November 7, 2002

NEW SHOPS CALL SOHO HOME - FURNITURE, HOME DECOR RETAILERS ROOST NEAR HOUSTON/B'WAY

While the retail expansion rolls on downtown, the players are changing. Instead of edgy clothing, shoe and accessory stores, the newest shops in NoLIta, SoHo and the West Village are...

AOL NOW SHOOTING FOR ATLANTA HAWKS SALE

AOL Time Warner is in discussions with at least one party about selling its Atlanta Hawks basketball team, according to a source familiar with the matter. The potential sale of...

FED'S NIFTY FIFTY - SURPRISE DEEP RATE CUT REWARDED BY MARKET RALLY

Alan Greenspan shocked the market with a bigger-than-expected half-point rate cut yesterday - the first rate cut since last December. The Fed's target short-term interest rate now stands at 1.25...

RED LOBSTER CLAWS ITS WAY INTO TIMES SQ.

A giant, mechanical red lobster is expected to become a fixture in Times Square when its namesake Red Lobster restaurant finally comes to Manhattan. The seafood-focused eatery just signed a...

CABLEVISION JUMPS 54% IN THE WEEK

Cablevision may be shaking free from the Adelphia Communications shadow. Cablevision stock has rocketed 54 percent since Friday's close, including an increase of 19.7 percent yesterday, up $2.56 to $15.55....

CLOUDY O'ER BOCA, AGENDA

BOCA RATON, Fla.-This year's "mystery guest" at the annual Securities Industry Association conference in Boca Raton could be the freshly resigned SEC chairman Harvey Pitt. Pitt was scheduled to speak...

SEAL OF APPROVAL - KOSHER GOES MAINSTREAM WITH $6.7B BUSINESS

The mention of kosher food once meant matzoh, gefilte fish and sweet wine - not Pepsi, Oreos and Ritz crackers. Some of the nation's largest food companies, however, have recognized...

CRAFTY GOP DUMPED PITT WHEN NO ONE WAS LOOKING

The White House is hoping it can unleash a new Wall Street watchdog as smoothly as it dumped its last one. Washington pundits say the Bush White House pulled off...

DOTY TOPS LIST OF PITT SUCCESSORS

Replacing Harvey Pitt gives President Bush a chance to score major gains with his choice - or send investor confidence deeper into the doldrums. "He has to make investors feel...

PUBLIC MAY PLAY AT KING'S N.J. PALACE

THE majestic New Jersey estate of the late King Hassan II may finally be sold to Somerset County. Straddling the borders of some very pricey land in Far Hills, Bedminster...

THE NEXT TO FALL - WEBSTER, O'NEILL LOOK LIKE HISTORY

The first domino was Harvey Pitt. Now the question is how long will it take other members of President Bush's inept economic team to fall away. William Webster is the...

A JUNGLE OUT THERE

HOW many shares does Amazon.com really have outstanding? In both a press release and a phone call to me, the company claims the number is 430 million as of Sept....

CBS SUES TO STOP 'CELEB SURVIVOR'

CBS yesterday sued rival network ABC, claiming its forthcoming celebrity-reality series is nothing but a "Survivor" ripoff. CBS wants a Manhattan federal court to slap ABC with an injunction preventing...

ON BEING IRISH IN A BRITISH WORLD

PADDYWACKAt the Mint, 311 W. 43rd St.; (212) 221-8466. ------- THE Irish are a people stung into drama, the geography of their lives producing plays boiling with rage and humor....

SUM LIKE IT HOT

SUM-41 ----- THE air was perfumed with rock 'n' roll, wet leather and stale beer. At a packed CBGB - the shrine to all things punk - the fragrance gilded...

'8 MILE' HIGH

EVEN though Eminen's flick "8 Mile" doesn't open until tomorrow, the Detroit rapper is already a hit at record stores. His soundtrack for the semi-autobiographical film sold 702,000 copies its...

WHERE IT'S AT

HERE'S where to find the hottest rock and soul: * MONDAY: It's old-school rock only at GaRaGeLaNd at Manitoba's (99 Avenue B, at Sixth Street; [212] 982-2511) - no Strokes...

ROCK RECORDS ROLL - VINTAGE VINYL LATEST SPIN FROM CLUB DJS

LADY Dawn, who sports a blond flip hairdo, frosted lipstick and a vintage pink wool dress, looks as if she were airlifted from the Age of Aquarius. The British host...

JUST CLUE IT! - MAGICIAN'S BOOK POINTS TO $100,000 TREASURE

WANNA win $100,000? You'd better hit the books. Well, just one book: "Mysterious Stranger" by magician David Blaine. Blaine, known for such high-profile publicity stunts as being frozen in a...

REMOTE VOTE GOES TO FOX

CABLE news viewers voted for Fox News Channel on Election Night. For Tuesday evening's wall-to-wall election coverage running roughly from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m., FNC averaged nearly 2.2 million...

PERFECT SPY, SICK PUPPY

"Master Spy" Nov. 10 & 17 at 9 on CBS IT'S been a very long time (like a decade) since the term "miniseries" meant anything other than some awful, expensive...

'KILLER' ID'D BY ROLE IN 'SOPRANOS'

In a case of art imitating life, a real-life mobster's appearance on "The Sopranos" got him fingered in a 1992 Brooklyn murder, federal authorities say. But the tie-in by eyewitnesses...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Workers at a debt-ridden car factory have vowed to save the company - by donating their sperm. "If 1,000 workers donate their sperm for several months, we can get enough...

PRINCES PEEVED AT ROYAL RAT'S REVELATIONS

Princess Diana's sons are devastated and feel betrayed over the shocking revelations by royal butler Paul Burrell that their mom craved sex and had a revolving-door supply of secret lovers....

'LAW' MEN HELP HONOR CANCER COP

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and two "Law & Order" stars yesterday honored an NYPD lieutenant who valiantly continues to fight crime while battling cancer. Lt. Robert Martin yesterday was named...

LIL' KIM PAL GETS 5 YEARS

A member of Lil' Kim's entourage was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison for his role in last year's shooting of a man in Brooklyn. Suif Jackson was sentenced...

HEAD OF BARBIE IN TOPLESS BROUHAHA

Barbie's kinky reincarnation - courtesy of an English doll maker - didn't tickle the fancy of children's toy manufacturer Mattel, which has been selling wholesome versions of the shapely blond...

A MARCH LEFT IS NO ANSWER

DEMOCRATS are trying to figure out what went wrong for them on Tuesday night. That's healthy. For its own sake and the sake of the Americans it represents, the Democratic...

MCAULIFFE'S MISTAKES

His insistence that Election Day was a "good one" for Democrats notwithstanding, Tuesday's Democratic implosion stongly suggests that it's time for DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe to step down. To recap:...

PATAKI CHARTS COURSE FOR THIRD TERM

Fresh off his commanding re-election, Gov. Pataki yesterday highlighted a third-term agenda that he said will focus on rebuilding lower Manhattan, improving the upstate economy and turning Governors Island into...

NO. 2 BIBI BEHIND IN BID TO BE NO. 1

JERUSALEM - Benjamin Netanyahu ended three years out of politics yesterday by taking over as Israel's No. 2 minister - while polls showed him behind in his bid for the...

GUNSHOT TURNED DREAMS TO NIGHTMARE

THE bullet fired into JaQuione Johnson's head didn't take his life - but it killed the person he used to be. Once a gregarious 20-year-old who had lots of friends,...

MIKE EXPECTS OLYMPIC BOOM

The 2012 Olympics would not only promote development on Manhattan's West Side but would prove to be "one of the great successes of history," Mayor Bloomberg predicted yesterday. In a...

PREZ TO GIULIANI: NICE WORK

ALBANY - President Bush called Rudy Giuliani to pat the ex-mayor on the back for his work on behalf of a slew of Republican candidates, aides told The Post yesterday....

POWER OUTAGE FOR HILL & CHUCK

WASHINGTON - Republican control of the House and Senate means only bad news for New York's Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer. It presents an uphill battle for...

I BECAME A DEMO-RAT BECAUSE MY PARTY'S A WRECK

IT'S a bit like falling out of love. On paper, I look like a Democrat. I'm pro-choice on abortion. I detest guns. I'm also an enrolled Democrat, and don't intend...

N.Y. VOTERS 'CRASHED' PARTIES AT BALLOT BOX

Three small political parties were facing possible extinction yesterday after their candidates failed to get 50,000 votes in the governor's race - the minimum needed to give them an automatic...

LAST CHANCE FOR SADDAM

It's Saddam's last chance. The United States took a final, revamped version of its Iraq resolution to the United Nations yesterday, but the bottom line was the same: Saddam Hussein...

BEST DEFENDANT IN A STARRING ROLE

WINONA RYDER'S TRYING TIMES [* * * *] Reality bites. -------- BEVERLY HILLS. WINONA RYDER, already one of our finest young actresses, gave the performance of her career in the...

'SNIPERS' FACE DEATH IN VA.

WASHINGTON - Sniper suspects John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo were both charged yesterday with two counts of capital murder for the Oct. 14 shooting of FBI worker Linda...

POSSE ROUNDS UP BANK ROBBER

An ex-cop, a meter maid, a bank manager and a Good Samaritan teamed up yesterday to wrestle a bank robber to the ground after a heist in Midtown, police sources...

UNITED NATIONS SHOOTER TRIES TO MAKE DEAL

A U.S. postal clerk who fired seven bullets at the United Nations Secretariat Building last month to protest starvation in North Korea is trying to thrash out a plea deal....

PORN KING AL: I HAVE 'GOTTI' MOUTH DISEASE

The mouth that roars is now the mouth that's sore: Porn publisher Al Goldstein is suffering from a degenerative mouth disease. "I've got John Gotti disease," Goldstein, bleeding from his...

'SEINFELD' CAST OF CLOWNS SCRIPTED A TRAGIC COMEDY

IT WAS billed as the "Seinfeld election" - about nothing. But it turned out to be the election that showed Democrats are the Seinfeld party - they stand for nothing....

DOGGONE SAD 'TAIL' BEHIND 25G REWARD

Saying he can't bear to see his parents suffer any longer, a desperate Manhattan man ran a half-page ad in The Post yesterday, offering a $25,000 reward for the return...

'ILL' 2 DO A JOB ON CITY: DA

Two former city workers have been busted for allegedly collecting nearly half a million dollars in disability payments while holding down other jobs, Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes said. One, a...

EDUCRATS STAND ON THEIR PRINCIPALS: UNION

The head of the school supervisors union yesterday proposed that the cash-strapped city give principals and other administrators a 10 percent salary increase over 30 months as part of a...

PLEA DEAL 'CUT!' - MOB-KIN FILMMAKER MUSCLED DEBTORS

Independent filmmaker Danny Provenzano has directed himself into a new role - that of convicted felon. The nephew of reputed mobster Anthony Provenzano yesterday entered a surprise guilty plea to...

MEMORIAL FOR WELLSTONE HAUNTED RACE

WASHINGTON - Walter Mondale's brief return to politics hit the fritz yesterday after many voters were turned off by a memorial service for Sen. Paul Wellstone that turned into an...

NOW TRAITOR BUTLER BASHES DIANA'S FAMILY

Britain's former royal butler turned on Princess Diana's family today, calling them foul-mouthed, money-minded hypocrites. Just days after he was spared from a possible prison term, Paul Burrell launched his...

'GOOD SAM' GUNMAN FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER

After just 2 ½ hours of deliberations, a jury yesterday found a gunman guilty of murder in last year's senseless slaying of a Good Samaritan killed by the strangers he...

POPEYE'S WORKER SLAIN

A father of three who rode his bike to work each night at a fast-food shop in a tough part of Brooklyn died yesterday from wounds he suffered helping his...

THIEF COULD SEE A CAREER 'BOOST,' TOO

Winona Ryder's shoplifting conviction could trigger boffo box office for the troubled actress and jump-start her stalled career, experts told The Post yesterday. The jury in the Oscar-nominee's theft trial...

A DEMOCRATIC HOUSE DIVIDED - GEPHARDT POISED TO QUIT POST AS POLS PLAY BLAME GAME

In the first casualty of the Democratic election debacle, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt today plans to bow out of his post amid a family-feud frenzy of finger-pointing. Republicans basked...

5 IN CONN. FAMILY DIE IN FRENCH TRAIN FIRE

A Connecticut family of five was wiped out yesterday in a fire that poured deadly smoke into a sleeping car aboard a Paris-to-Munich overnight train. The train was barreling through...

TAXPAYERS TO CASH IN ON GOP WIN

WASHINGTON - Congressional Republicans already are discussing new tax cuts in the wake of the election night GOP tidal wave, officials said last night. President Bush's immediate goal is to...

NEW MATH IN $CHOOLS - KLEIN ORDERS 10 PERCENT CUTS IN DISTRICT BUDGETS

Just one day after elections, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has ordered district superintendents to whack their budgets by 10 percent, sources said yesterday. "There's a memo announcing the cuts. We...

DEVILS' GOAL: SCORE MORE - DEFENSE NEEDS HELP VS. RED-HOT FLYERS

PHILADELPHIA - Right where I-95 meets I-76, the Devils stand at a crossroads here tonight. Only once before in team history have they started better than the 7-3 record they...

POLL RESULTS EMBOLDEN BUSH FOR IRAQI WAR

GOP gains in Congress put President Bush in a stronger position, and show the world that America is united behind him, as he heads toward a showdown with Saddam Hussein,...

MIKE EYES VOTE ON CIG BAN

Even as talks between Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council on his controversial anti-smoking bill intensified yesterday, the mayor revealed a last-ditch weapon to bypass legislators if there's no deal...

RAPPERS CLAM UP ON JAY SLAY

A wall of silence is hampering detectives probing the execution-style slaying of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay, cops and rap-industry sources said yesterday. Jay's protégé - rapper 50 Cent -...

'BUBONIC' TOURISTS IN HOSP HERE

Two tourists from New Mexico were being treated for symptoms of deadly bubonic plague at an Upper East Side hospital yesterday as health officials rushed to assure New Yorkers they...

SAKS, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE - NO JAIL TIME EXPECTED FOR GUILTY RYDER

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Jurors made reality bite for Winona Ryder yesterday, but it's doubtful the waif-like actress will have her freedom interrupted. A panel of six men and six...

COLORFUL CHARACTERS MAKE TRIAL A REAL MOB SCENE

HACKENSACK.IT WAS one of those days that you wished Damon Runyon were still alive. First of all, there was Paulie, a guy from New Jersey who sells Italian ices. Paulie...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN * A robber entered a Midtown bank, announced he had a bomb and demanded money yesterday before escaping with about $4,450, police said. The robbery occurred about 8:30 a.m....

DUMPTRUCK HITS AND KILLS L.I. WOMAN

A Long Island woman died early yesterday morning after being hit by a dump truck as she walked across Columbus Avenue to work - as she had for 37 years....

U.N. SHOOTER TRIES TO MAKE DEAL

A U.S. postal clerk who fired seven bullets at the United Nations Secretariat Building last month to protest starvation in North Korea is trying to thrash out a plea deal....

'PLAGUE' DUO IN HOSPITAL HERE

Two visitors from New Mexico were being treated for symptoms of deadly bubonic plague at Beth Israel Hospital North yesterday as health officials rushed to assure New Yorkers they were...

POPEYE'S VICTIM DIES OF WOUND

A fast-food worker died of his wounds yesterday after being stabbed Tuesday night in a Brooklyn Popeye's chicken shop by a vagrant, police said. Angel Estrella, 33, was stabbed in...

BRUNETTES HAVE LOCK ON TOP JOB

If Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton runs for the White House, she'll lose by a hair - unless she tints her tresses. That's according to a new Clairol survey that says...

FLA. VOTE FIRES UP MIKE - SMOKE-HATING MAYOR MAY TURN TO REFERENDUM

Even as talks between Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council on his controversial anti-smoking bill intensified yesterday, the mayor revealed a last-ditch weapon to bypass the legislators if there's no...

COPS HUNT S.I. NEEDLE BANDIT

Police are looking for a 27-year-old Staten Island man they believe is a hypodermic-wielding bandit wanted in a string Staten Island robberies. Matthew Aspinall is wanted in seven Staten Island...

GOP READY TO CASH IN WINNINGS

WASHINGTON - Congressional Republicans already are discussing new tax cuts in the wake of the election night GOP tidal wave, officials said last night. President Bush's immediate goal is to...

KARL: U.S LOSERS NEEDED KIDD

MILWAUKEE - Everywhere he goes, Bucks coach George Karl is hounded by the same questions. So what happened in the World Basketball Championship last summer? How could a U.S. team...

NAILON ONE DOWN

IF today you launched a rocket toward whatever planet in the next solar system where Jim Dolan awaits his next stroke of genius, it would arrive before the Knicks got...

NETS (4-1) BUCK-LE UNDER

MILWAUKEE - Darn, there goes the perfect season. Oh well, 81-1 is not so bad. The Nets' quest for a 5-0 start, the best in the NBA history of the...

CHANEY'S WANTS TO SEE MORE OF NAILON

KNICK NOTES It took Don Chaney three games, but he's finally arrived at the conclusion that small forward Lee Nailon needs to play more, especially in the fourth quarter when...

MT. FASSEL ERUPTS ON SCHEDULE

GIANT NOTES The longer the season goes, the more Jim Fassel grows annoyed with talk about whom the Giants should and should not beat. He boiled over (in his own...

YOMIURI OWNER WANTS GODZILLA TO PLAY IN BRONX

Hideki "Godzilla" Matsui's old boss wants him to play for The Boss. "Personally, I would like him to join the Yankees," Yomiuri Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe said at a farewell...

AARON WON'T LET DIKEMBE FORGET

NET NOTES MILWAUKEE - The Nets' Aaron Williams is not what you would call chatty. For him, "Hiya," is a monologue. But there is one topic Williams loves to discuss...

KARSAY SET FOR BACK SURGERY

Steve Karsay made the back surgery he undergoes today sound as simple as getting a tooth pulled. "I will be 100 percent by the start of spring training," Karsay told...

MOSS MATCH STIRS SEHORN

If Jason Sehorn is as combative Sunday inside the Metrodome as he was yesterday standing in front of his locker, the Vikings and Randy Moss are in for a battle....

MOSS CAN LEARN FROM TOOMER

SOMETIMES Amani Toomer can't help himself. He'll be watching game film or reviewing a stat sheet and wonder what it would be like to be Terrell Owens, Keyshawn Johnson, Randy...

HERM'S LOOKING FOR LUCAS SUNDAY

JET NOTES The Dolphins have quarterback problems, something the Jets hope might bolster their chances of beating Miami on Sunday night at Giants Stadium and inching closer to first place...

MILOS, OH MY! - YUGO STAR OF GREAT IMPORT TO KNICK FUTURE

The most promising Knick performer this season hasn't been Allan Houston, despite his 30.3 points per game - second in the league. The Knicks' brightest light is shining across the...

SHORT SHRIFT, LONG YEAR

IF you launched a rocket today toward whatever planet in the next solar system where Jim Dolan awaits his next stroke of genius, it would arrive before the Knicks got...

MULLIN REACHES OUT TO HELP STORM'S SHAW

Summer is when great basketball players are made. The players who hit the weight room, do the drills and work on the weaknesses in their game are the ones who...

WEBBER STILL SORE AT LAKERS

Sacramento forward Chris Webber sat in the visiting locker room at the Garden, his royal purple jersey hanging above his head. Last night opponents were the woebegone Knicks, but the...

WALLACE SAYS NO TO PITCH

For a few lingering moments over the past week, Dave Wallace envisioned himself wearing a blue-and-orange Mets cap again. Ultimately, though, practical concerns outweighed Wallace's desire to return to the...

RANGERS PRIMED FOR HOT STREAK

Mark Messier has been around long enough to have gained the perspective necessary to know that things even out. But that doesn't mean he can wait for it to happen....

FISH FIASCO SPURS JETS

Josh Evans didn't mince words yesterday. He detests the Dolphins and he couldn't wait to tell the world about it. "I really don't like the Dolphins," the Jets' defensive tackle...

METS TARGET GLAVINE - 'VERY INTERESTED' IN BRAVES LEFTY

Hoping to address a significant shortcoming, and to weaken one - and possibly two - divisional foes, the Mets have targeted Tom Glavine on their free-agent wish list. On Tuesday,...

I.D. THIRD MAN IN 'FIX'

The cast of characters in the Pick Six Fix has gotten bigger. Investigators believe Glen DaSilva, a 29-year-old New York native and former Drexel University student, is the third member...

KNICKS POINT TO YUGO STAR

The most promising Knick performer this season hasn't been Allan Houston, despite his 30.2 points per game. The Knicks' brightest light is shining across the Atlantic in the Yugoslavian league,...

SMALL FORWARDS COME UP BIG

Seemingly every scrap of news about the Knicks revolves around Latrell Sprewell, his injured hand, his injured pride and what they'll do at small forward until he gets back. For...

LEE POWERS THE WAY FOR FIRST WIN OF SEASON

Knicks 95 - Kings 88 Knicks GM Scott Layden has finally done well. Lee Nailon, signed one week ago after being shockingly cut by the Hornets, staged his Garden coming-out...

WEBBER: LATRELL BELONGS AT 2-GUARD

KNICK NOTES Chris Webber can only imagine what kind of damage Latrell Sprewell could do if he's traded to a contender and is back playing the shooting-guard position. "Personally, as...

NETS' JEFFERSON TAKES THE PLUNGE

NET NOTES MILWAUKEE - In one game, Richard Jefferson got to see how the other half lives. After being hailed and lauded for his brilliant 22-point, high-energy game against Minnesota...

IT'S A MATTER OF TIME: NETS TRY TO KEEP DIKEMBE FRESH

MILWAUKEE - Forget points, Dikembe Mutombo said upon arriving in New Jersey. He wanted to lead the NBA in two categories: rebounds and blocked shots. He already had done both...