June 15, 2006

LANGONE'S 'LICENSE TO STEAL' CRACK NOT TOO SLICK

WHILE being grilled by prosecutors about his friend Dick Grasso, Ken Langone - head of the NYSE compensation committee - had this to say: "There's an old saying, that if...

POL STOKES WORLD WAR OVER EURO EXCHANGE

U.S. politicians are finally taking aim at the German and French officials trying to scotch the New York Stock Exchange's multibillion dollar merger with pan-European stock market Euronext. Yesterday, Rep....

PECKER PROSPECTS ARE PETERING OUT

By putting the muscle magazines on the block, embattled American Media CEO David Pecker gained some breathing room, but several industry insiders think his time atop the tabloid empire may...

TRADE-FREEZE BUTTON - HOW NYSE SPECIALISTS STOPPED BUY/SELL ORDERS

The trial of two New York Stock Exchange traders is likely to delve into whether the pros on the Big Board floor abused their ability to "freeze" - or hold...

VIRGIN IN DEAL WITH USA NET

EMI's Virgin Records label inked a deal with USA Networks that will allow the cable network to use Virgin music on an exclusive basis for promotions. The deal, a first...

MILSTEIN GOES 'GREEN' IN BATTERY PARK CITY

Milstein Properties was officially chosen yesterday to develop two "green" condo towers on the last remaining residential site in Battery Park City. Another Milstein site at the World Trade Center...

NEW YORKERS' INFLATION WORSE

Inflation is running 62 percent higher for New Yorkers than for the rest of the nation - mostly due to our pricey housing. Consumers here got stung by surging inflation...

MACY'S HITS 'RUNWAY'

Macy's is taking to the runway to change its image from stodgy mass retailer to major trendsetter. The 135-year-old chain, owned by Federated Department Stores, said yesterday it has signed...

IPO HITS THE ETHANOL: VERASUN JUMPS 30%

Ethanol has hit Wall Street in a wild ride that could create quick billions - or sudden wrecks. VeraSun Energy Corp., the first big ethanol maker to go public, soared...

GIMME SHELTER

IT'S PARIS IN NEW YORK - Trump Park Ave.$7.8M HOTEL heirhead Paris Hilton might be looking to score the apartment directly below Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez. Sources say the TV...

WHOA, BABY - NURSERIES TURN INTO CHIC, COLORFUL ROOMS

FORGET boring pink and blue. Design-conscious parents are transforming traditional nurseries and toddler rooms into artsy sanctuaries. With urbanites in Manhattan giving birth at older ages, today's nurseries seem to...

DADA AT MOMA - DUCHAMP & COHORTS GET THEIR OWN SHOW

MONA Lisa with mustache? Check. Bicycle wheel on stool? Got it. Autographed urinal? You bet. Marcel Duchamp and gang are back in what's bound to be the biggest museum blockbuster...

KITTY PORN - TEN TALKING CATS IN MIDTOWN WALK-UP

A FELINE VERSION OF "BIG BROTHER," WHERE THE CATS LIVE TOGETHER AND COMPETE. BUT THE WEEKLY LOSERS GET TOSSED OUT. JUST when you thought TV had finally gone to the...

'REAL WORLD' GETS OFF TO ROCKIES START

THE cast and crew of "The Real World: Denver" are already stirring up trouble with the locals. Following reports that at least two female cast members were recently physically ejected...

DATE WITH TERROR - THE 'SECRET WAR' TO KEEP NYC SAFE

POLICE surveillance videotapes that led to the conviction of a Pakistani immigrant last month in an aborted plot to bomb the Herald Square subway station will be shown extensively on...

STARR REPORT

Raising the bar The networks' gripe that Nielsen isn't measuring viewership on devices other than television - and in places other than the home - should be put to rest...

OFF THE CHARTS - HOW WEB MAPS ARE CHANGING THE WAY WE LIVE IN NEW YORK

IF you can dream it, you can map it. Publicist Kelly Kreth dreamed herself a rich, single man. In New York. Stop laughing. The ratio of single men to single...

OK COMPUTER, PLEASE REBOOT

RADIOHEAD The Theater at Madison Square Garden I nearly cried at Radiohead's Tuesday night show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. But unlike past shows - their Garden arena...

THE SECRET LIFE OF BORED CELEBRITIES

CHER may look 30, but she's clearly exhibiting two troubling signs of old age: insomnia and a love of CSPAN. Memorial Day listeners to the network's wonkfest call-in program "Washington...

VAN MOM IN DEADLY CLIFF FALL

A Staten Island woman plunged 300 feet to her death when her minivan rolled off a cliff at Bear Mountain State Park yesterday - but her two young children in...

BROTHEL BUST IN MIDTOWN

A Brazilian woman is accused of running a high-priced prostitution ring out of her Midtown condo and selling cocaine to her clients, authorities said yesterday. Andrea Schwartz, 31, charged upwards...

NAKED LUNATIC KILLS CABBY IN COP CHASE

A armed man, naked from the waist down, flashed a woman on a Brooklyn street last night - then got into a high-speed chase with cops and slammed into a...

'CIGARETTE' BLAST LEVELS HOME

An elderly World War II veteran looking forward to his granddaughter's wedding this weekend was nearly burned to death when he lit a cigarette and his Long Island home exploded...

10 YEARS IN COOLER FOR ICE-CREAM ATTACK

A middle-aged woman who was beaten with a wrench in a fight over lucrative ice-cream truck routes said yesterday that she's lost 20 percent of her brain, sight in her...

AUCTION'S BANNER DAY - REVOLUTIONARY WAR BATTLE FLAGS FINALLY RETURN HOME

Only 223 years after winning the Revolutionary War, America finally reclaimed four historic battle flags from the Brits - and it cost only $17 million. The emblems of freedom, three...

KIDS' READING DROPS AT AGE 8

"Huck Finn" and "The Little Engine That Could" can't hold them forever. The older kids get, the less time they devote to reading for fun, according to a survey released...

COUNCIL BIDS TO RING OUT SCHOOL CELL BAN

City lawmakers vowed yesterday to overturn a ban on cellphones in public schools, as education officials hung up on pleas for a compromise. The two sides clashed during a heated...

MIKE: GUNS A MENACE LIKE CANCER

Illegal guns should be considered as much a public health menace as cancer and heart disease, Mayor Bloomberg told a conference of top health officials yesterday in Atlanta. "All these...

MALL KILLER 'FESSED UP QUICK: COP

A homeless rapist who wanted to kill a white person confessed to stabbing a pretty mother as soon as he was collared, a White Plains cop testified yesterday. Officer Larry...

JUNK-JUDGE CON SENTENCED AGAIN

A convict set free by a booted Queens judge was in court again yesterday where he was sentenced to three to six years in prison - time he'll serve concurrent...

BULLY! TEDDY'S GUN RETURNED

The pistol carried by Teddy Roosevelt in the charge up San Juan Hill was returned yesterday to its place of honor at the former president's Long Island home. The Model...

PIRRO: ANDY NOT UP TO JOB

GOP state Attorney General hopeful Jeanine Pirro stepped back into the ring yesterday with a press conference in front of Democrat Andrew Cuomo's headquarters challenging his qualifications for the job....

'CAPITAL' HILL AND DOLLAR 'BILL' - CLINTONS' DOUGH RISING AS MILLION$ IN SPEECH & BOOK DEALS BRING IN BREAD

WASHINGTON - Former President Bill Clinton earned $7.5 million on the worldwide speaking circuit last year and scores additional big bucks as an author and business partner, according to Senate...

TV-REPAIR FIEND 'RAPES' TEEN

A satellite-TV repairman used his job to enter a Long Island home and rape a teenager, cops said. Nassau Detective Sgt. Richard Zito said suspect Kevin Houston, 29, of Hempstead,...

GRADUATION CRASH HORROR - 4 KILLED IN L.I. TREE SMASH

A graduation celebration turned into a death ride for a group of young Long Islanders yesterday when their car careened out of control, rammed a tree and exploded. Scores of...

WATERFALLS MAY GO DRY IN NEW 9/11 MEMORIAL PLAN

A new cost-cutting plan to build a World Trade Center memorial will go to Gov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg today, and Pataki said yesterday he expects the project will retain...

N.Y. DOC SAVES FACE - SHOT TRANSLATOR GETS MIRACLE OP

An Iraqi translator who was shot in the face while helping American troops in Fallujah has been granted medical asylum to get surgery today at the New York Eye and...

JUDGE TO MUSLIM INMATES: TOUGH - IT'S WAR - N.Y. 'ILLEGAL JAIL' CLAIM IS TOSSED

A Brooklyn federal judge dealt a blow to a group of Muslim men who claim they were unlawfully rounded up and detained immediately after 9/11 - ruling that authorities were...

BUSH IS BULLISH ON IRAQ - HAILS 'SUCCESS' PLAN

WASHINGTON - An upbeat President Bush, back from his surprise trip to Iraq, yesterday said that nation's new leaders have "a plan to succeed" as they launched a huge crackdown...

'SUPER' FREAK - COSTUMED FOOT-SICKO AN 'ARCH' ENEMY

Cops have tripped up a Brooklyn heel who gets his kicks from fondling women's feet - while sometimes wearing a Superman shirt, authorities said yesterday. Sean Cumberbatch, 21, of Flatbush,...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

STATEN ISLAND * A student was arrested for roughing up two cops and damaging a police car in Willowbrook, authorities said yesterday. Police responded to Susan Wagner HS at Brielle...

FOSTER-CARE CHECK $CAM

A supervisor for the Administration for Children's Services was arrested yesterday for stealing more than $66,000 in foster-care checks. Evelyn McCoy, 62, of Manhattan, was charged with theft from a...

10 YEARS IN COP-SLAY BID

A Bronx con was sentenced yesterday to 10 years for trying to throw a policewoman into the path of a subway train just hours after he was sprung from prison...

SKI-RESORT PRO IN 'TEEN RAPE'

A ski instructor at Colorado's posh Beaver Creek resort raped a 17-year-old girl he'd been giving lessons to - and then accepted a $100 tip from her unsuspecting mother, police...

SPARKS' WAIT STAFF SUES OVER SIRLOIN TIPS

Sparks Steak House got whacked with a lawsuit accusing the famed Manhattan eatery of shorting waiters out of a sizzling $5 million in tips. The class-action suit claims Sparks over...

FENCE-SITTING HILL 'LEFT' BEHIND ON THE WAR

SEN. Hillary Rodham Clinton's straddle-the-center strategy on Iraq is starting to backfire as the Democratic Party keeps tilting toward the anti-war left while it revs up for 2008. It showed...

SPEWING RACISM ON THE CITY DIME - MORE ANTI-WHITE RANTS FROM CUNY PROF

THE speech was grotesquely racist - littered with cracks about dead white people. And it featured an insane call for blacks to outsmart the white man by ridding their bodies...

PSYCHO CREEP NABBED AFTER 13-HOUR SPREE OF STAB TERROR

A psycho serial stabber was busted in Times Square yesterday after a 13-hour spree in which he plunged a knife into four people, including a tourist riding the C train...

BEAU GUILTY OF GAL-PAL SLAY

A Queens custodian who slashed his girlfriend's throat in a fit of jealous rage pleaded guilty to manslaughter yesterday in Queens Supreme Court. Jorge San Pablo, 42, admitted he killed...

THAR HE-SHE BLOWS - 'CANE 'SEX CHANGE' AID

WASHINGTON - A Houston hairdresser with a long rap sheet conned the feds into paying for his sex-change operation with Hurricane Katrina aid, it was revealed yesterday. In a shocking...

LOVE-TRIANGLE 'EMBEZZLER'

An enterprising Manhattan thief employed both his wife and his mistress as his very personal assistants in a $670,000 embezzlement scam, prosecutors charged yesterday. The alleged two-timing crook is Kenneth...

DREAM TRIP TO APPLE TURNS TO NIGHTMARE

It was just their second day of a two-week trip to the Big Apple when terror struck. Christopher McCarthy, 21, and Ganda Krisananuwatara, 20, had big plans for what was...

J.LO NINNY GUILTY

A Newark ex-con admitted in Manhattan yesterday that he hatched a cockamamie plot to extort up to $1 million from screen and salsa stars Jennifer Lopez (left) and Marc Anthony...

'FAT NICK' VIC BIDS TO BE A COP

The man beaten in the Howard Beach bias attack by bat-wielding thug Nicholas "Fat Nick" Minucci wants to be a cop. Glenn Moore, 23, said he plans to go back...

NYPD LEGEND PACKS IT IN

One of New York's Finest was celebrated yesterday as, for the last time, he left the Midtown precinct he has served for almost 40 years. Legendary Detective Louis Donofrio turns...

VAN KILLS 95-YR.-OLD HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR

A 95-year-old Holocaust survivor - who began and ended every day with prayers - was killed when he was struck by a van while crossing a street on the Lower...

HUNDREDS MOURN SLAIN BEAUTY

About 600 friends and relatives packed a Manhattan auditorium yesterday to remember Tiesha Sargeant, the beautiful young Condé Nast publishing executive shot dead in her boyfriend's Brooklyn apartment on May...

'DEATH' CABBY OFF HIS MEDS

The cabby whose West Side smash-up killed one woman and badly injured three others has a history of seizures, but was not taking medication for that condition at the time...

NEW PM: GIVE THUGS AMNESTY

Iraq's new prime minister wants to offer amnesty to guerrillas - and his plan will likely mean pardons for those who attacked only U.S. troops, according to a published report....

MIKE RIPS BIO-TERROR FUNDS LOSS

Speaking at a federal health conference in Atlanta, Mayor Bloomberg yesterday blasted the federal government for shortchanging the city on bio-terror funds and for not shifting resources to battle chronic...

JUNIOR HAD A 'SINGING' TRYOUT - TURNED CANARY IN FUTILE BID TO STAY OUT OF PROSECUTORS' CAGE

John "Junior" Gotti broke omerta in a failed bid to win his freedom - a shocking decision his "Dapper Don" dad would have considered the ultimate betrayal. The younger Gotti...

SWEET 16 HEARTACHE

The heartsick parents of a Staten Island teen struck by a car as she left a Sweet 16 party said last night they've made the gut-wrenching decision to take their...

ESCORT BIZ KEPT 'SEX LIST'

A Manhattan escort service where women went for $400 an hour kept a Rolodex of hookers and what they would and wouldn't do, a prosecutor said yesterday. "She does couples,...

CLASSROOM EXTRA - PRESIDENTS EDITION

LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON - 36th PRESIDENT, 1963-1969 This successful Senate leader assumed the presidency after John Kennedy's assassination. LYNDON Baines Johnson, known as LBJ, was born on Aug. 17, 1908,...

BOAT HERO'S BRAVE RESCUE BID - ATTEMPT TO SAVE FRIEND FALLS SHORT

A Brooklyn man yesterday told how he jumped from a capsized boat into the choppy waters off Breezy Point in a desperate but doomed bid to save a fishing buddy...

J.LO NUPS NINNY GUILTY OF EXTORT

A Newark ex-con admitted in Manhattan yesterday that he hatched - and botched - a cockamamie plot to extort up to $1 million from screen and salsa stars Jennifer Lopez...

'FATAL FLIRT' CABBY SUIT

Two sisters plan to sue the cabby whose spectacular West Side smashup badly injured them and a friend and killed another woman, their lawyer said yesterday. Enza and Anna Sallustio...

CALL GIRLS' SEX MENU

A Manhattan escort service, where women went for $400 an hour, kept a Rolodex of its hookers listing what they would and wouldn't do in bed, a prosecutor charged yesterday....

GIANTS KEEPING EYE ON SHOCKEY

Given that Jeremy Shockey stays away from Giants Stadium in the offseason, it's always worth noting when he stops by. And when the fun-loving tight end shows up the way...

LOVE CAN'T BUY SECOND MAJOR

Davis Love III was sure there was no stopping him after he finally broke through and won his first major, the 1997 PGA at Winged Foot. His Love story was...

FANS VOTE FOR JOCK AWARD

Jockeys Calvin Borel, Mark Guidry and Edgar Prado have been named finalists for NYRA's annual Mike Venezia Award. The award honors jockeys "who exemplify extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship," and is...

STAR OF ZAMBIA SHINES BRIGHTLY AT WINGED FOOT

The U.S. Open is major for the world, too. Zambia shook hands with Zimbabwe yesterday. After sheepishly signing charity memorabilia for seasoned tour vets, 23-year-old Zambian qualifier Madalitso Muthiya was...

BIG DAY FOR KID FUJIKAWA

You probably haven't heard of Tadd Fujikawa, but by the time this U.S. Open is over, you'll never forget him. Snubbed by Tiger Woods for yesterday's dream practice round, Fujikawa...

FAST START OPENS DOOR TO VICTORY

DARREN CLARKE yesterday dug his shoes into the sand that fills the bunker next to the first green at Winged Foot. From there, Clarke hit wedge after wedge, lifting his...

DOC: BARBARO IS DOING WELL

Barbaro is beginning the second phase of his remarkable recovery from a shattered right hind leg he suffered in the Preakness. On Tuesday, Barbaro had his cast replaced by Dr....

KNICKS PLACE GAG ON BROWN

Lame-duck Knicks coach Larry Brown doesn't speak to Isiah Thomas any longer. And now he's banned from speaking to reporters covering the team, according to Brown's agent, Joe Glass. Brown...

CLARK CATCH NETS' EYES

Will Blalock, the Iowa State point guard who raised his stock in last week's Orlando pre-draft camp, always had a ready answer when asked for his toughest opponent to guard....

SVOBODA HAS EDGE AT HOME

OPEN NOTES If there's one player who knows Winged Foot even better than Phil Mickelson, who's made a number of visits here in recent months, it's Andy Svoboda. Svoboda, who...

OBJECT OF REJECTION - A-ROD NEEDS A DEFINING MOMENT TO SILENCE BOOS

YANKEE fans are constantly bom barded with the state-endorsed message than anything less than a World Series victory represents failure. To that end, it is merely natural law that Yankees...

CLOSE CALL HAS PEREZ ON EDGE

When Eduardo Perez was asked whether Randy Johnson threw at him intentionally, Perez and the surrounding reporters momentarily burst into laughter. "What do you think?" Perez asked after the Indians'...

GIAMBI RETURNS TO JOE'S LINEUP

YANKEE NOTES Jason Giambi returned to the lineup last night as the DH and did so with the understanding the Yankees needed his bat. "We can't afford for me to...

HARDBALL ... AT LAST! - RANDY STANDS TALL FOR MATES

IT was about time. It was about time a Yankee pitcher protected his buds in the metaphorical foxhole. It was about time the Yankees got tired of having their hitters...

AMAZIN'S NOW 8½ UP IN THE EAST

METS 9 PHILLIES 3 PHILADELPHIA - They've emerged as a team that doesn't lose and barely trails. They've emerged as a team that wins on the road and makes sure...

LASTINGS GUNNED DOWN

MET NOTES PHILADELPHIA - Lastings Milledge was on first base in the seventh inning last night when Julio Franco hit a two-out double to right. One run scored, but Milledge...

GOOD GUYS, BETTER PLAYERS

PHILADELPHIA - It's good to be the Mets these days. They pounded out another 16 hits, scored another nine runs last night to win 9-3 over a second-place Phillies team...

HEIL OF A SLUMP FOR AARON

MET NOTES PHILADELPHIA - Aaron Heilman entered last night in a relief slump. Heilman, one of the Mets' three most important relievers, had given up runs in six of his...

MAJOR MICKELSON READY TO CAPTURE THIRD STRAIGHT

Watch out, Winged Foot. Phil Mickelson might be as primed as any player in major championship history to capture the U.S. Open this week on these venerable West Course grounds...

PHIL-GOOD STORY; GOLF COULD USE A MAJOR THRILL

COUNTDOWN TO U.S. OPEN IT'S BEEN a long, long time since Tiger Woods had to prove anything to anybody. Somehow, it has been 10 years since he won his first...

DAVID'S GEM STILL THE TALK OF THE CLUBHOUSE

PHILADELPHIA - At first, David Wright said yesterday he didn't see the replay of his dazzling double play from Tuesday night. The Mets' star third baseman said he "went straight...

EL DUQUE UP TO SAME, EL TRICKS

PHILADELPHIA - Many previous lives ago, before the one he did as Merlin for King Arthur, Orlando Hernandez computed solar eclipses, scaring the peasants into making him a lord by...

A HEIL OF A SLUMP

MET NOTES PHILADELPHIA - Aaron Heilman entered last night in a relief slump. Heilman, one of the Mets' three most important relievers, had given up runs in six of his...

THUMB KINDA WIN - UNIT EJECTED FOR BRUSHBACK AS YANKS ROLL

YANKEES 6 INDIANS 1 Even on the rare occasion Randy Johnson pitches well, there are issues that cloud the picture. In his best performance of the season, Johnson was ejected...

ACHY JASON LENDS A HAND TO LINEUP

YANKEE NOTES Despite a sore left hand, Jason Giambi returned to the YankeeS lineup last night as the DH. "We can't afford for me to miss any more games," said...

BOOS PROBLEM; A-ROD'S CURSE: YANK FANS' ADDICTION TO WINNING

YANKEE fans are constantly bombarded with the stateendorsed message than anything less than a World Series victory represents failure. So what, exactly, is the surprise over the booing to which...

UNIT TURN WAS IFFY - NEARLY SCRATCHED LAST NIGHT

Randy Johnson was a potential scratch to last night's start against Cleveland due to ongoing mechanical issues, so the team had Aaron Small on alert. The issue - moot, it...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

This perp has a pet peeve - he was nabbed during a police chase after his dog bit him in the face. Robbery suspect Nicholas Galanis of Salt Lake City,...