November 1, 2002

H’WOOD’S BING RING$ IT UP FOR MCCALL

TRYING to prop up Carl McCall's struggling campaign, several Democratic mega-donors this month funneled hefty contributions directly to the state party's coffers - including Hollywood bigwig Stephen Bing. Bing, the...

PBA BLASTS BLOOMBERG FOR SKIPPING COP FUNERAL

Three board members of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association yesterday rapped Mayor Bloomberg for missing a detective's funeral while he was in Bermuda - with one declaring his absence "totally disrespected"...

BLOOMBERG COMES OUT SMOKING

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday strongly defended his refusal to compromise on his tough anti-smoking bill, saying he won't make any deal with the City Council that endangers the health of a...

LIZZIE’S SHOWING ‘CLASS’ IN PRISON

Lizzie Grubman has become a teacher behind bars and is tutoring other inmates at a Long Island jail in a computer class, a source said. Grubman, who runs her own...

HILL DITCHES CARL FOR DATE WITH PATAKI

Five days before Election Day, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday left Carl McCall far behind - and crossed party lines to join Gov. Pataki for a ribbon-cutting at an upstate...

ICON OF DJS LIVED & DIED FOR HIS ‘HOOD

WHEN he's not selling CDs or headphones at the Music Factory on Jamaica Avenue, Michael Rivera is busy making music of his own. Of course, the words "Michael Rivera" don't...

GAY WORKER SUES TA IN BENEFITS FLAP

The Transit Authority and its union are discriminating against gay workers by refusing to give health benefits to their partners, an employee charged in court yesterday. "What they're doing is...

TOT CRASH NIGHTMARE ; BRONX 1-YR.-OLD NEAR DEATH AS CAB HITS STROLLER

A 15-month-old toddler was clinging to life yesterday after a livery cab struck his stroller while his mother was pushing it across a Bronx street. Rashwan Johnson was in "extremely...

MONDALE ADS ‘NEGATIVE’

Just hours after Walter Mondale launched his Senate bid to replace the late Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) and vowed a positive campaign, his labor allies went negative with a harsh radio...

SLAIN RAPPER’S PAL MAY BE NEXT ; COPS RUSH TO GUARD PROTÉGÉ

Police fear more violence could follow the execution-style shooting of hip-hop pioneer Jam Master Jay, and rushed to protect a young protégé of the fallen Run-DMC star. Sources said a...

NEW CHARGES AS RIFLE IS LINKED TO LA. SALON SLAY

The sniper suspects were charged yesterday with shooting a beauty-shop worker to death in Baton Rouge, La. Murder warrants were issued for John Allen Muhammad, 41, and John Lee Malvo,...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

QUEENS Cops yesterday said they're investigating a possible bias incident in Ridgewood where an assistant principal found an anti-Semitic note written in pencil and taped to a classroom door at...

PRODUCER’S 130G SUIT A $OUR NOTE FOR BLONDIE

A record producer is suing the pop band Blondie and its label for more than $100,000 in unpaid royalties from the band's reunion album, according to papers filed in Manhattan...

MOM SLAIN IN ‘HIT’ : ASSASSINS STORM L.I. HOME AS FAMILY LOOKS ON

Two gunmen burst into a Long Island family's home and shot dead a mother of two yesterday in what cops say was a coldblooded execution. Stephanie Laing was gunned down...

SICK SNIPER GOAL : PLOTTED TO MAKE EX A ‘RANDOM’ VICTIM: COPS

Investigators are becoming increasingly convinced that Beltway-sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad went on his rampage because he planned to murder his ex-wife in what would appear to be a random...

‘SPOON HEADS HEAVY TOURNEY

Boxing trainers may want to pack extra mouthpieces when they head to the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City Nov. 30. On that night, their respective heavyweights will have to endure...

NAILON: KNICKS NEED ME ; NEWCOMER SAYS HE STEPS UP IN FOURTH

PHILADELPHIA - Lee Nailon watched on television when the Knicks disintegrated in the fourth quarter in Detroit, missing 13 straight shots in Wednesday's season opener. If he didn't know it...

COACH, COLLINS ON SAME PAGE

"We're going to have our plays. We're going to get real good at them. And we're going to run them on Sunday."KERRY COLLINS After deciding on Tuesday to relieve offensive...

SPA PROBE NOT TIED TO CUP

The betting sequences of two big Pick 6 tickets cashed at New York City Off-Track Betting on races at Saratoga last summer, currently under investigation by the N.Y. State Racing...

5 QUESTIONS FOR JOHN SAUNDERS

This week The Post's Andrew Marchand caught up with ABC/ESPN's John Saunders. Among the 47-year-old Canadian's many accomplishments, he has had prominent roles in ESPN's launches of baseball, the NFL...

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH

THE next big thing on TV may turn out to be a very old idea: westerns. Pretty much banished from prime time for more than 20 years, two major series...

WRENCHING TALE DESPITE ANTI-U.S. BIAS

DAUGHTER FROM DANANG 1/2Running time: 80 minutes. Not rated (nothing offensive). At the Quad, 13th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. IT isn't really to the credit of the makers...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A disappointed thief had the nerve to write a note of complaint to his would-be victim. Police in Diez, Germany, say the car owner returned to his vehicle to find...

PELOSI’S LATEST ‘SKIP’ AND FALL

Bad-boy contractor Danny Pelosi is in trouble again - he missed a recent appointment with his probation officer and the violation could land him in jail. It was the second...

FEDS, 23 STATES GO TO COURT TO BLOCK ECHOSTAR MERGER

Regulators have all but killed the controversial $19.5 billion merger of the nation's two satellite TV giants. Responding to mounting public criticism against the proposed marriage of EchoStar and DirecTV,...

DEMS DENOUNCE PITT-IFUL RECORD, DEMAND RESIGNATION

A partisan fury erupted on Capitol Hill against SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt, casting more doubts over the future of the nation's top securitites watchdog. Democratic senators and congressmen sang a...

VEIL OF SEC-RECY ; PITT KEEPS LIPS ZIPPED ON POTENTIAL CONFLICTS

Securities and Exchange Commission boss Harvey Pitt, under withering criticism from lawmakers of both parties for his handling of numerous matters, continues to shroud his office - and the agency...

TRYING TRYSTS MISS

LOVE IN THE TIME OF MONEY Great cast, wasted.Running time: 90 minutes. Rated R (a disturbing violent image, strong sexual content and language). At the Cinemas 1,2,3 and the Quad....

DITCH THIS WITCH

BESOTTEDHalf a star A cursed mess.Running time: 92 min. Not rated (language, sexuality, full frontal nudity). At Village East, Second Avenue and 12th Street. FORGET eye of newt and wing...

JUSTIN TIME ; SOLO DISC A BREAK, NOT A BREAKUP, FROM *NSYNC

TEEN-heartthrob Justin Timberlake is just 21 years old, but his life is at a crossroads.He's said bye bye bye to *NSYNC (at least for now); he and Britney Spears have...

OUTPLAYING GRIEF

JURASSIC 5 DURING the Jurassic 5's Hammerstein Ballroom performance Wednesday, L.A.'s popular proponent of positive, antiviolent rap relinquished the stage to seminal rap artist Grand Master Flash, who announced that...

‘ARMS’ HAS NO LEGS

HOLLYWOOD ARMS 1/2At the Cort Theatre, 138 W. 48th St.; (212) 239-6200. IN the theater, no talent on earth can overcome the heavy hand of mediocrity. Carrie Hamilton and Carol...

‘BACHELOR’ FAVE WAS MY WIFE

"BACHELOR 2" contestant Gwen, the odds-on favorite to win the show, is a divorcee, it was revealed yesterday on the Howard Stern Show when her ex-husband called in. With odds...

WHITNEY SINGS TO DIANE

ABC's Diane Sawyer is close to landing an exclusive interview with Whitney Houston and husband Bobby Brown, The Post has learned. Negotiations have apparently been going back and forth for...

MARTHA’S CRUEL YULE: PULLS PLUG ON HOLIDAY TV SPECIAL

Martha Stewart has been putting a bright cheery gloss on her insider trading troubles of late - but the mistress of making nice still couldn't stop them from turning her...

FALL OF RATINGS BASEBALL’S FAULT

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened." - Winston Churchill THE latest inevitability - the lowest TV-rated World...

GWALTNEY HAS OPPONENTS ON RUN

Terry Manning has a reputation in Suffolk County for steering his high school players toward good college football teams. That's why recruiters were curious when they traveled to North Babylon...

WAGNER, CURTIS COVET TOP SPOT

H.S. FOOTBALL N. Babylon star in a rush / Page 79 Al Paturzo isn't used to this. "We've never come into a game against Curtis off a loss," the Wagner...

KERRY: PAYTON’S PLIGHT OUR FAULT

GIANT NOTES Giants quarterback Kerry Collins offered strong support for demoted offensive coordinator Sean Payton, who no longer will call plays this season. Collins said the demotion makes it appear...

DOLEAC’S HAMMY WORRIES CHANEY

KNICK NOTES PHILADELPHIA - Don Chaney's playing career ended because of chronic hamstring problems, so he's very sensitive to one of his players dealing with those type of injuries. And...

REPLAY OF A CLASSIC ; NETS, INDY CLASH FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2-OT THRILLER

Byron Scott was home alone with time to kill in July. His wife and kids were in Los Angeles. So he popped in a video tape of a true classic,...

THE FORDHAM FLASH: YES’ DEDES GETS NETS’ FILL-IN JOB – AT AGE 23

With Michael Jordan on YES tomorrow night, the No. 23 will be featured prominently. But 23 will have added meaning during the broadcast. It's also the number of birthdays the...

MIKE: UFT CAN’T CALL IT ‘QUITS’

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday flunked a union plan to permit up to 5,000 of the most experienced public school teachers to retire early in order to help address the city's budget...

RALLY FOR B’KLYN SLAY WIDOW

Friends and neighbors of the Ukrainian emigrant who watched helplessly as her husband was gunned down by two street thugs during a robbery in Brooklyn have come together to provide...

BUSH KICKS OFF GOP BLITZ ; STUMPS FOR SEN. RACE IN DASCHLE HOMETOWN

WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday kicked off a 15-state election blitz by stumping in Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle's home state of South Dakota, where he pressed voters to give...

JERSEY AD-VERSARIES GET UGLY

New Jersey voters will be inundated this weekend with attack ads by Democrat Frank Lautenberg and Republican Doug Forrester intended to score last-minute points in their down-to-the-wire Senate race. The...

WORKER SCRATCHED IN BREEDERS’ CUP SCANDAL

A computer programmer for a firm that collected the betting information for last Saturday's Breeders' Cup was fired yesterday in the growing $3 million betting scandal at the race, sources...

CHOIRBOY ‘MOLESTER’ GOES ON TRIAL

A teen took the witness stand yesterday to detail how his former counselor at the Boys Choir of Harlem sexually abused him - charges the alleged attacker's attorney claims are...

WINONA DEFENSE THROWS BOOK AT SECURITY GUARD

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Winona Ryder's defense attorney yesterday accused a key prosecution witness of rifling through the star's address book and taking celebrity phone numbers after the star was...

MOM SLAIN IN ‘HIT’ ; ASSASSINS STORM L.I. HOME AS FAMILY LOOKS ON

Two gunmen burst into a Long Island family's home and shot dead a mother of four yesterday in what cops say was a coldblooded execution. Stephanie Laing was gunned down...

WALKWAY MAY GO BELOW SACRED SITE

Port Authority planners are still considering running an underground walkway below the footprint of one of the Twin Towers - even though families of World Trade Center victims and some...

SUSPECT HAD WACKO WEAPONS WOE AS A GI

John Allen Muhammad got into trouble twice when he was in the Army - for exploding an incendiary grenade in a tent of sleeping soldiers, and for stealing a rifle,...

MARTHA’S CRUEL YULE: PULLS PLUG ON HOLIDAY TV SPECIAL AMID WOE

Martha Stewart has been putting a bright cheery gloss on her insider trading troubles of late - but the mistress of making nice still couldn't stop them from turning her...

AUTUMN HARVEST STILL GOING STRONG

IT feels as if it has been a quick jump to winter, but the fall run of striped bass and bluefish continues along the South Shore while those fishing the...

ANOTHER NIGHT-MARE! GIANT OFFENSE STILL NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME

EARLIER this season, Giants fans were prematurely chalking up wins against the likes of Arizona and Atlanta to send Big Blue into Philly at 4-2 at the worst. Didn't happen....

YANKS GO SEEK HIDEKI ; BOMBERS LEAD HUNT FOR SLUGGING MATSUI

"[Matsui] hits a lot of homers in Japan, but I think he is gap hitter."A major-league scout Hideki Matsui, considered by some to be the best player in Japan, planned...

METS TRY TO GET BACK ON TRACH

Back for more? The Mets have spoken with representatives for Steve Trachsel to begin the process of re-signing the free-agent righty, The Post has learned. Met officials have already begun...

KNICKS NEED TO THINK BIG ; SPREWELL BEST BAIT – ONCE HE’S HEALTHY

IF I'm Done Chaney, I'm marching right into James Dolan's office armed with a tape of Wednesday night's fourth quarter (plus a circular from the new Wiz) and I'm thinking...

NEW PREZ AT FASHION WIRE

THERE'S more chaos at Fashion Wire Daily. As a result, FWD Editor-in-Chief Godfrey Deeny - most recently in the news as a sparring partner of GQ Publisher Ron Galotti -...

‘I’ SHOULDN’T HAVE

I SPY More like "Leonard Part 7."Running time: 96 minutes. Rated PG-13 (action violence, sexual references, moderate profanity). At the E-Walk, the Union Square, the Harlem USA, others. HOLLYWOOD'S Thanksgiving...

AN ANTIQUATED ‘ANTIGONE’

ANTIGONEAt City Center, 131 W. 55th St. CityTix, (212) 581-1212. Through Sunday. THE National Theater of Greece has brought its production of Sophocles' "Antigone," one of the most scalding Greek...

E-I-E-I-O, IT’S A BORE

TULLY 1/2THE corn is as high as an elephant's eye in "Tully," a yawn-provoking little farm melodrama that's receiving a token theatrical run after debuting on cable TV following years...

SLOSHING ALONG

THE WEIGHT OF WATER Running time: 105 minutes. Rated R (violence, sexuality/nudity and brief language). At the Union Square, 13th Street and Broadway. 'THE Weight of Water," adapted from Anita...

A RALLY BIG FIASCO ; WHY DISGRACE A MEMORIAL?

WHAT possessed them? How could Minnesota's Democrats have been so foolish as to turn a memorial meeting for eight people tragically killed in a plane crash into a campaign rally...

EXECUTING THIS MONSTER WOULD COST YOU $3M

IT IS going to cost taxpayers about $3 million just to kill the killer. That's a lot more than it would cost to put him jail for life. And even...

I’M HEARING VOICES – MAKE THEM STOP

LOOK, I would like to regard myself as a law-and-order sort of guy, but I'm sick and tired of being ordered around by signs and vacuous voices as if I...

FOLLOWING FOOTSTEPS OF A KILLER

HERE'S a house tour you're not likely to see on HGTV: A walk through the Boulder, Colo., home where six-year-old Jon Benet Ramsey was found dead on Christmas Day, 1996....

SCHOOL DE-CONSTRUCTION ; MAYOR & KLEIN HACK 600 JOBS IN OVERHAUL

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday ordered the elimination of 600 jobs in the city's scandal-plagued school-building program by merging functions of the School Construction Authority and the Department of Education. Embarrassed school...

GANG GREEN LOOKING FOR HALFTIME ANSWERS

JET NOTES Every week there's a theme for the Jets to make an improvement on, and this week it's been figuring out how to avoid being blown out in the...

AMERICAN BARES E-MAIL IN BID TO PIN FLT. 587 BLAME ON AIRBUS

WASHINGTON - American Airlines yesterday released an embarrassing e-mail aimed at pinning blame for last year's deadly crash of Flight 587 on Airbus, the French company that built the plane....

CITY ADDS HIGH-TECH I.D. CARDS

EXCLUSIVE The city is issuing high-tech identification cards with microchips, holograms and other hidden security codes to prevent identity theft and electronically track employee work hours, The Post has learned....

130G SUIT A $OUR NOTE FOR BLONDIE

A record producer is suing the pop band Blondie and its label for more than $100,000 in unpaid royalties from the band's reunion album, according to papers filed in Manhattan...

JMJ LEAVES A GRAND LEGACY – AND LITANY OF DEBT

Jam Master Jay was remembered yesterday as one of hip-hop's most beloved figures, a respectful, easygoing man who mentored young rappers and lived a humble life in his old Queens...

GIULIANI COULD BE FLA. KEY

Rudy Giuliani campaigned in Miami yesterday for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush - who said the former mayor "has achieved Barbara Bush status" as an American icon. The visit came as...

STAR LOVED LIFE RIGHT UP TO FINAL RIDE

Jam Master Jay last saw his wife just a few short minutes before his brutal execution-style murder when she dropped him off at a Queens hair stylist where he met...

SCHOOL GUARD GUILTY ON PERV RAP

A school safety officer has pleaded guilty to a sex rap involving a 13-year-old girl - who was actually an undercover cop - officials said yesterday. Ben Auerbach of The...

JEN’S NEW J.LOFT ; SEXY SONGBIRD NESTS IN TONY TRIBECA PAD

Jennifer Lopez is moving back to New York - at least for the next several weeks, The Post has learned. The bodacious actress/singer, whose latest movie and album will both...

WTC’S ‘BIG’ PLANS ; DESIGNERS BOOSTING OFFICE SPACE

Several Ground Zero architects are thinking bigger may be better - offering surprising designs that increase the office space on the site well beyond guidelines intended to trim the trade...

SICK SNIPER GOAL ; PLOTTED TO MAKE EX A ‘RANDOM’ VICTIM: COPS

Investigators are becoming increasingly convinced that Beltway sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad went on his rampage because he planned to murder his ex-wife in what would appear to be a...

THE FAN’S CORNER

Brian Kenneally is just what this country needs: a lawyer with blond streaks. Kenneally, who describes himself as the lawyer for the 21st century, eventually wants to be GM of...

O’NEAL’S STILL TAKING HIS SHOTS

NET NOTES In the playoffs, Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal stirred it up against the Nets when he said he stopped himself, refused to credit New Jersey's defense and then vowed to...

O’SULLIVAN’S READY TO GO THE DISTANCE

Irish distance star Sonia O'Sullivan sat in Tavern on the Green yesterday with one eye on cherubic 3-year-old daughter Ciara and the other on a title in Sunday's New York...

MARCHAND’S MATCHUP OF THE WEEK

Paul Maguire vs. Joe Theismann Though ESPN football analyst Paul Maguire talks on a national stage, he is underrated. Maguire informs and entertains without being overbearing. What stands out about...

FIELD OF DREAMS : PGA’S TOP 30 PLAYERS IN BATTLE OF BIGSHOTS

Baseball has the All-Star Game, football the Pro Bowl. This weekend comes the PGA's gathering of gliterati - the Tour Championship in Atlanta. "If you are there, you know you...

DOW FINISHES BEST OCTOBER SINCE ’87

The Dow Jones industrial average just racked up its best October since 1987 with a gain of 10.6 percent, marking the Dow's first up month since March. But most investors...

REVLON PUTS A BRAVE FACE ON GRIM EARNINGS

It's pretty . . . ugly. Revlon's financial situation is on the verge of complete meltdown. The beauty company, owner of the Revlon, Almay and Ultima II brands, posted its...

FASTOW COOKED: ENRON CFO FACES 78 COUNTS OF FRAUD

The government yesterday indicted its highest-level Enron official yet, slapping fraud charges on former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow that could put him behind bars for decades if he's convicted....

EU ACCUSES RJR OF MONEY LAUNDERING

Tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds lines Saddam Hussein's pockets and funds Iraqi terrorists by smuggling illegal cigarettes through Europe into the Middle East, the European Union has charged in a new...

STARR REPORT

Pam's sorrow: 'I thought I was going to die' Pam Anderson talks with Leeza Gibbons on tonight's "Extra" about her battle with Hepatitis C - and what she's doing to...

HO-HO-HUM

THE SANTA CLAUSE 2 Soulless sequel.Running time: 105 minutes. Rated G (kissing, a fistfight). At the Ziegfeld, the Magic Johnson, others. IT took Disney eight years and seven writers to...

THARP AS A KNIFE

THE big and unexpected news on Broadway this week is that Twyla Tharp took "Movin' Out" - critically battered in Chicago and widely rumored to be an $8.5 million fiasco...

JETS CHARGED UP FOR THE ‘L-TRAIN’

The Jets know exactly what awaits them Sunday in San Diego: a freight train coming at full speed with no intention of stopping. That's what the 6-1 Chargers offense represents...

RANGERS FLUNKING OUT IN CHEMISTRY

PERHAPS a higher authority can explain why . . . 1) . . . The Rangers were in such a rush to fly home from Tampa immediately following Wednesday's loss,...

JUNK FOOD SCHOOLS

Sen. Chuck Schumer yesterday urged Schools Chancellor Joel Klein to "Get Milk!" in the schools - as an alternative to soda and junk food. Schumer said he reached out to...