Daily News from New York, New York • 64

71 fMi DOW JONES "Id) liirrvi 500 1,051.81 NASDAQ 1-41 1,959.37 rv UULJ Settle suits in By LORE CROGHAN DAK NEWS BUSINESS WRITS? 2 Broadway cost overruns The Metropolitan Transportation Authority ended a long-running legal dispute yesterday over its lower Manhattan office building that's cost it hundreds of millions of dollars. i XT-' IBSE cx- -11 I chairs a committee that held hearings about the MTA's quarrel with Sapir, said, "There's money in this for the MTA." Beyond that, Brodsky said, the settlement is a step toward restoring the MTA's credibility. "This has been a case history of authorities acting inappropriately," he said. "If it brings peace between the MTA and Zar, that's a good thing." Cost overruns on the renovation of 1950s-vintage 2 Broadway mounted as high as almost $300 million. At the MTA's behest, the reconstruction of the 1.6 million-square-foot building was put in the hands of an executive who left Zar and worked independently, Fred Contini.

Last spring, Contini pleaded guilty to fraud charges of bilking the MTA of millions of dollars. The cost overruns infuriated public advocacy groups, which The transit authority said in a terse announcement that it settled all pending lawsuits with the landlord of 2 Broadway, the 33-story tower that's come to symbolize government overspending and influence-peddling in the minds of MTA critics. The MTA rented the building in 1998 for 49 years to house hundreds of its workers after selling its property at Columbus Circle. But for the past three years, the MTA has been tied up in lawsuits against landlord Zar Realty Management, a real estate firm headed by wealthy Russian immigrant Tamir Sapir. The principal suit was set to go to trial later this year.

The MTA refused to disclose the terms of the settlement. Zar execs also were mum. But Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), who Diller, 9,820.83 cited them as a cause of transit fare hikes. The MTA's problems with the building gained additional notor-eity this year when the story of former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato's $500,000 phone call surfaced.

In 1999, D'Amato called then-MTA chairman Virgil Conway to help Sapir get a loan on the building. D'Amato got paid $500,000 for the work. The gist of the MTA's legal quarrel with Zar centered on who was responsible for the cost of renovating the building itself, as opposed to finishing the office interiors. A favorable settlement for the MTA would mean that the authority could get its rent reduced. Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign, a group that represents subway and bus riders, hopes that the settlement is a good deal for the MTA but doesn't want to declare victory until he knows what the terms are.

"The MTA has promised transparency," he said. "This would be a good place for them to start." short of analysts' estimates and the company said it was reducing its full-year forecast. BROADWAY BRONFMAN Edgar Bronfman Jr. has musical ambitions beyond making a run at a record giant. While the Seagram scion mulls a bid for Warner Music Group, he's working hard on producing his first Broadway musical called "Never Gonna Dance" along with several other backers.

It's based on the Depression-era Fred Astaire movie musical "Swing Time" with music by Jerome Kern. In the meantime, Bronfman and his partners Thomas H. Lee and kids TV titan Haim Saban are poised to pounce on Warner Music should talks between Warner parent Time Warner and record giant EMI fall apart FOX SOARING News Corp. is sizzling. Boosted by hot DVD sales of flicks like "Daredevil," strong ad sales at top-rated Fox News Channel, and rising profits at its TV stations, the vast media empire said its quarterly profits nearly tripled.

Vivendi set split talks any Diner's messy show biz marriage with French media giant Vivendi is finally on its I "Nt V' I 1 I i i I 'way to divorce court. The online mogul and Vivendi are heading to the negotiating table to try to unwind their complex partnership in Vivendi Universal Entertainment, sources told the Daily News. Vivendi, headed by Jean-Marie Fourtou, put aside discussions with Diller recently as it worked on the sale of its show biz units Universal Studios, USA Network and PLUGGED IN theSciFi Channel to NBC Now "we're starting a dialogue," a source said. Diller's InterActiveCorp holds a 5.4 stake in the Universal units, valued at $2.2 billion. Vivendi, in turn, holds a 10 stake in InterActiveCorp.

Diller was mum on the topic yesterday, saying he's had no discussions with Vivendi, on a conference call discussing his company's quarterly results. Both sides have every reason to walk away, though Diller has more leverage in the uncoupling talks, analysts said. Under his current agreement he can block the newly spawned NBC Universal from doing things like selling assets or issuing stock. "I think they'll buy him out in some way," said Oppen-heimer media analyst Peter Mirsky. Whatever money Diller gets from Vivendi will go into his sprawling InterActiveCorp home of Expedia.

Ticketmaster, Hotels.com, and Home Shopping Network. It posted a profit of $18.7 million, or 2 cents a share, compared with a loss of $36.6 million, a year ago. The stock plunged nearly 8 to $34.19 because the results fell a JO I Barry Diller's led by Jean-Marie Fourtou, are News Corp. beat analyst estimates, reporting a profit of $422 million or 32 cents a share, compared with $162 million, or 12 cents a share. Sales rose 2 to $7.1 billion.

The company does not break out results of the Post, whose losses have been pegged at $40 million. NBC VET BC exec Bill Bolster, who helped drive big profits at both New York's WNBC-TV (r.) InterActiveCorp and Vivendi, working on ending partnership. and financial news channel CNBC, is leaving after 12 years. The 59-year-old former Ch. 4 and CNBC chief is retiring from his job as co-chief of CNBC International, a joint venture of CNBC and Dow Jones.

Since taking over in 2001, Bolster took CNBC global, spawning Italian, Turkish, and Japanese versions of the stocks-and-bonds network while beefing up subscribers to 120 million from 40 million. Pfujmaneditnydaitynews.com.