July 19, 2006

SORRELL WINS VENUE BATTLE WITH BENATTI

Score one for WPP boss Martin Sorrell in his escalating legal battle with former Italy unit head Marco Benatti. A U.K. judge dismissed a motion yesterday by Benatti to move...

TELEVISA IS MULLING BID

Still fuming over losing the bidding war for Univision, Mexican giant Grupo Televisa said it is studying a rival offer for the Spanish-language network. In a conference call yesterday, Televisa's...

HOTEL DUO TAKE LAW SCHOOL SITE

IZAK Senbahar and Simon Elias have bought New York Law School's development site at 240 Church St., where the duo will construct a 306,155-foot luxury residential building. Among their Alexico...

FUNNY BIZ: VIACOM EYES ONION

Big media is expected to continue its buying spree on the Internet, as both CollegeHumor.com and The Onion are on the verge of being bought out. The satirical newspaper and...

EVERYONE HATES MARTHA: SHORT SELLERS CIRCLE DIVA

True, Martha Stewart's selling ads like gangbusters and always knows the best way to peel a mango, but Wall Street doesn't seem to care anymore. Most analysts are panning her...

THE HEARST IS OVER FOR HER

SURE, there's a fabulous new gym, dizzying views of Central Park and a snazzy new cafeteria, but that doesn't mean everyone is going to stay at Hearst Magazines for life....

FOR CASH GIVEAWAY, BANK HIRES ROBOT, LEGGY BLONDE

When a bank decides to give away free money, the task is so tough it takes a robot without any feelings to hand over the cash. Metbank has hired Mr....

CALVIN WALKS AWAY; DE-KLEINS PVH PACT

The designer Calvin Klein has chosen not to renew a consulting agreement with Phillips Van Heusen, the apparel maker that bought Klein's fashion house three years ago, The Post has...

STUY TOWN MAY BE SOLD

Manhattan's largest apartment complex - the legendary Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village - was put on the block last night by owner MetLife to cash in on the real...

TEST DRIVE - PORSCHE BOXSTER

YOU know you are driving a special machine when other people hold up the traffic to ask "who makes your car?" While driving around town, complete strangers stopped to make...

N.Y. FILM FEST HOSTS ROYALS

'THE Queen," a controversial new movie about the royal family's reaction to the death of Princess Diana, will open the New York Film Festival Sept. 29. Many in Britain have...

'DAYS' BOOTS OSAMA'S 'SLAVE'

KOLA Boof, a novelist who claims she was kept as a sex-slave by Osama bin Laden, has been fired from her job as a writer for NBC's "Days of Our...

COPYCAT-WALK - 'RUNWAY' DESIGNS LOOK AWFULLY FAMILIAR: REPORT

CALL it "Project Scandal." After just one episode, charges are flying over a contestant/designer who may have pulled the wool over the judges from Bravo's "Project Runway." Wannabe-superstar designer Keith...

BELLES RING TRUE; FILM FEATURES HARLEM SHOWGIRLS

THEY'VE danced through the Depression, segregation and World War II; decades later, they kicked up their heels through broken bones and a pacemaker. Now the Silver Belles - the showgirls...

ONCE USHERED, 'CHICAGO' SEATS SELLING BRISKLY

THE news that R&B star Usher is joining the cast of "Chicago" in August has given the 10-year-old show a nice lift at the box office. We're not talking Julia...

FOX TAKES ON REGIS AND KELLY

FOX will launch a new national morning show next January to compete with "Today" and "Live with Regis & Kelly." "I don't think there's any question we're entering that fray,"...

HOT, SANDY & SINGLE - FIRE ISLAND SUMMER-HOUSE SAGA

WHEN a show - especially a reality show - promises intrigue, love, sex, hot bods in small swimwear and excruciatingly self-absorbed types, you can bet that what's coming your way...

STARR REPORT

The bonus babies Don't count on "Lost" stars Matthew Fox and Josh Holloway exchanging holiday cards anytime soon. According to In Touch magazine, fellow cast members of the hit ABC...

THERE'S A LOT AT STEAK

MAD COWGIRL ** (two stars) 'MAD Cowgirl," a low-budget indie by Gregory Hatanaka, is a mixedup mix of steak and sex. More specifically, it is the story of Therese (Sarah...

WHY THIS $5.75 BOWL OF PASTA COSTS $32.00

WHERE does less than $6 worth of food cost $32? In too many Manhattan restaurants these days, especially when you order pasta, salads and dishes with precious imported ingredients -...

ON THE SIDE: PHILLIPE HEADS EAST AND WEST

BUSY restaurateur Stratis Morfogen is taking his Phillipe restaurant concept well beyond New York. He tells us that he's planning to open branches of his East 60th Street Asian restaurant...

A BLUSHING DEFENSE OF ROSÉ

IN New York, that precocious verbal game known as the snob-off might as well be declared an official sport, with participants competing in such categories as indie film, the Gansevoort,...

DEADLY INFERNO IN QNS.

A four-alarm fire destroyed five wood-frame homes in Queens last night - killing one person and critically injuring another, who was burned "from head to toe," the FDNY said. Seven...

HEZBOLLAH IS TARGETING U.S. - 'WE WELCOME WORLD WAR 3': TERROR FIENDS

JERUSALEM - Hezbollah yesterday warned the United States: You're next on our hit list. The threat against U.S. interests came as the FBI revealed it is searching for Hezbollah terrorist...

LIBERTY TORCH SONG; KEEPER'S LOVE FOR LADY

Charlie DeLeo always brought her roses on her birthday and now he's carrying a torch for his lady love - the Statue of Liberty. "I miss her quite a bit,"...

'INSPECTORS' TO GRADE EACH SCHOOL

Top-to-bottom independent inspections of the city's 1,300 public schools will be conducted by an outside firm under a new program launched by the Bloomberg administration, The Post has learned. The...

TERM-LIMIT FOES FAILING

It looks as if the City Council will have a fight on its hands if it tries to tinker with the term-limits law. Mayor Bloomberg declared yesterday that he'd oppose...

PATAKI'S PAC GOING $TRONG

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki's interest in running for president became clearer yesterday as newly filed federal records showed that his Virginia-based political-action committee raised $630,418 over the past three months....

NO-SHOW MOB GUY COPS PLEA

A Luchese wiseguy copped a plea to holding a no-show job at a Brooklyn urologist's office in a scheme to skirt tax laws and collect health benefits for his family....

YANKS GET STADIUM OK

The Yankees' bid to build a new stadium on a city park has been approved by federal officials who say the project will create enough new open space to more...

ROYAL PAIN RACKS UP MORE JAIL

She'll be home for Christmas shopping. New York's notorious fake Saudi princess - a Buffalo divorcée who pretended to be royalty so she could scam insurers into paying for her...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN *** Cops are searching for a gunman who fatally shot a man in the chest on the third floor of 113 W. 128th Street in Harlem at 10:48 p.m....

SEX HOUND TURNED HIS WORKPLACE TO PLAY DEN

CHRISTIE BRINKLEY'S husband could not wait for a bedroom to get his hands all over pretty Diana Bianchi. Peter Cook, the sometime architect and full-time sleaze, consummated his affair with...

JURY TOSSES LEGAL SISSY FIT

A Brooklyn jury yesterday shot down a gay former city employee's claim that his boss at the NYPD's truck enforcement unit discriminated against him for not being manly enough. It...

WHITE POL GETS KEY BLACK SUPPORT

The lone white candidate in a racially tinged Brooklyn congressional contest yesterday showcased endorsements from relatives of slain City Councilman James Davis, one of the district's best-known black officials. The...

TRASH TALKERS TO CONSIDER MIKE'S PLAN

The reopening of a controversial East Side marine transfer station was on track yesterday as details of the Mayor Bloomberg's garbage plan were fine-tuned in anticipation of today's City Council...

BIG 3 KEY TO JAVITS EXPANSION

A $1.7 billion plan to double the size of the Javits Convention Center will go before an obscure but powerful panel in Albany for final approval today - with early...

EMOTIONAL WIPEOUT AS GAL BETRAYS SURF DUDE

A hunky Hamptons surfer boy yesterday broke his silence and told how his ex-girlfriend cheated on him with Christie Brinkley's hubby - whom the teen once blasted as a "a...

D.C. 'CELL' DIVISION - BUSH VS. SENATE IN FUND FEUD

WASHINGTON - The Senate yesterday narrowly approved spending federal funds to expand human embryonic stem-cell research - setting up a showdown with President Bush, who has vowed his first veto....

CONDI IS FLYING TO HOT SPOTS

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to the Middle East on Friday to formally open U.S. diplomatic efforts on the Israel Lebanon crisis - but the United...

'FLOWER CHILDREN' MAKEOVER

The city's taxis will soon be cruising on flower power. New York's most artistic kids will be recruited to paint colorful floral motifs that will be affixed to the hoods,...

CANCER CLAIMS HERO DETECTIVE

A Staten Island cop who became the face of a well known NYPD publicity campaign in the early 1990s died of cancer yesterday morning. Detective Richard DeGaetano, 47, died at...

DIPLOMAT ACCUSED OF GROPE

A Dominican diplomat has been arrested after taking foreign affairs into his own hands and allegedly groping a female government worker, The Post has learned. Frank Cortorreal is the president...

NYPD GETS WHEEL TOUGH ON BIKERS

Rebuffed in court from blocking massive bicycle gatherings at Union Square Park, the Police Department is moving to amend its rules so cops could arrest bikers in groups as small...

STRIPPER RIPPER'S 35 YEARS

A Queens man whose wild sex romp with two Brazilian strippers ended with one woman knifed to death was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison yesterday. Aaron Gutierrez,...

STRAHAN GOES WILD ON OFFENSE; SACK MASTER $KEWERS WIFE

Emotions boiled over at the Michael Strahan divorce trial yesterday, as the Giants' sack king and his wife spent their seventh anniversary locked in a court battle that brought her...

TERROR $$ FOR BEERS; FEDS' BOOZEDOGGLE

WASHINGTON - In proof positive that the feds are spending homeland-security funds like a drunken sailor, a Coast Guard official blew $1,000 from his government charge card to brew his...

RATNER'S GOT HIGH 'HOOPS'; NETS DEAL 'DONE'

Bruce Ratner's bid to build 16 skyscrapers and an NBA arena in Downtown Brooklyn became all but a slam dunk yesterday when the Empire State Development Corp. signed off on...

VEGANS WHO 'STARVED' BABY ARE SET FREE

A vegan couple jailed in 2003 for feeding their severely malnourished baby daughter a diet of nuts and fruits was freed by a Queens judge yesterday following an appeals court...

THUG EXECUTES QUEENS MAN

A coldblooded murderer shot a man in the back of the head execution-style just after midnight in Queens yesterday, police said. The killer pumped two shots into Steven Brown's skull...

COLLECTOR TAKEN FOR 600G IN ART OF THE STEAL

In a six-story Manhattan townhouse crammed with masterpieces by Picasso, Rodin and Modigliani, the little bronze by Degas had been a favorite. It showed an engagingly paunchy dancer, nude, standing...

I WAS CHRISTIE CAD'S LOLITA #1 - SINGER'S AFFAIR WITH HAMPTONS HORNDOG

It's deja vu all over again for Christie Brinkley's philandering husband. Amorous architect Peter Cook has a bad habit of bedding aspiring teenage singers from Southampton who work for him,...

TWU IN VIAGRA PLOY; SEX-BIAS LAWSUIT

The TWU has carried its contract battle into the bedroom - hitting the MTA with a federal sexual-discrimination suit for allegedly depriving female workers of their right to affordable contraception....

IT'S SWEAT AND WILD; HEAT HAVOC HAMMERS POWER-HUNGRY APPLE

New Yorkers sweated out the last day of the heat wave yesterday as the soaring mercury brought subways to a halt and grounded dozens of flights at La Guardia Airport,...

CONDI MAY TRAVEL TO HOT SPOTS

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may soon travel to the Middle East to formally open U.S. diplomatic efforts on the Israel Lebanon crisis, but the United States is...

'ROYAL' PAIN RACKS UP MORE JAIL TIME

She'll be home for Christmas shopping. New York's notorious fake Saudi princess - a Buffalo divorcée who pretended to be royalty so she could scam insurers into paying for her...

TOT-STARVE VEGANS FREE

A vegan couple jailed in 2003 for feeding their severely malnourished baby only nuts and fruits was freed by a Queens judge yesterday after an appeals-court ruling reduced the original...

SUMMER SCHOOL'S NOT A 'HOT' TICKET

Nearly one-third of city kids are playing hooky during summer school - about the same absentee rate as last year, figures released yesterday show. The city Education Department reported that...

TITANIC ORDEAL - N.Y.-BOUND CRUISERS HIT THE DECK AS SHIP TIPS

A child and an adult were critically injured yesterday when a steering problem caused a new cruise ship to tip dangerously to its side as it sailed toward its homeport...

JURY NIXES GAY NYPD WORKER'S $80M SUIT

A Brooklyn jury yesterday shot down a gay former city employee's claim that his boss at the NYPD's truck enforcement unit discriminated against him for not being manly enough. It...

GANG WAR KILLED HYDRANT KID - TEARS FOR GENESIS, 11

The stray-bullet shooting death of an 11-year-old girl as she splashed around an open Queens hydrant was the result of a simmering neighborhood turf war between two gangs that came...

WELL-'TRAINED' SUBWAY K-9S - DOGS TO SNIFF OUT TERROR

The NYPD is grooming a new class of recruits in its war on terror - a brigade of specially trained, explosive-sniffing dogs to patrol the subway, The Post has learned....

ART OF THE STEAL - COLLECTOR CONNED OUT OF 600G DEGAS

In a six-story Manhattan townhouse crammed with masterpieces by Picasso, Rodin and Modigliani, the little bronze by Degas had been a favorite. It showed an engagingly paunchy dancer, nude, standing...

TITANTIC ORDEAL OFF FLA. - CRUISERS SENT SPRAWLING

A child and an adult were critically injured yesterday when a steering problem caused a new cruise ship to tip dangerously to its side as it sailed toward its homeport...

HAIL A TULIP TAXI - 'FLOWER CHILDREN' MAKEOVER

The city's taxis will soon be cruising on flower power. New York's most artistic kids will be recruited to paint colorful floral motifs that will be affixed to the hoods,...

LIBERTY MEDALS AWARDS - A MOMENT IN THE SUN

New York, New York, its a wonderful town - and all because of the true grit of Big Apple citizens who make our city such a great place to live....

DOTEL HAS SIGHTS SET ON BRONX

TRENTON - In his mind, Octavio Dotel is ready right now to start forming the bridge to Mariano Rivera in the Yankee bullpen. He has waited this long, so one...

REYES STARTS ANEW

MET NOTES CINCINNATI - The dugout had essentially been Jose Reyes' home for the last 10 days. But according to Pedro Martinez, he hasn't quite mastered his new location. "He...

CUBS MIGHT PROVIDE BULLPEN HELP

YANKEE NOTES While there are very few stones making ripples in the trading pool, that hasn't stopped teams from doing their due diligence. With the Yankees interested in upgrading their...

PONSON REGRETS ONE PITCH

One pitch, a hanging slider to Richie Sexson, ruined what would have been a sparkling Yankee debut. Sidney Ponson worked into the seventh inning last night and earned a nice...

A HEALTHY ALEX RETURNS

Alex Rodriguez didn't start last night's game, but it wasn't because of sunstroke. X-rays were negative on Rodriguez, who fouled a ball off his left big toe Monday against Seattle...

RODRIGUEZ MAINTAINS HIS SUNNY DISPOSITION

BRILLIANT is how Alex Rodriguez self-described his Sunday, when he started a difficult double play to get Jaret Wright out of a first-inning jam, made another throw that trapped a...

YANKS OUTLAST RAIN, M'S ON CABRERA HR

11 INNINGS Yankees 5 Mariners 4 Now the ump wears pinstriped boxers. Maybe all that carping by George Steinbrenner to MLB offices about calls against the Yankees finally paid a...

IT'S EASY BEING GREEN

When Alex Rodriguez couldn't talk his way into last night's starting lineup, Nick Green had a rare opportunity to impress. He took advantage of it the way A-Rod takes advantage...

SCOUTS KEEP FLOCKING TO STADIUM

YANKEE NOTES While there are very few stones making ripples in the trading pool, that hasn't stopped teams from doing their due diligence. With the Yankees interested in upgrading their...

SCOUTS FLOCKING TO BRONX

YANKEE NOTES While there are very few stones making ripples in the trading pool, that hasn't stopped teams from doing their due diligence. With the Yankees interested in upgrading their...

FUL-PHIL-ING - HUGHES A THUNDEROUS HIT IN TRENTON

On the immediate Yankee horizon, there's Octavio Dotel, the rehabbing righty recovering from elbow surgery who last night sought his next one-inning step toward helping form the bridge to Mariano...

ALEX CATCHIN' - TOE INJURY SIDELINES BATHING BEAUTY

Alex Rodriguez didn't start last night's game, but it wasn't because of sunstroke. X-rays were negative on Rodriguez, who fouled a ball off his left big toe on Monday night...

PEL TOLLS AGAIN - MIKE NOW 2-0 AS BELTRAN SLAM POWERS METS

METS 8 REDS 3 CINCINNATI - He cleared one hurdle by handling a better lineup. He met another challenge by surviving his first road game. The second start for Mike...

TIGER DOESN'T EXPECT MUCH CHAT WITH FALDO

NOTEBOOK HOYLAKE, England - Credit the Royal & Ancient governing body for having a sinister sense of humor with regard to at least one marquee pairing in tomorrow's Open Championship...

ITCHY ON BENCH - REYES, STITCHES AND ALL, RETURNS TO MET LINEUP

CINCINNATI - The dugout has essentially been Jose Reyes' home for the last 10 days. But according to Pedro Martinez, Reyes hasn't quite mastered his new location. "He doesn't know...

JAZIL WILL MISS TRAVERS STAKES

Belmont Stakes winner Jazil, who was going to try to duplicate Birdstone's feat two years ago by winning the Travers without a race in between, now will not make the...

PHIL-OSOPHY 101 - DEFENSIVE MICKELSON MAJORING IN CONFIDENCE DESPITE U.S. OPEN FLOP

HOYLAKE, England - The question wiped the smile off Phil Mickelson's face yesterday. "Is there any part of you that feels you have something to prove this week?'' Mickelson, who'd...

ISLE SEE YA, NEIL - SMITH AXED, SNOW GM IN SHOCKER

Garth Snow turned in his goalie pads yesterday and was named the new general manager of the Islanders. In one of the strangest turns of events in a team history...

FISH BILLS HOOK POLS IN ALBANY

YOU may or may not know that striped bass and winter flounder have made news of late, but not in the usual way. Recently, the striper became the subject of...

ARENA TAKES RED BULLS JOB

Four days after being let go as U.S. soccer coach, Brooklynborn Bruce Arena was named coach and sporting director of the Red Bulls. Now it remains to be seen if...

BIG TEST FOR PEDRO

MET NOTES CINCINNATI - Another bullpen session for Pedro Martinez is scheduled for today. Martinez, who is on the DL with an inflamed right hip and has been dealing with...

WILD ABOUT HARRY - EX-MATES, COACHES PAY TRIBUTE TO CARSON

Much of the old gang reunited yesterday at Gallagher's Steak House, assembled to honor Harry Carson's overdue selection into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He'll be enshrined in Canton...

ELI ANSWERS AIKMAN

Eli Manning spent about a half hour throwing passes to kids in Bryant Park yesterday, which is almost 30 minutes more than he spent during the offseason chucking balls at...

SIMMS: ELI WILL BE BETTER

Sometimes, Phil Simms said, a quarterback needs "to hit rock-bottom" before he digs himself out and everything starts to click. That's what Simms sees for Eli Manning after the Giants...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

L.A. cops, sitting in an unmarked vehicle and staking out the home of a robbery suspect, received an unexpected gift - the perp himself, who turned himself in and sang...