June 27, 2006

SUBWAY OFF-TRACK, SUIT SAYS

Get ready for another subway strike. Thousands of individual Subway restaurant operators revolted against the sandwich chain and its founder yesterday, accusing them of trying to wrest control of a...

GEORGE LET PLUNGE SLIP

GEORGE Stephanopoulos knows all about the Plunge Protection Team, the secretive organization made up of Wall Street bankers and top administration officials whose job it is to come to the...

MEL SAYS 'DEAL,' SATELLITES LIFT OFF

Mel Karmazin finally admitted what many on Wall Street have been saying for several years: that the nation's two satellite radio companies might be better off together. Karmazin, the boss...

BLACK AVOIDS PRISON, FOR NOW

Conrad Black won't be going to jail - at least not anytime soon. A federal judge in Chicago yesterday opted not to revoke the fallen media baron's bail, after prosecutors...

SQUEEZE PLAY - HOME DEPOT BOSS GETS RICH AS STAFF PAYS

As Robert Nardelli's compensation as Home Depot's chief has soared over the past five years, rank-and-file Home Depot employees said their pay, benefits and incentives have been consistently curtailed. This...

FEDS PROBE WASTE HANDLING

A grand jury investigation into Home Depot's handling of hazardous waste has expanded beyond an initial California probe to include stores nationwide, sources said. FBI agents have been contacting former...

MORGAN STANLEY TO GET FIFTH AVE. TROPHY

SURGING demand for first-class office space in Midtown has claimed another block of trophy space. In a quick move that startled some brokers, sources say Morgan Stanley is taking a...

MARTHA SNAPS UP DEAL WITH KODAK

Martha Stewart is trying to create her own Kodak moment, teaming up with the photography giant in a new joint venture that will allow consumers to buy Martha-branded products online....

TAKE-TWO ZAPPED - DA HITS GAME MAKER ON FINANCE & XXX FRONTS

The Manhattan District Attorney has subpoenaed Take-Two Interactive, the controversial SoHo video-game developer, over both the explicit content in its games and the way it reported key financial information. The...

SLIM GETS SLIMMER IN AUCTION

The crumbling sale of Spanish-language broadcaster Univision has dealt Mexican telecom honcho Carols Slim Jr. - son of the world's third-richest man - a bitter $20 million paper loss. Over...

HE'S JAY O.K.

THOUGH Jay-Z retired from rapping three years ago, the famed MC and Island/Def Jam honcho reclaimed his microphone Sunday night to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his debut record, "Reasonable...

THE TIGHTS STUFF - SUPES ON, AND IT'S A SIGHT FOR SOAR EYES; THE GREAT S-CAPE

PART of Superman's enduring appeal has always been an unspoken pact between his creators and his audience to hugely suspend disbelief. "Superman Returns," Bryan Singer's super, soulful and very expensive...

GETTING MESSY IS A DIRTY PRETTY THING

DON'T bother with the dishes or the trash - a dirty apartment could mean a healthier immune system. According to a recent study in the Scandinavian Journal of Immunology, street...

MAN OF STEAL - NEW SUPES FILM IS THAT '70S SHOW

IT hits you right from the opening credits: "Superman Returns" is the return of "Superman" - and we're not just talking about the character. The new Man of Steel movie,...

'SUPERMAN RETURNS' - AND SO DO THESE MOTIFS

* The opening credits: blue type on a background of outer space * The iconic spinning globe atop the Daily Planet building * Superman's aviation-industry endorsement. His line in the...

RAPE THAT STARTED A BONFIRE - HOT FOOT FOR 'RESCUE ME'

IS "Rescue Me" anti-female? Could be. But if that's the case, then it's probably antimale, too. The debate has raged since last Tuesday night, when Episode 4 of the current...

'UGLY' IS THE NEW PRETTY - BEAUTY OF BETTY CAN'T BE SMUDGED

ALL over the world, ugly girls are TV's hottest ticket. "La Fea Mas Bella" ("The Prettiest Ugly Girl"), which debuted last April on the Spanishlanguage network Univision, is the latest...

JUMP THE SHARK - COUSTEAU'S HUNK GRANDSON GOES DEEP

IF the title of CBS's documentary "Shark: Mind Of A Demon With Fabien Cousteau," were referring to Fabien Cousteau himself it would make more sense than pretending that it refers...

'THE VIEW' LOSING STAR: TV REPORT

STAR Jones is expected to tell viewers this week she is quitting "The View," according to reports. Jones will say that she's leaving some time in July after nine years...

BET ON IT! - 10 REASONS WHY IT'S TIME TO HEAD BACK TO ATLANTIC CITY; THE A.C. IS NOW ON

IF an Atlantic City casino were taking bets on the town's future back in the early '90s, you'd have looked the fool putting money on what's playing out now. After...

'MOB' FED'S BREAK - FIREWORKS TRIP OK'D

Lindley DeVecchio is accused of helping a vicious mob boss commit four brutal gangland rubouts - but don't call him unpatriotic. The suspected rogue FBI agent asked a judge to...

HUSBAND HAMMERS WIFE: COPS

A Queens mom was savagely beaten over the head with a hammer by her estranged husband yesterday as their two terrified youngsters looked on, police said. The berserk husband, Chang...

BOY GEORGE NOW 'MOP' TOP - HE DODGES JAIL WITH GARBAGE JOB

Boy George is becoming a man - a garbage man. The Culture Club crooner came to Manhattan from his native Britain yesterday so he could sign up for his court-ordered,...

ISRAEL AND GAZA ARE ON THE BRINK - OLMERT THREATENS SWEEP TO FIND KIDNAPPED SOLDIER

JERUSALEM - Israel is poised to launch a massive military sweep of the Gaza Strip after the government rejected demands from terrorists who abducted an Israeli soldier. Egypt, Qatar and...

'VENDOR-BRIBE' DETECTIVES ACQUITTED

Two veteran Chelsea detectives were acquitted yesterday of charges they expedited the processing of a street peddler's arrest so he wouldn't have to spend a night in jail, taking in...

CITY PLAN TRASHED

Manhattan lawmakers lashed out yesterday at a Bloomberg administration plan to reopen a garbage-transfer station on East 91st Street and make each borough responsible for its own trash. At a...

HILL BLOGS BACK AT ONLINE LEFTIES

WASHINGTON - After months of fierce attacks against her on the Internet, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is ready to meet her Web enemies head-on - by hiring a political-blog guru...

WARRING ON 'WARRIORS'

A star of the 1970s cult classic "The Warriors" wants the makers of a smash video game based on the movie to come out to pay-ee-ay. In papers filed in...

'SUICIDE POET' IS FOUND ALIVE

A Bronx teen reported missing after her parents discovered a poem she'd written about suicide was found early yesterday staying with an aunt in New Jersey, relieved family members said....

BIKING DOC HIT BY NYPD TRUCK DIES

A Manhattan physician struck by an NYPD tow truck while bicycling near the West Side Highway last week has died from his injuries, officials at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital said...

KID RUN OVER IN 'REVENGE'

A Bronx teen was critically injured yesterday after a man ran him down with his car in retaliation for shooting a friend, cops said. Abdul Stanley, 17, allegedly shot the...

FOULING UP FULTON - POINTLESS MTA PROJECT BREEDING COSTLY CHAOS DOWNTOWN

WHAT do you get when you give the MTA $800 million-plus to rebuild a subway station that doesn't need rebuilding - and which it doesn't know yet how to rebuild?...

DEADLY DRUG MIX FEARED

New York authorities fear that heroin laced with the deadly drug fentanyl - a combination that has killed as many as 200 people nationwide recently - is headed for the...

LARRY & PA SUE INSURERS

Ground Zero developer Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority yesterday slapped seven insurance giants with a lawsuit accusing the firms of shirking their obligation to pay $1.47 billion in outstanding...

'CONNED' PLAYERS IN $ACK ATTACK - STARS SUE NFL OVER INDICTED MONEYMAN

The NFL and the union representing its players fumbled the ball when they allowed a crooked financial planner to intercept and run with more than $20 million in money invested...

'BRAINY' BREYER SUPREMELY SILLY

JUSTICE Stephen Breyer is supposed to be very smart. But if the august body on which Breyer sits could be likened to a TV show about castaways lost after a...

CITY PEST CONTROL IMPROVES

The city's Health Department has improved its pest-control programs over the last three years, but still needs to deal with complaints more quickly, an audit by City Comptroller Bill Thompson...

EMPIRE IS ON TOP OF STATE HMO HEAP

New Yorkers enrolled in Empire Health rate their HMO as the best medical insurer in the state, according to a report card released yesterday. St. Vincent's Midtown Hospital received the...

BLOOMY'S OOPS

City Councilman David Yassky, locked in a racially charged congressional race, was all smiles yesterday as Mayor Bloomberg introduced him as "Congressman Yassky." Speaking at the first groundbreaking to come...

MY MOMMY'S THE FINEST - 1,213 NEW COPS GRADUATE TO NYPD

New York welcomed its latest newly minted police officers yesterday as 1,213 men and women officially became New York's Finest in a graduation ceremony at Madison Square Garden. "Welcome to...

HONOR FOR HS 'SENIORS' - 2 WWII VETS SET TO GET THEIR DIPLOMAS

When Alfred Ingenito and Philip Scampas marched off to World War II in military fatigues, they left behind sweethearts named Anna and the chance to finish high school. Now 86...

'I KILLED STRIPPER IN SELF-DEFENSE'

A Queens man whose ménage a trios with two Brazilian strippers turned into a deadly bloodbath testified yesterday that he fatally slashed one dancer only after the panty-clad women attacked...

MAFIA HIT ON DWI - 'SOPRANO' AGREES TO 30 HS TALKS

Thinking of driving drunk? Fuhgeddaboutit! That's what Sopranos actor John Ventimiglia will be telling students at 30 Brooklyn high schools starting this fall, after copping a plea yesterday to driving...

KID BROS' 'GAY' LINK

Oh, brother! Having older male siblings makes it likelier a boy will be gay if all the brothers have the same mom, according to a new report. The Canadian study,...

1ST WIFE'S DEFENSE SMELLS REAL FI$HY

GORGEOUS Jean Strahan's been called a few names. But "killer"? There's a new one. "That's a wild story - I'm assassinating his children!" Jean exclaimed to me yesterday outside Newark...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

STATEN ISLAND * An Arden Heights man was arrested for stealing thousands of dollars worth of jewelry from his parents, authorities said yesterday. Christopher Pantaleo, 28, was busted at around...

PREZ RIPS NEW YORK CRIMES - CALLS $$-TRACK EXPOSÉ A BLOW TO WAR ON TERROR

WASHINGTON - A fired-up President Bush yesterday said The New York Times did "great harm" to America by revealing a top-secret program to track terrorist financing. "The disclosure of this...

BUSH VOWS GIS' STATUS ALL HINGES ON VICTORY

WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday downplayed reports that at least 7,000 U.S. combat troops will exit Iraq by September, saying the prime goal is victory. Bush told reporters that he...

58 FIREWORKS CARS SEIZED

New Yorkers are learning the hard way that an initiative to keep July 4th firecrackers out of the city means just what the warning signs on the highway say: "Transport...

$12.5M FOR 'LOSING' EYE

A jury awarded $12.5 million yesterday to a guidance counselor who lost the sight in his one good eye when an emotionally disturbed 8- year-old special-ed student slammed a broken...

GRIDDER GRILLED OVER HIS EX-PENSES - STRAHAN IN AUTO FLAP

Just months after Giant sack king Michael Strahan tried to get his estranged wife, Jean, to give up her only car, he bought one for his ex. On the stand...

2ND MAID SAYS NAOMI BELTED HER

Just in time for today's Manhattan court date on charges she walloped one maid in the head with a cellphone, saucy supermodel Naomi Campbell is being sued by a second...

HOW STAR GIANT TACKLED A 'CHARGER' - STRAHAN CREDIT CLASH

He can't remember his twin girls' birthday. But Giants sack king Michael Strahan says he remembers well the timing of another apparently joyous occasion: canceling his estranged wife Jean's American...

TRUCK KILLS BIKER - VILLAGE ROAD HAZARD FORCES MODEL, 24, INTO DEATH SKID

A budding Brooklyn filmmaker with model good looks was crushed to death by an 18-wheeler in Greenwich Village yesterday after he lost control of his bicycle and fell under the...

'BRIBE' DETECTIVES ACQUITTED

Two veteran Chelsea detectives were acquitted yesterday of charges they expedited the processing of a street peddler's arrest so he wouldn't have to spend a night in jail, taking in...

ISRAEL & GAZA ON BRINK OVER KIDNAP

JERUSALEM - Israel is poised to launch a massive military sweep of the Gaza Strip after the government rejected demands from terrorists who abducted an Israeli soldier. Egypt, Qatar and...

MOB-COP BID RIPPED - JUDGE CALLS HIS RETRIAL CLAIM 'LUDICROUS'

Calling Louis Eppolito a louse and a liar, a judge effectively closed the book yesterday on the murderous mob cop's desperate attempts to get out from under his life sentence....

LABOR CHIEFS FOR GAY NUPS

As gays and lesbians wait to see whether the state's top court rules for or against same-sex marriage, city labor leaders joined them in a show of support yesterday. The...

FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR FULTON HUB

The MTA will not scale back its plans for a massive lower Manhattan transit hub, although the project is almost $100 million dollars over its original budget, officials said yesterday....

VAN MOM'S HUBBY FREE

The Staten Island man accused of letting his suicidal wife drive off a Bear Mountain cliff came home from a psychiatric facility yesterday on the eve of her funeral. As...

KID KILLS PLAYMATE IN GUN-MISHAP HORROR

A 12-year-old New Jersey boy was accidentally killed yesterday by a playmate as the two played with a loaded gun they apparently found in an unlocked box, witnesses and police...

DWI 'SOPRANO' BACK TO SCHOOL

Thinking of driving drunk? Fuhgeddaboutit! That's what "The Sopranos' " John Ventimiglia will be telling kids at 30 Brooklyn high schools starting this fall, after copping a plea yesterday to...

FIRE ENGINE, SUV COLLIDE

A firetruck heading to a Brooklyn blaze collided with an SUV yesterday, flipping the smaller vehicle over. Miraculously, the family of four inside - including a 6-year-old boy - suffered...

TRUCK KILLS BIKER - CRUSHED UNDER TIRE

A budding Brooklyn filmmaker with model good looks was crushed to death by an 18-wheeler in Greenwich Village yesterday after he lost control of his bicycle and fell under the...

FULL $TEAM AHEAD FOR FULTON STREET TRANSIT HUB

The MTA will not scale back its plans for a massive lower Manhattan transit hub even though the project is almost $100 million dollars over its original budget, officials said...

LABOR CHIEFS BACK GAYS

As gays and lesbians wait to see if the state's highest court will rule in favor of same-sex marriage, city labor leaders joined them yesterday in a show of support....

JUDGE SLAMS MOB COP'S BID

Calling Louis Eppolito a louse and a liar, a judge effectively closed the book yesterday on the murderous mob cop's desperate attempts to get out from under his life sentence....

YANKS TURN ON POWER & HEAT - GIAMBI (2 HRS), UNIT CHOP DOWN BRAVES

Yankees 5 - Braves 2 Jason Giambi wasn't brought to New York for his arm - but Randy Johnson was. Giambi smashed two homers and drove in five in the...

BOSS LIKES CASH - BRIAN'S ASCENSION SEASON'S TOP STUNNER

PICK YOUR surprise of the first half. Go ahead. Do you think it is the Tigers having the majors' best record or, perhaps, the Braves having one of the worst?...

BAKER'S COOKIN' FOR LIBS

It didn't take long for rookie Sherill Baker to make an impression on her Liberty teammates. "I saw her in training camp and right away went up to her and...

OCTAVIO THRILLED BY SOLID SESSION

YANKEE NOTES Octavio Dotel was grinning and laughing so often yesterday afternoon, a reporter joked that he needs to smile more. Dotel, making his way back from Tommy John surgery,...

SERBS COURT KRSTIC

Nenad Krstic met the president - the Serbian president, who inquired about the Nets center's availability for the Serbia-Montenegro National Team. Despite varying reports, Krstic insisted yesterday he has not...

ADELEKE OPENS EYES

Kenny Adeleke's high school coach told him he didn't have to go to a big-time college basketball school to make the NBA. "He said that as long as I do...

REYES IS TOAST OF NL AGAIN

MET NOTES BOSTON - Hope Jose Reyes enjoyed being named the NL Player of the Week last week, because he took the honors again this week. Becoming the first Met...

CAP-PY BIRTHDAY - BELIEVE IT OR NOT, JETER'S 32

THE KID shortstop who has carried the Yankees on his shoulders the last 11 years turned 32 yesterday. "Can you tell everybody I'm 28?" Derek Jeter asked me, flashing his...

CANO-NO! - ROBBY SHELVED BY HURTIN' HAMMY

George Steinbrenner demands perfection, but not like this. The Yankees are now a perfect 9-for-9 this season - every starter on the team has missed time due to some sort...

RANDY BURNS ATLANTA AGAIN

In a start reminiscent of his last one against the Braves, when Randy Johnson threw a perfect game at Turner Field two years ago while with the Diamondbacks, the Big...

DOTEL'S THRILLED BY SOLID SESSION

YANKEE NOTES Octavio Dotel was grinning and laughing so often yesterday afternoon, a reporter joked that he needs to smile more. Dotel felt ecstatic after throwing 30 pitches at a...

JETER CELEBRATES CAP-PY BIRTHDAY

THE YOUNG shortstop who helped carry the Yankees to four championships turned 32 yesterday. "Can you tell everybody I'm 28?" Derek Jeter asked me, flashing his trademark smile. "It's hard...

PUNK ROCKER STILL HURLIN' HATE

John Rocker is out of baseball - but he's still a big-league jerk. The former Braves reliever - whose racist and homophobic comments to Sports Illustrated in 1999 prompted Commissioner...

THEY DON'T GET MUCH WORSE THAN DOLAN

WE HAVE had some beauties around here, people who owned New York sports franchises you wouldn't trust to shovel your sidewalk. None of them even deserves a seat at the...

THOMAS GETS FAIR WARNING - ISIAH HAS A YEAR TO CLEAN UP KNICK MESS

An emotional Knicks owner James Dolan, after charging Larry Brown wanted to get fired after one season, put his new coach Isiah Thomas on a one-year leash, saying he will...

NINE MEN OUT - HAMMY MAKES CANO LAST YANK STARTER TO MISS TIME

George Steinbrenner demands perfection, but not like this. The Yankees are now a perfect 9-for-9 this season - every starter on the team has missed time due to some sort...

SOX APPEAL - MARTINEZ STILL LOVES BOSTON FANS

BOSTON - Tomorrow night, he will take the mound. But Pedro Martinez's return to Boston is beginning now. Martinez will return to Fenway Park tonight with the Mets for the...

A SOFT SELL - BARGNANI MAY GO NO. 1, IF EURO TAG DOESN'T HURT

Perception is a difficult thing to change, which means we must address the question that every European player faces before he steps on an NBA court: "Is he soft?" The...

GARDEN CIRCUS - JIM'S ACT IS A DOG-AND-PHONY SHOW

CHARADES, I've sniffed out a few, but yesterday's Knick "beat writers only" conference produced, directed and starred in by the disorganization's leading men, had the symptoms to top 'em all;...

DOLAN AMUSED BY BROWN'S TRADE REQUESTS

Knicks owner James Dolan made a powerful case yesterday that Larry Brown's player personnel suggestions were irrational. An impassioned Dolan revealed Brown wanted six players waived at season's end, including...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

When his kitten got stuck 30 feet up a fir tree, Ken Sinclair of Portland, Ore., climbed to the rescue. With a little coaxing, he managed to get the frightened...