April 25, 2006

IT WASN'T ME - LAY BLAMES EVERYONE ELSE FOR ENRON WOES

HOUSTON - Ken Lay is laying an egg. It's not that the former chairman and chief executive officer of Enron is hurting his case - he isn't - but as...

WEB TYCOON TURNS THE TABLES ON TOUTS - INFOSEEK FOUNDER HELPS FEDS SQUASH FRAUD RING

Steven Kirsch, the man who founded search engine Infoseek and sold it to Disney in 1998 for about $200 million, has transformed his annoyance with receiving a penny-stock touting fax...

SKYPE SINGS FOR DEAL

Internet phone giant Skype has reached deals with four major music publishers that will pave the way for it to launch an online music store. The deal, which the companies...

HOME FORECLOSURE RATES SOAR

Rising rates and slowing price appreciation sent home foreclosures up 8 percent in the New York City metro area in March from the previous month. While significantly slower than the...

HOLDOUTS GIVE MACKLOWE FITS

HARRY Macklowe just can't wait to get started on his two big Midtown development projects. And who can blame him? Having spent nearly $500 million to buy the Drake Hotel...

NYMEX BOARD VOTE PROMPTS BLASTS FROM THE PAST

One week before New York Mercantile Exchange members vote on a new board, two former exchange bosses are fighting a war of words over the future of the world's largest...

ROLLING STONE GETS PUBLISHER

Just in time for the May 4 celebration of its 1,000th cover, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner has tapped a new publisher for his flagship magazine. Tim Castelli, currently the...

HEROINE'S WELCOME FOR MET'S 'TOSCA'

SOME years ago, a snobby critic opted for his 15 minutes of fame by calling "Tosca" a "shabby little shocker." When Puccini's masterpiece returned to the Metropolitan Opera Saturday night...

BOSS NOD A TREAT FOR PETE

THERE won't be a Pete Seeger album called "The Bruce Springsteen Sessions." "My voice is too far gone," Seeger says with a hearty laugh. It would be too embarrassing." It...

DATE FROM HELL - MARK YOUR CALENDAR: JUNE 6 WILL BE 6-6-6

A quirk of the calendar is a godsend - or perhaps just the opposite - to movies and albums hoping to cash in on a devilish day. June 6, 2006...

JACKSON PREDICTS GUY WIN

OK, so "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson thinks "a boy will win" this season. But don't read too much into Randy's assessment, says "AI" executive producer Ken Warwick. "He said...

KID ABUSE PROBE - UPSTATE DA LOOKING INTO SAWYER TAPE OF BEATING

A furious upstate prosecutor wants to question ABC News officials about why they did not report a father beating his 15-year-old daughter that aired last week on "Primetime." "Clearly a...

STARR REPORT

Felt tip for King Larry King's guest tonight is Mark Felt, aka "Deep Throat," the former FBI agent and super-secret source who steered Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein through the...

BACALL BASHING - WHY DID 'SOPRANOS' POP AN ICON?

TOO bad Uncle Junior didn't kill Tony Soprano when he (and the producers) had the chance. Really. As bad, as demeaning, as embarrassing as the show's been all season, it...

GET OUT! - LONDON'S GREAT, BUT THERE'S MORE TO ENGLAND - DAVID LANDSEL FINDS FOUR GREAT GETAWAYS

NEW FOREST Created by William the Conqueror in 1079 as a hunting ground for the royal family, this sparsely populated region of more than 145 square miles in Hampshire is...

RIGHT FILM RIGHT TIME - IT'S NOT TOO SOON FOR POWERFUL 9/11 TALE; WORTH SEEING, TOUGH TO WATCH

IT'S not easy watching "United 93," a gut-wrenching, semidocumentary depiction of the flight that crashed into a Pennsylvania field on 9/11 - as passengers and crew heroically fought back against...

BIKINI OR BUST - GET YOUR BODY BEACH READY FROM HEAD TO TOE

NECK Throat toner: Stand tall with your legs hip-width apart. Bring your chin toward your chest, bring it back up to the center and then look up to the ceiling,...

BUY ME! GREAT SOUVENIRS UNDER $10

* Eat your Wheaties! Bowls ($2.67/each) at Zara Home (79 Brompton Rd.). * Liven up a party with fun coasters ($3.47/each) from Harvey Nichols (125 Knightsbridge). * Get ready for...

TRIBECA'S FEST BETS - FIVE HOT FILMS FROM THIS YEAR'S LINEUP

A handful of titles to catch at this year's Tribeca Film Festival: "Civic Duty" - Peter Krause (of TV's "Six Feet Under") plays an unemployed accountant who becomes obsessed with...

HEAT'S ON OVER VOTE MACHINES

The state Board of Elections has until Friday to answer a questionnaire about whether new voting machines will be able to accommodate disabled voters, officials said yesterday. In February, the...

MOB COP'S NEW LAWYER

Mob cop Louis Eppolito has ditched one Gotti family lawyer - and replaced him with another. The Mafia mole and hit man yesterday unceremoniously parted ways with Bruce Cutler, John...

ASSEMBLY 'VETOES' THE VETOES

ALBANY - The Assembly yesterday began overriding dozens of Gov. Pataki's budget vetoes, but the Senate held off for at least another day, hoping for a last-minute negotiated settlement with...

JAY-Z PAL ADMITS TO R. ATTACK

Jay-Z's road manager pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct yesterday for pepper-spraying singer R. Kelly at the height of the two performers' public war two years ago. Tyran "Ty Ty" Smith...

JACKO'S RANCH IS OPEN AGAIN

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson has quietly reopened Neverland Ranch, staffing it with a skeleton crew to care for the animals, state officials said. The state labor board shut down...

SHRINK RAP IN 'PERVY' PRIEST SUIT

A Long Island woman who has accused a priest of molesting her when she was 13 has filed a $6 million lawsuit that includes an unusual claim of "assault and...

STATE URGED TO RESTORE FILM $$

The city and state should double the amount of tax breaks they give to film and television productions that stay in the Big Apple, several lawmakers said yesterday. Gov. Pataki...

POLS TURN ON RUSSIAN DIPLO

A Russian attaché, who allegedly hit a cop while driving drunk Saturday, should either face trial or be forced to leave the country if he continues to hide behind his...

3 BUSTED FOR 'DWI' WITH KIDS

Three parents - in separate incidents - were charged with driving drunk with their kids in their cars within a few hours on the Long Island Expressway, police said yesterday....

'NO PLACE FOR ZAC ON EARTH': FEDS

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Federal prosecutors urged jurors to send convicted al Qaeda 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui to the death chamber yesterday, saying there is "no place on this good earth"...

PAINT-IFFS FILE SUIT - ARTISTS CHALLENGE GRAFFITI LAW

Art student Linzie Vincenty is sick of feeling like a criminal when she carries her creative materials to and from her Brooklyn school. So the talented graffitist has joined six...

SPITZER'S RX FOR MEDICAID

ALBANY - Attorney General Eliot Spitzer yesterday criticized Gov. Pataki for seeking to tighten Medicaid eligibility requirements for long-term care, a move he says could force some spouses to either...

EMS DEAL CUTS STARTING PAY

Paramedics and EMS workers signed a tentative contract with the city yesterday that, like many recent new labor deals, gives pay raises in exchange for a lower starting salary. Workers...

GUN GROUP REBUFFED BY MAYORS

The trade association representing the firearms industry yesterday asked to be included in the "gun summit" being held today at Gracie Mansion for more than a dozen mayors from around...

WEB AND WORK DON'T CLICK: EXPERTS

Employees in the private sector should not be allowed to surf the Web for personal reasons while they're at work, experts told The Post yesterday. The consultants were responding to...

OSAMA, AGAIN - NEW TAPE, GRIM TALE

ON Sunday, al-Jazeera airs an audiotape from Osama bin Laden. On Monday, an attack in Egypt kills 30 people and injures more than 160. This monstrous event has an al...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * A young man died when a bullet tore through his leg after a gunman opened fire at a Bensonhurst intersection yesterday. Patrick Bogan, 24, who police believe was...

BUSH LOOKS INTO FUTURE

WASHINGTON - A futuristic President Bush yesterday told a 14-year-old boy that in a decade Americans need to be driving hydrogen-powered cars or at least hybrids, and women will be...

S.I. YANKS $TIFF CITY, AUDIT SAYS

The Staten Island Yankees owe the city $570,202 for past-due electricity, water and sewer costs - as well as late payment charges, Comptroller William Thompson reported in an audit yesterday....

PRINCIPAL COOK$ LUNCH BOOKS: PROBE

An aide at a Queens public elementary school, under the guidance of her principal, inflated its amount of federal poverty aid by lowering the salaries of parents listed on lunch...

BOMBS' GRISLY TOURIST TRAP - AT LEAST 18 SLAIN, 150 HURT AT RESORT IN EGYPT

Terrorist bombs tore through a popular foreign resort area on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula yesterday, killing nearly two dozen people and injuring more than 150 during the height of the vacation...

GOV GIVES SCHOOLS $11B BUILD BOOST

Twenty-one city school construction projects - including one stalled almost 40 years - will move forward this year, under an $11.2 billion funding package signed yesterday by Gov. Pataki. Mayor...

IT'S 'T' TIME FOR TOUSSAINT

A Queens man forced to bike, walk and beg rides from friends to get to work during last year's transit strike is now trying to make a buck off the...

DIAPER DUTY IS NO MISSION IMPOSSIBLE FOR TOM

Papa Tom doesn't pooh-pooh his doo-doo duty. "Mission: Impossible III" star Tom Cruise said in Rome yesterday that he'd rather be home changing diapers for newborn daughter Suri than making...

TRIBECA FEST OPENS TODAY WITH 9/11 FILMS

Four years after Robert De Niro founded the Tribeca Film Festival to revive lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11 attacks, the event kicks off today with a host of 9/11-related...

JAY-Z PAL ADMITS ASSAULT WITH PEPPER RAP

Jay-Z's road manager pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct yesterday for pepper-spraying singer R. Kelly at the height of the two performers' public war two years ago. Tyran "Ty Ty" Smith...

GAL RATTED OUT 'HIT RUN' BEAU

Cops got some unlikely help in their investigation of a fatal hit-run accident that killed a promising criminal-justice student - the girlfriend of the man accused of driving the speeding...

SAFER SUBWAYS - CRIME DERAILED, BUT GRAFFITI STAYS ON TRACK

Felony crimes on the subways continued to plummet last month, but graffiti is on the rise, officials said yesterday. There were 179 felonies this past March compared with 324 for...

ZIP ZIP HOORAY FOR HAMPTONS - RITZIEST CODE IN NATION

ZIP it, California. The nation's priciest real estate is in New York - in a quaint village in the hot, haute Hamptons. Sagaponack's 11962 postal zone ranks first on Forbes'...

SUIT CHARGES SEX AND BOOZE PARTIES AT POVICH SHOW

Life behind the scenes at the "Maury Povich Show" is "permeated with the use of alcohol, pornographic videos and parties inviting open and notorious sexual activities," an employee charged yesterday....

25 YEARS FOR SHOOTING COP

William Hodges nearly got away with shooting a hero cop when a controversial judge set him free, but the St. Albans man's fate was undeniable yesterday: He got 25 years...

HERALD SQ. 'PLOTTER' A NUKE KOOK

A dimwitted Pakistani national who plotted to blow up the Herald Square subway station was on the hunt for nuclear materials, the key witness against him testified yesterday at the...

KIDS CAMPAIGN AGAINST SEARCHES

High-school students held a rally outside a gathering of city education officials yesterday to protest random searches of kids for weapons to begin at middle and high schools tomorrow. "It...

FERRY-CRASH LIAR GETS PROBATION

A former Staten Island Ferry manager was given a slap on the wrist yesterday for lying to authorities probing the crash that killed 11 people and injured dozens. Port Captain...

WALLET FINDER IS GRILLED IN PARK SLAYING

Detectives yesterday were questioning a man who found the wallet of a Brooklyn man who was stabbed to death in Prospect Park Saturday. The man, whose name was withheld, is...

LABOR'S ATTEMPT AT SPAN SPIN FAILS

NEXT time, take the subway, Roger. For the second time in less than four months, Roger Toussaint and his lawless, hapless union buddies were responsible for clogging the walkways of...

MARCHING ON TOMBS-DAY - ROGER'S JAIL PRODUCTION

Roger - and out. Ever-defiant transit-union chief Roger Toussaint yesterday staged an over-the-top surrender to authorities to begin his brief jail stint at The Tombs - walking across the Brooklyn...

NABBED GIRL FOUND ALIVE

Three masked kidnappers snatched a 13-year-old Catholic schoolgirl from in front of her Rockland County home yesterday and stuffed her - howling for help - into the trunk of their...

'SATAN CULT' PRIEST ON TRIAL IN '80 NUN SLAY - CHILLING EVIDENCE IN UNHOLY CRIME AS DECADES-OLD MYSTERY UNRAVELS

Sister Margaret Ann Pahl may soon be able to rest in peace. More than a quarter-century after the elderly nun was found strangled and knifed to death - with stab...

CAR BUYERS SAY R.I.P. TO THE SUV

Local drivers are rushing to dump their gas-guzzlers and downsize to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, dealers said yesterday. In the city, gas prices reached the following highs: * Queens -...

PICTURE THIS: BILL IS FRAMED - OFFICIAL PORTRAIT UNVEILED

WASHINGTON - Bill Clinton has never looked so "hip." This jacket-pulled-back, extended-hip pose of the former president was unveiled last night during a ceremony at the Smithsonian Institution. In the...

GAY VICTIM FACES THUG

Half-paralyzed and slurring his speech, the victim of a vicious gay-bashing in Brooklyn hobbled into court yesterday to confront his assailant, as a judge handed down the 25-year maximum. Dwan...

HASID RABBI DIES - POWER STRUGGLE FOR SATMARS

Moses Teitelbaum, the grand rabbi of the Satmar Hasidic sect, died yesterday - and that could intensify the battle between two of his sons for control of the group, which...

A 'SLOPPY' COPY - TEEN AUTHOR ADMITS SHE PLAGIARIZED

A Harvard coed who landed a half-million-dollar book deal in high school - only now to be accused of plagiarism - yesterday admitted "there are similarities" between her work and...

BOMBS' GRISLY TOURIST TRAP - AT LEAST 30 SLAIN, DOZENS INJURED IN EGYPT

A bloody string of terrorist bombings tore through a popular foreign resort area on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula yesterday, killing at least 30 people and injuring as many as 150 during...

HASID RABBI DIES - POWER STRUGGLE LOOMS FOR SATMARS

Moses Teitelbaum, the grand rabbi of the Satmar Hasidic sect, died yesterday - which will likely intensify the battle between two of his sons for control of the group, which...

BRONX CRASH HORROR

A Bronx man was clinging to life early today after he was crushed by an SUV that ran a red light and rammed into his car, partially ejecting him, cops...

'MAURY' PORNO SCANDAL - SEX AND BOOZE SUIT

Life behind the scenes at "The Maury Povich Show" is fit for an episode of the sensational program - it's "permeated with the use of alcohol, pornographic videos and parties...

W. HAILS ALIENS - SAYS MASS DEPORTS CAN'T WORK

WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday said "massive deportation" of the 12 million illegal aliens now living in America won't work - so they should be allowed "to get in line"...

SORRY SLUGGER - METS' KEITH APOLOGIZES TO PADRES GAL TRAINER

Embarrassed Met broadcaster Keith Hernandez yesterday apologized to the female San Diego Padres massage therapist who sparked his chauvinistic "women . . . don't belong in the dugout" remark. "Keith...

ASSEMBLY PUTS GOV'S BUDGET INTO 'OVERRIDE'

ALBANY - The Assembly yesterday began overriding dozens of Gov. Pataki's budget vetoes, but the Senate held off for at least another day, hoping for a last-minute negotiated settlement with...

SWERVING TREY - 3 IN 'DWIS' WITH KIDS IN CAR

Three parents - in separate incidents - were locked up for driving drunk with their kids in their cars within a few hours on the Long Island Expressway, police said...

'MAURY' MUDDIED - EX-AIDE CHARGES OFFSTAGE BOOZE & SEX

Life behind the scenes at "The Maury Povich Show" is fit for an episode of the sensational program - it's "permeated with the use of alcohol, pornographic videos and parties...

STATEN ISLAND FERRY-CRASH LIAR GETS PROBATION

A former Staten Island Ferry manager was given a slap on the wrist yesterday for lying to authorities probing the crash that killed 11 people and injured dozens more. Port...

URGES CITIZENSHIP FOR 12 MILLION ALIENS

WASHINGTON-President Bush yesterday said "massive deportation" of the 12 million illegal aliens now living in America won't work - so they should be allowed "to get in line" for citizenship....

SLOPPY 'COPY'

A 19-year-old Harvard sophomore - who signed a half-million- dollar book deal in high school - is under attack for including passages in her debut novel that appear to have...

BOMBS' GRISLY TOURIST TRAP - AT LEAST 23 SLAIN, DOZENS INJURED IN EGYPT

A bloody string of terrorist bombings tore through a popular foreign resort area on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula yesterday, killing nearly two dozen people and injuring as many as 150 during...

BONGS TO SONGS - POT PRINCESS PUSHING FOR POP FAME AS SINGER 'J-DIA'

Move over, J.Lo - the "Pot Princess" is angling to become a pop princess. Julia Diaco, who got a slap on the wrist for selling drugs out of her NYU...

WELL HUNG - UNVEILED: BUBBA'S HIP NEW PORTRAIT; BILL GETS FRAMED

WASHINGTON - Bill Clinton has never looked so hip. This jacket-pulled-back pose of the former president was unveiled last night during a private ceremony at the Smithsonian Institution. It will...

BONDS: 755? NO WAY - CAN'T SEE CATCHING AARON

SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds doesn't think he's ever going to get to 755. Bonds, the Giants' sensational but controversial left fielder who is third on baseball's career home run...

OMAR DESERVES HIS PROPS

WE receive no joy at the Tuesday Morning Shortstop playing Monday Morning Quarterback. But, with 20-20 hindsight and nearly 20 games played now, it is hard to ignore that the...

GIANTS MAY OPT FOR O-LINE HELP

To get the buzz on the Giants, agent Drew Rosenhaus has plenty of direct lines of communication at his disposal. He represents Jeremy Shockey, Antonio Pierce, Plaxico Burress and newcomer...

TIGHT ENDS UP FOR GRABS

Fifth of a series The Chargers have Antonio Gates. The Chiefs have Tony Gonzalez. The Giants have Jeremy Shockey. The Falcons have Alge Crumpler. The Steelers have an up-and-comer in...

LUMBER'S GONE INTO SLUMBER

THERE is resignation now where once there was bluster, acquiescence where once wild-eyed wrath carried the day. Barry Bonds is hurting, and he is aging, the best baseball body that...

RENNEY IN 'FOUL' MOOD

The Rangers went to the penalty box 16 times in Game 1 and felt shame at giving themselves no opportunity to win. For Game 2 last night they were without...

PAULA BACK AT WYKAGYL

Paula Creamer, one of the LPGA's brightest young stars, will defend her first professional title at the Sybase Classic May 15-21 at Wykagyl CC in New Rochelle. A year ago,...

HALL HONORS EPIPHANNY'S BIG NIGHT

After Bergtraum's Epiphanny Prince and her coach, Ed Grezinsky, were on the receiving end of considerable criticism following her record-setting 113-point performance in a 137-32 win over Brandeis on Feb....

BATS NOT ENOUGH - DH COMING UP SHORT FOR BOMBERS

Only two teams in baseball are hitting better than the Yankees, who are supposed to have the most complete lineup, one through nine, in either league. Yet, when it comes...

BONDS: AARON OUT OF REACH - AILING SLUGGER: 'I'M HAPPY WITH WHAT I'VE DONE'

SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds doesn't think he's ever going to get to 755. Bonds, the Giants' sensational but controversial left fielder who is third on baseball's career home run...

CHAVEZ IN HIT PARADE

MET NOTES SAN FRANCISCO - Endy Chavez has begun to collect some hits. While Carlos Beltran has been out with an ailing right hamstring, Chavez has been playing center field,...

ROCKET TO YANKS? NOT YET

YANKEE NOTES There was nothing to the buzz circulating through baseball yesterday that Roger Clemens has decided to pitch for the Yankees and was close to signing with them. "Roger's...

KIDD: WE HAVE TO REBOUND TONIGHT

NET NOTES Jason Kidd wants the Nets to run. But you can't run if you don't rebound, so take a wild stab what one area Kidd hopes to see the...

DEFENDING VINCE - FRANK INCENSED AT CRITICISM OF 33-SHOT CARTER

Nets coach Lawrence Frank hauled out the war analogies yesterday then launched a counterstrike in defense of Vince Carter. Reacting with obvious annoyance at critics of Carter's 33-shot Game 1,...

NO MORE KIDD-IN' AROUND

IF you ask me, Jayson Williams might've enjoyed last weekend more than anyone currently associated with the Nets. Only those with a bad sense of smell and a satirical awareness...

JAX: NETS AXED ME BECAUSE OF MARBURY

For the first time, Pacers guard Stephen Jackson has claimed the Nets got rid of him after his productive rookie season in 2000-2001 because of his relationship with Stephon Marbury....

REPRIMANDED - HERNANDEZ APOLOGIZES TO PADRES' GAL TRAINER

Embarrassed Mets broadcaster Keith Hernandez was reprimanded by SportsNet New York yesterday even after he apologized to the female Padres massage therapist who sparked his chauvinistic "women . . ....

BELTRAN STILL OUT

MET NOTES SAN FRANCISCO - Willie Randolph said yesterday that Carlos Beltran is unlikely to start any game against the Giants this week and might not play at all until...

MADDEN TRIPLES HIS FUN

It wasn't that the Devils' John Madden figured he could concentrate on the offensive side of his own game because the Rangers' Jaromir Jagr was out of Game 2 last...

OH, NO, OZOLINSH!

One Devils goal shorthanded, then a sixth in two games on the power play and the Rangers, who went eight years without a playoff game, quickly were behind the 8-ball...

BELTRAN MIGHT SIT OUT SERIES

MET NOTES SAN FRANCISCO - Met manager Willie Randolph said yesterday that Carlos Beltran is unlikely to start any game against the Giants this week, and might not play at...

WHOLLY MOISES! - ALOU TWICE MAKES METS PAY FOR INTENTIONAL WALKS

Giants 6 - Mets 2 SAN FRANCISCO - Either the Mets should be pitching to Barry Bonds or they should be intentionally walking Moises Alou, too. Last night, the Mets...

RANGERS SHOW HEART, BUT STILL NEED HENRIK

IF THE Rangers could go into the Meadowlands without Jaromir Jagr and outwork the Devils the way they did over the final 40 minutes of last night's Game 2, then...

LUNDQVIST BENCHED, LIKE MARTY 12 YEARS AGO

IN 1993-94, his rookie season, Martin Brodeur struggled at Boston Garden during the regular season. After leading the Devils to a seven-game victory over the Sabres in the first round...

DEVILS WIN MADDEN-ING - HAT TRICK PUTS RANGERS IN 0-2 HOLE

GAME 2: Devils 4 - Rangers 1 That's 10-2, and not just the combined score. It's 10 to midnight for the Cinderella Rangers, who need Jaromir Jagr to become an...

THAT TIME OF THE WEEKES - JAGR, KASPAR, HENRIK SIT OUT GAME 2

So the Rangers turn towards the Garden, having endured a house of horrors at the Meadowlands. Even before Game 2 last night in New Jersey, the Blueshirts were already reeling...

JANSSEN, HOLLWEG IN DUEL

The Devils' Jay Pandolfo may have wondered what to do last night, with his high-profile mark, Ranger star Jaromir Jagr, out of Game 2 because of an injury. While Pandolfo's...

LIBS LIKE NEW LOOK

This is not, uh, your mother's Liberty. On May 20, when the 10th WNBA season tips off, the Liberty roster will be absent of any original players and full of...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Police in Hayward, Calif., spent an hour pushing a naked man up the chimney in his stepmother's home. Seems he didn't have a key when he got home after a...