June 29, 2006

PARIS MATCH PROTEST STRIKE

Journalists at Paris Match, the influential French newsweekly, have voted to stage a one-day strike today in a protest over the ouster of the editor-in-chief by the parent company, Hachette...

JUICED MARTS SMART? - DECISION IS HANK'S

HANK Paulson is going to be a helluva Treasury Secretary. But can a guy who made his fortune on Wall Street be trusted as the head of the Plunge Protection...

HILTON BUYS ON W. 57

Hilton Resorts is adding a Grand Vacation spot to the lineup along 57th Street. The company purchased the former Shelly's restaurant site and the adjacent small office building for $63...

NEW 'JUAN' AIMS TO PERK UP COFFEE EXPORTS

Meet the new, improved "Juan Valdez." Colombia's new coffee ambassador to the world - an icon of advertising for nearly a half-century - in no longer just an actor for...

NO DEAL FOR EMI, WARNER

In the latest episode in their long-running mating dance, Warner Music and EMI each have rejected acquisition bids from the other. The recent swapping of proposals - the latest came...

BIG CREW DEBUT - CEO DREXLER SRIKES IT RICH IN IPO COMEBACK

It was a comeback worthy of the 1951 Giants. Four years after he was forced into early retirement from the Gap, Mickey Drexler is riding high as the chief of...

FEDERLINE LINES - BRITNEY'S MAN EYED AS BAD-BOY BRAND

Kevin Federline, a.k.a. Mr. Britney Spears, is moving from wife-beater-wearing bad boy to brand name. Despite reports that his famous marriage is on the rocks, Federline will be the new...

MORGAN'S LAWYERS WERE 'HANDCUFFED'

Morgan Stanley made a desperate last-ditch plea to avoid paying Ron Perelman $1.7 billion in damages for dumping worthless stock on him in a flopped deal eight years ago. Perelman...

A NEW MACK WHACK - SEC PROBE WAS CLOSE

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Federal regulators were just days away from "going after" John Mack in an insider-trading probe of Pequot Capital, the giant hedge fund where the Wall Street stalwart...

GIMME SHELTER

SUPERMANSE, $2.95M 7-BR THE WESTCHESTER home of late golden couple Christopher Reeve and his wife, Dana, has just gone on the market. The three-level, 16-room mansion on just more than...

STATE OF GRACE - KELLY AND GARBO SLEPT HERE - NOW YOU CAN LIVE GLAMOROUSLY AT THIS HISTORIC HOTEL - THE SUITE LIFE - '20S-STYLE

Old boutique hotels are the new residential hotness ALL across Manhattan, landmark hotels are going residential, and buyers are paying exclamation-point-worthy amounts to own a piece of New York history....

WARNER, EMI DO NO-DEAL TWO-STEP

In the latest episode in their long-running mating dance, Warner Music and EMI each have rejected acquisition bids from the other. The recent swapping of proposals - the latest came...

MADONNA & MILD AT MSG

BRACE yourself. In between the sexual writhing onstage with buff dancers, a few half- boiled political statements projected on the video screens, and her constant attempt to prove she's still...

CONNIE TUNE WELL CHUNG

CONNIE Chung says she's "shocked" by the attention her now-infamous MSNBC swan song has received since she delivered it June 17. "Are you surprised by all the attention this has...

PIES IN THE SKY - THE AMERICAN DIET AIN'T NO SUCH THING

'AMERICAN Eats," The History Channel's new series about the hows and whats of the "American diet" (which is anything but), starts off tonight with, yes, pizza. That quintessentially Italian treat,...

IT'S A GO FOR IAGO

FORMED nine years ago by former New York City Ballet principal Judith Fugate and her husband, Medhi Bahiri, a dancer with the Bejart Ballet, the Fugate/Bahiri Ballet NY has survived...

MOB OPERA CREW CUT - WISEGUYS COULD WALK IN HBO CONTRACT STANDOFF

TONY Soprano may want to consider taking out some want ads - two of his most trusted lieutenants, Silvio Dante and Paulie Walnuts, are close to bolting the cast. The...

WINTOUR WONDERLAND - IT MAY NOT BE IN VOGUE, BUT IT'S IN FASHION; FOR FASHION, A MODEL MOVIE

IF you can tell the difference between a mule and a pump, attendance at "The Devil Wears Prada" is mandatory. You might have to reach back to "Funny Face" to...

ENTRY-LEVEL DEVILS - 'MAKE COPIES? NO WAY!' CRY THESE ENTITLED ASSISTANTS

SHE'S just so entitled, isn't she, the protagonist of "The Devil Wears Prada" - expecting everyone around her to cater to her whims, to grasp just how above the vicissitudes...

SPIDERS AND SNAKES AND SAMUEL, OH MY

'SUPERMAN Returns" and "The Devil Wears Prada" finally open in theaters this week, and you know what that means - the hype machine kicks in for the next blockbusters. The...

CITY $30M HURRICANE PLAN - PREPARES FOR MAJOR STORM

The city will spend up to $30 million to prepare for a major storm - even though the chance of one hitting here is less than 1 percent, Mayor Bloomberg...

GIRLS MISS CLIFF MA'S BURIAL

The two traumatized little girls who survived their suicidal mom's death plunge off a Bear Mountain cliff in a minivan did not attend her grim graveside service (above) on Staten...

2G TRANSIT 'GRAFT' FINE

ALBANY - A city transit worker yesterday agreed to pay $2,000 to settle charges that he took gifts from a vendor, including tickets for himself and his wife to "The...

'ITALIAN SLUR' WOE FOR GREEN

A national Italian-American group yesterday urged Mark Green to apologize for a borderline ethnic joke a comedian at his fund-raiser made about rival state attorney-general candidate Andrew Cuomo. "I call...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN (lcf) * Four people, including a 7-year-old girl, were shot last night in a park near a Harlem housing project, police said. Gunfire erupted in Renaissance Park on W....

APPLE $LICED AGAIN ON TERROR

WASHINGTON - The Big Apple got more bad news on anti-terror money yesterday as a Senate panel voted to cut next year's funds for high-threat areas by $20 million to...

20 TO LIFE FOR HAMMER FIEND WHO KILLED EX

A heartless killer who fatally bludgeoned his ex with a hammer was sentenced yesterday to 20 years to life. "I hope God forgives him for what he did, because he...

GABBY GOTTI'S GAFFE - FEDS EYE 'LIES' TO SNOOZE

Prosecutors want lawyers for John "Junior" Gotti held in contempt of court for standing by while the mob scion made "self-serving and false statements" during a newspaper interview. In a...

KERIK IN D.A. DEAL - WILL PAY A 200G FINE

Embattled former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik has reached a tentative deal with The Bronx district attorney for failing to report a personal loan and accepting a gift, authorities said yesterday....

HIT-&-RUN BEER-SWILL QNS. BUST

A Queens driver who mowed down and seriously injured a 62-year-old pedestrian yesterday was guzzling a can of beer when cops caught up with him, authorities said. The hit-and-run driver,...

'ANIMAL HOUSE' BRAVEST BURNED

A Bronx firefighter has been given the boot for lying about the sex shenanigans that took place in the firehouse known as "Animal House." Anthony Loscuito, 28, was fired after...

'TOT SLAY' RAPS - MOM, BEAU CHARGED

A young mother and her boyfriend were charged yesterday with the death of her battered 3-year-old daughter, who died Tuesday after losing consciousness in their squalid Brooklyn apartment. Jessica Rosado,...

'REAL' MOXLEY KILLER TAKES 5TH

A man fingered by Michael Skakel's lawyers as one of Martha Moxley's "real killers" repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer questions about the 1975 slaying, according to...

THUGS EXECUTE ISRAELI SETTLER - WEST BANK TERRORISTS BOASTING OF 'PAYBACK'

JERUSALEM - Palestinian terrorists said they executed an abducted West Bank settler to retaliate for Israel's launching of an extensive military sweep of the Gaza Strip to free a second...

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER

Cheers filled schoolyards across the city yesterday as 1.1 million public-school students marked the last day of classes. At PS 58 in Brooklyn, fifth-grader Nicole Internicola clutched a report card...

PSYCHIC 'SCAM' BUSTS - NEVER SAW IT COMING

Three Queens psychics may be trading their crystal balls for a ball and chain. The false prophets from Astoria were charged yesterday with fraud and larceny after claiming to undercover...

CITY STINGS HAUL IN 55 ILLEGAL GUNS

The city's crackdown on sales of illegal guns netted 55 firearms and three suspects after investigations spanning five months, police said yesterday. In one probe, undercover cops said they bought...

DOCS FEAR X-RAY LINK TO BREAST CANCER

Breast and chest X-ray scans may dramatically increase the risk of some high-risk women getting breast cancer, a study has found. The findings clash with conventional wisdom that all middle-aged...

'PLASTIC' GIANT - STRAHAN'S 'COSMETIC SURGERY'

Football Giant sack king Michael Strahan underwent plastic surgery last year, his estranged wife's lawyer said yesterday. The disclosure came during scrimmaging between accountants and lawyers at the head-butting couple's...

MIKE SCOLDS CELL-BAN FOES

Mayor Bloomberg got a chance yesterday to finger-wag at critics of his school-cellphone ban, decrying an elaborate cheating scheme involving cellphones at two Brooklyn high schools as a case study...

SUSPECT DIES IN CUSTODY

A Queens man arrested in Astoria for drug possession died in police custody after he repeatedly smashed his head against a window inside a police van, cops said. The man,...

CELEB GOLF ON GOVERNORS I.

Golf legend Tom Watson will tee off in the Big Apple when he plays in a celebrity event on Governors Island. "I have played across the world but never imagined...

STRAHAN'S 'PLASTIC SURGERY'

Giant sack king Michael Strahan underwent plastic surgery last year, his estranged wife's lawyer said yesterday. The disclosure came during scrimmaging between accountants and lawyers at the head-butting couple's divorce...

ISRAEL'S HEAT AT FULL 'BLAST' - 'EXTREME MEASURES' TO FREE ABDUCTED SOLDIER

JERUSALEM - Israel vowed to take "extreme measures" to free a kidnapped soldier, as its warplanes bombed terrorist targets, knocked out electricity in the Gaza Strip and buzzed the palace...

'SLAY' SHOW OF SOLIDARITY

Nearly 200 correction officers came to court in Manhattan yesterday to hear a man plead not guilty to the love-triangle stabbing murder of their colleague. The victim, 16-year correction veteran...

NIXZMARY SIBS MAY TESTIFY

Prosecutors plan to call two siblings of tragic child-beating victim Nixzmary Brown as witnesses when the girl's mother and stepfather face trial for her murder, according to court papers made...

STOCK SHOCK IN PAST OF DEM HOPEFUL'S AIDE

IMAGINE the outrage, especially from the Left, if President Bush were to hire an Internet guru who had a past as a Web shill for a worthless dot-com stock. Nope,...

BOUNCER BUSTS - 41 SWEPT UP IN 42 NYPD BAR RAIDS

Cops raided 42 bars last weekend and nabbed 41 unlicensed security guards - including some convicted of rape and other serious crimes, NYPD officials revealed yesterday. At a City Council...

DELIVERY SLAYING ARRESTS

Police arrested two suspects in the shooting death of a Chinese-food deliveryman during a botched robbery in The Bronx last year, authorities said yesterday. Gerald Gordon, 20, and David Robinson,...

IT'S 'FREEDOM' IN A NEW LIGHT - * DESIGNERS HIGH ON SHINING GLASS * SECURITY THUMBS-UP FROM NYPD

Call it Freedom Tower Light. The latest version of the tower, unveiled yesterday, sheds its fortress-like base of metal and stone sheathing for a much lighter structure covered with ultra-strong,...

AT LAST, A SOARING TRIUMPH

DAVID CHILDS, the Freedom Tower's chief designer, has suavely filled in the blanks of the vague octagonal edifice shown to a disappointed public a year ago. As the great Seagram...

EXPOSED: BROOKLYN PERV-COP SUSPECT

Here's the first photo of alleged pervert cop Andrew Johnson, accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old high-school student in her home. Johnson, an eight-year veteran assigned to the Brooklyn narcotics...

MADAM DROPS NEW BOMBSHELL - ANOTHER POWER BROKER IN HER $ACK

The Brazilian bombshell charged with running an upscale brothel has told cops she has an ex-husband - and named a second hot-shot corporate executive as her sugar daddy. "I wouldn't...

COMMUNITY DIS$ERVICE

A Parks Department employee was arrested yesterday for allegedly taking $60 in exchange for letting someone out of doing community service. Gregory Ferguson, 45, of Manhattan, was charged with receiving...

CATFIGHT REVEALS MUDDY WALTERS

WHAT else has she been lying about? Barbara Walters had to admit it - on national TV. Dame Barbara, the self-crowned queen bee of daytime television, is a big, fat,...

ELIOT SLAPS STATE POLS

ALBANY - Attorney General Eliot Spitzer gave a failing grade to the Legislature's just-ended session yesterday, saying too much money was spent and not enough was done to address badly...

MILLION KIDS END LESSONS FOR SUMMER

Cheers and tears filled schoolyards across the city yesterday as 1.1 million public school students marked the last day of classes with high-fives and hugs from their teachers. At PS...

VACCINE VS. MENINGITIS

City health officials launched a vaccination campaign yesterday to stem the deadly meningitis outbreak in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant - principally targeting drug users and those in close contact with them. There...

MOM HELD IN DEADLY TOT BASH

A young mother was charged yesterday with assaulting her 3-year-old daughter, who died a day earlier after losing consciousness in their squalid Brooklyn apartment. Eighteen-year-old Jessica Rosado - who is...

FURY AS HILL IS SNUBBED

WASHINGTON - One of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's top aides unleashed a tirade at Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid's team for snubbing the former first lady on her pet issue....

HOUSE TO BASH TIMES LEAKER

WASHINGTON - The House of Representative today takes up a resolution to condemn whoever leaked news of a top-secret terrorist money-tracking program to the New York Times. The resolution, sponsored...

'BARB' WIRE - LIVID 'VIEW' HOST AND STAR GET OUT THE KNIVES ON AIR

The gloves are off and the claws are out. Barbara Walters and Star Jones Reynolds escalated their public catfight yesterday, with Walters lacing into Jones on "The View" and Star...

2 ADMIT SMUGGLING DEAF SLAVES

The ringleaders of a smuggling scam that forced deaf Mexican immigrants into slave labor by making them peddle trinkets on subways pleaded guilty to extortion yesterday. "I told them to...

'DRUG FEUD' IN GIRL SLAY

Detectives probing the strangulation murder of a promising Brooklyn high-school student are looking into a purported dispute between armed thugs and a member of the dead girl's family, officials said...

GAY IS 'OUT' - CITY SETTLES OVER MILK HS

The city has agreed not to refer to Harvey Milk HS as a gay school under an agreement reached to settle a lawsuit, The Post has learned. The Department of...

COPS NAB MEN OF 'STEAL' - BOOTLEG DVD RING $MASHED

As Superman returned to the big screen, real-life crime fighters cracked down on the world's largest movie-piracy syndicate - just in time to keep it from ripping off the Man...

GOVS ISLAND GOLF TOURNEY DUE

Golf legend Tom Watson will tee off on the Big Apple when he plays in a celebrity event on Governors Island. "I have played across the world but never imagined...

CREEP GUILTY IN STRIPPER-THREESOME SLAY

A Queens man whose wild sex romp with two Brazilian strippers ended with one dead and the other badly slashed was convicted yesterday by a jury that didn't buy his...

X-RAYS' LINK TO CANCER - BREAST EXAM WORRY

Breast and chest X-ray scans may dramatically increase the risk of some high-risk women getting breast cancer, an alarming new study has found. The findings clash with conventional wisdom that...

COUNCIL SET TO OK PORT LEASE

The City Council is expected to approve a lease agreement today that allows for the development of an automobile-processing facility at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal but still leaves the...

KNICK KNOCKERS - INCENSED FANS HIT STREETS TO DEMAND OWNER'S HEAD

A posse of outraged Knick fans took their anger to the streets yesterday, marching on the gates of Madison Square Garden to protest the team's sorry shape as the NBA...

MADAM DROPS NEW BOMBSHELL

The Brazilian bombshell charged with running an upscale brothel told cops she had an exhusband and named two hotshot corporate execs as "sugar daddies" - but she really just wants...

STERN TAKES BROWN CASE

Larry Brown versus the Knicks took another step forward yesterday, as Brown's agent, Joe Glass, filed paperwork with the NBA requesting that the team pay Brown the $40 million remaining...

A-ROD WINS SUPPORT WITH ONE SWING

Oh, sure. Now they love him. Fans outside Yankee Stadium weren't hating on Alex Rodriguez yesterday after his 12th-inning, walkoff home run produced a 4-3 win against the Braves. With...

SCOUTS GET EYE-PHIL

YANKEE NOTES While the Yankees are reluctant to part with Phil Hughes, their top pitching prospect, other clubs are tripping over each other to scout the hard-throwing right-hander in case...

GREAT, NOW DO IT AGAIN - START OF SOMETHING OR ONE-SHOT DEAL?

ALEX Rodriguez gave an "about time" glance at the home dugout late yesterday afternoon just as he was embarking on, perhaps, the most satisfying trek of the bases of his...

RODRIGUEZ WINS ALL THREE

Jockey Rudy Rodriguez looked like Jerry Bailey out there yesterday, winning with all three of his mounts, beginning with Fuego Grande ($47.60) in opener, followed by Tax the Queen ($13)...

JUSTICE SERVED BY A-ROD HOMER

FOR most athletes, it hurts to be booed, but they can take it because they generally have little respect for the opinions of fans. However, when one of their peers...

STERN ON BROWN'S DISPUTE

Larry Brown versus the Knicks took another step forward yesterday, as Brown's agent, Joe Glass, filed paperwork with the NBA requesting that the team pay Brown the $40 million remaining...

TELFAIR TRADED TO CELTICS

Sebastian Telfair, who first made a name for himself by leading Brooklyn's Lincoln High to three straight PSAL titles, is headed to the Celtics. The point guard from Coney Island,...

'ANGRY' KNICKS FANS PROTEST DOLAN, ISIAH - TAKE CONCERN OVER TEAM TO STREETS

A posse of outraged Knicks fans took their anger to the streets yesterday, marching on the gates of Madison Square Garden to protest the team's sorry shape as the NBA...

BULLS KNOT COLUMBUS

Different skipper, same story. A day after the Red Bulls fired coach Mo Johnston, interim Richie Williams' debut ended the same way most of his predecessor's games had - with...

YOUNG GUNS TAKING AIM AT OPEN TITLE

U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN NEWPORT, R.I. - As the young guns make their meteoric rise in women's golf, magnets to all of the adoration and attention, the so-called older guard delivers...

NETS GRAB UCONN DUO

The size guys the Nets wanted went fairly quickly. So they hoped there would be something they liked for point-guard depth when the NBA Draft rolled to them at 22...

ALLEYNE, 7-3, TRANSFERS FROM KY. TO MANHATTAN

Three days past his two-month anniversary as head coach of Manhattan College, Barry Rohrssen corralled his biggest recruit. Literally and figuratively. Shagari Alleyne, a 7-foot-3 center from Rice High who...

WHAT'S WRONG WITH PEDRO?

BOSTON - Now that the anticipation is over, now that he's come back to Fenway and gotten good and pummeled, now that he and the Boston fans have exchanged pleasantries...

NO CAUSE FOR CONCERN ... YET

BOSTON - He was all smiles when the bludgeoning was complete, still basking in the afterglow of a reception that was everything he could have asked for, and then some....

OWED SO MUCH, PEDRO GETS HIS DUE HOMETOWN

BOSTON - They were eating out of his hands. This was before the business started, when he walked to the bullpen, then back, cheering Pedro Martinez, chanting his name. Then,...

DAFT PICK - THOMAS' TOP CHOICE A STUNNER

The first of several "Fire Isiah" chants at the surly Garden Theatre occurred at 7:15 p.m. last night - 15 minutes before commissioner David Stern took the podium to start...

BEATINGS & SALUTATIONS - MARTINEZ MASHED IN RETURN TO FENWAY

Red Sox 10 - Mets 2 BOSTON - The Fenway fans went from cheering for Pedro Martinez last night to chanting against him. But they had reason to. Martinez returned...

KNICKS GO DEFENSE 1ST

The first of several "Fire Isiah" chants at the surly Garden Theatre occurred at 7:15 p.m. last night - 15 minutes before commissioner David Stern took the podium to start...

WATCH & YEARN - BULLS TURN KNICKS' PICK INTO BROWN'S FAVORITE PROSPECT

The first "Fire Isiah" chant at the riled-up Garden Theatre occurred at 7:15 p.m. last night - 15 minutes before commissioner David Stern took the podium to start the NBA...

GREETINGS & SALUTATIONS - PROUD PEDRO TAKES THE FENWAY MOUND AT LAST

BOSTON - Before the game, Pedro Martinez acknowledged the cheers for him. But it was interesting what happened when he took the mound last night. When Martinez walked out of...

NUMERO UNO - ITALIAN LEADS OFF TRADE-FILLED DRAFT

The NBA Draft turned into "Let's Make a Deal." In a draft with no clear-cut No. 1 choice and varying opinions on many of the players considered lottery picks, the...

NUMERO UNO - RAPTORS TAKE 7-FOOT IMPORT WITH 1ST PICK

The NBA Draft turned into "Let's Make a Deal." In a draft with no clearcut No. 1 choice and varying opinions on many of the players considered lottery picks, the...

THE ITALIAN JOB - RAPTORS TAKE 7-FOOT IMPORT WITH FIRST PICK

The Toronto Raptors might have gotten the next Dirk Nowitizki or the next Frederic Weis. Toronto used the first pick in the NBA Draft to take forward Andrea Bargnani of...

'I NEEDED THAT' - A-ROD TURNS BOOS TO CHEERS WITH WALKOFF HR

12 INNINGS: Yankees 4 - Braves 3 Alex Rodriguez's summer of discontent was put on hold yesterday when he turned an ocean of Bronx boos into a roiling river of...

LOOKING UP - BIG TRADE NETS GOAL

As the hours counted down on the NBA Draft last night, the Nets intensified their efforts to trade up in an attempt to land a big body, their greatest need...

RED BULLS EYE ARENA

A day after firing coach Mo Johnston, league sources have confirmed the Red Bulls are interested in hiring Bruce Arena. Now the only question that remains is whether the beleaguered...

HOMETOWN TOM GETS HIS TURN

MET NOTES BOSTON - Tom Glavine will start tonight at his hometown Fenway Park for the fifth time in his career. "It's a fun place to come," Glavine, who was...

TOM NOW GETS HIS TURN AT FENS

MET NOTES BOSTON - Born in Concord, Mass., Tom Glavine will start tonight at his hometown Fenway Park for the fifth time in his career. "It's a fun place to...

SCARLET KNIGHTS' DOUBY IS NOW A KING

Quincy Douby didn't even step on the court in his first two years at Grady H.S. Academic troubles kept the lanky guard ineligible his freshman and sophomore seasons. "I told...

YOUTH SERVES NOTICE AT OPEN

NEWPORT, R.I. - As the young guns make their meteoric rise in women's golf, magnets to all of the adoration and attention, the so-called older guard delivers this firm message...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

When Debbie Yates went to investigate noises coming from her kitchen, she expected to find her mischievous cats making a mess - instead, she found a big brown bear trying...