July 1, 2006

GM JUMP START - AUTO GIANT POPS 10% ON KIRK'S NISSAN PLAY

Kirk Kerkorian finally played his hand on troubled General Motors - and earned a tidy $131.6 million in just a matter of hours. The cagey 89-year-old investor yesterday disclosed that...

JUDGE DELAYS BLACK RULING

Conrad Black got another reprieve yesterday, as a judge delayed ruling on whether to revoke the former newspaper baron's bail to give the defense time to submit financial records. Instead...

CLASSIC END FOR THE WB

THE WB is going out of busi ness to the beat of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Dawson's Creek" and "Felicity." The network's final night will be Sunday, Sept. 17, the...

PANIC! ATTACKS IN SONG, DANCE

THE show seemed to have as much to do with Berlin's decadent cabarets of the '20s as the whine and roses of today's emo. For their brief 75-minute Nokia Theatre...

OH MY, SHERIFF - ROUND UP POSSE FOR FINAL WESTERN OF HORSEY WEEK

HERE'S a TV western that really takes you back to the good old days. And they're not the days of the Old West either. They're the days of the Old...

LAST-MINUTE 'SOPRANOS' SAVE

'THE Sopranos" ought to change the name of their club from Bada-Bing to Ka-Ching - after the deals signed yesterday by Tony Sirico and Steven Van Zandt to stay on...

PNUT'S PUNK BLING

HIP-HOP stars and wannabes (and also the feds) have Jacob the Jeweler, but when today's hottest punk rockers - and a couple pop tarts - need bling, they only have...

SALES

AGENT PROVOCATEUR 133 Mercer St., between Prince and Spring streets (212) 965-0229 Sale: July1-31. Sun., noon-6 p.m./Mon.-Sat., 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sheer rubberized bras, now $44 (reg. $105); black stretch satin...

DAD-BURNED KT STANDS BY HER ABUSE EXCUSE

ALBANY - Beleaguered Senate candidate Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland yesterday fired back at her father, saying she does not want to get into a "he said, she said" discussion with...

WEST NILE SKEETER WARNING

Older New Yorkers were warned yesterday to try avoiding contact with mosquitoes after city health officials detected the West Nile virus on Staten Island. A pool of mosquitoes collected in...

NEW HEARTBREAK FOR VICTIMS' KIN

Less then three months ago, Betty Hydell was rejoicing that the dirty cops who helped kill her son got what they deserved - a guilty verdict. But yesterday, when an...

TOUGH GUY PUSHED HIS LUCK TOO FAR

The life of Bernard Kerik is a rags-to-riches-to-disgrace story, in which the son of a murdered prostitute rose to become one of the top lawmen in the nation, only to...

HOSP TEEN DIES AT HOME

The parents of a 19-year-old Queens man recovering from a head injury he suffered in an assault found their son dead in his bed yesterday just hours after he was...

GAS WOE CAN'T HALT INDEPENDENCE DRIVE

Gasoline prices in New York are up 32 percent over a year ago, but it's putting only a slight brake on travel plans, with plenty of people still driving off...

L.I. SHOOT VICTIM DIES

As his grief-stricken family held vigil by his bedside, a Long Island man shot in the head by a burglar Monday night finally succumbed to his injuries yesterday and died....

PUSH TO X-POSE 'MADAM'

With a bombshell Brazilian bordello boss blabbing names, authorities are putting the screws to her VIP clients to kiss and tell about their alleged romps at her high-end Manhattan sex...

BOAT HORRORS - DEADLY CRASHES OFF L.I. & B'KLYN

A pair of deadly New York boating accidents began the Fourth of July weekend in grim fashion yesterday, leaving one man dead and a teenage boy presumed dead. The teenager...

B'KLYN LIVERY ROB-CRASH MAYHEM

More than a dozen people who witnessed a Brooklyn car crash that injured an 8-year-old boy yesterday helped nab the robber who sent a livery cab careening into traffic, police...

DOOR LEFT WIDE OPEN FOR APPEAL

The timing of the judge's astonishing decision to toss out the conviction of the mob cops left the door open for prosecutors to appeal the ruling to a higher court....

I'M SORRY FOR BEING A MARRY MANIAC - STAR BARES HER BRIDEZILLA REGRET

The wedding thing was a mistake, Star Jones Reynolds conceded yesterday. The wedding - not her choice of a husband. Jones acknowledged on the "Today" show that she "abused" her...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * Police are asking for the public's help in identifying and capturing a bandit who stuck up a Gravesend bank. The suspect (above) walked into an HSBC branch on...

RESTAURANT FLAG FRAY

The proprietors of a downtown restaurant are being forced to take down a flagpole they erected on the sidewalk. The trouble began a few weeks ago, when the new operators...

BERNIE FROM A HERO TO A ZERO - EX-COMMISH FALLS FROM GRACE AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO $165,000 GIFT RAPS

Bernard Kerik went from top cop to criminal yesterday, as the ex-police commissioner stood in a Bronx court and pleaded guilty to conflict-of-interest charges for accepting $165,000 in gifts from...

JUDGE: KILLER MOB COP DUO GUILTY AS SIN - & I HAVE TO LET THEM WALK

A judge says he has no choice but to let the mob cops get away with murder. In a bombshell decision, Brooklyn federal court Judge Jack Weinstein yesterday tossed out...

REVISED WTC MEMORIAL PLAN EARNS ITS FINAL OK

A scaled-down design for the World Trade Center Memorial won final approval yesterday from downtown development officials, clearing the way for a national fund-raising campaign to kick off as early...

COP PUSH TO X-POSE 'MADAM'

With a bombshell Brazilian bordello boss blabbing names, authorities are putting the screws to her VIP clients to kiss and tell about their alleged romps at her high-end Manhattan sex...

RESCUED FROM HATE CRIME HELL - GOOD SAM LEAPS INTO RACE FRAY

The 15-year-old black victim of a Brooklyn hate crime yesterday revealed he was saved from death when a white good Samaritan drove past in a BMW and rescued him from...

MIKE'S TAXES: HIDE & PEEK

Mayor Bloomberg released his severely edited 2005 tax returns yesterday, the start of the holiday weekend when most New Yorkers are focused on matters far removed from City Hall. As...

TERROR FIGHTERS AID NYPD

A blue-ribbon set of counterterrorist authorities - including the authors of highly publicized books on al Qaeda and U.S. port security - will be reviewing the NYPD's counterterrorism operations, Police...

LIL' KIM'S BEST CELL-ERS - HITS THE BOOKS IN SLAMMER

Racy rapper Lil' Kim used her time in the slammer to catch up on her reading. Not steamy novels or tell-all memoirs, mind you. She was into personal-development and business...

STRIKE'S A CRANE IN NYC'S NECK

A strike by crane operators is threatening to cripple major public construction projects all over the city - including the World Trade Center site. Thousands of construction workers and projects...

WATER TRAGEDY - A GRIM START TO HOLIDAY

A pair of deadly Long Island boating accidents marred the start of the July 4 weekend yesterday, leaving one man dead, a teenage boy missing and several others injured. A...

EGYPTIAN SWAP HOPE FOR ISRAELI

JERUSALEM - The fate of a kidnapped Israeli soldier - and of Israel's massive but delayed offensive in the Gaza Strip - rests this weekend on the outcome of fragile...

COP-BIG BRO IN SEX STING

The brother of the city's second-highest police official was nabbed in a prostitution sting after he solicited sexual favors from an undercover cop in Queens, authorities said yesterday. Vincent Grasso,...

CZECH MATES IN NEED

Glen Sather was the man with the plan last year to build a Czech-centric supporting cast around Jaromir Jagr that would thrive in the new-age NHL. Although the plan took...

NETS FIDDLING WITH ROSTER

The Nets continued their offseason roster revamping yesterday with two expected moves. They declined to pick up the $2.5 million option on Cliff Robinson but intend to bring him back,...

IMPORTS FAVES IN SUBURBAN

New York racing has been treading water since the Belmont Stakes, waiting for the shift to Saratoga in three weeks. But things perk up a bit this weekend at Belmont...

FREE-AGENT HARRINGTON MAY NOT FIT WITH KNICKS

Hawks small forward Al Harrington spoke in December about his love for the Knicks and playing for Isiah Thomas, considering him family. But Harrington still wants to get paid. The...

BULLS SHORT-HANDED

Red Bulls goalkeeper Tony Meola said the team's season will be determined by the next seven days, in which the Bulls play three road games, starting tonight at New England...

AMAZIN'S END MILL'S THRILL - METS DEMOTE LASTINGS TO ACTIVATE FLOYD

His first rookie tenure lasted a month. But it's now over for Lastings Milledge. The Mets' prized rookie outfielder is going back to Norfolk. Milledge, who was recalled from Triple-A...

FILLING UP WITH 'UNLEADED'

Track was fast, turf good. FIRST RACE - In race with every runner taking drop down to $14G claiming level, Philly Park shipper Florida Thunder, 5-2 under Joel Cruz, gunned...

ANOTHER TOUGH BREAK FOR NADY

It has been a tough stretch for Xavier Nady. On May 30, the Mets right fielder needed an appendectomy and was put on the disabled list. He returned from the...

ONLY GHOSTS REMAIN OF LIBERTY'S HEYDAY

The Knicks are not the only Garden basketball tenants whose best days are long behind them. The Liberty can also claim that their best years are in the past, their...

WIE OFF TO GOOD START - TRAILS BY ONE STROKE AT OPEN

NEWPORT, R.I. - Michelle Wie doesn't generally do anything quietly. Because she's merely 16 years old, stands 6 feet tall, hits a golf ball more than 300 yards off the...

KID COULD BE BAIT TO LURE BIG FISH

OMAR Minaya made a very personal, very public goodbye to Lastings Milledge yesterday, sending the Mets' top position prospect back to the minors. As Milledge wrapped his arm around the...

LIBS LEGEND DISSED

Silver Stars 91 - New York 78 The disgrace is not limited to the Knicks' side of the building, as evidenced by last night's classless Garden handling by the Liberty...

AFTER MUSSINA, ALMOST PERFECT

THE rain wasn't a blessing. It started falling in the fourth inning, innocently at first, then harder, then in a violent gush, and then the wind showed up and ....

YANKS HANG ONE ON METS - FIVE BOMBERS COMBINE TO ONE-HIT AMAZIN'S

Yankees 2 - Mets 0 Handicapped by a lineup in a collective funk, Yankee pitchers took charge last night against the suddenly slumping Mets in the opener of the latest...

UNDESERVED 'EL' - DUQUE SUPERB IN DEFEAT

Orlando Hernandez was superb last night in his seventh start for the Mets. But El Duque also lost to his old Yankees teammates for the third straight time. Last night...

AMAZIN'S CONTINUE FUTILITY AT PLATE

The Mets basically brought their bats to the plate out of obligation last night. They didn't do much with them. In what was their worst offensive showing in more than...

GORDON UP FOR PEPSI CHALLENGE

The sight of Jeff Gordon's car three weeks ago at Pocono Raceway stirred scary thoughts throughout the grandstands. Without much exaggeration, mental images of Dale Earnhardt at Daytona five years...

SPLIT ATTENTION - YANKS DUEL METS, BUT KEEP EYES ON BOSOX

The Mets know the Yankees are their primary rival. And the Yankees know the Red Sox - not the Mets -are theirs. So with George Steinbrenner flying in from Tampa...

A SHOT IN THE DARK - PEDRO ADMITS GETTING CORTISONE IN MAY

SUBWAY SERIES CONFIDENTIAL Pedro Martinez admitted yesterday he had a cortisone shot "before I fell in Florida" on May 26. He said the issue that caused him to have the...

BANGED-UP JOBS - NO ONE CRYING FOR ACHING SUBWAY FOES

WE HEAR all the time that injuries happen, that they're a part of sports, especially a sport with a long season such as baseball. We always hear about how injuries...

YANKEES PLAY IT SAFE WITH MOOSE

Not only did Mike Mussina toss four no-hit innings, but he did it with a slight groin pull. Mussina toyed with the Mets as if they were his pets, despite...

PROSPECT PARKED - CASHMAN: HUGHES IS NOT ON TRADING BLOCK

Opposing GMs are wasting cell-phone minutes when they ask Brian Cashman if Phillip Hughes is available. "I have people asking about other players," Cashman said of GMs looking to shake...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A motorist in Draper, Utah, who hit a concrete barrier refused when cops asked him to take a Breathalyzer test. After two police captains talked to him, he agreed -...