January 20, 2006

SCRUSHY SKUNKED US: 'PAYOFF' PAIR

Just months after beating the Feds in a $2.7 billion fraud trial, Richard Scrushy is being accused of reneging on $150,000 in payoffs he promised a local reporter and minister...

CERBERUS FIGHTING ON HILL, IN JAPAN

Cerberus Capital Management, a $16 billion Midtown hedge fund, had a very busy day yesterday. In federal court, the fund filed a libel suit against a Japanese newspaper chain, Mainichi...

GROWING PAINS SPELL LAYOFFS AT BAUER PUBLICATIONS

BAUER Publications, the sleepy company in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., has been amazing the publishing world with its rollout of newsstand-oriented celebrity weeklies - first with In Touch and more recently...

REFCO AUCTIONS ITS ART

Commodity broker Refco - which collapsed from lies and cover-ups by its boss - is auctioning its valuable photo-art collection which it described in its own catalog as "how we...

PLAN SLOWS RETAIL EXPANSION

Home Depot unveiled plans yesterday for growth over the next five years that will shift more emphasis to a nascent, but fast-growing, division that caters to professional contractors, while at...

NYMEX SET FOR SALE - MEMBERS UPSET OVER DIRECTOR ROLES

New York Mercantile Exchange insiders are close to sealing a new deal to sell 10 percent stake of the downtown energy market to private equity firm General Atlantic for $170...

TAKE MY WIVES, PLEASE

'LOOKING for Comedy in the Muslim World," Albert Brooks' response to 9/11, is very much of a piece with his six other movies as a writer/director/actor - it's a sly,...

GIVING POWER TO V. PEEBLES

SURE, Melvin Van Peebles directed, wrote and starred in "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song," the 1971 blaxploitation shocker "dedicated to all the Brothers and Sisters who had enough of the Man."...

ARTISTIC TROUPE, ORIGINAL MOVES

WHAT was described as an "exploration of blackness" at the Joyce Theater could easily leave people in the dark - especially those misguided enough to read the guff in their...

DRY TALE OF GRISLY KILLINGS

'END of the Spear" is a sincere but underwhelming dramatization of one of the biggest news stories of 1956. Half a century ago, a group of American missionaries flew into...

LEFTY LOOK AT WAR LIKE MOORE - BUT LESS

I love that "Why We Fight" landed Dwight Eisenhower on the cover of "Time Out New York" - next week, I hope to see Douglas MacArthur spotting visible panty lines...

TOO MUCH TO PERCEIVE

PERCEPTION [*] (One star)DIRECTOR-writer Irving Schwartz has a lot of ideas about plots. Unfortunately, he seems to have jammed each and every one of them into a single movie, "Perception."...

FLOATS HER BOAT - ROSIE TELLS STORY OF GAY-FAMILY-CRUISE FILM

PARK CITY, Utah - Many celebrities keep their kids out of the public eye to avoid the paparazzi and kidnappers. Not Rosie O'Donnell. Rosie, wife Kelli Carpenter O'Donnell and their...

QUIRKY 'PIZZA' DELIVERS MISFIT ROMANCE

LIKE "Welcome to the Dollhouse," "Pizza" sees suburbia as darkly comic and more than a little grotesque, but it's not completely cynical. Promising new writer-director Mark Christopher is like "Dollhouse"...

ZUCKER PUNCH MISSES

THE Zucker brothers, Jaeckie and Samuel, couldn't be more different. Former East German Jaeckie (Henry Hubchen) long ago gave up on religion. Once a sportscaster, he lost his job when...

JEWISH JOKES, GERMAN ANGST

A German-Jewish comedy: Sounds crazy, no? But "Go for Zucker" is just that: a comedy about two Berlin brothers - one pious, the other a playboy - who reunite to...

HATCH SET TO TAKE THE STAND TODAY

ACCUSED tax cheat and original "Survivor" winner Richard Hatch is expected to take the stand in his own defense in federal court today. The Rhode Island reality star's testimony will...

TAKE JAZZ & STICK A BJORK IN IT

AS if wrapping your head around jazz weren't hard enough, imagine adding to the mix the trippy stylings of Icelandic singer Bjork. Interpreting her techno-pop through an improvisational jazz filter...

NEIL'S NEW ACT - PLAYWRIGHT RECOVERS TO RECLAIM BROADWAY

TALK about a come back. Just a few years ago, Neil Simon was in bad shape. Broad way's most successful playwright was suffering from kidney failure and, it was whispered...

STARR REPORT

Putting a Denton it "Desperate Housewives" star James Denton hosts the Miss America Pageant - airing from Las Vegas tomorrow for the first time ever after moving from ABC to...

SOMEBODY TELL STAR TO ZIP IT

Size doesn't matter - at least not in the war on terror, according to Star Jones. Yesterday, the co-host of "The View" told viewers that the war on terror was...

SINGULAR CESSATION - LISA LOEB SINGING A NEW TUNE IN HER SEARCH FOR LOVE

TOO many women are just plain dumb when it comes to men. I'm sorry, but it's true. They whine, they cry, they think that the good ones are all taken...

MY 'OFFICE' ROMANCE - THE SHOW THEY SAID COULDN'T BE CLONED

RICKY who? That's the effect Steve Carell is having as the star of "The Office" on NBC as viewers flock to the show and memories of the former British version...

SPIRIT A STUART STAPLE

SOME people quit drinking after a lost weekend or a nasty barroom brawl. For 48-year-old country singer Marty Stuart, who's partied hard since he was a teenager, all it took...

EDITORS FULL OF JOY (DIVISION)

THE Editors are all the rage overseas. The Birmingham, England, quartet's debut disc, "The Back Room," has already scored three top singles in the U.K. But U.S. fans have to...

LET IT BE - YOKO BLASTS FILM THAT RETRACES STEPS OF LENNON'S KILLER

YOKO Ono tried to stop the filming of a controversial new movie about John Lennon assassin Mark David Chapman outside the Dakota this week - but the city refused a...

HEROES WITH BULLDOZERS - CREDIT FOR THE COMBAT ENGINEERS

AMERICA's soldiers are always good for a surprise: The enthusiasm the Army's combat engineers show for our mission in Iraq would dumbfound even our military's most fervent supporters. Privileged to...

ELIOT UNSCATHED: POLL

ALBANY - Allegations that Attorney General Eliot Spitzer threatened several prominent people have had little impact on voters, a new poll showed yesterday. The Quinnipiac University survey did find Spitzer's...

NO MISTAKE - 'PLANTATION' LINE WILL SERVE HILL WELL

TO judge from the insta-commentary, Hillary Clinton made a big mistake on Monday by comparing the House of Representatives to a "plantation." The cable chat shows had a field day...

ANOTHER BEAST FATHER ADMITS BABY MURDER

A heartless hulk who starved and beat his helpless infant to death copped a surprise guilty plea yesterday - fearing a jury would lynch him in outrage over Nixzmary Brown's...

HEROES WE'LL ALL REMEMBER - 3 FAMILIES STILL FEEL LOSS YEAR AFTER BLACK SUNDAY

ONE year ago today, Lt. Curtis Meyran of the Bravest was laboriously building an ice rink in the back yard of his Long Island home. His widow, Jeanette, recalls, "I...

4 MARLBORO MEN SUE FOR LUNG TESTS

A pack of smokers wants Philip Morris to cough up cash so they can get their lungs checked out. Four long-time Marlboro smokers from Queens and Long Island filed a...

W. LAUGHS OFF 'SEN. LAURA'

WASHINGTON - A laughing President Bush yesterday ruled out any chance that his super-popular wife Laura will do a Hillary Rodham Clinton and run for U.S. Senate, vowing, "Never." At...

COURT SHELVES TOUSSAINT DAY

A Roger Toussaint court hearing set for today was postponed yesterday so that the transit union and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority could first vote on a proposed contract, sources said....

RIVERA AND MIKE BURY THE HATCHET

Just a few months ago, Dennis Rivera, the powerful head of the health-care workers union, was working overtime to get Mayor Bloomberg fired. But yesterday, the two men stood shoulder...

PUT MY DAUGHTER IN PRISON - PA: SHE STOLE $3M FROM ME & MOM

A woman has been charged with bilking her ailing, elderly parents out of more than $3 million - once swiping expensive clothing from her mom's closet on Long Island -...

MOTHER: I GOT SYPHILIS FROM HOSP

A judge yesterday ordered a Long Island hospital to turn over medical records to a mother of four who tested positive for syphilis a year after receiving a bone graft...

DIAGNOSING HOSPITALS - DOZENS IN CITY DON'T MAKE GRADE ON HEART ATTACKS

ALBANY - About two dozen hospitals in the city are performing below the statewide average when it comes to following procedure for providing appropriate care for heart attacks and pneumonia...

CHOCOLATE THUNDER

A bitter battle over Brooklyn's last working port has left millions of dollars worth of cocoa stranded in New York Harbor. Dockworkers and stevedoring officials complained yesterday that the Port...

FAT NICK HAS A FAT YAP, TOO

Fat Nick had a big fat tantrum yesterday when a Queens judge denied his application to reduce bail - again. "They got me locked up and these thieving pigs out...

BREWING UP BETTER SEX LIVES

Women may be able to perk up their sex lives by percolating a pot of coffee. Scientists say drinking a cup of joe appears to increase the female libido by...

BX. MOM YELLS AT SUSPECT IN DWI KID KILL

On what would have been her son's fourth birthday, his furious mother showed up in court yesterday to confront the suspected drunken driver who allegedly killed the boy. "You were...

200 CITY SCHOOLS TO HAVE FREE REIN

More than 200 city public schools will have cut ties with their district superintendents this fall - and bureaucrats could be out on their behinds - under a Department of...

'NIXZMARY LAW' WOULD LOCK UP KILLERS FOR LIFE

A day after heartsick New Yorkers buried the battered body of little Nixzmary Brown, officials here and in Albany were scrambling to fix the broken child-care bureaucracy and strengthen the...

MTA'S PHONE STATIC - SUBWAY-CHATTER FEAR

Straphangers say wiring subway platforms for cellphones is one thing, but the MTA had better not turn the trains into chatterboxes. "We are losing our peace and quiet," said Miguel...

PRE'PRAWN'DERANCE OF EVIDENCE IN SHRIMP TRIAL

A chiropractor testified that a Long Island man - who died a year after dodging a flying shrimp at a Japanese restaurant - came to him for a sore neck...

COP TELLS HOW SHE SHOT SLASHING 'FIEND'

A Queens cop with a steady aim and a 9mm Glock took the stand yesterday to testify that she shot a knife-wielding suspect who had just slashed her partner's throat....

PICKETT'S HOUR HITS MIDNIGHT

Wilson Pickett, the soul-music pioneer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer whose classic hits included "In The Midnight Hour" and "Mustang Sally," died of a heart attack yesterday, his...

BUSH: NUTS TO OSAMA'S WHEEZING, WHINING BID FOR A TRUCE

WASHINGTON - A desperate-sounding Osama bin Laden waved the white flag yesterday in a new message offering a "truce" to Americans. A 10-minute audiotape - which bin Laden reportedly recorded...

PAY SUIT A BLACK EYE FOR REDEYE GRILL

Waiters and bus staff at a well-known Midtown restaurant are charging that managers paid them far below minimum wage and skimmed their tips. Seven employees of the Seventh Avenue eatery...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN (lcf) * A subway token booth clerk was arrested yesterday for allegedly selling stolen MetroCards to commuters at the Midtown station where he worked. Joseph Campbell, 52, was arrested...

QUOTAS BANNED - RULING ON ILLEGAL POLICY CONFIRMS CITY'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET ON TIX WRITTEN BY COPS

A city arbitrator confirmed yesterday what cops have long insisted - that they are forced to meet ticketing quotas. Ruling in a case brought by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, arbitrator...

MAYOR GIVING EMBATTLED ACS A BUDGET BREAK

A day after heartsick New Yorkers buried the battered body of little Nixzmary Brown, City Hall decided to beef up the budget for the Administration for Children's Services. Sources said...

CUFFED ESCAPEE IS RECAPTURED

A suspect in a Brooklyn burglary - handcuffs dangling from one hand - bolted from the cops last night, only to be recaptured about an hour later. The unidentified suspect,...

BOMBER BLOWS IT IN ISRAEL EATERY ATTACK

JERUSALEM - A 22-year-old Palestinian terrorist detonated his bomb belt in a Tel Aviv fast-food restaurant yesterday - but he was the only fatality because some of his explosives failed...

EMS IRAQ VETS WIN PROMOTION BATTLE

Two city paramedics called up for military service in Iraq will be promoted to FDNY lieutenants today, but only after one of them went to the feds complaining they were...

'DWI' SCOOTER GUY IN COURT

A deliveryman was on life support as the alleged drunken driver who struck him was arraigned last night. Wei Chang, 31, was hit while riding his scooter in Queens on...

RAPE-SLAY TRIAL ESCAPE ATTEMPT - THUGS LUNGE FOR GUNS, STAB LAWYER

Two Brooklyn toughs on trial in a horrifying torture, rape-and-murder case made a brazen escape attempt yesterday - lunging for court officers' guns and stabbing a lawyer in the neck...

RAPE-SLAY TRIAL ESCAPE ATTEMPT - LAWYER STABBED IN NECK

Two Brooklyn toughs on trial in a horrifying torture, rape-and-murder case made a brazen escape attempt yesterday - lunging for court officers' guns and stabbing a lawyer in the neck...

EVIL DAD'S ALIBI - WEEPING FIEND BLAMES NIXZMARY FOR SLAY

Stepfather from hell Cesar Rodriguez turned into a sniveling crybaby yesterday as he said he killed Nixzmary Brown by accident - and that she brought it on herself. While insisting...

MAN KILLED IN B'KLYN HIT-RUN

A man who had just left a Brooklyn bodega was struck and killed in a hit-and-run accident, for which two men were arrested last night, cops said. A Ford Explorer...

QNS. PAWN BROKER SHOT DEAD

A beloved Queens pawn-shop owner was shot in the face and killed last night in botched holdup in his store. The victim, Richard Schoenfield 40, of L.I. was alone in...

PHONE STATIC - SUBWAY-CHATTER FEAR

Straphangers say wiring subway platforms for cellphones is one thing, but the MTA had better not turn the trains into chatterboxes. "We are losing our peace and quiet," said Miguel...

POL RIPS EDITED CISNEROS-SCANDAL REPORT

WASHINGTON - A top Senate Republican is plotting a power play to make public the full report by an independent counsel who charged the Clinton administration with blocking the probe...

TEL AVIV BOMBER BLOWS IT - BLAST KILLS ONLY SELF

JERUSALEM - A 22-year-old Palestinian terrorist detonated his bomb belt in a Tel Aviv fast-food restaurant yesterday - but he was the only fatality because some of his explosives failed...

RAPE-SLAY TRIAL ESCAPE ATTEMPT - FIENDS LUNGE FOR GUNS, STAB LAWYER IN COURT

Two Brooklyn toughs accused in a horrifying torture, rape and murder case made a brazen, coordinated escape attempt yesterday - lunging for court officers' guns and stabbing a lawyer in...

RAMS AIM FOR A-LIST

THE Atlantic 10 fancies itself as one of the elite conferences in the nation. In the past 10 years, the league has produced a Final Four run from UMass, a...

SPILL SENDS FRAGOSO TO HOSPITAL

Another in weird series of spills at winter meet occurred in yesterday's seventh race when Gonna Be Love, driving deep stretch in third place, suddenly fell inside final 70 yards,...

MSG'S ROAD TO A 'GLORY' STORY - HAWKS UPSET WITH TRAUTWIG'S VERSION

NEVER let the facts stand in the way of a cheap wisecrack: Funny how the truth, by the time it reaches us, often ain't. Then again, maybe that's not so...

THE ROAD ENDS HERE - HOME FAVORITES WILL CURB THE 'DOGS

THEY'VE already made a liar of history. Now the Steelers and Panthers will have to defy physics if they are to make it to Super Bowl XL on Feb. 5....

OH, BROTHER! MATT'S READY - TIM: HASSELBECK DESERVES CREDIT

Praise rained down on Matt Hasselbeck for the way he stepped into the void created by the loss of MVP running back Shaun Alexander, for the way Hasselbeck ran and...

JETS LET COACHES FLY - HENDERSON, TWO OTHERS, DISMISSED

The Jets yesterday officially announced that defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson, receivers coach Pep Hamilton, and tight ends coach John Zernhelt will not be retained. The Jets' defense under Henderson's guidance...

HERE'S THE BOOK FOR ANGLERS

IT IS generally referred to as The Book by serious anglers when they are looking for fishing records. The 2006 World Record Game Fishes Book published by the International Game...

REGGIE: SECURITY A 'JOKE'

Reggie Miller said he felt conflicted about his ex-teammate Antonio Davis' actions Wednesday night. Miller said any man should go defend his wife when she is in harm's way, but...

STEELERS BACK ON BRINK

The Steelers have been here before, seen this before, smelled this before. They've been on the cusp of a Super Bowl berth, stared directly at prosperity - and they've blinked....

BROWN STEAMED AT DAVIS SUSPENSION

KNICK NOTES A fuming Larry Brown called Antonio Davis' five-game suspension "real excessive" and challenged commissioner David Stern's logic. "I would like to put Stu Jackson, David Stern or one...

UNDERSTANDABLE, BUT WRONG

I UNDERSTAND why Antonio Davis reacted the way he did in Chicago Wednesday night. I understand why he abruptly diverted from a Knicks huddle during a timeout in overtime and...

SLAP ON THE WRIST

FOLLOWING last season's Palace rampage pitting players vs. players and then players vs. fans, David Stern made one thing indubitably clear above all else: Never again! No matter what the...

JUDGES PLAY IT SAFE - & WIN

Cardozo 89 - Bayside 50 Safety was the name of the game yesterday when Cardozo hosted Bayside. Normally a hot rivalry commanding standing-room-only crowds, yesterday's more than half-empty gym was...

LARRY, ISIAH VIEWS DIFFER ON PENALTY

KNICK NOTES Larry Brown and Isiah Thomas had differing views on Antonio Davis' five-game suspension. A fuming Brown called Davis' five-game suspension "real excessive" and challenged commissioner David Stern's logic...

DEVS SHOOT 8TH IN ROW

Shootout: Devils 4 - Predators 3 NASHVILLE - It took a shootout victory, but the Devils' streak survives. Now they bring their eight-game charge home to force the Islanders and...

DEVILS SHOOT EIGHTH IN ROW

Shootout: Devils 4 - Predators 3 NASHVILLE - The streak survives, and suddenly the Devils possess a very different sort of leader - a shootout leader. Leading the league in...

ANTONIO GETS A HIGH FIVE - DAVIS DRAWS 'LENIENT' SUSPENSION, MAY BE SUED

It will cost Antonio Davis five games and about $810,000 for protecting his wife. While league disciplinarian Stu Jackson claimed he was being lenient because Davis "believed" his wife was...

THERE'S NO ONE TO ROOT FOR IN THIS MESS

THERE was a time when this would have stirred a boiling pot of outrage, the image of a big, powerful professional athlete wandering into the stands with anger coursing through...

EMBARRASSING EFFORT AT HOME

Pistons 105 - Knicks 79 At least in the first meeting against Detroit on Dec. 2 at Auburn Hills, Larry Brown's Knicks did not embarrass themselves and made a gutty...

FOUR SIGHT - PLAYOFF QBS UNDER SIMMS' MICROSCOPE

THE Final Four: Big Ben Roethlisberger of the Steelers. Jake Plummer of the Broncos. Jake Delhomme of the Panthers. Matt Hasselbeck of the Seahawks. No Peyton Manning? No Tom Brady?...

ANTONIO GETS A HIGH FIVE - DAVIS DEALT A SUSPENSION, COULD BE SUED

It will cost Antonio Davis five games and $630,000 for trying to protect his wife. While league disciplinarian Stu Jackson claimed he was being lenient because Davis "believed" his wife...

NO ONE TO ROOT FOR IN THIS MESS

THERE was a time when this would have stirred a boiling pot of outrage, the image of a big, powerful professional athlete wandering into the stands with anger coursing through...

THERE'S NO TIMEOUT FOR BRODEUR'S KNEE

NASHVILLE - He's going to the Olympics, but somewhere there might be a Devils official wishing Martin Brodeur would stay home and give his still ailing knee three weeks' healing....

MARCHAND'S MATCHUP OF THE WEEK

Troy Aikman vs. Phil Simms Who is a better NFL analyst? As analysts, Fox Sports' Troy Aikman and CBS' Phil Simms are like identical twins. Same style, even some of...

ESPN CHASING BONDS - PLANS WEEKLY SHOW FOLLOWING SLUGGER

ESPN is on the verge of making a deal with Barry Bonds to offer a behind-the-scenes look at Bonds' quest for Hank Aaron's all-time home run record this season, The...

5 QUESTIONS FOR JIMMY JOHNSON

This week, NYP TV Sports' Andrew Marchand spoke with Fox Sports analyst Jimmy Johnson. Johnson, 62, won two Super Bowls as coach of the Cowboys. Q: What was your reaction...

SIXTH SENSE - BIG BEN PLANTS SEED FOR HISTORY

Sunday Steelers at Broncos 3:30 p.m., Ch. 2 In the 16 seasons since the NFL has had four-wild card teams make the playoffs, no sixth seed ever reached a conference...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A South Carolina man faked his death more than 25 years ago to avoid paying child support, cops say. Johnny Sterling Martin, 58, of Myrtle Beach, had a relative call...