July 14, 2006

TITANS OF OLD & NEW MEDIA MIX & MATCH

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO - Old and new media had a powwow yesterday. Exhibit A of the shift underway in the media industry was on display here when CBS chief Les...

SACRE BLEU! COWEN TANKS

The bull market for financial boutiques may have come to a screeching halt as venerable investment house Cowen & Co. saw its debut on the stock market flop. In their...

VIACOM LATEST TO JOIN BMG BID WAR

The already intense bidding for BMG's music publishing arm got even more frenetic yesterday, with Viacom emerging as a serious and surprising contender in the auction, sources said. Viacom will...

SOUR NOTE HIT - FOUL CALL ON SONYBMG CLOUDS WARNER-EMI PLANS

Warner Music Group shares got rocked and roiled yesterday after a European court decision cast a long shadow over its long-anticipated plans to merge with rival EMI. Warner Music, run...

US AIR'S INSIDERS SCORE BIG BANKRUPTCY BONUSES

Bankruptcy is bringing new riches to insiders at some of America's battered airlines. Just months after US Airways pulled out of bankruptcy, its directors and officers have cashed out $499.5...

FOX IN THE HENHOUSE - METRO EXEC, DEMOTED FOR RACISM, WILL MONITOR SENSITIVITY

A top newspaper exec who drew heat last year at freebie chain Metro International for being racially insensitive has been tapped for a company advisory board set up to monitor...

'BAT MITZVAH' BROOKS NAILED

David Brooks - who made headlines last December for stiffing people who staged his lavish $10 million Rainbow Room bat mitzvah for his daughter, featuring Aerosmith and rapper 50-Cent -...

PONSON COMING ABOARD

YANKEE NOTES Believing he has been sober since August when he was charged with drunk driving for a third time, and a better option than anything available in-house, the Yankees...

DAN'S RATHER FAINT PRAISE

DAN Rather has emerged as the king of the backhanded compliment. He earned the title in his interview Wednesday night with Larry King on CNN. King asked Rather what he...

STARR REPORT

'View'ership Debbie Matenopoulos will return to "The View" as a guest-host July 25 - her first time back since her 1999 departure. Matenopoulos was the first "View"er to leave the...

MOB'S WAIT ISSUES - 'SOPRANOS' POSTPONE FINAL SEASON

"The impression that people get is that the network says, 'We're HBO, we have our own rules and we do what we want' " -Marc Berman of Mediaweek HBO has...

'HOUSE' CAN JUST BUY AN EMMY

'HOUSE" can go ahead and build himself a mansion now. Hugh Laurie, the star of the popular Fox medical drama, may have been snubbed for an Emmy nomination this year,...

THIN BLUE LIE - FBI AGENT'S 'EYES' CAN'T SEE OBVIOUS

YOU'D have to be Helen Keller not to see right through "Angela's Eyes," one of the silliest shows to rear its dopey head this year. What you will see, if...

MARY'S HOT PICK

BLIND Malian pop stars Amadou & Mariam met at the Institute for Young Blind People in Bamako, the capital of Mali, where they were studying Braille and performing with the...

CASINO BEAT

NEW JERSEY * The reigning queen of pop, MADONNA (pictured), performs Sunday at 8 p.m. at the Boardwalk Hall Arena. Tickets: $50-$350; boardwalkhall.com, (609) 348-7000. * If all you wanna...

PARTING WITH JULIETS SUCH SWEET SORROW

YOU needn't be a feminist to note that it was Juliet holding sway Monday and Wednesday nights when American Ballet Theatre returned to the repertory Kenneth MacMillan's turgid but spectacular...

TENDER TALE OF DEATH

ANYONE familiar with Francois Ozon, the talented French filmmaker, knows that he loves shots of the beach ("Under the Sand," "See the Sea," etc.). It's no surprise then that his...

AN INFANT TERRIBLE

SEXUAL and toilet humor plumb new depths in Keenen Ivory Wayans' "Little Man," which will stink up theaters like several gross of dirty diapers. More than a few soiled nappies...

GYM DANDY, FILM NOT

'PEACEFUL Warrior" tries to be "The Karate Kid" of gymnastics. It looks more like "The Karate Kid" as imagined by Details magazine. Dan (Scott Mechlowicz) is an arrogant young college...

WHO PLANS N.Y. SHOWS

LEGENDARY rockers The Who, the band that spearheaded the British invasion with The Beatles and Rolling Stones in the early '60s, announced yesterday that they would mount their first major...

LOUD ATTIRE, WITH BAD GROOMING

'THE Groomsmen" - which comes about five films after writer-director-star Ed Burns should have found another career - takes us back to Irish Long Island (the setting is established by...

MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY

AS saucy as a belly piercing, "Mini's First Time" is a black comedy that puts the soul of "Heathers" in Lolita's bikini. As usual, Nikki Reed plays a Bratz doll...

NEVER MAMET A BAD MARRIAGE HE DIDN'T LIKE

'BIRDS leave when there's gonna be an earthquake," remarks one wrecked soul in David Mamet's "Edmond." By birds, Mamet means white males, the desperate househusbands of this ink-black comedy. It...

KATIE'S SEX APPEAL ISN'T ENOUGH

SHE'S a stunning brunette - sexy, young and one of the most talented singers to come down the pike since Norah Jones swept up at the Grammys. So why is...

DUPRESSING - AS EMPTY AS OWEN WILSON'S PRETTY, STONED LITTLE HEAD; 'YOU, ME' NO PLACE FOR US

THINK of the uncompromisingly mediocre comedy "You, Me and Dupree" as a referendum on whether audiences are tiring of Owen Wilson's beatific stoner dude character as rapidly as I am....

KLINE FINDS 'COURAGE'

SORRY, Christopher Walken fans - but the deadpan actor won't be performing Shakespeare in the Park this summer after all, citing a scheduling conflict. You'll have to settle for Kevin...

DARK GIVE THEM SPARK

WE knew you can't keep a good man down - even if he's dead - and Johnny Cash proved it with his posthumous release, "American V: A Hundred Highways," which...

THE 5TH ANNUAL LIBERTY MEDAL AWARDS - LET'S HONOR CITY'S BEST

Their reward is not fame or fortune, but simply the knowledge that they've made life better for countless other New Yorkers. We are seeking candidates for the fifth annual New...

ROCKETS GO DEEP INTO ISRAEL AS LEB REELS UNDER BLITZ

JERUSALEM - The Middle East erupted into war yesterday as the Hezbollah terror group fired missiles deep inside Israel, striking its third-largest city, and Israel responded with a furious air...

TWO WOMEN SHOT AT CROBAR

Two women were wounded last night inside the Chelsea nightclub Crobar after a man pulled out a gun and started shooting, police said. The hotspot club was shut down soon...

HILL TAKES SIDES - BACKING JOE - KIND OF, SORT OF

SEN. Hillary Rodham Clinton is trying to walk a very finely triangulated line as she backs, for now, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) in his hot Democratic primary against an anti-war...

FATSOS NEED HEALTHY DOSE OF REALITY

How's this for a whopper: Fat people think they're healthier than their slimmer neighbors. A Stony Brook State University poll found that 93 percent of obese people believe that the...

POLL: WHITE CANDIDATE HAS RIGHT TO RUN

Most voters don't think black politicians in a predominately black Brooklyn district should try to keep a white candidate out of the race, according to a poll released yesterday. The...

'JUNIOR' TAPE: I'D COP TO CURTIS PLEA

John "Junior" Gotti was secretly caught on tape planning to cop a plea to the near-fatal kidnapping of radio host Curtis Sliwa - explosive recordings the mob scion's lawyers are...

9/11-AID DISASTER - DOLLARS-TO-DONUTS OUTRAGE

WASHINGTON - A government investigator said yesterday he was "offended" that Dunkin' Donuts stores and a custard shop thousands of miles from Ground Zero got government-backed loans meant for 9/11...

HOUSING IN REHAB CRISIS

The city's public housing authority takes too long to renovate its apartments - sometimes as long as seven years, an audit released yesterday found. The apartments are left empty for...

POL'S KID GETS KIDNEY

The 14-year-old daughter of Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, who dropped out of the race for state attorney general so he could give her a kidney, underwent a successful transplant yesterday morning....

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

QUEENS * Cops have identified one of two gunmen who robbed a Howard Beach bank. He is Anthony Digiosaffate (above), 51, cops said. Diogiosaffate and his accomplice brandished a handgun...

L.I. POL: CROOKS OUT TO 'SCREW THE SYSTEM'

WASHINGTON - Federal investigators and local prosecutors have unearthed a litany of schemes that crooks devised to exploit a sympathetic public in the days after 9/11. Rep. Peter King (R-L.I.)...

PERSONAL FOUL: EX-GIANT 'SACKS' GAL PAL - B'KLYN ASSAULT RAP

A former New York Giants cornerback was arraigned in Brooklyn yesterday on charges he brutally tackled his petite girlfriend and left her sporting a black eye and a swollen lip....

B'WAY USHER TO TAKE STAGE - R&B STAR WILL JOIN 'CHICAGO'

HORDES of teen girls will be screaming "Yeah!" on Broadway next month - Usher's joining the cast of "Chicago." The chart-topping R&B singer-songwriter will star in the hit musical as...

STRAHAN'S NASTY DEED IN DIVORCE

Michael Strahan and his wife Jean battled over their multimillion-dollar house yesterday - as a lawyer for the football Giants sack king revealed he still hasn't handed over the deed,...

PARENTS RING ALARM ON CELL-BAN 'PERIL'

Public-school parents who filed a lawsuit against the city yesterday to overturn a ban on students' carrying cellphones in schools said safety was their motivation. Each of the eight parents...

'EVIL' KT: I'M BLESSED

Deflecting questions about her own brother's calling her "evil," Republican Senate candidate Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland yesterday just heaped praise on her husband and children. "I've been very blessed," McFarland...

RUSSIA HIRES TOP N.Y. FLACK

A near-stranglehold on his nation's media apparently isn't enough for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who's hired a top New York PR firm to polish his image in time for this...

BUSH: DEFEAT THE TERRORISTS BUT DON'T TOPPLE GOV'T

WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday strongly defended Israel's attacks on Lebanon - but urged Israelis to be careful to avoid weakening Lebanon's fragile government. After Bush spoke in Germany, the...

N.J. DAD WANTS TO TEACH FAILING PUBLIC SCHOOLS A HARSH LE$$ON

PROUD papa Van-Ness Crawford remembers the moment he knew his sons have no business attending public school. It was when his boy Joshua told him the teacher cursed and called...

BOARD OUT TO LUNCH - IGNORE$ OWN PROBE

A Queens middle-school principal under investigation for allegedly helping himself to the school-lunch fund was chosen yesterday to lead the school in the city's expanded Empowerment Zone - and to...

DC 37 IN NEW PACT

City workers will get about a 10 percent raise over 32 months and be allowed to live outside the city under a new contract reached with the Bloomberg administration. The...

BOOT OUT MY HUBBY - WAR OVER $2M CO-OP

She might be stuck being married to him, but an Upper West Side woman says she can't live with her husband anymore. Designer Marypaul Yates, who's been trying unsuccessfully to...

RAISING THE 'BAR' ON PMS

In a world of wonder bras and wonder derrieres, there's a product that women may find a lot more helpful - the Women's Wonder Bar. That's because the organic snack...

NUDE DUDE SUES - OVER FIRE I. DOG BAN

Call this tale "Nudie and the Beast." Former bodybuilder Mark DelCore, of Queens, is suing Fire Island officials for the right to have his dog escort him to the beach...

ANSWERING HER CRIES - TRUCKER DELIVERS IN MANSE BLAST

Truck driver Juan Deida heard two sounds he will never, ever forget. The first was the devastating roar of a building explosion right next to him. The second was the...

BROUGHT TO JUSTICE 21 YRS. LATER

In August 1985, the 21-year-old son of Korean deli owners revved his silver Corvette into a rival crowd of Chinese teenagers outside a party at Columbia University. After injuring four...

CON ED VOWS NO POWER CUT TO THE PEOPLE

Two of Con Ed's upstate power lines to the city went down last month, raising the dual risk of electrical shortages - even blackouts - and higher bills this summer,...

STRIKING BEAUTY - THIRD AIDE SAYS NAOMI BEANED HER

Another Naomi Campbell employee says the supermodel smashed her in the head with a cellphone - and smacked her, spat in her face, ripped the clothes off her back, stole...

APE-$NIT: 'TARZAN' MA IN RENT FLAP

The mother of the child co-star of Broadway's "Tarzan" owes a whopping $60,000 in back rent, it was revealed yesterday in Manhattan Supreme Court. "I didn't know about that," testified...

FEDS WILL PROBE DEADLY VAN CRASH

Federal safety experts joined the investigation yesterday into the fiery van crash that killed five residents of a Brooklyn home for the mentally disabled. The National Transportation Safety Board dispatched...

LOWER E. SIDE SOLDIER SLAIN IN IRAQ AMBUSH

A soldier from the Lower East Side was shot and killed by terrorists in Iraq, officials said yesterday. Sgt. Irving Hernandez Jr., 28, of the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment,...

WEST SIDE DUO IN ROB SPREE

Cops yesterday were on the hunt for a pair of brazen thieves who robbed four men at knifepoint in a quartet of West Side robberies. The stickup spree took place...

BOUNCER IN 3 NEW SLAY RAPS

A Brooklyn bouncer who faces life in prison for a May shooting spree at a Chelsea nightclub will be arraigned today in Brooklyn Supreme Court on new charges linking him...

B'KLYN RAPE FIEND HUNTED

Cops are searching for a man (sketch above) who raped a Brooklyn hospital worker on her way home, authorities said yesterday. The man, described as 25 to 35 years old,...

BABY GIVES A WAIL TO THE CHIEF

WASHINGTON - A whimsical President Bush plays mimic to this squalling baby's yowls yesterday as he arrived at a barbecue in his honor in Germany before heading to a weekend...

COLD ON WARMING - DEM VOTERS DON'T REALLY CARE

EVERYBODY knows Republicans don't care about global warming. But here's some surprising news: Neither do Democrats. That's the finding of a poll out this week from the Pew Research Center...

FIGHTING PUPPETS - ISRAEL'S NEW DILEMMA

ISRAEL is fighting marionettes. The monstrous fanatics who make up Hamas and Hezbollah doubtless imagine they are freedom fighters seeking martyrdom, but pathetic marionettes is all they really are, bobbing...

BRAVEST BROTHERS - FAMILY DAY FOR FDNY HONORS

Two sets of firefighting brothers were among 60 Bravest elevated to the rank of lieutenant yesterday. "I believe it's a phenomenal day for both families," said Andrew Di Fusco, a...

VAN-CRASH RED FLAGS 'IGNORED'

Stunned residents of the Brooklyn home for the mentally disabled from which five people were killed in a van crash said yesterday their frequent complaints about driver speeding and broken...

WATCH YOUR LEFT, HILLARY

ALBANY - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is now facing an all but certain Democratic primary from a poorly funded anti-war candidate who yesterday blamed her for the death of thousands...

OPEN QUESTION - CAN PHIL BOUNCE BACK AFTER WINGED FOOT FIASCO?

Phil Mickelson first held his head in despair, then called himself an "idiot'' - and then made an effort so neither of those things ever happen again. After his disastrous...

5 QUESTIONS FOR JOHN FLAHERTY

This week, NYP TV Sports' Mike Forde caught up with former Yankee catcher John Flaherty. The 38-year-old joined the YES Network this season to do pre- and post-game work, as...

FORDE'S MEMO OF THE WEEK

To: James Blake From: Mike Forde Re: Zidane Head Butt CC: All Media, Everywhere Dear James: Excellent call on the "5 Good Minutes'' portion of Wednesday's Pardon the Interruption. Co-host...

BEST 'WISHES' FROM ESPN - 'NET CONNECTS SICK KIDS TO DREAMS

You can rip ESPN for its over-the-top analysis, its boo-yahs, its selfpromotion, its needless graphics, its cell phones, its .... But sometimes ESPN gets it right. Running through the end...

LOTS OF THRILLS, THEN HEAD TO THE GRILLS

IT should be another good weekend to put some fresh caught fish on the barbie. Depending on where you will be there should be something you can find that will...

CURRY IS KEY

Isiah Thomas believes he'll ultimately be judged by the development of Knicks center Eddy Curry next season. When dishing out his one-year ultimatum, owner James Dolan didn't specify what qualified...

BARBARO FIGHTS FOR LIFE ; MIRACLE WILL BE NEEDED TO SAVE DERBY CHAMP

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. - Only a miracle can save Barbaro now that he's been hobbled by a "catastrophic" case of laminitis in his left hind foot. Laminitis, a painful swelling...

VARGAS EYES PAYBACK

Fernando Vargas is seeking revenge. Shane Mosley is looking for an exclamation point. The two will meet tomorrow night in a rematch of their highly entertaining duel in February, which...

COA FINISHES WITH FOUR WINS

1ST RACE - The thunderstorms that hit the tri-state area Wednesday night caused all the turf races to be switched to the main track. Trainer Gary Contessa didn't mind that...

RED BULLS CLOSE TO TABBING ARENA

Last month, The Post reported that the Red Bulls wanted to hire Bruce Arena. Now, the Washington Post is claiming that desire may finally be mutual, with the beleaguered U.S....

TORRE THINKS MORE MOVES ARE LIKELY

Joe Torre seemed content with the makeup of the Yankees yesterday morning, except for his desire for another starting pitcher, and the manager expected changes. "My sense is, by the...

BIG-LEAGUE EGO; COCKY MILLEDGE TAKES DEMOTION IN STRIDE

LOUISVILLE - As Lastings Milledge walked into a minor-league stadium yesterday he looked like a major-leaguer. Wearing a diamond-encrusted cross around his neck, a sparkling watch on his wrist and...

THERE WILL BE NO JOSE AGAIN TODAY

MET NOTES CHICAGO - Jose Reyes will not be playing shortstop today. Reyes' left pinky finger got cut last Friday against the Marlins. He didn't start the final three games...

BERGERON TO LEAVE WINGS

Tony Bergeron, who helped build Wings Academy into one of the top programs in the city, is leaving the small Bronx school to take a job at American Christian H.S.,...

TRUTH DECAY - FUDGED FACTS PLAGUING SPORTS WORLD

r Game festivities. AP THERE'S something about sports that shortly turns fractional truths into complete truths - and then into history. In 1961, Roger Maris was not vilified by most-to-all...

BOMBERS MUST FOCUS SOLELY ON RED SOX

Forget the schedule. Ignore the Yankees and Red Sox having just nine games remaining against each other. Starting tonight and lasting until Oct. 1, it's Yankees-Red Sox 24/7. Each will...

SHUN & GAMES - NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS IN AMAZIN' RACE

IT IS appropriate that the Mets resume their season on Bastille Day, because for so much of this season the team and its fans have acted as if they were...

BUMP & BIND - PEDRO RETURN MAY BE PUSHED BACK

CHICAGO - The return of Pedro Martinez may be delayed. Which isn't the ideal way to begin the Mets' second half. Martinez, who is on the disabled list with an...

YANKS NEED A-GAME FROM A-ROD

The Yankees have waited all year for Alex Rodriguez to regain the MVP form he displayed a year ago, and while it might be easy to suggest the third baseman...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Weekend duffer Dave Vonderau has never hit a hole in one, but his 8-year-old son has. Not once, but twice. Little Harrison Vonderau used a pitching wedge for the first...