March 15, 2004

WALL OF WORRIES - MARTS MAY SHRUG OFF ATTACK, BUT SWEAT AT SPAIN VOTE

Strategists expect the market to shrug off news that al Qaeda likely masterminded the brutal bombing in Spain last week - but worry that yesterday's Spanish vote could have a...

RETRO TYRA

TYRA Banks is serious when she says she wants to be a singer. On next Sunday's episode of "American Dreams," she plays the lead singer of The Velvettes - an...

LAWYERS ARE FROM MARS . . . JUDGES ARE FROM VENUS

"Century City" [ ] (three stars) Tomorrow night on at 9 p.m. on CBS ---- THINK "L.A. Law" meets "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" and you'll begin to get...

GIRLS GONE MILD

INDIGO GIRLS MOST guys would place going to an Indigo Girls concert on par with watching Ellen DeGeneres interview Rosie O'Donnell about lactating lesbians. But at Radio City Music Hall...

STRANGE 'EMBEDDED' FELLOWS

EMBEDDEDAt the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St., AT Astor Place. Telecharge, (212) 239-6200. --- IN "Embedded," the satirical, anti-Iraq-war revue that opened last night at the Public Theater, Tim Robbins...

STARR REPORT

Fab Feb. for 'TES' CBS' "The Early Show" is quietly putting up some impressive numbers. "TES" notched its best February sweeps numbers in nine years just last month in total...

BADA BING! TONY BOOSTS CABLE

CALL it "The Sopranos" spike, and it's not of the ice-pick variety. Cable subscriptions are on the rise around the metro area thanks to the popular mob drama. Cable officials...

SANDRA DEES AND DONT'S

CAUTION, gals: It's easy to go overboard on the '50s look. Before you go head-to-toe Sandra Dee, remember when it comes to the sock-hop style, a little dab'll do ya....

PATAKI PALS RUN FOR NEAREST 'EXIT'

SOME senior Pataki administration of ficials are "preoc cupied with their exit strategies" because they believe the governor won't seek re-election, says an administration source. "They know that the governor...

PROBE EYES SILVER'S $UITE DEAL IN VEGAS

ALBANY - State investigators have stumbled onto evidence that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the state's most powerful Democrat, paid just $109 a night for a suite that goes for as...

UNIONS MAY BEAN BOSTON

Boston, we have a problem. Just 4 ½ months before Beantown welcomes native son John Kerry to the Democratic National Convention, both the city and the convention itself are wracked...

CHUCK CALLS FOR WMD DETECTORS

Citing the horrific terrorist bombings in Madrid, Sen. Charles Schumer said it's time to equip the subway system with monitors that can detect weapons of mass destruction. "The federal government...

REV. AL TALKS OF QUITTING

The Rev. Al Sharpton will discuss ending his failing presidential campaign with representatives of Democratic nominee John Kerry as soon as today, party insiders told The Post. The discussion is...

BUSH WOMEN WORRIED

WASHINGTON - First lady Laura Bush and the president's mother, Barbara Bush, are now openly "questioning" the direction of President Bush's campaign team, a stunning new report claims. With national...

BUBBA MUSEUM - TOWN'S EXHIBIT HAILS RESIDENT PRESIDENT

The rest of the world is about to learn what Chappaqua residents already know: Bill Clinton prefers to tee off in comfy Hawaiian shirts, munch lunch at the corner deli...

FEDS LOOK TO CHARGE FERRY CAPT.

The feds could ask a grand jury to hold Staten Island Ferry Capt. Michael Gansas criminally liable for events leading up to last year's catastrophic crash and for his actions...

COPS BUST L.I. MAN IN FATAL HIT-RUN

A Long Island man has been nabbed in the horrific hit-and-run that killed a young newlywed and seriously hurt her hubby in January, cops said. Chester Cunningham, 39, of Mastic...

S.I. RAILROAD PLAN ON TRACK

Staten Island businesses will soon be riding high as the city gets set to reopen a freight-railroad line out of service for more than a decade. The city's Economic Development...

WHAT A FRIEND THE BOX OFFICE HAS IN JESUS

Jesus is just alright with moviegoers, who made "The Passion of the Christ" No. 1 at the box office for the third straight week, with a take of $31.7 million....

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Two NYU coeds installed a 400-gallon swimming pool in their Greenwich Village dorm room to throw booze-fueled parties for fellow students. Freshmen Jenny Maurer and Lauren Burge were the toast...

-CLUB CASUALTIES - 4 PARTY KIDS IN HOSP WITH DRUG OD (M)-4 O.D. AT CLUB - COPS CRASH HOT SPOT'S ALL-NIGHT PARTY (S, LCF)

Four people were hospitalized for drug overdoses at the hot Hell's Kitchen dance club Black yesterday morning, authorities said. The incident came within a week of reports that city officials...

BLAST SPREE MOTIVATES ALLIES: COLIN

The deadly Madrid bombings should strengthen rather than weaken European resolve against terrorism, Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday. He also said it's too early to say whether al...

FRESNO WEIRDO CHARGED IN SLAYS

Marcus Wesson was charged with nine murders in Fresno, Calif., and ordered held on $9 million bail yesterday in the gruesome killings of people believed to be his family members,...

SHAKEN BABY HANGING ON

A 5-week-old girl who was badly shaken by her father in their Midtown high-rise apartment was still clinging to life yesterday, cops said. Leilani Belza was shaken so severely Thursday...

MAYOR STEPS BACK FROM MARCHERS

Mayor Bloomberg will stand by Department of Correction Commissioner Martin Horn and not march alongside correction officers at Wednesday's St. Patrick's Day Parade. Members of the 500-strong Emerald Society at...

TENTH PLANET A NEW 'STAR'

It's far and away the biggest news to hit the solar system in years - a likely new planet. NASA is expected to announce today that a likely planet has...

EX-ROOMIE STABS TEEN GIRL: COPS

A teenage girl was stabbed twice by her former roommate early yesterday in the hallway of a Harlem apartment building, cops and friends said. Cops rushed to the W. 147th...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * Detectives busted a man in the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old in Crown Heights earlier this month, cops said yesterday. Reginald Jordan, 24, of Prospect Place, was charged...

VOTERS TAKE SHARP LEFT TURN

Spain's opposition Socialists swept the ruling conservatives from power in a spectacular upset election yesterday, amid an angry debate over charges the government provoked the Madrid bombings by supporting the...

MAKE PENN STATION SAFE

THURSDAY'S horrific terrorist attack targeting trains in Madrid - and last month's terror bombing in the Moscow subway - must serve as an emergency warning to us: We've got to...

HOODLUM TOTS - B'KLYN MOM FUMES AT KINDERGAR TEN VIOLENCE

A horrified Brooklyn mom is demanding a school transfer for her daughter after she was roughed up by a fellow classmate - in kindergarten. The request is unusual because it...

WIDOW'S PIQUE - DUO AT LARGE A YEAR AFTER HUBBY'S SLAY

Michelle DeSimone, a newlywed, was about to walk out the door of her Bronx home to her office at MTV in Times Square when the phone rang. It was a...

DISCOUNT WEEKEND TICKETS A RAIL BIG SUCCESS

An MTA pilot program allowing straphangers to ride the commuter rails within the city limits for $2.50 on weekends has turned into a colossal success - selling nearly 100,000 tickets...

FISHBURNE 'NEPHEW' FACES TRIAL

A Queens teen who claims he is Laurence Fishburne's nephew is set to go on trial this week for a robbery attack on two elderly women that left one with...

FRESNO BAIL IS $1M PER VICTIM

Marcus Wesson was held in lieu of $9 million bail in Fresno, Calif., yesterday for the gruesome killings of nine people believed to be his family members, including his daughters...

BOMB FIENDS KILL 11 - ISRAEL CANCELS THIS WEEK'S SUMMIT

JERUSALEM - Two homicide bombers blew themselves up in an attack on Israel's main port yesterday, killing 11 people and injuring 18. The deadly bombings in the southern port of...

SUSPECT TIEDTO 9/11 DEMON - JAILED MASTERMIND WORKED WITH ATTA

One of three Moroccans busted in Madrid's horrific slew of train terror bombings has links to Spain's fiendish al Qaeda chief - one of the masterminds of the 9/11 attacks,...

NINE GIS DEAD OVER FOUR DAYS

Roadside bombs killed four more U.S. soldiers in Iraq, the army said yesterday - making a total of nine troops killed in the past four days in attacks targeting American...

CIG CRUSADE FILTERS DOWN TO KIDS

Mayor Bloomberg is taking his antismoking campaign into the city schools. The Department of Education is sponsoring a "New York City Kids Kick Butts!" poster contest for six- to eighth-graders...

STAR'S 'NEPHEW' FACES ROB TRIAL

A Queens teen who claims he is Laurence Fishburne's nephew is set to go on trial this week for a robbery attack on two elderly women that left one with...

BABY SHAKEN BY HER FATHER FIGHTS FOR LIFE

A 5-week-old girl who was badly shaken by her father in their Midtown high-rise apartment was still clinging to life yesterday, cops said. Leilani Belza was shaken so severely by...

JINTS ADD ANOTHER EX-BROWN TO 'O' LINE

Little did the Giants know when they began re-shaping their haphazard offensive line that they'd be importing two-fifths of the Cleveland Browns' starting quintet. The newest addition is Barry Stokes,...

HOLIK BELONGS ON SECOND UNIT

IMPOSSIBLE as it is to even begin to guess what the Rangers will look like next year, this much is clear: If Bobby Holik is centering Jaromir Jagr on the...

ISLES BRACE FOR PLAYOFF DOGFIGHT

TAMPA - If the season ended today, this is where the Islanders would be: right back here for a first-round playoff series against the top-seeded Lightning. Unfortunately for the Isles,...

WINKY LOOKING FOR BIG-BUCKS BOUTS

LAS VEGAS - Down the hall, Don King's cackle was so loud, Ronald "Winky" Wright had to pause his victory speech. It was a speech that would thank just about...

3 VS. 4 MATTERS MORE

THE funniest story of the week lasted the entire week. Should St. Joe's be a one-seed or a two? Should Oklahoma St. be a one-seed or a two? Should Kentucky...

JON PAIN - LIEBER REINJURES GROIN, LIKELY HEADED TO DL

TAMPA - The lack of depth in the Yankees' rotation has been exposed again. When Jon Lieber tossed two innings Saturday against the Braves, it appeared all five starters were...

NIEDERMAYER: NO NEW DEAL IN VIEW

The probable Norris Trophy winner says he isn't likely to sign a new deal before he becomes a restricted free agent in July. "I've always played my contract out and...

WILSON 1ST IN 2ND RACE

YANKEE NOTES TAMPA - Enrique Wilson, battling for the second base job this spring, will never receive a better chance to be a big-league regular. While Joe Torre isn't saying...

ST. RAY'S REPEATS AS CHSAA CHAMP

CHSAA AA CHAMPIONSHIP: St. Raymond's 56 - Xaverian 42 Brian Laing has often tried to get his teammate Gavin Grant to take more advantage of his ample skills. "I always...

DRILLS AT ZO'S PLACE

NET NOTES MIAMI - The number 33 stays on the Nets board for every game as a tribute to Alonzo Mourning. And yesterday, the Nets gave him another one of...

DYKSTRA BACK IN THE FOLD

PORT ST. LUCIE - Wearing his No. 4 jersey and guzzling Gatorade, Lenny Dykstra looked out at Tradition Field. "It doesn't get any better," he said. "Green grass, blue sky....

KAZ, JOSE PLAY WAITING GAME

MET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE - At this rate, Kaz Matsui may never get to play in a game with Jose Reyes. With Reyes' strained hamstring leaving his status unknown,...

LONG-TERM DEAL PAYING OFF FOR YANKS, MUSSINA

"Two World Series, yeah I'm pretty pleased with the choice." -MIKE MUSSINA on signing with Yankees three years ago TAMPA - Alex Rodriguez wanted Texas for $252 million reasons that...

AVOIDING A MIAMI VISE - NETS OUT TO WITHSTAND HEAT THIS TIME

MIAMI - The last time they were here was a game to forget. And the Nets remember it very well. "It was a bad game for us," admitted guard Lucious...

N.Y.-BRED CRASHES THE LIST

Defending the honor of the New York State breeding program even as his fellow state-bred Read the Footnotes faded down the stretch as the even-money favorite, 37-1 Friends Lake, Rich...

COMEBACK KIDS - THOMAS HELPS TRIGGER 26-POINT REVIVAL

MILWAUKEE - For Tim and Isiah Thomas, it doesn't get any sweeter than yesterday. Tim Thomas, shaking off a nightmare first half, as well as boos and catcalls, lifted the...

NO DENYING PIRATES THIS TIME AROUND

Seton Hall was spurned by the NCAA Selection Committee last March, left standing in the corner watching the Big Dance. This winter, the Pirates earned their way in, leaving the...

REYES HURT AGAIN - METS 2B STRAINS HAMSTRING; SEVERITY UNKNOWN

PORT ST. LUCIE - There is no real timetable, no set date, no known indication of severity. In fact, at this point, all the Mets know is this - Jose...

NOW, IT'S ON TO THE DANCE - UK, DUKE, STANFORD, ST. JOE'S NET TOP SEEDS

A No. 1 seed is supposed to be the Holy Grail of the NCAA Tournament. Nine of the last 14 Big Dance champs have been a No. 1 seed. Even...

VIN WANTS TO LEARN FROM ISIAH & DOLAN

MILWAUKEE - Vin Baker told The Post he plans to meet in the next couple of days with Knicks owner James Dolan to hear about his experiences. "I know of...

JASPERS COACH FACES AN OLD FRIEND

When Manhattan coach Bobby Gonzalez checked his voice mail Friday morning, he discovered a good-luck message from his friend William Donovan, Sr. "He just said congratulations, and that he hoped...

NETS IN MIAMI VISE - HUMBLED BY HEAT WITHOUT HOBBLED MARTIN

MIAMI - They were swamped on the boards. The second-worst offense in the NBA universe went through them with alarming ease. Their own offense for much of the night had...

UTAH ST. (25-3) TOPS SNUB CLUB

Throughout the season The Post snubbed Utah State, refusing to rank the Aggies because they played in a lousy league and their out-of-conference schedule included a game against Fort Lewis,...

RIDING THE LOCALS - NO DENYING HALL THIS TIME AROUND

Seton Hall was spurned by the NCAA Selection Committee last March, left out of the Big Dance. This winter, the Pirates earned their way in, leaving the committee little choice...

COMEBACK KIDS - THOMAS POWERS 26-POINT REVIVAL

MILWAUKEE - For Tim and Isiah Thomas, it doesn't get any sweeter than yesterday. Tim Thomas, shaking off a nightmare first half, as well as boos and catcalls, lifted the...

'SMOK'N' MIGLIORE ENJOYS BIG A 'FROLIC'

When his friends ask him how his weekend was, there probably won't be enough superlatives for jockey Richard Migliore to describe it. After giving Friends Lake a masterful ride to...