Mayhem reigned supreme in newsrooms throughout the city on Tuesday of last week, what with the Concorde crashing, the collapse of the Middle East peace talks, and the NYPD’s embarrassing admission that they arrested the wrong man in connection to the latest random
brick attack on a pedestrian.

What was lost, buried inside of the tabloids, was the announcement that Dick Cheney agreed to be Texas Governor George Bush's running mate in November’s presidential election, and what that signaled for Gov. George Pataki’s political future. The answer is "lost," as told to NYConfidential. After Pataki met with Bush and then Bush VP search director Cheney in Austin, Pataki’s fate was sealed.

NYConfidential has learned that "Cheney was calling all the shots" while keeping George W.’s dad posted on developments. Cheney reportedly called Pataki a lightweight and admonished George W. that to choose Pataki "would be like Dan Quayle all over again."

Now Gov. Pataki has been left off the ticket; let Sen. Moynihan’s Senate seat slip through his fingers; has Carl McCall, Andrew Cuomo and possibly even Rudy Giuliani breathing down his neck come time for re-election; and the sting of being rejected and his rise in the Republican party damaged.

NYConfidential was told that Pataki's reaction to basically being "told to get lost" by Dick Cheney has the New York Governor feeling lost, especially with Cheney on the ticket.

NYConfidential was told that employees of Oxygen, the multi-media, women’s interest company inspired by and launched by Oprah Winfrey, are perplexed by Oprah’s "hands off" approach to her baby.

Staff members have griped that "she very rarely comes by." (The Oxygen offices are located on the West Side of Manhattan). When Oprah does make an appearance, "parts of the office are roped off so that Oprah doesn’t have to come in touch with the ‘riff raff’ who have been working so hard to get Oxygen off the ground."

Oxygen CEO Geraldine Laybourne has been the captain steering the Oxygen ship towards cutting into the deficit created by its initial investment, and to provide a vital service for women, and eventually turning a profit. Meanwhile, Oprah "has made no attempt to get to know the staff" and is out at sea. The only oxygen that she has been breathing is the air anywhere other than inside the Oxygen offices.

While the Yankees have been making carefully calibrated trades to plug the holes that had threatened their chances for a three-peat, the Mets have severely lagged behind their local rivals in their efforts to improve themselves.

Even when they tried to acquire shortstop Barry Larkin from the Cincinnati Reds, the perennial All-Star refused to come to Flushing.

With baseball’s trading deadline in sight, the Mets have been trying to swing a blockbuster deal to steal some of the Yankee’s thunder, and narrow the gap between them and Braves and Diamondbacks. NYConfidential has learned that also at play, is the fact that Mets GM Steve Phillips’ job is at stake.

Desperate times and contract extensions require desperate measures. Phillips, concerned about his 2001 status over the Mets 2005 team roster, has been pulling out all the stops, and several strands of hair, nervously willing to sell the farm to add a marquee name, and big bopper to the Met roster. Phillips’ guy is Cleveland Indian slugger Manny Ramirez, who is expected to become a free agent in the off-season. Ramirez has been disabled by nagging injuries this year, but since his return to the Tribe lineup, has propelled them back into the playoff picture, and they’re less inclined to trade their star and catalyst.

NYConfidential has been told that when the trading deadline has passed, the Mets will have struck out with Ramirez, made a lesser trade for Oriole shortstop Mike Bordick, and that Steve Phillips will be out of a job come October.

Hampton Hotels, owned by the wealthy Indian Chatwal family, has properties throughout the midtown theater district.

Earlier this year, they bought a share of the landmark Lamb’s Club on W. 44th St. in partnership with The Church of the Nazarine. The six-story structure built by Stanford White in 1906 is currently used to serve parishioners and give sanctuary and food for the needy, not to mention providing a modest size theater where Off-Broadway productions are staged. The critically-acclaimed "The Countess" is playing at The Lambs Theater now.

However, Hampton plans on gutting the interior of the building, including the theater. NYConfidential has learned that their gaze is on using their allotted air space to perform a rooftop air expansion that would add a few floors without compromising on the landmark-designated façade. The Chatwal’s project the hotel to be a modern, boutique hotel catering to the jet set crowd who have flocked to Hampton’s nearby Time Hotel.

The project has moved at a snails pace, but has gathered steam in recent weeks. Renovation is expected to begin shortly, but not without potential resistance from theater purists and Community Board 5. We’re told that the powerful Shubert Organization has galvanized support of the theater community to voice its opposition of the demolition of the theater space within The Lambs, where George M. Cohan had once performed in Yankee Doodle Dandy form. Battle lines have been drawn, and hotel and theater people await the outcome of this battle. Will the Lambs lie down is the question of the day?