March 29, 2003

TIME WARNER SOUGHT BETTER TERMS BEFORE DEAL COLLAPSE

The collapse of the deal for Cablevision to carry the YES Network came after Time Warner Cable sought better terms from the YES Network itself, The Post has learned. Time...

BLAME GAME FOR YES, CABLEVISION

Like many great disputes, the troubles in the Yankees washout on TV started with a misunderstanding over a single word. Fed-up fans knew well that both sides had battled for...

FOUL PLAYS FROM YES, CABLEVISION

YES and Cablevision are getting nasty. Their deal, which would have allowed the cable company's 3 million area customers to watch Yanks games, collapsed in acrimony yesterday - and both...

AOL MAY WRITE OFF $400M ADS

AOL Time Warner disclosed yesterday that it may have to restate its revenue downward by an additional $400 million as part of an ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into...

WORTH MAG DUMPS ENTIRE STAFF

Worth magazine laid off its entire staff in the latest turmoil in the financial magazine market. But Worth founder and CEO W. Randall Jones insists the magazine will dodge a...

LIBERTY CLAIMS FRAUD IN 2001 SALE OF USA STAKE TO VIVENDI

John Malone's Liberty Media took a legal swipe at Vivendi in Manhattan federal court yesterday, accusing the French media giant of engaging in "outright fraud" to pull off its deal...

AFTER 33 DAYS ON THE DL... DAVE LIVES!

WELCOME back Dave! David Letterman will return to "The Late Show" Monday night - after missing four weeks battling a painful bout of shingles that affected his eye. Billy Crystal...

MOMMY TRAP - BOOK: TEENS NEED PARENTS, NOT PALS

WHAT'S the trouble with teens today? Moms who won't grow up. The author of one of the wittiest, wisest parenting books since Dr. Haim Ginott explained adolescent angst in the...

DINNER CHEAT CHEAT SHEET

Trying to remove guests from its home last week with "shock and awe" jalapeno-poppers, Cheat Sheet is very surprised that the dinner party is still ongoing. NETWORK WARS The question...

A TOUCH OF MADNESS

The new name's a mouthful - but so is the latest cocktail at 99 Hudson Street Restaurant and Sports Lounge. The bartenders at TriBeCa's newly fancified sports lounge, formerly the...

DIRECT CONTACT - FLICK-FEST LETS BUDDING AUTEURS REACH OUT TO MAINSTREAM

"It's like having a baby!" producer Susan Behr groaned as she and director Nathaniel Kahn picked up canisters of their freshly-printed film, "My Architect." Plenty of novice filmmakers will feel...

WALKING CAPERS - HAPPY TRAILS FOR URBAN HIKERS

After being cooped up in your apartment for the coldest winter in nearly a decade, there's no better way to turn your cabin fever into spring fever than with a...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

You've heard of moving violations? Well, a Tennessee state legislator wants to add "movie" violations to his state's traffic laws. Rep. Bubba Pleasant has proposed banning the showing of "dirty...

INCOME-ING! TAX SURCHARGE IN PLAY

THE other shoe may soon drop on the city's tax-weary residents - in the form of a higher personal income tax. A Republican official in Albany said the GOP-controlled state...

HOW LONG? - A TOUGH PREZ TAKES A TOUGH STAND

'AS long as it takes": That's how long we'll stay in the fight in Iraq. President Bush put it as bluntly and clearly as possible. To the American people. To...

SLIPPERY FRANCE 'SUPPORTS' US

WASHINGTON - France yesterday hotly insisted it really does hope that U.S.-led forces win the Iraq war, a few days after French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin ducked the question...

FLA. JUNKET SINKS N.Y.'S CANAL BOSS

ALBANY - The head of the state Canal Corp. is being forced to resign after traveling this winter with four employees to Florida in violation of a Pataki administration ban....

HEIGHT OF STUPIDITY - DRUNKEN CLIMBERS SPUR BRIDGE TERROR FEAR

Three drunken daredevils sparked a terror scare yesterday when they ended a night of bar hopping by climbing to the top of the Williamsburg Bridge, cops said. The boozy adventurers...

RELIEF EFFORT IS SHIPSHAPE

With a minesweeper clearing the way, the British supply ship Sir Galahad docked in the hard-won Iraqi port of Umm Qasr yesterday with the first shipment of emergency relief since...

'PLAGIARIST' SUIT CROWNS 'QUEEN'

A little-known Manhattan screenwriter is trying to bring down Queen Latifah's house in a $15 million lawsuit that claims the star's latest hit movie is a rip-off. Marie Flaherty, a...

BUTCHER'S DEATH SQUADS RUN WILD

WASHINGTON - Iraqi civilians are being tortured, murdered and terrorized by Saddam Hussein's "death squads" and are too scared to show any support for American forces, officials said yesterday. "These...

DEADLY DELINQUENT - SLAY SUSPECT, 10, HAD VIOLENT HISTORY

The 10-year-old New Jersey boy accused of beating a toddler to death was violent with other kids in the past and regularly terrorized his neighborhood during nighttime escapes from his...

GUILT-RIDDEN TOWN REALIZES IT LET A MONSTER RUN WILD

THE 10-year-old accused killer was banned from setting foot on a one-block stretch of Garfield Avenue in Colonia, N.J. The residents bluntly told the boy and his father that they'd...

FIREMEN RIP NIGHT CLOSURE PLAN

Firefighters yesterday slammed the city's proposal to close 37 firehouses at night as "preposterous," "foolish" and "insane." Unions representing New York's Bravest vowed to battle any attempt to close a...

NOW 16 REPORTERS MISSING

Seven Italian journalists were reported missing in Iraq yesterday, raising the number still unaccounted for to 16. In addition to the Italians, several others - including a Newsday reporter and...

GOING BUTT NAKED - FIRE AND IRE AS BAR BAN LOOMS

Holy smoke! Smoke-loving New Yorkers were hauling ash to their favorite bars and eateries across the Big Apple yesterday to enjoy some last puffs before it's lights out for lighting...

SADDAM MAKES TV SHOW OF 'CIA SPIES'

Iraqi officials claim they've caught three coalition spies who've been helping the allies identify military targets and assess bombing damage. The three men were paraded out on Iraqi state television,...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

QUEENS * A father driving with his child in Jamaica was shot in the head by another motorist yesterday in an apparent case of road rage, police said. David Dixon,...

BABY-STARVE MOM'S REGRETS

A Queens woman on trial for starving her daughter with a bizarre vegan diet yesterday told a court she fed the 16-month-old a special mixture that included dandelions, oat straw,...

BA'ATH PARTY OVER IN BAGHDAD

U.S. warplanes continued their assault on the Iraqi leadership yesterday, blowing away the Baghdad headquarters of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party with Tomahawk missiles. The precision strike took place shortly after...

4TH ESTATE: 5TH COLUMN?

Is that really The New York Times that's been on the newsstands lately? Judging by the headlines, it reads more like something edited by Saddam Hussein's propaganda ministry. "New Reality,...

YES & CABLEVISION OUT AT HOME AGAIN

Yankee fans who subscribe to Cablevision were struck out again yesterday - just three days before Opening Day. Only two weeks after announcing an end to the 16-month Bomber blackout,...

TERROR WAKE-UP CALL - 'SLEEPERS' PLANNED HITS ON CIVILIANS

WASHINGTON - Iraqi intelligence officers - with explosives - were arrested in Jordan and Yemen for plotting terror attacks against U.S. civilians, officials said yesterday. Officials said the Iraqi "sleeper...

2 BUSTED AS STAGED CRASH TURNS DEADLY

Two cousins were arrested and charged yesterday in connection with killing a 70-year-old Queens motorist whose car was randomly struck as part of a scam to collect bogus medical claims,...

ENGINEERS REST UP AS DUST SETTLES

With the 54th Engineer Battalion, more than 200 miles inside IraqFINALLY, a day of near- rest for the 54th Engi neers - interrupted by a frightening chemical scare. But the...

CRAZY LIKE A FOX: 'ODDFATHER' ADMITS ACT

Vincent "Chin" Gigante is set to debunk his "Daffy Don" act by admitting he faked mental illness in an elaborate ruse to foil the feds, The Post has learned. In...

BX. BOSS PULLS $TRINGS FOR KIN

Bronx Democratic chairman José Rivera has found someone to fill a vacant $64,000-a-year government job he controls - his daughter. Sources said Rivera plans to appoint his daughter, Naomi, to...

NIGHT MISSION TO REMEMBER

From a Marine helicopter refueling station in south-central IraqOUR helicopter zipped along the dark desert, just 200 feet above the shifting sands, regularly jogging left and right to avoid suspected...

OUTSPOKEN GENERAL ANGERS WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON - The U.S. commander of the Iraq ground war yesterday irked the White House by claiming top war strategists goofed and underestimated the zeal and brutality of Iraqi paramilitary...

FIENDS FIRE ON REFUGEE HORDE - FLEEING CIVILIANS TRAPPED IN BASRA

Iraqi forces fired on 1,000 civilians fleeing Basra yesterday while British troops moved in to try and rescue them. British forces said Iraqi militia fired mortars mounted on pickup trucks...

SURVIVOR DESCRIBES KILLER'S LAST SHOOTING

The only man to survive being shot by the psycho shopkeeper-killer was removed from a ventilator and spoke to police yesterday, telling them the suspect bought a coffee and a...

DRUMBEAT OF CHEM ATTACK

WASHINGTON - Iraqi soldiers in chemical-protection suits were spotted unloading 50-gallon drums from trucks near U.S troop formations in the latest ominous signs that Saddam Hussein may use chemical weapons...

U.S. CUTS FOE DOWN TO SIZE - STRIKES BLOW AWAY ONE-THIRD OF SADDAM'S 'TOUGHEST'

WASHINGTON - U.S. air and ground forces have systematically wiped out more than a third of Saddam Hussein's fearsome Medina Division guarding a critical approach to Baghdad, officials said yesterday....

COLUMBIA PROF WISHES DEATH FOR GIS

American forces should suffer "a million Mogadishus" in Iraq, a Columbia University professor told thousands of students and faculty - a reference to the Somali city where 18 U.S. troops...

BURN, BAGHDAD, BURN

A FAT, billowing plume of black-orange smoke filled much of my TV screen for much of Thursday. I had no idea what Baghdad building was turning to rubble. But I...

U.S. WARNS OFF MEDDLING SYRIA - * MISSILE ROCKS KUWAIT MALL * BAGHDAD'S TELECOM ZAPPED

The United States yesterday warned Iraq's next-door neighbor Syria to butt out of the war - or be held accountable for "hostile acts" and direct threats to coalition forces. The...

COPS SHUT SHOOT-'EM-UP ARCADE

A Times Square arcade was shut down last night for liquor-law violations - just weeks after it was the scene of shooting and stabbing frenzy. Cops entered Broadway City Arcade...

'DEATH FLU' SINKS STONES' CHINA JAUNT

The Rolling Stones yesterday canceled what would have been their first-ever concerts in China next week - a day after bowing out of two shows in Hong Kong - because...

NEW BUST FOR 70G-FRAUD SHOPAHOLIC

A shopaholic found guilty of credit-card fraud has been busted for flashing her fake card again - less than a week after she was convicted. Adiam Testamichael-Berhane, 28, was hauled...

BABY-STARVE MOM REGRETS DUNCE DIET

A Queens woman on trial for starving her daughter with a bizarre vegan diet yesterday told a court she fed the 16-month-old a special mixture that included dandelions, oat straw,...

PSYCHO'S VICTIM SPEAKS

The only man to survive being shot by the psycho shopkeeper killer was removed from a ventilator and spoke to police yesterday, telling them the suspect bought a cup of...

N.J. POLS TELL GIS: SCREW YOU

Leaders of a New Jersey town have barred any display of support for U.S. troops on public property - and have even compared yellow ribbons some locals had put up...

RUMSFELD TO MEDDLING SYRIA AND IRAN: BACK OFF

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday warned Iraq's next-door neighbors Syria and Iran to butt out of the war - or be held accountable for "hostile acts" and direct...

EVIL DRUMBEAT OF CHEM ATTACK

WASHINGTON - Iraqi soldiers wearing chemical protection suits were spotted unloading 50 gallon drums from trucks near U.S troop formations in the latest ominous signs that Saddam Hussein may use...

U.S. WARNS OFF MEDDLING SYRIA - * MISSILE ROCKS KUWAIT MALL * BIG LOSS FOR SADDAM'S ELITE

The United States yesterday warned Iraq's next-door neighbor Syria to butt out of the war - or be held accountable for "hostile acts" and direct threats to coalition forces. The...

MISSILE ROCKS KUWAITI MALL - * HUGE LOSS FOR SADDAM'S ELITE * BAGHDAD'S TELECOM ZAPPED

A missile exploded near a major shopping center in Kuwait City last night, sending smoke rising over the skyline but causing no injuries. The attack by Saddam Hussein came as...

ADVANTAGE: TEXAS - UCONN 'DOGS IGNORE HORNS' 'NEUTRAL' EDGE

SAN ANTONIO - How could this be an advantage, Texas coach Rick Barnes wondered aloud, if our team has never played on the very court that everyone is saying is...

SLIPPER DOESN'T FIT BUTLER UNDERDOGS

EAST: Oklahoma 65 - Butler 54 ALBANY - A No. 1 seed, even a hobbled one, gets no sympathy. Certainly not a No. 1 like Oklahoma, which would rather swing...

ORANGE SQUEEZE OUT VICTORY OVER AUBURN

EAST: Syracuse 79 - Auburn 78 ALBANY - Auburn coach Cliff Ellis said on Thursday that he knew the Tigers couldn't stop Syracuse super frosh Carmelo Anthony. So they hit...

TUA, RAHMAN PUT THEIR FIGHT LIVES ON LINE

PHILADELPHIA - HBO is showing a 12-part series entitled "Legendary Nights," featuring the best fights over its 30 years of boxing broadcasts. Don't be surprised if tonight's heavyweight showdown between...

MARQUETTE ASSISTANT FACES FIGHT OF HIS LIFE

MINNEAPOLIS - They were exhausted, both of them, but what coach isn't tired all the time once the season starts? This was early last year, right at the start of...

NO GOOD GUYS IN THIS GAME OF MONOPOLY

TWO pickpockets simultaneously grab your wallet. They begin to fight, right there on the street. And you're supposed to choose sides. The flimsy, prematurely celebrated YES-Cablevision deal fell apart yesterday,...

FEW PERKS FOR TPC DEFENDING CHAMPION

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Craig Perks had already conceded to being sick to his stomach from nervousness teeing off as the defending champion of The Players Championship Thursday afternoon....

YES CENSORS 'MIKE & MAD DOG' SIMULCAST

The YES Network pulled the plug on its simulcast of WFAN's "Mike & the Mad Dog Show" yesterday when the duo interviewed Cablevision CEO James Dolan about the YES-Cablevision breakup....

JINTS SIGN DE WASHINGTON

It is no secret the Giants are in the market for help for their defensive line and that they will use the upcoming NFL Draft to bolster. Yesterday, the team...

SOLID SPRING FOR METS? AND HOWE!

FORT LAUDERDALE - Seven weeks ago, Ty Wigginton was a hopeful and Roger Cedeno was a liability. The Mets made some strong winter rotisserie moves in signing Mike Stanton, Cliff...

ACHY MO ON MEND

YANKEE NOTES CLEARWATER - Mariano Rivera yesterday reported that his right groin muscle, which will force him to start the season on the DL, is improving. "It's feeling good, much...

CAN BOGANS BRING IT? - INJURED GUARD KEY AS CATS FACE EAGLES

MINNEAPOLIS - This much is certain: It will take a court order to keep Keith Bogans off the Metrodome floor today, when his top-ranked and top-seeded Kentucky Wildcats face No....

YANKS TAP ANDERSON - YOUNGSTER GETS LAST STAFF SPOT OVER CHOATE

TAMPA - Joe Torre, Brian Cashman and Mel Stottlemyre informed Jason Anderson he was going north with the Yankees yesterday, and the neophyte reliever headed right for Torre's office door....

LEITER HITS STRIDE JUST IN TIME FOR MOVE NORTH

MET NOTES FORT LAUDERDALE -Al Leiter is peaking at the right time. The Met lefty, who had a poor start last Sunday against Atlanta, bounced back with six shutout innings...

GLOOM FINALLY SETTLING OVER CHANEY

KNICK NOTES Don Chaney was asked about summer plans before last night's Nets' rout - a topic that's been kept to the backburner during the Knicks' surprising playoff push. But...

CARTER'S HAPPY OILERS MADE IT

BOSTON - Anson Carter put in 68 games with the Oilers, was leading the team in scoring, and then at the deadline became a Ranger. And on Wednesday, while his...

SPEEDY NETS LEAVE KNICKS IN THE DUST

The sneaker imprints Net roadrunners Richard Jefferson, Jason Kidd and Kerry Kittles left on the Garden floor last night may as well remain all summer. And don't wipe off the...

LEAFS SMASH ISLES

Leafs 5 - Isles 2 How unfortunate for the Islanders that they can't play the remaining five games of their season on the road. Because it seems that they can't...

UCONN FALLS SHORT - TEXAS BEATS BACK FURIOUS HUSKY RALLY

SOUTH: Texas 82 - UConn 78 SAN ANTONIO - He was hopeful beforehand, certain afterward and not even the sick feeling that overcame all of UConn could convince Jim Calhoun...

JUGGER-NETS MOTOR ALONG LIKE MACHINE

Nets 122 - Knicks 101 Kenyon Martin put it very bluntly, very simply, very honestly. "When Kerry's knocking down shots and me and RJ get it going, I'm not going...

SPARTANS SURVIVE TERP COMEBACK

SAN ANTONIO - One former champion moves on, barely, while the defending champs go home, sadly. Sidestepping what would have been a major collapse, Michigan State last night built a...

BUTLER DOESN'T DO IT

EAST: Oklahoma 65 - Butler 54 ALBANY - A No. 1 seed, even a hobbled one, gets no sympathy. Certainly not a No. 1 like Oklahoma, which would rather swing...

CINDERELLA BULLDOGS - BUTLER RELUCTANTLY ACCEPTS ITS ROLE

ALBANY - Winners share a common attitude. They don't care what you think of them. They don't get caught up in winning ugly or winning close games or winning at...

KURT'S FEELING FOUL - THOMAS' TEMPER IS COSTING KNICKS

Kurt Thomas had two meetings yesterday morning - one with Don Chaney, the other with doctors going over results of his MRI that proved negative. His inflamed right elbow pain,...

MUTOMBO IS FINALLY GOOD TO GO

It's tonight. It's tonight. The Nets' game against the Warriors tonight at the Meadowlands is what Dikembe Mutombo has targeted for several weeks. So the 7-2 veteran center, who last...

RHEAUME SHINES AS CHECKER

ATLANTA - The results were promising in the Devils' first test without John Madden. They may not regain their most-used forward until the final games of the season, if then,...

KVASHA, ASHAM KEYS TO YASHIN'S TURNAROUND

The secret behind Alexei Yashin's recent turnaround from a dismal funk that lasted virtually the whole season is the guys he's playing with. All of last year and during the...

LACK OF SUPPORT HURTS BRODEUR

Devils 1 - Thrashers 1 ATLANTA - Oh, what the Devils could do with a goal-scorer to go with this goal-stopper. It has been the Devils' lament more often than...

CHANEY: STILL LIGHT AT TUNNEL'S END

KNICK NOTES Don Chaney still expects the Knicks to take their playoff bid right down to the wire. "I personally don't think we'll be out of it, I think this...

TIGER STAYS A CUT ABOVE

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Midway through his second round yesterday at The Players Championship, Tiger Woods looked as if he might struggle to make the cut, which is unheard...