March 14, 2003

QUADRANGLE INVESTMENT BANK AND CABLEVISION

Quadrangle is looking smart these days. The New York-based investment bank headed by Steven Rattner bailed out of a planned $160 million investment in the YES Network in 2001, citing...

YES THROWN CURVE: CABLE NETWORK'S AMBITIONS CUT IN NEW DEAL

Cablevision got much more than most expected it would from its deal with the YES Network: not a single customer will be forced to pay extra for the channel. YES...

CABLE INDUSTRY CLAMORS TO IMPROVE DEALS WITH YANKS

Cablevision's rivals in the cable industry were eagerly awaiting details of the Long Island-based company's deal with the YES Network to see if it would allow them to get better...

HOME DEPOT EYEING TWO SPOTS IN CITY

Home Depot is in talks to bring its first two locations to Manhattan. The home-improvement monolith has its eyes on 28-40 W. 23rd St. off Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron...

BIG WAR BOUNCE - DOW UP 270 ON HOPES OF QUICK SADDAM DEFEAT

Wall Street and Europe's markets snapped out of a deep slump yesterday with renewed hopes that Saddam Hussein will be crushed quickly . Investors here and abroad charged into a...

BLOOMBERG FLIPS A BIRD - MAYOR'S MEDIA CO. REWARDING REPORTERS WITH PINK FLAMINGOS

WE'RE not sure if this is a reward or a punishment. The New York headquarters of Bloomberg L.P., the sprawling financial media company founded by Mayor Mike Bloomberg, now has...

REVLON LOSS WIDENS TO $179M IN FOURTH QTR.

Ron Perelman is digging deeper into his pockets to cover a $100 million campaign to revive Revlon products this spring. Revlon, which is 83-percent owned by the billionaire, yesterday said...

STARR REPORT

It won't be the same without 'The Mayor' Harry Harrison, WCBS FM's "Morning Mayor," is (voluntarily) leaving the airwaves after 44 years, reports Post radio scribe John Mainelli. Harrison, whose...

'CODY' BLANKS

AGENT CODY BANKS [Half a star.] Double oh-zero. Running time: 110 minutes. Rated PG (action violence, mild language and some sensual content). At the Empire, the 1st & 62nd St....

DENSE 'PLATFORM' IS WORTH THE PLUNGE

PLATFORM [] In Mandarin and Shanix, with English subtitles. Running time: 155 minutes. Not rated (nothing objectionable). At the Cinema Village, 12th Street, east of Fifth Avenue. ----- THE Chinese...

TROUBLE'S RELATIVE IN TEHRAN

UNDER THE SKIN OF THE CITY [] All in the family.In Farsi, with English subtitles. Running time: 93 minutes. Not rated (violence). At the Lincoln Plaza and the Quad. ----...

THERE'S METH TO THE MADNESS THAT'S 'SPUN'

SPUN [ 1/2] Just say no. Running time: 101 minutes. Rated R (pervasive drug content, strong sexuality, language and some violence). At the Sunshine Cinemas, Houston Street, between First and...

PREY FOR VIEW

THE HUNTED [] Gives B movies a bad name. Running time: 90 minutes. Rated R (violence, profanity). At the Empire, the Lincoln Square, the New York Twin, others. ---- 'THE...

FUGITIVE FROM '50S & '60S

A clever narrator makes her childhood memories a grotesquely funny portrait of a society in decay in "Bexley, OH," now at the New York Theatre Workshop. Prudence Wright Holmes delivers...

ANOTHER REASON TO DISLIKE FRANCE

MY LIFE WITH ALBERTINE Playwrights Horizons, 416 W. 42nd St. Through March 30. Ticket Central, (212) 279-4200. ----- AN intense young man falls possessively in love with a pretty young...

'DISTRICT' FILMING SHUTS DOWN TO MOURN CO-STAR

ACTRESS Lynne Thigpen, known to a generation of kids as the Chief from "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?" and a star of CBS' "The District," died suddenly at...

HARD-DRIVIN' PARK IS BACK IN GEAR

LINKIN PARK ----- LINKIN Park had the best-selling album of 2001, in which they welded metal to hip-hop and snagged a Grammy in the process. But where have they been...

HIP HEAD TRIP - THE ROOTS DIG IN DEEPER WITH 'PHRENOLOGY'

THE ROOTS are more often seen backing up other solo rappers - including Eminem at the Grammys - than claiming center stage for themselves. But the Philadelphia hip-hop collective is...

MISHA: TECH OF THE TOWN

ELIOT FELD'S BALLET TECH Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Ave., at 19th Street. (212) 242-0800. Season runs through April 13. ----- PROBABLY no American dancer of the 20th century has so...

RANKLE AND FILE: UNION MISTRUST, ANGER ON THE RISE

ONE event during the musicians' strike crystallized the gulf of mistrust dividing producers from their actors, stagehands and musicians. Standing before nearly 100 performers at the headquarters of Actors' Equity,...

HBO SEX-CHANGE DRAMA - UNKINDEST CUT OF ALL

"Normal" [ ] Sunday night at 10 on HBO ----- IF you think you've seen strange stuff on this Sunday night's edition of "Six Feet Under," trust me, brother, you...

HOW'D I DO, DAVE? - ADAM BUCKMAN RATES THE PARADE OF CELEBS SITTING IN LETTERMAN'S 'LATE SHOW' HOT SEAT

Hosting a late-night talk show is harder than it looks. Through Wednesday evening, six guest-hosts have pinch-hit for David Letterman on CBS's "Late Show." For people with virtually no experience...

RAT'S ALL, FOLKS

WILLARD [] The antidote to "Stuart Little." Running time: 90 minutes. Rated PG-13 (moderately gory violence, profanity). At the E-Walk, the Village East, the Battery Park City, others. ---- 'WILLARD"...

GOTTI JUROR IS KO'D BY SINUS WOE

Jury deliberations in the Peter Gotti racketeering trial are a real headache - at least for one juror who was dismissed from the panel after he complained of severe sinus...

A TEST FOR DEMS - WHY CAN'T THE PARTY UNITE AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM?

CONSERVATIVES brought down Trent Lott. Will liberals take out Jim Moran? Republicans deemed it unacceptable for a key elected figure in their party to espouse segregationist views. Will Democrats deem...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A mountain in a Wyoming ski resort has had its name changed from "Mary's Nipple" to just "Mary's" because some skiers were embarrassed. The name dates back 30 years to...

MAKE ALL EQUAL IN WTC MEMORIAL: PANEL

Top redevelopment officials said yesterday they favor a single memorial at Ground Zero - striking a blow against a push to erect a separate tribute to the firefighters who died...

$ILVER TONGUE LASHES OUT AT GOV'S BUDGET

ALBANY - Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is launching a taxpayer-funded attack on Gov. Pataki's proposed new budget - a move dubbed "an outrage" yesterday by a top Pataki aide. Silver,...

PART-BIRTH ABORTION BAN PASSES SENATE

WASHINGTON - The Senate yesterday voted by a nearly 2-to-1 margin to ban "partial-birth abortion," and President Bush said he's eager to sign that ban into law as soon as...

COPS HUNT BOYFRIEND IN FATAL STAB

Yonkers cops yesterday were searching for the boyfriend of a woman who was stabbed to death while her two children were inside the apartment, cops said. The boyfriend, Tim Robertson,...

MUSHY-MOUTH MIKE INSULTS HEROES WITH DEATH-PENALTY WAFFLE

THERE is nothing wrong with sheep, but when a sheep dresses in a wolf's clothing, that is something else again. I'm talking about Mayor Mike Bloomberg, a brilliant businessman, but...

CAFÉ OWNERS DI$PUTE NEW BILL

Joan McNaughton told city officials yesterday she "almost fainted" when she heard the licensing fee for her sidewalk café would be going up from $13,000 to $59,000. McNaughton, who runs...

'BANK ROBBER' REALLY DOES GET BUST-ED

A brazen spree robber was nabbed as he was about to knock over another Long Island bank - for money to buy hormones to maintain his "female breasts," police said...

BIG APPLE BUDGET IN DEEP $HIFT

It keeps getting worse. Barely two months after lowering income tax revenue projections by $299 million, the Bloomberg administration is now anticipating a deeper and more ominous downturn. Sources said...

FEDS: 'BAGEL' IS TOAST AFTER LUCHESE BUST

The feds sank their teeth into the so-called "bagel" mob boss yesterday, busting the Luchese acting chief for two gangland murders. Louis "Louie Bagel" Daidone - who owns a piece...

DEADLY MISTAKE: ARMY KILLS TWO ISRAELIS ID'D AS TERRORISTS

JERUSALEM - In a tragic case of mistaken identity, elite Israeli army troops in the West Bank shot and killed two Israelis in a hail of "friendly fire." The two...

$CATTER-DRAINED CITY: PHASING OUT PROGRAM FOR HOMELESS

The Bloomberg administration yesterday said a controversial program that pays landlords $3,000 a month to house the homeless will be phased out in two years. Linda Gibbs, commissioner of Homeless...

KLEIN STRIPS SCHOOL TRIPS

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has banned all school day trips that have nothing to do with Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Klein's legal office has issued a new rule that says...

MIKE TAX-HIKE FOE WINS COUNCIL SEAT

Vincent Gentile, who infuriated Mayor Bloomberg by using a photo of his Upper East Side townhouse in an ad attacking the property-tax hike, has narrowly defeated his Republican opponent for...

WHAT YES DEAL MEAN$ TO VIEWERS

Cablevision unveiled its plans for carrying the YES Network yesterday - and, as the company insisted all along, no customer will be forced to pay extra for the channel. Here's...

KILLER'S GUILT INESCAPABLE: PROSECUTOR

An alleged hired gun on trial for a double murder proved his guilt by slipping out of a Brooklyn station house window after he was picked up by cops, prosecutors...

WELFARE NEWS GETS LESS DOLE-FUL

The city's welfare rolls have remained flat through the economic downturn, and are going to start declining again next year, the Independent Budget Office predicted yesterday. Defying expectations, the IBO...

$MACKO FOR JACKO: MUST PAY $5M TO PROMOTER

A California jury nailed Michael Jackson for $5.3 million yesterday, ruling the Gloved One beat it before he made good on a deal to perform two concerts on New Year's...

CITY EYES 'ONE SHOT' RECYCLING

A one-stop drop into a single receptacle is one of several options recommended by a city recycling task force, The Post has learned. The task force was created by Mayor...

GUN TO HBO'S HEAD - 'SOPRANO': TALK OR SHOW DIES

"Sopranos" star James Gandolfini issued an ultimatum to HBO yesterday in the salary war that is threatening to whack the series: Negotiate with me or cancel the show. "It's time...

RETRIAL JURY AWARDS $51M TO BRONX GUNMAN SHOT BY COPS

A Bronx jury yesterday ordered the city to pay $51.1 million in the latest round of its legal battle with a man shot by cops 15 years ago after he...

CULINARY KINGPIN SERVED DEATH HUG

A Manhattan restaurateur hugged a diner to death. Octavio Frias, who ran a Dominican nosh shop in Washington Heights, gave the ill-fated man a hug as a secret signal to...

HOUSE LAUNCHES $URGICAL STRIKE ON LAWSUITS

WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives yesterday voted to limit jury awards in malpractice suits - a bill strongly backed by President Bush and medical organizations. In a 229-196 vote,...

POLICE SAT ON LITTLE SISTER'S CASE-CRACKING CLUE

Elizabeth Smart's 9-year-old sister gave cops a description of her abductor - but investigators waited five months before they circulated pictures of him that led to the teenager's rescue, authorities...

'TRICK' TURNS DEADLY - 'MENAGE-A-TROIS' CLIENT KILLS QNS. STRIPPER: COPS

A stripper was stabbed to death early yesterday at her Queens apartment after a sexual romp with another woman and a john turned bloody. Marly Ambrosini, 25, and her 35-year-old...

DRIFTER DUO'S TWISTED TALE - HOW 'PROPHET' & WIFE'S PATH CROSSED WITH SMARTS'

He was a drifter who dressed like Jesus, called himself "Emmanuel" and preached to the homeless. She was a soft-spoken eccentric who was devastated when her teenage daughter left home....

BLAKE IN BAIL BREAK

LOS ANGELES - Robert Blake can be freed on $1.5 million bail while he awaits trial on murder charges, a judge ruled yesterday in a stunning flip-flop that nearly brought...

PRINCIPALS' LEADER PLAYS HOOKY

The head of the city's principals union last night boycotted the promotional launch of the celebrity "Principal for a Day" program because supervisors have been without a labor contract for...

FAKE-ID STASH FOUND IN QUEENS

A bonanza of fake-ID documents - including Social Security numbers and green cards worth more than $5 million on the street - were seized in Queens, U.S. Customs agents said...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

THE BRONX * Police yesterday identified three teenagers arrested for allegedly stealing a sport utility vehicle and smashing into a police car in Highbridge. Housing Bureau cops were pursuing William...

WHITE HOUSE JUST SAYS NON - BOYCOTTING FRANCE IS FINE WITH US: ARI

WASHINGTON - President Bush's spokesman yesterday gave carte blanche to anyone who wants to boycott French products - saying that it's "the right of the American people" at a time...

THIS MAN IS TRASH' - 200 COPS STARE DOWN DETECTIVE-SLAY SUSPECT

Nearly 200 cops crammed into a Staten Island courtroom yesterday, staring down the man accused of executing two undercover detectives in a gun buy-and-bust that went tragically wrong. Ronell Wilson,...

'GUNRUNNER' NAILED IN B'KLYN

Less than two days after two undercover detectives were killed in an undercover gun-buy operation, cops nabbed a Brooklyn gunrunner they'd been eyeing for almost a year, police sources said....

DOCS CONCERNED BY COMING OF AGE AMID TRAUMA

Elizabeth Smart's abduction came at a pivotal time - when a young girl experiences the physical and behavioral changes of growing into adulthood, pediatricians and child-psychology experts said yesterday. "You...

SHE DIDN'T KNOW HER OWN NAME - BRAINWASHED ELIZABETH KEPT SAYING SHE WAS 'AUGUSTINE'

When Utah cops approached Elizabeth Smart as she walked down on a street with her captors, the traumatized teen used biblical language and claimed her name was Augustine Marshall, police...

GRAPES OF WRATH: GIVE UP FRENCH WHINE

France and Germany's cowardly refusal to help the United States take on Iraq has more and more folks bidding a big fat au revoir to Made-in-Weasel-land products. And yesterday, the...

FDNY TO ISSUE 9/11 RIBBONS

The FDNY will begin issuing ribbons in firehouses and EMS stations around the city today, recognizing rescuers' efforts at the World Trade Center on 9/11 and honoring the memories of...

UNION BIG PLAYS HOOKY AT SCHOOL EVENT

The head of the city's principals union last night boycotted the promotional launch of the celebrity "Principal For A Day" program because supervisors have been without a labor contract for...

PRIVATE BUS HIKE NEXT

Some 200,000 bus riders can expect to dig deeper this spring and pay an extra buck to ride one of the city's seven private lines. The Department of Transportation plans...

HALL BAFFLED BY CONN GAME - NCAA HOPES NOW UP TO COMMITTEE

UConn 83 - Seton Hall 70 Seton Hall trudged off the Garden floor with its stirring late-season ended, and its NCAA fate now in the capricious hands of the Selection...

WINTER FLOUNDER SET TO JOIN MENU

THEIR tasty meat and the time of year are two reasons winter flounder have become a much sought after species. With tomorrow's season opener in New York's marine waters, the...

DON CLINGING TO PIPE DREAM

Nightmares and dreams swirl in Knicks coach Don Chaney's head. One moment, Tuesday's Garden loss to the Grizzlies haunts Chaney. The next, he is inspired by the Bucks' and Magic's...

ARMSTRONG CONSIDERS LEAVING NETS

NET NOTES Brandon Armstrong does not want to go through this again next season. So the barely-used, on-the-injury list Nets guard is determined to sit with his agent and Nets...

JETS KEEP MORTON; JURY OUT ON COLES

Chad Morton stays, but will Laveranues Coles stay, too? The Jets have until next Wednesday to figure out whether they'll match the Redskins' gaudy seven-year, $35 million offer sheet including...

MAD METS FIRE BACK WITH FIGHTIN' WORDS - PIAZZA QUIET, BUT MATES RIP DODGER

PORT ST. LUCIE - One day later made little difference for the Mets and Dodgers. Emotions still were soaring yesterday as the two teams lashed out at each other in...

PLAYING A LOSING TICKET

APOLOGIES to Cindy Adams, but only in New York kids, only in New York: Not since 1988 have I been able to think about the Big East Tournament without thinking...

NIT-BOUND JOHNNIES AIM TO WIN

Most of the players on this year's team weren't even teenagers the last time St. John's won the National Invitation Tournament in 1989. They don't know the history of the...

UNMANLY MOTA 'A PUNK'

JUPITER - Scott Strickland, who played with Guillermo Mota in Montreal, says there is no separation of what Mota did Wednesday night and what he really is. "He got caught...

STORM FIZZLE OUT - HATTEN MISSES WINNER IN OT LOSS

OVERTIME: B.C. 82 - St. John's 75 St. John's had exactly what it wanted - the ball in Marcus Hatten's hands with less than 10 seconds left in regulation and...

ROGERS STILL LOST IN SWAMP - VETS' GAME HAS GONE AWOL

Back in the preseason, Rodney Rogers and the Nets seemed like a match made in basketball heaven. Rogers, signed as a free agent, was the Nets' best player not named...

OLYMPIC FLAME BURNS IN IVERSON

PHILADELPHIA - Allen Iverson's fans (especially his biggest one, Shaq) can stop slandering the U.S. Olympic selection committee for its unconscionable failure to make him a member of the team....

WIN KEEPS PITT'S TITLE DREAMS WITHIN REACH

Pittsburgh 67 - Providence 59 Pittsburgh is on a mission. The goal ahead is singular: Win the Big East Tournament. That would finish the job this group began three years...

YANKS TURN PAGE, FOCUS ON BASEBALL

TAMPA - Compared to the chaos that swirled within the Yankees' spring training camp in recent weeks, the climate prevailing these days feels like the calm before the storm of...

DODGERS' SKIPPER PUTS BLAME ON MIKE

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- At first, Jim Tracy tried to make peace. But the more the Dodger manager spoke, the angrier he got. And soon enough, he had made a...

ORANGEMEN SQUEEZE OUT HOYAS

Syracuse 74 - G'town 69 Another tense, taut game. More pressure-packed moments down the stretch. Once again a need for Syracuse's kiddie corps to grow up in a hurry. Ho...

BOSS, COACHES DO LUNCH

Yankees 6 - Red Sox 3YANKEE NOTES TAMPA - George Steinbrenner gathered Joe Torre and his coaches at Malio's restaurant yesterday for lunch. Normally, The Boss summons the field staff...

MONROE RINGS TRUE

-PSAL BOYS B TITLE: Monroe 70 - Wings 68 -PSAL GIRLS B TITLE: Grand St. 71 - Leadership 63 Darian David has a lot of friends on the Monroe baseball...

RANGERS LOSE GROUND, TIME

OVERTIME: Senators 3 - Rangers 2 KANATA, Ont. - The Rangers are a 10th-place team with 10 games remaining and they're trying to leapfrog both the Canadiens and Islanders while...

BRUINS CHASE BRODEUR, DEVS

Bruins 4 - Devils 3 BOSTON - They say there's no connection, that it's just coincidence, that they're not disappointed and deflated that their overachievement wasn't rewarded with a great...

RED-HOT LUCIOUS FINDS RIGHT TOUCH

NET NOTES Lucious Harris was asked when was the last time he felt a groove like last night. "Training camp?" Harris said. "It's been a long time. I've been waiting...

NETS SOCK IT TO CELTS - AND GET 'MOJO' BACK, SAYS SCOTT

Nets 90 - Celtics 75 After a slump that not even mothers could forgive, the Nets made the Atlantic Division a race again. So they went on against the Celtics...

HALL HOPING NCAA BUBBLE WON'T BURST

Seton Hall was so close to an at-large NCAA Tournament bid, so near to a coveted invitation to the Big Dance, the Pirates could practically taste it. It was even...

RANGERS GET A MAKEOVER

KANATA, Ont. - With 11 games remaining in the season the Rangers are shaking up everything. Which is a pretty interesting approach when victory is of the essence each and...

MARSHALL'S A CUT ABOVE

BOSTON - Hair gone, here tomorrow. His beard has fallen victim to the Devils' Draconian dress code, but freshly acquired winger Grant Marshall says, contrary to reports elsewhere, that he...

BOSS HOSTS 'LUNCH'

TAMPA - George Steinbrenner gathered Joe Torre and his coaches at Yankee haunt Malio's yesterday for lunch. Normally, The Boss summons the field staff on the final day of workouts...

MAD ABOUT 'CUSE - ORANGEMEN COULD BE MONSTERS OF MARCH

Clark Kellogg, CBS' college-basketball studio analyst, loves Syracuse super freshman Carmelo Anthony's ability. Kellogg doesn't only think Anthony can take over a game, he thinks Anthony can take over a...

IT'S AHMAD, MAD WORLD - NBA FORCED ABC/ESPN TO HIRE RASHAD

When NBA officials negotiated with ABC/ESPN for the league's TV rights, they had some understandable stipulations. For example, exposure for the WNBA had to be part of the deal. But...

5 QUESTIONS FOR: BILLY PACKER

This week, The Post's Andrew Marchand spoke with CBS' lead college hoops analyst, Billy Packer. Next month, Packer, 63, will work his 29th Final Four. Q: Who is playing for...

MARCHAND'S MATCHUP OF THE WEEK: CBS VS. ESPN (NCCA MEN'S SELECTION SHOWS)

ESPN executives continue to make the mistake of thinking viewers want their sports with a side of celebrities. This year, ESPN's selection show, Bracketology 101 (7 p.m., Sunday) will continue...