June 8, 2006

PAULSON'S OTHER JOB AS WALL ST. PLUNGE PROTECTOR

QUICK, somebody tell soon-to-be Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson about the other part of his job: being a member of the Plunge Protection Team. What is that? It's something that Wall...

L-3 SHARES SOAR AFTER CHIEF'S SUDDEN DEATH

The unexpected death of legendary defense tycoon Frank Lanza sent shares of his company L-3 Communications soaring - and even enriched his own estate by $20 million. The 74-year-old chairman...

ANDA JUMPS SHOP - SAYS PERELLA'S POKEY

Morgan Stanley boss John Mack scored a huge victory for the firm he took over only 12 months ago by persuading IPO-guru Jon Anda to return. Anda defected just five...

EVERY CITY WANTS A DITTY; NOT ALL OF THEM ARE PRETTY

Blame it on something in the water, but a slogan craze seems to be sweeping U.S. cities. From Baltimore to Palm Springs, Calif., more and more towns are trying to...

VIVENDI TO VIK: HUH?

Alexander Vik, the Norwegian ex-billionaire who has taken aim at French media-and-telecom giant Vivendi, yesterday claimed that the company has officially opened itself up for takeover offers. Vivendi shot right...

CBS RUNS OUT FRONT IN FALL TV UPFRONTS

CBS has taken an early lead among the major networks in striking deals with advertisers to buy time during the new fall television season. The broadcast networks are busy trying...

SLIPPERY WORDS - GREENSPAN'S OIL TALK STUMPS MARTS

When Alan Greenspan speaks, Wall Street still can't tell what he means. The former Federal Reserve chief made his first non-paid speech before Congress yesterday - this time about the...

APOLLO'S $1.5B IPO COMES UP $1B SHORT

Apollo Management, the buyout firm headed by former Drexel Burnham Lambert banker Leon Black, raked in about $1.5 billion last night for a new publicly-traded private-equity vehicle - about $1...

PFIZER'S PFLAP - LIPITOR TIED TO NERVE WOES, MEMORY LOSS: LAWSUIT

Drug giant Pfizer failed to tell doctors and their patients its blockbuster cholesterol drug sometimes causes memory loss and severe nerve damage, according to two new lawsuits. In a pair...

STAR AXES FIVE MORE STAFFERS

The cuts continue at slumping American Media. Star magazine chopped five people yesterday - including the fashion editor and a one-time assistant to the company's high-octane Editorial Director, Bonnie Fuller....

EATERY BOSS ATE UP PROFITS

Italian restaurant chain Buca di Beppo is going to the dogs - at least its profits are. Federal regulators yesterday accused the ousted head of the chain of 104 eateries...

APOLLO'S IPO FLOP: $1B SHORT

Apollo Management, the buyout firm headed by former Drexel Burnham Lambert investment banker Leon Black, raked in about $1.5 billion last night for a new publicly-traded private-equity vehicle - about...

CITY DITTIES A MARKETING MUST

Blame it on something in the water, but a slogan craze seems to be sweeping U.S. cities. From Baltimore to Palm Springs, Calif., more and more towns are trying to...

LEADERLESS L-3 SHARES SOAR

The unexpected death of legendary defense tycoon Frank Lanza sent shares of his company L-3 Communications soaring - and even enriched his own estate by $20 million. The 74-year-old chief...

OSPRAIE COPPER CLIPPING

A hedge fund highflier has been brought to ground by a bet gone bad in copper. Dwight Anderson is closing one of his hedge funds - the $250 million Ospraie...

GIMME SHELTER

HE'S A GOODSELLA MARTIN SCORSESE has put his Upper East Side townhouse on the market after owning it for nearly 20 years. The multi-Oscar-nominated director, whose films have included "Taxi...

SEX FLICK NOT SLICK

PSYCHOPATHIA SEXUALIS [*] (One star) SEX can be fun and exciting and wonderful. It also can be deadly boring, as in "Psychopathia Sexualis." Written and directed by Bret Wood, the...

RITA'S HART-FELT DEBUT - JUST DON'T ASK WILSON ABOUT HUBBY TOM, THANKS

RITA, Roxie. Roxie, Rita. Broadway's "Chicago" is getting another star infu sion and its latest Roxie Hart - spurned-lover-turned-murderess/chanteuse - is Rita Wilson, a k a Mrs. Tom Hanks. "My...

HALO EFFECT - VIDEO GAMES TAKE ON POKER CRAZE

THE next big World Series-caliber event will be played sitting down. Cable network USA plans to televise a video-game tournament - and tap into the same appeal that has made...

WOUNDED CBS REPORTER BACK IN U.S. FOR REHAB

CBS reporter Kimberly Dozier arrived back in the U.S. late yesterday to start the long road to recovery. Dozier, who was severely injured in a Baghdad car-bomb attack last week,...

STARR REPORT

Mercedes driven This is turning into a busy month for Mercedes Ruehl. Not only is she starring in Lifetime's "A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story," but she'll be...

PULITZER'S PRIZE PUPIL - FOR PREPPY PERFECTION, NOTHING BEATS LILLY

I have a confession to make, and I'm just going to say it straight up: When it gets hot outside, I really enjoy wearing green and hot pink dresses emblazoned...

THE MANNY DIARIES - LIKE BRITNEY'S NEW GUY, I WAS A MALE NANNY; MAN OH MANNY

The No. 1 reason to take a job as a manny - the women. Picking up the kids outside the private school, it's all famous and hot moms. SCOTT Baio...

WOUNDED REPORTER BACK IN U.S.

CBS reporter Kimberly Dozier (left) arrived back in the U.S. late yesterday to start the long road to recovery. Dozier, who was severely injured in a Baghdad car-bomb attack last...

WHAT IF YOU WON $400 MIL?

What would you do if you suddenly won the lotto? What if your winnings - nearly $400 million - were divided among you and 19 others who'd been at a...

HATCHER BACK ON MOVIE TRACK

FOR the first time since her career turnaround on "Desperate Housewives," Teri Hatcher has been hired to star in a movie. The movie, to be called "Resurrecting the Champ," is...

TWO MUCH - SIMON HIRES PAULA FOR BRITISH 'IDOL' SHOW

PAULA Abdul has agreed to appear as a judge in the U.K. on her pal Simon Cowell's "American Idol" lookalike talent show, "The X Factor," according to published reports. "The...

ROCK'S GRAND POOH-BAH

IF you've ever been to a punk, alt-metal or emo show in the city, you've seen "Crazy" Greg Rothberg. He's a little hard to miss. He's the guy crowd-surfing, wearing...

THE WAREHOUSE 'FIREBUG' - HOMELESS MAN SET B'KLYN INFERNO: COPS

A homeless man yesterday copped to the city's biggest blaze since Sept. 11, admitting he set the Greenpoint terminal market ablaze while trying to burn the insulation off copper wire...

DE-CAPTIVATING WORK OF ART - STATUE WILL BE REUNITED WITH HEAD

Here's one way to get a head. Sotheby's auction house has helped reunite the decapitated noggin of an ancient sculpture of the goddess Aphrodite with the rest of its marble...

NO QUIT IN DEFIANT 'KT'

ALBANY - Out-of-favor Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Kathleen "KT" McFarland defiantly thumbed her nose at the state GOP chairman yesterday and refused to quit the race. "I have earned my...

'RIG' FIGURE UP FOR NOD

A Board of Elections employee who was criticized by a Manhattan grand jury for his alleged role in rigging a school-board ballot in 1993 is now up for appointment as...

GAY-NUPS BAN FAILS IN SENATE

WASHINGTON - A GOP push for a constitutional gay-marriage ban was killed in the Senate yesterday, with New York Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chuck Schumer leading the charge...

TOP DEM UNDERCUTS TAX-CHOPPER ELIOT

ALBANY - In an embarrassing mix-up, the head of the state Democratic Party yesterday said cutting taxes is not a top priority - but he was immediately overruled by the...

U.N. JERK REVOLTIN' BOLTON

A furious U.N. Ambassador John Bolton yesterday demanded that Secretary-General Kofi Annan repudiate his deputy's highly unusual blast at the Bush administration. Bolton said a speech by Mark Malloch Brown...

ANDY GUN PLAN LIKE MIKE'S

State attorney-general front-runner Andrew Cuomo rolled out a plan to curb the flow of illegal guns yesterday, four days after Mayor Bloomberg announced that his multicity coalition against the weapons...

BRAVEST SALUTE STRIKE SURVIVOR

Firefighter Matthew Long, who was gravely injured by a bus while riding his bike to work during the transit strike, was honored along with 40 hero firefighters at an emotional...

TNT BLAST IS DUE AT WTC SITE

Powerful explosions will shake Ground Zero on Monday as engineers test the use of charges to clear bedrock for the Freedom Tower's foundation. "This is nothing unusual for New York,"...

RAPE VICTIM'S DAD IN PLEA

The father of a Manhattan woman viciously raped by a fiend known only by his DNA yesterday called for passage of legislation requiring the collection of genetic material from people...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * Two men were arrested for abducting and assaulting an acquaintance in Bushwick, authorities said yesterday. The incident began at 7 a.m. on May 6, when William Rolon, 27,...

GIVE-'EM-HILL FURY VS. COULTER - RIPS 'VICIOUS' 9/11-WIDOW DISS AS ANN FIRES BACK AT BILL SLEAZE

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday blasted conservative firebrand Ann Coulter for writing that a group of World Trade Center widows are enjoying their husbands' deaths, calling it a "vicious, mean-spirited...

MIKE'S PLEA OVER PARADE

Mayor Bloomberg has again asked property owners along Fifth Avenue to get into the spirit of this weekend's Puerto Rican Day Parade - and not board up their buildings with...

TRUMP TV MONOPOLY MONEY

Donald Trump is hoping to pass "Go" and collect millions in Monopoly money with his latest TV show. Trump, who already hosts "The Apprentice" on NBC, is shopping a prime-time...

2ND RECENT B'KLYN OUTBREAK

City health officials are trying to determine if the latest deadly outbreak of bacterial meningitis in Brooklyn is related to a strain of the disease that killed four people in...

IMMIGRANT WEDDING RING NAILED

The feds rounded up more than two dozen participants in a massive $1.5 million immigration fraud scheme, including a Bronx reverend who allegedly presided over sham weddings uniting illegal immigrants...

COLLAPSE SCARE HITS BUILDING

Residents were evacuated from their upper Manhattan apartment complex yesterday after renovations caused the building to become unstable, officials said. The building, on Academy Street in Inwood, was first cleared...

TWO 'SMASHED' DRIVERS COLLIDE

Southampton hosted its own drunken demolition derby when police said a pair of soused drivers accidentally rammed into each other at high speeds. Holly Holden, 59, who lives in the...

NICK'S 'HATE' ALIBI - N-WORD PROF'S DEFENSE

A Harvard professor who wrote a book on the history of the "n-word" testified at "Fat Nick" Minucci's Queens Supreme Court trial yesterday, and told jurors that nowadays, the term...

CONVICTED OF IRAQ-VET SLAY

A Brooklyn man was convicted yesterday of the senseless murder of an Iraq war vet outside a Canarsie nightclub last year. Joseph Carrington, 24, was found guilty of murder and...

WIDOW'S SUIT PINS NEW MURDER ON MOB COPS

The feds didn't prosecute the murderous mob cops for blowing away a union official, but the man's widow isn't willing to let them off so easy. Frances Bishop claims in...

2A BESTS 1B IN POSH CO-OP FOYER FUROR

And the winner is - Apartment 2A. In an "only in New York" story, a long-running dispute between two uncooperative Park Avenue co-op owners over who gets to leave their...

MENINGITIS KILLS MOTHER - BED-STUY NEIGHBORS RUSH FOR HOSP TESTS

A killer strain of meningitis has broken out in Brooklyn, city health officials fear. The fast-moving bacterial form of the dreaded disease apparently has claimed the life of a 46-year-old...

$14 MIL TACKLE IN GIANT DIVORCE - BITTER TRIAL SHOWDOWN

Michael Strahan's marriage could cost the Giants' defensive powerhouse $170,000 per sack. The gap-toothed gridiron great's wife, Jean, began the couple's blockbuster divorce trial yesterday by demanding her helmet-wearing hubby...

$TANDING BY THEIR PRINCIPALS

Most New Yorkers may not know today is Brooklyn-Queens Day - but principals in the two boroughs are celebrating. Not only are they entitled to a paid day off under...

FREAK CRASH KILLS COUPLE

A Long Island couple, window shopping after a movie, were killed by a pickup truck that mounted the sidewalk, cops said. Richard Costleigh, 64, and his wife, Dorothy, 62, of...

SODA JERK'S COP TALE

A fight over a soda sparked the January battle that ended with the tragic friendly-fire death of an off-duty cop at a Bronx White Castle, one of the brawlers says....

GRIDDER'S CHEAP SHOT STINGS WIFE

JEAN STRAHAN, looking like a million bucks in the grungy divorce court, let out a musical laugh. "It's Gucci!" she protested about the ecru suit hugging her bod. "I have...

BRAINLESS BOOB TAKES POLICE CAR

A man fleeing a shooting outside a topless bar in Queens picked an unlikely getaway car - an unmarked police vehicle, its engine running and lights flashing. The knucklehead didn't...

RAPE DEATH THREAT - NEW 'TOP GUN' HORROR

A woman prosecutors say was raped by the sadistic sex fiend who once preyed on "Top Gun" star Kelly McGillis testified the hulking brute told her he'd kill her if...

QNS. MAN IN QAEDA BUST - BRITS ARREST HIM FOR ARMS-SMUGGLE PLOT

A young man who was raised in Queens and earned a degree from Brooklyn College faced a London court yesterday on shocking charges that he conspired to smuggle military gear...

NEW PERV BID TO LURE B'KLYN GIRLS

Cops are looking into another attempted abduction in Brooklyn yesterday after a man tried to lure a group of teenage girls into his car, authorities said. The incident occurred at...

BRANGELINA'S LITTLE ANGEL - BABY HAS HER MOM'S POUTY LIPS

Here she is - a sleeping beauty of a baby, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. The 12-day-old darling, a Brangelina joint venture, has dad Brad Pitt's baby-blue eyes and mom Angelina Jolie's...

$14 MIL TACKLE IN GIANT DIVORCE - STRAHAN AND WIFE IN TRIAL SHOWDOWN

Michael Strahan's marriage could cost the Giants' defensive powerhouse $170,000 per sack. The gap-toothed gridiron great's wife, Jean, began the couple's blockbuster divorce trial yesterday by demanding her hubby fork...

HORROR RAPE IN HAIR SALON

A Brooklyn beauty-salon employee was attacked with a hammer and raped in the shop yesterday, cops said. The 33-year-old victim was alone, cleaning the salon in Sunset Park at about...

BREINDEL HONORS FOR DUO

Columnist Mark Steyn was named winner of the eighth annual Eric Breindel Award last night. "I'm thrilled and a little bit humbled to be the first foreigner to win this...

POWER GRANNY - WOMAN, 86, FOILS MUGGER

Feisty, 86-year-old Elisabeth Rubin fended off the Nazis in Romania during World War II - and yesterday used her walker to fight off a mugger in Midtown. "I was frightened,...

30G QUEENS FIREWORKS BUST

Two men, one a hospital fire-safety director, were busted last night unloading $30,000 worth of illegal fireworks from a rental van in Queens, authorities said. Paul Marcell, 26, of Queens,...

BRAINLESS BOOB AT TOPLESS BAR TAKES COP CAR

A man fleeing a shooting outside a topless bar in Queens picked an unlikely getaway car - an unmarked police vehicle, its engine running and lights flashing. The at-large knucklehead...

MIGHTY MILLEDGE - LASTINGS DOOMS DODGERS WITH HR, GREAT THROW

Mets 9 - Dodgers 7 LOS ANGELES - The minor leagues may be a thing of the past for Lastings Milledge. Milledge has been in the majors for just nine...

GIANTS VET O'HARA NOT CONCERNED

The Giants begin a mandatory three-day mini-camp next Wednesday, meaning Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress finally will leave the sun of Miami and reunite with their teammates at Giants Stadium....

PLETCHER'S TRIPLE THREAT

TODD Pletcher may be the dominant force in American horse racing today, but his professional profile has one glaring gap: He is 0-for-19 in the races that count, the three...

STORMY WELCOME FOR SJU PRODUCT

Craig Hansen's first trip to Yankee Stadium as a player did not go smoothly on Tuesday. Called up from Triple-A Pawtucket exactly a year after Boston made him the 26th...

LIBS FLAT IN LOSS TO SUN

Sun 75 - Liberty 60 Perhaps they'd gotten lulled into complacency, thinking they'd turned the corner with solid games against Los Angeles and Detroit. Or maybe it was just the...

BY THE DOZEN - PLETCHER'S PAIR LEADS FIELD OF 12

There was no dog-and-pony show like the post draws for the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, no tedious coverage by ESPN, no convoluted Texas two-step where horses are assigned a selection...

'AWESOME' LOOKS GOOD

NOTES Oh So Awesome, imported from France by Team Valor Stables to run in the Belmont Stakes, blew out a half-mile in 48.3 seconds yesterday over the Belmont training track....

THUMB GOOD NEWS -AILING DEREK WELCOMES WASHOUT

YANKEE NOTES Derek Jeter got his wish when rain washed out last night's Red Sox-Yankees game at the Stadium. Since Jeter wasn't going to play, he was hoping to rest...

NETS EYEING JAY WILLIAMS

The Nets' search for a backup point guard could come to a guy born just a few counties away: Jay Williams, the former No. 2 overall pick by Chicago out...

LARRY CAN'T WAIT TO GO HOME

ORLANDO - Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown avoided each other like the plague again yesterday at the pre-draft camp at the Disney Wide World of Sports as their feud deepened....

PADDY STILL SOARING LIKE AN EAGLE

He gets it all the time. And it's going to be something he'll be asked about for as long as Padraig Harrington sets foot on the grounds of the Westchester...

CLASSIC MICKELSON - PHIL SEES WESTCHESTER AS PERFECT OPEN TUNEUP

Phil Mickelson wishes he could bottle what he did in April, prior to and during the Masters, and turn it into some sort of magical potion for the next two...

ISLES GM: NEIL SMITH - NOLAN WILL COACH

The exhaustive search is over. The Islanders will raise a few eyebrows today when they name Neil Smith the team's new general manager - and Ted Nolan the team's new...

PRETTY PARTISAN WINS OPENER

Track was sealed, sloppy, on cold, rainy, miserable June day; good thing it wasn't Saturday yet. No turf racing; none today, either. FIRST RACE: Pretty Partisan, dropping from 25G to...

SKIPPING UNIT MAY BE THE WRIGHT MOVE

IT'S STILL June, says Joe Torre, who passed on a late opportunity to move up Mr. Sunshine, Randy Johnson, into Jaret Wright's spot tonight. This is not because the Yankees...

DARK DAYS AHEAD FOR FELLAS WITH NAMES BLACKED OUT

JASON Grimsley was never a terribly intimidating player, even in those years when he could post some fancy numbers on a radar gun. He was the consummate good teammate -...

SUPER SNARE ONE FOR AGES - MELKY STILL THE TALK OF THE TOWN

Consider that Melky Cabrera was being replaced for defense about three weeks ago. And consider he told Joe Torre he was more comfortable in right field than in left. Now...

STEROID SCANDAL TAKES GRIM TURN - PITCHER FINGERS OTHER PLAYERS, SAYS HE SWITCHED TO HGH

Get ready for another round of the steroid saga. The raid of relief pitcher Jason Grimsley's home in Arizona on Tuesday and the release of an affidavit revealing he turned...

AMAZIN'S DRAFT SON OF BARFIELD

LOS ANGELES - Jeremy Barfield is 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds. So far. "I'm still growing, so we'll see where I end up," Barfield told The Post yesterday. Barfield, who is...

AILIN' AMAZIN'S ON MEND

MET NOTES LOS ANGELES - One of the Mets' three ailing players was back last night, and the other two appeared close to returning, too. Carlos Beltran started in center,...

METS ON MEND - BELTRAN BACK; FLOYD, REYES BOTH DOIN' OK

LOS ANGELES - One of the Mets' three ailing players was back last night, and neither of the other two appeared to be far away. Carlos Beltran started in center...

FLOYD LATEST MET TO DROP

"I probably won't play for about three days, four days." - CLIFF FLOYD LOS ANGELES - After the game on Tuesday, Cliff Floyd limped away from his locker in the...

IT'S COTTO'S TIME AT MSG

Timing is everything in the fight game. Saturday night's championship bout in the Garden on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade is another opportunity for WBO junior welterweight...

ALMONTE LEFT OUT IN THE COLD

Fifty rounds came and fifty rounds went. And Danny Almonte never had his name called. The Monroe lefthander, who has been infamous since being embroiled in the Little League scandal...

IT'S COTTO'S TIME

Timing is everything in the fight game. Saturday night's championship bout in the Garden on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade is another opportunity for WBO junior welterweight...

RAINOUT GIVES JETER THUMB WELCOME NEWS

YANKEE NOTES Derek Jeter got his wish when rain washed out last night's Red Sox-Yankees game at the Stadium. Since Jeter wasn't going to play, he was hoping to rest...

BARFIELD'S SON A REALLY BIG DEAL

MET NOTES LOS ANGELES - Jeremy Barfield is 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds-so far. "I'm still growing, so we'll see where I end up," Barfield told The Post yesterday. Jeremy, who...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A 33-foot sailboat abandoned by its owner six months ago off the coast of Costa Rica has been found drifting near Hawaii's Big Island - 4,800 miles away. The sloop...