May 25, 2006

FEDS' SPECIALIST TRIAL COULD BITE GRASSO

LAWYERS for the New York Stock Exchange specialists who are scheduled to begin going on trial in two weeks have to answer one question before the festivities begin: Should former...

TRADE SECRETS - NYSE'S EURONEXT BID NEEDED TO THWART NASDAQ

The New York Stock Exchange is pushing hard to win control of Euronext to offset steadily declining U.S. market share and a surprisingly effective Nasdaq move on the London Stock...

ALL BETS ARE OFF ON ENRON VERDICT

One place has already closed the book on the Enron trial while the jury is still out. BetCRIS, an online gambling site, decided to stop taking bets on the outcome...

XM DROPS BACK TO EARTH ON BAD NEWS

XM Satellite Radio investors must be wondering: When will the bad news end? Yesterday the company said it will come up short of its yearend subscriber and revenue goals, sending...

CBS, STERN BURY HATCHET IN $500M SUIT

CBS has settled its estimated $500 million lawsuit against "King of All Media" Howard Stern. Details of the deal were not revealed, but a person familiar with the talks said...

FRANK'S FREEDOM FUND $$ - FOR 'WRONGFULLY JAILED'

Indicted dot-com financier Frank Quattrone and his tech mogul pals are raising millions for a tiny charity that helps free the wrongfully imprisoned - just in case he lands behind...

NETS ATTACK TRUCKER TV

Last year, truckers who watched CNN in the TV lounge at the Flying J truck stop in Pembroke, N.Y., saw an ad for "Motorkote" engine lubricant that viewers of the...

$825M DEAL FOR B'WAY TOWER

The major Times Square building at 1540 Broadway is in contract to be sold to a combination of Steve Roth's Vornado Realty Trust and Sam Zell's Equity Office Properties for...

GREAT OUTDOORS - COOPED UP? HERE'S WHERE TO FIND FRESH AIR IN NEW YORK CITY

COMMUNITY GARDENS WHEN Colan McGeehan and his wife, Melissa, relocated from Allentown, Pa., to New York earlier this year, the idea of living in the city was exciting. But they...

PLAZA GETS FACELIFT

3,000 sq. feet: $10M It looks like Eloise will have a new playmate. Sources tell us that surgically altered socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein has put a deposit down on a spacious...

ROOF DECKS

THE roof deck at 2 Grace Court in Brooklyn Heights is none too fancy. The simple wood structure looks like something a person might put up easily enough, given a...

TERRACES

OUTDOOR space in the city is a precious thing. Parks, playing fields - just about any patch of green will do - on a nice day, New Yorkers flock there....

LIVING BY THE WATER

AS every last square inch of the city is slowly developed, there are more and more opportunities to live steps from the water. Take 170 East End Ave., a 20-story,...

ENGLISH AL JAZEERA DELAYED AGAIN

AL Jazeera still hasn't launched its English-language network - and there's no clear date on when that might occur. Al Jazeera International, an offshoot of the Qatar-based Arabic network that...

DRUTHERS OF INVENTION - EDISON WANNABES STRUT THEIR STUFF

MAYBE you didn't think you needed a screwdriver with a built-in flashlight, let alone a "smart shirt" that monitored your vital signs - or a template for clipping your dog's...

CHIX SINGIN' NEW 'VIEW' TUNE

DIXIE Chick Emily Robison has apologized to the women of "The View" for dissing them in Time magazine. "View" co-host Meredith Vieira read Robison's mea culpa at the top of...

AT FACE VALUE - FRENCH TRANSPLANT WOMAN SPEAKS

TONIGHT, perhaps the most extraordinary surgical procedure since the heart transplant - the face transplant for a French woman who had her face bitten off by a dog last year...

'LOST' & FOUND - 'PLANE' TRUTH ABOUT FINALE

AT LEAST we know why the plane crashed. That, and a few other tidbits of information, was about all that was revealed last night in the two-hour, cliffhanger season finale...

STARR REPORT

This, that, the other Here's a short list of quickie items, in no particular order, that have been called to the attention of The Starr Report: * Lots happening on...

FACE SWAP LADY TALKS

TONIGHT, perhaps the most extraordinary surgical procedure since the heart transplant - the face transplant for a French woman who had her face bitten off by a dog last year...

FIRST SPOILER - JACK WON'T SPEND NEXT '24' HOURS IN CHINA

Just because Jack Bauer is on a slow boat to China, that doesn't mean he'll wind up there. That's the word from Howard Gordon, executive producer of "24," who acknowledged...

HIP DEEP - TOXIC GOWANUS NEXT FRONTIER FOR TRENDY; GOWANUS UPON US

WITH one hand on the steering wheel, David, a middle-age, slightly weathered, born-and-bred New Yorker, navigates his 17-foot motorboat along the once-putrid Gowanus Canal. Beneath the Third Street Bridge, as...

AVRIL FOOL - FORMER TEEN PUNK REBELS AGAINST REBEL IMAGE

'GREAT Lengths: $500; Nicole Richie diet: $2; rocker boyfriend: $1,000; celeb stylist: $10,000. Getting paid a lot of money to make a 15minute appearance? Priceless," says fashion publicist Lisette SandFriedman....

TRAFFIC REPORT: A DATING SHORTCUT

BEN Philips is a big fan of traffic. Not that he's a glutton for punishment, but he has learned that sometimes there's nothing like a red light to meet the...

TAYLOR TAKES 'IDOL' CROWN - 'BAMA SOUL MAN BEATS KATHARINE

TAYLOR HICKS was America's pick. The silver-haired soul man from Birmingham, Ala., last night became the fifth winner of "American Idol." Hicks, 29 - whose legions of fans call themselves...

WE GOT GUY WHO ROBBED US: COPS

Cops have busted the city's boldest thief - a burglar who sneaked into an East Harlem station house, where he pried open police lockers and stole cops' loaded guns, ammunition,...

LOBBYI$TS LOVE HILLARY

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton took more campaign cash from well-heeled lobbyists this year than any lawmaker except one, an analysis of Washington's influence industry reveals. Clinton raked in...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * A man was arrested after smashing a Boerum Hill coffee-shop employee in the head, authorities said yesterday. Sonnike Deloatch, of Harlem, carried a bag of food into the...

RUDY IS SHUT OUT OF PARTY

New York's best-known Republican - potential presidential contender Rudy Giuliani - will skip next week's state GOP nominating convention because of what party officials claim was a "scheduling" conflict, The...

ANTI-GRAFT COP'S PUTRID PRESENT

The NYPD's chief corruption fighter received a nasty belated Christmas "gift" last week that triggered a sweeping anti-terrorism and biochemical response inside his police headquarters office, The Post has learned....

GOP GETS ALIEN-ATED FROM PREZ

IT'S a good bet now that there won't be any law to legalize illegal aliens - at least before next fall's election. As many Republicans see it, President Bush is...

JERSEY MAN IN AFRICA SPY RAP

A New Jersey postal worker who took pictures of a high-security compound on a visit to Sierra Leone has been charged with spying - and hatching a scheme to spring...

TRUCK 'BOMB' ON L.I.

A bomb-sniffing pooch doing a routine safety check on Long Island made an explosive find: a truck containing a record nine tons of illegal fireworks, with enough power to blow...

HARD-DRIVEN TO 'STEAL'

ALBANY - A top state official stole a state-owned computer for personal use and then misled his underlings in trying to cover it up, the state Inspector General's Office charges....

JACKO JOLT - EX CAN FIGHT FOR KID CUSTODY

LOS ANGELES - The California Supreme Court yesterday shot down Michael Jackson's claim to undisputed custody of his kids, and gave his ex-wife Debbie Rowe her best chance yet to...

'WAKE UP, AMBER' - DAD'S GRIEF AT BUS-GIRL FUNERAL

A Brooklyn family, torn between forgiveness and sorrow, yesterday buried a little girl killed by a runaway school bus set in motion by a reckless child prankster. Teachers, friends and...

RAPIST IS CONVICTED

A Brooklyn man with a history of sex offenses was convicted yesterday of raping a 16-year-old girl. Phillip Campbell, 29, attacked the teen, his neighbor in Midwood, in 2004. The...

COUNCIL LA$HES LOBBYISTS

Moving to tighten the flow of money from lobbyists, the City Council yesterday passed a package of tough regulatory bills. The measure sends "a very clear message to New Yorkers...

EDITOR SENT TO HOUSE OF CORRECTION

The former editor of the hip-hop magazine The Source was tossed in jail for six months yesterday on bizarre charges that he clonked two strangers in the head with a...

'REPEAT PERV' TEACHER BUSTED IN NEW MOLEST

A 57-year-old Brooklyn elementary-school teacher has been arrested on sexual-abuse and child-endangerment charges for allegedly fondling a 10-year-old female pupil, authorities said. City investigators said Shedrick Bell, who had been...

FLYOVER FOR THE FLEET - SOARING SALUTE TO SEAFARING HEROES

It was a soaring start yesterday to the Big Apple's annual Fleet Week as the Air Force Reserve's acrobatic "Dream Machine" (above) did a welcoming flyover. Leading the grand parade...

MOBSTER'S WITNESS CLAMS UP

A former manager for Liza Minnelli has privately refuted the feds' claims that he was the victim of a shakedown by reputed Gambino capo Greg DePalma - but refuses to...

COUNCIL OKS 'GREEN' CABS

The City Council yesterday voted unanimously to increase the number of wheelchair-accessible and alternative-fuel yellow cabs. The move paves the way for the sale of 254 "green" taxi medallions. These...

NIGHTLIFE A DEADLY NIGHTMARE

THIS may be the only bloodstain in the history of crime to be guarded by a velvet rope. By 1 p.m. yesterday, the rope was still standing outside the nightclub...

COPS SUSPECT SERIAL KILLER - BOUNCER JAILED IN CLUB RAMPAGE AMID PROBE OF THREE MORE DEATHS

The burly bouncer who allegedly shot four men outside a Chelsea club is being eyed as a suspect in three other murders - including one of a bouncer who worked...

DA SCOFFS AT 'MAFIA' FED'S CLAIM

Brooklyn prosecutors yesterday blasted accused FBI mob mole Lindley DeVecchio's claim that he's entitled to a federal trial. The former G-man, who's accused of helping the Colombo family engineer four...

BLACK & WHITE AND SEEING RED - PARENTS RIP N.Y. 'CHOOSE 1 RACE ONLY' SCHOOL RULE

A biracial Staten Island couple has vowed to challenge a state Department of Education system for classifying students by race - claiming their 5-year-old daughter doesn't fall into any category...

ACS MOM'S SLAP RAP ZAPPED

Assault and other charges have been dropped against an employee of the city's Administration for Children's Services who was accused of slapping her 7-year-old daughter in the face earlier this...

KIDS IN COP CRASH - B'KLYN BOYS THROWN FROM CAR

Cops investigate the glass-strewn accident scene yesterday in front of the smashed-up police van that hit a car. Diamond Nicholas, 6 (inset) was in a medically induced coma and his...

SUBWAY PLOTTER GUILTY - 'DUMB' DEFENSE NIXED

A Pakistani immigrant was convicted yesterday of plotting to wreak havoc in the heart of the city by blowing up the Herald Square subway station. After a four-week trial, a...

SUIT MELTS AWAY - CREMALITA CASE KO'D

Fat's all, folks! A Manhattan judge has thrown out a proposed class-action lawsuit by an overweight man who blamed his physical condition on more caloric-than-advertised CremaLita ice cream. CremaLita had...

NICK'S FAT MOUTH - JURY SEES HIM ACT OUT BEATING

Nicholas "Fat Nick" Minucci had his say in court yesterday as jurors in his hate-crime trial heard his recorded statements to cops - including details on how he beat a...

MIKE'S 'CARD' DEAL - URGES NATIONAL WORK ID

Every worker in America - citizens and aliens alike - should get a tamper-proof ID card using DNA or fingerprints, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday as he jumped into the middle...

HURT BRAVEST'S LONG WAY HOME

Friends and family gathered yesterday to watch firefighter Matthew Long walk out of the hospital five months after getting hit by a bus during the transit strike. But there was...

GUN SHOPS' ROTTEN GOODS MAKE FOR SOUR APPLE

The nation's five worst-of-the-worst gun dealers sold weapons that were used in 64 Big Apple crimes, new statistics revealed yesterday. The majority of the guns, 44, came from the Hyatt...

SUSPECT ID'D IN MA HORROR SLAY

Cops yesterday said David Ramos (right) is suspected of fatally stabbing his girlfriend in Brooklyn. The body of the victim, Patricia Torres, 25, was found by her 6-year-old son, who...

JEN HAS LEG UP ON VINCE

She's got him right where she wants him - and Jennifer Aniston is making sure Vince Vaughn doesn't turn into as big a heel as some of the other men...

CASTING OUCH: CATE AS DYLAN

Sexy Cate Blanchett is going to find out how many roads you have to walk down before they will call you a man - after signing on to play Bob...

ICE-CREAM SUIT MELTS

Fat's all, folks! A Manhattan judge has thrown out a proposed class-action lawsuit by an overweight man who blamed his physical condition on more caloric-than-advertised CremaLita ice cream. CremaLita had...

MAMA'S LITTLE HELPER - TV, COMPUTER NANNIES

American parents are relying on electronic "baby sitters" more than ever before - using TVs, DVDs and computers to keep their kids occupied while doing their own chores, according to...

TRUCK 'BOMB' ON L.I. - 9 TONS OF FIREWORKS

A bomb-sniffing pooch doing a routine safety check on Long Island made an explosive find: a truck containing a record nine tons of illegal fireworks, with enough power to blow...

HERBERT HOOVER - 31ST PRESIDENT, 1929-1933

This former engineer presided over the nation during the Great Depression. Herbert Clark Hoover was born in West Branch, Iowa, on Aug. 10, 1874. Hoover earned a degree in mining...

BOUNCER'S NEIGHBORS: THE GUY'S A SWEETHEART

He had no criminal background and was viewed by family and neighbors as a calm and serious guy - the last one anyone would expect to gun down four people....

CROWD GOES FROM ARTSY TO BOOZY AT SUNDOWN

Before it made headlines as the scene of a bloody quadruple shooting, Opus 22 was a hip-hop lounge popular with a "Fast and Furious" crowd of souped-up importcar drivers and...

WORST DEALERS OF CRIME WEAPONS

The nation's five worst-of-the-worst gun dealers sold weapons that were used in 64 Big Apple crimes, new statistics revealed yesterday. The majority of the guns, 44, came from the Hyatt...

NADY ON PINE WITH STIFF BACK

MET NOTES Xavier Nady was given a second consecutive night off to rest the stiff lower back that caused him to be a late scratch from the lineup Tuesday. Though...

WRIGHT'S BAT STILL SMOKIN'

David Wright was saying how the Mets are capable of winning any number of ways and how they're a versatile bunch who can play baseball with power, speed and defense....

CUBAN SANDWICH - AFTER GETTING EL DUQUE, SOLER HELPS METS

METS 5 - PHILLIES 4 After his first 26 pitches in the majors, Alay Soler hadn't recorded an out and trailed by three runs last night. But if Soler's difficult,...

POWER PLAY: NETS GM LOOKS FORWARD

The first set of draft workouts for the Nets yesterday revealed a potential first-round pick in an ACC power forward and a possible second-rounder with local flavor. GM Ed Stefanski...

BERNARDINI WON'T START IN BELMONT

Bernardini, whose 5 1/4-length victory in last Saturday's Preakness was all but ignored after Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was pulled up with a broken leg, will not run in the...

PRADO STILL FEELS BARBARO'S PAIN

Jockey Edgar Prado, who spent the past few days following Barbaro's breakdown in the Preakness "trying to be in my own cocoon," opened the floodgates yesterday to a torrent of...

DOLAN DRAMA NEEDS ENDING

THERE were no pre-draft workouts yesterday at the Knicks' Westchester facility, so Larry Brown's heir apparent Isiah Thomas did not have to play the phony and chat up the coach...

BIG CARRYOVER IS 'HEAVENLY'

Edgar Prado had three-bagger to pull within three of Eibar Coa atop jockey standings; Mike Luzzi won two to move into third place. SIXTH RACE: Nice return by Fishy Advice,...

DUELING DUGOUTS - A-ROD, RAMIREZ HOMER REACTIONS REVITALIZE RIVALRY

BOSTON - It's on! After six games of just baseball between the Yankees and Red Sox, two home runs Tuesday night, one by each team's superstar, have re-ignited the most...

NETS GM LOOKS FORWARD

The first set of draft workouts for the Nets yesterday revealed a potential first-round pick in an ACC power forward and a possible second-rounder with local flavor. GM Ed Stefanski...

GIANTS SIGN DT IOANE

Continuing to stockpile defensive tackles who might be able to fill their vacancy at nose tackle, the Giants yesterday signed Junior Ioane, a 6-4, 331-pound veteran of six seasons. Ioane...

POSADA SET FOR MRI TEST

YANKEE NOTES BOSTON - The Yankees are concerned enough about Jorge Posada's left leg to send him for an MRI today. "He has a hamstring tendon that is pretty sore,"...

BETANCES DELIVERS VICTORY

H.S. NOTES Dellin Betances' stock had dropped a bit earlier in the year when scouts noticed that the 6-foot-9 senior's arm angle was too high and he wasn't pitching as...

'EL'-COME ABOARD - METS GET DUQUE IN TRADE FOR JULIO

It's a move right out of the Yankees' championship playbook. And many years later, the Mets are hoping Orlando Hernandez still has some magic left in his right arm. The...

MANNY, A-ROD SPARK HR FEUD

BOSTON - It's on! After six games of just baseball, two home runs Tuesday night - one by each team's superstar - has reignited the most passionate rivalry in sports....

RED BULLS JUST CAN'T HOLD ON

When Red Bull bought the former MetroStars, they boasted of becoming the best in MLS. Well, there is one thing this last-place bunch is the best in the league at:...

HERNANDEZ FITS OCTOBER FOCUS

THERE is something about the idea of Orlando Hernandez coming to the Mets at this point in his career and at this point of this season that makes you think...

MANNY STRIKING HRS, NOT POSES, HELPS FUEL FEUD

BOSTON - The Yankees flexed their muscles good and taut last night, beat up on a tomato can named Matt Clement and were able to camouflage most of the dents...

SCENE-STEALER - JETER'S SUPPORTING ROLE IN YANKS' SOAP OPERA REALLY A STAR TURN

BOSTON - Alex Rodriguez is the tortured genius at the center of the Yankees' soap opera. He mixes extreme talent with gnawing insecurity and suspect sincerity. The cast has a...

YANK LINEUP A SORE SUBJECT - FOOT PROBLEM MAKES DAMON LATEST TO SIT

BOSTON - Joe Torre couldn't wait until Friday night against the Royals to give Johnny Damon two games off. In what could be an admission that the Yankees are more...

MANNY'S MOCKING SHOWS ARTIFICIAL INTENSITY

BOSTON - Time was, men were men and fists were fists, and the hard feelings that emanated from the clubhouses and the dugouts were real, and they were visceral, and...

KYLE'S SPECIAL K SHUTS UP FENWAY

BOSTON - The people took their feet, because they'd seen this drill before, they'd memorized the script a long time ago. There were 36,375 of them pinched inside Fenway Park,...

YANKEES LEAVE SOX ON ROCKS - MELKY, BERNIE BAIL OUT BIG UNIT

YANKEES 8 - RED SOX 6 BOSTON - The words flow from lips that are not known for transporting lies. Yet, there is a lack of conviction in each syllable...

UNIT'SCHEAP WIN

BOSTON - The Yankees called up Matt Smith yesterday from Columbus, instantly making Randy Johnson the fourth best left-hander currently on the staff. The only factor preventing Johnson from descending...

YANKEES LEAVE SOX ON ROCKS - BERNIE, MELKY BATS BAIL OUT BIG UNIT

Yankees 8 - Red Sox 6 BOSTON - Joe Torre says Randy Johnson will be OK when he feels comfortable with himself. Based on the awful way Johnson has pitched...

A-ROD CONFRONTS MIRABELLI

BOSTON - According to several Fenway Park sources, Alex Rodriguez called Doug Mirabelli over late yesterday afternoon and challenged the Red Sox' backup catcher over what Mirabelli said about A-Rod's...

IT'S SAME 'OLD' STORY FOR RANDY

BOSTON - There is no more fear factor for Randy Johnson. The Big Unit, once one of the most dominant lefties of all time, is a mere mortal. His fastball...

POSADA TO HAVE MRI TODAY ON SORE HAMMY

YANKEE NOTES BOSTON - The Yankees are concerned enough about Jorge Posada's left leg to send him for an MRI today. "He has a hamstring tendon that is pretty sore,"...

HERNANDEZ FITS OCTOBER PLAN

THERE is something about the idea of Orlando Hernandez coming to the Mets at this point in his career and at this point of this season that makes you think...

'EL'-COME ABOARD - METS GET DUQUE BY TRADING JULIO

It's a move right out of the Yankees' championship playbook. And many years later, the Mets are hoping Orlando Hernandez still has some magic left in his right arm. The...

NADY TAKING ANOTHER REST

MET NOTES Xavier Nady was given another day off to rest the stiff lower back that caused him to be a late scratch Tuesday night against the Phillies. Though he...

DOLAN-DRAWN DRAMA NEEDS QUICK ENDING - BROWN TREATMENT DESPICABLE

THERE were no predraft workouts yesterday at the Knicks' Westchester facility, so Larry Brown's heir apparent Isiah Thomas did not have to play the phony and chat up the coach...

RED BULLS IN BRUTAL STRETCH

The last-place Red Bulls can't worry about who is coming or going, who is hurt or even AWOL. Last night's home contest against MLSleading FC Dallas started a four-game stretch...

KINGS LIKELY OFF LIST

Scratch Sacramento off Larry Brown's potential landing strip. Kings owner Joe Maloof sounded down on Brown. "Obviously, he's one of the best coaches of all time," Maloof told ESPN. "But...

PITCHER FEELING 'GRAND'

H.S. NOTES Dellin Betances' stock had dropped a bit earlier in the year when scouts noticed that the 6-9 senior's arm angle was too high and he wasn't pitching as...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Rush-hour traffic came to a halt on the Florida Turnpike in Palm Beach -while an alligator slithered across the road. State police, alerted by alarmed motorists, stopped northbound traffic until...