April 15, 2006

NINE WEST'S BROWN WALKS AFTER FAILING TO TOE LINE

With its major footwear brands, including Nine West, Bandolino and Enzo Angiolini, losing share to rivals, the Jones Apparel Group yesterday reshuffled top management of the division, ousting longtime executive...

B&L BLACK EYE - TARNISHED BRAND STARTS TO SPIN ITS WAY BACK

With both its reputation and stock price battered, Bausch & Lomb now must struggle to bounce back from the furor of a medical mystery linking its contact lens cleaner to...

GIMME SHELTER

Anchor's away... IT won't be an endless summer for Katie Couric on the East East of Long Island, but she'll at least be spending more time there than usual. The...

HOME SHOPPING CLUB - DEALS ARE GOOD AS GOLD

Bo Concept 144 W. 18th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues (646) 336-8188 Sale: through April 30 Open: Sat., Sun., noon-6 p.m./Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-7 p.m. The boutique's two top-selling pieces...

'VIEW'-ISHJOKE ON MEREDITH

MEREDITH Vieira had a mini-meltdown yesterday when her co-hosts on "The View" teased her about her new job on the "Today" show. During the show's opening "talkaround" segment, the women...

POLLY ESTHER - MEET MADONNA'S POSH NEW ACCENT

"Madonna Live" Tonight at 10 on BBC America * * * (three stars) IT'S not what she says but how she says it that will amaze Madonna fans most. I've...

DOCTOR OUT AT 2

DIANNE Doctor was fired as Ch. 2's news director yesterday after four years at the third-place station. She previously worked at Ch. 4. "We greatly appreciate the service and dedication...

KITSCH & MAKEUP - GUILTY-PLEASURE FILM AND TV TAKES CENTER STAGE

CANCEL your Netflix - now you can watch all of the brilliantly crap-tastic sex and violence of "Showgirls" re-created live and right in front of your very eyes. With a...

FRANZ BESTS DEATH CAB

Death Cab for Cutie and Franz Ferdinand - the alt-rock bands behind two of last year's most respected albums - teamed up for a two-night double bill at the Hammerstein...

JAZZ IT UP, BABY

You're never too young to tap into your inner Dizzy - or Bird, Coltrane or Wynton Marsalis, for that matter. That's the thinking behind WeBop, Jazz at Lincoln Center's classes...

PURR-FECT END; CAT'S FINALLY OUT OF THE WALL AFTER 2 WKS.

Meow-alleluia! Curiosity did not kill the cat after all as Molly was finally rescued last night from inside a brick wall after being stuck in the basement of a Greenwich...

COLLEGE KIDS FIND RELIGION

Seven out of 10 U.S. college students say religion is important in their lives, a new poll found. Only 10 percent said it wasn't at all important. And while campuses...

GOV BREAKS $$ VOW WITH 100-GRAND BALL

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki, tossing his past promises about fund-raising limits, is seeking to pocket $100,000 apiece from corporate and individual donors at a first-ever New York event for his...

9/11 HEALTH FOLLOW-UPS

The city Health Department will soon begin a follow-up survey on the health of over 70,000 people exposed to the dust and fumes in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks,...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

THE BRONX *** Police are asking for the public's assistance in finding a Tremont teen who was been missing for nearly five months. Brenda Perez (above), 16, was last seen...

PROPERTY MOGUL JUNIOR CRIES POOR

As John "Junior" Gotti gears up for his third racketeering trial in a year, the cash-poor former mob leader has received the go-ahead to sell two properties to help cover...

CAT-A-COMBERS CRAWL; WALL-TO-WALL SEARCH FOR TRAPPED VILLAGE KITTY

It's official: The scene around the Greenwich Village food store where Molly the cat has been trapped inside the walls has turned into a zoo. Joining the pet psy chics,...

STUDENTS SPEAK OUT ON SCANS

A plan for cops to conduct surprise sweeps for weapons at public middle and high schools drew a mix of relief and outrage yesterday from students in the tougher neighborhoods...

DUBYA, VEEP ROLLING IN DOLLARS

WASHINGTON - President Bush and wife Laura paid $187,768 in federal income taxes last year on adjusted gross income of $735,180 - a tax rate of about 25 percent, according...

PARTY ANIMAL; PA. 'SLAYER' HAD SEX ROMPS AS KIN ROTTED

The man who allegedly massacred six members of his family with a club chillingly lived in their house for days as their bodies festered in the basement - even inviting...

GOTTI'S ARYAN SNUB; GOT HIM BEAT IN JAIL

SANTA ANA, Calif. - Late mob boss John Gotti reneged on his promise to provide legal help to a prison gang, costing the Dapper Don a black eye and nearly...

HOWLING MOB; WOLF PACK LAUGHED ASNYU KID LAY DYING: DA

The four teenaged punks who chased an NYU student into the path of an oncoming car looked and laughed as he lay on the street dying, a prosecutor revealed yesterday....

KIDS FIND SKELETON IN L.I. LOT

A group of boys playing in a wooded Long Island lot made a gruesome discovery when they stumbled upon a decomposed body, police said yesterday. While horsing around about 100...

WATER COSTS SHOOTING UP

The city's Water Board wants to raise rates 9.4 percent, starting July 1 - which would be the biggest annual hike since 1993's 9.8 percent. Last year, with Mayor Bloomberg...

CAR STEREO 'DA BOMB'

NYPD bomb squad cops poured into a Manhattan neighborhood yesterday after a dog walker mistook stereo equipment in a car for an explosive device, police said. The drama began around...

NANNY GOES OFF TO HERO'S WELCOME; LEAVES HOSP AFTER TOT SAVE

A selfless super-nanny hobbled on two canes yesterday as she headed home from a Manhattan hospital smiling through her pain and praising "everybody" who helped save the life of the...

SPACIOUS HOLMES; SHE'S READY TO POP

Here's Katie Holmes (above), bursting at Barneys. Holmes, with her large belly in tow, went on a little shopping spree in Los Angeles on Thursday as the paparazzi have descended...

BAD PASS GOT KERIK PAL FIRED

Embattled former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik's attempt to pass a message of regret to an old flame resulted in the demotion of his friend as the spokesman for the city's...

HAMPTONS HORRIFIED BY SWINDLING SOCIALITE IN THEIR MIDST

Southampton's blue bloods are buzzing about one of their own - the very tasteful, very elegant Catesby Kilmer, who's gone from Social Register to Rikers Inmate Register. "I was shocked,"...

DUBYA SHIELDS RUMMY FROM ARMY BRASS ATTACK

WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday threw his "full support" behind embattled Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld amid an escalating campaign by some retired generals to force out their ex-boss. "Secretary Rumsfeld's...

'GHOST' BIKE DEATH CRASH ON THE LIE

A Long Island man was killed early yesterday after being thrown from his motorcycle - which eerily continued down the highway on its own for nearly three-quarters of a mile...

MARKETS 'PRODUCE' E. SIDE TIFF

A food fight is brewing on the Upper East Side - but at least all of the tomatoes thrown will be locally grown. The neighborhood is planning to bring two...

KISSEL'S SERVANT TOP SLAY SUSPECT

A Colombian national who worked as an "all-purpose right-hand man" for swindler Andrew Kissel is now a prime suspect in the murder of the shady millionaire in his Connecticut mansion,...

GW BRIDGE MESS

Chunks of falling concrete shut down part of the George Washington Bridge yesterday, triggering a nightmarish evening commute, authorities said. The city Office of Emergency Management said there is no...

THE PURR-FECT ENDING - VILLAGE CAT'S FINALLY OUT OF THE WALL AFTER 2 WKS.

Meow-alleluia! Curiosity did not kill the cat after all as Molly was finally rescued last night from the inside of a wall after being stuck in the basement of a...

SEVEN UP! BREWERS LATEST VICTIMS IN AMAZIN' STREAK

Mets 4Brewers 3 It has been more than two decades since the Mets have had a start like this. In 1985, the Mets won eight of their first nine games....

MATSUI'S NO LONGER FIRST AT SECOND BASE

MET NOTES Though Kaz Matsui's rehabilitation is going well, it appears more likely that when the second baseman returns to the Mets he will be put on the bench. As...

NUMBERS GAME KEEPS DEVS IN ATLANTIC RACE

The Devils are rooting for the Flyers to pass them today - then the chances of a storybook sixth Atlantic Division title in nine seasons would turn from remote to...

BIG DAY FOR DERBY PREPS

With the Kentucky Derby three weeks away (May 6), two of the final three significant Derby preps will be run today - the Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at...

OPEN-MIKE NIGHT FOR SNY'S COHEN

When Willie Randolph was seen and heard being interviewed by Chris Cotter on SNY's Mets-Nationals postgame show Thursday, play-by-play man Gary Cohen, still up in the booth, thought his microphone...

EX-NYRA CO-CHAIR KARCHES DIES

Peter F. Karches, former co-chairman of New York Racing Association, died Thursday at age 54 after a long battle with leukemia. Karches was named co-chair, along with present chairman C....

BERNIE LEANING TO RIGHT

YANKEE NOTES MINNESOTA - Joe Torre's Rest-A-Vet program is in full swing. Last night against the Twins, Torre used Gary Sheffield as the DH and started Bernie Williams in right...

HARD TO STOMACH; ACID REFLUX MAY SIDELINE LARRY REST OF SEASON

It is only fitting for this tragic Knicks season to end this way: with Larry Brown too sick to coach them. There's a strong chance Brown, released from a Cleveland...

STEPH SAYS HE'LL SPEAK NEXT FRIDAY

Even with Larry Brown ailing and perhaps out for the season, an oddly detached Stephon Marbury refused to openly back Brown for next season and said he has been holding...

UNIT: 'I HIT A WALL'; JOHNSON FATIGUED BUT FINE, TO YANKS' RELIEF

MINNESOTA - One day later, Randy Johnson said removing himself after five innings Thursday was the right move to make. When Johnson factored in that it was his third start...

JOHNSON FATIGUED, BUT FINE

YANKEE NOTES MINNESOTA - One day later, Randy Johnson said removing himself after five innings Thursday was the right move to make. When Johnson factored in that it was his...

HARD TO STOMACH ; ACID REFLUX MAY SIDELINE LARRY REST OF SEASON

It is only fitting for this tragic Knicks season to end this way, with Larry Brown too sick to coach them. There's a strong chance Brown, released from a Cleveland...

TWIN SPILLING ; YANKS' BATS MUFFLED BY MINNY YOUNGSTER

Twins 5Yankees 1 MINNEAPOLIS - The first inclination is to say Scott Baker was more lucky than good against the Yankees last night. That's because the speed gun readings had...

TWIN SPILLING - YANKS' BATS MUFFLED BY MINNY YOUNGSTER

Twins 5 Yankees 1 MINNEAPOLIS - After three days getting fat on the Royals' JV pitching, the Yankees returned to the big leagues last night at the Metrodome against the...

CALL WAITING - SHEFF MAY TESTIFY IN BONDS PERJURY INVESTIGATION

Yankees slugger Gary Sheffield could become the key figure in an ongoing grand jury investigation into whether Barry Bonds perjured himself during his previous testimony regarding the BALCO steroid scandal....

JEERS TO CHEERS - HEALTHY BELTRAN GETS METS FANS ON HIS SIDE

One day, a long time from now, Carlos Beltran may sit next to Mike Piazza in Mets history in the "Do you believe?" category - as in, "Do you believe...

BLUE SWOON - DIVISION TITLE IN JEOPARDY AS RANGERS STUMBLE DOWN STRETCH

THE Rangers have held first place for all but two days, since leapfrogging the Flyers on Feb. 4 with a 4-3 overtime victory in Philadelphia. If the Rangers can win...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Sheriff's deputies in Fargo, N.D., were amazed at how eager teacher Heather Jo Smith was to get to work. They clocked her going over 100 mph on an interstate highway....