January 25, 2006

'POOR' TRUMP: I WAS LIBELED

Don't just call Donald Trump rich. Say he's worth billions or you could wind up on the wrong end of a libel lawsuit. Trump is suing a New York Times...

LEGIT SUITOR AT LAST FINDS SEX.COM

It's the highest price ever paid for sex. Sex.com - the Web site with the world's catchiest name - has been sold in a deal believed to be worth a...

CHINESE CO. GETS 5 FLOORS AT 7 WTC

Embattled developer Larry Silverstein's bid to rebuild Ground Zero's office towers got a boost from halfway around the world yesterday when a major Chinese company indicated it would rent five...

SHOTGUN MERGER; CBS, TIME WARNER TO COMBINE LOSERS UPN, WB

Media giants Time Warner and CBS hope they can make money by combining two money-losing broadcast networks. At a surprise mid-morning press conference yesterday at the St. Regis hotel, the...

8TH TO GET LUXE HOTEL; EIGHTH AVE. TO GET NEW LUXURY HOTEL

DEVELOPER Robert Gladstone plans to bring a luxury hotel to Eighth Avenue where it will fill in a gap between the Mandarin Oriental at Time Warner Center and the other...

EXEC'S FINE MESS - HEDGE CLIENTS IN DARK

An exclusive corner of the New York financial community is buzzing about why a politically-connected and high-profile hedge fund didn't tell investors that regulators slammed one of its founders with...

VOICE PUBLISHER AXED ; MIAMI VET'S HIRE COMPLETES PAPER'S REGIME CHANGE

THE Phoenix-based new owners of the Village Voice gave veteran publisher Judy Mizner her walking papers yesterday and imported the publisher of its Miami paper to take her place. Michael...

MYSTERY RIVAL IS SPYING ON VISA

With Visa planning to roll out a big advertising blitz next month during the broadcast of the Winter Olympics, a rival credit card company didn't want to be caught off...

PIXAR PERFECT! JOBS ANIMATES DISNEY

Steve Jobs, meet Mickey Mouse. After nearly two years of often contentious negotiations about extending a lucrative partnership, Disney yesterday agreed to buy Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion in...

LIZ CLAIBORNE'S BOSS TO RETIRE

Paul Charron, the chairman and chief executive of Liz Claiborne, said yesterday that he plans to retire when his contract expires at the end of the year. Charron is credited...

TIME TO BE WORRIED - MORE CUTBACKS ON WAY; CO. WANTS $100M SAVINGS

THE other shoe is about to drop at Time Inc. Two weeks before Christmas, Time Inc. CEO Ann Moore what appeared to be a bloodbath. That resulted in the axing...

DEUTSCH TREAT

CNBC has marked the one-year anniversary of "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch" by renewing the show for three more years. "This show has a unique voice and people are...

IT TAKES MATZO BALLS

JUDY Gold says the first book her mother read to her wasn't "The Cat in the Hat" or "Goodnight Moon": It was the pop-up version of "The Diary of Anne...

'SIDEWAYS' TO FORWARD; PAUL GIAMATTI BUSY AFTER OSCAR'S SNUB

PARK CITY, Utah - "What's going on Tuesday at 8:30 in the morning?" Paul Giamatti says with mock exasperation. "I'm going to kill you for telling me that!" Tuesday morning,...

SICK AND ATTIRED - DRESSING DOWN AND OUT DOESN'T SUIT N.Y. DINERS

HERE'S a tip for the female managers at Spice Market who wander the floor in Club Med-like, back-exposing sarongs, and for certain women I saw dining at Jovia the other...

A WHOLE SCOT O' LOVE

YOU might need a stiff drink when you hear strains of "Auld Lang Syne" tonight - but not because you've lost your senses. Tonight is Robert Burns Night. The 18th-century...

ON THE SIDE - NEW PARTNERS HEAD OUEST

Multitalented chef Tom Valenti is leaving his restaurant 'Cesca and gaining a new partner at his Upper West Side eatery Ouest. David Emil, whose restaurants include Beacon and the late...

PROOF THAT CASH CAN'T BUY BRAINS

MAYBE Richard Hatch should have pleaded insanity. Prosecutors in Hatch's tax-evasion trial contend that the ruthless (and naked) winner of the first "Survivor" willfully evaded paying taxes on the $1...

COVER ME - 'SVU' HIDES MARISKA'S BULGE

'LAW & Order: SVU" star Mariska Hargitay, who's expecting her first child, a boy, will take some time off from the show after the birth. "SVU" producers have decided not...

STARR REPORT

Big 'Mac' hits 100 "Bernie Mac" stars Bernie Mac, Kellita Smith (below) and favored guests celebrated the show's 100th episode the other night at Memphis in L.A. - the last...

'TOON NET DEFENDS 'BOONDOCKS' KING

CARTOON Network says it meant no disrespect in airing a "Boondocks" episode in which Dr. Martin Luther King uttered the "n word." The episode aired Jan. 15 - the day...

'MY NAME' IS HILLARY - EARL'S EX 'MAD' ABOUT SENATOR

'MY Name is Earl" co-star Jaime Pressly cleans up real good - if this photo from an upcoming "MADtv" sketch is any indication. Pressly, who plays Earl's (Jason Lee) trailer-trash...

TEEN VICTIMS HELP NAB L.I. 'MOLESTER'

Two high schoolers turned the tables on a pervert randomly attacking girls on Long Island - stalking the stalker and jotting down his license plate for police, cops said yesterday....

FAMILY OK WITH PERV-PRIEST DEAL

The family of a former Brooklyn altar boy who testified that a priest had sexually abused him is pleased with the plea deal that let the cleric off with only...

ALTAR BOY'S KIN OK WITH PERV'S DEAL

The family of a former Brooklyn altar boy who testified that a Catholic priest had sexually abused him is pleased with the plea deal that let the cleric get off...

ALBANY GETTING TOUGH ON KID-KILLERS

ALBANY - Parents who kill a child would face life in prison without chance of parole, under a bill introduced in the state Senate yesterday. The legislation, presented in the...

RANDI SLAMS TAX CREDIT

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki's proposed education tax credit would ultimately pit private and parochial schools against public schools for funding, city teachers union president Randi Weingarten charged yesterday. Weingarten, speaking...

QUINN SEEKS LESS POWER

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn moved to further empower her rank-and-file colleagues yesterday, proposing a set of changes that will ensure that she - and future speakers - can't simply...

POLS JOIN A$H FRAY

ALBANY - Mayor Bloomberg's call for another cigarette tax hike was met with support yesterday from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver but avoidance from Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. Silver said...

$16M WELFARE FIX IN NIXZMARY FIASCO

Sweeping changes are coming to the child-welfare system, with an infusion of $16 million to add hundreds of caseworkers, managers and "law-enforcement professionals" to ensure Nixzmary Brown didn't die in...

I WISH I HAD SAVED HER - SISTER'S LAMENT AT NYU STUDENT FUNERAL

Pallbearers marched a gold-trimmed casket into the sunshine yesterday as 500 mourners bid farewell to a beautiful graduate student killed by an alleged DWI hit-and-run driver. "I wish I had...

COP-SLASHER'S DEFENSE

A Queens man accused of slashing the throat of a cop claimed yesterday he lashed out in self-defense because he thought he was being mugged. Radcliffe Meeks, 33, of Jamaica,...

51% SAY NO TO PREZ HILL

WASHINGTON - Most American voters now say there's no way they'd vote for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton if she runs for president in 2008 - while just 16 percent are...

HOMELESS AID BLASTED

The city initiative to help the homeless find apartments isn't working, the Coalition for the Homeless charged yesterday. The advocacy group said the Housing Stability Plus Program is flawed because...

WELD'S PAL OFF INQUIRY - VICTORY FOR D'AMATO

ALBANY - FBI Director Robert Mueller will recuse himself from the potentially explosive ongoing probe of Decker College, which was once headed by his longtime friend and colleague, New York...

U.S. TO U.N.: SHOW US YOUR PAPERS

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration yesterday accused the United Nations of withholding damning details of mass corruption unearthed in a bombshell audit of the Procurement Department. Administration officials reacted angrily...

'HE WANTED TO DO MORE' - 3RD FALLEN FIREMAN HONORED

The third hero killed on one of the darkest days in FDNY history was added to a revered memorial wall yesterday as his fellow Bravest remembered a loving and passionate...

SARAH A B'WAY 'POST'ER - EYEING PLAY ABOUT GOSSIP

THE New York Post is the inspiration for a new play that Sarah Jessica Parker hopes to star in on Broadway - possibly opposite her husband, Matthew Broderick. The two-character...

FOX'S CHANNEL 9 HUNTS NEW SHOWS

The local television landscape in New York will have a different look come next fall. The announcement yesterday that Time Warner's WB Network and CBS' UPN will merge leaves local...

RANGEL RIPS ELIOT - UPSET OVER DISS IN LIEUTENANT-GOV PICK

ALBANY - Eliot Spitzer "should be more concerned" about a challenge from Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi than in blocking a black woman who wants to be lieutenant governor, Rep....

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

THE BRONX * A bullet-riddled body of a man was found behind a Bedford Park apartment building, police said yesterday. A passer-by discovered the unidentified body behind 100 West Mosholu...

BIG FAT 'FRAUD' IS UNDER AT-TAX - EMPIRE STATE CPA WANTED IN $7.5M SCAM

Renegade CPA David Cohen once promised to make tax problems disappear "like magic!" Now, the double-chinned numbers-cruncher has himself disappeared, and authorities are scrambling to locate and arrest him for...

DAPPER JOHN'S A CHIP OFF THE OLD BOSS - ANOTHER GUSSIED-UP GOTTI

Call him Dapper John. John "Junior" Gotti looked as svelte and stylish as a men's fashion model yesterday as he emerged with a grin from Manhattan federal court. He followed...

77G SUBWAY SLEEPER IS A DOZY DOOZY - BRAGS TO PALS OF JOB NAPS

Call him Rip van Wiggins. Wayne Wiggins, 37, the subway-station agent caught snoozing on the clock Sunday, has a history of sleepworking - and even brags to friends and relatives...

BUSH, PAKISTAN PM MEND FENCES

WASHINGTON - Pakistan's prime minister yesterday said he told President Bush about concerns over the CIA missile attack that killed al Qaeda leaders but sparked anti-American rallies. Bush and Pakistani...

SCHOOL SCANDAL

Two former administrators of an upstate school district overpaid themselves $216,000, according to an audit released yesterday by state Comptroller Alan Hevesi. The probe found the two used nearly every...

SLAIN COP'S FAMILY SKIPS AUTOPSY PIX

Jurors in the trial of the Brooklyn man accused of fatally shooting two detectives were shown autopsy photos yesterday - pictures horrific enough keep relatives away. "We wanted to remember...

'TOT-KILLER' DAD NAILED IN '89 SLAY

A Jersey City dad who blubbered to cops that he had lost his 2-year-old son in a crowd of shoppers 16 years ago has finally been indicted in the tot's...

B'KLYN BLAZE HURTS 12 BRAVEST

A dozen firefighters were injured battling this two-alarm blaze that tore through a Brooklyn apartment building yesterday. The injured Bravest were among 111 firefighters who responded to the fire at...

'SPAMA'-SHOT IS ME: MODEL - SUES OVER PIC ON THEATER

Last year, a young, Botswana- born model mischievously blew the cameras a kiss after a photo shoot in South Africa - and forgot about it. Imagine her lawyer's delight, then,...

CARNEGIE KILLERS' LIFE TERMS STAND

Two ice-blooded murderers must continue serving 120-year sentences for the 2001 Carnegie Deli massacre, an appeals panel ruled yesterday. Gunman Sean Salley, 36, and armed robber Andre Smith, 31, murdered...

BUS KILLS HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR

An elderly woman who survived the Holocaust was killed yesterday while trying to catch a moving bus in The Bronx. Eva Schweitzer, 82, was killed at about 6:10 a.m., near...

2 'DRUNKS' IN 1 DRIVER'S SEAT

A drunken driver and his plastered passenger tried to avoid getting arrested after a Staten Island fender-bender by switching places - but both were busted when cops determined the passenger...

CHOIR SEEKING RENT A-CHORD

With its eviction a week away, the embattled Boys Choir of Harlem yesterday made a last-ditch pitch to stay in its rent-free public school at least until June. Dennis Walcott,...

RILED RANGEL RIPS SPITZER - OVER LIEUT.-GOV DISS

ALBANY - Eliot Spitzer "should be more concerned" about a challenge from Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi than in blocking a black woman who wants to be lieutenant governor, Rep....

CHUCK'S DEMS ROLLING IN DOUGH

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Schumer yesterday claimed a new fund-raising record for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which he heads - boasting a war chest more than twice the size...

FATAH BIG SLAIN ON BALLOT EVE

JERUSALEM - Nine gunmen shot up the home of a Fatah faction leader and killed him yesterday, the final day of the bitterly contested Palestinian election campaign in which voters...

BROOKLYN INFERNO - DOZEN FIREFIGHTERS INJURED

A dozen firefighters were injured battling a two-alarm blaze that tore through a Brooklyn apartment building yesterday. The injured Bravest were among 111 firefighters who responded to the fire at...

'ANTHRAX' WACKO - DREW FAN HELD IN HOAX-MAIL BLITZ

A West Coast hoaxer obsessed with actress Drew Barrymore sent letters containing a mysterious white powder to four Manhattan buildings, including two U.N. offices, authorities said yesterday. Paul Steeves, 43,...

SEX KIDNAP IN BROOKLYN

A gang of vicious creeps snatched a woman off a Sheepshead Bay street and sexually assaulted her in a cargo van for more than an hour before dumping her on...

HARLEM CHOIR GROWING DESPERATE

With its eviction a week away, the embattled Boys Choir of Harlem yesterday made a last-ditch pitch to stay in its rent-free public school at least until June. Dennis Walcott,...

'FLEECED' CHURCH SUES INSURER

An Upper East Side church is suing its insurance company to recover $1.2 million that its disgraced former pastor allegedly pilfered from the parish coffers. The Church of St. John...

BULLETS FLY IN ARMORED-CAR 'HEIST'

Two brazen bandits exchanged gunfire with guards as they tried to rob an armored car in Queens last night, police said. The guards pulled up to the Stroehmann bakery in...

TRAGIC FINAL CALL - BRONFMAN WIFE: I'M OK

Beloved philanthropist Andrea Bronfman, unaware that she had been mortally injured in a traffic accident, called her husband from the ambulance to say she was fine. "Everything is OK. It...

SUBWAY PLOTTER 'FESSES - CHILLING 34TH ST. TALE

A suspected radical Islamic terror fiend yesterday admitted to a massive bomb plot targeting Manhattan's 34th Street subway station, the Verrazano Bridge and a slew of Staten Island police precincts....

ACTOR CHRIS PENN DEAD AT 43

LOS ANGELES - Actor Chris Penn, younger brother of Oscar-winner Sean Penn, was found dead yesterday inside an apartment near the L.A. suburb of Santa Monica, authorities said. Penn, 43,...

COVER-UP EYED IN U.N. SCANDAL

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration yesterday accused the United Nations of withholding damning details of mass corruption unearthed in a bombshell audit of its procurement department. Administration officials reacted angrily...

MOM TRIES TO DROWN BABY: COPS

A Bronx mother has been charged with attempted murder for trying to drown her 5-month-old daughter in a bathtub, police said. The drama unfolded around 1 p.m. yesterday when Carol...

SEX SUIT VS. KNICK PREZ - FORMER TEAM EXEC SAYS THAT ISIAH HARASSED HER

Isiah Thomas is a foul-mouthed, slobbering harasser who propositioned the Knicks' former top marketing exec for sex - and even plotted to lure opposing teams to boozy strip joints to...

FLOCK FLEECE FIGHT - CHURCH SUES INSURER

An Upper East Side church is suing its insurance company to recover $1.2 million that its disgraced former pastor allegedly pilfered from the parish coffers. The Church of St. John...

HEARTBREAK CALL - 'EVERYTHING IS OK,' BRONFMAN TOLD HUBBY

Beloved philanthropist Andrea Bronfman, unaware she had been mortally injured in a traffic accident, called her husband from the ambulance to say she was fine. "Everything is OK. It will...

ABBAS BACKER IS SLAIN - PRE-ELECTION RAID

JERUSALEM - Nine gunmen shot up the home of a Fatah faction leader and killed him yesterday on the final day of the bitterly contested Palestinian election campaign in which...

W. MENDS FENCES - MERRY MEET WITH PAKISTANI

WASHINGTON - Pakistan's prime minister yesterday said he told President Bush at an Oval Office huddle about concerns over the CIA missile attack that killed at least four alQaeda leaders...

CALIFORNIAN HELD IN N.Y. CHEM-MAIL HOAX

A West Coast hoaxer sent packages containing a mysterious white powder to three locations in Manhattan - causing five office workers to go through precautionary decontamination, authorities said yesterday. Paul...

51% SAY NO WAY TO PREZ HILL

WASHINGTON - Most American voters now say there's no way they'd vote for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton if she runs for president in 2008 - while just 16 percent are...

IT'S JOHNNIES ON THE SPOT; ROBERTS, CALHOUN STAR IN SOAP OPERA

STORRS - It's quite the juicy soap opera that's developed between St. John's and Connecticut featuring leading men Norm Roberts and Jim Calhoun. If the two coaches aren't trading barbs...

ADIEU, MY FRIEND - JAGR SALUTES RETIRING MARIO

Jaromir Jagr, who was Mario Lemieux's teammate for seven seasons in Pittsburgh, doesn't think the NHL will ever see the likes of No. 66 again. "In terms of a combination...

LUNDQVIST KEY TO RANGERS' PLAYOFF QVEST

FIFTY-one games in, the Rangers' bubble still hasn't burst. The NHL's obstruction crackdown has for the most part held, and so has the smile on Jaromir Jagr's face. Petr Prucha,...

JOHNNIES ARE ON THE SPOT; STORM TAKE NO. 1 TEST

STORRS - The true test of how far this St. John's team has come arrives tonight in a crazy beehive of an arena, against the nation's best team led by...

ANTONIO ABSENT AGAIN

KNICK NOTES It's been a week since Antonio Davis left the Knicks' huddle in Chicago to rush into the stands - and left the Knicks in a lurch. Davis hasn't...

ADIEU, LEMIEUX - JAGR SALUTES RETIRING MARIO

Jaromir Jagr, who was Mario Lemieux's teammate for seven seasons in Pittsburgh, doesn't think the NHL will ever see the likes of No. 66 again. "In terms of a combination...

STRAW BATS AGAIN

As the Mets convened their annual caravan yesterday, many players expressed the belief that their club is finally a playoff favorite. A few hours later at a function for the...

ACADEMIC BAN FOR JASPER STAR

Rider 75Manhattan 56 For the second time in as many seasons, Manhattan forward CJ Anderson has been suspended by the college. But this one could really hurt. Anderson, who missed...

JUST TERRI-BLUE ; RANGERS AWFUL IN GARDEN LOSS

Sabres 2Rangers 1 Maybe it's a sign of progress that the Rangers' failure to apply themselves in a game the way they did, or did not, at the Garden last...

LUNDQVIST KEEPS PLAYOFFS THE MAIN GOAL

HENRIK Lundqvist went kicking. The Sabres did the screaming about a legal Darius Kasparaitis hip check that caused Tim Connolly's exit on crutches, but the better team last night still...

KAZ: 'I WANT TO BE HERE'

The Mets would prefer to trade Kaz Matsui, according to numerous reports. The team's fans, judging by their vociferous boos, would rather have anybody else playing second base. But when...

GLAVINE: IT'S N.Y. OR ATLANTA NEXT YEAR

MET NOTES Tom Glavine is in the final year of his Mets contract, and the lefty said he only envisions himself playing in one of two places in 2007: New...

PASS ON PIAZZA - YANKEES SHOULD LEAVE AGING MIKE FOR SOMEONE ELSE

IT was a play straight out of the familiar Yankees playbook. The Mets brought the bulk of their roster to New York to drum up ticket sales and enthusiasm for...

REIGN OF PAIN - CARTER WILL START DESPITE BACK

LOS ANGELES - The Nets lost a game to start their road trip in Utah. Yawn. Vince Carter hurt his back in the defeat. Arrgh! Get the paddles. Clear! Carter...

THESE ARE NEW BRAND OF CLIPPERS

NET NOTES LOS ANGELES - Elton Brand admits this is strange, very strange. But it is a good strange. A very good strange. Brand is at the hub of the...

TURNING POINT - WITH STEPH BACK, KNICKS NEED PUSH TO PULL BACK IN CONTENTION

Stephen Marbury vowed yesterday: The time is now to make or break. Returning from a sprained left shoulder that kept him out three games, the Knicks captain rides in on...

SATAN GIVES ISLES BOOST

Miroslav Satan was signed to a three-year contract by the Islanders in the days following the conclusion of the NHL lockout to play with Alexei Yashin and give the embattled...

EXIT STRATEGY IN WORKS - WOULD CLEAR WAY OUT FOR HEIMERDINGER

There are strong indications that Jets offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger, who's been held to his contract against his will since Eric Mangini was named had coach last week, might be...

GIANTS MAY BE NEEDING A NEW PUNTER

Few NFL players leave on their own terms, with their team practically begging them to stay. Jeff Feagles appears on the verge of telling the Giants what they do not...

MARTY, DEVS ZIPPIN' ALONG

Devils 4 Islanders 0 This was a clash of teams headed in opposite directions, as the sinking Islanders got thoroughly thumped at the Coliseum last night by a Devil team...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A party guest who collapsed from cardiac arrest in Santa Barbara, Calif., had amazing luck - the ballroom where it happened was packed with cardiologists attending an American Heart Association...