August 5, 2005

FUSE JUMPS AT BUNNY DROP

Few advertisers outside of drug companies and carmakers need to run fine print with their television ads. And even then they never caution: "Professional stunt people. Do not attempt. Fake...

TIME'S FLACK GETS AX - INSIDERS FEAR JOB CUTS AFTER RECENT MANAGEMENT SHUFFLE

VETERAN public relations executive Peter Costiglio is leaving his job as vice president, communications, at Time Inc. after Labor Day. Insiders are already bracing for more sweeping changes at the...

PRICIEST PAD$ ; $625M E. SIDE BUILDING SALE A RECORD-BREAKER

Insurance giant New York Life this week scored a record-breaking $625 million deal to sell the East Side's Manhattan House apartment complex. The full-block development at 200 E. 66th St....

DIFFERENT TUNE - WARNER MUSIC JUMPS ON RISE IN DIGITAL SALES

For the first time in a long time, Wall Street yesterday gave a nod of approval toward a music company. Warner Music Group reported stronger-than-expected growth in sales yesterday and...

BOLLORE TARGETS AEGIS

French corporate raider Vincent Bollore is making another media play. After gaining control of global ad firm Havas and installing himself as chairman, Bollore revealed yesterday that he now owns...

SOUTHERN COMFORT - YEEHAW 'DUKES' AVOIDS HAZZARDS OF REMAKES

THE DUKES OF HAZZARD (three stars) Good ol' time. Running time: 103 minutes. Rated PG-13 (sexual content, crude and drug-related humor, profanity, action violence). At the Empire, the Orpheum, the...

A DATE THAT WILL LIVE IN INFAMY

MY DATE WITH DREW *1/2 (one and a half stars)Running time: 90 minutes. Rated PG (mild profanity). At the Empire, the Lincoln Square and the Loews Village. YOUNG Brian Herzlinger...

PLUS-SIZE PAGEANT

SKIN is in at Oxygen-lots of it. "Mo'Nique's Fat Chance," a two-hour reality show crowning a "full-figured" win ner, airs tomorrow night at 8. Billed as "cable's first full-figured beauty...

'FLOWERS' WILT

BROKEN FLOWERS** (two stars) Road trap.Running time: 106 minutes. Rated R (profanity, brief drug use, nudity). At the Lincoln Square and the Angelika. NOTED indie actor Bill Murray - when...

MARATHONS, MIRACLES & A PLUCKY YOUNG STAR

SAINT RALPH *** ½ (three and a half stars) Go forth and see it.Running time: 98 minutes. Rated PG-13 (sexual references, brief nudity). At the Empire and the New York...

KIDNAPPED IN CARACAS

SECUESTRO EXPRESS*** (three stars) Venezuelan crime thriller.In Spanish, with English subtitles. Running time: 86 minutes. Rated R (sex, violence, drug use). At the Angelika, Mercer and Houston streets. 'SECUESTRO Express"...

HIP-HOP WITH A CUBAN BEAT

YOUNG REBELS *** (three stars) HOME-GROWN hip-hop music is getting a foothold in Cuba, but it's not easy. There are no recording studios and little equipment to make videos. What's...

A PERFECT 10; BRIGHTEST LIGHTS ON BROADWAY

NOW that Julia Roberts is ready to brave Broadway - she's due in the spring, in a revival of Richard Greenberg's "Three Days of Rain" - it's time to roll...

STILL IN 'MOOD'

2046 *** ½ (three and a half stars) A feast for the eyes.In Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese, with English subtitles. Running time: 129 minutes. Rated R (sex). At the Lincoln...

NEW STEP; 'DANCING STAR' SIGNS BOOK DEAL

THESE are busy times for John O'Hurley. The popular "Seinfeld" co-star, who headlined this summer's breakout reality show "Dancing with the Stars," has just signed a major book deal, could...

THIS SAM IS A CHAMPION OF SURPRISES

Sam Champion is noted for trying different styles. EXPECT the unexpected from Sam Champion, a New York rock foursome named after the WABC weatherman and the lead character in a...

FOLLOW-UP TO 'LAGUNA' IN WORKS

MTV is heading back to shore with a "Laguna Beach" spinoff set in Miami's ritzy South Beach. The new show, "8th & Ocean," will center on the lives of wannabe...

'JOEY' SEEKS SIDEKICK

'JOEY" is looking for a friend. The marginally successful "Friends" spinoff will undergo some tweaking before next fall, which is likely to include the addition of a sidekick named Zach...

HIGH ON 'WEEDS' - LINDA FINDS FOUR STAR STASH

"WEEDS" Sunday night at 11 on Showtime (four stars) REMEMBER the first time you saw "Six Feet Under" and couldn't figure out what the hell you were watching, but still...

STARR REPORT

News at 5, 9 and 11 Don't look for Toni Sene cal on Ch. 11 next week - be cause she won't be there. The "Toni On!" host leaves today...

RUN, RUDY, RUN; BUT FOR GOVERNOR FIRST

RUDY Giuliani had a strange reaction Wednesday to some really good political news: Through spokeswoman Sunny Mindel, the former mayor declared that he has "no intention of running" for public...

'LIBERTY' LUNACY; SUIT ON SUBWAY SEARCHES WASTES EVERYONE'S TIME

SO the New York Civil Liberties Union has decided to sue the NYPD on the grounds that subway bag searches are unconstitutional. At first glance, there doesn't seem anything surprising...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A Florida man, desperate to get out of his marriage, made up a story about killing a hitchhiker and burying him in the woods in a bid to persuade his...

TEARS FOR SCALD TOTS ; SIBLINGS SHARE COFFIN

Two tragic tots whose heartless parents let them die in a tub filled with scalding water were laid to rest yesterday, sharing a white coffin. Relatives and neighbors wept as...

EATERY-SLAY THUG GETS LIFE

A Brooklyn man got the maximum - 25 years to life - yesterday for his role as an accomplice in a Chinese-restaurant stick- up that cost a young cashier her...

GOP TURNS DEAF EAR TO DEAN DIN

HOWARD the Scream has morphed into Howard the Yawn. Just about every day, Howard Dean, the presidential-loser-turned-Democratic-national-chairman, fires off a snarky new blast at President Bush & Co. - but...

TEACH'S HUBBY 'FLEES'; DUCKING SEX PROBERS

ALBANY - Investigators have been unable to locate the estranged husband of a randy Catholic-school teacher who allegedly had sex with four students, The Post has learned. "It's been a...

'BUTCHER' DOC PUT OUT OF BUSINESS

The state Health Department yesterday made public 11 charges of professional misconduct against Dr. David Ostad of Manhattan, who once billed himself as New York's "premier plastic surgeon" but who...

WE DOUBLE-DOG CHEER YA ; GRIEVING PUP LOVERS HAIL CLONED HOUND

Hundreds of people storing DNA from their precious pooches are barking for joy after learning about the birth of the world's first cloned dog. Robert Raju, 38, of North Caldwell,...

'WISE' MAY GET BOOTED

More trouble is brewing for the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, which could be expelled from the national organization and forced to drop the use of "Boys & Girls...

PATAKI'S PEN POKES 'SCAM' DOCS

ALBANY - The state will have the power, for the first time, to bounce doctors who commit insurance fraud from a program that allows them to seek reimbursement for treating...

MARTHA'S A YOGA BEAR; VICIOUS TIRADE VS. 'TATTLERS'

SOME criminals are far too corrupt for rehabilitation. Take Martha Stewart, the Queen of the Whine. Comes word that the punishment-resistant Diva of Domination did not accept blame when she...

HILL SNUBS POLS IN PARK PU$H

Supporters of the High Line - the 22-block elevated railroad line in Chelsea on track to become a unique city park - yesterday celebrated $18 million in new federal funding...

BLAKE ASKED BRANDO'S AID IN BONNY ABORT

LOS ANGELES - Desperately hoping to rid himself of an unwanted baby, Robert Blake once enlisted screen legend Marlon Brando to help persuade his soon-to-be slain wife to have an...

QNS. CRASH HORROR; GRAMPS MOWS DOWN 4 IN BLOODY ACCIDENT

An elderly driver hit a Queens pedestrian, then careened out of control and smashed into a bus stop yesterday, injuring three more people, police said. The accident, which happened just...

GAL A HERO UNDER FIRE ; COVERED SIS AS BULLETS FLEW

Kharisi Bonner was holding hands with her 5-year-old sister as they walked home last August when gunfire broke out on their Brooklyn street. Kharisi used her own body to shield...

10G MOM $CORES BIG ; 2ND NEWS LOSER A POST WINNER

If Patricia Miller has learned one valuable lesson this summer, it's this: The New York Post pays cash while the Daily News talks trash. Miller, 50, is the latest big...

PATAKI VETOES 'MORNING AFTER' PILL LEGISLATION

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki yesterday followed through on his promise to veto a bill that would have allowed easy access to the "morning after" pill. Calling himself a "consistent supporter...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN *** A man was arrested for beating and kicking a female friend on a Crown Heights street, authorities said yesterday. The incident began at about 2:50 a.m. on July...

'CAR LEASE' LAWYERS TOLD IT'S RUSH HOUR

A state trial-lawyers group is urging members with cases against car-rental firms to put the pedal to the metal and file suit immediately - or hit a brick wall. That's...

PRINCIPAL TV AD PACTS PUNCH

The city's principals union will push for a contract, with a new TV ad featuring comments from Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein lauding its members, The Post has...

LEFTY-RADIO KID CLUB PAID EXECS BIG BUCKS

Top staffers at the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club were pulling down big bucks for their publicly financed jobs - even as the group was lending out nearly $900,000...

PLAYLAND LET RIDE RUN WITH DEAD KID MISSING

Officials at Rye Playland waited at least 20 minutes to shut off a children's water ride after being told a 7-year-old boy had disappeared while on it, authorities said yesterday....

QNS. 'SEX' TEACH OUT ON 10G BAIL

A substitute teacher busted for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old Cardozo High School student in Queens was freed on $10,000 bail yesterday. Francisco Aguilar, 28, of Hillcrest, was arraigned...

YOU BET THEY'RE BUSTED; $10M NUMBERS RING

Investigators have told 30 people linked to a $10 million-a-year illegal- gambling ring their numbers are up. A three-year undercover probe nabbed 30 suspects connected to a Bronx-based numbers-running operation,...

4 HURT AS TRANSFORMER POPS IN SUMMER SIZZLE

An underground transformer exploded in front of an East Village apartment building yesterday, sparking a fire and injuring four people. Con Edison officials blamed the 5:30 p.m. explosion near 199...

SANK ROBBER ; BANDIT DROWNS SELF TO END CHASE

A Long Island bank robber staged a "Thelma & Louise" ending after being chased by cops yesterday - gunning his vehicle down a boat ramp and staying inside as it...

BABY-DEATH DAD'S COURT ANGUISH

Clutching his deceased daughter's pink blanket, a Long Island father wept in court yesterday as he recounted on the stand finding his 5-month-old dead after she'd spent the day with...

LIZZIE, GET BUSY FOR TRIAL: COURT

A jury should decide whether "PoweR Girl" Lizzie Grubman was aiming to be a bad girl when she backed her dad's SUV into a crowd of people outside a Hamptons...

MASSACRE BY ISRAELI ZEALOT; PRO-SETTLER GUNMAN KILLS FOUR ARABS ABOARD BUS BEFORE CROWD SLAYS HIM

JERUSALEM - A 19-year-old Israeli army deserter who opposed withdrawal from the Gaza Strip opened fire inside a bus yesterday and killed four Israeli Arabs before he was beaten to...

BRITS BLAST NYPD; TERROR 'SECRETS' BARED

British security officials were enraged yesterday over the disclosure by NYPD brass of intimate details about the deadly London transit bombings, sources told The Post. Anti-terrorist officials and Scotland Yard...

'TERROR CAMPER' BUSTED; BRONX 'KARATE' LINK

Federal agents have arrested an ex-New York martial-arts student who trained in Pakistani terror camps after 9/11 and offered to help his former karate teacher go there to train al...

'KILLER' QUACK'S BOASTS

Less than a month before he allegedly murdered a patient by botching a laser procedure, fraud surgeon Dean Faiello bragged to investigators that he'd never hurt a patient. Faiello's boasts...

SCIENTOLOGY-BACKED BEEP CANDIDATE HAS MATCHING FUNDS WITHHELD

Embattled Manhattan borough president candidate Margarita Lopez has had nearly a half-million dollars in public matching funds suspended, the Campaign Finance Board announced yesterday. Already struggling to compete financially with...

JON CORZINGED ; OUTRAGE AT 470G GIFT TO GAL-PAL LABOR BIG

WASHINGTON - The New Jersey governor's race exploded into a firestorm yesterday with the revelation that super-rich Sen. Jon Corzine gave $470,000 to a former flame who runs one of...

NOVAK IN STEW FOR FOUL TV SPEW

Conservative columnist Robert Novak stormed off CNN's "Inside Politics" yesterday on live TV - after a verbal free-for-all with liberal CNN pundit James Carville. "I think that's "bull- - -...

FAIR AND SWEAR; ANONYMOUS GOTTI JURY SET TO BEGIN 'JUNIOR' MOB TRIAL

A federal judge swore in the anonymous jury yesterday to decide the fate of John "Junior" Gotti - a name known to the 12 panelists, who all said they could...

$1 MIL SALAD DAZE - TWO EXECS IN STIR

Two executives from a Brooklyn salad company were tossed in jail after being busted for pilfering a whole lot of cabbage from the business - more than $1 million, to...

FREDDY UNVEILS HOU$ING PLAN

Fernando Ferrer proposed yesterday creating more affordable housing, but critics said his plan would hike taxes by $900 million. As mayor, Ferrer said, he would seek a state law to...

JON CORZINGED; OUTRAGE AT 470G GIFT TO GAL-PAL LABOR BIG

WASHINGTON - The New Jersey governor's race exploded into a firestorm yesterday, with the revelation that super-rich Sen. Jon Corzine gave $470,000 to a former flame who runs one of...

DOUGH WOE FOR CITY POL; IN 'SCIENTOLOGY' FLAP

Embattled Manhattan borough-president candidate Margarita Lopez has had nearly a half-million dollars in public matching funds suspended, the Campaign Finance Board announced yesterday. And, since Lopez is already struggling to...

LIRR WORKER HITS THIRD RAIL

A LIRR worker was in critical condition yesterday after he came in contact with the third rail near Jamaica Station, officials said. The 47-year-old father was changing railroad ties near...

TRANSFORMER BLAST HURTS 4

An underground transformer exploded in front of an East Village apartment building yesterday, sparking a fire and injuring four people. Con Edison blamed the 5:30 p.m. blast near 199 E....

B'KLYN EXECS BUSTED IN $1M SALAD DAZE

Two executives with a Brooklyn salad company have been arrested for allegedly pilfering a lot of cabbage from the business - more than $1 million, in fact. Lenny Spada, 49,...

'SWASTIKA' BLDG. BUST

A man was arrested yesterday for painting more than a dozen red swastikas in his own building in Washington Heights - near Yeshiva University, police said. Shawn Lawyer, 25, was...

TROY: ELI SHORTCHANGED

GIANT NOTES ALBANY - Former Cowboy QB and lead FOX football analyst Troy Aikman does not think the Giant coaching staff gave Eli Manning every chance to be successful last...

BOY WHO FOLLOWED CAT ONTO LEDGE DIES IN FALL

A 5-year-old New Jersey boy fell to his death last night after following his cat out an apartment window onto a 15th-floor ledge, police said. Zahir Atkins of Newark lost...

QUEENS 'SEX' TEACH GETS OUT ON 10G BAIL

A substitute teacher busted for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old Queens high-school student was freed on $10,000 bail yesterday. Francisco Aguilar, 28, of Hillcrest, was arraigned Wednesday night on...

THE WIZARD OF OZ - GUILLEN HAS CHISOX ON MAGICAL RUN

Monday White Sox at Yankees 7 p.m., YES Look at the numbers that White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen is going up against. The Yankees' Joe Torre has been managing for...

MEDIA SHOULD SHARE BLAME

IT'S too easy to blame the media for everything. But that's the media's fault, too. Look at the big stories daily slithering out of NFL training camps. They're the same...

PASSING THE TEST ; PRACTICE BD+]]PAYING OFF FOR HASSELBECK

ALBANY - Before yesterday, Tim Hasselbeck was not comfortable or confident enough with the Giants' offense to unleash the deep ball, but isn't that what all this practicing is for?...

5 QUESTIONS FOR DAN MARINO

This week, NYP TV Sports' Andrew Marchand spoke with CBS' and HBO's Dan Marino. The 43-year-old former Dolphin quarterback will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on...

A MIKE FOR MIKE? PIAZZA EYED FOR ANALYST GIG

If the Mets don't make the playoffs, Fox Sports will consider using Mike Piazza as either a studio or game analyst in the postseason. "We would always consider Piazza," Fox...

MARCHAND'S MEMO OF THE WEEK

To: Jon Litner, Mets Network president From: Andrew Marchand Re: Gary Cohen CC: Fred Wilpon Dear Jon, As you compose your Mets TV team for next year, you should strongly...

DEVS PLAY IT SMART WITH RAFALSKI DEAL

Lou Lamoriello called it Plan B. It looks more like A-minus. The Devils' GM deserves high marks for his handling of Scott Niedermayer's departure. Word is that despite the dramatic...

SCOTT DUCKS DEVILS FOR BRO

The Devils tried to keep Scott Niedermayer, but Brian Burke had the key chip - Niedermayer's brother Rob. When Burke qualified Rob Niedermayer at $1.8 million last week, the stage...

ABDUR-RAHIM DEAL HITS SNAG

"Shock." That was the word Nets president Rod Thorn used yesterday to describe the franchise's reaction to the news that the acquisition of power forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim from Portland had...

RANGERS MOVE FORWARD, GET DEEPER

The Rangers signed two depth forwards yesterday, and sources say they may be trying to bring John LeClair to Broadway. They signed 26-year-old forward Jason Ward to a two-year, one-way...

TIME TO SHINE UP CROWN

PHILADELPHIA - He will come to Shea tonight carrying one of the biggest bats in the game as he tries to accomplish something that hasn't been done in 68 years,...

BELTRAN'S BAT CAN'T SAVE METS

When Carlos Beltran made a sliding catch in the sixth inning to prevent two runs from scoring, he was - for a moment, anyway - the baseball savior everyone at...

PIAZZA HAS BLAST FROM THE PAST

It was vintage Mike Piazza: a tape-measure homer for the second straight game, a curtain call and five RBIs. But it also was vintage Mets, circa 1962 or 2002, in...

ROTTEN ROBERTO RUINS METS AGAIN ; RELIEVER GIVES UP FIVE RUNS IN NINTH

Brewers 12Mets 9 Four relievers already had been used by the Mets yesterday, and Braden Looper was unavailable. So for the third time this season, Roberto Hernandez got the ball...

METROS GET THEIR STADIUM

The MetroStars' long and, at times, frustrating five-year search for a new home appears to be over. Just a month after AEG president Tim Leiweke said the company that owns...

SO FAR, JONES LOOKS ALL RIGHT

Whether Adrian Jones is either deemed a success or a failure in his NFL career, the brazen words Terry Bradway spoke about three months ago will forever be a part...

CARL TO ARMS; YANKS NEED PAVANO TO BE GOOD, NOT GREAT

CLEVELAND - Yankees manager Joe Torre says the club isn't asking Carl Pavano to be Superman. However, it goes without saying that when Pavano returns from the disabled list next...

FORMER MATES FEEL FOR MAZZILLI

CLEVELAND - Bernie Williams questioned what the Orioles were doing when they fired former Yankees coach Lee Mazzilli as their manager yesterday. "It's a very sad an unfortunate situation," Williams...

KRIS IN ROUGH PATCH

MET NOTES Kris Benson had a poor start last week in Houston. Yesterday he was worse. For the first time this year, Benson has had two bad outings in a...

VETS SEE 'READ' OVER CANO

YANKEE NOTES CLEVELAND - Some Yankee veterans noticed Robinson Cano reading a newspaper in the clubhouse yesterday as he answered questions regarding his brutal game Wednesday night. Derek Jeter and...

HOMER COOKIN' ; A-ROD, GIAMBI BLAST TRIBE IN 9TH FOR WIN

Yankees 4Indians 3 CLEVELAND - Two outs away from being prepped by Baseball's Undertaker, the Yankees dodged the embalming fluid thanks to home runs by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi....

HAVE NO FEHR - BUD STILL AWAITING RESPONSE ON 'ROID PROPOSAL

In his first public comments since Rafael Palmeiro's steroid suspension, baseball commissioner Bud Selig called on the Players Association to agree to his proposed changes to the game's steroid policy....

TUNA ADDING SPICE TO OVERFLOW MENU

THE Canyons finally started to produce some decent catches of tuna for the blue water crowd while, inshore, fluke fishing in the New York Bight, porgies off the East End...

EIGHT SET TO BATTLE IN HONORABLE MISS

SARATOGA SPRINGS - The Old Spa is noted for its contentious stakes races, and they don't get any tougher than today's Grade 2, $150,000 Honorable Miss Handicap, with a field...