May 25, 2004

EMI GIVES THE MUSIC BIZ A REALITY CHECK ON SALES

U.K. music giant EMI brought the record industry back to reality yesterday. While EMI's financial figures were generally good - given the problems afflicting the music business - the company...

WHO'S (MIS)LEADING WHOM? AG GIVES MCCALL A PASS

SAY this much about Eliot Spitzer: He's really got the holier-than-thou act down pat. But if the New York Attorney General really wanted to prove he was better than the...

CLOSING BITES 'CHEF' SHOW - BACKERS HAD JUST SIGNED 3-YEAR LEASE FOR SWANK VENUE

CHEF'S Theater," the heavily hyped cooking-and-cabaret show at the Supper Club in the Edison Hotel, has closed just six weeks after its producers signed a three-year sublease on the glamorous...

EBBERS HIT WITH 6 NEW FRAUD COUNTS

A grand jury slapped six new charges onto its criminal case against ex-WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers yesterday - slamming him for filing fraudulent reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission....

AMAZON DOESN'T PLAY NICE: SUIT

Toys 'R' Us paid $200 million for the right to be the exclusive distributor of toys, games and baby products on Amazon.com - but is now trying to recover that...

-MOORE PIC TURNS UP THE HEAT ON EISNER (M)-EISNER IN MOORE TROUBLE OVER FILM (S, LCF)

Michael Moore's documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" could wind up costing Disney more than $100 million and go down as another Michael Eisner blunder. The movie is poised to set a new...

MORE THAN ONE CANARY SANG

It didn't take much arm-twisting on Wall Street to find people to rat out Dick Grasso's paycheck scams. One prime witness, Frank Ashen, the head of human resources at the...

RULING MAY PUT CIG MAKERS ON HOOK FOR $280M PAYOUT

Big tobacco suffered another legal setback yesterday. A federal judge ruled that the U.S. government can try to seize $280 billion in past profits the tobacco industry reaped as part...

GRASSO THE SNAKE - EX-NYSE BOSS USED THREATS, FRAUD TO GET RICH: AG

Dick Grasso was more underhanded than many suspected - using spies, doctored records, rigged votes and intimidation to suck almost every penny of profit at the New York Stock Exchange,...

RACING FORM IN $75M SALE

The 110-year-old Daily Racing Form was sold for an estimated $75 million to New York media investor Carter Bales and his Wicks Group. The seller, media banker Ed Aboodie's Alpine...

'BANDSTAND' RETURNS

'AMERICAN Bandstand" is returning after a 18-year hiatus - with a touch of "American Idol" thrown in. Original "Bandstand" producer Dick Clark is teaming with "AI" creator Simon Fuller's 19...

MOB MOLL LIED TO PROTECT THE STORY

SHE lied. "The Sopranos" star Drea de Matteo - who plays (oops, played) the conflicted girlfriend Adrianna on the mob opera - swore she could do both shows after agreeing...

'SWAN' SONG - RACHEL WINS WEIRD MAKEOVER CROWN

LOS ANGELES - Rachel Love Fraser, a 27-year-old construction company clerk who was transformed from a Plain Jane with bad teeth to beauty contest winner, was named "The Swan" last...

STARR REPORT

Changes at Ch. 4 Barbara Johnson has resigned as news director at Ch. 4 - and will be replaced in that capacity by Dan Forman, who's already overseeing Ch. 4's...

LAND, HO! - FANS SEETHE AS GREEDY CARMELA TRADES LOVE FOR PRIME REAL ESTATE; CARMELA'S DEVILISH DEAL

ADRIANA'S gotten the ax - and now "Sopranos" fans seem ready to whack Carmela. In what aficionados of the HBO drama see as an unveiling of "the real Carmela," the...

DID ADRIANA REALLY GET IT?

POOR Adriana. Forced by the feds to turn on the family, she ends up taking a ride into the woods to sleep with the fishes. Or did she? Some viewers...

BACK TO THE POCONOS - COULD THE WORKING MAN'S HAMPTONS' BE GIVING IN TO THE YOGA CIRCLE AND THE VEGGIE MENU? CHANGE IS COMING TO A CLASSIC SUMMER SPOT, WRITES DAVID LANDSEL

DISTANCE FROM NEW YORK: 70 miles HIS Holiness, the Dalai Lama, is coming to the Poconos. I know this because the nice lady working the counter at the Himalayan Institute...

HOUSE ON THE HILL

CATSKILLS got your tongue - and your wallet? Say goodbye to overpriced cabins and say hello to the Poconos; convenient, budget-friendly, and refreshingly crowd-free. Sure, out in the wilds of...

LIFE IN RUINS - EVELYN KANTER KAYAKS UP RIVER TO A STRANGE, DESERTED ISLAND

DISTANCE FROM NEW YORK: 50 miles WE must look like floating Popsicles to the boats that steer clear of us. We're sitting below the waterline in the Hudson River, paddling...

EXPOSED!: WHEN GOOD GUIDEBOOKS GO BAD - SHOCKING TRUTHS REVEALED - MACKENZIE DAWSON PARKS LEARNS TO READ BETWEEN THE LINES

DURING a recent trip to the Yucatan, my husband and I, despite being happy exactly where we were, decided to switch towns for a day or two. To help us...

WORK RELEASE - CITY BOY CHRIS BUNTING UNWINDS WITH A WEEKEND OF HARD LABOR

DISTANCE FROM NEW YORK: 166 miles DON'T get me wrong. I still think Paris Hilton is a brat. But after living my own simple life on a working farm in...

SCHOOL HONCHO IS SHOT - QNS. SUBWAY MYSTERY

A mysterious gunman shot the CEO of the Drake Business School in the buttocks at pointblank range yesterday as he was going through the turnstile in a busy Queens subway...

POLS NOT SWEET ON CANDY BAN

Oh goody gumdrops! There were no kisses, Hershey's or otherwise, for a resolution to ban the sale and possession of candy in Brooklyn, which got chewed up and spat out...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A punk allegedly broke into a Virginia woman's home, beat her with a hockey stick, pistol-whipped her - then forced her to cook him a meal. Jesse Muckenfuss, 37, was...

BRAVERY, BLOOD & LIES - THE ARMY WINS ... WHILE THE MEDIA WHINES

IF the recent retreat from Fallujah showed the world how to get counter-insurgency operations exactly wrong, the U.S. Army has been giving lessons on how to do it right in...

BABY-SLAY FIEND - STONE-FACED KILLER GETS 18 YEARS

A Queens man who ferociously shook his girlfriend's baby son "with bone-breaking force" until he was dead destroyed a young life that was full of promise, a prosecutor said yesterday...

ARIEL OFF HOOK IN 'BRIBE' CASE

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon got some good news yesterday as he prepared to unveil his revised plan to pull troops and settlers permanently out of the Gaza...

MIKE HOSES DOWN HAZ-MAT SPAT

The Police Department was given a key role in hazardous-materials emergencies because that's common sense "in this day and age" of terrorist threats, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday - insisting the...

'DRUNK' SLAYS GRAMPA - RUN DOWN IN BX.

A vibrant, virile Bronx grandfather was mowed down and killed yesterday walking home from a fishing trip by a drunken driver who has a record of boozing behind the wheel,...

CITY 'FREEZES' WELFARE JOBS PLAN

A new jobs program that would put welfare recipients on the government payroll is purely "hypothetical" because the cash-strapped city has a hiring freeze in place, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday....

COURT OFFICER MOURNED

Funeral services are scheduled Thursday for a moonlighting Westchester court officer who was shot and killed Saturday at a Queens strip club. A wake will be held today and tomorrow...

DAY-CARE 'KILLER' STEAMED OVER FIRING

A former day-care center worker gunned down his aunt, the center's owner, because of his recent firing and his money problems, he said in statements to police. Raymond Smith, 32,...

BIANCA IS SPARED APT. BOOT

Bianca Jagger won't get no pad eviction - her landlord is dropping its bid to boot her from her mold-infested Park Avenue apartment. In papers filed in Manhattan Housing Court,...

COURT'S ALL EARS FOR A MOB SLANG LESSON

JOE MASSINO tugs at his right ear. It's a signal when a wiseguy approaches him not to mention Massino's name. The habit has caught on, and every time a wiseguy...

10G REWARD FOR MISSING STUDENT

A $10,000 reward has been posted for information about missing Juilliard School student Sarah Fox. Personal problems may have led to the Fox, 21, vanishing Wednesday, a law-enforcement source said....

MONITORS & POLS RIP SILVER OVER AVIS FAVORS

ALBANY - State lawmakers and government watchdogs yesterday denounced Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver for accepting discounted rental cars from Avis as the company was lobbying the Legislature to change industry...

SAFE AT HOME: NYC CRIME DROPPED IN '03 - NEW STATS SHOW CITY 'DEFIED THE ODDS': MIKE

The Big Apple has taken another bite out of crime. According to FBI figures released yesterday, crime dropped 5.8 percent in 2003. "New York City has not only retained its...

BUDGET BLESSING - $1.5 BIL SURPLUS FOR CITY

Increased tax collections driven by real estate and Wall Street will pump up the city's budget surplus by "a couple hundred million dollars" - to at least $1.5 billion, a...

RIKERS SHOOTING SUIT DISMISSED

A Bronx judge has thrown out a seven-year-old lawsuit against the city brought by two inmates who claimed they were shot inside Rikers Island. Investigators were prepared to offer evidence...

'98 KID SLAY SOLVED - PERV 'KILLED' BOY,12

A Yonkers man doing time for sexually abusing a dozen teenagers was charged yesterday with the brutal murder of a 12-year-old boy whose decomposed body was found buried near a...

IDENTITY CRISIS - 15 DESCRIPTIONS OF 6TH AVE. KILLER

Fifteen witnesses to the brazen execution slaying of a Diamond District merchant have provided investigators with "15 different descriptions" of the assassin, sources told The Post. The hit man, who...

SHEA FAN TO DA: LET ME WALK

The New Jersey man who made an unauthorized appearance on the field at Shea Stadium during a Mets game earlier this month says the Queens DA's office is playing hardball...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN * A man impersonating a sanitation police officer cleared the way for two thieves (above) to rob a trendy Washington Heights restaurant earlier this month, cops said. Authorities said...

'MEAN GIRLS' STAR TAKES POST-FIGHT FLIGHT

Teen queen Lindsay Lohan's family hired a beefy security crew to guard the family's Long Island home yesterday, a day after police broke up a bloody fracas there involving her...

SUMMER-SCHOOL NURSES $LASHED

The Bloomberg administration has slashed the number of nurses working the summer school program by 50 percent, provoking howls of outrage from unions, parents and politicians. Last year, 600 nurses...

S.I. TEEN RAPED, MA BEATEN IN BREAK-IN HORROR

A hulking sex offender broke into his girlfriend's Staten Island home yesterday, repeatedly raped her 15-year-old daughter, then beat the girlfriend, locked the doors, and set the house ablaze, police...

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT - FANTASIA AND DIANA IN SING-OFF

Soul-singing Fantasia Barrino is favored among oddsmakers to become the next "American Idol" on the hit Fox reality show. Diana DeGarmo's youth may work against the 16-year-old.The winner of the...

WEB GAL MAKES D.C. POLS SQUIRM - DISHES DIRT ON CAPITOL SEXPLOITS

WASHINGTON - If the war and the presidential election aren't generating enough headlines, Washington finally has the ultimate attention getter: a good, old-fashioned sex scandal. Thank Jessica Cutler. Her Internet...

MEMO TO "AMERICAN IDOL" VOTERS: KEEP DIALING.

Memo to "American Idol" voters: Keep dialing. That's the advice from Fox officials who have expanded tonight's voting window to four hours from two and set up three different phone...

GRANNY OUTWITS 'ROBBER' - ENTICES HIM INTO TRAP

A car bandit faces charges after he stole a handicapped Long Island grandmother's Chevy, then called her to apologize - and offered to sell the vehicle back to her, cops...

WAR-RAVAGED PREZ - AMERICANS GIVE HIM BIG THUMBS-DOWN IN POLLS

WASHINGTON - President Bush gave last night's Iraq speech at a time when his job-approval ratings, especially on Iraq, have plummeted to the lowest point yet, a new CBS News...

HARRY FACES THE AX - TOO OLD BY 5TH FILM

It's too bad Daniel Radcliffe can't put a No Grow spell on himself. The 14-year-old face of the "Harry Potter" movies is getting too old to play the part, so...

ON EDGE OF DISASTER - 17-STORY 'SUICIDE' DRAMA

A deranged Brooklyn man who threatened to jump from a 17th-floor window was grabbed by cops yesterday moments before he made a death leap, police and witnesses said. The 37-year-old...

SCHOOL BOOTS 'SEX BRACELET' GIRL

An 11-year-old Queens fifth-grader was kicked out of her Catholic elementary school for blowing the whistle on a bizarre "sex bracelets" game. "I'm happy. I hate that school," a defiant...

DAILY NEWS GOOFS ON PAGE 1 (AGAIN)

In a glaring front-page blunder, The Daily News yesterday reported that a staggering 1,700 cops and firefighters have filed lawsuits against the city for health problems stemming from 9/11 -...

LET FREEDOM RING IN IRAQ - BUSH PUSHES PLAN FOR POWER TRANSFER

WASHINGTON - President Bush last night reassured Americans he has a plan to transfer power to Iraqis on June 30 so they can choose the hope of democracy over terror...

TRIAL IS A DON DEAL - BONANNOS' 'GODFATHER' MASSINO & TURNCOAT IN-LAW STAR IN DRAMA THAT COULD KO MAFIA

Exit John Gotti and turncoat ex-pal Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano - enter alleged Bonanno top banana Joe Massino and bitter brother-in-law-turned-canary Sal Vitale. In what the feds are hailing as...

9/11 PANEL TO GRILL RADIO WORKER

The World Trade Center official accused of failing to answer letters asking him to testify at the 9/11 commission hearings says he'll meet with commission members today. Lloyd Thompson, deputy...

KERRY DODGES CONVENTION-AL WISDOM

WASHINGTON - John Kerry ducked questions yesterday about whether he'll accept the Democratic nomination at the convention in Boston as he faced growing fallout over a possible delay in formally...

LIZA'S HUBBY & RAOUL SPLIT

It's the end of another beautiful relationship for David Gest - he's parting ways with famed divorce lawyer Raoul Felder. Felder had been representing Gest in his sensational split from...

PLAYLAND GIRL'S DAD IN HOSPITAL

The grief-stricken dad of the 7-year-old girl killed at Playland amusement park in Rye had to be hospitalized yesterday after suffering shock and depression from the tragedy. "I can't take...

BUSH BETS THE HOUSE

GEORGE W. Bush is a high-stakes player, a political gambler. And last night he took a fantastically bold gamble: In the teeth of bad polls, an atmosphere of panic in...

NOT-SO-SWEET 16: PUBESCENT 'POTTER' FACES AX FOR 5TH FILM

It's too bad Daniel Radcliffe can't put a No Grow spell on himself. The 14-year-old face of the "Harry Potter" movies is getting too old to play the part, so...

'SEX BRACELET' GIRL KICKED OUT

A 11-year-old Queens fifth-grader was booted from her Catholic elementary school for blowing the whistle on a bizarre sex-bracelets game. "I'm happy. I hate that school," a defiant Megan Stecher...

INMATE'S HIV LAWSUIT NIXED

A federal judge tossed a convicted robber's lawsuit after finding he couldn't prove prison officials were malicious when they mistakenly told his wife he was infected with HIV, ending his...

'COURTNEY' DAD SEEKS CUSTODY

The father of an abandoned 3-year-old girl found in Baltimore - and who originally was believed to be from Brooklyn - said yesterday he wants sole custody of his daughter....

CLASSROOM EXTRA - THE GENEVA CONVENTION - REVISITED

With the mistreatment of prisoners of war making headlines, today's lesson takes a look at the Geneva Convention. Whenever a war occurs, it is inevitable that both sides will take...

POLS IN SEX WEB - D.C. GAL DISHES THE DIRT

WASHINGTON - If the war and the presidential election aren't generating enough headlines, Washington finally has the ultimate attention getter: a good, oldfashioned sex scandal. Thank Jessica Cutler. Her Internet...

MALL COPS BUST 'PICTURE PERV'

A peeping Tom who used a digital camera to shoot up a woman's skirt on a Long Island mall escalator got hemmed in by undercover cops who collared him, police...

RUDY'S EX TO RUN COLLEGE

Regina Peruggi, the first wife of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, has been named the new president of Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn. It's Peruggi's second stint as a college president....

OFF-DUTY COP RUN OVER BY DWI DRIVER

An off-duty Brooklyn detective was killed yesterday when a drunk driver mowed him down as he drove his motorcycle on a Long Island highway, officials said. Vincent Suppa, 34, was...

INMATE CAN'T CELL HIV $UIT

A federal judge tossed a convicted robber's lawsuit after finding he couldn't prove prison officials were malicious when they mistakenly told his wife he was infected with HIV, ending his...

'98 SLAY SOLVED - PERV CHARGED IN MURDER OF BOY, 12

A Yonkers man doing time for sexually abusing a dozen teenagers was charged yesterday with the brutal murder of a 12-year-old boy whose decomposed body was found buried near a...

FEW BUMPS ON N.Y.'S THRILL RIDES

Despite the death of a 7-year-old girl at the Playland Amusement Park in Rye, New York is a safe state when it comes to thrill parks. The Empire State has...

MADONNA FLAUNTS NEW 'BANDAGE' GEAR

Brace yourselves, Madonnalovin' baby boomers - it looks as if even the aging Material Mom has problems with her knees once in a while. As the 45-year-old glam rocker rehearsed...

THE PRINCE OF TIES - TAYSHAUN'S BLOCK HELPS KNOT SERIES

GAME 2: Pistons 72 - Pacers 67 INDIANAPOLIS - No, Rasheed Wallace is not Mark Messier now. But Rasheed's Game 2 guarantee held up, despite his nightmare offensive showing last...

RASHEED WON'T LET JEERS GET HIM DOWN

EASTERN NOTES INDIANAPOLIS - Rasheed Wallace was booed during introductions last night, then cheered for his offensive ineptitude. But in the end, Wallace had the last laugh as his Game...

KOBE HAS LOT AT STAKE - TRIAL WILL LIKELY DETERMINE COURSE OF FREE-AGENCY WAR

HOW will Kobe Bryant's August trial impact his impending free agency? Will teams take a chance he'll beat the sexual assault rap and ravenously recruit him regardless beginning July 1,...

MAHONEY: MOUNT TO MOUND

Collin Mahoney doesn't have many fond memories from last year. The former Mount St. Michael catcher had begun his sophomore season at Clemson as the starting catcher, but lost his...

MAZ CAN THANK JOE FOR O'S JOB

YANKEE NOTES BALTIMORE - When Lee Mazzilli looks into the Yankees' dugout tonight, he will see the man responsible for Mazzilli being the Orioles' manager. From 1989 when his playing...

IT'S TIME FOR MAGIC

THE Mets can make the summer matter in Flushing starting to night. That's the sacred opportunity that awaits them across the next two weeks. It's there for them, all of...

'FIELD OF SCREAMS - STOIC SHEFF CAN'T FIND ZONE

BALTIMORE - His face is puffy from an early Sunday morning nap in the trainer's room, but Gary Sheffield's eyes are clear and locked on the person asking him about...

METS' SEASON OPENS TONIGHT - FACING PHILS, MARLINS WILL GAUGE 2004 SUCCESS

This is what everything has led to. This is the result of Kaz Matsui's homer on the first pitch of the season. This is the product of five wins in...

THE SIMILARITIES ARE AMAZIN'

PHILADELPHIA - Sometimes it comes down to who's tough enough, who's crazy enough. When Todd Pratt looks around the Phillies' clubhouse these days, he sees the 2000 Mets. You remember...

'SMARTY' BONES UP WITH HOME WORK

BENSALEM, Pa. - Smarty Jones will work seven furlongs early Friday morning at Philadelphia Park with jockey Stewart Elliott in the saddle, then ship to Belmont Park the following Wednesday...

CAM STILL LEARNING SHEA CF

MET NOTES Mike Cameron leads all NL center fielders in range factor, which measures a player's putouts and assists divided by innings. He's third in zone rating, which is the...

PACERS' FOSTER EARNING RESPECT

INDIANAPOLIS - Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said unheralded center Jeff Foster reminds him of old Knick warrior Charles Oakley. "It's very important to have role players to complement the stars,"...

WALSH: ISIAH HAD TO GO - CARLISLE PUT PACERS ON RIGHT TRACK

INDIANAPOLIS - With his Pacers three victories from the NBA Finals entering last night's Game 2 against the Pistons, Indiana president Donnie Walsh has to feel justified that he and...

SMALL MARKETS, BIG DREAMS - FLAMES, BOLTS MIRROR IMAGES

TAMPA - Darryl Sutter used the "C" word yesterday, and even though his Calgary Flames and the Tampa Bay Lightning play Game 1 of the Finals here tonight, it wasn't,...

OKUR WON'T DISS N.Y.

INDIANAPOLIS - Pistons big man Mehmet Okur made a point to say that remaining in Detroit is his first choice. But the Turkish 7-foot restricted free agent whom the Knicks...

ISIAH HAD TO GO, SAYS INDY'S WALSH

EASTERN NOTES INDIANAPOLIS - With his Pacers three victories from The Finals after last night's 72-67 Game 2 loss to the Pistons, Indiana president Donnie Walsh has to feel justified...

CALGARY FLAMES VS. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

THE Lightning and Flames are not only worthy Stanley Cup Finalists, they both play the game to win rather than not to lose, they both attack the puck all over...