

It takes a lot these days to get Buck O'Neil's blood boiling. Long Island Ducks pitcher John Rocker has done it. The 93-year-old Negro League pioneer was taken aback by...

A FUTILE START, A FURIOUS FINISH TO HOMESTAND

RARELY has home seemed so cozy, so reassuring, so palatable. Rarely has leaving home felt so daunting, so uncertain, so anxious. The Yankees are supposed to be immune to such...

TINO, YANKS RIDE THE FIVE-TRAIN - STREAKING MARTINEZ & BOMBERS RESCUE PAVANO

Yankees 13 - Mariners 9 Carl Pavano surrendered a career-worst four homers yesterday afternoon, but that's an afterthought this morning. That's because both Tino Martinez and the Yankees came up...

IT AIN'T OVER - HAPPY 80TH, YOGI

YOGI? Eighty? Doesn't seem plausible, unless you keep in mind time flies when you are having a good time. Besides, it's not over until it's over, as Berra has told...

ON AND OFF FIELD, TINO SIMPLY COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF JASON

JASON Giambi did not play yesterday and yet his influence infected the game as just about everyone involved from the richest player on the field, Alex Rodriguez, to the umpires...

MARTINEZ GETS A HIGH FIVE - TORRID SLUGGER GIVES CREDIT TO DONNIE

Moments after Tino Martinez homered in his fifth straight game - the longest Yankee streak since Don Mattingly went deep in an MLB-record-tying eight straight back in 1987 - Martinez...

BULLPEN BOUNCES BACK

Fall behind, get a brilliant bullpen outing, rally for a come-from-behind victory. It's a formula that has worked so often for the Yankees in the past; and thanks to a...