July 5, 2000

RIESE RISES AGAIN – OUT OF CHAP. 11 SOON, DENNIS AIMS TO SELL 57TH ST. LOT

Fast food king Dennis Riese is bringing his company out of bankruptcy and looking to sell a prime chunk of real estate across from Carnegie Hall. The Riese Organization -...

SATHER JUST MAY BE FULL OF SURPRISES ; GM TARGETING MALAKHOV, TALKING TO KEENAN

And so a conversation yesterday with Glen Sather yielded the following: That the Rangers are in the hunt for unrestricted free-agent defenseman Vladimir Malakhov, late of the Stanley Cup champion...

ONCE YOU COULD ONLY FIND HIM ON SUNDAY MORNING TV. SUDDENLY, HE’S THE SAVIOR OF PRIME-TIME, TOO; IS JESUS’; STAR ON; THE RISE?; ‘YOU’D THINK THE NETS WOULD BE EAGER FOR MORE NEW TESTAMENT MOVIES.’

THE story of Jesus may be the Greatest Story Ever Told, but on network TV, it's the greatest story rarely told. That's despite the fact that a CBS miniseries on...

PREZ DELAYS NEW MIDEAST SUMMIT

JERUSALEM - President Clinton called Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, but delayed inviting them to a summit because of disputes among his own aides, sources...

LAZIO BROADSIDE: CLINTONS TRIED TO SHORTCHANGE VETS

Rick Lazio yesterday celebrated the Fourth of July by setting off some political fireworks aimed at the Clintons: The GOP Senate candidate charged that they have turned their backs on...

U.S. CAN’T KETCHUP TO JAPANESE ‘HOT DOGS’

AMERICA'S birthday was again America's darkest day as three pocket monsters from Japan - one setting a new world record - made a clean sweep of the annual Nathan's hot...

GOTTI ‘SON’ HELPS $AVE YOUTH CENTER

John Gotti's "adopted son" yesterday pledged up to $30,000 to keep open a struggling Long Island youth center that helps keep at-risk teens out of gangs. Lewis Kasman, 43, will...

BIG RUCKUS OVER TINY N.J. HATE-GROUP RALLY

The score was white supremacists 9, opponents 300, cops 300. Members of the white-supremacist Nationalist Movement were vastly outnumbered when they held an Independence Day rally in Morristown, N.J. There...

BOUNTY KIN RIPE FOR ‘MUTINY’ – ISLANDERS EYE REVOLT AGAINST BRITISH GOV’T

DESCENDANTS of the famed "Mutiny on the Bounty" outlaws are shaping up for one final rebellion. More than 200 years after mutineer Fletcher Christian and his sailors jumped ship in...

LETHAL BOMBINGS SPUR CRACKDOWN IN CHECHNYA

Russian troops imposed a rigid curfew in Chechnya yesterday amid fears of a repeat of the rebel counterattack that turned around the region's first war four years ago. Rumors of...

WEATHERSPOON KNOWS SCORE

The WNBA has only been around for four years, so it doesn't have too many memorable moments. One of the few, though, was Teresa Weatherspoon's halfcourt buzzer-beater to win Game...

FOCUSED ‘KID’ BOPS BEHRENS

In a tussle between two of the top horses in the nation, the "Kid" gave the "Old Man" a whupping yesterday at Belmont Park as Lemon Drop Kid beat Behrens...

CONE PROVES TO BE YANKEE DOODLE DUD: DAVID A SYMBOL OF TEAM’S DECLINE

THE David Cone for whom we light flares, hoping against hope he'll find his way back, responds to his own error, or anyone's error, with nostrils spread halfway to third...

BERNIE EARNS CENTER STAGE IN ATLANTA

Even if Ken Griffey Jr. were still playing in Seattle, it would have been an embarrassment to baseball fans if Bernie Williams had not been voted a starter on the...

METS LET MARLINS OFF HOOK: SKID HITS 3 AFTER BLOWING 5-0 LEAD

Marlins 9 Mets 8 MIAMI - On Friday the Mets spoke about the uplifting feeling of coming back from a seven-run deficit to beat the Braves. Yesterday, they got a...

IT’S ‘SIMMER’ SCHOOL: HOT KIDS, NO A/C

Thousands of students will sweat out summer school in sweltering classrooms while principals and staffers chill out in air-conditioned offices. The steamy problem will be most pronounced in older high-school...

SPLENDID SPLINTER BOOK DEAL INKED

BOSTON Red Sox legend Ted Williams - the last man to bat over .400 in a major league baseball season - has been more reclusive in retirement than he was...

THE STARR REPORT

Julie's in the closet "Early Show" news reader Julie Chen begins her new assignment tonight (9 p.m., Ch. 2 ) as host of CBS's "Big Brother," in which a bunch...

HARD-LUCK SHIP RETURNS TO GLORY

The grand dame of the South Street Seaport - the Wavertree - pulled off a maritime miracle yesterday by successfully taking to the sea again after a 100-year vacation. "I...

IT’S NO WAY TO PICK A VEEP … BUT IT’S BECOME A MAKE-OR-BREAK PROCESS

HAVE you noticed that picking the two candidates for vice president has become a lot more drawn out than picking the nominees for president? We're still six weeks away from...

CURRENT EVENT & A BRIDGE TOO FAR CURTAIL SAIL

Tens of thousands of people who lined the shores of the Hudson in upper Manhattan and on the New Jersey Palisades were left blowing in the wind yesterday as something...

PYROTECHNIC BLAST KILLS MAN ON L.I.

A Bay Shore, L.I. man last night died in a fireworks accident that partially blew his head off, Suffolk County police said. Keith Seymour, 34, was setting off the last...

STANDING ‘TALL’ ON THE FOURTH OF JULY: HUDSON GLEAMS WITH SHIPS

An armada of towering tall ships led a stately parade of vessels up the Hudson River yesterday in a majestic tribute to the nation's independence. Millions lined the river's shores...

PARADE FALLS SHORT AS TIDE TAKES TOLL

Tens of thousands of people who lined the shores of the Hudson in Upper Manhattan and the New Jersey Palisades were left blowing in the wind yesterday as someone rained...

NETS KEEPING JORDAN, O’KOREN

The Nets hope to be players in the free-agent market, but not in the prime, blue-chip market. They are more likely to wade in later, rather than sooner, and maybe...

KENT TOPS FONZIE IN ALL-STAR VOTE

MIAMI - Even Todd Pratt's computer couldn't put Edgardo Alfonzo over the top. In an effort to get his teammate the starting nod at second base for the NL All-Star...

HONEY, I LEFT THE KIDS ; N.Y. RESTAURANTS FIND FOLKS FORGET THE DARNDEST THINGS

BEFORE you exit a restaurant, better take inventory - do you have your kids, your credit cards, your teeth?People sometimes leave behind more than a mere tip after a meal...

KIN OF FAMED WRITER NABBED IN HUBBY-SLAY

The great-niece of one of the world's most popular mystery writers has been charged with murder - in a "perfect crime" gone awry. Genevieve Simenon, whose famed relative, Georges Simenon,...

MICHELANGELO WORK DRAWS $12M AT AUCTION

A drawing by one of the early Masters sold at a record price in London yesterday morning - erasing the former record by almost $4 million, an auction house said....

WOMEN MAKING CRACKS IN GLA$$ CEILING

Women's wages have pulled even or passed men's salaries in a few professions, but on average, women still make far less than their male counterparts, according to a new survey....

MEXICO’S PREZ-ELECT BARES CABINET PLANS

Mexico's president-elect said he will name his Cabinet within two months, hoping for no problems in his country's first peaceful transfer of power in modern history. Vicente Fox made known...

WOMAN ADMITS TO TERRORIZING FEMINIST WRITER

A teen stalker who held feminist author Germaine Greer prisoner in her own home pleaded guilty to harassment yesterday. Karen Burke, 19, was sentenced to probation and ordered not to...

SMOOTH SAILING FOR RUDY & JUDI – CLEAR SHE’S NEW 1ST MATE AS THEY MAKE THE ROUNDS

Mayor Giuliani celebrated a different kind of independence yesterday, squiring his "very good friend" Judi Nathan around a Navy ship and a Staten Island parade - with his wife and...

BLACK VIEWS, CORE VALUES – AN URBAN LEAGUE POLL SHOWS BUSH’S MESSAGE MIGHT APPEAL TO BLACKS

FOR decades now, the Republican Party has looked for a way to win black support - even as politically active African-Americans have been frustrated by many Democrats' smug certainty that...

TONY MELTS A BRIDE’S HEART

Tony Bennett stunned a newlywed couple when he dropped by their reception and belted out "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." The legendary crooner transformed himself into a wedding...

COPS SAVE FIREWORKS BOATERS

Eight people floundering in the dark waters of New York Harbor last night owe their lives to three cops - who miraculously were in the right place to hear their...

BAFFERT STARTS WEEK WITH A BANG

The week started off well for Bob Baffert as he saddled Capt. Steve to win for the first time this year in the $250,000 Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows on...

BRONX JEERS FOR JUSTICE IN HOME DEBUT

How's this for pressure? In his first home game in pinstripes, David Justice came to the plate in the eighth inning yesterday with the Yankees trailing 7-3, runners on first...

PIAZZA’S HIT STREAK GROUNDED BY MARLINS

MET NOTES MIAMI - Before yesterday's game, Bobby Valentine said he wasn't sure if he would have Mike Piazza because of the catcher's bruised left elbow. But in the ninth...

METS LET FISH OFF THE HOOK: SKID HITS 3 AFTER BLOWING 5-0 LEAD

Marlins 9 Mets 8 MIAMI - Bobby Valentine knew yesterday's game - the exact midpoint of the Mets' season - could have been an easy one. The Mets jumped out...

U.S. EYES L’OREAL DEAL FOR POSSIBLE MONOPOLY

Not content with busting up Microsoft, the Department of Justice's antitrust division is probing whether L'Oreal's bid to buy the maker of Dark & Lovely will monopolize the African-American beauty...

THE KEY STOCKS TO WATCH AS FIRMS’ EARNINGS REPORTS START ROLLING IN

FORGET about the Fed, mergers, IPOs and everything else. It's earnings time and over the next few weeks stocks will rise and shine - or drop and plotz - on...

BALDORIA: IT’S NOT RAO’S – BUT IT’S A REAL HOOT

BALDORIA ½ 249 W. 49TH ST. (212) 582-0460 BAD news for all you frustrated folks shut out of Rao's but hoping to get your kicks at Frankie ("Frankie No") Pellegrino's...

VALDINO WEST: SOMETIMES A WORTHWHILE NEIGHBORHOOD SPOT CAN BE HARD TO FIND

VALDINO WEST 581 HUDSON ST. (AT BANK STREET) (212) 647-8490 JUST south of the Bermuda Triangle called Abingdon Square sits the corner of Hudson and Bank Street. It's one of...

THE RIGHT PLACE BUT SARONG GUY ; I’LL BET NOTHING’S DOING IN ‘SURVIVOR’ LOVE SHACK

SORRY, I don't buy it. The love affair between the two Gen-Xers on "Survivor," I mean. Let's be honest. If you were a cute, young, straight but annoying girl, stuck...

‘BEST GIFT EVER’ FOR DISABLED TEEN

A 15-year-old handicapped Queens teen got the lift of a lifetime: a ramp that lets her easily roll in and out of her house. Charlene Alexander, who is stricken with...

WIMBLEDON’S BLOOD RIVALS – TOP TENNIS SIBLINGS TO SQUARE OFF

It'll be sister vs. sister at Wimbledon tomorrow as Venus and Serena Williams battle it out in the Grand Slam semifinal. Venus, 20, and Serena, 18, set up the historic...

NEW STUDY RAPS ALZHEIMER’S DOCS

Doctors often misdiagnose patients in the final stage of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia - and subject them to unnecessary, invasive procedures rather than easing their final days,...

FORMER KNICK BAD BOY RUNS AFOUL OF THE LAW – AGAIN!

Former Knick Anthony Mason is in trouble with the law again after New Orleans police said he attacked them and sparked a riot in the French Quarter. Mason, now with...

PLENTY OF REASONS TO THINK ‘ILL’ OF THEM

They're creepy and they're spooky, and they're also stinking, disease-infested vermin that can harm children and pets even after they're dead. And that's about the nicest thing you can say...

FEDERAL JUSTICE NOT FOR ALL: POLL

As the United States celebrated 224 years of independence yesterday, a poll revealed that more than two-thirds of Americans believe the rich enjoy greater access to federal justice. A nationwide...

4 SHOT IN CALIF. HOSTAGE SIEGE

A "very hard-core gang member" shot three cops and held 15 people hostage on the popular Santa Monica Pier in California yesterday before surrendering, authorities said. Oswaldo Amezcua, 25, also...

A GLORIOUS 4TH ENDS WITH A BANG – FIREWORKS CAP DAY OF TALL SHIPS

A thunderous riot of color and sound lit up the New York sky last night in a spectacular finale to a joyous July Fourth celebration that offered another feast for...

HEY, DON, WHAT ABOUT O.J.? OHLMEYER IGNORED SIMPSON’S PROBLEMS

IRONY, sweet irony. Dennis Miller, newly-named Monday Night Football commentator, is the author of several "Rant" books, collections of his biting social criticisms. His "The Rants," published in 1996, includes...

KIKI: KENYON’S A KEEPER

Before the Nets selected Kenyon Martin with the No. 1 pick in last week's NBA draft, among those whose input they sought was Kiki Vandeweghe, the long-time offensive force -...

AFFIRMED SUCCESS TAKES TO TURF

Affirmed Success, one of the nation's top sprinters on dirt, took to turf for the first time yesterday and immediately stamped himself a top candidate for the Nov. 4 Breeders'...

KNICKS FOCUSING NOW ON FORTSON

So much for Grant Hill wanting to help Patrick Ewing win a championship, as he said a few weeks ago. Departing Orlando yesterday for Detroit following his extended four-day Magic...

TUNEFUL TAKEOFF: ‘FULL MONTY’ LOOKS LIKE BEFORE-THE-FALL SMASH

SAN DIEGO - Yes, they take it all off in "The Full Monty."No, you can't see their private parts, since you're blinded by some clever lighting effects. Now that we've...