C  o n f i d e n t i a l o r n e r   NSYNC with fans at Virgin Megastore (Left) Lance Bass of NSYNC; (above) Dave Mason, (bottom l.-r.) Leon Russel and Commander Cody at Westbury. Photos by Steve Azzara

Judge Judy Overruled

Judge Judy runs her TV courtroom with an iron gavel — but one of her recent decisions has been overruled.

Brooklyn Family Court Judge Jeffrey Sunshine has ruled that the television court jurist has no jurisdiction to decide visitation and child support.

A couple in the process of getting divorce appeared before the TV court on the Feb. 23 show, in a lawsuit brought by the husband to recover $1,000 for wedding gifts and pictures. In her ruling, Judy Sheindlin ordered the husband to pay child support, and created a visitation schedule for the child.

But Judge Jeffrey, who was assigned to resolve these issues for the family court, ruled that these issues were beyond Judge Judy’s power. He wrote in his opinion, "The [television show] is wholly improper for issues involving custody and visitation."

Before joining the TV show, Sheindlin was a family court judge in Manhattan.

Chelsea Without Peer

And we didn’t even get a postcard. . .

Even before she left the other day with her daddy on his visit to India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, Chelsea Clinton was the most traveled Presidential offspring in history. The President’s daughter has traveled the world over with her parents, mainly her mother.

In recent months, Chelsea has had more public exposure, but not to the press, of course. Press secretary Joe Lockhart dismissed the suggestion that she was to be a stand-in for the first lady, acting as her father’s hostess on the trip to India.

"She’s going as a daughter," Lockhart’s office insisted. Hillary Clinton, of course, was busy running for Senate here.

Bill, meanwhile, does not intend to let any grass grow under his feet as he counts down the months until Air Force One, instant helicopters and armored limousines will no longer be at his command. He plans to travel far and wide — to Europe a couple of times, to the Pacific for an economic conference on Okinawa, to Africa and probably once again to Ireland before he leaves office.

Double Scoop

An upstate convenience store chain hopes to
make New York State’s budget problems melt away.

Stewart’s convenience stores is offering a new ice cream flavor, "Budget Crunch," for $1.50. But if the Governor and State Legislature miss the April 1 deadline for adopting a state budget — which they’ve missed for the past 15 years — Stewart’s will give away the ice cream for free.

Then the price will increase a penny for each day that the budget is late, rising to the original price.

So perhaps Governor Pataki and legislative leaders can take an ice cream break and come up with a budget. Instead of going down the rocky road of late budgets, maybe they can (banana?) split the difference.

Hal & Rudy

It was less than a week before interim Schools Chancellor Harold Levy and the Mayor were scheduled to have their first face to face when they almost stumbled upon one another.

At a farewell bash to Dep. Mayor Ninfa Segarra
at the National Arts Club, Levy unexpectedly dropped by to wish Segarra well. "This is a surprise," one partygoer remarked, reflecting on how Segarra and Giuliani’s other Board of Ed. allies staunchly opposed Levy’s appointment.

Twenty minutes later, in breezed Giuliani, who stepped up to the podium to laud Segarra as she departed for CUNY’s waters. Levy stood amid the crowd of about 75, and applauded the Mayor’s introduction and his speech. Though all eyes were on the two, the two didn’t come face to face, according to party sources.

The Mayor, who was late to the party, left soon after congratulating his longest-serving deputy.

In Sight, Out of Mind

There was a lot of talk about the mental fitness of the Mayor last week, a topic that is not usually aired so publicly — especially about a man who many believe is the least likely candidate for a regular stint on a leather couch.

But if mob boss Tony Soprano can spend quality time with his shrink on HBO's smash "The Sopranos," then why not Hizzoner?

First, the Rev. Jesse Jackson criticized Giuliani’s response to the shooting of Patrick Doris-mond: "It’s not just meanness, it’s mental." The Rev. Al Sharpton echoed his mentor by saying Giuliani "borders on needing therapy."

And even a former supporter of the Mayor from the Orthodox Jewish community questioned the Mayor’s mental health. "[The City needs a] clearheaded mayor with the ability to handle anxiety and stress without overreacting and lashing out," said Brooklyn Assemblymember Dov Hikind.

Well, there are some signs that the Mayor is at least thinking about psychology. The Mayor has been using psychoanalytic terms lately like "projection," "blocking" and the "subconscious," notes the New York Post.

And in his Inner Circle skit two weeks ago, the Mayor’s character does visit a headshrinker.

Even Hillary Clinton couldn’t stop herself from taking a jab at the Mayor. "I guess he’s spending a lot of time thinking about psychoanalysis and psychology — or at least he’s spending a lot of time ‘projecting’ it onto other people," she said.

Of course, the Mayor’s office dismisses all this armchair analysis of Rudy as just a lot of idle speculation. "The Mayor reads a lot of Freud," spokesperson Sunny Mindel told The Post.

E-MAIL your items to: NYConf@NewsCommunications.com

NYConfidential by Michael Schenkler with: Tom Allon, Steve Azzara, Peter Catapano, Ira Cohen, Richard Fasanella, Tamara Hartman, Joshua Kaufman, Barbara Jarvie, Evan Kapitansky, Josh Kaufman, Mike Nussbaum, Mary Reinholtz, and Dee Richard.