September 28, 2005

MORGAN GURU WIEN TO JOIN PEQUOT

The soul of Morgan Stanley's research department, Byron Wien, is hanging up his pen - sort of - to join hedge fund giant Pequot Capital as chief investment strategist. In...

BOLLORE PUSHES BACK ON PUBLICIS

Corporate raider Vincent Bollore said yesterday he increased his stake in media-buying firm Aegis to 8.04 percent, raising the prospect of a bidding war for the company. The Bollore boost...

TASER ZAPPED - STUN-GUN MAKER FACES VARIOUS SUSPICIONS

Federal investigators are widening a probe into stun-gun maker Taser International as a three-time loser - for alleged cooked books, rigged safety studies and stock manipulation. Its shares sank back...

JANE EDITORS JUMP SHIP - KEY STAFFERS QUIT, AD PAGES SLIP IN 'NORMAL TRANSITION'

ALL is not well at Fairchild Publications' Jane magazine. There is tension on the staff that founder Jane Pratt left behind, and in recent days editors have been dashing for...

VITALS MAGS FLATLINE AT FAIRCHILD

So much for synergy. Fairchild Publications said it was shutting down Vitals Man and Vitals Woman effective with the winter 2005 editions. The move is likely to roil the waters...

CALPINE: BONY UP - POWER CO. SAYS BANKS SITTING ON ITS $117M

Troubled power giant Calpine sued the Bank of New York and the Wilmington Trust Co. yesterday to release $117 million of its money that it argues is being wrongfully withheld...

MARTHA NO SAVIOR FOR NBC RATINGS

NBC is losing its first race in the autumn TV season after betting on Martha Stewart's reality show to win viewers. Sought-after young viewers tuned out in droves, according to...

SCOUTING MORE SPACE - CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD MOVES TO EXPAND N.Y. DIGS; REAL ESTATE FIRM PLANS GROWTH

GLOBAL real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield is already scouting space for a possible change in its New York world headquarters. The firm, ensconsed in 220,000 feet at Black Rock,...

MADE IN THE 'SHADES'

TAKING a break from lucrative studio comedies, Rip Torn gives his best performance in years as a veteran Memphis music producer in Ira Sach's low-key drama "40 Shades of Blue."...

(BLACK) REBELS WITH CLOUT & PAUSE

BLACK Rebel Motorcycle Club, the band, not Marlon Brando's gang in "The Wild One," were like their movie namesakes at their Irving Plaza gig Monday - a study in contrasts....

DAN WANTS SECOND GO AT BUSH

DAN Rather wants to reopen the investigation into President Bush and the National Guard story that resulted in the Memogate scandal and led to his early departure from the anchor...

'TIMES' RUNS OUT - NO GERALDO 'NUDGE'

GERALDO Rivera's feud with the New York Times is over - sort of. Yesterday, The Times published an "Editors' Note" admitting that it had goofed when TV critic Alessandra Stanley...

CASH-ING IN ON HOUSE - 'FIRE' FED AS PACINO PLAYS WITH 'ORPHANS'

THE Godfather's out, the Man in Black is in. A revival of "Orphans" starring Al Pacino, which was aiming to open at the Ethel Barrymore this season, has fallen apart...

FLOUR GIRL

WE'RE betting that Rachael Ray's wedding cost more than $40 for the day. The bubbly cooking show cutie, host of three Food Network shows - "30 Minute Meals," "$40 a...

STARR REPORT

'Desperate' move Kelly Monaco has yammered on about the possibility of her appearing on "Desperate Housewives," though nothing's been confirmed yet. Now you can add former "Friends" star Courteney Cox...

'INVASION' EQUATION - LINDA'S NEW ALIEN FRIENDS

'INVASION," ABC's best effort to catch their monster of monster shows, the magnificent "Lost," is a little bit of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," a little bit of "Close Encounters...

YOU GOT SERVED! - HOW NEW YORK RESTAURANTS DUPE THE CRITICS - AND YOU; GREAT EATERY CON JOB

RESTAURANT reviews are over. History. Outta here. It's time to report on restaurants in a new and better way, and this is why: More than ever before, reviews have a...

AFTER THE CRITIC LEAVES

HERE are a few flagrant recent cases of restaurants better, worse or just plain different from the first reviews: * ALAIN DUCASSE, COMPASS: What could two restaurants so dissimilar possibly...

BREAD'S ON A ROLL - NEW BAKERIES SAY BRING ON THE CARBS

ATKINS, Shmatkins - bread rises again. After the low-carb craze caused some restaurants to ditch the traditional pre-dinner bread basket, loaves are back in the limelight on some of the...

DELAY BEFORE COUNTRY COMES TO TOWN

THE opening date for the dining room Country is still in the proverbial sticks. While the first floor cafe of chef Geoffrey Zakarian's new eatery at the revamped Carlton Hotel...

NEW STRAPHANGER RULES LOOM

The MTA tomorrow is expected to approve controversial new rules for straphangers. They prohibit some long-accepted activities, such as walking between cars, straddling a bicycle and putting feet on seats....

FIRE HERO'S WIDOW SUES

NO AMOUNT of money can make up for a hero's life, but Jeanette Meyran is determined to give the city a very loud wake-up call it won't forget. Today, she...

DIARY STRAITS - WEB-GOSSIPING P.R. HOTSHOT AXED

Dear diary, you just got me fired. A marketing and public relations guru says she was shown the door at her high-powered real estate job after an ambitious assistant tattled...

SHARON WINS AGAIN - ISRAEL'S SHAKY CENTER SURVIVES

JUST when you think that he's out, he pulls himself back in. Al Pacino's memorable line from "The Godfather III" pretty much sums up Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's latest...

NEW RULES FOR STRAPHANGERS

The MTA tomorrow is expected to approve controversial new rules for straphangers. They prohibit some long-accepted activities, such as walking between cars, straddling a bicycle and putting feet on seats....

GAME OF MICK-BELIEVE - LOOKALIKE GETS WHAT HE WANTS IN CLUB CON

A randy Mick Jagger impersonator got plenty of satisfaction at a Chelsea nightclub when the hoodwinked hot spot lavished him with VIP treatment - including free liquor, a personal security...

EAST END SEX-DUO SHOCKER - HAMPTONS SQUATTERS

A man returned to his exclusive Hamptons beachfront community after the summer - to find a "Bohemian" couple having sex in his garden and living in his home, for free....

MIKE URGES DUMPING 'PROBLEMATIC' 9/11 PLAN

Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that the International Freedom Center planned for Ground Zero is "problematic" and should be scrapped if agreement can't be reached over its mission. "I think what...

ISRAEL FIRES BACK

JERUSALEM - Israel yesterday launched the first artillery strikes since pulling out of the Gaza Strip, and threatened two Hamas leaders with death. But Hamas continued to launch homemade Qassam...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * A teenager was arrested for slashing her father and destroying his property in the Brownsville shelter where they live, authorities said yesterday. Sources said Crystal Gracia, 19, argued...

APPLE'S UNREAL ESTATE - N.Y. TOPS NATION FOR $1M PADS

Manhattan homeowners are 16 times more likely to live in million-dollar digs than anyone else in the country - and the percentage of megabuck homes in Brooklyn and Staten Island...

RAP STAR DMX AWOL FROM COURT

Rapper DMX failed to show up in a Bronx court yesterday for allegedly driving with a suspended license, but a judge gave him until Monday to face the music. DMX,...

MIKE ON A POLL ROLL WITH 15-POINT LEAD

Fernando Ferrer got more bad news yesterday, as Mayor Bloomberg's approval ratings soared and his lead in the mayoral race held at double digits, according to a new poll. The...

FUMING GAS-GOUGE CLAIMS FUEL SPITZER PROBE

ALBANY - The state attorney general's office has received more than 3,000 complaints of possible gas-price gouging from angry motorists since prices soared following Hurricane Katrina. Paul Larrabee, a spokesman...

POLICE BRASS YANK SUBWAY CAMS

The NYPD scrapped a pilot program using wireless subway video-surveillance cameras in Manhattan just one day after it started because the project was launched without an OK from top police...

N.O.'S TOP COP QUITS AMID STORM

New Orleans' police chief suddenly quit yesterday following damaging new revelations about cop desertions and wildly exaggerated rumors of rape, murder and mayhem that he helped spread after Hurricane Katrina....

SEAWEED CAN BE HAMBURGER HELPER

It sounds fishy, but adding a seaweed extract to junk foods can make them healthier without changing the taste, scientists say. The extract, called alginate, increases the fiber content of...

POT & TOT A BAD MIX AS NANNY IS BUSTED

A nanny toting a 1-year-old boy - and 14 pounds of pot - in a luxury SUV in Westchester was busted as she delivered the drugs to a nearby house,...

BLOOMBERG WANTS MTA TO BE FARE WITH SURPLUS

The MTA should seriously consider using its ever-growing $928 million surplus to spike fare hikes planned for 2007, Mayor Bloomberg says. "In light of the surplus, the MTA needs to...

WTC BIGS PLAY DEFENSE AT TRIAL

A pair of former Port Authority executives were grilled yesterday about 20-year-old internal reports that warned of security risks at the Twin Towers years before they were attacked the first...

BABY-CARE DEATH GAL LOSES DEAL

A Queens judge rejected a plea deal yesterday that would have allowed the former owner of a day-care center to avoid jail time in the death of an infant buried...

FATAL PREMONITION - BROTHER WARNED SALON SIS OF KILLER EX-BEAU

Darwin Liz had a feeling his sister should skip work on Monday. He was extremely worried about the ex-boyfriend Vinicia "Dolores" Baez had told off on Sunday. After all, the...

CABLEVISION PLAYED DIRTY ON $TADIUM: JETS

During the bare-fisted battle over a West Side stadium, top brass at Cablevision tried to lean on the Regional Plan Association to change a much-awaited report so that it would...

PERV CHOSE RAMPAGE OVER JAIL

Upstate sex offender Victor Piazza was due in court for a hearing on a probation violation that could have sent him to jail on Monday, when he shot three former...

LIL'S LARGE SALES - NEW CD $OARS

Lil' Kim isn't free, and neither is her album, but fans were snapping it up so fast yesterday, it seems her prison sentence is helping her career. "The Naked Truth"...

FANS $LAMMED - YANKEE PLAYOFF TIX SOAR

Yankee postseason tickets go on sale today, but shock over out-of-the-park price hikes for some seats could send fans running home. "I love the Yankees," said Liam O'Brien, 24, a...

TEACHERS DISS AND HISS KLEIN

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein faced a barrage of boos and hisses yesterday outside an Upper West Side elementary school as dozens of angry teachers protested their lack of a contract....

GOTTI CRONY IN RUBOUT BUST

John Gotti's reputed bookkeeper and two others have been busted in the gangland-style slaying of a Florida mogul who was trying to stop the sale of his casino-boat fleet to...

'CLUB RAPE' DUO FREED - CLEARED IN WAITRESS GROPE-FEST

Two men were acquitted of sexual assault last night in the case of a backroom grope-fest with a naked and drunken young waitress at a trendy Bowery nightclub. Manhattan Supreme...

SUBWAY RADIO PLAN JUMP$ RAIL

An MTA project to provide police, firefighters and other emergency services workers with a new two-way radio communication system for subway use is now expected to cost $114 million -...

B'WAY STAR PETERS' HUBBY KILLED IN CHOPPER CRASH

Actress Bernadette Peters' hubby - an investment whiz whom she first met in a chance encounter worthy of Broadway - was killed in a horrific chopper crash in the Mediterranean,...

2 BRONX TEENS STABBED AT HS

Two students were stabbed yesterday outside their Bronx high school, police said. The victims, 14 and 15, were knifed during a scuffle outside Evander Childs HS in Williamsbridge at 2:51...

OY, WHAT A VEY FOR DRIVERS TO LEAVE B'KLYN

Brooklyn's borough president finally has been allowed to post his kvetch to Manhattan-bound motorists on the Williamsburg Bridge: "Leaving Brooklyn: Oy Vey." "It's just in time for the Rosh Hashanah...

CLASS CLOWN FERRER - MADE UP 'PUBLIC SCHOOL' HISTORY

Fernando Ferrer yesterday got caught red-handed falsely claiming in a first-person account on his campaign Web site that he attended mostly city public schools. "I was born in the South...

'NO-NAME' THIRD PARTY OKS FREDDY

Fernando Ferrer snagged the endorsement of the Working Families Party yesterday - but in a devastating development, his name won't appear on the party's ballot line in November. "No line,...

MTA'S BUS-BUYING BONANZA

The MTA announced yesterday that it plans to buy 529 new local and express buses and build a third depot on Staten Island. The agency's finance committee yesterday approved a...

FEDS WANT MOB LAWYER REMOVED

The feds are looking to bounce the lawyer for a reputed Gambino capo charged with racketeering, saying he's the crime family's "house counsel." Prosecutors from the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's Office...

GANGSTER GUILTY IN GRIDDER SLAY - PUNK IS FLABBERGASTED BY CONVICTION

A Brooklyn jury wasted little time yesterday in deciding the fate of a tough-guy wannabe who ordered the brutal murder of a Connecticut college football star. A thunderstruck John Guica...

9/11-CHARITY BIG BUSTED

Fire marshals yesterday busted the chairman of a controversial Ground Zero charity for possessing stolen FDNY property. Michael Bellone, 51, the embattled founder of Trauma Response Assistance for Children, was...

W'CHESTER NANNY TOOK BABY ON DRUG RUN: COPS

A nanny toting a 1-year-old boy - and 14 pounds of pot - in a luxury SUV was busted as she delivered the drugs to a house in Westchester ,...

WILD WEST GUNFIGHT & CHASE IN MIDTOWN

Two armed bandits brazenly held up an antique-watch store in broad daylight in Midtown yesterday, grabbing a hostage to dodge cops before embarking on a wild gun battle and car...

9/11 KIN TELL FREEDOM CENTER TO TAKE A HIKE

Members of a 9/11 family council last night told lower Manhattan officials to step up the search for a new location for the International Freedom Center, with some saying it...

MAN WOUNDED IN HARLEM SHOOTOUT

Cops shot and injured a man in a wild shootout in Harlem early today, police and witnesses said. More than a dozen shots were fired at about 1 a.m., according...

CHOOSING A COLLEGE - CHOOSING A COLLEGE - IT'S NEVER TOO EARLY TO START WEIGHING YOUR OPTIONS.

Adapted from PARADE's Teen Newsbreak column ARE you a high school senior? Even if you're not, it's never too early to begin thinking about where you might want to go...

GOTTI CRONY BUSTED IN WHACK ON SANDWICH BIG

John Gotti's reputed bookkeeper and two others have been busted in the gangland-style slaying of a Florida mogul who was trying to stop the sale of his casino boat fleet...

MIDTOWN BANDITS IN SHOOTOUT & CHASE

A gunfight erupted on a busy Midtown street yesterday after cops tried to bust two brazen robbers in the act of sticking up an antique watch store in broad daylight....

MTA ON BOARD FOR BUS-BUY BONANZA

The MTA announced yesterday that it plans to buy 529 new local and express buses and that it would build a third bus depot in Staten Island. The agency's finance...

SPLITTIN' HEADACHE - BOSOX DROP NIGHTCAP, MISS CHANCE TO PASS YANKS

Heading into last night's start, Curt Schilling called this season "very, very painful." He admitted it was by far the toughest year of his major-league career. If the Red Sox...

NO RELIEF FOR TORRE

BALTIMORE - During a fifth inning that was part Proctor and all gamble, Joe Torre leaned back in the dugout looking like a man who has seen the same horror...

BERNIE TOPS DIMAGGIO ON HIT LIST

YANKEE NOTES BALTIMORE - Lost in the ugliness of last night's 17-9 Yankee loss to the Orioles was the latest Bernie Williams milestone. His fourth-inning single moved him ahead of...

HARRIS POLL IS BIG JOKE

COLLEGE GRID NOTES The Harris Interactive Poll, which replaced the Associated Press poll in the BCS ratings, debuted this week and here is the initial, gut reaction -farce, fraud and...

ISLES WAIT FOR SATAN TO GET HOT

PHILADELPHIA - He didn't have any preseason goals through three games, but Miroslav Satan wasn't worried about it. Should his goal-less streak carry into the regular season, however, there may...

THE POST'S TOP 25

Rank (prev) TEAM RESULT NEXT1 Texas (3-0) Idle at Missouri (1) Will the Longhorns gain ground on the Trojans, who looked vulnerable for one half?2 USC (3-0) Won 45-13 at...

VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE

BALTIMORE - The game was brisk and it was clean, so there were only a few scattered, early-arriving Yankees gathered around the television set in the visiting clubhouse as the...

SENATORS SIGNALING FORCE PLAY

WASHINGTON - When baseball commissioner Bud Selig faces the Senate Commerce Committee for today's hearing on steroid use in sports, he will have a Hall-of-Fame cast behind him. The Post...

EARLY RISERS - BOSOX WIN TWINBILL OPENER, TIE YANKS

1ST GAME: Red Sox 3 - Blue Jays 1 BOSTON - On Monday afternoon, David Ortiz told The Post that he and Manny Ramirez must carry the Red Sox to...

ELI'S UNFLAPPABILITY NOW A GIANT ASSET

Quarterbacks can at times be as finicky and hard to handle as racehorses, physical marvels in need of coddling and a safe, controlled environment in which to ply their craft....

DANIELSON SAYS CHAD WILL NEED PATIENCE

Two decades ago when he was the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns, Gary Danielson tore his rotator cuff. "I was never really the same," said Danielson, now an ABC college...

EMBREE COULD BE LEFT OUT

YANKEE NOTES BALTIMORE - With every pitch crucial, Joe Torre has no time to experiment. No time to find out if Alan Embree can be a situational lefty out of...

WITH AUTUMN COMES GROUSE

THE chill is finally in the air. Autumn leaves will begin to appear and hunters and anglers will be enjoying a host of fall activities. Upland bird hunting will be...

PAYIN' LATER FORCES DEVS TO TRADE NOW

It was one of Lou Lamoriello's best tools for keeping payroll down and players happy. Now, though, the GM's deferred salary system works against the Devils - and arguably cost...

METS CLIMBING JACOB'S LADDER

PHILADELPHIA - The first run on Monday night for the Mets came from Mike Jacobs. An opposite-field homer to left field. Their second run came on Jacobs' RBI grounder. And...

FRYE NEEDS SOME WORK

NBA Former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy likes to say that if a rookie first-rounder can't excel in the summer league, it's an alarming sign. The Knicks hope Van Gundy...

IRISH LAND PREP TACKLE

Eric Olsen, a 6-5, 300-pound offensive lineman at Poly Prep, has committed to play at Notre Dame. The senior, a three-year starter for the Blue Devils, received 20 scholarship offers...

RANGERS POWERLESS VS. DEVS

Devils 3 - Rangers 1 While rookie Zach Parise solidified his claim on a job with the Devils, his teammates blanked the Rangers on 11 power plays during a 3-1...

METS 'OUT' DESPITE VICTORY

Mets 3 - Phillies 2 PHILADELPHIA - They're out. There was never exactly much hope that the Mets were going to pull off what can only be characterized as a...

ALL EYES AGAIN ON SCHILLING

BOSTON - The baseball world continues to go all wrong for Curt Schilling. Last year's heroics have come at a steep price for the right-hander, who has an opinion on...

METS GO 'OUT' WITH VICTORY

Mets 3 - Phillies 2 PHILADELPHIA - Nobody ever really could have believed that the Mets were going to pull off what can only be characterized as a "beyond-a-miracle." Making...

O, NO! YANKEES TAKE A BEATING - PITCHERS AWFUL IN LOSS TO BALTIMORE

Orioles 17 - Yankees 9 BALTIMORE - Relief? What the Yankees' bullpen provided last night was akin to treating serious heartburn with cheap whiskey. And that was after Mike Mussina...

LOST NIGHT FOR EVERYONE

BALTIMORE - They understood how fortunate they were, how narrowly they'd escaped a devastating nudge to the brink of the abyss. This deep into September, these losses can kill you....

PENNANT FEVER GRIPS YANKEES - JOHNSON REALLY MONEY PITCHER

BALTIMORE - In the midday sun outside Camden Yards yesterday, a Yankees fan and autographseeker asked The Post in a talk-radio voice the following question: "Randy Johnson? Worth the money?"...

TEST' OF TIME - VETERAN VINNY RETURNS TO HELP BAIL OUT JETS

Vinny Testaverde sat on his couch in Oyster Bay on Long Island Sunday and did what millions of others do on football Sundays: He watched his favorite team play. Vinny...

BACKUP AGAINST WALL - FORMER TEAMMATE: BROOKS CAN AVOID JET LAG

Chad Pennington was in Alabama for a second opinion, praying for a miracle to save his career. Vinny Testaverde, six weeks from his 42d birthday, reintroduced himself in the press...

GIAMBI FINDS WAY OUT

BALTIMORE - Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa have slithered into disgrace, no longer even welcomed at Camden Yards. Today, about 60 miles south, Bud Selig and Don Fehr again will...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Kenyan immigrant Moses Bittok thought things couldn't get any better the day he became a U.S. citizen. He was wrong. Shortly after Bittok, of West Des Moines, took the oath...